{"id":18467,"date":"2017-12-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-17T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/ecclesiology-008\/"},"modified":"2017-12-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-12-17T06:00:00","slug":"ecclesiology-008","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/ecclesiology-008\/","title":{"rendered":"Ecclesiology 008"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[85],"series_event":[484],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18467","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-matthew","series_event-ecclesiology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Ecclesiology 008","sermon_date":"20171217","sermon_month":"12","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":5251,"sermon_slides":5260,"sermon_mp3":5258,"sermon_id":"1217171057434","series_or_event":484,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":85,"chapter_and_verse":"16:18","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nEcclesiology 008\n\n12-17-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 8\n\nIf you all can open up to the Book of Acts, chapter 11, verses 17-18.\u00a0\u00a0 As you all know we\u2019re continuing our study in Ecclesiology which is the doctrine of the church.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve defined what the church is, that unique body of called out ones that has trusted in the very Messiah that the leadership of Israel in the first century rejected.\u00a0 And from there we took a look at the differences between the universal church and the local church.\u00a0 We tried to flush that out.\u00a0 And from there, I think for the last several Sundays we\u2019ve been on this part, Roman numeral III, Word Pictures of the church.\u00a0 So there are about seven New Testament word pictures of the church.\u00a0 Last time we were together we finished up with the vine and the branches word picture.\u00a0 But those word pictures give us a great portrait of what the church is supposed to be like under God.\n\nAnd we\u2019re moving now into Roman Numeral IV which is the origin of the church.\u00a0 When exactly did the church age start?\u00a0 And I don\u2019t think, some of these slides I\u2019m not sure you have but what you see up on the screen there is your basic dispensations chart.\u00a0 [on the screen: Innocence, Conscience, Human Government, Promise, Law, Grace].\u00a0 And the reason I put this up is because figuring out when the church started is what we would call a dispensational call.\u00a0 When did God officially and formally start the dispensation of the church, the age of time that we\u2019re living in now, the age of time that we\u2019ve been in for the last 2,000 years.\n\nNow you might be wondering what is a dispensation?\u00a0 Just very quickly, the Greek word translated \u201cdispensation\u201d\u00a0 in many of your Bible translations, if I remember right in the King James Bible Ephesians 1:10 and Ephesians 3:2 you\u2019ll see the word \u201cdispensation\u201d in the English translation.\u00a0 [Ephesians 1:10, \u201cThat in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even<\/em> in him:\u201d KJV\u00a0 Ephesians 3:2, \u201cIf ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:\u201d KJV.]\n\nAnd dispensation is sort of a scare word that has a very simple meaning; it\u2019s not a word you need to be afraid of.\u00a0 Dispensations are what we would call the keys that unlock the whole Bible to you once you understand it.\u00a0\u00a0 So the word translated dispensation in some of those English translations is the word oikonomia<\/em>, which is a compound word meaning two words making up one word; oikos<\/em> meaning house, and nomia,<\/em> coming from nomos or law, two Greek words.\u00a0 So it literally means house law or house rules.\n\nSo as you go through the Bible what you start to see is the rules were different in prior times than they are today.\u00a0 For example, we didn\u2019t show up to church on Saturday, did we; we came on Sunday.\u00a0 The folks in the Old Testament came on Saturday and they came bringing their unblemished lambs to sacrifice; I didn\u2019t see anybody doing that today here at Sugar Land Bible church.\u00a0 And then in the Old Testament times they went to the temple, in the Middle East; we\u2019re here in North America.\u00a0 So it\u2019s kind of obvious as\u00a0 you look at the Old Testament and you compare it to what\u2019s normative today that the rules got changed somewhere along the line.\n\nAs you move from Genesis 1 and 2 into Genesis 3 it\u2019s obvious the rules change, the house rules change.\u00a0 So Genesis 1 and 2, there\u2019s no difficulty in pregnancy, there\u2019s no such thing as death, the ground is not rebelling against humanity.