29 23. How to Establish Churches of Christ Here and There
23. How to Establish Churches of Christ Here and There
How to Establish Churches of Christ Here and There
INTRODUCTION
There is nothing so vitally essential to our pleasing God as evangelists and teachers, as doing our best to do things as the inspired apostles of our Lord did them. Paul says: "The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do." (Php 4:9.) In 1 Corinthians 11:1 he says: "Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ." As we now study the work of the apostles as they went about establishing churches here and there, we want to note carefully just how they began and continued until a church of Christ was established at the place where they were laboring.
THE ONLY FOUNDATION In building a house the first thing is to lay the foundation. The church, as we have already learned, is "the house of God." (1 Timothy 3:15.)
Christ is the only foundation that we can lay. "For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (Study 1 Corinthians 3:10-11.) This one statement should forever settle the question as to the foundation.
Christ, in Matthew 16:18. Here our Lord anticipates himself as the rock foundation: "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
Here you are referred back to what was said about the anticipation of the Bible in Lesson III. Our Catholic friends tell us that Peter is the rock on which Christ said he would build his church. Turn to Matthew 16:13-20 and let us study it together. You find Christ here eliciting an expression of the faith of the disciples as to who he really was. When he pressed them for their own judgment, Peter spoke up and said: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Now, this is the foundation truth or rock that Jesus said he would use as the foundation of his church. Of course, Christ confessed Peter at once. This is in keeping with his statement that all who will confess him before men he also would confess before his Father who is in heaven. (See Matthew 10:32-33.) But because Jesus said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church," the Catholics say Peter is the foundation. But did God foreknow that the Catholics would make this argument? Most certainly he did, as we will see. Any soul can take the context, without any knowledge of the Greek language, and see that the foundation Jesus was talking about is the very thing he was talking to his apostles about—viz., who he really was. The question he raised is: "Who Amos 1?" Peter said: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Christ said: "Upon this rock [by which he meant the undoubting certainty that he was the Christ] I will build my church." But let us look back of this English sentence into the Greek and see what we shall see. It is admitted that Peter comes from the Greek Petros, which means a fragment of a stone or rock. But here is the sentence: "Thou art Petros, and upon this Petra I will build my church." Petros is a noun in the masculine gender, meaning a bit, a fragment, or a part from a mass of rock. Petra is a noun in the feminine gender, and means a mass or a ledge that is immovable. The very idea of taking Petra, feminine in gender, and contending that it refers to Petros, masculine in gender! The very idea of taking Petra, which means an immovable ledge or mass of rock, and saying it refers to Petros, which means a bit or fragment broken from a ledge! No, God has so spoken here through his Son that we are without excuse if we let blind guides lead us astray. At the time Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it," the church had not been established. He had to become the stone of prophecy. "Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone of sure foundation." (Isaiah 28:16.) You remember that we learned in our preceding lesson that Zion is the prophetic word for the "church." Christ’ before he could be laid as the rock foundation, had to become that tried and tested stone. The last test was death itself. This is what he means when he says, "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it"—that is, the gates of the Hadean world, into which he went when he left his body on the cross, were not to hold him within its confines, but that he was to come forth through the gates of Hades in the resurrection and build his church. He did not become the corner stone, the triedstone, until he arose. Here study Acts 4:8-12; Luke 13:31-32; Matthew 27:62-65; Romans 1:1
Christ’s soul went to Hades. (See Acts 2:31.) When he arose, he declared that he had the keys of Hades. (See Revelation 1:17-18.) Had not Christ arose from the dead, he could not have built his church. Do you see, then, that when he said, "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it," he meant the gates of the Hadean world would not prevail against his building his church. How foolish, then, for some to contend that the church was built in the day of John the Baptist or during the personal ministry of Jesus before he became the tried stone, the chief corner stone!
