A REVIEW
In Lesson 1, we began a study of the history of the church, specifically “The Church in Prophecy.” We saw that there are those who would relegate the church to some kind of a “stop-gap measure” that God used because His plan to send His Son to reign on the earth as an earthly king, was thwarted, was overturned, by the Jews when they rejected Jesus and arranged to have Him killed. These people who believe this say that God had to come up with some kind of interim measure, a “stop-gap” sort of plan, to do something, and so that plan was, they say, the church. And this is only something that is temporary until the Lord comes back again.
We know that others, concerning the church, would say that it really isn’t important, that the church is not a divinely established institution, that there is really nothing that is distinctive, nothing that is remarkable about the church, and that the church is really nothing more than an “organization,” an “institution,” just something that is made by man. Well, in fact, there are many, many, man-made institutions which call themselves a “church,” no doubt about that.
However, in His very Own Words, Jesus made this decree, He made this promise, He made this prophecy, “I will build My church,” Matthew 16:18. He said, “I will establish My church. I will found (if you will) My church.” And in Lesson 1, we noted that, heaven did not wait until this declaration that Jesus made while He was here on the earth some two thousand years ago to have this divine plan in mind. No, the heavenly plan has always been a part of God’s plan for man’s redemption, that is, the heavenly plan for the church. It was not some “stop-gap measure” when God’s “original plan” was overturned and thwarted by man.
We saw that all the way back in the days of King David, a thousand years before Christ, there was a divine allusion to the kingdom, to the church. God’s prophet, Nathan, would tell the King, “And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever,” 2 Samuel 7:16. Well, there’s a promise that God made to David. But certainly, David’s earthly house and kingdom came to an end long ago. We know that the “kingdom” that is in view there is a prophecy of the kingdom of Christ, a prophecy of the church, and it is an “everlasting kingdom.”
Peter, speaking of the patriarch David in that first Gospel sermon that he preached in the city of Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2, makes this statement, Acts 2:29-30: “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne….” Well, is there any doubt, any question, in our mind that what the prophet Nathan spoke in the long ago concerning the throne of David being an everlasting one, was a view toward the kingdom, the kingdom that Christ would establish? No, there is no doubt about it. Indeed, it cannot be denied.
In Lesson 1, we also noted the prophecy of Isaiah, Isaiah 2:1-3. We saw there that the prophet of God would prophecy concerning the Lord’s house that would be established. There were three criteria—three things—that we noticed there in Isaiah’s prophecy. First, the Lord’s house would be established. That kingdom that he prophesies concerning would be established in “the latter days.” Secondly, it would be established in the city of Jerusalem. And in the third place, all nations would flow to it.
We also looked briefly at the prophecy that’s contained in Daniel 2:44. We saw there that a kingdom was foreseen that would break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms, and would stand forever.
We also took a brief look at what the Old Testament prophet Joel would say concerning the pouring out of the Spirit of God in the last days, Joel 2:28, an event which, by the way, we are going to see had its fulfillment on the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2 and verses 16 and following.
In Lesson 1, in the New Testament, specifically in the Gospels [Matthew, Mark, Luke and John], we noted that the kingdom is “at hand,” according to what we read there. This is some time, some distance, removed from these Old Testament prophecies concerning this kingdom of God which would come, which would be an everlasting kingdom. Now we see that Jesus has come, the Messiah has come. His forerunner, John the Baptist, is going out before Him, and the Message that he is preaching is “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” Matthew 3:1. Well that was the same Message that Jesus would repeat, as well. For example, in Matthew 4:7, He would say the very same thing as John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The “at hand” in both Messages means that it was close, that it was near by, that is was coming soon. And, of course, as we already cited, there is the passage in Matthew 16:18-19 where Jesus promised to build—future tense—build His church, the kingdom.
As we see there in the early part of the 1st Century, while Jesus was still on the earth, while He was involved in His ministry, how near, how much at hand, was the kingdom at that time? Well, from what we see Jesus say, recorded for us in Mark, chapter 9 and verse 1, it was imminent. As a matter of fact, this was another prophecy that Jesus gave concerning the establishing of His kingdom. He would say there in Mark 9:1, “Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power,” [KJV]. Some people who heard Jesus speak, some people who were within the sound of His voice on that occasion, would be alive when His kingdom came with power. As we commented in Lesson 1, there are three options: 1) the kingdom came as Jesus prophesied, or 2) Jesus was flat wrong about it, or 3) there are some two-thousand-year-old people who are still waiting for the kingdom to come. Jesus was right in His prophecy.
