How They Went In The First Century

How They Went In The First Century How They Went in the First Century
Homer Hailey
Abilene Christian College, Abilene, Texas

Brethren and Friends, I would like for my first word upon this occasion to be one of appreciation to Brother Cox for the theme of this Lectureship. Its urgency and importance cannot be overestimate ed, and I feel sure that much good is going to result from it.

.The “how” is as important to the success of a venture as the '‘what,” if God has revealed anything on it. The preachers of the brotherhood have faithfully emphasised the “what” of the great come mission, hut possibly we have been negligent in stressing the “how” of carrying it out. I consider, therefore, the subject to be discussed tonight an important one, “How They Went in the First Century.”

THEY WENT SPORADICALLY, AS INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIANS
The plan of Jesus for the disciples was made known to them just time restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not before his ascension, when they asked him, “Lord, dost thou at this for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within his own authority. But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:6-8.) According to Brother McGarvey, the disciples continued in Jerusalem for about two and a half years after the establishment of the church, before they were scattered abroad, which carried them into “Judaea and Samaria.” When the. “great persecution” arose, upon the death of Stephen, of which Saul of Tarsus was the leading spirit, the church was “scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.” (Acts 8:1-3.) “They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word.” (Acts 8:4.) Every Christian was a ‘ missionary” carrying the message to others. We ask ourselves the question, “how was it possible for all of them to have been teachers?” To which the answer is simply this, “they had been taught”; they were prepared to DO something when they moved from one place to another. The commission given by Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20 makes the obligation of evangelising the world binding upon every Christian. Jesus told the disciples to “(Jo . . . teach all nations, baptising them . . . teaching them (the ones baptised) to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you.” Whatever, therefore, he taught the apostles to do, they were to teach others; and since he taught them to evangelise, they were to teach others to do the same thing. These early Christians were carrying out this divine commiV sion of their Lord. This should be a challenge to the church, and to every member of it. When Christians move from one place to another, they should go determined that a church shall be planted in that place, if there is none there, just as soon as they arrive. One does not have to be a “pulpit preacher” to do this, but he has to love the Lord and the Lord’s church. If he does this, he will see that through his influence and effort a church has its beginning in that city the moment he arrives in it. Too many are like a young man who moved from Abilene into a western town, where he and his wife were successful in starting a flourishing young business. The elders of the congregation here wrote him about sending the preacher from the College church to hold a meeting there, with no expense whatever to them, only they should have a place ready for the meeting, and care for the preacher. The young man did not even answer the letter; but later one of the elders learned that they did not want a meeting there for fear it would hurt their business and social standing for them to take an active part in a gospel meeting. Such an attitude is not peculiar to this young couple alone. This example of New Testament “going” should be a challenge to the church today to have such a system of teaching in the congregation, that when the members move away, they will be qualified to teach the word. Many go from good flourishing congregations to communities where there is either no church, or it is so weak from lack of leaders as to be helpless, only to realise that they are not qualified to teach or lead. The local congregations need to awaken to their lack just here, and train young members that they might “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” becoming efficient leaders and teachers.

THEY WENT SYSTEMATICALLY
While the work was still growing in Judaea and Samaria, Barnabas and Saul were selected from the church at Antioch, and sent to a definite field with a specific aim and purpose, that of being the Lord’s witnesses “to the uttermost part of the earth.’ (Acts 13:1-3.)

It is strikingly noticeable that the Holy Spirit here selects the best men in the congregation to send to this work. Work in a new field demands the best qualified men for it; but here we often make a mistake, that of sending young, inexperienced preachers into such new places. This is no reflection on the young men who go; they are to be commended for their zeal and courage in going; but it is a reflection on the church for keeping the best “at home,” and sending out the young “to get experience.” It is strange the Lord did not say “send out the young men to get experience,” but it remains that he did not. The best place for young men to get training is under the supervision of an older man who has been over the ground many times; as the young men under Paul. We find him taking young men with him, training them in the work and word of the Lord, that they might be prepared to carry on the work after he should go on to other fields. In considering their method, we learn they would go into a city, and there be governed by conditions and opportunities. When possible, they would go to a synagogue, where they would expect to find a class that believed in God, and begin with them. If this were not possible, they would preach to whatever gathering would give them audience, as did Paul in Athens. But they did not restrict their preaching to large audiences, or publicly, but were also found testifying to both Jews and Greeks “from house to house.” (Acts 20:20-21.) In this way they would establish a congregation in places where the Name had never been heard. This work would be followed later by appointing leaders in the various congregations, as such were qualified, either by the apostles themselves, Acts 14:23, or by one of the younger men whom they would leave in a place for that purpose, as when Titus was left in Crete, Titus 1:5. A plurality of these men was always appointed over a local congregation, whose duty was to oversee the work of the congregation, 1 Peter 5:1-5. Leaving the church under the supervision of such men, whom they had commended “unto God, and to the word of his grace” (Acts 20:32), the preachers would move on to new fields. But would they forget these infant congregations? By no means! These newly planted churches were supplied with the very best literature in the world, letters from the inspired apostles, which letters would be read, copied, and preserved; sometimes being exchanged with letters to other congregations, Colossians 4:16. Certainly it is true that evangelists and “missionaries” of today cannot write inspired letters to the congregations they establish, but they can profit by the example left them, and supply them with letters of encouragement, and good literature printed by other brethren, which will edify and assist them in their study of the Bible.
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Neither did these men stop with this, but we find in their epistles repeated mention of prayers offered on behalf of these Christians; praying for them and exhorting them to. pray. Younger men were sent to these congregations to assist them, while the older and more experienced men invaded new fields, to gain new laurels of victory for their Lord and Captain.

