THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST
SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUs
Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, James Gravelle.
“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it’” (Mt. 16:15-18). Welcome to the Gospel of Christ. This lesson is the first of two that will examine the distinctive nature of the church. For just a moment, put yourself in the sandals of the people who lived in Jerusalem two thousand years ago. For three-and-a-half years you have been hearing of a prophet who claims to be the Son of God. You may have seen Him, or even walked with Him as He moved through the streets of Jerusalem. You may have been in a crowd of people, listening to Him teach. You may have been one of the many people who walked by Calvary as Jesus hung upon the cross. You may have been one of the 500+ people who had seen the risen Christ. Now it is the Day of Pentecost, and there is a great commotion in the temple. The apostles are preaching the Gospel, and 3,000 people respond to God’s invitation to repent and be baptized. You watch as one of your friends is taken to a pool of water and immersed. You have heard, as Acts 2:47 states, that the Lord was “adding to the church daily those who were being saved.” Afterwards, you talk to your friend about these events, and you ask him this question: “To what church did the Lord add you? Was it the Baptist Church, the Methodist Church, the Catholic Church, or perhaps the Pentecostal Church?” Of course, it wasn’t. It could not have been any of those, since they did not come into existence until between 600 and 1,600 years later. The Catholic Church came first, and then the other denominations followed, most of them appearing between the 1600s and the 1800s (or even later). To what church were the people added on the Day of Pentecost? If we can answer that question, then we will have a basis for finding the same church today.
There are many characteristics of the church of the New Testament. Let’s begin our examination of just a few of them. The church of which we read in the New Testament was built by the scriptural Builder. The fact that a scriptural body exists is evidence of a builder. Many churches exist today. They are all different in origin, doctrine, and practice. Each is either scripturally or unscripturally built. Each is either built by a divine or a human builder. It is imperative to know whether the builder of a particular church was scriptural or unscriptural. If the builder is unscriptural, then the church is unscriptural. Thus, it is a work of man and not of Christ. Jesus built the scriptural church. The truth of that statement can be seen in Matthew 16:18 where Jesus said, “I will build My church.” No church can be the scriptural church unless it is built by Christ. If a church was built by Henry VIII, John Calvin, John Wesley, Joseph Smith, or any number of other human beings whom we could name, then that church is unquestionably human in origin. Jesus, in keeping with His promise to build His church, gave Peter the authority to state the terms of admission into that church. In Matthew 16:19 Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” No human being ever had authority to say this because no human being ever had the authority to originate a church. Churches that are not built by the scriptural builder will be rooted up. The warning is too plain, and the penalty is too severe, for us to be members of a church that was not planted by the Father. When the scribes and the Pharisees from Jerusalem came to Jesus to ask Him why His disciples transgressed the traditions of the elders by not washing their hands before a meal, Jesus turned the question back upon them by asking them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” (Mt. 15:3). At that time, the Law of Moses had been perverted, and had been turned into something based more on man’s tradition than on the Word of God. In Matthew 15:7-8, Jesus showed the religious elite that they represented the very fulfillment of a prophecy about that fact when He said, “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.’” Jesus said that the worship of the religious elite of His day was vain, worthless, and useless. Why? Verse 9 says that they were “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” As Jesus later spoke privately about this with His disciples, it was obvious that they were very concerned about what Jesus had said to these religious leaders. The disciples asked Jesus, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” (Mt. 15:12). The disciples did not realize how vitally important it is to be scripturally correct. They did not understand that what the scribes and Pharisees were doing would cost them their immortal souls. Jesus thus explained to them (and to us to us today) the importance of obeying the Word of God. In Matthew 15: 13 Jesus said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” What the religious elite of that day were doing was not planted by the Father. Their actions were like a tree that would be uprooted. Today, if we are part of an organization that has not been planted by the Father, then we—just like the scribes and Pharisees—are in danger of being uprooted. We are in danger of being lost for all eternity. God had planted the Hebrew religion. And all other plants were to be rooted up. If God would uproot other plants under that system of worship, He undoubtedly will do exactly the same under the Christian system. We must understand that the standard has not been lowered. Therefore, the same warning can be applied today under the Christian system when similar conditions prevail. We must heed the warning that was sounded by the Lord. To be part of any church not built by Jesus makes our worship vain because we are teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.
