The Church Described - The Later Early Days

So if you would, please take your Bible and turn to Acts chapter 4. We'll be in verses 32 to 37. Acts chapter 4 verses 32 to 37. Now I think most every one of us know that last week we moved from verses 1 to 22, which tells us about the first outbreak of persecution against the church. And we moved into verses 23 to 32, which tell us about how the church reacted to that first outbreak of persecution. Simply we saw that Peter and John came back to the church. I believe they had an impromptu meeting and they gave a missions report. And we saw that they had a great and wonderful prayer meeting.

And I have it in my mind and my heart, even wrote it in my notes. Wow, what a prayer meeting. That was definitely a wonderful, powerful prayer meeting. Now if you didn't get that message, I would encourage you to do that because these messages, these two messages really do go together. Now tonight we come to verses 32 to 37, which are the last verses of chapter 4. And we have seen that these verses are very unique. These are special verses. I have said several times that Luke has given us three short descriptions of the early church. The early church is the first church here in Jerusalem. Jim Boyce calls these short descriptions portraits.

I have called them snapshots. And we will continue to see that these things are anything but pencil sketches. What we have in these descriptions are snapshots of the early church in full color, full of life, full of the Holy Spirit, doing the work of the church in the fullness and the power of the spirit. The first description is found in chapter 2, verses 42 to 47. And I titled those messages, "The Church Described the Early Days." The second description is found here in chapter 4, verses 32 to 37.

And I titled these verses, "The Church Described the Later Early Days." Now last week I said that verses 23 to 31, which are all about that prayer meeting that followed that outbreak of persecution, I said they can be connected to the verses that are before us tonight. And honestly, I've thought about that quite a bit, last week and this week. I'm not sure if I would add verses 23 to 31 to this second description or not. I'm not sure if I would make it a completely different snapshot or description of the church. And that's something to think about, challenge you to think about that. And we may revisit these snapshots one day in the future.

But the third description is found later in chapter 5. Chapter 5 gets interesting, I think most of you know. And that description is found in verses 12 to 16. And we will see that verses 12 to 16 describe the church after the great and awful internal difficulty and opposition that came from hypocrisy. But tonight we'll be in verses 32 to 37 and what I'm calling, the church described the later early days. We're still in the early days, but it's later than chapter 2 in that description. Now let's read our verses and then I will explain how we'll divide the verses, starting verse 32.

"Now the full number," the King James uses the word multitude, "of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to them was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were given their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them for as many as were owners of lands or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds," that would be monies, "of what was sold, and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, and Levite, a native of Cyprus, he sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet." Now this is how I want us to get into the verses or divide the verses. I want to see, I want us to see four things. First, we will see the church in this great oneness or unity. Then we will see the great sharing that went on in the fellowship, in the church among each other. Then third, we will see the powerful preaching of the church. And last or fourth, we will see the great example of this man named here in the church.

So let's dive in. Number one, the oneness of the church. I want us to see, number one, the oneness of the church. This comes from the beginning of the first part of verse 32. Now the first part of verse 32 is rather short, but there is more here than we may realize. But before we get into the oneness, we can call it unity. We need to see who we are dealing with. So first, notice that Luke says, "Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul." That's the English Standard Version. The Legacy Standard Bible says, "And the congregation of those who believe." The King James uses the word multitude.

And there is a detail that we really do need to see. This phrase, the congregation seen in the Legacy Standard Bible, actually comes from a word in the original, which simply means multitude, a great number, or the whole number. But what is it that we need to see here? What am I aiming at? What is my point? This was a big church, a very big church. This congregation consisted of a great, great number of people. And we know this from the details and the descriptions that Luke has been giving us. 3,000 were converted in one day, and they were added to the number after they were baptized, and they were added to the original number.

We see that in Acts 2.41. And then later, about 5,000 men were added to their number as well. We see that in Acts 4.4. And this does not include the women who most likely would have been added. And then we also see that there are those who were added daily from Acts 2.47. So my point here is this. This early church, which was the church in Jerusalem, consisted of thousands by the time we got this second snapshot found in the verses before us. Do the math. So it's not a stretch to say that this church was well over 8,000 people. And that's big, folks. Very big.

