GPS-06-The Establishment of the Church

CHAPTER VI. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH.

It will be admitted by all that God has an organized govern­ment on the earth. This government is variously called in the New Testament “the kingdom of God,” “the kingdom of heaven,” “the kingdom of God’s dear Son,” “church of God,” “the body of Christ,” etc. We do not mean to say that the phrases “kingdom of God” and “the kingdom of heaven” always mean the same thing—namely, the church in all its parts; on the contrary, they frequently occur, especially in the parables of the Saviour, when only a particular feature or constituent part of the kingdom is indicated. A few examples illustrative of this Position may be examined with profit. Jesus said: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24. “Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matthew 8:11-12. These passages with others which we might give, have mani­fest reference to the kingdom of ultimate glory. On another oc­casion, Jesus said: “The kingdom of God cometh not with obser­vation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is among you.” Luke 17:20-21. This, with other passages which we might give, had reference to Jesus as King, who had come not with pride, ostentation, and show, but was then among them. In the parable of the sower and the seed, a record of which we have in Matt. xiii, the gospel, as the law of induction into and government for those in the kingdom, is the feature repre­sented. The parable of the tares and the parable of the fisher’s net, found in the same chapter, have reference to the character of those in the kingdom, some of whom were good and others bad. The parable of the mustard-seed and the parable of the leaven hid in three measures of metal, refer to the growth or ex­tension of the kingdom. With one example from Paul, we close these illustrations. He says: “The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righ­teousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Romans 14:17. Here the words “kingdom of God” refer to the characteristics of those in the kingdom. Other examples might be given, but these are quite sufficient to show that, while the phrases “king­dom of God” and “kingdom of heaven” are sometimes synony­mous with church, they must not always be so understood. As respects law, the church is truly a kingdom—an absolute monarchy. All its laws emanate from the King, and its subjects have no part in making them. There is no representative de­mocracy connected with it. No council, convention, or legisla­tive assembly has power or authority to abolish, alter, or amend them. It is a kingdom, not a republic. As respects organiza­tion, it is called a body, of which Christ is the head, all its sub­jects are members, and in which dwells the Spirit, by which it is vitalized or kept alive, and without which it would become a dead body. As respects relationship to the world, it is fitly called the church—”ecclesia,” or called out of the world, and is, therefore, not of the world. It was set up, established, orga­nized, begun on earth, in the city of Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost, by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, under the immediate agency of the apostles, guided by the direct inspira­tion of the Holy Spirit. A brief examination of the teaching of the Scriptures on this subject is important to the development of “the gospel as the power of God unto salvation,” and will repay the attentive reader. That we may properly appreciate the importance of arriving at truth on this subject, it may not be amiss to state that there are several theories differing from each other with regard to the time when this kingdom was set up, each one of which has its own doctrines growing out of its own theory. And if we are cor­rect in the proposition stated as to time and place, it follows that all theories setting up the kingdom, organizing the body, or be­ginning the proclamation of the gospel, and laying, first, the foundation of the church at any other time or place, are not only wrong, but all doctrines growing out of such theories are false. And if we succeed in uprooting the trunk, all the branches draw­ing support from the parent trunk fall with it. To be more specific:

One theory begins the church in an eternal covenant, as its advo­cates call it, which is supposed to have been entered into be­tween God and His Son before the foundation of the world was laid. It is assumed that in this covenant the salvation of the elect was unconditionally secured, and the balance of the human race consigned to eternal misery. If God and His Son were the contracting parties to the covenant, and the final destiny of man, the consideration about which the covenant was made, is it not passingly strange that the devil should be the largest beneficiary? He was not represented in the covenant at all, unless God repre­sented him, or acted as his proxy. We are told that few go in at the strait gate, while many go the broad road and enter in at the wide gate that leadeth to destruction. If this be the result of such a covenant, why was God so liberal to the devil and so illib­eral to His Son? But we do not propose to discuss these the­ories here: we call the attention of the reader to them, at the threshold of our investigation, for the purpose of awakening at­tention to the importance of arriving at the truth in the premises. Passing from this theory, then, there is another which establishes the kingdom or church of God in the family of Abraham. The advocates of this theory insist that, as infants were included in the provisions of the covenant made by God with Abraham, they are in the church now, and hence comes the doctrine of in­fant church membership. They further assume that baptism came in the room of circumcision, and, as infants were then cir­cumcised, they must now be baptized; and thus some of them think they have Divine authority for infant baptism—which will be considered in due time.

