By Steven J. Lawson
[Steven J. Lawson is Senior Pastor, Dauphin Way Baptist Church, Mobile, Alabama.
This is article one in a four-part series, “A Passionate Call for Expository Preaching.”]
As the Church advances into the twenty-first century, the stress to produce booming ministries has never been greater. Influenced by corporate mergers, towering skyscrapers, and expanding economies, bigger is perceived as better, and nowhere is this “Wall Street” mentality more evident than in the church. Sad to say, pressure to produce bottomline results has led many ministries to sacrifice the centrality of biblical preaching on the altar of man-centered pragmatism.
A new way of “doing” church is emerging. In this radical paradigm shift, exposition is being replaced with entertainment, preaching with performances, doctrine with drama, and theology with theatrics. The pulpit, once the focal point of the church, is now being overshadowed by a variety of church-growth techniques, everything from trendy worship styles to glitzy presentations to vaudeville-like pageantries. In seeking to capture the upperhand in church growth, a new wave of pastors is reinventing church and repackaging the gospel into a product to be sold to “consumers.”
Whatever reportedly works in one church is being franchised out to various “markets” abroad. As when gold was discovered in the foothills of California, so ministers are beating a path to the doorsteps of exploding churches and super-hyped conferences where the latest “strike” has been reported. Unfortunately the newly panned gold often turns out to be “fool’s gold.” Not all that glitters is actually gold.[1]
God’s Work, God’s Way
Admittedly pastors can learn from growing churches and successful ministries. Yet God’s work must be done God’s way if it is to know God’s blessing. He provides the power and He alone receives the glory only as His divinely prescribed plan for ministry is followed. When man-centered schemes are followed, often imitating the world’s schemes, the flesh provides the energy and man receives the glory.
Throughout church history, preachers who have left a lasting impact on the church have known that, in the words of Michael Horton, “the regular proclamation of Christ through the close exposition of Scripture [is] more relevant in creating a worshipping and serving community than political causes, moral crusades, and entertaining services.”[2] In many evangelical churches, however, the centrality of biblical exposition is being demoted to second-class status. In a strange twist, the preaching of the cross is now foolishness, not only to the world but also to the contemporary church. At the heart of this alarming departure is a loss of confidence in God’s Word to perform its sacred work. While evangelicals affirm the inerrancy of Scripture, many have apparently abandoned their belief in its sufficiency to save and to sanctify. Rather than expounding the Word with vigor, many pastors are turning to lesser strategies in an effort to resurrect dead ministries. But with each newly added novelty, the straightforward expounding of the Bible is being relegated to a secondary role, further crippling the church. Doing God’s work God’s way requires an unwavering commitment to the primacy of biblical preaching and teaching.[3]
A Paradigm for Ministry
With many ministries forsaking the central thrust of biblical exposition, where is an effective model to be found in which preaching and teaching God’s Word is central? What does it look like when a church is driven by God’s Word? One need look no further than to the first church in Jerusalem, born on the Day of Pentecost and firmly planted in the soil of newly converted hearts. Today’s church leaders would do well to revisit this congregation and rediscover its driving force.
After the apostle Peter boldly preached to the gathered crowd at Pentecost, three thousand souls were pierced to the heart, were saved, and then were baptized. In condensed form Acts 2:42–47 portrays the potent life of this newly formed congregation.
These verses contain the major components of the dynamic life of this first congregation—the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, worship, prayer, service, and evangelism. Here are the six channels through which God’s Spirit pulsated through believers and dramatically impacted the world around them. Each of these spiritual disciplines is critical for the health of any vibrant church. The apostles’ teaching, purposefully listed first in this passage, is the focus of this article, which examines the strategic place, specific pattern, and supernatural power that the apostles’ teaching occupied in this first church. This study is a call to the contemporary church to make biblical preaching central, just as the apostles did two thousand years ago. The early church experienced spiritual vitality, not because of gimmicky techniques, but because it focused on the priority of biblical teaching. Along this line Acts 2:42–47 demonstrates the primacy, purity, authority, fervency, and potency of the apostles’ doctrine.
