Macro View

 Acts 2:42, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and in breaking bread, and in prayers.” Also, in verses 46-47, “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart…” Remember that after Acts 8:1 God scattered the church through persecution and temple meetings ceased. These are the five major dynamics to the house church meeting. Let’s examine how each of them works.
 

Apostles’ Doctrine

The apostles’ doctrine is simply what the original twelve apostles taught. In particular they taught what Jesus taught, especially the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The book of Hebrew 6:1-3 also tell us of the principles of the doctrines of Christ which are repentance, faith, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection, and eternal judgment. The Didache, which is an ancient document that is attributed to the original twelve apostles, taught that any doctrine taught had to “increase righteousness”. We have discovered in our house churches the powerful benefits of the simplicity of the teachings of Jesus. Our objective is to train disciples who will live what Jesus taught! It is also evident that when people understand that we expect to obey Jesus many are so defiled with the heresies of easy believism that they reject the apostles’ doctrine. This leads us to our next point…  

Apostles’ Fellowship

If a person rejects the apostles’ doctrine they are not eligible for the apostles’ fellowship. Doctrine will usually solve the fellowship issues. We put fellowship on an equal plane as doctrine. It is not enough to believe a creed or list of doctrines, they must be lived out relationally. In I John 1:7, the apostle John tells us, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.” It is easy to adopt a belief system and sit in a religious environment and say you are Christian. It is quite another thing to live in a relational environment where others observe the things that you say and do on a regular basis. The “light” of relationships makes the religious very uncomfortable and will either demand repentance or they will run to the comfort of religion. How well did John state in the gospel of John 3:19, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather that light, because their deeds were evil.”     

Breaking Bread

Acts 20:7 says, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them,” On a typical Sunday in the early church the heart of the meeting was breaking bread. This was known as the “agape feast” or communion. The Lord’s Supper was not just a little cracker and a cup of juice it was a full meal.  When we began to obey this verse, a whole new way of church life unfolded. Instead of a meeting for religious ritual in a building, we now meet for a meal. The meal is the centerpiece of church life that hosts the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship and prayers. Sometimes preaching takes place in these meetings but that is only when one of the five-fold ministries gifts is present (we will further discuss this in the micro view).  

Prayers

Jesus said that His house would be “a house of prayer”. Have you noticed how little space prayer is given in a typical religious service? Prayer has been reduced to a short transitional role for the next bit of entertainment. The House of God IS PRAYER!!! House churches provide the greatest environment for effectual fervent prayer. James 5:16 tells us “confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” When I am asked to pray for someone that I do not know, I pray with sincerity. When I am asked to pray for someone that I am in relationship with, I pray fervently!!! Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20, “Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” The great promise of answered prayer is given to a gathering of two or three. This is the foundational building block of the church. Hell cannot prevail when prayers avail!!! 

House to House

The Bible takes on a whole new meaning when we interpret the scriptures by applying them to the house church environment. Some of the greatest doctrinal errors come through forcing the Bible to fit in the unbiblical congregational structures. For instance calling a building the “house of God”, is absolutely unbiblical but common because of the power of traditions. Consider the following passages, how the use of the thought of house church seemed matter of fact to the early church: Acts 12:12, “…he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” Acts 20:20, “…how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house.” Romans 16:3-5, “Greet Prisca and Aquila…Also greet the church that is in their house.” Acts 16:14-15 also lists two other house churches. Colossians 4:15, “Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house.” Philemon 1:2, “And to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house…”  It is evident that the early churches met in houses not in buildings. 

Micro View

 The following passage of scripture gives us the greatest insight into a New Testament worship service. As you read notice the contrast between worship in a house church verses a traditional congregational church.  I Corinthians 14:26, “How is it then, brethren? When you come together, every one of you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.” Here we see how all the pieces come together. “EVERY ONE OF YOU HAS…”  Instead of the church gathering to hear a professional preacher sermonize, every member is expected to bring evidence that they have been with Jesus! The way to judge the success or failure of the assembly is by edification. The word “edification” means house builder. The house is built when every member is free to be used by the Holy Spirit. As everyone contributes to the dialogue (not monologue), the Holy Spirit begins to prophesy through each person. It never ceases to amaze us how He knits every contribution from each person together. It is wonderful when He is in control.  

Conclusion

If you are considering the idea of house church or maybe you are already in a cell group or small group gathering I encourage you to apply these dynamic. I assure you that the Holy Spirit will do the rest.  

