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You can turn with me and your 
Bibles to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 2. Common in New Year's sermons 
to have sermons on resolutions. This won't be a resolution, but 
a reminder as to why we try to do what we try to do. So I wanna 
look at the practice of the early church, specifically verses 40 
to 47, but it is not disconnected from the larger context. So I'll 
pick up reading in Acts chapter two at verse 14. But Peter, standing 
up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, Men of 
Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and 
heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you 
suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this 
is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass 
in the last day, says God, that I will pour out my spirit on 
all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your 
young men shall see visions. Your old men shall dream dreams. 
And on my menservants and on my maidservants, I will pour 
out my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. I will 
show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath. 
blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into 
darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great 
and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that 
whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Men 
of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested 
by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did through 
him in your midst, as you yourselves also know, him being delivered 
by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have 
taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death, whom 
God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it 
was not possible that he should be held by it. For David says 
concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for 
he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore, 
my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad. Moreover, my flesh 
also will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Hades, 
nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You have 
made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of 
joy in your presence. Men and brethren, let me speak 
freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and 
buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being 
a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him 
that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would 
raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he foreseeing this 
spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that his soul 
was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This 
Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, 
being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from 
the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this 
which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into 
the heavens, but he says himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit 
at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool. 
Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that 
God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and 
Christ. Now, when they heard this, they 
were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the 
apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said 
to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the 
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you shall 
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. for the promises to you 
and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as 
the Lord our God will call. And with many other words, he 
testified and exhorted them, saying, be saved from this perverse 
generation. Then those who gladly received 
his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added 
to them. And they continued steadfastly 
in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of 
bread and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul, 
and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now 
all who believed were together and had all things in common, 
and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among 
all as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one 
accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they 
ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising 
God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added 
to the church daily those who were being saved. Amen. Let us 
pray. Our gracious God and Holy Father, 
we thank you for the Lord's day. We thank you for the Lord's house 
and the Lord's people and for the privilege that is ours now 
to come to the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy 
Spirit. We confess your glory and your 
majesty and your righteousness. We confess the works of your 
hand, creation and providence and redemption. And we praise 
you for that gospel of our salvation, for the life and the death and 
the resurrection of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. We know that 
ultimately is what binds our hearts together here. We pray 
that you would be glorified and worship now. We pray for any 
and all who have come here that are still dead in their trespasses 
and sins, would be awakened by the power of the Holy Spirit, 
would see their sins before a holy God, and would see Christ as 
the one in whom alone there is forgiveness and salvation. And we pray these things in his 
most blessed name. Amen. Well, as I said, this isn't 
a resolution. We should try to do this, but 
rather a reminder that we in fact do try to do this. We don't 
do it perfectly. We certainly do it fallibly, 
but nevertheless, in light of the reading in Revelation chapter 
one, if as verse 12 tells us that Jesus Christ is in the midst 
of the lampstands, then we ought to be conscious that He is looking 
for certain things to be present. In other words, He doesn't leave 
it up to our own imagination and our own will on how we approach 
Him, on how we worship Him. And so we ought to try and parallel 
what we find in the Bible as closely as we can, so that when 
Christ is in the midst of the lampstand, He is pleased with 
His people. He blesses and refreshes His 
people. He encourages and builds up His 
people so that we may leave from this place having met with Him 
and having fresh resolve to live in light of the person and the 
work of our blessed Savior in the week to come. Now, as I said, 
this is Peter's preaching on the day of Pentecost. In chapter 
two, verses one to 13, the section we did not read, the Holy Spirit 
came in great power. And as a result of the coming 
of the Spirit, they began to speak in tongues. The tongues 
were not gibberish, it wasn't nonsensical, but rather it was 
to communicate the great works of God. And of course, some there 
said, oh, this is only because they're drunk, or they're out 
of their minds, or they've got some problems with, you know, 
this, that, or the other. That's why Peter says, these 
are not drunk as you suppose. He first points to the prophet 
Joel and says, this has been prophesied in redemptive history 
that the Holy Spirit would come in power upon the people of God. And then closing that citation 
of the prophet Joel, notice what he says in verse 21. It says, and it shall come to 
pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. He's dealing with a matter of 
great importance. What's the opposite of being 
saved? It's to be lost. It's to be damned. It's to be 
under the wrath and fury and judgment of God. It is to be 
ultimately consigned to hell if we leave this earth in that 
unsaved state. And so it is a most important 
thing that Peter addresses on the day of Pentecost. So the 
rest of his sermon is with the intent to explain, define, and 
describe the Lord of whom we're supposed to call upon. So again, 
look at verse 21. It shall come to pass that whoever 
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Wouldn't it be 
wonderful to know that Lord, to understand who that Lord is, 
so that we can call upon that Lord and be saved. In fact, I 
hope that's your mindset this morning. Perhaps you're conscious 
of the fact that you're not a believer. You're not a Christian. You're 
not the real deal. You're not one who has confessed 
saving faith in our blessed Savior. It should be paramount in your 
heart and mind to want to know who that Lord is so that you 
can, by grace, believe on Him. So Peter points to Jesus now, 
and he stresses the true humanity of Christ. He stresses the crucifixion 
of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and the ascension and 
current session of Christ. See, the gospel isn't our feeling. The gospel isn't our experience. The gospel isn't our emotional 
response. The gospel is the message concerning 
Jesus Christ, his life, his death, and his resurrection from the 
dead, that whoever calls on him in faith will have everlasting 
life. It truly is amazing. We sing 
that hymn sometimes. Amazing grace, how sweet the 
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now 
I'm found, was blind, but now I see. So God in the gospel of 
his son takes hell-deserving sinners and confers upon them 
saving benefit. He gives them the graces of faith 
and repentance. He gives them forgiveness of 
all their sin. Not just some of their sin, but 
all their sin are forgiven or is forgiven as a result of the 
blood of Jesus Christ. But not only is our sins forgiven, 
it's one of those things where it just keeps getting better, 
but there's more. You can hear the salesman saying 
it now, but there's more. So you're not only forgiven of 
your sins, but you're given the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 
You're not only cleansed from your filth, but you're clothed 
in His righteousness so that you can stand in the presence 
of a thrice holy God. So Peter preaches Jesus Christ 
to these Jerusalem sinners. It's one other thing we ought 
to recognize. These are Jerusalem sinners. 
