Please turn to the book of Acts, chapter 2, verse 42.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.
I wonder how many of you remember what we shared about six months ago. While we were together at that time, we considered this matter of the church: its birth, its meaning, and its expression.
We mentioned that the church is not a concept of man, nor is it a project of history. The church is something conceived in the mind of God, even before the foundation of the world.
The church is being prepared by the Son of God, our Lord Jesus. He came into this world, became a man, and went to the cross. Out of His pierced side came water and blood.
It is His blood and His water that become the material of the church. His blood washes us from all our sins, and the water represents His life. His life is poured out for us and into us. Because of His death, we are redeemed and brought into the church.
It was on the day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came down upon the one hundred and twenty who were gathered together in the upper room. In one Spirit, they were baptized into one body.
We know that the church is the body of Christ. It is the fullness of Him Who filleth all in all.
The church has its expression both universally and locally.
There is only one church: the universal church. It includes all who are redeemed of the Lord, from the first one who believed in the Lord Jesus to the last one who believes, throughout all the centuries and throughout all the earth. All who are the Lord’s are members of this body of Christ.
This is the universal church, and this universal church has its expression locally. First, it was manifested in Jerusalem. Later, it was manifested in Judea, Samaria, Antioch, Macedonia, and Rome.
But it did not stop in Rome. Wherever the gospel is preached, and wherever people believe in the Lord Jesus, they become an expression of the body of Christ in that particular locality.
What is the church? The church is Christ. It is Christ in His corporate expression. That is what the church really is.
Thank God, by His grace, we have been called, chosen, and brought into the church of God.
That is what we shared together about six months ago. This time, we would like to continue to build upon this foundation. The birth of the church, its meaning, and its expression are foundational truths concerning the church.
Now we want to build upon that foundation and enter into the more subjective aspect of the church. Tonight, if the Lord wills, we would like to share together on the church life. Tomorrow morning, if the Lord wills, we will share together on church function.
Now, brothers and sisters, we know that the church is the body of Christ, and that body includes many, many members. It is a living organism.
You do not join the church, nor can you withdraw from the church. If the church is an organization, then you need to join it to be a member; and if you are not happy with it, you can withdraw from that organization.
But the church is a body. It is an organism. The only way you can join that organism is by birth.
There is no way you can withdraw from that body. Once you believe in the Lord Jesus, you are born from above, and you are brought into the body of Christ.
Oftentimes, we think of believing in the Lord Jesus in a personal way. It is true: each one of us has to personally believe in the Lord Jesus, and everyone must be born from above. No one can substitute for you. You have to believe for yourself.
By believing, you become a child of God. You become a member of God’s family, and more than that, you become a member of the body of Christ.
We know that we are saved and that we are born again. Thank God for that. But oftentimes we do not know that, at the time we are born from above, when a new life comes into us, we are also brought into the body of Christ. We become a member of the body of Christ.
We have one life, one Head—our Lord Jesus Christ—and every one of us is a member in particular. Therefore, believing in the Lord Jesus is more than a personal matter; it is a corporate matter.
Once you believe in the Lord Jesus, you belong to the family of God. You are not alone. You cannot be independent.
You cannot say, “Well, I will believe in the Lord Jesus, and I will seek the Lord, but I do not need any brother or sister.” You cannot do that, because you belong to the family of God. You are a member of the body of Christ.
When you believe in the Lord Jesus, you have a God-consciousness. Before that, God was distant from you. You might have believed that He existed, but you had no relationship with Him.
But the moment you believe in the Lord Jesus and are born from above, a relationship is immediately established between you and God. God is no longer distant. God becomes your heavenly Father.
The Bible says that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. We cry out, “Abba, Father.” There is a consciousness that we belong to God. He is our Father. There is an intimate relationship.
But at the same time, another consciousness comes to us. The moment we believe in the Lord Jesus, we begin to be conscious of the other members in the family.
When you meet another believer, you may meet him for the first time; and yet, when you discover that he is also a believer, immediately you find there is a kind of love that goes out to that person. There seems to be something flowing between you. You feel that you belong to him, and he belongs to you, because you are of one family and in the same body.
Brothers and sisters, we who believe in the Lord Jesus not only have a God-consciousness; we have a body-consciousness, because we belong to one another.
Because of this, we need to ask a very important question: Since we belong to the same body, how can we live that body life? How can we live our church life?
