LESSON
3
When Was The New Testament Church Established?
Old Testament Prophets Foretold Details Of The
Coming of His Church or Kingdom
To answer the question,
“when was His church or kingdom establish,” it is necessary to
study the Old Testament prophets. Remember, God gave them the power to look far
into the future to foretell His great events. You can be assured that each
prophecy was accurately fulfilled.
Therefore, let us begin with Isaiah. He is known as the Messianic
prophet because he spoke so often about the coming Messiah. But Isaiah was not
limited to the Messiah. He also foretold about the establishment of God’s
kingdom. Please observe his words: “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”
(Isaiah 2:2).
This
one little verse gives us some important information. (1) Latter days. The event will happen
sometime into the future. (2) The Lord’s house relates to His church
or kingdom. (3) The top of the mountains refers to Jerusalem. God’s special house will
be built on a chain of mountains. (4) Exalted above the hills. This figure suggests
being above all other nations. (5) All nations shall flow to it. This house of God or
kingdom would attract people from all nations coming to it.
We
will find in this lesson that all of these things came to pass just as Isaiah
foretold. Isaiah also foretold of the coming of the Son and Prince of Peace.
This will also be considered later in this study (Isaiah 9:6,7).
Daniel was another great
prophet who foretold the coming of the church or kingdom. Daniel lived in the
time when the Kingdom of Judah, God’s special nation to bring the Savior, was
carried away into Babylonian captivity. The king of Babylon had a dream and no
one could recall it for him or give its meaning. The king was angry and was
ready to kill all the wise men in Babylon. This would include Daniel! Therefore,
God revealed the secret to Daniel in a night vision (Daniel 2:19). Then Daniel
went to King Nebuchadnezzar and informed him that God can reveal secrets.
At
this point, Daniel told of how the king saw this great image with a head of
gold, arms and chest of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron,
with feet partly of iron and partly of clay. Then Daniel told how he saw a
stone that was cut out without hands that struck the image on its feet, and
broke it to pieces.
What
did this mean? Daniel told him that these various parts of the image
represented nations that would rise and fall beginning with Babylon the head of
gold. The final kingdom of this image would be Rome represented by the feet
mixed with iron and clay.
Then
came Daniel’s prophecy: “And 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” (Daniel 2:44).
From
this prophecy we can learn that the kingdom of the Lord will happen during the
reign of the earthly power represented by the legs and feet of iron mixed with
clay. History reveals this to be during the time of the Roman Empire. We also
learn that God’s kingdom will be an Eternal Kingdom that will outlast all
earthly kingdoms.
The next question that
should come to our minds is who is capable of ruling over such a powerful
kingdom? Is there an earthly king qualified? Surely, there is not! Suppose we
allow the prophet to describe for us the coming King who will reign: “For
unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be
upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and
peace there will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to
order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward,
even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).
Now we know! There could not be a more
perfect description (than this) given of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Jesus
will come as the King of kings. Paul referred to Him as “He who is the
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15; cf. Revelation 17:14;
19:16). Thus God’s
prophets foretold the coming of the Kingdom and the King hundreds of years
before both came.
We have already learned that Jesus preached that
the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17), and that He promised to build
His church or kingdom (Matthew 16:18,19). But the closer Jesus got to the cross,
the more He spoke of His coming kingdom. For example, Jesus said to His
disciples when they were arguing about who would be the greatest, “And I
bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, that you may
eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve
tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:29,30).
Then
He gave more specific details about when it would be established: “And He
said to them, ‘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’ “ (Mark 9:1).
There
are two important truths learned from this promise of Jesus. (1) The kingdom would come
during the lifetime of some in His audience. (2) His kingdom would come
with power.
Even though Jesus taught
often about the coming of His kingdom and its nature, there were still those
who did not understand. He had taught them that His kingdom was not of the
world (John 18:36), but they had known only earthly kingdoms, and therefore did not
understand.
