please remain standing as we read now our sermon text for this morning, which is found in Acts chapter 2. I'll really only be going over verses 40 through 42. But let me give you again a sense of what has been happening by beginning at verse 36 of chapter 2 and reading down through verse 47. Remember, Peter has preached a sermon in which he has declared and proven from the scriptures that Jesus is the Lord and the Christ of God. And then he applies it directly to his audience. Verse 36. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said to them, repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off as many as the Lord our God will call. 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, and the breaking of bread and in prayers. 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 are being saved. Amen. Please be seated. As reformed, conservative, Orthodox Presbyterians, Do we look down upon revival? We are the intellectuals. We don't get carried away with emotions. And when we see revival, we mock and we scoff even at it. Well, we admit Acts 2 is okay because it's in the Bible. But do we look down upon all other revivals because we are the buttoned-up, stodgy Reformed Presbyterians? In a wonderful book called Revival and Revivalism, Ian Murray has written about a difference, a distinction between what he calls revival and revivalism. A revival, as he defines it, is a true work of the Spirit of God. whereby the ordinary means of grace, the preaching of the word, the prayers of God's people, these are the sort of things that are used as they've always been used, but suddenly there is a dramatic response from God's people. There is a change to such a degree that hundreds, even thousands are becoming saved. That's a true revival. Revivalism, as he defines it, is a work of man. Man manipulates the emotions. A man coerces a decision. Write your name on this card. Pray this prayer. And there is all of this man-made coercion behind it so that many sign the card or walk the aisle or say the prayer. But the The reason is because it's man's doing. And as soon as emotions fade, so does the decision, so does any reality fade with it. As Christians, we are for true revival. But we're not for revivalism. We're for the true work of the Spirit to come and to change hearts and lives radically, en masse. But we're not for the work of man. That is a hollow work, a false work, a vain work. How do we know the difference between revival and revivalism then? There are many different criteria, but one way that we know the difference is that a revival lasts, the work, the fruit of it lasts, it endures. When there is a revival, people pack into churches and months later, years later, they're still there. There is a hunger and a thirst for God and for his worship and for the fellowship of his people so that they come to the churches and the work of the spirit is a great joy to everyone. In revivalism, the local churches often see not one person. I know a missionary, he said when he was in Africa, he came and he said, we're going to hold a service and thousands came and there was great excitement. But he said the only other time those people were seen in a service was the next time he came and held a service. True revival is seen here in Acts chapter 2, and the fruit of it, what it produces, is seen in these thousands of people. They continued steadfastly in the Word, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread, in prayers. This is a true, glorious work of the Spirit. May we have it again today. Let us consider then this passage under two headings. First of all, verses 40 through 41, adding souls. We see these 3,000 souls added to the church. And then verse 42, acting souls or active souls. They're added and they're active in the work. They're fruitful in the work. They love to be there with God's people, worshiping him. so here we have first the adding of souls and then the activity of these souls. Now, we know this result, we assumed it, but it is really technically only here that we found it recorded for us. We assumed it because here the crowds were truly repentant, they were crying out, what must we do to be saved? And we know God, God never reject someone who comes to him in sincerity. And so we knew this was coming. We assumed it all along. But here in verse 40, we actually have the reality with many of the words he testified, exhorted them, saying, Be safe in this perverse generation. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. And that day, about 3000 souls were added to them. They did respond. We assume that we knew that to be the case, but here it's actually stated. But notice what we didn't know to be the case, perhaps, is that what we have read previously is Peter's sermon. It was not the only thing he said, maybe only an outlined form of his sermon. But here we are told that with many other words, he testified and exhorted them. And as always, our curiosity, no doubt, leads us to say, well, what are those other words? We want to know those other words. But the Lord says, you don't need to know those other words except for this one statement in verse 40, be saved from this perverse generation. The only words that are added here for our consideration are these, that he exhorted them especially to be saved from this perverse generation. What does that mean exactly? The word perverse in the Greek is the word from which we get scoliosis, something that is bent, something that