The Primacy of the Apostles’ Teaching
Listed first in this cluster of ministries, the apostles’ teaching was the chief ministry of these first church leaders. First and foremost, the apostles taught. More specifically, they taught doctrine. Their teaching ministry brought life to the other aspects of the first church. It is no accident that teaching came first.[4] It must always come first. In the Christian life, precept comes before practice, doctrine before duty, and exposition before experience. As Phillips has well stated, “Experience must always be tested by doctrine, not doctrine by experience.”[5]
Stott observes that these “new converts were not enjoying a mystical experience which led them to despise their mind or disdain theology…. Anti-intellectualism and the fullness of the Spirit are mutually incompatible, because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth.”[6] This is to say, the Holy Spirit worked powerfully in this first church by leading the apostles to be prolific in their teaching ministry. Sound doctrine enriched every aspect of this church’s life. Everything flowed from the pure fountain of biblical truth. As the chief activity of the apostles, their teaching was primary for four reasons: It was modeled in Jesus’ ministry, commanded in the Great Commission, practiced in the early church, and reinforced in the Pastoral Epistles.
It Was Modeled In Jesus’ Ministry
As the apostles taught this first flock, they were following what they had seen Jesus Christ do. For more than three years they had been directly taught by Christ Himself and had witnessed His public ministry. They understood the central importance He placed on teaching. From the time Christ first called them to follow Him until His ascension, teaching was His chief occupation. No doubt His disciples-in-training noted this priority in His ministry. So central was His teaching ministry that the Twelve called Him “Teacher” (John 13:13) and He called them His “disciples” (Matt. 10:24–25; Luke 6:40), a word used of learners who sat under a teacher and absorbed his teaching.[7] Such terms clearly indicate the primary place of teaching in Christ’s ministry.
As Jesus launched His public ministry, He came “preaching the gospel of God” (Mark 1:14). Soon after that, He entered a synagogue in Nazareth and read from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives” (Luke 4:18). He thus claimed that His preaching fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy. When large numbers came to Him to be healed, He withdrew from them, stating, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, in order that I may preach there also” (Mark 1:38). Nothing would deter Him from His primary ministry of preaching and teaching, not even the compassionate healing of the sick. When the multitudes came, “He began to teach them” (Matt. 5:1–2). Throughout His public ministry the proclamation of God’s truth remained paramount. Even the night before He was crucified, Jesus gathered His disciples in a cloistered upper room and taught them (John 13–16).
After His resurrection the focus of Jesus’ ministry remained the same. While walking on the road to Emmaus, He appeared to two disciples and “explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27). When the disciples met in the upper room, Jesus appeared in their midst and “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (v. 45) regarding “all things which are written” about Him “in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” (v. 44). And just before Jesus was taken up into heaven, He was instructing His disciples (Acts 1:1–11).
This central thrust in Christ’s ministry, namely, preaching and teaching, left a deep impression on His disciples. As the Twelve began their pastoral work, as stated in Acts 2:42, they were merely imitating what they had observed Jesus do, repeating what had been modeled before them. As they shepherded this first church in Jerusalem, they immediately began teaching, because this was what Jesus had done with them. Any other priority would have been a departure from the consistent example they had seen in Christ’s own ministry.
It Was Commanded In The Great Commission
Furthermore the apostles taught these new believers because this was what Jesus had commanded them to do. In the Great Commission issued only days earlier, Jesus had charged them, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:19–20).
In this ministry mandate, their essential responsibilities—going, making disciples, baptizing, and teaching—climaxed in this last command (teaching) as they were to indoctrinate the new believers in all He had taught them. As Jesus had taught them, so He now directed them to do the same with others. In fact teaching is so foundational in the Great Commission that Jesus identified His future followers as “disciples.” The apostles’ overarching goal was to make learners—not “fellowshippers,” breakers-of-bread, or pray-ers. Although these other spiritual disciplines are undeniably important, they would become a reality only as these new followers were first taught the essential truths of the Christian faith. So in obedience to what Christ had commanded in the Great Commission, the apostles taught new believers.
It Was Practiced In The Early Church
The fact that new believers were “continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42, italics added) implies that the Twelve were teaching on a regular, ongoing basis. The apostles’ ministry of preaching and teaching is mentioned more often than any other activity in which they were engaged (2:42; 3:11–26; 4:1–2, 8–12, 19–20, 31, 33; 5:20–21, 29–32, 42; 6:2, 4, 7, 11, 13–14; 7:1–53). So overwhelming is this evidence that it can be argued that Acts is primarily a record of apostolic preaching and teaching. As MacArthur notes, “The early church sat under the teaching ministry of the apostles, whose teaching, now written on the pages of the New Testament Scriptures, is to be taught by all pastors.”[8]
No matter where they were, these apostles were preaching. Whether in Solomon’s Portico (3:11–26; 5:20, 42), in public gatherings (4:2, 33), before the Sanhedrin (4:8–12; 5:28–32), or from house to house (5:42), they boldly taught in the name of Christ. Even in the face of life-threatening dangers, the apostles refused to be silenced, declaring, “We cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard” (4:20). When the demands of ministry grew complex, they would not be diverted from their central task of teaching. They said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the Word of God” (6:2). Most notably, when the successful expansion of their ministry was described, it was measured in terms of the spreading of “the word of God” (v. 7). Similarly, when those under their teaching—men such as Stephen and Philip—were thrust into ministry, they in turn taught the “word” with extraordinary effectiveness (7:2–50; 8:5, 25, 35, 40). In fact the first disciples filled all Jerusalem with their teaching (5:28). Unmistakably the apostles’ teaching was most important in the early church.
