In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis writes,
… the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose.[1]
To my mind, that is a good summation of the purpose of the Church. It is what we see happening in Acts 2; three thousand people were drawn into Christ on the day of Pentecost through the preaching of Peter. Jesus Christ became the living center of the life of that first church in Jerusalem, and the living center of each individual member of that church. What we are going to see in our passage for today is what happens in a church or an individual when Christ becomes the living center. There is a diagram I have placed on the back of the sermon notes for today that illustrates for me what is going on in this passage. If Jesus is living in us then, I believe, we will naturally find ourselves receiving his teaching in various ways. We will naturally seek ways to worship Christ; we will desire to spend time with his people in fellowship, and we will extend a helping hand to those outside the church through service and outreach. That is what this Scripture is all about in Acts 2:42-47. So let us listen to what Luke has to tell us about that first church in Jerusalem….
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Today I want to focus with you on devotion to the apostles’ teaching as part of the fivefold purpose of the Church that grows out of Christ being at the center of our lives. We can call these five markers the “purposes” of the Church. We might also call them the vital signs of the Church. Just as we check people’s physical vital signs to see if they are physically alive, we can also look for these spiritual vital signs to check if we are spiritually alive.
However, I look at it, I find this passage to be one of my favorites in the whole book of Acts. I would like to ask and answer several questions with you this morning to draw out the meaning here. The first four questions are: why, when, where and how should we devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching? The last question is: who can help us understand the apostles’ teaching?
So, first, why should we devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching? Why should we follow the example of the early church in this regard? The simple answer is: if we are Christians, then the teaching of the apostles, enshrined in the New Testament, and based upon the Old Testament, is our authority, it is our guidebook for following God through his Son Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
C. S. Lewis once wrote,
If you have once accepted Christianity, then some of its main doctrines shall be deliberately held before your mind for some time every day. That is why daily prayers and religious reading and church-going are necessary parts of the Christian life.[2]
So that is why we need to devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching. I believe we need doctrine as Christians. The word “doctrine” simply means teaching. Doctrine involves teaching both about what we are to believe and what we are to do, how we are to live. I, for one, cannot live without teaching. Without teaching I know that I will shrivel up and die spiritually. As Michelangelo said in his 80s, “I am still learning.” Learning implies teaching. We cannot grow spiritually without it. So, that is why, I believe, we need to devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching.
Secondly, when should we devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching? Acts 2:46 tells us that the first disciples met every day in the temple courts to hear the Word of God preached by the apostles. They were so excited about what the apostles had to share they didn’t want to get away from it for a single day. Who knows how many hours they listened to the apostles’ teaching day by day. I imagine that they were too wrapped up in learning to worry about the time.
Now, the first followers of Jesus in Jerusalem had one advantage over us. Their society was structured in such a way that if they lived in Jerusalem, they could go to the temple three times a day for prayer. That’s when they were able to meet and hear the apostles’ teaching.
Our society is not structured that way. However, we have one advantage over those first disciples in Jerusalem. We have the apostles’ teaching encapsulated in the New Testament, and we have copies of the basis of their teaching—the Old Testament. Furthermore, we all have copies of the Scripture readily available to us.
The Lord commanded Joshua, a man who did have a copy of the Scriptures that existed in his time: “Do not let this book of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8)
Furthermore, Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
Now, the Lord does not command each of us directly that we must read Scripture every day, but he does promise a blessing to those who do. I don’t know about you, but for my part, I don’t want to miss that blessing.
The third question raised by this passage is: where should we devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching? In Acts 2:46 we see the disciples devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching in public worship. “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.” In the same way, we need to devote ourselves to hearing the Scriptures in the worship services of the church. I often pray a simple prayer silently to the Lord before I get up to preach on a Sunday. I pray: “Lord, speak to me and through me.” That might be a good prayer for each of us to pray when we come to church.
I believe the Lord speaks to us in many ways. He speaks to us through creation, through one another, through Scripture, through books, through sermons, through music, through the Sacraments; I could go on and on.
But I want you to notice something else about the first Christians in Jerusalem. Not only did they devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching in public worship, they devoted themselves to studying the Scriptures in small groups meeting in homes as well. Acts 2:46 talks about them breaking bread together in their homes. Then in Acts 20:20 the Apostle Paul taught the believers in Ephesus “from house to house”.
We have two Bible study groups that meet every Wednesday morning, one for men at 9 am and one for women at 10:30. These are two places where we devote ourselves to studying the teaching of the Bible. And I hope that one day, these types of groups will multiply in our church. We could have groups meeting in homes every day or night of the week just as the church did in the first century. In order to continue growing larger and reach more people with the good news of Jesus, the church must simultaneously grow smaller.
