The church added by the Lord (Acts 2:42-47)

 The church added by the Lord

 

 

[Acts 2:42-47]

 

 

Pastor Rick Warren (Saddleback Church) said: ‘The most important issue of the 21st century church is not church growth, but church health.  The problem is not whether the number of the church membership is large or small, but its health.’  And he proposed five ways to measure church growth: The church needs … (1) To grow warmer through fellowship, (2) To deepen through discipleship, (3) To become stronger through worship, (4) To be widen through ministry, and (5) To grow bigger through evangelism.  He said that rather than the number of church members, the percentage of church members who are mobilized for ministry and mission is a more accurate measure of the health of the church.  Is our church truly healthy?  Is it becoming stronger through worship, deepening through education, expanding through ministry, growing warmer through fellowship, and experiencing significant growth through evangelism?  Today, focusing on the passage Acts 2:42-47, I earnestly hope and pray that our church not only be a healthy one, but, in biblical terms, the church added by the Lord.  Let's consider what it means for the church added by the Lord.

 

First, the church added by the Lord is devoted to four key things.

 

Look at Acts 2:42 - "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."  On the day of Pentecost, filled with the Holy Spirit, after hearing Peter's proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, around 3,000 people repented of their sins, received baptism, and became disciples of Jesus.  After embracing Jesus as their Savior and Lord, they were baptized.  Following this, they were wholeheartedly devoted to four key things:

 

(1)    They devoted themselves entirely to learning God's Word.

 

Look at Acts 2:42 - "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching ..."  Since the believers were relatively new to receiving Jesus, they couldn't help but exert great effort in learning from the apostles' teachings in order to foster their faith growth.  The author of Acts, Luke, portrays the ideal relationship between Jesus and His disciples as those who sit at His feet to learn God's Word (Lk. 2:46; 8:35; 10:39) (Yoo).  As we pursue the ideal relationship with Jesus, we must faithfully and diligently learn God's Word.  A professor from Chongshin Theological Seminary once posed this question in an exam: ‘What is the most necessary thing for saints?’  The answer: God's Word.  While each saint may have different things they consider most necessary, from a spiritual perspective, what we all most need is God's Word.

 

(2)    They entirely devoted themselves to fellowship.

 

Look at Acts 2:42 - "...devoted themselves to the fellowship ..."  I have doubts whether the term "fellowship" commonly used by us Christians today truly aligns with the fellowship referred to in the Bible.  The Greek term for fellowship is "koinonia," which carries two meanings. First, it means to share together, and second, to give what one possesses to others (contribution) (Internet).  The fellowship we are discussing among the saints is not merely sharing a meal, engaging in enjoyable conversations, playing games, or talking about various topics from the past week.  Those are activities we engaged in even before our regeneration.  There were new forms of sharing.  It was about sharing what we have learned from God's Word, praying together, interceding for fellow saints in difficulty, and sharing our possessions with one another.  Thus, Christian fellowship is fundamentally different from the convivial interactions that worldly people often engage in (Internet).  So, what does the fellowship referred to in today's scripture mean?  The original Greek uses the definite article, so it's saying "the fellowship."  What does this refer to?  It signifies "the fellowship of the Holy Spirit" (Yoo).  In the midst of the Pentecostal outpouring, the 3,000 newly added saints were participating in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, the early Jerusalem church wasn't just a human community uniting for mutual harmony and unity, but rather a community of the Holy Spirit centered on the Spirit Himself (Yoo).

 

(3)    They entirely devoted themselves to the breaking of bread.

 

Look at Acts 2:42, - “... the breaking of bread …."  Scholars mainly interpret this passage as referring to the Lord's Supper.  In other words, they entirely devoted themselves to the Lord's Supper.  So, what should we do?  Starting next year, we plan to increase the frequency of the Lord's Supper from four times to six times a year.  We want to humbly receive the bread and wine, symbols of Jesus' body and blood, in faith, desiring to partake in the grace of our Lord.

 

(4)    They entirely devoted themselves to prayer.