In
fact, after all His teaching on the subject, and after He had died on the cross
and was resurrected, just before He ascended to the Father, they still did not
understand. Please take note of the question His apostles asked Him: “Therefore,
when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this
time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ “ (Acts 1:6).
At
this point, how did Jesus answer them? “And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or
seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth’ “ (Acts 1:7-8). Jesus must have
realized that the only way they would understand was to see His kingdom come
with power. Therefore, He sent them to Jerusalem to wait.
The disciples obeyed
Jesus and returned to Jerusalem to wait for the power to come down. This must
have been a mystery to them. But the answer is found in the beginning of the second
chapter of Acts.
“When
the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one
place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there
appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other
tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).
The
power came down on the Day of Pentecost! What is this Day of Pentecost? It is
another feast day of the Jews. You may remember that Jesus died on the cross
just before the Feast of Passover. The word “Pente” means fifty. Thus, they
counted from the Passover seven weeks (7x7=49), and the next day, (50th day)
was the Feast of Pentecost. This was a feast attended by Jews from “every
nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5).
What
an excellent time for the power to come down to begin Christ’s church or
kingdom! The Holy Spirit came down with the sound of a rushing mighty wind, and
filled all the house where they were sitting. Notice in the text that they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other languages. This required power or a miracle for
all these different ones in the audience to understand Peter’s sermon in their
own language.
The
apostle Peter took the lead and preached a beautiful and powerful sermon based
on the resurrected Christ. He showed his audience that they had made a terrible
mistake by putting to death Jesus. Then he showed that they could be forgiven
by repenting and being baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).
How
successful was this powerful sermon? “Then those who gladly received his
word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them”
(Acts
2:41).
Peter
used the keys given to him by Jesus and bound the requirements for sinners to be
saved. They became believers from Peter’s sermon, and then they were told to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of
sins. Three thousand did this, and at this point, the Lord added them to the
Lord’s church or kingdom. From this day forward, the same good news of Jesus
was preached and the saved were added to the church daily.
“praising
God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Beginning now, the church was
spoken of as being in existence. Please consider the following:
“So
great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things;...And
believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and
women,” (Acts
5:11,14). “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of
the church; and He is the Savior of the body” (Ephesians 5:23).
This
same church or kingdom is still alive and active today. Those who obey the
gospel for salvation (Romans 1:16), are still added to the church by the Lord.
1.
A
special feast day for the Jews (Acts 2:1)
(a) Temple Day (b) Pentecost (c) Sabbath Day
2.
The
Lord’s house would be exalted above these (Isa. 2:2)
(a) Cities (b) Mountains (c) Heavens
3.
The
head of the New Testament church (Eph. 5:23)
(a) Christ (b) Bishops (c)
A Pope
4.
That
which some would not taste until they saw the kingdom (Mk. 9:1)
(a) Life
(b) Death (c) Happiness
5.
How God
revealed a secret in the night to Daniel (Dan. 2:19)
(a) In a dream
(b) In a small voice (c) In
a vision
6.
That
which would rest upon a child’s shoulder (Isa. 9:6).
(a)
Government (b) Eternity (c) A yoke
7.
What
the apostles of Jesus would be to Jesus in Jerusalem? (Acts 1:7,8)
(a) Bitter spokesmen (b) Witnesses
(c) Joyful soldiers
8.
An
apostle who took the lead in preaching (Acts 2:14)
(a) James
(b) John (c) Peter
9.
What is
the power of God unto salvation? (Rom. 1:16)
(a) Doctrines of men (b) The gospel
(c) Prophecies
10.
The
head of a great image was made with this material (Dan. 2:32)
a) Bronze
(b) Gold (c) Iron
11.
The
number of thousands who were baptized when the church began (Acts 2:41)
(a) 5 (b)
1 (c) 3
12.
A noise
like this, was made by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:2)
(a) Storm
(b) Wind (c) Thunder
13.
A piece
of furniture where Jesus said His disciples would eat in His kingdom (Lk.
