02.25. THE CHURCH - 01 - Its Establishment

THE CHURCH – 01 – Its Establishment Reading. Matthew 16:13-20.

WHEN we begin to speak of "the church," it is desirable that we state clearly what we mean. What church is it whose establishment and membership, whose worship and ministry, we study. No human institution is worthy of such a prolonged notice in our Bible Schools. "The church" is not a human institution. We speak of the church of Jesus Christ (for he spoke of it as "my church," Matthew 16:18); "the church of God" (Acts 20:28; Galatians 1:13; 1 Timothy 3:5; 1 Timothy 3:15); the church which Christ loved and for which he gave himself (Ephesians 5:25), the church which is his body, of which he is the head (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:23). These passages imply, as our very title "the church" does, that there is only one church. So Paul could say, "There is ... one body" (Ephesians 4:4). While we may scripturally speak of the church as a collective whole, including in it all God’s redeemed ones on earth, yet it is clear that the New Testament speaks of local congregations of Christians as "churches." "The churches had rest" (Acts 9:31); we read of "the churches of the Gentiles" (Romans 16:4), "the churches of Judaea which were in Christ" (Galatians 1:22), "the church of God which is at Corinth" (1 Corinthians 1:2), "the church of the Thessalonians" (1 Thessalonians 1:1), "the churches" of Galatia (Galatians 1:2), Macedonia (2 Corinthians 8:1), Asia (1 Corinthians 16:19). This division of churches is a territorial one; all were churches of God, or churches of Christ. Our word "church" is a translation of the Greek word ecclesia, which was a word well known to all Greek-speaking people. In Athens the citizens all met in a public assembly, or ecclesia, to discuss and decide matters concerning the State. In the Greek version of the Old Testament Scriptures (a version current in apostolic days) the word is used of the children of Israel as assembled (Deuteronomy 31:30; Judges 21:8; 1 Chronicles 29:1, etc.). It is used in this sense in the New Testament (Acts 7:38; Hebrews 2:12). The word is also applied to the excited gathering of Ephesian citizens who were in a rage with the preachers of the gospel of Christ (Acts 19:39; Acts 19:41). We see then that to belong to an ecclesia is not in itself of much importance. That we should belong to the ecclesia the called-out people, of God or of Christ--that is a matter of transcendent importance, a token of highest privilege.

Establishment of the Church.

The church was established by Jesus Christ who bought it with his blood, who gave himself for it, whose name it wears. Our Lord said, "On this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). This passage is an exceedingly significant one. It tells us of the church’s author and its foundation, and it helps to fix the date of its establishment. The rock, as we have seen was the great basal truth of his Messiahship and Divine Sonship. The words, "I will build," tell us:--(a) of the Founder of the church. Christ bunt it, using in this the instrumentality of his apostles; (b) that the church was not yet built when Jesus used these words. He could never say, "I will build," if the church were already in existence. Some speak of the church as existing in the time of Abraham. Jesus’ church was built after the words of Matthew 16:18 were spoken. The church was established at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, about ten days after Christ’s ascension into heaven. We have the record in Acts 2:1-47. Before this, we have no mention of the church as in existence. After this we have repeated mention The first time the word is employed of the Christian community as an existing thing is in Acts 5:11 (cf. Acts 2:47 A.V. and R.V.). There it is referred to as previously established thereafter we have repeated mention in Acts and the Epistles. Pentecost was afterwards known as "the beginning" time (see Acts 11:15). In this establishment, we may notice that we have the divinely appointed place. It had been foretold, seven centuries before: "In the latter days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall he established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow into it. And many nations shall go and say, Come ye, 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 out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Micah 4:1-2; cf. Isaiah 2:2-4). Jesus had definitely said that the gospel should he first proclaimed in Jerusalem (Luke 24:47). It was fitting that he should first he declared King and risen Christ in the place where he had been condemned for his Messianic claim. It was fitting, too, that the church, the instrument of the propagation of that gospel, should be established there, We have the divinely appointed time--the "latter days" spoken of by Isaiah. The Jews held that Pentecost commemorated the giving of the law at Sinai. The new law certainly went forth on this day. It was, above all, the appointed time, in that Jesus had told his disciples to wait till they were endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49). The fulfilment of Jesus’ promise of power came on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4); so we get divinely appointed and qualified men as the Lord’s instruments in the establishment of the church. These were the apostles. Jesus had said of them, "Ye shall he my witnesses" (Acts 1:8); "He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me" (Matthew 10:40). The Savior’s promise to his apostles of the Holy Spirit who should teach them all things and bring all things to their remembrance (John 14:26) was fulfilled on Pentecost. The apostles were fined with the Spirit (Acts 2:4). Peter, speaking by inspiration of that Spirit, was privileged to deliver the first gospel sermon, and three thousand were added. We have dwelt on these appointments of the Lord simply to show that we may implicitly accept and follow what was done by these men so splendidly qualified. When we seek the church and its benefits, we wish to he beyond danger of error. We may rely on the teaching and practice of the apostles in the matter of church membership, its conditions and privileges. Men might err, but the guiding Holy Spirit will lead aright, and these men spoke as the Spirit instructed them. After seeking to answer the questions, Founded by whom? where? when? we may ask, Why did the Lord Jesus establish a church? That he did so is a proof of the necessity of the church for our spiritual welfare. He knew that his children would he helped by common worship, by meeting together to present their united petitions to God, by exhorting and encouraging one another. There was much to he gained by having a community of such, each bound to help the other. The church was also established for the good of the world. Union always means strength, a church of a hundred members can do more than one hundred separate Christians will do. The unity of purpose and of effort in the church is one of the best ways to impress the world. Its worship proclaims the Lord’s death till he come (1 Corinthians 11:26). The church, the apostle tens us in a magnificent passage, stands as an object lesson to the celestial beings: "To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God" (Ephesians 3:10) The church, briefly, exists for the glory of God, the good of its members, the benefit of the world. We cannot neglect it, or withhold ourselves from its membership and worship, and at the same time please God or ourselves get the good he intends us to receive.