 

Look at Acts 2:42, "...devoted themselves to prayer ...." The word "prayer" is in plural form.  It means that the early Jerusalem church was entirely devoted to various forms of prayer.   Another noteworthy fact is that there's a definite article before the word "prayer."  So, the author Luke is saying "the prayer."  This indicates that the early Jerusalem church was modeled after the 120-word prayer (1:14).  The fact that this practice continued even as the Jerusalem church expanded to 3,000 members is a great challenge to us. In the early Jerusalem church, numerical growth of members directly correlated with an increase in people devoted to prayer.  This shows us that prayer is not just a means for church growth; it's a fundamental aspect that the church must continually possess (Yoo).

 

When the early Jerusalem church entirely devoted themselves to the Word, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer, what was the result?  Look at Acts 2:43 - "Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles."  In one word, the church had spiritual authority among unbelievers in society (Park).  How far has the spiritual authority of today's church declined among even unbelievers in society?  The church, as a community, is losing its authority and being ignored and scorned, not just by unbelievers but even by believers.  The cause is that we Christians are not exerting the effort in what we should be doing.  We need to entirely devote ourselves to the Word, true fellowship, the Lord's Supper, and prayer.  Only then can the church establish spiritual authority in the presence of unbelievers.

 

Second and last, the church added by the Lord is a church where saints have fellowship.

 

When we look at the confession of faith that we make every Sunday during worship, we see that we affirm this: "in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church, the communion of saints ...."  So, what kind of church are we confessing to have where saints have fellowship every Sunday?  Based on Acts 2:44-45, we can consider two aspects:

 

(1)    A church where saints have fellowship is a church where all the believers were together and had everything in common.

 

Look at Acts 2:44-45: "All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need."  The Jerusalem church lived a life of sharing their possessions with one another.  This doesn't mean that each believer sold all their property and contributed it to the church for distribution to everyone.  It signifies that the saints shared their possessions with one another, and when occasional financial needs arose among the saints, those who had the means sold their real estate or property to address these needs (Yoo).  It wasn't that everyone in the early Jerusalem church had excess, and it also wasn't that everyone donated everything they had.  Some individuals made contributions, and other saints took on the responsibility of meeting the financial needs of their fellow believers.

 

(2)    A church where saints have fellowship is a church that diligently gathers with one accord.

Look at Acts 2:46 - "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."  In modern terms, this means that the saints gathered with one accord in the church or in homes.  This is what it truly means for saints to have fellowship with one another.  So, what did the early church saints do when they gathered, whether in the temple or homes?

 

(a)    They gathered in various homes, sharing meals with joy and sincerity.

 

Look at Acts 2:46, "...they broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts." In the early Jerusalem church, they took turns going from house to house, sharing meals along with the Lord's Supper. They did this with joy and sincerity (Yoo).  And they shared these meals with joy and sincere hearts. This is why we have district gatherings.  In the effort to gather with one accord, we share in God-centered meals, recognizing that we are one family in the Lord.  This allows us to practice Christ's love for one another.  Therefore, we should recognize ourselves as one community.

 

(b)    They praised God.

 

Look at Acts 2:47, "praising God..."  After gathering together for a God-centered communal meal, the believers offered praise together to God.  It couldn't have been a small group meeting for glorifying God.

 

The inaugural Jerusalem church, when they were devoted to the four practices, received favor with all the people (v. 47).  In verse 36, Peter preached, saying, "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified ...."  The response to the message was that 3,000 disciples repented and were baptized.  They wholeheartedly engaged in the practices of God's Word, fellowship, communion, and prayer, and there was a sense of fellowship among them.  As a result, they gained favor with all the people.  In other words, the whole house of Israel who had crucified Jesus now looked with favor upon the community of Jesus' believing disciples.  During this time, the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (v. 47).  I earnestly hope and pray that our church, which serves as a body of Christ, diligently engages in the practices of God's Word, fellowship, communion, and prayer, and seeks fellowship among the saints, becoming a church where the Lord adds to our numbers daily those who are being saved.

 

 

 

In service to the Victory Elders Church established by the Lord,

 

 

James Kim

(Praying for the work that the Lord adds to our church)