22:30)
(a) A chair
(b) A recliner (c) A table
14.
To what
did the Lord add the saved? (Acts 2:47)
(a) The church
(b) The covenant (c) The
Angels
15.
How
long would God’s kingdom last? (Dan. 2:4,44)
(a) The end of Mosaic age (b) 1000 years
(c) Forever
Once You Have
Completed This Lesson, Go To Last Page For Grading Key. For Your Score, Take
From 100, 6 Points For Each One Missed.
Score for Lesson 3 =
LESSON 4
How Were Sinners Convicted
When His Church Was Established?
Through Preaching Jesus
When Peter stood up with the other apostles and preached that first
sermon in the church, what was his subject? He preached Jesus, and how His
death had brought salvation! Many who were in that audience had been guilty of
putting Jesus to death. Thus, Peter said to them, “Him, being delivered by
the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless
hands, have crucified, and put to death” (Acts 2:23). Then he must have shocked
them when he showed that the One whom they had crucified, God had made both
Lord and Christ.
At
this point, they were told that they had crucified the Christ. If ever there
were sinners needing salvation, it was these crucifiers. How did this affect
them? “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to
Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ “ (Acts 2:37). What are they asking?
What must we do to be saved?
These Sinners Became Believers
This question and its
answer should be important to all today who are lost in sin? The passing of
centuries has not changed Peter’s God-given answer. Therefore, what answer did
Peter give? He began where they were—they were believers in Jesus or else they
would not have asked “Men and brethren, what shall we do?“ Therefore, Peter told
them to “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins...“ (vs. 38). Did they obey what Peter (with
the keys of the kingdom) bound on them to do? Yes, for we are told in verse 41,
“Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about
three thousand souls were added to them“ (Acts 2:41).
(Change their hearts and lives)
As believers, they were
commanded to repent. What did they do when they repented? They changed their
hearts, which was followed by a change in their actions. Instead of hating
Jesus, they will now love Him. Instead of longing to destroy Him, they will now
long to live for Him. It was not enough for them to just believe that He is the
Christ; they must put their belief into action. This is why Peter told them, “Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins...” (Acts 2:38).
When
Jesus gave the command for His apostles to preach the gospel to the world, He
said, “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” (Luke 24:46-47). Peter is obeying His
Lord when he bound on them repentance.
Why
were they willing to repent or change their hearts and lives? Because they were
sorry for the terrible sins they had committed. They were sorry in a Godly
sense. Paul writes of this: “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to
salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Thus,
those who teach faith only and leave out repentance do not teach the complete
way of salvation through Jesus.
These Sinners Were Commanded to Be
Baptized For the Remission of Sins
“Then
Peter said to them, ‘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“ (Acts 2:38).
It
is at this point that many modern religious teachers part company with Peter. Why?
Because they teach that baptism has nothing to do with salvation. However, we
must remember that Peter had the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and he was
binding on earth what had already been bound in heaven (Matthew 16:19). Thus,
those who refuse this teaching of Peter are refusing the teaching of heaven!
You
will notice that Peter placed forgiveness of sins AFTER baptism, and not
BEFORE! This baptism was to be done in the name of Jesus, which means by the
authority of Jesus. This leads us to ask, “Why did Peter place forgiveness
AFTER baptism instead of BEFORE? Because this was where Jesus placed it. He
gave the following commandment to Peter and the other apostles: “Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved;
but he who does not believe will be condemned“ (Mark 16:15-16). Therefore, those who
refuse this teaching of Peter, refuse the teaching of Jesus!
Let us ask again, “What
was Peter (with this powerful sermon) wanting these sinners to do?” The word of
God tells us. “And with many other words he testified and exhorted them,
saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation" (Acts 2:40). Did they obey his
teaching? Yes, because we read these words, “Then those who gladly received
his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to
them” (Acts
2:41).
