Series The Church Text Acts 2, 6, 15 selected Message 2 (April 10, 2016)

Series The Church Text Acts 2, 6, 15 selected Message 2 (April 10, 2016) THE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM Introduction 1. Last week we started our journey checking out the churches of the NT. We looked quickly at the roots of the church and took a survey of the theology and practice of the first century church. Then we sped backwards into eternity past to see what God had in mind all along for the church! Frankly, it was incredible! It still is! 2. Since the church began in Jerusalem, it would make sense to stop there for our first look at the local church. It s a good thing to know something about our roots. 3. Jesus had died and rose from the dead. He made several appearances I think He only appeared to believers. Those appearances occurred over a 40-day period. Then He went back to heaven. Ten days passed. It was the Jewish Feast of Weeks (Ex. 34:22), or sometimes referred to as the feast of first fruits (Num. 28:26). We refer to it as the Feast of Pentecost. The time of the feast was set in relation to the feast of Passover. Jews from all over had gathered in Jerusalem. Peter takes the occasion to do a little street preaching! And the Spirit just happened to be there and things have never been the same since! 4. The church, planned by God before creation, came into being that day. Let s check it out! 5. Kids, for the next several weeks we are talking about the church. It got off to a great start, but it wasn t long until there were some real problems. One of the problems involved a married couple lying about what (their offering)? Another problem was centered about the feeding of various people. Who were they (widows)? Some of the Jewish believers thought that the Gentile believers should have to keep what to be saved (the Law of Moses)? It is hard to accept salvation by grace alone because most believe that they must what to be saved (do something)? I. IT S ALL GOOD AT THE BEGINNING (Acts 2) We are introduced to A. The work of God through the preaching of His Word 1

1. When the Gospel is shared at church, generally speaking it is not before a hostile crowd. Even if there are many unbelievers present, they weren t forced to come and they are not forced to remain. If we share the Gospel with co-workers or family members or neighbors, for the most part, there is already a relationship of some sort. The Gospel may well be rejected, but that person or those people will probably not beat us up! 2. Peter was preaching to mostly Jews, who mostly believed that any association with Jesus was undesirable. Add to that Peter s charge that they were responsible for killing Jesus a Jesus who was not a rogue Jew but the Lord of heaven! But even in the midst of a hostile crowd, set against the followers of Jesus. Peter preached. He preached the Word. He knew that God would honor His word when proclaimed by those who believe it! That was the right thing to do then and it is the right thing to do now! And the response to his preaching was not really the focus of the message. God and His glory were the issue! But having said that, God does use His word to penetrate sin-hardened, dead hearts and bring life to them! He does that through His Spirit. Let s look at that. B. The work of God in the hearts of those who heard 1. Sometimes we are surprised by what the Bible says and what it does not say. Peter preached using as his text Joel 2 and verses from Psalms 16 and 110. After his exposition of Scripture he gave this conclusion: Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. There was no further instruction or assignment or prayer to pray or anything like that. But what happened next was as amazing as it is instructive. 2. The response to the proclamation of God s truth was described this way: Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? Anyone who shares the Gospel lives for that kind of response! ( Where can I find this peace, etc.?) Peter s answer was simple, essentially telling them to repent of their sins and believe what Jesus had done. And they could show that in the outward response of baptism. And what Peter said next was setting up things for the future. 2

3. I m not convinced they heard or understood what Peter was saying, but listen to his words: For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. Notice that it is a work of God and it was never intended to be limited to one group of people! That was something the church would have to learn! 4. So what happened after these people believed the Gospel? C. The infant church began to understand what happened and why (2:42-47)! 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. 1. Those folks were quickly assimilated into the life of the early church. They were indoctrinated with the teachings of the apostles. They were included in the daily lives of the other believers. They were witnesses to God s power as He worked among them. They were awe-struck by God s power and glory. 2. They were taught to praise God and to get along with others. They were also apparently trained and encouraged to make the Gospel known, for God was adding to their numbers day by day, those who were being saved. There is nothing that will excite the saints like the power of the Gospel in their midst. As people believe in the Lord Jesus and share that with the body, the body gets excited and God blesses them with even more power in the form of changed lives! The church was off to a great start! 3. Isn t it wonderful that God takes His enemies condemned sinners, and forgives them of their sin and grants them new life in Him! He forgives sinful people! But there is a problem. Even after sinful people are forgiven, they still retain their sinful nature. And it doesn t take long for that sin to show through. Turn to the end of Acts 4:33-37 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their 3

testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. How about that? That s all good, right? Now turn to chapter 5. We need to look at some internal affairs. II. INTERNAL AFFAIRS (Acts 5, 6) A. Trouble with the offering 1. Actually it was not a problem with the offering. It was a problem in the heart that came to light at the offering. You probably know the story. Barnabas was a very gracious man. He sold some land and gave the proceeds to the Apostles so they could distribute it to those who had need. That resulted in a great deal of appreciation for what he did. That s good, right? 2. A husband and wife saw the kudos and desired that same sort of people praise to be directed toward them. So they sold a property they owned (any problem with that?). They decided together to give part of the proceeds to the Apostles to share with those in need and keep some of it for themselves (any problem with that?). They told Peter and others that they, like Barnabas, gave it all (any problem with that?). 3. Was that a small thing? Apparently not! In a shocking display of divine discipline, God struck dead first the husband and then the wife. That was a wake-up call for the church in Jerusalem! It wasn t really about the offering it was about their heart. It was about bringing glory of God instead of siphoning off glory for self. It was about motive. It was about integrity. 4. Two unexpected funerals took place in one day and the church in Jerusalem learned something about the nature of God. Sometimes, basking in the joy of our salvation, we forget that God has called us to holy living! None are so ugly in God s sight as those who flaunt a spiritual beauty they do not possess. At least for a while the church remembered that lesson! 4

5. As wonderful as it was to see the church responding in reverential fear toward the Lord, another issue, a different kind of issue, arose that threatened the life of the church. This time, there is B. Trouble in the kitchen (Turn to chapter 6) 1. The church was growing ( the disciples were increasing in number good, right?). But a complaint arose. On the surface it looked like an oversight, a glitch in meeting some people s genuine needs. But deeper down it was an ethnic issue. Some Jews who had become believers in Jesus were from Judea they were true Hebrews. Their heritage was all Jew. There were some other Jews who had become believers in Jesus whose heritage was outside of Israel and had been influenced by the Greeks. They spoke Greek rather than Hebrew. They were called Hellenists. Some of these folks were now in Jerusalem and were part of the Jerusalem church. Unfortunately even as believers they were considered second class. There were some widows who had no family to care for them. They were too old or unable to work. There was no government welfare system in place. So this church provided them with food. That s wonderful, right? 2. However, it seems that the Hebrew widows were getting their daily allotment of food, but the Hellenistic widows were sometimes being forgotten. They went hungry. It was a convenient oversight. It was a problem and not just a food problem; it was an attitude problem. The answer was found in assigning trustworthy men, spirit-filled men, to oversee the distribution. It is also interesting that the seven men chosen all had Greek names. If this means they were all Hellenistic Jews, it says something about the desire for unity and the love the leaders had for the whole church. 3. Changing attitudes takes time. Hungry widows could not wait for that to happen. So the wise plan was implemented to meet the surface crisis while the underlying cause was addressed over time, no doubt through the teachings of the Apostles. Self-centeredness, superiority complexes and prejudice are resting under the surface of all of us to one degree or another. Both short-term fixes and long terms solutions must be applied! Sometimes the problems we bring go to the very core of who we claim to be in Christ. That becomes evident in Acts 15. 5