Unfortunately, we find many of God’s people, even though they do have a body-consciousness, do not know how to live that body life. Even though they belong to the church, they do not know what church life is.
We call ourselves Christians. Actually, the name Christian did not come at the very beginning. If you read the book of Acts, you will find that, in the beginning, they were called believers, disciples, and people of the Way.
The name Christian does not occur until Acts 11:26.
And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
In the beginning, people did not know how to call these people, so they called them those who believed in the Lord Jesus. They were believers. They were disciples of the Lord.
The world noticed that they lived differently from other people, so they called them the people of the Way. It was a different way of life.
The word Christian did not come until later, because in the beginning people thought that Christianity was simply a sect of Judaism. In the beginning, the believers were Jews; but at Antioch, most of the believers were Gentiles. The world did not know how to call them.
They noticed that these were Christ-men. These people belonged to Christ. They gathered together in the name of Jesus Christ. They preached Christ Jesus, worshiped Christ Jesus, and witnessed for Christ.
They were Christ-men, and that is Christian.
So, brothers and sisters, Christianity is a way of life. There is a Christian way of life. Every Christian lives that kind of life—not one Christian living one way and another Christian living another way.
All Christians who believe in the Lord Jesus walk in the same way. They live the same kind of life, totally different from the world. It is church life. It is body life.
When you read the beginning of the book of Acts, you see the church and how they lived. Turn to Acts 2, verse 44.
And all that believed were together, and had all things common.
Those who believed in the Lord Jesus were together—not only physically. They were together in one spirit, one soul, one mind, and one love. They had all things common.
In other words, they were delivered from self-possessiveness. We have a very strong urge toward self-possessiveness: “This is mine. This belongs to me. You have no part in it.” That is natural. Even among children, you can see it. When they are playing with toys, one will say, “This is mine. This is mine.”
There is self-possessiveness, and that self-possessiveness divides. But those who believe in the Lord Jesus are delivered from individualism and from self-possessiveness. They share everything with everybody.
Then, in Acts 2:46:
And day by day, continuing stedfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they did take their food with gladness and singleness of heart.
They were very close together. They gathered together every day in the temple. They were of one mind—the mind of Christ. They saw Christ in each other, and they loved one another.
They broke bread in the homes. In some versions it says that they broke bread from house to house. Whenever they had their meals, they remembered the Lord in the breaking of bread. They received what the Lord had given them with thanksgiving, and they remembered the Lord in every meal.
They were a praising people, a worshiping people, having favor with all the people.
Now turn to Acts 4, verse 32.
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and soul: and not one of them said that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
And with great power gave the apostles their witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
From the very beginning, you find that those who believed in the Lord Jesus lived a church life. They lived as one body. They were members one of another. They loved one another and cared for one another. This is the life that God wants us to live.
Brothers and sisters, church life enriches our personal life and our family life. We think a great deal about our personal life: “How can I live fully?” We also care for our family: “How can our family be blessed from the Lord?”
There is a personal life that each one of us has to live, and there is a family life that we all live. Church life is not in opposition to our personal life, nor is it in opposition to our family life. It enriches our personal life and our family life.
I believe every one of us has a personal life to live, and I believe all of us have a family life to live. But do you have a church life today? Do you have a body life?
So far as truth is concerned, you are in the family of God, and you are in the body. You are a member of the body. But when we come to experience, do we have a church life? Do we have a body life? Are we living in the church? Are we living in the body?
That is a question we should ask ourselves. On Sunday, we go to church and spend an hour there. Is this church life? Is this body life? Would a member in your body live in that way?
Do we really know what church life is? Do we really know how to live our body life, that we may live as those who believed in the Lord in the early days?
To put it very simply, church life, or body life, is expressed in the verse that we read at the very beginning: Acts 2:42.
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Who are “they”? They refer not only to the one hundred and twenty believers. These believers followed the Lord Jesus. They saw the Lord Jesus crucified, saw Him resurrected, and saw Him ascend to heaven. They gathered together in the upper room for ten days, praying together with one accord. Then the Holy Spirit came, and they were baptized into one body.
But “they” included more than these one hundred and twenty, because on the day of Pentecost three thousand came to the Lord. “They” refers not only to one hundred and twenty spiritual believers who had a long history with the Lord. “They” includes three thousand newborn believers.
Whether you have believed in the Lord Jesus for a long time or have just believed in the Lord, you find that they were together. They persevered. They continued steadfastly. This was not merely a daily meeting or an hour’s gathering. Every day they were occupied with four things.
They persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread, and prayers. These four things explain church life.
The first two form one pair: the teaching and fellowship of the apostles. They have to do with truth. The second two—breaking of bread and prayers—form another pair. They put the truth into practice.
Brothers and sisters, let us look at these four things.
First, we persevere in the teaching of the apostles. Now, what is the teaching of the apostles?
Notice that it is not the teachings of the apostles, as though there were many teachings from many apostles, with every apostle having his own teaching. It is the teaching of the apostles. There are many apostles, but only one teaching.
What is the teaching of the apostles? Turn to Acts 13, verse 12.
Then the proconsul, when he saw what was done, believed, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.
Here you find that the teaching of the apostles is none other than the teaching of the Lord.
Where does the teaching of the apostles come from? Turn to John 14:26.
But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.
When the Lord was with His apostles, they might not have been able to remember everything. But when the Holy Spirit came, He reminded them of what the Lord had taught them, and He taught them all things.
In other words, the teaching of the apostles is none other than the teaching of the Lord. Peter did not have his own teaching. John did not have his own teaching. James did not have his own teaching. Paul did not have his own teaching. They all taught what the Lord had taught them.
You may say, “Well, Paul came to the Lord after the Lord had ascended. Where did his teaching come from?” Read 1 Corinthians 11:23.
For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you.
Then turn to Galatians 1:12.
For neither did I receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through revelation of Jesus Christ.
The mystery of God was revealed to the apostles and prophets, and from them we receive the teaching of the Lord. The teaching of the apostles is none other than the teaching of the Lord.
Sometimes, because we do not understand, we think that Paul’s teaching and James’s teaching oppose each other. We think that Romans and Galatians are opposed to the epistle of James.
We say that Paul preached justification by faith and James preached justification by works, so they must oppose each other. Some say, “I am for Paul,” and others say, “I am for James,” and then they become divided.
But if we know the Word of God, we find that they complement each other. They are not against each other. James speaks of the work of faith. We are justified by faith, but after we are justified, there should be works.
In Ephesians 2, we are God’s new creation. We are saved by grace through faith, and we are created in Christ Jesus for good works.
You find that there is only one teaching: the teaching of the apostles. We do not choose by saying, “I will receive only the teaching that comes from Paul, and I will reject the teaching that comes from James.”
If you do that, you divide God’s body, because what comes from James is the teaching of the Lord. We need to receive all that is taught by the Lord. That is body life. Otherwise, we divide the body; otherwise, we do not have church life.
First of all, there is the teaching of the apostles—what the Lord has taught us through His apostles. In this, we persevere and are occupied.
Then you find that there is not only the teaching of the apostles; there is also the fellowship of the apostles. Again, fellowship is singular, while apostles is plural.
In other words, all the apostles belong to one fellowship. In 1 Corinthians 1:9, it says:
God is faithful, through Whom ye were called into the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Then turn to 1 John 1:3.
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
The “we” here refers to the apostles. The apostle John says, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us”—the fellowship of the apostles. Our fellowship is indeed with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, there is a divine fellowship. It is a fellowship between the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit. It is the most exclusive fellowship in the whole universe. Only the three Persons of the Godhead share that fellowship.
But God, in His love, through His Son Jesus Christ, has shared His fellowship with us who believe in the Lord Jesus. We are called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
The fellowship that the Son has with the Father, He now shares with us. His Father is our Father. His God is our God. Our Lord Jesus shares His Father with us, and His Father shares His Son with us. It is all in the Holy Spirit.
We are called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. We belong to this fellowship. It is the most exclusive fellowship, because unless you are born from above, you cannot join it. No matter how much money you have or what position you hold in the world, you cannot join.
Yet, on the other hand, it is the most inclusive fellowship, because it includes all God’s people.
Dear brothers and sisters, one body means one fellowship. All the members of the body fellowship one with another, but there is no fellowship between the body and the outside world. No foreign particle can enter into that body.
It is most exclusive, and yet most inclusive. We belong to that family. There is no such thing as this fellowship or that fellowship—no fellowship of the apostle Paul and fellowship of the apostle John. There is only one fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and that is the fellowship of the apostles.
That is the reason why the Bible says that we need to receive all whom Christ has received. No matter how different we are, we receive all whom Christ has received, because we belong to that one fellowship.
So far as truth is concerned, we must receive the teaching of the apostles and receive the fellowship of the apostles. That makes us one body and enables us to live the body life.
