(3) There was also regular, systematic provision made for practical help as it was required. Continuing in the Apostles' fellowship, it is clear that the members of the Church gave freely and willingly " as the Lord had prospered them " for the relief of poor saints, and that a regular distribution of the contributions so given was made to those in need. Later on, " when the number of the disciples was multiplied," it was found absolutely necessary to appoint deacons to take this matter in charge, that they, over- looking the temporal affairs, might leave the Apostles free to attend to the purely spiritual matters. That these contributions became a regular institution, a weekly ordinance, in the Churches of Christ, is clear from Paul's words to the "Church of God at Corinth." Following immediately upon the greatest, the profoundest treatise ever written upon the fundamental doctrine of the " resurrection," the Apostle, without pause or break, says, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given
1 J. D. Gilmore.
ACTS ii. 42 55
order to the Churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come " (1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2).
2. St. Luke, according to the translation adopted in our versions, links together "teaching and fellowship"; but he certainly does not mean that the early Christians were taught to combine as they did. They entered into an intelligent unity sustained by intelligent communication; but their intercourse was the spontaneous outflow of the new life which, as believers in Christ, they had received. It was a Divine instinct, a soul of brotherhood, a disposition which breathed the atmosphere of " the household of faith." Good nature could find no sphere large enough for its expression. It was the observance of the second commandment in the most Christlike form the world had ever seen. It was the attainment of the mind of Christ in a measure which overflowed all human relationships. From the first we get an impression of wonderful unity and brotherliness as marking the Messianic community. With what moving power would the Master's words be rehearsed by men in whose imaginations the Speaker's looks and tones, as He had spoken them, still lived and gave each saying life ! In the atmosphere of soul thus created self-contained isolation was simply impossible to believers. The impulse to "fellowship" of the most intimate and complete character mastered every other feeling. And in that fellowship they found their strength and stability.
*{[ One of the most remarkable methods of preventing the en- croachments of the sea upon the land, and fixing the loose sand along the shore, is by means of plants specially adapted for the purpose. These plants belong mostly to the grass tribe, though some are furnished with the flowers and foliage of higher orders. But they all possess in common the peculiarity of creeping under- ground stems, which at short intervals send up fresh shoots above the surface, and root themselves in the soil. These creeping underground stems enable them to subsist in the barren sand, and endure long periods of drought and sterility; while the rooting of the stems at frequent intervals, producing new indi- viduals at every joint, all linked together, enables them to offer an effectual resistance to the storm. If undisturbed, these wonderfully constructed plants would speedily cover the largest
56 APOSTOLIC CHRISTIANITY
tract of sea-shore spontaneously, prevent the loose masses of sand thrown up by the waves from drifting, and render the soil sufficiently stable to support higher vegetation. Man has taken advantage of the peculiar habit of these seaside plants, and planted them along the banks which he erects as a barrier against the sea, and which without these would be blown away by the first hurricane. The enormous dykes which the people have con- structed in Holland, to keep out the inundations of the German Ocean, owe their stability to these plants, which are carefully protected by the Government ; and along the low eastern side of England, where the sea is seeking continually to encroach upon the shore, and is with great difficulty kept back, a large quantity of dry land has in this way been reclaimed from the waters. It is the social habit of these seaside plants that gives them their wonderful tenacity of life, and admirably adapts them for the conditions in which they grow. Each separate plant is weak and fragile; and if left to itself it would speedily perish in its sterile situation, and would be uprooted and swept away by the fury of the tide. But when linked and interlaced in the closest fashion, by a vital bond, with the whole mass of similar plants growing around, it can hold its own against the strongest forces of the ocean. It is as nearly indestructible from natural causes as anything can be ; and it is one of the most striking proofs of the power of feeble things that are endowed with life, to resist, when in combination, the mightiest forces of mechanical nature.1
III.
The Breaking of Bread.
We pass on now to the breaking of bread. There can be no question that here we have " the Holy Communion in its primitive form as an Agape or supper of communion,"2 or rather as a commemoration associated with an Agape or supper of communion. For it is manifest that, in considering the language of St. Luke, we cannot separate it from that of his great master, St. Paul. We are compelled to seek in the Eirst Epistle to the Corinthians the meaning of this simple expression, characteristic of the Acts, " the breaking of bread." Now, in the tenth and eleventh chapters of that Epistle, St. Paul evidently describes the Agape as preceding the Eucharist. The latter he clearly asserts to be an institution 1 Hugh Macmillan. 2 F. J. A. Hort.