Others set up the kingdom in the days of John the Baptist; hence the name “Baptist Church,” etc. Thus we see that the time when the kingdom of God was set up on the earth is a most important matter—one that, rightly understood, would tend much to heal the wounds in the body caused by the many unfor­tunate divisions among those professing to be the people of God. It is said: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my cov­enant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.” Hebrews 8:8-9. Then we need not look to the covenant made at the time of the deliverance of God’s people from Egyptian bondage for the be­ginning of the covenant under which the church of our day was established. It was to be a new covenant, and not according to that one. It was to be “a more excellent ministry”—”a covenant which was established upon better promises.” Ver. 6. And wherein was it a better covenant? The old was “a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacri­fices, that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.” Chap. 9: 9, 10. “But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year; for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” Chap. 10: 3, 4. But “in that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which de­cayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” This old cove­nant was ready to vanish away and give place to the new one. And what were to be its provisions? “This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws in their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I re­member no more.” Hebrews 8:10-12. Under the old covenant, sins were only pardoned a year at a time, and thus were remem­bered again; but, under the new and better covenant, God has promised to be merciful to their unrighteousness, and sins and iniquities once pardoned are to be remembered no more. But we did not come here to follow out the superior advan­tages of one and the disadvantages of the other, but to learn ’as we think we have—that we live, not under the same covenant that was made with the Jews, under which they offered sacrifices ac­cording to the law, but under a new covenant, superior in its provisions to the old. We have now arrived at the proper point to look for the beginning of this new and better order of things. During the time the Jews were held captive by Nebuchad­nezzar, king of Babylon, God made known to him, in a dream— which was interpreted by Daniel, one of the Jewish captives— certain great national changes that were to take place, in which were foretold the destruction of his own government and three others which were to consecutively arise after it; and finally the establishment of the kingdom of God, which was never to be de­stroyed, but was to fill the whole earth and stand forever. As these kingdoms were to succeed each other in regular chronolog­ical order, we have only to follow them up and see the rise and fall of each, noting carefully the dates as we proceed, in order to see when God established His kingdom. For a full account of this remarkable revelation from God, the reader is referred to the whole of the second chapter of Dan­iel. We have only room to transcribe the dream, and the inter­pretation of it, contained in the 31st to the 45th verse, inclusive: “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold, a great image whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the sum­mer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away; that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream, and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of “heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory; and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into shine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and an­other third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes part of potter’s clay and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with the miry clay: and as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with the miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for­ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain and the interpretation thereof sure.” Now, it will be observed that the Lord here tells Nebuchad­nezzar that he was the head of gold. This kingdom embraced the countries of Chaldea, Assyria, Syria, Arabia, and Palestine, and ended with the death of Belshazzar, B.C. 538 years, when it was overthrown by Cyrus, king of Persia, and Darius, king of Media. These two kings were kinsmen; and after they had thus broken up the Chaldean or Babylonian empire, the government assumed the name of the Medo-Persian kingdom, that was repre­sented by the breast and arms of the image, and was the second government in numerical or chronological order. It began, as we have seen, 538 years B.C., and was overthrown by Alexander (son of Philip), king of Macedon, B.C. 331 years. But he died B.C. 323 years, having reigned only a little more than seven years. But as the Macedonian empire is represented by the belly and thighs of the image, we must look for a division in it. Hence, after the death of Alexander, his government became di­vided among his generals. Cassander had Macedon and