What should I be looking for in a church?

Thus the Apostle passes before us some of the marks that God would have to be found in every Christian company. They should be a praying people, in whom the word of the Lord is glorified; a people established in the truth and separate from evil; a company obedient to the word, walking in the love of God, and patiently waiting for the coming of Christ. A company thus characterised would be able to withstand the assaults of the enemy and the temptations of the world.

The reception of the gospel resulted in a completely different orientation of life for the believer, the entrance into a spiritual fellowship formed by divine teaching, and outwardly marked by the breaking of bread and prayers.

But it does now exist, and the souls before us were brought into it on that memorable day. "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers." Stedfast continuance is good. To some Paul had to say, "Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?" (Gal. 5:7). Not so in Jerusalem on the Pentecostal day. There are four things to be noticed here. (1) "The apostles' doctrine." What else did they, or do we, want? Apostolic doctrine is the standard and test of truth as John declares, "We are of God: he that knows God hears us; he that is not of God hears not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6). Are we prepared to bring all our ways and the teaching we accept to this test? Tradition is of but little worth, however ancient and widely received; what was "from the beginning" alone has a claim upon our souls. (2) "Fellowship." What a mercy that we are not called to walk alone! In a hostile world, what a relief to the heart that God has given us the fellowship of saints! Do we value it sufficiently? No saint is self-sufficient; we all need what God has for us by means of our brethren. But our fellowship must be holy. Better far to walk alone than compromise the Lord's name. In such a case His grace will be made sufficient for the soul, as many can testify; but such is not the ordinary Christian path, but fellowship. (3) "The breaking of bread." This had clearly a larger place in the Christianity of those days than now. While continuing daily in the temple, they broke bread "at home" on (at least) the first day of the week (Acts 20). Love was too fresh to be satisfied with a monthly or quarterly remembrance of Christ. In our day the very name is well-nigh lost, to say nothing of the reality. What are the sounds around us? One tells us of the mass, another of the sacrament; but how often do we hear God's titles, "the breaking of bread," and "the Lord's supper?" (4) "The prayers." They felt the solemnity of their position in the midst of enemies, and valued united prayer. When the apostles were "let go" in Acts 4, they at once sought out "their own company," and together they gave themselves to prayer. Do we feel our need? It is sorrowful to see saints, who are regular in their attendance at the Lord's table, indifferent to the prayer-meeting. What can be said of their condition of soul?

There are three regular assembly meetings in the New Testament: for prayer (Matt. 18:19; Acts 12:5); for edification (1 Cor. 14:29), and for the breaking of bread (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 11:23ff). The last of these is most naturally linked with worship. Whilst the objective of this meeting is to break the bread in order to remember the Lord (1 Cor. 11:24–25) and to ‘show' or ‘announce' His death (1 Cor. 11:26), it would be highly unnatural if the occupation with the sufferings and death of Christ did not lead us to worship Him and the Father who was made known in Christ's death.

Only those who have believed the Gospel of our salvation regarding the atoning work of Christ, and His resurrection, have the blessings of Christianity, and only they are entitled to the privileges of the fellowship of God's Son. We are living in a day when there is a great profession of Christianity, when many who know not the Lord partake of His Supper, but they have no title to this privilege if they are not sheltering beneath the blood of the true Paschal Lamb. In the assembly of God we partake of the precious privileges that belong to the body of Christ. There we worship by the Spirit of God; there we sing our praises to the Father and the Son; there we pray in divine liberty, and there we have the ministry provided by God for the comfort, edification and encouragement of His people. In the assembly the members of the one body function under the control of the Spirit of God, and under the direction of the Lord, for the pleasure and glory of God, and for the joy and delight of His saints.

The converts continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine or instruction. The house of God is where intelligence as to the mind of the Lord is manifested. Therefore, it is a prime necessity that a premium should be put on collective reading of the scriptures because therein is enshrined the doctrine which is not affected by the flow of time and the changing fashions of men. The next feature was that they continued in fellowship in consequence of the enlightenment from the Apostle's doctrine. They owned the one Lord and partook in the community of interest of His administration. He is the bond of the partnership. The practical expression of that fellowship was in the breaking of bread! The concluding element of the manifestation of the house of God was in prayers. That is where we express our need of the help of God, first as to the needs in the work of the Gospel and then as to the interests of the people of God.

The four things that marked them, according to verse 42, are worthy of note. First comes the apostles' doctrine or teaching. This lies at the foundation of things. The apostles were the men to whom the Lord had said, "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13). Their doctrine was consequently the fruit of the Spirit's guiding. The church was now in being, and the first thing that marked it was subjection to the Spirit's teaching through the apostles. The church does not teach; it is taught, and is subject to the Word as given by the Spirit.

Regretfully, God's provision has been almost wholly neglected, and hence the divided and scattered condition of God's people. Christendom has largely set aside the apostles' doctrine by its own tradition; has formed "fellowships" around gifted men, or particular views, instead of the Son of God; has perverted the breaking of bread from a supper of remembrance to a ceremonial means of grace; and has turned prayer into mere formality. However, in the early days of the Acts, the believers "continued steadfastly" in the apostles' doctrine, and fellowship, and breaking of bread, and prayer; and as long as they so continued they remained together in a visible unity.

Meetings may be and are arranged by religious leaders, which certainly do not in any way answer to the scriptural order of an assembly of those who are forgiven, sanctified, and made purged worshippers, through the one and perfect sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Such leaders may hold meetings to propound their views, right or wrong; but the assembling together of which our Scriptures speak takes no cognizance of these. At the very beginning, before “the faith once delivered to the saints” was falsified and corrupted, we are told in Acts 2:42, “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” In 1 Corinthians 11 to 14, the Spirit gives us, through Paul, further instruction as to assembling together. These Scriptures, which are specially said to be the commandments of the Lord, should be read, and considered well, so that we may have His thoughts in answer to our question. There is the assembling to eat the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Himself: there is also the assembling together for prayer, and for edification. In Hebrews 10:25, the main thought is for encouragement, as it says

We may divide discipline into three classes — preventive, corrective, and preservative. Preventive discipline begins with reception into fellowship. The assembly of God is responsible as to whom it receives. A person must be known to be not only a Christian, but one who is walking consistently. If it is a new convert, it should be clear that he has really believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he recognizes the Lord's claims upon him. If he has for some time been a Christian, care should be taken that he is godly in walk, association, and doctrine. Reception is by the assembly, and there should therefore be the fellowship of all with the act. An introduction by some who have examined the case and are competent to judge will usually suffice. We need hardly warn against mere human judgment. Guidance comes from God alone, and His mind should be sought in every case. Joshua and the princes of Israel seemed to have abundant evidence to justify them in receiving the Gibeonites without asking counsel of God (Joshua 9). Let us remember this. How many persons who have been carelessly received have afterwards given much sorrow, and drawn away others after them. But even where the person should be received, he may need an awakening of conscience which can best be done at that time. "Receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God" (Rom. 15:7). Here we have the tempering together of grace and care, which should ever characterize discipline.