After His resurrection, Jesus said this to His disciples, “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem,” Luke 24:46-47 [KJV]. In this prediction, in this prophecy of the Lord, He prophesies that “all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” would be associated with the establishing of His kingdom. Does that in any way sound familiar to us? Is that not what, in part, the prophet Isaiah said in the long ago, Isaiah, chapter 2, that we’ve already talked about? [“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD's house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His Ways, And we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem,” Isaiah 2:2-3.]
So Jesus confirms what Isaiah said in the long ago, and this, of course, was yet to come, even at the time that Jesus spoke this, even after His resurrection. In what Jesus said are two of three things that Isaiah spoke about, that this Word, this Message concerning repentance and the forgiveness of sins, would be preached among all nations, and that this would begin at Jerusalem.
THE ESTABLISMENT OF THE CHURCH
Well, what about the third thing that Isaiah prophesied, that this would occur “in the last days”? Shortly before Jesus ascended back to heaven, His disciples asked Him if He would “at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel,” Acts 1:6. And Jesus said this to them on that occasion: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His Own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…,” Acts 1:7-8 [KJV].
The Lord makes it known here that power, the power that He speaks about, will be associated with the coming of the Spirit of God, the coming of the Holy Spirit. When we establish, then, the time of the coming of the Holy Spirit, we will also know when the power came and when the kingdom, which is the church, had its beginning.
Well, when was that? Let’s look at the first part of Acts, the second chapter. In Acts, chapter 2, beginning with verse 1, we read, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance,” [Acts 2:1-4]. Jesus had said that the Spirit would come. When did the Spirit come? He came on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit came, and He came upon…no, not the assembled multitude, not even upon the 120 who were in the upper room. He came upon the apostles. He filled the apostles.
And the apostles spoke with new tongues, that is, tongues that were new to them—not some gibberish that was unable to be understood, but they spoke in languages, “as the Spirit gave them utterance.” They were even charged with being drunk, Acts 2:13 [“Others mocking said, ‘They are full of new wine.’”]. Peter defends them, though, and says, “It’s only the ninth hour; these men are not drunk at all,” [Acts 2:14-15: “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, ‘Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.”].
What Peter would state next would confirm another of the prophecies that we have been looking toward here. Yes, Peter would say that what the people were seeing, what they were witnessing on that occasion, what they were hearing, was that which was spoken of old by the prophet Joel, Acts 2:16-17: “But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh….”
Here we learn that the events of Pentecost transpired during “the last days.” And so, the three fundamental facts of Isaiah’s prophecy were fulfilled on Pentecost, on this Day of Pentecost, this being one of the major feast days for the Jews. But it was also 50 days after the Passover. This particular Pentecost was 50 days from the crucifixion of our Lord. It was 10 days after He had ascended back to the Father. Oh, this was a special Day of Pentecost.
And so, this Day of Pentecost that took place was when? According to Joel, it was “in the last days.”That was his prophecy. That was his prediction. Peter confirms that that is what’s taking place, that what they’re seeing, what they’re hearing, is what Joel had spoken about would take place “in the last days.” This is—that was—“the last days.”
All of the nations were assembled there in Jerusalem on that Day of Pentecost. The children of Israel—that entire nation—was represented by those who were assembled in the city of Jerusalem on that day. We know that people came by the millions. I’ve read estimates that the population of the city of Jerusalem, which in the 1st Century was ordinarily somewhere around between 150,000 and 200,000, would swell to somewhere in the vicinity of 2 million people during the Passover feast. And many of those who had come for the Passover would stay that extra 50 days for the Day of Pentecost. They would come from everywhere. Scripture shows, of course, the wide-spread dispersion of the Jewish people, of the children of Israel. And we see named there, by the way, in Acts the 2nd chapter, the languages, the tongues, that are being heard, beginning with Acts 2 and verse 8: “‘And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs — we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.’ 12 So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘Whatever could this mean,’” [Acts 2:8-12]?This list is representative of the regions, of the areas, where people had come from. They were hearing the dialect that they were familiar with.
I noted one author who pointed out the regions, the broad regions of this area that this represents. For example, this list represents the eastern part, including Babylonia, Mesopotamia, all of those nations; all of those lands in the eastern part; then Syria to the north—several cities and areas of Syria are mentioned; then all the way down to the south to Egypt and all they way over and up into Europe—Rome. All of those are mentioned. “All nations” were assembled there.
