DEVOTIONS: The Apostles Teaching
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DEVOTIONS
DEVOTIONS
When you hear the word devotions, what comes to mind?
Morning devotional time?
Readings:
Bible reading - through the bible in a year
We have a group of ladies doing the bible reading challenge
Our Daily Bread - Monthly devotional books, I remember these growing up
My Utmost for His Highest - Oswald Chambers
Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening - God used this in my life to bring me back to Christ.
Prayers:
The Valley of Vision
Prayer lists
Journaling
a time to write down thoughts and prayers
These are all great devotional habits - but when we think about the word DEVOTION, there should be more to describe our devotions than just quiet time with God.
The Apostles Teaching in Acts
To be devoted to something is to be fiercely committed, it is to continue in something despite how difficult it might be. It is to be loyal, to hold fast to something.
We see this with professional athletes who devote themselves fully (their mind, body, diet, time, everything) to perfecting their craft.
If you read about folks like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs you’ll see that they all fully devote themselves to their work.
Every habit in their lives are purposeful and are put in place to cultivate success.
To be truly devoted is not a casual thing, but rather it is a life submitted in its entirety to the purpose or calling.
Paul tells the church in Corinth that he wants them to have an undivided devotion to the Lord. (1 cor 7.35)
To be devoted to the Lord is to be fully committed to him, in every way, for all of life.
So what does this look like? what does it look like to be a devoted follower of Christ?
What are the habits of those who have been redeemed in Christ?
How are we to live with an undivided devotion to the Lord?
Over the next few weeks we are going to looking at and discover how the word of God describes devotion to King Jesus.
After Peter finishes preaching his great sermon at Pentecost, the scriptures tell us that 3000 people were added to their number. That is, 3000 people repented of their sins and began following Jesus Christ as King.
And then Luke tells us in v.42
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
2
So using as a foundation and a launching pad, We will look at six habits the people of God, the people of Exodus Church, are to be devoted too.
We will see…
DEVOTIONS: The Habits of the Redeemed
The Apostles Teaching
The Fellowship
The Breaking of bread
The Prayers
The Offerings
The Mission
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And when we look at acts 2:42
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
******We see that this word devoted is a present-active verb, which means they constantly devoted themselves, they persisted in devoting themselves… This is an ongoing action… These are devotions that really direct and form their lives.
The fellowship
- κοινωνία - the community of believers
Acts: Expanded Digital Edition Explanation of the Text
fellowship” (κοινωνία)
The Breaking of Bread
- This is a reference not only to eating meals together as a community, but also eating the Eucharistic meal together.
The Prayers
Prayers
So this morning we will begin with the Apostles Teaching
DEVOTIONS: The Apostle’s Teaching
DEVOTIONS: The Apostle’s Teaching
Acts: Expanded Digital Edition Explanation of the Text
Luke makes three points. (1) The apostles regarded teaching as one of their main responsibilities (cf. 6:1–6). (2) The believers continuously listened to the apostles. (3) The believers practiced what they heard the apostles teach (otherwise they would not “persistently devote” [the meaning of the periphrastic here] themselves to their teaching).
The apostles were the first teachers for the church after the resurrection of Christ.
They built a the foundation of teaching that all pastors and teachers are to build upon.
The 12 apostles were given the great responsibility to preach, teach, pastor, lead, and disciple those who pledged their allegiance to Christ. .
We see throughout Acts, that the Apostles (mainly Paul) traveled throughout the roman empire teaching and preaching and planting churches.
And when people turned from their sins and followed Christ they then devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles
So for us to devote ourselves to the apostles teaching, we must first know what it was that they taught.
So first we want to know
So what was it that the Apostles were teaching?
One thing worth noting, all the apostles were either imprisoned, tortured, or martyred for their faith,
In chapter 6 we see the apostles appointing deacons for the purpose of taking care of the people and free up the apostles to devote themselves to the preaching of God word
The believers continuously listened to the apostles.