I'm not trying to be an anti-Semite. I'm not trying to castigate the 
Jews. But I want to remind you that 
it was these Jerusalem sinners that had murdered the Lord of 
Glory. In fact, that's where Peter ends according to verse 
36. It is with the conviction of 
their sin. Notice in verse 36, Therefore 
let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this 
Jesus, notice, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. So they 
were guilty, vile, helpless sinners. They were murderous wretches. 
And yet, nevertheless, there is this promise, this provision 
in the gospel of the forgiveness of sins and a righteousness by 
which even a Jerusalem sinner could enter into the presence 
of God Almighty. This is why we call it gospel. 
It's good news, not good advice. not self-help, not try a little 
harder, not dig down inside of you and find that virtue and 
do the best that you can. No. Look unto the Lord Jesus 
Christ in faith. Look outside yourself, look outside 
your works, look outside your sin, and look to the one in whom 
there is forgiveness and a righteousness that avails with God Almighty. 
So on the heels of that, notice what happens. They're convicted. 
Men and brethren, what must we do? Good response according to 
verse 37, and then a better response from Peter in verse 38. Repent 
and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for 
the remission of sins. And then this promise, it's for 
you, it's for your children, it's for all those who are far 
off, as many as the Lord our God shall call. The good news 
goes out to very bad people, and we see by the grace of God, 
it sticks. It finds its mark in their hearts. We see them converted. We see 
them saved by grace through faith in Jesus. And then we see them 
at worship. Then we see them function together 
as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this follows very 
closely with our Lord's last command to the church before 
his ascension on high. He says to his disciples, go 
and make disciples of all the nations, baptize those disciples 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 
and then teach those disciples to observe all that I have commanded 
you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 
That's what's happening in the book of Acts. They preach the 
gospel to make disciples. They form churches in order to 
teach those disciples. so that those disciples can then 
shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation, so that 
those disciples can then hold forth the word of truth, so that 
those disciples can then function as salt and light in their environment 
and live in a manner that is consistent with the gospel of 
their salvation. So I wanna look first at the 
power of the gospel in verses 40 and 41, and then secondly, 
the practice of the church in verses 42 to 47. Notice in verses 
40 and 41, we see that Peter continued to teach, continued 
to preach, continued to exhort them. So verse 40, and with many 
other words, he, this is Peter, testified and exhorted them saying, 
be safe from this perverse generation. a very necessary emphasis in 
our own generation. Be saved. In other words, take 
these things to heart. You ought not to be content until 
you know that you by grace are heaven bound. It's an amazing 
thing that in North America, men care very little about their 
eternal destiny. We care more about college. We 
care more about career. We care more about a lot of things 
that ultimately don't matter. But for the apostle Peter, what 
was absolutely crucial and necessary was to be saved, to look unto 
the Lord Jesus Christ, to come to this one who lived, who died, 
and was raised again, this one whom you crucified. You need 
to be saved. You need to think about this, 
children. You need to consider this as we start a new year. 
We all say, happy new year. Well, it could quite feasibly 
be a miserable new year if you are not connected to God through 
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. That is uppermost. That is paramount. That's the most important thing, 
is where will I go when my eyes turn in death? The reality is, 
is that for Simon Peter and the apostles in the early church, 
it was salvation. It was being right with God. 
It was justification by faith alone. It was the reality that 
we are sinful, men and women. We are sinful, boys and girls. 
We rightly deserve God's curse and wrath, both in this life 
and that which is to come. And the only way of freedom, 
the only way of liberty, the only way of help is through Christ 
the Lord. So he presses that upon them, 
be saved from this perverse generation. Notice, they then received the 
word. Verse 41, then those who gladly 
received his word were baptized and that day about 3,000 souls 
were added to them. What does it mean to gladly receive 
the word of God? Well, the context answers that 
question for us. What is a glad reception of the 
word of God? Well, it is to believe the Word 
of God. Notice down in verse 44, the 
people who are saved are described as all who believed. So to gladly receive the Word 
of God means to believe the Word of God. But secondly, it means 
to repent from one's sins. Verse 38, repent and let every 
one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the 
remission of sins. Faith and repentance go hand 
in hand. Faith and repentance are two 
sides of the same coin. You don't have faith without 
repentance. You don't have repentance without faith. You come to the 
altar to marry your wife, you leave behind the girlfriend. 
