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Scripture Reading: Acts 2:14-47
In 2:14-47, which records Peter’s first message to the Jews, Peter explains the economical filling of the Holy Spirit (vv. 14-21), witnesses of the Man Jesus in His work, death, resurrection, and ascension (vv. 22-36), and instructs and entreats the Spirit-moved ones (vv. 37-41). Then in 2:42-47 we have a description of the beginning of the church life. In this message we shall consider the beginning of the church life as presented in these verses.
Acts 2:42 says, “And they were continuing steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Here we see that the first group of believers produced through the apostles’ preaching and ministering of Christ on the day of Pentecost continued steadfastly in four things: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. Teaching is the unveiling of God’s New Testament economy concerning Christ and the church. Fellowship is the communion and communication between the believers in their communion and communication with God the Father and Christ the Son. Breaking of bread is the remembrance of the Lord in His accomplishment of God’s full redemption. Prayer is cooperation with the Lord in heaven for the carrying out of God’s New Testament economy on earth.
The first two matters, teaching and fellowship, conjoined by “and” to be one group, are of the apostles, but breaking of bread and prayers are not of the apostles. This indicates that besides the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, the believers in Christ should not have any other teaching and fellowship. In God’s New Testament economy there is only one kind of teaching revealed and recognized by God — the teaching of the apostles. Likewise, there is only one kind of fellowship which is of God and acceptable to Him — the fellowship of the apostles, which is with the Father and the Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3) and which is the unique fellowship of the unique church, the Body of Christ.
The last two matters, the breaking of bread and prayer, conjoined also by “and” to be another group, are practices of the believers’ Christian life. These practices are not related directly to God’s economy for the keeping of the oneness of the church, the Body of Christ. Hence, they are not of the apostles, who brought in God’s New Testament revelation and His fellowship among all the believers in Christ.
We have seen that the new believers continued steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles. The only proper teaching in the New Testament is the apostles’ teaching. Any teaching other than the apostles’ teaching is not scriptural or orthodox. The orthodox teaching is that of the apostles recorded in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament from Matthew through Revelation. Therefore, Paul said to Timothy, “Even as I urged you, when I was going into Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus in order that you might charge certain ones not to teach differently” (1 Tim. 1:3). To teach differently is to teach differently from the teaching of the apostles. If we have different teachings, we shall be divided into different groups. But if we have only the teaching of the apostles, we shall be one.
Just as the teaching of the apostles is unique, so the fellowship of the apostles also is unique. From this we see that all Christians should have one fellowship, the unique fellowship, which is the fellowship of the apostles. This fellowship is mentioned in 1 John 1:3: “That which we have seen and heard we report also to you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed the fellowship which is ours is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia, meaning joint participation, common participation. It is the issue of eternal life, and it is actually the flow of eternal life within all the believers who have received and possess the divine life. It is illustrated by the flow of the water of life in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 22:1). Hence, as indicated by Acts 2:42, all genuine believers are in this fellowship. It is carried on by the Spirit in our regenerated spirit. Therefore, it is called “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Cor. 13:14) and “fellowship of [our] spirit” (Phil. 2:1). It is in this fellowship of eternal life that we, the believers, participate in all that the Father and the Son are and have done for us; that is, we enjoy the love of the Father and the grace of the Son by virtue of the fellowship of the Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14).
Such a fellowship was first the apostles’ portion in enjoying the Father and the Son through the Spirit. For this reason it is called the fellowship of the apostles and “the fellowship which is ours [the apostles’]” in 1 John 1:3, a fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. This fellowship is a divine mystery.
The word “fellowship” used in Acts 2:42 and 1 John 1:3 indicates the putting away of private interest and the joining with others for a certain common purpose. Hence, to have fellowship with the apostles, to be in the fellowship of the apostles, and to have fellowship with the Triune God in the apostles’ fellowship, is to put away our private interests and join with the apostles and the Triune God for the carrying out of God’s purpose. Our participation in the apostles’ enjoyment of the Triune God is our joining with them and with the Triune God for His divine purpose, which is common to God, the apostles, and all the believers.
Among Christians today there are not only different teachings but also different fellowships. Let me illustrate from my experience with the Southern Baptist denomination. Because my mother was a Southern Baptist, I attended Southern Baptist schools. Whenever a communion service was about to be held, the announcement was made that only those who had been baptized by that denomination could participate in the communion service. This means that this denomination had its own fellowship, and that fellowship was not the fellowship of the apostles.
The fellowship of the apostles is open, receiving all kinds of genuine believers in Christ. For example, this fellowship receives believers who have been immersed and believers who have been sprinkled. Furthermore, those in this fellowship do not require that believers be immersed only by them. However, certain sects insist that only their baptism is valid. They may insist that a believer be baptized again if he wants to join their group. This is an illustration of a fellowship that is different from the fellowship of the apostles.
Do you know how to determine whether or not a particular Christian group is a sect? One way to determine this is to check whether or not that group receives all real believers in Christ. For example, suppose a brother in the Lord who is a Roman Catholic priest attends our Lord’s table meeting. We certainly would receive him because he is our brother in Christ. However, any group that does not receive all true believers is a sect and is not practicing the fellowship of the apostles.
