 I want to spend time with you looking at a portion of Scripture here in Acts chapter 2, verses 42 through 47, and very practical is a very practical study of God's Word. And so, beginning at verse 42, reading of verse 47, they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers, then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. What I want to do is I want to spend some time tonight looking at things that mattered. Things that mattered to the early church. Things that mattered when the church itself was born. You see, there seems to be some confusion today related to the church, and so I believe that this is a timely study in light of how some in the church today seem to think. You see, there are quite a number of professing believers who really have yet to come to understand what the church is. We need to remember, and I'm going to say this very briefly because, you know, we have quite a bit to cover tonight. I actually usually take seven weeks to go out and look at these verses. And so today I'm just going to touch on them lightly. But we are living in a day where, theologically, there is a confusion. We have a tendency of looking at the word church and thinking of it in a single way. And we fail to realize that the word church, when you find it in the New Testament, is used in a variety of ways to describe a variety of aspects of the body of Christ. The word church can speak of the church triumphant. It can speak of the church universal. There's a variety of ways that the word is used in order to describe the body of Christ. It is also called local, the local church in all. And so what I'm seeing today is people have a tendency of thinking of the church as being simply the church universal, which means that it's the believers in Christ, genuine believers in Christ throughout the world. And so what we have is we have people today who have a value for what is called the universal church, but they don't understand that there is something else in Scripture that refers to it as the church local or the local body of Christ. This last Sunday, going out in first service and looking at that and listening to the echo as it came back, as I was speaking, because there are a lot of people who were absent. Well, I went to the Almighty Facebook and posted on Sunday. And so this is what I wrote. Perhaps some of you are my Facebook friends or you've unfriended me by now, but I guess that happens a lot. But I wrote this on Facebook between first and second service. This is what I wrote. OK, so many in the church stayed out late last night. If you are one of them, my loving exhortation is for you to get your tired body up and get to church. My goodness, the devil never sleeps. But believers do. If this world is going to be reached, then priority should be kingdom centered. Awake, thou that sleepest in Christ will shy on you. And so there were a few responses, but one of them I'm going to use. Perhaps you're here. I love you. But one of them I thought I'd use as part of my introduction today. This is one response. Can't speak for all believers, but I'm kingdom centered no matter where I am. That's exactly why it's important for us to look at this passage today. My response, which I respond. I will be teaching out of Acts two forty two through forty seven on Wednesday. This gives us earmarks of the church and is valuable for us to examine. Many today seem to think there is no need to be part of a local community of believers. But such thinking is simply untrue. We were created to have community and forsaking it and stating that we worship God twenty four seven wherever we are is simplistic and does not reveal spiritual depth, but a tragic lack of Bible knowledge. Perhaps we need to remind ourselves of Hebrews ten twenty five. Let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. My brothers and sisters, make it your priority to get in the word, not simply by yourself, but with other believers. If teachers were not necessary for the church to spiritually mature, one wonders why God gave them to the church. Ephesians four eleven through fifteen says he is the one who gave these gifts to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son, that we will be mature and full growing in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ. Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe, because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of the body, the church. And so we're going to be looking today in Acts two forty two through forty seven and we're going to see the earmarks of a church that God builds. Now, as we begin, let me give you a little more introduction. Remember Jesus selected twelve men to carry on his work and the men that he called to himself were trained to preach the message of redemption and were intended by Jesus to take this message throughout the entire world. So the plan for the Lord or the Lord has rather the plan that he has for reaching the world is for those who know him to take the message and to share with others. That's what is taking place on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has fallen on one hundred and twenty as they await the Lord and they were in unity and they were praying. And the Bible tells us that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and manifested the gift of tongues. We saw how that the apostle Peter preached and the result with three thousand people were saved and were baptized. The question has to be asked at that point. What do you do now? What will strengthen these three thousand new believers, these new converts and ensure their fruitfulness? Well, that's what we're going to be looking at as we examine what mattered to the brand new church. And as we examine the earmarks of the new church, a brand new church, we're