What now? This morning... this Sunday morning, church buildings all around the country are empty. There has not ever been a situation like this since there was "church buildings."
"Church buildings" didn't exist when the church began. The church met in houses at the beginning. For the entire record of the New Testament, the church met in houses. "Church buildings" were not the invention of the church that Jesus was building. The huge "magnificent" cathedrals, called "churches," were the invention of the Caesars of the Roman Empire, which became known as Popes. Do you think that the followers of Jesus built these huge monstrosities? Never!
At the very beginning of the church, in Acts 2, they met in houses.
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,
(Acts 2:46)
In the last five or so decades there has been a lot of experimenting with "house churches," "small groups" and "cell groups," etc., and I have been involved in many of them.
But Acts 2:46 has a context. Acts begins with a short summary of the forty days that Jesus was with His eleven disciples after his resurrection until He was taken up in a cloud into heaven. The writer, Luke, focuses in on what Jesus said to wait for. They were to remain in Jerusalem until they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Jesus was then taken up, and the disciples returned from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
(Acts 1:12-14)
Next they chose a replacement for Judas, by casting lots (similar to flipping a coin, or rolling dice). Judas had committed suicide after Jesus was crucified, and as David said in the Psalms, ‘Let another take his office.’ So the lot fell to Matthias, who was then numbered with the eleven apostles.
Acts chapter two opens with:
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
(Acts 2:1-4)
In chapter one, Jesus had told them to wait until they would receive the promise of the Father, which was the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which would give them the power to be His witnesses to the whole world. This came on this Day of Pentecost, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gave them utterance to speak the wonderful works of God in the languages of all the people who had come together, 'from every nation under heaven.' (Acts 2:5). These men had come to Jerusalem to keep the "Feast of Weeks," (another name of the feast of Pentecost.) All these men heard these words in their own native languages, and were amazed and confused as to what it all meant!
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.
(Acts 2:14-16)
Peter continues his message, quoting from the prophet Joel, and preaching Jesus to them.
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 afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
(Acts 2:37-39)
Now we get to the immediate context of the verse about meeting in houses, verse 46:
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 three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in 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 were being saved.
(Acts 2:40-47)
This is the very beginning of the church that Jesus is building, "and that day about three thousand souls were added to them." (v. 41b) And from that day on, "they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
In this verse it does not tell us what "the apostles’ doctrine" was, only that "they continued steadfastly in" it. But we can get a clue from what the result was:
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 whatever "the apostles’ doctrine" was, the immediate result was "Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles." then as the believers heard the apostles' teaching, in the days and weeks following, the result was:
"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."
It is obvious that we are now talking about a longer time frame than that one day. It takes time to sell your possessions, and meet the needs of everyone. Surely this must have been part of the apostles doctrine. This was indeed the teaching they learned from their teacher, Jesus. It even started before Jesus came on the public scene. John the Baptizer said:
He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
(Luke 3:11)
And he was by no means the first either. The prophets said many times that the reason that Israel was being judged was because they did not care for the fatherless, the widows, the oppressed and the poor.
Isaiah is the first of the "major prophets" in the Bible, and in the first chapter it says:
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.
“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
How the faithful city has become a harlot!
It was full of justice;
Righteousness lodged in it,
But now murderers.
Your silver has become dross,
Your wine mixed with water.
Your princes are rebellious,
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves bribes,
And follows after rewards.
They do not defend the fatherless,
Nor does the cause of the widow come before them.
(Isaiah 1:16-23)
And again in Isaiah 10:
“Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees,
Who write misfortune,
Which they have prescribed
To rob the needy of justice,
And to take what is right from the poor of My people,
That widows may be their prey,
And that they may rob the fatherless.
(Isaiah 10:1-2)
And there are many more.
John the Baptizer came preaching the good news of the kingdom:
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
(Matthew 3:1-2)
The call was again, to repent. And the good news was that the kingdom of heaven is near! And Matthew then quotes from Isaiah:
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’ ”(Matthew 3:3 quoting from Isaiah 40:3)
When Jesus came to His home town of Nazareth He also quoted from Isaiah:
So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
(Luke 4:16-21)
It is profoundly significant that He stopped where He did, and that Luke tells us that "Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down." And then He explained “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Why?
Let us look at what He was quoting:
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
(Isaiah 61:1-2)
Notice that Jesus stopped quoting in the middle of a sentence, closed the book and sat down. But the sentence continues:
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
He stopped before "And the day of vengeance of our God" because that was not part of what was fulfilled that day. That "day of vengeance" was yet future!
But now I want to bring your attention back to the part He did quote:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
The disciples understood that the gospel of the kingdom was good news for the poor. And His disciples, who became the apostles most certainly had this reality at the core of their doctrine. So it is no wonder that when the believers "continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine" the result was that:
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.
(Acts 2:43-45)
It was in this context that the next verse says:
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,
(Acts 2:46)
So all the home meetings, house churches and cell groups that have been tried in our lifetime have had little effect. They are missing the apostles' teachings, and the good news of the kingdom preached to the poor.
I have met many homeless people. And I invited two of them to go to a house church meeting with me, only to be told that I could not bring them any more. Another home meeting I attended, I asked if I could invite one homeless person, and was first told yes, but later I was told that they had changed their mind, and the homeless were not welcome there.
While writing this, article, I did a search for the word "homeless" in the New King James Version of the Bible and was surprised to find only one place it occurs. Paul writing to the church in Corinth says:
You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.
(1 Corinthians 4:8-11)
Paul here is talking about the apostles as homeless, while the church in Corinth was rich. This was a strong rebuke.
Here is a quote from the Internet:
Did you know that 59 percent of Americans are a paycheck away from being homeless, according to a survey by Charles Schwab?
This quote is from an article posted Nov 23, 2019 by Cherilyn Holloway, entitled "The America Few Want to Discuss: A Check Away From Homelessness."
Now with the events of the last few weeks, it is highly likely that the near future will bring a whole new wave of homelessness.
It is through the church that Jesus is building that this good news to the poor should come. Are you part of that very small remnant that will return to the way the church was at the very beginning?
Or will you be overtaken by "the day of vengeance of our God?"
The government welfare programs were never the way God intended for the poor to be cared for. The good news of the kingdom was to be preached by His followers, and the reality of it was to be in the church that Jesus alone is building. Will you return to that church at the beginning?
There is only one answer for the world's problems, it is the kingdom of God.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
(Matthew 24:14)