The Fellowship of Believers

Well, as I said last week, we took our time studying the theological realities of the church

as Paul expressed them to the church of Ephesus.

We were reminded that everything the church is and does is focused on the work of Jesus Christ

and that in the gospel, we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, reconciled to God by his grace,

and we are made members, eternal members of Christ's new kingdom people.

And Paul used three illustrations at the end of that passage, if you remember,

to describe this new kingdom people, these gospel people, what we call the church.

He said that we are citizens of God's kingdom, that we now all have the same passport.

We are members of God's family, that we all have the same father.

And that we are living stones of God's temple.

In other words, those who repent of their sin and follow Jesus are saved by God's grace

and then united together with God's people.

And those are the theological realities of who we are and what God has created us to be as his church.

And today, we begin looking at how these theological realities shape the identity and practice of the local church.

And of course, particularly how these realities should shape the identity and practice of Lakeside Bible Church.

And I think Acts chapter 2 is the perfect place for us to do just that.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

The chapter begins, maybe if it's been a while since you've read it,

the chapter begins with the unique pouring out of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

This is about 50 days after Jesus' crucifixion.

It's only a few days following his ascension to heaven.

And as you recall, perhaps in your readings of the Gospel of John,

Jesus had promised his disciples that once he returned to his exalted place in heaven,

he would send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Helper,

who would come and would indwell them and would empower them and would teach them

and help them to recall all that Christ had taught them.

And this day of Pentecost, as it's recorded in Acts 2,

is that promised moment that Jesus had foretold.

And as a part of this, the apostles who were in Jerusalem at the time

were uniquely empowered by the Spirit to speak in languages that were unknown to them,

but known to the various ethnic communities represented in Jerusalem at the time.

And as you might expect, this caused quite a stir among the people,

which led Peter to preach perhaps the clearest gospel message

that you'll find anywhere in the New Testament.

Peter's inspired sermon, spirit-empowered sermon,

resulted in 3,000 people being saved.

Or as Paul would have said to the Ephesians,

3,000 people who were then redeemed by the blood of Jesus.

Now our purpose this morning is to examine what took place

after the conversion of these new Christians.

So the Spirit comes, Peter preaches,

the Lord pricks their hearts,

He regenerates 3,000 souls,

they trust Jesus by faith.

Now what?

That's what we want to focus on now.

And it's interesting.

They didn't simply continue their everyday lives

with only a shift in their religious affiliation.

That's not at all what took place in the lives of these people.

Their lives were transformed.

Immediately, they were united in fellowship

with all the other new Christians that had come to faith in that moment.

Now think about this.

In that moment,

ethnic people from outside of Israel have gathered in Jerusalem.

They have heard the apostles preaching the gospel,

speaking of Jesus in their own native tongue.

Now they have been pricked in their hearts

by the preaching of the gospel through Peter.

And now all of a sudden,

all of these people from different backgrounds

and different cultures,

Jews and Gentile alike,

are now united in fellowship together in Jerusalem.

It's amazing.

Just like that,

everything changes.

Their lives are transformed.

Totally.

Fellowship's actually an important word in this text.

We see it in verse 42.

They were devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching

and the fellowship.

The Bible doesn't describe God's people in this way

anywhere in the scriptures prior to Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

Not even the gospels use this word for fellowship.

It appears for the first time at this moment.

And then the apostles regularly used it

in reference to the church.

And I want to tell you what the word is.

You probably already know it.

It is koinonia.

Koinonia.

And I want to give you a definition for it.

It means fellowship,

partnership,

the close association between persons,

emphasizing what is common between them.

That's a definition that a Greek scholar,

Bill Mounts, has given to us.

Fellowship,

partnership,

the close association of persons,

emphasizing what is common between them.

These people that have come to know Christ

are now this koinonia in Jerusalem.

Something that the apostles would continue to describe them as

over and over in the New Testament.

Let me give you just a couple of instances

where the apostles use this in other places.

1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 9.

