The Work of the Stones/Acts 2:42-47

Introduction

Good morning church. It’s always an honor and a true joy of mine every time that I’m blessed with the opportunity to preach the word of God. We’re back in the book of Acts this morning! Well, sorta. We find ourselves today in the final installment of a mini-series that we’ve been in the last three weeks titled “Living Stones”.

Pastor Tommy has done an awesome job at laying a framework and foundation for us to understand what and who the church is, and whom it belongs to.

To give us just a brief recap, we, the redeemed, regenerated, Jesus believing and confessing, blood bought, resurrected people of God are who makes up the church, according to the hand and grace of Jesus. That is the “who”. It’s not just simply the four walls of a building, but a called and collected people.

You quite literally DO have to believe to belong to Christ’s church. Only those who believe in and follow Christ are a part of His church. Christ’s church is His bride, a people that He has called, is calling, and will continue calling unto Himself until the day of His return. That is the “what”.

Of course, that means that the church belongs to Jesus Christ, being that we are His bride, His people. Romans 11:36 “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”. ALL THINGS are from Him, exist because of Him, and will ultimately end up glorifying Him alone. This ESPECIALLY includes HIS church!

So, building off the foundation that’s been laid the past few weeks, we’re going to be looking at this morning, based in Acts 2:42-47 (we’ll get there eventually I promise), the practical application of what being the church, God’s “living stones”, looks like. “The work of the stones” if you will.

1 Peter 2:4-8 has been at the center of what we’ve been studying together. Once again, it says “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.”

The author of this passage, Peter, uses the image of “stones”, rocks, etc. here, expounding upon the idea that Christ is the cornerstone (the foundation, the most important piece) of a “spiritual house” (the church), of which we are the “living stones”.

He uses us TOGETHER to build up His spiritual house and holy priesthood. Peter uses this metaphorical language of “stones” and “cornerstone”, which admittedly, seem to be a paradox. Stones aren’t alive, they’re just placed where they need to be and just stay in place.

EXACTLY! Kind of...

If we are born again believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we’re no longer dead! Ephesians 2:1-10:

Ephesians 2:1–10 ESV

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We USED to be dead in our trespasses and sins, until the Lord made us alive by His grace, not our works! This passage really sums up all that we’ve been talking about in this series.

We were dead in our sin before Christ, wanting nothing to do with Him. But, through Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, He’s made us alive with Him through HIS finished work! Because of this, we’re now saved and have become apart of His church. And as His church, we all (though saved individually) working together do the good works that God has chosen for us to do BEFOREHAND, in Christ!

Therefore, as Peter said, we’re LIVING stones. Now, similarly as to how a builder places a stone to build up a structure, we’re put into place within Christ’s body according to His good plan and pleasure. Yet, we don’t just sit there. We work. Hard. For the glory of God and the joy of His people. That’s Eph. 2:10.

We’re saved FROM sin, the wrath of God, eternal death/damnation. But we’re also saved INTO the Lord’s church, into good works. This is what Paul was saying in Colossians 1:24-29 “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

Specifically verse 29 there can be defined as the balance of Christian living. Like Paul, we toil and struggle and work hard in our daily tasks and efforts. Yet, we should never do so believing that all the responsibility is on us. Or that we muster up the strength to do anything. The Lord gives us the energy and the ability, hence why we accomplish anything at all!

This is all the basis of our being built up and our working as living stones. Let us now, planted in Acts 2:42-47, observe some practical applications for us as Christ’s church.

Message

Acts 2:42-47 “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.”

This passage contains both prescriptive and descriptive elements to it. We’ll be focusing on just a few of the prescriptive elements, which will hopefully, by God’s grace, provide us with some practical steps as to how we ought to live as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Those prescriptive elements are devotion, unity/togetherness, and praise. We know these 3 to be prescriptive (for us today) because they’re clearly outlined and/or commanded in Scripture, either recorded teachings of Jesus in the Gospels or recorded elsewhere in the NT epistles.

2:42-43-Verse 42 in Acts 2 reveals to us the devotion (the 1st of 3 elements) present in the first church. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and to prayer. Devotion here in the Greek is proskartereo, meaning adhere to, steadfastly attentive unto, persevere and not faint. The 1st church were steadfastly attentive to and persevering in these things. As should we today!

Being devoted to the apostles’ teaching means paying attention and adhering to what the apostles taught from their time spent with Jesus. The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “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.”. Therefore, we as the church must persevere in the Scriptures, devote ourselves to them, paying close attention to what the whole counsel of God teaches us about Himself and what we are to do in light of who He is and what He’s done.

This must be done individually, in our own relationships with Christ. But also communally, in our worship gatherings, Bible studies, and community groups.

Imagine the chaos if we devoted ourselves to anything else?! Imagine if I told you that I love my dog, Piper. But I don’t just love her, I’m DEVOTED to her. I spend all my days thinking about her, when I come home she gets all of my attention. I say hi to Kaitlyn and Shiloh, but they don’t need anymore than that, they know where I stand with them.

LUNACY! But yet, don’t we do this with the Bible and outside sources? Devoting most if not all of our attention on books about the Bible instead of the Bible itself? Filling our time with end times conspiracy theories or the latest news reports.

I’m not claiming that we can’t spend time on these things, but they shouldn’t be what we’re devoted to. Christ and His word are our only devotion. In the words of Charles Spurgeon “Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.”.

