Was the Early Church Communist?

You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call.  Still ahead, Dave and Tom continue their weekly in-depth study of the Doctrine of Salvation, please stay with us.

            CONTENDING  FOR  THE  FAITH

In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call.  Here is this week’s question:  Dear Dave and TA:  In this day of program overloaded mega churches to the under-involved home churches and other confusions related to what a biblical church is, is there a definition of church from the Scriptures that might help a believer discern where to fellowship, and with whom, and what to accept, and what to reject.

            Dave:

Well, of course we have the Greek word, but you don’t need to go to the Greek word---Jesus said it in John 15—I have called you out of the world.  He said it in John 17—I have chosen you out of the world.  So, ecclesia is the word, and it means: a called out company.  You get the same thing in the Old Testament regarding Israel—the congregation, they were a called out people, separated.  If you want to go to Deuteronomy 20, it says, I have separated you from all people, you are to be holy. So, it’s just like you were reminding us there, Tom, from the Scriptures, this is a group of people who have been called out from the world, they’re holy, and you wouldn’t dare to join them, you would be exposed.  So, the church is really—you’ve got some hints at it—the church that is in your house, you know, the church that is here, the church that is there.  They are different from the world around them, they are not ecumenical, they are not trying to get the local priest from the temple of Diana, or whatever you know, to join with them in ecumenical church services.  These are people who are serious about God, about their eternal destiny, they have been purchased with the blood of Christ, they belong to Him, they are not their own, and Jesus said:  “If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you”, okay.  So, the church is a group of people—they are not meeting and putting on a program and a show, an entertainment in order to attract the world in.  Thank you for referring us to that Scripture.  Nobody dared to join them.  I’d like to confront a few of the seeker-friendly churches with that idea.  Nobody dared to join them, these are holy people, God is in their midst, they are there to worship Him, they know Him, they love Him, they are praising Him, they belong to Him, and nobody is going to join them.  They are not putting on prizes to entice people to come in.  So, the church was a separated body of believers who know and love the Lord.  They went everywhere.  I love what it says in Acts 8.  Because they are being persecuted—you know, the persecution that arose after Steven was stoned, they were scattered and they went everywhere trying to hide out—don’t let anybody know where we are—No, it says they went everywhere preaching the Word.  So, the church is supposed to go out, win people to Christ, and then they join the church, they come in.  But we’ve got it a little bit backwards, and Tom, I know some people will think we’re fanatics on this program, and if some unsaved people do wander in, do come in, the Bible allows for that. 1 Corinthians 14, says, If you are all speaking in tongues and a stranger comes in, he will think you are mad.  There are some churches that do that, even though the Scripture says, one at a time, not without an interpreter.  But they disobey the Bible and they are all going at it at once, and so forth.  So, it says there could be strangers that could come in, and I think they held street meetings, or whatever.  They were holding a meeting, apparently at the temple and a whole multitude gathered.  In fact, there were thousands of people there, 3,000 of them were converted, got saved on the day of Pentecost.

            Tom:

What was the prize for that, Dave?  What drew them in, or did Peter say something that might build their self-esteem?

            Dave:

Well, actually what happened on that particular occasion, they were all speaking in different languages, and they were astonished.  You’ve got people, well this was at Pentecost and there are Jews from all over the empire speaking all kinds of different languages, they have gathered in.  And they hear the apostles fluently declaring the glory of God in their own languages and the use is astonishing.  So, that word spread and people came running just to see this phenomenon.  I don’t know that we can put on a street meeting like that today, Tom, this was a special occasion.

            Tom:

That’s what I am getting to, Dave, what was the message that Peter brought?  Did it make them feel good about themselves?

Dave:

The message was:  You had better repent, because you have taken the Lord of life and glory, you have crucified Him, you have rejected your Messiah and you had better repent right now and get right with God.  And they were convicted in their hearts, they repented, and when they believed they were baptized.  And it says they were joined unto the church.  So, you get into the church, apparently by getting saved.  The church is a gathering of saved people, then those saved people begin to witness and more people get saved.  I wish we could see more of that today, Tom.

            Please stay with us and at the end of the program we’ll let you know where to send your questions for Dave and Tom to respond to in a future Contending for the Faith.  You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of the Berean Call.  Now, our final segment.

            UNDERSTANDING   THE  SCRIPTURES

We resume our excursion through the Book of Acts.  Here again are Dave and Tom:

In this, our Understanding the Scripture segment, we are going through the Book of Acts. We are in Acts Chapter 2, and we’re going to pick up with Verse 43, Dave, but to give us a little bit of context here, I want to start with 41:  “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:  and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.  And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”  Verse 43:  “And fear came upon every soul:  and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.”  Dave, —and fear came upon every soul—does this relate to what we have been talking about?

