The sermon is based on Acts chapter 2 verse 40 and emphasizes the importance of being devoted to God and one another as the church. The speaker highlights the need for salvation from the perverse generation and the ongoing sanctification process. The early believers in the church demonstrated their devotion through their unity, fellowship, participation in the breaking of bread, and prayers. They lived with gladness and sincerity of heart, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Please take your Bibles and turn to the book of Acts. And we will pick up right after where we had our congregational reading. Acts chapter 2 verse 40. Acts chapter 2 verse 40. With this theme in mind, devoted to God and one another.

Devoted to God and one another. Devoted to God and one another. Acts chapter 2 verse 40 and thus says the word of the Lord and with many other words he testified and exhorted them saying Be saved from this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. And that day about 3,000 souls were added to them.

And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. And 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.

Let us pray. Our gracious Father and Lord, we thank you for the word of God that teaches us and instructs us such marvelous and wonderful things. And just as we sang just a moment ago that we would see Christ. Oh God would you show us your way. Would you show us Father your plan for your people.

That we are the people of God and as the people of God you have saved us from a perverse generation. You have called us out of darkness. You have translated us into the kingdom of light, the kingdom of your dear son. And Lord as your people we are called to be a peculiar people, a people who are separated, a people who are special in your eyes. God, help us to live as what we are and we pray this in Christ's name.

Amen. You may be seated. I have longed to preach this for quite some time just because of the nature of this passage of scripture and the encouragement that I find in it and also our need for it. One of the errors I believe that many professing believers have is that the church is a place we go. But brothers and sisters, the church is who we are.

And so the question comes to my mind, who are we? As we consider this passage before us in Acts, and the understanding that we as Christians, as God's people, as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the bride, that we are to be devoted to God and to one another. And in fact, I believe that if you're not devoted to one another, that you're not devoted to God. I don't believe that you can separate the groom and the bride. These two are always together.

Have you ever seen a newly married couple? They're always together. And that is the way we should be. We should constantly be together. So what are you devoted to is really the question of this whole sermon.

What are you devoted to? You know as we consider this passage and really this sermon, we've talked about this a few times here that Peter is preaching this sermon. I'm getting to preach Peter's sermon with him, if you will, and I'm thankful for that because it's an inspired sermon, it's straight from the very spirit of God to us. And Peter brings us here in verse 40 to this very pivotal point in his message. He brings the crowd to a moment of decision.

And we see this decision here in verse 40 and then into verse 41. And what I want to show you first and foremost is the word that was received and then I want to show you a devoted life or a life that is devoted and then I want to show you a church that is unified. Those are the things that I want to show you. First in verses 40 through 43 we will look at the word received. So Peter in his message really I'm so thankful that he did not cut his message short as sometimes I have to do but Peter preached the fullness of what he was telling the people there.

He wanted to continue to show them not just the gospel that Jesus Christ came to save you from your sin, but Peter wanted them to understand that salvation was not the end, but it was actually the beginning of living a life for God. This was a major turning point in their lives that would have eternal effects upon them, not only in heaven, but specifically upon this earth. And so he says in verse 40, and with many other words he testified and exhorted them saying be saved from this perverse generation. So these words testified and exhorted and I'm so appreciative of this it means to be delivered that To be saved means to be delivered out of danger and into safety, this saving. But this testimony that he is giving is one that shows strength, it shows something that he is earnestly calling them to do.

It wasn't just this lackadaisical, make sure that you watch out for the world. No, it was something that he testified and exhorted them. He imperatively commands them, be saved. It meant to be delivered from danger into safety. And use principally of God's rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin.

Those things go together brothers and sisters. You are saved from the penalty of sin and in sanctification you are being saved from the power of sin in your life. Do not dare for one moment think that you are a defeated Christian, there's no such thing. The righteous man may fall seven times and yet rise again because of the Spirit of God living in him. You are being sanctified and he which began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.

