This study was first taught on July 1, 2018

Topic: What is the Church of God? (1): Introduction

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Background
In Part 36, we saw the impact of the message of the Lord Jesus Christ on the hearers. We noted at the time that the reactions of the hearers, which should elicit a response from those of us who present the Lord’s message, and afterwards the hearer is expected to take action.

We noted though that the reaction of people to the message of the Lord Jesus when we present it can be positive and it can be negative. A positive reaction stems from not just a conviction by the word of God, but also a conviction in the heart of the listener that he is indeed a sinner who needs the Lord Jesus to save his soul. A negative reaction on the other hand is the result of the listener not being convinced that he is a sinner who needs the Lord Jesus to save him! A positive reaction will usually yield confession of the Lord Jesus unto salvation, while a negative reaction will usually produce a confrontation of the presenter of the message of the Lord Jesus.

Our response to people’s reaction to the gospel message is to tell the people to repent and turn to God in faith for the remission of their sins—tell them to run from sin and run to God! This will usually be for those who react positively. But for those whose reaction is negative, we should pray for them continually and follow-up with them from time-to-time.

Our response would provoke action from the people, which also can be positive and negative. A positive action means that they accept the Lord Jesus, and a negative action is a rejection of Christ! A positive action translates coming into the kingdom through baptism and their admittance into the kingdom/church. A negative action could translate into persecution and even the death of the presenter (who must nonetheless still pray for the one who has rejected Christ)!

Scripture Text(s)
Acts 2:41-47; Matthew 16:18
Once the 3,000 souls were added to the group of 120 disciples, the birth of the Church on the day of Pentecost was complete, as per Leviticus 23:17—the two loaves which are the “first fruits”! Now, there was the church in Jerusalem. But what really is the Church? Is it the gathering of people together in one place? Is it about how many people are gathered? Is it about the cumulative income of the group gathered? Is it about having a good orator as a pastor or a charismatic leader? Is it about the instruments, the singing (or even the number of people who form the choir), the prayer, the preaching or teaching, etc.? What really is the Church of God?
We shall not attempt a full-blown discussion on this subject. Rather, we shall do as much as is practically possible at this time, in the hope that over time, we shall add other parameters as to what constitutes the Church of God. In our second text, the Lord Jesus said, “I will build My church …”, and this tells us that:
• The church of God is gathered by Christ Himself.
• The church of God is built (gathered and cemented) by Christ Himself.
Matthew 18:19-20; Acts 2:1-4; Isaiah 54:15; Acts 19:23-41, 1-12; 10:24, 34-48; 1:8; 2:14-39; Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 10:17-20; Revelation 22:13-15; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Kings 6:7; 1 Peter 2:5, 9-11; Revelation 21:3, 10-14, 18-20.

Conclusion
The Church of God is made up of people who have confessed Christ for their salvation and are being sanctified by the Holy Spirit to make them fit for heaven, while being useful here on the earth! Without the Holy Spirit, Who does not come and go, but Who is resident in those who have confessed Christ for their salvation, any gathering of people is not the Church of God; anything they do is dead works—be it preaching, teaching, casting out demons, working of miracles, etc. What is uppermost in the mind of Christ is that we are available to do the Wil of God; not the ambition or goals of man!

Acts 8:5-40, gives us a case study of what constitutes the Church of God as per the people who are gathered and the Holy Spirit’s involvement. Philip preached, people accepted Jesus, signs and wonders were wrought Simon, the Sorcerer became a disciple; and he and the people were baptized by the authority of Jesus, yet there was no church in Samaria (Acts 8:14-17)! We see that when eventually the church in Samaria was formed, it was because the Holy Spirit came within and upon the people who had believed and had been baptized. However, Simon the Sorcerer, was not part of the Church, even though he had confessed Christ and been baptized in the name (authority) of Jesus, and this was because he could not receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:18-24)! Finally, we note that Peter and John left Samaria; Philip was taken away by the Holy Spirit; so, was there a church really in Samaria? If Yes, who was running the church? This will be the subject of our next discussion on “What is the Church of God?”

LET US PRAY!

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