According to verse 16 the church continued to grow. One reason was because of the incident with Ananias and Sapphira, the church was fearing God and walking with Him. In other words, the church was purified. Today’s passage continues to teach us why the early church continued to grow. Let’s look at this.
I. The rapid progress of the church (vs.13,14)
Here the words that describe the progress of the early church are “highly regarded in verse13 and “added to their numbers” in verse 14. “No one else” in verse 13 refers to non Christians. Non Christians didn’t dare to come into the early church’s fellowship. However, they respected Christians. In other words, the people who heard about Ananias and Sapphira were fearful and didn’t want a deep relationship with the church. However, they respected the Christians. Present Japan is the same. According to a recent poll, 36% of the people interviewed said if they had to choose a religion, they would choose Christianity. However, only 1% of Japan is Christian. Like the early church there were many who respected Christians, but they had no desire of actually believing in Christ. However, in the early church, even so, people continued to come into the Church.
In verse 14 we are told that the church added to its numbers. Even though the people did not want to come into the fellowship of the church, the numbers increased. The people did not want to come into the fellowship of the church. However, as they saw people healed they too began to fear God. “Nevertheless” in verse 14 means that even though the people did not want to come into the fellowship of the church, not only did they respect the Christians, but also the church continued to grow. And the sick and those who had evil spirits were healed. Next let’s look at why the early church so strongly progressed.
II. Lot’s of signs and amazing works (vs.12)
John 14:12
What is more important than doing a lot of signs and wonders is understanding what the signs and wonders are showing us. These are the principles upon which we need to base our ministry.
1. The signs and wonders were an answer to their prayers. In Acts 4:30 they prayed that the Lord would “stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” What they prayed for is happening here. They would never have been able to perform such signs and amazing works without prayer. This means that whether the apostles are in the church or not, the church can do nothing without prayer. In order for the church to do such amazing works that unbelievers will respect the church, the church must pray.
2. For the wonders that the church performs to cause people to respect Christians and accept the faith, the wonders must meet the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of the people. The early church’s evangelism wasn’t separated from the concerns and problems of daily life. At the same time the evangelism wasn’t concerned only with the concerns and problems of daily life. Their evangelism was concerned with both their daily life and their spiritual life. By solving the problems of daily life, they were able to lead people to real spiritual salvation. This is the real wonder of salvation. The church performed such wonders so they were respected by so many non Christians.
We need to pray and go out into the world where people have worries and concerns and pray for answers to their problems. We need to bring light. Then we will be respected by non Christians, and people will come to the faith. This was the early Church’s works of love.
III. Being one in heart (vs. 12)
One other reason the church progressed was because they were one in heart. The church used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. (vs.12) The church had grown too big to meet in a home so they met in the temple at Solomon’s Colonnade. Such a meeting surprised the world. The energy and bigness of such a meeting amazed everyone.
No matter how much the church talks about the kingdom of God, if they don’t meet together in one heart and show themselves to the world, those of the world, non Christians will not think that the kingdom of God has come. Nor will they even realize that there are Christians around them. When Christians meet in one heart together, they show the world that they are really God’s people.
Hebrews 10:25
The first church was respected by non Christians, and people continued to increase because the early church prayed for signs and wonders. They performed wonders of love. They met together in one heart. We want to be this kind of church.
This is not just on the church level. We need to individually reach out to other people. We need to become someone respected by other people. We need to pray. We need to think about how we can reach out to those who are facing problems and worries. That will speak to other people’s hearts. Both as individuals and as a church we need to pray, love from our heart and be one in heart. This is why the early church grew. This is the type of person that we want to be and the kind of church that we want to be. Then we will see the church progressing like the early church.