We do not have an audio of today’s sermon due to technical difficulties.
Today we will finish up our time looking at Acts chapter 2 verses 40-47. Last week we saw how Peter told the crowd to Repent and be Baptized in the Name of Jesus. Today we will look at the rest of the story.
Peter had spoken many other words to the crowd, but the message of repentance and identification with Jesus could be summed up in this idea: Be saved from this perverse generation. The word for “perverse” is the same word from which we get scoliosis. The problem in any generation is not that we are human, but that we are twisted and bent. The problem is not that we don’t have a sense of right and wrong, but instead, that understanding itself is twisted and bent. The generation alive at that time was so twisted in its sense of what was good and what was evil, that it crucified the Messiah.
Here we see the importance of challenging our generation. It says that Peter testified and exhorted his fellow citizens. This is the same call that we have today. It is imperative that our witness reach the twisted and lost generation that we live among. Though this generation may believe Jesus is dead and gone, it is up to Christians to testify to the Truth and exhort people to be saved from this generation.
Now, remember how God had given Israel his laws. Each of these laws was good and righteous. However, the leaders and the people had so twisted them through their own human reasoning and sinful, self-justification, that their actions and culture were perverted. We see this today in our own society. We don’t have the privilege of having started with laws made directly by God. However, our founding fathers looked to the Scriptures and sought to honor God in the laws they created. Today, we see how easy it is to pervert and twist these laws to the point that instead of giving us freedom they chain us to tyranny. Use the Same Sex Marriage issue as an example. We have so twisted the laws of this land around to the point that we promote activities that are in direct contradiction of God’s Word. The very thing our laws were intending to glorify. Thus, through our “grand reasoning” and progressive enlightenment, we twist the Truth of what is good for our own ends and for our own pleasure.
We are told that 3,000 people repented and were baptized that day. Though this is a large response, it is only a percentage of the larger number that was in Jerusalem that day. This large response is not because of the irresistible logic of Peter, as good as it is. It is because of the planting of truth and the watering of the soil of their hearts through the Scriptures and the Life and Teaching of Jesus Christ (who is the Living Word of God).
In verse 42 we are given the things that were important to the first Christian community. They continued steadfast in 4 different things. The first is the doctrine or teaching of the apostles. Be careful of divorcing this from God’s Word. Jesus had given the apostles the corrected or untwisted Truth about what the Law and the Prophets were all about. So the New Testament, which is the record of the teaching of the apostles, is the pure Word of God. The believers held strongly to these pure Truths and encouraged each other in them regularly. They were also strong to fellowship with one another. Fellowship is the shared life of those who have a common lot in something. The believers all shared a portion in Jesus and his present spiritual kingdom and in the coming physical kingdom. Thus fellowship is more than having fun together. It is the atmosphere of all that we do together. Thirdly, they were strong towards breaking bread together. This phrase has two aspects to it. First it is a phrase that came to refer to communion or the Lords Table. However, it also is a reference to the hospitality and care that they had for one another. Those who were part of the Christian community were given care, and the community also ate together in fellowship. Thus both spiritually and naturally they broke bread together. Lastly they were strong towards prayer. Although, I’m sure, they were strong in prayer individually, the context calls for times of corporate prayer, which is evidenced in the rest of the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Just like it is said that ‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’, so it is true that Necessity is often the mother of prayer. The early church received much persecution and difficulty, which drove them to times of prayer and fasting. They were very conscious of their need of God and the power of His Holy Spirit.
These are precisely the things we need to be strong towards today. Ask yourself this question. Is my life strongly pursuing the teaching of the apostles, fellowship with other believers, communion with the saints, having each other in our homes for meals, and corporate prayer? These are very critical things that must be at the core of any believer’s life and any Christian community.
In verses 43 through 47 we have a peek into the everyday life of the early Church. First the fear of the Lord was upon them. Elsewhere it mentions that unbelievers somewhat feared Christians. But here it seems to point to the Christians themselves. If you remember the story of Ananias and Saphira, you will know that God was moving mightily among them. There was a deep respect and fear of the Lord. These were serious times and God was judging his people Israel. They took these things seriously. The Bible tells us that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When we recognize the reality of God’s greatness and our comparably human weakness, it should instill a healthy fear of how we act before Him.
It mentions that they took care of one another’s needs. When it says they had all things in common, it leads some to say that this supports the ideals of communism. However, this is not a philosophical phrase. They were not following a communal scheme. Rather, as individual Christians had need, others would sell their stuff in order to cover those needs. Instead of philosophy it was love that was at the root of their actions. They took care of each other, no matter what it took. No one was required to sell all their possessions and keep a common bank account. They simply held what they had lightly and were quick to share it with each other. The simplicity of acting in love is lost in the modern concept of required compassion that is funded by the state (tax payers).
Lastly, their hearts were in one accord. Literally they had the same passion and fire in their hearts. They were unified in what they were trying to accomplish. They met daily in the temple to worship the reveal messiah, Jesus. They ate together in gladness and simplicity. They praised God and asked his favor with the people around them. In light of the earlier twisting of human reasoning, we can see how 2,000 years of Church reasoning has twisted and perverted what Church is supposed to be all about. God intended it to be a far simpler thing, where we enjoyed one another and blessed one another in His name.
Our generation today is one that continues to pervert and twist its ways before the Lord. Judgment will not tarry forever. It is incumbent upon us to turn to Jesus in repentance and identify with the Truth that he laid down. We also need to strive to get back to the simplicity of life led by the Holy Spirit; rather than life driven by the dictates of tradition and leaders.
Jesus is the simple message of not trusting your own wisdom and deeds, but rather, trusting in His all sufficiency. We have never needed Jesus more than we do now.