A REVIEW
In our previous lessons, we have seen how that the church has always been a part of God’s divine plan—it has always been in the mind of God, and He has always had a key role for the church in the salvation of mankind. The church was foreseen in prophecy in the long ago. Prophets such as Daniel and Isaiah and Joel and others, all prophesied in regard to this coming kingdom, to the church that would come.
We saw as well that Jesus, during His earthly ministry, promised to build His church, Matthew 16:18, and that it would come to pass even in that generation, Mark 9:1.
Then we saw that all of these things came together and they were fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. This was the first Pentecost following the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus in the long ago. And all of these things came to pass in the city of Jerusalem, just as it had been prophesied by Isaiah. The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles with power, and Peter confirmed that this event, which the people were witnessing there in Jerusalem on that occasion, was what the prophet Joel had prophesied concerning, Joel 2:28.
And it came to pass, then, as Peter preached the first Gospel sermon, that three thousand souls responded and they were baptized for the remission, for the forgiveness, of their sins. The infant church had its beginning. We see that the Lord continued to add daily those who were being saved, adding them to His church, Acts 2:47.
We’ve also noted that this church, this church which was promised, which came to pass and was built, was built on none other than Christ Jesus. He is the foundation of the church, the church that belongs to Christ. His church was built upon the very fact, the very acknowledgement, that He IS the Son of God, that He IS the Christ, THE Christ, the Son of God, Matthew 16:16-18. And any organization, any structure, any institution, claiming to be “the church,” which is not built upon Christ is NOT the church. “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 3:11. It is the church that belongs to Christ. It is the church that is identified by His Name, and His Name ONLY.
That is what we have accomplished in our two previous lessons. In this lesson, I want to do a little bit more “spade work.” We’re not going to go back and repeat and revisit these things, but we do have, maybe, more “spade work” to do.
INTRODUCTION
Go to Galatians, chapter 4. I want us to notice something there that Paul writes in Galatians 4:4: “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law….” Here is a passage of Scripture that is laden with information. It is overflowing with information that is important to us. Now, of course, specifically, what Paul has in view here is the coming of Christ at just the right time. At just the right moment in history God brought forth His Son, born of a woman. That is what is specifically in view. However, there are some other things which are in view here, as well.
Included in this broader implication is, specifically, the coming of the church, because we can look at that as almost being synonymous with the coming of Christ. Also, included is the spread of Christianity. There again, that is synonymous with the coming of Christ, with the establishment of the church—all of those things go together.
So, we want to spend some time in this lesson thinking about what this expression means—“…when the fullness of time had come,”—“In the Fullness of Time.”
Again, I will mention something that I mentioned in Lesson 1, and that is the notion that many have, and have had through the generations and even have now, that the church was simply an afterthought of God, that God’s original plan was to send Jesus into the midst of His Own people, that He would be embraced, that He would set up an earthly kingdom and He would reign over that earthly kingdom on the literal throne of David in the city of Jerusalem. However, He was rejected, He was killed. And so, God had to hurriedly put together a plan, an interim plan, and the original plan to bring the kingdom, to establish that earthly reign, is now sometime in the future.
Well, we debunked that idea, that notion, in our first lesson, because, once again, we went back and looked at all of the Old Testament prophecy concerning the establishment of the church. Everything that God does, He does according to His divine timetable. Regardless of what that is, God has a plan in mind. God has a purpose in mind, and He is going to make things happen according that plan and that purpose.
But there were some other things that were taking place in history, as well. And on God’s Own divine timetable, all of these things came together at just the right moment in time, at just the right moment in history, leading up to the birth of Jesus, eventually the establishing of the church, the spread of Christianity, and so on.
Many factors had to be brought together. The establishing of the church was not just an arbitrary thing. It wasn’t one of those things where God “threw a dart into the big dartboard in the sky” and, well, it just happened to hit on this particular time. No, there were many, many factors which all worked together in human history and in the providential oversight of God to make it just the right time when the church was established. God was working to prepare the soil, so to speak. He was working to prepare the ground so that all of these things would work out just as He had planned for them to do. In summation, the church of Christ came upon the scene according to God’s divine timetable, when everything had been properly prepared.
PREPARATION AMONG THE JEWS
Occupation of Palestine by the Romans – 63 BC
In God’s divine plan, there was preparation ongoing among the Jews. You know, there is what is called “the Intertestament Period,” that is, the period between the last prophet who wrote in the Old Testament (Malachi) and the coming of Christ—a period of about 400 years. And so, there were some things that were going on during that Intertestament Period that deserve to be noticed.