It Was Reinforced In The Pastoral Epistles
The primacy of the apostles’ teaching was permanently preserved by its central place in the Pastoral Epistles. Paul encouraged Timothy and Titus to devote themselves to the ministry of preaching and teaching God’s Word. The first duty with which Paul charged his young assistant was to “instruct” the church (1 Tim. 1:3), which is “the pillar and support of the truth” (3:15). Timothy was to be “constantly nourished on the words of faith and of the sound doctrine” (4:6) and to “prescribe and teach these things” (v. 11). He was to “give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (v. 13), never neglecting his “spiritual gift” of teaching (v. 14). He must “take pains with” and “be absorbed in” his teaching, paying “close attention” to his “teaching” (vv. 15–16). All ministers, Paul wrote, must “work hard at preaching and teaching” (5:17), instructing (6:17) and guarding the truth (v. 20).
In 2 Timothy Paul reinforced the same with his young son in the faith. He must “retain the standard of sound words” (2 Tim. 1:13), “guard” it (v. 14), and “entrust” it to others (2:2). He was to “remind” others of the truth (v. 14), be “handling accurately the word of truth” (v. 15), and be “able to teach” (v. 24). Solemnly charged before God, Timothy must “preach the word” (4:2) “with great … instruction.” Paul also encouraged Titus to minister God’s Word. All pastors must “be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9). He told Titus, “Speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” (2:1). Paul charged him, “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (v. 15). Thus in these three Pastoral Epistles the apostle Paul affirmed the primary responsibility of the ministry—to disseminate the apostles’ teaching.
Who’s On First?
Biblical preaching must always occupy the leading place of influence in the life of the church. At the core of any healthy congregation is a vibrant exposition of God’s Word. Unfortunately though, many pastors are turning away from the central role of expository preaching and doctrinal teaching. But in so doing, they fail to realize that new converts, first and foremost, need to be taught God’s truth.[9] As a result many other things are competing with—and even replacing—the primary role of biblical preaching in the church. Christian concerts, drama, pageants, festivals, musicals, talk shows, and movies are establishing an increasing foothold in the life of the contemporary church. If done properly, these activities may have a place in the church, but they must never overshadow the Spirit-energized proclamation of God’s Word. In diagnosing the ills of emphasis on these auxiliary methods, Lloyd-Jones lamented, “All this at best is secondary, very often, not even secondary, often not worthy of a place at all, but at best, secondary. The primary task of the Church and of the Christian minister is the preaching of the Word of God.”[10] Evangelical churches desperately need to return to the primacy of the apostles’ teaching.
The Purity of the Apostles’ Teaching
Since the apostles’ teaching was so primary, what exactly did they teach? What was the content of their doctrine? They expounded the pure truth of divine revelation, firmly grounding new converts in the essentials of the Christian faith. At least three things may be noted about their teaching ministry.
It Was Rooted In The Old Testament
Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost shows how heavily the apostles drew on the Old Testament Scriptures in their teaching (Acts 2:14–36). Replete with quotations, this first Christian message was a biblical exposition of several key Old Testament passages (Joel 2:28–32; Pss. 16:8–11; 110:1). Even when Peter later stood before the Sanhedrin, he cited the Old Testament (Ps. 118:22; Isa. 28:16). In turn, the new believers who sat under the apostles’ teaching repeatedly used the Old Testament. For example, after Peter and John were released by the Sanhedrin, they returned to the believers and reported what God had done (Acts 4:23). In response, the believers spontaneously lifted their voices to God in prayer (4:24–30), quoting several Old Testament passages (Exod. 20:11; 2 Kings 19:15; Neh. 9:6; Pss. 2:1–2; 146:6).
Stephen, one of the early disciples who apparently had studied under the apostles’ teaching (Acts 6:3, 5), also addressed the Sanhedrin, quoting extensively from the Old Testament (7:2–53). The following list includes only a few of the many citations and allusions Stephen made to the Old Testament in his sermon.
