By Dewey Roberts - Posted at Vanguard Presbyterian Church:
How large were the churches in the New Testament? What was the membership of the church at Corinth? Or at Ephesus? Or at Rome? Or even at Antioch or Jerusalem? Do we know? Do we have any way to know? The Scripture never really gives us that information. We know that there were 3,000 people converted to Christ at the Feast of Pentecost, but they represented many different regions and countries—from Parthia, Media, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, and Rome. That is a very large geographical area represented by the converts. We know that there were about 120 believers who gathered in the Upper Room after Jesus’ resurrection. There were over 500 people who saw Jesus ascend into heaven 40 days after His resurrection. There were about 5,000 men who believed as a result of Peter’s second sermon in Jerusalem. Many of those were probably Jews who lived in Jerusalem or Israel. In Acts 21, we are told that there were “many thousands. . . among the Jews. . . who have believed.” So, we know that there were thousands of believers, but beyond that we know very little. The main reason why is because the Scripture is more interested in relating the stories of genuine converts, like Lydia or the Philippian jailer. Also, the Scripture gives us the marks of a true church—the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. The Protestant Reformers taught that the three essential marks of a true church are: the faithful preaching of the Word, the right administration of the sacraments, and the right exercise of discipline. Where those marks exist, a true church also exists. Where those marks do not exist, there is no true church. And, of course, there were many individual congregations or churches, but only one Church. The head of the one true Church is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Compiled by Angela Wittman, editor Image from Wikipedia John Bunyan ( /ˈbʌnjən/ ; baptised 30 November 1628 – 31 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher [1] best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress . In addition to The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons . Bunyan came from the village of Elstow , near Bedford . He had some schooling and at the age of sixteen joined the Parliamentary army during the first stage of the English Civil War . After three years in the army he returned to Elstow and took up the trade of tinker , which he had learned from his father. He became interested in religion after his marriage, attending first the parish church and then joining the Bedford Meeting, a nonconformist group in Bedford, and becoming a preacher. After the restoration of the monarch , when the freedom of nonconformists was curtailed, Bunyan was arrested and spent the ne
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