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2:42Acts 2:42
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
After Peter's Spirit-filled preaching at Pentecost about three thousand were converted and added to the church, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers as the united, devoted life of the new believers. Their continuance came after ten days of united prayer and putting away differences in obedience to Christ's commission, when the Holy Spirit was poured out with wind and tongues of fire and power to witness to every nation. That steadfastness meant faithful learning from Scripture as supreme authority, frequent united prayer, shared meals, tender self-denying love, and going forth with one desire for the salvation of souls. This primitive godliness is the divine pattern for the church today, showing that the Holy Spirit is still given to those who seek Him and that renewal comes as believers draw close together in harmony, prayer, and witness until the work closes in triumph.
Pentecost Setting and Context
Acts 2:42 belongs to the account of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the life of the new believers, and that experience is connected with people being converted and added to the church. Its setting is the infant church after Christ had ascended to heaven and left it without His personal presence. In obedience to His commission to preach the gospel to all the world, the disciples returned to Jerusalem and prayed for ten days for the fulfillment of God's promise, with deep heart-searching, putting away all differences that had existed among them, drawing close together in Christian fellowship, and realizing what a privilege they had had in associating so closely with Christ and how they had grieved His heart of love by slowness of comprehension and failure to understand His lessons.
In preparation, in obedience to Jesus' command not to depart from Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father, they spent several days together confessing their sins and praying for the Holy Spirit. The outpouring gave them power to be witnesses to Christ in Jerusalem, in Judea, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. God used them at the great religious festival in Jerusalem to give the multitudes assembled from every nation the message of the risen Saviour, with a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, cloven tongues like fire sitting on each of them, and speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. At Pentecost they were together in one place and in one accord, united in purpose, and the Holy Spirit worked powerfully through them.
Through Peter's preaching that God's promise through Joel to pour out His Spirit on all flesh was fulfilled, about three thousand souls were added the same day. Thousands in Jerusalem openly declared their faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah as the disciples preached Christ with power and with signs and wonders. Their steadfast continuance in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers followed that Spirit-filled preaching and baptism. That life was heaven's communication that Christ had been received and His inauguration in the heavenly courts was complete.
It stood together with fear coming upon every soul, many wonders and signs done by the apostles, all that believed being together and having all things in common, selling possessions and goods and parting them to all as every man had need, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, eating with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, while the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Many who were added after the resurrection dated their experience and conviction from the time of Jesus' trial and condemnation, which had worked on their minds and made impressions that appeared afterward. People healed by Jesus listened to the apostles' preaching, received God's word into their hearts and gained understanding, and then became agents of God's mercy and instruments of salvation.
Steadfast Fellowship in Christ
The newly baptized believers remained faithful and devoted to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to breaking of bread and shared meals, and to prayer. Their continuing devotion was the united life of the early church, with faith expressed through sustained learning, community, and prayer. This steadfast common life followed Spirit-filled preaching and the addition of about three thousand people to the church. These practices marked a community formed by the gospel of the risen Saviour preached under the Holy Spirit's influence. It was the teaching and life of a community filled with the Holy Spirit, joined to Christ's commission to teach people to observe all that He commanded, a teaching carried to new places by faithful teachers and believers who passed the message on to others.
Continuing steadfastly meant going forth to proclaim a risen and living Saviour with the one desire of the salvation of souls. That fellowship was rejoicing in the sweetness of communion with saints, being tender, thoughtful, self-denying, and willing to make any sacrifice for the truth's sake. In daily association they revealed in deeds as well as words the love Christ had commanded, and by holy, unselfish words and deeds strove to awaken and kindle that love in other hearts. That love is ever to be cherished in willing obedience to the new commandment to love one another as Christ loved, with believers so closely united to Christ as to fulfil His requirements while the power of a Saviour who justifies by His righteousness is magnified and honored.
The early Christians met often and frequently for prayer. Their shared devotion to God's Word gave them counsel and guidance, and they tested every question by what the Lord said rather than by human opinion. They treated Scripture as supreme authority when examining principles and decisions. The descent of the Holy Spirit produced visible new developments and fruits, with the missionary spirit of God burning in the hearts of all upon whom the Spirit was manifestly moving.
Pattern for Church Today
In its wider setting the verse presents primitive Christianity as the pattern, and where that life is present in the hearts of those who profess the truth it brings new life and power, making plain to those in darkness the difference between truth and error and between the teachings of God's word and superstitious fables. The first-century church established by Christ and built up by His disciples is the divine model, upholding the authority of the church and its ordinances and the value of scriptural gospel order and organization for effective work. That same pattern of steadfast teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer was reflected when a small, scattered company of Sabbathkeepers was organized into a church at Ringsted.