Why do Christians go to buildings, sit in rows, and watch one person preach? Is this biblical or just traditional? These are a few of the questions that I began to ask some years back. When I began to seek the answers first Biblically then historically, I put aside my traditional mind set and began to seek truth. Let me show you what I discovered. 

The Beginning of the Church 

In the book of Acts 1:4-8, Jesus gave His disciples a commandment to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. He told them specifically in verse 8, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”  

In Acts 2:1-4, the day of Pentecost came and the promise was fulfilled as the disciples were wonderfully baptized with the Holy Spirit. This powerful event is what birthed the church age.  

In Acts 2:41-47, we get our first insight into the habits of the early church. They were daily in the temple and daily in houses. The most interesting fact is that they would not leave Jerusalem. They were addicted to the temple. 

In Acts chapters 6-8, the Bible records the martyrdom of Stephen the deacon. In chapter 8:1 the Bible says, “Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” It took an outbreak of persecution to cause the church to obey what Jesus had commanded in Acts 1:8, the persecution forced them to go to Judea and to Samaria. I believe this persecution was a judgment from God against the church for their refusal to go to Judea and Samaria. It is interesting to note that the apostles still did not leave Jerusalem. This is further evidence of how addicted to tradition even the most devoted can be.  

After Acts 8, we have no Biblical evidence that the church worshiped at the temple or in synagogues. They certainly preached Christ there but it is not where the church assembled. As a matter of fact, the overwhelming Biblical evidence is that the church met in homes from Acts 8 until A.D. 317.

Constantine 

Persecution continued in the church world throughout the first three centuries. There is some evidence that when persecution would ease up in certain areas that the early church would gravitate to larger gatherings that would require buildings larger than homes but for the most part the church met in houses. 

In 317 A.D. Constantine, the emperor of Rome, in response to his mother’s conversion to Christianity passed a law known as the “edict of tolerance” and later became known as the edict of Milan. For the first time since Acts 8 Christianity became legal. 

As the persecutions against the church eased Christians began to enter the public life. No one realized just how many Christians there were until now. The Church had not only survived persecution but had thrived! In HOUSES! 

Constantine being a shrewd politician quickly understood the political advantages that it would bring to him to have the masses of Christians on his political side. So he passed another law that made it illegal not to be Christian. He himself was now claiming to be born again. This new law infuriated the pagans who were now being forced to worship with the Christians. In order to appease them, Constantine allowed them to bring their idols into the temples. Constantine built temples and theological institutions at taxpayer expense to advance the cause of Christianity. Then he made it illegal to preach unless you were licensed by the state. Churches rapidly moved from houses to congregations.  

Augustine 

As you can imagine the early church leaders were not easily convinced to be married to the state and their were many skeptics and resistors. But a powerful orator named Augustine rose up who was totally on the side of Constantine. His doctrines are still very influential even to this day. Here is one that is most noteworthy:

The Doctrine of the Two Swords 

This doctrine was taken from Luke 22:35-38, where Jesus instructed His disciples to sell their garment and buy a sword. And the disciples said in verse 38, Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them. “It is enough.”  From this Augustine concluded that the church had two swords, the sword of the church and the sword of the government. This argument was reinforced from another passage from the book of Luke 14:16-24, where Jesus tells the parable of the great supper. When people began to excuse themselves from the feast the master was angry and said in verse 23, “Then the master said to the servant; “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” The word “compel” became the key to Augustine’s argument to the doctrine of the two swords that people should be forced by the sword to be Christian. This began a blood bath. The church would march into an area with the Roman soldiers. The clergymen would preach the gospel then threaten with death to all of those who would not be baptized. This is how Rome and the church served their insatiable appetite for control. 

A Question that all Christians should have to Answer: 

Were Constantine and Augustine sent from heaven or from hell? I personally believe that this was from hell! Also, I don’t believe for one second that this is just the Roman Catholic Church; this structure has been adopted by all religions. I believe that the restructuring of the church in 317 A.D. would rightfully be called Babylon. 
 

First, modern evangelism starts from a wrong premise believing that the “Great Commission” is for us to make converts. What the Great Commission actually tells us to do is make DISCIPLES; there is a huge difference. While I believe that people have need of conversion, I am at odds with modern evangelism as to how we arrive at conversion. The modern evangelist opts for the quick fix of the “sinner’s prayer” instead of the relational work of making disciples. I have likened modern evangelism to fornication because it attempts to birth children with no commitment. The modern evangelist drives his campaign with the motto of “winning souls”, while those who obey the Great Commission are armed with the thought of “making disciples”. There is a huge difference. This leads us to the second error of modern evangelism.

