Acts 2:41-47
(New International Version)
41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
(Three thousand converts in one day! Peter’s speech must have made quite an impression on the crowd with his eye-witness accounts of Jesus, his miracles, the Crucifiation, His resurrection and finally His ascension into Heaven! I personally feel that the account that we have here in Acts 2, is but a ‘highlight reel’ of Peter’s sermon. According to v. 40 which states; “…with many other words…”, I think, he was able to talk for hours and hours without repeating any one particular deed that happened or reciting any one parable, that Jesus told, more than once. I do feel, however, that he repeated the events of the Crucifiation, and everything that happened afterwards, for effect, many times over! The longer Peter talked the more converts there were. The more converts there were, the harder he preached to reach the ones that remained. I feel that Peter preached until there were no un-believers left in his audience that day. That is not to say that some people didn’t get up and leave, but, I feel that the ones who remained were all saved.
No mention is made of how long the baptisms took, or even who performed them. I would have to think that the other apostles started baptizing the converts, with the newly-converted doing some more baptisms, and on down the line. To read it we think of it being done in a regular church service like we have today. But 3,000 to be baptized, that must have taken but a whole day onto itself. Oh, what a sight that must have been, Peter preaching, all of those people getting baptized all at the same time! The people who were just baptized, they grabbed the next in line themselves and baptizing them. WOW! )

The Fellowship of the Believers

I feel that there are seven main points here:

42They devoted (NIV and NASB; ‘continued steadfastly’ in the KJV) themselves to the apostles' teaching

{1} [doctrine] (The new converts believed what Peter, and the other apostles, taught them whole heartily and without doubt or reserve. The apostles told them how to act, what to do and how to do it. This was the beginning of our church doctrines that we’ve all followed as Christians to this day. )

and to the {2} fellowship (These converts didn’t all come just from Jerusalem; they came from all over the area. They didn’t go back hometowns, except to sell their property and return. They stayed in Jerusalem to learn the word of Jesus. They stayed together and got to know each other.)

, to the {3} breaking of bread (Here with this ‘breaking of bread’ I believe that they communed with the Lord’s Supper. “In remembrance of me” Luke 22:19)

and to {4} prayer (They prayed together. As our prayers are stronger if we pray together, theirs were also. The Rev. R.A. Torrey, D.D., Dean of the Bible Institute of Las Angeles, California, wrote: “The most important human factor in effective evangelism is PRAYER, Every great awakening in the history of the Church from the time of the Apostles until today has been the result of prayer. There have been great awakenings without much preaching, and there have been great awakenings with absolutely no organization, but there has never been a true awakening without much prayer.”).

43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. {5}[witnessing] (While we don’t know what the apostles did here, nothing specific is told of, I would think that they healed the crippled, sick, blind and deaf. By seeing these miracles first hand, they (the new converts) themselves could go out and be able to spread the word much more effectively, as it would strengthen their faith in Jesus. They would have something to witness to, just as Peter and the rest of the apostles witnessed to them.)

44All the believers were together {6} [united] (They did not go into hiding but stuck together. Remember they [the followers of Jesus] were hated by the Jewish religious leader of the time. (Saul was one of them.) If the Jewish religious leaders would have been able to attack this group, they might have effectively killed Christianity right then and there. I feel that God gave his divine protection to them as they gained both the physical and spiritual strength that would be needed in the long road ahead of them.)

and had everything in common. (It is possible that all of the Greeks kept together, all of the Romans kept together, all of the converted Jews kept together, etc. But they did have one thing in common, their belief in Jesus as their Saviour and Lord.)

45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need {7} [generous] (They sold their possessions and put them into a central treasury, and out of that treasury they dispensed what was necessary, when it was necessary and to whom it was necessary. This gave a sense of unity, and did away with selfishness; this removed the immediate need for material things and enabled them to concentrate on their individual spiritual health. Each member was then cared for by the church. They did not sell all of their homes however, because they still needed the larger of their homes (at least the homes in Jerusalem) to assemble in. If they had sold all of their homes they would not have been able to ’break bread in their homes’ (see v.46). But, they sold their farms and all of their other personal material holdings (jewelry, furniture, etc.) [See 5:1-11 for what happened when some held back.] They sold all to give to the budding ministry so that it [the ministry] might be able to support the staggering numbers of converts.).

46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. (Don’t you know that this really disturbed the Jewish leaders? Here they are inside the temple, and these rebels are outside, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.)

They broke bread in their homes and ate together (They ate together. There is a saying; ‘The family that eats together stays together.’ That saying is so true. These new converts were now a part of a much larger family. They were now a member of Jesus’ family. In developing strong family ties they had all of their meals together.)

with glad and sincere hearts {8} [joyful] (Once you find Jesus, aren’t you just overpowered by His presence? Everything you do becomes, instead of a chore, enjoyable. You can actually be happy doing the most mundane chores. As Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection put it; ”Happy in the continual presence of God.”),

47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. (All the converts that is, the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees continued to be unhappy as they plodded along in their old ways. Accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and once you do, you can then learn how to praise God for each and every thing that you do, just as Brother Lawrence did. Then you will be happy. If you’re happy the ones around you will be happy. It’s contagious!)

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (“The Lord added…” does anyone else add? According to the Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon: {Sermon: “Additions to the Church”} Spurgeon’s Sermons Vol. 10 p. 48-67} “Yes the devil adds to our church to create discord among members…. Who but the devil added Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11) [among others] to the church? …When men add to the church it weakens and defiles the church. …But, when the Lord adds to the church it quite a different matter.”

He then adds an antidote of his own: (I paraphrased this for you here.) “One evening I was headed home and passed a pub. Out of this pub stumbled a man who recognized me. He said unto me in a slurred, vile form of speech, “Good evenin’ Sir.” And he added With a hiccup, “You’re the preacher who saved me.”

To whince I replied: “You must be one of mine, as I know the Lord did not convert you, for if He had, you would not be drunk!”

“Therefore you must be a true-born believer, one who puts his full faith in Jesus, not in the bottle.” Says the Rev. Spurgeon.

“A true church is a living thing” Rev C.H. Spurgeon.

Thanks for reading, as these are my original thoughts except were notated.
Your brother in Christ,

Russ