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September 11, 2020 |
| First Church | ||
After the Holy Spirit is given during Shavu'ot, there are many new converts. They begin to meet at the temple and seem to spend a lot of time there. The apostles are with them and are frequently performing signs and wonders. The Bible describes the people as being of one heart and one mind.
That's the last the Bible mentions of them as a church. The Bible says that, after the stoning of Steven, persecution became very severe and all the people of that church left Jerusalem, except the apostles (Acts 8:1). They are described as being scattered to various places in Israel.
That's the last we see of a church like that. All the other churches appear to be more like the churches of our time. Also, there doesn't seem to be a drive to make the new churches like the first church.
Especially the liberal churches of our time want to see that first church, which they see as socialistic, used as the model for our churches. Was that first church supposed to be a model for us?
Below are all the verses that relate to that church.
And [the new converts] were continuing in the teaching of the Apostles, and they became partakers in prayer and in breaking of the Eucharist. 43 And there was fear in every soul, and many signs and miracles were occurring by the hand of the Apostles in Jerusalem. (Acts 2:42-43)
The new converts were being taught and joined in with the prayers and were observing communion, as we would call it. They all feared God. The apostles were performing the signs and miracles that accompany apostleship.
Except for the apostles, this is or should be seen in any church.
And all those who believed were together and everything they had was communal. (Acts 2:44)
This is the first oddity. If communal means what we understand it to mean today then there was no personal property, everything was common. Nowhere else in the Bible is this even suggested as the life-style for a Christian. Quite the reversed is true. We see Paul warning about the dangers of wealth (1 Tim. 6:9, Tit. 1-7), and instructing people in how to set aside their offering gifts. A person can't set aside an offering gift if everything is communal.
There is nothing in the Bible that clearly indicates a communal life is the standard.
And those who had a possession were selling it and distributing to each man according to whatever was needed. (Acts 2:45)
Again we see that personal property is being converted into communal property.
And every day they were continuing in the temple with one soul, and in the houses they were breaking loaves of bread, and they were receiving food as they celebrated, and in the simplicity of their hearts 47 they were praising God as they were given affection before all the people, and our Lord was adding unto the church everyday those who were coming to life. (Acts 2:46-47)
Large numbers of people were meeting at the temple. Likely this went on all day as people came and went. The temple was not large enough to hold the thousands of new converts at one time.
But the crowds of people who believed had one soul and one mind and none of them was saying that the wealth which he possessed was his own, but they had all things common. (Acts 4:32)
Again we see it said that everything was communal.
And there was none among them who was needy, for those who possessed fields and houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds of those things that were sold. 35 And they were laying them at the feet of the Apostles, and it was given to anyone according to whatever was needed. (Acts 4:34-35)
And again. The story comes now about Ananias and Sephira and their attempt to glorify themselves through the sale of some property. Peter's statement to them is interesting.
Was it not yours until it was sold? And after it was sold, again you had power over its proceeds. Why have you set your heart to do this thing? You have not cheated men but God. (Acts 5:4)
Peter's point is not that they shouldn't have kept part of the proceeds. He says it was up to them to give as much as they wanted. He reinforces that idea by saying they haven't cheated men out of what they deserved. This indicates that there was no requirement or standard to be communal. The communal giving was done by individual choice, presumably under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
And there were occurring by the hands of the Apostles signs and many mighty acts among the people and they were all assembled together at the porch of Solomon. 13 And none of the other people dared to come near them, but the people were magnifying them. (Acts 5:12-13)
The Porch of Solomon was an area on the eastern side of the temple complex. It was outside the areas that were limited to Jews. This made it possible for Gentile converts to be present.
It appears the Christians had chosen that area to meet. With what was going on with the Christians, the effect of that choice was that it drove out non-Christians from that area.