going to establish a pattern. We're going to establish a pattern for our own church life. And so as we look at this, let's look at this together by beginning at verse forty two, where it very basically and very simply says this, they continued steadfastly. These three thousand that were baptized, they continued steadfastly in the apostles, doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. And so we'll begin by looking at this very briefly. One, I will note with you when it says they, it's speaking of those who were saved. It's speaking of the ones who had just gotten saved, even as it had said in verse forty one, those who gladly received his word were baptized that day. About three thousand souls were added to them. So what we're looking at first is genuinely converted people. We're looking at real believers here. We're not looking at the church in the 21st century that is made up of wheat and tears. You see, in the original church, these three thousand were actually on fire brand new converts. These people were thoroughly convinced that the gospel was true. That they needed to repent. They were born again and they symbolize their realization of their their salvation through Christ, through baptism. And so what we're looking at first and foremost is we're looking at a group of people who are actually saved. Today, we have what is called a mixed multitude. Today, you can have a group of people and in every group of people that you have, there are genuine believers and there are professing Christians. And then sometimes there are those who are simply there because they were invited and they're not interested, but they're there. But you have the real and very often the real is infiltrated or mixed with those who are not real, who don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so these people, on the other hand, these are three thousand people who were born again. They are the ones who gladly received the gospel. These were genuinely saved people. So what is the practice of the first first first church that produces a healthy community? One, notice what it says. Verse 42, again, they continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine. That's the first thing. They continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine. The word continued steadfastly. It speaks of personal devotion. It speaks of not leaving nor forsaking or remaining. These new believers that is being spoken of here, these new believers, had loyalty, a loyalty to the Apostles' teaching and fellowship. They had loyalty. Let's examine the church today. Is there a loyalty in the body of Christ? And the answer is very little, very little. One of my friends who was on staff at another Calvary Ministry was leading worship there and was taking applications for ministry and asked the question, what is your home church? What's the name of your home church? And he was telling me how there were so many times that on the application for ministry at the church, they would say, on Sunday, I go to this church. On Sunday night, I go to that church. On Wednesday night, I go to this church. There's no loyalty at all. There's no sense that I am planted here. I should grow here. This is where I belong. This is what I where I serve. This is where my gifts are used as where my my my finances are invested. None of that. There was no loyalty. And what we see today, and I think many of you know this, you know this very well, is there is a very, very little loyalty in the body of Christ. There's very little loyalty to ministry. There really is. There's an awful lot of transients. They come from this place. They go to that place. They're always moving, always uprooting. And it's a it's a very dangerous practice. You see, a plant needs to be rooted and grounded in order to grow. I know that because I've killed a lot of plants. And, you know, I'll put a plant in a certain place and I'd say, well, I really don't think it looks that good. I've watered and all and it's starting to root. But then I dig it out and I'd move it somewhere else. And that looks better there. And I'd leave it there for a while. I really don't like it there. Then I'd and before you know it, the thing dies because it goes into root shock. It just doesn't survive. And we can go into a spiritual lethargy and apathy because we aren't rooted and because we're not grounded because we aren't really remaining or continuing steadfast. We just don't do that. That's one of the things that the early church did. They continued steadfast. That's what made them a powerful group of people. They stayed and continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine. They had a loyalty to the apostles and the apostles teaching. They recognized that the apostles, the ministry of the apostles have brought them to faith in Jesus Christ and thus were loyal to them. Remember that the early church was organized under a system of biblical authority. Eventually what happens is you have what are called the evangelists, pastors, the teachers, the elders, the deacons, eventually the organism, the living organism called the church had to be organized. And so you had the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. And what happened when a local congregation was planted is they would select amongst them men of faith, et cetera, had qualities and qualifications and they would leave them behind and they would become the elders. And in the elders of the church, ultimately they had a senior elder who became the lead teacher. And so you had the pastor teacher, you had the elders and then you also had what are called the deacons. And the deacons had lesser qualifications than the elders because the deacons did not need to have the gift of teaching but an elder did. And then you also