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Having grown up as a Jew, Stephen no doubt knew the Old Testament well. But he may have also been taught by the apostles. As a believer in Christ, he told the Sanhedrin that the Old Testament prophets “announced the coming of the Righteous One” (Acts 7:52).
Philip, another disciple apparently taught by the apostles (6:3, 5), showed great competence in handling the Old Testament. For example, when the Ethiopian eunuch asked him to explain Isaiah 53:7–8, Philip immediately gave the true interpretation (Acts 8:25–35). This precise handling of Scripture unmistakably argues for the foundational role of the Old Testament in the apostles’ teaching. The Old Testament was the underlying foundation of their doctrine.
It Focused On The Lord Jesus Christ
The words and works of Jesus Christ were the chief subject of the apostles’ teaching ministry. For more than three years they had been eyewitnesses of His perfect life, as well as keen students of His prolific teaching. They were so closely associated with Him that others noted that they “had been with Jesus” (4:13). Understandably, their apostolic teaching focused on the Lord—His life, deity, discourses, parables, promises, conversations, invitations, denunciations, death, resurrection, ascension, and enthronement. It has been noted, “The words and works of Jesus … formed the burden of the Apostles’ message.”[11]
Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost (2:14–36) was a concise, cohesive presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ, outlining His life and miracles (v. 22), death (v. 23), resurrection (vv. 24–32), and exaltation (vv. 33–36). In an upper room He had promised the apostles He would send the Holy Spirit, who would enable them to remember all He had taught them. He assured them, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26). Now, in fulfillment of this promise, the Spirit had come and enabled them to remember Christ’s many words. So when the apostles taught, they were “teaching in this name” (Acts 5:28), that is, speaking “in the name of Jesus” (v. 40). The apostles’ teaching clearly focused on Jesus Christ.
It Was Full Of Doctrinal Instruction
Also the apostles’ teaching clarified many of the great themes of the Old Testament. Διδαχή, the Greek word for “teaching,” referred to the content of their message, or the body of truth they taught. Occurring thirty times in the New Testament, διδαχή often refers to the fixed body of doctrine as taught by the apostles to the church. In the earthly ministry of Jesus διδαχή referred to the content of His preaching and teaching (Mark 1:22, 27; 11:18; 12:38), including His many discourses, such as the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 7:28), as well as His exposition of the Law (22:33).[12] In the Book of Acts διδαχή included the apostles’ exposition of Jesus’ words. This testimony of the apostles to Jesus Christ became known as “the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42), “the teaching of the Lord” (13:12), or this “new teaching” (17:19).[13]
As the church grew, the apostles’ teaching was identified as “the whole message of this Life” (5:20) and “the whole purpose of God” (20:27). It included the Old Testament, the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and the rich doctrinal teachings to be recorded in the New Testament. Harrison says the apostles’ teaching was a “well-defined pattern of instruction for new converts.”[14] He adds,
It must have included the high points of Jesus’ life and works; His ethical teaching, such as is enshrined in the Sermon on the Mount; an appreciation of the Old Testament prophetic background for His ministry, such as He imparted to the eleven after His resurrection; a digest of obligations toward one another, especially in the family relationship and toward those outside the fold; and a warning about the possibility of persecution and the inroads of false teaching…. They needed … insight into the epochal character of the new age into which they had entered because of Christ’s finished work and the advent of the Spirit.[15]
Thus the apostles’ teaching covered many facets of divinely revealed truth, including historical truth (Jesus’ life and work), ethical truth (practical application), prophetic truth (Old Testament background), theological truth (systematized doctrine), domestic truth (mutual responsibilities), and eschatological truth (the age to come). The apostles’ teaching was God’s plan of redemption centered on the Lord Jesus Christ—the fact that He is the focal point of all God’s purposes in the earth, the fact that people can know Him and how people ought to live for Him, and the fact of His coming kingdom. Far from a mere elementary course in Christianity, the apostles’ teaching included the grand truths recorded in the Old Testament, the mind-expanding, life-changing words spoken by Christ, and the enriched doctrine elaborated on by the apostles in greater detail.
Pabulum In The Pulpit?
But is this what we hear in pulpits today? Tragically most of what passes for biblical preaching today falls woefully short of apostolic standards. Many pastors seem content to dole out pabulum to spiritual babies, instead of teaching the full counsel of God. Many evangelicals have succumbed to delivering secular-sounding, motivational pep talks aimed at soothing the felt needs of restless church shoppers or, worse, salving the guilty consciences of unregenerate church members. Rather than expounding the depths of God’s Word, many Bible-believing ministers have chosen the path of least resistance, content to scratch the surface of shallow souls, and tickle the ears of languid listeners. If people are to be brought to saving faith in Christ and are to mature spiritually, pastors must teach a comprehensive biblical message that is rooted in the Old Testament, focused on Christ, and full of doctrinal instruction.