But scholars do say that this congregation of thousands had to have been broken down in homes under the leadership of the apostles and other leaders. That would have been practical. That would have been obvious. And I think Matthew Henry really does point that out. Now, right here, I want us to see that we have a very, very valuable lesson that can go beyond what we see here just in these verses. We must make sure that we are not smarter than God. We must make sure that we do not have higher standards for the church than God.

We must make sure that we do not have standards for what is acceptable for the church beyond God's standards for what is acceptable for the church. Now, let me explain. There are people who say that they would never go to a big church. I have had people, even one recently, tell me that if a church gets big, it needs to be divided. And from my experience, usually when someone expresses that belief, they think that a big church cannot be healthy in some way, shape, form, or fashion. Well, a question or two. Do we see that with the church in Jerusalem? Was the church here in Jerusalem an unhealthy church?

Was there anything in the church that would prevent us, those of us who desire a healthy church and a true church, is there anything that would prevent us from being a member? Look at these descriptions and you make that determination. Some will say, "Well, Pastor Chris, the church at Jerusalem was scattered after the stoning of Stephen when persecution broke out against the church." That's true. We'll get to that soon. Acts 8.1 certainly does say that a great persecution broke out against the church there in Jerusalem and they were scattered all through the region of Judea and Samaria.

So that is right, but they were scattered, not because they were too big and their size was sinful. They were scattered because it was God's will that they scattered so as to go and to fulfill the great commission. And he used persecution providentially to scatter them. And if they had stayed in Jerusalem, the sin would not have been their size, but the sin would have been in not going. Now think about this. Really think on it with me. Even when the church in Jerusalem was 8,000 plus big, they were healthy, very healthy. There was no sin in the church. And when sin did come in Acts 5, they dealt with it properly.

There was no unhealth to prevent a believer seeking a healthy church from becoming a part of that church. Look at these descriptions and you tell me. Now my point here is this. We cannot be smarter than God by having standards for the church that go beyond what God says. And if we do, and I've known some who do, we just may be, and I believe we are imposing our standards on the church. Therefore, we are imposing our standards on God. So here we have the full members, the full number of believers and members of the church, a multitude of 8,000 plus believers. Second, notice Luke says they were in one mind and heart. Now what does this mean?

What does it mean to be one? Well, to see what it is, we must see what is not. This was not some kind of organizational oneness like we see today in denominations. Not against denominations. But we can think about denominational oneness. Well, that's not what we have here. So let's make sure that we do not see this as any kind of physical structural oneness. I'll give you an example. There have been times in church history where it was illegal to be a part of a different church. Simply, there have been times when there was one church and to propose something different or to be a part of something different was illegal.

That is what the reformers like Luther and Calvin and others were up against in their day during what we call the Protestant Reformation. But this oneness of heart and mind spoke of a spiritual position and a spiritual disposition. This was a spiritual mindset, but more. This was a spiritual attitude, but more. This was a spiritual perspective, but more. This came from a spiritual position and a spiritual disposition. And it is vital for us to see that this was all spiritual and relational and experiential in nature. They were one spiritually in Christ. Therefore, they were one in their spiritual position and disposition.

And this came about because of the new birth. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the oldest passed away, behold, the new has come." That would describe these believers. And this came about because they were living the crucified life. Therefore, they were dying to self. Paul said in Galatians 2, 20, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life, I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me." And they were living the crucified life.

And this came about because they were living the Spirit-filled life. We've seen numerous times that they were filled with the Spirit. Paul said in Ephesians 5, 18, "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit." And this came about because of Christ's prayer for His Church. That might surprise you. Jesus prayed in John 17, 20 to 23, the great high priestly prayer. He's praying to His Father before the crucifixion.

