(Text and Audio)
Feb. 2nd, 2025
I’m Born Again. What’s next?
Acts 2:40–41 (ESV)
40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Let’s pray.
It is good to see you here this morning. I went long last time, so… You’re all dismissed. God speed.
In all human experiences, is there anything comparable to the new birth?
As I mentioned last time, when God regenerated me, when he regened me with the genetics of the Christ, I became brand new. Old things passed away. Everything became new.
My joy was overflowing. My peace was exactly as he promised – it passed all understanding.
How about you? Is there anything comparable to your new birth?
Imagine that day when Peter closed his sermon, and three thousand souls were brought to faith in Jesus Christ by the Spirit of God.
Three thousand souls were rescued by God from his own wrath.
Three thousand souls saw their messiah for the first time – they truly saw him.
Now what?
What happens to three thousand new souls?
What do we do with newborn babies?
“Welcome to the world, Baby. By the way, you’ve got until this afternoon to pull yourself together and clear out so we can get your bed ready for the next birth.”
That’d be crazy.
We give them 18 years to learn stuff, send them on their way, and still wonder if they’re ready for the world by the time they’re 29.
It isn’t any different for spiritual babies.
It takes time to mature and grow.
There’s a lot of stuff to learn in the Bible.
Not only do you need to know what it means, but you need to know how to apply it practically to your daily life.
Have you ever wondered, “What does God want me to do? What does God want me to know? What does he require of me?”
If you’ve been confused or lost in the Christian life, then I think our text today will build a solid foundation for all brand-new saints, and old ones too.
Acts 2:40–47 (ESV)
40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
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.
The new disciples participate in five things.
First, the Apostles’ teaching
Second, fellowship
Third, awe came upon every soul / attending the temple together / praising God
Fourth, distributing proceeds to all, as any had need
Fifth, the Lord added to their number day by day
If you’re looking for the simplest list of things for new converts to do, here it is. Nothing better describes the activity of Christian disciples than these verses. Nothing will better guide the church all the way to the second coming.
There are many kinds of important lists in the New Testament scriptures.
Agape love in 1 Cor. 13
Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5
Requirements for pastors and deacons in 1 Tim. 3
Each list has its own objective.
The Acts 2 list describes the daily activity of the church. It gives us something by which we can measure ourselves and determine if any change and how much is needed.
Let’s go over the list again and then see how it fits into the church in general and how it might guide Heritage Baptist church.
As a prequel to the list, Luke tells us that the new Christian disciples were devoted to doing these things.
Devoted means: to continue to do something with intense effort, with the possible implication of [doing it] despite difficulty
First, Apostles’ teaching
The Greek definition – drum roll please – “To teach”
The Apostles were teaching people what Jesus had taught them. (Think the command of the Great Commission.)
The new disciples are learning from the first-generation disciples (the Apostles) what Jesus taught.
Jesus will continue to reveal more teaching by the Holy Spirit to his Apostles.
This teaching will continue from generation to generation of disciples, all the way down through history to this very day.
And because God is faithful, this will continue from generation to generation until Jesus returns to gather us to himself.
Second, fellowship
Ah good! This is the food part, right?
Greek definition – an association involving close mutual relations and involvement
We could also call it partnership.
It is not so much a potluck, but rather a characteristic that permeates everything else the church does. We learn together. We serve together. We worship together. We spread the good news together.
We are not Mavericks. We should not work alone.
We are partners together in the mission of Jesus. That is our fellowship.
Third, awe came upon every soul / attending the temple together / praising God
Greek definition –
Awe: profound respect and awe for deity
Praise: to speak of the excellence of a person
It is simple enough to say, the disciples worshipped God.
They did it together. They did it at the temple. They did it in their homes. They proclaimed how great is their God, Messiah, Redeemer, etc.
And here we are today.
Fourth, distributing proceeds to all, as any had need
There was a physical need. The new Christian disciples raised money and distributed the proceeds to meet those needs.
Does this sound anything like what we learned about the Hebrews in the desert when gathering their manna? Those who had more than they needed, gave to those who did not have enough.
Fifth, the Lord added to their number day by day
Remember this. You and I are mailmen. We deliver mail – good news mail.
We do not make people read their mail. We don’t make them believe their mail. We don’t make them act on their mail or pay their bills or do anything.
We just deliver the mail.
We find people and tell them about Jesus.
We love those people.
We have compassion on people.
We serve those people.
We befriend those people.
The Lord will add to our number day by day those who are being saved.
Let’s simplify this list.
- Teaching
- Fellowship
- Worship
- Service
- Evangelism
We can look at this from two different levels; two angles; two perspectives.
We can get up high and look out across the landscape; or we can get down close, inside the landscape and look up.
Are those things a part of your life?
Ultimately, you alone will give account to Christ for your faithfulness as a follower.
Are you devoted to these things?
Are you continuing to do them with intense effort, with the possible implication of doing it despite difficulty?
Are you devoted to the teachings of scripture?
Are you devoted to doing these things in partnership with church members? (Or are you a loner?)
Are you devoted to worshipping God daily and in church gatherings?
Are you devoted to serving the needs of the church and the community?
Are you devoted to evangelism? Are you a gospel mailman?
Now let’s talk briefly about these things from a higher altitude. Let’s consider them looking out across the landscape of a local church.
Where does each of these things exist in our church?
How does it exist?
How does it exist in the weekly schedule?
To understand this better, let me put this in a chart.
The traditional clergy-centered life of the church.
The disciple-centered life of the church.
Is it possible to end every day and every week knowing that you have been faithful to God? I don’t mean sinless or perfect – just faithful to God.
YES! Totally.
That can happen if you are personally devoted to doing these things in a healthy, balanced way across the schedule of your week, in a church culture that guides you and provides you a healthy fellowship in which to do it.
Q&A
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Prayer
Acts 2:40–47 (ESV)
40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”
41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
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.