When the apostles taught the people they were affected, the power of the word of God changed
The believers practiced what they heard the apostles teach
This is what it means to be devoted,
To be devoted to the apostles teaching was not to make sure they showed up at 9 or 11 to hear the sermon, rather to be devoted to the apostles teaching was to obey their teachings as they were teaching the very words of God.
not only would they obey or practice their teaching, but they were formed, they were changed, by the teaching of Gods word.
This is one thing we need to understand, the Apostles teaching that the believers are to be devoted to is indeed the teaching of God’s word.
They were not teaching their
It was through the word of God that the universe was created
Isaiah says that t
As followers of Christ
so they were not teaching some sort of health and wealth, your best life now sort of stuff.
They were not teaching some sort of self-help guide.
What were the apostles teaching?
In fact, they were not teaching from any new source, but rather they were teaching from the word of God, what we would call the Old Testament - however they were teaching with new eyes (but we will get into that in a few min).
2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables.
The Apostles were devoted to the teaching and preaching of God’s Word. And to be honest, they made a really big deal out of teaching God’s word.
In Acts 6 we see the apostles call for deacons to help with the ministry so they could focus on the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.
In acts 6 they appoint deacons so they can focus on preaching the word of God.
They knew, and the people who were devoted to their teaching knew, that word of God is what brings life out of death.
It is the word of God that revives the soul
if we were to follow the apostles teaching throughout acts we would see people deeply affected, changed, and excited to hear the apostles teach them the word of God.
The Apostles understood the life and even world changing power of the Word of God.
It is the word of God that has the highest authority
For the word of God is able to
It is through the word of God that our eyes our opened and our hearts are changed.
It is through the word of God that we are conformed into the image of Christ.
I love how David talks about the word of God in
What were the apostles teaching?
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
The Word of God
Church, like David we are to be devoted to the word of God. For it is far more desirable than an abundance of gold, and far sweeter than the sweetest honey.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
David sees the word of God not just as a book of helpful advice, but he see’s the scriptures as life itself, as the very words of life.
David sees the word of God as the lens through which all of life should be seen.
This is what it means to be devoted to the word of God.
When we are devoted to the word of God we focus our lives in such a way that everything we do we do in light of scripture. We view the world through the lens of God’s Word. And this is how we should view the world, we should view it as God views it.
Now, we tend to look at moral issues through the lens of God’s word.
We know what the bible
We know that lying is wrong, we know that stealing is wrong, we know that abuse and corruption are wrong...
But what about the rest of the world? The world that falls outside of the moral category?
When we go outside and look at creation, do we look with the eyes of scripture.
For example,
when you see the sun and moon what do you think of?
The Sun is a huge, glowing sphere of hot gas. Most of this gas is hydrogen (about 70%) and helium (about 28%)
The Sun is a huge, glowing sphere of hot gas. Most of this gas is hydrogen (about 70%) and helium (about 28%)
The crust of the Moon is composed mostly of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminum.
The Moon’s crust is composed mostly of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminum.
Do we look at the sun and moon as physical object, or do we see them as the bible describes them, as rulers of the day and rulers of the night. As keepers of times and seasons
Or do we put the creation in a category outside of the Bible?
when we go to work
Do we think of our jobs as the bible describes them? as imaging the creator God who also worked?
Or do we put work in a category outside of the Bible?
when we interact with friends or family
Do we see this as community which expresses the eternal community of the triune God?
Or do we put community in a category outside of the Bible?
when we watch TV, or scroll through social media
When we rejoice, or when we grieve, do we walk through these emotions holding fast to what God has promised those who rejoice or grieve?
Or do we put these emotions in a category outside of the Bible?
no matter what we engage in we are to engage with the perspective of scripture.
We so often view life, even our spiritual life, as being separate from the word of God.
Let me expalin, it is popular today to try and bifurcate or separate the word of God from God himself.
For him the scriptures were life.
