There are so many things about the early church that are impressive, things that made them a successful force in world evangelism. They were fervent in prayer. The Holy Spirit obviously empowered them. The Word of God was used skillfully. Along with these was their ability to press forward in good times and bad.
On the day of Pentecost they experienced great success in seeing three thousand saved, baptized and added to the church. However, it did not cause them to accept this as the end of their mission, but rather as the beginning. The church was not content with the advance that they had made. Instead, they pressed forward.
The early success was followed by persecution. This persecution would be repeated again and again with the same result. They continued to press forward. They were threatened, beaten, jailed and rejected. But when they were given the opportunity, they pressed forward.
There was a disagreement in the church in Acts 6. The church quickly found a solution to the problem and made haste to press forward. As a result “the Word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly.”
Stephen was taken from them. Peter had great success in the house of Cornelius. Philip had wonderful success in Samaria and Gaza. Paul was banished from cities, imprisoned, and stoned. The end was always the same: they pressed forward.
Now, fast-forward two thousand years. We also enjoy successes and endure failures. The question is this: Will we continue to press forward? We can pray. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. We have even more of the written Word than they had. Do we have the conviction necessary to stay in the fight for the souls of men?
It seems that every force on earth is opposed to the forward movement of the gospel, but it had to appear that way to the early church as well. The world was upside-down for them, and without question it is for us as well. We have a command to take the Gospel to the world, and we cannot permit anything to slow our forward march. Take courage, for we have the authority of Christ to accomplish this great task.
In His Service,
Danny A. Whetstone