The Church Pentecost Produced

Well, the title for our sermon today is, The Church Pentecost Produced. The Church Pentecost Produced. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to open them once again. This time, we're going to turn to Acts chapter 2. In a moment, we're going to read verses 41 through 47. Acts 2 verses 41 through 47. As you turn there, you know, when we come to the book of Acts and chapter 2, we understand that we're standing now in front of one of the greatest turning points in all of redemptive history. As Luke records for us, the birth, the very birth of the New Testament church. And we're told that when this day of Pentecost fully came, that there was about 120, about 120 individuals gathered together. They had gathered together in one accord, one place, and then there was a sound which came. A sound from heaven. A rushing wind filled the whole house, the Gospel accounts record. And those first individuals, those 120 individuals, were also then filled with the Holy Spirit. Naturally, the crowds came running. When they arrived, they witnessed these ordinary men and women doing something extraordinary, where each of them were found to be declaring the praises of God in languages they had never learned. And it was the miraculous demonstration of divine power. Some in the crowd were astonished and wanted to know more, no doubt. Others were a little dismissive. You know, when someone views something they can't explain, often when they look at the work of God without understanding, they can mock it, right? And they concluded that these men and women, these disciples, oh, they must be drunk, they said. But Peter stood up amongst the crowd and said this was not the result of intoxication. This, in fact, was the result of divine promise. These individuals were not filled with wine. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. And on this day of Pentecost beat, Peter began to preach, and he began to preach about Jesus Christ. And he proclaimed that Jesus was the very one, the one to whom they rejected and crucified, but he had been raised from the dead by the power of God, exalted as Lord and King, Savior, exactly the way the Scriptures promised. And Luke tells us that they were cut to the heart under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and many repented of their sins, placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. In Acts here, chapter 2, verse 41, it says, then, Acts 2, verse 41, then those who gladly received his, that's Peter's word, well, they were baptized. And that day, about 3,000 souls were added to them. And this is where our focus of Scripture begins here. This is the moment, the birth of the New Testament church here. And so, Acts 2, verse 42 through 47, then gives us the description of this New Testament church in its beginnings there in Jerusalem. And so, what an amazing moment in history that we are going to give ourselves here today. The church, the church that Pentecost produced. And so, as we come to this section, and as we begin to allow it to reveal to us about this church, we know this is not merely some kind of historical footnote, but this is the God-breathed portrait of what the church is meant to be. Here, in the passage that we come to, we're going to see Luke revealed to us, inspired by the Holy Spirit in Scripture to give us the pattern, the model, the character, the spiritual life of the New Testament church. And in many ways, the church at its birth was the church which was most pleasing to God. That can make sense. You know, this is the moment in which the Holy Spirit was poured out upon these men and women, directly poured out upon them.

Now, I'd be remiss to not mention that while that might be true, it's also true that the church wasn't flawless. I think we can all acknowledge that. As you begin to read the following narrative that Luke writes, you see absolutely the struggles, the failures, the hypocrisy, the conflict. You see the growing pains. But despite its imperfections, the spiritual patterns that we're going to see here, they do reveal the essential nature of a healthy, spirit-led church. And verses 42 through 47 give us an answer what the church should look like. What are the marks of a healthy church? And if there was ever a need for the world to hear and to observe a spirit-filled church, well, there's no greater time than today. So on this great day of Pentecost, let's give ourselves to what is revealed here. And let's read here Acts 2 verses 42 through 47. Luke records, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and in fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul. This was the initial 150 and the 3000. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, they had all things in common, and they sold possessions, their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. Verse 46. So continuing daily in one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Let's stop there. So I believe this gives us three characteristics, three overarching characteristics of a healthy, spirit-filled church. And the first is this. Number one. Number one. A spirit-filled church is steadfast in God and each other. That's the number one revealed truth here about this Pentecost-produced church. Number one, again, it is a spirit-filled church that is steadfast in God and each other. Okay. Verse 42, we see after this tremendous growth of 3,000 new members, again, verse 42 says, they continued steadfastly. What did they continue steadfastly in? Well, under this first point, we see four areas. The Apostle's Doctrine, Fellowship, Breaking Bread, and Prayers. Very simple, right? So, steadfast, being steadfast in God and with each other, being steadfast just simply means being devoted to or being deeply committed to. And so, Luke records, they were a steadfast church in these four areas here. Apostle's Doctrine, Fellowship, Breaking of Bread, and Prayers here.

