When we read the book of Acts, which relates the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ following the end of His earthly ministry, we notice an unusual pattern.

From the second chapter of the book onward, we see the word of God being proclaimed, and people who hear that word believing in Christ and responding to His gospel in obedient faith. We see churches being established in Jerusalem, in Samaria, in Antioch, in Thessalonica, in Berea, and numerous other locations. We see the number of disciples swell from 120 (Acts 1:15) to untold thousands by the end of Luke’s account.

What’s interesting, however, is what we don’t see in Acts. Consider these facts:

• Although we see the conversions of numerous disciples to Christ, we do not see a single person joining the Roman Catholic church, or the Greek Orthodox church, or any other denominated entity.

• Although we are told that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26), we are never told that they were called Episcopalians, or Methodists, or Lutherans, or any of the hundreds of names commonly assumed by religious people today.

• Although the church began on the Pentecost following the ascension of Christ (Acts 2:1), we are never told that those whom the Lord added to the church on that day (Acts 2:47) were called Pentecostals.

• Although three thousand people were baptized into Christ on that day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41), and countless others after that day (Acts 8:12-13; 8:36-38; 9:18; 10:47-48; 16:15, 33; 18:8; 19:3-5; 22:16), we do not find where any of them were ever called Baptists.

Now, someone will say, “Well, of course you don’t read about any Catholics or Methodists or Lutherans or Baptists in the book of Acts. All of those bodies came into existence centuries later.” To which we’ll reply, “Exactly.”

The story is told of a gospel preacher named Marshall Keeble, who years ago was preaching in a certain place when he was confronted by a young man who asked him, “What do you think about the church I belong to?”

“Which church?” asked brother Keeble.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,” the young man answered.

“They’re too late,” replied brother Keeble.

It’s not only our Mormon friends who are “too late.” All of those who attach themselves to churches and names and doctrines and practices that postdate the New Testament period are likewise “too late.” They are too late because the one and only church established by Jesus Christ, through the agency of His chosen apostles, is the church we read about in Acts. The only kind of disciples Christ ever gathered to Himself through the proclamation of His gospel are the kind who were first called Christians in Acts 11:26, and who were never called by any of the myriad appellations developed by religionists in the ensuing generations between then and now. Any other denominations or types of church, and any other sects or splinter groups of purported disciples, are too late.