Thousands
on that day refused to obey—they chose to remain in their sins. However, three
thousand obeyed and were baptized! Why? Because they gladly received his (Peter’s) words. Why do millions today
refuse to become penitent believers and to be baptized for the remission of
their sins? Because they will not gladly receive these words of Peter as
he was guided by the Holy Spirit. To refuse his message today, has the same
results today—one remains lost in sin.
What
Peter bound on this feast day of Pentecost, was not just an isolated
experience. This also became what was bound into the future. It is said in this
same chapter, “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the
Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). As you
can see, the adding of the saved by this same obedience continued as the Lord’s
church grew and spread throughout the world. The passing of the centuries has
not changed God’s will. If we are saved and added to His church today, we must
do the same.
Someone
might say, “We have a way for the sinners that is easier than what Peter
bound.” But is it a way that is acceptable to God? Peter bound what Jesus had
bound. Jesus had said to the apostles, “He who believes and is baptized will
be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16).
Therefore,
no one has the right to change a single command. Remember, Jesus is the head of
His church “And 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” (Colossians 1:18).
Sinners must be saved by Jesus the same way they were saved when Christ’s church was established.
The
soul is too precious to neglect the teaching of God’s word. Just be sure that
you are saved the way that sinners were saved when Christ established His
church, and this will give you the blessed assurance that you need for eternal
salvation.
I. TRUE OR FALSE: (Circle “T” for true; “F” for false)
T F 1. Lawless hands crucified Jesus (Acts
2:23).
T F 2. Hearts were cut from
hearing Peter’s sermon (Acts 2:37).
T F 3. Peter first told his
audience on Pentecost to believe (Acts 2:38).
T F 4. Those baptized, first
gladly received his word (Acts 2:41).
T F 5. In Acts 2:38, remission of sins
comes before baptism.
T F 6. Both repentance and
remission of sins were to be limited to the Jews (Lk.
24:46,47).
T F 7. Godly sorrow does not
produce repentance (2 Cor. 7:10).
T F 8. Jesus gave the
following order in Mk. 16:15,16: Belief plus Baptism equals salvation.
T F 9. Man must add the saved
to the church (Acts 2:47).
T F 10. Jesus is the only head
of His church (Col. 1:18).
II. MULTIPLE CHOICE: (Circle letter for Correct answer)
1. When Peter preached in Acts 2, many were: (a) innocent of the blood
of Jesus (b) guilty of crucifying Jesus (c) leaving before he
finished.
2. Peter’s sermon in Acts 2, caused (a) some to be cut in their
hearts (b) some to laugh (c) some to curse God.
3. When sinners asked, “What shall we do,” Peter answered (a) nothing (b) have faith
only (c) repent and be baptized.
4. Those who were baptized in Acts 2, (a) first went home to
study (b) gladly received his word (c) became angry.
5. Repentance means: (a) to change one’s heart and life (b) to weep from godly
sorrow (c) join a church.
6. That which leads to repentance: (a) a serious illness (b) godly sorrow (c) getting
older.
7. In Acts 2:38, Peter placed salvation (a) after baptism (b) before baptism.
8. Jesus purchased His church with: (a) the blood of Christians
(b)
His own blood (c) hard work.
Once You Have
Completed This Lesson, Go To Last Page For Grading Key. For Your Score, Take
From 100, 5 Points For Each One Missed.
Score for Lesson 4 =
GRADING KEY
Lesson 3
Review – (1 B) – (2 B) – (3 A) – (4 B) – (5 C) –
(6 A) – (7 B) – (8 C) - (9 B) – (10 B) – (11 C) – (12 B) -
(13 C) –
(14 A) –
(15
C)*
Lesson 3/4
True or
False – (1 T) – (2 T) – (3 F) – (4 T) – (5 F) –
(6 F) – (7 F) – (8 T) – (9 F) – (10 T) *
Multiple
Choice – (1 B) – (2 A) – (3 C) – (4 B) – (5 A) –
(6 B) – (7 A) – (8 B) *