            Dave:

I think so.  Solomon said, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  I haven’t even began to get a proper perspective until I realize who God is, how great He is, how holy and just, uncompromising.  That brings a fear of God, and I have often said one of the things missing in today’s modern church is the fear of God.  Look at it on Christian television—you know, they almost act like God is their buddy, God is their servant, they can get God to do anything they want, just make a positive confession.  You know, the news alert, we didn’t have time to mention Rodney Howard Brown, the Holy Ghost bartender.   I mean, to dare to call yourself the Holy Ghost bartender and to say that the Spirit of God is causing people to laugh hysterically, pulling them to the floor, and so forth. Rodney Howard Brown, as I recall, said the first time this happened he was talking about hell and trying to be solemn and suddenly people began laughing hysterically and he thought that was the Holy Spirit.  I would not call that the Holy Spirit at all.  But anyway , when you realize how great God is—this is not my deal, you know, if I happen to be one of the pastors or one of the elders, this is not my church, this is God’s business, this is God’s church and there ought to be some real fear of the Lord.  But I just don’t see that—some of the songs are so irreverent, the new ones they’ve got, and Tom, I don’t want to get off on this because I don’t know anything about music, but I know enough to know that there are some beats that are rebellious and the way some of the—I’ve been a speaker in some churches where the so-called worship team, I mean, the clothes they wear, the way they act, I don’t think you would do that in front of the throne of God.  And I often say to people, Look, I don’t know anything about music.   I don’t care whether it’s rock or country western, or what you are talking about, but let’s make it something that would please God.  We’re not trying to entertain ourselves, we’re trying to worship Him, and there are certain things that I don’t think you would do in front of the throne of God, in fact, we would be on our faces.  So, the fear of God came upon every soul, and because of that many signs and wonders were done by the apostles.  God is honoring them with His presence and with His power, and you don’t get miracles today—oh, you put a big sign out in front of the church:  Miracle Service Tonight!  I don’t think that’s the way they did it.  But if we are really following the Lord and living holy lives and walking in obedience to His Word, then He is going to do things.  And it was really very special what He was doing here because this was the beginning, church hadn’t yet gone astray.  It’s like the early days of Israel, wow, what power of God there was—Red Sea opens up, He speaks with an audible voice from Mount Sinai, you get manna every morning, water out of a rock.  Yeah, but there was a cost too, a child bad-mouthed his parents, it was stoned.  You picked up sticks on the Sabbath day, you were stoned.  So, there were strict standards that were adhered to and finally, as you know, God said, Look, if I judge you according to my standards nobody is going to be left alive.  They had to move the Tabernacle, you remember, outside of the camp, and then whoever wanted to meet with God, you go out there, you don’t do it even in the congregation of Israel.  And, Hebrews 13 says, Let us go forth therefore unto Him, outside the camp bearing his reproach.  So, these people, they have just come to Christ, the Church has just been born, it has just been birthed, and the way these people act, their conversation, their lives, everything about them, wow!  Others are fearful and they don’t just join them.  These people aren’t calling, Come on, we’ve got some new perks, come and join the church!  It’s just the opposite, Tom, to what we are getting today.

            Tom:

And Dave, this isn’t something you are making up.  You’re not talking about the Church so that they can conform to your standards or what you think, we’re just explaining what God’s Word says and we encourage our listeners to read the Scriptures for themselves, this is what God’s Word says.

            Dave:

This is what it says, Tom, and then, here’s the attitude—Well, yeah, but that was then, and you know, those tactics wouldn’t work today—God shouldn’t be so holy today and so fearful, and you have to use new methods.  We could draw in thousands, you know, if we do a little promotion and we adopt some of the methods of the world and so forth.  Tom, I’m not trying to come down on that, it’s just here in front of us.  Now we are going to come to something that sounds like Communism.  Verse 44, All that believed were together and had all things common and sold their possessions and goods and part of them to all men as every man had need.  Well, what are you going to do with that, Tom?

            Tom:

You know, if this isn’t in our heart, the church is far larger today than it was back then, but if these things aren’t in our heart to do, well, I don’t know that you can say you are doing it God’s way.

            Dave:

James writes the same thing.  Here comes a person, he’s destitute, he doesn’t have clothes hardly and you say, O, be ye warmed and filled, but you don’t give him what he needs, that’s hypocrisy.  But notice, Tom, a number of things here, we’re got to be careful, this is not communism, although the communists try to say that it was.  They have everything common, in other words, if you need something, I’m not going to selfishly keep something from you that you need.  In the other hand, there had to be a genuine need.  And you hear stories all the time—a panhandler, you know, he’s got nothing and you give to him and then you follow the guy home, and he’s living quite well, but he’s out there—

            Tom:

Or he stops in a bar on the way home.

