Speaker 1: 0:06

Good morning, good to be with you all. Thank you, paul. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm grateful to be. My family is grateful to be here. My mom, my wife Dawn's mom, is here and three of my four children are here. We have a couple of family friends here, so it's a joy today. I could say a lot this morning. We have a packed service, so I'll get right to the business here shortly, but I just wanted to. Oh, and I just see the Welch's here too. So it's nice to see you all here. But I'm humbled by the call to Westtown to be part of your fellowship and I'm honored to be your pastor. So with that behind us, I'm going to.

Speaker 1: 0:56

Normally I read the Scripture and it's been my custom for 20-some years to ask people to stand while I read it. But this morning, because of time, I'm just going to cut right to it and I'm actually going to refer to the verses inside my sermon. So as we go along, I'll point you there. We're going to be at the end of Acts 2 this morning. But really, what I want us to think about and I'm going to pray in a moment as well but I want us to think about what makes for a spiritually powerful church that's filled with God's love. What is a church empowered by God? What do they devote themselves to? What do they focus upon? Where do they get their ongoing strength in the Christian life, and what kind of an atmosphere fills that kind of a church? What are the kinds of things that you'll see happening? That's what I want to answer this morning from Acts, chapter 2. I'm going to preach on the power of the church and my good friend Brian Peterson is going to preach tonight on the glory of the church. But in the first several verses I want to prepare for the verses at the end of chapter 2 by just looking back briefly.

Speaker 1: 2:16

We referred to it in the songs we just sang, but in the first several verses of Acts chapter 2, what we learn is that the 120 disciples of Jesus had gathered it says they're together in one place, and that one place was in a house and suddenly there came the miraculous signs that accompanied the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now, it's not that the Holy Spirit was not active in the Old Testament. He was certainly active all throughout history amongst God's people in a marvelous way. But he's coming at Pentecost in great missionary power, in a way that he had not previously. You see, in verse two it says a sound like a mighty rushing wind filled the entire house, that'd get your attention. And in verse three, and divided tongues as a fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. A fire is a symbol of God's special presence. And then in verse four, we see the key thing of the whole verse, over the whole chapter. And they were filled, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, it says.

Speaker 1: 3:19

And these 120 or so disciples, it says, they began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. So Jews had gathered from all over the Roman Empire and they're coming from all these different places and they've speaking different languages and so forth, and they're coming to celebrate this Old Testament feast called Pentecost. And so those early Christian disciples, they began, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to speak in tongues and languages that they had never studied before. As I told the first service, I wish I'd had that when I was taking Spanish in high school. You know, that would have been nice, wouldn't it, to be able to just speak without ever having to have studied it. But God gave them this special, miraculous gift so that, as all those people came from all over the world, they could hear the gospel in their own language, spoken by God's people.

Speaker 1: 4:17

It says in verse five devout men from every nation under heaven were gathered there in Jerusalem, and they were there to hear. God had brought them there to hear the gospel, these things about Jesus Christ, in their own language. What was basically happening was, if you remember, back to Genesis, chapter 11, way near the beginning of the Bible, the nations came together, but not to glorify God but to glorify man. And so God brought a judgment down upon the nation, scattered them, confusing their languages. And so now, here in Acts, chapter two, right, god is reversing that judgment and he's given this major sign that he's going to take the blessing of salvation to the ends of the earth, to all peoples. And so the spirits come in missionary power, and some thought they were drunk, but it was only the third hour. Peter reminded them. It's only the third hour. Peter reminded them. It's only the third hour. They're not drunk, they're just speaking in tongues. It's 9 am in our way of thinking, the third hour, in a Jew's way of thinking.

Speaker 1: 5:13

And then Peter having been filled with the Holy Spirit, what does he do? He begins to preach. And he begins to preach in a prophetic, christ-centered way, and he's showing, first of all here and you can glance at your Bible and seeing Acts 2 and verses 17 to 21, how what they were witnessing was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Lord that was prophesied back in the prophet Joel, chapter two of the Old Testament. And then from there, what does Peter do? He boldly preached in the very city where Jesus himself had been put to death, had been put to death by hostile Jews, and also accommodating Romans. And he preached in verse 23 that Jesus' death, it says, was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. It wasn't a surprise to God, it was planned before the foundation of the world. But then he added, as he's preaching to these Jews, that had gathered the one you crucified and killed. He put the finger right on their sin.