You come to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, you leave behind the 
wretchedness, the sin, the depravity, the wickedness that marked your 
life prior to your coming to the Lord of glory. And then of 
course baptism or obedience to the blessed Savior. So faith 
and repentance. Baptism isn't a work It's not 
on the same par with faith and repentance, but when somebody 
believes the gospel, one of the consequent fruits of that belief 
in the gospel is obedience to the Lord of the gospel. So notice 
again, verse 41, and those who gladly received his word were 
baptized. They obeyed Christ. They did 
what Jesus said. They identified publicly in the 
waters of baptism with the triune God. They espoused, or expressed 
rather, or confessed their faith in that sort of public way. And 
then notice what the text goes on to say. It's not the preaching 
of Peter so much. It's certainly not the free will 
of man. It is the power of God that brought 
them to this place. Notice the end of verse 41. Well, 
we'll read it again. Then those who gladly received 
his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added 
to them. How were they added to them? 
Again, it wasn't through Peter. It wasn't as a result of them. It was the grace of God Most 
High. How does a dead sinner come to 
that place of light and life in our Lord Jesus Christ? It's 
not their free will, it's not the power of their will, it's 
not the persuasion of a preaching Peter, but rather it is the power 
of God working in, by, and through the means of the word to draw 
those sinners out of darkness into marvelous light through 
faith in our Savior. So God is at work in building 
the church. There's another passage in the 
book of Acts that illustrates this powerfully. Turn to Acts 
13. Acts 13, the apostle Paul is preaching in a synagogue in 
Pisidian Antioch, and we see that there is sort of a mixed 
response. The Jews rail against him, they despise him, they want 
to get rid of him, they blaspheme his message. We see that Gentiles 
are begging that they'll hear more of it next Sabbath. Gentiles 
are begging that they'll get more of that Word of God. And 
so the apostle concludes that we're going to turn to the Gentiles. 
Notice in 1347, For so the Lord has commanded us, I have set 
you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation 
to the ends of the earth. It's always God's purpose and 
plan, not to send Jesus simply to the lost tribes of Jacob, 
but also as a light unto the Gentiles. Now notice verse 48. Now, when the Gentiles heard 
this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as 
many as had been appointed to eternal life, he leaved. Why 
did they believe? Because they had been appointed 
by God to eternal life. The Bible teaches sovereign grace. The Bible emphasizes God's free 
will, not man's free will. It emphasizes his good pleasure. It emphasizes his powerful operation 
in the souls of men. In fact, Paul says in Romans 
9, 16, it doesn't depend upon him who wills or upon him who 
runs, but on God who shows mercy. Now, before you say, well, that 
seems to be counterproductive, that might discourage persons 
from trying to come to Jesus. No, what an encouragement. God 
is in the business of saving sinners. The large-hearted, benevolent 
God of absolute glory, power, and majesty, the Father who sent 
the Son of His love into this world to live and die and rise 
again, that God is in the business of saving sinners. I know some 
churches will tell you, well, he's in the business of saving 
a few sinners. There's a handful of sinners 
that may ultimately come. Well, in the book of Revelation, 
we have a great multitude that no man can number, from every 
tribe and tongue and people and nation. The God of Holy Scripture 
is a, and I speak in the manner of man, a large-hearted God, 
a very benevolent God, a very gracious God, a merciful God. 
He's the father of the prodigal who runs from the porch to fall 
on that wayward son and to kiss him, and to put a robe on his 
back, and to put a ring on his finger, and to put meat on his 
table. So the grace of God Most High 
is the effectual portion of this coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. 
And this God is about that. He is into that. This is why 
he sent the son of his love. Now let's look secondly at the 
practice of the church in verses 42 to 47. Notice the practice 
described. Verses 42 to 47a. Then we'll 
look at the power involved. But notice the practice described. 
The first thing is that they were steadfast. Steadfast simply 
means to persist in something, to hold fast to, to continue 
in, and to persevere in something. Steadfast is the opposite of, 
you know, well, I tried it once and it didn't work and it was 
unfulfilling, so I'm going to try something new. We're never 
called to do something new when it comes to church life. We're 
to be steadfast. Whatever God has mandated for 
us to do at our entrance to the church, that's what we're supposed 
to do until we exit the church in death. Okay, where do we find 
this transient, let's just try whatever it is we think will 
work, that will jive with the spirit of the age? No, look at 
the emphasis in verse 42. It says, they continued steadfastly. Now that word continued, or those 
words continued steadfastly, modify, that means sort of control, 
the next four words. In other words, they continued 
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, they continued steadfastly 
in fellowship, they continued steadfastly in the breaking of 
bread, and they continued steadfastly in prayers. So if we ask the 
question in the 21st century, what should churches look like? 