If you deny that you're denying God and the Word of God, he will complete it. Now, it is much slower than I hoped for. But if I look at my life 12 years ago or 20 years ago, I can see progress, thank God, and I'm sure that you can too. I believe that this is so important because it showed them the continuing dangers of the world. They not only needed to be rescued from the world, They not only need to be rescued from the guilt of their sins of living in the world and of even this crowd crucifying the Messiah, but they also needed to be saved from the perverse generation, this whole culture if you will.

He preached justification, amen, we should always preach justification by faith alone and Christ alone, but he also preached sanctification, be saved from this perverse generation. In Galatians 1-4, Paul says this, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of God and the Father. God the Father. Be saved from this perverse or crooked generation. Be saved from this generation with many other words He testified and He exhorted them.

It's interesting that we do not have the fullness of Peter's message here but he sums it up in this. He says with many other words He exhorted them but then we have the synopsis of what He said be saved from this perverse generation. It's according to the good pleasure of God that these words were added to the scripture. That we would understand this this word testified as I mentioned earlier carries with it the emphasis of earnestness. He earnestly and solemnly testified and exhorted them.

This expression of saving yourselves or save yourselves, it denotes to preserve yourselves, listen, from the influence and the fate of this generation. It applies that they were to use diligence and effort to deliver themselves. Wait a minute, I thought salvation was the work of God alone. Yes and amen. In justification.

But when it comes to our sanctification, we know that he who has begun a good work in us will complete it. We know that he works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So yes, it is God working in us, And then he says this in the next verse in Philippians chapter 2, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. So there is something that we do in regard to our sanctification. So I believe that this perverse generation was a race of men very much like others in endowments and in pursuits and in their character.

It is especially in a bad sense a perverse race or generation or a group of people. So this idea of perverseness is crooked. They're a crooked generation. This group of people were to be delivered from this perverseness. Can I just say the exact same thing to us this morning?

Be saved from this perverse generation that we are living in. There's a grave danger for all of us that we would become like this generation. That was the story of Israel throughout all of their history. It was not just that they would go and totally reject God and worship foreign gods. No, they would syncretize the things of the world into their lives and into their worship and they would call that God.

And if we're not careful we can do the same thing. It is a false view of who God is. It is a mingling with the world around us and bringing in their thoughts and their concepts and their ideologies and their worldview. This really goes along with what Scott was preaching about in Romans chapter 1 and chapter 2. You see in chapter 1 you see the destructive nature of the totally lost world and then you see this religious world and they're just as bad.

Which is worse unrighteousness or self-righteousness? Both are deadly. Both are destructive. Self-righteousness will kill you just as surely as unrighteousness. So, as we think about these worldviews and about these things of being saved from this perverse generation, the same thing is true in our generation.

We live in a perverse generation. It's a tremendous danger facing us today and as we consider this, especially our younger generation, but not only them, but listen to me younger people, if you're under the age of 25, listen carefully, I'm going to call you younger since I'm way older than you, I can call you that. There is a perverse generation that you are living in. It is a perverse culture, it's crooked. It's a grave danger for you to think that you can mingle with the things of the world and still walk in the light as God is in the light.

You see, it doesn't happen all at once. It's much like digging a hole. It's a small shovel full at a time and the deeper you dig the bigger the hole. Before long you realize that you're standing in a huge pit that you have dug. It's not something that happens to you, but it's something that you do little by little.

You see this generation is trying to destroy the very foundation of what it means to be made in the image of God. They are at such rebellion against God that they eagerly mutilate themselves in order to deny God's authority over them. That's what they're doing. They are trying to deny God's authority over them and to the extent that they will mutilate themselves." This is how much they hate God. This is how much they hate His rule.

The command in 2nd Corinthians 6 14 is, do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness, and what communion has light with darkness, and what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever, or what agreement has the temple of God with idols for you are the temple of the living God as God has said I will dwell in them and walk among them I will be their God and they shall be my people Therefore come out from among them and be separate says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters says the Lord Almighty." And then in chapter 7 he continues, therefore having these promises beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

You see they were being exhorted to be saved from this perverse generation. And then we see in verse 41, then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about 3,000 souls were added to them. It is really an astonishing thing that we see what was taking place here. That there was a distinction between the two is clear. Those that gladly received the Word were baptized.