Greece; Lysimachus had Thrace and those parts of Asia which lay on the Hellespont and Bosphorus; Ptolemy had Egypt, Lybia, Ara­bia, Palestine, and Syria; Seleucus had Babylon, Media, Persia, Susiana, Assyria, Bactria, Hyrcania, and all other provinces, even to the Ganges. Thus this empire founded on the ruins of the Medo-Persian “had rule over all the earth.” But as the thighs of brass in the image represent the divided state of the empire, the above four divisions are soon merged into two, viz: those of the Lagidae and Seleucidae, reigning in Egypt and Syria. A distin­guished historian says: “Their kingdom was no more a different kingdom than the parts differ from the whole. It was the same government still continued. They who governed were still Mac­edonians.” When did these thighs end? In the year B.C. 30, Octavius Caesar overturned the Lagidae, and Egypt, one of the thighs, became a Roman province. Not many years after this (we have forgotten the date; our pencil notes here have become dim, and we have not the history by us just now to which to refer), Pom­pey overthrew the Seleucidae, dethroned Antiochus, and thus Syria, the other thigh, became a Roman province. Thus we find the Roman government succeeded the Macedonian, and is evi­dently the fourth kingdom represented by the feet and toes of the image that stood before Nebuchadnezzar, composed of iron and clay. Without going into a minute application of the Scriptures to each of these governments, it is sufficient for our present purpose to show, as we think we have done, that these governments did, in their order, overthrow and succeed each other. Then, as they are numbered first, second, third, and fourth in the interpreta­tion given by Daniel, it is certain that they, following in that nu­merical order, and each one consuming its predecessor, are the kingdoms indicated. And as they all merged into the Roman government thirty years before the coming of Christ, it follows that some time after that period, and during the existence of the Roman government, we may look for the God of heaven to set up a kingdom. We can not go back behind the date of this dream to look for the kingdom, for it was to smite the image on its feet—that is, it was to be set up during the existence of and come in contact with the government represented by the feet. And Daniel tells Nebu­chadnezzar that the whole affair was designed to make “known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter”—not before the foundation of the world, or in the days of Abraham, but hereafter. As this prophecy brings us down to within thirty years of the coming of Christ to establish the government—in the time of which the kingdom of heaven was set up—we may expect the harbinger of the Saviour soon to commence preaching about it Accordingly, Matthew says: “In those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Re­pent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:1-2. Here we find John announcing the near approach of the king­dom for the origin of which we have been looking. But we are sometimes told that John set up the kingdom himself. Let us hear the Saviour on this point. After John was cast into prison, and his labors were at an end, Jesus taught his disciples to pray as follows: “Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come,” etc. Matthew 6:10. Would Jesus have instructed his disciples to pray for the kingdom to come if it had already come? It is true, many repeat this petition now who be­lieve that the kingdom has long since come; but surely such per­sons think little about what they are saying Like the school­boy, they find it in their lesson and must repeat it. We may pray for the kingdom to be advanced in the earth, but we can not pray for it to come after it has come, any more than we may pray for God to send down the Spirit, since it was sent from heaven to the earth on the day of Pentecost, and has been here ever since. Once more: When John heard of Jesus, he sent to Him to know if He were the Christ, or whether he should look for another. After Jesus had answered and sent the messengers away, He said to those around Him: ’verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11. Then, as he that was least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than John, it follows that He was not in it; and surely He did not set up the kingdom and fail to enter it himself. Nor were the disciples of Jesus, though they had left all and followed Him, in the kingdom, for He once rebuked them, saying: ’Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as a little child, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3. He did not say, “Except ye be converted, etc., you shall be turned out of the kingdom,” but, “ye shall not enter” it—clearly showing that they were not then in it, which surely they would have been had it then existed. They were to seek the kingdom (Luke 12:31), for it was the Father’s good pleasure to give it to them (ver. 32). Persons do not seek for that which they already have, but may seek for that which is to be given or has been promised to them. As the kingdom had been promised to them, and they were still to seek it, we conclude that it did not then exist.