What do I mean by that? Do you know how many people, on average, you can remember names and faces for at church? Studies have been done that reveal the average person in a church can put names and faces together for about 80 people. Now, we are already growing beyond the point where we have 80 people in worship on Sunday morning. So, if you want to get to know people in church then you will have to do something more than simply come to worship. If you want to build relationships with other people, then you will need to stay for the fellowship hour after the service. And if you want to go deeper in relationship with others, you will need to get involved in a small group of some kind. That small group might be a Bible study, or choir, or the knitters’ group, or our Thursday night book group, or youth group, or a board or committee in the church. I will talk more about this next week. Suffice to say, if we want to grow larger as a church, we must simultaneously grow smaller so that people can continue to build relationships with one another which is also part of the purpose of the church.
Another setting where we can be devoted to the apostles’ teaching is in private. In Deuteronomy 17:19 the king of Israel was commanded to read the Scriptures every day. Of course, in those days when the Scriptures were not readily available to all, only the leaders could read it. Today, we all have access to the Scriptures and need to take advantage of that privilege.
A fourth question raised by this passage is: how should we devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching? The first disciples in Jerusalem heard the apostles every day in the temple courts. Paul says in Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.” Hearing the preaching of the Scriptures is, I believe, an essential step to devoting ourselves to the apostles’ teaching.
But even if you want to listen to a sermon, there is a problem. Did you know that most people remember only 10% of what they hear? If that is true, and I think it is, then simply hearing the Scriptures is not enough.
Trying to devote myself to the apostles’ teaching by hearing alone is like trying to hold my Bible with one finger. I can’t get a good grip on Scripture that way. That’s why I also need to read the Scriptures for myself. That adds another finger to my grip on the Bible.
Still, difficult circumstances can cause the Scriptures to be wrenched out of my fingers. Therefore, I need to do more than simply hear and read. I also need to study the Scriptures. Studying the apostles’ teaching adds a third finger to my grip on the Bible. Now that grip is getting firmer. Proverbs 2:1-6 contains great wisdom…
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Of course, it is not possible to be studying Scripture all the time. There are other things in life we have to do, like taking our children to school, going to work, eating, sleeping, etc. So how are we to meditate on Scripture day and night? We can only do that if we memorizeportions of Scripture. Psalm 119 says,
How can a young man keep his way pure, by living according to your word…. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
When we hide God’s word in our hearts, we add another finger to our grip on the Bible.
The final finger we need to add is that of meditation. Meditating means thinking about what we have heard, read, studied, and memorized, turning it around in our minds and looking at Scripture from different angles. It means savoring God’s word and chewing on it, looking for ways to apply it in our lives.
However, you know what? If we want to remember 100% of God’s word, then we need to obey it. James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
I remember when I taught one of my sons to drive; I won’t tell you which one! Anyway, he had his learner’s permit but not his driver’s license. As you know, teaching your child to drive can be a scary experience. As we were going along, I would often say to my son, “You know, the speed limit here is such and such.” Invariably he would say to me, “I know.” Eventually I got tired of hearing him say “I know” and I would usually raise my voice and say, “Then do it!”
Now, I wonder how often the Lord is saying that to me. I am in a dangerous position as one who has spent his life studying the Scriptures. I know a whole lot more than what I practice. However, when I obey what God’s word says, that adds palm-action to my grip on the Bible so that I have a firm hold on it and then nothing can wrench it out of my hand.
Finally, we must ask the question: who can help us understand the apostles’ teaching? We may understand the why, when, where and how of devoting ourselves to the apostles’ teaching, but we still may get nothing out of that teaching. That is when we need to remember that there is someone ready, willing, and able to help us understand the Scriptures.
Imagine reading a book by your favorite author. Now, further imagine that your favorite author is sitting with you in the room as you read. If that is true then when you get to something in the book you don’t understand you can turn to the author and ask him or her, “What does this mean?” Wow! What a privilege that would be!
We have a similar privilege as Christ-in people when we read the Bible. We can turn to the one who inspired the Scriptures at any moment and ask him not only what he means for us to understand about what is written there, but also what he wants us to do about it….
If you are at least several years older than me, you can probably remember exactly where you were when you received the news of the assassination of President Kennedy. British novelist David Lodge tells where he was—in a theater watching the performance of a satirical review he helped to write. In one sketch, a character demonstrated his nonchalance in an interview by holding a transistor radio to his ear; the actor playing the part always tuned into a real radio broadcast. Suddenly, during the performance on November 22, 1963, came the announcement over that transistor radio that President Kennedy had been shot. The actor quickly switched off the radio, but it was too late. Reality had interrupted that stage comedy.
For many of us, even as believers, Scripture reading or listening to a sermon is sometimes a nonchalant routine. We don’t expect anything significant to happen. However, if we ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us whenever we read Scripture, or even when we listen to a sermon, I believe the reality of the Lord will break through, and that reality can change our lives for the better…
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