Fellowship

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Deuteronomy 7:6–8 ESV

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Context

The divided tongues of fire have just come. Peter has made his sermon. Thousands were saved on teh spot.

What did they do after?

They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching

and the fellowship

to the breaking of bread

and the prayers

And because of that

Awe came upon everyone - both the Christians and those outside the church.

wonders/signs being done by the apostles.

to prove the legitimacy of their ministry.

all who believed were together and had all things in common.

all things in common refers to possessions.

note - this is not a forced commonality of course, we can tell later from the story of Ananias and Saphira - Peter plainly tells them that they didn’t have to give any of their money to the church, it was theres to do with as they wanted. Acts 5:4

so there is clearly still an understanding of private property. But the Christians of the time pooled everythig they had.

Probably because of severe persecution. They loved each other well and provided for one another as they had need. They even took up offerings for the other churches.

This also implies that there was some system of knowing the needs of the church and providing for them. Later on Paul makes the statement, if you don’t work you don’t eat, so we also know that they aren requirements for this type of benevolence.

Day by day they were together.

they attended the temple daily, they broke bread together daily, and they received their food (while it was probably meager) with glad and generous hearts

They knew that they had eternal food. Their souls were satisfied, and so their pauper’s meals would not be “getting them down”

And as a result of their general disposition and hte favor of God they had favor with all the people.

And the culmination of all of this?

The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Their lives were public displays of evangelism.

“They shall know you by your love” rings true here.

The world has watched them care for one another and it is a witness.

So, lets pull a few principles out of this text that we should learn if we really want to bring about reformation

First - The world is watching.

43 - “Awe came upon every soul”

The world around you is watching you, and not just you but they are watching all of us as a unit. They are taking notes. They are making observations. And they are responding accordingly. What does your life cause them to do?

Now for many we look at this passage and we resolve to live a quiet life that doesn’t disrupt the world around us. We don’t want to ruin our witness after all.

In other words, what we’ve done is resolve to… do nothing.

We are so afraid of “ruining our witness” that we actually don’t make any counter-cultureal moves for Christ.

But think about the church in this time. They are big and loud and kinda cumbersome. Growing fast and rocking the boat just about every day. Signs and wonders abound, they’re selling their possessions to provide for their growing number of people and needs.

They also aren’t too concerned with not stepping on toes...

Peter doesn’t mince his words at all when he says in v23 “This Jesus whom you cricified”

he calls their sin what it is, bluntly and plainly, and then gives them the hope of Christ.

There is no hope without conviction of sin.

Not only that - but their whole economy is disrupted.

Folks are seemingly losing their jobs/status (or maybe quitting their jobs because you can’t be a prostitute/pimp/cult leader/drug dealer/thief anymore now that Christ is your king.)

remember the silver smiths rioting against the church (acts 19), becuase the church is putting them out of business.

The whole social landscape is shifting, and doing so pretty dramatically.

In other words, they are definitely disrupting the world.

this is what reformation is. If we want reformation. If we want revival. It means that we’re going to make some big, loud, countercultural claims… and then back them up with our lives.

Jesus is King. Not our government.

Stop worrying about the national news and do the work in front of you, today.

Stop cowering in fear everyday about your circumstances and instead, get to work.

Stop yielding the world around us to the baby murderers, sodomizers, statists for the sake of “not causing a disruption.”

Instead, boldly make the claims of Christ, the claims of the Bible. God’s ways are the best ways. He has a design for the way that humans should live and we can trust that his ways are best.

And come to grips with the fact that, just like the early church, this might mean a career change for you. Or a loss of career. Or maybe you’ll have to move.

The very idea of proclaiming the Gospel means that there are false gospels out there. Hopeless gospels. And that we must say that they are wrong, and that Christ is right.

The world is watching. Let’s give them something worthwhile to watch.

Stop shrinking from the fight.

BUT make sure you’re fighting the RIGHT fights.

this is where wisdom and discernment come in.

