PRIMITIVE CHURCH

By Rick Mathes

Acts 9:31 (NASB77) ³¹  So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and, going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

Paul would be sadly aghast if he attended a modern day church worship service. He would experience a funeral for the Body of Christ or an orgy for Baal and Ashtoreth in most of the modern day worship services. Over 2,000 years ago, witnesses of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus would gather in a hushed then joyous celebration of the Lord’s eminent return. Their eyes were skyward and their hearts beat within their chest aching for the rapture and reward of their faithfulness and trust even in the jaws of a lion. Today they poke each other to keep awake those few times their wives nag them and they attend the service of entertainment and orchestrated thrills and Holy Ghost bumps. Oh, how shamed to the bone Paul would be.

The obvious was the peaceful assembly of happy and loving attenders. They naturally gravitated to lifting each other up and edifying the love of God they came to corporately worship. Their groups were small home churches at first and it was then they experience the fullness of agape love for each other: a family of he promise at the altar of grace.

The whole event circled around a banquet meal. Each brought food according to their ability and none went away hungry. All were sanctified with communion which followed the evening meal.

The family of God was genuine in humble submission to each other. The most important dignitary in attendance was the fellow Christian seated next to you. The smile were genuine expressions of the happiness all shared in honr of their special guest, Jesus Christ!

He was there in their midst and they all experienced the Holy One and the blessing that couched them all. They couldn’t help but multiply. It wasn’t an early church explosion; it was an implosion of the Holy of Holies open for all elect to enter. The veil was torn and the way open!