Introduction

About one year before leaving this earth Jesus promised his disciples, “I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:18)

This promise was fulfilled in Jerusalem some 50 days after his crucifixion on a Jewish feast day called Pentecost. The details of this great event are given in Acts, chapter two. Verse 41 reads, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them”.

Who were these people?

Verse 47 answers this question.

“And the Lord added to the church those who were being saved”

Thus, the first Christians.

This same chapter also shows us what people did in order to become Christians. As a result of Peter’s sermon the Jews came to believe in Christ. Realizing they needed to repent of their sins they were then baptized for the remission of their sins. This resulted in their being added to the church Jesus had promised. (Acts 2:38)

The New Testament church was very simple in its make up. Each congregation was independent with Christ as its only head. (Ephesians 1:22-23.) As “King of kings and Lord of lords”

Christ reigns over His Kingdom (the church) at the right hand of God in heaven.

In each local church there were a plurality of elders and deacons. (Philippians 1:1) The elders, sometimes called “bishops” or “pastors,” oversaw the activity of the local church. The deacons were special servants who assisted them in their work. (See 1 Timothy 3:1-13; 1 Peter 5:1-5)

They also had evangelists who preached the gospel. Often they would go into areas which had not been evangelized and establish new churches. They also worked with established churches. (See Acts 21:8, 20:31, 2 Timothy 4:5)

The worship that God authorized for these early Christians was very simple. It consisted of prayer, singing, giving attention to the teaching of the scriptures and observing the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week (Sundays).

They were also commanded to give as they had been prospered on that day. (See Acts 2:42, Acts 20:7, Colossians 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 16:192) Secular history verifies these New Testament descriptions.

Christians were instructed to go into all the world and preach the gospel. (Matthew 28:19-20) They were also commanded to help those with physical needs. (See James 1:27, Galatians 6:10.) Specific instructions were given to them about how to conduct themselves as Christians (Please read 1 Timothy 3:15) Most of the New Testament epistles deal with Christian living.

The history of the Lord’s church in the first century is given in great detail in the Book of Acts, along with additional information gathered from other books of the New Testament.

However, most people are unaware of what happened to the church after the first century. The historical notes in this booklet will take you through each century noting the many major changes that took place within the church.

After the first century there would follow unauthorized departures from what the Lord had decreed through the apostles and the written word, the New Testament. The changes would be gradual but the end result would be a church entirely different from what the Lord established in the beginning and intended to be perpetuated until the end of time.

Warnings were frequently given by the apostles that there would be a “falling away,” a departure from the truth (See 2 Thessalonians 2:3).

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