Part 1 of 13

This is a series of messages on some of the characteristics of the early church which I believe allowed them to turn this world upside down for the glory of God. Lord willing I will post all 13 within the next couple of weeks.

Acts 17:6

’And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;’

In the first 10-15 years after Christ’s victory at Calvary we see the Church experiencing a tremendous amount of growth. We see the Church starting with only 120 people in Acts 1:15 but after the first fifteen years we see the Church made up of thousands of believers throughout Palestine and Asia Minor. That is not including the untold number of converts in areas that are not covered by the book of Acts. They were literally turning the world upside down for the glory of Christ. People were being healed of their infirmities, but more importantly people were coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. They were forsaking the legalism found within Judaism and the paganism found throughout the other religions of the Roman Empire.

Looking at this first church it would seem that they had something, or were doing something, which we do not see in our churches today. No longer do we see churches having thousands saved on a regular basis. Many of our churches today would be hard-pressed to experience a 1000 souls saved throughout the entire lifetime of the church. By souls saved I mean those who have made a genuine profession of faith in Christ and not just repeating a sinner’s prayer behind somebody else. So what was different about the early church in Jerusalem, and later in Antioch, when compared to our churches today. I have picked out thirteen things that characterized the early church that if we would incorporate into our own lives and into our churches then we could once again see the world turned upside down for the glory of God.

1. They continued in ONE ACCORD...

Acts 1:14

’These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.’

All throughout the book of Acts we can see where the early church is referred to as being in one accord. The phrase "one accord" occurs only thirteen times in Scripture. Eleven of those are found in the book of Acts with six of them referring directly to the early church. The fact they were in one accord means that they were of the same mind. They had the same mind of wanting to worship and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. There were no divisions or cliques within the Church at Jerusalem or the Church at Antioch. Instead of focusing on their differences they were focusing on what they had in common - their salvation in the Lord. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians we can see how damaging it can be to the cause of Christ for a church to be divided amongst its members. We need to be of the same mind of worshiping the Lord and of fulfilling the Great Commission.

This is not to say that we should yoke up with anyone who happens to claim the name of Christ. In this day and age we must be very careful about who we partner with or to whom we may wish to do something with for the cause of Christ. Paul tells us quite plainly that we are to rebuke false prophets and that we are to warn of those who would teach anything contrary to the Word of God. There are thousands upon thousands of people who claim to be Christian yet they do not follow the Word of God and its teachings. Instead, they teach a false salvation through something other than Christ damning their followers to Hell with their lies. We can see this especially with Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and the large majority of your Protestant denominations. They all teach some form of salvation by works or that salvation is through something other than faith in Christ. From these we should divide ourselves because they are not true Christians.

We should always separate ourselves from false doctrine and teaching, but never should we separate with a fellow believer over a mere preference that we may have. Instead we should be in one accord, or mind, with them concerning winning the lost.

2. They continued in one accord with PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION.

Acts 1:14

’These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.’

Not only did the disciples continue in one accord but they did so with prayer and supplication. This is another thing which is seriously lacking in our churches today. The large majority of Christians today do not realize the importance of prayer or its potential. To most Christians prayer is merely a ritual done before a meal or they treat it as something they are obligated to do on occasion. We should realize that prayer is one of the most important things we can do as a Christian. It is also necessary for us to live a successful Christian life.

Prayer is the one thing we have that can move the hand of God. It is through prayer that we can experience the power of God on our lives. We have direct access to the throne of Heaven through the act of prayer yet most Christians never use it. Whatever our problem, need, or desire, we can take it directly to God yet most Christians will only use prayer as a last resort. We do not have to go through a priest or repeat any certain words in order to pray. Instead, we can merely go directly to God with whatever may be on our heart at that very moment whether it be a problem or just simply to praise and worship our Lord and Saviour.

We see our Saviour throughout the Gospels many times going off alone to pray and spending entire nights in prayer. We also see the early church spending much time in prayer throughout the pages of the New Testament. Most Christians are so shallow in their spiritual life that they can hardly bear to sit through a one minute prayer during the church service. And Heaven forbid that someone should spend more than thirty seconds when praying before a meal. Christ was our perfect example in every area of life including our prayer life. We can go to God in prayer just as Christ did and we can even spend an entire night in prayer if we are willing to die to self and to put Christ first.

What ever happened to Christians having their own personal prayer closet - somewhere they could get alone with God. What has happend to preachers, fathers, and other men of God spending entire nights in prayer so that they might get a hold of God and His power. One reason the church no longer has the power of God upon it, that Christians no longer have any influence over the world, that souls are not being saved as they should or could be, that we no longer see any great revivals is because we as Christians have given up on the power of prayer.

In Christ,

PreacherE