17 May 2022

The Early Church

Over the past few months, I have been reflecting on the importance that Christians should return to the simple and very real teaching of the coming of the Lord. There is coming a day very soon when the Lord Jesus will return to claim each true Christian believer for himself. The scriptures don’t tell us what year, day or hour this will happen but we know the Lord Jesus is a faithful and true Saviour. I think in these uncertain times we should be occupied with the coming of the Lord. There are many things in our lives we can occupy our hearts and minds with that can distract us from this certain hope.

The early church were marked by praise, power and many blessings from God. The scriptures tell us in the early days’ souls were added to the church daily.

Acts 2:47 “praising God, and having favour with all the people; and the Lord added [to the assembly] daily those that were to be saved.”

I believe we can learn a lot from the early church and the examples we have in the book of Acts. Each Christian would surely desire to take character from this very real, vibrant and enthusiastic Christian company that pleased the Lord. The public church today does not obtain many of the features the early Christian company in Acts had. Why is this? What is the reason for this? Well, I believe this is a result of believers departing from the teaching and truth of the coming of the Lord. Today the public church is occupied with the things of this world. Many within the church today pursue things in the world rather than being occupied with the truth of the Lord’s coming. In making these comments I do not include any particular group of Christians but I humbly say it is a word to us all.

Recently I was reading the book of Acts and I noticed 7 features that marked the early church. There may well be more but I would just like to take a few moments to share these with you.

Seven Features of the Early Church:

1. They continued preaching that Jesus was the Christ.

Acts 5:42 “And every day, in the temple and in the houses, they ceased not teaching and announcing the glad tidings that Jesus [was] the Christ.”

2. They Persevered in Prayer

Acts 2:42 “⁴²And they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers.”

3. They Kept the word of God

Acts 6:4 “⁴but *we* will give ourselves up to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

4. They Kept the Apostles teaching

Acts 2:42 “And they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers.”

5.They were Full of the Holy Spirit

Acts 4:31 ” they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God with boldness.”

6. They Enjoyed Fellowship

Acts 2:46 “⁴⁶And every day, being constantly in the temple with one accord, and breaking bread in [the] house, they received their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,”

7. They Continued the Lord’s Supper

Acts 2:42 “And they persevered in the teaching and fellowship of the apostles, in breaking of bread and prayers.”

Each of these features I believe flows out from a Christian company that is rooted in the fundamental truth of the Lord’s coming. If we truly believe that the coming of the Lord Jesus is imminent we surely would be preaching the Gospel with power, preserving in prayer, keeping true to God’s word, keeping true to the Apostles doctrine, full of the Holy Spirit, enjoying fellowship and continuing the Lord’s Supper. If we are truly occupied with the coming of the Lord these features would surely be more evident in our Christian companies today. We are living in very uncertain times, the church should be faithful to the Head, the Lord Jesus.

This verse in John’s epistle should humble us all.

1 John 2:28

“And now, children, abide in him, that if he be manifested we may have boldness, and not be put to shame from before him at his coming.”

The coming of the Lord is near and if we desire to be faithful to the Lord Jesus we all should be occupied with His soon return. This would surely result in greater praise, worship and service to our Lord Jesus. If this is each believer’s viewpoint then the 7 features of the early church we have been sharing would for sure mark us out as God’s people who are abiding in him.