What was the First Church Like? (Acts 2:42-47)

When construction began on the Bible house in Manila a few years ago, a worker was hired to do the job. During breaks, a member of the church studied the Bible with him. After work he wound drink, go home and ignore his wife and 6 kids. But after some months of Bible study, he stopped drinking. One Valentine's day, he stunned his wife by buying her flowers (which he never did before). Totally surprised at her husband's change, she began coming to church. Now all of their 6 children are members of the church, from Children's Bible Fellowship, to High School Bible Fellowship, to College Fellowship. The lives of this entire family was completely transformed by the influence of the church.

What is the church? Christians have called their churches a missional church, worshiping church, gospel church, Bible church, Reformed church, Methodist church, emergent church, evangelical church, non-denominational church, house church, etc. What was the first church in Acts 2:42-47 like? It was:

1. A learning church: Devotion to the apostle's (NT) teaching (Acts 2:42).
   
2. A loving church: Devotion to fellowship (Acts 2:42-45).
   
3. A worshipping church: Devotion to corporate worship and prayer (Acts 2:42,43,46).
   
4. An evangelistic church: A witnessing church (Acts 2:47).
   

In 2009, I previously posted on Acts 2:42-47: The Earliest Model Church

1. A Learning Church

Ac 2:42 says, "They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching..." (which today is our Bible). The Holy Spirit opened a school with 3,000 pupils (Ac 2:41). They committed to learning. They did not simply enjoy mystical experiences, become anti-intellectual, nor did they dispense with human teachers. They learned God's revelation of Himself from the apostles, who authenticated their teaching with "many wonders and signs" (Ac 2:43; Heb 2:3-4). Miraculous signs confirmed the truth of God's word and helped the Christians to devote themselves to it. A church submits to the authority and instruction, not primarily of their human leaders, but of the Scriptures.

2. A Loving Church

Ac 2:42 says, "They devoted themselves...to fellowship..." (koinonia). From koinos, (common), koinonia bears witness to the common life of the church by having fellowship in 2 senses:

1. with the Father, Son (1 Jn 1:3) and Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14); and
2. with other Christians.

"All the believers were together and had everything in common" (koina) (Acts 2:44), even by voluntarily selling their homes (Acts 2:45), though not everyone did (Acts 12:12, 17:5, 18:7, 20:20, 21:8,16; Rom 16:5). Their fellowship was intense. It called for responsibility and accountability, and others had a claim on their time, their life and their resources. They met "every day" (Acts 2:46). Their intimacy was with a few in a house church/small group.

3. A Worshiping Church

Ac 2:42 says, "They devoted themselves...to the breaking of bread and to prayer..." This suggests a reference to the Lord's Supper and to services or meetings, which was both formal and informal, taking place both "in the temple courts" and "in their homes" (Acts 2:46). It was also

• reverent, for "everyone was filled with awe" (Acts 2:43)--probably in large group worship--and
  
• joyful, as they "ate together with glad and sincere hearts" (Acts 2:46)--probably in small group worship.

It is unforgivable for a church to be boring! The combination of joy and awe, as of formality and informality, is a healthy balance in worship.

4. An Evangelistic Church
 
They experienced conversions "daily." The early church's evangelism was not an occasional or sporadic activity. Just as their worship was daily (Ac 2:46a), so was their witness. Ac 2:47b says, "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." The 1st Christians were not so preoccupied with learning, sharing and worshiping that they forgot about witnessing. Through out Acts, relentlessly the Holy Spirit drives the church to witness, and churches continually rise out of the witness. Surely, God added to their number because of:

1. the preaching/teaching of the apostles,
2. the witness of the church members,
3. the impressive love of their common life, and
4. their example of "praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people" (Acts 2:47a).
   

Only God can cause his church to grow (Mt 16:18; 1 Cor 3:6). There is no place for self-confidence or triumphalism, as if the growth of the church were up to us Christians.

The marks of the 1st Spirit-filled church community were all concerned with the church's relationships:

1. To the apostle's teaching (in submission), which is our Bible.
2. To each other (in love). They were a loving, caring, sharing church.
3. To God (in worship). They worshiped daily (Acts 2:46).
4. To the world (in outreach). They were engaged in continuous evangelism. No inward-focused church can claim to be filled with the Spirit.
   

What people want is what the early church had:

1. Biblical teaching
2. Loving fellowship
3. Living worship
4. Ongoing, outgoing evangelism

References:

1. The Message of Acts (1990); John Stott, 81-87
2. Acts Reformed Expository Commentary (2011); Derek Thomas, 53-65
3. ESV Study Bible (2007), 2085
4. In Acts 2:42-47, Tim Keller sees the key purposes of the church as:
1. Worship & Prayer
2. Learning & Edification
3. Fellowship & Community
4. Outreach & Evangelism
5. Mercy & Social Concern

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