had the deaconesses. And so you would have in the church an organization, you had the pastor, you had elders, you had deacons. And the people in the early church recognized them and were loyal to them and trusted them. The pastors, teachers and elders were leading the people and as the people were led by them the people responded and the people were loyal to them and the people loved them and they honored them. When you look at First Thessalonians in chapter five, we read, we urge you brethren to recognize those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake, be at peace among yourselves. So Paul would actually call them the church to hold those teachers in high regard. In First Timothy five, 17, it says, let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially those who labor in the Word and doctrine. And so there was this loyalty, there was this love, there was this respect because they saw the apostles and ultimately it bled into a general church organization as being those who brought the word of life to them and they loved them and they respected them, they honored them because of their works sake and they knew that these were men who had given their lives to take and give this particular message called the gospel and so from the very beginning they continued steadfastly and regarded the apostles doctrine. The word doctrine speaks of teaching. Now they would teach. They taught doctrine in terms of teaching the word but they also were living examples of the Christian faith. So not only did they sit down and give them prepared messages but they lived those messages in front of the people. They didn't have in other words the pastor, teacher hat then they removed it and they became just a cool guy in the church hat. They were always the leaders of the church. They were always, it wasn't a job and it wasn't simply a role, it was what they were and so that's what you'll see in real ministry. I'll give you something personal. There are times that I'll be in town and I'll be in a restaurant or something. Most often it's a restaurant because I like to eat and but it's happened in various places and I'll be seated there and somebody will come up and speak to me and they always say the same thing and I say this out loud to you. I've said it before but I say it out loud to you so you know this. They always say the same thing. Can you pay my bill? No, they don't say that. They always say the same thing. They always say I'm sorry to bother you or I'm sorry to take your time and I always say the same thing back. You're not bothering me or you can't take my time, I give it. I give it. No, of course, I love it and if you ever see me somewhere and some of you will, if you ever see me some place out here getting a coffee or having something to eat and you see me, please, please never feel that you can't come up and talk to me and please, I don't know where that idea comes from and please don't think that if there's a need that you're going through something at that moment, please don't think that the only time I ever pray is here in this church. If you need my moment there or my time, I'll give it to you and we'll pray together and I'll share with you why because that's what pastors do. It's not a job, it's who you are and see the people loved them for that and they remained loyal to them. They're teaching, why? Well, it's like when Paul was speaking to the Corinthians on one occasion and he said to them, though you may have 10,000 instructors, yet you have but one father. He said, I begot you in the gospel. There's a sense that yes, others will add on to the foundations that I've laid but remember always that I'm the one God used to bring you to faith in Christ and I love you the way that a father loves his own children and see that's ministry and when the church was birthed and the apostle Peter had stood up and he gave this wonderful message and 3,000 people got saved and there were water baptized and the impact in the city of Jerusalem was just amazing. They started to remain together. They developed this fellowship. They continued steadfastly. They were loyal. They were there attached to one another and they were learning doctrine from them. They learned the ways of God. In Hebrews 13, verse seven, the writer says, remember your leaders who spoke or proclaimed the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life. Imitate their faith. In 1 Corinthians 11, verse one, Paul said, imitate me just as I also imitate Christ. Now you see, it says they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine. We need to remember that over time the New Testament writings were collected and the church followed the teachings that had been printed, that had been written. And the believers, the Christian believers recognized that the writings, these letters and all were inspired by God. And so they understood that the letters were inspired by God and thus they obeyed those things that were presented. It's interesting in 2 Peter chapter three, verse 16, how the apostle Peter said this, speaking of Paul. He said that Paul writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand which ignorant and unstable people distort as they do the other scriptures to their own destruction. So very early in the history of the church they recognized the writings of Paul and those inspired by God as being scripture, other scriptures which would have included the Old Testament as well as the New Testament writings. And that's why Paul in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 said this. He said all scripture is God-breathed, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training and righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. All scripture is God-breathed and it's useful for teaching. The