Sunday 02/20/22
Message – A Kingdom of Shared Experiences, Resources & Life
Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:30:31 — 156.2MB)
Share this:
A kingdom of shared experiences, resources & life
Last week we worked through chapter 2 of Acts, but as we read the last few verses I suggested we would probably spend some time with those as an intro into chapter 3. That is what we are going to do.
So Acts 2:44-46 says,
“(44) All who believed were together and held everything in common, (45) and they began selling their property and possessions and distributing the proceeds to everyone, as anyone had need.
(46) Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts,(47) praising God and having the good will of all the people.
And the Lord was adding to their number [to the church] every day those who were being saved.”
As I addressed last week, the word church here was NOT the local assembly as we would understand it. It was, at least at first, located solely in Jerusalem, but it was not an “organized church” which met in a designated building. They didn’t even have a name at this point, though the first one they would receive was “the Way”, followed by believers then finally Christians…but all of this came MUCH later.
So by the word “church” here, it meant all who were called by and to Christ in the fellowship of His salvation. The entirety of those who had come to believe, all of which at that point resided in Jerusalem just as Jesus had told them “First Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria then the utter most parts of the earth.”
As such, another important thing must be realized is that the initial body of Christ was made up entirely of Jewish converts.
This had many implications, but one important one is that though they had MUCH they needed to “re-learn” within the context of a Spiritual Messiah, Who saved them from their sins and is establishing a spiritual kingdom – they also had much learning they brought with them.
One of the things they began to do instinctively was to keep the law as a matter of heart, since now they were born again and their hearts had been softened to God and their spirits made alive to Him.
Notice what happened, apparently without any outside promptings.
- They were together as ONE unit – they were now a community of believers.
- They adopted a joint-communal partnership and ownership in all things.
- The words “in common” is the Greek word Koinos from which we get the word Koinonia.
- They actually SOLD their extra possessions from common items all the way up to houses & lands.
- They GAVE to all within the Christian community who had need.
- They continued in a place in the temple in perfect agreement and union.
- They ate communal meals together in each others houses Daily in gladness and simplicity of heart coupled with praise towards God
- Their actions created a sense of goodwill among the lost
- God added to their number daily
One of the FIRST proofs of the New Birth is LOVE for the brethren. Jesus had told His disciples before He died, that the world would hate them. Those who are truly born of God, love God’s true children!
One of the FIRST proofs of Christian love – is giving! The world of the individual begins to slip away and an awareness of a community of brothers begins to take center stage.
As Paul would later teach the church – We ARE members of one another. And not only that – we are ONE with God through the inward work of the Holy Spirit. We are ONE with Him!
That communal oneness IS Koinonia and IS the natural outcroppings of Eternal Life.
Knowing God and being known by Him creates a shared oneness with God and His children.
A shared experience, shared resources and a shared life! TRUE fellowship!
These resources are not JUST shared among God’s children, but between God and His children!
The work of the Ministry is one we SHARE with the Holy Spirit.
THINK ABOUT THAT as we read today!
Acts 3:1-26, “(1) Now Peter and John were going up together to the temple complex at the hour of prayer at three in the afternoon. (2) And a man who was lame from his mother’s womb was carried there and placed every day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so he could beg from those entering the temple complex.”
I found this first part beautiful. Peter and John had seemed a little like rivals or at least as if they had a sort of friendly competition between each other as we read about them in the gospels, but after their New Birth and being filled with the Spirit, their competition seems (on the surface) to have blossomed into a friendship.
“(3) When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple complex, he asked for help.
(4) Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, “Look at us.”
(5) So he turned to them, expecting to get something from them.
(6) But Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have, I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”
(7) Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong.
(8) So he jumped up, stood, and started to walk, and he entered the temple complex with them–walking, leaping, and praising God.
(9) All the people saw him walking and praising God, (10) and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple complex. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.
(11) While he was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, greatly amazed, ran toward them in what is called Solomon’s Colonnade.
(12) When Peter saw this, he addressed the people:
“Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk?
(13) The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, Whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.
(14) But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked to have a murderer given to you. (15) And you killed the source of life, Whom God raised from the dead;
we are witnesses of this.
(16) By faith in His name, His name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Him has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.
(17) “And now, brothers, I know that you did it in ignorance, just as your leaders also did. (18) But what God predicted through the mouth of all the prophets–that His Messiah would suffer–He has fulfilled in this way.
(19) Therefore repent and turn back, that your sins may be wiped out so that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, (20) and He may send Jesus, Who has been appointed Messiah for you.
(21) Heaven must welcome Him until the times of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about by the mouth of His holy prophets from the beginning.
(22) Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He will say to you. (23) And it will be that everyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from the people.
(24) “In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also announced these days.
(25) You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your forefathers, saying to Abraham, And in your seed all the families of the earth will be blessed.
(26) God raised up His Servant and sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”
Acts 4:1-37,
“(1) Now as they were speaking to the people, the priests, the commander of the temple guard, and the Sadducees confronted them, (2) because they were provoked that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in the person of Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
(3) So they seized them and put them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening.
(4) But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of the men came to about 5,000.
(5) The next day, their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem (6) with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John and Alexander, and all the members of the high-priestly family.
