A Blessed Time

In the life of the first Christian church, we may see that they were filled with the Holy Ghost. Their life was nourished and fed by the benefits Christ obtained for His Church. They experienced a strong and lasting tie of love amongst each other. But then, is it not strange when we read in Acts 2:46 that they continued daily with one accord in the temple? What drew them to the temple? Did they not know that the significance of the temple worship had come to an end with the suffering and dying of the Lord Jesus?

Certainly they knew this. And that is precisely why the temple had become so precious to them. It was in the temple, each time by renewal, that they experienced the words of their Master upon the cross, “It is finished.” Because of all that had taken place, they had come to love the temple as the house of God. Was it not in the temple that the Lord had visited them and fulfilled His promise in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Recognizing all this, then it was no wonder that it was their heart’s desire to be in the house of God, and to speak of the wonderful ways of the Lord.

Truly, when the Lord comes and our heart is opened so that we may see what we have become through sin, we then have a desire to be in God’s house on His day. And not only on God’s day, but as often as the doors are opened. Then our place is never found empty. Then we have a desire for the service of the Lord. We then enter into the courts of His house, not to criticize, but with a prayer in our heart, “Lord, may there be one word for me.” There are times that we may sing with our whole heart, “How dear to me, oh Lord of hosts, the place where Thou dost dwell.”

May it be asked of you? — reader, how do you attend the service in God’s house? What a dreadful situation when time after time we go to church so pray-erless, listless, and indifferent — and after sitting under the preaching of God’s Word, we leave God’s house and there is not anything that moved us. True, we can say: It is the reader, it is the preacher, or the Spirit of God is so lacking. But in God’s house it is never good to point away from one’s self. Always better to point unto myself — knowing that I am in this condition because of my sins, my lack of interest, my indifference.

With the first Christian church this was different. The Lord said, “They, continuing daily with one accord in the temple.” Daily there was a hunger for the Word, a need for communion with God, a desire to speak of the ways of the Lord. No, all the people were not equally led, but all had the same beginning — when from heaven their eyes were opened and the result was a knowing that I have no God for my soul. With conversion, that is always where the Lord begins. Then we come to know what we miss. There comes a seeking for what we cannot miss anymore. What a precious moment when the Lord opens our eyes and we may see that outside of self a way has been opened!

The first Christian church experienced this. Therefore, they longed to be together with one accord. Every heart was bound together with that tie which was laid from heaven. Every heart might stretch forth its emptiness for that communion which gives joy here below. We read that they went from house to house breaking bread. Some say, from house to house celebrating the Lord’s Supper. But, perhaps, we may also see this differently. Because of what the Lord worked in their hearts, those people could not miss one another. They experienced a desire to visit each other, to sit at each other’s table, and to speak of the ways of the Lord. No, there was not Simon the Pharisee who looked down upon a sinner coming to the feet of the Lord Jesus. Here the smallest one in grace could share in sacred communion, the one with the other.

Can you imagine the conversation around such a table? They spoke of the precious Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the only sacrifice between God and man. There were present those smalI ones in grace who longed to hear how He was the way, the truth, and life everlasting. Then came the desire in their hearts: Oh, Lord, may that also be my way! There were those who had come to know more and more how much they missed Him. They experienced how the Spirit had come to break down and root up. There, around the table they had to say: My sins; the righteous justice of God! Oh, that I might know Him in the cleansing power of His blood! There were those who could sit in the midst of their brethren and speak of how the Spirit of Pentecost testified with their spirit how they are the children of God.

What precious conversations the first Christian church had! No, not to build each other up, but to glorify the Name of the Lord. Together they were reminded of Him who ascended up to His Father’s house and who promised, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

How poor the conversation has become in our homes! What do we speak about when we come together in each other’s home? Is it then mostly the world and its activities which control our conversation? Then I do not even point to the homes where a television is the center around which the families gather. In such a home, there is little need to converse at all anymore, but then we are controlled by an entertainment that should never be allowed in our home. How little desire there is in the life of God’s children to come together and speak of the ways of the Lord. Why is this? Could it be that we miss what the first Christian church had? Communion with the Lord. Is not spiritual darkness the result of this lack for which the child of the Lord must sigh so deeply in our days? God is holding His hand so still in the life of His children. Why is this? Could it be because there is so little of that spiritual hunger which looks upward to receive from an opened heaven? No, I do not mean that there is not an abundance of religion in our days. But, do we also know the tender fear of God when the sinner becomes less and less and nothing, and when God becomes more and more and everything?

There is yet more which we may see in the first Christian church. We read that they ate their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Their hearts were made glad by the communion they felt. Their hearts were humbled by what they experienced within. Their life was revealed outwardly. Their walk in life was an expression of what they felt within. A close walk with the Lord may be seen in the first Christian church.

Reader, how do we walk? Does our walk speak of what the Lord has done? Can it be seen that we can no longer walk with the world? Does our outward walk in life reveal that God has made a separation between us and the world? Is it the testimony of our life that we hunger and thirst for a little token from heaven? Or can it be seen that the line between us and the world has become so vague that it can hardly be seen anymore? How sad when this is so. This sets us so far apart from the first Christian church. Perhaps you say, “I am unconverted.” Does your walk in life testify of that? Or is that just something you say? Perhaps you say, “But I cannot convert myself!” Does your coming to God’s house and placing yourself under that Word, of which the Lord has promised that it is powerful unto conversion, speak of that?

Of those people in Jerusalem, we read further that they were “praising God.” What a precious labor that is when the children of the Lord may praise Him. Are there such times in your life? Yes, when we may have tasted something of the love and the goodness of the Lord, then we may praise His Name. More than that, then the praising of His Name cannot be missed. The Lord has promised: This people have I formed to give praise unto my Name. This does not mean that God’s people can always sing. There is a time in their life when they say, I will go from strength to strength. But there are also times when they must say, I go from complaint to complaint. That is when they come to know, by the way that they are led, what God is and what lives in their heart. Then with Paul they say, “Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of sin?” That is the time when they miss His communion — when they must say, “Lord, it has become so cold and hard within.”

God’s children experience a coming and a going Jesus. When they may experience something of His coming, then you hear from their lips: “Come and listen unto me that I may tell you what the Lord has done for me.” In His going, they lament: “Lord, how is it with me? Is it of the Lord, or is it only of myself?”

Today there are many who profess a new life and can always praise God. That is not biblical. Neither is it biblical when the Christian can never praise God.

Can you imagine the conversation around such a tablet They spoke of the precious Lamb of God.

The Lord says that in Jerusalem His church had favor with all the people. That meant that God’s work was giving such a testimony that there was respect for their walk in their lives amongst the people. No, neither Peter nor John could do this. The best sermon without the blessing of the Lord remains fruitless. The Lord alone can break the hardened heart of man. Still, the Lord uses the means. The fact that the church of the Lord today has so little recruiting power is because they are so little a light upon the candlestick. Their life is so hidden.

Oh, that it might be our prayer: “Lord, set us apart and endow us with Thy Spirit.” What was given unto the first Christian church, the Lord could also give unto us. For He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Rev. J. Den Hoed is pastor of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Rock Valley, Iowa.

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen