Jesus Christ said, “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Scripture testifies that Christ is the Rock on which His Church is built, and the Son of God promised us that this Church would endure. That Church began on the day of Pentecost, nearly 2,000 years ago, when God poured out His Holy Spirit on a relatively small group of believing people—and it exists today.
Jesus gave a commission to the Church that was to begin on Pentecost, saying, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15–16). He promised He would be with them every step of the way as they sought to accomplish their mission (Matthew 28:20). In the book of Acts we see that He fulfilled that promise, accompanying and empowering His Church. And we see what that Church—a relatively small, ragtag group of people—was able to accomplish because of this. Their impact was described by those who violently sought to silence their message in Thessalonica: “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (Acts 17:6).
That small group of people didn’t have the Internet. They didn’t even have printing presses. Yet they lost no time gaining a reputation as those who “turned the world upside down.” Earlier, Jesus had astonished the crowds with His power and authority (Luke 4:32, 36), and the Church that began on that Pentecost in AD 31 went out into the world with the same power and Spirit.
Whatever described those people must also describe the continuation of the Church that had its beginning on that Pentecost—the Church capable of turning the world upside down. So, are we the Church of that Pentecost? When we look at the characteristics of the people who were a part of that Church in AD 31, can we truly say that we are a part of that body of people? It’s up to us, because we are each part of a body of people, and we each contribute to what that body of people is like—or not like.
Let’s examine three characteristics of the Church of that Pentecost—because those characteristics should describe us.
Are We a Church with One Accord?
The Church of that Pentecost was a Church “with one accord,” as a prerequisite to receiving the Holy Spirit. “When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1). What if they hadn’t been with one accord in one place? What if they’d been arguing and bickering? Surely, as human beings, they had some varying ideas—what if those ideas had grown so dominant that they prevented the disciples from being in one place to receive that gift? What if personality differences had kept them apart? What if some had said, I love that guy, but I’m not going to be in a room with him, or, I do love him as a brother—just don’t ask me to shake his hand, because I can’t forget what he did?
For those disciples at that first Pentecost, it wasn’t like that. The Greek word translated “with one accord” in the New King James Version is homothumadon. The Outline of Biblical Usage suggests that this word, used ten times in Acts, “helps us understand the uniqueness of the Christian community. Homothumadon is a compound of two words meaning to ‘rush along’ and ‘in unison.’ The image is almost musical; a number of notes are sounded which, while different, harmonize in pitch and tone.”
We can read further in Acts 2 to see homothumadon in action. What does it look like to be with one accord while empowered by God’s Spirit? After 3,000 people were baptized, “they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers”:
Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 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, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:42–47).
The brethren in that Church were not communists, and people were not expected to give everything they had—or even to make this special donation at all—but they had sincere, mutual compassion for one another. Some of these people had traveled from far-off lands to be there for Pentecost, and suddenly, through God’s Spirit, they felt closer to their new brethren than to anyone else they’d ever known, and they didn’t look forward to going back to their home countries—yet they had only brought enough to stay for a certain amount of time.
They shared with one another because they longed to keep spending time with one another, longed to be with those who shared a common mind, common accord, and common passion.
Two chapters later, we find another description that reflects this aspect of that Church. “Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common… for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need” (Acts 4:32–35). These resources were not given to enable someone’s vanity project—as some false leaders have sought in this age. People gave because there were people in need, and they trusted their leaders to know where the needs truly were.
Even beyond care and compassion, the Church’s teachings were a part of that homothumadon, because it’s just not possible for the Church to be with one accord if we’re all disputing about what is taught. You cannot be with one accord with a multitude of conflicting teachings. That is a part of having unity of mind—being “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10)
God’s people were “of one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). And when you share one heart and one soul, you want to have dinner together. When you go to a movie, you want to see it with God’s people, because those are the people you want to discuss it with afterward. When you get together for a volleyball game, you want to play with God’s people, because those people share something with you that is more important than volleyball, and playing volleyball with them means more than playing it with others. We need to be willing to examine ourselves as individuals—and seek, if necessary, to revive that kind of spirit. What does it take for us to become more like this description of our first-century counterparts—more with one accord?
Are We a Church That Is Doing the Work?
The Church that was founded on the Pentecost of AD 31 had a divine mission to take a divine message to the ends of the earth—as we see from the very beginning.
In Acts 2, the account of that first Pentecost of the New Testament Church describes the miraculous giving of God’s Holy Spirit, accompanied by miraculous sights and sounds (vv. 1–3). One gift of that Spirit gave the apostles the ability to be heard in languages they had never used before (v. 4).
Around where they were meeting, the sounds gathered Jews—“devout men, from every nation under heaven”—who heard these Galilean men speaking in their own languages (vv. 5–6):
Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God” (vv. 7–11).
Peter then proceeded to deliver what we might even call the very first Tomorrow’s World Presentation. This divine gift of languages was not a random gift!
The moment God’s Church began, the very first miraculous gift it was given was the ability to preach the Gospel to the world! The New Testament Church began fulfilling its commission to preach the Gospel from the very first moment of its existence, and its Living Head, Jesus Christ, used the initial giving of His Spirit to empower it for that very task!
We cannot afford to miss this vital fact, and it is worthy of repeating: The very first act of God’s Church was to immediately do the Work of preaching the Gospel to the world, and the very first gift God gave to His Church was the ability to do that Work effectively. The Church came into existence and then, with its first breath, preached the Gospel, having been empowered by its Father to reach the entire world with His Message.
You cannot separate the Church of God from the Work. Many try, but they serve the purposes of the Devil in doing so. There is one thing this world needs, and—through no strength or greatness or wisdom of our own—God is empowering us to give it to them. We do not have the right to tell Him to use someone else. We need to be about doing the Work that He has called us to do.
The Church of the Pentecost of AD 31 certainly was preaching the Gospel—and its leaders were called before some of the highest-ranking government officials of the time for doing so. “So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). Now, for many who live in the Western world, it’s easy to envision a government with no “bite,” because we are accustomed to hearing people ridicule governments with impunity. But the men to whom the apostles were now having to give account were men who held their lives in their hands—men who, at a command, could have them executed.
Knowing this, perhaps Peter and John could have said, “Well, it does seem that the door is closing, for it’s truly difficult to do the Work in this age. Perhaps at a time when we have greater budgets, when we can truly afford it, and things are a lot safer, we’ll seek to do the Work. Until then, let’s focus on family weekends, covered-dish meals, and local Bible studies.”
But they did not. Instead, God’s inspired word records their response to the authorities: “Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard’” (vv. 19–20).
That is a statement of absolute commitment. It is the language of no-other-choice. Peter and John looked at those men who commanded them—potentially at penalty of death—not to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ’s coming Kingdom and said, in essence, No matter what choices you are about to make about our lives, no matter what words you are about to use to accuse us, and no matter what pains you are about to bring upon us, we cannot do anything else but preach this message.
It is easy to get caught up in various diversions and controversies that are not the Church’s part to solve in this world. But be careful to notice precisely why the apostles were getting in trouble. It wasn’t for any involvement in the political controversies of the day—though there were many, just as there are today.
We should be ashamed if we get in trouble over this world’s disputes. Let the “dead” argue over those things (Luke 9:60). We have a living message that none of them can carry. This world’s passions don’t correspond to God’s passions. Getting caught up in worldly arguments is a trap the Devil lays for us, and we see that the Church of that Pentecost didn’t fall into that trap.
In another instance, the apostles were arrested by the Jewish authorities (again) for preaching the Gospel (again), but this time were freed from prison by an angel (Acts 5:17–19). A miracle! If we were among the apostles, we might assume that we would now be taken to safety—perhaps back to wives and other loved ones who were worried about us.
But what did the angel say? “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life” (v. 20). In other words, What you just got in trouble for, what you’re being threatened for? Go do more of that. And the place where it’s easiest to find you—the middle of the temple? Go stand there.
And they did not hesitate:
When they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, saying, “Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!” Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. So one came and told them, saying, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned (vv. 21–26).
The priests recognized that there was something miraculous afoot—and that the audience was clearly receptive—so it was very different this time: Well, hello, gentlemen. We see you’re preaching again today. That’s nice. The high priest would like a word, actually. You think you could come by?
But it was a different story behind closed doors. “The high priest asked them, saying, ‘Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!’ But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men’” (vv. 27–29).
And the only reason the apostles weren’t killed for this response was because Gamaliel, the one rational voice on the council, suggested that if the apostles’ work was not truly of God, it would die of its own, but if it was, he and his cohorts risked fighting against God Himself (vv. 34–39). This got through to his colleagues, “and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (vv. 40–42).
So the apostles were miraculously freed—but to do what? To continue preaching and to be beaten.