word teaching speaks of provoking someone to learn because it informs us about God. So scripture is useful for rebuking. The word rebuked means to correct error in understanding as well as a way of life. It speaks of correction, which is a restoration to write relationship with God as you learn his will and training. It speaks of understanding that results from yielding to and practicing God's word. God's word is intended to thoroughly equip you for every good work. And that's why they would hold fast to the Apostles' doctrine because they were teaching them about Jesus Christ and later on the writings continued to do that. Over time, the New Testament writings were assembled and each book gave us teachings. The Gospels gave information concerning Jesus and his mission. The book of Acts is a book of history. It's the story of the work of the Spirit in the early church. But when you look at the other epistles, you see that they had reasons for being written and they taught on various subjects that the church was dealing with. You have a book that is written that contains what is called systematic theology. That's called the book of Romans. You see first and second Corinthians was written for a correction of church problems. You see legalism dealt with in the book of Galatians. You see the life of the believer in spiritual warfare in the book of Ephesians. You learn to rejoice in Jesus by reading the book of Philippians. You learn how to correct heresy by reading the book of Colossians. You begin to look forward to certain things in first and second Thessalonians. You see the establishment of leadership in church life in dealing with false teachers in first, second Timothy as well as Titus. You see how to welcome a new believer in the book of Philemon. You see our Jewish roots in the book of Hebrews. You see the connection of works and faith in the book of James. You see general church life in the future in first and second Peter. You see an answer to Gnostic heretics in first, second and third John. You see false teachers dealt with in the book of Jude and you see our future in the book of Revelation. So all of these letters were written with a purpose and that's why we read the word of God and they were inspired by God's Holy Spirit so that we would be safe from error and preserved. So from the beginning God's word was taught and God's word was respected for what it is. Now these new believers were submitted to teaching and they were hungry for the word of God and they constantly turned to the apostles for instruction in the gospel of Jesus when I first got saved. My friends who helped me to come to faith in Christ said, you need to read the word. And so I bought a King James Bible. I didn't get it at all. I really didn't. It was the words, the these, the thou's and the various ways that the English language had been used in the 1600s. For me it was very difficult and when I took into consideration that I hadn't been reading very much for a long time, it was quite a task. So I ended up getting what is called a paraphrase. It was called Good News for Modern Man. And I started reading the Good News for Modern Man and that kind of helped me. Then I got what was called the layman's parallel Bible and it was actually a Bible that had four different translations in it. The first translation would be on the left and then you had three others and so you'd cover two pages and it would have King James, it had RSV, it had various ones. I don't remember now, it's been so long. But what I did is because I wanted to read the King James, it was just a challenge to me. I started reading the King James and when I would get to a word that I didn't understand, I'd look to the other ones and I'd say, oh, so that's what that word means and that's how I began to study the Bible. I began to study using the King James and then using these other translations. Eventually I learned to use concordances and Greek Alps and a variety of other things but that's how it began for me and I made it my decision, I made a decision that what I was gonna do is I was gonna do my best to learn this book, to understand this book. Not only just the content of it, but eventually what happened is it dawned on me that I'm supposed to not only just know it but I'm supposed to practice it. And somebody taught me many years ago that the best way to know a scripture is to make up your mind to obey what it says because that's where you get what is called a Rema experience with God where the word of God actually becomes a living reality in your life and has practical application, you see. And so that's how it worked and this is how it was in the early church. The people knew that the apostles were called by God and that they were given words of life. There weren't a lot of arguments, they weren't fighting over, they weren't saying that's your opinion. I mean, can you picture the apostle Paul sitting in a home Bible study with a circle of people and they're reading his letter and he says, okay, read Colossians one through three. What does that mean to you? Do you think that Paul would have said something like that? What does that mean to you? Do you think he wanted to know what it meant to them? No, he didn't want to know what it meant to them. He wanted to tell them what it meant. That's what teachers do. But what we live in today is we have people say, well, that doesn't say that to me, but who cares? Is that what God said? Because if that's what God said, it doesn't matter what it says to you. What matters is what he said. Look at it, let's get practical. Years ago, it hasn't happened for so many years because this happened when my kids were teens. It seemed to happen quite often. We would be speaking. I would be lecturing as a dad can do. And they