The Spirit’s commentary on the early Church reads, “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42). These are the four great principles of fellowship in “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).
Now in God’s dwelling place, the sanctuary which He required to be made for Himself to dwell in, there were four vessels, the vessels in the tabernacle, and these four correspond with those four particulars mentioned in the Acts. I believe that the Spirit of God has given us in this passage in Acts as His divine explanation of these four vessels in the sanctuary.
THE APOSTLES’ DOCTRINE
The tabernacle stood facing east, west, north, and south. On the west stood the golden lampstand, which I believe is God’s emblematic representation of ministry, having Christ for its center, source, and subject, in the power of the Holy Ghost. The apostles’ doctrine is God’s truth about His own Christ, revealed to us by the Spirit, through the apostles of our Lord and Saviour.
FELLOWSHIP
“Truly,” says the Apostle John, “our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3), and, he said, we write these things unto you “that ye also may have fellowship with us.” In the holiest of all, the Holy of holies, stood the “ark of the covenant;” and there in the cloud above the mercy seat and between the two cherubim God dwelt. From there He spoke; so that the Holy of holies became the oracle or speaking-place of God, from God and to God. The genuine fellowship of saints must have its center “within the veil.” It must begin with God in Christ, and there must be communion by the Holy Spirit with God inside the veil before there can be real fellowship with saints outside.
BREAKING OF BREAD
Next comes “the breaking of bread.” On the north side–the place of judgment–stood the table of showbread, with its golden crown and its border–that is, a golden crown to the border. Upon it stood the showbread. “Breaking of bread” is here typified, and it was on the north side, the place of judgment and discipline. For the table of God must be guarded, and there is beauty and glory in the guarding. Here we feed upon that which satisfies the heart of God Himself.
PRAYERS
Lastly, in the center, over against the ark of the covenant, but outside the veil, stood the golden altar of incense. “Let my prayers,” says David, “be set forth before Thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Ps. 141:2).
Thus we have the golden candlestick, the ark of the covenant, the table of showbread, and the golden altar of incense. These four vessels correspond, I believe, to the four particulars of fellowship mentioned in Acts 2:42, “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Let none of these be forgotten by us, and may God grant that in every respect we may learn to stand steadfastly as those who are “in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”