The passage is a model for Christian gatherings, where believers come together so that God's salvation is revealed, using speech to testify for Christ and to praise God. Words in such gatherings are to be kind and free from faultfinding and complaint, for speech is a God-given talent for glorifying Him, and angels are present with those who so meet. The fellowship and prayer shown there is a model for church renewal, for when the Spirit works believers draw close to one another, pray for the revelation of the Holy Spirit, and live in harmony rather than discord and strife.
The Holy Spirit given at Pentecost has not diminished but is still given to those who seek Him, so believers are to pray, trust God to fulfill His promises, and prepare their hearts to receive the Spirit. The history during and immediately after Pentecost gives instruction in the truth and refreshes the mind, and God's people today must pass through similar experiences. The work at Pentecost provides the pattern for the later worldwide proclamation of the third message, which will be marked by broad spiritual power and will help bring people to take their stand.
The labors of the apostles were marked by wonderful manifestations of God's power in the lives of believers, bringing multitudes through the Holy Spirit to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Since the needs of the world today are no less, those who labor for souls amid impenitence and unbelief must yield wholly to God and work in unison with heavenly intelligences. Power will accompany those who dedicate their energies and all unreservedly to completing the last-days work, with angels cooperating, many brought to truth to cast in their lot with God's commandment-keeping people, means flowing into the treasury, strong laborers raised up, unwarned fields in the great regions beyond entered, and the work soon closing in triumph. The apostles' ministry in Jerusalem should guide the church's work, with the gospel represented with special force in important centers of influence, so that Washington, the nation's capital, should not be neglected as a visible witness for the truth.
The verse belongs to the apostolic pattern of people being converted to the truth, baptized, preparing to unite with the church, and being added to the church, with its continuing church life linked to continuing growth in those days. It belongs to a picture of a work marked by intercession, confession, genuine conversions, gathering, and rejoicing, comparable to the spiritual awakening of 1843 and 1844. It is to be read, received, and presented to others as part of the second chapter of Acts, teaching deeper piety and the sincere meekness of Christ, while the whole book of Acts is a lesson requiring humbled individual hearts and daily conversion.
After Peter's Spirit-filled preaching at Pentecost about three thousand were converted and added to the church, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers as the united, devoted life of the new believers. Their continuance came after ten days of united prayer and putting away differences in obedience to Christ's commission, when the Holy Spirit was poured out with wind and tongues of fire and power to witness to every nation. That steadfastness meant faithful learning from Scripture as supreme authority, frequent united prayer, shared meals, tender self-denying love, and going forth with one desire for the salvation of souls. This primitive godliness is the divine pattern for the church today, showing that the Holy Spirit is still given to those who seek Him and that renewal comes as believers draw close together in harmony, prayer, and witness until the work closes in triumph.
Pentecost Setting and Context
Acts 2:42 belongs to the account of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the life of the new believers, and that experience is connected with people being converted and added to the church. Its setting is the infant church after Christ had ascended to heaven and left it without His personal presence. In obedience to His commission to preach the gospel to all the world, the disciples returned to Jerusalem and prayed for ten days for the fulfillment of God's promise, with deep heart-searching, putting away all differences that had existed among them, drawing close together in Christian fellowship, and realizing what a privilege they had had in associating so closely with Christ and how they had grieved His heart of love by slowness of comprehension and failure to understand His lessons.
In preparation, in obedience to Jesus' command not to depart from Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father, they spent several days together confessing their sins and praying for the Holy Spirit. The outpouring gave them power to be witnesses to Christ in Jerusalem, in Judea, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. God used them at the great religious festival in Jerusalem to give the multitudes assembled from every nation the message of the risen Saviour, with a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, cloven tongues like fire sitting on each of them, and speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance. At Pentecost they were together in one place and in one accord, united in purpose, and the Holy Spirit worked powerfully through them.
Through Peter's preaching that God's promise through Joel to pour out His Spirit on all flesh was fulfilled, about three thousand souls were added the same day. Thousands in Jerusalem openly declared their faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah as the disciples preached Christ with power and with signs and wonders. Their steadfast continuance in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers followed that Spirit-filled preaching and baptism. That life was heaven's communication that Christ had been received and His inauguration in the heavenly courts was complete.