And in those days when the disciples had multiplied, the Hellenist disciples complained against the Hebrews, that their widows were disregarded in the daily ministry. (Acts 6:1)
Despite the Bible saying "the crowds of people who believed had one soul and one mind", there are problems. We saw Ananias and Sephira earlier and now we have a charge of cultural bias.
The Hellenists were Greek born Jews, or at least Greek speaking Jews. Most of them would likely have been visiting Israel when they discovered Christianity.
Whether their claim is true or not, this brings up another oddity. Paul teaches that families should care for their own widows and not dump them on the church (1 Tim. 5:3-5). What we see here looks different from that.
This claim results in a statement describing a plan to structure the church to offload work from the apostles.
And this statement was pleasing before all the people, and they chose Estephanos, a man who was full of faith and of the Spirit of Holiness, and Philippus, Procuros, Nicanor, Timon, Parmena and Nicholas, an Antiochene proselyte. 6 They presented these before the Apostles, and when they had prayed, they placed hands on them. 7 And the word of God was magnified and the number of the disciples was multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and many people of the Judeans were obeying the faith. 8 But Estephanos was full of grace and power and was doing signs and wonders among the people. (Acts 6:5-8)
We see here what can be seen in earlier verses as well - that the church in Jerusalem is growing very quickly.
This growth does not go unnoticed and the Jewish elders begin to persecute the Christians. History records that they changed some of the standard prayers to include wording that Christians would disagree with. There have also been threats aimed at the apostles. Next we will see the first Martyr. Steven, mentioned above, presents a accusation from history of the evil leadership. They don't appreciate that. Having no legal means to kill him, they instigate his murder.
One of their number, Saul, who will become Paul, is present and picks up the challenge of purging Christianity from Judaism.
But Shaul was consenting and participating in his murder, and in that day there was great persecution toward the church which was in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered into the villages of Judea, and among the Samaritans, except for the Apostles. (Acts 8:1)
Persecution becomes so severe in Jerusalem that most Christians must flee. Only the apostles remain. Presumably their closer connection with the Holy Spirit makes it possible for them to avoid capture and execution. The church gone and scattered.
We've seen that giving within the church was entirely optional. There is no socialist model that matches that. Socialism is built on the idea of a central authority that takes by force and redistributes ("From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs"). What we see in this church is optional.
We have to wonder at their daily meeting at the temple. That's an agenda very few modern Christians can support. Was there another force involved? We know that early Christians had an expectation of an early return of the Messiah. Was this assembling in the temple in part a cult-like activity as they awaited his return? Remember that Jesus said he would return "soon".
Peter seems to be dealing with this misbegotten belief in 2 Peter. It appears that the "soon" return idea has been relayed to unbelievers and now it is coming back to the church as, "What happened to 'soon'?"
And as you knew this first, that in the end of days, scoffers would come who scoff while they walk according to their own lusts, 4 and they say, "Where is the promise of his coming? For from when our forefathers fell asleep, everything continues in the same way from the beginning of creation."
8 But you shall not disregard this one thing, beloved: "One day is to the lord Yahweh as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day." 9 The lord Yahweh does not delay his promises as people consider delay, but he is patient for your sakes, and because he is not willing that any person would perish, but that every person would come to conversion. (2 Peter 3:3-4,8-9)
We need to understand that the Jews did not scatter this church by their own might. God allowed it to happen. If this was the model for all churches it seems odd that God would allow it to be wiped out and never seen again.
So we need to ask what was God's will for Christianity. The answer is clear, the Great Commission, "Go to the entire world and preach my Good News in all creation. (Mar 14:15)"
It seems then that this church was the product of outreach to Jerusalem, "to the Jews first, and to the Aramaeans. (Rom. 2:10)". The Holy Spirit prompted people to meet at the temple and to give generously to support the young church.
When that phase was complete, likely when the bulk of the Jews in Jerusalem had been reached, God allowed the church to be dispersed. They were forced out into Israel and took the gospel message with them - achieving the Great Commission. It won't be long until the apostles begin heading out to other countries.