Sunday Evening, April 22, 2007
ACTS 2:41-47
I heard my brother-in-law Woody make an interesting comments. From time to time, we would have opportunity to go and meet with God’s people. I heard Woody say after the service one night, "I like the meat-and-potatoes kind of preaching." Well, this is the meat-and-potatoes Bible study we are doing right now. We are simply going through the Word.
Tonight we come to the conclusion of chapter 2. I want us to spend some time here because it is such a beautiful description of what was happening in the church.
Do you know Ps. 133:1? Does anybody know it just by the address? Oh, you want the first word. Okay, it is "Behold." "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity." In the responses to the question, "Do you feel that you are truly a part of this church?" one of our little sisters included Psalm 133 in her response. This verse comes to my mind often as I read Acts 2:41-47. It is not only good to dwell together in unity, but it is also pleasant. Praise God!
Let’s begin by reading this entire passage… (Acts 2:41-47)
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45. And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47. Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."
41. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Again, we see that baptism (immersion in water) was the outward sign of the inward work that had taken place in those who believed in Jesus Christ. The New Testament cannot conceive of a true believer who is not baptized. This is the New Testament pattern.
Isn’t it amazing that some 3,000 people were added unto them in that one day! That was many times more than the people Jesus accumulated during His entire ministry. How can that be! Jesus spoke of this very thing in John 14:12, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." Surely these are the greater works of which He spoke. The key is in the words, "because I go unto my Father." Because Jesus went to the Father, the Spirit was poured out upon His followers. Remember what Jesus said earlier… (John 7:37-39)
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Now the Spirit had come and was enabling them to do the greater works of which Jesus had spoken.
Notice one more thing about this verse. Not only did these 3,000 people believe and submit to baptism, but they were added to them (NIV – "to their number"). Just as baptism was not an option for those new believers, neither was being a part of the church. We do not read that some of them decided to become a part of the church. The clear implication is that all of them (all 3,000) were added to the number of believers. This is borne out by what we will read in the very next verse: "And they continued stedfastly…" Who continued? Clearly, the 3,000 who had believed and been baptized.
We live in a religious society that has adapted to the standards of the world. If we are not careful, our thinking will be molded along these lines. We must come to the Word of God and let it be the raw material by which the Holy Spirit renews our minds. Baptism and being a part of a local assembly of believers are not options to be considered. They are necessities and privileges which we are to engage in and enjoy. "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" (Ps. 133:1).
42. And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Now let’s notice the life of those who were a part of the Lord’s church. "Continued steadfastly" is the translation of that same word we found in 1:14, where we read, "These all continued with one accord…" These new believers, along with the rest of the believers, devoted themselves wholeheartedly. But to what did they devote themselves? We find four specific practices listed here in this verse. They tell us much about the life of a healthy church.
The apostles’ doctrine. This is simply the teaching of the apostles. Of course, we understand that the apostles were the men who had walked with Jesus. As we saw in chapter 1, these were the men who had been in company with Jesus from the baptism of John until He was taken up into heaven (1:21-22). They had heard the teachings of Jesus personally and directly. To these apostles Jesus said things like this… (Jn. 16:12-15)
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. 13. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. 14. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. 15. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.
The teachings of the apostles were inspired by the Holy Spirit. It was the Spirit who enabled them to recall clearly and accurately the teachings of Jesus.
In addition, we must remember also what Jesus said to the eleven apostles when He appeared to them after His resurrection. Let’s read it from Luke 24:44-48…
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. 45. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46. And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48. And ye are witnesses of these things.
These men had been taught by the risen Christ! They were qualified to teach these believers in a way that no one else was qualified.
But what about us? We don’t have the twelve apostles with us today? Oh, but there is a sense in which we do. As we have talked about before, we essentially have the teachings of the apostles in the New Testament. If we are going to be effective in this world, as was the early church, we must devote ourselves steadfastly to the apostles’ doctrine.
I need to say a quick word about "doctrine." In many circles, that has become a dirty word. "We don’t teach doctrine; we just teach Christ." Don’t be taken in by that kind of reasoning. These early believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ doctrine, to the teaching of the apostles. Paul tells us that the time will come when those who profess Christ will not endure sound doctrine (healthy teaching). So what will they put in place of sound doctrine? Paul says they will heap together teachers who will say what they want them to say, who will satisfy their itching ears. (See II Tim. 4:2-3)
Make no mistake about it, Jesus Himself was a teacher of doctrine. He didn’t say, "Oh, it doesn’t really matter what you believe." Jesus was the one who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me" (Jn. 14:6). He was the very one who told us to beware of false teachers and went to some length in driving home His point (Matt. 7:13-27).