What Jesus says of himself. He says that he is our Leader (Matthew 16:24), the object of our faith (John 8:24), the first place in our love (Matthew 10:37); that he has all judgment in his hands (John 5:22); that all power in heaven and on earth has been placed in his hands (Matthew 28:18); that no man can go to the Father except by him (John 14:6); and that all nations before him some day shall stand to be judged (Matthew 25:31-33). Figuratively speaking, he says that he is the light of the world (John 8:12), the good shepherd of the sheep (John 10:11), the door through which we enter the true sheepfold (John 10:9), the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6); that bread that came down from heaven, of which we eat and hunger no more (John 6:53-58); that well that gives forth water that we drink and thirst no more (John 4:13-14); and that the day will come when all the sleeping dead shall hear his voice and come forth (John 5:28-29).
These are some of the many things Jesus says of himself. Are you surprised, then, that he should be the rock on which we build? A significant fact. Notwithstanding Jesus said all that is given above, and even more, about himself, you never get the slightest impression that he is egotistical or selfinflated. Will you meditate on: Why is this? In all of your study of Jesus, and that of all other men, egotism is never thought of, but rather that of humility and meekness. Yet no man ever so spoke of himself as did Jesus. Account for this.
HOW THE APOSTLES WENT ABOUT LAYING THIS FOUNDATION
First things first. This principle the apostles ever observed. The first thing they did for individuals and groups of people was to establish in their hearts the great fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. This they did, without an exception. Now, is this not additional proof that Christ is the foundation? Where did they ever preach on Peter and try to lay Peter as the foundation on which to build? The first thing to do in building a house is to lay the foundation. Of course, we sometimes have to clear away rubbish and just so do we have to remove from the hearts of the people erroneous ideas before laying Christ as the rock foundation. The apostles did this. But their first work, before building, was to get the human heart to take hold of the undoubted fact that Christ is God’s Son. May I not ask. Have we not, perhaps, endeavored to build before the heart has taken hold of this great truth?
How great our folly when we do such a thing! We do harm to the soul thus dealt with, and also bring into the church semi-infidels. We cannot be too careful to lay well Christ as the foundation in the heart before building.
Examples of the apostles at work.(1) Study their work on Pentecost in Jerusalem. Read Acts 2:22-36. Christ and him crucified, buried, raised, ascended, and crowned was laid in the hearts of the people. This caused them to cry: "What must we do?" Had we better not stay with the laying of the foundation until people become hungry to know what to do before telling people what to do? Do we not, as a rule, start to building by preaching on baptism and subjects of this kind when the heart is not ready for it? (2) See Peter’s second sermon in Acts 3:12-18. Read also Acts 4:8-12. Planting in the heart that Jesus is undoubtedly the Messiah was the way they began; this was laying the foundation. (3) Watch Philip in Samaria and also with the eunuch. (Acts 8:5; Acts 8:12; Acts 8:32-35.) (4) The sole purpose for our Lord’s appearing to Saul on his way to Damascus was to lay this foundation in his heart, and this is all he did. He left the building to Ananias. Of course, Christ meant to make Saul an apostle, and he had to let him see him before he could become an apostle. Study Acts 9:16; Acts 22:16; 1 Corinthians 9:1. (5) Paul says, in speaking to the church at Corinth: " 1 laid a foundation." Turn to Acts 18:1-5 and you will find Paul, on his first visit to Corinth, began by "testifying to Jews that Jesus was the Christ." (6) Follow them to Thessalonica and you will find them "opening and alleging that it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom, said he, I proclaim unto you, is theChrist(Acts 17:1-3.) Apollos, after learning the way of the Lord more perfectly, started out establishing churches, but the burden of his message was "that Jesus was the Christ." Read Acts 18:24-28. But this is enough. Certainly we can see how the apostles laid the foundation. They established in the heart undoubting faith that Jesus is the only Savior we have, the divine Son of God.
HOW THEY BUILT UPON THIS FOUNDATION
Paul ’s admonition. "But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon." (1 Corinthians 3:10 : I know of no admonition more needed than this one. May I say that every denomination that now exists has come into existence because of a failure to heed Paul’s admonition? All religious bodies that teach that Christ is God’s Son, and that he died for us, conquered the Hadean world, has returned to the Father, and is coming again, have the rock foundation. But what have they done? They have not taken heed as to how they build upon it; hence, they have laid a little foundation of their own upon this rock and have started a party—a human organization. About this there can be no doubt.