During the time of Malachi, the Jews were part of the Persian Empire. They had been conquered, of course, by Babylonia. Babylonia had then been conquered by Persia, etc. That is testified to in both the Old Testament Scriptures and in history. And for a period of about 100 hears following the time that Malachi wrote, this was their situation. They lived in relative peace and freedom and independence during that time.
However, there was a fellow who came along called Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was a conqueror. We know that from our history lessons. He made Greece the master of the ancient world, and a part of his conquering also included Persia.
After the death of Alexander the Great, his generals began to squabble and fight among themselves. That eventually led to the demise of the Greek Empire, and in the Middle East, in the area of Palestine, what this left was sort of imbalance of powers. With the demise of the Greeks—they were no longer the occupying force, they were no longer the government, the rule, of the area—Syria rose to power, along with Egypt. And so, here we have Palestine sort of sandwiched between Syria and Egypt, both of whom were rising powers after the demise of the Greeks.
Well, it would be Syria who would eventually conquer and take in Palestine. And they were very ruthless, very difficult rulers, particularly under one called Antiochus Epiphanes. He was a very oppressive ruler, and the Jews rebelled. Under the leadership of the Maccabbees, they became an independent nation once again.
But that was short-lived, because there was another rising world power, and that was the Roman Empire. And so, in 63 BC, the Romans, led by the Roman general Pompey, took Jerusalem and that region of Palestine. The Romans often found it expedient to rule their provinces, their outlying conquered districts, with local leaders, and that’s why we find, as we see the dawn of the New Testament, that there is one named Herod, who is the king over the Jews. Well, we know a little bit about him—we don’t need to spend much time there.
We might ask, “What does all of this world history, this ancient history, have to do with God preparing His people, the Jews, to receive the Messiah?” There are a couple of things to consider.
Of course, we know that throughout the history of the children of Israel, because of their apostasy, because they turned their backs on God, they repeatedly became a captive people. Their presence as a nation became more and more of a diminished presence. As a matter of fact, what we know about Solomon, the building of the temple, etc., that was really the beginning of the end for the nation of Israel. They had really reached their “hay day,” so to speak, under the reign of both David and Solomon. Now, they were in decline, they were diminishing, they were a people who were repeatedly defeated, and more, they were taken captive, and so on. And this happened throughout this Intertestament Period, as well. As we said, we see that they subjugated to the Persians, then to the Syrians and now to the Romans.
Most scholars and historians believe that there was lesson here for them to learn. That lesson had to do with the fact that God’s coming kingdom was not going to be an earthly kingdom. It was not going to be a repeat of the days of David and Solomon, but rather, the message was that it would be a spiritual kingdom. Well, we know that that was a lesson that they did not catch on to. So, we see, then, that this was part of the preparation, though, that God had in mind for His people.
Changes in the Religion of Israel
Now, there were some other things that had taken place during this Intertestament Period, as well. There were some changes that had occurred in the religion of Israel. For example, the religious life that the people had began, in this period of time, to center around synagogues. And so, we see, then, a rise in the use of, the popularity of and the number of synagogues, where in the 1st Century, during the days of Jesus, particularly, there was at least one synagogue in most major cities throughout the Roman Empire. In a number of cities, there were multiple synagogues. And so, this was a change.
We also see that there is a “ruling council” that has risen during this period. They are called the Sanhedrin, or often times just referred to in the New Testament as “the Council.” They were the nation’s highest religious tribunal.
There was also the rise of religious parties, or sects, and these were prevalent during the time that Jesus walked upon the earth. There were the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and there were the Essenes. Those were the three primary sects of the Jewish religion, or nation, at that particular time.
There are a couple of things that are interesting about these parties, or sects, and that is that the Sadducees were the rulers of the temple in Jerusalem. They also did not believe in an afterlife, and so their message was, “Don’t worry. Be happy.” There message was, “If it feels good, do it.” Well, no, it wasn’t quite that bad, but they didn’t believe in a resurrection, and so they were working, they were attempting, to make things as pleasant in this life as they could for themselves. And thus, they were allied in many ways with the Romans, who were the occupying force. And they made a number of alliances with the Romans who occupied the land. Well, that drove an even larger wedge between the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
The Pharisees were the Keepers of the Law. They had a very traditional interpretation of the Law. They were very loyal to the Law. But, of course, we know that they had their downfall, as well, because in trying to keep the Law in such a strict fashion, they ended up falling into hypocrisy, into legalism, and the like. Of course, the Lord had much to say about those Pharisees while He was on the earth.
