HOW they received the Word first meets us. Then they that [gladly] received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls" (verse 41).
Great numbers of Peter's hearers gave a full reception to the Word preached, accepted and received it as true. The word "gladly" is said by critics not to have been in the original text, but "a later addition, intended to add to the force of the text, and is wanting in important manuscripts, in ancient versions, and Church Fathers: hence Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Alford cancel it." "Those who had accepted his word" is how it reads. "Word" is translated "saying" in 1 Tim. 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15). "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus carne into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief," said Paul. And how did he receive the word or saying when the voice said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest"? Was it "gladly" or sadly? Very sadly indeed, as befitted his case (see Acts So here the absence of "gladly" is in season with the circumstances; for they were Jerusalem sinners who had had every evidence that Jesus was the Christ, and yet they had rejected and crucified Mm; and, on their alarm, on hearing that God had exalted Him to His throne, and made Him both Lord and Christ, he had just exhorted them to "repent;" and one would expect their reception of the word by faith to be with that gravity and penitence which would be in keeping with such circumstances. They were very bright and happy after having believed, as the subsequent narrative shows. "He that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it: yet hath he not root in himself," etc. (Matt. 13:2020But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; (Matthew 13:20)). "Those who received his word were baptized:" and no doubt had remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost wherever there was true faith and repentance. Baptism was the public reception of them as having there into the house of God—the new "house" over which Christ is set in the heavens—the Christian family of faith which he had just begun to gather, and to make "an habitation of God in the Spirit," consequent on His "having purged our sins and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
“And there was added that day about three thousand souls." This was an amazing draft of fishes on the part of Peter as a fisher of men (Matt. 4:1919And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19)). They were said to be added to the original nucleus of about one hundred and twenty; for, though the smaller number, they were the Church; because upon them had descended the Holy Ghost, baptizing them into one body in association with Christ in the heavens, though they did not then know the height of their privilege nor the greatness of their blessing. Three thousand souls! How great the efficacy of the gospel, and how great still! Three thousand souls in a day were a precious prize for the rejoicing of Jesus, as they were a great public testimony to His having been made "both Lord and Christ," and having given the promised Holy Ghost. The best proof of a Holy Ghost ministry is converted souls. Luke says "names" (Acts 1:1515And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) (Acts 1:15)), here "souls;" in chap. 4:4, "men;" "the number of the men had become about five thousand." How speedily the eleven men of chapter 1. had increased to five thousand! God had prepared the people; for the thing was done suddenly (2 Chron. 24:36) And ought we not to look for the repetition of the sudden and simultaneous conversion of souls, that Christ's glory in the heavens, and the Holy Ghost's presence on earth, may be demonstrably attested?
2. THE ELEMENTS OF A STRONG CHURCH. —.And they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers" (verse 42).
That is how it reads; for the things named go in pairs—"teaching and fellowship,"—"breaking of bread and prayers." They continued steadfastly "in the four principal attributes of a spiritual community.”
(1.) Teaching. —In our version it is called "doctrine;" but it does not mean the doctrine taught, but the teaching of it. After being brought into the new association there was a need of instruction; and the apostles were pre-eminently those that ' God vouchsafed in the infant days of His assembly. Inasmuch as it was of the utmost importance that all should be thoroughly established in the grace and truth that carne by Jesus Christ, they had a place peculiar to themselves, as above all others chosen of the Lord to lay the foundations of His house, and to direct and administer in His name, as we see through the New Testament. It is of all importance that young believers should have "the apostles' teaching," by having the doctrine they taught communicated in all its Scriptural purity, "the faith once for all delivered to the saints!”
