THE HEART OF CHURCH LIFE Devotion to the Scriptures, Fellowship, Ordinances, and Prayer Acts 2:42 A Sermon by Drew S. C. Mery INTRODUCTION If you were asked to summarize the life of the church in one sentence, what would you say? There are numerous aspects of church life that probably come to mind, so you would need to focus on the central characteristics. Well, you can stop racking your brains. Thankfully, God has summed up church life for us. Turn with me to Acts 2:42 (we will read vv. 41-47 for context). EXPOSITION There is great significance to the place of our text in the history of the church. The church, in its New Covenant administration, is still very young, and small in size. In other words, it is very early on in the historical narrative of the church; and here we find Luke summarizing for us the central aspects of the daily commitments of the community of believers. From the very start, the church has been devoting itself to these things to the apostles teaching, to fellowship, to the ordinances, and to prayer. While there are certainly other things the church was occupied with and concerned about, Luke here expresses their central focus as a community. In the text before us, therefore, we are occupied with the church s priorities as a community of believers, or disciples of Christ. What we have here is the heart of church life. A. THE MANNER OF CHURCH LIFE 1. DEVOTION (CONTINUED STEADFASTNESS) What does it mean to devote yourself to something? The word devote (Gr. proskarteréō) means, according to The New Analytical Greek Lexicon [p. 353], to persist in adherence to a thing; to be intently engaged in; attend constantly to. William Mounce notes that the term communicates the concept of regularity and steadfastness. 1 In short, Luke is informing us that the disciples gave up their time for and directed their energies toward these ecclesiastical (pertaining to the church) observances. The community of believers held these things in high 1 Mounce, William D. Mounce s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (MI: Zondervan, 2006), 180. - 2013-1
regard, and therefore they committed themselves to these acts of worship with diligent regularity. This thought of devotion should be kept in our minds as we take up now the various elements of church life. B. THE ELEMENTS OF CHURCH LIFE 1. APOSTLES TEACHING There is great significance to the apostles, and we can t fail to take note of it. We need only turn back one chapter to pick up on the place and purpose of the apostles in the church. Let us look at vv. 1-3 of Chapter 1. In the first book [The Gospel According to Luke], O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. (Emphasis added.) Here we have a fundamental truth in regards to the nature of apostleship. They were those specifically chosen by Christ to be apostles, and they were eye- witnesses to the life, teachings, sufferings, and resurrection of Christ. Luke doesn t inform us of these things for no reason. Go ahead now and look at 1:8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Here we have a fundamental truth in regards to the mission or purpose of the apostles. They were to be witnesses (eye- witnesses) of Jesus Christ, beginning in Jerusalem, and then spreading abroad. This is, of course, what we see throughout Acts. In short, the apostles were commissioned by Christ to be His authoritative witnesses, teaching the people the things they had witnessed during His ministry, especially the crucifixion and resurrection. In Matthew 28:20, where Jesus is instructing the apostles to make disciples of all nations (or people groups), he tells them to teach the disciples to observe all that He had commanded. So, in a very real sense, the ministry of the apostles is simply the continuation of Jesus ministry. The major difference, of course, is that Jesus ministry was centered on accomplishing salvation, whereas the ministry of the apostles was centered on the application of salvation namely, proclaiming the gospel (i.e. salvation accomplished), and the Holy Spirit working through that proclamation to bring about regeneration, repentance, and faith. Jesus foretold of this shared ministry (so- to- speak) between the apostles and the Spirit multiple times before His crucifixion. - 2013-2
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. John 15:26-27 But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. John 16:13-14 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. The fundamental point of all this is to simply say that the apostles were foundational to the church (Eph. 2:20); they were the authoritative teachers, being eye- witnesses of Christ s ministry, receiving a commission by Christ, and being recipients of divine revelation. To devote oneself to the apostles teaching is to devote oneself to Christ s teaching particularly, and the Scriptures generally. Now, time does not allow for a thorough discussion of the particularities of their teaching. However, we can be sure of this: their teaching centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as the godly life that is according to God s grace and calling in the gospel. These things are clearly borne out in the epistles. So, we may think of this element of devotion within the life of the church as a devotion to the Scriptures. Devotion to the Scriptures (the word of God) has always been central in the life of God s people. True churches all around the world demonstrate this on a regular basis, gathering together multiple times throughout the week to hear God s word read and preached, for the purpose that they may hear God speak, and so be instructed, edified, encouraged, and be prepared to live day in and day out according to God s will, for His glory. Albert Barnes rightly observes, One evidence of conversion is a desire to be instructed in the doctrines and duties of religion, and a willingness to attend on the preaching of the gospel. This is surely done when we devote ourselves to the Scriptures. We now press on to give consideration to the other three elements mentioned in our text. 2. FELLOWSHIP It is interesting that Luke says they devoted themselves to the fellowship (definite article is in the Greek). Now, many translations don t translate the definite article, which is certainly fine, as Greek often uses the definite article when the English does not require it (ex. the use of - 2013-3