1 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

Paul tells the Corinthians,

God is faithful

by whom you were called into the

koinonia,

fellowship,

partnership

of his son,

Jesus Christ our Lord.

Here he is writing to a local church

and he says,

God has been faithful

through the gospel.

He has called you into

koinonia.

Koinonia.

Not just any koinonia,

but the koinonia

of Jesus,

the son of God.

Paul continues many times

to use this word.

Notably,

he uses it

when he refers

to the Lord's Supper

in the same letter

to the church

at Corinth.

But the apostle John

also speaks of it.

1 John chapter 1

1 John 1:3

verse 3.

That which we have seen

and heard

we proclaim

also to you.

so that you too

may have

koinonia

with us.

And indeed,

our koinonia

is with the Father

and with his son,

Jesus Christ.

Do you see?

What brings people together

emphasizing

what is common

between them.

And whenever the apostles

used this term koinonia,

what they were referring to

is the church.

that as we have

koinonia

with Jesus Christ

in the gospel,

now all of a sudden

we have koinonia

with others

who have also

become one

with Christ

in the gospel.

And we think back

to Ephesians 2.

What is it that

the church

is made by

or made to be?

We are redeemed

by the blood of Christ,

then we are reconciled

by the peace of Christ.

We are reconciled

first to God

and in the process

of being reconciled

to God

through Christ,

we are reconciled

to one another

so that Christ

is making

his kingdom people

a koinonia.

You see,

this fellowship word,

this koinonia,

was not what

the apostles used

to describe

a church potluck

after the morning

worship service.

It wasn't merely

men as a term

for gathering

as if we're going

to go and have

fellowship together

after the service today.

That's not how

they used this.

They employed

the word

to indicate

a believer's

reconciled state

to God

and to other Christians.

And this is

what we are.

We are a partnership

together

that goes far deeper

than a simple choice

to worship

with a particular

group of people

at a particular place

on Sunday mornings.

We,

Lakeside Bible Church,

have koinonia

together

in the same way

that each of us

who are believers

have koinonia

with God

through Jesus Christ.

Now,

does that seem

like a relationship

that is to be

treated casually

and with a commitment

that is based

primarily on convenience?

Of course not.

Unfortunately,

that's actually

how many Christians

think about

their relationship

with the local church.

And what I want

to get across today

is this dynamic

of the fellowship

of believers.

believers,

the koinonia

of believers,

that because

of who we are

in Christ,

we have an identity

and a relationship

with one another

that is meaningful

and is deep

and is unlike

any other relationship

that we will have

in this life.

And I want to point out

the importance of it.

But of course,

before we can really

talk about that fellowship,

it would be necessary

for us to talk about

what it means

or how one might

become a part

of this koinonia.

We find that answer

in verse 41.

Let's read it together.

So those who received

his word

were baptized

and there were added

that day

about 3,000 souls.

So notice that

this fellowship

of believers,

the entrance into it

is expressed

in verse 41

by believers,

baptism.

Now, it's not that

the apostles were teaching

that baptism

was necessary

for salvation

or in some way

contributes

to our salvation.

They repeatedly

affirmed

in the scriptures

that salvation

is by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Christ alone,

according to

the scriptures alone

and to the glory

of God alone.

That's unmistakable

in the scriptures

and it's undeniable

in the scriptures.

At no place

do the apostles

ever teach us,

do the Bible

ever teach us

that our baptism

is actually

what makes us

a believer.

But it's also true

that baptism

was so closely

related

to a person's

conversion

in the early church

that the apostles

did sometimes

use the terms

interchangeably

to refer

to a person's

conversion.

And here we see

that this represented

in this baptism

as these people

received the word

of the gospel

that Peter had preached

actually became

the entrance

into the kingdom.

Not the baptism

itself,

but the faith

that undergirded it,

the conversion

that was represented

by it.

So as Peter preached

the gospel

on the day of Pentecost,

the Holy Spirit

regenerated these people,

they believed

the gospel,

and then they were baptized

to publicly declare

their repentance

from sin

and conversion

to Jesus.

And notice

that only

these regenerate

baptized believers

were formally added

to the fellowship.