There were those who did not gladly receive the word. There were those who mocked and said these men are full of new wine. There will always be that case within the midst of the preaching of the Word of God as it goes out. You will have those, and it will happen here this morning, who gladly receive the word. You will have others who don't.

You will take this message that I'm going to bring to you today, that a life devoted to God and to one another and you will say that sounds like a preacher sermon. A man who is that devoted can only be a preacher. No, a man who is that devoted or a woman who is that devoted or a child who is that devoted is called a Christian. We are desiring to live a life devoted to God and to one another. It is an amazing thing to see how gladly they receive this word and were baptized.

I don't want to spend too much time on this but it says that they received this word, they were joyful in it, they gladly received the Word of God. What does this mean? You see what has captured my attention really throughout this passage of scripture is the response of the crowd to so wholeheartedly embrace Peter's message and then to act upon what they heard. They didn't just say good sermon preacher and go about their way. They gladly received the word.

The idea here is that their actions proved out that they had received the word. Their actions were not hasty yet they were sudden. They were life altering yet not destructive. They gladly received the message as it is in truth as it was the very word of God. In 1 Thessalonians 2.13 we read for this reason, we also thank God without ceasing because when you receive the word of God which you heard from us you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe.

Did you catch that last part? Not only did they say that is truly the Word of God, it says that they received it as it was the Word of God and notice what he says, which also effectively works in you who believe. What effectively works? The Word of God was effectively working in them who believed. In other words, their lives were changed.

They lived differently. They were altered from their current path and they lived like Christians. That's what's taking place here. They had been brought to this moment of decision and there were those who gladly received the Word and those who rejected the Word. But let's see what this looks like.

When the Word of God is believed and gladly received it effectively works in those who believe. What does this look like? What does it actually mean to gladly receive the Word? It says they gladly received it. First this tells us that they believe the word that they heard.

That seems kind of elementary doesn't it? They believed what they heard. When you read the word of God and when you hear the preaching of God, obviously you must be good Bereans and see if these things are so, but when you hear it and you know these things are so, do you believe it? Believing is not just this intellectual sense that says, yeah, I believe that. Believing means that you hear it, you heed it, and your life is altered.

That's believing. Believing is not an intellectual assent. Believing is a life-changing experience that takes place based upon what you believe. It changes you forever. So they received this word, their hearing was mixed with faith and they gladly received it and yet at the same time we see that there were those who did not believe because it was only those who gladly received it.

In these words we see there was a separation among the crowd. This is almost universally the case anytime the Word of God is preached. As I mentioned this earlier, there will be a separation here this morning. There will be some of you here this morning who gladly receive it and there will be some of you who totally reject the things that I am saying. I want you to understand that their response was not just a natural response, but rather there is a spiritual aspect to what was happening in the midst of this crowd.

The Spirit of God was working. That is our prayer today. Spirit of God work. My efforts are fruitless and empty unless the Spirit of God do the work. Continue to pray through this sermon that God's spirit would work.

The Holy Spirit of God was accomplishing his ministry in the midst of these people. These people were coming to this point of decision and they were receiving the Word of God. It happens much like in Acts 16 14 with Lydia. Says a certain woman named Lydia heard us and she was a seller of purple from the city of Thotira who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.

It wasn't the power of his persuasion, it was the Lord. It was the Lord opened her heart and that is what must happen here today. Two examples I believe of what we're talking about is this. The first is the parable of the soils. We understand this gladly receiving the word.

What does it mean to gladly receive the word? We see this used in other places and in this case This may bring you some discomfort. In Matthew 13, 20, and 21, the Bible says this, but he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he stumbles." There is actually a temporary nature to some who gladly receive the word. That's what this parable just taught us.

There are those who say, yes, man, that's really good. Let's hear it. My experience has shown me that sometimes it is those who seem to be the most zealous in the beginning. I'm not against zeal, but I look for the long haul." You see the Bible says those who endure to the end shall be saved. One of my Bible professors used to call them shooting stars.

