Those who embraced his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to the believers that day.Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls.
7 sermons cite this verse
… He's showing us the number. Acts 2, verse 41, he says now there are 3,000 people who believed in Christ on that day. Acts 4, verse 4, which we read about just a second ago, Luke's intentional to show us now it's 5,000. Acts 6, verse 1, number of disciples is increasing. Acts 6, verse 7, the number of disciples continues to increase. Acts chapter 9, verse 31 says, the number in the church continued to grow. Now I want you to turn to Acts chapter 11. We read Acts chapter 9, verse 31. Look at Acts chapter 11. Look at verse 21. And maybe every time you see the word number in the scripture here, let me encourage you to circle it. I just want you to see how Luke was very detailed and very intentional about showing us the quantitative growth of the church. Circle every time you see a mentioned number. Look in Acts chapter 11, verse 21. The Lord's hand was with them, and a great what? …
… on their faces and praying. I want you to turn me back to Acts chapter 2. Look at verse 41. This is a passage we've studied a lot. We know well. Look at Acts chapter 2, verse 41. This is the day of Pentecost, all these people gather together. They hear the gospel preached. What does Acts 2.41 say? Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added to their number that day. They go in from 120 people to 3,000 people. A good day. Why did that happen? Well, if you turn back to Acts chapter 1, verse 14, we know they were all gathered together in Acts chapter 2. What were they gathered together to do? They all joined together constantly. In verse 14, we read it just a second ago, they joined together constantly to do what? to pray. So you've got these people gathered together on their faces before God. The Spirit comes down in a mighty way, stand up and preach, and 3,000 people are added to their number. Look in Acts chapter 4. Look over in Acts chapter 4. Look at verse 4 there. This is kind of the second outpouring of growth in the early church. It says in Acts chapter 4, verse 4, many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about 5,000. So we've got over 5,000 folks growing. How is that happening? Well, it all started back in Acts chapter 3, verse 1. One day, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of what? At the time of …
… He shares the gospel with a crowd of people. And you go all the way to Acts chapter two, verse 41. It says over 3,000 people put their faith in Jesus. And a church started in Jerusalem that day. Then, so now fast forward. Go with me to Acts chapter eight. Because by Acts chapter eight, the only known church was still in Jerusalem until Stephen is stoned for sharing the gospel. Watch what Acts chapter 8 verse 1 says. And there arose on that day a great persecution of the church in Jerusalem. They were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. And those who were scattered went about preaching the word. So these followers of Jesus scattered from the church in Jerusalem, now to Judea and Samaria, just like Jesus had said in Acts chapter 1 verse 8. and then turn over one chapter to Acts chapter 9 verse 31 where we read this summary statement. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it multiplied. …
… They had all believed on Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. in Acts chapter 2 verse 38 through 41 and what follows after that it was their faith in Christ that united them together now when we see they had everything in common we immediately start to think in the physical realm and the possessions and that's exactly what this passage goes on to talk about but what we've got to realize is these guys had a lot more in common than just sharing their possessions I want you to see two truths here number one I want you to see that they belonged to each other in Christ. These early believers believed that they belonged to each other in Christ. And it's evidenced by the way we see this word fellowship, koinonia, come up over and over again in the New Testament. Let me take you on a little tour. Turn to the right, and I want you to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. You'll go to Romans and then come to 1 Corinthians. I want you to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And I'm going to show you some different places where we see this New Testament word koinonia. Sometimes it's translated fellowship, other times it's translated different things. And so I want you to maybe even circle it in your Bible and put a line out to the side that says koinonia. This is what they had in common. …
… And so let's do that. The rest of our time, we're going to spend looking at Acts 2, verses 41 through 46. Let's read it together. Peter's just preached an amazing message. And almost three, or exactly 3,000 people were added by putting their faith in Jesus that day. Here's what it says about them. Those who accepted his message were baptized. And that day, about 3,000 people were added to them. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. Everyone was filled with awe. And many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all as any had a need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. …
… that's what set them apart they were concerned about the needs of those around them now i want you to see something very interesting with the bookends on this story look at acts chapter 2 verse 41. This is what we read. Read earlier over the last few weeks. I want you to see what happened right before this passage. It says those who accepted Peter's message were baptized and about how many were added to their number that day? 3,000. It was a good day in the church. They were breaking all the church growth records just like that. They had 120 people in Acts chapter 1. By the end of Acts chapter 2 over 3,000. That's a good day. If we had that same percentage of growth. We would have about 100,000 people worshiping next Sunday. I think we would need a third service before October 1st. What an amazing growth. Now I want you to look at Acts chapter 4. Look at verse 4 there. After this story, it says, many who heard the message believed when Peter and John preached after this story, and the number of men grew to about 5,000. Another good day in the church. So you've got the church just growing at breathtaking speeds. 3,000 one day, the Lord adding to their number daily, those who are being saved. By Acts chapter 4, we're up to over 5,000. …
… Let's do a little research there. Go back to Acts chapter 2, verse 41, and look at it with me for a moment. Acts 2 and verse 41. I want to show you the kind of growth that this church was having. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about 3,000 souls. How would you like to see 3,000 souls saved in one day at Bellevue Baptist Church? I don't think that's impossible at all. As a matter of fact, I think we ought to expect someday that we'll see 3,000 souls come to Jesus in one day, in one service. Why not? Why not? All right, now, look in chapter 4 and verse 4. And just turn over here a minute and look here. Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed, and the number of men was about 5,000. At first they had 3,000 saved. Now they're having 5,000 saved in one service, and many more than that because he's just counting the men here. …