(2.) Fellowship—"Community: the living together as one family, and having things in common."— (Alf.) The word is comprehensive of community, communion, communication (Rom. 15:2626For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. (Romans 15:26); 1 Cor. 1:9; 10:169God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9)
16The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16) (twice); 2 Cor. 6: 14; 8:14; 9:13; 13:1414But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: (2 Corinthians 8:14)
13Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; (2 Corinthians 9:13)
14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. <<The second epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.>> (2 Corinthians 13:14); Gal. 2:99And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. (Galatians 2:9); Eph. 3:99And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: (Ephesians 3:9); Philip. 1:5; 2:1; 3:10; Phil. 6; Heb. 13: 16; 1 John 1:33That 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. (1 John 1:3) (twice), 6, 7).
This fellowship was the fruit of the apostles' teaching. So we read in 1 John 1., that that apostle writes all about the life manifested, that the saints might have fellowship with him and the other apostles, and have their joy full; and he writes, "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." It was a community of life in the Spirit, and formed and maintained by the teachings of the apostles. There are certain teachings in Christendom which form distinct fellowships, such as Calvinistic, and Arminian or Pelagian. One set of professing Christians has one set of teaching, and another another; and they have also different ecclesiastical polities; and by these teachings of theirs they isolate themselves from each other's fellowship, and have fellowship or things in common only with those who are of the same opinions. This results from giving up the apostles' teaching, and adopting in part their own; for were all believers adhering to the apostles' teaching they would persevere in the apostles' fellowship they would be all molded by the word and Spirit into one in their minds, hearts, and ways; for the gift of the Holy Ghost is not to produce moral change only but to act in connection with Christ risen and glorified in such power as to set aside all the motives that individualize those who receive it by uniting them as one soul and in one mind. All are baptized by one Spirit into one body, and all are made to drink into one Spirit.
This was the experienced condition in the apostles' days, for all who believed got their teaching; and when other teachings threatened to come in, they were put down by apostolic teaching, that the souls of the saints should stand by faith and not by mere authority. “Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy; for by faith ye stand." That is, instead of putting the Corinthians right by authority, he wrote an epistle full of suited teaching, that he might set their souls right; for he well knew that, if souls are not put right, there is no good resulting from authoritatively putting things right in the Church. They must be put right by apostolic teaching; which, reaching their faith, they will stand in faith and not by force. Church authority domineering over faith can never produce the apostles' fellowship. There is a divine order: first, apostles' teaching, then fellowship. We get a common mind by being taught in the apostles' doctrine as people having faith, as the mouth that receives that divine truth which flows from the Father and the Son in the power of the Holy Ghost, and makes us enjoy community in everything.
(3.) Breaking of Bread. — "Next followed the breaking of bread, the formal expression of Christian fellowship, and the special outward sign of remembering Him to whose death they owed all;" for the interpretation of it as meaning the celebration of the Lord's Supper has been the prevalent one in ancient and modern times, though I doubt not it was associated for some time with the love-feast, as it seems in this chapter further on very distinctly to have been connected therewith; and it was so until they were separated by the Apostle Paul, as in 1 Cor. 11.; and then it came out more as a Church ordinance to be partaken of in a public assembly, for they were commanded to wait for one another, and to take the Lord's Supper all together as a Church, and not one after the other, in a straggling manner, or in little companies thrown together by position in life, riches, poverty, or other circumstances.
“They adhered, also, to the religious meals of which the Lord's Supper was the conclusion," says a German. Barely to render "the breaking of bread"—the breaking of bread in the eucharist, as now understood —would be to violate historical truth. The Holy Communion was at first, and for some time, till abuses put an end to the practice, "inseparably connected with the agapœ or love-feasts of the Christians, and unknown as a separate ordinance;" thus Alford, in loco. But were we granting that it was even so, yet in this verse we believe that the Lord's Supper is specially intended by "the breaking of bread." "The continuance in this, shows that on the first Lord's-day the first Lord's Supper was celebrated.”