Psalm 19-
When we go outside and look at creation,
They were more desirable to him than an abundance of riches, and it was sweeter to him than the sweetest honey.
when we go to work,
when we interact with friends or family,
when we watch TV, or scroll through social media
no matter what we engage in we are to engage with the perspective of scripture.
As if the Bible is a textbook that teaches us about God. But it is not connected to God.
In the same way that an anatomy textbook will teach us about the human body, but it is not connected to the human body.
When we begin to think this way, we might think that the bible tells of the power of God, but in of itself it has no power.
The Bible tells of the work of the Spirit, but it is in itself not part of the work of the Spirit.
It might tell of a relationship with Christ, but it is in itself not part of that relationship.
However, to do this is to create a false dichotomy, we don’t have to choose Jesus or the Bible. In fact, we must not choose one over the other, for they are linked together and cannot be separated.
When we begin to think this way, we start looking for the for the true “spiritual” life outside the scripture.
We start looking for the work of the Spirit outside of Scripture
We start trying to build a relationship with Christ outside of Scripture.
However, to do this is to create a false dichotomy, we don’t have to choose Jesus or the Bible. In fact, we must not choose one over the other, for they are linked together and cannot be separated.
For God’s word cannot be separated from his action, nor can his action be separated from his word.
To encounter the words of scripture is to encounter the living God in action.
This is why the author of hebrews says,
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
When we hear or read the word of God we are hearing or reading God’s living and active word. When the scripture speaks, God speaks.
The Bible is not a book that tells us about God... The Bible is God telling us about himself.
The Bible is God telling us about himself.
And this is what we see in the Apostle’s Teaching. The Apostle’s preached the scriptures as God’s revelation of Himself in Christ.
The Apostles Teaching in Acts
The Apostles Teaching in Acts
What was the content of the apostles teaching?
Jesus is Israel’s Messiah and Lord;
the Son of David and God’s Servant;
the holy and righteous Savior;
Acts: Expanded Digital Edition Explanation of the Text
Jesus is Israel’s Messiah and Lord;
the Son of David and God’s Servant;
the holy and righteous Savior;
the prophet like Moses and the judge of humankind;
the necessity of repentance in view of God’s revelation in the life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus and in the bestowal of the Spirit of prophecy;
God’s offer of salvation through Jesus, who is Israel’s Messiah and Lord, available only in personal allegiance to Jesus.
the prophet like Moses and the judge of humankind;
the necessity of repentance in view of God’s revelation in the life, death, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus and in the bestowal of the Spirit of prophecy;
God’s offer of salvation through Jesus, who is Israel’s Messiah and Lord, available only in personal allegiance to Jesus.
They did not proclaim the scriptures as, moral lessons, or self-help, or how to be a better you
Not moral lessons
moral lessons
self-help
how to be a better you
The apostles saw the scriptures, not as a collection of moral lessons like Aesop’s fables, but rather as the grand story of that that points to and reveals Jesus the Messiah as the great Priest, King, and Prophet.
For the apostles…
The Whole Bible is About Jesus
The Whole Bible is About Jesus
How God would dwell with his people
All of scripture is apocalyptic
Now when we hear the word apocalyptic we so often think of end of the world chaos. Plagues, fire from heaven, locusts the size of Volkswagens, world wars, etc.
But really the word apocalyptic means, “unveiling”
All of scripture is apocalyptic, in that it is the unveiling of Jesus the Christ.
This is how the Apostles read and interpreted the OT, as an unveiling of Jesus Christ.
And the reason they taught the scriptures this way is because that is how Jesus taught them to read the OT.
The Road to Emmaus
3 days after the crucifixion of Jesus two disciples were walking on the road toward Emmaus
The resurrected Jesus met them on the road and asked them what they were talking about
They told Jesus, who they thought was just a stranger, for Jesus kept their eyes from recognizing him (he kept himself veld), they told him about how they had hoped the one who was crucified would be the one to redeem Israel.