Sizable Communities of Jews All Over the Roman Empire in the 1st Century
Judaism in the time of Jesus was not confined to Palestine. Jews were found in very large numbers, as a matter of fact, in all parts of the Roman Empire. Many had been, for example, carried away into Babylonian captivity. Some of them chose not to come back to Palestine. They stayed in the area of Babylonia.
Others had migrated into Egypt to avoid the wars and the captivities, and so on. As a matter of fact, there was a very large Jewish community at Alexandria, Egypt. It was quite substantial and it was quite influential. And, to these Alexandrian Jews, we owe the Septuagint. That is a Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures. That was done in about 250 BC—250 years before the coming of Christ. But it was a very popular translation of the Old Testament Scriptures among the people. And we see that it is quoted in the New Testament, not exclusively, but it is quoted in the New Testament by some of the writers, even being quoted by Jesus sometimes.
Well, wherever the Jews went, they carried their religion with them. Synagogues, where the faithful Jews met to pray and to study, were found, once again, in all of the major important cities in the Roman Empire. There were also persons who had turned from their pagan religions during this time and become proselytes to the Jewish faith. And on his missionary journeys, Paul customarily visited these synagogues in the cities where he went. Often his Message was received favorably by these Jews, and it was also favorably considered and accepted by many of the Jewish proselytes. In many cases, synagogues became the meeting place for the early Christians.
Well, there is little doubt that Christianity spread more rapidly because of the presence of Jews and the presence of Jewish synagogues in these outposts, if you will, that existed all around the Roman Empire.
PREPARATION IN THE NON-JEWISH WORLD
Entire Mediterranean Basin under Roman Rule and Control
The Jews were not the only ones whom God was preparing for that correct, that exact, moment in time. He was also making preparation among the non-Jewish world. The entire Mediterranean Basis, as it’s referred to geographically, had come under the control of the Roman Empire at this time.
Rome was a difficult taskmaster. They were a powerful force, but among the things that they brought to the region was a very strict and high degree of law and order. Even though they were resented, particularly by the Jews, they still ruled with sort of an “iron fist,” and what that meant was that there was, generally speaking, a peaceful existence in that region. Well, why was that important? It was important because there was not the political chaos, there was not the social unrest and uneasiness, that had previously existed in this area and that did exist in other areas that fell outside of the purview [scope or extent, as of control, activity, etc.] of the Roman Empire—the tribal warfare, the fighting, not unlike some of what we see go on in that region of world today, where there are little warlords and dictators, and the tribal strife with their continued fighting, and so on. Well, none of that was allowed to go on under the purview of the Roman Empire. There were high standards. There was law and order, and so on. The Romans brought order and control to a divergent people and brought a system of justice.
The Romans had also built a very significant network of highways and roads, and this resulted in excellent trade and travel routes reaching far-flung regions. That spawned a great deal of commerce. It made the economic situation better there, because people in that region could trade with other areas, could bring in goods from other areas, and so on. This sophisticated transportation system spawned travel—people could more easily travel from one region, from one city, to another. This contributed to the spread of Christianity.
Greek had become the Universal Language of Business and Literature. A Second Language to Many in that Day – The New Testament was Written in Greek
The Greeks also made a contribution. During the time of Alexander, the Greek language had become increasingly more and more the second language of a number of people. And so, during the time of the 1st Century, prior to it a few years, and beyond some years, the Greek language had, in effect, the same status as the English language does today, where English is used, almost, worldwide. It is a very common language, as was the Greek language in the 1st Century. That is, it was the language of commerce. It was the language of literature. It was really the second language of any number of different peoples who were part of the Roman Empire.
Well, it’s no accident, then, that the New Testament and most of the writings of early Christian scholars were written in what language? Greek, because it was a universal language. And these writings were sent about, this language that most, if not people, could understand.
Bankruptcy of Pagan Religions and Philosophies
There was another area that was being prepared as part of this “preparation of the soil” by God. This preparation was among the non-Jewish people of the day. There had become, if you will, a “bankruptcy” of pagan religions and philosophies. In other words, no, not everyone in the Roman Empire had given up idol worship; no, not everyone in the Roman Empire had turned from their pagan gods, not at all. But, many people had turned away or were disenchanted with these pagan religions and with the philosophies of the day. As a matter of fact, many people had turned from these pagan-type religions to such philosophies as Stoicism and Gnosticism, and some of these other practices.