The Authority of the Apostles’ Teaching
The apostles did not espouse their own self-styled speculations; their teaching was the authoritative message of God Himself. As such, it was the highest standard in the church, the unchanging plumbline by which all else was measured. Three facts should be noted about the authority of their teaching.
It Was Declared As God’s Absolute Truth
As God’s chosen mouthpieces the apostles were the divinely appointed means through whom His truth was communicated. Their message was God’s message, not their own, and thus it came with divine authority. “Before He ascended, He delegated this authority to the apostles, who spoke in His name.”[16] The Greek word for “apostle” (ἀπόστολος) means “a messenger, one sent on a mission.”[17] “In the NT apostolos never means the act of sending, or figuratively the object of sending. It always denotes a man who is sent, and sent with full authority.”[18] Therefore an ἀπόστολος was dispatched as an official envoy with authority to speak on behalf of the sender. In the New Testament the word refers primarily to the twelve men whom Christ designated to represent Him in transmitting His message and building the church. To these selected representatives Christ gave His authority to speak His message. Bruce aptly remarks, “The apostolic teaching … was authoritative because it was the teaching of the Lord communicated through the apostles.”[19]
The importance of the apostolic office is seen in the way Judas’s replacement was chosen (Acts 1:21–26). Certain requirements had to be met in order to be an apostle. First, an apostle had to have been present with Christ from the earliest days of His ministry and had to have been an eyewitness of His resurrection (vv. 21–22). This requirement insured his full exposure to, as well as deep conviction in, the Lord’s life, teaching, and resurrection. Second, an apostle had to be one whom the Lord Himself had specifically appointed to this office (vv. 24–25). Even among the many people who had heard His instruction and seen His postresurrection appearances, the Lord did not choose all of them to be apostles. Only a restricted number were chosen to be His apostles and through these men, uniquely qualified and divinely selected, He would speak with apostolic authority.
In this God-designated role the apostles spoke divine revelation to the church. Thus the church’s ministry would be “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Eph. 2:20). The apostles’ teaching became the unchanging, unshifting bedrock of the church. As Paul wrote, “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). The apostles’ teaching singularly points to Jesus Christ, the only true foundation for any New Testament church.[20] Because a foundation can be laid only once—at the beginning of a construction project—the apostles’ teaching was given initially at the “groundbreaking” of the first-century church, not to be reissued with each subsequent generation. Throughout the present church age all ministries must build on this same unchanging body of truth, the apostles’ teaching, which was “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).
It Was Authenticated By God’s Sovereign Power
How did the early church know with certainty that that these men were true apostles? How did believers have the assurance that these men spoke with divine authority? God authenticated the apostles as His representatives by giving them supernatural power to perform miracles (Matt. 10:1; 2 Cor. 12:12). “Many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles” (Acts 2:43). Each miracle confirmed that they were men of God with the truth of God. “Wonders” refers to the amazement people experienced when they witnessed these miracles of God performed by the Twelve. “Signs” point to God’s power behind the miracles, authenticating that the apostles spoke as God’s messengers, bearing His truth. Wrought by the Holy Spirit, such mighty works were performed through the apostles (v. 43; 5:12–16), as well as their associates (6:8), to validate that their message was from God. Such signs passed off the scene by the end of the first century, but the power of God to change lives brings unmistakable authentication to the divine authority of the message preached.
It Was Recorded In God’s Inerrant Word
By the end of the first century the apostles’ teaching was permanently recorded in the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. Every canonical book was either written by an apostle or backed by an apostle. Most of Paul’s epistles and Peter’s two epistles, for example, begin with an affirmation of the writer’s apostleship. Preserved in the pages of the New Testament, the apostles’ teaching remains the highest standard of authority in the church today. Everyone and everything in the church must yield to that New Testament authority. Every decision, direction, practice, ministry, attitude, and motive must be brought into conformity with their instruction. The living Word, Jesus Christ, presently rules His church through His written Word, the Scriptures, which articulate the apostles’ teaching.
Catering Or Challenging?
Such authoritative preaching is desperately needed today. In a day when many churches are catering to the whims of a self-indulgent generation those who stand before congregations must hold forth the unchanging standard of the apostles’ teaching. God’s sovereign rule in the lives of His people will be realized only to the extent that His Word is proclaimed and embraced by those who hear it. With words that apply to all preachers today, Paul charged Titus, “These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you” (Titus 2:15). Such is the authoritative nature of true biblical preaching.