They burn bright and burn out quick. What kind of hearer are you? The second example is found in 1 John 2.19. He says this, they went out from us, but they were not of us. If they had been of us, they would have continued with us.

But they went out that they might be made manifest that none of them were of us. You see, time is the great revealer. So what am I looking for as a pastor of this church, I'm looking for the long haul. I'm looking for enduring to the end. I've seen people who profess Christ come and go, and I've seen others who stay.

They're not always the loudest and the brightest, but they continue with patience and endurance, and they continue. They continue. That's the test. They continue to the end. So how do we know if someone is a true disciple of Christ?

They continue. Through thick and thin they continue. Along with this, or should I say in the beginning of this there will be another mark of gladly receiving the Word. Now this is not a infallible mark but it is a separation from the world that begins with baptism. I spoke about this last week.

It begins with baptism. This, I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but baptism is the first mark of a person publicly professing their separation from the world. Have you ever thought of baptism that way? It is a profession and a sign of separation. You are going into the waters, you're dying to self, being resurrected into new life, and you are now professing, I am no longer of the world.

I am of Christ. You see, it is a sign that you have been justified, and it is also a sign of sanctification or separation from the world. These new believers were baptized and we see here that 3,000 came. 3,000 of them were added to them. It is truly amazing to think of such a day of that as that would be.

3,000 souls? What must that have looked like? A glorious event. But let me say this, rarely throughout all of history do you see such numbers coming to Christ all at once. But there are outpourings of the Holy Spirit that work in such a miraculous way, in such a wonderful way, such a visible way, but don't be hung up on looking for the huge crowds of salvation.

I'm more concerned about those day by day, and the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. It wasn't always that way but it was in the beginning and God did a miraculous work. But I want you to notice something that their separation did not end with their baptism. Their lives did not continue the way they formerly were. Look at this.

The object of their devotion changed. Look with me in verse 42. And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and prayers. This this word here continued steadfastly is defined as being devoted. It's a compound Greek word.

The first part of that word implies motion or direction towards something, And the second part of that word means to be strong, to be steadfast, to be firm, to endure, to hold out, to bear the burden. It means to be earnest towards something, to persevere. It describes a steadfast single-minded fidelity to the certain courses of action. It means to persist obstinately in a task, to keep on with devotion, to Continue to do something with intense effort, to be steadily attentive unto, to give unremitting care to a thing, to continue all the time in a place, to persevere and not to faint, to be constantly diligent, to attend assiduously all the exercises, to adhere closely to, to attend continually, or wait continually to Terry to remain somewhere. Wow, that means a lot of stuff, that means the same thing.

Continue. I liken it to a mother caring for her sick child. She's devoted to the care of this child. She has a single-minded fidelity to the well-being of this child. She is steadfastly attentive unto that child.

She gives unremitting care to that child. She does not faint, but is constantly diligent to attend to its needs. That is what the early church was like. Think about this, they were religious Jews but look at what happened to them. They gladly received the word, they were baptized and they continued steadfastly, unremittingly, they were diligent, they they were just totally devoted to this thing.

It is a devoted life that God has called us to. We see this same word used in other places in 1 Corinthians 16, 15. He says, I urge you brethren, you know the household of Stephanus that it is the firstfruits of Achaia and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints. That's why I said this is not a preacher's sermon. It seems that, oh, you're given to ministry therefore you're devoted to it unlike anyone else.

No this is a Christian sermon when it is every Christian should be devoted to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Devoted to God and you should be devoted to one another with the same devotion as a mother caring for a sick child. Is that how we're devoted to this church? Think of the change. They went from this group of Jews and part of them were saying you're full of new wine and mocking them and the other part is no this is something unusual something's happening here and then Peter starts preaching this wonderful message and he tells them that you crucified the messiah.

What do we do? Repent and be baptized. And then with many other words he told them be saved from this perverse generation and they said yes that is what I want. They gladly received the word And then immediately they continued steadfastly in four specific things that I believe are essential things. You see they put off the old man and they put on the new man and now they were being saved from the perverse generation, they were baptized and now devoting their life to another cause.