Now - this is where you also have to stop thinking of yourself as an island. You have a church with and elder board and pastors that know more than you, and that’s a good thing. You want that.

You want to listen to those leaders and heed their words when it comes to the issues of our time.

This is tough, because in the social media world we live in we get polarized and unable to listen pretty dang fast… but I implore you for your own good.

If you’re wondering what fights to fight… listen to your leaders. And ask them.

Many view the church as a place where we go to get information to make our own informed decisions. In other word, just like every other place.

No, your church is where you go to get the truth of the Bible taught to you so you can operate in submission to it.

“But some pastors abuse this!” No doubt. And some congregation members abuse the fact that some pastors aren’t great, and they refuse to ever submit to any pastor as a result. But that doesn’t change the way the church is supposed to operate.

If you’re in one of those churches then get out.

If you’re not, then lets submit together.

SO - you’re being watched by the world. Don’t let that scare you into a life of passivity. Instead, know your stuff, submit to your leaders, and fight the good fight of faith loud and proud despite the cost.

NEXT - be devoted. (v42)

now watch out, because there’s a strong chance you just front-loaded the word devotions into your brain and drew a bunch of wrong conclusions real fast.

We use the word “devotions” pretty lightlly. It measn a little bible reading time mixed withs ome prayer. Maybe we even oversimplify it down farther, calling it “quiet times”

but the word we used to use had a much larger ring to it. Pious.

You see, to be pious was a way of life. Pious was an adjective that described someone. And the history of this word recalls pictures to mind of warriors that lay down their lives for others. A lifestyle of dedication and honor.

This is what Tolkien was trying to hint at when he wrote in the LOTR books that Aragorn and other characters seemed to do great acts by their “will” alone.

They were devoted - honorable - their word meant something - pious. More than a characteristic. It was their way of life.

do you see how “quiet time” just doesn’t get anywhere close?

So today I want to reclaim what the word DEVOTED really means.

To be devoted isn’t just to have your faith on a shelf with all your other stuff, but rather it is the material the shelves are made of.

It’s not Jesus is first in your life, but Jesus is all and everything else in your life flows from him and through him and to him.

Rom 11:36 - “from him and to him and through him are all things”

your life, as a pious warrior for Christ, is a recognition of this truth.

See the virtue and honor of a man at one point meant something. We had a founding set of morals and ideals that steered us in every facet of our lives.

It would determine when we went to war, what type of life we pursued, who we loved, and how we loved them.

You see piety is so much that we’ve lost.

So when we read this word “devoted” I want you to front load THAT into your minds. Piety. Honor. Virtue. in ALL OF THE SELF>

So, they DEVOTED ALL OF THEMSELVES to something. What?

Two things - The TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES and the FELLOWSHIP v42

notice these two things go hand in hand. They are mentioned together. Teaching requires humans, and humans teach.

Now this isn’t a new concept for the Jewish culture, because a Rabbi’s student was like an apprentice. There was time for formal instruction, but there was also much teaching that happened in the day to day.

This is a lot like parenting. Your children learn when you teach them. And when are you teaching them? Always.

Here’s what I’m getting after.

You can have all the books. You can memorize them all. You can study them until you are blue in the face. You can get seven PHDs and teach in the most elite seminaries in our country.

but until you add people to the mix, you don’t know much.

Why? Because people challenge you. Because people encourage you. Because people pray for you. Because people love you. And sometimes, because they hate you.

“Iron sharpens iron”

And God uses ALL of this to grow you. To burn the dross away. This is how you mature.

Here we find one of the most dangerous aspects of our current situation. To be isolated, or worse kept behind a screen, and distant from one another is a rocket ship to Christian immaturity.

Don’t believe me? Check your Christian relationships now and compare them to where they were 18 months ago.

At the very least I would say you had more of them. I bet some people that you used to regard as friends, maybe now you question that fact. Or maybe you’ve full blown started regarding some as your enemies.