(4.) Prayers. Finally, but closely following the Lord's Supper, come "the prayers," which still showed that, however great might be the grace of God, they were in the place of danger and needed dependence here below. These prayers were no doubt public, social, and private—in the Jewish temple (verse 46), in the Christian assembly, and in the closet. They went at the appointed times of prayer to the temple; and they had prayers among themselves regularly, and no doubt after the Lord's Supper. No times or forms were yet made for Christian prayers: they were "praying in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 15:5, 65Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 6That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5‑6)). The first Christians persevered continuously, as the word imports, in all these four elements of a fresh, living, and strong Christian life. How few continue in the full tale—the four in their adequate proportions. One set go in strong for "doctrine," another for "prayers," various sets make "fellowship very prominent," and some the "breaking of bread;" but what is wanted is that Christians should equally persevere in all. Of the Pentecost Church we read; "They persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread, and prayers.”
FELLOWSHIP.—In tracing the word fellowship through the New Testament Scriptures, the results appear to admit of being tabulated under the following classification:—
1. The fellowship of the Christian community (Acts 2:4242And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:42); 1 John 1:33That 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. (1 John 1:3); Gal. 2:99And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. (Galatians 2:9)).
The fellowship of incongruity (2 Cor. 6:14-1814Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:14‑18); verb 2 John 1111For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. (2 John 11); 1 Tim. 5:2222Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure. (1 Timothy 5:22)).
Each of these heads would form a fine theme; but our plan does not admit of our following this out; but we will consider a little more fully this nearly-formed fellowship of the Christian community.—From Acts 2:4242And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. (Acts 2:42), one would, at first sight, incline to designate this "the apostles' fellowship;" but, on looking more narrowly into the construction of the verse, we find that the word apostles' is attached, properly speaking, only to the word doctrine; and there are obviously four things contained in the verse—(1.) The apostles' doctrine; (2.) Fellowship of Christians; (3.) Breaking of bread; and (4.) Prayers; and these, in their due proportion, when "steadfastly continued" in, form the elements of a healthy and vigorous Christian community.
Nevertheless the expression in 1 John 1:33That 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. (1 John 1:3), "that ye may have fellowship with us," might warrant the epithet, apostles' fellowship; for although the Church is "God's building," and Christ builds His Church, the apostles were appointed by Christ as the medium, and the Holy Ghost sent from Christ employed them as the instruments for the formation of the new and Christian fellowship which He formed consequent on the glorification of Christ. The apostle John told that he had written all about the manifested Life that we might have fellowship with him, as also with the other apostles. Their writings in the Gospels, as well as their preaching and teaching, were the means of continuing and extending the Christian community formed. The Holy Ghost used them in laying instrumentally the foundation of the Christian house in which He dwells, and over which the Christ, the son of the living God, is Head.
This is a new house of God: and the coming of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost formed this heavenly fellowship. Christ had said to His disciples, when far from Jerusalem, in Caesarea Philippi, after experiencing such rejection by "His own" as to prove that the old "fellowship"—the nation of the Jews— would not receive Him, "On this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it;" and He promised to give the Holy Ghost, who was to form it consequent upon His death and glorification ; and having gone to the right hand of God, He sent Him : and this " fellowship " was formed by the Holy Ghost joining together the waiting disciples to their risen and glorified Head in heaven ; for union to Christ, so that it can be said, " He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit," can only be in the power of the Holy Ghost as sent from the throne of a glorified Christ.
And is there not an analogy between the way in which Israel was formed into a nation and the formation of the Church? They were under the shelter of the blood of the lamb in Egypt, and were passed over on the day of judgment (and so Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us) ; and as Israel's hosts were given practically to realise their redemption from Egypt by being brought through the opened Red Sea, and were all baptized unto Moses—identified with him as their divinely-appointed leader,—and this outward or sacramental baptism made a nation of them—they being thus joined to their divinely-given head, so the disciples, who had stood by the cross, heard the lips of the risen Jesus speak peace to them in resurrection, as He showed them His hands and His side, and breathed on them, and said, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." "When the day of Pentecost was fully come," they received the Holy Ghost and were all baptized into one body by the Spirit come down from heaven, and were thereby united to and identified with their divinely-given Head in heaven, the Captain of their salvation, the glorified Jesus, and became the redeemed body of Christ, His spiritual" house," His" holy nation.”