The Fervency of the Apostles’ Teaching
How was the apostles’ teaching received? As the early-church believers gathered together, they had a ravenous appetite to be fed God’s truth. Stott notes, “They sat at the apostles’ feet, hungry to receive instruction, and they persevered in it.”[21] Of this first congregation Luke wrote that they were “continually devoting themselves” to the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42). These spiritual babies—all three thousand of them—were constantly coming to the apostles to be fed spiritual truth. There was no need for gospel gimmicks or spiritual sideshows to entice them to come, for these starving souls were craving the pure milk of the Word.
It Was Desired By Hungry Hearts
Luke wrote that the early-church believers “were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching.” The verb προσκαρτερέω (“continually devoted themselves to”) means “a steadfast and single-minded fidelity to a certain course of action.”[22] This colorful word is a compound in which the verb καρτερέω is joined with a prefix (πρός) that serves to intensify the action. Καρτερέω means “to be strong, steadfast, also to do something persistently in the face of opposition,”[23] and πρός means “to be hard by, near, at.”[24] The compound, then, describes desiring something intensely, or aggressively pursuing a desired object. This word is also used to describe the strong devotion and singular desire of the 120 in the upper room as they gathered together for prayer after Christ’s ascension (1:14). Later this verb was used to characterize the apostles’ resolutely committing themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word (6:4). In 2:42, the verb depicts the unwavering desire of these new believers to be fed God’s Word by the apostles. This intense desire for the Word “expresses one aspect of the power and vitality of primitive Christianity.”[25]
Regarding this spiritual hunger, Hughes notes, “Where the Spirit reigns, a love for God’s Word reigns…. When the Spirit reigns, God’s people continually devote themselves to the study of His Word.”[26] Lloyd-Jones wrote of the believer’s desire for the Word of God: “Wanting to listen to the Word is inevitable if men and women are born again and have become Christians. A babe … has an instinct for milk. He wants it! … He is alive and wants the mother’s milk, and rightly so. The point is clear. One simply cannot be a Christian and have no desire for a knowledge of this truth—it is impossible.”[27] The first church intensely hungered for the apostles’ teaching because they were genuinely converted. This is normative Christianity!
It Was Designed For Growing Disciples
The apostles’ teaching was designed to nourish the faith of new believers. Those who “were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (“they,” 2:42) were also those who had previously received Peter’s word unto salvation and were baptized (v. 41). All who believed were baptized and added to the fellowship of believers also welcomed the apostles’ teaching. In other words all the believers were continually coming to the apostles to be instructed in God’s truth. These first gatherings of the church were designed primarily for edifying believers, not for evangelizing unbelievers. Of course they were reaching out to the unsaved, for “the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (v. 47). But this “evangelism explosion” was the result of their teaching, not the stated purpose of it. They gathered for edification; they scattered for evangelism. The primary focus of their corporate worship gatherings was for building up the believers, not for reaching seekers. When this priority becomes reversed and the church meets primarily to save the lost, the apostles’ teaching soon becomes compromised and diluted.
A contemporary church built around presenting a nonoffensive, felt-need message to a lost crowd is a sad departure from the model presented in Acts. Delivering a watered-down, man-centered message only retards the spiritual hunger of true believers for the meat of God’s Word. In the absence of a genuine passion for God’s truth many evangelicals have only prolonged this low spiritual desire by compromising their message. Tragically many pastors today are turning aside to pacifying, even entertaining, their people, sometimes under the guise of reaching lost people. Pastors ought to avoid this well-intentioned but misdirected trend.
When they preach, pastors must earnestly pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to create an unquenchable appetite for the Word in the hearts of believers. Spiritual leaders must fervently pray for the spiritual condition of their flocks, asking God to expose any sin that is choking out their hunger for God’s Word (1 Pet. 2:1–3). Preachers must once again deliver the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to eager hearts who wait to be fed the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The Potency of the Apostles’ Teaching
Can a church actually grow under a steady diet of biblical exposition? Can biblical preaching truly stimulate the growth of the church? Of course! The apostles’ teaching greatly enriched the spiritual life of this first congregation, as well as expanding their numbers. Never an end in itself, God’s truth is always a means to a greater end, namely, leading God’s people into genuine worship, personal maturity, spiritual service, and evangelistic outreach. Acts 2:42–47 spells out the multifaceted impact of the apostles’ teaching.