And notice what He says, "I do not ask for these only," talking about His disciples, "but also for those who will believe in Me through their word." He's praying for the disciples in all of the church by extension that they may all be one just as you, Father, and I are in Me and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent Me, the glory that you have given Me, I have given to them, that may be one even as we are one. I in them and you in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent Me and loved them even as you loved Me.

So we see and we must understand that this oneness of heart and mind came about spiritually, personally, and experientially. They were one with Christ spiritually, personally, and experientially. Therefore, they could be and they were one with one another. So notice what we see here in the verse, the beginning of verse 32. This church of more than 8,000, which must have been divided in homes and such, they were not divided spiritually, although they could have been divided practically, but they were one in heart, one in mind. And notice something that we keep seeing in this church. We keep running into unity. We keep running into oneness.

We keep seeing that this church was unified. They were one. They were unified. They were one. And we have seen that when their unity or oneness was tested with persecution, they became more unified. And we will see that when their unity or oneness was tested by sin, they were and they became more unified. And the lesson or lessons for us or many here, again, we cannot take our unity, our oneness, for granted. It certainly can be fractured, shattered, and even broken. We must see that it is our responsibility as believers and members of Grace Life Church to work to preserve our unity and oneness.

And we must understand that our unity will be tested. By external pressures in the world and by internal problems that are sure to come about. And we will come back to unity and oneness. And then number two, the sharing in the church. I want us to look at the sharing that went on in the church. Now in verse 32 and other places, we have seen that this church was one. They possessed a unity and they maintained a position of unity and oneness. Now in the second part of verse 32, and then we jump over to verse 34 to 35, we will see their practice of unity or that their oneness was proven and demonstrated.

And what we see here is a demonstration of what Jesus said in John 1335. In John 1335, Jesus said to his disciples, "By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another." You see, this is a demonstration of those verses. I like what the Amplified says. Verse 35, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love and unselfish concern for one another." Now I want to ask you a question here. Don't answer quickly. Do we demonstrate a love for one another within our church, within our fellowship? Do we demonstrate a love for one another with those in our small group?

Do we demonstrate an unselfish concern, an unselfish concern in love for one another? But to get at what was going on in this church, in this day, we need to see what was happening practically, contextually. Scholars tell us that the economic situation in Israel, and even in the capital city of Jerusalem, was bad and getting worse in their day. And that was because they were experiencing famine and political unrest that brought about difficult economic times. One scholar pointed out that for the resident Jews of Jerusalem, they faced economic hardships like everyone else just because times were tough.

But it was magnified for the Jews that it believed that Jesus was the Messiah and had identified with this new movement that the Jewish establishment condemned and hated. And for those other Jews who had come to Jerusalem for Passover and stayed because they had believed in Jesus and they had become a part of the church, well, times were even harder. So practically, practically, these were tough times economically and socially for these believing Jews, and there were thousands of them in Jerusalem in the church.

So these believers practiced and demonstrated their oneness and unity by sharing with one another as each had need, as God led each of them. Sometimes we will see sacrificially. So let's look at the verses. We'll read verse 32, and then we'll jump verse 33. "Now the full number or multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul. And no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common." Verse 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 and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need." Now here I want to make some simple and short but much needed observations. First of all, we need to see this was abnormal giving, not normal giving. And what I mean by that is this. This kind of sacrificial giving was not established as the norm to be practiced at all times in all the churches. These were unusually tough times for these Jews, and especially those who were not from Jerusalem.

So this required abnormal giving. And here's a lesson here. Be on guard against forcing this on yourself. Be on guard against forcing this on yourself. I remember years ago, I had someone who was a very young Christian come to me, and they had been reading Christian biographies like George Mueller. I don't know if you heard about George Mueller. He is famous for being a pastor and keeping orphans in the 1800s in England, and he was known for living sacrificially. He gave away everything he owned, and he lived a very sacrificial life.