But we are not done with the Saviour’s teaching on this point yet. When He sent forth the twelve apostles, under their re­stricted commission, He told them what to preach; and it is wor­thy of remark that the language is, verbatim, the same as that used by John—”The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 10:7. When He sent out the seventy, He gave them, in substance, the same message—”The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” Luke 10:9. Now, it is very apparent that the object of all this teaching was to let the people know that the kingdom was ap­proaching, that they might be prepared for it when it came. But when He came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, and learned, by inquiry, what was said of Him, and Peter confessed Him as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” He said to Peter, “Upon this rock I will build my church.” Matthew 16:18. This language is too plain to admit of doubt. There would be no sense in say­ing, “I will build my house in a certain place” if it had been built long years before; and there would have been just as little sense in the language used by the Saviour if He had intended to teach that His church or kingdom had been built prior to that time. Thus we must press our investigations still further—its erection is still later than the time He used this language. Six days before His transfiguration He said: “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. Here we not only find Him teaching that the coming of the kingdom was yet future, but that it would come in the life-time of those then living. But later— when Jesus instituted the Supper—He said: “For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come.” Luke 22:18. Thus we see that near the end of the Saviour’s sojourn on the earth He still taught the people to look ahead for the coming of the kingdom; and we next propose to show that those to whom He spake so understood His teaching: “And as they heard these things, He added and spake a parable, because He was nigh unto Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.” Luke 19:11. Thus we see they understood it was yet future, but thought its approach nearer than it really was. Coming down, now, to the time of His death, “Joseph of Arimathea, an honora­ble counselor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.” Mark 15:43; Luke 23:51. Here was a man of capacity to un­derstand the Saviour’s teaching, who waited for the kingdom to come even after the Saviour was dead. Surely, he was not wait­ing for that which had already come. Let us next examine a prediction made by the prophets: “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, and 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 path: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2:2-3. This very interesting proph­ecy was uttered by Micah (chap. 4: 1, 2), in very nearly the same words: “But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and the people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” This prophecy gives us to know that the establishment of the mountain of the Lord’s house was to take place in the last days; and we can see no other last days that could have been intended, only the last days of the Jewish dispensation—the last days of that covenant which Paul tells us had waxed old and was ready to vanish away. But we get another important item of information from this prophecy; and for the sake of it, we have delayed the introduc­tion of the whole, until the mind of the reader was prepared for it. The word of the Lord was to go forth from Jerusalem. Hence, when Jesus was instructing and preparing His apostles for the establishment of His kingdom, “He said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, begin­ning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:46-47. Jerusalem is the place from which the word of the Lord was to go forth, and it con­sisted in preaching repentance and remission of sins among all nations, and this was to begin there. Jerusalem is the place, be­yond the possibility of a doubt. But to establish a kingdom, there must be persons duly quali­fied for the work; hence Jesus, at the beginning of His personal ministry, selected twelve men and took them under His immedi­ate care, and for three years and a half instructed them in the work they were to perform—not only so, but He selected one of them to lead off as foreman, in the opening of His kingdom, and said to him: “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 thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and what­soever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.” To Peter, then, was given the exalted privilege of first opening the kingdom, with power to bind and to loose on the earth, with the assurance that his act would be recognized in heaven. Notwithstanding Peter had been a constant attendant upon the teaching of the Saviour, this work was too important to be en­trusted to unaided human frailty—man is imperfect and forget­ful: an important item of instruction given by the Lord might be forgotten by Peter when the final destiny of the human race trembled in awful suspense upon his decision—hence says the Saviour: “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.” John 14:26. Thus he is secured against the frailties and imperfections of human recollection. But operations are to begin at Jerusalem; therefore he must go there and wait the time appointed of the Father; hence Jesus