JUXTAPOSITION OF THE PRESENT

TO THE PAST
1. The early church evangelized in such a way that it
was said to the apostles, “We strictly charged you
not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled
Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to
bring this man’s blood upon us” (Acts 5:28) to
which they replied, “Do we need a permit? Can you
tell us when we can preach about Jesus again?” No,
they simply never stopped preaching the gospel
and they couldn’t because they said “We must obey
God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
• Even in jail they had prisoners and guards that
they could witness too. Flogging,
imprisonment, torture, and even crucifixion
(for a few), would not stop them from
professing their faith in Christ.
• Today, some are even afraid to tell their own
spouse, sisters, brothers, parents, neighbors,
co-workers, and even the person next door. I
think the early church was more firm and as a
result of that, “the Lord added to their
number day by day those who were being
saved” (Acts 2:47)
 2
• The early church didn’t just meet on Sundays
like we do today. They would meet almost
every day. Knowing that some of the church
members were in need, “they were selling
their possessions and belongings and
distributing the proceeds to all, as any had
need. And day by day, attending the temple
together and breaking bread in their homes,
they received their food with glad and
generous hearts” (Acts 2:45-46).
• That’s not necessary today for most because
the church helps those who cannot help
themselves and there are social services that
provide for the poor’s needs (although
certainly not all of them). The generosity of
the early church was due to the fact that “all
who believed were together and had all things
in common”
• Acts 2:44) and that meant if one member
suffered, they all did. It seems that most of
society is self-contained in the sense that they
don’t need the support of others and the
church today has those tendencies.
• Most of us will never know the fear of death
and being martyred at any moment for your
faith or having a Bible or be caught praying.
We can openly share our faith and attend
worship services but for the early church,
some were dragged off to jail and either
beaten, tortured, and in one cast, stoned to
death like Stephen; the first martyr of the
early church.
• This actually backfired on those who were trying to
extinguish the church. By persecuting the church, they
were like someone trying to put out a grass fire with a
blanket; it only served to spread it. Persecution of the
church took the gospel throughout the region as it says in
Acts 8:1; “And there arose on that day a great persecution
against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the
apostles.” Saul, who “had approved of [Stephen’s]
execution” (Acts 8:1a) was the primary persecutor and he
unknowingly help to spread the gospel and he would later
spread the church by his great missionary trips. The point
is, they didn’t care for their lives; they cared only for the
commission that Christ had given them (Matt 28:19-20
• Talk about drastic societal changes and how
the early church and the contemporary church
are very dissimilar, consider this; then you
could display the Ten Commandments. Now,
you can’t. Then, the Bible was part of
children’s education but today you cannot.