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· 2 viewsBeleivers of the first Church, Essentials for Life Together
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Essentials for Life Together.
Essentials for Life Together.
37
The Life of the early believers and the church was most unusal, a far cry from the way the church and its believers live today.
A study of the lives of the believers in the early church gives us a clear picture of the essentials for living together and for fulfilling the Lords mission.
They were of one heart and mind.
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
b. They gave a witness to the resurrection of Jesus. v 33
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
c. They took care of all who had need. v 34-37
There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
35
Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
Verse 32 is about heart and soul, unity
The Greek here is indicating unity, the heart and mind / soul were one!
This isnt just one person we are talking about here, its all of the beleivers were of the same heart and mind, They had unity!!!
The whole being was one. all of the people were one.
what would this produce?
oneness
unity
accord
harmony
love.
All of these were the result of one heart and mind!
Remember there are over 5000 beleivers in unity at this time.
So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.”
But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
Acts
How could a body of such large numbers of people become one heart and mind? How could they become so unified together?
This verse shows us how,
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
The early believers gave their heart and souls to Jesus, to His Lordship and to His mission!
They truly believed!
What did they believe?
That Jesus...
Had died for their sins.
had risen from the grave.
had been exalted to the right hand of God.
had commissioned them to go forth, reaching people and helping people.
and was to return to reward believers for being faithful to the great commission and saving and ministering to people.
These people were throughly convinced of the mission of Jesus, of the Great Commision.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
8
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Therefore they gave all they had and were to speak the Word of God.
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness,
29
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
Nothing, not even the persecution could keep them from proclaiming the Word and carrying the mission of Christ!
The point is this..
They knew Jesus to be Lord, therefore the gave their lives to be His servants. (dulos meaning slaves)
They surrendered themselves to Jesus!
To His Life and Will
To His purpose and mission.
Jesus became their all in all!
They lived and existed to do what He said,
They did it so that men might be saved from sin and death, and hell and to receive eternal life!
Nothing could stop them, not even the threats they received.
In fact, the more oppsistion they received the more boldness and energy they received.
The early believers knew what the Lordship of Jesus meant, it meant to surrender all one is and all that one has so that the whole world may know that no man need to ever die!
A man can live eternally, beggining even right now!
The early beleivers could not keep such a message to themselves!
No matter what it would cost them personally of financially!
Some things the early believers did not do..
they did not insist on owning property
count their own possessions as their own
trust in riches
take from others
glory in possessions
lay and store up wealth.
They did none of these things.
The early believer did truly believe
In the Lordship of Christ
in inheritance of eternal life
in being rewarded for faithfulness to Jesus
in denying self
in forsaking all for Jesus
in loving others sacrificially
in God’s ownership of all!
The early believers believed they were on earth to serve Jesus and were being blessed with material possessions to help others.
This allowed them to meet the needs of their families, then they gave what they had left to meet the needs of the lost and desperate world.
The Bible is very clear about this in the following verses.
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.
Eph
your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.
As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”
He who had gathered much had nothing left over...
he that gathered little had no lack..
But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you.
Jesus said that a rich man lost his soul and went to hell because of his indulgence, storeing, hoarding and the neglecting the needs of those in the world who were in need.
This story is told in
And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
Their is no hope for a man who has and holds back for more than his family needs.
A starving child is Gods child, a needy child / person is Gods needy child / person.
If God cares so much about the needs and human suffering, how much more does He care about the Spiritual and eternal sufferings?
How much more will God hold us accoutable for of witholding His Gospel from them!!!
He cared enough to sacrifice His own Sons life for man’s spiritual rebirth.
If any man keeps back anything when he could be spreading the Gospel of eternal life around the world, how much more punishment does he deserve?
Jesus teaches that every soul is lost and doomed that does not accept Him.
The responsibility to send the Gospel around the world rest in the hands of men. US!!
God isnt going to send anyone else to earth to do this. He has sent us!
How in the world can a group of people so large be in one heart and one mind?
They gave their hearts to Jesus!
The result...
They became one in following and doing His will!