is crooked, something that is not right. Of course, we're speaking of this in terms of spiritual terms, and so this is something that is crooked, not right, in terms of sin, in terms of character. This generation is perverse. It is crooked. It is bent. There is something very wrong with it. And in fact, this has an Old Testament background. In Deuteronomy, chapter 32, we read of this same language being applied to the people of God, to Israel at that time, to the covenant people. You are perverse and faithless generation. The Lord is saying the very people that should have been a faithful generation, a righteous generation, the very people to whom he came, his own, the Jewish people, the covenant people of God, he came to them and they rejected him. They crucified him. He says, you are a perverse generation. But later on in Philippians 2, the apostle Paul applies it to all the world because, of course, every generation apart from God is a perverse generation. How often do we say, oh, this generation is terrible? So was the generation before and the generation before and the generation before and the generation after. Any generation, any world that is apart from Christ is perverse, is crooked. And so Peter is urging them, especially because this generation should have known God, to flee from those blind leaders leading the blind. We've learned a new phrase this year, social distancing. You see, Peter is declaring to the people, socially distance from this perverse generation. You're in the world, but don't be like the world. You're living here, yes, but flee from their ideas and their philosophies and their ethics and their activities. Don't be part of this generation as it is drifting down the current to destruction. Don't be part of it. Forsake it. Flee it. Leave it. Are we different from the world? Can the world see a distinction between how we live and how they live? Is there a different character to Christians? Often we think, well, we want to be part of the world so we can save the world. the all things to all men. Of course, that's true, but that's a limited application. Everyone knows this, even the airlines. I've used it before, but I'll use it again. The airlines tell you if we encounter some great rough weather and the oxygen masks drop, don't put it on someone else first. Seems selfish. Put it on yourself because you're no good to anyone if you pass out. But if you put it on yourself first, then you're able, with that oxygen, to be helpful to many others. This is what the Bible means when it says love your neighbor as yourself. You want to love your neighbor? Then first flee this perverse generation. First flee from this generation that is condemned by God's wrath. Be different, be a light, and then your neighbor will see your difference and come and ask you. What is this hope within you? Why are you so different? You see, we are called to flee from this perverse generation as they were in their day. And how did they respond? Did they say to Peter, hey, you're talking about my friends and family there when you call them perverse. How dare you? No, because they're so overwhelmed by their own sinfulness before God, so desperate for forgiveness and salvation themselves, that when they heard this word of forgiveness from Peter, when he tells them flee from this condemned generation, they felt their own sinfulness so deeply that they said, yes, that's what we want. They love their neighbor as themselves. They love themselves and fled from that destructive generation. And how many 3,000 souls we read were added to them that day. 3,000 souls. Think of that. Imagine if this happened today. Let us say that I went out open-air preaching on the campus of Mizzou, as I've done. And suddenly, instead of the ignoring of me or a little bit of attention here or there, suddenly thousands of students flock and hear and are in tears and are tearing their hearts in repentance and are coming to faith in Jesus Christ. And then the next day, the local churches are filled with many more. Hundreds come here, for example. It would change everything, wouldn't it? We couldn't meet inside. We have to meet outside. There'd be all these new converts and all this need for discipleship. Sometimes I wonder when I pray for revival, if the Lord gave it to me, would I be happy? The status quo is quite comfortable. Maybe we can add a few here and there. But hundreds of new converts at once? My life would be turned upside down. There's so much need. There's so much discipleship to do. I'd be consumed with the work of the church. I wouldn't have time for other things. The same would be true of you as mature Christians here. When they flood in, they'd be asking you questions, needing your help. There might be needs of resources for us to give, having people in our homes to talk with them about the things they're hungry for. Would you want that? Would you be ready for that? Sometimes we pray for things like revival, but are we even ready for it if he should give it to us? This day was a glorious day in the work of God, and 3,000 were added. And yes, it meant a great deal of work, but it also produced great joy in the midst of God's people. Think of that, too, having hundreds of people joining us, excited to worship, longing to hear the Word, singing God's praises. That's a great, that's a great work of the Spirit. That's what we have here in our passage as well. But notice what language is used here exactly. We're told 3,000 souls