What are you devoted to? These four things cannot be done alone in the way intended. These four things are to be prioritized in the assembly of the saints. Those who think that this can be done alone or even as a single family are in error. These are one another activities and this is why these are essential and no government on earth has the right or the authority to hinder them.

Even those who Even those who have tried and they often do, but they do not have authority to. That is called a tyrant who acts outside of their authority. There was no such thing during this early church as a Sunday Christian, Nor was there such thing as a, if there was such a thing as online, there was no online, but if there had been online, there would be no online Christians. They were continually devoted to the one another's. What were these things that they were devoted to?

First and foremost we see the Apostles doctrine. Now this is the teaching of the Apostles. Now there's a nuance here that I want to bring out. This is talking about not just the doctrine that they were preaching. I want you to understand something.

It is very important that you read your Bible and study your Bible. Very important. That's not what he's talking about. Let me prove it. They didn't have the New Testament when he was saying this.

They were speaking it. They were devoted to something. They were devoted to the Apostles doctrine. So this word not only means doctrine or teaching, it actually can mean the very act of teaching. So within the act of teaching you're teaching something, you're teaching doctrine.

And what he's talking about here is the act of the Apostles teaching and preaching the Word of God. What are you devoted to? Are you devoted to the apostles doctrine? Are you devoted to the preaching of the Word of God? So I don't want to get too far in the weeds on this but I want us to understand that the New Testament was not written when he was saying this.

I'm making a big deal about this because you cannot fully follow this New Testament pattern by sitting at home reading your Bible by yourself, nor can you do it by watching preaching online. This was an activity that most people do not grasp the seriousness of. It is something that takes place when God's people gather together, the assembly of the saints. When they come together and they hear the preaching of God's word like it's being done right now. You've come together for this moment to hear God's Word preached.

There is something that takes place spiritually within this congregation that will not be done anywhere else. It is essential that we be apart and be continually steadfast in the Apostles doctrine in the preaching of the Word of God. You see they were coming together as a group of believers to receive the apostles teaching and preaching and God has ordained, listen, God has ordained the act of preaching to be the means by which God's people grow spiritually. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God and then he says in Romans chapter 10, how shall they go, How shall they preach unless they be sent? And then he says, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news?

He's speaking specifically through this unusual thing that God has ordained. What was it? It's through the foolishness of preaching that God has confounded the worldly wise. Does it make a lot of sense to the worldly wise, but God has ordained it to be the means by which most often God transfers this truth of his word into the hearts and minds of his people by the work of the Holy Spirit. This is a foundational to your spiritual growth and to your sanctification.

This is what we see in the book of Acts and throughout the New Testament. I want you to notice that all four of these activities are corporate activities. It doesn't mean that you can't read your Bible. You should. Read it and study it and love it.

It doesn't mean that you can't pray at home. You better be praying at home, privately and with your family. But what he's talking about here is corporate assembly things. This is the body of Christ coming together. They're not meant to be done alone.

God's design is that God's people be together. That is why we believe that it is essential for the church to continue to meet during all circumstances. The meeting of the church is essential for the body of Christ. Secondly we see that they were continuing steadfastly in fellowship. They did not deny or neglect the fellowship of the body of Christ.

Now I hope that this is clear that this was not done alone. They didn't have fellowship by themselves. That should go without saying, right? They were together. They were together.

It was this intimate bond of fellowship that united them. What was it? I've said it here before and I look out among this congregation I think what in the world brought this group of people together? We are one diverse group of people. What was it?

The Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only thing that brought us together. The Lord Jesus Christ brought us together. There's nothing else makes sense. But when he brought us together, he gave us a bond that's stronger than anything.

It's the bond of the Holy Spirit of God. This type of fellowship is unknown among unbelievers. They cannot and do not understand this. They may think it's like a Kiwanis club or maybe a sporting event. No.

