The Church in The Acts of the Apostles

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The day of Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover and, therefore, about 50 days after the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. 120 people waited in Jerusalem at the Lord's command for the coming of the Holy Spirit. On that great feast day the Holy Spirit fell in power upon the believers, and the Church of Jesus Christ was born. This event is fully recorded in Acts Ch 2.

One of the most obvious signs of the beginning of the Church was the change in the character of the followers of Jesus. At the time of the arrest of Jesus most of them ran away and Peter, who tried to be stronger than the others, panicked and denied his Lord three times.

Now, from this day of Pentecost onward, they were strong to declare the Good News, to defy the authorities where necessary and to withstand persecution. The reason for this change is simple - they had been "endued with power from on high" as Jesus had promised.

On the Day of Pentecost, it is recorded, there were three thousand people who became believers and were baptised. Within days the number had risen to at least five thousand. This Church began at Jerusalem but at a time when Jews from all over the Empire were visiting Jerusalem. As they returned home the Good News of Jesus was taken with them. We have, in Acts Ch. 2-4, accounts of the life of the very earliest Church.

• Entry into the Church was through Believers' Baptism ( Acts 2:41 )
• The Apostolic Doctrine
• Fellowship
• Breaking of Bread
• Prayer

• Signs and Wonders
• Unity (They were together)
• All things in Common
• Generosity
• Breaking of bread was at home
• Glad and sincere hearts (Joy)
• Praise
• A good reputation
• Many being saved.

In Acts Ch 1 v 8 Jesus tells his disciples that they will be witnesses

1. To Jerusalem (that is to the heart of the Jewish nation and faith)
2. To Judea and Samaria (moving out from the centre through Judea to the fringes of Judaism in Samaria and Galilee.)
3. To the ends of the Earth (to Jews in gentile countries and, eventually, to gentiles.)

The rest of the book contains the details of how they began to accomplish this command.

Outside of Palestine there were many communities of Greek speaking Jews. Barnabas, a Jewish native of Cyprus, was to be influential in carrying the Gospel to the Gentile world.

In about 35 AD Saul of Tarsus, a traditionally minded Jew of the Pharisee party who was also a Roman citizen and trained in Jewish Law, became a follower of Jesus during a campaign which he led against the Christian Church. (Acts Ch 9). Saul became better known by the name of Paul. Barnabas encouraged him in his new found faith and before long Paul had been accepted by the very Church he had once persecuted. He was eventually to become "The Apostle to the Gentiles".

At Antioch in Syria, Paul and Barnabas worked among both Jews and Gentiles. It was there that the followers of Christ were first sarcastically nicknamed "Christians".

Paul, at first with Barnabas and later with Silas, spread the Gospel throughout much of the Empire. At first their work was confined to Asia but a major step was taken when Paul had a vision to cross over into Europe starting in Macedonia. (Acts Ch. 16).

In Acts Ch. 15 we have the account of the first major "Church Council". The question to be dealt with was the extent to which gentile Christians should be subject to the Law of Moses. It had arisen because of a movement within the church known as " Judaisers " who believed that gentiles should be received into the Jewish faith before being accepted as members of the Church. This particularly involved circumcision and the dietry laws.

The question of circumcision and other Jewish laws is also dealt with by Paul in his letter to the Galatians.

A movement developed in the early Church which embraced much of the Judaising party's theology. They were known as the Ebionites .

Towards the end of the book of Acts we find that Paul was unjustly arrested in Jerusalem and imprisoned in Caesarea. Felix kept him there for two years before sending him to Rome for trial in 59 AD. He was kept in Rome under house arrest but this did not prevent him from preaching the Gospel or from writing some of the most influential Christian writings.

He seems to have been released for a time in 61 AD and was free to continue his missionary work until he was again imprisoned in Rome. During the Neronian persecution, he was executed in about 64 AD. He was, apparently, beheaded with a sword since, as a Roman citizen, he could not be crucified.

Tradition has it, and there is no reason to reject the tradition, that Peter was also executed in Rome at about the same time as Paul. He would have been crucified but, tradition also claims, he requested to be crucified head down since he did not merit the same death as his Lord.

Persecution, imprisonment and martyrdom, however, could not stop the spread of the Gospel and the Church. These have proved over two millenia to be unstoppable.