would start wanting to talk back. And I did this not all the time, but I did it more than once, I'll be honest with you. I'd say, excuse me, and I'd do it like that, excuse me. Say, I'm sorry, I think you're confused. We're not having a conversation. We're not having a conversation. You see, a conversation is when I ask your opinion. We're not having a conversation. I'm telling you something. See, now I would do that with my kids. I'd say, that's why you don't talk. That's why you listen. And that's why you're gonna sit here and listen till I know you're here. See, I'm kind of like that with my kids. You're gonna listen. It wasn't because I hated them. It's because I love them. And it's because they needed to know that though they had an opinion, I'll, here we go, I'll say something else. Someone's gonna hate me, so I'll say it. I'd say, I'm not one of your little friends. I'm not one of your little friends. You wanna argue with your friend? Go argue with your friend. I'm your father, and as your father, this is the way it is in this house. That's how it works. That's what I did. Now, if I did that with my kids, why? Because I hated them? Yeah, no, why? Because, no, it's because I love them. And I'm not gonna waste my time debating with you when you don't know what you're talking about. You're 13 years old. What do you know? You wanna tell me how to drive? You've never even put the car into drive. And you're gonna tell me, no, we don't play that. I used to say, homie, don't play that. And it wasn't mean. It was just, no, this isn't work that way. Life isn't that way. You go on the job and you try and tell the boss how he's gonna do his job. See how long you survive. It doesn't work that way. You just do what you're told to do. Well, in my Christian life, I understand that there is a God. His word is true. When it is rightly divided, he is not debating. He is instructing. When he instructs, I hold to it. If I hold to it, I'm blessed by God. If I reject it, I am chastened by God. I wanna be blessed by God. So that's how it began in the early church. They continued steadfastly in God's word. They were submitted to, and they were hungry for the teaching of God's word. And that, by the way, is a mark of a genuine Christian. As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow there by, 1 Peter 2, verse two. That's how it works. If you're not hungry for God's word, ask yourself, why? Because babies, babies are hungry. We had four, we have eight grandchildren. Babies get hungry and they let you know. They let you know they're hungry. And I remember when our babies were small and our grandchildren as well, we would know they're not well when they weren't hungry. And Marie would say, you know, the baby's not wanting to eat. There's something wrong. My firstborn, Corinne, liked to eat. I've told you this before. I worked at a job that was only less than 10 minutes away from where I was living. Marie had given birth to Corinne. She was downstairs nursing her as I went to work. It was like 7.30. I started to work around eight. And so Marie was nursing Corinne. I went to work. I was able to come home from work. It was so close and eat at home. I came in, it was 11.30, 11.40. Marie was still in the same place she was before eight o'clock. She was still laying there. And she goes, she won't let go of me. Watch. And Marie would pull away and Corinne would start screaming. And then Marie would go back. Like a little Tasmanian devil. I went back to work. I got out at four. I came home and Marie was still there except now she was all sunken like she all, like a spider had been on her for eight hours. Corinne wanted to nurse all day that day. You know, babies like the milk of their mama. And it's a sign very often of good health. And when they don't want the milk, there's something wrong. And so even as a newborn baby desires the pure milk of the word, that's what believers are to also desire. Job 2312 says it like this. I have not departed from the commands of his lips. I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread. I love his word more than my food. And so the study of the word of God occurred in both what would be called public like this is, worship services, as well as amongst themselves as they would share the things they were learning. So one, they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine. Also, they continued steadfastly in fellowship. There was an immediate bonding that took place because they believed in Jesus Christ. And they, according to 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14, were all baptized by one spirit into one body where the Jews, Greeks, slave free. They were given the one spirit to drink. The body is not made up of one part, but of many. So they were brought into the body of Christ and there was an immediate bonding. Immediately, they knew that they were meant to be together. This meant that they loved one another, were devoted to one another, that they honored one another, that they accepted one another, served one another, bore with one another, forgave one another, encouraged one another to love and good works, that they were hospitable to one another without grumbling. They prayed for one another. They became a community. They became a family that were united together and fellowship was deep for them and they valued their time together. Sometimes my Christian brothers and sisters will say that they're having fellowship when they go and watch a game or eat a pizza and it's a bit deeper than that. When you're fellowshiping with somebody, it's a koinonia. It's a commonality that you have with each other that is centered on your mutual love for Jesus Christ. And so you're having a relationship that's built on something deeper than pizza or whether SC