personal pronouns). However, I believe the definite article points to the fact that the term fellowship has particular reference to the Christian community. That is, it is in- house fellowship believers gathering together to worship God and serve one another. This, of course, is understood by the context, even without the definite article. Now, we often think of fellowship as merely sharing a meal together (e.g. fellowship meal ). While that s certainly an aspect of fellowship, the concept of fellowship is more comprehensive than that. It communicates the idea of communion, partnership, participation, and commonality. We ll see these things as we look at a few key Scriptures on fellowship. Now, there are two aspects to Christian fellowship; there is an objective aspect and a subjective aspect. We will look at both in order. Objective Fellowship. Our objective fellowship has to do with the fact that we have a common faith and salvific experience. In other words, it is a fellowship in/of the truth. If you are in Christ, then this fellowship is objectively true of you and everyone else that is in Christ. For example: 1 Jn. 1:3 (note relation w/ previous element); Tit. 1:4; Eph. 4:4-6; 2 Cor. 13:14 Subjective Fellowship. Our subjective fellowship has to do with the way we interact with one another on a daily basis (e.g. supporting; encouraging; eating). This fellowship focuses more on our experiences and relationships with one another, and therefore can be hindered or increased. For example: Acts 2:43-47; Eph. 4:1-3; Phil. 4:2-3 Therefore, we must be careful not to limit the concept of fellowship to merely sharing a meal with other believers, or getting together and chatting, though it does entail these things; but the term is so much richer in meaning. Clearly, in our text, Luke has the subjective aspect of fellowship in mind; however, the subjective is grounded in the objective. Let us therefore devote ourselves to the fellowship of the church, as we already do, with increasing measure. 3. ORDINANCES The third element of church life in our text is the ordinances. Why do I gather this from the actual wording of the text, which reads, the breaking of bread? Commentators differ on whether or not this phrase has reference to the Lord s Supper or to meals in general. In truth, the phrase may be used both ways in the Scriptures, but in my opinion it more frequently refers to the Lord s Supper (see Lk. 22:19; 24:30-31, 35; Acts 20:7, 11). To my knowledge, what seems to be the only place that the breaking of bread cannot refer to the Lord s Supper is Acts 27:35, where Paul takes bread, blesses it, and breaks it, not amongst believers, but amongst unbelievers. While the language is certainly the same, the context is different. Further, the fact - 2013-4
that the definite article precedes breaking of bread in our text seems to suggest something more formal and sacramental. For these reasons I take the breaking of bread to refer to the Lord s Supper, and not a common meal (which would easily fall within the preceding element, fellowship). So, in our text we see that the Christians regularly observed the Lord s Supper; that is, they devoted themselves to it. Further, in v. 41 we see the other ordinance that was established by the Lord Baptism. Since Baptism is not intended to be regularly observed it is received by each believer once, shortly after their profession of faith, and serves as their entrance into the visible church (local church) I will focus on the Lord s Supper. The Lord has given us two material elements in the Lord s Supper, signifying the means of our redemption. Those means are the body and blood of Jesus Christ upon the cross. A very good and concise theology of the Lord s Supper is found in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26: For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup, after supper saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord s death until he comes. A fundamental characteristic of the nature of the Lord s Supper is that it is a remembrance of Jesus sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. Such demands that we devote ourselves to it. It is not something that is observed once, or rarely, but something observed often. As we participate in the Lord s Supper we proclaim the gospel, and evidence our faith in it. What a solemn and glorious participation, remembering our Lord s sacrifice, and knowing that our sins have forever been forgiven. The Supper is a visual reminder of the cost of our redemption. 4. PRAYER We come now to the final element of church life in our text prayer. As is the case with the previous elements we have observed, the definite article is here present (some translations don t incorporate the definite article, but it is present in the Greek). Many commentators believe the definite article makes reference to a set of particular or established prayers. There were, after all, set prayers used by the Jews, especially in the Temple [Bock, 151.]. Further, the church may have used what we commonly refer to as the Lord s Prayer (Lk. 11:1-4) as a set prayer (which the church continues to do today). While this is likely true, we need not limit our discussion to set prayers, but may speak of prayer in general. - 2013-5
Devotion to prayer has always been a central characteristic of God s people. In prayer we demonstrate our reliance upon God for all things, we give thanks to God for all things, and we bring our requests before Him, trusting Him to answer according to His good and sovereign will. Throughout Scripture we see the corporate gathering of God s people in prayer. For example, in Acts 1:14 we find All [the apostles] with one accord devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. When Peter was imprisoned by Herod in Acts 12, earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church (v. 5). Paul, in 1 Timothy, when discussing the order and observances of the corporate gathering of God s people, states, First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way (2:1); and I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling (2:8). Prayer, too, is central in the church s life. SUMMARY CONCLUSION In short, this text reminds us of the heart of church life. It informs us of the early church s central commitments in their corporate gatherings, and in so doing, instructs us to do likewise to devote ourselves, as a congregation of Christ s disciples, to the Scriptures, to fellowship, to the Lord s Supper, and to prayer. APPLICATION 1. Why is it so important that we devote ourselves to these things? In short, because it is God s means of grace in our lives. As we read and study the Scriptures we are hearing God speak, and so we are equipped and encouraged in the truth, built up in sound doctrine. When we fellowship together we are able to encourage one another, keep each other accountable, and demonstrate the love of Christ. When we partake of the Lord s Supper we fellowship with Christ, remember His sacrifice that earned our reconciliation, and proclaim the gospel until His return. When we pray we continually demonstrate our reliance upon God for all things (e.g. endurance in trials; success in ministry; boldness in evangelism; our daily bread). 2. Do not forsake the assembly. Remember, this is speaking of the corporate gathering of the church. While we can read Scripture privately and pray privately, fellowship and the Lord s Supper are corporate practices. The Christian life is supposed to be lived in community (Heb. 10:23-25). - 2013-6