In certain places believers of one racial group are not received by Christians who are of a different race. Are those who reject believers because of their race in the fellowship of the apostles? Certainly not. Their fellowship is the fellowship of a particular race, not the fellowship of the apostles. The fellowship of the apostles surely includes believers of every race and nationality. We have an illustration of this in Acts 13:1, where we see that among the prophets and teachers in the church in Antioch were those of different races and nationalities.
Those who do not receive believers whose nationality differs from theirs are not practicing the fellowship of the apostles. Suppose certain brothers in the United States are not willing to receive brothers from Germany. They say, “These Germans are too strong. We simply cannot accept them.” If such were the case, those American brothers would be a sect. They would not have the fellowship of the apostles but some kind of so-called American style of fellowship. Let us also suppose that the German brothers react and say, “Since you Americans will not accept us, we will not accept you.” The result is that there are two so-called fellowships, a German fellowship and an American fellowship. The New Testament, however, knows only of one fellowship — the fellowship of the apostles.
The signs believers post in front of their meeting places often indicate that they are not in the fellowship of the apostles. For instance, in China I saw a sign that identified a particular place as an “American Presbyterian Church.” Not long ago I saw a sign in southern California identifying a certain group as a “Taiwan Chinese Church.” How strange that in China there was an American Presbyterian Church, and in California, a Taiwan Chinese Church. Such groups are not practicing the oneness of the Body of Christ.
According to Acts 2:42, in the first church life there was only one fellowship, and that fellowship was of the apostles. The apostles’ fellowship included all genuine believers. In the church life in the Lord’s recovery we follow and practice the fellowship of the apostles.
The grammatical construction of 2:42 is significant. Here we see that the new believers continued steadfastly in two groups of things: first, in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles; second, in the breaking of bread and the prayers. In each group of two there is the conjunction “and.” This conjunction joins the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles; it is used again to join the breaking of bread and the prayers. However, this conjunction is not used to join these two groups. In other words, these four matters — the teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers — are not one group of four items. Rather, according to the grammatical structure, teaching and fellowship are one group, and breaking of bread and prayers are another group.
We can see from the grammatical construction of this verse that the teaching and the fellowship are of the apostles, but the breaking of bread and the prayers are not of the apostles. The teaching and the fellowship belonged to the apostles, but not the breaking of bread and the prayers. This implies that although we can pray at any place and at any time, we cannot have more than one kind of fellowship. There is only one fellowship, the unique fellowship, the fellowship of the apostles. Likewise, although we can break bread at any time and at any place, we cannot have a teaching different from that of the apostles. On the contrary, as believers we should have only one teaching, the unique teaching, the teaching of the apostles.
Acts 2:43 says, “And fear came upon every soul; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.” Wonders and signs are not part of God’s central testimony of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ. Neither are they part of God’s full salvation. Rather, wonders and signs are only evidences that what the apostles preached and ministered and how they acted were absolutely of God, not of man (Heb. 2:3-4).
Acts 2:44 and 45 go on to say, “And all those who believed were together and had all things common; and they sold their possessions and properties and divided them among all according as anyone had need.” We read of the same in 4:32. Having all things common is not a sign of love; it is a sign of Christ’s dynamic salvation that saved the believers from greediness and selfishness. This was practiced only for a short time at the initiation of God’s New Testament economy. It did not continue for the long run as a practice of legality in the church life during Paul’s ministry, as proved by his words in 2 Corinthians 9 and other places.
Acts 2:45 says that the believers sold their possessions and properties and divided them according to need. This also is an evidence of the Lord’s dynamic salvation, which caused the believers to overcome their earthly possessions, which occupy, possess, and usurp fallen mankind (Matt. 19:21-24; Luke 12:13-19, 33-34; 14:33; 16:13-14; 1 Tim. 6:17). Although the dynamic salvation of God caused the believers to forget about earthly possessions, having all things common did not become a formal practice in the church life.
Acts 2:46-47a says, “And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they took their food with exultation and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.” In the initiation of God’s New Testament economy, the early believers and even the first group of apostles were not clear that God had forsaken Judaism with its practices and facilities, including the temple (Matt. 23:38 — “your house,” referring to the God-forsaken temple). Hence, they still went, according to their tradition and habit, to the temple for their New Testament meeting.
According to 2:46, day by day the believers broke bread from house to house. The early believers remembered the Lord by breaking bread daily in their houses. This shows their love and enthusiasm toward the Lord.
The Greek words rendered “from house to house” also mean “at home,” in contrast with “in the temple.” The Christian way of meeting together is fitting to God’s New Testament economy, differing from the Judaic way of meeting in the synagogues (6:9). The Christian way of meeting in homes became a continual and general practice in the churches (cf. Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philem. 1:2).
In 2:46 we see that the believers “took their food with exultation and simplicity of heart.” The Greek word for “simplicity” also means singleness. Here it describes the heart being simple, single, and plain, having one love and desire and one goal in seeking the Lord. These early believers were simple, single, sincere, and pure in heart.
According to 2:47a, the believers in the early church life praised God and had favor with all the people. They lived a life that expressed God’s attributes in human virtues, as Jesus the Man-Savior did (Luke 2:52).
Acts 2:47b says, “And the Lord added together those who were being saved from day to day.” For the Lord to add together those who were being saved means that He added them together to the church. The Lord added the saved ones together, and their togetherness was the church. This indicates that from the very beginning of their Christian life the early believers were brought into the corporate church life, not living individualistically as Christians separated from one another. We thank the Lord for this picture of the first church life.