And there's an important

truth in this

for us.

You can't be a part

of a local church

without first being

a part

of the church.

Now you can play

the part

of a church member.

You can sign

the membership forms

and you can affiliate

with a particular

congregation.

You can do

all of those things,

but you can't truly

be a part

of the church

without being

a part

of the church,

without being

a believer,

without being

a Christian.

Someone who,

as Paul said,

has been redeemed

by the blood

of Christ

and reconciled

to God

through the peace

that Christ brings.

You cannot be

a part

of the fellowship

of believers

until you first

know Christ.

What do we see

is true

about the church,

even the local church,

in the way it was

formally recognized

in the scriptures?

It was only made up

of those who

were regenerate,

those who were

truly in Christ.

It wasn't only marked

by regenerate

partnership,

it was marked

by meaningful

partnership.

Belonging to the

people of God,

as we'll see

in the remaining

verses,

is something

that these Christians

took very seriously.

There's nothing

casual about their

life in the church.

It truly meant

something to them.

Even the fact

that someone

was keeping track

of these things

leads us to believe

that there was

even a formal

recognition

in some way,

even early on,

of who belonged

to the church

and who didn't.

The truth is,

the Bible knows

nothing of an

individual that

belongs to Christ

but doesn't belong

to his people.

Yet there are

so many Christians

who treat their

relationship with

the church as if

it doesn't really

matter.

I don't want to

say it's a mistake.

I would say

it's a sin.

Let's think about

it this way.

Chris and Ashley,

Lord willing,

this weekend

are going to stand

and covenant

together in

holy matrimony.

And it's an

exciting day

and everybody's

excited about it

and perhaps,

can you imagine

what Ashley would

think if Chris

came to her this

afternoon after lunch

and he said,

you know what,

sweetheart,

I've been thinking

and I just want

you to know

I love you so much

and I'm so

thankful for you.

All I want to do

is spend the rest

of my life with you

and I want to grow

with you

and I want to serve

you and I want to

be a part of what

you're doing

and I want you to

be a part of what

I'm doing

and I want us to

go at this thing

together.

But I've been

thinking,

I'm not really into

this whole marriage

covenant thing.

I mean,

is it really necessary?

I mean,

what difference

does a piece of

paper from the

state of North

Carolina really make

with our relationship?

I mean,

we're in love.

We're committed

to one another.

We don't need

the formalities.

In fact,

it might even

actually cause

some kind of

hindrance in our

relationship

and I don't want

to ruin a good

thing that we got

going.

So,

sweetheart,

I know you've

been planning the

wedding and you're

excited about this.

I just don't think

we need it.

I think we just

need to forget

about that and move

forward lest we

mess things up.

It's not really

that big a deal.

Of course,

Ashley's going to

say,

what does it matter

with you?

Of course,

it's a big deal.

Right?

We would all say,

yeah,

no,

Chris,

you're out of

your mind.

Of course,

this is a big

deal.

This covenant

means something.

It means something

as you make a

covenant with God

and you make a

covenant with

Ashley in the

process of this.

It's important.

There's a lot of

people who actually

view marriage that

way.

There's a lot of

Christians who view

the church that

way.

I don't mean to

say that the

covenant that you

make with a local

church is the same

as a covenant that

you make in

marriage.

It's not the

same, but that

doesn't mean that

the formal

partnership with a

local church is

insignificant.

And there's so

many people who

they go through

this life and

they think,

you know what,

I love my

church and as

far as I can

tell at this

point in my

life, this is

who I want to

identify with and

this is who I

want to serve the

Lord with and I

want to grow with,

but I don't think

I want to make

any kind of

formal commitments

to them.

I don't want to

make any kind of

public membership

statements or

anything like that.

Maybe that would

mess up a good

thing going.

Maybe that would

tie me in too

close.

I don't know.

But what we see

taking place here

in the fellowship

of believers in

Jerusalem was that

it was made up of

regenerate people,

but it was also

meaningful to them.

They took it

seriously.