It's not hard to give an answer. It's not hard to supply a response. It's hard when we neglect what 
the Bible actually says, and when we look to the innovation 
of man, when we look to the creativity of man, when we ask the consumer, 
what is it that you want in a church service? But it never dawns on 
us that never in the Bible are we told to ask the consumer what 
he or she wants in the worship of God. Christ comes into the 
midst of the lampstands and Christ expects in the midst of the lampstands 
to find his church doing what he commanded her to do. Now, 
if you think that's an odd statement, go back to the Old Testament. 
Look at how God was fastidiously detailed in telling them how 
to build the tabernacle, and then how to build the temple, 
and how to conduct themselves in the worship of God. You've 
got the legislation in Leviticus chapters 1 to 8 that is very 
detailed on how they're supposed to sacrifice. But can't we just 
worship any old way that we want? No, you can't. You're supposed 
to worship in the way that God commanded. And the church in 
the 21st century would find herself to do well by coming back to 
this passage. We always hear that, I want to 
be like the early church. Well, if you want to be like 
the early church, you'll continue steadfastly in the apostle's 
doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread. and in prayers. 
It's pretty simple. So let's investigate these terms. 
Notice, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, the 
teaching of the Word of God. Now, this is interesting in light 
of the context. What happened in chapter 2, verses 
1 to 13? The Holy Spirit comes in great 
power. The people of God are speaking 
in other tongues. This was sensational. This was 
dazzling. This was miraculous. This was 
something they hadn't seen before. And yet, when it comes to the 
regular life of the ministry of the church, what do they want? 
They want Peter's preaching. They want more about the true 
humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. They want more about the crucifixion 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, about His resurrection from the dead, 
about His ascension on high, His current session at the right 
hand of the Father. They want the apostles' doctrine, 
brethren. So many in the history of the 
church have sought out experience. Brethren, experience isn't bad, 
but it has to be regulated by the Word of God, or that experience 
could lead you astray. So many are led away by sentiment. So many are led away by ecstasy. 
So many are led away nowadays by entertainment. You know what 
they wanted? They wanted exegesis. They wanted 
the Word of God. They knew that stability, they 
knew that strength, they knew that their grounding came not 
through experience, not through ecstasy, certainly not through 
entertainment, but they needed the Word of God Most High, taught 
to them, preached to them, and they would continue steadfastly 
in it for their own strength, for their own growth, for their 
own knowledge, for their own maturation. Maturation and growth 
and strength are grossly underrated in the church today. When we 
return to the book of Ephesians, we will see in chapter 4 that 
Christ gave gifts to the church for that reason, to make the 
church mature, to stabilize them, so they're not tossed to and 
fro by every wind of doctrine, so they're not untethered from 
reality, so they don't throw up their hands and say, I can't 
believe we're in the mess that we're in. We read in the last 
hour a portion from Jeremiah chapter 29. And basically what 
Jeremiah chapter 29 is, it's a letter to the exiles that are 
in Babylon. How do I function as an exile 
in Babylon? My country's been conquered, 
my temple has been sacked, my city has been destroyed, and 
now I'm a prisoner in Babylon. Well, we noted that that letter 
didn't say, go find some C4, go find some bullets, go find 
some ammunition and launch a counter-revolution against these Babylonians. That's 
not what it said. It said, pray for the peace of 
the city that you're in. It said to marry, it said to 
plan, it said to live, it said to engage, it said to be normal, 
ordinary people functioning in a way that is good and blessed 
by God Almighty. But before it even gets to that, 
God says through the prophet that he caused these exiles to 
be in Babylon. We need that reminder, brethren, 
so that when we look out at a world gone mad, we don't ask the question, 
well, what happened here, God? I thought you were righteous. 
I thought you were holy. And yet we see the celebration 
of that which is unrighteous and unholy. God's over it all. But see, if you're not intimately 
connected to the Word of God, you're not going to know that. 
You're going to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. 
You're going to become untethered, you're going to become unstable, 
and you're going to be easy prey for the devil, and even worse 
at times from the devil, your own wretched feelings. We need 
the protection that God's word affords, and the early church 
continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. They wanted 
the word of God. The rest of the New Testament 
emphasizes this as well. Romans 10, 14 to 17, 1 Corinthians 
21 to 23, 2 Timothy 4, you remember Paul's last formal command to 
the church? Preach the word. Not preach experience. Preach 
feelings. Preach ecstasy. Conjure up the 
gift of tongues. Preach the word. Be ready in 
season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with 
all longsuffering and teaching. Why do we think that we don't 
need what God says we need? We need scripture. We need doctrine. We need the gospel. We need the 
law. We need all of it. Genesis to 
Revelation, all 31,000 verses. And these brethren in the early 
church continued steadfastly in it. They didn't whine about 
it. They didn't grumble about it. They rather wanted it. They desired it. They had to 
have it. Calvin says, neither doth he 
name all manner of doctrine but the doctrine of the apostles. 
They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. Not the 
false apostles, not the heretics. They didn't have this mindset, 
well, as long as we're learning. No, you need to learn the truth. 
