Shalom Aleichem...
Reflections is a weekly Christian Teaching Ministry. Each week we will talk about the Bible and lessons we can put to use in our daily life. We will try to, on a weekly basis, provide to you stories, thoughts, and just easy ways to live your life on a straight path.
THIS WEEK'S TEACHING....July 5, 2021
Part 4 of this series describes what the first Christians were like, some of the things they did in Christianity's earliest days, and the spread of Christianity in the region and the world.
The First Christians
In this part, we examine what the earliest Christians were like, and what they did.
A. The first Christians loved one another dearly.
Exactly as Jesus commanded – the “New commandment” Jn 13:34, which the apostles often re-iterated:
John_13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John_15:12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
John_15:17 "This I command you, that you love one another.
Rom_13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
1 Thess_4:9 Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another;
1 Pet_1:22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
1 Jn_3:11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;
1 Jn_3:23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
1 Jn_4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 Jn_4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 Jn_4:12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
2 Jn_1:5 Now I ask you, lady, not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
Secular writers, even some who did not agree with the doctrines of Christian faith, wrote over and over,
“See how they loved one another!”
B. They Served Others
Meyer Reinhold was a classicist who wrote textbooks on various periods in ancient history. Asked by an interviewer for his reflections on the period when Christianity was introduced, he answered:
“The Christians did something that had never been done before (except in isolated cases). But the Christians made it the centerpiece of their lives, and it worked. ”
“What was it?”
“Living for others.”
C. They Were of One Mind
There was no discord or division, but peace, harmony, and mutual respect.
Acts 2:43 There was a feeling of awe.
Act 2:44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
Act 2:46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
The facts of the gospel, belief in them, and believers’ redemption from sin drew them together in such a way that differences in preferences and quibbles over petty things disappeared. We do not yet see people fighting over church issues, or demanding to prevail over others in matters of judgment and preference. Nor do we yet see one Christian, or a group of them, binding their scruples on others who do not have those same scruples. The 14th chapter of Romans with its teaching on allowing space for others to believe differently than ourselves on some question and act according to their belief, would be written much later when problems of that kind surfaced.
D. There was a daily distribution of food.
Act 6:1 Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. (NASB)
What was going on? Was it related to their giving up all their possessions or is it something every church should do now daily by their example? If we are to be the church of the New Testament, should we be doing now what they were doing then? Food for thought.
E. They Gave.
Giving rests on the principle of love.
John the Baptist was the first in the New Testament to teach giving.
Luk 3:10-11 And the crowds asked him, "What then shall we do?" (11) And he answered them, "Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise."
Jesus taught giving to those in need in his parables:
• The parable of the good Samaritan
• Rich man and Lazarus
• The Sheep and Goats
Christians in other places gave generously for the relief of their brothers and sisters in Judea--of money they themselves needed.
• For that specific purpose, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth before comeing to them in person to receive their gift: “Let each one lay by in store, as God has prospered him…” 1 Cor 16:2
• Macedonians set a wonderful example by giving according to and beyond their ability. They first gave themselves. 2 Cor 8:1-5
• Jesus, though he was rich, became poor for their sake, and ours. 2 Cor 8:9
• Paul avoids using the force of commandment so that they might give willingly. 2 Cor 8:10 - it is his advice, or opinion, that he gives.
• Giving benefits the giver. 2 Cor 8:10 (cf Acts 20:35 “It is more blessed…”)
• A gift is acceptable according to person’s readiness (KJV a willing mind), not on his giving what he does not have. 2 Cor 8:12
• Giving is to be according to the purpose of the heart 2 Cor 9:7
• God loves a cheerful giver - 2 Cor 9:7
• God is able, and he will cause to return, with increase, that which we spend relieving the necessities of others. 2 Cor 9:8-11
E. They did not have the New Testament.
It was being written little by little, treatise by treatise, letter by letter, over 50 or more years. It would be about 400 years before there was a standard collection of these writings generally accepted and recognized as the sacred, inspired writings which today we call the New Testament. Even when the 27 writings became generally accepted as scripture, not everyone had copies of all those writings in their homes.
What did they use for guidance? They were guided by the apostles themselves while they lived, by hand-picked and empowered envoys such as Timothy and Titus, and by inspired prophets who spoke what they received by revelations.
F. Spread of the church
Initially the apostles stayed together in Jerusalem, even until the first dispersion (Acts 8:1).
It is reasonable - in fact necessary - to assume that at some point, the apostles split up and went separate ways, and no longer functioned as a group, as Jesus commanded them just before ascending to heaven:
Mat 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
They had not done so before the council on circumcision in Jerusalem (Acts 15), but after that we soon lose sight of most of them. We see some of their movements, but not others, and some of what we know is historical, not biblical (John in Ephesus, Peter in Rome, perhaps Paul in Spain).
See what Ananias was told Paul would do.
Act 9:15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
The law was to “go forth from Jerusalem” Isa 2:3, Micah 4:2
This was not the law of Moses, for they were going out among gentile nations who had no allegiance to the Jewish law.
