In this message and in the message following, we shall give a history of the planting of local churches recorded in the New Testament. According to this record, the planting of the churches began in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and went as far as Rome. Although Paul wanted to go to Spain, he was not able to do so. Therefore, during New Testament times, the planting of the churches went only as far as Italy.
The establishment of the churches began from the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1), and it started from the city of Jerusalem (Acts 2:5).
The first local church was the church in Jerusalem. The first mention of the church in Acts is in 5:11. “Great fear came upon the whole church.” This was the church in Jerusalem. The Greek word translated “church” here is ekklesia, composed of ek, out, and a derivative of kaleo, called; hence the called out congregation, the assembly. It is the first time that the church is mentioned here in Acts as a local church.
Acts 8:1 clearly speaks of “the church in Jerusalem.” This was the first church established in a locality within the jurisdiction of a city, the city of Jerusalem. It was a local church in its locality, as indicated by the Lord in Matthew 18:17. It was not the universal church, as revealed by the Lord in Matthew 16:18 but only a part of the universal church, which is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23). The record of the New Testament concerning the matter of the establishment of the church in its locality is consistent throughout (Acts 13:1; 14:23; Rom. 16:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 8:1; Gal. 1:2; Rev. 1:4, 11).
Two other verses in Acts that refer to the church in Jerusalem are 11:22 and 15:4. Acts 11:22 says, “The account concerning them was heard in the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem.” It is significant that this verse speaks not of the ears of the believers but of the ears of the church. This indicates that the believers considered that their ears were the ears of the church. They did not care so much for themselves as individual believers but for the church as a corporate body. Whatever they heard they considered that it was for the church, because they looked upon their ears as the ears of the church.
Acts 15:4 tells us that Paul and Barnabas, who had been sent forward by the church in Antioch, were received by the church in Jerusalem. They did not act individualistically apart from the church but corporately in the church and with the church. This was the move of the Body of Christ.
The church in Jerusalem was composed of the elders, the serving ones, and the believers. Acts 11:30 speaks of a gift sent “to the elders through the hand of Barnabas and Saul.” This indicates that in the early days the finances of the church were under the management of the elders.
An elder is an overseer (1 Tim. 3:1). The two titles refer to the same person: elder, denoting a person of maturity; overseer, denoting the function of an elder.
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