And we see that

continuing through

the New Testament.

Now that we're on

the same page about

meaningful,

regenerate koinonia,

let's see what

marked the Christian

church at its

purest moment in

history.

What's abundantly

clear in this

passage is that

God's people are a

gathering people.

Hence the reason

I'm connecting this

particular text to

the value that we

would call gathered

worship.

When God's people

gather, what is it

that they do?

They worship,

they encourage,

they express

affection as they

build one another

up in Christ.

And when fulfilling

God's desires,

the local church

displays the glory

of God in such a

way that its kingdom

identity is

unmistakable to the

world around it.

God's people are a

faithful to the

Ephesians 2.

So the theological

affirmations of

Ephesians 2 are then

intended by God to

have practical

applications in the

ongoing life of the

church.

Now we're going to

spend the next four

weeks after today

diving into the

details of these

things that we're

going to just

mention briefly.

So if I hit on one

of these things this

morning and you

think I'd really

like, I think we

should probably spend

some more time on

that.

Chances are we're

going to spend more

time on that.

But there's no

reason for us to do

it today, okay?

So just come back

the next four Sundays

and you'll get your

feel, okay?

But let's just

briefly mention these

five spirit-filled

marks of the

fellowship of

believers, okay?

Number one,

gathered worship.

Gathered worship.

Look at verse 42.

They devoted

themselves to the

apostles' teaching

and the fellowship

to the breaking of

bread and the

prayers.

So verse 42

opens with a

statement regarding

the fledgling

church's passion

and commitment.

If you have a

New American

Standard Bible

with you today,

you'll see a

more literal

translation represented

where it could

literally be

translated, they

continually devoted

themselves.

It's a present

active participle.

It's the idea

that this wasn't

just something

that they did

on this day of

Pentecost, but

this was something

that was true of

these Christians

moving forward in

an ongoing way

in their Christian

lives.

The devotion of

these new Christians

was not a fire

that quickly burned

out.

It was a continual

devotion that marked

the ongoing state of

this fellowship in

Jerusalem.

And such is the

mark of a truly

regenerate

congregation.

The Holy Spirit

indwells his people.

He empowers

Christians so that

the fire of

devotion for God

and his people

is enduring.

And the things

to which the

Christians were

continually devoted

continues all the

way through the

end of verse 47.

But here in

verse 42,

the section

opens with

their devotion

to the formal

worship of the

congregation.

What was it

that these people

did?

What was their

main concern

when it came

to their

formal worship

of God

in Christ?

Four things

are listed here.

Number one,

Bible teaching.

Bible teaching.

And they

continually devoted

themselves to the

apostles'

teaching.

Now it's

important to

note that the

apostles'

teaching here

doesn't refer

to teaching

that originated

in the minds

of men.

These were

not contrived

doctrines of

men.

That's not

what this was.

What they

taught the

people was

the gospel

of Jesus

through the

written word

of God.

Jesus had

instructed these

apostles to

take his

message to

the world,

not their

own.

And his

message was

rooted in the

Old Testament

scriptures and

expressed in his

own teaching to

the disciples,

apostles, and

then especially

through his

crucifixion and

resurrection.

These early

Christians were

devoted continually

to the faithful

exposition of the

Bible and what

Jesus had taught

his disciples.

Now think of

Peter's sermon

here.

You can go back

and read it

later in Acts

Acts 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

He begins with

an exposition of

the prophet Joel.

And he says this

that you are

witnessing today,

this pouring out

of the Holy

Spirit, this is

exactly what

Joel prophesied

and he goes

through and he

deals with it.

And then he

takes that Old

Testament scripture

and he connects

it directly to

the person and

work of Jesus

Christ, the

gospel.

And then as he

connects it to

the person and

work of Jesus,

he pulls in

parallel passages

in the Psalms that

help undergird the

truth that this

really is who

Jesus is.

He really is the

Son of God.

He really is the

Messiah.

And only if you

trust in him can

you know God and

be saved and be

forgiven.

What was Peter

doing in Acts 2?

He's preaching the

Bible.

