The First 8 Words

Acts 2:42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

                  The First 8 Words

I want us to only look at the first 8 words of this passage and no more.  Here is why?  Because everything else we seem to love about this passage is predicated on those 1^st 8 words.  Everything flows out of them.  It is not just by chance that they are the first 8 words, but it is by intention.  

It is my contention and conviction that these first 8 words were what they saw from Jesus day in and day out. They were continuing what had been modeled for them while they were with Him and what He told them to do in the Great Commission in these words “teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20).  In the gospels alone, there are right at 154 references to Jesus’ teaching, preaching, proclaiming, telling of parables, talking of the truth as they went on their way.  The gospels are permeated with His proclamation of truth.  This is what He modeled with them for 3 years.  Why was this His pattern and why is it the pattern of the Jerusalem church?  The world lies in sin and is predicated on lies so God’s truth must invade and wipe out the great lies of the lost culture of the world.  John wrote these inspired words, “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” 1 John 5:19.  Therefore the light of the truth of Christ in regard to who He is and what He says becomes the only answer to this bondage.  

The fact that the apostles made sure that the teaching of scripture was first and foremost as the church began came out of their relationship with Jesus and desire to be obedient to Him in all matters.  From Acts 2:42 through the rest of the New Testament this pattern is shown in all of the books of the New Testament.  The truth of scripture mattered to them and it must matter to us.

We have so gotten this confused and out of line.  As they waited in the upper room for the coming of the Holy Spirit, they did not spend their time making decisions about location, funding, worship style, formal/informal, denomination affiliation, websites, or whether they would be seeker-sensitive or expositional.  They did not wait until they came up with a purpose statement or vision statement or who would be their target group to reach.  They weren’t told they were going to have to fill out monthly ministry report forms so the denomination could measure how things were going. They were not devoted to having a cool band and music in a room that was full of darkness or one with cool lights or great staging and hip dressed players.  All of these kinds of thoughts churches go through should say everything that needs to be said about why the model of church has gotten so off base from scripture.  

It leads me to the most obvious question, “Why have those things become our considerations in regard to church?  It shows we have lost our way. What is wrong with the first 8 Words of Acts 2:42 as our primary consideration for all that we do in church life?

                  

It does not take long to see what a church is devoted to.   It is evidenced quickly from the platform on a Sunday morning.  In a sense, what takes place there shows what a congregation desires and is willing to put up with.  The fruit of the Jerusalem church came out of their marked devotion to the teaching of scripture.  Just in case you and I might think this path of church life was not real "seeker or lost person" friendly, read the rest of Acts 2:42-47 and you will see words that “seekers” are interested in, words like fellowship/community, wonders, having a unity in regard to who really owned possessions. They were able to see that Christ-followers had all things in common and sold their possessions so peoples needs would be met, and they spent time hanging out in their homes all over the city eating and studying the scripture together.  

You mean to tell me that those words are not attractive to people who are lonely, disconnected and overwhelmed?  As if those words are not enough, the believers were marked by glad and generous hearts and all of this led them to have favor with the people of the city.  This is why we marvel at them I think, their faith was marked by joy and generosity, something that is missing in the large part in the church of the West.  The lost in the city joined the church through faith in Christ and then by walking in that faith in Christ as new member of the kingdom of God.  It was contagious!

                  

Again, all of that happened I contend, because of the devotion to the scripture as the foundation to ministry.  It is this devotion we have lost in our quest for whatever we think church is to be about.  We must get back to the primacy of what the 1^st church did in Acts 2:42a where “they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching”.   I am calling us back to this devotion.  They taught the sacred scripture and some of these men wrote the sacred writings under the inspiration of the Spirit.  It is there, where we must return and reside.  We must teach what the apostles taught and wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  Could this be the key to awakening?  Could this be what the church in the West is lacking?

Jesus said He is the light of the World – John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  This also means that Christ is the light of the church.  If He is ever excluded from the church, then the natural result will eventually lead the church to go into darkness.  A church that has no light of Christ from the revealed Word will ever be able to escape the darkness that comes from that, no matter how creative, formal, financially sound, or strategically located.  We must return to the Light, which means that we proclaim, proclaim, and proclaim the glory of Christ in the Word

Whatever happened to this and why is this not the main question being asked today?  Why are we looking everywhere else for the answer to our struggles, but to this devotion? 

The answer to a significant church future will be found in a return to a devotion to confessing Christ in scripture.