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Acts 2:41-47
“His Life, Death, Resurrection, and
Ascension… To Us”
Charles R. Biggs
Introduction:
In Acts 2:14-41, Peter is interpreting the
significance of Christ’s Spirit coming to dwell with his people
bringing His people a special “Last Days” identity and unity! This is the important
identity and unity we have as the People of God because of our union with
Jesus Christ (Rom. 6:1-4; Phil. 2:1-4)
Last week we learned the
significance of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension for us. Today, we will look at how Jesus is given
to us as his pilgrim, Last Days
people. Historically, Reformed
Christians have called this the “means of grace”. The means of God’s grace is how God
feeds us with Christ so as to encourage maturity, perseverance and holiness
in His people (John 6:38ff).
Acts 2:38-47 38 And Peter said to them,
"Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit. 39 For the
promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off,
everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." 40 And with many other words
he bore witness and continued to exhort them,
saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."
41 So those who received his word were
baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves
to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the
prayers. 43 And awe came
upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the
apostles. 44 And all who
believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their
possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had
need. 46 And day by day,
attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they
received their food with glad and generous hearts, 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.
Historically, what we
are studying today has been called God’s means of grace,
or how Christ communicates the benefits of his salvation to his people by faith.
Westminster Larger
Catechism, Question 154: What are the outward means whereby Christ
communicates to us the benefits of his mediation?
Answer: The outward and
ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to his church the benefits of
his mediation, are all his ordinances; especially the word, sacraments, and
prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for their salvation.
I.
Apostle’s Teaching (v.
42): The apostle’s teaching is foundational to us as we seek to know
Christ.
John 14:25-26: “All this I have spoken while still with
you. But the Counselor, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things
and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
o
The Word of
God was given to the Apostles to teach and to disciple Christ’s
people.
o
Acts 2:43 connects back with 2:22. The
“wonders and signs” are to witness visibly in the New Testament
church that the Apostles have been granted the same authority as Jesus
Christ and are ministering in His Name now that he has been exalted to
God’s right hand.
Ephesians 4:11-13: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints
for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ…”
o
The goal of
the Word of God preached and taught is unity and maturity in Christ.
The
apostolic teaching is Christ’s Word given to His people. He has given this truth to his Church to
learn, preserve and pass on to the next generation by nurturing and
admonishing our children in the faith.
1 Tim. 3:15: “if
I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God,
which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth.”
1 Tim. 4:12-13: Let no one despise you for your youth, but set
the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in
purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading
of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
o
Paul taught
Timothy that as pastor he was to teach the congregation by devoting himself
to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation (or preaching), and
to teaching.
Jude 3: Contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the
saints.
The Word of God gives everything
we need for life and godliness!
II.
Fellowship (v. 42):
“Togetherness”-
2:1, 42, 44, 46; cf. 4:26 (against the world and the persecution outside).
Hebrews 10:25: Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let
us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25
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.
o
We are to be
thoughtful about HOW we
can stir up one another to love and good works, as well as encouraging
them! This is our ministry as
members of the Body of Christ to one another. The implication is that we truly need
“stirring up” and “encouraging” because the
Christian life can be so challenging.
We
need each other…all are vital, not merely a few who play music, lead
worship, preach, teach Sunday School, or watch the nursery.
We
must learn the importance of others, not merely what we get out of worship, or our own duty to God. We must see ourselves as organically
bound to other Christians…a body who needs all parts to function in a
healthy manner.
Importance of Fellowship Meals: The fellowship meals after worship service and
during the week are like “Thanksgiving” time every week! What we celebrate once a year should be a
weekly thing for God’s people.
When we gather around the table there is a significant gather to
promote understanding, communication, and growing as a family.
Roman
author and administrator, Pliny the Younger, gives much detailed
information regarding the beliefs and worship practices of early
Christians. In a letter written to Emperor Trajan
around A.D. 112 he writes:
"They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day
before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ,
as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to do any wicked
deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify
their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it
up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to
partake of food-but food of an ordinary and innocent kind."
III.
Breaking of Bread (v.
42):
The
Lord’s Supper is given to Christ’s people so that we can
publicly and visually proclaim his death until he returns, but it is also
given so that we can grow in his grace to maturity.
1 Corinthians 10: 16-17: 16
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood
of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the
body of Christ? 17 seeing that we, who are many, are one bread, one body: for we are all partake of the one
bread.
The Word of God given to us
visually.
o
The one
bread and one cup, the one body and one shed blood of the one Savior is to
feed us by God’s Spirit. It is
to remind us of our union with Jesus Christ and our unity as God’s
people!
o
The Lord’s
Supper is not merely a memorial, although it is a memorial (Luke 22:19ff). The Lord’s Supper does not work “automatically”,
but is received by faith. The Word of God is given to us visually
and God is so gracious that he allows us truly to experience his revelation
of Christ to us with all of our five senses. We hear the Word of God; we taste the
Word of God; we smell the Word of God; we see the Word of God; and we touch
the Word of God. All five senses
are used to receive the hand of Jesus held out to us by faith!
IV.
Prayers (v. 42):
A
necessary part of our life together.
Our life as a body is a prayerful life together. We share requests and we pray for one
another.
Acts 1:14 All these with one accord were devoting
themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus,
and his brothers.
o Part of the activity of the early church was a constant devoting of themselves to prayer.
o Rom.
12:10-12: Love one another
with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11
Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve
the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be
constant in prayer.
James 5:14-16: 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. 15 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. 16 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.
V.
All who believed had “All things in
Common” (v. 43-45):
A
life of growing, maturing, a life of sharing.
Phil. 2:1-3: So if
there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any
participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in
full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or
conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4
Let each of you look not only to his own
interests, but also to the interests of others.
Because of our union with Jesus
Christ in his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we want to share,
consider others more important than ourselves.
All
of the things “in common” were the Word of God, fellowship,
breaking of bread and prayers (v.42-43).
VI.
Church Growth through faithfulness by being Christ’s People (v.
47):
Well-meaning
Christians today are asking how they ought to grow the church. I believe from this foundational passage
based on the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, that we
grow the church primarily by being
the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ!
God added daily those who were
being saved!
God
is the great “Church-Growth Expert”. He gives to us “means” or “ways”
by which he spiritually communicates his grace to us. He communicates to us the benefits of
Jesus’ Person and Work to us in his life, death, resurrection, and
ascension.
The
growth of the church should be the model of a farm, never a business. A farm depends on slow, organic nurture
as Jesus described the influence and growth of the Kingdom of God in Matthew 13 (Parable of the Sower).
It
is not about efficiency and great numbers, it is about faithfulness, about
being the church, loving one another, while “spilling over”
into the community by God’s grace and inviting others to partake in a
piece of heaven now! The growth of a
congregation is by God’s grace and addition to that congregation as
the congregation depends upon God’s means to mature, unify and
sanctify them in the Name of the Lord and King of the Church, Jesus Christ!
CRB
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