Fellowship. This is from the Greek word "koinonia." It simply refers to a sharing, and in this case a sharing of life. But for these early Christians, it was not just a quiet knowledge that they shared a common life. Rather, it was a great celebration of that sharing of life. As we read these early chapters of Acts, you will see that these people loved being together. Recently we spent some time looking at Heb. 10:24-25, "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." We must understand that this was not a chore for them. As we will see, it was a great joy.
When we read here in verse 42 that they devoted themselves steadfastly to fellowship, the idea is that they bound themselves together in the life of Jesus Christ. In the verses that follow, we will see some of the expressions of this truth.
If the church is to be the church in our day, then we must cherish fellowship. And, of course, we understand that this is not just a being together. We can get together and not demonstrate this fellowship. Let me see if I can illustrate it. Many of you know that Norman and Rita were missionaries in Ethiopia. Ethiopia and its people has a special place in their hearts. Now let’s suppose that you met a couple who had also been missionaries in Ethiopia. Since you knew they shared that piece of life with the Lackeys, you decide to have both couples over for supper one night. When you introduce this couple to Norman and Rita, you tell them that they were also missionaries in Ethiopia. Suppose that after sharing where they served in a couple of minutes, the subject of Ethiopia never came up again all evening. Wouldn’t you think that a bit strange?
Now if we claim to share the very life of Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us, how can we not make Him the center of our togetherness? This is what fellowship is all about. It’s about exploring our common life in Jesus. That will be a reality when the "must" of fellowship becomes the joy of fellowship!
Let’s look at this very thing in I John 1:1-3…
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2. (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
We see here that Jesus Himself is eternal life. John says, "That life was manifested unto us." But he doesn’t stop there. Then verse 3, "That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you." They were declaring Jesus to their readers. Why? "That ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Can you get a glimpse of what he was saying? They would not enjoy fellowship because they came together in the same room, or because they compared the notes of their activities from the week. The fellowship John talks about is clearly a sharing, even a declaring, of the life of Jesus Christ.
But what kind of life is that? Is that all we can do is sit around and talk about Jesus? Isn’t that kind of boring after a while? Not for those who have heard Him and seen Him and handled the Word of life. Listen to David in Ps. 34:8, "O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him."
Come back to I John. After sharing his longing to see others come into this vital fellowship with the Lord Jesus, the next words he writes are recorded in verse 4, "And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." This fellowship is joy. When it isn’t, we are simply revealing our incapacity for the things of God. May we recognize this is a lacking on our part and cry out to Him, that we might long for more of Him.
Will not someone surely say, "But we need to be out sharing the gospel. We don’t have time to spend gathering ourselves together. We live in an urgent time. It is imperative that pour ourselves into spreading the gospel." How do we respond to that? We respond by looking at the early church. Were they sharing the gospel? We are going to see that they were indeed publishing the good tidings of our Lord Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, they continued to gather together. We must understand that these two concepts go together. As we share the gospel, we find an even greater need to come together in fellowship. Evangelism and close fellowship complement one another. There is no conflict between them.
Breaking of bread. There have been two ideas about this breaking of bread. Some would contend that this is simply sharing of meals together. Sharing a meal was a common sign of close fellowship. Certainly the early believers did this. Others would see this as their breaking of bread in observing the Lord’s Supper. Just last week we read these words of Paul from I Cor. 10:16, "The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" Obviously, Paul was using this very phrase to speak of the Lord’s Supper.
The first New Testament use of this phrase "breaking of bread" is found in Luke 24:35, "And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread." This, of course, is in the context of Jesus walking with the two men on the road to Emmaus. Here they are relating their experience, which takes us back to vs. 30, "And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them." Then verse 31, "And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight." So was Jesus celebrating the special communion observance with them? Or, was He simply eating with them? I would have to say that He simply sat down to a meal with them. Had these two men been present with Jesus at the last supper, we might say that they were remembering that special occasion when He broke the bread and said, "This is my body, which is broken for you," but these men were not present at that time.
We find this language again in Acts 20:7, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." I would have to interpret this as a reference to the Lord’s Supper. The next such reference is in Acts 20:11, "When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed."
Here it seems that Paul was simply sharing a common meal.
The other reference to the breaking of bread is right here in 2:46, "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart…" Here we find the same ambiguity. We are not specifically told what Luke meant by the breaking of the bread. Some would interpret the breaking of the bread to be the Lord’s Supper and the "eating of their meat" to be a common meal. Others would see these as parallel statements.
