A. The founding of the church 1:1-2:47In his account of the founding of the Christian church Luke gave background information that ties Jesus’ giving of the Great Commission to the day of Pentecost. He showed how Jesus enabled His disciples to obey His command to evangelize the nations. read more
These new converts along with the disciples gave ("devoted," Gr. proskartereo, cf. Acts 1:14) themselves to two activities primarily: the apostles’ teaching and fellowship. The grammar of the Greek sentence sets these actions off as distinct from the following two activities that define fellowship. The apostles’ teaching included the Jewish Scriptures as well as the teachings of Christ on earth and the revelations He gave to the apostles from heaven. This means the early Christians gave... read more
6. The early state of the church 2:42-47Luke now moved from describing what took place on a particular day to a more general description of the life of the early Jerusalem church (cf. Acts 4:32 to Acts 5:11; Acts 6:1-6). Interestingly he gave comparatively little attention to the internal life of the church in Acts. His selection of content shows that his purpose was to stress its outward expansion. read more
2:42 teaching (c-6) As ch. 13.12; 1 Corinthians 14:26 . read more
The Day of Pentecost1-13. Pentecost. On this day the risen Lord fulfilled His promise to send another Comforter (or Advocate) ’that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive; for it be-holdeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He abideth with you, and shall be in you’ (John 14:17). Primarily, Pentecost is to be regarded as the Consecration of the Church for its work of evangelising the world. The fiery tongues which lighted upon the... read more
(42) And they continued steadfastly.—The one Greek word is expressed by the English verb and adverb. As applied to persons, the New Testament use of the word is characteristic of St. Luke (Acts 2:46; Acts 6:4; Acts 8:13; Acts 10:7), and peculiar to him and St. Paul (Romans 12:12; Romans 13:6; Colossians 4:2).The apostles’ doctrine.—Four elements of the life of the new society are dwelt on. (1) They grew in knowledge of the truth by attending to the teaching of the Apostles. This, and not the... read more
The Lesson of Pentecost Acts 2:1 We must realise what went before the record which begins with this word 'and' because it has in it a lesson that we have need to learn first, of the patience and entire confidence in the fulfilling of the promise of God, and then of 'the prayer and supplication' which penetrated that patience and helped toward the realisation of their hope. I. The lesson needs learning that while the apostolic ministry has its due part and special place, the ministry of the... read more
CHAPTER 2 1. The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4 ). 2. The Immediate Effect of His Presence (Acts 2:5-13 ). 3. Peter’s Address (Acts 2:14-36 ). 4. The Result of the Witness (Acts 2:37-41 ). 5. The Gathered Company in Fellowship (Acts 2:42-47 ). This is an important chapter. The Promise of the Father was fulfilled, the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity came down to earth, to be the other Comforter. He came on that blessed day. Two things are at once apparent. He came... read more
2:42 {11} And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and {b} fellowship, and in {c} breaking of bread, and in prayers.(11) The marks of the true Church are the doctrine of the apostles, the duties of charity, the pure and simple administration of the ordinances, and the true invocation used by all of the faithful.(b) Sharing of goods, and all other duties of charity, as is shown afterwards.(c) The Jews used thin loaves, and therefore they broke them rather than cut them: so by... read more
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Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Acts 2:42
42. continued steadfastly in—"attended constantly upon." the apostles' doctrine—"teaching"; giving themselves up to the instructions which, in their raw state, would be indispensable to the consolidation of the immense multitude suddenly admitted to visible discipleship. fellowship—in its largest sense. breaking of bread—not certainly in the Lord's Supper alone, but rather in frugal repasts taken together, with which the Lord's Supper was probably conjoined until abuses and persecution led to... read more