The law that went forth from Jerusalem was a law of a different kind, referred to in various ways in the New Testament writings as:
The royal law - James 2:8
The law of liberty - James 1:25, 2:12
The law of God - Romans 7:22,25; 8:7; 1 Corinthians 9:21
The law of Christ - 1 Corinthians 9:21
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus - Romans 8:1-2
…and various other ways.
Since Paul wrote to the Romans that we are not under law (Romans 6:14-15), the law that was to go forth from Jerusalem must have been that law described in these various ways, and not another law like the one given at Mt. Sinai.
Christians scattered by persecution after Stephen’s death, except the apostles. As a result, the dispersing Christians carried the gospel to:
Samaria – Philip (Acts 8:5)
Ethiopia – Philip (Acts 8:26-40)
Caesarea – Cornelius’ household (Acts 10)
Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch – Jews only (Acts 11:19)
Antioch
• Hub of evangelism in addition to being a strong local church
• Counterpart of the church in Jerusalem, the two representing Jewish and gentile backgrounds. Jerusalem and Judea were Jewish territory, Antioch and Syria were pagan territory.
• The church at Antioch was not a cookie cutter copy of the church at Jerusalem. This alarmed many in the Jerusalem church, who were not comfortable with the way those in Antioch were doing things, and made it their business to delve into it. Some of them came to Antioch insisting that the practice of circumcision must be adopted by those Christians in the church at Antioch. So Paul and Barnabas, along with unnamed others, were sent to Jerusalem to inquire about the teaching their members were trying to insert at Antioch. This is a bit of a side trail to our discussion on the spread of the church, but anyone interested in pursuing it further may read the story and the outcome in Acts 15.
• In Antioch they took for themselves a new name that had not been used among the believers in Judea – “Christians.”
Paul journeyed to many places, often enduring persecution, culminated in his arrest and imprisonment, eventually bringing him to Rome. All along the way, he was spreading the word of redemption in Christ and everlasting life.
The history of the spread of Christianity insofar as recorded in the New Testament writings reports primarily of the work of Paul and his associates. However, Paul’s evangelistic work was by no means all the work that was going on. Jesus had told the eleven (who remained after the death of Judas Iscariot) to “Go … and make disciples of all nations.”
Although their stories are not recorded in the New Testament, there is no doubt that they did precisely what they were chosen for when they were first called to follow Jesus, and were commissioned to do just before he ascended from their earthly view. There is secular history of the areas that each apostle worked in as written by early Christian writers, but those writings - while interesting - are not authoritative, being uncorroborated in the scriptures. Think now, family....does this sound like the Christian church today??
Are we, all Christians, pursuing others to serve them?? Look in the mirror and ask yourself..."am I doing everything I can to serve my fellow man?" Not just fellow Christians as many do, but "fellow man." I love you all:)
DID YOU EVER WONDER???
We talk and do a lot at C4 about Baptism and its importance to our life as a Christian so the obvious question comes...
"What is the symbolism of water baptism?"
Water baptism symbolizes the believer’s total trust in and total reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as a commitment to live obediently to Him. It also expresses unity with all the saints (Ephesians 2:19), that is, with every person in every nation on earth who is a member of the Body of Christ (Galatians 3:27–28). Water baptism conveys this and more, but it is not what saves us. Instead, we are saved by grace through faith, apart from works (Ephesians 2:8–9). We are baptized because our Lord commanded it: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
Water baptism is for believers. Before we are baptized, we must come to believe that we are sinners in need of salvation (Romans 3:23). We must also believe that Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins, that He was buried, and that He was resurrected to assure our place in heaven (1 Corinthians 15:1–4). When we turn to Jesus, asking Him to forgive our sins and be our Lord and Savior, we are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our eternal salvation is guaranteed, and we begin to die to ourselves and live for Christ (1 Peter 1:3–5). At that time we are scripturally qualified to be baptized.
Water baptism is a beautiful picture of what our Lord has done for us. As we are completely immersed in the water, we symbolize burial with our Lord; we are baptized into His death on the cross and are no longer slaves to self or sin (Romans 6:3–7). When we are raised out of the water, we are symbolically resurrected—raised to new life in Christ to be with Him forever, born into the family of our loving God (Romans 8:16). Water baptism also illustrates the spiritual cleansing we experience when we are saved; just as water cleanses the flesh, so the Holy Spirit cleanses our hearts when we trust Christ.
The fact that water baptism is not a prerequisite for salvation is best seen in the example of a saved man who was not baptized in water—the criminal on the cross (Luke 23:39–43). This self-confessed sinner acknowledged Jesus as his Lord while dying on a cross next to Him. The thief asked for salvation and was forgiven of his sins. Although he never experienced water baptism, at that moment he was spiritually baptized into Christ’s death, and he then was raised to eternal life by the power of Christ’s word (Hebrews 1:3).
Christians should be baptized out of obedience to and love for our Lord Jesus (John 14:15). Water baptism by immersion is the biblical method of baptism because of its symbolic representation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE...A TEACHING
We have now moved into the New Testament as the 400 year silence between God and His people comes to an end after the Book of Malachi. So now the question becomes....How Is the New Testament Organized?
