Please turn with me to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, and we're going to be looking at verses 41 through 47. Acts 2, 41 through 47. Those who had received his word were baptized, and that day there were added about 3,000 souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number, day by day, those who were being saved. He who has ears, let him hear the word of God. Let's pray. Father, now we ask that you would be with us, illumine our hearts and our minds to see and hear your word this morning. In Christ's name we pray, amen. So about every two years, Ligonier Ministries publishes a state of theology. And this state of theology is a poll that goes out to various different groups centering on theological topics of great and serious import. Now these questions touch on all of Christian theology and are answered by professing evangelicals, Roman Catholics, those who claim to be unaffiliated, and various other groups. Now, one question they ask pertains to the church. Ligonier asks, does church membership matter? So they're polling all these different groups, and they want to know, what do the people think? Does church membership matter? Now, I remember this question being posed at one time to a pastor of a church that I attended some years ago, and it was a non-denominational church. And the question was, why do I have to join the church? Can't I simply just show up Sunday mornings and go about my day? Well, and the answer given was, well, you're supposed to. You're supposed to join the church. Well, that is true. You are supposed to join the church. But in this Ligonier poll of professing evangelicals, not Roman Catholics, not those of non-denominational leanings, of evangelicals, 26% strongly agreed that church membership mattered. 26%. 26% somewhat agreed. 5% wasn't sure. And the rest either somewhat disagreed or strongly disagreed. So among professing evangelicals, only half of those polled believe church membership is important. What we have here in our text in the book of Acts is an early account of the church after the day of Pentecost. While it is true that you are supposed to join the church, I think it misses the major issue of the topic at hand. It is here in our text that we find a wholly different attitude of the church. So this isn't a question, am I supposed to do this? Those who were born of God, those who were truly cut to the heart, and those who were regenerated by the Spirit were immediately indwelt by the Spirit. And in them, in those people, new affections arose toward God and toward the people of God. So this wasn't a question of, do I have to do this? It was an inward, compelling work of the Spirit saying, I must do this. This was an act of the Spirit producing in them piety toward God and charity toward one another. And you'll see I named this sermon Piety and Charity in the Hearts of God's People because this is what the Holy Spirit rots within the believer at conversion to love God and to love God's people. So looking at our text this morning in verse 41, We see that all those who heard and received the preaching of the Apostle Paul, those who were cut to the heart by the Spirit, those who were given a new heart, were immediately marked by obedience and by love for God, for his people. Those who came to Christ that day, 3,000 souls, were baptized in the name of the Trinity. And if you recall last time, we looked at the significance of baptism, that it is a sign and a seal given by God to man, signifying our engrafting into him, our union with him, the remission of our own sins by his blood, and the application of the work of Christ to us by the Holy Spirit. All these things are contained in what is baptism. It's the sign of baptism. And it is to be given to those who make a profession of faith and to their covenant children. Well, here in our text, we see another important aspect of baptism. which is the connection between the sacrament of baptism and church membership. Those who were baptized, those 3,000 souls, became members of the Visible Church. Now, the Visible Church consists of all those who profess faith in Christ. Everyone without discrimination who make profession of faith are called the Visible Church. And this is to be distinguished from the invisible church, which is all those who are truly born of God, all those who are truly elect, all those who truly possess what they professed. Now in our text this morning, by divine revelation, we know that these men and women who heard the gospel, proclaimed to them by Peter, were all part of the visible church and the invisible church. By divine revelation, we know that they were truly cut to the heart. They were truly born again. So what we have here is a picture of what true believers see and do as it pertains to the church. These men and women were really saved that day. And the fruit of the inner work of the Holy Spirit was immediately recognized. by their joyful love and obedience to God. That is to say that the Holy Spirit wrought in them piety toward God. Now, what is piety? Well, using Webster's 1828 Dictionary, piety is defined as veneration or reverence of the supreme being and love for his character. Well, they don't make dictionaries like that anymore. But piety is veneration, a reverence, a love for the supreme God. For John Calvin, piety was reverence joined with love of God, which the knowledge of his benefits induces. And the chief end of this piety, the purpose of this piety, is the glory of God, that our love for him, is to produce a reverence and a glory for Him. This is what piety is. And Calvin goes on to say that God has prescribed for us a way in which He will be glorified by us. God has prescribed it. Namely, piety. which consists in the obedience of his word. He that exceeds these bounds do not go about to honor God, but rather to dishonor him. So piety is the true reverence and the true worship of God. Piety is obedience that is born out of and sustained by love and reverence. It is because We love the one who has saved us, and because we seek to glorify him and to make much of him, we joyfully seek to do the will of the one who purchased us from death. This is what piety is, a love and reverential obedience. So when we're looking here at the early church, here in Acts 2, we immediately see those who were born again on Pentecost displaying piety toward God. And they do so in three ways. Look at verse 42 there. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. They concern themselves, these men and women born of God, concern themselves with teaching, the breaking of bread, prayer. We're going to look at each of these in turn, but first, I want you to notice how they concern themselves with these things. Luke records that they were continually devoted. Look at the words there. They were continually devoting themselves. This is how they showed piety toward God. That is, that they gave their solemn attention to the things of God. They yielded to themselves. they yielded of themselves to God. Their hearts and their minds were focused upon Him continually. And this was really an ongoing pursuit of God, that they were pursuing the one who had first pursued them. You know, last time we talked about the fatal flaw and the fundamental flaw of the seeker-sensitive movement. in that they incorrectly assume that by nature all men seek God. Well, we know that all men do not seek God by nature. The biblical account is that all men seek the benefits of God, yet apart from the one who can only give those benefits. They seek the benefits of God apart from God. So they may seek peace in this life. How can I have peace in this life apart from God? Well, the answer, of course, is that you can't unless it is a superficial peace. How can I have love apart from God? Well, beloved, you can't have love apart from God unless it's a superficial love. In our fallen nature, we don't seek God. However, beloved, though we don't seek God in our fallen nature, when the Holy Spirit gives us a new heart, when we are truly born of God, our desires radically and dramatically change. As unbelievers, we did not seek the things of God. We flee from him. But as believers, we do seek after Him. We pursue Him. We pursue the things of God. We place before ourselves the things of God. The fallen man flees from God, but the true Christian, the ones who have been born again, flee to God. Notice the radical difference. One flees from, the other flees to. One flees as he trembles at the rustling of a leaf, and one flees too at the rustling of a leaf. The one who is born of God flees to God. The new man, the Christian, flees to God. And this is something that occurs daily. This is a continual way of life, as our text says. There is a consistent intake of the means of grace, such as worship, Sabbath day focus upon God and His benefits toward us, the reading of Scripture, the preaching of Scripture, prayer, baptism, the Lord's Supper. You know, and I've come to find in my own life that there are peaks and valleys in my growth in Christ. I think we would all confess the same thing. What I've realized is that those valley experiences are usually closely linked to my slack and laying hold of the means of grace that God has given me. That when I'm in the valleys, when I feel that I'm so devoid and apart from God, it's because I have ceased following the things that he's given me to follow him. Now, I'm not talking about hardships in life. I'm talking about being conformed to the image of Christ. When I do begin to forsake those things that God has given, I'm less nourished. I'm less prepared for life. Now imagine, beloved, what would happen to you if you forsook your daily meals. Oh, how you would shrivel and become so malnourished. Now how often do you say after church, I'm starving, I'm ready to eat, that was a long sermon. That happens a lot. Well you know what that means when you say I'm starving? It essentially means that you're suffering from extreme want. That you need something, that you need food, that you need nourishment. But if you forsook to eat from food, you wouldn't survive. You need it. Well, how much more, beloved, if you forsake the food which comes down from heaven, should you expect your life to flourish? Should you expect your spiritual growth to skyrocket if you're starving yourself? You know, one of the markers of the Christian is that he starves. Do you starve? Do you hunger? Do you thirst after righteousness? Or are you malnourished? The Christian must have God and must have him continually and devotionally. And when we look at our passage this morning, we see all the means of grace present. They were baptized. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship. They came together for the Lord's Supper. They were devoted to prayer. Let's look at these in turn. First, consider apostolic teaching. What is apostolic teaching? Well, that is, of course, the teaching of the apostles. But it's more than that. You see, the message of the apostles wasn't merely human wisdom. It wasn't a reflection by man of God. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1 verses 19 through 21, so we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention to as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts But know this first of all that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. So the apostolic teaching is the teaching of God from God. Of God from God through the agency of the apostles. Our triune God is the great teacher. He is the good doctor. And we are his learners. As Christians, we learn of God, by God, through the Word of God, by the help of the Spirit of God. It was because the apostles spoke the very words of God, those early Christians devoted themselves continuously to the hearing and learning from them. And the apostles, of course, are no longer with us, but Christians still devote themselves to apostolic teaching, which has been wholly committed unto writing, the scriptures. That is to say that Christians are people of the book, wholly devoted to the apostolic teaching. You know, the Bible really is a book of doctrine because it teaches us what we are to believe concerning God and what God requires of us. The Holy Scriptures is the teaching of God, from God. You know, we live in an age that's very anti-intellectual, anti-theology, and anti-doctrine. You know, we hear that we don't want the Bible. We want an experience. Show us something really cool. Don't read from a book. Show us something. We want a show. We want entertainment. And remember, this was Paul's warning to Timothy. Paul said to Timothy, for a time will come when they will not endure what? Sound doctrine. They won't endure it. They can't handle it. But wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teacher in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." So we see here that there is a real antithesis, well even in our own contemporary society, against doctrine. Dr. Sproul said, we are living in a time, in my opinion, in the darkest hour in the history of the Church when it comes to clear and bold affirmation of the essential articles of Christian doctrine to the world, where more and more and more we see the Church echoing the skepticism of the secularists in her own theology. He said, we see the church embracing, endorsing, and affirming the pagan sex ethic of America in clear violation of the unambiguous directives of the New Testament. And we're in a crisis time when it comes to doctrine. That's absolutely true. But as Christians, we must be devoted continually to the Holy Scriptures, to doctrine. Second, they devoted themselves continuously to fellowship. Now, the Greek word here is koinonia, and it means to be in close association or in participation with the church, with Christ, and with other believers. In 1 Corinthians 1-9, it says, God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. That is to say that as Christians, we have fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ. And we have fellowship with one another, that we're called into fellowship together. And this is something that can never be forsaken or forgotten. We have in our text early believers who devoted themselves continuously to the gathering of the assembly. They were giving themselves. I love that. They were giving themselves. They gave themselves away to the gathering of the church. They gave themselves away to God. They gave themselves away to others within the church. And as they gathered, they broke bread together. They participated in the Lord's Supper, which not only demonstrates the unity that they have with Christ, but the unity that we have with one another. That we are united to Christ, and therefore we are united to one another as brothers and sisters. And this is a beautiful, sacred, and mystical bond that we have together, that we truly are brothers and sisters in the Lord. And we draw near to Christ, and in drawing near to Christ, we draw near to one another. We don't isolate ourselves, but we come together as brothers and as sisters in Christ. And I think this is one place where Christians can have a great witness to the decreasing and declining culture in our world. When Christians were being persecuted throughout the first three centuries, they were accused of almost everything. They were even called haters of all mankind. Those Christians just hate everyone, which of course is the exact opposite. But they said that because of their own stubbornness, because of their stubbornness to participate in worldly practices and those things that were offensive to God. Christians wouldn't do that. Instead, they would gather together They would fellowship. They would have koinonia together. But even in those early accounts, I love the way that it's recorded, that even these early Christians, when they had all these accusations against them, there was one thing that could never be said about them. They don't love one another. Time after time. You know, those Christians, they do this, they do that, they do this, they do that. But there is one thing that we know for certain is true about them. They love one another. They love one another. Now there is one word of caution here, that the church is the fellowship, the gathering together of believers, but it isn't a country club. The church is not a country club. It is not a social club. Beloved, it's so much better than that. It's so much better than just a Sunday morning gathering. It is where believers gather to love God and love one another. Well, third, they were continually devoted to prayer. These early believers were men and women of prayer. The offering up to God of desires, And the name of Christ, by the help of the Holy Spirit, is the lifeblood of the Christian. You know, our Lord Jesus was a man of prayer. And I love reading through the Gospels. You would see He would teach, and He would teach, and then all the time you would read, then He slipped away. To what? To pray. Our Lord Jesus was a man of prayer. He commands us to pray. And the apostles urge us to continue in prayer at all times and in all hours. Pray. You know, Spurgeon reminds us that prayer gains audience with heaven in the dead of night, in the middle of business, in the heat of noonday, in the shades of evening. In every condition, whether poverty or sickness or obscurity or slander or doubt, your covenant God will welcome your prayer and answer it from his holy place. That is to say that God is completely and wholly accessible to his children through prayer. Spurgeon goes on to say in other places that we are to besiege the throne of grace with prayer. And I love that, that you besiege the throne of grace, that you just keep shooting off prayers to God one after another. God, help me in this. God, I need this. God, I'm relying on you in this. You besiege