This is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and we are willing to lay down our lives for one another. We are willing to sacrifice for one another. We are willing to cry with one another. We are willing to give of our resources for one another. We are willing to love one another.

We are willing to cry with one another. We are willing to give of our resources for one another. We are willing to love one another. We are willing to forgive one another. We are willing to fervently pray for one another and all the other one another's in the scriptures.

They cannot participate in this type of fellowship. They may be some here this morning who are unbelievers, and even though you're in this room, You are still not participating in the fellowship of the saints, but you can. How? Peter tells us, repent. And let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

That's how you can. And it will be like something that you've never experienced before. I've been and I know that other people who have traveled have run into believers that you've never met before in other countries and around in this country and around different places and you instantly have a bond with that person that is so unusual it makes no sense outside of Christ. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. That's the fellowship.

But this is talking about this gathering of the fellowship of the body of Christ. It is this sharing one another, sharing your life with each other on a spiritual level. The next we see, the third thing that we see, they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread. This is the Lord's Supper, that's what he's talking about here. This is a corporate observance, not to be done alone.

The context of 1st Corinthians 11 that we read almost every Sunday in regard to the Lord's Supper, if you'll read in the context of 1st Corinthians 11 verse 18 you will see he says this, for first of all when you come together as a church that is the context of the Lord's Supper. It's not to be done by yourself, it's not to be done just as your family, but this is the context of the assembly of the local church. Matthew Henry calls this a sermon for the eyes. I love that. The Lord's Supper is a sermon for your eyes.

It is seeing the things, seeing the elements, and seeing the bread which is the body of Christ, and seeing the wine which is the blood of Christ, and seeing that we partake. It's not just here, It's in here. It's totally different than anything else. And then we see also that they were continuing steadfastly in prayers. The word, excuse me, The word is a plural form of prayer.

It is prayers. They mean all kinds of prayers. Again, I believe this is speaking about our corporate times of prayer. This morning we had a corporate time of prayer. On Wednesday, it may be new information for some, we have a prayer meeting on Wednesday nights when we gather and we pray.

The early church gathered for prayer. Now I know that some, because of distance of travel and maybe sicknesses and different things, cannot be a part of that, but let me share with you my belief. You're missing one of the most essential elements of our church when you miss the prayer meeting. This is our time to pour out our hearts to God corporately and we do so for the mutual edification of the body and we are calling on God. We are entering into the Holy of Holies and we are finding grace to help us in our time of need.

Would you be there with us? You see these four things, this new group of believers, the church, were devoted to them. They continued steadfastly in them. Their lives were now marked by this association with one another and with the activities of the Apostles Doctrine, a fellowship, the Lord's Supper, and prayers. I believe that these are the essential elements of the church and that is what we see every Lord's Day here in this building.

We see these four things taking place and they should. There are some among us who are not devoted to these things. They prioritize other things over the essential things. They're devoted, but not to the church. And let me say this is concerning to your elders.

And It should really cause you to ask yourself a question, what am I devoted to? I urge you to be devoted to the church. I want you to look at your family that's sitting beside you. Go ahead, look at them. You have in this room a biological family that one day will end.

Keep looking. You have a spiritual family that will last forever. And I'm not saying that you should not be devoted to your physical family. You absolutely are and are commanded to care for them and be with them. But I want you and I urge you not to neglect the part of your family that will last forever, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I believe that those who neglect this great duty are setting a pattern for themselves and perhaps for their children if they have them that will bear wild grapes to pull from Isaiah chapter 5. Try this exercise. Ask your children if you have children or maybe a close family member, what am I devoted to? And if you're asked that question, answer it honestly. What are you devoted to?

Children oftentimes have a very keen insight into what their parents are devoted to. Sometimes we are unaware of what we're devoted to. What are you devoted to? You may be surprised at what they say. You see the result of this was that fear came upon every soul.

Look with me in the next verse. In verse 43, then fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. I do not think the fear was simply because of the wonders and signs with it being listed first. I believe that it does include that but I believe that this fear is much like what the New American Standard translation says, everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. Why?

