A New Community

Some of you know that I used to be something of a hippie, even if I was a hippie without a lot of hair.

I have been to my share of Grateful Dead shows and more than my share of Phish shows. I have camped with as many as 70,000 other music fans at music festivals in Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, and New York.

Annette and I once waited in traffic for literally 36 hours on an interstate in Vermont trying to get to a festival where the site was so muddy that cars were having to be towed INTO the camping area. We never did get into that festival.

I was thinking about those days the other afternoon. I was listening via satellite radio to the replay of a set of music from a festival this week at a resort in Mexico, and I thought about old friends that I knew were probably there.

The music was very good, and I still love to listen to it from time to time. But something the DJ said reminded me of the real reason I and so many others were willing to commit so much time and effort, so much of our money and so many of our vacation days to following these bands around and joining them for three-day festivals on farms and at rural airports all over the country.

This DJ was remembering the last Phish show he had attended, back in December 2019, before the pandemic. And he spoke hopefully of the day that he would be able to rejoin that community of like-minded individuals. They are people who share the same love of music, but it goes much deeper than that.

There is a sense of camaraderie — a sense of shared purpose — among members of these music communities. In fact, it’s common for them to refer to one another as family, even when there is no blood relationship.

They are normally generous and kind to one another, sharing with one another and helping one another out. Sometimes, that means showing the folks who are camping beside you how to set up the tent they bought on the way to the festival. Sometimes it means giving your spare ticket to somebody standing outside the venue who wasn’t able to get his or her own ticket to tonight’s sold-out show.

And as I describe this scene to you, it occurs to me just how much it all sounds like this community — this family — we know as the church.

Actually, the parking lot at a Grateful Dead show or the campground at a hippie music festival should be at best a poor imitation of the community of believers united in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

Sadly, though, my observation through the years has been that the church (and I’m not speaking specifically about Liberty Spring here, but rather the Church as a whole) often is really pretty terrible about doing community.

And I think one of the big reasons we have been so terrible about it is because we have forgotten why it exists.

I think we tend to approach the church with the mindset that we have chosen it, rather than the mindset that God has chosen US for it and that He has chosen IT for us. We tend to think of it as an organization that we’ve voluntarily joined up with in order to study Jesus.

But I would suggest to you that the way the New Testament describes this community is a lot more like the community of Deadheads who would follow the Grateful Dead from town to town.

Deadheads fell in love with the music, and they wanted to be wherever that music was being made. They wanted to join with others who were also in love with the music. They wanted to create a loving and supportive community that reflected the values of the music and became something greater than the sum of its parts.

In the same way, the church should be a community of people so in love with Jesus that they want to be around others who are just as in love with Him. They should want to reflect His values in their community and in its interactions with the world.

And they should expect that their interactions will be a powerful reflection not of themselves but of the Holy Spirit who lives within them and who binds them together in love and unity.

Let me ask you to be honest with me today. Does that description sound like the capital-C church today? Or do you agree with me that we’re all-too-often characterized by the same divisions and distrust that we see in the world at large?

It was not always this way. And today, I want to take you back to the dawn of the Church Age to show you how the Church was always supposed to look.

There was a brief period of time when this Spirit-infused community was just as Jesus had prayed it would be in John, chapter 17.

We’ll see in future messages within this series I’m calling “The Church — Revealed” that it didn’t take long for sin to be uncovered within the Church and for divisions to follow.

But for this brief period of time we will study from Acts, chapter 2, we will see a community that was radically different from all that had preceded it.

We will see a true community such as had never been seen in history, a radical act of re-culturing by the Holy Spirit.

If you haven’t done so already, please turn to Acts, chapter 2. We’re going to pick up in a moment in verse 37, but let me give you the context of the situation Luke describes in this passage.

This was the day of Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection after His death on the cross at Calvary.

Before He ascended to heaven 40 days after the resurrection, Jesus had given His apostles their marching orders. You’ll remember the Great Commission from Matthew, chapter 28, where He said

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

But Luke records in the first chapter of Acts that Jesus also told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit, the Helper God had promised to send them after Jesus had gone back to heaven.

And so, they had waited. Verse 14 of chapter 1 tells us that during the next 10 days, they were “continually devoting themselves to prayer.”

And at some point during this time, they drew lots, and Matthias was appointed to take the place of Judas the betrayer among the 12.

And so, in verse 1 of chapter 2, we see that about 120 of the apostles and others who had followed Jesus in faith were “all together in one place.”

Acts 2:2–4 NASB95

And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

The waiting was over. The promised Helper had come. The Church had been born in this great baptism of fire by the Holy Spirit.

And now, having been given the gift of languages they did not previously know, the 120 went out into the streets of Jerusalem and began speaking to the people who were gathered there for the Feast of Booths.

This was one of three festivals that required a journey to Jerusalem by the Jewish people, and it celebrated the harvest. Devout Jews had come there from all over the known world.

Luke says the gathering included Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, and people from Pontus and Asia and Phrygia and Pamphylia and Egypt and Libya Cyrene and Rome.

And all these visitors to Jerusalem were hearing the people of this new community, the church, speaking in their own language.

Many who were there for this event would have recognized that the fact these apostles and disciples were speaking in tongues was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy:

Isaiah 28:11 NASB95

Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

The context of that prophecy was a warning to Israel that the day would come when God would turn His attention elsewhere because of Israel’s unbelief.

That’s just what had happened when Israel rejected her King and crucified Him. Now risen from the dead, He would create a new community called the church.

And as we discussed last week, Jesus’ work will be entirely focused on and through the Church until His return in glory, when He will rule over the earth in His millennial kingdom.

Here in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit had been poured out for all mankind, and in this baptism of the Spirit, the church had been born.

And so, Peter launches into his sermon, and the Jews who were listening began to realize that the man whom they had nailed to a cross just 50 days earlier had been the promised Messiah and king and that He had been God Himself, incarnated in the person of His own Son.

And now, realizing what a terrible act of national sin they had committed by crucifying their very King, we see in verse 17 that “they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brethren, what shall we do?’”

What will become of our nation now? What can we do now as a nation in light of the terrible thing we have done?

Let’s pick up Luke’s account in verse 38.

Acts 2:38–40 NASB95

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”

These folks were primarily concerned with what they could do to save their nation after it had sinned so terribly against God, but Peter tells them here that the problem they have is a personal one.

They needed to repent. This is the same thing John the Baptist had told them. This is the same thing Jesus had told them. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

And this same thing is true today. Your biggest problem and mine is a personal one — sin. It’s the thing that destroys marriages. It’s the thing that destroys lives. It’s the thing that causes war.

Sin is the reason we have famines and pandemics and death. Sin brought death into the world, and we know there is still sin, because we can see death all around us.

We were all created in the image of God — made to reflect His perfect and righteous character. And yet each of us fails to do this in large ways and small ways every day.

Each one of us is guilty at some time or another of being just like Israel during the time of the judges — doing what is right in our own eyes, rather than what’s right in God’s eyes.

Repentance involves a change in perspective — a transformation of your thinking that leads to a transformation in your way of life. Repentance says that I know I am a sinner and unable to do anything to clean myself up to be presentable to God.

But repentance isn’t the last word here. Peter says “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Now, the first thing to understand is that the word that’s translated as “for” in verse 38 should be understood as “on the basis of” or “because of.”

Think of one of those posters from the Old West. “Wanted, dead or alive, for robbery and murder.” They weren’t looking for someone to rob and murder for them. They were looking for someone BECAUSE that person had committed robbery and murder.

It’s the same idea here. Peter was calling for those who repented to be baptized on the basis that their sins had been forgiven.

A good way to paraphrase this verse would be like this: “Repent and you will receive the gift of the Spirit. Be baptized because your sins are forgiven.” [Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ac 2:38.]

Right about now, you should be asking yourself, “But what about faith? Aren’t we saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone?”

YES!

That’s what Peter meant when he said to be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ.” As I’ve said before, there is no saving grace in the act of baptism. Rather, baptism is one’s public statement that he or she identifies with Jesus.

“Since baptism signifies association with the message, group, or person involved in authorizing it, baptism in the name of Jesus Christ meant for these people a severing of their ties with Judaism and an association with the messages of Jesus and His people. Baptism was the line of demarcation.” [Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ac 2:38, quoting Ryrie]

And that’s just what baptism is today. It’s a statement we make that we now identify with and follow Jesus, instead of identifying with and following the lost world and its broken systems.

And so, with these and many other words, Peter testified to the crowds about Jesus, the Son of God and promised Savior, the one who can forgive sins and bring fallen people into a relationship with God that was unavailable to them as sinners.

And we see in verse 41 that this was a powerfully effective message.

Acts 2:41 NASB95

So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.

But what I want you to see in the next few verses is the powerful re-culturing that occurred in this new community.

First, we see that their priorities were changed. Look at verse 42.

Acts 2:42 NASB95

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The fact that they were “continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship” suggests they were paying close attention to what they were being taught AND that they were practicing the things that they heard.

And the grammar of this verse suggests that the breaking of bread and prayer described what the fellowship entailed.

“Even though their fellowship extended to material goods its primary reference must be to the ideas, attitudes, purposes, mission, and activities that the Christians shared.” [Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Ac 2:42.]