So, the first two we see in what they were steadfast in under this first point is two, the Apostle's Doctrine. We see all these new believers became steadfast first to the Apostle's Doctrine. Or we could say the Apostle's Teaching. Now, who were the Apostles? Well, of course, they were the 12 initial men uniquely chosen by Jesus Christ. These 12 men walked with Jesus. These 12 men listened to him. These 12 men witnessed his miracles. These 12 men witnessed his death. These 12 men witnessed his resurrection from the dead. So, these were the foundational leaders of the church here. And this is what the church devoted themselves to. It's what they were steadfast in. But I want you to notice something very carefully. What specifically was the this first aspect was the church steadfast in? They were steadfast in the Apostle's Doctrine. So, the ultimate authority of the Apostles did not rest merely in their position. It rested in their message. So, Luke does not say that the church became steadfast in the Apostles personally, personally devoted into the Apostles personally. No, ultimately, we see, and this is crucial, they were steadfast in the Apostles' Doctrine, in the Apostles' teachings, in the Apostles' message.

That makes sense because Jesus had given these 12 men the commission to teach all nations to observe all things I have commanded you. That was the commission that Jesus gave to these Apostles. And so, that's precisely what they were doing here. They were giving this doctrine to the people. The words of Jesus, the commands of Jesus, the works of Jesus, they were preaching of Jesus Himself, unfolding that knowledge of the glory of Jesus Christ as the one, the promised Messiah, King. And all the Apostles' teachings, we could say, are now preserved for us in Scripture, you see. So, that means today, if we want to be a spirit-filled church, we also are going to continue steadfastly in biblical teaching, you see. The next aspect under our first point here says that they were steadfast in verse 42 there, the middle. They were steadfast in fellowship. This is interesting. It's actually the first appearance in the New Testament where we have this word translated, fellowship. It's actually the Greek word kononia. The Greek word kone essentially means to share together, fellowship, to share together, to hold something in common with one another. So, we, the church then, and we today, we are to be steadfast devoted to our shared life together. Fellowship. Bound together not by earthly things, we're not bound together by ethnicity or status or education or background, personality. No. Our fellowship is due to our shared faith and fellowship in Jesus Christ. That was at the heart of this Pentecost-produced church here. So, their commitment to each other was an expression of their commitment to the apostles' doctrine, which taught them about God the Father and Jesus Christ. You see? So, it is that the Spirit of God creates affection between individuals who perhaps would not have any other fellowship together in any other way. You see, you know, if the outside world looked upon us today, they might say, wow, what in common does this ragtag bunch have together? You know, what possibly could they have in common? And in many ways, we don't have much of anything else in common except that which is most essential, you see. We're bound together by something greater than an earthly commonality. We are united by faith in God the Father through Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and we are steadfast in that fellowship, just like at the time of the birth of this New Testament church.

What's next under our first point? Well, again, they're in the middle of verse 42. Luke says, they were also steadfast in the breaking of bread. That's interesting. Would you have put that? Would you have come up with that? If I would have given you an initial question at the beginning, what would you say are the four components that the early church was devoted to, steadfast in? Without reading ahead, would you have come up with breaking bread together? I don't know. Perhaps this is an outlier here. But Luke says they continued steadfast in this way. They devoted themselves to eating together. It's odd, perhaps. Is it that significant? Are you looking forward to the potluck after services today? Are you devoted to steadfast in your deep desire to eat together? Well, they were steadfast in this simple act of sitting down, sharing food together. Why? Why? It is because the simple act becomes the opportunity to praise God once again for his faithful provision. That's why our local potlucks may seem ordinary on the surface, but I've got to tell you, they're extraordinary. And it's one of the marks of the early church produced by Pentecost as they were filled with the Holy Spirit. It drove them to their plates.