Speaker 1: 6:18

Peter, we know, went on to be martyred for his testimony of Christ, for proclaiming the gospel. What did he proclaim? He proclaimed not only the death of Christ and its significance, but the resurrection of Christ and its significance, and also he preached about a forgotten doctrine the ascension of Christ and its significance. When he preached on the resurrection. In this sermon you can see in verses 25 to 28,. He shows that that was a fulfillment of the resurrection Psalm in the Old Testament, psalm 16. But, like I said, he then went on to declare the ascension of Christ.

Speaker 1: 6:53

Jesus isn't raised from the dead and then just cruises around you know the universe, like George Jetson, forevermore. He was raised from the dead and then he ascended as the king of glory to the right hand of God in heaven. He ascended into heaven, and so Peter's preaching these things. Aren't you glad we have an advocate in heaven? We do. Verse 33 tells us that. And then Peter says the ascended Christ has poured out his promised Holy Spirit. He rose, he died for our sins, rose from the dead, which proves that he accomplished on the cross what he had claimed. That was God, the Father's amen to the death of Christ, that it accomplished everything he intended. He ascends into heaven and then the Father and the Son send forth the Holy Spirit from on high. And here Peter quotes that this is a fulfillment of Psalm 110. And then Peter ends a sermon this way, in the 36th verse Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified, he puts his finger on their sin again.

Speaker 1: 8:12

Now what spirit-filled, christ-centered preaching does to people? Notice what it does. It does a lot of things. But first look at verse 37. They were cut to the heart. The listeners were cut to the heart. They became spiritually desperate and needy and undone. These were people who were religious but did not know God. And so now they're undone and they say brothers, what shall we do? And then Peter explained they should. By faith in the mercy of God that we see in Christ, they should repent in view of that mercy and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins, something that we witnessed this morning. And then we see in verse 41 that through Peter's preaching of the death and bodily resurrection of Christ on that first Pentecost, something remarkable happened 3,000 souls were saved, 3,000. That's a remarkable thing.

Speaker 1: 9:13

So I'm not going to read the passage now. As I said, I'll allude to it as we go through the text. I'm going to be preaching on verses 42 to 47 from Acts, chapter two. But really what I want you to see here in this text this morning, for our purposes and for this occasion, is the beauty and power of a spirit-filled church. So let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come now to your word, your life-giving word. It's a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, and we need, by your spirit, to show us the light of Christ into our path. And we need, by your spirit, to show us the light of Christ. We ask this Father in Jesus' name. God's people said amen, amen. Indeed, what I want to do this morning is really focus on four main points. Four main points, and they're all going to illustrate the power of where a spirit-filled church comes from.

Speaker 1: 10:07

The first thing I want you to see is in verse 42. I want you to see the power of the ordinary means of grace. Look at the text. And they devoted themselves. Now, the they there is the 3,000 that were converted, and perhaps some of the other disciples. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Speaker 1: 10:28

Now, when I say ordinary means of grace, that's a phrase that we just mean. That's the ordinary way God not only saves someone, but it's the way he sustains them within the Christian life by his grace. Aren't you glad he doesn't save us and then say, well, good luck. No, he saves us and then he stays with us and he empowers us all the way through the Christian life until he brings us on home to glory, he who began a good work, and you will bring it under completion at the day of Christ Jesus. So we have a God that doesn't abandon us. He saves us by bringing into the kingdom. He saves us by sustaining us in the kingdom and he saves us by bringing into the kingdom. He saves us by sustaining us in the kingdom and he saves us by bringing us home to glory. Okay, so they devote themselves to these ordinary means of grace because, yes, they were already converted. But how do you stay full of life in the Christian life? And that's through the ordinary means of grace which we're going to look at and notice.

