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Much to the surprise of many in the modern church, the New Testament does reveal how the early church gathered collectively to seek the Lord. However, it must be viewed prayerfully apart from the bias of religious history. 

According to the apostolic teaching and tradition of the New Testament, the primary style of gathering for the real New Testament church was not characterized by a large group “service” in a building. Moreover, it was not led by a predetermined liturgy under human headship. Instead, the primary style of gathering for the real New Testament church emphasized the intimacy of small group community under the immediate headship of Jesus Christ.

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, provided insight into the gatherings of the real New Testament church. While his first letter to the Corinthians was largely corrective, it unintentionally unveils the simple manner in which the real New Testament church gathered.
 
As indicated, in chapters 11-14 of 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul addressed some of the problems associated with the gatherings of the New Testament church in ancient Corinth:
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Problem
Reference
Problems with praying and prophesying.
1 Corinthians 11:2-16
Problems with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Problems with ministry. 
1 Corinthians 12-14
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The writing of the Apostle Paul to the New Testament church in ancient Corinth presented biblical guidelines for church gatherings. Broadly speaking, the Spirit-ordered, life (zoe) based gatherings of the early church were characterized by prayer, the observance of the Lord’s Supper as a full meal, and loving, gifted ministry to one another.
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The practice of the modern religious church and the real New Testament church can be distinguished as follows:
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Modern Religious Church
New Testament Church
Source:
  • Human/Earthly.
  • Divine/Heavenly.
Nature:
  • Temporal.
  • Eternal.
Origination on Earth:
  • Fourth-Century.
  • First-Century.
Description:
  • "Mixed-Marriage" (Pergamum).
  • Simulated Church.
  • Organized Church.
  • Institutional Church.
  • Traditional Church.
  • Cultural Church. 
  • Temporal Church. 
  • "Desired" (Ephesus).
  • Ecclesia or "assembly".
  • Organic Church.
  • Bride of Christ. 
  • Body of Christ.
  • Pillar and Support of the Truth.
  • Holy Priesthood.
  • Chosen Race.
  • Holy temple of the Lord.
  • The dwelling of God in the Spirit.
  • Eternal Church.  
Basis:
  • Human tradition. 
  • Eternal Covenant:
  1. Initiated between the members of the Godhead in eternity before the foundation of the world and fulfilled in time. Redemptive in nature, its stipulations included the willing death of the Son, His subsequent resurrection by the Father, and the application of its benefit to humanity by the Spirit. 
Calling:
  • Human conscience. 
  • Called by God before the foundation of the world:
  1. Called out from the condemnation and wrath of God. 
  2. Called together to enjoy God through intimate, shared life community. 
Function:
  • Organize religious activity for God. 
  • Facilitate shared life fellowship with God. 
  • Fellowship between God and mankind serves to:
  1. Vindicate the nature of God to the angelic host. 
  2. Repopulate the kingdom of God. 
Form:
  • Physical congregation. 
  • Inorganic; complex.
  • Function follows form:
  1. Established by mankind, the form of a physical congregation was necessary to organize religious activity for God. 
  • Spiritual body. 
  • Organic; simple. 
  • Form follows function:
  1. Created by God, the function of facilitating shared life fellowship with Him necessitated the form of a spiritual body. 
Purpose:
  • The organized practice of religious activity for God. 
The practice of shared life fellowship with God.    
Mission:
  • Increase adherents.  
  • Cultivate and protect shared life fellowship with God. 
  • As a consequence:
  1. The making of disciples by the revelation and sharing of divine life on earth through gracious overflow.  
  2. The church serves as a divinely animated witness of God by grace through faith alone (Acts 1:8). 
Fulfillment of Purpose and Mission:
  • By mankind for God.
  • Through works of the flesh. 
  • By sight. 
  • By God for mankind. 
  • Through works of the Spirit. 
  • By grace through faith alone. 
Doctrine:
  • Human in origin. 
  • Subjective.
  • Relative. 
  • Preserved by human leadership and tradition.
  • Susceptible to deception and deviation.
  • Divine in origin.
  • Objective.
  • Absolute. 
  • Preserved by God through collective submission to divine headship by fullness of the Spirit, the interdependent counsel of brothers and sisters, undergirded by the support of servant eldership.
Body:
  • Animated, formed, and cultivated by mankind.
  • Human beings united by common religious interest.
  • Members of unequal status.
  • Clergy/laity distinction.
  • Animated, formed, and cultivated on earth by the Spirit of Christ.
  • Animated through His work of regeneration, indwelling, and leading; formed by His baptizing and sealing; and cultivated on earth according to His fullness. 
  • Co-equal brothers and sisters united by the indwelling life of God.
  • Equality of brothers and sisters ordered according to divinely appointed ministry role/spiritual giftedness.