were added to them. Why does he say souls? We've noted in this chapter itself, in the resurrection of Christ, that a whole person is body and soul together. It's not just one or the other. If there's one and not the other, there's something wrong and it needs to be repaired. And therefore we're going to be resurrected and rejoined our souls, rejoined our bodies as a whole man. Otherwise not a whole man, there's something wrong. And yet here they're referred to as souls. Why? Not to deny that we are whole people, body and soul, but to emphasize that the essence of who we are is our soul. We're not a full person apart from the body, but if you want to know who we are, it is the inward person, the soul, which is a personality and character of a person. That is why in heaven, when souls go there and bodies are left in the grave, it is a person in his essence who's going there. Why is it so important? It's important in our day because the world teaches us to treat people as if they're machines, very complex machines, organic machines. But we're evolved. We have no meaning. We have no purpose, really. We're just machines here. And so the most important thing is to take care of that machine. Wear clothes to keep the machine warm. Put fuel in the machine. Put a shelter over the machine. You see, the quarantine laws even, they don't recognize, do they, that we are not just machines. We're people. We have souls. It's not good for souls to be in their homes away from others. It's not good for souls not to be in worship. We're not machines. We're not just organic bodies. We are souls in bodies. Here, we're told 3,000 souls were added because souls are the essence of what it is to be a person. It is the essence of our person, the unseen part that a world that only deals with what it can see doesn't grasp or understand. And so 3,000 souls were added, but also added to what exactly? Later on in our passage, we're told that they're added to the church. We know that because of baptism, which is a right of entrance into the church. And we know that they're added to the people of God. And so they are brought into the church. As I said in the introduction, a true revival fills the churches with disciples of Christ, eager to be together and to learn and to be discipled. And so by baptism and their conversion, they're added to the church, 3000 added to the church. What a wonderful work of the Spirit of God. That brings us to what they're doing. In verse 42, what is it that these souls were doing? What was their activity? What was the fruit of this conversion, this radical change in their lives? We're told about four things here in verse 42. They continued steadfastly. in the Apostle's doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Those who are truly saved and radically changed in heart, born again, are going to be different. They're going to be steadfast in their devotion to the Lord and their newfound hungry life. like a baby who constantly has to eat. So these disciples longed for the truth of God first, the doctrine of the apostles. The word doctrine in some Christian circles is a bad word. Doctrine, that kills. We want the spirit, we want life. Doctrine, that's dusty, old, we don't want that. When the church was revived by the Spirit of God, they wanted doctrine. It's only a word for teaching. They wanted to be taught about God. They wanted to know God's Word. They wanted the teaching that the apostles, as the representatives of Christ on earth, would tell them about. When the Spirit moves, there's a hunger for the truth of God's Word, for the teaching of God's Word. They would be like the people who read about in Nehemiah 8. Yes, we want to stand here for six hours and hear you read the Bible to us. What do you think if I said, I'm going to test if you have the same zeal this morning? But we don't, do we? We really don't. We need the Spirit of God to move and to give us revival and a longing to hear God's Word and to hang upon every word. We need this revival today. We need the Spirit to work in us more and more today. Don't we? I speak for myself. I do. They wanted the doctrine, and so they gathered together, and they heard the preaching of the Word. They heard the apostles' doctrine proclaimed and taught to them because they were hungry for it. They hungered and thirsted for righteousness, and the Lord filled them, and they grew in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's the first thing. And they didn't just go once. They were steadfast. So what would a revival look like today? What would the fruit of it be? What would the evidence of it be? The churches would be full every time the word was taught and preached. It's great to see everyone here this morning and tonight and Wednesday night and Sunday school. If there was a true revival of God's people, they would be hungry for the word. They would be there whenever the word was being taught and proclaimed. They would be there. Not because the minister gave them a guilt trip or they're pressured, but because they hungered for the word. Second, that is fellowship. that continues to advance in the Apostles' doctrine and in fellowship. Fellowship is a Greek word koinonia, which means a number of things. I mention it because most of us have heard that term. It could mean a number of things. It's used in a number of contexts. For example, I'll just give you a few passages that use it in Romans 15, 26. "...for it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution..." That's