Have any of you ever tinkered with restoring an automobile? What is the objective of restoring a car? The idea is to take it back as nearly as possible to what it was in the beginning, correct? Restoring an automobile is different than customizing it. When you customize a car, you’re free to add whatever you want to meet your own personal preferences and desires. If you want chrome headers or a chrome tailpipe, if you want a riser on the hood to accommodate a custom carburetor, if you want to add non-stock tires and wheels – for that matter, if you want to have a stove pipe sticking out of the roof, there is nothing to stop you. You can do whatever you like because you’re customizing. This loose, do-as-you-wish approach is fun, but it isn't acceptable if your aim is to restore the car. Restoration involves very tight limits and exclusive adherence to original design.

Think of what it feels like to possess something brand new. You are the first person to take it out of the box, or unwrap it, or move into it, or taste it, or perhaps drive it off the lot.

I know that not all of us have had the experience, but think of the feeling of driving a brand-new car. No scratches are yet on the dash where the key goes in. No one else’s miles are on the odometer. Nothing is spoiled yet by years of use or abuse. There is no wear on the tires. There’s even that special new car smell. Everything is as the manufacturer intended.

Or maybe it’s the thrill of moving into a brand-new house. No one has yet worn out the front door. Children have not yet used their crayons on the walls. When you prep for painting, you’re not covering up 15 multi-colored coats underneath. There are no funny smells hanging in the air – unless it’s that new carpet smell. Again, everything is as the builder intended.

Now imagine the church at its beginning. It is brand-new. Its condition is pristine. No hypocrites or false teachers have yet done their damage. No one has yet defected and started some counterfeit alternative. No believer has yet seriously challenged the doctrine of Christ. Not even Satan himself has yet recovered from the head crushing blow of the mighty Seed of Woman, accomplished against Him on the Cross. Everything is as the Builder intended.

I want to refer you to a snapshot of the brand new church that the Bible writer Luke has provided for us in the last verses of Acts chapter 2. It can be refreshing and helpful to go back to see what the original church was like before all the modern religious confusion started. That is one of our primary objectives as we continue this morning our Acts of the Apostles series. Today we’re going to look at Acts 2:41-47. I have called the message, Profile of the First Church. The passage is fairly short so we’ll begin by reading it.

As we look at this passage in more detail I want to highlight three important characteristics of those who made up the brand-new church at its beginning. The first is:

As we covered in a previous message, this was the Day of Pentecost, in 33 A.D. The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles of Jesus in a very spectacular way. There was the sound of a violent, rushing wind. Tongues or columns of fire came down and rested on each of the twelve. These men were empowered to speak with languages they have never learned. A great crowd was attracted to the miracle in the vicinity of the Temple in Jerusalem where they were. Peter stood up with the other eleven men and preached the first gospel sermon. After using Scripture and reminding them of the events that transpired just 50 days prior, in effect showing them that they had crucified the Messiah, Peter was interrupted by the convicted multitude. "Brethren what shall we do?" Peter’s answer was straight and to the point. He said in verses 38-39: "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to himself."

In response to these instructions, the people obeyed. We see their conformity in verse 41: "So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls."

So what do we have here? In that day of pristine newness, before any corruption had yet had its effect, these people did exactly what an inspired apostle of Christ told them to do in order to be saved. No one challenged Peter’s words, saying "Only believe." There was no one around to suggest that repentance was unnecessary. No one had yet advanced arguments contrived to explain away the need to be baptized. They just did what Peter told them to do - plain and simple. As a result they were saved and added to….

Well exactly what were they added to? Verse 47 in the new American Standard Version says they were added to "their number." The King James Version says "the church." The Greek word is eklesia. It is the common New Testament term for "church." That’s what the church is. It’s a God obeying number or group of people gathered together who share a common salvation in Christ. It really isn't any more complicated than that. Perhaps only a theologian with a selfish human agenda could misunderstand.

Sometimes when I’m studying the Bible with people who are considering becoming Christians and have been misguided as to what they need to do, I like to say of verse 41, "This verse contains 3000 reasons why you should be baptized."

Have any of you ever tinkered with restoring an automobile? What is the objective of restoring a car? The idea is to take it back as nearly as possible to what it was in the beginning, correct? Restoring an automobile is different than customizing it. When you customize a car, you’re free to add whatever you want to meet your own personal preferences and desires. If you want chrome headers or a chrome tailpipe, if you want a riser on the hood to accommodate a custom carburetor, if you want to add non-stock tires and wheels – for that matter, if you want to have a stove pipe sticking out of the roof, there is nothing to stop you. You can do whatever you like because you’re customizing. This loose, do-as-you-wish approach is fun, but it isn't acceptable if your aim is to restore the car. Restoration involves very tight limits and exclusive adherence to original design.

