The Explosive Growth of the Early Church

1. The Explosive Growth of the Early Church

2. Reasons for Explosive Evangelism • We are commanded by Jesus in the Great Commission to “go ye therefore and teach all nations” (Matt. 28:19-20, KJV) • We are to go into “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8, KJV) are commanded by Jesus, just before his ascension • The disciples of Jesus took His commands seriously and followed them as the entire known world became evangelized – will we do the same?

3. Strong doctrinal faith in Christ and in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension • Persecution fanned the flames of Christianity, which spread by the power of the Holy Spirit throughout the known world • The belief was strong that Jesus was coming again very soon and that people needed to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ • Christ and others who warned about persecution led people to believe that Jesus was coming very soon; Martin Luther and others believed that Jesus was coming very soon • Jesus is coming soon and we must be ready What caused the explosive growthof the early church?

4. What happened after Pentecost? • Paul and many other Christians became apostles and missionaries spreading Christianity throughout the known world, with many becoming martyrs for the faith • The Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D., driving Christians throughout the world to escape persecution, which helped spread Christianity • The Romans persecuted Christians, and required that they say “Caesar is Lord” but Christians would die for the faith saying that “Jesus is Lord” • Eventually, in 312 A.D., Christianity became the official religion of Rome when Constantine converted to Christianity • In 313 A.D., meetings of leaders of the church at Nicea led to the establishment of books of the Bible as canon, and is known by the Nicean Creed

5. Verses in Joel in Contrast to Isaiah and the Millennium • Joel 3:9-10 – prepares the Christian for war, which relates to the passage of Paul on the armor of God • The action of beating “plowshares into swords and pruninghooks into spears” is the opposite reference from Isaiah 2:4 which is an obvious reference to the Millennium and to the end of time • There is no valley of Jehosophat and therefore cannot be a reference to the end times • The church, after Christ and since, has been at war with Satan; The forces of darkness have used many ideologies to attack the church

6. False Doctrines Attackingthe Early Church: Gnosticism • From Wikipaedia, Gnosticism teaches “that humans are divine souls trapped in a material world created by an evil spirit, the demiurge, who is frequently identified with the Abrahamic God. The demiurge, embodiment of evil, exists alongside another remote and unknowable supreme being that embodies good. In order to free oneself from the materialistic world, one needs gnosis, or esoteric spiritual knowledge only available to a learned elite. Jesus of Nazareth is identified by some (though not all) Gnostic sects as an embodiment of the supreme Being who became incarnate to bring gnosis to the Earth.

7. False Doctrines Attackingthe Early Church: Gnosticism • Gnosticism comes from the root word “gnosis” meaning knowledge or special/secret knowledge; it “holds the doctrine that salvation comes through knowledge and that once attained, one was freed from the clutch of matter, i.e., the body was evil and it did not matter what one did with it; most Gnostics denied the deity of Christ due to the belief held that the physical body was evil and the spirit was good coming from Greek philosophy • Today we have Scientology that says a lot of same things, with special teachers and secret knowledge; this is also a part of the “New Age” movement which is the old tactics in new clothing

8. False Doctrines Attackingthe Early Church: Nicolaitans • Nicolaitans in Revelation were followers of Nicolaus of Antioch • Nicolaitans were accepting of and/or indulging in pagan religious worship, including worshipping idols and sexual immorality • The church of Ephesus is commended for their hatred of the Nicolaitans and the church of Pergamos is condemned for their acceptance of it • Today many people are embrace pagan ideas are acceptable and sexual immorality; the idea that if it feels good, it is OK as well as the idea that all religions lead to God and/or to heaven are wrong

9. “The Noble Army of Martyrs” • Translation of the Latin “Te Deum” which starts off with “We praise thee, O God” translates the phrase, “The noble army of martyrs praise thee” • Besides the apostles there were many martyrs including the following more famous martyrs: • Stephen – first martyr in the Bible; stoned because of Saul of Tarsus • Prochorus – martyred at Antioch and is said to have become Bishop of Nicomedia • One of Philip’s daughters, Hermoine was a martyr

10. “The Noble Army of Martyrs” • Other martyrs not counting thousands more • Ignatius who before his death said, “Now I begin to be a disciple” • Germanicus – delivered to wild beasts • Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna who said, “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never once wronged me; how then shall I blaspheme my King, Who hath saved me?” • Justin, famous philosopher, who argued for Christ and Christianity against pagan ideas • Frequent symbols in the catacombs –The Good shepherd with the lamb on His shoulder, a ship under full sail, harps, anchors, crowns, vines, and above all fish

11. The Arian Controversy • Arius, priest of Alexandria, at the beginning of the fourth century combined the Logos of St. John with the ‘Demiurge’ of the Neoplatonists in 318 AD • Arius tried to say that God the Father was not of the same essence as God the Son, Jesus Christ • The result was a “vote” by the Ecumenical Council at Nicea was decisively decided against the idea that God the Father and God the Son were not of one essence • The Nicene creed (325 AD) states that Jesus was “of one being with the Father, begotten not made” • Later on Arian heretics persecuted Christians

12. What False Doctrines Attackthe Church Today • The roots of many false beliefs are rooted in the idea that all matter is God but we are warned to worship the Creator and not the creation • Such beliefs come from religions such as: • Shamanism • Liberation Theology • Buddhism • Japanese Shintoism • The Babylonian religion – references are made in Revelation to Babylon the Great which refers to this religion • In Persia the priests there worshipped the sun, and persecuted Christians

13. What False Doctrines Attackthe Church Today • Today many people have idols of all kinds besides God – money, power, possessions, the desire for secret knowledge outside of the Bible and other things; we need to put God first in our lives. • Others will say that we do not need to obey God’s laws. • We often try to make Christianity contemporary and “relevant” to the 21st century. • However, we must maintain “sound doctrine” – our doctrine becomes unhealthy and untrue if we allow it to become watered down. • We move also go out and teach the “true gospel” to the world.