says to him, with the other apostles: “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:49. “Jerusalem is the place you are to begin, Peter; therefore go there, and wait for the coronation of Jesus Christ as King of the kingdom to be set up; then He will send you the promised aid from on high.” Shall we go with him to the appointed place and wait the developments of the time when Jesus is crowned King of kings and Lord of lords? Without a king there can not be a kingdom. “He led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, that while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” Luke 24:50-51. Angelic hosts escort Him to the throne appointed of His Father. On nearing the portals of the skies, His attendants demand admittance, saying: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.” Before the porters of heaven admit the parties demanding entrance, they ask, “Who is the King of glory?” The attendants answer, “The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle : ” And again the demand is re­peated: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King; of glory shall come in.” Then the question again comes from within, “Who is the King of glory?” and the same announcement is made: “The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.” Ps. xxiv. He is admitted, crowned King—angels, principalities, and powers are made sub­ject to Him. The Holy Spirit is dispatched with the joyful tid­ings from heaven to Jerusalem— “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:4. And what did they say? Here is Peter, the proper person, at Jerusalem, the proper place; and Jesus, as King, is on His throne—surely, all things are ready now. Among other things, Peter said: “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:33-36. Here, for the first time, is the grand fact an­nounced to the denizens of earth—that Jesus reigns in the king­dom of heaven. Persons ask admittance: Peter uses the keys of the kingdom; they enter and are added to them. Them! who? The disciples—the hundred and twenty. After this, the church being organized, the “Lord was adding daily those that were being saved.”. If, prior to this time, the kingdom had been in existence, it would have been a kingdom without a king, for Jesus was not then crowned King—”the Holy Ghost was not yet given (John 7:39); because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” Then, if the “body, which is the church” (Colossians 1:24), had existed prior to the glorification of Jesus, and the descent of the Holy Spirit, it would have been a body without a spirit, and therefore a dead body, as “the body without the spirit is dead.” James 2:26. Again: “He is the head of the body, the church.” Colossians 1:18. When did he become the head of the body? “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of your calling, and what the riches of the glory of his in­heritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and do­minion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church.” Ephesians 1:18-22. Then, as He was never given to be the head of the church until He was set at His Father’s right hand, and ob­tained His exalted name, it follows that, if the church or body existed prior to that time, it was a body without a head. And for the very same reason, if the kingdom, church, or body was not then set up, Jesus was a king without a kingdom, and a head without a body, and the Spirit was upon the earth without a habitation or dwelling-place.

*Twofold New Testament, by T. S. Green—Acts 2:47.

One more point, and we are done on this branch of the sub­ject. When Peter was making his defense before his brethren, for going down to the house of Cornelius—in speaking of the events that occurred there, he says: “And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.” Acts 11:15. Here we have the very word beginning, referring to the time when the Holy Ghost fell on the disciples on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Ghost fell on them on that day, and Peter refers to it as at the beginning. Beginning of what? Let him who thinks the kingdom or church began some time prior to the day of Pentecost, tell us what beginning is here referred to. Prior to the day of Pentecost the church was always spoken of as a thing of the future; subsequently it was spoken of as hav­ing a real existence. John, Jesus, and the disciples preached that it was at hand. We have seen that Jesus taught His disciples to pray for it to come—said He would build it—that it would come in the life-time of those present. After that day, Luke says “great fear came upon all the church.Acts 5:11. “There was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem.” Acts 8:1. “Tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem.” Acts 11:22. “A whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people.” Ver. 26. Paul addressed his letters to “the church of God at Corinth.” 