1. A Testimony of Live and True Events
The fundamental thing that makes the apostolic Church a lasting foundational model to the Church is that their faith and ministry were a testimony of true events. Jesus had personally told His disciples on one occasion when He appeared to them after the resurrection:
He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things (Luke 24:46-48 NIV).
On another occasion, Jesus again gave His disciples this instruction:
What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs (Matthew 10:27 NIV).
And just before His ascension to heaven, He told his apostles:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
The ministry about Jesus to the apostles was a testimony about a person, Jesus Christ their Master, and Lord they had lived with. They lived physically with Jesus, and the prophecies about Him were fulfilled right before them. They were physical witnesses to His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to heaven.
Their mandate was to first and foremost prove to the Jews that Jesus whom they killed is the Messiah the nation Israel has waited for all through the Old Testament. The Jews did not believe that Jesus was the Christ (the anointed one of God). And so, the apostles have to testify to His resurrection and ascension to heaven (victory over death and the enemy) to the Jews. And to the Gentiles, they were to proclaim the entire message (prophecies and the ministry of Jesus) about Christ as the Gentiles did not know about the coming of Christ. Peter expressed this on the day of the Pentecost at the first witness of the Church in the following words:
Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because death couldn't keep its hold on him... Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it (Acts 2:22-24, 31-32).
When the church was threatened by the ruling council to stop preaching in the of Jesus Christ, Peter responded:
But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you or him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20).
John the apostle has also testified by saying:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1-3).
The subsequent generations, starting from the second century, do not have the privilege of being the physical witness to Jesus' life. And the more time passes, the more memories of the reality of Christ's physical life fade and elude us. The progression of the advancement and development of human activities that come with time has also led to a progressive loss of touch with the reality of the past life. Such factors as these bring about a tendency to lose sight of the reality of Christ's personality. This can consequently reduce Christianity to fairy tales and simple mere historical events. There is no doubt that this is the basic reason for the difference between the Christian faith in the Apostolic Church and the contemporary Church.
Though the Church from the second century does not have the privilege of being a physical witness of Jesus' life on earth, we are spiritual witnesses to His life (John 10:14-16, 14:23-26). For a Church and an individual Christian to experience a true Christian life, we must see Jesus in the light of the apostles of Jesus. We have to relate to Jesus not only on religious grounds but as a person who lived on earth, now in heaven, and dwelled inside of us as well. Christian activities such as personal prayers and Bible study must be an avenue to relate to the person of Jesus and not only a religious ritual, and Bible study must be a study of the life of Jesus and not simply a study about Him.
2. The Name of Jesus
The name of Jesus was the authority of the ministry of the apostles of Jesus Christ. They proclaimed the name of Jesus as the only means to salvation (Acts 4:12). The name was the authority they used to cast out demons and perform signs and wonders (Acts 3:6b, 16, 4:12-16) The name of Jesus was the bone of contention between the ruling council and the early Church (Acts 4:18).
Name is a means of identity that embodies a whole attribute of a personality. As such, to use the name of Jesus over a situation is to apply the total personality of Jesus to a situation. The name of God is the highest authority in heaven and on earth.
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10).
Jesus has been given a name that has the highest authority Philippians 2:9:11 says:
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledges that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
God has honored His name all through the Bible. There are several instances in the Bible where God has to fight and protect the Israelites His chosen people from their enemies even when they have sinned against Him to protect the honor of His name before the heathen nations (Psalm 23:3, 31:3, Ezekiel 36:22, 39:25). On the contrary, the modern Church has rather not taken the name of God seriously. It is easy and common to blaspheme and make fun of God's name in our days even in Church. I remember I had to rebuke a Master of Ceremonies (MC) who made a mockery of God's name by trying to crack jokes in one of the Churches meeting
3. The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit was the force or power behind the ministry of the Apostolic Church. they were commanded not to leave Jerusalem or start the ministry until the Holy Spirit was given (Acts 1:4-5). The commencement of the Church in the apostolic days was completely dependent on the Holy Spirit, not on human wisdom. The Holy Spirit is the One that ignited the commencement of the Church upon His coming on the day of the Pentecost (Acts 2). When Ananias and his wife Sapphira lied, Peter made it known to them and the Church that they have not only lied to the church but to God and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-9). This reveals the fact that the Holy Spirit is the power responsible for the operation of the Church.