won that game just the other day which was amazing. I heard about it, I didn't watch it. My team was watching it, you know, I'm a Bruin, I'm sorry. Oh, I shouldn't have said that. I feel dirty. Again, there was only one church body. They weren't moving from place to place, where are they gonna go? There was only one body. You know, again, today I talk about church hopping and sometimes, well, it's rampant, it really is. There was a man, I heard about a man who was, his ship went down and he survived as a sole survivor and he made its way to a small island and he was on this island for three years. And he survived because there was enough food there for him to be able to survive. He had some fresh water, but he was all by himself for three years and finally he sees off in the distance a ship and the ship is drawing near. And so he had this signal fire that he had built there on the beach and he lighted the fire and the flames went up and it began to smoke and the ship saw him and made a turn and came back and now he's gonna be rescued and a rowboat with several guys comes to the shore and they climb out and they see the man and behind them they see three structures and as they're speaking to him, they say, how long have you been here? He says, I've been here for three years. Are there other people with you? No, I'm the only one here. Okay, we're gonna take you now and we're gonna take you home. He says, that's great. They said, well, we gotta ask you a question. We see three structures. Can you tell us what those structures are? You've got three of them. He says, oh yeah. He says, that one on the left over here? Yeah, that's my house. Oh, okay. You see the one on the right over there? He goes, they go, yeah, that's my church. And they said, but what's that other structure? He says, that was my old church. So he was church hopping on the island. There's a commitment that you have when you love one another. Listen, some of the deepest hurts that you can suffer are at the hands of other brothers and sisters. Right? Sheep aren't dangerous, but they do have teeth. And sometimes they bite and sometimes they hurt. But you know, I learned a long time ago, I didn't select my family. Had I, it would have been just me. But my parents had an ugly brother and two special sisters. They didn't come to me and asked me for permission to have other kids. I wouldn't have granted it. I just said, no, I'm sorry. You can see them on TV or see them in the movies, but we're not having it in my house, no. But they didn't ask for permission. I didn't select my brother. I didn't select my sisters. They're part of the family. And what we learned to do as a family is the best that we could. We learned to love each other, the best that we could. That's what a church is, by the way. It is not made up of perfect people and isn't, is it? Starting here, all the way through all of us, we're not perfect. But we love one another and love covers a multitude of sin. And we learn to forgive one another and pray for one another and confess to one another and support one another. We learn to do that because that's the family of God. And the world looks at the church and sees us devouring one another and says, why would I want to be part of something like that when I can have that without being in a church? Well, the original church, no, they love one another. They fellowship one another with one another because they needed one another. They also continued, verse 42, in the breaking of bread. The words breaking of bread really can have different connotations but especially regarded as communion, having what we call holy communion or communion. And when they would celebrate communion together, the breaking of bread, it would remind them that they belong together. It reminded them not only that, what Jesus had done, but also reminded them of what he was doing. And when they had communion, they were also looking forward to the future. That's what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, 26, whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. And so there was this anticipation of them together, United in Christ, being with the Lord. So they would have communion. They were remembering together that the reason we're the church is Jesus died for us and that we love one another and together look forward to being with him. So they had communion. They also, in verse 42, were devoted to prayer. They were devoted to prayer in all of its expressions. Prayer was practiced individually but it was also practiced corporately. They would pray together. In 1st Timothy chapter two, verse one, Paul said, I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone, which are basically four expressions of prayer. Requests are obvious. Prayers are the general prayers. Intercession is when you pray for somebody else, thanksgiving is the attitude of joy that you have in gratefulness that you have as you pray. So they were devoted to prayer. We're gonna be going through the book of Acts and we will see several instances that reveals the power of prayer. So I won't give you some incidents yet, but we will together look at those things. Verse 43, fear came upon every soul. Many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now remember in chapter two, verse 13, that the multitude had just mocked them. But so striking is the power of God that it actually silences these people and it produces what would be called a general veneration and an awe. The presence of the Holy Spirit and the working of God amongst those people caused the mockers to close their mouths. Wouldn't it be wonderful if God would visit us in such a way that people would say, truly God is amongst you. Truly God is amongst you. Does he still do that? Yes, yes he does. Has he done that in my life? Absolutely. 