And how is your pursuit of holiness as a result? How are the secret sins in your heart? How are you doing at loving the brothers? What about loving your enemies? How are you doing in trusting the Lord in the midst of all this past year?

and these are just the basics, the fundamentals of the faith.

and all because we’ve lost “fellowship”

and the enemy knows this. “a house divided against itself cannot stand” says Jesus.

For us to be a faithful church, we must be DEVOTED to the teachings of the apostles… but we also must be DEVOTED to ONE ANOTHER

We are to be pious, honorable, warriors devoted to Christ. Devoted to his teachings. and DEVOTED to one another.

meaning your care and love for each other is a part of who you are. It’s wrapped up in the fiber of your being. And you will not sacrifice it, no matter what.

How does this play out? Well, lets look to the text and see.

we break bread with one another.

these were meager meals. it wasn’t the best silverware. it wasn’t the fine china. it wasn’t even a crawfish boil. this was the bare minimum offered in poverty. BUT THEY SHARED IT TOGETHER.

you don’t have to have everything perfect. that’s not the point, although hospitality is important and a good skill to hone. the point is that you are so ONE with one another that having your brothers/sisters at the dinner table with you is just natural.

but pastor Stuart… isn’t that risky right now?

Listen. Some risks are worth it, and I’d argue that this is one of them.

Don’t be foolish, if you’re sick then stay home. That’s a Biblical principle. If you’re extraordinarily at risk then take precautions.

But this virus isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, the vaccine will not make everything magically disappear, and a year of this has set us back far enough. We’re looking at at least another year of this. Realistically, when you study the available data, more like two.

I’ve already heard the comments “Wow! Your kids look so different!”

I know. It’s because we haven’t seen each other in a year.

Maybe a phrase we need to hear more is.. “Wow, your soul looks so different....”

But if we gather, even just at a dinner table, something profound happens. It’s subtle and silent at times. But the chink-chink of iron sharpening is there.

We must recapture the fellowship - the breaking of bread is a tool for that.

Next - IF We ARE DEVOTED TO THE FELLOWSHIP - if it is a part of our being, who we are...

then we care for one another.

in this text we see it playing out that the church members are selling their possessions and providing for any that has need. They “had all things in common”

now. Important qualifier - because of the climate of our country right now I feel the need to say this - this is not an endorsement of communism. because the church members CHOSE to do this. And they most certainly didn’t hold a vote and then make everyone else do it too.

you see that later with Ananias and Saphira. Peter told them that they didn’t have to give anything, it was their property to do with what they wanted - but they were put to death because they “lied to the Holy Spirit” and kept back some of the sale for themselves while representing themselves as people who were giving everything.

They WANTED to care for one another in their needs and therefore THEY DID - no one made them.

this is what gave the church of Rome the edge during the plague. They loved one another, they knew their eternal home, they knew the promises of God’s provision, and so what was death?

In this text they sell their possessions and give the money away, risking poverty, in the Roman times they gave of themselves and risked death by plague.

EVEN SO MUCH SO that their love spilled out into the world around them and they cared for the sick that were even outside of the church at the time.

And their PIETY - their DEVOTION - warrior like commitment - to Christ and to one another shaped their day to day.

v46 - they went to temple together, broke bread together, received their meager little meals with glad and generous heart, they praised God

and because of this largely public counter cultural display that was obvious to the watching world - v47 they had favor with all the people”

you see, once you push past the initial fear of rejection and “don’t rock the boat” mentality, in the end it works out for the better. They had the favor of everyone around them. “all the people”

And because of this PUBLIC COUNTER CULTURAL PIOUS WARRIOR LIKE DEVOTION TO CHRIST his Word, his people… what happened?

v47b - The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

reformation of the world... starts here.

But what do I do? How? I’m not PIOUS! BUT I WANT TO BE!

The same thing we talked about last week - we ask.

Pray to be pious. To be a devoted warrior for Christ