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1. And he said: “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches.”1 Corinthians 14:33-34. He admonished them to “give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:32. “If any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” 1 Corinthians 11:16. “I perse­cuted the church of God.” 1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13. These pas­sages, with others which we might present, show that after Pen­tecost the church was spoken of as a thing of real existence. Why this difference in the phraseology of the New Testament be­fore and after that day? If the church existed before Pentecost, why was it not spoken of in the same way it was afterward? Before that day, Jesus charged Peter to feed His lambs—feed His sheep (John 21:15-16); after that time, Paul exhorted the elders “to feed the church of God.” Acts 20:28. Before the day of Pentecost, Jesus said, “On this rock I will build my church;” after that day, Paul told the church at Corinth that it was “God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9)—”the temple of God.” Ver. 16. Before Pentecost, Jesus said to the disciples that, unless they were con­verted, they should not enter into the kingdom (Matthew 18:3); but after that, Paul told the disciples that they had been trans­lated into the kingdom. (Col. i : 12 ). Why were the disciples spoken of as having to enter the kingdom before Pentecost, but as in it afterward? These distinctions might be greatly multi­plied, but enough has been presented to show a difference in style inexplicable upon any other hypothesis than that the church began on the day of Pentecost, and was therefore spoken of as a thing future before that day, but as an existing organiza­tion afterward. We are not unaware that there are scriptures which seem to indicate the existence of the kingdom at the time Jesus was per­sonally on the earth; but we take it to be an inflexible rule of biblical interpretation that no obscure passage must be so con­strued as to come in contact with a principle, doctrine, or fact clearly taught elsewhere. The Bible must be harmonious in all its teaching, otherwise it can not be of God. Hence we need not seek a theory contradicting any thing so clearly taught as is the fact that the church of God began on the earth, in Jerusalem, on the first Pentecost after the crucifixion of Jesus. Such efforts are much more likely to make skeptics than Christians of the un­taught. Before the temple was built by Solomon, all the material was so prepared that when every piece was placed in its Position the building was complete without the sound of a hammer in its construction. All parties agree that this was typical of the church of God. If so, we may expect to find materiel ’ prepared for the Christian temple before its erection. John began the preparation of this material, Jesus completed it. John preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Mark 1:4), and the sins of those who complied with the terms imposed were remitted, in accordance with the gospel preached by him. When he was cast into prison and his ministry ceased, that of Jesus began ( Matthew 4:12-17); hence, in this respect, the ministry of Jesus was but a continuance of the preparatory ministry begun by John. While Jesus did many things which John could not do, their preaching, in this respect, was the same. Jesus es­tablished His claims to be King—gave laws for the establishment and government of His church—qualified men to organize it— entered heaven with His blood, where He made the atonement for the world—was crowned King, and sent the Holy Spirit with the news of His coronation—thus perfecting the preparations for the building of His temple. The builders, guided by the Holy Spirit, put the material in Position and the spiritual temple stood forth. As the material which composed the temple of Solomon was prepared before it was placed together, so the material which first constituted the temple of God was made ready by John and Jesus for Position in it. Hence it existed in its materials before the day of Pentecost; but, as an organic structure before that time, it had no existence. We could give much testimony from learned men who differ from us on other matters, yet agree with us here. In Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, article CHURCH, we find the following paragraph: “From the gospels we learn little in the way of detail as to the kingdom which was to be established. It was in the great forty days which intervened between the resurrection and the ascension that our Lord explained specifically to his apostles the things pertaining to the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3); that is, His future church. Its origin: —The removal of Christ from the earth had left His followers a shattered company, with no bond of external or internal cohesion, except the memory of the Mas­ter whom they had lost, and the recollection of his injunctions to unity and love, together with the occasional glimpses of His presence which were vouchsafed them. They continued to­gether, meeting for prayer and supplication, and waiting for Christ’s promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost. They numbered in all some 140 persons—namely, the eleven, the faithful women, the Lord’s mother, his brethren, and 120 disciples. They had faith to believe that there was a work before them which they were about to be called to perform, and, that they might be ready to do it, they filled up the number of the twelve by the appointment of Matthias ’to be a true witness,’ with the eleven, ’of the resurrection.’ The day of Pentecost is the birthday of the Christian church. The Spirit, who was then sent by the Son from the Father, and rested on each of the disciples, combined them once more into a whole—combined them as they never had been before combined, by an internal and spiritual bond of cohesion. Before, they had been individual followers of Jesus; now they became his mystical body, animated by his Spirit.”