Well, what does that have to do with God’s “preparation of the soil” to make the time just right? Simply this—that, as we’ve already mentioned, there were a number of non-Jews who had become proselytes to the Jewish religion; therefore, they were exposed, along with the Jews in these communities, to the Gospel, and they were accepting of the Gospel. They, in effect, had already turned their backs on their former religions, and so, they were looking for something.
Speaking of those who had not become proselytes, but had still become disenchanted with their previous pagan practices and philosophies and the like, this made them more receptive to the Gospel when they heard it. And thus, we see that, of course, in the early days of the church, most of those who were converted to the church were Jews. Then eventually, there were some proselytes converted. And then later we know that Gentiles were converted. But as time went on, there became an imbalance between the Jews and the Gentiles such that, by the latter part of the 1st Century there were many, many more Gentile converts to Christianity, to the church, than there were Jews. And part of that, it is believed, was due to this, if you will, sort of “softening up” that had been taking place in previous generations.
Thus, both in the Jewish world as well as in the pagan world, God had providentially brought to pass the preparation. He had“prepared the soil” in these and, no doubt, many, many other ways, so that when “the fullness of time” came, as Paul characterizes it, it was just the right time. It couldn’t have been a better time. There couldn’t have been more suitable, more acceptable, circumstances for the Son of God to come into the world to conduct His ministry, or for the church, then, to be established, or for Christianity to be spread throughout the world. We can see, indeed, God’s hand in all of this.
GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON
The Birth of Jesus and His First Thirty Years
We see, then, the birth of Jesus. Indeed, that passage in Galatians 4:4 speaks specifically that “…when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son.” That occurred at just the right moment in time, at just the right moment in history.
We don’t have any secular historical record of the birth of Jesus. And so, for that reason it is necessary that we rely exclusively upon the Scriptures for this knowledge about the birth of Jesus, about His ministry, and so on. Of course, we read about that, we learn about these things, in the four Gospels primarily [Matthew, Mark, Luke and John]. And we see that they really speak of His birth, three of the four at least, but then they pass rather rapidly over the next thirty years of His life. We know very little about Jesus, as He was growing up. The only things, as a matter of fact, that we do know are that His parents were forced to flee to Egypt, Matthew 12, and that after the death of Herod, the Roman appointed king over the region, they returned from Egypt and went to Nazareth, Matthew 2. And then, Luke records for us an episode when Jesus was about twelve years old, Luke 2, when the family went to Jerusalem. And that’s all we know about the young man, Jesus.
Ministry of John and Jesus
When Jesus was about thirty years old, we know that His kinsman, His cousin actually, John the Baptist, had begun a campaign. He had begun a ministry to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus the Christ. He had gone out into the wilderness area, and he was proclaiming a Message, “Repent.” It was strikingly similar to the same Message that had been presented to the Jews, to the children of Israel, by the prophets of old. The prophets of old consistently and continually called out to the people to “repent.” However, in John’s Message, he adds, “…for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Well, that was, then, the same Message that Jesus undertook, as well. As He began His ministry, He would have the same Message for those who would hear, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Jesus conducted His ministry for three years, and then, of course, there was His death and burial. He would spend three days in the tomb and then He would be resurrected to life and ascend back to the Father in heaven.
Pentecost; AD 30
And we have talked about, the fact that this reference to the “kingdom” is a reference to the “church,” it is a reference to this special institution that would be established, that would be built, upon the foundation of Christ Jesus being the Son of God. It would be built by Him, and it would be built on God’s timetable, and that timetable, we see, takes place at about AD 30. This is, of course, following the ministry—that three-year earthly ministry, following His death, His burial, and His resurrection. We see that His instructions to His apostles, to those who were faithful to Him, were to go back to Jerusalem, Acts 1, and wait there, which they did.
And we know that, because we have looked at that previously, that what happened thereafter, that’s recorded for us in Acts, chapter 2, was that all of these things that were previously prophesied came to pass. The culmination of those things was right there on that Jewish holy Day of Pentecost, in the city of Jerusalem, just ten days after the ascension. On that Pentecost, the church was established. All of the things that we studied previously about the identifying marks of the church, we see come to pass, all of those things come together in Jerusalem. It came with power and it came in that generation. All the prophecies concerning the coming of the church were fulfilled. And we see, then, that there were converts who were made and that after they were converted, “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers,” Acts 2:42.