Another of the distinctive marks of the church that we find in the Bible is the fact that the church was built upon a scriptural foundation. For any building, organization, or institution to stand, it is important that it have a strong foundation. No building or institution can be stronger than the foundation upon which it is built. The scriptural church must have a scriptural foundation. Jesus said in Matthew 16:18, “Upon this rock I will build My church.” We need to determine exactly what that rock is, and upon what foundation Jesus planned to build His church. There are some who would have us believe that the “rock foundation” of which Jesus spoke was Peter. But that is not the case. Peter was a mere man, and thus could never be the strong foundation needed to support the church. Look again at Matthew 16:15-16—“’But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” That fact—that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God—is the bedrock foundation upon which the church of the New Testament is constructed. What surer a foundation could exist? Other passages help us to understand this fact. One of those is 1 Corinthians 3:11 where Paul said, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Paul also said in Ephesians 2:20, “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone….” Look also at Psalm 118:22—“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” In Matthew 21:42 Jesus asked those to whom He spoke, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’” This foundation will stand forever. Institutions built by men rest upon sand. Their foundations are weak. And because of that fact, they will fall. Christ’s church, however, will come through triumphantly because it rests upon a tried stone—a sure foundation. It is essential that we do not allow ourselves to be part of any manmade church because they all will fall.
Another distinctive mark of the church that Jesus built is that it was founded at the scriptural place. In Isaiah 2:2-3 we read,
“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
The church of Christ was founded in Jerusalem. In Acts 2:47 we see the Lord adding to the church daily those who were being saved. If a person is a member of a church that was founded anywhere else, then he could not claim to be a member of the Lord’s church. Consider some additional evidence. In Luke 24, Jesus has already died and has been resurrected. Before His ascension into Heaven, He gives the disciples some final instructions, which are found in Luke 24:46-49.
“Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the 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 to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
In these verses we see that Christ had to suffer, die, and be raised from the dead before repentance and remission of sins could be preached in His name. The proclamation of the message was to begin in Jerusalem, and the disciples were to wait in Jerusalem until “power from on high” came. It is evident from John 14:26, 15:26-26, and 16:7-8 that the Comforter (the Holy Spirit) would not come until Jesus had departed. In John 14:26 we read, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” We can witness the fulfillment of this statement. The Holy Spirit was not to come until after Jesus had gone away (Jn. 16:7). But, in Acts 1:9 the apostles saw Him ascend out of their sight into Heaven. Those apostles had been commanded to “tarry in the city of Jerusalem” (Lk. 24:49). After the Lord’s ascension, they did, in fact, return to Jerusalem (Acts 1:12). The apostles were to be “clothed with power from on high” (Lk. 24:49). In Acts 2:1-4, we read of the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise. Thus, the Word of the Lord was to go forth from Jerusalem. Hence, this was the right place for the Gospel to be preached and for the establishment of the church. Repentance and remission of sins were to be preached in the Lord’s name beginning at Jerusalem (Lk. 24:47). Notice, then, what Peter said in Acts 2:38—“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Those who heard the Gospel on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, who believed, repented, and were baptized, were then added to the church (Acts 2:41). Beginning with this occasion in Acts 2, we see the church being mentioned as a reality—while prior to this time it was mentioned only as a future institution. The church of Christ had its origin in Jerusalem, and is the church for which we find scriptural authority. Thus, it is the sole church in which all people must have their membership.
Another characteristic of Christ’s church is that it was founded at the scriptural time—that is, the Day of Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ. We already have examined the prophecy of Isaiah 2:2-4, but now I would like us to examine specifically verse 2. “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days….” In Micah 4:1-2 we see the same words—“the latter days.” And in Daniel 2:44 we read, “In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” We know that the kingdoms described in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream were the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Greek, and then the Roman. It was during the Roman Empire that the church would be set up so as to last forever. John, the forerunner of Christ, would say in Matthew 3:2, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus, in Matthew 16:18, said that He would build His church. Another telling passage is Mark 9:1 where Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.” We see that the kingdom and the church) which was established on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2), are the same thing. Acts 2:41 tells us, “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” Peter said that this was “the last days.” As he quoted Joel (in Acts 2:17-21), Peter said:
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Peter said in Acts 2:16, “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel.” This was in “the last days.” It was in the days of the kings whom Daniel had foretold. It was in the lifetime of certain of Christ’s disciples. The church had its beginnings when the Holy Spirit came with power. In Acts 11:15 we see Peter saying, “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.” Peter was speaking of what happened in the household of Cornelius, and was referring back to what had happened on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The Scriptures point both forward to the church’s coming, as well as backward to its having come on the Day of Pentecost. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:13-14, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” The scriptural time for the beginning of the Lord’s church was on the Day of Pentecost almost 2,000 years ago. Any church that has its beginning at another time cannot be the church authorized by Scripture.