\u00a0 And then in Genesis 3 all of a sudden those things I just articulated, whether it be death, painful pregnancy, rebellion of the agriculture against man, all of that is introduced so obviously by the time you get to Genesis 3 the rules changed some from Genesis 1 and 2.\u00a0 See that. So that\u2019s basically what we mean by a dispensation, a change of house rules.\n\nSo a traditional dispensationalist like myself would back up and we would observe\u2026 this is not something we bring to the text, it\u2019s an observation we get from the text.\u00a0 So a traditional dispensation\u00adalist like myself would back up and see about seven changes in rules.\u00a0 And so when we get into this subject of when the church started we\u2019re making a dispensational call\u2014when did God change the rules?\u00a0 The plan of salvation is always the same from beginning to end, personal salvation; that never changes.\u00a0 That\u2019s always based on faith alone in Christ alone, Old Testament folks looking forward to a coming Messiah, New Testament folks and thereafter like ourselves looking backward to a Messiah whose name we know, who died on the cross for us.\n\nSo that plan of salvation is always the same but as you go through the Bible it\u2019s pretty apparent that the rules, the house rules, the household rules, change over time.\u00a0 So prior to the age of the church the nation of Israel had been functioning under the Law for 1,500 years; that\u2019s a long time, isn\u2019t it, when you think about it.\u00a0 So at some point when the church started God changed the rules and the church age began.\n\nAnd so then the issue becomes when did the rules change and if you can figure out when the rules changed you can figure out the birthday of the church.\u00a0 And one of the key things to keep in mind here is this: it doesn\u2019t matter when man finally figures out the rules change.\u00a0 It never is man that introduces a new dispensation.\u00a0 It\u2019s always God!\u00a0 So a lot of time people had a difficult time figuring out that the rules had changed and people, I think, go astray because they try to figure out well, when did man figure out the rules changed.\u00a0 And that\u2019s really never the issue, the issue is when did God Himself change the household rules and the church age started?\n\nSo to illustrate this take a look at Acts 11:7-8, this is the Apostle Peter,\u00a0 and it says, the Lord speaking to Peter, \u201c\u201cI also heard a voice saying to me, \u2018Get up, Peter; kill and eat.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So Peter had that dream of that sheet and he saw those animals on the sheet and God said to Peter, \u201carise, kill and eat.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, Peter, the dietary rules of the Mosaic Law that the nation of Israel has been under for 1500 years, those have now been set aside.\u00a0 We\u2019re under new household rules.\n\nAnd look at Peter\u2019s reaction, \u201cNot so, Lord, for nothing common or unclean has at any time entered my mouth.\u201d\u00a0 See, Peter wants to operate by the old house rules but the reality is God had already changed the rules. So this is a perfect illustration to demonstrate you don\u2019t figure out when the rules change based on when Peter finally figured out the rules changed.\u00a0 God is the One that changes the rules.\u00a0 He did so at a particular point in time as I\u2019ll be showing you, and whether Peter fully under\u00adstood it or whether Peter fully comprehended it is irrelevant.\u00a0 So I think many people go astray because they\u2019re looking at when did man figure out the rules changed and that\u2019s not the right way of thinking about it.\u00a0 It\u2019s when, according to the Bible did God Himself change the rules.\u00a0 Man oftentimes is very slow or kind of a Johnny-come-lately in recognizing what God has already done.\n\nMan\u2019s recognition of the rule change is not the issue; it\u2019s when did God change the rules.\u00a0 So when we try to document the beginning of the church we\u2019re trying to figure out when did the rules change from the dispensation of Law to the dispensation of the church, which is the time period that we\u2019re living in now.\u00a0 On one extreme are people that will tell you that\u00a0 the church started in the Old Testament.\u00a0 A lot of them, in what\u2019s called Reformed Theology, will push the church all the way back to Abraham.\u00a0 Beyond that many people will push it all the way back to Adam.\u00a0\u00a0 If you look at Reformed Theologians when Adam got out of the Garden and put his clothes on the church started.\u00a0 So they have what\u2019s called a one people of God theology, the church has always been here they think.