And this "fellowship" is a spiritual unity; "for as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is the Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." This is the Holy Spirit's account of the forming of this divine fellowship. The coming of the Holy Ghost is a new fact and an immense spiritual blessing; and the results of His operations when present are such as enduing with power to testify for Christ and the gospel of God; to baptize all believers into one body; to indwell believers, be with and in the saints of God, the unction, the seal, the earnest; and being in all who believe, there is one pervading Spirit as the link of unity between Christ in heaven and the Church on earth; and being "all one in Christ Jesus," they are all one with each other—all being in the Spirit, and together "the body of Christ and members in particular.”
And this fellowship of Christians having the Holy Ghost has power to add to its numbers. The Holy Ghost is Christ's agent in upholding His testimony, but believers are His instruments, and in a way that is most supernatural, yet to all appearance natural; the fellowship seems, self-propagated and perpetuated. Christ had promised the Holy Ghost: when Christ was seated at God's right hand, He carne: those who had life—the waiting disciples (on whom He had previously breathed and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost," when the receiving time carne) received Him along with the rest of the one hundred and twenty; and out of them flowed rivers of living water (word and Spirit) in bold and decided testimony to the Christ of glory, who had been rejected and crucified by men, but exalted to God's right hand: and although we cannot have, as we do not need, a fresh outpouring of the Holy Ghost (for if a thing is poured out, it is) as if He were to be re-given by Christ; yet in a lower sense, now that the Spirit has come to abide with the Church forever, we have a right to expect, as a normal experience, that we should have a continual outflowing of the Holy Ghost from the bellies of believers, for "this spake he of the Spirit which they who believe on him should receive:" and the Apostle Paul speaks of ministering the Spirit (Gal. 3.)
There was an outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost: He was given, once for all, as the gift of God the Father and the Son; but, being come down, it is for continuous outflowing; and this going forth from the saints, along with the testimony of God to His Christ, and reaching "the hearing of faith" so that sins are forgiven and a knowledge of redemption imparted, the Holy Ghost is communicated, and the hearers are added, as on the day of Pentecost the three thousand were, to this new and holy fellowship, the communion of saints'; and thus the Church of God is increased with living members, the holy temple in the Lord groweth increasingly, and they are conscious of holy living fellowship such as is peculiar to Christianity.
This fellowship is divine in its origin, formation, and continuance it is formed outside the wicked and religious world; it is inclusive of all believers; it is pervaded by the Spirit of life, love, grace, joy, and spiritual power; and has a practical tare for the welfare of all its members; and in its normal condition is submissive to the Holy Ghost, and, keeping itself pure, has an awe-inspiring influence on the world (Acts 2. 4. 5. 7.)
"And fear was upon every soul, and many wonders and signs took place through the apostles' mean" verse 43).
This dread was a reverential astonishment at the effect produced by the outpouring of the Spirit.
When God is present with His people, especially in granting special favor or in executing special judgment on their behalf, fear is experienced (Acts 5:5, 19:17). As when the fear and dread of the children of Israel fell on the nations of Canaan, Rahab said to the spies, "Your terror is fallen upon us." So when the mysterious hand from the Unseen traced the doom of Babylon on the plaster of the wall over against the candlestick, the king and all his guests were terror-struck, for God was near. It is also said, "Israel shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days" (Hos. 3:55Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days. (Hosea 3:5)). And this verse tells that at Pentecost even the impenitent were struck with fear at the whole occurrence, and especially at the great numbers who had been converted, and at all that they had seen and heard. They felt
—"How awful goodness is.”
A holy dread overpowered them, for they were unconsciously led to acknowledge the finger of God, and they felt His power. They may also temporarily have had a presentiment of that "wrath to come" which was to overtake the obstinate enemies of God. While the narrative before us refers to this circumstance, it also states a fact which deepened the feeling of dread produced by the Pentecostal event, namely, that many miracles were wrought by the apostles; there are not, however, to be understood as having been restricted to that particular day (Dr. Lechler).