THEY WENT BELIEVING THEIR MESSAGE AND THE PROMISES OF GOD
When we consider the political, moral, and religious degeneracy of the heathen of that time, as so graphically described by Paul in the first chapter of the Roman letter, and the bigotry, jealousy, and prejudice of the Jews, we cannot hut marvel at the thought of two men attacking such a gigantic problem, with the story of a despised Jew, crucified on a Roman cross, as their weapon and power to change the world. But they believed their message. And they believed in Him who had given it to them. They knew he was the Christ, the. Saviour of the world, and were not ashamed of what they were, charged to preach. (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25.) Here is found one of the absolute prerequisites of successful evangelism: faith in the word of God and in the power of the gospel to change and transform the. lives of men.

These preachers of the first century recognised uidividual respon-sibility in the work of wrorld evangelism, 'I am a debtor . . so as much as ui me is, I am ready” (Romans 1:14-15), was their attitude. They had been crucified with Christ, they were alive with him, and now must five for him. (Galatians 2:20.) Can we do less? Can God be pleased with less from us? This realisation of individual responsih.il lty is of paramount importance today in carrying out the commission.

They went believing m the church as thp divine institution, the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 1:23), the domain in which God must be glorified. (Ephesians 3:20-21) They realised it was the “pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15), and if the church failed, where was the hope for the victory of the gospel? Being of divine origin, ?t could not fail, it must not, it should not. Such an idea as of a separate organisation and institution for the promulgation of the gospel the very thought of which would insult God, never occurred to them They had all that was needed; it is all that is needed today.

They went believing in the promise of Christ that their bodily needs would be provided, in the providence of God. The Saviour had said “But seek ye first his kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33.) ihey did not expect it to be “dished out” to them on silver platters, nor at all times to be supplied by the brethren at home, but at times they must work with their own hands that the bodily needs might be supplied. At other times their needs were cared for by congregations whom they had inspired with the true mission spirit; but throughout it all, the needs were cared for t lmough God’s providence. Having been sent out by a local congregation, they would return to it at the end of each preaching cycle, to report how God had used them in the work; not reporting “what we have done,” but how "God hath used us” in the work.

THEY WENT SUFFERING MANY CRUEL REPROACHES FOR CHRIST
Time would not suffice to tell of the treatment of these early pioneers of the faith, as they went suffering many cruel reproaches for the Name of Christ: Paul’s treatment in Antioch, in Iconium, Lystra, in Derbe, on the first journey; at Philippi, at Ephesus and other places on the second; finally being imprisoned in Jerusalem and sent to Rome, all because of what he preached. Our hearts are wrung as we appreciate the sufferings of the early saints, but they show us the power of the word, as it pierces the hearts of sinners against God. The imprisonments, mobbings, stripes, dangers, and such like, are revealed to us by the apostle in 2 Corinthians 11:22'29. As chief of mis' sionaries, this great servant of God and Tesus Christ stands head and shoulders above all men. He is the missionary’s inspiration, and the preacher’s ideal; he is the sufferer’s example of what a Christian can endure, and an example of God’s constant grace and care.

What were the results of such a program? Did it accomplish the end of Christ’s aim when he gave the commission? When Paul re' turned to Jerusalem, James said unto him, “thou seest, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of them that have believed ” (Acts 21:20.) When they went from one place to another the report would precede them, till it would be said of them “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” (Acts 17:6.) It must have been succeeding. The Apostle was then able to write in one of his last letters, while in the prison at Rome, concerning the gospel, “which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister.” (Colossians 1:23.)

Such was the power of the gospel, and result of the method pur' sued by the early preachers, that in less than three hundred years after the commission had been given by Jesus to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation,” Christianity had become the national religion of the Roman Empire, and the emperor himself had nominally accepted it.

CONCLUSION
This method was simple, but effective. Individuals went as “missionaries” when they moved from one place to another; they went systematically from a congregation; they went believing their message as the power of God to save; they went trusting Christ to keep them and care for them; they went provided for by labor of their own hands, and by congregations; they went suffering for the name of Christ and enduring many cruel reproaches; but they WENT! Men believed the message, the world was evangelized.

What is wrong with this method? Will it work today? There is nothing wrong with it, the trouble is not to be found in the plan of God for the evangelising of the world; but in the failure of the church to work the plan. May the members of the church awaken, and rally to the charge of God to “Go . . . preach . . . teach . . baptize . . . teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I command you,” and leave the results with God, for they will be all that he desires.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What is there in the commission given by Jesus, recorded by Matthew, that makes it binding upon Christians today?
2. What is the responsibility of individual Christians in world evangelization?
3. What is the responsibility of the church in training and teaching its members?
4. What would God expect of you if you moved into a community where there was no church?
What would you be able to do with your present preparation? What are you doing to remedy the condition, or prepare yourself?
5. What church was the first mentioned in the Bible to send out “missionaries”? Who selected them?
What type of men were selected?
6. How did these men go about their work when they arrived in cities where the gospel had never been heard?
Did they confine their preaching to large audiences only? Why doesn’t the church do more of this kind of work today?
7. What was the attitude of these men toward their message? What did they believe as to its power?
How were they provided for materially? What promise did Jesus make concerning such?
Upon what condition? Is this promise still held out to Christians?
8. To whom did these preachers report at the end of each cycle of preaching? What was their attitude toward what they had done?
9. Be able to thoroughly explain the method followed by these early preachers. What was the result of their preaching?
Do you think the method followed by them sufficient for today? Could you suggest a better way?
Following the method they followed, to what extent did the gospel finally reach even in Paul’s day?