            Dave:

Right.  So I want to know, does the person really need this and what will they do with it?  So, these people were accountable to one another, that’s part of it.  And then it say, They sold their possessions and goods.  But we find out if you sell everything, what are you going to do with it?  You sell everything, you give the money—to whom do you give it?  You have to be a responsible steward of what God has given you.  Furthermore, you get on into chapter 4, it tells how they sold their houses and so forth, their lands.  Tom, I think they didn’t just sell everything so now they are living in the street. This would be extra houses, extra land that they didn’t need, because we get a little farther in the Book of Acts and we find that they are having a prayer meeting in a house.   So, apparently that house didn’t get sold.  We read of the church that’s in your house all through Scripture, so we have to have some common sense also when we read the Word of God.  But I think, as you pointed out, it must be of the heart.  Is my heart willing?  Am I willing to share with others and to bless others, and certainly, this is what the Spirit of God would do in us.  On the other hand, there are some people if I kept giving them and giving them, it would encourage their indolence.  They don’t have enough initiative to get a job, they are not taking care of things. We have done a lot of that in our lives, Tom, and, you know, we would give—I remember, we would gather into Sunday School some children that are living in a rather poor section, we would give them clothes.  Next Sunday, when we pick them up there are two or three buttons missing from the shirt, because they haven’t had enough sense to sew them back on, you know.  So, I don’t want to encourage laziness either.  The Bible has plenty to say about being diligent and orderly and so forth.

            Tom:

Dave, what about giving to a church so that it can add another six buildings and another thirty acres and twenty venues?

            Dave:

Well, Tom, that’s probably something for another time, our time has run out.  You know, it depends, and I can’t judge someone.  If this is being used for the Lord and it’s done in the proper spirit, I can’t say how big a house is to be too big, how a large church building is to be too large.  I think we could sometimes do away with some of the luxuries that they have, but the Lord is going to be the judge of that.

            Dave and Tom will resume their discussion on the topic of salvation next week, we hope you can join us.  This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call.  And now, to tell you more about our ministry, here’s TBC Executive Director Tom McMahon:  The name, The Berean Call, is taken from the Book of Acts, Chapter 17, verses 10 and 11, where we find the apostle Paul entering the synagogue in the Greek City of Berean after he had just come from Thessalonica.  To these Bereans he preached that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah sent from God.  They were commended for being noble or fair minded, not only for their willingness to hear what Paul had to say about the matter, but more specifically, because they searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether or not what the apostle was saying was found in God’s Word.  Our prayer is that we can be used of God to stimulate Christians to look to the Bible alone as their rule of faith, authority and practice in living lives pleasing to our Lord and Savior.

            Gary:

Are you sincerely seeking the Shepherd, or simply following the flock?  Can you find the Bible at the box office?  The new book from The Berean Call, by T. A. McMahon, Showtime for the Sheep? The Church and the Passion of the Christ, challenges readers.  Is Mel Gibson’s blockbuster film true to the Bible?  Have cinematic biblical ethics become the super tools of today’s evangelism?  This important new book looks at the increasing use of entertainment and amusement to teach the Word of God, and the expanding efforts to make the gospel message more seeker-sensitive.  The advancing use of ecumenism and the resultant confusion between Catholicism and biblical Christianity, the multiplying affect of doctrinal error through increasingly popular paraphrased Bibles, and the proliferation of visual renditions of Scripture.  Executive Director of The Berean Call and co-author of The Seduction of Christianity, T. A. McMahon:  The title of the book is a question, Showtime for the Sheep? And I’m asking the question, and I have a great concern, having a media background myself, that maybe we are moving into something which, even thought it has elements in it that seem to refer to Scripture, is it entertainment, is it for amusement, and do those elements draw us away from God’s truth?

            This book calls the shepherds and the sheep of Christ to reconsider their rush into media driven ways of doing church contrary to God’s ways.  Read this Berean’s response to Bible movie mania, Showtime for the Sheep?  The Church and the Passion of the Christ, by T. A. McMahon, available now in paperback and e-book.  Information on how to order in just a moment.  If you are a serious student of God’s Word, we offer a wide variety of items that you will find helpful, from books and tracts to audio and video tapes, CD-ROM, our internet website and much more.  For a complete list of materials, or to get a copy of today’s broadcast, write to us at PO Box 7019, Bend, Oregon 97708, call us at our toll free order number 877-882-4253, that’s 877-88Bible, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org.   If you would like a copy of this broadcast, ask for Program #0705, and be sure to mention the call letters of this station.  Get a pen or pencil ready, we’ll repeat our contact information in just a moment.

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