2. The officers were appointed for certain necessary duties (Acts
6;20:17-23; Titus 1:5-7); it was the Lord who called men into certain
vocations for the edifying of the church (Ephesians 4:11,12; 1
Corinthians 12:27,28).
3. The time of meeting was upon the first day of the week (Acts 20:7;
1 Corinthians 16:2), thus commemorating the resurrection of the Lord
(John 20:1,19; Luke 24:1; Mark 16:2; Matthew 28:1).
4. The aim was to build up pure and godly lives (Titus 2:1-15) and to
bring all men into fellowship with the Master. There was an intense
enthusiasm for the faith and propagation of it. There was an
extraordinary religious elevation and purity of conduct. The churches
set themselves to eradicate the selfishness in man, out of which all
forms of injustice sprang and aimed to affect the moral renovation of
the individual and of society. There were abuses which arose out of
the former lives of believers; it is surprising, considering the evil
influences surrounding the early churches, that they were so few.
5. But there arose in the midst of a gross heathenism, with all its
great immoralities, a rapidly growing community, which demanded purity
of life and conduct from its communicants and supreme allegiance to
Christ, the Lord and Saviour; how strong it was is shown by the fact
that the Roman Empire tried to stamp it out, failed, and was taken
captive itself by the religion it had despised.
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