Let us note how some of the Corinthians were laying another foundation—not that they were repudiating Christ as the Savior, but they were building parties on this great rock, Jesus Christ. One group had laid as their foundation their preference for Paul; another had laid as their foundation their preference for Peter; and still another had laid as their foundation their preference for Apollos. Who is it that cannot see from the context that this was the reason Paul said: "Let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon"? All of these people had confessed that Jesus was the Christ, but they had taken their preferences for different men, and upon this they built a party. This was another foundation. Paul condemned it. Read 1 Corinthians 3:21, "Wherefore let no man glory in men," and right there these men in whom they were glorying are named. Read verses 1-6 of this chapter and note that Paul declares that they are carnal when so doing. But how happy we should be that there was a group in this congregation that still took Christ as their only foundation! know some have said that they constituted a party, but this is not so. They were, indeed, the faithful church there, who would take nothing but Christ and him crucified as their Leader.
Now, if time would permit, we could take every human organization that teaches that Jesus is the Christ and show that they came into existence by laying another foundation, some point of emphasis besides Christ as the Son of the living God. The foundation is the point of emphasis. Let us remember that Christ is the point of emphasis. But do not many among us lay another foundation? Some make opposition to Bible colleges the point of emphasis, and upon this they have built a sect; others take opposition to teaching the Bible in a systematic way in classes with the written comments as well as the oral, and upon this they have built a party, a sect. How much we need to heed the admonition: "Let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon"! And note the reason for the admonition is: "For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." And are we to say that some among us have not built upon their preferences for their preachers? Have not congregations been divided, and all for what? Because some preacher has pushed himself forward as the bone of contention. He gets the congregation to rally around him, to "pull" for him. And is it not a shame that some who claim to be disciples of Christ will follow preachers in such divisive work? Study the modesty and humility of Paul as he rebuked those Corinthians for making him the point of emphasis, saying: "I am of Paul." But how did the apostles build upon Christ, the rock? Here the lesson is simple and easily seen.
Let Christ tell us how first, then we will watch the apostles. In Matthew 7:24 he says we build upon him by hearing and doing what he says. After we are convinced that Christ is God’s Son, we build upon him by doing his sayings. What is more easily learned than the sayings of Jesus? He says we must believe that he is the Christ. When this we do, the foundation is laid in our hearts. He says we must repent. (Luke 13:3.) He says we must confess him before men. (Matthew 10:32.) He says we must be baptized. (Mark 16:15-16.) All religious bodies will admit that Jesus says these things. Don’t stop to argue whether they are essential or nonessential—just do them; and who is it that can doubt that you are on the rock? But is this the way the apostles got people to build on the rock? It most certainly is. You may follow the apostles in all their work, and you will find that they, without exception, after convincing the people that Christ was God’s Son, told them what Christ says for them to do to be saved. Here just recall all the cases of conversion in the Acts of the Apostles.’ The good confession. It is enough here to remind you that the apostles, after getting people to believe that Christ is God’s Son, took as their very next step to enforce his absolute Lordship. Turn to Romans 10:9 and you will find it is said: "Confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord." What does this mean? It means that we take him as our only rightful Ruler; that he can take the throne in our heart; to him only will we listen. Read Php 2:11 and you will find it again: "And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." This is exactly the meaning of the prophecy by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18, quoted and applied by Peter in Acts 3:22-23 : "To him shall ye hearken in all things what soever he shall speak unto you." We can set aside as nonessential nothing he says. This is exactly what God meant on the mount of transfiguration. (See Matthew 17:5.)
Believing the facts about Christ is to have the foundation laid in our hearts. But it is only by doing what he says that we build upon him as the only foundation. You will find many human organizations stopping with just the facts. They teach correctly the historicity of Jesus—as to his birth, the wonderful life he lived, his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. But here they stop. We must teach that Christ is head over all things to the church, that him we must recognize as our only Guide and Lawmaker, and that his commandments we must obey or not be permitted to enter heaven.