It stood together with fear coming upon every soul, many wonders and signs done by the apostles, all that believed being together and having all things in common, selling possessions and goods and parting them to all as every man had need, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, eating with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people, while the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Many who were added after the resurrection dated their experience and conviction from the time of Jesus' trial and condemnation, which had worked on their minds and made impressions that appeared afterward. People healed by Jesus listened to the apostles' preaching, received God's word into their hearts and gained understanding, and then became agents of God's mercy and instruments of salvation.
Steadfast Fellowship in Christ
The newly baptized believers remained faithful and devoted to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to breaking of bread and shared meals, and to prayer. Their continuing devotion was the united life of the early church, with faith expressed through sustained learning, community, and prayer. This steadfast common life followed Spirit-filled preaching and the addition of about three thousand people to the church. These practices marked a community formed by the gospel of the risen Saviour preached under the Holy Spirit's influence. It was the teaching and life of a community filled with the Holy Spirit, joined to Christ's commission to teach people to observe all that He commanded, a teaching carried to new places by faithful teachers and believers who passed the message on to others.
Continuing steadfastly meant going forth to proclaim a risen and living Saviour with the one desire of the salvation of souls. That fellowship was rejoicing in the sweetness of communion with saints, being tender, thoughtful, self-denying, and willing to make any sacrifice for the truth's sake. In daily association they revealed in deeds as well as words the love Christ had commanded, and by holy, unselfish words and deeds strove to awaken and kindle that love in other hearts. That love is ever to be cherished in willing obedience to the new commandment to love one another as Christ loved, with believers so closely united to Christ as to fulfil His requirements while the power of a Saviour who justifies by His righteousness is magnified and honored.
The early Christians met often and frequently for prayer. Their shared devotion to God's Word gave them counsel and guidance, and they tested every question by what the Lord said rather than by human opinion. They treated Scripture as supreme authority when examining principles and decisions. The descent of the Holy Spirit produced visible new developments and fruits, with the missionary spirit of God burning in the hearts of all upon whom the Spirit was manifestly moving.
Pattern for Church Today
In its wider setting the verse presents primitive Christianity as the pattern, and where that life is present in the hearts of those who profess the truth it brings new life and power, making plain to those in darkness the difference between truth and error and between the teachings of God's word and superstitious fables. The first-century church established by Christ and built up by His disciples is the divine model, upholding the authority of the church and its ordinances and the value of scriptural gospel order and organization for effective work. That same pattern of steadfast teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer was reflected when a small, scattered company of Sabbathkeepers was organized into a church at Ringsted.
The passage is a model for Christian gatherings, where believers come together so that God's salvation is revealed, using speech to testify for Christ and to praise God. Words in such gatherings are to be kind and free from faultfinding and complaint, for speech is a God-given talent for glorifying Him, and angels are present with those who so meet. The fellowship and prayer shown there is a model for church renewal, for when the Spirit works believers draw close to one another, pray for the revelation of the Holy Spirit, and live in harmony rather than discord and strife.
The Holy Spirit given at Pentecost has not diminished but is still given to those who seek Him, so believers are to pray, trust God to fulfill His promises, and prepare their hearts to receive the Spirit. The history during and immediately after Pentecost gives instruction in the truth and refreshes the mind, and God's people today must pass through similar experiences. The work at Pentecost provides the pattern for the later worldwide proclamation of the third message, which will be marked by broad spiritual power and will help bring people to take their stand.
The labors of the apostles were marked by wonderful manifestations of God's power in the lives of believers, bringing multitudes through the Holy Spirit to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Since the needs of the world today are no less, those who labor for souls amid impenitence and unbelief must yield wholly to God and work in unison with heavenly intelligences. Power will accompany those who dedicate their energies and all unreservedly to completing the last-days work, with angels cooperating, many brought to truth to cast in their lot with God's commandment-keeping people, means flowing into the treasury, strong laborers raised up, unwarned fields in the great regions beyond entered, and the work soon closing in triumph. The apostles' ministry in Jerusalem should guide the church's work, with the gospel represented with special force in important centers of influence, so that Washington, the nation's capital, should not be neglected as a visible witness for the truth.
The verse belongs to the apostolic pattern of people being converted to the truth, baptized, preparing to unite with the church, and being added to the church, with its continuing church life linked to continuing growth in those days. It belongs to a picture of a work marked by intercession, confession, genuine conversions, gathering, and rejoicing, comparable to the spiritual awakening of 1843 and 1844. It is to be read, received, and presented to others as part of the second chapter of Acts, teaching deeper piety and the sincere meekness of Christ, while the whole book of Acts is a lesson requiring humbled individual hearts and daily conversion.