He's not preaching

Peter's thoughts.

This wasn't Peter's

commentary on the

Christian life.

This was the

Bible Peter was

preaching.

And when they

gathered together

Sunday by Sunday

or even in some

cases, day by day,

what were these

people, these early

Christians committed

to?

They were committed

to Bible teaching.

And what does that

mean for us?

Well, over time,

these apostles were

inspired by God to

take this teaching

and to write it

down.

And it's what we

have in the pages of

the New Testament.

And when we gather

as a church,

especially in the

context of formal

worship, we must be

committed to,

continually devoted

to the faithful

preaching of the

Bible.

people, you

don't need my

thoughts.

My word will be

meaningless at the

end of the day.

What you need is

God's words.

What we need to

hunger for is not

the best wisdom that

Jared can impart to

you.

What we need to

hunger for is the

very words of God

that point us to the

person of Christ,

that tell us who we

are in him and

instruct us on what

we're to do in

relation to that.

Bible teaching.

Secondly, we'll talk

a lot more about that

next week.

Secondly, gathered

worship.

The actual

gathering.

This is the

koinonia word.

Look again at verse

42.

They devoted

themselves to the

apostles' teaching and

the fellowship.

Notice the definite

article there before

koinonia.

It's actually in the

Greek.

The koinonia,

making this an

explicit statement to

the gathered church

in this moment.

So what were they

committed to?

Bible teaching in

person with other

Christians.

That's what they

reflected on,

committed themselves to

in regards to their

formal worship.

And this is such an

important word for our

times.

because we have such

incredible wealth of

access to teaching

through modern forms of

media.

That's a blessing that

we are to rejoice in

God with, but it can

also be a curse on the

other end.

I've seen a, I think,

a disturbing trend

actually in recent years

where Christians are

passionate about Bible

teaching, they're

passionate about Bible

doctrine, but not in

the biblical practice

regarding the church.

Many are content to be

fed by their favorite

celebrity preachers

online, or they relish

the ability to kind of

roll out of bed at

9.55, grab their

coffee and sit on the

couch in their PJ so

that they can bring up

the live stream and at

least kind of halfway

hear what's going on at

the church down the

road for the day.

And I'm not trying to

be mean about this.

I'm trying to be really

serious about this

actually.

The COVID lockdowns

exacerbated this

extremely, in our area

especially.

I want to say that

though the Bible

teaching is the

backbone of Christian

living, it's wrong to

think of preaching as

the sum of gathered

worship.

It is a vital part of

our gathered worship.

But what many

Christians have done is

they've taken their

passion for teaching

and they've made that

the whole of their

Christian life and their

Christian worship.

So that the actual

gathering of God's

people doesn't really

matter to them as long

as they can hear the

message and they can hear

it from a faithful

preacher that is going to

that maybe have a style

that they prefer and

hit the things that

they like.

I think it was Dylan and

I a few weeks ago we're

having coffee and we were

talking about this dynamic

and in relation to and I

hear all the kids in there.

I love hearing the kids in

our church services.

I really do.

And I hear them in there

enjoying their time

together.

And Dylan and I were

talking about that dynamic

of you know sometimes it

feels like you know if I

got to go in this side

room what's the whole point

in coming and what we came

to the conclusion of in the

point of that conversation

is well if the only reason

you gathered with God's

people was just to hear me

preach then you'd be just

as well to sit at home.

But that's not the only

reason we gather today.

You're not here just to hear

me.

You're here to hear from the

Lord.

Of course that's vital to

what we're doing.

But there's a magnificent

part of being here knowing

that Dylan has made the

effort to be here.

Knowing that he's going to

end up having to go to

that side room at some

point.

That does something for me.

Something for me that I

would not experience and be

encouraged by if he didn't

come.

There is a significance to

the gathered people to the

koinonia.

There's a significance to

being here with Noel and

Raina where we get to hear

about God's gospel work

around the world.

That's something that you

cannot experience online in

the same way.

There is a uniqueness to the

passionate praise and

singing of God's people.