Saul of Tarsus Becomes Paul the Apostle
We see that the church continued to grow, but as it continued to grow, it attracted attention. First, the attention seemed to be favorable attention, but then, the attention became unfavorable. Eventually persecution would set in. In a fairly short period of time, the peace and the harmony that those who were a part of the church in Jerusalem realized, would be shattered when a young man named Stephen would be killed, would be stoned. He became the first martyr, Acts 6 and 7. And a young man named Saul held the garments of those who stoned him.
In Acts 8, there is a great persecution which breaks out against the church. This persecution is brought upon them by their fellow Jews, because those who were converted to the church initially there in Jerusalem were converted from Judaism.
Paul’s Missionary Efforts
What happens then? Well, they are scattered. They travel on those Roman roads and they go to other places, some familiar, some, no doubt, unfamiliar. Maybe they can’t speak the local dialect, but they have a common language, and that’s the Greek language that they can get by with. And so, we see, then, that the church begins to spread.
We also read in Acts 8 that they “went everywhere preaching the Gospel.” No, they didn’t run away and hide. They went away, sharing the Gospel. We begin to see, then, that there are pockets of Christians, that there are churches that are established, in other areas. That is only a small beginning as to what is going to occur with the church, because there is going to be a faithful Pharisee, named Saul, who began as a persecutor of the church, who would be converted to Christ, and he would, then become, perhaps, the greatest traveling missionary of all times.
When Paul and Barnabas were preaching the Gospel in Antioch, they went first to the Jews. But the Jews were envious and spoke against what Paul was preaching. Paul then turned to the Gentiles, Acts 13:42-52. The result was that the Lord’s Word spread throughout all that region. [“So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these Words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. 43 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. 44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the Word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ‘It was necessary that the Word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us: “I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.”’ 48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the Word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the Word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.”]
In summation, as all of the factors, all of the prophecies, came together, that ushered in the establishing of the church and the spreading of the church throughout the Roman Empire, using the network of roads that were built by the Romans, using the common language of the Greeks. The church, then, began to grow and to spread.
ORGANIZATION, DOCTRINES AND PRACTICES OF THE EARLY CHURCH
Organization
We want to note the organization of the church. The organization of the church in the beginning was really quite simple. While there was some awareness of, perhaps, while there would even be some concern about, sister congregations, each congregation, though, enjoyed a local autonomy. There is no evidence, at all, in the New Testament of any extra congregational structure or any kind of elaborate hierarchy that would later come to pass, and which, even to this day, play such a prominent role in the life people who belong to denominational organizations, and so on.
Each congregation that we read about in the New Testament had the objective of having elders, also called “shepherds” or “bishops” or “pastors”—all of those are the same word—and deacons. And these ones were responsible for the oversight of the congregation and for service within the congregation.
Now, it is true that the apostles exercised a certain authority over the congregations, but the Scriptures give no hint, at all, that their authority was passed on to others upon their deaths. In addition, we read in Ephesians 4:11-12 about some others who made up the body of those early congregations [“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ….”]. In addition to apostles, Paul speaks about prophets, evangelists, pastors (of course, we know that is another term for “elders”), and teachers. Well, those were the individuals that had a certain function, a certain responsibility within the local congregation.
Once again, we don’t see any authority, we don’t see any direction at all, for any kind of an ecclesiastical organization. This is really difficult, I believe, on the part of many people who are not familiar with the New Testament church, many people who are not familiar with, for example, the functioning and the organization of a congregation, even in our day, to comprehend. It’s very difficult for people who are so used to this ecclesiastical organization, this hierarchy, and so on, that they see within the denominational world, to believe that a church could exist in that particular fashion—in the simplicity of the New Testament organization of the church. But, of course, we know that the church did exist—that’s the way it was established. That’s the way we continue to carry on.
Worship / Practices / Doctrines
Well, what about the worship of the early church? We’ve looked just briefly at the organization, but let’s notice as well that the worship of the early church was similarly simple in its nature. Few, if any, church buildings were built in the 1st Century. And so, the disciples met in homes; they met in other public areas; they would, in some communities, use the Jewish synagogue.
No where in the New Testament do we have a complete and a concise description of a worship service. You know, I know you, like me, often wonder and say, “Lord, if You would have, maybe, just made these things a little more clear, then we wouldn’t have so much trouble understanding them.” Well, this is not to criticize the Lord in His divine wisdom and providence, certainly. But we do have the information that is there. We simply have to compile it; we have to put it together.
