Apostolic Period of Increase

[Gerhard Ebersoehn]

Apostolic Period of Increase


Days of discipleship


Jesus declared his disciples, apostles, according to Luke 1:2, on “the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Spirit had given commandment to the apostles, whom He had chosen” for his followers, or, ‘disciples’ three and halve years ago. On “the fortieth day that He was seen” after his Resurrection, Jesus’ ‘called’, were made his messengers; his ‘followers’ or ‘students’, became Jesus’ ‘sent’—his commissioned ambassadors or ‘apostles’.


After his Resurrection, on the fortieth day that Jesus was “being seen of them” (his disciples) Acts 1:3b, “he had spoken these things … You will receive Power when the Holy Spirit comes and you will be witnesses unto Me”—that is, “you will be my apostles”. “And when He had spoken these things, He was taken up.” 1:9,8.


That Jesus had “been seen of them (his disciples) forty days”, meant,

First, That they had not seen Him on the day that He rose from the dead and grave, but for the first time on the day after;

Next, That they had all left Him on the morning that He was betrayed and was delivered over to the Jews to be crucified; and

Three, That they had not seen Him been buried on the following day after he had died.

So Jesus was not seen again by any until after, the day that He resurrected on, and “risen, appeared to Mary Magdalene first, on the First Day of the week”—the day on which He also was seen by the two disciples on their way to Emmaus.

And thirdly was Jesus seen by ten of his 12 disciples and others “where they with reference to that First Day of the week, were in the upper room thronged in together behind closed doors for fear of the Jews”. Luke 24:36 John 20:19 Mark 16:14 Matthew 28:17,18.


Acts 1:3 and the fact “He was seen of them forty days” before He ascended, therefore implies that neither Jesus’ mother nor his disciple John, had witnessed his death, but had left the scene of the cross before He died, “God having loosed the pains of death” with death. Acts 2:24b Psalm 102:20 Ecclesiastes 12:5-8 Romans 7:2.

 

[Gerhard Ebersoehn]

First day Jesus was seen

Now Jesus was first seen by Mary Magdalene “risen, on the First Day of the week.” Mark 16:9. In the sixth week after, on the Fifth Day of the week therefore, on the 26th day of the Second Month, it was the fortieth day that Jesus “had shown Himself alive after his suffering” (Acts 1:3a) and declared his disciples, “my witnesses”, because they were “witnesses of his Resurrection”, and were entitled to “take part of this ministry and apostleship.” Acts 1:22,25.


The “fortieth day Jesus was seen of them”, became known as ‘Ascension Thursday’.

So “6When therefore (on that “fortieth day”) they were come together, they (the disciples) asked Him, Lord, wilt Thou at this time (immediately) restore again the kingdom of Israel? And He said unto them, It is not for you, to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you”—ten days on, on Pentecost, the “Fiftieth Day” which was also “fifty days counted from (and including) the day that ye wave the first sheaf before the LORD”— Jesus’ Resurrection Day “after, the sabbath” of the passover, the 15th of the First Month.


“6When therefore (on the “fortieth day He was seen of them”) they were come together, Jesus said to them, Ye shall be my witnesses—apostles—both in Jerusalem and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”


Why on the fortieth day that Jesus was seen by his disciples?


Because of the correlation between the separation of the passover lamb “on the tenth day of the First Month” (‘Palm Sunday’), ten days before “First Sheaf Wave Offering Before the LORD”, “on the sixteenth day of the First Month”, when Jesus rose from the dead and “finished to cleanse the sanctuary”, and Jesus’ Ascension ten days before Pentecost (or ‘Shavuot’ or “The Fiftieth Day”, “counted”), in preparation for the Outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the 5th day of the Second Month.

 

[Gerhard Ebersoehn]

Apostolic Witness In Jerusalem


Apostolic witness in Jerusalem entailed a dual responsibility,


a) “Ministering the Word” Acts 2:14…41, synonymous with and indistinguishable from proclaiming “the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship in breaking of bread (the Lord’s Supper) and in prayers”, verse 42;


b) “All that believed together had all things common and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all as everyone had need—and they continued daily with one accord in the temple and in eating (“breaking”) bread from house to house, eating their meat … with all the people.” 2:42-47.


Example of a), Acts 3.

Example of b), Acts 4.


But in all the apostles were the leaders taking all responsibility in everything and for everything. The apostles actually were, the Church—The Church of Jesus Christ, “in the Temple”, worshipping. “They taught the People”, the Church, and preached through Jesus the Resurrection from the dead … in the temple” 4:2. These “were the times of refreshing from the Presence of the LORD; And He shall send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. … Yea, and all the prophets … as many as have spoken, have foretold of THESE days.” 3:18-21,24.

 

[Gerhard Ebersoehn]

It's time to go on with this thread, watch this,

The earliest Churches were Christian assembling themselves in the Synogoghs/homes/Temples, as the clear break with Judaism had not yet occurred...

Refer thread, http://www.baptistboard.com/threads/apostolic-period-of-increase.101334/

 

[Gerhard Ebersoehn]

Interlude . . .

About the great divide in Christianity which exists between Congregational worshippers on Sundays and Congregational worshippers on Sabbaths and how that divide may never be narrowed nor overcome.


Throughout Church history there has existed a certain ideological and social animosity between the two factions in Christianity regarding the day of the week on which the Church should worship.