our word, fellowship, koinonia. "...a certain contribution for the poor among the saints here in Jerusalem." Part of koinonia, fellowship, is providing for the physical needs of your brethren. We see that later on in our passage especially. Or in 1 Corinthians 10, 16, the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion, the koinonia, the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? It goes on to say, we do it together. It is an act of fellowship when we partake of the Lord's Supper. Or 1 John 1, 7, but if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. Fellowship is this like-minded walking together in the Lord. Or 2 Corinthians 13, 14, as I almost invariably end our service, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion The fellowship or koinonia of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. We are bound together by the Spirit dwelling in us and sanctifying us. Finally, Philippians 3.10, as the Apostle Paul declares, he counts it all loss, all the other things he treasured before, that I may know him. and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship, the koinonia of his sufferings being conformed to his death. There's fellowship and like suffering together. It's used for a variety of things, you see. But the commonality in all of these is the oneness we have in Christ, is the togetherness as a body of Christ, how we thrive together, how we have mutual benefit together, how we do not forsake the assembly of ourselves together, but we exhort one another to love and good works. I want it to be together. And particularly in terms of the worship of God, they wanted to be together worshiping. That was part of their joy. It's part of our joy, isn't it? It's a joy to see people planted in church. You go there, you know they're going to be there. If they're not there, what's wrong? There's something wrong. Call them. What's going on? They want to be there. And you love that. It's an encouragement to you. It's a joy, isn't it? You see, when we don't have a good reason to come and we're not there, you're decreasing, you're robbing your brethren of joy. Did you know that? You're saying, I don't really want to be with them. You don't want to be with your church family together worshiping God. You don't want to lend your voice to the singing of praise. You don't want your face to be there shining with joy to encourage everyone. Now when we gather together and we join in worship because we want to be with one another, there's joy and mutual encouragement and edification, isn't there? There is, I can tell you. to look on the audience and to see you all here gives me joy. Not because you're here for me. I know you're not. You shouldn't be. But because you're here with me to worship God. You see? They fellowshiped. They wanted to be together. But notice as well what he says to them, the third thing, and in the breaking of bread, What does that mean exactly, the breaking of bread? I saw a meme recently, looked like a Roman-type age where a guy had a nicely cut loaf of bread, and the other guy said, wow, that's the best thing since torn bread. And it's true though, isn't it? They didn't always slice and eat slices, they usually tore it off. When you shared a loaf of bread with somebody, you would pass it around, and you'd tear off a piece. That's what's in view here, the sharing of bread together, tearing off a piece for yourself. But is that all? Is it just a meal in view? Of course, that is important. The hospitality aspect of Christianity is vital. We should be eating meals together. We should be together and fellowshipping. That's not the only thing in view here. What is in view here, I believe, more significantly is the Lord's Supper. The context is corporate worship, gathering together to worship. And literally in the Greek, it is a breaking of the bread, not just bread, but the bread. But which bread? The bread of the supper. And when you hear this language of breaking of bread, it should trigger in our minds surely a reference to First Corinthians 11. And he broke bread and gave it to them and said, this is my body broken for you. The breaking of bread here refers to the observance of the Lord's Supper together. They wanted to come. They wanted to hear the word proclaimed. They wanted to be together in worship and they wanted to partake of the Lord's Supper together. That's one of the reasons why we observe the Lord's Supper every week, because it is something that the early church said, this is important for us. We want to continue steadfastly in this. As we hear the word preached, as we gather together to worship, we want also to observe the Lord's Supper. Well, why? What is so important about the Lord's Supper? Here's what our larger catechism says in response to that question. Rather, our confession, excuse me, Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 29, paragraph 1, says this. Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, instituted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper to be observed in his church until the end of the world for the perpetual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself and his death, the sealing all benefits thereunto unto true believers. their spiritual nourishment and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all duties which they owed unto him, and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him and with each other as members of his mystical body." Think about some of these sayings that are said here. Aren't these sayings that every believer wants, especially a new believer? I want to draw spiritual nourishment and growth from Christ. I want to have communion with others. I want to remember his sacrifice. I want the benefits sealed to me. You see why they'd want it? When we partake the Lord's Supper, we're not simply saying, this is merely symbolic. If it were, we'd just hold it up and say, here it is. Put it down. You see it. It's a symbol. We eat it. We drink it. Why? because we're saying we're trusting the Lord to take the symbol and use it in us. We're trusting the Lord to take the bread, and as bread strengthens the body, to strengthen our souls in Christ, to have a deeper faith, a greater trust in him. When we take the wine and we drink it, why? Because wine makes the heart glad, and so we are drinking it, remembering the blood, and trusting the Lord will give us joy. in the blood of Christ. These don't change into something else, but they're used by the Lord as means to bless us. Why would we not want to gather as the early church and break bread together? But finally, notice then the prayers, and it is the prayers in the Greek again. Which prayers? It doesn't just say that they're gathering together to pray. It says that they are continuing in the prayers. So, of course, it begs the question, which prayers are in view? And again, if we're looking at corporate worship gathering together, there are various prayers that are used. We do in our service, don't we? The prayer of invocation and blessing or praising God. The Lord's Prayer, we say that together. the prayer of invocation, the prayer of thanksgiving. We use various types of prayer in the worship service. These are the prayers that we use. And so the people wanted to gather together not only to hear from God, but then to pray to God, to express themselves to God. Worship is a dialogue. God speaks to us by his word. We speak to him by prayer. And I represent you in that way, of course. but not when we confess our sins. For example, we pray that all together, don't we? See, the people of God wanted to have a true relationship with God, to gather together, to hear him proclaim his word to them and to then express themselves in response to the Lord. The people who are revived by the Spirit want to have this face-to-face, as it were, communion with God. They want to be in His presence and worship. And if we see revival again, and surely it begins at the household of God, we will see people come to worship and to hear with great diligence the prayer, Prayer is often a time where we say, okay, I can shut off my mind. He's talking and thinking something else. He's not looking at me. I find that to be the case myself and in my own devotional life with my family, that's the time usually that my daughters don't listen. They know I will ask them about what we just read and talk to them about it. But I don't always ask them about the prayer. I started to do that because I realized they're not listening. As if I said, okay, let's pray. And they said, okay, let's turn off my mind. And I do that. Perhaps you do that. A sign of revival would be when we gather together and I say, let's pray. There's an eagerness. Yes, let's pray. I want to listen to what he's saying. I want to say amen at the end and agree with him. The ancient church, it was said that when the prayers went forth, there was this peal as a thunder afterwards. And the congregation said, Amen. They agreed. And I want to see if the Lord's going to answer that and how he's going to answer that. I can't know that unless I'm listening, can I? There was this longing for the prayers. What would the revival of the church look like? What would be the evidence or fruit of it? It would be lives that were changed from carnal to spiritual, from the old man to the new creation. And that new life would hunger for God. And therefore, that person would want to be steadfastly planted in the courts of the Lord, asking to be filled, longing and hungering for God, ministered to him through the preaching of the word, through the fellowship of the saints, through the Lord's Supper, and through the prayers that are offered. That's what revival looks like. It doesn't look like people whipped up in their emotions in a tent who therefore never darken the doors of the church, never have a true hunger and thirst for God's worship. True revival would lead to a steadfast, adhering to, joining with, delighting in, the worship of God with his people. Let's pray. Our fathers, we come before you. We are humble, Lord, for we know that we have fallen short of your glory. Lord, we also know that we cannot work this up in ourselves. No amount of man-made manipulation will cause us to be those who hunger and thirst for you, O living God. And so we pray to you, we ask, Lord, come to us by your Spirit, work in us, cause us to be those who, as Mary would sit at the feet of Jesus and hang upon every word, Cause us to be that one leper out of ten who returns and praises you with great joy in Thanksgiving. Lord, work in us that the Spirit of God would dwell richly in us. Revive us, Lord, and do bring salvation to thousands upon thousands. Fill your churches, Lord. Give us this joy. and glorify your name in this way, we pray. And now, Lord, we do pray together, even as you have taught us to pray, by saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.