And, where was this taking place? We have already established the time—it was “the last days.” We’ve established that “all nations” were present there. But where was “there”? It was the city of Jerusalem. So we see all of those facts of Isaiah’s prophecy come together in this one place at this one time.
And you remember that Jesus had said that the kingdom would come with “power.” The power came, we have seen, with the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus had promised that He would send “the Comforter,” [John 14:26: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you,” [KJV]. He didn’t say when, but He said that the Spirit would come with power. The Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. And from this, we conclude that the kingdom, the church, came on Pentecost, as it was prophesied.
On Pentecost, the people assembled there heard, and many obeyed, the Gospel. And the Lord added those who were being saved to…an organization?...an institution? Acts 2, verse 47, says they were added to “the church,” [“And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”]. No one was added to the church before Pentecost. Therefore, the church had its beginning on the Day of Pentecost.
Well, let’s note something else about the establishment of the church. We have seen, I trust, through our look at Old Testament prophecy, God’s plan for establishing His church and how that plan had been culminated on the Day of Pentecost. But let’s notice something else about the beginning of the church.
Let’s go back and refresh our memories about what Jesus said concerning the church, Matthew 16:18. On that occasion, He says to Peter, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The most obvious point of this statement by our Lord is Who the builder of the church will be, Who the builder of the church is, Who it is that will establish, Who it is that will found the church. The language here is very clear, very direct. It really cannot be misunderstood or misapplied. Jesus said, “I will build MY church.” So, from this passage, it is very clear that Christ, Jesus the Christ, is the builder, or the founder, of the New Testament church, and that He calls this church HIS church, the church of Christ, or more exactly, the church that BELONGS to Christ.
Any “church” that is founded by someone other than Christ is NOT Christ’s church. Need we mention or identify the myriad of denominational groups who wear the title, who wear the name, of a man who was instrumental in organizing that group and founding that group, and so on? David, in the long ago, announced a great Truth when he said, “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it…,” Psalm 127:1. And in the New Testament, we learn that “the house of God” is “the church of the living God,” 1 Timothy 3:16 [“…but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the Truth.”]. If the Lord did not build the house, that is, the church, those who did build it labored in vain.
Jesus would declare, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted,” Matthew 15:13. NO ONE should be a member of any spiritual household, should be a part of any religious “plant,” if you will, or “church,” which man is responsible for starting, for that “plant” will be uprooted. One should be a member of, one should be a part of, one should be IN, the church that Christ established.
But further, let’s note that not only is Christ the founder of the church, but He also the foundation of the church. In that same statement to Simon Peter that we cited earlier, Christ said, “…on this rock I will build My church….” What was, or what is, that “rock”upon which the church that belongs to Christ, the church that Christ established, was built? Well, it is the bedrock foundation, the bedrock fact that Peter had just acknowledged.
You know, there are millions of people in this world who belong to a “church,” who belong to an organization, that believe that their “church”was established upon Peter himself. Now I said a moment ago that the language is very clear here in Matthew 16, verse 18, regarding Who will build the church. It is the church that Jesus said, “I will build….” “I will build MY church.”
Where people have gone awry is the basis upon which the church would be built. And some have misunderstood, some have misconstrued, what Jesus says in that regard. But we clarify that for you now. You see, again, what Jesus will build His church ON is not Peter, but on what Peter has said, what Peter has testified to, what Peter has acknowledged. And this is the most profound…write this down, underline it, put a star next to it! This is the most profound, the most important, acknowledgement found all of the Scriptures! You see, Jesus had asked the question, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? [Matthew 16:13]. And the apostles recited that some said that He was John the Baptist, others said that He was Elijah the prophet returned, some said others, and so on. But then, Jesus was more direct in His questioning. “But who do you say that I am?” [Matthew 16:15].
The import of that inquiry was momentous. The inquiry that the Lord made on that day, on that occasion, weighed the entirety of Christianity in its balance. Am I overstating that? I don’t think so. I’ve done a good bit of reading on this and most scholars are pretty forthright.
“Well, what if Peter would have answered the question wrong?” someone might ask. The Lord would have found someone to answer it right. But, here is the Truth of the matter. Peter said this—this was his reply when Jesus asked, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,”Matthew 16:16. And it was following this acknowledgement of Who Jesus is, that He is THE Christ, the Son of God, that Jesus will then remark and say, “…on this rock I will build My church.” No, not upon this man, Peter, but upon what Peter has said, this profound Truth that he has uttered regarding who “I am.”