Another aspect of the early church’s devotion was devotion to the fellowship. Meaning: being devoted to the Lord, and as a result, each other. The Greek here is “koinonia”, meaning partnership or joint participation. The fellowship we have with one another in the church is to be a mutual give and take, like a healthy flowing stream.

We’re all participating in the mutual encouragement of one another to obedience to Christ and in the mission that Christ has given us, to glorify Him and make disciples.

There are several “one another” verses throughout the NT, almost 60 of them referencing the church. Let us observe a few to spur us on in the work of devoted fellowship within Christ’s body:

John 13:34-35 “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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”” Love one another.

1 Corinthians 12:21-26 “The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” Care for one another.

2 Corinthians 13:11 “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” Agree with one another.

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Bear one another’s burdens.

Ephesians 4:30-32 “30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Forgive each other.

Each of these commandments are synonymous with the self-sacrificial love our Savior exemplified for us. And each are only made possible and accomplished in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The breaking of bread and the prayers here refers to communion, an ordinance given to us by Christ Himself to remember the price He paid for our redemption (could spend a whole other series on the importance of communion), and we also see the early church devoted to prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”. Are you devoted to prayer? Praying for the church? Look at Breeze. Lord, help us!

We should see verse 43 not as a command to go practice miracles (let the Lord lead in this), but as a description of the holy awe and reverence that came over the church in response to what the Lord was doing in the time of the apostles.

2:44-46-Moving on, we see that there also was unity, a togetherness present amongst the early church. Acts 2:44-46 “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,”.

“All who believed were together”. The common joy, fellowship, and worship that was present is just so tangible just by reading this account. It’s important to not skip over that phrase: “And all who believed were together”. And not just together, but in each others lives.

So much so that every need was being met. They didn’t all become homeless (i.e. “breaking bread in their homes”) and start a collective money pool that everyone grabbed from. Like Pastor Tommy said last week, this wasn’t communism but communionism.

They were in intimate, close knit (but not closed off) community with each other. They knew each others needs because they were in each others lives! And this was all centered upon the beauty and power of Jesus and His Gospel. May that be Live Oaks! If you don’t see this in our body, BE IT!

Reach out to folks, grab lunch with someone you don’t know very well, connect with those outside of your close group of friends, get plugged into a Bible study or community group (wink, wink). May all of us pitch in to be a part of the solution and ask Jesus us to use us to build up His spiritual house, His church!

Now, we must understand that this deep, loving, caring community that is the church doesn’t happen with just 1 hour on Sunday mornings. I praise God that you’re here this morning. I praise God for our gatherings like this to exalt His name and to hear His word sung and preached.

But, it doesn’t stop here! This is just a part of His church. If you and I aren’t involved or plugged into the body at Live Oaks in some other way outside of Sunday morning, then we are tragically missing out and possibly in danger of sinning.

If we’re all honest with ourselves, most of us can always find excuses not to reach out to others, check in, or get plugged into some sort of group within the church. I believe this is a major plague of American culture today, especially within the church.

Our hyper-individualism makes each of us prone to isolate ourselves rather than lean on the body in our time of need. Or even be there for someone in their time of distress. We must fight to kill this sin, which we’re all susceptible to.

John 13:34-35 “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. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

This of course can be a nuanced topic. Don’t neglect your family or responsibilities as a husband, wife, etc. in exchange for the church. Don’t feel condemned if your sick, incapable of participating, and so on. As always, there is grace. But, don’t neglect the local body of Christ that you’re a part of either.

Hebrews 10:23-25 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 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.”.

There won’t be togetherness if we’re never together. This passage in Hebrews should be seen as more than just a few verses to throw in the face of any church that shut down during the height of the Covid pandemic.

Far better yet, we should view this as a potential rebuke to the pandemic of sloth and laziness that exists in many of our hearts today, leading us maybe not to neglect the Sunday gathering, but resisting every other opportunity to gather with no second thought given to the matter.

Holding fast to the confession of our faith, may we seek every opportunity to get together to enjoy the Lord and the fellowship that He’s purchased for us. We have Bible studies, prayer meetings, young adult gatherings, Sunday school hour, explore and learn the Bible class, community groups, youth groups, just to name a few.

I promise you this is not to brag or boast, but just to say, there are areas and opportunities for you to get connected into the lives of those around you, centered upon the word of God at Live Oaks Bible Church. A place for you to marvel at and praise God with other believers for who He is and what He’s doing in our world and community. A place for you to serve and be served. Just ask.

This is not a ploy for numbers, I promise you, but a humble plea for the good of your soul to get plugged in to a community, whether that be here or any other Biblical local church!

2:47-Finally, the last prescriptive element for us regarding how to live as Christ’s church is praise. Acts 2:47 “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

All of what we’ve just covered could be defined as praise, because it was all done in light of who Christ is and what He’s done. The true church of Christ is marked by its praise of Christ, individual and corporate, through song, service, and a lives lived for His glory.

Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”. Paul commands us here to each live a life of praise, worship, and devotion (“presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice”) unto the living God. This is our personal, individual praise unto the Lord.

And this is what we are to do partially by ourselves, but also collectively when we gather: Colossians 3:12-17 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”.

I want to give a final call to action to two potential groups in the room. If you’re a born again believer and follower of Christ Jesus, don’t delay getting plugged into the body. We can help you. Please, for the your joy in Christ, take some step in that direction today.

To the person not sure if their even a part of the church this morning, or doubting. Repent of your sins, turn to Christ, and believe in His and His glorious Gospel today. Delay no longer. Trust in Him this day.

PRAY