The Spirit of God gives them supernatural love and a spirit bond with other believers.
and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
The results of these verses
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Its this that creates one heart and one soul in the Church, in that day and in this day!
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
Great Power and Great Grace was upon them all!
This is the result of a effective wittniess for Jesus
Great Power… this is both the result and the root of the attitude in the previous verse.
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
It shows they were putting God first, people second and material things third.
Gave witness to the resurrection:
notice the central place the resurrection of Jesus holds in the message of the first Christians. They preached a resurrected Jesus.
We proclaim that Jesus died for us, we all put this at the top. But the first Christians put a greater emphisis on the resurrected Jesus.
Hes alive!!!
Every man and women has 2 problems and no matter who they are , who they know or what they have they cant do anything about any of them.
Death
Sin
Good news, Jesus Christ came and took care of these problems permentaly.
Everyone will die and everyone already knows this.
You wont have a hard time of convenceing anyone of this fact.
But when we can share that Jesus defeated death and is alive today and that they to can conqure the grave if they place their faith and trust in Jesus.
Oh their are those two words that always gets people wiggly in the seats.
Place their Faith AND TRUST in Jesus.
They have faith that Jesus will take them to heaven when they die but they dont trust that He will do all that He has promised to do here now!
Lord and Savior!
Lord means Master.
Yes master I will de what you say to do, what ever you say master!!
Hos many people did you talk to since last sunday?
How many people did you enounter since last sunday?
How many did you share Jesus with since last Sunday?
Lord? Master?
Yes Hes my savior!!!!
And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
Great Grace was upon them all.
Grace is Gods favor, Its His smile from heaven and it was upon them all!
Gods favor was evident everywhere!!
There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
Tit
The early church took care of all those who had need.
Point out four facts here in these verses.
These facts show how obedient the early believers were and just how obedient God expects all believers to be.
as we look at these 4 facts imagine how the church would look and function today if these were happening still today.
Fact 1.
No one lacked!
There was not anyone of them that lacked!
There was not anyone of them that needed anything!
The idea here is that no man, woman or child went negelcted.
No one was left without the nesscatites of life.
No one ever had to face a day without food, clothing or shelter.
All of Gods Children were taken care of!
What was it to cause the believers to take care of the needy, LOVE! It was a duty that was laid upon them by Jesus!
Fact 2.
all repented of their hoarding.
they gave everything beyond their own necessities.
Some possessed lands, (plural) they did not need.
They sold and gave the monies to meet the needs of others as they had need.
Some possessed houses, (plural) that were not essential to their needs.
They sold them and gave the monies to meet the needs of others.
Some picture this as they sold all their land and sold their homes and lived out under the stars at night.
This isnt the case at all.
The Bible clearly teaches that one who dosent provide for his own household is a heathen.
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Jesus taught this in
Fact 3.
The needy only received what they needed.
only what their necessities were.
There are always people around who need help, who are not able to take care of themselves.
The reasons can be nemorus.
to old, to young, sick, injured, orphaned, widowed, divorced, unskilled, uneducated.
what the early church did was to look around them and to pinpoint the needs.
They gave what they had for those who had needs.
they gave only what the needs were!
The generosity of the early Church soon began to be abused, and Paul had to give strict instructions to the churches on who should be helped and how.
Paul instructed that the church must discern who the neddy were.
Honor widows who are truly widows.
Ti
If one can work to support themselves, they are not to be considered a needy person and must provide for their own needs.
For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you,
If Family can support the person, then the church should not support them.
Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.
Those who are supported by the church should return back to the church body.
She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day,
and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.
Its right for the church to examine moral conduct before giving support 1 tim 5 9-13
Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.
And the support of the church should be for the most basic needs of living.
But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
Fact 4.
one man set in particular set a Godly example,
Barnabas.
Barnabas was a notable example of this giving spirit.
So what happens when a believer says they are a believer and is doing all they can do. This is what they proclaim and yet they in reality do otherwise?
Next week we will look at this.
We will look at this as God saw from His eyes of such believers!