Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim. If you have your Bible, go ahead and turn with me to Acts chapter 20. As you may remember, Paul is traveling with a group of men who each represented churches that Paul had started in Asia. And each of them is [carrying an offering from his home church to be given to the believers in Jerusalem], which remember had a tremendous amount of need. [Having each man deliver the gift {really offered} a personal touch and strengthened the unity of the believers.] The Church was being the Church for one another. You know, this coming Sunday at our Church (Renton Park Church) I am preaching on the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus; and what is remarkable to me about that prayer is how often Jesus prays for the unity of all believers; that they may be one even as He and the Father are one. Now I can’t even begin to unpack that today. But Jesus says in that prayer…
John 17:21 (ESV)— 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
John 17:23 (ESV)— 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Testimony to the world— The fundamental purpose of our unity is to bear testimony to the world of the fact that the Father did indeed send His beloved Son Jesus (and that He is their salvation) and that God loves them just as He loves Jesus. That is what our unity points the world to. Jesus had said in…
John 13:35 (ESV)— 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
No Excuse— Now if there is disunity; if there is a lack of love and care for one another; this gives the world an excuse not to take us seriously. But when we are unified and loving and caring for one another, we pave the way for the Holy Spirit to bring conviction to them and often a longing to be a part of that same kind of unified body of believers. And that is part of what this love offering helped to demonstrate. It was a very personal and tender-hearted gesture.
A New Goal— Paul had wanted to arrive in Jerusalem by Passover; but they had been delayed, so that didn’t happen. So now he is trying to get there at least by Pentecost (Acts 20:16). And here we see that they have come to the city of Troas, of which Luke writes in verse 6: and there we stayed seven days.
“We” to “Us”— Now note how in verse 5 and here in verse 6 there is a [pronoun change {from “he”} to “us” and “we,” for Dr. Luke has now joined the party (see Acts 16:17). He had probably been ministering at Philippi where he joined Paul for the last leg of the journey. {And} Paul must have rejoiced to have Luke, Titus, and Timothy at his side again. {But} The men remained at Troas a week so that they might fellowship with the believers there. Perhaps they were also waiting for the departure of the next ship. {But they are waiting there; and as they are waiting there,} Luke gives us a brief report of a local church service in Troas, and from it we learn something of how these early Christians met and worshipped the Lord.] It says in…
Acts 20:7 (LSB)— 7 And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began speaking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.
“On the first day of the week”— Now note the very first phrase: on the first day of the week,. This is actually the first reference in the book of Acts to Christian worship taking place on Sunday rather than on the seventh day (the Sabbath). And this day of course came to be known as “the Lord’s Day” because it was the day on which the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead (Rev. 1:10). So that alone gave the first day of the week an amazing significance. But keep in mind that it was also on the first day of the week that the Holy Spirit had come at Pentecost and birthed the Christian Church. And so the first day of the week became (for multiple reasons) the primary day of worship. Now as the Church was just starting off, they would (during those early years) still [maintain some of the Jewish traditions, such as the hours of prayer (Acts 3:1). But as time went on, they moved away from the Mosaic calendar and developed their own pattern of worship as the Spirit taught them.]
In The Evening— Now the second thing that we see from this verse is that the church met in the evening. And the reason [the church met in the evening {was} because {keep in mind that} Sunday was not a holiday during which people were free from daily employments.] Some of you may remember the days when that was the case here in the states. But sadly, that is not the case now and certainly wasn’t during these times.} And keep in mind that some of these believers were slaves; and so they couldn’t come to church until they had finished their duties. Now these early believers didn’t have any church building in which they could meet, and so they would meet in the private homes of believers. And this room was likely in the private home (or was the home) of one of the believers. And these believers would have been of all different nationalities and social statuses. But none of that mattered anymore. As far as they were concerned, they were “all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
to break bread— Now the fellowship of these early believers was a beautiful thing. They would fellowship around a “potluck” meal that they called a “love feast” (agape). And after they would finish eating, they would observe the Lord’s Supper together (Acts 2:42; 1 Cor. 11:17–34). And that is what we see here in their breaking bread together. Here in Acts 20:7 we have reference to Lord’s Supper and then Acts 20:11 describes the regular meal that would have preceded it. And remember how we talked before about how (in that culture; particularly Jewish culture) to eat with someone was to show commonality with them. That is why if two parties were at enmity with one another and sought restoration, that restoration would never be considered complete until they had shared a meal together. That is part of what made the story of Zacchaeus so powerful. Jesus shared a meal with him that showed they had commonality and peace between each other; and more so, that there was peace between Zacchaeus and God. And of course we also need to understand the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in light of that custom because in that meal is the consummation of our restoration to God. And these “love feasts” were beautiful pictures of the healing that had taken place across social and racial lines in those communities, as men and women of different races and social statuses (think about it, even slaves and their masters) were eating, sharing, and enjoying fellowship with one another as equals under Jesus Christ. That was something never heard of before; and that alone bore such an incredible witness to those communities (and to the world). And I love how that fellowship and unity was built around Thanksgiving; the remembrance of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us.
Now you and I sometimes worry that taking communion too often will cause it to become simply routine and we will miss (or grow cold to) the blessings involved. And that may be true. But the early Christians had it at least once a week as a group and many of them likely, even when they were by themselves during their regular meals at home, would conclude their own personal meals by taking the bread and wine. Now Scripture doesn’t give us any specific command to do this (“as often”, 1 Cor. 11:26); but what it shows is that they wanted to keep before them always that reminder of what Jesus had done for them. For them, Thanksgiving (Eucharist, which comes from the Greek word for Thanksgiving) wasn’t once a year, it was all the time. And that is a beautiful thing. And it challenges us also to live every day in that spirit of Thanksgiving.
The Lord’s Message— Now another thing we see in this passage is the centrality of the Word of God, which was always preached in these Christian churches. And this involved [the public reading of the Old Testament Scriptures (1 Tim. 4:13) as well as whatever apostolic letters had been received (Col. 4:16).] Now sadly, in many churches nowadays, we find the Word of God being neglected. Many (even Christians) know very little of what the Word of God actually says and therefore are unequipped to defend themselves against those who (by twisting the original meaning of the Word of God) might lead them astray. That is why any strong Church will be a Biblically literate one. Paul himself writes in…
2 Timothy 4:2 (ESV)— 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
The Decadent Periods— And as Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said “the decadent periods and eras in the history of the church have always been those periods when preaching has declined”]
The Power of The Book— An unknown writer said, "This Book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ; yes, to glory itself, for eternity."
Bearing Testimony— And so today, let us commit to know and walk in keeping with the Word of God; and in doing so we will (through our unity and holy love for one another) bear testimony to the world of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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