4. The Church of the First Days

1. In our last lesson you learned that Jesus came to earth to become a man and that he died to raise everyone from the grave. In this lesson we shall learn of God's son, Jesus, who will give eternal life to everyone who believes in him.

2. This opportunity to "live forever" started after Jesus had died, rose again, and went back to heaven to be with his Father, our loving God.

3. Ten days after Jesus went away to heaven, there came a day which the Jews called "The Day of Pentecost", or "The Fiftieth Day". It was just 50 days after Passover, when Jesus was sacrificed on the cross for all mankind.

4. On that day the believers in Christ were all together in one place. The last time they had gathered together was in the upper room where they had the last supper with Christ, just before he went to the Garden of Gethsemane where the Jewish leaders came to arrest him. (Acts 2:1)

5. They were all praying when they suddenly heard a sound like a mighty wind coming down from the sky, and then something that looked like tongues of fire seemed to be over the heads of all there. (Acts 2:2-3)

6. This was the way God showed them that His Holy Spirit had been given them, and His power caused them to speak in different languages. Also, it was proof that Jesus’ sacrifice was accepted by God. (Acts 2:4)

7. The crowd of Jews all heard the disciples of Jesus speaking in their own language, for many had come from other lands to worship in Jerusalem. They wanted to know what it all meant, and some even thought they were drunk from too much wine. But Simon Peter then stood up and told them that they were not drunk but that this was the day when the time of grace began, when in the last days of the Jewish Age God would pour out His Spirit as Joel the prophet had said. (Acts 2:16-21)

8. Peter then explained to them that because Jesus came as their Messiah, whom they had crucified on the cross, who died for their sins and was raised from the dead, they could live forever by believing in Jesus and repenting of their sins. He urged them to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The act of baptism would show everyone that they wanted to try to never sin again but instead live the way Jesus wanted them to live. They would gain everlasting life. (Acts 2:38)

9. Many who saw how wicked it had been in killing Jesus now loved Him for dying on the cross for them. They asked God to forgive them for their sins and were baptized in Jesus' name. Then the Holy Spirit of God was given to them. On that day, 3,000 more were added to the Church of Christ! (Acts 2:41) 

1. After the Holy Spirit was given to everyone who believed and followed Jesus, this meant that the true Church of God was started. Even though we know there are many churches throughout the world, God's true Church is made up of those He is now choosing throughout the world ... one here and one there who prove faithful to Him all their lives.

2. These will be given the "crown of life". This means that those who are faithful in following and obeying Jesus will be raised and given a new spiritual nature and be like the resurrected Jesus in nature. (1 John 3:2)

3. Revelation 20:6 tells us that those of the true Church will have part in the first resurrection, which means that they will come to life to reign with Jesus after he returns before anyone else in the world is raised from the grave.

4. This text of scriptures goes on to tell us that the Church will reign with Christ a thousand years as a kingdom of priests. A priest is one who teaches others about God and Jesus and how they want people to live. So the Church will work with Jesus after being resurrected or raised from death to life. This means they will tell and show others coming from the grave, those who are to be here on earth, how they must learn to give up all sins of the past and live a life that is right and loving. They must learn to do God's will and likewise help others. (Isa. 26:9)

5. This is, of course, just what those new believers in Christ did when they became part of God's Church at its beginning. They taught others God's will and they helped others.

6. There were 12 men who especially helped others for they were given special power from God to heal the sick and make lame men walk. They told everyone about Jesus -- that they had to believe in Jesus to be saved from their sins and to gain everlasting life. These men were called "Apostles" which means "one sent forth". They went everywhere telling others about Jesus and his love for all mankind by dying on the cross for them.

7. The names of his Apostles were: Peter; Andrew, his brother; James, the son of Zebedee; John, his brother; Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew, the publican; James, the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus (whom some think is the same as Jude); Simon; and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus and killed himself and was later replaced by Paul. Matthias, whom the eleven had chosen to replace Judas Iscariot, was not God's choice.(Mark 3:16, Acts 1:26, and Romans 1:1)

8. All those in the first or early days of the Church were like a big family, for each one was full of love for all the others. Of course, that is the way it should be now. Because they all loved each other, they shared what they had, even selling land or houses to help those who were poor and in need. (Acts 4:32-34)

9. There were two among the believers who were greedy named Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. They kept some of the money for themselves after selling some of their land. (Read Acts 5:1-10 for this account.)

10. Did they have the right to keep some of the money since it was theirs? Yes. What they did wrong was that they had agreed together to tell a lie. They said that what they brought to the Apostles was all the money they had gotten from the sale of their land.