Then you find two other things that put the truth into practice. One is the breaking of bread.
Does that surprise you? In Christianity today, people do not think very highly of the breaking of bread, sometimes called communion. Some groups may never have the breaking of bread. In other places, you find so-called communion perhaps once a month, or perhaps twice a year—at Christmas and Easter.
We do not understand it. We consider it merely a ritual or ceremony. But, brothers and sisters, the breaking of bread is a living expression of body life.
On the night of His betrayal, our Lord Jesus loved His own so much that He took the bread, broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying:
Take, eat; this is My body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of Me.
After that, He took the cup, blessed it, and said:
Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood of the covenant.
What is the practical meaning of the breaking of bread? First, it is a remembrance of the Lord. To remember is to recall the past. We remember how the Lord loved us and how He sacrificed Himself for us.
The breaking of bread is also communion. In 1 Corinthians 10, we are in communion with His blood and in communion with His body. Remembrance recalls the past; communion is something present.
When we drink the cup, we are in communion with the blood of Christ. We experience afresh the cleansing of all our sins. When we eat the bread, we are in communion with the body of Christ. We live by His life; we do not live by our own life.
At the same time, even though we are many, we are one bread and one body. We are in communion with all the brothers and sisters.
The breaking of bread is also an anticipation, because the Lord said that we break this bread until He comes. When we break the bread, we are anticipating His return.
By remembering Him, our love is renewed. We are constrained by His love and return to our first love. In communion with Him, our faith is increased. In waiting for His return, our hope is lifted.
The early believers broke bread because their love for the Lord was so strong, their faith in Him was so real, and they were looking forward to His return.
Later on, you find that on the first day of the week they came together to break bread. Throughout history, the church has maintained this regular breaking of bread, because it is an expression of our fellowship and the teaching of the Lord.
I hope you will pay more attention to the breaking of bread. We know that this is an expression of body life, and that is the reason it is so serious.
In 1 Corinthians 11, it says that if we take the bread and drink the cup in an unworthy manner, we drink judgment unto ourselves. We must discern the body.
When we break the bread, we must not only see that it is the personal body of Christ. Before we break the bread, we see one loaf. It represents the personal body of Christ. Each one of us breaks a piece, for He died for each one.
After we have taken it, you do not see the loaf on the plate, because you have a piece and I have a piece. But when God looks down from heaven, He sees not only a few who are breaking bread; when they break the bread, they include all His people.
Brothers and sisters, this is a living expression of body life.
Now, the prayers here are more than merely personal prayers. Of course, as Christians, we have to pray. In our personal life, we should have our prayer life, because prayer is an expression that we are dependent upon Him.
You will not pray if you consider yourself self-sufficient. We pray because we know we are insufficient. Prayer expresses our dependence upon the Lord.
Prayer also shows that we want to seek His will. If we do things without prayer, it shows that we are doing our own will. We do not care what God’s will is. But we do care about God’s will, and therefore we must pray.
Yet the prayers here are more than personal prayers. It speaks especially of corporate prayer. God’s people need to come together and pray.
In some Christian groups, they do not have prayer meetings. In other groups, on the Lord’s Day the place is packed, but during the prayer meeting there may be only three or five people. People do not come together to pray.
How can you live a body life if you do not pray together? Those who pray together stay together, and they build up together.
The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 18:
Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father Who is in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.
That is corporate prayer. If two of you agree, the word agree means to symphonize. It is like an orchestra: different instruments synchronize together and present one music. That is the meaning of agreement.
It does not mean that you agree with me and I agree with you. We all agree with our Head, Christ. When we all agree with our Head, Christ, and pray the will of God, God will answer. He will bind and He will loose.
That is the ministry of the church. That is the living expression of body life.
Brothers and sisters, if you have never experienced the blessing of the breaking of bread, if you have never experienced the blessing of corporate prayer, you do not know what church life is. You do not practice church life.
Thank God, we are called into one body, one church, and one fellowship. We need to live that life.
Sometimes we say, “Christ is our life; the church is our living.” I think that is very true.
Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee that Thou hast called us into one body, one church, and one fellowship. We do thank Thee that it is by grace that Thou hast brought us into that body, that church, that fellowship.
Father, it is the desire of our hearts that we may live accordingly. Do help us to see how we should love one another, care for one another, pray together, worship together, and remember Thee together.
Lord, we do pray that Thou wilt deliver us from being separated one from another, that we may diligently keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.