the heavens with prayer. So you have the teaching of the apostles, the fellowship gatherings of the church, along with the Lord's Supper, and prayer. These things were essential to those who were cut to the heart by the Holy Spirit. And Luke says in verse 43 that the congregation were in awe of the apostles, and that just means they were in reverence of the apostles. They were highly respected men of God, men of great esteem, and the works that they performed attested to the truth of what they taught. We know the early church was also marked by their charity toward one another, piety toward God, charity toward one another. Again, to rightly define the word, charity is love, benevolence, and goodwill, a disposition of the heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow man and to do them good. We're told in our text in verses 44 through 45, All and all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need." Now, I've heard this text used in many different ways, especially to prop up humanistic philosophies of communism and socialism. And that seems to be making the rounds again. You know, I hear, can't you see here in Acts, this early account of Christians, can't you see that the Bible denounces private ownership and instead proposes that all people share all things? Can't you see that? Now notice, beloved, in our text that there is no government agency forcing or mandating this communal act. You know how I know? It works. Right? It works. If there were oversight, it would be a disaster. And notice that this wasn't mandated by the apostles. So it wasn't mandated by the government. It wasn't mandated by the church. It wasn't forced by either. Rather, what you have here is a genuine love for one another displayed in the meeting of needs of those less fortunate, of those in need. Those who had abundance sold what they had to give to those in need. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God loves a giver. Many people for various reasons give. Sometimes it is out of compassion but without regard for God. You know, sometimes it is to puff up reputation or pride. So what does God say about the giver? Well, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9-7, each one must do just as he purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. God loves a person who is so moved by the love of others that he will freely give to them, not out of compulsion, not grudgingly, but compassionately. You know, these men and women gave of their abundance joyfully and willfully, especially looking there in verse 45. If there was a need in the church, so if there was someone in need, in the church those who had supplied the needs to those, or those who had supplied the needs to those who had not. That is to say that they did not consider those things which God had gave them to be worth more than their brothers and sisters in Christ. You know, their hearts were enlarged by a holy joy, a holy zeal, a holy love in being able to give to their brothers and sisters. And we'll look at this more in depth when we get to Acts 5. But remember what Peter said to Ananias, whom the Lord struck dead for lying about his offering. Now remember, Ananias sold some possessions and then tried to say, this is all that I have, I give to you. And he was struck dead. But what Peter says to him, While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? So wasn't it yours? When it wasn't sold, it was yours. It belonged to you. And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Was it not your money? So why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God. So the real sin was to lie about what he sold it for, to deceive and to act more charitable than he was. And remember, many of these believers had come from all around the known world. They were not residents of Jerusalem, but they came from all the areas of Asia Minor, of North Africa. Many of them remained in Jerusalem after Pentecost with the early church. So they didn't have their possessions with them. They forsook those things and they stayed and they gathered with the church. and those who had plenty helped those in need. Look at verse 46 there. It says, day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. So here, Luke basically summarized what he's just said. Day by day, continually, purposefully, willingly, joyfully, they continued in unity, in one mind, both in the worship in the temple and from house to house with their brothers and sisters. So they were devoted to the gathered church, to one another. Notice two things, their actions and their attitudes. They met together in the temple to worship, in piety toward God, And they met with each other in homes, and they showed forth great charity toward one another. This is what they did externally. This is what everyone could see. Everyone could see them going to the temple to worship. Everyone could see them gathering and fellowshipping. This was the external view of what was going on. But by the Holy Spirit, we know what was going on internally. Internally they did so with gladness and sincerity of heart. That is to say that when the Holy Spirit converted them, it was placed in them a new love for God, for God's people. They possessed a holy joy in performing those actions. These weren't actions that were begrudgingly done. These were actions that were done joyfully. Their actions sprung forth from that inward work of the Spirit with a new heart. They did so with liberality of heart. They did so joyfully. And what we have here really is a demonstration of a genuine and a true faith. You think, what is a genuine and a true faith? It's receiving and resting upon Christ alone, right? Accompanied with that always love for God, and love for people. This is a true faith. Now these are necessary works that accompany a true and a saving faith, not as the grounds of faith, but because of the reality of a true faith. That because someone really has been born