There was a commitment from

these new Christians to the

gathered church.

The corporate worship of the

church.

And I think it would be a sin

for us to count our online

preaching diets as a suitable

replacement for gathered worship

services with the church.

We need to take that seriously.

I think the early Christians

did.

Number three is the Lord's

Supper.

They devoted themselves to the

apostles' teaching, the

fellowship, and to the

breaking of bread.

Sandwiched between these two

terms of formal worship, the

breaking of bread here is

certainly a reference to the

ordinance of the Lord's

Supper.

Paul, in his first letter to

the Corinthians, was the

first time that we see the

apostolic teaching of this.

But we see here that

Christians practiced it from the

very beginning.

Remember, Jesus instituted the

Lord's Supper with his

disciples and he commanded them

to regularly partake in it in

remembrance of the gospel.

And here, we find that those

disciples obeyed the Lord's

command.

In just a matter of days, after

Jesus has ascended back to

heaven, here is the church

faithfully, continually devoting

themselves to the observance of

the Lord's table.

I think that's important.

I love that we do it every month.

Sometimes I wonder if we should

actually be doing it more often

than that.

They were continually devoted to

it.

Number four, the prayers.

The prayers.

Here again, the definite article

is helpful to us.

It indicates that there was a

body of composed prayers

utilized in the regular worship

of the early church.

These probably included the

Psalms.

No doubt it included the

Psalms.

We have other examples in the

New Testament of doxologies and

benedictions that were commonly

used in the early church.

Bottom line, in a corporate

sense, God's people are a praying

people.

And corporate prayer was a vital

part of the gathered worship of

the early church.

Now here's the question.

How devoted are we to gathered worship?

I know it's a foolish question this

morning.

On a day with low attendance in our

church, you are here and you're

always here.

Even Shannon is here with a brand new

baby boy.

She's committed to the gathered worship

of the church.

So don't take this as a question that

that's saying, I don't think you are.

I know you are.

But it is helpful to be reminded of how

important it is.

Maybe another way to ask the question

is, what does it take for us to miss

the gathered worship?

I'm not saying that there's never a

reason to miss.

I'm saying, what does it take though?

Our priorities in worship as a church

match the priorities of the church in

Acts chapter 2.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

That's an important question for us.

Gathered worship.

Number two, Holy Spirit power.

We're going to zoom through these last

few, okay?

Holy Spirit power.

Verse 43, and awe came upon every soul.

Many wonders and signs were being done

by the apostles, through the apostles.

Let me carefully point out the

conjunction in the middle of this verse.

Notice it.

Awe came upon every soul and many wonders

and signs were being done through the

apostles.

A casual reading, we would assume that the

awe that came upon every soul was only

concerned with the many wonders and signs

done through the apostles.

But that's not what Luke is saying here.

They certainly contributed to the awe that

was experienced by the church.

There's no doubt about that.

But Luke is describing two different demonstrative works of the

Holy Spirit.

There's the awe that came upon every soul.

And then there's the demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power

through the apostles as God affirmed the gospel through signs and

wonders.

Two different things are happening here.

And while the spirit-empowered signs of the apostle certainly contributed to this awe,

the fear of the Lord that overwhelmed them was rooted in the transformative power

of the spirit at conversion.

Now, this is an often forgotten mark of the fellowship of believers.

That is the power of the Holy Spirit at work by producing people who fear God and love Jesus

and obey the word.

So remember, we're thinking about the koinonia of believers.

If it starts with regenerate people, and we're not just calling everybody and anybody a Christian

that just mentions the name of Jesus.

We're talking about legitimately regenerate people as far as we can see.

And that is who has gathered as the church.

What will be evident is the Holy Spirit's power at work in leading us to fear God and to love Jesus

and to love one another and to serve him.

It is a transformative power that takes the life of a person who was an enemy of God and

not only reconciles them to God, but radically changes who they are and how they think and

their desires and the way that they live.

And we could go church by church, perhaps in our area even, and we could see lots of people

naming Jesus's name, but very little Holy Spirit power evidenced through the transformative

work of conversion.