The second error is “the sinner’s prayer”. The false hope imparted to multitudes that by praying a prayer you are saved has aborted the work of the Holy Spirit in many. Some even go further in this error by saying that the prayer has sealed your eternal security eliminating any need for repentance.

In Luke 24:47, Jesus said that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations…” Our proclamation of the gospel MUST include repentance. Many view this as “works” or even a negative message while the Bible teaches that it is “…the kindness of God that leads us to repent.” When preachers claim that you can be forgiven without repentance they abort the work of the Spirit in that potential disciple. Instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to bring that person through the cross where they pass from death to life, they are left bound in their sins with false assurance. Why do so many guard this sacred cow when the failure speaks for itself? This style of easy believism is populating their “churches” with goats!

Third error is that of using the church itself for evangelism. One “pastor” recently told his church, “the whole reason that we set this stage this morning is for sinners to come to Jesus.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. The church is not a hospital for sinners it is the body of Christ, the redeemed of the Lord.

The modern church growth movement has built an evangelism that teaches pastors to lower the bar in the church so the sinner will feel welcomed. So the pastor gears his church service to be “sensitive to the seeker”. While sinners feel welcomed in these events God does not!!!

Modern evangelism uses crowds as the ultimate litmus test for godliness, if it’s growing it must be God, they say, but even cancer grows. Most of these so called “churches” cannot meet even the definition of the word “church” which means, the called out assembly. The church is called out of the world and sin. We are not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

Look at the contrast of found in I Corinthians 14:23-25, “If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.” This does not sound “seeker sensitive” to me. Quite the opposite, it seems that for an unlearned unbeliever to come into an assembly of the church was an exception not the rule! I believe that the use of the church as the means of evangelism is the vilest error of modern evangelism!!!

The Biblical Evangelist

The New Testament includes the “Evangelist” as part of the five-fold ministry, (Ephesians 4:11). However, the only insight to the methods of a New Testament evangelist is Philip the Evangelist. We first hear of Philip in Acts 6:5 when he was elected as one of the first deacons. This is confirmed in Acts 21:8-9, where he is called “Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven…” Now that we have established that this is the same guy let’s look at the insights to his motus operandi found in Acts chapter 8.

In verses 1-4 we find that after the martyrdom of Stephen the church was “scattered abroad”. This is one of the most significant events in church history. From the day of Pentecost the church was dividing it’s time between the temple and the house (Acts 2:41-47). One of the greatest challenges for those of us who have a religious upbringing is to disassociate with our religion. We were raised to identify God with a building or a system of rituals and are addicted to this. God scattered the church in Acts 8 and it never returned to the buildings until 317 A.D. Some say that persecution was the only reason to leave the temple but I believe that the persecution was God’s judgment to move the church into the houses where it belonged! It is my prayer that the church would return to church in the house as an act of obedience instead of reacting to God’s judgment.

Also in verse 4 we see that the main result of the scattering was that they went everywhere preaching the word. As long as we keep the word locked up behind the four walls of our modern temples we will not see the power of proclamation.

In verses 5-8, we get our first insights to Philip the evangelist in action. He went to Samaria, a place that the Jews despised, but Philip being Greek was not bound by prejudice.

“He preached Christ unto them”. This style of preaching takes the Old Testament and proves that Jesus is the Christ. This powerful preaching style is necessary to shift those who are stuck in religious traditions.

Signs and wonders followed the Word causing citywide joy. Miracles and deliverances must be part of our evangelism. I heard one preacher say that signs and wonders are the calling card of Christians. The kingdom of heaven in not in word but in power!!!

Verses 9-13 show us why the evangelists must have the apostles to verify his work. The baptism of Simon the sorcerer shows the inability of the evangelist to properly discern the body of Christ. The evangelist and the pastor gifts in particular have a strong desire to gather. This can be a great asset or a great liability. If the apostles and prophets are not brought in to discern, those guys have a tendency to baptize the devil! This is why pastors and evangelists who are working out of position doing the apostle and prophet’s work create a mess in the church.