You need to learn what's right. You need to retain the standard 
of sound words. He says, that is that which the 
Son of God had delivered by their hands. Therefore, wheresoever 
the pure voice of the gospel doth sound, where men continue 
in the profession thereof, where they exercise themselves in hearing 
the same ordinarily that they may profit, with all doubt there 
is the church. It is the doctrine of the apostles 
that the people of God crave. They continue steadfastly in 
it. They don't stop there. Notice, 
they continued steadfastly in fellowship. Now, brethren, fellowship 
has come to mean that two Christian brothers go see a hockey game 
together. Okay, it's kind of fellowshipy, 
but not fellowship in terms of the New Testament. It's Christ 
that binds us together, not the Canucks. Now, I'm not saying 
two Christian brothers can't go watch the Canucks, but to 
say that's necessarily fellowship. And again, generally speaking, 
yeah, you're not with an unbeliever Drake, that's good. But in terms 
of fellowship, the emphasis typically lies on a charitable attitude. The emphasis typically lies on 
what we follow or what we see follow in this chapter. Calvin says it's mutual society 
and fellowship unto alms and unto other duties of brotherly 
fellowship. Notice verse 45, they sold their 
possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had 
need. That's more likely the contours 
of Christian fellowship in this particular context. Oh, they 
went to hockey games together. They went to concerts together. 
They rode their bikes together. They really had fellowship. No, 
that's not the accent. The accent is on selling their 
property and giving that money to the apostles so that they 
could distribute it as anyone had need. You see that in chapter 
4 as well. The same sort of emphasis there. The fellowship of the church 
cannot be carried out by one man. It can't be carried out 
just by a handful of men. It can't just be the officers 
in the church. It's every churchman's responsibility, 
not only to continue steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine, but 
in fellowship. That means looking out for the 
needs of others and seeking, by God's grace, to alleviate 
those needs. You might think, well, I got 
a lot of needs of my own. If you started looking out for 
the needs of others, the needs of your own would probably dissipate 
quicker than not. It's when we're consumed with 
our own needs. It's when we're all about me, 
myself, and I. It's when we only look as far 
as our navel that our needs just seem to compound daily. Well, 
of course, all you think about is you. All you're oriented with 
is you. All you're obsessed with is you. 
Perhaps the best thing you can do to get away from you is to 
go serve somebody else. I know it seems counterintuitive, 
and I know we'd all rather say, well, everybody should serve 
me. Well, brethren, be the change you want to be and go serve others. Fellowship in this context meant 
something. It meant being charitable. It 
meant being loving. It meant being gracious. It meant 
being kind. It meant putting your money where 
your mouth was if that was necessary. to alleviate the problems of 
the downtrodden and poor among you. But notice they continued 
steadfastly in the breaking of bread. Now, this isn't probably 
tacos for dinner on Tuesday. This is probably the Lord's supper. 
The fact that there's preaching going on, the fact that there's 
praying going on, the fact that there's generous giving that 
is designed to benefit people within the context of the church 
suggests that what we have here in this breaking of bread is 
the Lord's Supper. So you see, when they receive 
the Word of God, what do they do? They're baptized. That's 
the one-time initiatory rite to come into the Church of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. With the Lord's Supper, we do 
it as the Church. We continue in it. As often as 
you eat this bread and drink this cup, what do we do? We proclaim 
the Lord's death until He comes. So they didn't say, well, you 
know, it's Sunday night. It's going to be the supper. 
I really don't need that. I'm not going to come tonight. 
That's not how the early church viewed it, brethren. They continued 
steadfastly in it. They thought this way. Well, 
if, as Butler has said in the past, the supper isn't our service 
to God, but rather God's service to us, I'd be a fool not to take 
advantage of that, right? Who owns the house of God? Hint, 
the answer's in the question. God owns the house of God. Who dictates baptism as that 
initiatory rite? God, the householder. But guess 
who dictates the terms of the supper? Yeah, that's God too. So when I suggest that it's God's 
service to us, hopefully that puts a perspective on it that 
you've never thought about before. So it's not me coming to serve 
God, it's me coming to be served by God, bread and wine, which 
serve as helpful, tangible, physical reminders of the conquering work 
of the Savior on my behalf. Could it possibly be the case 
that the Lord God who owns the house designed this in such a 
way as to build up weary pilgrims along the way? That's precisely 
why. That is precisely what's in view. 
And when God gives us these things, we ought to receive them. It's 
kind of like the Sabbath. Oh, the Sabbath, what a controversial 
doctrine. What about, what a blessed gift 
from God? Mark chapter two, the Sabbath 
was made for the man, not man for the Sabbath. Why do we argue 
about gifts? Why do we argue about freebies? 
I guess I know the answer to that one too, because we're messed 
up. I mean, God hands us great things and we complain. I don't 
want a whole day to worship. I don't want a whole day to praise. 
I don't want a day to cease from my ordinary labors and to find 
my joy in the place where Christ is in the midst of. God gives 
the gift of Lord's supper. God gives that provision to weary 
pilgrims. God does that to remind us consciously, 
tangibly, emblematically with bread and wine about the Lord's 
work on our behalf. It's a wonderful provision from 
our God. And the early church continued 
steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine, in fellowship, in the 
breaking of bread, but then notice finally, they continued steadfastly 
in prayer. Prayer. Prayer, brethren. How do we advance the cause of 
Jesus Christ on earth? Well, we need to entertain the 
masses. Nope, wrong answer. We need to preach the gospel. 