And we step back and we wonder, where is the power in all of this?

And I think this is just another reason to emphasize the importance of regenerate partnership

in the local church.

If a church is not careful to practice biblical membership and discipline, it will inevitably

be filled with unbelievers who are utterly powerless regarding the Spirit of God.

will develop nothing more than a cultural Christianity that isn't very Christian.

You know, one of the marks of a true church is people who have the Holy Spirit of God resting

on their lives.

Not in an ecstatic way, but by the ordinary means of grace, God is transforming them and he

is sanctifying them.

And there's no doubt that something is going on in them that is unique.

And it may not be flashy and it may not be extreme, but something's working.

And we know what that thing is.

It's the Spirit of God through the gospel of God.

Holy Spirit of God.

That's not to diminish the awesomeness that would have come through these signs and wonders.

It's just to say that we don't need the signs and wonders to see the Holy Spirit at work in

our church.

Number three, loving care.

Loving care.

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

They were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any

had need.

It's amazing how the transformative power of the Spirit will so radically destroy our sense

of greed and selfishness and in its place put loving kindness.

That's exactly what was happening in Jerusalem.

These new Christians who've, some of them at one point were enemies even of one another,

are now sharing and having all things in common.

All things in common here carries the sense of being willing to share the blessings and

possessions that God has given you with those around you.

It would be akin to having, you know, Alice and Tom over to your house this week.

And in the process of that, they walk in and you say, I want you to make yourself at home.

Whatever you need, help yourself to it.

What's mine is yours.

Whatever you need while you're here.

It's that kind of idea.

They were together and they had all things in common.

Not that they put this big pot in the middle of the church.

They said, all right, everybody bring all your stuff.

We're going to distribute it evenly.

That's not what they were doing.

They were saying, what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine.

And whenever you have a need, you can help yourself to it.

Because this isn't for me.

This is a blessing of God and it's useful to us all.

But then they took it even further.

Serious financial crisis overwhelmed some of the people who belong to this fellowship of believers.

And instead of just saying, you know what, to the homeless man, I'm going to pray that God will provide you shelter.

And instead of just saying to the hungry man, I'm going to pray that God will send you food.

The spirit-filled Christians sacrifice their own goods to help meet the needs of others.

And you are so faithful at doing this.

I love this about our church.

That though we're just such a small church, you're always so willing to go above and beyond in your giving.

And I know that's exactly how it's going to work out with this Christmas project.

I know all of those things.

But it's good to be reminded in this text.

They routinely shed their excesses to meet the needs of those who were struggling.

It wasn't government ordered.

It wasn't church ordered.

It was the free generosity of God's people caring for one another.

A wonderful example of what we are to be for one another.

And it was all based in love.

They had experienced the loving kindness of Jesus.

And they were showing that loving kindness then in whatever way they could to one another.

Number four, routine togetherness.

Routine togetherness.

Verse 46.

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.

Most Christians these days only view their koinonia through the lens of formal worship.

That is the gatherings of the church on Sunday or perhaps in other events throughout the week.

Not the early Christians.

Their devotion to one another produced a togetherness that extended to every facet of their lives.

They genuinely lived as new kingdom people.

And we're going to deal with this in a lot more detail in a couple of weeks.

But we can't miss the fact that these Christians routinely built one another up in Christ as often as they could.

Day by day, we're told.

They were together.

They were together.

And their interactions included worship, hospitality, praising God, spurring one another along in holiness.

And I'll say, if our engagement with the local church is limited to Sunday worship and occasional events,

we are surely going to be deficient regarding what God has called us to be as his people.

It should be normal for us to host one another in our homes.

It should be routine for us to go have coffee or lunch or breakfast together just for the purpose of being together

and talking about what the Lord's doing in our lives and praying together and encouraging one another.

That should be routine.

That should be something that happens all the time in our lives, not just in what we do on Sundays.

It's true discipleship.

True discipleship is accomplished when Christians get serious about their responsibility to help one another faithfully follow Jesus.