Because this group of believers life was radically changed. Their devotions totally changed. They were all of a sudden devoted to these people that they perhaps did not know before in such a way that they were continuing as we'll read later they were continuing daily doing these things. It wasn't just a Sunday thing they were doing it daily. I'm not I'm not suggesting that every single day that we have to meet together but I want you to know something it says something about their hearts towards one another they wanted to be together do you want to be here this morning I hope that you do I hope you don't hear this as a shaming message that is not my intention at all but I do want to testify and exhort and I want to encourage and I want to urge so that you will see the importance of the body of Christ and the assembly of the Saints that a life devoted to God is a life devoted to one another.

You can't do this. Remember what John says, how do you love God whom you've not seen and love your and hate your brother whom you do see. No. He says you're a liar if you say this. Because the relationship with God the Father, and you see this in the Ten Commandments, the relationship with God the Father and our relationship with other people are both in the Ten Commandments.

We are to be relating one with another. So this result of everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. I believe it is because the Holy Spirit was truly changing their lives and they begin to live differently. They were living holy lives set apart unto God and many wonders and signs were done through the Apostles. Now to much disappointment I'm sure I'm not getting into that passage yet.

We will devote more time to that in a later message. It needs more time than I can give it this morning. But I want you to see here that this leads us to verses 44 through 47, we see a church unified. Look at what we see here in verse 44. Now all who believed were together.

That means assembled in the same place and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all as anyone had need." Their lives were lived in community. They assembled regularly and cared for the needs of one another. You know one of the things that I would say that we probably don't know are the needs of one another. That takes two things. Number one, perhaps asking a question and number two, being willing to answer it honestly.

How you doing brother? Doing great. Really? Now God gives some of us a unique gifting to hear when somebody says, I'm doing fine, to know that that is not true. You just lied to me.

How are you doing? Are you willing to ask that question and then when you hear the true answer, help? We should be. That is what they did. They continued to have all things in common.

They assembled regularly and they cared for the needs of each other. You know it's an important note here that this was not some socialistic idea. This was not government imposed, you will have all things in common. This was a generous abundance of love for the body of Christ in which you were willing to hold all things loosely for the good of others. You were willing to sell things if need be to help a brother or sister.

It doesn't mean that you have to sell everything because we see later on in the book of Acts in Acts chapter five regarding Ananias and Sapphira, listen to what he says in verses three and four, but Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? Now listen to what he says, while it remained, was it not your own? It's your land. And after it was sold, Was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart?

You've not lied to men, but to God the issue was lying, not the possession of land. They lied about what they were going to do with the proceeds. Peter makes it very clear and he affirms the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not steal, that you can actually own private property and it's a good thing to do so. But let me ask you a question. Are you more devoted to all the things you own or would you be willing to lay aside what you own for the needs of those you love?

We are blessed and we live in a land of abundance. I don't know that that would be necessary in our society today, but it could be. It could be. But the point is, is that their hearts were so intertwined and so full of love and devotion to God and to his people that they said it's just stuff. I love you.

You're in need. I have what you need." You know, God could have miraculously divided the loaves and fishes and fed everyone continually forever, but he understood in the sovereignty and in the wisdom of his plan that one of the greatest demonstrations of the love of the body of Christ would be sacrifice of personal possessions for the good of those whom they loved. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you have love one for another. Not only that, but they had a consistent pattern of being together. Verse 46, look with me.

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. Their heart was filled with the love of the brethren and it was a heart's desire to be with the brethren. When you think about the meeting of the church and when you think about those who are here that you were looking at just a moment ago, when you think about these people you think, man I can't wait. I'll be honest with you, Sunday morning is the highlight of my week and Wednesday night, I can't wait to get here. I'm usually like at 10 till 9, I'm like hurry up guys we got to get loaded up.

They're like dad we don't have to be there for an hour and 10 minutes. I'm like but we got to get there. I want to be with you. I love you. I can't wait to see you.

And you should feel that way about each other. I want to hear what's happened in your week. I want to worship God with you. I want to pray with you. I want to sing with you.

