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The Church is a Historical Fact
JOHN W. PIGG
The church emerges from promise and prophecy in the book of Acts. It becomes a living, active thing in that treatise. That document is in reality a history of the church. When the gospel was preached and gladly received, the Lord added to the church those who were being saved. Daily the apostles continued preaching. Daily the Lord added to the church. There has always been a mutual coordination between the faithful ministry of the word and additions to the Lord's church.
The temple was the beginning place of the church. Repentance and remission of sins were preached in the name of Jesus at the house where God in the olden time placed his name. The glad tidings of the gospel were first announced in the building that was filled with the Lord's majestic-glory. The Jewish aristocracy was first to hear the story of the cross.
The Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in Jerusalem. The temple was the first seat of the work and worship of the church. Every day the apostles taught in the temple. When the angel opened the prison door for Peter and his fellows, he told them to take their stand in the temple and speak to the people there. The priests found the apostles whom they put in ward standing in the temple teaching the people. The temple was a house of prayer. Daily in the temple and in every house the apostles taught the people. Perhaps the church has never had access to so magnificent an edifice as the one in which they began.
The disciples made liquid their assets. They placed their funds at the disposal of the apostles. They gave themselves and their resources to the church. The church through the apostles received and disbursed finances. On the pages of Acts it was quick and powerful. It was a vehement force in the hearts of men. Jews and Romans were pungently aware of its existence.
Ananias and Sapphira paid with their lives for their sin in the church. They died when they lied to God. Fear then came upon the church. It experienced emotional reaction. It was sensitive and responsive. The susceptible reader may detect the accelerated heartthrob of the church. Awe, reverence, and fear will move the church that hears. Fear, like faith, comes by hearing. Noah was moved by fear. He who in the days of his flesh cried and prayed to God was heard in that he feared. The church that does not fear is in a precarious situation. The church of Acts was a fearing one.
When the church feared, believers were added to the Lord. Happy consequences followed the fear that fell upon the church. It was then that more men were added to the Lord. To he added to the Lord is equivalent to being added to the church. The Lord is the head of the church. Men preached the Lord Jesus to Grecians in Antioch. They believed. They were added to the Lord. Barnabas was dispatched by the Jerusalem church to Antioch. He insisted they cleave to the Lord to whom they had been added.
Persecution scattered the church from Jerusalem. The disciples were dispersed throughout Judea and Samaria. They preached the word in their travels. Consequently, churches came into being throughout the region.
Paul at first made havoc of the church. He had a vigorous part in driving the members away from Jerusalem. The same act that drove them from their beloved city sent them into Judea and Samaria. Wherever Samson's foxes ran, they set things afire. Where early Christians journeyed, the church sprang up. Persecution spread the church into more and more fertile fields. The kingdom of God was within them.
After Paul's conversion, the churches in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had rest. The knowledge of the Lord released in Jerusalem covered Judea, Galilee, and Samaria as the waters cover the sea. Where men knew the Lord, churches were. We read of one church in Jerusalem. There were many churches in the adjacent countries.
Paul and Barnabas assembled themselves with the church in Antioch. There the disciples were first called "Christians." Paul labored to edify the church that once he destroyed. In Antioch the church gathered strength for evangelization. Preachers moved out from the church there to build up the church in distant places.
Herod lifted up his regal hands to vex the Jerusalem church. He killed James. He imprisoned Peter. The church prayed to God for Peter. In a body they went through the channel of prayer to the Supreme Judge of all the earth. They were persistent. God heard. He sent an angel to deliver Peter. The church did not make a petition to Herod. The opposition was in the majority. Herod did not care for the right. There was no way for them to appeal to him. The church went to God. Through God the church prevailed. The church manifest in Acts was a prevailing one. There were many teachers in the church in Antioch. The Holy Spirit asked for two of these to go on a mission of preaching. He submitted the names of the two men he wished. So Barnabas and Paul went out from the church in Antioch to preach Christ's gospel. Churches grew in their wake. They came into being as the church in Antioch did. They spoke the word of God, which is the seed of the kingdom. Paul and Barnabas ordained elders in every church. They rested responsibility upon the elders. They vested authority in them. When Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, they gathered the church together. The church they gathered together grew from the one of which Paul made havoc. Paul was thoroughly conscious of the church. He knew its vitality. He appreciated its worth.
Paul and Barnabas were brought on their way by the church. The church was not fundamentally a transit company. It was not in the transportation business primary. Yet the church brought the men on their way to Jerusalem. They doubtless employed the means and agencies available. The church did the essential things.
The men from Antioch were received by the church. The church received. They brought them in. They had something into which to bring them. The Jerusalem church was receptive. They were hospitable and courteous. They were not cold and aloof. Their arms were open and outstretched toward the brethren. The church brought,. received and sent men. It was much alive.
Paul called to himself the elders of the Ephesian church. He told them to feed the church. He explained that the Holy Spirit had made them overseers of the church. By the Holy Spirit some in the church had power to discern spirits. They had divine knowledge in the selection of elders. We must reply upon human judgment. The church is a historical fact of Acts.