Languages

The Apostles

  • Print
Details
Hits: 215

The Apostles and the first church (The birth of the Christian church)

  • The Christian church is started by Jesus Christ as the means to deliver sinful man from eternal judgment and the second death. Known in the Scriptures as the body of Christ, Jesus Christ being the head.
  • His followers were told by Jesus that after that they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit they would become witnesses in all the earth which is the birth of the New Testament Church
  • The Apostles and disciples of Jesus taught the born again message as Jesus Himself taught: repentance, baptism in Jesus name and the in filling of the Holy Spirit with the supernatural evidence of speaking in tongues.
  • Why were the Epistles actually written?

The Christian church is started by Jesus Christ as the means to deliver sinful man from eternal judgment and the second death. Known in the Scriptures as the body of Christ, Jesus Christ being the head.

The church is first mentioned in the book of Matthew in verse 16:15-19. Here Jesus asks his disciples who other people say that He is. Then He asked His disciples who they say He is. Peter answers by saying that Jesus is the Christ (the anointed One, the Messiah), the son of the living God.  Peter was then given the keys to the Kingdom by Jesus who stated that "upon this Rock" (this Truth, Himself being the Bedrock or chief cornerstone) would He build His church.(11. Young’s Analytical Concordance) Here the truth that Peter is saying is that Jesus is God in a human body. (Jews were taught from childhood the Shema Yisrael which is Deuteronomy 6:4 which states: "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God! The LORD is One!")
The word translated church in the New Testament is the Greek word 'ecclesia' which means “the called out ones”.

The Jews, the original Called Out Ones


http://www.leestoneking.com/prophecy_israel.htm
In the Old Testament, the Jews were the called out ones through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham was called by God out of the idol worship and polytheism (worship of multiple gods) of his day and of his family, and began a journey with the almighty one true living God Himself.

 

 

(12. The Bible/Genesis 12 He was promised a son through Sarah in his old age, which came to pass through the birth of Isaac when Abraham was 100 years old. (13. The Bible/Genesis 18:21 Abraham's first born son Ishmael was born of a servant Egyptian woman named Hagar, who were both sent away by Abraham and Sarah after Ishmael began to mock Isaac. Ishmael went on to father the tribes of Arabia. (Genesis 17:20 & Genesis 21:9-21)

To Isaac was born twin boys, Esau and Jacob. (14. The Bible/Genesis 25:24-26 Esau was born first but because of a lack of love or concern for spiritual matters, sold his Spiritual birthright to Jacob for a bowl of beans and stew.  To Jacob, (whose name God changed to Israel which actually means governed by God (15. G. Campbell Morgan) The Bible/Genesis 25:24-26 were born twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel.
Note: Abraham's first born son, Ishmael, was born of a servant Egyptian women named Hagar. Ishmael went on to father the tribes of Arabia (Genesis 17:20 * Genesis 21:19-21)

His followers were told by Jesus that after that they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit they would become witnesses in all the earth. This was the birth of the New Testament Church

According to The Book of Acts, the New Testament church began on the day of Pentecost, fifty days after Passover, (and the time of the crucifixion), with the in filling of the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. After Jesus resurrected, He walked among his disciples for 40 days and then ascended into the heavens right before their eyes and the eyes of over five hundred witnesses.  Before He left however, Jesus gave his disciples instructions to wait in Jerusalem until they received the promised gift of the Holy Spirit that He had told them about. After hearing Jesus’ final teaching on the mount and witnessing His ascent into the clouds, the band of believers and disciples went back to a small room to pray and wait for the promise.  Ten days after Jesus had ascended, His Holy Spirit was poured out upon 120 waiting disciples including Mary, Jesus’ mother, in the room in which they had been waiting in Jerusalem, (Acts 2)(16. Holman’s Bible dictionary The Bible/Genesis 25:24-26)

The Apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ taught the born again message as Jesus Christ Himself taught: repentance, baptism in Jesus name and the in filling of the Holy Spirit with the supernatural evidence of speaking in tongues.


The new birth salvation doctrine of the first Apostolic Pentecostal Church, started by Jesus Christ, was initially taught to many Jewish people from all over the world who were in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. They had heard the commotion of the Holy Spirit outpouring and asked what was going on.  Some actually believed that the disciples were drunk at nine o’clock in the morning and were confused because they heard them speaking in their own languages and worshiping. While Peter then spoke to the onlookers and preached to them the message (noted in Acts chapter 2) that this was that which was prophesied by the prophet Joel...  that God would pour out of His Spirit on all mankind in the last days.  They were given the truth of who Jesus is (that He is both Lord {Jehovah} and Christ {Messiah}) and the New Testament plan of salvation of repentance, baptism in Jesus name, and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit ( as they had just received it). He further explained that this plan was for them (present tense), their children and all who are far off (future tense), and also taught them to be separated and holy unto God and depart from a wicked generation.

Jesus told His followers that others will be able to tell His disciples by their love one to another

After this occurrence, many came to the belief of the gospel and about 3000 souls were added that day to the “Church”.  (Acts 2: 41) This Christian group now had sufficient visibility in the city and their presence could not be ignored.  Thus the Church began to grow into a mighty group of believers, where they were going house to house, and breaking bread. (Acts 2:43-47)  Miracles were being done by these believers such as raising the dead, healing the sick and many of the same miracles that Jesus Christ had done in His earthly ministry.  Love of God and love of each other was what made the disciples of Jesus Christ stand out in a hate filled world. (Matthew 5, Mark 12:30:33, Luke 6:27:35, John 13:34*35 John 14:15.
John 14:21-23, 1 Corinthians 13)

Why were the Epistles actually written?

Anointed letters were sent out to different churches by some of the Apostles such as Peter and John and particularly by the apostle Paul, formally Saul of Tarsus, for the purpose of perfecting the called out ones that had been chosen by God for the service of seeking and saving the lost.  These anointed letters, called Epistles, included instructions for conduct on how men and women were to behave going about their everyday lives in their present world system.  Peter wrote in one of his epistles that these messages came by anointed chosen men of God, moved on by the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ and carried the authority of God Himself.  For example, instructions were given for men to keep their hair short and for women to never cut their hair because of the fact of believers being under the submission of God-given authority. (1 Cor. 11:3-15) Also, instructions were given to the believers, who were going through great suffering and persecution at the time, to remain faithful to the Lord Jesus and to never deny Him, but to confess Him, even if it meant their suffering and death. (Romans 10:9)  These letters were written to the establish though young  “Churches” in Rome, and in Corinth and in Thessalonica to name a few. They did not teach or reiterate the plan of salvation because they were written to those who were already born again into the Church. The Church (the called out ones) continued its journey of telling others about the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation that He paid for with His blood and was the fastest growing movement at the time even though they were being killed and tortured by the Romans and others. Even at the beginning of the church, other man-made doctrines and heresies were trying to bring error and compromise to the true gospel and pollute it.)(17. Acts 20:28-31 & Jude 1:3-25; A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 1)