Regardless, they did not cease.
There are some who profess the name “Church of God” who would steal away lambs from the flock, trying to convince them that this is no longer a time to do the Work—that somehow, now, it’s too hard, or that God hasn’t opened the same doors He opened in the days of Herbert W. Armstrong. Now is a time to focus inward, they say. But whether or not those who speak such words sincerely believe them, they are words of Satan the Devil. If they aren’t spoken by deceivers themselves, they’re spoken by people who have allowed themselves to be deceived.
Some in the modern era have made excuses, like, Well, money is tight, and few people are responding. God’s just not calling anybody anymore. But the Church founded on that Pentecost in AD 31 would have said something very different: Well, they are only beating us—not executing us yet—we’re still alive, so the door is still open!
It is shameful to have the Holy Spirit and not be willing to do the will of the One who sacrificed so much so we could receive that Spirit. The very first breath of the Church that came into existence on Pentecost of AD 31 was preaching the Gospel. And for many of God’s servants who have gone before us as martyrs over the centuries, their last word was still preaching the Gospel. If we say that it is no longer necessary to do the Work, we shame their memories—and we shame what Jesus Christ seeks to do in His body.
The Church founded on that Pentecost understood that preaching the message to the whole world is a necessity. If we are that Church, we will see it that way, too.
Are We a Church of Courage?
It’s very easy to think of only the ministry as those who need courage to preach the Gospel, but the entire Church that was founded on that day of Pentecost was made up of members who needed courage. They recognized that the burden is on all of us.
Now, that doesn’t mean each of us should make our own YouTube channel and do our own preaching. But, at the same time, has God ever given you what seemed like a natural opportunity to tell someone something about what you believe? Where I used to work, I had such opportunities in my cubicle from time to time when I was asked about my beliefs (1 Peter 3:15), and I’m sure many of you have such opportunities as well.
Scripture tells us that the entire Church needs courage. Before he became the Apostle Paul, Saul the Pharisee hated God’s Church with a passion—he believed that all its members were heretics corrupting men, women, and children. He had a passion for persecuting Christians, and it drove him to make examples of people. Acts 8 begins right after the religious authorities had made an example of Stephen by stoning him to death.
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. And devout men carried Steven to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison (vv. 1–3).
Just imagine angry individuals not only coming for the people at Headquarters. They’re coming into your home. They’re coming to drag your wife away for an answer she gave about her beliefs to the salesman at the store. They’re coming to grab your children out of your house.
What do you do?
In verse 4, we read what they did: “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” Intense persecution did not stop them, because they recognized that what began on Pentecost in AD 31 involved them all.
God sometimes directed ancient Israel to the examples of the Gentiles around them—not to worship foreign gods, but to help them see how they compared in their own devotions to Him (e.g., Ezekiel 5:7). That concept reminds me of an account that came out of World War II. Many people don’t realize that Jehovah’s Witnesses were rounded up in Europe during World War II and placed into concentration camps, much as the Jews were. Their message is not the true Gospel! Let there be no mistake about that. Yet they do believe they have an obligation to preach their message in the face of whatever persecution may be thrown at them.
A documentary I once watched told a tale of such devotion. At a concentration camp that was holding many Jehovah’s Witnesses, word had gotten out to their Nazi captors that there was something suspicious going on in one of the camp buildings. As the guards stormed the room with their rifles—perhaps expecting to see people digging a tunnel to escape or building a stash of illegal, homemade weaponry—they found, instead, a group of Jehovah’s Witness prisoners hand-printing copies of a magazine they had produced. Using bits and pieces of machinery smuggled into the camp, they had assembled a working mimeograph and were cranking out copies of their religion’s magazine—from inside the concentration camp!
The account mentions the utter shock of the Nazi guards, who could not believe their eyes and asked, repeatedly, “What are you doing? What are you doing?”
Their answer: “You don’t understand. We must do this.”
Would God find that kind of commitment and devotion in us—those who do carry His divine message to the world—today? Or would He find excuses? If we courageously stand fast as the Church that was founded on Pentecost in AD 31, He will find courage. Are we the Church of that Pentecost?
Those first Christians’ “spiritual DNA” is in us—the Holy Spirit that connects us to them across almost 2,000 years. But whether we’ll actually be that Church is not a matter of happenstance; it’s a matter of choice. Let’s not dishonor the name we bear. Let us not fail to be that Church.