«　WEEK 5　DAY 4　»

　　Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

　　46 And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they partook of their food with exultation and simplicity of heart.

　　If you expect to have one accord in any kind of society, group, or movement, you need the same kind of thinking that comes out of the same kind of knowledge…. Without the one accord, no party could accomplish anything. Any society, group, or movement needs this one accord that comes out of the same kind of thought, the same kind of knowledge. Therefore, Acts tells us that, on the one hand, there was one accord among the disciples, and on the other hand, all those who were one in one accord were continuing in the teaching of the apostles (2:42). The teaching of the apostles was the very holding factor of the one accord. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 1, “Elders’ Training, Book 7: One Accord for the Lord’s Move,” p. 158)

　　The practice of this oneness is according to the apostles’ teaching (1 Cor. 4:17b; 7:17b; 11:16; 14:34a). The apostles taught the same thing to all the saints in all the places and in all the churches. At the same time, the practice of this oneness is also according to the same speaking of the Spirit to the churches (Rev. 2:7, 11a, 17a, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). The seven epistles to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 are words spoken to all the churches. He who has an ear, let him hear. Each epistle was written to all the churches. All the churches have the same Bible, and everyone is practicing oneness according to the same speaking. Finally, the practice of oneness indicates that the seven churches as the seven lampstands are completely identical (1:20). The churches are God’s golden lampstands. Although they are distinct and self-contained, they are completely identical in nature, shape, function, and expression. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 2, “The Oneness and the One Accord according to the Lord’s Aspiration and the Body Life and Service according to His Pleasure,” pp. 74-75)

　　The apostle Paul taught the same thing in all the churches (1 Cor. 4:17; 7:17). This means that all the churches in all the different localities should be the same. In Colossians 4:16 Paul writes, “When this letter is read among you, cause that it be read in the church of the Laodiceans also, and that you also read the one from Laodicea.” The Epistle to the church in Colossae was also for the church in Laodicea, and the epistle to the church in Laodicea was also for the church in Colossae. Thus, every epistle was written not only for the receiving church but also for all the other churches. This indicates that the Lord wants all the churches to have the one accord.

　　In 1 Timothy 1:3 Paul said that he urged Timothy to remain in Ephesus in order that he might charge certain ones not to teach different things. To teach different things is to teach things different from what the apostles teach, that is, to teach things other than God’s New Testament economy (v. 4). This indicates that all the teaching ones should teach the same things in all the churches according to the apostles’ teaching. Of course, this indicates also that all the churches should be one in the matter of teaching…. [This] means that all the churches should not teach things that are different from the New Testament revelation of God’s New Testament economy. Examples of such teaching are the teaching of the Mosaic law (v. 7) and the teaching of Jewish genealogies (v. 4) by some Christian teachers at Paul’s time, which were different from ministering Christ to people according to the proper revelation as taught in the New Testament. (CWWL, 1989, vol. 4, “Elders’ Training, Book 10: The Eldership and the God-ordained Way (2)” p. 379)

　　Further Reading: The Intrinsic Problem in the Lord’s Recovery Today and Its Scriptural Remedy, chs. 1-2