Speaker 1: 11:25

They became a devoted people. They came devoted to God's church. They began to invest in the life of the church. How you treat my wife is how you treat me. If you slap my wife in the cheek, you slap me in the cheek. If you love her, you love me, and so it is with Christ. The church is the bride of Christ.

Speaker 1: 11:51

It's interesting when Paul, before he was converted, was persecuting the church, and when Jesus goes to him to confront him. He says Saul, saul. He doesn't say why are you persecuting the church? He says why are you persecuting me? And so there's this intimate relationship between Jesus and his church. And so they're devoted people.

Speaker 1: 12:13

These are things they persist in, they persevere in these things, they're steadfast with it, they give constant attention to it, something you're devoted to. Even when difficulties come up, you press through and you drive on in them. That's the sense of you overcome things to participate in it right. You set aside other things, even good things, so that you can remain devoted to the best thing. I think in our day what that would mean would be, rather than soccer and baseball and fishing and golf, we're going to go to church on the Lord's day and praise God. That's a devotion to the ordinary means of grace.

Speaker 1: 13:02

And so when God's spirit shows up in power and he fills God's people again, notice the four things listed here in verse 42. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. That's the word of God, the fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers. That's what we mean by the ordinary means of grace, those things right there. So these are distinctly Christian things. Notice the first one the apostles teaching. They were devoted to that. That shows us the importance of us being devoted to the word of God.

Speaker 1: 13:35

And so when we come together and worship, what are we doing? Well, we're studying the Bible together. We're hearing it read, we're hearing it preached and taught, we're hearing it confessed. We even sing the Bible right, and we see the Bible visualized in the sacraments. So they were. What are they devoted to? In other words, they were devoted to biblical doctrine and God's truth. They were devoted to his commandments and relishing his promises and taking heed to his warnings and embracing the wisdom of God that they needed to live a wise life, taking his encouragements. They were devoted to learning about God through constant exposure to the Holy Word of God.

Speaker 1: 14:18

And what's the Word of God ultimately point to? What is the Word of God centered on? It's centered on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the point of it all. All the promises of the Old Testament point to Christ, which is three-fourths of the Bible. The gospels record the fulfillment of Jesus' coming, promises kept, and then the rest of the New Testament explains the significance of that coming and what it means for our life. But Jesus is the center of it all.

Speaker 1: 14:50

So to be dedicated to the word of God is another way of saying. I'm dedicated to knowing Jesus, the one who has loved me and therefore the one I love. I say I love my wife, but wouldn't it be strange if I said, well, I don't really want to talk to you or learn more about you. That would be an odd thing. No, we want to know more about the people that we love, don't we? And it's the same with God, right? And so if there was one thing the apostles teaching included, it included not only the Old Testament, because they quoted the promises from the Old Testament and then the fulfillment here Peter did but the glory of Jesus Christ, life, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. And we see that his death is really the last obedient act of his sinless, perfect life. That was the center. That's the center of the message of the Old Testament. It's the center of the message of the New. We know that actually from Luke 24. Jesus says the Old Testament was about me. It all pointed to Christ. That's what makes the Old Testament come alive. He's the center of the Bible.

Speaker 1: 15:59

And so the early church. It was spirit-filled. They were devoted to learning more and more about God and this way of forgiveness of sins and the eternal life that we can have through him. Our biggest problem in life is that we're not right with God. But if we're right with God, god has solved the biggest problem that we have, both for this life and the life to come. Every other problem can be dealt with if we're right with God. If we're not right with God, we're not right with anything, because in the end it's all going to burn up.

Speaker 1: 16:35

And so this text makes us pause and say God, do I have a heart that is devoted to learning about you through the scriptures, through the Bible? And then notice, two spirit-filled people are devoted not only to the word of God, but to the fellowship of the saints. The fellowship, that's the word koinonia. They're devoted to the koinonia, literally to the sharing, to the sharing. But the sharing of what? The sharing of life together in Christ. That's what they're devoted to. Don't you see this with grandmothers, when they stand in the grocery store lines and they don't even know the people behind them, but they show them their grandkids pictures. What are they doing? They're so full of joy. You got to see this, isn't he cute? Love this little guy. Right? We want to share the things we take joy in, and that's what happens when the spirit comes, and you'll notice they had a personal faith, but not a private spirituality. They had a personal faith in God, but it wasn't a private spirituality.