Like the Old Testament, the New Testament is organized by genres, or types of literature. There are four: the Gospels, history, the Epistles, and prophecy.
The Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—come first because they introduce us to Jesus Christ, the focus of the New Testament (and the anticipation of the Old Testament). In these books we are told of the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of the Son of God. Although these books recount true events, just as the history books do, they are not generally put in that genre since the events are so selective (more on this in chapter 17). We call this genre gospel, meaning “good news,” because Jesus is the pivot point of the Bible, and what he did is the happy ending to the entire story of Scripture. It makes sense that the books that record this would come first in the New Testament—after all, this is very important information.
The category of history has only one book—Acts. This book carries on from where the Gospels ended: Jesus entrusted the task of spreading the good news of what he had accomplished to his followers. They were eventually to take it to “the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This book also acts as a transition between the Gospels and the next category, the Epistles. As we will see, the book of Acts provides us with the historical setting of quite a few of the Epistles.
The third category, the Epistles, contains twenty-one letters (epistle is another word for “letter”) to churches or individuals. This can be broken down into two sub-categories. The Pauline Epistles are the thirteen letters written by the apostle Paul. Our Bible organizes them by length (largest to smallest) and audience (church or individual) as follows: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. The second sub-category is the General Epistles, sometimes referred to as the Catholic Epistles, the word catholic meaning “general” or “universal.” These were written by authors other than Paul and were written to more general audiences (for the most part) rather than specific churches or individuals, as Paul’s letters were. Their order in our Bible is as follows: Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. These books are ordered by length (Hebrews is the longest; Jude is one of the shortest) and by author (Peter’s two letters and John’s three letters are grouped together).
The final main category of the New Testament is prophecy. It contains only one book—Revelation. Most of this book anticipates the future, when God will wrap up his plan for creation once and for all by removing sin and its effects and restoring the universe to the state in which he created it. These great events revolve around the second coming of his Son, Jesus Christ, to judge all people and then rule on the earth.
A drawback of the organization of the New Testament, especially the Epistles, is that they are not grouped in chronological order. However, the historical setting of these letters is often helpful in better understanding their content. So what follows is a brief explanation of the chronological order of these letters.
Most of Paul’s letters fit in the flow of the latter part of the book of Acts. His earliest letter, Galatians, was written after his first missionary journey, when he and Barnabas established four new churches in the province of Galatia. It would probably fit between Acts 14 and 15. First and Second Thessalonians were written during Paul’s second missionary journey. He was at Corinth, but he wrote these letters to the new Christians in the church that he had founded in Thessalonica.
These letters would fit somewhere in Acts 18:1–17. During his third missionary journey, Paul wrote three more letters. He was in Ephesus when he wrote his first letter to the new church in Corinth, just across the Aegean Sea. This would fit somewhere in Acts 19. He wrote to the Corinthians again, 2 Corinthians, from somewhere in Macedonia on his way back to Corinth. So this would correspond with Acts 20:1. He soon arrived back in Corinth, and it was here that he wrote his great letter to the church in Rome. This would correspond with Acts 20:2; Corinth is not specifically mentioned here, but it would have been included in the term Greece. Since these six letters were written during his missionary journeys, they are sometimes called the Journey Epistles.
In the closing chapters of Acts, we are told that Paul was arrested (on a false charge) in Jerusalem and was eventually sent to Rome to be tried by the emperor himself. The book of Acts ends with Paul in chains for two years (in his own rented house, 28:30–31), and during this time he wrote four more letters. The exact chronological order here is not clear, but the four letters, classified as Prison Epistles, are Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon. Ephesians and Colossians are quite similar in much of their content, so they were probably written about the same time. In both Philippians and Philemon, Paul hints that he expects his imminent release from prison, so they seem to be written about the same time, toward the end of his two-year imprisonment.
For some reason, Paul was released from prison and continued his ministry. This happened after the close of the book of Acts. During this time he wrote letters to two of his good friends and colleagues—Timothy and Titus. A couple of years later, Paul was arrested again because of his ministry for Jesus Christ and imprisoned again in Rome. During this second imprisonment, he wrote his last letter, 2 Timothy. In this letter, he indicates that he knows his ministry and life are soon to come to an end. These final three letters are classified as the Pastoral Epistles, since Timothy and Titus were in pastoral ministry and Paul was writing to help and encourage them in their ministries.
James seems to be the first General Epistle written. As a matter of fact, it is likely that James was the first of all New Testament documents to be written. Hebrews, 1 and 2 Peter, and Jude were probably written about the same time that Paul was first imprisoned in Rome. John’s three letters (along with his gospel and the book of Revelation) were the last New Testament documents to be written, during the last two decades of the first century.
The table that follows summarizes this information and supplies approximate dates for the writing of the books of the New Testament.
The longest title of any New Testament book is found in one manuscript of the book of Revelation: “The Revelation of the all-glorious Evangelist, bosom friend [of Jesus], virgin, beloved to Christ, John the theologian, son of Salome and Zebedee, but adopted son of Mary the Mother of God, and Son of Thunder” What a title!
HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED WEEK:)
Ho'omaikaʻi ka Pua iā kākou