So they continued steadfast in breaking bread together. And the last aspect on our first point of being steadfast with God and with each other, the end of verse 42 there, under this first point, that says they continued steadfast in prayer. Perhaps we would have added that to the list, no doubt. It was crucial for the early church to devote themselves to prayer. And it may not be such a stretch to say that if they hadn't had this particular quality here, that Acts 2 may not have looked like it did.

Perhaps Acts 2 in this Pentecost event, if they hadn't been devoted and steadfast to prayer, perhaps we would have seen something different in this narrative. And not seeing such a dramatic display that we're seeing before us here. Because if you actually turn back—you can keep your marker here—just turn back a chapter to Acts 1 verses 12 through 14. We can read the significance that prayer played in their life leading up to this historic moment, this New Testament Pentecost. Look at what Luke records here, Acts 1 verses 12 through 14. This initial group had gathered together, Acts 1 verse 12, then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day journey. So Jesus had ascended back to the Father. He said, go back to Jerusalem and wait for the promise which will come to you. So this is what they were doing. They were returning. And when they had entered—this is the upper room—when they went into the upper room, they were there staying, and it included the likes of Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas the son of James. And it says then in the narrative, these all continued in one accord in prayer and supplication, requests, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Let's all stop there. They were all together in this upper room. Jesus now gone, right? And what do we find them doing? Praying. Praying. No doubt asking God to help them with all that lay ahead. Help them subdue the fear. Help them to ease the nervousness of the stomach. Help them to have the vision of what was to come. Help them to fulfill all that Jesus had now let them, extended to them, to do. You know, so Jesus had ascended back to the Father. This was 40 days after the resurrection. The Spirit of God would not come until Pentecost. That would be 10 days later. So here we are 50 days after the resurrection, and we find these faithful men and women praying. So during this 10-day period where they could find themselves most vulnerable, most vulnerable, the time in which doubt could have so easily entered into them. They could have stayed fearful and maybe scattered. You know, they found that they needed to be steadfast and devoted to prayer during this period of time. And so back to Acts 2 verse 42, we see once again, as Luke revealed, they were steadfast in prayer. So every spirit-filled church must devote themselves steadfastly in prayer. And it's not simply because God answers prayers. He does. But ultimately, it's this great declaration of our dependence upon God to do anything effective in this work that He's laid before us. It's where our strength lies in the power of the Holy Spirit, and that was accessed through prayer here. So I hope we see ourselves growing in prayer and growing in this way. I hope we find ourselves being steadfast in the upcoming year. Steadfast to the Apostle's doctrine. You know, we're creating extra time to come together and to sharpen each other through discussions. Steadfast to the the doctrine. Steadfast to fellowship. This next year is packed full of additional time we can spend together, even outside of our worship service. Steadfast, if you look at the upcoming year with our potlucks, we're putting special attention onto eating together. And hopefully we can add more and more as the year come, is before us. And steadfast in prayers together. I hope we become more and more a praying church. I hope to dedicate study to the Apostle's doctrine, if you will, on the topic of prayer. This should mark us as a church. So that's number one. A spirit-filled church is steadfast in God and each other.

All right. Secondly of three. Number two of three. Luke is now going to reveal to us that the Pentecost-produced spirit-filled church, the second aspect, the second characteristic of this church is number two, is that this church looks beyond themselves and onto the needs of others.

That's the second aspect of a Pentecost-produced spirit-filled church. Number two, it is that they looked beyond themselves and onto the needs of others. So this should be a priority for us this year. Look at verse 43 through 45. Luke continues here, verse 43. Then, Luke records, "'Fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the Apostles. Now all who believed were together.'" So we're talking about the larger multitude here. "'And had all things in common, they were all thinking and had the same strategic thoughts.'" Verse 45. "'And what did they do?' Verse 45. "'They sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.'" Let's stop there. So, the evidence that a person is part of a spirit-filled church is seen, evidenced, in how they care for the needs of others. Where, after the spirit of God fills a church, there will be a visible expression of that reality as they supply the needs of others. Of others, you see. So, as the church increased from 120 to thousands upon thousands, the church responded with practical compassion. You know, this is one of the focuses for us this year. You remember we took that map out, and we kind of showed where everybody was living, and the different quadrants around our Metroplex. Soon we'll be visiting that again, and making sure that someone is noticing and taking care and listening for any needs that are present amongst all of us. Practical compassion. We are also starting initiatives to look outside of ourselves and see what community service projects we can do to make sure that when they see us, they see us serving, needs filling people. That's what they need to see.