Sadly, the Contemporary Church does not depend on the Holy Spirit for operation like the apostolic Church. The modern Church depends largely on human wisdom and money for the ministry. It is nothing but an illusion for the Church to operate this way and still expect the divine presence and manifestation of the Holy Spirit like the apostolic Church.
4. The Word of God
The apostles had the mandate to prove the reality of the Messiahship of Jesus to the Jews. They did this by referring to the prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. Therefore, the ministry of the apostles is the affirmation of the Messiahship of Jesus through the expound of the Old Testament. While the apostles were committed to putting forth the scriptures, the early believers (members or congregants) were committed to the teaching of the apostles (2:42, 17:11-12). The preparation for the ministry of the Word is not a one-sided act done only by the minister or preacher and teacher as the case may be. The recipient also has to prepare his or her mind to receive the message and cultivate a positive attitude toward the Word. the effectiveness of ministration is largely determined by the attitude of the recipient of the message.
Unfortunately, the contemporary church has failed again in this aspect. 2022 survey of the annual State of the Bible (an American-based survey on Bible study rate) by the American Bible Society shows that there is a massive decline of roughly 26 million people who stopped reading their Bible in the year under the survey alone. That is disheartening! And make no mistake about it and think that this is peculiar to the American Church alone. The most heartbreaking thing is that the challenge facing the contemporary Church is not only that of a poor attitude to Bible study but an indifferent and apathetic attitude to the Word of God. The Church does not see the Word of God as her anchor and as something that demands her obedience. This attitude is what has subjected the church to so many secular influences over the years. While the apostolic Church existed to influence the outside world the modern Church exists to be influenced by the outside world.
5. Prayer
Prayer is something the apostles have seen their Master and Lord do. The night He was arrested, He went with them to the garden of Gethsemane to pray and He commanded them to pray so that they would not fall into temptation. The apostles, therefore, understood that their strength lay in prayer. They saw prayer as a means to communicate directly to Jesus. And so, whenever, they were challenged with a situation, they reach out to God in prayer and God will show forth Himself (Acts 4:23, 12:1-17, 16:25-28).
Prayer was a tool given to the apostles for effective and victorious ministry. At some point, the apostles became distracted by other commitments and when they realized that, they decided to turn over other commitments to worthy men appointed by the church so that they could focus their attention fully on the ministry of Prayer and the Word (Act 6:4). This indicates the fact that prayer was an integral part of the early Church. The apostles had no attitude of doubt in prayer. Prayer was a tool given to them by Christ Himself to keep them in touch and to bring heaven to bear on earth through their ministry. A minister of the gospel is called to the ministry of prayer. He must learn to always wait upon the Lord in prayer for the flock he is shepherding, and he must always call upon the name of the Lord every step of the way.
6. Fellowship of Believers
The apostolic Church was characterized by service to one another and a selfless lifestyle. Christians were committed and accountable to one another. The Church was bounded together by a sincere love for one another and the atmosphere of praise to God (Acts 2:42-47). This is what constituted the new community from the Judaistic religion. The early Church went beyond simply being a religious people like the Jews to forming a community held together by practical and simplistic love for God and one another as never experienced in the Jewish religion (judaism). The development was a paradigm shift from the Jewish tradition. This was a rude shock to the Jewish community and of course, they responded by protesting to maintain the status quo.
The contemporary Church must imbibe the practice of sincere love for God and one another. Though, as the gospel spread, the early church too later battled with the aberration of this good Christian practice of the Church in places like Corinth (1 Corinth. 3 and 6). But if the modern Church wants to live up to the standard, it must imbibe this wholehearted love for God and cultivate the culture of sincere love for mankind and especially one another that characterized the early Church. This will help the church to curb the superficial love that characterizes the Church today.
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