There is one church ,one body of Christ which holds the doctrine of Christ and the teachings of the apostles in the book of Acts.Our example of true church is the first church in the book of Acts.If our churches fall short of the example set out in the book of Acts then they are in false doctrines and rebellion against God.
A CHURCH IS IN REBELLION IF :
1.IT believes that it has to build a physical building of stones and bricks,glass, stadiums, cathedrals to worship God,calling it a church.
WHY ?
The Church is a SPIRITUAL BUILDING NOT A PHYSICAL BUILDING MADE BY MAN.1Peter 2:5-6
The 1st Church in Acts never built buildings to worship God because Jesus and the Apostles did not give such instructions and they knew that it is a spiritual building
The 1st Church in Acts met house to house daily to pray,worship and break bread together,
Acts 2:44-47
2.It believes that it needs a man made order of service or liturgy,ignoring the Holy Spirit and his gifts in the body of believers.
WHY ?
The Church is the habitation of God through the Spirit,not through man or his man made services and liturgies. Ephesians 2 :22
The meeting of beilevers is enhanced by the use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as prophecy,word of revelation,doctrine,psalm song.1 Cor 14 sets out a typical fellowship of believers and its order.
All believers are priests vested with different gifts to edify the believers,the church.Glass and red carpets have never edified one's spirit to be more like Christ. 1 Peter 2:5-6
Believers receive gifts of apostles,prophets teachers pastors...these are not and have never been titles but gifts to build the church. A lot of dollars and mortars are building physical buildings but house people who do not use the word of God and gifts to edify the real church.
Neither have one hour services on a sheet of paper made the Holy Spirit have his way to guide the church into all truth using the gifts he has given believers.
3.It believes that only one man or pastor or a few chosen people are to lead worship and the fellowship
WHY ?
•All believers are priests and have gifts of the Holy Spirit which should be exercised in an orderly manner as seen in 1 Cor 14 1 Peter 2:5-6, Note this is impossible to be carried out in a stadium of 30,000 'believers' called church
•The only true leadership in the church is servant leadership not Lord leadership
•Jesus Christ is the only High Priest in the gathering of believers, represented by the Holy Spirit.Heb 3 :1, Matthew 18:20
4.It believes that church members must tithe to worship God
•All believers are priests under the Melchizedek order and for tithe to be accepted as per the law only the Levitical priests were to receive it.The Church is not scriptural instructed to follow Levitical priesthood practices. Hebrews 7
•The first church were not told to tithe hence today's church should not tithe but give to those in need amongst them.
•Tithe was paid only in the Temple , only physical building in Jerusalem called the house of the Lord.
5.It believes in one day of worship or gathering or mid week meetings cell groups
•The church in Acts was a daily church showing continuance and patience in the faith hence The Church is a daily experience with the Holy Spirit and believers. Only living bodies have daily routines,dead bodies have no daily routine. Acts 2 :46-47
•The 1 st church in Acts was involved in daily distribution to the poor and widows amongst themselves Acts 6:1-6
6. IT celebrates man made religious holidays to worship God calling it mandatory
WHY ?
•The first church in Acts never celebrated Christimas or Easter days or saints days Colossians 1:8-23
7. The founder of a church is a man or a woman or a company of elders or a democratic people
WHY ?
JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY MAN WHO BUILDS HIS CHURCH WHICH IS ONE WITH MANY MEMBERS SCATTERD ABROAD.
He is the only founder of the true church because he is the saviour of it Ephesians 5:23-27
7. It does not focus on Repentance Biblical Evangelism,Giving to the Poor and Discipleship,all based on sound doctrine and the Word of God
WHY ?
THE 1ST Church in Acts was Evangelical, Givers to the poor and were disciples of Jesus Christ by doing the words of Jesus Christ,the word of God Acts 6:1-7
8. IT teaches extra things which are not in the Word of God or subtracts things or insists on a wrong interpretation of scripture.
WHY?
It is sin for the church and a believer to add or subtract from the words of God or create new things against God's word Revelation 22 :18-19
The Holy Spirit is to guide the Church into all truth because he is the Spirit of Truth and God's word is truth ,the sword of the Spirit John 16 :13-15
A good and thorough study of the book of Acts will open one's eyes to the preminence of Jesus Christ in the church.The 1st church in Acts, even with its weaknesses endeavored to hold on to the profession of Christ Jesus in the midst of persecution and great trial.We have no excuse to not to follow their example because it was based on obedience to Jesus Christ,the Word oF GOD.
Some say things have changed because of technology hence we are not bound to the scriptural examples of the early Church.Just because we have computers and mobile phones and dvds today and not scrolls or stones does not mean the message changed or must change.The medium of giving messages changed but not the message.The word of God will still remain.It is eternal.
By Arthur Owiti
