Jesus said in Luke 10:2, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” At this time Jesus was sending men out before Him, two by two, as heralds of the kingdom of God. Few were ready to do the work of sharing the message of God’s kingdom, but a great harvest awaited if they would go to the work. On another occasion, Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” (Jn. 4:35). The time to bring people into the Lord’s kingdom is now. Let us pray for more soul winners in the Lord’s church who will work to bring in a great harvest.

Paul was one of the greatest soul winners in the history of the church; by the grace of God, he labored more abundantly than the other apostles (1 Cor. 15:10). He trained others to do the work he was doing. In Acts 16:1-3, Paul took Timothy under his wing and had him go with him on his journey. Timothy was Paul’s fellow worker with God (1 Thess. 3:2). Timothy stood out because, instead of seeking his own interests, he cared for the souls of others; Paul and Timothy served with one another in the gospel like father and son (Phil. 2:19-24). Paul told Timothy, “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Tim. 4:16). Paul’s final charge to Timothy included these words: “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). While others would turn away from the truth, Paul urged Timothy to “be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:5).

Timothy would have to carry on the work after Paul went to be with the Lord. Yet, just as Paul had found Timothy, a faithful worker to whom he could teach the crucial vocation of being an evangelist, so also Timothy was to commit what he had learned to faithful men who could teach others also (2 Tim. 2:2). The church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). As the people of God, we uphold the truth of the gospel for the world to see.

When the Godhead asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah replied, “Here am I; send me” (Isa. 6:8). Let us have the same attitude today regarding the work of evangelism. Not all of us are to preach before an audience. Much of Jesus’ work was one-on-one conversations with people like Nicodemus (Jn. 3:1-19) and the Samaritan woman (Jn. 4:1-30). Have a Bible study with someone in your circle of influence. If you are not able to lead a Bible study, you can invite someone who is able to lead into your home to study with one of your friends. The word of God is the seed of the kingdom (Lk. 8:11). If we plant the seed in the hearts of those around us, God has promised a great harvest.

In Acts 2:42, we read, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Notice how “the apostles’ doctrine” and “fellowship” are coupled together in the sentence by the word and between them and the comma after the word fellowship. Instead of giving a comma after each of these items as if they were simply a list (e.g. doctrine, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayers), the punctuation pairs the apostles’ doctrine with fellowship. Greek editions of the New Testament have this punctuation as well.

The early church engaged in each of these activities. We may readily see how some of these items could fit together. If we break bread, then we will offer prayer to God while doing so. We also view this as fellowship. However, the linkage we may fail to notice is doctrine and fellowship, yet from the way the sentence reads, this association is emphasized.

We cannot have fellowship unless we all continue steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. Doctrine means teaching. What the inspired apostles taught in the New Testament is our basis for unity and cooperation. To Corinth the apostle Paul wrote:

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Cor. 1:9,10.)

In the context of Acts 2, Peter had just delivered a sermon about Jesus. His life attested by miraculous activity (v. 22), His crucifixion by wicked hands (v. 23), and His resurrection from the grave as the fulfillment of prophecy (vv. 24-35) all pointed to the conclusion that Jesus indeed is Lord and Messiah (v. 36). The crowd was convicted by these words (v. 37). They believed Jesus was Lord and Messiah and that they were guilty of putting Him to death. When they asked the inspired apostle Peter what to do (v. 37), he replied, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins…” (v. 38). These are teachings upon which we must agree if we are to have fellowship.

The apostles’ teaching regarding receiving salvation is plain. We cannot have fellowship with those who teach something other than what the apostles taught in the New Testament regarding how to receive remission of sins. If the apostle Peter says baptism saves us (1 Pet. 3:21), then we cannot teach differently. If the apostle John faithfully records that Jesus taught we must be born of water and the spirit to enter the kingdom (John 3:3-5), then we cannot teach another way of entry and remain in fellowship with God and His people. The apostle Paul teaches that we become children of God through faith by being baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:26, 27), that baptism places one into Christ, uniting one with Christ’s death, freeing one from sin (Rom. 6:3-7), that baptism is a burial,  the working of God that makes us alive and forgives us of all trespasses (Col. 2:12-13), and that it is God’s mercy to save, the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5). We must continue steadfastly in this teaching. We cannot have fellowship with those who teach and practice something other than what the apostles have taught on this vital subject.