of God, someone really has been generated by the Spirit, they will have love for God and love for people. They have new desires. Finally, looking there in verse 47, it says that the whole time while they did this, while they gathered in the temple, while they gathered at each other's homes, they did so praising God and having favor with all people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Piety toward God and charity toward one another found its chief end in the praise of God, in the glory of God. Now both categories of actions were acts of gratitude to the one who had been so charitable to them. You think God is the most charitable God. He gives freely of his grace and we too are to be charitable people, giving freely of what we have when we have and others need. And it says here in our text that they found favor with all people. That is, even the unbelieving world saw what they were doing. They saw them gather. They saw them love one another. And they recognized that it was a true and a genuine love. So much so that even the unbelievers made much of it. The unbelievers who saw them highly esteemed them for what they were doing. And later in Acts 5, verse 13, it says, but none of the rest dared to associate with them. That's the others in the temple who saw the Christians gathering for worship. They wouldn't associate with them. They wouldn't go and sit with them. They wouldn't go and worship with them. However, the people held them in high esteem, that they knew these people love God, these people love each other. This was the witness to the unbelieving world, these twofold actions. They were faithful in what God had commanded them to do, to gather, to listen to the apostolic teaching, prayer, Lord's Supper, They did what they were supposed to do. They were faithful in that. They did not start a bunch of new programs or they didn't change doctrinally to fit the world. They didn't send out a questionnaire saying, okay, what can we do to make things better? How can we get more people to come associate with us? They did what God had called them to do. Yet they continued to grow. So do you see a connection here? between church growth and the apostolic teaching of what the church should be. If you want church growth, you have to be the church. You cannot be another entity. The church must be the church. The church must be the place where God is proclaimed, where God is exalted and honored, and the people gather in love and reverence for Him and for one another. And our text says that it is the Lord who sovereignly grows his church. The Lord grows his church. The church belongs to the king. I read, I think it was by Pastor Moorcraft, who said, you know, there really are three offices in the church. You have elders, deacons, and king. King Jesus. And we do as He commands us to do. And He will grow His church. Beloved, we are called simply to do what God says to do. To be faithful in the things that He has called us to do. So in conclusion, looking at these things, at charity toward one another, and piety toward God, let me ask, where does Christian charity begin? It begins in the home. Christian charity, that is a sincere love, begins in the home by loving your husband, loving your wife, loving your children. It's seeking their good above your own. It's seeking to do them good. So going home this afternoon, looking at your family, say, how can I do them good? How can I show sincere love for my family? But it extends to the church, to your brothers and your sisters, to whom you are united in Christ. And it even extends to unbelievers. You know, we seek to do good to those around us because God has been so generous to us. You know, God has not given us what we deserve. Instead, he has forgiven us of our trespasses. He does not count them against us. Neither are we to be injustice collectors. We are to be the most forgiving and gracious people on earth because we have been forgiven and shown grace exponentially. We are to do good to one another and serve in whatever way we can as brothers and sisters. If you see a need that you can meet, that you can meet, meet it. And in piety toward God, beloved, we must be devoted to the apostolic teaching found in scripture to lay a hold of every means of grace that God has given us. If you do not want to be malnourished, you must lay hold of these. If you want to be malnourished, forsake meeting together. Forsake reading your Bible. Forsake gathering to hear the Word preached. But beloved, if you want to grow in grace, if you want to grow spiritually, you must lay hold of these things. You know, Ephesians says that He has given you, dear Christian, every one of you, every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. There is not one of you here who lacks every spiritual blessing if you are in Christ. He has given it to you. He has given Himself to you. You are the blood-bought sheep. and inheritors of all the riches of the Father. You, beloved, be continually devoted in the things of God." These two things, piety toward God, charity toward one another, can really be summarized in two statements. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is piety toward God and charity toward one another. Now, please remember, beloved, there's a difference between doing this comprehensively and doing it sincerely. If you are troubled by your comprehensive love of God and love of others, you're with everyone else. It is the sincerity of those things that must be found in your life. Do you sincerely love God? Do you sincerely love one another? These two things are wrought by the Spirit. So love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this account of Acts in the early church. We pray, Lord, that you would help us to better love you, help us to better love each other, help us to see you as our great father and we, your children, and see each other as true brothers and sisters, never forsaking to meet together.