Daily Scripture Reading Acts 2:40 - 3:15
If you attend a typical 21st century church service, you will hear a lot of singing and music. There will be announcements about the many programs and activities taking place at church that week. There will be something called a sermon, which may last 30 minutes or more, during which the Pastor will tell stories and illustrations designed to touch the emotions and lift the spirits of the congregation.
This is so common that most Christians think this is the way things should be. However, Acts 2 describes the priorities of those who became believers on the Day of Pentecost. Their values were quite different from ours, and should cause us to re-evaluate our concept of church.
When we left off reading yesterday, we were reading what Peter said to the Jews in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. Peter had proclaimed that Jesus rose from the dead and is both Lord and Christ. When the Jews asked what they needed to do, Peter told them to repent and be baptized.
Acts 2:40 And with many other words he solemnly bore witness and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this crooked generation!”
Acts 2:41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
Notice the word received. The Greek word that is used here is usually translated “welcomed”. The people who were saved were not the ones who heard, they were the ones who believed what they heard.
Acts 2:42 And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
The pronoun “they” refers to the believers. This verse lists four things to which they were devoted.
Think about the word “devoting”. The four items listed here are not things they did occasionally. They were things that were very important to them and received a lot of time and attention.
First, they were devoted to the apostles’ teaching. The apostles’ teaching would have included the ideas that were eventually written down in the New Testament.
Second, they engaged in fellowship. The Greek word used here is “koinonia”. Koinonia is a variation of a word that means partnership, as in a business partnership. The idea is that Christians are partners. Whatever good or bad happens to one partner/Christian, also happens to all the partners/Christians.
Third, the breaking of bread refers to communion.
Fourth, they were devoted to prayer.
Think about what is not mentioned. Singing is not mentioned. Nor did the author of Acts mention church programs or stories that gave people an emotional high.
Now let’s consider modern Christianity. There are many church services where less than 5 minutes are spent in prayer and fewer than 5 verses are read during the course of the service. Communion only happens once a month at best, and the only time many of the people who attend the service see each other is once a week during that 1-2 hour service. Meanwhile, that same congregation will spend 30 minutes singing. Does any of this qualify as being devoted to scripture, prayer, communion, or fellowship?
Acts 2:42 is not a command, meaning this verse does not command churches to be devoted to scripture, prayer, communion, and fellowship. However, if the early believers were devoted to those things, perhaps that is a good example we should follow.
Acts 2:43 ¶ And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
The second word of this verse is “fear”. Why were they afraid? The Bible doesn’t tells us for sure, but they were probably afraid because they realized only a couple months earlier they had approved the crucifixion of Jesus. They understood they had killed the Lord and Christ.
Acts 2:44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common;
Acts 2:45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were dividing them up with all, as anyone might have need.
The idea of fellowship is to be partners. The Christians in Jerusalem demonstrated that by selling possessions in order to help those who had need.
If their devotion to scripture, prayer, communion, and fellowship is a good example for us to follow, then sharing their possessions is a good example for us to follow as well. However, we have to keep in mind the Bible says elsewhere that anyone who does not work should not eat. Those who have possessions to share should be generous, but they should not be so generous that they enable people to be lazy and not work.
Acts 2:46 And daily devoting themselves with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
Acts 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved.
In verse 46 we see the word “devoting” again. Their fellowship was so sincere they were together everyday.
Acts 3:1 ¶ Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer.
Acts 3:2 And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they used to set down daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, in order to beg alms of those who were entering the temple.
The details in this verse inform us this man had been at this gate everyday for years. That means he had been there when Jesus visited Jerusalem. It is interesting to think that Jesus could have healed this man, but He didn’t.
Acts 3:3 When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms.
Acts 3:4 But when Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze on him, he said, “Look at us!”
Acts 3:5 And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.
Acts 3:6 But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!”
Acts 3:7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened.
Acts 3:8 And leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
Acts 3:9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God;
Acts 3:10 and they were recognizing him, that he was the one who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
I assume Jesus did not heal him so that later Peter and John could do so.
When people are sick, we often pray and ask God to heal them. Sometimes He does, and sometimes He doesn’t. Sometimes God doesn’t answer our request because He has another purpose in mind for that particular situation.
Acts 3:11 ¶ And while he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the portico called Solomon’s, full of wonder.
Acts 3:12 But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?
Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.
Acts 3:14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
Acts 3:15 but put to death the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.
Peter stated that Jesus rose from the dead. When we share the good news of Jesus, if is not enough to simply talk about Jesus being a good man, a good teacher, or dying for our sins. We have to tell people that Jesus rose from the dead.
The people who became believers on the Day of Pentecost were the first converts in the history of the church. They were devoted to the apostles’ teaching, prayer, the Lord’s Supper, and fellowship.
If a person with no familiarity with Christianity observed your church and its members for a week, and then listed a handful of things to which you are devoted, what would be on their list?
Do you and the members of your church spend enough time reading the Bible and praying that a stranger would conclude you are devoted to those activities?
Do you and your church members have enough contact with and care for each other over the course of a week that he would conclude you are partners in life, meaning you are engaged in fellowship?
Would anyone observing your church conclude you are devoted to the Lord’s Supper?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”