The Early Church Was A Growing Multiplying Movement of House Churches

The early Church was a growing movement of multiplying house Churches. God was adding to the number daily such as would be saved and there were many being saved through the preaching of the Gospel. Radical evangelism was not an option in the early Church but the only logical response to the great offer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not just a few but all the disciples were gripped with the burden to reach the whole known world with this message of eternal life. Though all efforts were made, the early disciples’ true reliance was on the Spirit of God in their evangelism. There was a sovereign working of God’s Spirit drawing men to Himself.

Such a working can happen when men allow God to build His Church so that great grace can be upon them. “With great power the Apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.”

Once God is given His rightful place in the Church and is fully reckoned and trusted, a move of His Holy Spirit is something that should be expected. The early Church did not try to work God down from heaven but simply waited before Him for active instructions.

As we look to the Book of Acts as our model we see great growth of the Church in just a few days. Through the first 10 chapters of the Book of Acts we see continual references to the growth of the Church, adding of disciples, and spreading of the Word of God. God had the Church focused on making new disciples from all nations. He had just sacrificed His Son Jesus for all mankind.

Together with direct instructions to share the way of salvation through His Son Jesus, He also put into the hearts of the Apostles the burden to go out preaching. Immediately, they felt led to share the Good News in the market place, in the temple and abroad. The passion for souls brings opposition especially where other religions and practices exist. It is not strange therefore that in the end all the Apostles died martyrs’ deaths—except John—while spreading the Gospel not only in and near their homeland but also to remote countries. God desires all men to come to repentance and not just a holy few. As we share the burden of the Lord we will feel the call to share the Gospel with many who have never even heard the Name of Jesus.

from: http://gospelfellowships.net/principles-book/

How is it that we can have such clear understanding of the pattern of the early church,and yet have no such church to actually gather with? Why can we not re-produce what we can so eloquently expound upon? It is likely that they had little concern regarding the pattern, they were just living in the Holy Spirit.

Why is it that we can so understand the "keys" or "principles" to their success and yet not be able to reproduce the actual results?

Dear Brother, very valid and important questions. Too many assemblies are happy with "part" of the picture. For example a meeting of believers is happy to emphasize christ-likeness and holiness to error when they have little or no burden for lost souls, missions, evangelization, and sharing of the faith with unbelievers. Another Assembly can be the opposite. There are so many groups that emphasize some lost truths and "keys" yet do not have fellowship with other meetings that have other "key"s or truths they are recovering. We need the "whole" and believers to start to desire such. That is a big burden behind the Principles Volume. It is not that one Assembly is wrong because they do not have the whole. But rather we need to come to the place where we realize we all lack without each other, we need each others emphasis to find the balance.

Also it is important to note that if we just find "true" fellowship with small groups of just 2-3 believers this is not wrong because the spiritual state of North America is as such that at times this is the fellowship readily available. With confidence I believe there are many groups that have existed and are growing in the things that are being spoken about in the Principles volume. And only coming necessity of pressure will produce more fruitfulness in many Assemblies sadly.

In a way only the humble will be able to go forward with God's true work in North America. So many younger brethren who are even new converts will be seeing truths clearer and in more balance then some of the more aged brothers. Yet this does not mean at all we should not learn and put emphasis to learn from older saints in meetings of the Church.

I believe it is not hypocritical in anyway to state what is the true way of the Church for saints to follow even if the one stating it is not in a growing fellowship that typifies all of the above. I personally love so many gatherings of believers I have been in and extolled and enjoyed their strengths and prayed for their weakness and myself benifited everytime when I saw my great need of the body of Christ in a gathering.

If you read chapter 2 and 3 of Revelation you will see that the Early Church was not perfect and different churches were imbalanced and lacking in areas. This is no surprise.

Jesus counsels them where they are lacking and what they need to do.

People can write the things they do because they are experiencing organic church life that the Lord is restoring. There are many expressions of this today, though not as prevalent as the church with the steeple on every corner.

Are all these churches perfect? No. Are there some imbalances? Of course. Will Jesus continue to be the Faithful One and counsel His Body, where they are lacking? Absolutely!

