Acts 2:46-47(NKJV) 46So 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, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Two things stand out when you read the early chapters of the book of Acts. One is the amount of time the believers spent together. Fellowship is communion. Communion means to share something in common with another person or other people. If you read the first four chapters of Acts, you must conclude that these people did not just have faith in Jesus in common; they shared that faith with one another daily.
The second thing that defined the early church was the amount of power that was flowing. People were healed regularly. In Acts 2:43 we read “many signs and wonders were done through the apostles.” In verse 47 Luke tells us, “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” As we continue in Acts, we read of the lame man who was healed at the beautiful gate of the temple. We read of the shadow of Peter healing the sick. Many times the bible tells us of the mighty manifestations of God’s power in the community where the disciples lived.
What was the key to this power? All who truly love the Lord and want to see the world touched for Jesus want to see this kind of manifestation of his presence. What did they have that we do not? Certainly, we can study many factors that produce the power of God. However, I never made the connection between these two characteristics of the first local church. They had extreme fellowship and extreme power. Can this be a coincidence?
I do not believe it is. I believe that the connection between the believers in that first church and the amount of power they saw manifested were related. It is easy to understand why they were so close in the natural. Both the religious and the secular world were against them. They lived at risk for their lives. They had to be together because they had nowhere else to go. That may explain why they were so closely knit, but it does not explain why they experienced such a great explosion of the power of God.
Some might say that the power was there to establish the church. There are denominational stances that try to tell us that God does not do things like healings and miracles in our day. He did those things in the early church in order to establish the church, but today we do not need such things. We have an established church and we have the written bible. Signs and wonders are no longer necessary. My 34 years of ministry experience would beg to differ.
We need the power of God today as much as we ever have. People still need to know that God is real. The words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 2 are still valid.
1 Corinthians 2:4-5(NKJV) 4And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of £human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
People will not come to Jesus because of enticing words of man’s wisdom. If we believe in a God who is still capable of the miraculous, why would we think he is unwilling to do for our generation what he did for the early church? I believe w need a manifestation of God’s power. I believe the people in my community need more than just my word that God is alive. I believe they need a demonstration of the spirit and of power so their faith can rest in the power and reality of God not just the wisdom of men.
This brings us back to our question. What was the key to the power of God in the church of Acts. There were many, I am sure, however I think we need to reexamine the connection to the level and depth of their fellowship. The level of fellowship they enjoyed with each other helped produce the level of power they saw released. Why?
Ephesians 3 tells us we will see the fullness of God when all saints are together. We know that strife and disunity will hinder the power of God. However, Galatians 5:6 tells us that faith works by love. Where there is an atmosphere of love there will be active faith. Where there is active faith there will a flow of God’s power. In the closeness of fellowship experienced by the first church, that there was a strong atmosphere of love goes without saying. This love as manifested between the disciples spilled into the highways and byways in the form of a manifestation of God’s power to the world.
The second thing necessary for the power of God to flow is agreement and unity.
Matthew 18:19-20(NKJV) 19“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
We see this kind of agreement among the disciples of the first church. They were in physical agreement because they spent so much time together. Although being in physical proximity does not guarantee agreement, being physically separated guarantees the lack of agreement. Where two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus, Jesus promises to be in their midst. If he is there and we yield to his presence, he will work unity among us.
They were in agreement on the apostles doctrine. Although I do not require everyone in my church to see every detail of the Bible the same way I do, there are certain foundational things we must agree upon for fellowship. When we look at the first church, there was no division of doctrinal thinking. There was only one denomination, teaching stream or flavor of Christianity. This produced agreement and unity.
This condition cannot be duplicated in the universal church. However, each local church can find the things that are important and agree on them. None of us is perfect in our interpretations. I believe that one of the values of local church is that within that local assembly of believers we can come to doctrinal agreement. If there are others that see some things differently, that is fine. They come together in agreement in their house. Each church must find a place of agreement and unity that will enable the power of God to flow.
They were in agreement in their care for one another. We see this in the fact that they did not hold to themselves their possessions but were willing to make them available to meet the needs of those in their community of believers.
We cannot discount these elements in the release of God’s power. Where there is love, unity and agreement the power of God can flow. The early church had that working and as a result saw great power. We should strive in our local churches to work this same formula.
I know it is difficult for us to spend the time together that they did. Our schedules are very busy. However, if we want to see the power of God, we must consider what we are willing to do to get it. No church has seen greater power than the church of Acts. Perhaps we should consider their commitment to fellowship as we pray for their power.
Leave a Reply