And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:42
As we entered the subdivision, we were surprised to see that every house there looked exactly like all the others. Most of them were even the same colour. They were all the same shape, the same size, and had the same doors and windows in the same places. They had the same raised flower bed beside the same paving-stone walk, and the same type of tree in the middle of the front lawn. It was not until we entered any of the houses that we saw some differences such as the colours of walls and the selection of furniture. We asked our friends who we had gone to visit why all the houses were the same. They told us the developer had decided to mass produce the houses to save money and pass the savings on to the home buyers. They selected a design and layout that was the most popular, and went with that. The only real difference among all those houses was the people who lived in them. It’s the same with most of God’s Assemblies, the ones that follow the pattern identified in today’s text.
Continuing steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine is critical to the identity of an Assembly, and that doctrine will always be the same from one Assembly to another, because it is what the apostles taught. There were no allowances for those who felt like discarding some elements of that doctrine, or who thought that the apostles were being a bit to rigid in some areas. Continuing steadfastly in the apostles’ fellowship was also critical. No doors were left open for those who the apostles rejected as false believers or holders of false doctrines. With their spiritual discernment, the apostles extended fellowship to true believers and withheld it from the false and the troublemakers, just as Assembly overseers do today. The apostles’ doctrine and the apostles’ fellowship determined who made up the early company of believers, and the pattern has not changed today.
Neither has the pattern changed for the manner in which the early Christians worshipped. Worship of God is the highest of all human activity, and that is surely true of the Lord’s people. The Lord Jesus had instituted a feast that was to be used as the focus of their worship, and the early Christians appreciated it. This feast has been distorted and downplayed by many of the denominations, but the pattern that was used by the early Christians has been a powerful preservative to those who will observe it.
The early pattern for God’s Assembly also included prayers. None of those people believed they were capable by themselves of surviving as Christians in their service for their Lord. So they prayed, relying on the power of God to preserve and energize them. And they were not disappointed. So they continued to pray and experience blessing. We can do the same.
Although God’s pattern for His people’s gatherings bears little resemblance to the pattern used by religious organizations, it is a pattern that God appreciates and that we should follow. – Jim MacIntosh