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When and Where the Church Began
With the motive to refresh our minds and to inform, we study a subject that assumes the church does exist. If this is not apparent in our own day it certainly was obvious in the days of the first century of which we read in the New Testament. A study of the church is far more important than many realize. It has more to do with our eternal salvation than many admit. But not only is the knowledge of when and where the church began of importance to us eternally, it also has some very day-to-day applications that are useful and needful for us in living the Christian life. Especially is this true in the work of spreading the borders of the kingdom.
Such a study ought to increase our respect for the church and the significance the Lord has placed upon it. We need to have reverence for the divine side of the church. While the principles of God's dealings with man have been essentially the same in every dispensation, the specifics are different now than under the Patriarchal and Mosaic Ages. We live under the will of Christ and shall be judged by His words (John 12:48).
When we realize that the church belongs to Christ, we understand that we cannot take an indifferent attitude toward the church that is His Furthermore, since the church is His, bought by Him by His blood, built by Him, all that concerns the church concerns Christ. Everything from the terms of entrance to the ultimate disposition of the church is significant because of Christ and His relationship to the church.
Once we realize the truth that the church is composed of the saved, we begin to see more clearly the importance of the church to ourselves. Christ is the Savior of the church (Ephesians 5:23) So if we expect to be saved, we must be in His church. Outside of Christ there is no salvation and the church is the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22,23)
Not A Denomination
I seldom if ever preach about the church that I do not emphasize we are not talking about a denomination There simply is not anything in the Bible to justify a denomination. Why should I preach about one? It is a shame that even many in the church have so little knowledge of the church that they, like others who are confused in religion, consider the church to be just another denomination. That is not so and never has been so. If a church is the church of Christ it is not a denomination. If it is a denomination it is not the church of Christ. We have no real concern about the details of various denominations except to oppose them and the division upon which they feed and which they propagate. Why should anybody want to uphold what they never find in God's Word anyway?
We study the "when and where" of the beginning of the church together because so many of the passages that speak of one, speak of both.
The Kingdom
We need to emphasize one additional point of introduction. Let us learn from the Scriptures that the church and the kingdom of God and Christ are one and the same. We will offer here just one or two passages proving this even though there are many others we could cite. Those in the church in Colosse were said to be in the kingdom. "Who hath delivered us out of the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." (Colossians 1:13). Church members were citizens in the kingdom. "And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." (Matthew 16:16,17).
Here our Lord used the terms "church" and "kingdom" interchangeably. How foolish it would have been for Him to build one thing but give the apostles the keys to something else.
We could talk about passages that teach how we are baptized into Christ, into His body, and how one enters the kingdom by being born of water and the Spirit. All these things go to prove the church and the kingdom to be one and the same divine institution from God.
Not in Former Ages
Men have presented a number of doctrines regarding when the church began. Some have even contended it began in Abram's day. Others say in the time of Moses. Many teach it began during the life of John the Baptist. (Another lesson in this book deals with this error.) Some even claim the church has been established but not the kingdom and that the kingdom is yet to come in the future, even though Paul spoke of those who were already in the kingdom. Just how some could already have been in the kingdom if the kingdom has not yet come is an insurmountable problem for those who try to separate the church from the kingdom. But when we know the truth of the Bible as to when the church or kingdom began, obviously anything at variance with that truth is error. We shall learn when it did begin, not when it did not.
In Jerusalem
Let us consider eight signs the Lord said would accompany the beginning of the kingdom or church. Isaiah 2:24 gives us three signs. "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore."
To All Nations
The kingdom would begin in Jerusalem. It would begin "in the last days." All nations would flow unto it. In other words, people of all nations would be included. It would not be a nationalistic economy like the Judaistic or Mosaic system The "house of the Lord" refers to the church Paul called the church the "house of God" (I Timothy 3.15) Doubtless the house of God and the kingdom of God refer to the same thing and both refer to the church.
In The Last Days
The "last days" are defined for us in Hebrews 11 as the time when God speaks to man through His Son. The Bible presents to us three dispensations. A dispensation is a system by which God governs man for a period of time God governed men under a Patriarchal system, then Israel under the Mosaic system, and now all men under the system of Christ The church began at the very beginning of the last dispensation. Joel had prophesied of its beginning in Joel two, to which Peter made direct reference in his sermon on Pentecost and said the events of Pentecost fulfilled Joel's prophecy. There is no use looking for another place than Jerusalem, nor another time than the last days, for the beginning of the church that belongs to Christ.
In the Days of Rome
Daniel two records a more specific time from a dream of Nebuchadnezzar and the image he saw in his dream. This is the fourth of the eight signs to which this lesson refers. The Babylonian king saw an image with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, and legs of iron with feet of a mixture of iron and clay. A stone, "not made with hands," that is, from God, smote the image and broke it into pieces and grew to fill the earth.
Daniel's Interpretation of the dream was that the image represented four kingdoms of which Babylon was the first. The stone smiting the image was the kingdom of God and the symbolism of His kingdom being superior to all the others. It would be in the days of "these kings," the kings of the fourth kingdom, that God would establish His kingdom.
