DEVOTED to God’s Word
devoted to god’s word
Jacob Haywood | June 4, 2023
Scripture | Acts 2:42
What are you devoted to? Who is devoted to a certain sports team? What about your job? Who’s devoted to your spouse? What about your family? Who is devoted to their church? When you’re devoted to something, it means you are passionate about it. It means it is of utmost importance, and your life shows your devotion. Devotion isn’t haphazard. It’s full-on commitment.
In the book of Acts, we get a unique look into the beginning of the church, right at its infancy. And we see something that should encourage us and challenge us. We see their devotion. Specifically, we see three things they were devoted to.
Acts 2:42 – And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Our devotion should be to Jesus.
They were devoted to these things because they were devoted to Jesus. What started out as 120 believers (1:15), had just expanded to 3,000 people (2:41) just one verse before this one. Why did this explosive growth happen? Because the 120 were devoted to Jesus. How do we know that? Well, because even though Jesus had just ascended in heaven and wasn’t with them anymore, they continued to follow Him and do exactly what He asked of them. Jesus had told them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit, and they did (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). If we do things God’s way, we get God’s results. And after Jesus’ promise was fulfilled (by the way, God always fulfils His promises), Peter got up and powerfully shared the gospel of Jesus. That’s what led to the 3,000 being saved, people devoted to Jesus sharing the gospel of Jesus. And you know what? The mission and the mode hasn’t changed in 2,000 years. Today, God continues to grow His kingdom through people devoted to Jesus, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus.
But here’s the thing about devotion. You can’t be devoted to more than one thing. If you’re a devoted UT fan, you can’t also be a devoted Bama fan. If you’re devoted to your husband or wife, you can’t be devoted to another person. When you’re devoted to something, it means other things take the back seat. Our devotion should be to Jesus, and that means all other things need to take the back seat.
You may disagree and say, well, I can be devoted to my job, my family, and to my church. I disagree with your disagreement. If you’re devoted to your job, your family and your service in the church will suffer. You can say the same thing about the others. But here’s the thing, when you’re devoted to Jesus, it is played out in your job and family and activities and hobbies and passions and your involvement in the church. You are seeking to bring glory to Christ through all of those other passions. So it looks like devotion to all these other areas, but your singular devotion is to Christ.
When you’re devoted to something, you are devoted to that one thing, but that devotion is evident in different ways. What is internal becomes external. When you are a UT fan, you wear orange and you hate Bama. When you’re devoted to your spouse you love and care and provide and serve them. When you are devoted to Jesus, it comes out in different ways. We see this with the early church. They were devoted to Jesus. And that devotion became evident through what we see in our Acts 2:42 passage. And that’s what we are going to look at over these three weeks, their devotion to Jesus was played out through their devotion to God’s Word, prayer, and fellowship. Today, we’re going to look at the first one.
Our devotion should be to God’s Word.
What is God’s Word? They had the Old Testament at this time. You know what they didn’t have? The New Testament. But you know what they did have? The New Testament. How? They were hearing it first-hand.
In this verse it specifically says, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…”
The New Testament was written by apostles or in close proximity to apostles.
That’s the major factor used in determining what should be in the New Testament. It had to do with apostolic authority and apostolic proximity. What is included in our New Testament was written by either apostles or those who were in close contact with apostles. Who were apostles?
Apostles were specific people set apart by Jesus.
This would include the twelve disciples. Paul became an apostle, and he defends his apostleship in his letters since his calling was different than the others (2 Corinthians 11; Galatians 1:11-24). So, apostles were devoted followers of Jesus who had first-hand accounts of his life, death, and resurrection, and they were set apart bring that message to the world.
What are we to be devoted to? Jesus. What is one way that is played out? Through devotion to His Word. Here’s the thing about Jesus. He is the Word incarnate. Jesus is the Word with flesh on. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Then in verse14 it says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
When you encounter God’s Word, you are encountering Christ Himself. I was talking with a teenager who was recently saved and whose parents wouldn’t let him go to church. One question he asked me was why God is silent in our times. I said, “Because He has spoken to us through His Word, the Bible. We have the completed Word of God. He speaks to us through His Word every time we read it. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” You know what this guy said in reply? “So that was Jesus!” You see, I had left him a Bible and a way to contact me in his mailbox. And he had been reading it even though his parents wouldn’t let him go to church. He was encountering Christ himself, by devoting himself to the apostles’ teachings, as the early church devoted themselves to their teaching, and as should we.
But how? How do you devote yourself to God’s Word? This is going to be practical for us now.
Devote yourself to God’s Word by reading it. You might say, well I don’t like reading. That’s a lie! You read all day every day. You read text messages and social media and sports news and celebrity gossip. You read about what you are devoted to. How else are you going to know God better? The only way is through reading.
I love how D.L. Moody speaks of his conversion. He said, “I prayed for Faith, and thought that some day Faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But Faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, ‘Now Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.’ I had closed my Bible and prayed for Faith. I now opened my Bible and began to study, and Faith has been growing ever since.”
