Jesus promised to build His Church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. After His return to heaven, this Church was empowered on the day of Pentecost, what we know today as the Early Church emerged. This was when God released the first phase of His power over the Church, and therefore, the Church was full of this power, characterized with a preponderance of signs and wonders, massive salvation of souls and God’s awareness among the Jews and Gentiles of the time. It was the first apostolic era that saw the phenomenal spread of the Word of God and the Church. Unfortunately, after the apostles left the scene there was a lot of falling away, and then heresy and apostasy crept into the Church. This arose principally from the false teachings and philosophies that were characteristic of the early centuries through to the late middle ages, which kept impinging on the Church from within and without. Consequently, over time the apostolic foundation that was laid by the apostles was temporarily abandoned and therefore, apostolic life became momentarily extinct.