Speaker 1: 17:39

The New Testament has metaphors for the church. The New Testament calls the church the family of God. It calls the church the body of Christ. It calls the church the temple of the Holy Spirit. It even alludes to the fact that it's the army of God. All those are corporate terms, and so our relationship with God is always personal, but never merely private. God has saved us. We're baptized into the church, and that's by God's design. And so when the spirit of God fills God's people, there's no such thing simply as going to church or going to a worship service.

Speaker 1: 18:19

There's a devotion to the fellowship of the saints, the sharing of life together. What does that mean practically? It just simply means that Jesus isn't Velcroed onto the periphery of our life. He is our life, he is our life, and to get to know him he has designed it that we get to know him in and through the church. We need one another. The New Testament is filled with one another's. You thought to go through the New Testament and circle every one another. It might amaze you how many one another's fill the New Testament. And so there's this devotion to the fellowship of the saints.

Speaker 1: 19:02

There's also a devotion to the sacraments. Sacraments are underappreciated in our day. I think maybe part of that is we're not quite sure what's happening with that and we don't want to just be religious for religious religiosity sake. But God has designed the sacraments with one of the central, has designed the sacraments with. One of the central. Purposes of the sacraments is to give us assurance, to give God's people assurance. Because if we're honest and let's be honest here isn't there many times when our faith is weak? If that's true, I want you to say amen, it's true, it's true for pastors too. Our faith gets weak. The world presses on us, satan punches us in the kidneys. We fail. Next thing, you know, we're wobbling around spiritually wondering oh right, how do we? Well, god gives us the sacraments to help us.

Speaker 1: 19:57

Nothing deficient in the word of God at all, nothing deficient in his word. He could have just looked at us and said isn't my word good enough? Get with the program. Hear what I'm saying. I want to illustrate it to you like this I look at my wife from over here and I say to my wife I love you and I do. But I could walk over there right now, put my hand on her cheek and give her a hug and say I love you. You see, there was nothing deficient in my word from back here, but it gives her assurance.

Speaker 1: 20:31

We're embodied creatures and so in these sacraments we experience it with our eyes and our smell and our taste and our touch, even as we hear the words of institution. And it's as if God, the Father, with his tender heart, is getting on one knee and saying, no really, my son, my daughter, I love you. He's putting his hand on your shoulder. In that sense, as surely as I can taste this bread, you can be that sure of my promises and my love for you. That's what he's doing in these sacraments. And the fact is we need the assurance. The New Testament encourages us to be assured in our relationship with God, because if we're assured we're children of God, we will live out of that identity rather than the identity the world's trying to press in upon you. They want you to live out of their identity that they want to give you. God wants us to live as children of God and we'll live out that identity as we get that deeper and deeper assurance, and it'll strengthen our faith to live for God.

Speaker 1: 21:31

But notice too, there's a devotion not just to the word, prayer, sacraments and the prayers or the sacraments, but also to the prayers. The prayers or the sacraments, but also to the prayers. Notice it says the prayers, not just prayer, but the prayers. This is clearly, I think, a reference to. They got together and they sang and prayed the Psalms. I'm sure that they also prayed the Lord's Prayer and the principles that are revealed there about praying that God's name would be hallowed. Really the Lord's Prayer is all the Psalms condensed right, and the Psalms are the Lord's Prayer expanded. That's the relationship between them.