Yeah, right answer. How do we preach the gospel? 
Do we do it mechanistically? No, we do it prayerfully. Spurgeon 
was once asked about the nature of his success or the description 
of his success. If any of you have ever heard 
of C.H. Spurgeon, you'll know that he found success in gospel 
ministry. God blessed him. God prospered 
him. That brother preached and God 
saved people. There's a story that one time 
he was testing out the acoustics of a place that he was going 
to preach in and he just cited John 1.29. Behold the Lamb of 
God who takes away the sin of the world. God saved a janitor 
that happened to be in the building at that particular time because 
of that verse. So God blessed and prospered 
Spurgeon. Somebody asked him about that 
one time. What is it? It's the nature of your success. 
You can hear that, right? How come everything you touch 
in terms of gospel seems to turn to gold? What is it? He says, 
my people pray. My people pray. They pray for 
the advancement. They pray for the power of the 
gospel. They pray for willing ears and willing hearts. They 
pray for a receptive people. They pray. Brethren, if we're 
going about the task of gospel mission, gospel evangelism, seeking 
by the grace of God to take seriously the Matthew 28 commission, we're 
not going to do this in a prayerless way. We're going to do this in 
a prayerful way. That's why we try to have church 
services where we pray. We have it every other Sunday 
morning at 9.30. We have it every Wednesday night 
when we're not off at 7.30. We have that mechanism in place, 
not as a mechanism or formulaic, but because they continued steadfastly 
in prayer. Turn to the book of 1 Timothy 
2. 1 Timothy 2, look at what Paul says to Timothy in terms 
of first priority. First in the chapter two, verse 
one. Therefore I exhort first of all. Now let me give you the 
context. Look at chapter three at verses 
14 and 15. Chapter three, verses 14 and 
15. These things I write to you, 
though I hope to come to you shortly. But if I am delayed, 
I write, so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself 
in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, 
the pillar and ground of the truth. See, this is why I said, 
God doesn't call us to be innovative or creative. He calls us to be 
obedient. If God leaves it up to our own 
hearts, guess what we'll do? I mean, again, look at the Old 
Testament. Why do you think in Deuteronomy 12, there was an 
emphasis on a central sanctuary? Because God knew that if the 
desire for worship broke out in your heart and you weren't 
connected to that temple, you would most likely pour it out 
into an idol. You need God to supervise, you 
need God to lead, you need God to command in order that you 
don't go astray. So when it comes to worship in 
life, if you're an artist, go create, go innovate. You're an 
inventor, it's in your DNA, go create, go innovate. You're in 
the church, I don't know how to make this any more simple. 
Obey God, okay? He didn't ordain rock concerts. He didn't ordain pastors repelling. He didn't ordain the guy riding 
in on his Harley. He didn't ordain that. And he calls us to conduct that 
we are to exercise in the house of God. Wherever else you are, 
as long as you don't sin, the desire for creativity or innovation 
takes you, go with it, do it, enjoy. But in the house of God, 
God's the house holder. Someone has made a very good 
observation about this. The detailed legislation given 
by God to Moses in terms of the construction of the tabernacle. 
Notice that God never told Moses where he should put his couch 
in his living room. He never told Moses where he 
should put the fridge in his kitchen. He never told Moses 
what to put in the garage. Why is that? Because that's Moses 
house, the tabernacle, temple, church, God's house. So why do we think it's okay 
to come in here and put our feet up and swing on the furniture 
and do those things that aren't appropriate here? So back to 
1 Timothy 3, verse 15, but if I am delayed, I write so that 
you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house 
of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and 
ground of the truth. So in other words, everything 
he says up to this point and everything he's gonna say after 
this point, he wants Timothy to employ. He wants Timothy to 
execute. He wants Timothy to obey and 
carry out in the context of the church. So back to 2.1. Therefore, 
I exhort first of all, that you preach with the tongue of angels. 
Did you visit every old lady in your church every Thursday 
and have coffee with them? Did you be the most gregarious 
fellow in the community? Did you be the guy that everybody 
wants to hang? He doesn't say any of that. What's 
the first order of business when Paul comes to deal with Timothy? 
Therefore, I exhort first of all, that supplications, prayers, 
intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, all 
kinds of men. And then he says, for kings, 
those are kinds of men, and all who are in authority, that we 
may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. Isn't that interesting? Not I 
exhort first of all, that you seek the gift of tongues. I exhort 
first of all, that you seek the gift of prophesying. You seek 
the gift of healing. You seek the gift of whatever 
it is that's gonna ameliorate the downtrodden and poor in Ephesus. 
No, I exhort first of all, that the church prays. Did you come 
to the prayer meeting? Did you open your voice or you 
open your mouth and you express petitions, supplications, intercessions, 
and givings of thanks for all men in the context of a local 
church? What does the prophet say concerning 
the identification of the house of God? It will be a house of 
what? Prayer. It is identifiably the 
house of prayer. So it shouldn't surprise us in 
this brief survey in Acts 2, 4, 40 and following that they 
continued steadfastly in the Word of God. They continued steadfastly 
in charity, fellowship, those things that are associated with 
it. They continued steadfastly in the ordinances of the church. 