If you read chapter 2 and 3 of Revelation you will see that the Early Church was not perfect and different churches were imbalanced and lacking in areas. This is no surprise.

Amen brother. We do believe in some measure there will be a more "wholeness" and perfection to the end-times body of Christ, the bride of Christ. But it will always have flaws and faults, yes very true.

My comments above were just some of my humble opinions I really defer to many elder brothers who really have been involved in building the body of Christ for much longer. We just want to be a servant and do obey the masters voice towards encouraging the body of Christ in this late hour.

I sincerely hope that these questions will not be taken as complacency. We are told not to think too highly of ourselves, but to think soberly in accordance with the measure of faith we have been given. My measure of faith may simply not be what others have attained to, but I am still giving all diligence to add to that measure in order to not be unfruitful or unproductive in my knowledge of Jesus Christ, and I long for the necessary thing to be in me and to abound so as to make my own calling and election sure.

Amen brother. Yes we thank you for sharing these things. I believe personally it will look different of what God is doing in North America then in China, Iran, North Korea etc. But we must not forsake that it will have similarities and things that we can see in the Early Church. So we are safe to say we want to see Biblical things happen thus it is not wishful thinking but rather the right goal to have our Assemblies function "in-part" like what we see in Scriptures.

The Holy Spirit will lead much different in some cases. Also a danger is any of us myself included who has "seen much" can miss what God is going to do as a fresh work of His Spirit in North America if we think it has to come a "specific" way exactly. I believe in the Principles book there is so much openness to what God will do and "is" doing.

We must go forward dear brother and do something. It will be a major adjusting for many but the Lord will have Assemblies that He fully guides and controls for His glory.

Hi Greg,

When you say "Assemblies", do you mean any gathering of Believers? Or does this refer to "Brethren" Assemblies?

Brother,

I believe the word: Church, Assemblies, (gatherings of believers) are all words intending to bring the same meaning forth. The greek for Church is: Ekklesia which can be translated Assembly also. It does not refer to any denomination or grouping just the Biblical intention of God to see gatherings of saints together as the Body of Christ.

That's good to know and from most of your writings which are non-sectarian, that is what I was assuming but just wanted to make sure.

Really appreciate your response.

The Assembly of the Righteous are the "Called out ones" (Ekklesia).

Brother,

You bring up valid concerns that have been normal of many house churches in the West in the last 30 years. We believe God is raising up house gatherings that believe in leadership, that truly desire Jesus Christ to be Head of the meetings.

We definitely need the cleansing you spoke of and it will take effort on all brothers and sisters parts to submit to each other and allow the Lord to guide the establishing of a network of house churches under Jesus Christ.

You have to do what the Lord is leading you to do, havok. He has individual work for all of us and without judging others we must fulfill His will for our lives.

You seem to have direction from the Lord and have made your decision so you must go with it

I will labor for reformation within my church until a move of God occurs or until I get excommunicated.

However, it would be wise of you to admit that your experience is limited (as is the experience of each one of us). Meaning that you do not know about all house churches in America and cannot assume that they are being reactionary rather than led by the Spirit.

Many house churches work in America, simply because of renewed, individual and corporate focus on Jesus Christ. Nothing else makes any gathering "work" except Jesus Christ. Just the fact that people are now gathering unto the Lord and not to man is a big step in the right direction.

We must also remember that the Apostles did not "lord over the sheep" (take over meetings). From practical experience, I can see them preferring others in meetings and many times taking a back seat yet acting as an overseer, watching out for the sheep. I believe they encouraged the movement of the Holy Spirit and the expression of Christ through all the members and did not require everyone to listen to their "teaching" at every gathering. If they taught as much as people think they did, we would have thousands of letters from them, today, yet we only have 27 NT books. Somehow, because of contemporary Christianity, we seem to think they produced message after message every Sunday and Wednesday. Early Church Christianity was not about who preached the most and best messages. It was more about church life rather than church messages or programs.

Gathering unto Christ who is our LEADER, is so much different than gathering together unto men to listen to a message. Most gatherings are not about listening to prepared messages but allowing the Holy Spirit to spontaneously move amongst His Church and bring forth living testimonies, words of encouragement, prophetic words, etc, etc, in a very supernaturally natural way. You cannot choreograph or design what the Lord should do in each gathering. These thoughts are very foreign to those who have always been used to gathering with other saints, and sitting still for a couple of hours while one man preached his message.