20 years old, go to a Bible study, Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, smoke pot, drink beer, barefooted, long haired hippie. I walk into a room similar to this. People sitting on the floor, sitting around, hundreds of kids in a small building. And I sit there and people actually had their knees drawn up so that you could rest your back on their knees. There were so many, they were stacked. And I was 20 and I remember leaning back and because this guy behind me had his knees so I could lean on him, I lifted my knee so the person in front of me could, I thought, well, they're doing it, I'll do it. What the heck? I don't know why they're doing it, but I'll do it. But as I was there, it took me quite some time to realize this, I'll say it briefly, I've said it recently, but I'll say it again. It took me some time to realize that there was something in that room that I had never felt, and this is what was sad to me, I had never felt it in a church before. There was something there that I'd never felt in a church before. And I didn't know what it was. And I kept on asking myself, what is, it wasn't just the music, the music was okay. It wasn't just a message, the message was fine. But I was more caught up with the experience of something there, and you know what? I finally realized it, but it was, and it was love. There was love in that group. And that may not mean the same thing to you that it meant to me then, but if you understand my background, I was a hippie. And that's all we ever talked about is love. All we need is love. What the world needs now is love. I mean, that's all we talked about is love. We were the love generation. We were tired of war and the garbage, and it's time to love one another. Come on, people, let's get together was our cry. And out in that world that was speaking so loudly about loving one another, there was no love. There was a lot of using. We used each other. We stole from one another. We'd steal each other's girlfriends or even their wives. We would rip each other off and we would call it love. And so when I was sitting in a room that actually had the real thing, I didn't know what it was. To this day, it brings such a emotion to my heart to finally be around people who actually knew what love was. And that was what was so powerful. And the presence of God was so powerful that people would come in and they would sense that truly God is in this place and the revival broke out and I'm praying that God will do that once again. You see, the spirit moved mightily in the church and impacted other people. It says, fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. No unsaved person felt comfortable simply sitting there in the midst of all of these believers. There was a sense of the presence of God that would actually cause them discomfort. You see that many times, like when it says in verse 43, fear came upon. You see that several times in the life of the church. In Acts 5 verse 11, it says, great fear came upon all the church and upon all those who heard these things. Acts 5, 13, none of the rest dare join them but the people esteemed them very highly. There was something about these people that you didn't just come and hang around with them because there was something powerful about what was going on. You see, they had heard that something happened on Pentecost. They heard that the disciples had spoken in languages that Peter had preached and thousands had responded and it filled them with awe as the apostles were performing those miracles. It was what is called a spirit-filled church and the Holy Spirit moved and the people were impacted and they saw the works of God amongst those people. In verses 44 and 45, all who believed were together and had all things in common, sold their possessions and goods, divided them among all as anyone had need. They became an ideal society. They cared for those in need. They remained together. They generously cared for those who had real needs. Now, this wasn't something new. The Old Testament taught believers to be caring and generous but in this case, they chose to part with their property rather than to let someone be in need. That's because they were centered on the need of others and they cared practically for them and that was a mark of the church. Later on, the Apostle Paul and 2 Corinthians 8 said like this in verses one and two. He said, I want to tell you, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done for the churches in Macedonia. Though they had been going through much trouble and hard times, their wonderful joy and deep poverty have overflowed in rich generosity. They actually cared. They actually believed that in giving to the Lord and giving to others, that God would bless them. And he did. He did. If they had parcels of land and all they would sell them, they would lay it at the feet of the apostles. They would say distribute to those who have need because they cared about the people. They were extremely generous. You see, one of the earmarks of a healthy church is concern for other people. Titus 314, Paul said it like this. He said, our people should not have unproductive lives. They must learn to do good by helping others who have urgent needs. And so that was the mark of the early church. It wasn't all about me. It was learning to be all about him and caring for others. Churches, and I'll say this briefly because we're almost concluding now. Churches today are looked at, I think by some, as being just a place to receive handouts. And there has to be a wisdom in distributing and all. We do have generosity and we do care for those in need. We always have. And yeah, in the past, we've had people who didn't seem to understand and did take advantage. I remember over 30 years