What am I by talking about? I’m not really interested in restoring cars, but I am interested in restoring the church. In fact in this congregation, I hope we’re all interested in restoring the church. I hope we want, to the best of our ability, to go back beyond the conflicting doctrines and dogmas of today’s religious world - all those customizations of the church that have been done to satisfy the whims and preferences of men - to that day when Christ’s body was original. While admittedly, we may not do that perfectly, that is our aim.

So as we look at these people in Acts 2, we see that in the pristine period when the church was new, they all conformed to the same apostolic teaching in order to be saved. They believed the message of the Gospel, seen in the fact these were pierced to the heart and asked Peter what they should do. They repented of their sin, as seen in the fact that after Peter told them to do so and they all "received his word." And here in this verse we see that after Peter told them to "be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins," they did just that - all 3000 of them.

Folks, most of you know that in many places these simple teachings need to be restored. Men have tinkered with them and customized them and altered them nearly out of existence. The results look nothing like the original. There's a church to meet nearly anyone's preference. Even worse, many people think this customizing is a great idea.

But customizing is not what God had in mind when He inspired men to write the New Testament. For instance, there’s Paul’s instruction in 2 Timothy 1:13: "Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus," and 2 Timothy 4:2-4: "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths." Those "teachers in accordance to their own desires" are those who engage in customizing the teaching of the New Testament to tickle the ears of their hearers.

When the church was pristine and new, it conformed to the simple teaching of Christ and the apostles. I’m saying that we should do the same.

We should recall that Luke wrote from a years-after perspective. When he carefully investigated the things that happened in those early days, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he picked out and reported on those things that were most important. Before there was any corruption of the church, the early Christians, under the direction of the apostles, devoted themselves to four things: the apostles teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer.

At the root of all they did was the apostles’ teaching. This was their guide. No counsel, convention, or synod convened by uninspired men had yet usurped that apostolic authority. The twelve apostles were all still alive and resided in the city of Jerusalem. It was a wonderful time in the history of the church.

Of course the apostles eventually died. What was the church to do in their absence? While the twelve were still alive, and as the message spread beyond the Jews, they wrote letters which were circulated among the churches. After they died these letters continued to circulate among believers and were looked upon as having the same binding authority as the teaching of the living apostles. Eventually these writings were gathered together to make up what we today refer to as the New Testament Scripture. Today we mimic that steadfast consistency in the apostles teaching by reading, studying, and living by the pattern of the written New Testament. That these writings were intended as a guide to govern the church is not hard to see. Some years after Pentecost the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." Note the sufficiency of the written Scriptures. It is sufficient for "every good work." Since the apostle Peter put Paul's writings on the same level as "the rest of the Scripture," in 2 Peter 3:15-16, we know that this sufficiency of the written word was valid for both Old and New Testaments. In our desire to restore the church as it was at the beginning then, the Scripture, and particularly the New Testament Scripture, is our standard and guide. In that sense we strive to be not another newly customized denomination among the many which already exist, but the Church of Jesus Christ, just as He and the apostles established it.

The early Christians in that pristine time were continually devoted to the apostles’ teaching. They were also devoted to fellowship. Fellowship is sharing lives. It is more than just sharing an hour together on Sundays. Even before we finish considering this brief passage, we’ll see that it involved genuine concern for and sharing with one another. For now let me just say that we need to be continually devoted to fellowship as we endeavor to restore the New Testament church.

These early Christians were also continually devoting themselves to "the breaking of bread." Since every human being alive is devoted to eating food regularly, it hardly seems likely that Luke would have highlighted common meals here. As this is in a spiritual context, along with the apostles teaching, fellowship, and prayer, and also because this phrase includes the definite article, "the breaking of bread," I think it most reasonable to conclude that this was a reference to the Lord’s Supper. Remember, Jesus had commanded, "Do this in remembrance of me," so it is quite natural that we would find them consistently doing just that. While the frequency of this observance isn’t specified here, we do see that they "were continually devoting themselves to" it. Those who wish to restore the church to its original condition will do the same. As the New Testament Scriptures unfold, various references lead us to the conclusion that this was practiced weekly, when they were gathered together on the first day of the week.

Luke also tells us that, "They were continually devoting themselves to... prayer." The church that desires to restore things to the original standards will pray together. It will make prayer a priority. Prayer is hard work. It takes time and effort. Usually we must make time for prayer. It doesn’t just happen. But the Scripture says it is important, and the church should make it a priority.

As the church continued under the direction of the apostles, additional practices, doctrines, and clarifications would be added in the epistles, but these are were basics: the apostles teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. As we endeavor to restore the church to the standard of its beginning, these must be included in a regular practice.

3. Their Unity

43 And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 And 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, 47 praising God, and having favor with all the people.

What a picture of unity! Look at some of the words Luke used: "everyone," "all," "together," "all things in common," "sharing," "one mind," "taking their meals together." There was sharing and genuine concern for each other in the brand-new church. Luke mentions in verse 43 a common sense of awe.