\n\nOn the other end of the stick are those that push the extreme the other way and try to argue that the church started sometime after Acts 2, typically trying to start the church with the Apostle Paul.\u00a0 And I\u2019d like to show you that I don\u2019t think either position is correct; neither position is what is reflected in the Sugar Land Bible church position of faith, statement of faith.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t think either position is reflected in the Scripture. I think there\u2019s a solid case to be made that the church started in Acts 2.\u00a0 The problem with that is there\u2019s no verse that says hey, the church started in Acts 2.\u00a0 I mean, I wish it was that easy.\u00a0 So when you try to defend a doctrine you have to consider multiple Scriptures and you have to put them together, kind of like a piece of the jigsaw puzzle gets put together.\u00a0 That\u2019s how you have to approach this subject of when the church started.\u00a0 You have to look at multiple Scriptures, which is what I\u2019m going to, by God\u2019s grace, try to lead you through today.\n\nAnd that\u2019s how you put together any doctrine.\u00a0 For example, the Trinity, there is no verse that says hey, guess what, God is one and He\u2019s expressed Himself in three persons.\u00a0 I mean, if such a verse exists I\u2019d love for you to show it to me because it\u2019s not that easy to assemble the doctrine of the Trinity.\u00a0 You have to compare Scripture with Scripture, compare the verses that teach that God is one with the New Testament verses that indicate that the Spirit is God, the Father is God and so forth.\u00a0 So the Trinity has to be assembled through multiple Scriptures.\u00a0 The birthday of the church has to be assembled through multiple Scriptures.\n\nSo here are the six arguments that I want to walk you through to demonstrate that I think the church started in Acts 2; that\u2019s when God changed the house rules.\u00a0 There\u2019s arguments 1-4 and there\u2019s arguments 5-6.\u00a0 So with that being said here we go: let\u2019s go first of all to Matthew\u00a0 16:18.\u00a0 The first of the six arguments is Jesus Christ Himself referred to the church in the future tense.\u00a0 Notice, if\u00a0 you will, Matthew 16:18, it says, \u201cI also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build\u201d that\u2019s the Greek word oikodome\u014d<\/em>, \u201cI will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.\u201d\u00a0 So that verb there, \u201cI will build\u201d is in which tense?\u00a0 Future!\u00a0 So this is something that obviously didn\u2019t exist in the Old Testament, the church, because Jesus says \u201cI will build\u201d it.\n\nAnd it\u2019s obviously something that was not inexistence contemporaneous with the ministry of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 So a lot of people will tell you the church is in the Old Testament.\u00a0 Well, that doesn\u2019t make any sense because Jesus says \u201cI will build\u201d it.\u00a0 A lot of people, their mindset is well, you know, we have an Old Testament and we have a New Testament, so the church itself must have started at the beginning of the New Testament with the birth of Christ.\u00a0 And that doesn\u2019t make any sense either because Jesus says \u201cI will build\u201d it.\n\nSo the church is not in the Old Testament and quite frankly it\u2019s not even in the Gospels.\u00a0 Christ hints over and over again at a coming church, a change of rules; in many, many passages He does this.\u00a0 In John 7:37-39 it says this; the Spirit had not yet been poured out because He had not yet been glorified.\u00a0 That\u2019s in the ministry of Christ.\u00a0 So He\u2019s hinting at a change of rules on the horizon but the change of rules hadn\u2019t occurred yet in the ministry of Jesus Christ nor in the Old Testament.\n\n[John 7:37-39, Now on the last day, the great day<\/em> of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, \u2018If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. [38] He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, \u2018From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.\u2019 [39] But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given,<\/em> because Jesus was not yet glorified.\u201d]\n\nNow when you talk like this immediately Reformed Theologians will quote Acts 7:38, which is Stephen\u2019s speech revealing Jewish history.\u00a0\u00a0 And Acts 7:38 says, \u201cThis is the one who was in the congregation\u201d now \u201ccongregation\u201d is the Greek word ekklesia, ekklesia<\/em> is the word for church in the wilderness and this is during the time of Moses.\u00a0 So your Reformed theologian will come back and say aha, there\u2019s a reference to the church in the Old Testament.