It is the acknowledgement that Jesus IS the Christ upon which He built His church. There had been imposters before. There were imposters after Him. Many denied Him. Many still do. But in this one statement, the Truth of Who He is, that He is the Anointed One of God, that He is the One Who was prophesied about in the long ago, that He has come to be the Savior of the world, that He IS the Son of God, there is such import! And so it was, then, that upon that fact, upon that premise, of Who He was, Who He is, His church would be built, would be established.
The apostle Paul makes this abundantly clear when he states, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ,” 1 Corinthians 3:11. Could there be, can there be any other foundation upon which the church is built (other than Christ, upon Who He is and what His relationship is to God the Father? No. And so, any “church” built on a name or some special religious doctrine or some form of “church government,” other than Christ, is built on the wrong foundation, and thus, it will not stand. The church our Lord established is built upon HIM, on the fact that He IS God’s Son.
That is why every person who becomes a member of the church must confess that he has placed his faith in the Truth, that he makes the acknowledgement, that Jesus Christ ISthe Son of God, just as that Ethiopian nobleman did on that desert highway in the long ago. Philip was teaching him—teaching him the Gospel. Obviously Philip had said something to him about his need to be baptized for the remission of his sins, because we see there in Acts, chapter 8, that as they came upon a body of water the Ethiopian will state and ask Philip, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized,” [Acts 8:36]? And Philip answers him in this way, “If you believe with all your heart, you may,” [Acts 8:37].
Believe what? The nature of the Ethiopian’s question becomes clear in what the Ethiopian nobleman will state. In verse 38 of Acts, chapter 8, he makes this wonderful, this beautiful, this eloquent, this very profound confession: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
The church is said to be a “spiritual house,” made up of “lively stones” the King James says, but other versions say, made up of “living stones,” 1 Peter 2:5-6 [“…you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’” Before a person can be placed on Christ, Who is the foundation, and made a “stone” in that house, he must “believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God,”and, of course, take action on that belief. And that will be the next part, actually, of our study, as we move on and see what happens here in this early church, this primitive church, the church that was established on the Day of Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem.
But for this lesson, we have seen that the actual historical formation of the church occurred on the Day of Pentecost in all the ways that it was prophesied about. It was the kingdom that came “with power.” It was the kingdom that was established “in the last days.” “All nations” were drawn to it, and it was established, it came about, in the “city of Jerusalem.” Those who responded and were obedient on the Day of Pentecost as Peter stood up among the multitude and preached the first Gospel sermon. Those who were obedient and were baptized were added to the church. Which “church”? Which denomination did they become a part of? No, there were no denominations. They were added to the church by God Himself, the only church, the church that was built and established by Christ, the church according to God’s plan and purpose.
Is there anything in a name? Is a name important? Well, some people would say that, when it comes to religious bodies, so to speak, that there really is nothing in a name, and so it is not important what that religious body is referred to, how they are referred to, what they are called, and so on. However, the church that belongs to Christ is correctly called thechurch of Christ. Such a designation is not a denominational name, nor, for that matter, is it exclusively the name that we read about on the pages of the New Testament. But because Christ founded the church, and because He is the very foundation of the church, it is very appropriately called the church of Christ, the church that belongs to Christ. And so, there, indeed, is something in a name.
Now, someone will argue and say, “You know what? We can put a sign up—we can paint a sign on a board and call it the ‘Church of Christ,’ and so what?” Well, it’s important what doctrine is being followed. It’s important what is being done. It’s important how that organization is organized. All of those things, indeed, are important. It is not the name that is on the marquee that makes the church, but what we are talking about here is not so much the name that appears on the marquee, because in our society, what that has come to mean and represent to people is simply a “title,” is simply a “name,” just like “Wal-Mart” is the name on their store, just like other commercial organizations have a name and that’s how we identify them. We identify them by their name. But when we refer to ourselves as the church of Christ, yes, that’s the name that we have on our sign, but more importantly and more correctly, it is not a name, it is a designation. We are really saying that we are the church that belongs to Christ, and that is what is most important.
Now when I say that, I’m not at all suggesting that we can, or we should, or we ought to, change the name on the sign out front—not at all. Some, as we know, have chosen to do that, some who formerly were part of our brotherhood. I think we need to keep the name as it is, but most importantly, we need to BE the church that belongs to Christ.
In our next lesson, we will look at the Jerusalem church and some things about it, as we continue our study of church history.