Notice that the early church had miracles, so you may be wondering that if our desire is to restore the church to its original state, why don’t we have miracles like they did? Why aren’t we speaking in languages we’ve never learned? Why aren’t many healed? The answer to that question begins with what Luke says in the second part of this verse: "many signs and wonders were taking place through the apostles." If you read carefully through the book of Acts you will discover that no one except apostles did miracles until Stephen in Acts 6:8, and this was done only after the apostles laid hands on him in a special way in Acts 6:6. The next person to do miracles, aside from the apostles, was Philip. He also did so because of the laying on of apostles’ hands in Acts 6:6. In fact, Acts 8:14-18 suggest that this was the way others besides apostles received the power to do miracles. When Simon the Sorcerer was converted in Acts 8 he saw the potential of fame and profit in this laying on of apostles’ hands so he tried to purchase it with money. Peter told them he had no part in the matter. The issue goes beyond the book of Acts, so let me just say here that the apostles could do miracles, those on whom they laid hands could do miracles, and there is no indication in the New Testament that this ability to do miracles could be passed on beyond that. Thus the miracles would die out as the apostles and those on whom they laid hands died.

Does this mean that there are no miracles today? No. We believe that God does miracles sometimes in answer to the prayers of His people. Individuals however do not possess this power anymore. These miraculous gifts ceased just as Paul predicted they would in 1 Corinthians 13:8-13. I plan to have a special lesson on the subject as we progress through the book of Acts.

So these people had a common sense of awe. They also had a common sense of concern.

The Jews were known for their hospitality. During the three major annual feasts in Jerusalem there were so many people in the city that residents would open up their homes to those who were visiting. This generous custom spilled right over into the church. As those who were converted on Pentecost stayed on, those who had the means shared their property and possessions to help as needed.

This was not some sort of communal arrangement or communism as some have suggested since what happened here was fully voluntary and was not repeated in the book of Acts much beyond this occasion of special need. Modern communism requires the confiscation and redistribution of wealth by the state. Wealth is forcefully taken from the rich and spread equally among all. While that might sound good in theory, it ends up giving the same reward for laziness as it does for diligence. Why should anyone work hard, if the result for doing so is the same as not working at all? Communism always fails as productivity declines and forceful measures must be adopted to make people work. The result is slavery. Communist nations must either steal, or be subsidized by free nations in order to survive. What we have in these verses is not communism. It is simply generous Christian people voluntarily reaching out to help their brethren in need. In fact Paul would teach about this years later in 1 Tim 6:17-19: "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed." There is not a word there about confiscating things from the rich to give to the poor. In fact, the rich are not condemned. They are only cautioned to be generous. The choice is left to them. Those wishing to restore the church to its early condition will encourage and expect the same generosity and limits. The right to own private property, rewarding hard work and faithfulness, and the wise use of one’s own resources, are all commended in Scripture.

In their unity then there was a common sense of awe, a common sense of concern, and there was a common sense of purpose.

A marvelous thing happened on Pentecost -- the fulfillment of centuries of Scriptural predictions. Gripped by the awe of it all, the early believers were of one mind. As they shared common meals together there was a shared gladness and sincerity in their hearts. This was so evident that everyone around them saw them in a good light. Hypocrites, phonies, and greedy exploiters of men, would come only later in the church’s history -- but it was not what the Lord intended for His church. In this wonderful environment the Lord could add to the church daily those who are saved. What a marvelous time it was.

I walked in on a conversation in the barbershop this past week. The men there were talking about cars. The barber talked about a roadster that he was customizing. Then one of the guys there asked if anyone had seen the ad in the paper for the fully restored 1956 Chevy Bel Air. As they continued talking about that car someone asked if anyone had noticed the asking price price -- which was $52,000. I was surprised. How could anyone ask that much for car that was over 50 years old? I owned a 56 Chevy once -- it was my first car. I paid $150 for it. Of course it was a beater in those days, not yet a classic. It needed a lot of work. But even factoring in inflation, the difference between $150 and $52,000 is significant. Someone in the group explained to me how difficult it is to find original parts and how expensive they are because they are relatively rare. With that explanation it made a bit more sense to me. But I left there thinking that you’d really have to be devoted and committed to restoration to pay that kind of money.

It takes great devotion and commitment to restore the church as well. The cost cannot be expressed in dollars of course. It is rather expressed in dedication and stubborn tenacity to see that it gets done and then people adhere to it. Sadly, fewer and fewer people these days are interested. "Does it really matter?" they asked. "Wouldn’t it be just better to dedicate ourselves to customizing rather than restoring?" We think not. We believe that Christ and the apostles set up the church exactly the way they intended and that it was not to be changed, altered, revised, abridged, or customized. To do any of these things ultimately leads to a church that is not the church that Jesus built.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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