Perhaps this lack of clarity is the intentional design of the Holy Spirit. Maybe their focus upon the Lord was so intense that it was difficult to determine where their official worship of the Lord at the communion table ended and their continual praising of Him in their homes began. We are often plagued by the compartmentalizing of our lives. We make reference to the spiritual and the secular, the holy and the common. Who could deny that for them Jesus Christ was the center of life, whether it be in celebrating the Lord’s Supper or eating together around a kitchen table? My suggestion would be that we cannot rule out that special communion observance. As we grow in the Lord, may that special breaking of bread become more and more dear to us. At the same time, let’s be careful in restricting the breaking of the bread to that one ordinance.
Prayers. Last but not least, these believers continued steadfastly in prayers. The word used here is the most common New Testament word for prayer. Though we are not given any details at this point, we must not forget that these early disciples were devoted to prayer. While they no doubt prayed in secret, surely this is also speaking of praying together (as is true of continuing in the apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, and breaking of bread).
Note that back in 1:14 we are told that they continued steadfastly (same word as here) in prayer. As we continue, we will find this theme again and again in the early church. This church was a church devoted to prayer.
May this be a powerful reminder to us. The enemy delights in choking out prayer. How do I know? Because I find this to be a constant temptation in my life. The enemy can easily deceive me into thinking that my responsibility is to fix things, initiate ministries, and execute plans… unless I remember the words of Jesus my Lord, who said, "Apart from me, you can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5). Too often I have fooled myself into thinking that I am more effective in attacking the problem than getting on my knees and laying my petition before the Lord of the universe! May God make us a praying church.
We are not talking just about forms, about going through the motion. We are not trying to check the box that says, "I prayed today." No, this praying is about communion with God. It is about ceasing to worry and "in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving letting our requests be made known to God" (Phil. 4:6). If we don’t pray, then we are declaring that we don’t need God. We are declaring that we are sufficient without Him.
I know I will sound like a broken record, but please allow me to play it again for you. When we look at the prayers in the Bible, we find that those who prayed majored on the spiritual things. We can certainly find people praying concerning the physical, but the great emphasis is on the spiritual.
Also may the Lord make us aware of our tendency to pray safe prayers. Yes, we have a tendency to pray for things that are likely to happen. We tend to weigh the possibilities and pray accordingly. But I’m thinking about Hannah, who was barren. All possibilities said that she would never have a child. Nevertheless, she prayed for a son, and God answered her prayer. Was it not because the motive of her heart was to glorify God? Just read the prayer she prayed when she took young Samuel up to the house of God (I Sam. 2:1-10).
May we become so saturated with the Word that our prayers will find their source there. In chapter 4, we will come once again to that prayer that found its basis in God’s Word.
43. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45. And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47. Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
The brief outline that follows is taken from Curtis Vaughan’s little study guide Acts. We will simply use it for a framework…
1. The Christian fellowship was marked by reverence (43). "And fear came upon every soul; and many signs wonders and signs were done by the apostles." We will talk more about this "fear" when we come to chapter 5, but it is noted at this point as well. No doubt, there was a sense of awe that still lingered after the Spirit-filled preaching of Peter. And it was intensified by the wonders and signs done by the apostles.
Let’s go back and read verse 22, "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know…" Now Jesus has gone to sit at the right hand of the Father, but the miracles and wonders and signs have not ceased. Now we see Jesus doing them through the hands of His aposltes. Perhaps these are some of the "signs in the earth beneath" (2:19), which were prophesied by the prophet Joel.
2. The Christian fellowship was marked by oneness and love (44-45). "All that believed were together." This is certainly a mark of the fellowship in the early church. They loved being together. It’s kind of amazing when you think about it. These were not people of leisure. They had to work to make a living. Nevertheless, they found time to be together.
This togetherness was not a shallow thing. We see the depth of it in the fact that they had all things common. When we are told that they sold their possessions and goods, that doesn’t mean that they all went out and sold everything they had. More literally, it reads, "And they were selling their possessions and goods, and parting them to all men, as every man had need." They sold what they had when there was a need to be met. It was an ongoing thing, not a once-and-for-all divesting of goods. In short, their fellowship was marked by a great generosity toward one another. We will read in chapter 4:32 that no one called anything his own. We will deal with this more fully in chapter 4.
3. The Christian fellowship was marked by worship and joy (46-47a). The early Christians in Jerusalem continued to come together in the courts of the temple. This was a natural place for them to meet. But their fellowship was not restricted to those larger meetings. They also broke bread from house to house and ate their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. As we said before, it is somewhat difficult to determine where official meetings ended and where informal fellowship began.
Let’s focus for a moment on their gladness and singleness of heart. This emphasis on togetherness was a great joy to them. They understood the beauty of Ps. 133:1, "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."