Speaker 1: 22:14

And so when you study the Psalms, you're really studying the Lord's Prayer in depth. You're studying about how God's name can's prayer in depth. You're studying about how God's name can be hallowed. You're praying that it would be hallowed, revered in the hearts of people, in other words, that God's kingdom would advance on earth against all the powers of darkness, that the righteousness of God would prevail upon the earth, that God's will would be done on this earth as it is in heaven. And then God's people also pray God, give me my daily bread. I depend upon you. Oh, forgive me of my sins again, lord, again forgive me. And Lord, even as I forgive others, keep my heart tender for forgiving other people as they have hurt me. And Lord, I know the devil would like to sift me like wheat, as he wanted to do to Peter, but lead me not into temptation. Deliver me from evil. You see, these kinds of things. They were praying, and so God's people.

Speaker 1: 23:07

The point is they come together and they pray these things together. There's a place for private prayer. That's important too. But if you gave me a choice to have a church where people only played in private, where they only played in private, where they only prayed together, which one would I take as your pastor? Let's come together and pray. We're a family. We're not in this alone. We have each other's back. God is with us, and so we pray together, publicly, in small groups, in family life, with one another. Even where two or three are gathered in God's name, he's there in a special way.

Speaker 1: 23:42

Take a good look again at verse 42. Look at the fourfold devotion and reflect on your life with me. The early church was devoted word, sacrament, fellowship, prayer. They went to the temple daily and they in private. They were in one another's houses worshiping God and praising him. And you notice, when the apostle Peter preached the sermon on Pentecost, he preached in such a way that he dealt with the people's sins, not to beat them down but so that they could be freed. When we go to a surgeon, he cuts us, not because he gets some sick delight and hurtiness, but to set us free from whatever is ailing us. And God does the same thing.

Speaker 1: 24:29

The pattern of the scriptures is that the gospel cuts before it brings comfort. It convicts us of our sin before it brings the comfort of grace. It wounds before it heals. It must kill before it brings new life.

Speaker 1: 24:44

I've always told my people if you're ever in a church where you're never convicted of your sins, get out of there. How can you and I look at Jesus and not be convicted of our sins? How would that even be possible? If we're actually seeing the one true, holy and all-loving God, how could we ever get a good glimpse of him and not feel some sense of conviction? We would have to be blind. But God cuts to the heart and that's what these people cried out. They were cut to the heart and that showed them how needy they were of God. They became needy for God in that way, and so they had this fourfold devotion. That's the first thing I want you to see the power of the ordinary means of grace. These are the things that was going to sustain them as they went on in the Christian life. But the second thing I want you to see is the power of souls that are in awe of God.

Speaker 1: 25:41

Look at verse 43, and awe came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles, the Holy Spirit, during times of revival. What does he do in the hearts of people? He makes people full of awe of God. What do I mean? We're dealing with almighty God, who made all things by nothing but the power of his word, the power of his word. And so when people become in awe of God, they go beyond just acknowledging God. They go beyond appreciating God. They have a sense where it takes their breath away. I remember we lived in Colorado at one time and you get out in some of those mountains, you get a little too close to the edge. You know what I'm talking about, woo. You kind of it can almost take your breath away because you realize your smallness. I've always said nobody, ever. You'll never see two guys at the bottom of Mount Everest bragging about the size of their bicep. You know, when God is so big it takes our eyes off ourself and you're consumed with just how great and beautiful he is. And that's what the Spirit does in his people. And when he saves a soul and revives a soul in a church, in a nation, they become in awe of God.

Speaker 1: 27:11

David Wells in his writings the theologian from Gordon Conwell, he said he believes the great sin of our age is that God sits on us like a feather of little consequence, that we don't feel the weightiness of the greatness of God, that this is a person that we must do business with. He's not an option in or out of my life. No, god is. And they feel his weight. And that's what these Christians felt when these people that were converted. They felt that they were in awe of God, not just of his greatness, but also of his goodness amidst his greatness. Not just of his greatness, but also of his goodness amidst his greatness. Look at how great he is, but on top of that, look at how good he is even though he's so great. And that's what took their breath away. Luther said that Christianity is a religion of personal pronouns. He died for me, he died for my sins. He doesn't die in general sort of no, he died for me.

