5. Further Features of Those Who Believed
James Buchanan
Another feature of their character was their steady desire for instruction and their regular attendance on ordinances. Some young converts, especially if their conversion was sudden and accompanied with remarkable manifestations of divine power, have presumptuously neglected the ordinary means of grace and shown a disrelish for the common exercises of Christian worship. Whether this proceeds from undue excitement or from spiritual pride, it is injurious to their peace and the comfort of their fellow disciples.
How different the spirit and conduct of the early converts, who were blessed by the preaching of inspired apostles, in circumstances when God interposed miraculously! They felt they needed further instruction and the common ordinances of the Church. “They continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” – uniting with all who professed the same faith, in the usual exercises by which the glory of God was promoted and the edification of the Church advanced. They continued in the Apostles’ doctrine – listening to their in-
1Taken with editing, from the “Illustrative Cases of Conversion” in The Office and Work of the Holy Spirit. Last month’s article began to examine the results of the great saving work on the day of Pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2. The final point in that section was their public profession of faith. This article concludes the series.
structions, and adhering to the faith as they taught it. They continued in the Apostles’ fellowship – not separating themselves, but preserving the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. They continued in breaking of bread – uniting with their fellow disciples in the Lord’s Supper, and in prayer and praise, both alone and together.
Another feature of their case is the spirit of brotherly love which prevailed in the Church at Jerusalem. Faith works by love – love being the sum of God’s law and the substance of all acceptable obedience. And the operation of faith is most beautifully exemplified in the case before us, in producing a spirit of love. It is said: “All that believed were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need”. There was no law to this effect; it was the spontaneous fruit of their love to Christ and to each other, probably prompted by the consideration that many among them were strangers at Jerusalem, and needed the accommodation and supplies which the wealthier brethren could afford.
The Apostles never sought to do away with the right of property, or to promote the duty to have all things in common, as has sometimes been supposed. This is clear from its being expressly said that they sold their goods, thereby conveying to others the right which they had previously possessed. That they were not constrained by any rule to part with them, even for this purpose, appears from the case of Ananias and Sapphira, to whom Peter said, “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, Was it not in thine own power?” He was intimating that there was no such community of goods among them as is now contended for. This only shows more clearly the fervour of that disinterested love which prompted them, of their own accord, to sacrifice their wealth for the support and comfort of their poorer brethren.
It shows us a beautiful example of self-denying charity, which it would be well for us to imitate, so that, now as then, the world might be constrained to say, “Behold these Christians, how they love one another!” But why was there so much love in the infant Church at Jerusalem? The Lord explains the reason when speaking of the woman that was a sinner, who stood at His feet behind Him weeping and began to wash His feet with tears and to wipe them with the hair of her head, who kissed His feet and anointed them with ointment. He said, “Her sins, which were many, are forgiven her, for she loved much; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little”. The 3000 who were converted on the day of Pentecost were stained with the blood of Jesus, and by that blood washed from their sins; they were forgiven much. According
to the Lord’s principle, they loved much. There is no such instance of human love recorded in the Bible as that of the Church at Jerusalem.
Another feature was the consistency of their conduct and the beauty of their example. It produced a deep impression on the public mind, and was very favourable to the cause of the gospel. “And 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, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved.” Their mutual concord and fellowship are specially noticed as promoting the success of the gospel.
Would to God that we enjoyed the same concord and were imbued with the same spirit, and that all the sincere disciples of Christ could live together in unity; then we might hope that our faith and love would produce a favourable impression on the public mind. Not that the world’s enmity would be destroyed; notwithstanding the favour with which the primitive Church was regarded for a time, that enmity soon broke out in open persecution. It is impossible to conciliate the world until the world is itself converted, but the absence of strife and division, and the prevalence of love and peace in the Church itself, would give it a favourable opportunity of directing its whole energies to the conversion of the world. Then everyone who would see the Christian graces of the Lord’s people would be impressed, for thus it was at first: “fear came upon every soul”; and “they had favour with all the people”; “and the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved”.