Because our institutional Churches are so regimented, pre-planned and choreographed (starting and stopping on time) we somehow think that true leadership is still about certain men speaking all the time. That is not what leadership is. Jesus said, "I am among you as one who serves".

Let's look at a smaller example of a family.
A mother and father in a family allow much interaction and expression from their children while providing leadership in many ways. Moms and Dads teach their kids to serve by serving them and one another. Their kids learn to interact in their relationships because they have seen the example of their parents interacting with each other and them. Their kids learn to care for one another (shepherd one another) because of the example of their "main" shepherds (mom and dad). As their Mother and Father monitor and oversee their activities and interactions, they provide correction and teaching where and when needed. Children learn to forgive and be humble from the example of their parents. Children learn about being polite and orderly from the examples of their parents. And you can continue with many more examples of the leadership that Moms and Dads provide in their families in order to raise emotionally and spiritually mature adults.

Don't you think it would be strange if parents required their kids to wake up in the morning and sit in a chair and listen to their daily pre-planned speech to them for a couple of hours? Is that how families are conducted? Yes, that is exactly what happens in Organizational/Institutional Chrisitanity.

The organic relationships in a family give many clues to how our organic relationships in the family of God are maintained and continue to grow. They all revolve around the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Nothing else makes any gathering "work" except Jesus Christ.

Amen.

For those who have not seen this, the Principles Book is a free ebook in various formats on house churches and gathering as God's people in the End Times: http://gospelfellowships.net/principles-book/

Brother, it's not whether we want house churches to work or not. Some don't work simply because of men's hearts. You can be in a house church that has a controlling spirit and then again you can be in one where the liberty of Christ exists.

I think it is important not to camp out on the outward structure, yet it is ok to observe them and draw some wisdom from the contrasts. We see throughout the Bible that everything comes down to men's hearts.

Why, you could own a building and meet people every week in that building and have a glorious time in the Lord. The fellowship could be very healthy and yet, the building or lack of one has nothing to do with men's hearts.

So, it's not about structures, per say. We should not think that house churches are a panacea. We always have to accept the responsibility of the orientation of our own hearts. If they are oriented away from self and towards the Lord, then gathering with others who are of the same mind is joyful and edifying, even if you are at Denny's or sitting in a park.

We really make gathering together much too complicated. We are fearful of too many things going wrong and that is precisely why the institutional organizations have such a high level of control and every minute seems to be regulated and regimented. Again, I ask, are households conducted this way?

Are you married? Do you have children? (I sense not) If so, then you know things can get quite disoriented and chaotic in the family, sometimes. If so, what do you do? Do you split from them and go your own way? Absolutely not! You work through the problems with love and patience and bathe your family with prayer until all your children grow up and mature and then you still bathe them with prayer and love. Some things will never stop while we are on this earth.

Commitment is vital. If one keeps jumping around they get used to running away when things get chaotic. Paul stuck with the Corinthian church because he understood the principles of raising babes in Christ, and growing in the Lord.

Afterall, he did write this:
Eph_4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

You are right. My experience is limited. But I don't need experience if I have 66 books of divine revelation starring me in the face with blatant instructions on how things are supposed to be.

Since God's instructions to you are "blatant", then can you tell me what a local expression of the Body of Christ looks like?

I would just like to add that it is only through experience that we prove the Word of God and come to understand it more and more. He does tell us to prove His word. That means we are to step out in faith and obey it and then we will understand it. Here is a supporting verse for that truth:

Joh_7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

Do His will, then you will know.

We are not to ask the Lord, "why"? Just do it, and then your questions will be answered.

I can read a book on parenting, but it pales in comparison to experiencing what it is really like to raise a son or daughter, day in and day out.

I can read about being born-again, but experiencing it gives me volumes more information than reading about it.

I wish the word was blatantly understandable and that we were zapped with perfect knowledge so that we have no use for experience. Actually, I don't. If we did not learn through experience, then Christianity would be classrooms and Bible study all day long. It is very important to experience life and the truth of God's word and the joy of relationships.