Following Babylon came the Medo-Persian empire, then the Grecian, and finally Roman. It was during the days of the Roman empire that John the Baptist came preaching the "kingdom of heaven is at hand," which means nearby or soon to be. Christ and His apostles preached the same message. It was during the time of Rome's domination of the known world.
We need not look anywhere else but Jerusalem, or any other time than the "last days," more specifically, during the days of the Roman empire for the establishment of God's church.
In Their Lifetime
Sign five is a statement of Jesus. "And he said unto them, 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." (Mark 9:1). In the lifetime of some of those to whom Jesus personally spoke the kingdom would come. It either did, or Jesus is a false prophet. Furthermore, it was to come with power, and Jesus identified that power as the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). This ties perfectly with the prophecy of Joel to which Peter referred in Acts two, the day the Holy Spirit came on the apostles; the day the church began; the day the kingdom began.
Coming of the Holy Spirit
Sign six, already mentioned, is the prophecy of Joel. "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions, and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit." (Joel 2:28,29). Peter said this would take place in the "last days." We might be wise not to be dogmatic in explaining every facet of this prophecy in detail. But we would suggest that Peter knew what he was talking about when he said of the events on Pentecost, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel," and let it rest that. The sign of the coming of the kingdom with power was the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
After the Ascension
The seventh sign to which we refer is the prophecy in Daniel seven of the Son of Man going to the Ancient of Days and receiving a kingdom (Daniel 7:13,14). This had prophetic reference to the ascension of Christ (called the Son of Man to emphasize His humanity as well as Deity) and His return into heaven to the Father (Ancient of Days). Once there, and assuming His place at the "right hand of God," a phrase denoting authority and rule, His kingdom was given Him. This came on Pentecost, shortly after the ascension.
The Message
The eighth sign of the coming of the kingdom was what Jesus said would take place "at the beginning." Luke 24:47, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name beginning at Jerusalem." This is exactly the message that is recorded as being preached in Acts two on the day of Pentecost after the resurrection and ascension of Christ into heaven. (Acts 2:38).
The church began, as is evident from New Testament testimony. Christ is declared as its head (Ephesians 1:22,23). Churches existed in many cities. Letters were sent to many congregations. Elders were ordained over churches. People were members of the church. But now we can determine the exact time when the church began and how people became members of it. This is important because people become members of the church, the saved, the same way today.
Finding the Beginning
Let us come backward in establishing the time. Begin in Acts five when the church was obviously in existence because Ananias and Sapphira sinned and their punishment struck fear on all the church. It existed then. Come back to John the Baptist, who preached the kingdom was "at hand." But it did not come in his lifetime. He was beheaded by Herod for preaching the truth concerning his adulterous relationship with
Herodias. Even after his death Jesus was still promising to build the church in the future (Matthew 16:16-18). So it is easy to see the church did not come in the life time of John the Baptist, denominational teachers notwithstanding. It came sometime between Jesus promise and Acts five, however.
The first time we read of people being in the church is in Acts two when we read of the saved, those who had heard, believed and obeyed the gospel, were added to the church (Acts 2:47). Even after the resurrection and ascension of Christ the apostles were still looking for the kingdom (Acts one). So it had not come by the time Jesus was lifted into heaven. We should not have expected it to come before the ascension in view of the prophecy of Daniel seven that we mentioned.
Signs Fulfilled
But Acts two is important because on that day the power came. The Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles. They began to preach as the Spirit gave them utterance. Manifestations of power were evident. The apostles could miraculously speak in languages they had never learned so that people of many nations could hear the gospel. They were in the city of Jerusalem. The old law had been nailed to the cross, and this was the first day of the new age. Rome, the fourth empire, was in power over the land. Christ had ascended. Many who had heard Jesus preach were still alive. The message Jesus said would be proclaimed was proclaimed. What sign that had been foretold as denoting the coming of the kingdom failed to take place on that first Pentecost after the Lord s ascension? Friend, everything that had been prophesied occurred.
Furthermore, from this point forward we read of the church in existence. People were added to it. Congregations were established near and far. The gospel spread and people were saved by the Christ. The events at the house of Cornelius reminded Peter of certain things that had taken place "at the beginning." (Acts 11:15).
Pentecost
On the day of Pentecost many heard the Word, some three thousand believed what they heard, and obeyed what they were commanded to do; namely, repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. Those that did that were added to the church.
This is how people entered the church then. This is how people enter the church that belongs to Christ now. Having once begun, the church can never begin again. In or around the year thirty-three AD. (some say 30 AD, depending g on the calendar count one uses) the church of Christ, the kingdom of God, the company of the saved, began.
Are you a member of that church? Have you done as did those in Bible times to enter the church of Christ? Until you do, you are lost, for the church is the saved, and it is the church, the body, that Christ shall save (Ephesians 5:23). It is the kingdom that Christ shall deliver to the Father when He comes again (First Corinthians 15:24). We urge everyone to be in His church and live faithfully until death overtakes us.