III. CRISIS AT THE CORE (Acts 15) There is more here, but I want to look at three issues these church leaders had to consider. A. Who is welcome in the church? 1. On the surface that seems like an easy question. Everyone is welcome. But that is not necessarily the case. For some it is racial thing. For others it is an economic matter. For others it is style issue. For some it s theological. 2. In Acts 15 it was both ethnicity and doctrine. The Jews had been the chosen people of God. The church in Jerusalem and frankly the entire church as it existed very early on, was made up entirely of Jews. I think these Jewish believers saw Christianity as a progression. Jews could become Christians, but if Gentiles desired to become Christians, they would first have to become Jewish proselytes. But Gentiles were becoming Christians with no Jewish association at all! And Jewish believers were having a very hard time with that! 3. A wider application could be made today. (When Zion was founded, the founding church enforced some of the dietary prohibitions of the Mosaic Law, among them a prohibition concerning the eating of pork. One of our couples here, newly converted was invited to a small group cookout bring your own meat cookout. They had no clue there was any issue like this among some of the folks who attended here. Let s just say that their pork chops kept their distance from the chicken and beef being grilled! That could have been an issue! Fortunately it wasn t)! But it was in the early church! And it began at the heart of the Gospel. B. What is the Gospel? 1. The hardest of all ideas for human beings to grasp is the doctrine of salvation by grace alone. This is because we all always want to add something to it (Boice, Acts, p. 259). When the Gentiles came into the church, they came in as Gentiles and continued to function as Gentiles and the Jews just couldn t deal with that! Listen to Acts 15:1-2 - But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this 6

question. This was a big deal. The church could have been split down the middle. It was really an issue of the Gospel. 2. There is no gender, or socio-economic or ethic divide in regard to the Gospel. Paul made the case to the Galatians. Heritage (Jew or Gentile), status (slave or free) gender (male or female) those are not issues in regard to the Gospel! God designed the church to be a home and a family for people of every tribe and tongue and nation. So what did they do? C. Is there room for compromise? 1. Let s see what the leaders of the church did to avert this crisis. Verse 7 tells us there was much debate. Then there was a review of the history of dealing with Gentiles particularly with Peter and Cornelius (chapter 10). God affirmed the genuineness of Gentile salvation with the giving of the Holy Spirit without any connection to Judaism. 2. Peter then asked this question: Why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. Here is the essence of Peter s reasoning. Were the Jews past or present able to keep the Law? No. But they were saved by grace alone. If the Jews laid this burden on the Gentiles they would fail just like their Jewish ancestors and them! 3. Then they shared evidence of the working of God in the lives of Gentile believers. James, the leader of the Jerusalem Church then entered the discussion quoting from Scripture, affirming God s intention. However, as a concession to the Jewish believers a request was made regarding a handful of issues. How did all of that work out? Was the crisis averted? 4. Here s the outcome (from Everett F. Harrison) a. The Gospel of divine grace was reaffirmed. b. The unity of the church was safeguarded. c. The evangelism of the Gentiles could proceed without hindrance. d. The Gentile churches already established were given encouragement. e. The future of the church as a whole was guaranteed. (And I would add one more) 7

f. With the major doctrinal issue resolved, the practical matter of fellowship was considered. While it was important that the Jews not trouble the Gentiles, it was also important that the Gentiles not trouble the Jews. If the Gentiles began to revel in their freedom in Christ they could have brought great pressure to the Jews to exercise their freedom but in the process violate their consciences. That was the reason for the matters that were attached to the notes on the council. Years later Paul would address this issue in more detail. CONCLUSION 1. The church belongs to God. It always has. The church is made up of sinners who are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for God s glory alone. 2. The church as it remains on earth is not perfect. The members of God s church are in various stages of growth and maturity. Mistakes are made sometimes very serious mistakes. God disciplines. He also calls upon the leaders to seek and use wisdom to solve the challenges faced by the church. There are solutions. But sometimes we are called upon to search them out as we plead with God to grant us the wisdom and insight we need to arrive at good decisions. 3. We have some challenges here right now. We need wisdom. We need each other s encouragement and we need everyone praying for God to lead us. These can be among the most exciting and fruitful days of the history of this local church or it could be among the darkest hours of our existence. I m seeing some things that makes me believe it s the former, not the latter! 8