Notice also in verse 12, Philip uses two more preaching methods. He preached the things concerning the kingdom of God. Without a doubt the central theme of Jesus’ preaching was the message of the kingdom of God. Once we establish that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God we must preach His Lordship!!! The King of the kingdom ruling in the hearts of His subjects is the message of the kingdom with repentance as the bottom line (Matthew 3:2 and 4:17). The next thing that he preached was the name of Jesus Christ. When Peter and John healed the man at the gate beautiful in Acts 3 they used this miracle as an opportunity to exalt the name of Jesus. In verse 16 they said, “And His name through faith in His name has made this man strong…” In Philippians 2:5-11 the apostle Paul says that Jesus was given the name above every name and this would cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess the Lordship of Jesus!!!

All of our attempts at evangelism should incorporate the three modes of preaching that Philip used 1) Preach Christ, 2) Preach the kingdom of God, 3) Preach the name of Jesus.

The next thing that we should see that the evangelist did was in Acts 8:12 he baptized the believers. As I stated earlier in this writing the modern evangelist has reduced salvation to a “sinner’s prayer”. The true Christian “altar call” IS baptism!!! Baptism takes commitment and effort on all parties involved. It moves us past an emotional response to something that requires thought. It’s messy and humbling. Baptism publicly tells everyone that I have passed from death to life. I no longer live for me but for Jesus. I am now a citizen of the kingdom of God and a loyal subject to King Jesus!!! If we want biblical results we MUST use biblical methods!!!

The next thing we should study in the work of the evangelist is in Acts 8:14-17; the apostles were brought in to confirm the salvations and baptize those converts in the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 2:19-22 (key vs.20) we find that the Church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Himself is the foundation not the apostles and prophets. For too long the Church has been built by pastors and evangelists without apostolic and prophetic foundations. Philip the evangelist baptized Simon, Peter the apostle judged him!!! If we are tired of complaining about the money grubbing preachers that have found their home in the modern churches all we have to do is invite the apostles and prophets back in, they will root out Simon every time!!!

The evangelist’s work is not complete until he brings the apostles and prophets in to prove and confirm the work so that every soul is baptized in the Holy Spirit. In the wake of true evangelism a church should be planted. The house church must be recognized by and related to the apostles in that region.

In verse 25 we see that the apostles preached in many villages of the Samaritans. This is true to the apostolic pattern of church planting. We will study this at the end of this paper.

Verses 26-40 reveal yet another fascinating aspect of the evangelist’s ministry. He was equally at home preaching to the entire city creating a revival or preaching to one Ethiopian eunuch. One or one thousand is irrelevant the passion is in the message of the gospel not the size of the crowd!!!

True to the pattern of the biblical evangelist he took an Old Testament verse (Isaiah 53), and preached Christ to the eunuch. When the eunuch believed that Jesus was the Christ the Son of God the evangelist baptized him.

Acts chapter eight is the only insight to a biblical evangelist. However, we see the apostles working in an evangelistic pattern throughout the book of Acts. I believe that Jesus taught the true pattern of evangelism that guided Philip the evangelist and all of the apostles. Next I want to examine Jesus’ model of evangelism that He taught to His disciples.

Evangelism Jesus’ Way

In Matthew 9:36-38 and 10:1-15; Jesus taught His disciples how to evangelize, this is our first step to restoring true evangelism to the apostolic wineskin.

Matthew 9:36-38 reveals several keys that set the stage for evangelism. First, “He was moved with compassion” because “they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” The motive of Jesus’ evangelism began with compassion on sheep without a shepherd. He did not send them a message, a writing, or a CD, He sent them a SHEPHERD. The last thing He told the apostle Peter was to “feed My sheep”.

Next Jesus says, “The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few.” Jesus perceived that scattered sheep were an opportunity for harvest. The dilemma was that there were not enough shepherds to get the work done.

The final point here is to “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.” I believe that every person who prays this prayer immediately becomes a volunteer to be sent into the harvest. In other words if you pray “Lord send laborers into the harvest”, I believe you will hear Him say, “O.K. YOU GO!!!” The word “apostle” means “to send or sent” the essence of our commission is to “Go”. I believe that one of the errors of modern evangelism begins by trying to get people to come when we are commanded to go!!! God will send you out from where you are being fed to go feed others. You will become the next shepherd of the sheep.

In Matthew 10:1-15 Jesus reveals His plan to evangelize. In verse one, He called His twelve disciples. Evangelism starts by calling disciples (learners). Next, He gave them power over devils and disease. When Jesus ascended He commanded His followers to “wait for the promise of the Father.” Then He told them “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Modern evangelism requires no power because it is a mental ascent to God that requires no proof of change. Deliverance and healing cause the former things to pass away and all things to become new.