Another distinctive characteristic of the church is that it must be scriptural in name. Again, we need to consider Matthew 16:18 where Jesus said, “I will build My church.” Whose church is it? Does it belong to some man or to a group of people? No. It belongs to the Lord. Is there anything in a name? In Genesis 5:2, God named Adam and Eve. In Genesis 17, He also changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah. In Genesis 32, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel. From such events, it certainly seems as if God believes there is something in a name. Also, Paul condemned names given by men to the Lord’s church, explaining that such names were divisive. In 1 Corinthians 1:12-13 Paul wrote, “Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” In 1 Corinthians 3:4 Paul continued this thought when he wrote, “For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal?” We are supposed to come out of the world, not be like the world. We can understand Paul’s teaching more fully when we realize that God Himself has given the church its name. Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 62:2, “You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name.” If the Lord Himself has given us the name, then what man has the authority to change that name? We see in the New Testament that the people who composed the body of Christ, the church, were, in fact, called by a new name. In Acts 11:26, we see the account of Barnabas seeking out Paul. “And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Peter also used the term “Christian” to describe the Lord’s people in 1 Peter 4: 16—“Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.” In Matthew 16:18, Jesus claimed ownership of His church. In Acts 8:1 the body of the Lord’s people is referred to as simply “the church.” The text says, “At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” Why was a more-specific name not required? The answer is straightforward: there was only one church! Paul said in Romans 16:16, “The churches of Christ greet you.” This is the most-accurate designation of those people who have been called out of the world and into the church that Jesus promised to build. In Ephesians 4:12 Paul wrote about “the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” All of these terms speak of the same group of people—the church. Ephesians 1:22-23 will help us understand this point. Paul wrote: “And He put all things under His [Jesus’] feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” There is so much more that we could say about the name that God gave His people —disciples, saints, brethren, sons of God, children of God, heirs of God, a royal priesthood, etc., but that will have to wait for another lesson.
One final distinction of the church for this lesson is that the church is scriptural in its organization. Colossians 1:18 says, “He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.” This verse speaks of Jesus. There are many different churches in existence today. And, as we have seen, those that are manmade are not pleasing to God. Many churches simply do not give Christ the place of preeminence, but instead elevate some man to a position of authority. Such churches are doing exactly what Jesus warned against, since they are worshiping in vain. We have seen Paul explain that the church of Christ is not a divided body. There are not to be divisions (denominations). The meaning of the word “denomination” is “a lesser part of a whole.” Most denominations are ruled by an ecclesiastical form of government. The power to legislate the church was never given to any group of uninspired men. A rejection of the supreme authority of Christ is the outgrowth of these manmade institutions. The Bible plainly teaches that when it comes to the Lord’s church, there can be no higher governing body or group. Each congregation is autonomous. The wisdom of God is seen in such an arrangement because some individual congregations could become (and have been!) corrupted by the doctrines of men. The loss that occurred was of a single congregation. But if God had put in place some type of convention, conference, or other organization over all of the churches, and that leading group became corrupt, then the whole church worldwide would suffer. The simplistic organization of the Lord’s church fails to satisfy many. But what about the local church? Who makes the decisions regarding the day-to-day operation? The Holy Spirit has taught that elders (also known as bishops, overseers, or pastors) are to be ordained in every church. These terms apply to the same group of men, and never within the pages of the New Testament do we see a single man serving in such a leadership capacity. Rather, there was always a plurality of men serving. In Titus 1:5 Paul wrote, “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you.” In 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9 the qualifications are forth regarding these men. Their qualifications specify that the office of an elder is to be occupied by men of high character and in-depth Bible knowledge. These men are to be sober minded, hospitable, and just —among many other specific qualifications. We will be continuing our study of the distinctive nature of the church in the next lesson. We invite you to join us, and to endeavor to learn the Gospel of Christ.
Narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
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1. In Matthew 16:18, when Christ asked Peter who he thought He was, what answer did Peter give?
2. In Matthew 16:18, Christ said, “…upon this rock I will build My church.” What was “the rock” upon which Christ’s church was to be constructed?
3. As Acts 2:47 makes clear, a person does not “join” the Lord’s church. According to that same verse, how does a person get into the church?
4. Of what did Christ accuse the Pharisees in Matthew 15:9?
5. What impact does Christ’s statement in Matthew 15:13 (“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted”) have on denominationalism today?
6. According to Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 3:11, who or what is the foundation upon which the church is built?
7. According to Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 2:2-3, the church was to begin in Zion. What, according that same passage, is another name for Zion?
8. According to Luke 24:46-49, what even had to take place before repentance and remission of sins could be preached from Jerusalem?
9. What, according to Acts 2:41, happened to those people who repented and were baptized after Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost?
10. In Mark 9:1, what did Jesus promise regarding the kingdom of heaven (the church)?
11. In Daniel 2:44, Daniel prophesied about a future kingdom that would arrive “in the days of these kings.” To whom (or what) did Daniel’s prophecy refer?
12. What other important fact about the kingdom of Heaven is found in Daniel 2:44?
13. Paul said in Colossians 1:13-14 that God had delivered certain people “from the power of darkness” and had conveyed them into something else. What was that “something else”?
14. According to Matthew 16:18, who is the owner of the church?
15. According to Matthew 16:18 and Romans 16:16, whose name should the church wear?
16. In Acts 11:26 and Matthew 16:18, what name is given to people in the Lord’s church?
17. In 1 Corinthians 1:12-13, what did the apostle Paul condemn?
18. In Titus 1:5, what did Paul tell Titus to appoint in every church?
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