And of course, that happens on a Sunday.

Of course, that happens at Lakeside Connect.

But I'll tell you, the places that it's going to be most impactful is sitting at the coffee shop

or sitting in one another's living rooms or going out to the golf course like I'm going to do on Wednesday with Terry.

And I'm going to get embarrassed and he's going to encourage me through the process.

That's a part of what we do.

We're together, building one another up in Christ.

Finally, instinctive evangelism.

Instinctive evangelism.

Again, we'll talk about this in a lot of detail later on.

But look at verse 47.

The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

I don't think that it is a coincidence that Luke tacked this on at the very end of this series.

And I'm being very deliberate by referring to this evangelism as instinctive.

Because faithful evangelism will be the natural overflow of a life that is wholly devoted to Christ.

If we think of our evangelism mainly in terms of church programs, we will be involved as long as there's a church program.

But whenever there's not a church program, we probably won't do a lot of evangelism anymore.

The point here is that there was an instinctive, natural overflow because of all of these other things.

To which these faithful people were clearly demonstrating the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

They were routinely talking to others about the gospel.

They might not have been on a street corner with a microphone and a speaker.

But something about their lives and the overflow of that came natural evangelism.

And I think that's really what we're called to do.

To love Jesus so much.

And to be so committed as his new kingdom people.

That the way we talk about the Lord is really just an overflow of our faithfulness as Christians.

So then the fellowship of believers is that koinonia that grows organically.

Not because we've manipulated something in a service or created a particular mood that will encourage people to flood an altar or whatever it may be.

Programs and marketing are tools that we can use, but they will never be the reason for church growth.

Not when we think about regenerate church growth.

That only comes as God adds people through the faithful witness of his church.

The Lord added, such as should be saved.

And we need to trust that.

And then let the overflow of our lives be one that glorifies God.

Let's wrap it up.

Too many local churches, I think, appear in contrast to what we studied in Ephesians 2.

They appear more like divided kingdoms, dysfunctional families, desolate temples.

Characterized by infighting.

Without a focus on the gospel.

Not living in unity with one another, but maybe in struggles of power and style.

Part of this, I think, is because so many churches are largely composed of unbelievers

who have affiliated with a cultural form of Christianity that's not actually truly Christian.

Part of it, I think, is because Christians have failed to take their place in the fellowship of believers very seriously.

And I realize that Acts chapter 2 is what we would call a descriptive passage.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

There's no formal commands here.

It's describing what this church was.

That's not irrelevant.

But someone may would confront us and say, well, that's just describing.

There's not really saying we have to do all these things.

So maybe it would be helpful for us to wrap up with Hebrews chapter 10,

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

where these things are expressed as a command.

Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 19.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

I can't remember if I put it on the screen.

You can turn there if you want.

I'm going to read it.

Hebrews 10, beginning at verse 19.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,

that's the redemption through the gospel, through the blood of Jesus,

by a new and living way that he has opened for us through the curtain,

that is through his flesh.

And since we have a great high priest over the house of God,

let us draw near with a true heart,

in full assurance of faith,

with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience,

and our bodies washed with pure water,

all of that's gospel focused.

And then he says,

let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering.

For he who promised is faithful.

In other words, be continually devoted to something.

And that something being the gospel and the implications of it.

And let us consider how to stir one another up to love and to 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.

Do you see the explicitness in this?

He says, here's what Jesus has done for us.

He has united us with God.

And undergirding this is the assumption that he's also united us together.

And then he also assumes that there is a temptation that we will have

to think a lot of Christ and actually very little of his people.

And he says, so let's not do that.

Let's seek to find ways to stir one another up.

And how are we doing that?

To love good works.

Not neglecting the gathering, the formal gathering,

but looking for more and more ways to do that as we see the day,

the day of judgment, the return of Christ coming near.

In other words, what is described for us in Acts chapter 2

Acts 2 · chapter mention

is clearly demonstrated as command throughout the rest of the New Testament.

This is who we are in Christ.

This is what he's called us to be.

So let's be that.