What I’m saying here is, we don’t see an outline for a worship service for the saints in Ephesus or in Colossi or in whatever city, but what we do see, though, is that they did assemble for worship. As a matter of fact, there in the very beginning, while they were still that primitive church in Jerusalem, it seems that they came together on a daily basis for worship, Acts 2:46 [“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart….”]. But, as time went on, the common practice was to meet on the first day of the week.
We also see, concerning that early church there in Jerusalem that, “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers,” Acts 2:42. So, we begin to see sort of the flavor, the nature, of what they were doing as they came together in their assemblies.
Now, in addition, the worship services included reading the Scriptures, and, of course, for the very early days of the church, the Scriptures would be the Old Testament. Those were the only Scriptures that they had. Later, of course, as the writings of the apostles and other inspired writers began to be compiled, then they would have portions, at least, of those letters (hopefully they would have complete letters), but as those inspired writings would begin to be assembled, then they would have portions of what we now refer to at the “New Testament.”
We know, also, singing and preaching, extemporaneous speaking—all of these were included in their worship. And, of course, the Lord’s Supper was observed as a simple memorial feast, and it was often accompanied by a “love feast,” something that was referred to as “agape.” Now, we read over in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11, that the church in Corinth began to abuse this “love feast,” and Paul had to straighten them out about what to do. Now, he didn’t forbid them to do this. We might sort of think of it as, maybe, they were sharing a fellowship meal together. Their problem was that, they sort of assimilated the fellowship meal, the agape, with the Lord’s Supper, and they lost sight of what they were really supposed to be thinking about and what the purpose and intention of the Lord’s Supper was. And so, Paul straightened them out.
Well, along with the Lord’s Supper, baptism was an ordinance that was observed by the early church, by the apostolic church, as it is sometimes referred to. Persons who believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, who repented of their sins, who confessed His Name, were admitted to the church through, by, baptism. Again, back to Jerusalem, that very first congregation of the Lord’s people, we read there, Acts 2, verse 47, that “the Lord added t the church daily those who were being saved.”
The evidence indicates, of course, from the Scriptures, that the practice that they observed for baptism was by immersion. That is the only kind of baptism. We know that that word, “baptism,” in our language is a word that was transliterated—that is, it was taken from the original language and brought over into the English language with a few letters changed to accommodate the English speakers, but that word in the original language means “to dip, to plunge, to immerse, to cover over.” This was the practice of the early church.
This “outer practice,” so to speak, of baptism was, of course, in obedience to the command of Christ Himself. It was in obedience to the instruction of the inspired apostles, but we also know that there was a symbolic nature to it. Paul writes about that in Romans, chapter 6, where he speaks about baptism being a symbol of the death, the burial and the resurrection to a new life [“3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord,” [Romans 6:3-11].
And in the New Testament, baptism is also linked with a new birth, John 3:5. Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Unless you are born again, you cannot enter into the kingdom [“There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’ 3 Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ 4 Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?’ 5 Jesus answered, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again,”’” John 3:1-7.].
And baptism is also, of course, linked—inextricably linked—to the forgiveness of sins, Acts 2:28 [“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”].
For nearly a generation, the church at Jerusalem, in spite of persecution, provided something of a leadership for all of the other congregations, for all of the other churches. This was principally because of the affiliation of the apostles with that congregation. But even before the destruction of Jerusalem, which occurred in AD 70, other great congregations, other congregations of the Lord’s people, began to build and sort of assert their own leadership.
For example, there was the congregation at Antioch. That congregation was the one that took the lead in sending out missionaries, like Paul and Barnabas, to go into the far regions of the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel, to baptize, to establish congregations.
Summary
This is a look, then, at the things which came to pass, not by some random occurrence, but all at the hand of God, bringing together all of these events which occurred in history, that occurred just at the right time in the right sequence—everything was in just the right order. And God brought forth His Son. His Son established His church, and we see that the church has its beginnings, and grows and prospers. The church begins to make a real impact within the communities where churches are established.
From a “band of twelve,” we might say, whose leader had been killed at the instigation of the Jews and at the hands of the Romans, this body, this organization that is called the church, had become, in just a relatively short period of time, the “sect everywhere spoken against,” as it’s referred to in Acts 28:22 [“But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.”].
Our next lesson (Lesson 4) will cover the Expansion and Persecution of the church.