The word translated "singleness" is found only here in the New Testament. It literally means "without rock." The root word referred to rocky soil, but the word here has a "not" in front of it. So it speaks of soil that is without rock, soil that is pure. Here it obviously isn’t talking about soil, but about the lives of these brothers and sisters. Their lives were pure. Their devotion to Christ was unmixed; it was single. Their attitude could well be described by Col 3:17, "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Col 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;"
Notice in verse 47 that they were praising God. This was not a repetition of hollow religious phrases. From their hearts, they were praising God. They were following in the footsteps of David, who began Ps. 34 with the words, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Ps. 34:1).
They also had favor with the people. It is interesting that we read the same thing about Jesus when He was young. Luke 2:52, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." However, things changed for Jesus. Though He had a certain popularity throughout His ministry, we find that the crowds were very fickle in their loyalty. And so it would be with the early church. They had favor with men at this point, but by chapter 8 many were forced to leave Jerusalem because of persecution.
4. The Christian fellowship was marked by continuous growth (47b). The King James reads, "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." More literally, "those who were being saved" (all texts). There is some variation in Greek texts at this point. That is why NASV and NIV have "added to their number" instead of "added to the church." At this point, I favor the Received Text, which has "to the church."
In reality, only the Lord can add to the church. No man can make another man or even himself a part of the church. On the other hand, this entire passage makes it clear what happened when the Lord added people to the church. They continued in the apostles’ doctrine, and in fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. That was the pattern.
In the early church, neither baptism or being a vital part of a church was an option. Of course, there are some who say, "I am a part of the universal church, but I refuse to be a part of any one local church." Go back to verse 41, "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." Please allow me to read you the words of C. H. Spurgeon, which he spoke while going through this text...
"It seems to have been the custom in the earliest times for persons who had been converted to Christ to join themselves with the church of Jesus Christ.From that fact, I feel persuaded that they did not conceal their convictions. It is a strong temptation with many to say, “I have believed in Jesus, but that is a matter between God and my own soul, there is no need that I should tell this to others. Can't I quietly go to heaven and be a Nicodemus, or a Joseph of Arimathea?” To which I reply, Yes, you can quietly go to heaven, and we hope you will do so, but that is a different thing from being cowardly and ashamed of Christ. We will not object to your being a Nicodemus if you will go with him when he carries spices to the grave of Jesus; and you may be a Joseph of Arimathea if you will attend him when he goes boldly to Pilate and begs for the body of Jesus. Neither of these two brethren were cowards after the cross had been set up before their eyes, neither were they ashamed to identify themselves with the crucified Christ. Follow them, not in the infancy of their love, but in its more mature days. Remember, dear friends, the promise of the gospel runs like this, “He that believes in his heart, and confesses Christ with his mouth, will be saved.” Do not, I charge you, neglect half of the command! The gospel commission which we have received is this: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” That is the message as we find it, we did not insert the clause concerning baptism, neither do we dare to leave it out, or advise you to neglect it. I give you the very words of the Savior. Do not, therefore, divide the gospel command in order to throw half of it away, but believe it all and affirm your belief, and be added to the church.
It is quite clear, too, that believers in those days did not try to go to heaven alone. However, there has been a great deal said in these days about simply being a Christian and not joining any particular church, this is clearly a piece of hypocrisy, and in all cases a mistake.
This idea of not joining any one particular church, and instead simply belonging to the “church at large” is often advocated in the name of unity, and yet it is clear to everyone that it is just the opposite of unity, and is intended to put an end to all visible church fellowship. The good people mentioned in our text immediately join the church of the Living God in Jerusalem. I dare say that even in those days, had they criticized the church, they would have found faults in her, certainly within a few weeks there were great faults that had to be remedied; but these converts felt that the group of Christians at Jerusalem was indeed the true church of Jesus Christ, and, therefore, they joined it. All of you can find true churches of Jesus Christ if you choose to look for them. If you wait for a perfect church, you must wait until you get to heaven; and even if you could find a perfect church on earth, I am sure they would not admit you to their fellowship, for you yourself are not perfect. Find those people who are nearest to the Scriptures, who hold the truth in doctrine and in practice, and are most like the apostolic church, and then join them, and you will be blessed for it. Consider the matter, and reflect that if it would be right for you to remain out of church fellowship, it must be right for every other believer to remain in the same condition, and then there would be no visible church on earth at all, and no body of people banded together to maintain and teach Christian commands and practices. Christian fellowship, especially the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, and the maintenance of an evangelistic ministry, would become an impossibility, if no one openly declared the Savior's cause. Act then according to your duty, and if you are a Christian, join with Christians; if you love the Master, love the servants; if you love the Captain, unite with the army, and join that regiment of it which you think adheres the closest to the Master's word."
Conclusion
May we continue to look at this text, for here we see principles that are vital for the church in every age. Our desire is not to go back to the first century, but to live out the principles of our Lord, which are essential for every century.
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