There was a unity of purpose within this community that was unheard of during this time, especially considering the vast number of cultures that were represented in it.

We see that in the many times we see the words “together,” and “all,” and “one mind,” and “in common in verses 43-47.

Acts 2:43–47 NASB95

Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Do you see that? “All those who had believed were together and had all things in common.” They were sharing their property and possessions “with all.” They were continuing with “one mind in the temple.” They were “taking their meals together.”

And look at the powerful witness for Christ that the unity of this new community had on those around them. They had favor with “all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Many church experts have noted in recent years that America is now a post-Christian nation, much like most of Europe. By that, they mean that Christianity no longer has the influence here that it once had. We can see it in the most recent surveys which show that the percentage of Americans who describe themselves as Christians is lower than ever. We can see it in the same surveys, which show that the percentage of people who consider involvement with a church to be important is lower than ever.

There are, of course, many reasons for this sad state of affairs. But I wonder if one of the biggest reasons is that we have lost the distinctiveness that we see in these last six verses of Acts, chapter 2.

How long has it been since our nation saw a Church like this? How long has it been since the Church has been known for love and unity, rather than condemnation and divisiveness? Can we ever truly have described ourselves as continually devoted to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship?

I talked briefly a couple of weeks ago about all the one-anothers in the New Testament and how one third of them are some version of “love one another.” Perhaps you’ll recall that I said the other two-thirds describe HOW we go about loving one another.

“Be at peace with one another.” “Accept one another.” “Be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving to one another.” “Confess your sins to one another.” “Serve one another.” “Be subject to one another.” “Bear one another’s burdens.” “Speak truth to one another.” “Pray for one another.” “Teach and admonish one another.” And all the rest.

I think that’s exactly what was going on in this Acts 2 church. And I think that when we stopped one-anothering one another the way that Scripture tells us to, we lost the distinctiveness that characterized that church. The salt lost its saltiness.

And as we move forward in this series of messages on the church, you’re going to hear me return to this subject again and again. Because I believe this is the ONLY way we can fulfill the mission that Jesus gave us — to go and make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them all that He commanded.

The Church — this community of baptized believers devoted to hearing the apostles’ teaching and practicing the things we hear — is called to be a city set upon a hill. We’re called to be a beacon of light in this dark and lost world. We’re called to be salt in a tasteless and decaying generation. We’re called to be an embassy full of ambassadors for the King of kings and Lord of lords.

The Church isn’t a club for people waiting to go on to a better place. The Church is supposed to be an army of missionaries that gathers to be equipped for battle against Satan and all his evil. And we fight that battle each time we love our neighbors as ourselves; each time we love our enemies; each time we tell someone about Jesus, who loved us even when we were His enemies, who loved us so much that He gave His life so that we who put our faith in Him can be saved.

THIS is the work of the Church, and we will never have Spirit-enabled success at it unless we commit ourselves to acting the way the Church is supposed to act. Acting, for instance, like this Acts 2 church.

And this morning, we will do something the Acts 2 church probably did every day. We will break bread together in the Lord’s Supper as an expression of the unity we have in Christ through the Holy Spirit.

During this next song, I’d like to ask the deacons to pass out the elements of communion. If you are a baptized believer, I invite you to join us in this ceremonial meal, whether you’re here or viewing this message on Facebook.

Jesus commanded that we observe the Lord’s Supper as an act of obedience to Him and as a way of proclaiming that we who follow Him in faith belong to Him.

Just as baptism reminds us that we are buried with Christ in the likeness of His death and raised with Him in the likeness of His resurrection, the Lord’s Supper reminds us that our hope for salvation rests entirely on the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf at the cross. It reminds us that He is that our life is now in Him.

And the fact that we share bread from one loaf reminds us that we are, together, the body of Christ. It reminds us that we are called to unity of faith, unity of purpose, and unity of love. It reminds us that we are ONE Church here at Liberty Spring and around the world and one Church across the centuries.

Now, this sacred meal dates all the way back to when Jesus shared it with His disciples at the Last Supper on the night before He was crucified.

The conditions during the Last Supper were different than the conditions we have here today, but the significance was the same as it is today.

Jesus told His disciples that the bread represented His body, which would be broken for our transgressions.

Let us pray.

Matthew 26:26 NASB95

While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

As Jesus suffered and died on that cross, his blood poured out with His life. This was always God’s plan to reconcile mankind to Himself.

“In [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.”

Let us pray.

Matthew 26:27–28 NASB95

And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

Take and drink.

“Now, as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”

Maranatha! Lord, come!

Here at Liberty Spring, we have a tradition following our commemoration of the Lord’s Supper.

Please gather around in a circle, and let us sing together “Blest Be the Tie that Binds.”