Well, this individual had been reading biographies like that, and they had heard some teaching on the radio that encouraged Christians to sell their possessions and give it away. Well, this person came to me feeling led of God that they needed to sell their house and sell their vehicles and give those things to the church. And I carefully, carefully, tenderly dealt with that person saying, "I think you're misguided. You have a wife, and you have children. You have to take care of your children. They have to have a place to live." And I had to carefully show them that they were just misguided. Now, what am I trying to show you?

Sometimes people will think that this kind of sacrificial giving should be the norm. It could be for some, but it has to be a work of God. That's my point. Second, this was inclusive and not exclusive. What needs to be seen here is this. Any and all legitimately needy persons had their needs met. This giving was not just for the Jews from Jerusalem. This giving was not just for the Jews who were not from Jerusalem. This giving was not just for the Jews who were Jewish by birth. This giving was not just for those who were proselytes to Judaism. Simply, there was no favoritism. There was no division.

All who had legitimate needs were taken care of. Now, there's a lesson or two right here for us. First, we must show no favoritism when meeting the needs of people in the life of our church. None whatsoever. And then second, if we meet needs, they must be legitimate. But they must be legitimate. Now, I'll be honest with you. I'll let you in on how I think. If someone comes and they have a need, the first thing I'm going to ask them is, do they work? Work is of God. If you read Proverbs, and I do, you'll see the commands to work and the commandments against laziness. There are times people will come and they'll say, "We have needs.

We have needs." Well, they're not working. Now, obviously times, there are times when people lose their jobs. Maybe they go through sickness, those kinds of things. What I'm trying to show you is this. We meet needs, yes, but they have to be legitimate. Legitimate. Third, this was sharing, not socialism. We must see that this was not some form of socialism. They did not take their monies and their lands and divide these things among themselves equally. Fourth, this was not voluntary communism. We must see that this was not some form of Christian communism. They were not forced to give their money and sell their lands for others.

Fifth, notice this was orderly, not disorderly. Here we see that those who felt led of God to give and even sacrificially give, they brought the money that they felt led of God to give. They brought it to the apostles so that they could distribute the money according to the need. Lots of order. Now, there's a lesson here. First, order, not disorder. These kinds of things should be done with purpose in an orderly manner. Second, God gives the appropriate leadership in the church to handle such things. First of all, we have elders to be involved in things like that. Also, specifically in our church, we have a benevolence ministry team.

This consists of elders and other people. And they are equipped to deal with these things in an orderly manner. And lots of times they do, even in times when a lot of people don't see it. Now, there is one more lesson that we need to see here. This does not mean that it is a sin to own property. Sometimes people will look at verses like this and say, "Well, this means it's a sin to own houses or property." Nowhere do we see that it is a sin to have money and possessions.

As a matter of fact, Paul says in 1 Timothy 6, 17 to 18, and I'm reading the verse, "Ask for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share." Notice Paul doesn't condemn riches. He even says riches are given to enjoy.

And then he says, "Command those who are rich in the world to be rich in good deeds." So here in verse 32, in verse 34 to 35, we see a demonstration of this church's oneness because of very difficult political, social, and economic circumstances. There were many, many financial needs within the church. So because they were one, as God led them, they met each other's physical needs. And sometimes they did this in a very, very sacrificial way. Now, before I move on, I want to point out one attitude and approach that must be our heartbeat, generosity. If you write down one word, please write that word down, generosity.

We must be generous and we must have the mindset and the attitude of generosity. Look folks, God never blesses greediness, especially when we are dealing with the church and the work of the church and the people of God. God never blesses greediness. I have known churches that are greedy, greedy, greedy, and they accumulate money, and they hoard money, and they set money aside, and they are greedy, greedy, greedy. The church building is in bad shape. The staff are not paid adequately. They are just greedy. And when you have a church that is greedy financially, they will not be rich spiritually. I have known individuals who are greedy.

Oh, they were greedy and they were miserly. They always wanted to argue about how you should give. And when it came to needs in the life of the church, they wanted to scrutinize this part of the budget and this part of the budget. And it came from a greedy, greedy attitude. And look, at our church, we have adequate people to handle the budgeting in an adequate way. We are not frivolous. We examine, but we are not greedy. We are generous. But number three, the preaching of the church. We need to look at the preaching of the church. Look back at verse 33.