ago now, so I can say it, over 30 years ago, my secretary calls me in the office and says we have somebody who has a need. It was around Christmas and I said, okay, I'll talk to her. And we spoke and she said, I don't have any food and things. And so we had a little food pantry even then. And I said, take what you need. And I went into my office and I came out about 20 minutes later and she was gone. And I looked in the pantry and every single thing in the pantry was gone. And so I went to my secretary and I said, well, it seems to me that you went grocery shopping, huh? And she says, well, yeah, she made more than one drip. I said, okay, she also asked for the Christmas tree. So we gave her the Christmas tree too. The next year she came back and did the same thing. And I told Marie, you can't do that. I can afford these if you just asked me, I'd buy it. No, but we've had that in the past where people use the generosity of others and there has to be a wisdom involved. I remember a man who came to the church once and he said he needed some money. His car is out of gas and so one of my men took him to a gas station, filled a tank and gave him gas and helped him. And came and told me, he said, you know, I helped. And I said, that's a good thing to do. I'm glad you did. He came the next week, he came back, same guy and came back and said, you know, I need some gas. And once again, they took him out. This time they got him something to eat. And then they came back and they said, you know, yeah, we helped this guy. I said, really, different, no, it's the same guy. I said, really? And then the next week, I'm walking out. As I'm walking out into the parking lot, there comes this guy. And I knew who he was. They'd already told me who he was and described him. So it was him. He walks up and says, you know, I really need some gas. And I said, really? And he goes, yeah. I said, weren't you here two weeks ago and got gas? He goes, yeah, I said, oh, okay. And weren't you here last week and got some money and a meal? Yeah. And he says, I think we've pretty much done all that we can for you. And he says, I want to talk to the pastor. So I said, that's me. And he goes, you're the pastor? I said, yeah. And he said, you're not going to help me? And I said, listen, I've got four kids that I give an allowance to. I'm not adopting you to be my fifth. He wasn't happy. But his father called me during the week and his father said, listen, my son's going to every church in Ontario and taking money from him. Please don't give him anything. After his father called me, I hear some talking in the front of the office. And I go walking in and it's the guy and he's talking to my secretary who has her purse out and she's about to give him some money. And I said, didn't we have a conversation recently? You should have seen his face. I wish I had it. I'd YouTube it, man. I mean, he was so shocked. He was like, I said, listen, your dad called and he told me that you're going from church to church ripping people off. See, that has happened in your life probably more than once. It's happened to me at gas stations. It's happened to be different times where people will walk up and say, I have a need. I want to be generous, but I also have to be wise. In the body of Christ, when they saw a very generous, a very real need, the body of Christ was generous within itself. These were all converted people. They were going through hard times and thus they would help one another. And that's a mark of a person of faith. That doesn't mean that we just always pull our wallets out in hand to people who are asking. We have to have wisdom as we do that because sometimes it's actually more harmful to give than it is helpful. So you need to have wisdom when you do that. Generosity is a great thing, but in the church they were caring for one another. And what happens finally, it says, continuing verse 46 and 47, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house. They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God, having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily, those who were being saved. They were committed, continuing daily with one accord. They were committed to one another. They were not together once in a while. They were together often and it increased their fire. And the result was many were being saved. This fire for God and love for others, this hunger for the word of God, this generosity of spirit, all of it tied together to encourage people, especially the presence of God and the preaching of the word of God, it encouraged people to come to a knowledge of Christ. The Lord added to the church, that to me, by the way, and I'll close with this one last thought, the Lord added to the church. Every week, almost every week, if not every week, I get invitations to come and hear the latest how to grow your church plan. Every, every week, at least once a week, and it's been going on for years, come in here this speaker, come and learn the five secrets to church growth. Come in, there's one thing after another, after another. Somebody once said this, and I'll close with this thought, catch fire for the Lord and people will drive from miles around just to watch you burn. That's true. If you fall in love with Jesus Christ, people will want to know what makes you different. And then you can speak and you can say, you know, I continue steadfastly in the Word of God, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread, in prayer. The Holy Spirit moves in my life. I can rejoice and be glad because of what God has done. We can praise the Lord for the goodness He has shown us. And that's the mark of a church that's a Jesus community, a church that's on fire for Jesus Christ. And I pray that God would make us a group just like that.