Continue Steadfastly in the Apostles’ Teaching, the Holding Factor of the One Accord

The holding factor of our one accord is the apostles’ teaching; once we continue steadfastly in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, we will be kept in one accord for the Lord’s move and purpose on earth.

The landmark between the gospels and the book of Acts with the Epistles is not merely the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost; rather, it is the one accord in which the one hundred and twenty prayed in the upper room.

When God can gain a group of people to pray consistently with one accord, He can move in a mighty way, and He can do what He intends to do on earth.

To have the one accord, we need to practice the oneness of the Body. As per Eph. 4:3-6, we already have the oneness; we have the oneness of the Spirit, and whenever we exercise our spirit, we are one.

Hallelujah, we are one in spirit, and we can call on the name of the Lord and pray together so that we can be one in the Lord!

How about being in one accord? What does it mean to be in one accord?

As per Matt. 18:19, the one accord is the harmony, the harmonious melody played by different instruments in the orchestra, offering a lovely sound for the Lord’s satisfaction.

When the Lord sees our one accord, He is satisfied, and He can do what He desires to do, for our one accord grants Him the cooperation He needs on earth.

To be in harmony, to be in one accord, refers to the harmonious sound of musical instruments or voices.

There’s nothing more beautiful than hearing a harmonious symphony; when all instruments play together according to the song sheet, there’s a melodious and wonderful noise bringing joy to the hearer.

However, before the orchestra starts playing, there’s a period of adjusting and tuning the instrument; such a period of time is one of the most exhausting things to see or watch, for none of the instruments plays together with others.

Many times in the church meetings we are in the stage of preparing and tuning our instrument, and instead of having a melodious symphony for the Lord’s satisfaction, we make a horrible noise.

We may think that we are a great solo-ist, so we “play our instrument” and forget about the others with their “instrument”.

What the Lord wants to hear is not many wonderful, talented solo’s performed by professional and trained players; He wants to have an orchestra that is one and plays in a harmonious way.

We need to be attuned, blended, and harmonized together so that there would be a lovely melody to God being played, a poem not just in writing but in sound, in voice, and in melody.

May there be the one accord among us, the harmony of inward feeling among the believers, like a harmonious melody; may we cooperate with the Lord and with one another to not only care for our own function and feel but be joined to others to ask and pray in one accord for the Lord to do what He wants to do.

The Holding Factor of the One Accord is the Apostles’ Teaching, for the Practice of the Oneness is according to the Teaching of the Apostles

We have seen the need for the one accord, the blessing that the Lord pours out on the one accord, our lack of one accord in practicality, and what is the one accord; the question is, once we have the one accord by praying in one accord, what will keep us in the one accord?

What is the holding factor of the one accord among us? What keeps the believers not only one but also in one accord?

According to Acts 2:42 and 46, the holding factor of the one accord is the apostles’ teaching.

The believers in Jerusalem continued steadfastly in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles; what kept them one was their steadfast continuing in the apostles’ teaching.

What keeps us on the rails, “the guard rails”, in the one accord, is the apostles’ teaching.

Actually, our practice of the one accord is according to the teaching of the apostles.

This is why Paul, in writing to Timothy, asked him to charge certain ones not to teach different things, which produced questionings, rather than God’s economy which is in faith.

Paul didn’t say that the believers should reject the bad teachings and keep the good ones; rather, he said that we should not receive any teaching that is different from God’s economy, which is in faith.

Only one teaching is allowed, the apostles’ teaching; when all the churches receive this one teaching, they all can be in one accord.

Some may say that this is too restrictive, for all the churches to follow the same ministry, but it is the teaching and fellowship of the apostles that keep the church in one accord and brings in the Lord’s blessing.

Some may look at us in the church life and say that we are too restricted to read the same ministry, to be taught the same thing, to “eat the same food”; this one unique teaching and fellowship of the apostles, however, keeps us in one accord in the church life.

Today we have the complete and full revelation of the teaching and fellowship of the apostles as recorded in the New Testament, and we simply need to be absolute to continue in the apostles teaching, which is the teaching of the New Testament.

Like the disciples in the early church, we want to remain in one accord and continue in the teaching of the apostles, for this teaching is the very holding factor of the one accord.

Our practice of the oneness – the one accord – is according to the apostles’ teaching; when we remain in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, we practice the oneness, and we have the one accord.

Acts tell us that there was one accord among the believers and that all those who were in one accord continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching.

If we have a different teaching, it is easy for us to be divided. If the emphasis in our teaching is different from the one in the apostles’ teaching, it is easy for us to be divided.

When the Lord was about to be ascended, He told His disciples to do two things: baptize those who believe into the Triune God to make them one with God and teach them the things which He has taught them.

This is what the apostles did; they preached the gospel, helped sinners be regenerated, baptized them into the Triune God for the increase of Christ, and they taught them what the Lord has revealed to them.

Thank the Lord for the teaching and fellowship of the apostles as revealed in the New Testament, which brings us into the one accord!

May we remain and continue steadfastly with one accord in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles both personally and together so that we may have the holding factor of the one accord.