Within the fellowship, there was this sincere commitment here to ensure that no one was abandoned in need. And they were all together on this. And all together had this in common. They sold their possessions and goods, divided among all as everyone had need. Now, sadly, some have actually used this passage here as a means to promote political initiatives, to put forth some kind of socialism message to try to glean that from these scriptures here. But that would be missing the point altogether. You know, if you look at this, there's nothing compulsory here. This is not coercion. This certainly isn't governmental coercion. This isn't even like a church mandate or ecclesiastical mandate forcing people to surrender their possessions and property. It's not that. What we see here is we find the voluntary, joyful, spirit-produced generosity, which was naturally emerging from them as they were filled with the Holy Spirit and came together as a church, a group of believers. So, as they gathered under to hear the Apostle's doctrine, as they then broke and bred together and ate together, as they fellowshiped together, as they prayed together, as they were steadfast in that activity, the needs of others became known. And someone would hear of an individual who lacked a provision, and the church in one accord would say, let us help. Let us help you. And many, some, sold possessions, belongings here. The language here is actually personal items and, in some cases, property and even land, willing to sacrifice all things materially to care for others practically. And if we're honest, this second aspect of the church produced by Pentecost, this is a little bit convicting, right? I don't know when I thought about this in my own heart. You know, sometimes it's difficult, if we're honest, to even come together once, you know, four times a month, you know, much less participate in something like this.

We already acknowledge we are so different, right? Sometimes it's hard to get along with everyone, and we pray that the Spirit would increase in us so we can have that bond with each other. But this Spirit-filled church is made up of people who were gladly sacrificing personal comfort and possessions so that no one was neglected. This is the model. So, often God will put out there this higher, higher level of living, right? A higher level of righteousness. That's what we're being held to, and sometimes it sees, whoa, I don't know if we can accomplish that here, but the point is this is our goal. This is what we're growing to. This is the early church. These are the marks and character of the early church that we need to move into modeling here, and it is that this early church actually reached this second character. They actually lived in this second character so much that Luke goes on to record that no one lacked. Let me show you that. Look at Acts 4, verse 32 through 35. Acts 4, verse 32 through 35.

Remarkably, we see that Luke records that there wasn't anyone who lacked among them. Acts 4, beginning in verse 32. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart, one soul. Neither did anyone say that any of these things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? And great grace was upon them all. Nor, verse 34, was there anyone among them who lacked. For all who were possessors of land or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet, and they distributed to each as anyone had need. Let's stop there. Phew! Okay. You know, and by this time, just allow your eyes to go up to verse 4 here, they had increased even greater. Verse 4 here in this chapter says they increased to 5,000 at this time. So from 150 to 3,000 to 5,000. And so much growth was occurring. And so this is an extraordinary aspect to consider, this second mark of a healthy church. Perhaps, I wonder, when you consider this increase here, and you consider the activity that this church held them to, to supply the needs of those lacking, perhaps God was multiplying the church so that the resources would be available to meet those needs. Something to consider.

We devote ourselves to these things. We are steadfast in these things. And then pray to God that He will provide the means by which to accomplish the very thing we're being asked to do. You see. Again, though, Scripture carefully preserves the principle of personal stewardship and ownership.

If we go back to chapter 2 and verse 46, it mentions that they're still meeting in homes, right? Chapter 2 verse 46. So not everyone sold all of their possessions. They're still meeting in homes, you know. But it is that simply the church's loving and practical response to the unique needs created rapid growth of this spirit-filled, Pentecost-produced church. This is just simply the the loving, practical response of being recipients of God's church and being brought together as a body here. That's all it is. Simply the church's loving, practical response to the unique needs created, perhaps, by this rapid growth which was occurring. And so the point is not that every Christian must abandon all of their possessions. Rather, the point is spirit-filled believers must consider these things, and they must look upon the needs of others differently. And rather than say, how tightly can I hold on to what is mine, they begin to ask, how can I use what God has entrusted to me for the good of others and the glory of Jesus Christ? That's all it is. Father, I don't want to hold on so tightly to my stuff that somehow I ignore the needs of others. Believers are called to remember that. You know, everything comes from God. We acknowledge that, of course. And there will always be the poor. There will always be poverty in the church. Until Christ returns, that will be the reality. But it is that the presence of need becomes the opportunity for Christian compassion and generosity.

