“They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers. Fear came to every soul. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common. They sold their property and goods and distributed them to all, according to their need. And continuing daily with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (rf. Acts 2:42-47)
For the past few months, we have been looking into the subject of the True Worship of God. We’ve seen how God wants to be adored by His people, but He wants our worship to be done according to His directions and not by how we would like to do it. When we follow His instructions, we find that God is pleased with our obedience and blesses our efforts accordingly.
The above passage details the results of the obedience of Jesus’ disciples to His last directive. He told them before His Ascension to remain in Jerusalem, to continue in prayer and fellowship with each other until “the Comforter” was sent to them from Him to prepare them to take His Gospel to “the ends of the earth”. Therefore, His disciples diligently obeyed, prayed and waited for His promise.
So, it is important to note that obedience preceded blessing. In our day, we want the blessing regardless of our obedience. We want things done to please ourselves rather than seeking to please Almighty God by our actions and attitudes. It is no wonder that the blessings He would give to us are often bottled up in heaven because God has seen our own self-centeredness and has chosen not to reveal the best experiences to us.
This was not the case with Jesus’ disciples. They did as they were told by Him. They stayed put, prayed and waited. Their obedience seen by Him, they experienced the full measure of God’s blessings. They were filled with His power by His Spirit. They saw God work miracles in their midst (i.e. “signs and wonders”). They were moved to provide for the least fortunate among them (i.e. “had all things in common”). They enjoyed special fellowship with one another and enjoyed the fullness of God’s pleasure through the teaching of the “apostles’ doctrine” and Holy Communion (“the breaking of bread”). Don’t miss the last blessing! God added to their number “daily those who were being saved”. Some might call this “a revival”. The better expression would be that God visited His people’s obedience with abundant blessings!
If God’s people would experience such again, it is predicated upon their full obedience to His declared Word. If we follow His directions by faith, we will likewise see God pour out His delight upon us so that we grow spiritually, numerically and in our capacity to enjoy and love Him. Let us commit to this path of obedience and watch what only God can accomplish!
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