Acts Message 12

After the church prayed

Acts 4:32–37 (NKJV)

32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,

35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus,

37 having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Intro: The church at Jerusalem (first church) is a model of what a church needs to be.

They were filled with the Holy Spirit.

A church can fancy, all the bells and whistles. Great sounding praise band. A church can have looks and sound that bring people in. But if a church is no filled with the Holy Spirit, you ain’t nothing.

This church was filled with the Holy Spirit. Since the day of Pentecost. People were being saved, a lame man was healed. In their prayer (Acts 4:30) more healing.

They were now being persecuted, ( just the beginning) they had, had an awesome prayer meeting.

They were a church on the move (they were the only church)

They were unified.

In Acts 2:42-45 we see four things that tells us about this church.

Acts 2:42–45 (NKJV)

42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,

45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

“ And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine”

1. They did more then just listen, they received it, they supported, they lived it.

2. “They continued in fellowship” with means “Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common”

3. They continued “breaking bread from house to house” They did so with gladness and singleness of heart.

4. They continues “in prayers” And they did this, the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

I want to go back to the word fellowship (2:42)

GW: Koinonia. (Coin a knee a)

Has more then one meaning: communion, communication, distribution, contribution, partaker, partners.

The root of this word in found in 4:32 “but they had all things in common"

The GW “common” is the root from which Koninia comes.

So we see that fellowship means, “having all things common”

This teaches us that us that born again believers have fellowship with God.

Pentecost brought early Christians into a new relationship with God through the Holy Spirit. And a new relationship with each other. “They had all things common”

For the church today, we that are saved (Elab) are part of the body of Christ. We a have a new relationship with Him. We have all things common, we have fellowship with each other.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Ephesians 4:4–6 (NKJV)

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

“All things common” Fellowship. We see the results of this is these verses today.

They were Unified.

Acts 4:32 (NKJV)

32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

"one heart and one soul”

To be this way, means to be unified.

The heart is the emotional center of a person. From the comes the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)

23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

The soul is the seat of love and hate. It is the soul that is born from above, created new in Jesus Christ.

These followers of Jesus in this church, first, they believed for the salvation of the soul. But, they also totally devoted to Jesus, so they were of one heart. Another reason they were in fellowship together.

They were devoted to Jesus, because they loved Jesus. Being to devoted to Jesus: Spending time in prayer. Spending time in His word.

They love each other. And they were devoted to each other. That is a mark of a spirit filled church.

1 John 4:20–21 NKJV

20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

You can’t be devoted to God if you are not devoted to others.

You can’t love God, of you do not love others.

These early Christians were also unselfish.

Acts 4:32 (NKJV)

32 Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.

Acts 4:33 NKJV

33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

A big problem today is many people are self centered. They get all they can, and keep all they get.

They share nothing with their fellow believers.

These people were so devoted to Jesus and each others, all selfishness was removed.

“Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul”

1 Corinthians 12:26 NKJV

26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Too many times today, when a Church member suffers, weather it’s physical or financial, lose a loved one, some personal tragedy. We maybe discuss their problem, show some sympathy. Elab

The first church out it into action.

1 John 3:17 (NKJV)

17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

Acts 4:33 (NKJV)

33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

The Sanhedrin tried to shut them up, they warned them, they threatened them to no longer preach Jesus.

It drove them to their knees, and the Holy Spirit drove them to their feet. Grace and power flowed through them.

“And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus”

Answered pray. VS 29

“Great grace was upon all of them”

What was going on in this church could only be possible by the grace of God. It was His power that move them, and gave them power to continue to share the gospel of Jesus.

They were generous.

Acts 4:34–35 (NKJV)

34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,

35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.

We are not told that they sold all they had. It is possible they sold a portion of what they had. But they gave all that they earned.

The money was given the Apostles. And they gave to those in need. Widows, somwe who had lost their jobs.....

This is something the religious rulers wouldn’t do.

Something new came from those who had given their lives to Jesus. True Godly love, they Filled with the Holy Spirit, not filled with greed.

True Christian love.

God had blessed them (they saw that now) so they wanted to share that blessing with others.

We will see times in the book of Acts where people give to the Apostles so they can GO.

But we never see it like this again.

This is not saying you have to sale all you have.

Acts 4:36–37 NKJV

36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus, 37 having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Joses : Same translations “Joseph”

“Barnabas” (Son of Encouragement)

Barnabas will become a big part in the mission field.

Here we see he was very generous.

He was a land owner, he gave up what he had for the ministry of Jesus.

When he gave his heart to Jesus, Jesus became Lord of his life.

He had no idea his name would be written down for his give, He gave because he love the Lord.

Churches couldn’t make it without generous heroes like Barnabas.

Matthew 6:19–20 (NKJV)

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Why is it important to gave with a generous heart?

Because that is what Jesus did.

Romans 5:8 (NKJV)

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

In spite of our sin, God gave His son, Jesus because He loves us.That is what God gave to you.

When you are in fellowship with God, when you are truly devoted to God because He demonstrated His love for you, then you will want to demonstrate your love to Him.

One way to through a generous heart in giving.

Less loving stuff Mt 6:19-20) and more loving God, and others.

We want to show God’s love to Glenn Springs Elem.

We want to show God love to people in our community.

The love of God was shown through Barnabas and the others but what they did. They sold what they had and gave to money to the Apostle to give to those in need, and to further God’s work.

They had experienced God love and they wanted others to experience it too.

This is not just in our giving, but in telling others about Jesus’ saving grave. If have experienced that grave, don;t you want others to experience it too.

Our 2 cars.....

The church started the day of Pentecost.

They were a growing church.

They were a praying church.

They had a testimony.

They were a generous church. (focused on others)

They a church with a mission.

They a church with God’s grace in their lives.

They had evidence of God working in their lives.

They were devoted to Jesus.