\n\nBut what you have to understand about the word \u201cchurch\u201d is it\u2019s a non-technical word.\u00a0 What I mean by that is it\u2019s a word that doesn\u2019t mean the same thing everywhere it\u2019s used.\u00a0 It\u2019s like the word apple; when I use the word \u201capple\u201d I could be referring to New\u00a0 York City, I could be referring to a computer, I could be referring to a piece of fruit.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what the word \u201cchurch\u201d is.\u00a0 The word \u201cchurch\u201d doesn\u2019t always mean the same thing everywhere it\u2019s used.\u00a0 When Paul uses the word \u201cchurch\u201d he is infusing into it a certain meaning that you don\u2019t find in the Old Testament.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll be showing\u00a0 you what that meaning is in just a little bit.\n\nSo when Stephen talks about a church in the wilderness what he\u2019s saying there is it\u2019s a common gathering.\u00a0 Another way of saying this is it\u2019s synagogue, which is a Jewish gathering.\u00a0 So just because the word \u201cchurch\u201d is used in reference to the Old Testament doesn\u2019t mean \u201cthe church\u201d that we\u2019re in now.\u00a0 It\u2019s an Old Testament concept because the word \u201cchurch\u201d doesn\u2019t mean the same thing everywhere it\u2019s used.\u00a0 It\u2019s a nontechnical word whose definition changes from context to context.\u00a0 When you have this context here it\u2019s not talking about the church, the body of Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s just talking about synagogue or a common gathering.\n\nAnd a very important verse on this whole thing is Galatians 4:4.\u00a0 It says, \u201cBut when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under\u201d what? \u201cthe Law.\u201d\u00a0 When Jesus was born into this world, the prior dispensation was in existence; the dispensation of the Law was in existence. During the whole ministry of Jesus Christ the dispensation of the Law was in existence.\u00a0 At the crucifixion of Christ the dispensation of the Law was in existence.\u00a0 At the resurrection and ascension of Christ the dispensation of the Law was in existence.\u00a0 God hadn\u2019t changed the rules yet; Jesus is at the very end of the prior dispensation because He is the One who the Law pointed to.\u00a0 See that?\n\nSo the thinking of a lot of people is well, Matthew is a New Testament book so that\u2019s when the church started. \u00a0But that\u2019s not what your Bible teaches. That\u2019s not what Galatians 4:4 indicates; it\u2019s very clear that during the whole earthly ministry of Christ in His first advent the church age hadn\u2019t begun yet.\u00a0 So Galatians 4:4, Matthew 16:18 both tell you that the church did not exist in the Old Testament and it certainly did not start with the ministry of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 That would be clue number one.\u00a0 Clue number one is Christ referred to the church in the future tense.\n\nClue number two concerning when the church started is Paul referred to the church as a mystery.\u00a0 And you say well, what is a mystery?\u00a0 \u201cMystery\u201d is an unfortunate translation of the Greek word must\u0113rion<\/em>, in English because when we look at the word mystery in English it has a totally different meaning than what it had in Greek.\u00a0 Mystery in English means something obscure, something that has to be searched out with great diligence.\u00a0 If you\u2019re watching a mystery movie you don\u2019t know who the bad guy is until the last five minutes.\u00a0 Like the old Colombo shows, you\u2019ve got to wait till the bitter end to see how things get figured out.\u00a0 If you\u2019re reading a mystery novel you don\u2019t get the conclusion until the end.\n\nAnd so we think the English word mystery is how the Greeks used the word mystery.\u00a0 But in\u00a0\u00a0 Greek God ordained, as we know, for the New Testament to be written in Greek, the Greek word \u201cmust\u0113rion\u201d has the opposite meaning of what I just said; it\u2019s an open disclosure.\u00a0 It is an veiling of something that in prior ages had been hidden.\u00a0 This is how Paul uses the word mystery in Romans 16:25-26.\u00a0 The mystery, must\u0113rion<\/em>, which has been kept secret from long ages past \u201cbut now is manifest.\u201d\u00a0 [Romans 16:25, \u201cNow to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, [26\u2019 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading<\/em> to obedience of faith;\u201d]\n\nSo a mystery is a truth hidden now openly disclosed.\u00a0\u00a0 This is also how Paul uses the word mystery in Colossians 1:26, \u201c\u2026 the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to\u201d us.