It Energized Their Fellowship
As these new believers grew in the truth, they grew in the Lord, and in turn they grew closer to each other. Forged together on the anvil of God’s truth, their relationships in Christ were shaped and molded through their commonly held commitment to the teaching of the apostles. “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship” (2:42). These two activities—the apostles’ teaching and fellowship—are closely related, suggesting that the apostles’ biblical preaching directly impacted the quality of the new believers’ personal relationships. Κοινωνία, “fellowship,” means “association, communion, fellowship, close relationship.”[28] It denotes “the unanimity and unity brought about by the Spirit.”[29] These new believers who had come to saving faith in Jesus Christ also came to understand that they were brothers and sisters in God’s eternal family. The more they learned about their jointly held relationship with Christ, the closer, deeper, and richer was their fellowship in Him. As God’s Word purged and purified their hearts, the quality of their love for each other grew even stronger. Thus the apostles’ teaching pumped life into their fellowship. So it will be today: A Word-fed church will be a fellowshipping church.
It Elevated Their Worship
As they were “continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching,” the early-church believers were also engaged in “the breaking of bread” (2:42). Regarding their early expressions of worship, Bruce comments, “The ‘breaking of bread’ probably denotes more than the regular taking of food together: the regular observance of what came to be called the Lord’s Supper seems to be in view.”[30] As they were taught the rich truths about Christ’s finished work on the cross, their worship experience at the Lord’s Table intensified. The deeper they dug into the Word, the higher their hearts soared in worship. Never occurring in an intellectual vacuum, authentic praise and worship is always a heartfelt response to biblical truth. When Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24), He meant that genuine worship occurs when a believer responds inwardly to God’s truth. In other words theology leads to doxology. Biblical truth ignites hearts and enflames lives with a fervent, passionate love for God. The more truth about God one learns and personally applies, the more clearly he or she will see, submit to, and worship Him. Noting this inseparable link, Paul wrote, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16). A Word-filled church will be a worshiping church.
It Empowered Their Prayers
Those who “were continually devoted to the apostles’ teaching” were also committed “to prayer” (Acts 2:42). Bruce explains, “As for the prayers in which they participated, the primary reference is no doubt to their own appointed seasons for united prayer, although we know that the apostles also attended the Jewish prayer services in the temple (cf. 3:1).”[31] This suggests that the apostles’ teaching ignited a passion for prayer. The more the believers learned about God, the more they recognized their dependency on Him in prayer. Christ had given specific instructions about the right attitude in prayer, as well as the right approach and the right agenda (Matt. 6:1–14). Teaching them to be steadfast in prayer, Jesus said believers should always be asking, seeking, and knocking (7:7–11). He taught them to pray like a persistent friend (Luke 11:5–10), a hungry son (11:11–13), and a needy widow (18:1–8), bringing their requests of God in Jesus’ name (John 14:13–14). Undoubtedly the apostles’ teaching included what Jesus said about prayer as they led these first believers to intercede fervently (Acts 3:1; 4:24–31; 12:5, 12). The same will be true today. Biblical preaching should always lead to bold praying. These go together like the two sides of a coin. A preaching church will be a praying church.
It Enriched Their Service
As the new Christians received the apostles’ teaching, they “were together, and had all things in common, and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need” (2:44–45). Regarding this new love for each other, Barrett notes, “Holding all things in common meant that owners sold their property…. Luke is describing a state that persisted for some time.”[32] Their biblical preaching generated great concern, compassion, and commitment in their hearts for each other. Jesus had taught His disciples to share their possessions with those in need (Matt. 5:42). He taught them that they could not serve God and material possessions, for life does not consist in the possessions one owns (6:19–34). In the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus commanded them to love their neighbors by meeting others’ needs (Luke 10:30–37). The apostles’ preaching no doubt expounded Jesus’ words about loving and serving one another. As a result genuine displays of love immediately flowed from the believers’ hearts for each other. Truth called for their mutual love, which they freely gave. It is no different today. A learning church will be a loving church.
It Expanded Their Joy
The apostles’ teaching also sparked an atmosphere of contagious joy. “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart” (Acts 2:46). Of their contagious fellowship Barrett states, “The meals referred to … were not weildy celebrations of the Lord’s resurrection but, much more probably, the necessary daily meals, which the believers took in common.”[33] The preaching of the apostles, which magnified the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, ignited an explosive joy that spread to all, as they met house to house. When received by faith, God’s Word always produces joy, filling hearts with gladness. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11). Far from being boring, God’s Word, when preached and received, instills great joy. A Word-filled church will be a joy-filled church.