Fear, or a reverent awe, must also have been upon the believers, as is ordinarily the case when He is felt to be near by His wonderful works. "It is a characteristic of the works of God that they fill us with awe.”
3. ALL TOGETHER, AND ALL THINGS COMMON.— "And all that believed were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions and substance, and distributed them to all, according as any one might have need" (verses 44, 45). "And all that believed were together. At what a wide distance alas! are we removed from that unity at the present day" (Bengel). Such was the unity of feeling and affection in the infant Church, that, notwithstanding their numerical increase, they seemed to constitute a single household with identity of interest and even of possession. "All that believed were together." The same expression, together, is used in chap. 1:15; 2:1; 3:1. The sense is that they continually assembled together though so large a company they did so in the temple court at the hour of prayer; and they were all together as one company of people wherever they might be. Alford says it is not "joined together in fraternal love," as Calvin has it, but that they were all together in an assembly. Whether they all assembled at one time is not absolutely necessary to the statement that they were all together; for a whole Church may be said to meet though many may be absent, provided they meet on the principle of including all. There were not many churches, only one in Jerusalem at this time: not as now, Latin, Greek, Protestant!
"And had all things common," etc.—" This peculiar feature is found in Jerusalem, beautiful and blessed in its season, but I have no doubt special to the Jerusalem condition of the Church of God. We can easily understand it. In the first place, all that composed the Church were at that time in the same place. We can feel readily therefore that there would be a real and strong family feeling, but I doubt whether their mutual affections then rose higher than the sense of their being God's family. They really did constitute the body of Christ; they were baptizer by one Spirit into one body, but to be that one body and to know that such they were are two different things. The development was reserved for another and still weightier witness of the glory of the Lord Jesus. But having in its strength the sense of family relationship, the wonderful victory of grace over selfish interests was the fruit of it. If he or she belonged to the household of God, this was the governing thought—not one's own possessions. Grace gives without seeking a return; but grace, on the other side, seeks not its own things but those of Christ.”
There was no law demanding this except the law of love, love to Christ and to all the holy brethren; but it seems (ch. 4:32) to have been the universal custom to be on the principle of having a common stock. It does not seem that "they possessed all in common," but "held all their real estate and personal property as a trust for the use of fellow believers." It seems to have been a continuation and extension of the community in which our Lord and His disciples had lived (John 12:6; 13, 296This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. (John 12:6)) before. This showed the power of love to bring out spontaneously what law could not do. For when Jesus commanded the young ruler— "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me" (Matt. 20:2121And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. (Matthew 20:21)); "he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions," and would not do it. But here they "sold their possessions and substance, and distributed them to all as every man had need," without any command, but as the outflow of love to brethren in Christ. And the love of God could not be demonstrated except by such a spirit of Christ like self-sacrifice: for, "Whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:17, 1817But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:17‑18)).
The spirit of this Christian communism is still to actuate us, though a common stock for all who claim to be Christians now would be a great evil. We come into the Church at conversion, carrying all our property with us to be administered by us as under responsibility to Christ, and for the greatest glory of His name, and the relief of His poor saints. One would covet the superior blessedness of being always a giver, remembering "the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:3535I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35)); but even he condescended to take the less blessed place of being a receiver when here below; for we read of "certain women" named, and many others, who ministered to Him of their substance (Luke 8:33And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance. (Luke 8:3)): and will He not say when on the throne of earth— "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye did it unto Me"? (Matt. 25:4040And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:40)).
On this a German has a few pithy sentences, contrasting this divine communism with modern communism: "That Christian communism said, All that is mine is thine The unchristian communism of our day says, All that is thine is mine Those early Christians said, Take all that I have! The modern communism exclaim, Deliver up all that thou hast! That holy community of goods proceeded from love to the poor: but that which is now proclaimed is the result of a hatred to the rich.”