Speaker 1: 28:35

And you see, here we have the principle that we see in a hymn I'm going to introduce in a minute. But when Peter was preaching to these folks, when they looked at Christ crucified, as he painted the picture, the first look of Jesus toward them cut them to the heart, brought conviction of sin. But then, as they pondered the meaning of the cross, it's as if they saw a second look of Christ that forgave them of all their sin. In the first look they saw his holiness and the horrific nature of their sin. In the second look they saw the tender heart of God and his compassion for sinners and they were comforted.

Speaker 1: 29:11

The two looks of the cross. Paul says to the Galatians in the second chapter of the 20th verse I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the son of God, who, what, who loved me and gave himself for me. He wasn't just the son of, he wasn't just overwhelmed of the greatness of God. He couldn't believe. God's good love poured out for him Amazing grace is how John Newton put it. So they were awed by the holy love of Christ. For him, paul, was these early believers were. John Newton puts it like this what a great hymn. Most of you know his hymn, amazing Grace, right. But he also wrote another great hymn. I've already mentioned it to Paul. I hope we sing it sometime when we get around to it. But listen, it talks about the two looks of the cross. Put yourself at the foot of the cross.

Speaker 1: 30:20

I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood, who fixed his loving eyes on me as near his cross I stood and never till my dying breath will I forget that look. It seemed to charge me with his death, though not a word. He spoke. You see, that first look of Christ charged him with his death. He was convicted of a sin. My conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sins. His blood had spilt and helped to nail him there. But with a second look he said I freely all forgive. This blood is for your ransom paid. I died that you might live. Is God good or what? Aren't you glad for the second look of Christ? He doesn't just convict us of a sin, he convicts us of a sin so we could see the need for the forgiveness of our sins and be set free and live in that freedom and that peace of God, knowing that we're reconciled with God, that we're right with God and we can face the final judgment with confidence in Christ. John Newton was a filthy slave trader by his own words, vile. The spirit opened his eyes first, cut to the heart, then comforted by the gospel. That's the pattern.

Speaker 1: 31:50

Now there's miracles being done here at the time of Peter preaching at Pentecost. That's in the mix. You got to remember that it was a time of revival. You got to remember that it was a time of revival. You got to remember that Not every time is a time of revival. Does our country need revival or what? Let us pray for revival. We're not going to manage our way out of this mess. Folks are we. We need God. We need God. We need God as the donkeys and the elephants run around and they give you their speeches. That's all well and good. It has its place, but we need God. We need God to revive us. We've made a mess of it. And this was revival. How many times have you ever seen 3,000 people converted by a single sermon? That's what happened at Pentecost. 3,000, just in that one day. More were gonna come later in the book of Acts. But the spirit came in great power, sent by the father and the son, and this is what we need in our day. The good news is Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and the God, the. This is what we need in our day. The good news is Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and the God, the Father, are the same yesterday, today and forever.

Speaker 1: 33:05

I want to encourage you to study the history of revivals. It will so encourage your soul. When God decides to move, that's it. That's it. And he sent this church out. The story of the early church is so encouraging. Within 300 years, they'd basically taken over the Roman empire, this little band empowered by the spirit of God. The reformation in the early church. They were back to the Bible movements, and it was that word of God that the Spirit used to empower his people, and so these people were in awe of God.

Speaker 1: 33:47

I want you to notice, thirdly, the power of life in Christ. The power of life in Christ together. Look at verses 44 to 47, the first part. And all who believed together. And all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need and, day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. As West Ham would put it here, they were experiencing the joy of Christ. They were experiencing the joy of Christ. Notice, the believers were bodily together.

Speaker 1: 34:31

Now, I know this is meddling, but I have to believe they would not have been satisfied with watching online. How many of you think about your birthday parties? What if nobody came except they all just piped in from online? I mean, it's better than nothing, right? If grandma can't get here from New Mexico and she can pipe in, that's great, it's a blessing. But is that really the best? We're embodied creatures. There's no substitute for being together, is there? What if, when you went and sat down to eat dinner, everybody had their own computer and their faces were there. And you were the only one there, but all your family's faces were there on the computer. I guess it's better than nothing. But we're embodied creatures and there's something to being bodily together. Being bodily together, yes, thank God for sick people and shut-ins and we all get that. But I'm talking about if you can be bodily together.