It Enflamed Their Evangelism
The apostles’ teaching resulted in the conversion of many individuals. As the Christians grew in their faith, they shared the gospel. They experienced “favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Flowing into the lives of these new believers, God’s Word was then shared with those who were without Christ, and this resulted in the daily conversion of lost souls. Like water rushing through a pipe, the apostles’ teaching was pouring into these early believers and then through them into the lives of others. Evangelism flourished because the believers were strong in the written Word. With a growing confidence they shared the good news of Christ with those around them. The apostles’ exposition ignited an evangelism explosion. A Word-centered church will be a witnessing church.
How Shall We Then Preach?
Do evangelicals still have confidence in the preaching of God’s Word to create such positive responses? In the first church these healthy spiritual dynamics—fellowship, worship, prayer, service, joy, and evangelism—were all enriched by the apostles’ teaching. And so it must be today. God’s Word proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit is still powerful to produce the same supernatural effect.
Acts 2:42–47 headlines the priority of biblical preaching. The apostles’ teaching ignited this first congregation, and it will do the same in the churches today that are committed to biblical exposition. Listed first in the ministry activities of this initial flock, the apostles’ teaching was the driving dynamic in this first congregation, the catalyst that stimulated their spiritual growth.
J. Dwight Pentecost, professor emeritus of Bible Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary, was asked what advice he would give seminary graduates going into the pastorate. He gave an answer that needs to be carefully heeded, not only by young men entering the ministry, but also by seasoned preachers and experienced teachers. He said, “The great need across evangelicalism is exposition of the Scriptures. I sense there is a departure from that, even among some of our own grads, who are entertaining the people, giving the people what they want, whereas we are called to teach the Word. It is the Word that is the power of God to salvation, it is the Word that is the power for Christian living, and I would want them to make the Word of God the center of their ministry. It may not be popular, it may not build mega-churches, but it will fulfill that to which they are called upon to do in ministry.”[34]
Churches today need to return to the primacy of preaching God’s Word. May God raise up a new generation of biblical expositors who, like those in the early church, are supremely committed to the unashamed proclamation of the apostles’ teaching. Now more than ever, may they preach the Word!
Notes
- See Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian Think? (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant, 1963); David Wells, No Place for Truth: Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology? (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993); Os Guinness, Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think and What to Do about It (Grand Rapids: Hourglass, 1994); Mark Noll, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994); Alister McGrath, Evangelicalism and the Future of Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1995); and David Wells, Losing Our Virtue: Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998).
- Michael Horton, “James Montgomery Boice: Servant of the Word,” Modern Reformation 9 (September-October 2000): 10.
- “Truth is the source of, not the obstacle to, the power we lack in our churches today” (ibid., 10).
- James Montgomery Boice, Acts: An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997), 56.
- John Phillips, Exploring Acts (Chicago: Moody, 1986), 1:61.
- John R. W. Stott, The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church and the Word (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1990), 82.
- Dietrich Müller, “Disciple,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978), 1:487–90.
- John MacArthur Jr., Acts 1–12, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody, 1994), 83.
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Book of Acts (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2000), 1:104.
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1977), 19.
- William Neil, The Acts of the Apostles, New Century Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), 81.
- Klaus Wegenast, “διδασκαλία,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3:769.
- Ibid., 3:770.
- Everett F. Harrison, Acts: The Expanding Church (Chicago: Moody, 1975), 65.
- Ibid.
- Simon Kistemaker, Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990), 110.
- G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (Edinburgh: Clark, 1994), 55.
- Karl Heinrich Rengstorf, “ἀπόστολος,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel, trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 1 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1964), 421.
- F. F. Bruce, The Book of the Acts, New International Commentary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1984), 73.
- Boice, Acts: An Expositional Commentary, 56.
- Stott, The Message of Acts: The Spirit, the Church and the Word, 82.
- Richard N. Longnecker, “The Acts of the Apostles,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary 9 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), 289.
- Ulrich Falkenroth and Colin Brown, “Patience, Steadfastness, Endurance,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 2:764.
- Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 382.
- Walter Grundmann, “προσκαρτερέω,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 3 (1965), 619.
- R. Kent Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1996), 47–48 (italics his).
- Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Book of Acts, 1:105–6.
- Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2d ed., rev. F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), 439.
- Johannes Schattenmann, “Fellowship,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 1:439.
- Bruce, The Book of Acts, 73.
- Ibid.
- C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: Clark, 1998), 169.
- Ibid., 170.
- Kelley M. Mathews, “An Interview with Dr. J. Dwight Penecost,” Dallas Connection, winter 2000, 2.
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