How glorious was that this morning? To hear the singing of brothers and sisters to our Heavenly Father. Does that bring joy to your heart? Let me just say something, if that doesn't bring joy into your heart to think about worshiping God with each other, you need to Test yourselves. There is something unusual that takes place in the house of God when we worship God.

You see the love of God filled their hearts. They were ministering to one another and they benefited spiritually. Let me tell you something, when you're not here, you're a Christian and specifically you're a member of this church and you're not here you're robbing the church of God of your spiritual gift. You're supposed to be ministering one to another. You're robbing me.

Stop robbing me. Be here. Speak to me. Love me and I will love you and I will speak to you. That's what the body is about.

They were of one accord. Listen to what this is. It's the same passion. It describes people who share a like precious faith. Creating a God produced unity between them.

They have the same mind. They have the Lord's thoughts because each received the same revelation from his word. They delighted in each other because they had the same spirit and the unity of the faith. Ephesians 4 tells us that, They are therefore a prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you are called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. There's one body and one spirit, just as you are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all." John Gill says this may be understood of their common meals when he speaks about them coming together for these things.

They consisted together. Look at what he says in verse 46, they continued daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house. This is not the Lord's Supper. This is hospitality. They ate their food together with one another.

They weren't content with just the worship service. They said, when are you coming over? When are multiple of you coming over? I want to be with you. I want to see you.

I want to share a meal with you. I want to talk with you. I want to pray with you. I want to be intermingled in your life. That's what the church is.

Peter tells us this in chapter 4 verse 7 in 1 Peter. And one of the things he says in the midst of this exhortation is be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another. Are you doing that? Are you ministering to one another?

You've received a gift. Use it for the good of the body. And then we see that this type of living pours forth in praise. It says that they had gladness and simplicity or sincerity of heart. This word simplicity is kind of interesting, especially considering the context of where they were.

They're in Jerusalem and there's rocks everywhere. Listen to what the meaning of this is. Simplicity. It means smoothness of soil without stones. They're like, what is that?

I've never seen that before. Simplicity of heart means that they were so unified, there were no rocks to plow around within the body of Christ. They were all on the same page. They were all loving each other. They were all dedicated to these things continually.

It was smooth because they had the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. This kind of living pours forth praise. You know, some of my most thankful times is when I am with you. I get so excited to be here with you when I hear you singing, when I hear you praying, when we talk later on, when we sit down at a meal together. These are my favorite times and often times in my heart I'm just saying, Lord, thank you.

Thank you for that brother. Thank you for that sister. I've been so encouraged by each of you. Let us continue in these things. Just a couple more things and we'll be done with this part of the passage.

They had favor with all people, it says. You know, this type of Christian living is counter-cultural and yet it blesses even unbelievers. John says, I knew commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you that you also love one another. And by this, all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. And then lastly, the Lord's work.

Brothers and sisters, this is the Lord's work. Notice what he says, and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. It's an amazing thing to consider how God uses the Word of God and the people of God to do the work of God. The result of our fragrance, if you will, that's a biblical term actually, we have a fragrance when we live this way. Did you know that?

When we live together with smoothness of soil, when we're loving each other, when we're continuing with each other, Did you know that is a sweet smelling aroma? Very mysterious passage in 2nd Corinthians says this though, for we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma of death leading to death and to the other the aroma of life leading to life and who is sufficient for these things. It's an amazing thing. So what is our aroma, Hope Baptist Church?

What kind of aroma are we sending forth to God and into this world? Some application questions very quickly. Number one, how are you receiving God's word? What are you devoted to? And are you living in Christian unity with this church?

Is this church a side note in your life or central? Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, my great prayer for your people is that this word, this word of God would penetrate all of our hearts and minds. That you would be glorified in it, that you would exalt the Lamb of God to receive all the glory that is due to His name. I pray, O God, for your people that they would see the essential nature of the assembly of the saints and that we, when we live in this way that we have seen demonstrated here in the scriptures, that we cast forth an aroma to God.

And I pray, oh Father, that it would be sweet. I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.