\u00a0\u00a0 So that\u2019s what the word\u00a0 mystery means. If you like Vine\u2019s Expository Dictionary of Old Testament and New Testament Words<\/em>, Vine has a great definition of what a biblical mystery is.\n\nVine writes, \u201cIn the N.T, it [must\u0113rion<\/em>] denotes, not the mysterious (as with the English word), but that which, being outside the range of unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by Divine revelation, and is made known in a manner and at a time appointed by God, and to those who are illumined by His Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 So a mystery biblically is something concealed now unveiled.\n\nSo with that definition in mind notice that the Apostle Paul, in Ephesians 3:3-6 calls the church a \u201cmystery.\u201d In Ephesians 3 he uses the word \u201cmystery\u2026.\u201d he says, \u201cThat by revelation there was made known to me the mystery\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Later on he says, verse 4, \u201c By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,\u201d verse 5, \u201cwhich in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles<\/u> and prophets in the Spirit\u201d notice I\u2019ve got apostles underlined there.\u00a0 Simple question: is \u201capostles\u201d a singular noun or a plural noun?\u00a0 It\u2019s plural, so the \u201cmystery\u201d (watch this very carefully) was not only revealed to Paul, because a lot of people believe the church started with Paul because only Paul had the mystery.\u00a0 That contradicts what your Bible says.\u00a0 Your Bible clearly says the mystery was not only given to Paul, it was given to the \u201capostles,\u201d plural. Paul happened to write more about the mystery than anybody else.\u00a0 I mean, if we didn\u2019t have Paul we wouldn\u2019t have the explanation of the mystery that we have today.\u00a0 But the mystery was not only given to Paul and I\u2019ll say more about that in a minute.\n\nWhat\u2019s the \u201cmystery\u201d?\u00a0 To be specific, \u201cthat the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus<\/u> through the gospel.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s the mystery.\u00a0 That\u2019s the new truth.\u00a0 The new truth is that we, in this new man called the church, are in equal standing with Jews.\u00a0 Jews are no longer elevated to a place of preeminence over Gentiles as they were in Old Testament times.\u00a0 That\u2019s how it worked for 1500 years; if you want to get right with God you\u2019ve got to convert to Judaism and thus folks are called proselytes.\u00a0 That is the age of time that the Apostle Peter is still clinging to when the Lord says, \u201cArise and eat\u201d and he says, \u201cNot so, Lord.\u201d\u00a0 [Acts 11:7-8]\u00a0 He\u2019s not recognizing yet that God had changed the rules earlier.\n\nSo you can go into your Old Testament all you want and you\u2019re not going to find this concept of the church in the Old Testament the way I\u2019m describing it.\u00a0 You might find Stephen making a reference to a church, a common synagogue, a common gathering, but this meaning that I\u2019m talking about here you will not find in the Old Testament.\u00a0 You will not even find it in the ministry of Jesus Christ except by way of a foretaste; sometimes He hints at the change of rules that\u2019s coming.\n\nSo we are living in a\u00a0 unique period of time where the preeminent servants of God are no longer the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.\u00a0 The primary people in the church are Gentiles.\u00a0 It\u2019s been that way ever since Paul\u2019s first missionary journey, and when a Jew gets saved, and we praise God for that, they are not elevated to a place of national supremacy over Gentiles any more, as existed in Old Testament times, but they are co-equals, fellow partakers, joint heirs in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 This is a mystery or a brand new truth.\n\nWe take it for granted because this has been written for us for 2,000 years but when Paul and the apostles began to speak of these things this was a brane new concept.\u00a0 This was mind blowing to them.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Peter, even though he hears the voice of God in the dream, \u201cArise and eat!\u201d doesn\u2019t want to arise and eat because he\u2019s still clinging to the way it used to work.\n\nEphesians 3:9 goes on and it says, \u201cand to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery<\/u> which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things.\u201d \u00a0So Paul, over and over again in Ephesians 3 is calling the church a mystery.\n\nWhat\u2019s the mystery?