So as a church, as we're coming together, let's pay special attention to identify the needs. And let's pray that God would give us the means, the opportunity, the strength. Let's pray that the needs would bubble up so that we can reach out and help each other and anyone in need.

That's a good second initiative to give ourselves to that we see revealed in here. So number one, we looked at upon ourselves and our fellowship here, and we look upon God. Number two, we look outward to the needs of others. Number three, and lastly, we have revealed here of the Spirit-filled church produced by Pentecost. Number three is that this was a church that praised God daily and sought favor with all people. Okay? Number three, a Spirit-filled church praises God daily and seeks favor with all people. Okay, that's our number three character of this early church. Praise God daily, seek favor with all people.

That comes to us in verse 46 and 47 of Acts 2. So Acts 2, our last part of this to observe here, verses 46 through 47, Luke continues and he writes, So continuing daily with one accord, so again, we're all in this together, we're all in harmony, in the temple. They continue daily in one accord, in the temple, and breaking bread. They're still eating, right? From house to house they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.

Verse 47, praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Let's stop there. Again, third aspect is very convincing, convicting here of heart. They gather together in the temple and in their homes daily. That's convicting. Again, it's sometimes hard to come together four times a month, you know, here, much less daily here. But this is the mark, this is the character, this is the higher level of righteousness that we're striving to here. You know, the church at this time, they didn't have a so-called, we could say, a church building, if you will.

But they're increasing. 150,000, 3,000, 5,000, and so they needed a gathering place where they could handle this growing congregation here. So they still met in the temple, the temple courts here. That was likely the largest place that they could meet here. Side note, wonderfully ironic that the very religious establishment which condemned Jesus to death, they now saw the temple being used to worship the risen Jesus Christ here. So they had this boldness, right? There's some boldness there. Nothing, nothing was going to get in the way of them praising God, you see. But they also, as they grew, they did not abandon the smaller fellowship. You know, one of the things that we want to see if we can get going this year is to have midweek or Friday night Bible studies in our various homes.

And gather a group here, gather a group there. So that initiative comes directly from this New Testament church, you see. This is what we're being called to. And I'm sure we'll have lots of food as well to eat.

Of course, God's people are an eating people, a potluck people, we could say. But their priority was to be together as much as possible. And they went out there in their houses. They ate food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God. This isn't profound here, but it's deeply significant. The ordinary occasions of getting together at each other's homes to share a meal together, that just seemed to produce in them a gladness, a kind of a simplicity to it in their heart here.

And as the watching world witnessed these things, as they were praising God in this way, they were having favor with all people. Verse 47. So perhaps they could hear it, perhaps they could see this praise and gratitude, the joy and fellowship, praise in their gatherings. If you would have passed the temple, you would have viewed it past various homes, you would hear these new believers worshiping and praising God. And in that, they were given favor with all people. Favor was as a result. And we have this huge increase in numbers.

This is the church we want to create here.

If you think about having favor with others, perhaps the highest favor God can grant you with another person is an open door to speak to them about the hope that lies within you.

Could we say that's perhaps the highest favor that could be bestowed upon us? That perhaps we would be an instrument by which God would use in his call to another? That's a great honor. That's a great privilege, you see.

Perhaps the highest favor. So they were praising God and having favor with all people, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. This is not a historical footnote here, merely describing the early church. This is the declaration of the ongoing work of the risen Jesus Christ, and he rules, and he's increasing his church today. Still today.

And we'll continue to do so from the time of that birth of this New Testament church until today and every day until Christ's return. He has not ceased to build his church and add to his church daily. But on this great day of Pentecost, aren't we glad he added us?

We can simply rejoice in that.

Well, if you are grateful, as we begin to conclude here, if you are grateful, let's come together. Let's come together on these things that's been revealed to us today, and let's be in one accord on these things in this building and in our homes and out in the communities. Let's build this very church. Let's do it, for this is the church Pentecost produced.