The Sunday faction attempts to solve the dilemma by denying that such divide ever existed. For most part of history, they say, there never were Christians who worshipped on the Sabbath unless perhaps they were Judaisers. But this argument or method of denial has not yet produced evidence of the absence of the Sabbath observing Church, in Scripture or, from history, and in our modern age has only widened the gap between the day of observance groupings found in Christian society around Sunday and the Seventh Day Sabbath. Sunday and Sabbath Congregations developed more or less parallel. Christian Sabbath Day observance although it went into obscurity (for survival), never has altogether disappeared.


There is the viewpoint that Christianity in the first centuries AD worshipped on the Sabbath as well as on the First Day of the week. Personally I am of the opinion it is a baseless and erroneous teaching. It is clear on the contrary that apostolic Christianity co-existed with Judaism in the temple and synagogues for longer than one hundred years while it was regarded a “sect” or party of Jews and believers of Greek, Roman and other extraction, who in (relative) unity of Christian faith worshiped in the temple and in the synagogues, “every Sabbath”.


But this all changed as the Church infiltrated and ‘evangelised’ heathendom; and heathendom infiltrated and heathenised Christianity. The Church left from the temple and the synagogues and entered the temples and palaces of the “gentile” and “heathen” Caesars and kings, and started to compromise and synchronise Christian worship with heathen customs and ethics of worship and religious service. The Church became political and social power dictating to Christianity and heathendom, the difference between right and wrong in daily and in spiritual life.


The institution, the ‘universal church’, became cosmopolitan ruler and no longer was the humble Jewish Congregation of two or three true believer peasants Sabbaths worshipping in a “Home Church”.


Gradually but amazingly quickly discrimination between Jewish or Sabbath Christian worship on the one hand, and state or Sunday Christian worship on the other hand, became the order of the day; until the Church has come to where we find ourselves today in the modern and post modern world as believers and Church of Jesus Christ completely shut out and shut off from one another… in a hopeless and deplorable and lamentable state of an irreparable breach between Sabbath and Sunday worshippers.


… in which situation and status quo of Sunday worshipping Christians and Sabbath worshipping Christians, I believe most Christians as simple, honest, sincere and “True Believers”, find themselves trapped between two ideologically implacable, uncompromising and intransigent, openly hostile, armies of religious enthusiasm. Both, being equally ‘fundamentalist’.


Now anyone can see there is no love lost between the two. Who is there who in our day after so many centuries of canyons and island carved out by these two streams of division, hostility, and even malice and witch-hunt upon the poor sheep of the flock of our Good Shepherd and Lord, has seen in this undesirable condition a challenge to the Church—an invitation to unite in the love of Christ and of one another, and sort out this pathetic and unjustifiable division among Christians?


Christians have many wonderful church buildings and even more wonderful church organisations. When are these facilities put to use for actual worship? Only on Sundays or over the river on the other side where the Sabbatharians rule, only on the Sabbath? Yes! Only on Sundays, or, only on Sabbaths! No one must come with ‘24/7 worship’ in service of the Lord Jesus. A Christian cannot live lies; there is no such thing!


What are the Essential beliefs of your church? What its Substance? Christ? Or, Christ, but not Christ and, “Sabbaths’ Feast of Christ”! Or, Christ? But, Christ only on Sundays!


Will you share your church and worship facilities with people who believe God gave them the Seventh Day Sabbath to worship on? Will you, though they contributed nothing to your establishment, grant the Sabbatharians privilege and opportunity to worship the Lord Jesus on the Sabbath Day on your premises, as you grant your own Congregation? Will you preach your doctrine to them on Sabbaths? And if no, then why not?


Again, Will you share your church facilities of worship with people who believe God gave them Sunday to worship on? Will you, though they contributed nothing to your establishment, grant Sunday observing Christians the privilege and opportunity to worship the Lord Jesus on Sundays only as you grant your own Sabbaths’ Congregations? Will you preach your doctrine to them on Sundays? And if no, then why not?


You and your whole Congregation dedicated this incredible edifice your church building and comforts to the Lord Jesus and his service; will you give it all to the stranger, to even your enemy who worships on another day of the week to worship and offer Jesus Christ, service in?


Would you INVITE the rejected and accursed ‘sect’ and stranger here? Would you let him know, “Everyone’s invited” despite doctrinal and or practical differences and despite the different day of the week they believe they must worship the Lord Jesus on, as long as they are children of God and are brothers in the Friend of saints and sinners, the only Lord and Saviour of ‘the house of Israel’ and, of ‘the stranger’?


Will you let Sabbatharians worship … will you let Sundayers in and make use of your church with all its facilities and helps for service and worship of the One Lord you both claim as Saviour, physically, in these halls and pews and pulpits? Will you open your earthly temple of worship to your fellow Christian though he is persuaded of another day of worship than you are?


ONLY THEN WILL ONE KNOW HIS OWN HEART, that its doors are locked close FOR FEAR OF THE JEWS or FOR FEAR OF THE GREEKS, for it is written, “FEAR SHUTS OUT LOVE”.


The day of the week upon which ‘everyone’s convinced’ in his own heart that the Lord Jesus should be worshipped, is either Sunday or the Sabbath. We all know that if we are honest and Christian. But not ‘everyone’s convinced’, because for everyone it seems it’s Sundays only; only never on the Sabbath (only).


Will the Church have learned from its past and from its errors and sins? Can Sunday Christians love their Sabbath fellow Christians; and can Sabbath Christians love their Sunday fellow Christians? Here for all is a practical test to experiment.


The love of God the Father, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the comfort of the Holy Spirit be with you, your only hope and peace and strength in perseverance in the Christian Faith. Amen.


We never even look into one another’s eyes or speak to or visit each other— we, Christians, all worshipping either on Sundays or on Sabbaths. There will never come anything of this, I know. How stupid of me!