On Which the Church Is Built
C. H. Brown
Acts 2:37-4737Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46And 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, 47Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:37‑47)ACT 2:37-4737Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. 40And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46And 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, 47Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:37‑47)
In the Word of God we have God's mind with reference to the church of God. We read in Acts 20 that the church is very dear to the heart of God, because He paid for it with the blood of His only Son. He is jealous of that church that it might go on and abide in all its privileges that were guaranteed to it in the Word of God by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven.
The church of God was a new and distinct thing in that day. It had never been the subject of direct prophecy, though it was found hidden in types and shadows from the first major type of the Bible, right on down to the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. But as to its actuality, the church of God never existed until that memorable day when the 120 were gathered in the upper room and the Spirit of God came down and baptized them into one body. The ascended Head from heaven assumed the responsibility of equipping His church with every needed gift. He still lives, He is still in the glory, He is still caring for His church, He is still giving out gifts, and He is still nurturing every individual in that body.
In the New Testament, primarily in the Acts and the epistles, every detail has been worked out for us, especially the fundamental principles on which the church was built, and by which and for which it was formed.
Look at verse 42 of chapter 2: "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." It says, "They continued": Who were "they"? It is this new group, this company that have been baptized with the Spirit of God, and baptized with water to identify themselves with this new position here in this world.
So here is a baptized company; they had received the Word and they were baptized. On this particular day when Peter preached his sermon, there were three thousand souls added. "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" Any Christian company which denies any of those four things is not going according to the plan that God has in mind. Remember, it is His church and He is the One who decides the path, and you and I are only in obedience if we follow what is the Word of God. One of the marks of a Christian is to "continue steadfastly.”
Which of these four things comes first in verse 42? The apostles' doctrine. We are living in a day of shallow thinking. People say, "Doctrine doesn't make any difference," but it makes all the difference in the world. Doctrine is a solemn thing, it has preeminence, and you find it stressed in the Word of God.
Turn to 1 Timothy 1 and the end of verse 10: "And if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine." Does God care what you believe? In the same epistle, chapter 4:13, "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine." Does it make any difference what you believe? Give attendance to doctrine. Then in verse 16, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." Do you want to be used in blessing to others? Then continue in sound doctrine yourself, for it is a day when we have to be on the alert about sound doctrine.
Now look at 1 Timothy 6:3-43If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; 4He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, (1 Timothy 6:3‑4): "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing." There is no use boasting of gift, there is no use parading our clever abilities, if our doctrine does not square with the Word of God. We know nothing apart from the revealed will of God, as we find it in the Word of God.
In 2 Timothy 1:13 we read, "Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou halt heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." You and I cannot afford to do any experimentation in the truth of God. In 2 John he warns us: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, bath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”
Again in 2 Timothy 3:1010But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, (2 Timothy 3:10), "But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience." Doctrine and manner of life are two things put together. Man will tell you that it doesn't make any difference what you believe—the main thing is how you live. That is false. Doctrine comes first. You cannot live right unless you believe right. Don't think you can divorce conduct from doctrine. The only right conduct that God can look upon with complacency is conduct that desires to obey the revealed Word of God. My doctrine and my conduct are my manner of life.
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Tim. 4:2-42Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:2‑4)). We are there now; we have reached that place; they will not endure sound doctrine.
Go back to Acts 2:4242And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:42), "The apostles'... fellowship." It is not only the apostles' doctrine, but it is also the apostles' fellowship. Now there are many fellowships in the world, but here is the apostles' fellowship. What is that? It is that fellowship that results from the association of those that keep the doctrine of the apostles. In other words, if you set out to observe the doctrine of the apostles, you do that and I do the same, we will find ourselves together. It is founded and it is based on the doctrine of the apostles. We see it functioning here in verse 44 of this chapter, "And all that believed were together, and had all things common." There is no such pathway marked out in Scripture as going it alone in God's things. No, and do not think you are pleasing the Lord when you are walking apart from your brethren. I know they are a failing lot. I'm one of them, and I know I try my brethren, but oh, my brethren have been so good to me, that I seek grace to go on with them.
There is now another point: fellowship and breaking of bread. Some Christians seem to feel that there are two kinds of Christians in the world: those that break bread and those that do not. I have never found that in my Bible. Apart from being under discipline, we break bread. Of course, we do not expect those under discipline to be breaking bread. But I do not find in Scripture that one class is breaking bread and another is not. No, the normal thing is that if you are a child of God, you will go on to break bread. It was one of the privileges in the new position that they had as Christians: that sacred privilege, the breaking of bread. The Lord asked them to do it and they gladly responded. I know we are living in days of utmost confusion, and it is difficult to find your way today. I am quite ready to admit that, but that is no excuse for going on not remembering the Lord. Are you a Christian? Do you know your sins are forgiven? Why, then, are you not remembering the Lord in the breaking of bread? It is a solemn thing. He asked us to do it. He did not say, "If you would like to do it," or, "If it is agreeable to you." He said "this do." Not "go and preach the gospel," not "go as a missionary to some foreign country," but "this do in remembrance of Me.”
They continued in the breaking of bread; they did not give it up. Some of us have known believers that broke bread for a while and then they quit coming to remember the Lord. When asked why they ceased, they replied that they were offended. But I have never met one that took offense at the Lord Jesus Christ, and yet He was the One that said, "This do in remembrance of Me." Why can't we have more patience with one another? Do you think that you personally never try your brethren? Cannot you find grace to go on with them? Are you justified, just because someone has hurt your feelings, to deny the Lord His request?
The last thing that is mentioned is "prayer." That occupies a great place in the Scriptures. The Lord Jesus set us an example; He was a man of prayer. When we come to the lives of the apostles, we find they were men of prayer too. When Peter was in prison and his head was to come off the next day, the saints of God were in the home of John Mark's mother, on their knees way into the wee hours of the night praying. They were not just saying prayers; they were praying earnestly. Those prayers penetrated; they went up to the throne of God, and God heard and answered in a mighty way. Peter was gloriously delivered. But the moment he was delivered and could decide what had happened, he made his way straight to the powerhouse of deliverance—that little prayer meeting in a home.
Suppose you had been living in that day and you knew Peter was being persecuted and going to be killed. Would you say, "I'm tired today; I think I'll stay home tonight. I don't think I will go to the prayer meeting"? Then the next day you heard of what happened. Surely, you would be disappointed; you would say, "I wish I had been there and prayed to God for Peter." Oh, yes, you would have wished that you had been at the prayer meeting. Don't despise the prayer meeting or discount it; an assembly without a prayer meeting is a sick assembly. Thank God today there is a prayer meeting!
We have had before us the simple path of the New Testament saints. Are we willing the tittle time that is left to walk in the simplicity of that path, jealously excluding anything that denies it, detracts from it, or adds to it? If we are willing, someday we may hear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant"; not "good and successful servant," but "good and faithful servant." May God grant that it will be so.
Self-denial is discipline for life—the work of awry hour.