"And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." Here we see that Peter and John, as well as the other apostles, they put their money where their mouth was. Back when Peter and John were before the Jewish religious leaders, they were commanded not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. Remember that? But Peter and John answered them saying that they could not stop speaking of what they had seen and heard. So here we see that the apostles, not just Peter and John, kept on preaching. But notice three things. First, notice how they preached.

Here all the translations tell us that they preach with great power. And what we need to see here is this. They were not preaching in their power, but in Holy Spirit power. Back in Acts 1.8, Jesus promised them that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them and in them. And back in their prayer meeting, after their first experience with persecution, they prayed for the Holy Spirit and for power and for Holy Spirit boldness to preach Jesus. And Acts 4.31 says that they were filled and the Spirit filled them for this work. So they preached in and with Holy Spirit power. But there is more.

In the language, this phrase were giving their testimony. Language scholars tell us this comes from an imperfect tense verb, which tells us that they were continuing to give their testimony concerning Jesus. This means that they did not preach with Holy Spirit power one time. But they continue to do so over and over. The Amplified captures this. It says, "And with great ability and power, the apostles were continuously testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." A question or two here. Does this describe us when we share the gospel in our everyday lives? Does this describe us when the gospel is shared from this pulpit?

Do we preach and witness and share continuously with Holy Spirit power? And I believe that this should lead us back to verse 31 and the fact that we should be asking for Holy Spirit power in our lives to be able to preach the gospel so that lost sinners would be saved. The second notice what they preach. Verse 33 tells us that they preached the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And what this tells us is this. They preached Jesus as God's promised Messiah of the Old Testament. They preached Jesus Christ crucified, dead and buried, but raised from the dead. They preached the gospel. Notice they preached the gospel in its fullness.

And as we have seen and we will continue to see, this is what the apostles and their preaching associates preach continuously all the time everywhere they went. And the lesson and the reminder here is this. We must always preach the gospel. All the gospel and never alter or reduce the message of the gospel even when it is offensive. And then third, the results. This is simple. Because of the preaching of the apostles, like we see here, great grace was upon them all. And this word grace here, it means favor, it means goodwill, it means loving kindness. So this means that favor, goodwill, loving kindness, great grace was upon them all.

Not just the apostles, but from whom? Who was looking upon them with great grace in favor? I like how Albert Barnes handles this. He says that this may either be great favor and grace from God, or it may be great favor and grace from the people. Remember, they had received great favor from the people previously in Acts 2. And I like how John MacArthur handles this. He says it is both great grace and favor from God and the people. Now, I think it's both. Before in Acts 2.47, we see that the church received favor from the people outside the church.

In here, I think it is obvious that because of their obedience in preaching the gospel, they were receiving great grace and favor from God and from the people. Now, question, do we seek favor and grace from the world? As a church and as a people, do we? Do we go out and do we seek favor and grace from the world? A lot of churches do that. Well, the answer to that question is no. We preach the gospel to the world and we let God handle how the world reacts. We preach the gospel and if God allows the governing authorities to arrest us, we react like this church did.

But if God allows the world to see us with great grace and favor, we react like this church did. Well, how did this church react? All they did was preach the gospel. So they preached the gospel and they let God handle the favor and grace department. So in verse 33, we see they're preaching. "Even when threatened with real persecution, the apostles continued and continued and continued to preach Jesus and especially the resurrection.

And they did this not in their power, but in and with the power of the Spirit of God." Now, before we move on to our last observation, which will be rather short, and the great example that we see in this church, I want us to see that there is more to this grace and favor. Now, I have explained that this grace and favor was bestowed upon them, I believe by God and by the people. But I believe we need to see why or the full picture of why. We have seen that this was the result of their preaching and it was, but I believe there's more, there's a fuller picture. I believe this great grace was upon them for all that we see here.

