Acts 2:43-47; 4:32-35

The two passages before us record instances in which believers were of one accord. Being of one accord and holding all things in common (2:44, 4:32), they sold all that they possessed and gave the proceeds to be distributed according to need (2:45, 4:35).

The make up of those of one accord in Acts 2 is somewhat different from the make up of those of one accord in Acts 4. In Acts 2, we read, “And fear came upon every soul” (v. 43). In this instance, fear was the response to the events which every soul had experienced. Every soul had heard Peter preach Jesus of Nazareth, approved of God, crucified and raised from the dead as stated in scripture (Ps. 16:10). Every soul experienced a pricking of his or her heart (v. 37). Every soul received the preached word and was baptized. There were about three thousand in number (v. 41). Every soul continued in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (v. 42). Every soul which responded to Peter’s preaching was present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Three thousand Jews and proselytes from distant lands heard the wonderful works of God spoken in their native tongues (v. 10-11). Without the miracle of tongues on Pentecost, these Jews and proselytes would not have heard and would have gone their individual ways.

In Acts 4, “the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul” (v. 32). The number in this multitude was about five thousand (v. 4). The five thousand came to be of one accord because they heard and believed that which Peter declared in Acts 3:12-26. They heard Peter because they were listening. They had just witnessed a great miracle. They saw one who had been lame from birth (3:2) who had been laid daily at the temple gate arise and walk. They heard Peter say, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” (3:6). They knew the man who rose and walked to be the person whom they had seen lying at the temple gate, year in and year out, as they entered the temple to worship the Lord God. The five thousand were devout Jews who dwelt in Jerusalem. They heard Peter proclaim Jesus, the Son of God, rejected and denied, crucified, and raised from the dead. They heard, they believed and were moved to be of one accord.

Being of one accord means being bound together in mutual support, respect, and love. It means loving one another. It means being joined with Christ who commended His love toward us while we were yet sinners. It is a marvelous thing to cast the world aside and abide in Him and He in us.

Concerning the selling of all that they possessed and distributing it according to need — Believing that Jesus is the Holy One sent from God is cause for action and a change in thinking.

Both the three thousand at Pentecost and the five thousand that heard and believed were devout Jews. As such, they recited the Shema several times daily. With their mouths they said, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart” (Deut. 6:4-5). They spoke these words but in their hearts they knew that they had failed to do as the law required.
Both the three thousand and the five thousand knew that they were to love thy neighbor as thy self (Lev. 19:18). They knew, again, that they had failed to do as the Lord required.

The three thousand and the five thousand received the good news: Jesus of Nazareth, the Holy One of God, satisfied the law, not for Himself, but for them. Jesus had fulfilled the words of the prophets. Jesus was “cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken” (Isa. 53:8) and made an offering for sin.

The commandments which they could not keep out of duty, Jesus kept out of love. Jesus had made them free from the law which they could not keep. They now, moved by the love of God, were empowered to love thy neighbor as thy self. They were empowered by His love to become vessels of His will.

This scripture exists for God’s purposes. We know that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. We know that it is His will that we should go, teach, and baptize. We know God’s will.

We cannot, however, make ourselves vessels of His love by self will. We, like the three thousand and the five thousand, must repent of self-effort and receive the fullness of His love. It is by His love alone that we can do as He so dearly desires of us.

May the Lord add to the church daily.