Lord Jesus, we want to have the one accord and be kept in the one accord by continuing steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles. Amen, Lord, may we be kept in the teaching of the apostles so that the oneness may be practiced among us to be the one accord. Save us from having different teachings or from teaching different things. Save us from giving heed to anything besides the pure revelation in the New Testament, the teaching and fellowship of the apostles! Amen, Lord Jesus, we want to practice the oneness according to the apostles’ teaching, and we want to continue steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles for the maintaining of the one accord!

The Apostles Taught the Same Thing and the Lord Speaks the same thing in all the churches: Let’s Continue Steadfastly in the Apostles’ Teaching!

One of the main reasons for the degradation and division in the church is the departure from the teaching of the apostles.

Actually, decline and degradation came in even during the time of Paul and the early apostles, for Paul at one point said that all those in Asia left him; this means that they left his ministry, not that they left him as a person.

What a mercy it is for us to return to the teaching of the apostles as revealed in the New Testament and be kept in one accord!

When we look at the apostles, Paul said that they taught the same thing to all the saints in all the places and in all the churches (1 Cor. 4:17; 7:17; 11:16; 14:33-34).

They didn’t teach one thing in this church and something different in another church; they taught the same thing, the teaching of God’s eternal economy, in all the churches and in all the places.

Paul wrote the epistle to the Colossians and asked them to read also the epistle he sent to the Laodiceans and to cause the epistle to Colossians to be read in Laodicea also.

This means that everything that Paul had to write to the saints in Laodicea, he also meant it for the saints in Colossae.

Every epistle written by the apostles was not for the receiving of one church but also for all the other churches.

There is one teaching of the apostles, the apostles teach the same thing, and no matter the locality or the situation, the apostles brought the churches in one accord by their ministry and fellowship.

Since the apostles taught the same thing to all the saints in all the places and in all the churches, we also must teach the same thing in all the churches in every country throughout the earth (Matt. 28:19-20).

This is what the Lord is doing among us in the church life today: we are all under the same speaking, and He speaks the same thing – the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, so that we may practice the oneness and be in one accord.

It is not a small thing for us to remain under the apostles’ teaching; it is quite rare for us to give ourselves to be governed and controlled by the one teaching – the apostles’ teaching.

When we do this, we are kept in one accord, and the Lord has a way to pour out His blessing.

The Lord wants to have all the churches in one accord; for this, He speaks the same thing to them.

In Rev. 2-3 the Lord spoke to the seven churches, and John wrote to each one of them; what He spoke to Sardis, for example, was also read in Laodicea, and what He spoke to Philadelphia was read in Ephesus also.

We need to practice the oneness and be kept in the one accord by being in the holding factor of the apostles’ teaching.

We practice the oneness according to the same speaking of the Spirit to the churches (see Rev. 2:7, 11a, 17a, 29; 3:6, 13, 22).

May we have an ear to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches, and may we speak the same thing in the church life today for the practicing of the oneness among us.

All the churches are the golden lampstands of God; though they are distinct and self-contained, they are completely identical in their nature, shape, function, and expression.

Therefore, the Lord speaks the same thing to them all, and the apostles also teach the same thing.

There is no thought in the New Testament that a teaching is good for one church but not for the other churches; rather, what the New Testament reveals is that all the churches are the same in receiving the teachings (Titus 1:9).

It is such a beautiful thing for us and a shame to the enemy that we follow the same one teaching – the teaching of God’s economy, which is in faith!

It is so glorious for us to be governed by the teaching of the apostles, and to stay away from different schools of thought.

This will keep us in the one accord, for the holding factor of the one accord is the apostles’ teaching.

Lord Jesus, thank You for speaking to all the churches to perfect us and prepare us for Your return. Thank You for the one teaching, the teaching of God’s New Testament economy, which is taught in all the churches. We want to continue steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles and remain in the fellowship of the apostles so that we may be kept in the one accord in the church life. Save us, Lord, from having different schools of thought or teaching something different from God’s economy. May we realize that the apostles taught the same thing in all the churches and the Lord Jesus is speaking the same thing to the local churches. Amen, Lord, it is Your desire to bring the churches into the one accord: do it, Lord, and keep us in the one accord in all the local churches!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1989, vol. 4, “Elders’ Training, Book 10: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (2)” p. 379, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Vital Factors for the Lord’s Recovery of the Church Life (2021 ITERO), week 5, The Factor of the Genuine One Accord.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Pray with one accord in spirit, / Supplicate relatedly; / Seek the Lord, His mind, His leading, / In the Spirit’s harmony. / Pray with one accord in spirit, / Pray and watch persistently; / For God’s kingdom and His glory, / Pray and watch in harmony. (Hymns #779)
  – Jesus is getting us together, / Come and see the saints in one accord. / His love is knitting us together, / To the stature of the fullness of the Lord. (Hymns #1232)
  – Hallelujah! Hallelujah! / We are all in one accord / For the building of the Lord. / Hallelujah! Hallelujah! / We are living in the local churches now! (Hymns #1251)