They had a glimmer of hope as they heard how some of the women and disciples went to the tomb and found it empty, thinking that maybe he was alive… But the two disciples were still very sad.
Jesus then speaks to them in Luke 24.25-27
25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
2
now at this time they did not know that it was Jesus who was giving them this glorious bible study.
But he showed them, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, how all the scriptures were an unveiling of Jesus.
28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,
29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
The Apostles taught all the scriptures as being an unveiling of Jesus Christ.
25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,
29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
25-
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
.
When they read the story of Adam and Eve, They not only read it as the story of the first man and women,
but they read it as the story of the perfect man who died, had his side ripped open, was raised back to life and was given a bride. They read it as the story of Christ and his Church
They saw the scriptures as the story of God becoming King
When the read the story of Jonah, it was not only the story of a prophet who died and spent three days in the belly of the fish to then be resurrected.
They saw the Bible as the story of God redeeming, renewing and restoring all things to glory .
But they read it as the story of Christ who spent three days in the grave and then was resurrected
They saw the bible as the story of how God himself would become kin
When they read the story of the Exodus, they read it as the story of Christ who would
They saw Israel’s freedom from slavery as a type of our redemption in Christ - we are now free from the slavery of sin.
They saw the crossing of the Red Sea as baptism
They saw the manna from heaven as communion
They saw the conquest of Israel as the great commission.
go before them in our conquest
They saw the promise land as the New heavens and earth.
They saw the tabernacle and temple pointing to Jesus
The sacrifices pointing to Jesus
David and Solomon, Joseph and Daniel, Abraham and Issac - all pointing us to Jesus.
The Apostles saw that whole bible as being about and pointing to Christ and his church, the head and the body, the bride and the groom, the totus Christus - the whole Christ.
Church, the bible is not a rule book or a textbook on how to learn about Jesus,
The bible is the very word of God, living and active, that is revealing for us the savior of the world and the savior of you.
The bible is not a book of good advice, moral lessons, and great stories,
The bible is the very word of God that gives us life
For us to to follow Christ, we must devote our entire lives to the apostles teaching, the word of God, for it is the very word of life.
We should not view bible reading (or bible study) as a box to be checked on our daily schedule, but rather we should see the scriptures as the very air we breath, the food we eat, the water we drink. For without it we will wither away.
The word of God should form the way we think, speak, feel, and live.
When we read the scriptures we are encountering the living God.
To be devoted to the Apostles teaching is to hold up all of your life to the word of God...
the way we respond and the way we
your habits, relationships, money, calendar, family, entertainment, hopes and dreams, and then allow them to be shaped and molded by what God says.
We must be devoted to reading the Bible!
And for us to be devoted to the apostles teaching, to the word of God, we must devote ourselves to reading the word of God, to hearing the word of God, to being taught the word of God.
For we cannot be devoted to Jesus the Christ, the King of king, if we are not devoted to hearing from him through his word.
May we be a people, a church, devoted in all things to God’s word.
Lets pray.
How did the apostles read the bible
Application
The apostles regarded teaching as one of their main responsibilities (cf. 6:1–6).
In chapter 6 we see the apostles appointing deacons for the purpose of taking care of the people and free up the apostles to devote themselves to the preaching of God word
The believers continuously listened to the apostles.
When the apostles taught the people they were affected, the power of the word of God changed
The believers practiced what they heard the apostles teach
This is what it means to be devoted,
To be devoted to the apostles teaching was not to make sure they showed up at 9 or 11 to hear the sermon, rather to be devoted to the apostles teaching was to obey their teachings as they were teaching the very words of God.
not only would they obey or practice their teaching, but they were formed, they were changed, by the teaching of Gods word.
This is one thing we need to understand, the Apostles teaching that the believers are to be devoted to is indeed the teaching of God’s word.
They were not teaching their
When we go outside and look at creation,
when we go to work,
when we interact with friends or family,
when we watch TV, or scroll through social media
no matter what we engage in we are to engage with the perspective of scripture. p