They had been baptized. Now they're going to participate 
in the Lord's Supper. And they continued steadfastly in prayer. Is it any wonder to us that when 
we end this brief section, according to verse 47, they were praising 
God, having favor with all the people, and the Lord added to 
the church daily those who were being saved. Why do you think 
he did that? Because the church was functioning 
in such a way that the Lord was happy to save sinners and add 
them to that lot so that they could be worshipers of our blessed 
God and enjoy the communion of Jesus Christ as he dwells in 
the midst of the lampstand. So that, my brothers and sisters, 
is the practice of the early church. That is what they did. We'll just quickly look at a 
few of the sort of implications or sort of results of this. Look at verse 43. Then fear came 
upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the 
apostles. The presence of God produced the fear of God upon 
every soul. I take that as brethren, those 
believers and non-believers. The fear of God was pervasive. 
Now, fear of God can be understood in a negative way, but there's 
a positive way we can understand the fear of God. The fear of 
God is simply understanding who God is and addressing Him or 
reverencing Him in light of that fact. The fear of God is the 
beginning of knowledge, according to Proverbs. In Psalm 89, we 
read that God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the 
saints and to be held in reverence by all those around Him. Just, 
again, take the mark contrast. What's indicative for a good 
worship service today? Oh, the band was incredible. Did you hear that guy shred on 
the guitar? That was great. Brethren, that's not what's in 
view here. It was the fear of God. See, 
the presence of God always brings the fear of God. Those two go 
hand in hand. Wherever you see the fear of 
God in the scriptures, mark my words, the presence of God is 
right there. It is the presence of God that 
inculcates that fear of God. And if it's only entertainment, 
if it's only levity, if it's only happy time, if it's only 
joking time, if it's only celebratory time, and there's no fear of 
God, we might be inclined to conclude, well, maybe God wasn't 
there. Yeah, maybe he wasn't there. And I speak as a man, 
God is everywhere in terms of omnipresence. Consider this sort 
of summary statement later in the book of Acts. A bit of a 
summary sort of a recapitulation of all that's kind of been going 
on. And Luke, under inspiration of the Spirit, tells us, then 
the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace 
and were edified. And walking in the fear of the 
Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied. 
That's Acts 9.31. They were walking in the fear 
of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and they 
had peace and they were, what, multiplied? Multiplication comes 
when the people of God obey as the church of God. Again, it's 
not formulaic. We don't put in the proper components 
and, you know, sit there with our hands out expecting to be 
paid off. But it does seem unique and interesting 
that when the church is serious, When the church is knowing the 
presence of God in it, it brings that pervasive fear of God. And 
when she's walking in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, when she's 
in that disposition, then God is well-pleased to multiply her, 
to increase her, to bless her power in the context of the world. 
And then one final thought before we leave verse 43. Notice the 
signs and wonders were done through the apostles. Now, commentators 
typically, when they treat the Book of Acts, make the distinction, 
and well, we should, between description and prescription. 
Not everything described in the Book of Acts is necessarily for 
us today. I'm just going to tell you that. 
The days of tongue speaking and prophesying as it's defined in 
the book of 1 Corinthians, those days are gone. Those were revelatory 
gifts used by God to communicate His Word before we had His Word 
in terms of the New Testament. Once the New Testament comes, 
we don't need those revelatory gifts anymore. We don't need 
tongue speaking. We don't need prophesying. But 
in the first century, they didn't have Matthew to Revelation bound 
in a beautiful Cambridge Bible. So they needed the Word of the 
Lord. And oftentimes, when the Word of the Lord came, it came 
accompanied by signs, wonders, and miracles. If you look at 
the Bible, you'll see there's a lot of signs, a lot of miracles, 
a lot of wonders, but they're always connected to persons who 
bring the word. Moses did miracles, Moses brought 
the word of God. The prophets did miracles, the 
prophets brought the word of God. The apostles did miracles, 
the apostles brought the word of God. Jesus did miracles, Jesus 
brought the word of God. Hmm, sort of a pattern. God says, 
you can trust that this is my word by virtue of the fact that 
Moses is able to do this. You can trust that this is my 
word by virtue of the fact that Elisha or Elijah is able to do 
this. You can trust that this is my 
word because of the fact that Paul or Peter is able to do that. So in other words, the emphasis 
isn't so much on the signs and wonders, but it's on the word 
of God. Lo and behold, you turn to 1st 
and 2nd Timothy and Titus, the pastoral epistles, where's the 
emphasis for Paul to his ministerial companions? Sound doctrine, not 
signs, not wonders. And Luke tells us here in verse 
43, that it was the agency of the apostles by which these signs 
and wonders came. Now, there is a sense that non-apostles 
did signs and wonders in the apostolic age, but for the most 
part, when you trace the pattern, the emphasis comes on the revelatory 
word of God and the signs and wonders simply confirm that. You can look up Mark 16, 20 later 
to validate that proposition. And then notice brotherly love 
in the church, verses 44 and 45. Verses 44 and 45. Now, all who believed were together 
and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and 
goods, and divided them among all as anyone had need. Their 
love was seen in togetherness, and their love was seen in charitableness. They actually liked each other, 
and they actually wanted to help each other. Typically, fruits 
of the spirit, because by nature, we really don't like each other, 
and we really aren't nice to each other. So it's God's Word 
conquering the soul of a sinner, bringing us to that place where 
we want to be together and where we want to be together in charity. 