  • No clergy/laity distinction.
Citizenship:
  • Earthly.
  • Heavenly.
Leadership:
  • Human headship manifested through professional "clergy".
  1. Decision-making by the rule of pastoral leadership and/or eldership, often without scriptural qualification.
  2. Occasionally supported by congregational vote. 
  3. Characterized by inequality between leadership and body ("clergy"/"laity" distinction). 
  • Esteemed and protected above all else, the immediate headship of Christ.
  • Manifested by the fullness of His indwelling Spirit in the brothers and sisters of the body:
  1. Decision-making by grace through faith alone according to the collective cultivation of sensitivity to the movement of the Spirit.
  2. Leading to prayerful consensus by the brothers and sisters.
  3. Supported by the counsel of scripturally qualified Spirit-filled eldership.
  4. Characterized by the equality of every member of the body.
Source of Life and Power:
  • Human life for God.
  • Little or no cooperation between God and mankind.
  • Representative of the perceived law of God on earth. 
  • Demonstrative of religious activity for God.
  • Finite power. 
  • Divine life for mankind.
  • Human cooperation by grace through faith alone.
  • Representational of the indwelling life of God on earth.
  • Demonstrative of the attributes of the divine nature for the benefit of both the angelic host and the human race.
  • Infinite power.    
Works:
  • Prepared by mankind in time. 
  • Temporal.
  • Dead, physical works performed for God by human effort. 
  • Prepared by God beforehand. 
  • Eternal.
  • Living, spiritual works graciously fulfilled by God in cooperation with human faith. 
Governance:
  • Federal or democratic - governance for God. 
  • By human headship.
  1. Standing in proxy for divine headship.
  2. ​By the external rule of law, characterized by reward for obedience and punishment for transgression.
  • Theocratic - governance by God. 
  • Concordant with divine headship.
  • With the brothers and sisters of the body joined federally and naturally to Christ's headship.  
  • ​Through the internal rule of indwelling life, characterized by lavish grace. 
Manifestation:
  • Predominantly manifested in static, impersonal, nonreciprocal large group meetings in special buildings in one location. 
  • Occasionally inclusive of law-based small groups. 
  • Predominantly manifested in dynamic, intimate, interactive, intergenerational small group community that moves from house to house in unlimited locations. 
  • Occasionally inclusive of life-based, large group gatherings for a specific purpose.
Primary Activities:
  • The observance of shared interest, religious activity for God (characterized almost exclusively by teaching about God). 
  • The nonreciprocal ministry of temporal life by select individuals to a largely passive audience.
  • Demonstrated through a prearranged liturgy. 
  • The celebration of life shared with God.
  • The interactive ministry of eternal life by the Spirit through the gifted involvement of every member of the body.
  • Evidenced by purposeful prayer; intentional community interaction; the Lord’s Supper as a full, celebratory meal; the fellowship of the Spirit; participatory praise and worship in song; the equipping of the saints; spiritually-gifted interactive ministry to one another; the joyful giving of material goods and finances to meet actual needs; corrective spiritual discipline; mutual discipleship; and team-oriented outreach. 
Giving:
  • Persistent prompting to support  religious activity for God.
  • Giving is predominantly, if not exclusively, for building and salary expenses. 
  • Disbursement determined by leadership minority. 
  • Cooperative, cheerful giving with Christ by grace through faith.
  • Giving to support life-based ministry for the cultivation of life-based community.
  • Disbursement determined by prayerful consensus by the co-equal members of the body.
  • Predominantly to support local needs.
Growth:
  • Earthly, temporal, and physical.
  • Inorganic and linear.
  • By the addition of individuals through organizational directive and development.
  • Heavenly, eternal, and spiritual.
  • Organic and exponential. 
  • By the divine multiplication of shared life community on earth.
  • Typically through the overflow of the indwelling life of Jesus Christ.
Measure of Success:
  • The growth of attendance.
  • The growth of life-based community. 
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God created the New Testament church to be a living (zoe) organism suitable for animation by His indwelling life (zoe). Its gatherings were designed in eternity to be simple.

The simple gatherings of the real New Testament church were not predetermined by civic, religious, or historic precedent. Instead, they were directed by the indwelling Spirit of Christ within the framework of apostolic teaching and tradition.
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Mankind contributes to the restoration of the real New Testament church by grace through faith alone. Therefore, the church body must actively trust God to provide the leadership and illumination necessary for the return to New Testament standard.
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If you want to learn more about restoring the church to New Testament standard, please follow this link to “The Real New Testament Church”. Without financial obligation to the reader, it provides a comprehensive view of early church doctrine and practice.