Love One Another : Love to Fellowship
This morning we continue our series “Love One Another”. Today, we are going to look at loving one another through our fellowship with one another. Let’s dive in.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 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. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47
Luke records four main activities of the Acts Church. They're found in verse 42. These four devotions became the catalyst for Christianity's spread. I'm convinced the healthiest churches are those who share these same devotions. Similar to last week, I'd like us to look at these four and see where we find them in our church. Then we will examine the results of the Acts church.
Apostles' teaching
What did the apostles teach? They taught Scriptures in light of the Risen Savior. If we look back earlier in the passage, we see Peter's sermon which calls the people of Jerusalem to repent in light of the risen Christ.
Verse 36: Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. When they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
We may not have the apostles walking among us today, but we have their words recorded in the New Testament. We can devote ourselves to their teachings by reading and examining the Bible. Through Sunday School, through the preaching, and through our daily devotions. If you have been in AWANA at all, you know what Paul says to Timothy,
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth".
2 Timothy 2:15
To Fellowship
Koinonia is the word used for fellowship. It's an important word that has found its way into church names and popular usage in Sunday School material. I think sometimes we have a superficial understanding of 'fellowship'. For many Baptist churches, it's an event...a time to gather and eat. But 'fellowship' isn't a time, it's a state of being. It denotes a commonality held by believers. What we have in common is what binds us together in fellowship. We have faith in the risen Christ, and we share His mission to usher in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Of course the most popular fellowship in recent history is the Fellowship of the Ring. Regardless of its nerd-status for many, Tolkein purposefully used the word 'fellowship'. These were people from all races of Middle Earth bound by one mission--to destroy the evil ring of power. As Christians, we join believers from all nations, languages, and ethnicities in the mission of removing sin and serve the Kingdom of Heaven. The Early Church called us the Third Race. For the Jewish people, there were two races of humans, Jews and Gentiles. But Peter called us, “A chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
The Early Church called this 'chosen race' the third race--something new and different from history's past. This race exists for the purpose of "proclaiming the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." That is our mission in fellowship.
To the breaking of bread
Breaking bread together has to do with what it sounds like. They ate together. Some have taken this to mean they had the Lord's Supper, so 'breaking bread' has to do with the communion bread. And that's probably true as well, but one thing to keep in mind is the Early Church's version of the Eucharist was slightly different than how we do it today. They would not only have the bread and wine (I mean grape juice), they would have what Jude calls the "Love feast". When Jude is warning against false teachers destroying the Christians' love feast, he is talking about them disrupting the time of the Lord's Supper and the meal with it. Or think of when Paul is chastising the Corinthians for getting drunk and eating so much that others in the church go hungry at their Lord's Supper. That kind of gluttony isn't possible with a dinky little SBC cup.
So as we think about how we devote ourselves to the breaking of bread, let's keep in mind that the apostles were having fellowship meals (yes potlucks are in the New Testament) that were also a part of the Lord's Supper.
To the prayers
They prayed together.
Jesus said His house would be called a house of prayer for all nations (Matt 21:13, cf. Is. 56:7). The earliest church gathered together to pray. What did they pray for?
prayed for wisdom (Eph 1:17 & James 1)
prayed for Christians to do what is right (2 Cor 13:7)
prayed for maturity (2 Cor 13:9)
prayed for love to keep growing (Phil 1:9)
prayed for open doors for the Gospel (Col 4:3, 2 Thess 3:1)
prayed for effective faith (Philemon 6)
prayed for peace in suffering and sickness (James 5:13-14)
There are many more verses, but 1 Thess 5:17 sums the point nicely, “Pray constantly”.
Prayer is our connection to God. In the act of prayer, we see the Trinity at work. Think of this:
When a humble Christian, of any sort, kneels to pray, God the Holy Spirit encourages and prompts the prayer. God the Son intercedes for the Christian to God the Father who receives the prayer. Though three in person, God is One in substance who works in us to help us pray and transforms us through our prayers.
That is why C. S. Lewis rightly said,
“Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way.”
- C. S. Lewis in Weight of Glory 45
What Effects did this have?
Verses 43-47 explain the effects of these four devotions.
43 Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles.
God worked through the apostles. Whether you are a cessationists or not, when God’s people devote themselves to the Word, to each other, and chiefly to prayer, God works in their midsts.
44-45 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need.
The church took care of each other by sharing their goods. Now, do not confuse this verse for a political stance. The Kingdom of Heaven is not a political kingdom. This is not saying the church became a hippy commune or a precursor to Socialism. It is simply demonstrating how Christians care for one another when they are one in fellowship. They follow Paul’s command to “outdo one another in love”.
46-47 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.
Notice 46 recaps 42 but also adds one more effect: having favor with all the people. The people around them noticed their love and liked what they saw. Remember how Jesus said, “They will know you by your love.” The Jews saw the love the Christians had for one another and knew they were of God. And when they knew, they joined the believers—every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.
Church! If we want to reach others with the love of Christ, the first step is to love each other with Christ’s love.
Let us make this a house of prayer.
Let us devote ourselves to the Word of God.
Let us join together in fellowship.
And by all means, let’s eat together. For we are Baptists! And that’s the way we like it!
If you recall last week, I said once our worship is right, our fellowship will correct itself. These four devotions are only possible when our relationship with Christ is in order. So the invitation today is twofold:
First, for the Christian: I invite you to pray. Whether up here or at your pew, pray for forgiveness. Whatever sins have bound you and prevented you from joining with your brothers and sisters in fellowship, pray for forgiveness and cleansing. Then, commit yourself to devote your time to the apostle’s teaching, to joining with other believers, to sharing meals with other believers, and to pray daily.
Second, for our guests: I invite you to taste and see the Lord is good. Cast off your preconceived notions and your judgements of church. Look to Jesus who offers eternal life and the forgiveness of sin. You can come down the aisle and let’s talk about Jesus and being saved.