These believers possessed a great oneness. And during a great time of need, these believers proved and demonstrated their oneness by demonstrating a great generosity and giving to one another as there was need, even sacrificially. And the world saw this. And out of this church, there was this great and continuous preaching of the gospel. And it was great in that their preaching was in and through the Spirit of God, the power of God in the world around them saw this. Simply great grace and favor from God was bestowed upon this church for being Spirit-filled. A Spirit-filled church, a Spirit-led church.

And great grace and favor was bestowed upon them all from the world as a result. Now, before I move on here, I just think we need to see that this is our example. They are our model in so many ways that maybe we didn't see before. And then number four, the example of the church. The example of or in the church, verses 36 to 37. Let's read the verses.

"Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him, and he brought the money and he laid it at the apostles' feet." Now, here we have the concluding verses and events to what we see in this colorful snapshot of the church seen in chapter four, verses 32 to 34. And we also have the introductory remarks and events to what we see in chapter five, verses one to 11. And I want us to see two things here. First, who he was, Barnabas. This is the Barnabas that we know who became a very important leader in the church.

But because this is the first time he is mentioned in this book, Luke gives us some background information about Barnabas. Luke tells us that he was a Levite, which means he was a member of the priestly tribe. This means he was a Jew, a Jew of Jews, and one of the many that had come to saving faith in Christ Jesus. Also, Luke tells us he was from Cyprus, which means that he was not from the land of Israel. So he was one of those in the church who was from outside of Jerusalem. No doubt he came because of Passover. So Luke introduces us to Barnabas. He was a Jew and of the priestly tribe of Levi, but he was not from Jerusalem.

He was a transplant. And we're going to talk more about Barnabas next week. But then second, notice what he did. The text clearly says that he sold a field that belonged to him and he brought the money to the apostles to be used for the needs of the people in the church. But one interesting thing comes up in study. The Levites were not supposed to own property according to the Old Testament scriptures. So the question comes up, why did he own property if the Old Testament did not allow it? But notice that question is never asked nor answered here. That's not the point. The simple point is this. He was a believer in the church.

He owned property and he was led of God to sell his field and he brought the proceeds to the apostles to be used in the church for the needs. And the point is simple. He was an example of what was going on in the church. That's all. That's the point. He was an example. One scholar read said this is exhibit A. So from verses 36 to 37, we see an example of one of the big givers in the church, Barnabas. He is presented as an example, but he represents others who gave as well. And think about it. There very well could have been some who gave more. We just don't know. Now right here, I want to offer one lesson.

There are times when what people give in the life of the church will be known. It just can't be helped. There are times when what people give in the life of the church will be known. It can't be helped. But there are times, and I believe most of the time, when people give and no one knows and they shouldn't know. But the lesson here is this. We must react. We must react to this kind of knowledge, even this kind of giving, not in our flesh, not in our sinful flesh, but under the leadership of the spirit of God. And when we get into Acts five, we're going to see those who did react in their flesh.

So Luke has given us this second or third, depends on how you view it, description of the surly church. I say second or third because it depends on how you deal with verses 23 to 31. Again, I'm torn. But what we have here is this, a very colorful description or snapshot of this early church, the church at Jerusalem. And again, the title of the message is the church described the latter early days. Now in closing, just like last week, I want to ask a few rhetorical questions. Do we have legitimate financial needs in our church? One need that I've been putting before you is the need for a building in our future.

I haven't mentioned it as much lately. I hate to mention things like that at Easter. That's a legitimate financial need. We've had needs that we felt like were legitimate and we've met them above and beyond. But another question, if we did have a legitimate financial need, would we give to those needs we have in the past? I'm thankful. Third question, are we mindful of the needs of our people, each other? Are we mindful of the needs of our people, each other? Fourth question, are we generous in our giving? And fifth, if a need came about, would we give sacrificially? Would we give sacrificially?

I really don't think I have ever asked you to give sacrificially. I don't think I have. So the church described still in the early days, but these are the later early days.