In verse two we see the second key to evangelism. In verse one He called His twelve “disciples” to himself and empowered them. In verse two it says, “The names of the twelve APOSTLES are these…” They went from disciple to apostle in one verse. It is vital to understand that Jesus expects those He calls as disciples to grow up to become apostles!!! Most of the church world remains in a state of perpetual infancy believing that the reason we are here is to drink the milk of being “preached to” every Sunday. True disciples will eventually leave the teacher to perform what they have been taught. This reveals another error of the church world and modern evangelism. Most believe that what I have just described is only meant for a certain few chosen vessels that have a special calling on their lives. This fosters the lie that in the church there is clergy and laity. If the harvest is depending on sending laborers it is vital that the entire church be made of disciples that are going to be apostolically sent into the harvest!!!

The third thing that we see is after identifying the twelve He tells them where not to go first then where to go. ALL EVANGELISM BEGINS AT JERUSALEM!!! We are first sent to those who are bound in RELIGION, which is the worst darkness we can be in.

Fourth we are given THE message “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. The message is simple the kingdom of heaven is within your reach. Repent, change the way you think and act because The King of the kingdom wants to rule your heart.

Fifth, “freely you have received, freely give.” The entire enterprise of church work is hinged on this statement. WE MUST GIVE WHAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN!!! Teach faithful men who will teach faithful men. IF you have been healed, go heal someone. If you have been set free from a devil, go set someone else free. If you have been raised from the dead, go raise someone from the dead. After you are converted strengthen the brethren. God will use you the most in the areas that you have been converted in.

Sixth, make no provisions for yourself the workman is worthy of his meat.

Now we get to the intricate parts of the “how to” of evangelism. When you come into a city or town enquire who in it is worthy and stay with that person or group. Not everyone is ready for the gospel. We need to look for those who are ready to receive the gospel of peace. Luke 10:6 calls this person “the son of peace”. This literally means one who is seeking peace. We should constantly be on the look out for this person. They may be seeking peace in the vilest forms of sins but they are soft to the message of the gospel, look for this person.

Verse 12, “When you come into a house”, we need to enter a house, that is, a circle of family and friends that are linked by relationships. DO NOT TRY TO TAKE THIS PERSON OUT OF THE HOUSE AND BACK TO YOUR CHURCH, TAKE THE CHURCH TO THIS PERSONS HOUSE!!! I said everything in this article to make this point. Jesus’ brand of evangelism apostolically sends people to plant churches. Church planting is the form of evangelism that Jesus taught, we must change our thinking of church as a “building” to the church as “people”. We must change our thinking that an apostle is some superman of faith; an apostle is an obedient disciple that is doing the work. Yes there is a “five-fold” ministry that trains the work for the work of ministry. Yes there are those who are especially gifted. But none of this excuses anyone from being what the church is called to be you might not be “an apostle” but surely you can work apostolically.

Apostolic Evangelism

Finally I want to show you how the apostles operated in this pattern of evangelism. In the book of Titus 1:4-7a, we find evidence that even Paul himself used this pattern.

In verse four He calls Titus “mine own son after the common faith”. The father-son relationship between Paul and Titus is plainly displayed here. This is both revealing and indicting because while it reveals the relational aspect of apostolic ministry it indicts the modern church of lacking this trait. The modern churches have opted rather for professional training while placing little or no value on relational discipleship. This has created a hireling mentality in the churches.

In verse five Paul reveals how the work was done. The reason he put Titus on the Isle of Crete was two-fold, order and ordination. The apostolic works to bring order in the churches. When the church is “wanting” or “lacking” the apostolic makes sure it is supplied. The second part of Titus’ purpose was to “ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.” This gives us great insight into the work of church planting evangelism. Titus was appointed as an elder in the Isle of Crete; he was then promoted to a Bishop over the entire Isle of Crete, which boasted of one hundred cities. Titus had successfully served as an elder of a house church and now was to see that house churches would be planted in the entire region. His new job was to identify, equip, and ordain elders in every city of Crete. This was organic relationship building that set a qualified disciple in as a house church pastor. Just think about it an elder in every city training disciples and planting churches that were connected relationally by a Bishop and an Apostle.

Conclusion

While there is much more I could elaborate on I hope that you are getting the picture. Away with the futile efforts of modern evangelism that is filling the churches with goats. Let’s return to the Biblical pattern of church planting evangelism that Jesus taught His disciples and was practiced by His apostles. The harvest is ready for those who will operate in the Biblical pattern.

Brother Teryl