Speaker 1: 35:30

These folks were bodily together with one another. Notice what it says. They had all things in common. That didn't mean they were communists, it meant that they were just being generous with the things they had. They saw a need. They did what they could to fill it. Notice they were meeting one another's needs, it says here, even selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need, as Westtown would put it, they were putting others first, living the love of Christ.

Speaker 1: 35:56

And then they attended the temple together daily, not once on Sunday, not twice on Sunday, daily. That's revival. That's what happens in revival. In revival no one has to make a decision. Am I going to church today? It's like they just wanna be there. They wanna be there and that's only God's spirit can do that. That's not natural to us.

Speaker 1: 36:18

And then notice they broke bread in their homes together. You see what they did. They ate meals, they feasted. Have you ever noticed how often God feasts with his people in the Bible. I like that part of the kingdom, aren't you glad? When Jesus comes again, there's gonna be the like the Thanksgiving banquet of all Thanksgiving banquets. Right, there's gonna be be like the Thanksgiving banquet of all Thanksgiving banquets, right, there's going to be this huge banquet. There's this feasting.

Speaker 1: 36:43

Well, they were joyful, it says. They were glad, generous, generosity was flowing and so forth. So as they came to know the truth of Christ personally, that overflowed into a joy of Christ, the joy of experiencing Christ and also living the love of Christ. Why Was this natural? Is it because they just decided let's let Nike just do it? No, it's because God had sent the Holy Spirit to fill them. He put the Spirit upon them, he put the Spirit within them and he put the Spirit among them. God was the one at work. And then they give praise to God. Here it says they were full of praise to God, they were a thankful people. That's one of the hallmarks of believers is thanksgiving.

Speaker 1: 37:30

Romans 1 says one of the hallmarks of an unbeliever who doesn't know God is they're unthankful One of the hallmarks of a believer. Think about it this way In heaven, do you think anybody's grumbling Right? No way, it's just all praise. And when the Spirit comes to fill us, that's what happens in God's people. And notice in verse 47, having favor with all the people. Do you see what's happened here? Having favor with all the people, the church was just being the church and they got everybody's attention. That's attractional in all the right ways. What do I mean? Well, they were praising God, they were loving one another, they were learning about God from God through his word. They were celebrating the sacraments. They were praying publicly and with one another in their homes together. They were having people into their homes feasting, breaking bread together, celebrating life and the goodness of God together, filled with joy. Generosity was flowing and it got the attention of the community.

Speaker 1: 38:40

You know people are dying of loneliness out there. You know it, don't you? People in our community? Sociologists have written it about Americans. Bowling Alone is the name of one book. People are dying for a foretaste of glory to come, and the church is to be a foretaste of heaven. No one is lonely in glory and the church is to be that place where people get a taste and they're attracted to the beauty of God's holiness and the beauty of his holy love that's manifested in the life of his people. I think the greatest need for our nation and for the world, other than Jesus himself, is for the church to simply be the church, filled with the spirit of God and devoted to the right things. That's it.

Speaker 1: 39:36

Lastly, and very briefly, I want to say this I want you to notice the power of God's sovereign grace. Look at the end of verse 47. And the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved. See, the church is being the church. It had missional power, but it had missional power because God was sovereignly at work, blessing their work. It wasn't just that they worked, god blessed it. He does what he pleases and he blessed their efforts. And notice, it's the Lord that added to the church.

Speaker 1: 40:07

Peter preached, but Luke doesn't say well, peter added to the church, the Lord added to the church. Peter was preaching. Others gathered, they worshiped, celebrated, but the Lord was at work in all of it. Others gathered, they worshiped, celebrated, but the Lord was at work in all of it. And the Lord added to the church. Paul says I planted, apollos watered, but God gave the growth. Why do I say that? We have work to do, but only God can save souls. We can gather a crowd, we can't save the soul. So it's important that we pray that God would save souls.