11. The Holy Spirit showed Peter what was in their thoughts, and he asked Ananias why Satan was allowed to fill his heart. Peter said, "You have tried to tell a lie, not to man, but to God." Yes, God knows when we are lying, even if no one else does. (Acts 5:4)

12. Then Ananias fell down dead upon the floor. Afterwards his wife came, who didn't know yet that her husband had died, and she also lied about the price they had gotten for the land, so God's anger was also upon her and Sapphira fell down dead too. What a good lesson this is for us, which shows how much God hates lying! (Acts 5:5-10)

13. All those of the early days of the Church, especially the Apostles, were filled with God's power, so they went every day to the Temple which was where the Jews met to worship God and preached to the people about Jesus. They told them how to gain everlasting life through his name. (Acts 5:12)

14. One day while they were out healing people, the Jewish religious leaders became very jealous of the Apostles. They put them in jail, but an angel of the Lord came at night and opened the doors of the prison. Having brought the Apostles out, the angel told them to stand in the Temple and speak to the people about everlasting life which could be theirs through Jesus Christ. (Acts 5:17-21)

15. The next day the rulers met together and asked to have the Apostles brought before them. Of course, the officers who were sent did not find them in the prison, even though the doors were locked and the guards were still standing at the doors. They hadn't even realized the angel had quietly taken the Apostles from prison. (Acts 5:21-24)

16. The captain of the Temple and his officers again brought the Apostles before the Jewish religious leaders. They were afraid of being stoned by the people who liked what they heard from the Apostles, so they didn't hurt them. They told them to stop teaching the gospel and trying to make them feel guilty about killing Jesus. Peter told them, "We must obey God, rather than men." He told them that they put Jesus to death, but God raised him and lifted him to be at His right hand as a prince, or leader, and Savior, to give the forgiveness of sins. Peter told them that the Apostles, who had been given the Holy Spirit by God, were witnesses that these things were true. (Acts 5:25-32)

17. This made the rulers so angry that they were going to kill the Apostles, but a wise man named Gamaliel told the rulers to leave them alone. He said that if what the Apostles said came from them, it would soon pass away, but if it came from God, it couldn't be destroyed. So they let them go. (Read Acts 5:33-40) 

1. As time went by, the Apostles were used in different ways to spread the glad tidings of salvation through Christ. Peter was chosen to tell the first Gentile about Christ, a centurion whose name was Cornelius. (Acts 10:1-48)

2. A Gentile was one who was not a Jew and hadn't been favored by God, for God was dealing only with the Jews at first. He called them His chosen people.

3. The Jews were chosen by God to keep His Law, part of which was known as the Ten Commandments. However, only a perfect man could keep the Law. Had they been able to keep it, they could have lived forever.

4. Jesus came to earth as a perfect man. He was able to keep the Law and became our Savior, and opened up the way to gain eternal life.

5. The Good News that Jesus could give eternal life because of his sacrifice wasn't appreciated by the nation of Israel as a whole. Not many Jews appreciated Jesus and believed in him. So the Jewish nation lost favor with God, and so He opened up the way of salvation to the Gentiles. (Acts 15:14)

6. After the Gentiles were given a chance to learn of Jesus and how to gain eternal life through belief and obedience to him, God used a man called Saul (later called Paul) to tell others about Jesus. Paul was chosen by God to be His 12th Apostle (replacing Judas Iscariot). This is found in Acts chapter 9.

7. At first, he was against all Christians but God forgave him, knowing that he meant well but just didn't know better. Paul went to many countries telling people about Jesus. (Acts 9:1-2)

8. At first, the Apostles were afraid of Paul, for he had even held the coats of those who stoned to death one of their believers named Stephen. (Acts 7:58) But Barnabas, a good man, trusted Paul and told the others not to be afraid. (Acts 9:26-27) He went with Paul to Antioch where the followers of Christ were first called "Christians". (Acts 11:57-60)

9. Paul suffered much for Jesus and was in jail in Rome. A wicked ruler named Nero had him put to death.10. The great Apostle, named John, was also made a prisoner by a cruel emperor of Rome and was kept on a little island called Patmos. While he was there, Jesus showed him a vision of things to come upon the Lord's people and things that would happen before Christ was to return to earth again. Since the time of those early Apostles, the Word of God has been given to us to learn about Jesus, so the glad tidings or Gospel continues to be spread. YOU can help spread it by telling others about Jesus!

God’s Promises
As the deep blue of heaven
Brightens into stars,
So God’s great love shines forth
In promises
Which, falling softly through
Our prison bars,
Daze not our eyes, but with their
Sweet light bless.
Ladders of light, God sets against
The skies--
Upon whose golden rungs we step by step
Arise.
Anon.

“He has given us exceeding great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers
of the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4)

* * * * * * * * * *
Tears are often the means by which we see God’s rainbow of promises.

The world is preparing day by day for the millennium, but you do not see it. Every season forms itself a year in advance. The coming summer lays out her work during the autumn, and buds and roots are forespoken. Ten million roots are pumping outside; do you hear them? Ten million buds are forming in the axils of the leaves; do you hear the sound of the saw or hammer? All next summer is at work in the world, but it is unseen by us, and so “the kingdom of God cometh not with observation.”

H.W.Beecher