Last week I gave a brief introduction to Acts 2:42-47 by suggesting how it applies to our church. I said then that I wasn't going to write it down. But I've changed my mind, and I'll write it down here and now. Acts 2:42-47 gives a simple blueprint of how the first believers lived out their relationships with Jesus, each other and the World. Taken all together, we see that they experienced the REAL PRESENCE OF JESUS through the Holy Spirit. In the context of relationship with Jesus they also lived out REAL RELATIONSHIPS with each other. They were genuine and honest with each other. They were involved in each other's lives at a significant level. They saw each other not only “at church” but throughout the week. They ate in each other homes frequently. They helped each other out when there was a need. And finally, together they had a common goal, to live for the REAL PURPOSE of making new disciples. I would like us to remember those three “reals”: REAL PRESENCE, REAL RELATIONSHIPS and REAL PURPOSE. I think we should make this the blueprint for our church too. In fact, it is a blueprint for the Christian life.
This week, I want to begin by examining Acts 2:42-47 in detail. There is so much to unpack in this passage, so we will spend the next seven weeks or so, just on these verses. My prayer is that it will bless us individually, and also as a church.
You may recall that in Acts 1:12, it says the disciples devoted themselves to prayer. The same word is used here in Acts 2:42. It says that the disciples devoted themselves to four things. This word “devoted” means to consistently adhere to, to persist and persevere in a commitment. The first thing they devoted themselves to was the teaching of the apostles.
What does this mean? Well, the teaching of the apostles has been recorded for us in the New Testament. These teachings were based upon the apostles' experiences with Jesus, his words to them, and the Old Testament. In a very real sense, what this means is that they were devoted to the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. They persevered in learning what the Bible says and what it means. The persisted in trying to put it into practice. They stuck to it, even in the face of adversity, even when they failed to grasp it, or practice it at times, they didn't give it up.
I have taught elsewhere extensively on the uniqueness of the Bible. There are probably some folks reading these notes who missed some or all of that series. It is available for no charge, on the Internet at www.newjoyfellowship.com. Click on sermons/past sermons and then download “All about the Bible.” Right here and now, I will give just a brief and incomplete synopsis of that information. The Bible is unique, even among “holy books.” It is the only one written by dozens of different people, from many different countries, in three different languages, on three different continents, covering a span of 1600 years. Even if you are not a Christian, you should be able to see that this diversity is a superior way of discovering moral guidance compared to just one person, in one time and place, deciding upon his or her own moral principles. And, through all the diversity of the Bible, there is also a clear and unified message. This is truly remarkable. We Christians believe that this is because God inspired the various authors of the Bible. But even if you take away this “faith element” (believing that God inspired the Bible) you still have to acknowledge that something inspired these writers, and whatever it is that inspired the first writer, is the same thing that inspired them all, down through sixteen centuries of history. Not only this, but the Bible claims remarkable things for itself. It claims to be inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17); it claims to be a record of the promises of God; it claims to be the full revelation of God (Revelation 22:18-19); it claims to give insight into the very soul of things (Hebrews 2:12); it claims to teach the way of life (Psalm 1).
The bible is also unique in its qualifications. Based on research that was done largely by people trying to discredit the Bible, it is now clear that the Bible we have today is almost exactly the Bible as it was written thousands of years ago. In other words, over 2,000 years, it hasn’t changed at all, except for an inconsequential word here and there and maybe a grammatical error or two. The Bible is the most authenticated historical document the world has ever known. Archeology has consistently confirmed innumerable Biblical details and claims.
Hopefully, once we know how remarkable the Bible is, and understand how important it claims itself to be, we have answered the question of why we should devote ourselves to it. A book like this cannot be ignored. Even for a skeptic, the potential of the Bible is that it has the answers to the ultimate questions of life. There is more than enough evidence to say that the Bible is important enough to devote further investigation to.
So how do we devote ourselves to this remarkable book? This part is really only for those who have faith in Jesus Christ, and know Him as their Lord and savior. If you don’t know Jesus, it will be difficult to devote yourself to the Bible. But if you do know Jesus, I believe there are two main parts involved in devoting yourself to God’s word.
First, it involves reading and study. Many Christians are not in the habit of regularly studying the Bible, and to many people “study” sounds like a dirty word. Even so, this is a part of what it means to devote oneself to God’s Word, and it is a part of the Christian life. Now, if you struggled to barely make it through High School, I am not asking you to suddenly become an academically over-achieving Yale student. What I am suggesting, however, is that you apply yourself to the best of your God-given ability. For some, that may mean regularly listening to the Bible on CD or iPod, and asking the Holy Spirit help you understand it. Others may want to learn some techniques for Bible Study. If there are just four people who want to learn more about how to study the Bible, I can meet with you for one Saturday, and give you some practical Bible-Study tools that you can use right away. But above all, we need to persist in reading it regularly. Make it your goal to read a chapter a day. Don't beat yourself up if you miss some days, but don't give up on it either. Stick with it – as Acts 2:42 says. Beyond daily reading, you could devote an hour on Sunday afternoons to Bible Study. Begin with prayer. Then sit down with the week's Sermon Notes, and look up the passages mentioned in them. Keep a notebook handy and jot down insights and questions – especially questions. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. I strongly encourage you to persist in trying to read the Bible daily and in setting aside an hour or so a week to try and study it. It will make a huge difference as you live in REAL PRESENCE, REAL RELATIONSHIPS and REAL PURPOSE. Sunday morning alone is really not enough.
The second part of devoting ourselves to God’s word is application. We need to apply what we study to our lives. Jesus condemned the Pharisees because they studied God’s Word until they knew it backward and forward, but they did not put it into practice. He said that the man who heard his words and did not put them into practice was like someone who built his house on a base of sand. When the rains and the winds come, the foundations of that person’s life will collapse – even if he has heard the Word. On the other hand, Jesus promises that the one who hears His words and puts them into practice will not be shaken, though the storms of life rage all around (Luke 6:46-49).
The psalmist wrote: “Your word is a lamp for my feet and light for my path,” (Psalm 119:105). The word picture used in that well known verse refers to practical application. He did not say: “your word is a light for my mind” or “your word shows me how to think.” Although I believe God’s word is supposed to inform our thinking, the great value of it is that it not only transforms our minds, but our very lives as well. God’s word illuminates our path – what we are to do, how we are to live. So, for example, as we study Acts 2:42-47, God wants us not only learn about the Bible, but to go home and actually read it! He wants us to not only learn about the blueprint for living in real presence, real relationships and real purpose – he wants us to start doing it!
On the other hand, we cannot very well apply something to our lives without knowing anything about it. If you don't read the Bible or spend any time studying it, you should not be surprised at all if it does not seem practical to you – how can it be, if you don’t really know what it says? How can we accurately apply a scripture passage if we really know nothing about it?
Do you see how the two work together? You can’t have proper application without a bit of study first. And study is ultimately fruitless if we never take the step of responding to what God is teaching us through His Word, by applying it to our lives.
Let’s spend this week considering how we can respond to God’s invitation to build our lives around his Word, the Bible.
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