The day of anticipation has arrived. Why Finding the Church Matters is the first in an 11 lesson series entitled, How to identify THE church. Please open your Bible and ready your minds for five minutes as we reveal why this series deserves consideration.
The Interview
The year is 33 A.D. A scribe from the local news network arrives on scene in downtown Jerusalem at the crossing of Straight St. and Narrow St. There is a bubbling audience gathered shoulder to shoulder. The scribe Zacharias tries prying his way through the crowd but to no avail. Suddenly a man emerges from the crowd soaking wet! Zacharias is bewildered, especially as one man/woman after another come out from the midst of the seeming tumult, every one of them drenched head to toe. Pouring over with curiosity, Zacharias whips out the microphone recorder from his hip holster and begins questioning one of the wet witnesses. The conversation in Aramaic goes something like this-
Zacharias: “What is going on here?! Why are you and all these other people wet?!
Wet Witness: “Didn’t you hear the sermon?”
Zacharias: “What sermon? Again, why are you wet?”
Wet Witness: “The sermon! Peter and the other apostles of Jesus, the prophet who was crucified two months ago, they showed up in the temple this morning and preached the most gripping sermon I ever did hear! They were saying how Jesus the Christ raised from the dead like everyone had been hearing rumored, and He is the Messiah the Prophets wrote about! After preaching for a couple of hours, Peter called out, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins!” He made it very clear that if we would be immersed in water, we would be added to the church! And so, that’s why I’m wet. I’m a member of the church!
Zacharias: “What church are you talking about? What church did you become a member of?”
Wet Witness: “What do you mean, ‘What church?’ THE church!”
END
Of course, this is an embellished account of the events that took place almost 2,000 years ago as recorded in Acts 2. However, the parodical interview is very revealing to modern ranks of acclaimed Christianity. Zacharias represents people across the globe today, particularly Americans, who have lost touch with the historical reality of church beginnings. To say that you have been added to the church in 2018 is nothing short of confusing. Additional information is required today. Zacharias’ questions, “What church are you talking about? What church did you become a member of?” are necessary in modern ranks; whereas, there was no multiplicity of churches in the 1st century. Thus, no one would have even thought to ask Zacharias’ questions. To stipulate “the church” was enough for a Jew in the 1st century. Different kinds of churches (aka- denominations) did not develop until innovations were brought in to the church as early as the 2nd century. All of this should teach us an important lesson.
An Important Lesson- Do not assume that all things are as they should be. The only time in history that all things were as they were intended to be was in Adam’s day, “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good,” (Gen. 1:31). Since Adam sinned, God’s redemptive purposes have been to restore order, order like it was in the beginning. Nonetheless, that order has not been perfectly restored yet, and man continues to eat the forbidden fruit as it were, perverting God’s patterned order. The story does not change when it comes to the church. God planted the church (kingdom of heaven) with good seed (Matthew 13:24), but Satan polluted the soil very quickly (v. 25). Now, we wait for the second coming of Jesus Christ to open the world’s eyes as to what His true church looks like (v. 36-43).
THE church exists today. It is the same church of Acts 2:40-47 planted by the same good seed of Matthew 13:24. There is something distorted about the modern concept of the church. There is something amiss with denominationalism. This concept is foreign to the Bible. If someone has to ask the question, “Which church (denomination) are you talking about?” that should be an immediate tip-off that Satan has polluted the soil somewhere. For if God’s patterned order existed without competition, no one would have to ask Zacharias’ question.
Why does this series matter? This series title How to Identify THE Church is of the most dire importance, because God’s pattern has been corrupted as explained above. There is religious confusion with denominations on every corner. The confusion grows worse as denominations change their identifying name to something neutral such as Grace Church in order to hide their doctrinal affiliations. 1st century history, the teachings of Jesus, and the teachings of His authorized apostles insist that all these churches cannot be THE church. The fact that there is confusion means there has been compromise from the original church blueprint.
-Homework-
Read Matthew 28, Luke 24 and Acts 1-2. Write down specifically what Jesus told His disciples to do. Write down exactly what Jesus and His apostles said individuals had to do in order to be saved. Underline every occurrence of the words “church” or “kingdom” in each text. Write down exactly what the church did as detailed in the latter half of Acts 2.
Next Lesson- Defining the Kingdom of God