You will not and cannot have a close relationship with Jesus if you don’t read your Bible on a regular basis.
Devote yourself to God’s Word by studying it. We shouldn’t just read the Bible, but we should seek to understand what it says. We should dig deep. We shouldn’t just read it to read it…to check a spiritual box off…but we should read it carefully and intentionally. We should ask questions when we read it. We should seek to understand the context of what we’re reading. We should notice patterns in the text, like repetitions of words or phrases. We shouldn’t just read the Bible, but we should read about the Bible.
When we don’t seek to rightly understand the Bible, it can get us in a lot of trouble, because Satan knows the Bible better than many Christians. I would even dare say he possibly knows it better than many of you. And he distorts and twists it to lead you astray.
He’s been doing it since the beginning. Hear what he says to Adam and Eve in Genesis when he tempted them to sin: Genesis 3:1-4…“Did God really say…”
He does the same to Jesus when he tempts him in the wilderness: Matthew 4:1-11, quoting scripture back to Jesus.
God’s Word is the only offensive weapon that we have to fight against Satan with (Ephesians 6:17). That’s how Jesus defended himself from Satan’s attacks every time. It was with these words…“It is written.”
So, we need to study God’s Word so that we know God’s Word.
When we read and study God’s Word, we can and should trust what it says.
Devote yourself to God’s Word by trusting it. The Bible is without error, and it is useful for every area of our lives.
2 Timothy 3:16-17–All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
The Word of God is useful for every area of your life. Every area. You can trust it. Don’t just trust that it speaks the Truth, but trust it by fully leaning into the Truth of which it speaks. Place all your weight on it as you would a rope while repelling down a cliff. You have to fully trust it, or you crash. It’s the same way with our lives. If you encounter temptation, trust that Jesus was tempted in every way like we are, yet without sin, and He sympathizes with our weakness (Hebrews 4:15). If you’re grieving the loss of a loved one, trust that Jesus goes to prepare a place for you and will bring you to Himself (John 14:3). If you feel alone, trust Jesus’ final words of “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Do you know what all these promises are? They are the teaching of the apostles.’ And we need to not only trust that it’s true, but we need to experience its truth. We can trust that all God’s Word speaks is true, though, too.
Here’s why we can trust the Bible: Scripture is inspired, inerrant, and infallible.[1]
I know these are fancy theological words, but they are very important words. If you stray from these beliefs, you have strayed from evangelical Christianity, and you are tossed to and fro by every kind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). Here’s what these words mean and why they’re important.
Inspired: God is the author of the Bible.
There are two authors to every part of the Bible: 1) the human author; 2) the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 3:16 – All Scripture is breathed out by God…
2 Peter 1:21 – For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
John 14:26 – But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Inerrant:[2] The Bible is without error.
Here is how the 2nd point of the Chicago Statement on biblical inerrancy puts it:
“Holy Scripture, being God’s own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it affirms; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises.”
Infallible: The Bible is incapable of error.
God’s Word is incapable of error because who is incapable of error? It’s primary author. God. God is perfect. So is His revelation of Himself. You either believe this, or you can’t believe His Word.
Another way of saying this is, God’s Word will accomplish exactly what God wants it to.
Isaiah 55:11 – So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Devote yourself to God’s Word by discussing it. The Bible shouldn’t be read only in isolation. It is meant to be studied and discussed together. And that’s not just at Bible studies at church. That’s with your family each night. That’s out in public. We talk about what we are devoted to. Is God’s Word continually on your mind and on your lips? I think the Berean church shows us this well a little later in Acts.
Acts 17:11 – Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
This is how they were in our passage in Acts 2:42 as well. Togetherness was such a core component of who they were and what they did. Their fellowship and prayers that they were devoted to were not alone and in isolation. Neither was their devotion to the apostles’ teachings. There’s no better way to learn something than by teaching it or discussing it with someone else.
Devote yourself to God’s Word by doing what it says.
James 1:22 – But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Remember, when you are devoted to something, it means other things take the back seat. When you are devoted to God’s Word, other things take the back seat. What the culture says takes the back seat to what God’s Word says. When it comes to church culture, tradition and personal preference takes the back seat to what God’s Word says or what God’s Word allows. When it comes to living and what we pursue, our own desires, no matter how strong they may be, take a back seat to what God’s Word says.
Though this new church of 3,000 people in Acts 2:42 were devoted to Christ by being devoted to His Word, it wasn’t long after that they started mixing other things in. We’re going to see that as we walk our way through Acts over the next several months. Would we be a church of people singularly devoted to Jesus. And if we see other things start to rise above that devotion, may we reprioritize and put it under the lordship of Christ, whatever it may be. That’s in our church and in our lives.
So, if you are devoted to Jesus, you must be devoted to his Word. Are you? Will you be? Let it start now.
