Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
he book of Acts is the book that reveals to us the birth of the church. It gives us an historical account of the day in and day out operation of the church. It also reveals to us how the gospel spread throughout the then known world. In a day and age where we are finding more ministries spreading “how to” do church literature in the modern era, it is so refreshing to go back to the beginning and “see” how the Spirit-led teaching of Christ in the gospels was passed on by the apostles. It transformed the apostles and followers of Christ into a far-from-perfect, but dynamic, Spirit-filled people who loved Jesus and one another.
Without the internet, and without “Christian” television or radio, these born again saints spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of their then known world within a period of around 40 years. By the power of The Holy Ghost (Acts 1:8), these saints, personally and congregationally, carried out their faith with a holy boldness that could not be stopped. Bear in mind that the vast majority of them (including the apostles) were considered by religious “elite” of the day as being unlearned, uneducated, untrained and ignorant men.
The power of God works mightily in the lives of people whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. On the days following Pentecost, we find that the organic, Spirit-led, Spirit-filled “church bulletin” looked like this: “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:41, 42) “They were a community who were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:44-47)
That was how they functioned in “the modern era” of the first century. Sadly, when the church began to think that they knew how to “run” a church better than The Holy Ghost, we read in 5 out the 7 letters of Jesus to the 7 churches, that by the end of the first century the church was already compromising with worldly prosperity and success, false doctrines, and immoral, unholy behavior. We need to go back to the divine blueprint of the church in the book of Acts, and ask God to align our teaching, evangelism, and church community as He intended it to be. Selah
