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 2:44-47
Consider the fifth of eight aspects of Christian fellowship in the Church from Acts 2:44-47:
5. Church members “praised God” (v.47). Those who do not know the Lord do not praise the Lord. They may be happy when experiencing “good luck,” but that isn’t really praising God at all.
Those who know the Lord—and I mean know that He is the Sovereign from whose benevolent hand comes all things—can, and do, praise the Lord, at least some of the time. Sadly, even we who know the sovereign One, tend to forget to praise Him. Why? Ironically, because we are so used to His kind benevolence, that we tend to take the blessings that come from Him for granted. So we forget to praise the Lord, except when He really blesses us in big ways.
Some teach that we are to praise God “in all things,” but “not for all things.” This teaching is based on the mistaken belief that God is not sovereign over “all things.” The reality is, since He is sovereign over all things, He has a plan for us even in the circumstances that we don’t think of as praiseworthy. But if we believe that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28), we can and should praise God our circumstances notwithstanding. Praising God, you see, is about Him—and about His sovereignty even in our sorrows. He is worthy of all praise because of who He is and because He is working all things together for our good and for His glory.
Let us ask the Lord to teach us to praise the Lord always in all things. And may we as a church encourage each other to praise the Lord!
Next Time: Church members had “favor with all the people.” (v.47)