The Early Church
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Here we are, two weeks after Easter, the crucifixion is over, the resurrection is over, sort of. At least all the celebration is over, too bad for that. We have studied about the Road to Emmaus and the two men who met Christ there. Those two men that were quiet, and heartbroken and thought that they had lost all hope. But there, on that dusty road, on that long quiet walk, was the man they all had put their hopes on. And they and all of humanity were redeemed. Well, it is time to go on, go on with our lives, go on with our programs, go on with our work, and our play, and it is spring time, so we get into sports, soccer, baseball soon we all think about summertime, vacations and all that. (Pause)
Where did we leave our Savior? Along that road? Where is He? Is He is our life? Is He in everything we do? Is He a part of our existence, our breathing? Is He an integral part of our family and our thoughts? He is supposed to, we know that, but is He?
Our Scripture focus for today is found in the book of Acts, chapter 2. If you could turn to that page in your Bibles, we can read it again, together.
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.
Verse 42 begins, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved”.
There we are! It is pretty plain if we truly expect to experience Jesus Christ in our life, if we truly wish to have Him be a part of us, our thinking, our family, our everything. If we truly want those miracles, those signs from God, those wonders that scripture speaks about, what are we to do? It looks to me, like three thing
First, “they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching”.
Spend Time in the Word of God
Spend Time in the Word of God
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Fellowship with the Body of Christ
Fellowship with the Body of Christ
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.
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Spend Time in Prayer
Spend Time in Prayer
pray without ceasing,
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
Did you realize that lives devoted to the teachings of Christ are changed forever? Did you know that God calls the followers of His Son, our Savior, to spending time together, eating together and praying together? His Word doesn’t lie, and it is easy to read, although I admit, we often forget to follow through after Easter is over.
But here we are, with those words right in front of us. God waiting on us like an child waiting for an ice cream cone. Wanting to see if we truly want Him to be a part of our life. Waiting to see if this year it is going to be different.
I admit, it took a while for the apostles to get the point. It took Thomas to see and touch the holes in his hands. It took the travelers hours to recognize their Savior as they walked and talked with Him. But what about us? We have the accounts of hundreds of people. We have the scriptures that have not been proven wrong in 6000 years or more! What is it that we need? Are we waiting for something different? Are we waiting for the pillar of fire in the sky? Are we waiting for darkness to come in the middle of the day? Because let me tell ya, if we are, we are going to be sorely disappointed if our lives haven’t changed on that day.
Do you want to see the signs and wonders that God’s Word speaks about? Well I think it is possible, even probable that those things do and can happen right in front of us. But wait, there’s more! Just like the commercial that sells you what ever it is that you think you need, at an amazing discounted price, but wait, if you act now, you get two for the price of one! Except in this case, the key phrase is “if you act now”. If we go back to that scripture verse, the order that things happen is very important. FIRST the believers of Christ devoted themselves to the teachings of the apostles. And second, they devoted themselves to fellowship with each other. That means they spent their free time together. They laughed together, they ate together, they learned together, and they prayed together? And what happened? The signs and wonders, the healings, the miracles. The acts of God in their specific lives. God showed up.
It goes on and on. This isn’t a one time deal.
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. 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.
In Acts 4: verses 32-35 God’s Word goes on speaking to us, (pause) “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need”.
Are you starting to see a pattern here? It isn’t the possessions, if that is what you are thinking. It isn’t even the money that each believer gives. Those things are important, but in a way that is less obvious. The reason Luke points out these things as he was inspired to write the book of Acts is the 2nd of only two commandments that we were given by Jesus Himself. Do you remember?
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
Love your God, and Love your neighbor as yourself. Well there it is. People were hungry, people were in need, so others filled that need. If they were cold, it was with blankets, if they were sick it was with medicine, and if it was bills it was with money, but in every case, the point is, they each cared more about those around them than for themselves. A odd thought in today’s world, don’t you think? Do we still wonder why we see those miracles, those signs and those wonders? Maybe, just maybe it is because we aren’t listening and following the teachings of the apostles. Maybe we aren’t fellowshipping together and praying together.
Maybe you have heard believers say the words, “God is a god of order, not of disorder”. Wouldn’t this be a good example? God went and thought of us, before Himself. He thought of you and I before His own Son. He gave us the perfect example. We didn’t deserve it, we surely deserve the consequences of our own sin. And yet, here we are, every one of us, forgiven, and redeemed. Restored to the good graces of our Creator.
And we are given the hints, he doesn’t even make us come up with the answer on our own. He gives it to us right there. In that verse we began with, Acts chapter 2, verses 42-47. We can go home and read it over and over, it doesn’t change. It has never changed. We are each called to fellowship, to spend time with believers, to eat with believers, to pray with believers. We are each called to serve each other, to think of each other before ourselves.