Now, in terms of having all things in common, this wasn't state 
coerced. This is not a proof text for 
communism or socialism. It wasn't even mandated by the 
church. Acts chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira. Peter essentially says, when 
you had the property, it was in your power to do with it as 
you will. When you sold it and had the proceeds, that was in 
your power to do as you will. The problem with Ananias and 
Sapphira wasn't that they were anti-commies or anti-socialists. 
It was that they lied to God Almighty. There's no coercion 
on the part of the apostolic church. There's no coercion on 
the part of the state here, mandating that everybody give in an equitable 
manner. Our confession underscores this. 
Nevertheless, their communion, one with another as saints, does 
not take away or infringe the title or propriety which each 
man has in his goods and possessions. And pull goes right to the throat. Christ's gospel does not destroy 
the law and the eighth commandment is still in force. There's a 
huge difference between a blood-bought child of God taking his provisions 
and giving it to another, and that blood-bought child of God 
being coerced, being forced, and having someone enforce that 
against his will. That's what pool means. The eighth 
commandment is still enforced. Private property is a gift and 
blessing by God, but the people of God who have been blessed 
and gifted it by him typically should respond with charity and 
love and kindness to their brethren who are downtrodden and poor. 
That's the emphasis in the passage. And then their ongoing conduct, 
notice in verses 46 and 47. So continuing daily with one 
accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, that 
was probably eating together. We see that further explained. 
They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart. They 
were praising God and they had favor with all the people. And 
again, just so we understand, it's not the will of man, it's 
not the power of persuasion of Peter, but it's the power of 
God most high that is instrumental in terms of the church. The last 
verse tells us, the last section tells us, the Lord added to the 
church daily those who were being saved. Well, in conclusion, brethren, 
I think hopefully we learned why we do what we try to do and 
why we should continue to try to do what we continue to try 
to do. This is God's Word. It's not going to advance the 
cause of Christ's kingdom on earth to neglect these things. You've got description, prescription. Mentioned that a little bit ago, 
got a little sidetracked. Everything described is not necessarily 
prescribed. I don't pray for the gift of 
tongues before I come to church on Sunday morning. That's a gift 
that has ceased. So there's that which is described, 
verses one to 13, and then there is that which is described, but 
functions in a prescriptive manner as well. So when we go to the 
later epistles in the New Testament, and we look at Paul's emphasis, 
say, in the pastoral epistles, we see that he emphasizes, sound 
occur. We see that he emphasizes fellowship. 
We see that he emphasizes the supper. We see that he emphasizes 
prayer. So this description is pre-scripted 
for the church today. So imagine the person that comes 
and says, well, I want the tongues of 1 to 13. But the actual practice 
of the church in verses 40 to 47, I really don't care too much 
about that. That's to get it exactly backward. 
That is to get it exactly wrong. We should see this description 
as prescription for the people of God in terms of what it is 
church life ought to be about. It isn't ecstasy. It isn't entertainment. It isn't experience. It isn't 
feeling and emotion. that's going to advance the cause 
of Christ on earth. And it's certainly not going 
to advance our soul into a place of comfort and stability and 
strength. It is the apostolic doctrine. It is the means that 
God has ordained. It is the blessings that he has 
provided. And it is that realization on 
the part of God's people to realize the father, the householder actually 
does know what we need. And he has prescribed these things 
for our wellbeing and for our benefit. And we need to take 
them and we need to delight in them. But on the final note, 
the only way to enter into the practice of the church is by 
belief in the gospel. Trust in the Lord Jesus. Receive 
that word in faith and repentance. The fruit of that will be obedience, 
conduct worthy of the gospel. Now, it's not gonna be perfect, 
it's not gonna be impeccable to be sure, but there are consequential 
fruits from those who have come by grace to the Savior in faith 
and with repentance. and obedience to the Master, 
living in a manner that He has called us to in terms of, yeah, 
here, church life, in terms of family life, in terms of civil 
life. But the way in is by grace alone, 
through faith alone, in Christ alone. Believe on Him and you 
will be saved. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for its clarity 
here in Acts chapter two, and I pray that you would encourage 
our church and help us to continue steadfastly in the things that 
are specified here, and to do so for your glory and for the 
well-being of the church of Christ here, and even for the salvation 
of sinners who come in amongst us. And we ask this in the name 
and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen. Well, you 
can take your hymn books and turn to 568, and we'll conclude 
our service by singing praise to our triune God. 568, we'll 
stand as we sing together. is Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit 
be with you all. Amen. Father, thank you for this time 
that we've had together I pray that you would go with us now, 
that we would know the nearness of God as our good. And we pray 
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, please be seated 
for a brief time of meditation.