The Establishment of the Church of Christ #2
A. Last week we learned that the Church is the called out
of God. They were called out from the
Old Covenant made with Israel into a New Covenant that includes
all men, both Jew and
Gentile. The church of Jesus Christ, is a unique entity.
2 Thess. 2:14 tells us it is that body
of baptized believers who have been called through the gospel
into a special relationship with
God through Jesus Christ the Son of God.
In Eph. 2:19; 1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 4:17, the church is called the
house of God. The house of God is the place where God and
His family live. The church was not an afterthought. The church
was in the mind of God before the foundation of the world, Eph.
1:4. Paul tells us the manifold wisdom of God is made known through
the church, according to the eternal purpose.
It was literally, the plan of the ages which was realized in the
mission of Christ, Eph. 3:10?11.
Its coming was prophesied, foretold in the Old Testament
in Isa. 2:2-4; Dan. 2:44; Joel 2:28-32. All those prophecies were
fulfilled with flawless precision. In Acts 2:14-24, in the city
of Jerusalem, the apostle Peter, on the first Pentecost after
the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ, announced,
the the Jewish people, the actual beginning of the New Testament
Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
(A) Later, the apostle Paul tole the elders at Ephesus, stated
in Acts 20:28, The church
had been purchased with the blood of Jesus.
The establishment of the church was a Divine event It had
a dramatic beginning point. Prior to the spring of A.D. 30, the
church of Jesus Christ did not exist. It exploded into existence
on a single day of earths history. And was so Divinely inspired
and empowered it spread like wild fire all over the world. And
still to this very day brings to a lost world the only hope of
salvation and resurrection from the grave. Acts 4:12; Jno. 14:6,
still proclaims Christianity as the only way to heaven and the
grace of God.
(a) Christianity, the religion of Jesus, was so strikingly different
from Judaism it
aroused the hostility of most Jews for the first four decades
of its existence
until the Jewish state fell to the Romans in A.D. 70.
Despite Satans forces of evil the church came out of nowhere,
and very soon it was everywhere. From its founding
in A.D. 33 until A.D. 62, when the apostle Paul wrote in Col 1:23,
...The gospel which you heard, was preached to every creature
under heaven... From A.D. 33 to 62 is
only 29 short years. Weve been talking about it longer than
that.
On the day of Pentecost, the community of Jewish believers consisted
of 3,000 persons, Acts 2:41. Shortly thereafter in Acts 4:4, that
number grew to an additional 5,000 adult men and thousands of
women.
Simon Kistemaker, in his book Exposition Of The Acts Of
The Apostles estimates that by the time Stephen was killed
in Acts 7:60, the number of Christians in Jerusalem numbered no
fewer than 20,000 souls. That was more than one third of the citys
population which was estimated, to be 55,000 by the Jewish historian,
Joachim Jeremias, in his book, Jerusalem In The Time of
Jesus.
Remember, the Jews were strict monotheists. Believed in only one
deity. In Jno. 5:18; 8:58; 10:30, Jesus made the claim of being
deity. What persuaded the Hebrew mind to acknowledge Jesus as
God? Nothing less than the fact that they knew Jesus was resurrected
from the grave. Thats a brief history of the supernatural
establishment of the New Testament Church.
(2) The only way you can explain the beginning of the church is
by divine orchestration and its phenomenal growth which
was kept unified under the guidance of the inspired apostles who
taught only one doctrine. There was doctrinal unity. No sectarian
discord reflecting divergent theologies cluttered the early landscape
of the Christian movement.
(1) Acts 2:42, records, They continued steadfastly in the
apostles doctrine and
fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Vs.
44, says, all that
believed were together. The term together does
not refer to a specific location.
It means they were together in sentiment, doctrine
and belief.
(1) Acts 4:32, says, The multitude of them that believed
were of one heart and of one soul. Why cant people
see that the Lord desires, requires that there be religious unity
in the church?
(2) Men have made numerous departures from the faith. You can
read about them in Acts 20:28?30; 2 Thess. 2:1ff; 1 Tim. 4:1ff;
2 Tim. 4:1ff. The world of sectarian denominationalism has become
a horrible, shocking reality.
(2) There is a glaring contrast between todays current state
of religious confusion, and the church that was ushered into this
world on the Day of Pentecost 2,000 years ago.
(1) Today, the worlds greatest need is to return to the
original pattern established by Jesus and the Holy Spirit through
the Gospel preached by the Apostles. We need to heed the call
God sent the prophet Jeremiah to preach to Israel when they abandoned
Gods established order. Jer. 6:16, Thus says the LORD:
"Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where
the good way is, And walk in it; then you will find rest for your
souls.
(2) Do you know why the deplorable state of divided Christianity
exists today? Because men today say the same thing the people
said then, But they said, 'We will not walk in it.
(3) Turn to the old path which is Gods path and you will
find salvation unto your soul.
(4) Acts 20:32.
Spur - 01/19/2003 am
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