(7) After they had Peter and John stand before them, they asked the question: “By what power or in what name have you done this?”
(8) Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them,
Koinonia – the Holy Spirit entered into this experience with them and empowered them to BE witnesses! He shared the resources of heaven with and through Peter.
How do you think that would ft your walk and your testimony if you knew… you truly believed that you were lock armed with the Holy Spirit of God in all your encounters with the lost?
“Rulers of the people and elders:
(9) If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man–by what means he was healed– (10) let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene–Whom you crucified and Whom God raised from the dead–by Him this man is standing here before you healthy.
(11) This Jesus is The stone despised by you builders, Who has become the cornerstone!
(12) There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
This represented some very well known references in the elder’s minds.
- Psalm 118:22, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
- Isaiah 28:16, “Therefore the Lord GOD said: “Look, I have laid a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will be unshakable.”
Jesus Himself had said this as is recorded in Matthew 21:33-46,
“(33) Listen to another parable: There was a man, a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away. (34) When the grape harvest drew near, he sent his slaves to the farmers to collect his fruit. (35) But the farmers took his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. (36) Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. (37) Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. (38) “But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance!’ (39) So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. (40) Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” (41) “He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told Him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his produce at the harvest.” (42) Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This came from the Lord and is wonderful in our eyes? (43) Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation producing its fruit. (44) [Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder!]” (45) When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they knew He was speaking about them. (46) Although they were looking for a way to arrest Him, they feared the crowds, because they regarded Him as a prophet.”
So back here when Peter and John spoke these same words again to the Rulers & elders they SAW something in these men…
“(13) When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and knew that they had been with Jesus.”
They WERE empowered as witnesses!
“(14) And since they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in response.
(15) After they had ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves, (16) saying,
“What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign, evident to all who live in Jerusalem, has been done through them, and we cannot deny it! (17) But so this does not spread any further among the people, let’s threaten them against speaking to anyone in this name again.”
This is the tactic of the enemy – intimidation. He will try to take your attention and therefore your confidence away from Jesus by touching your flesh or by at least threatening the safety of your life.
Remember what satan said to God as is recorded in the book of Job.
Job 2:3-5, “(3) Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly to his integrity, so that you stirred Me up to destroy him without reason.” (4) But Satan answered the LORD, “Skin for skin! Indeed, a man will give up all that he has to save his life! (5) But extend Your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will no doubt curse You to Your face!”
Satan firmly believes that in most cases, humans have little to no integrity and that if their life or safety are called into jeopardy they will back down. He has never augmented that view and still uses it against God’s people all the time.
A side note on this verse: The beginning phrase is a little misleading. The words, “Have you considered My servant Job?” makes it sound as if God is pointing Job out to satan. Drawing attention to him as it were. But this cannot be the case for several reasons.
1st – satan’s attention was already on Job as is seen in the first chapter of Job.
2nd – the direction of the words makes this first phrase not a question but a statement. The understanding is this “You have set your heart upon My servant Job.” Then God says, “Have you considered that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds to his integrity, although you incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.”
Acts 4…
“(18) So they called for them and ordered them not to preach or teach at all in the name of Jesus. (19) But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; (20) for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
(21) After threatening them further, they released them. They found no way to punish them, because the people were all giving glory to God over what had been done; (22) for the man was over 40 years old on whom this sign of healing had been performed.”
Isn’t this what Jesus said would happen?
Matthew 5:14-16, “(14) You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. (16) In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
What “good works” did they do?
They testified what they had seen and heard & they healed the sick!
Acts 10:36-43, “(36) He sent the message to the sons of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ–He is Lord of all. (37) You know the events that took place throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John preached: (38) how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and curing all who were under the tyranny of the Devil, because God was with Him. (39) We ourselves are witnesses of everything He did in both the Judean country and in Jerusalem; yet they killed Him by hanging Him on a tree. (40) God raised up this man on the third day and permitted Him to be seen, (41) not by all the people, but by us, witnesses appointed beforehand by God, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. (42) He commanded us to preach to the people, and to solemnly testify that He is the One appointed by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. (43) All the prophets testify about Him that through His name everyone who believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus told us that what He taught was what He saw and heard from His Father. SO the disciples also did, by teaching all they saw and heard from Jesus!
“(23) After they were released, they went to their own fellowship and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
(24) When they heard this, they raised their voices to God unanimously and said,
“Master, You are the One Who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them. (25) You said through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David Your servant: Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot futile things? (26) The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers assembled together against the Lord and against His Messiah.
(27) “For, in fact, in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, assembled together against Your holy Servant Jesus, Whom You anointed, (28) to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place.
(29) And now, Lord, consider their threats, and grant that Your slaves may speak Your message with complete boldness, (30) while You stretch out Your hand for healing, signs, and wonders to be performed through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
(31) When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s message with boldness.
(32) Now the multitude of those who believed were:
- of one heart and soul, and
- no one said that any of his possessions was his own,
- but instead they held everything in common.
(33) And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them.
(34) For there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, (35) and laid them at the apostles’ feet.
This was then distributed to each person as anyone had a need.
(36) Joseph, a Levite and a native of Cyprus, whom the apostles named Barnabas, which is translated Son of Encouragement, (37) sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”
Blessings!