\u00a0 The mystery,\u00a0 you\u2019ll find a definition of it in Ephesians 2:15-16 which says this: \u201cby abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is<\/em> the Law of commandments contained<\/em> in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two<\/u>\u201d now who\u2019s the two? Jew and Gentile.\u00a0 \u201cHe might make the two<\/u>\u201d in other words, believing Jews and believing Gentiles, \u201cHe might make the two\u00a0 into one<\/u>\u201d what man? \u201cnew man<\/u>,\u201d so this is brand new, that\u2019s why it\u2019s called a mystery, \u201cthus<\/em> establishing peace, [16] \u00a0<\/sup>and He might reconcile them both in one<\/u>\u201d what? \u201cbody<\/u>\u201d now the concept of the church as a body, it\u2019s a metaphor and we\u2019ve traced that metaphor in prior teachings, that\u2019s new to. \u00a0<\/u>\n\nSo what\u2019s new, what the mystery is, is this spiritual man consisting of Jews and Gentiles as joint heirs in one new spiritual man called the church or the body of Christ, that doesn\u2019t exist when Christ was on the earth nor does it exist in the Old Testament.\n\nHow did you, when you got saved by way of personal salvation in the Old Testament and you wanted to grow in\u00a0 your relationship with Yahweh, what did you have to do?\u00a0 You had to convert to Judaism; those folks are called proselytes.\u00a0 The most famous proselyte that I know of in the entire Bible is Ruth, the Moabites.\u00a0 Moab is a nation adjacent to the land of Israel, east of the Jordan, and you know the story of Ruth, how Ruth, through the influence of Naomi, a Hebrew, became a believer in Yahweh and Ruth wants to go with her mother-in-law back to the land of Israel.\u00a0 And what does Ruth say to Naomi?\u00a0 \u201cYour people shall be\u201d what? \u201cmy people, and your God shall be my God.\u00a0 [Ruth 1:16, \u201cBut Ruth said, \u2018Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God\u2026.]\n\nThat\u2019s how it always worked for 1500 years; you want to get saved, believe; you want to grow, convert to Judaism because Judaism, or Israel, are on the earth the preeminent servants of God.\u00a0 And right there in Acts 2, as I\u2019ll be showing you, the rules just got changed.\u00a0 Paul is not introducing the change of rules.\u00a0 Are you with me on that?\u00a0 He is explaining the rules that God changed.\u00a0 Dispensations don\u2019t rise or fall by what Paul does or any other servant of God.\u00a0 God is the one that changed the rules.\u00a0 Peter didn\u2019t catch on.\u00a0 God raises up Paul largely to explain this change of rules and He does that primarily in Ephesians and that\u2019s why He calls the church age a mystery.\n\nAnd just to show you how, sort of behind the learning curve the apostles were on this,\u00a0 you get to Acts 15, which is the Jerusalem Council, and this is right after Paul\u2019s first missionary journey into southern Galatia, Gentiles start getting saved like crazy.\u00a0 This has never happened before so they have to have a pow-wow, the church leadership still in Jerusalem, they\u2019ve got to have a pow-wow, a meeting\u2026 what do we do with all these Gentiles that are now saved?\u00a0 Do we make them convert to Judaism?\u00a0 Well, why would the Jewish leadership think that?\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s because that\u2019s how it\u2019s worked for the last 1,500 years.\n\nSo they have this whole meeting to figure out, do we make these Gentiles convert to Judaism to walk with God, and the ruling of the Jerusalem Council was no.\u00a0 If the ruling had turned out to be yes we would all be Jewish proselytes today in the\u00a0 year 2017.\u00a0 So they\u2019re slowly acknowledging a 1,500 year air of time had passed away and it was not something that they wanted to accept right away but gradually what you see in the Book of Acts is they\u2019re catching up with, something that God had already done in Acts 2.\n\nSo six reasons as to why the church started in Acts 2.\u00a0 Number 1, Christ referred to the church in the future tense, Matthew 16:18.\u00a0 Number 2, Paul referred to the church as a \u201cmystery,\u201d Ephesians 3:4-5, 9.\u00a0 And as I go through these different clues what you\u2019re going to start seeing is the window is going to start narrowing.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to start narrowing and narrowing and narrowing until Acts 2 really becomes the obvious reason why the church started in Acts 2.\n\nSo this takes us to number 3, the church did not exist prior to Acts 1.\u00a0 The church could not have existed prior to Acts 1; Acts 1 is the what?\u00a0 The ascension of Christ.\u00a0 The church did not exist prior to Acts 1 since Christ became the head of the church after His ascension.\u00a0 Ephesians 5:23 tells us that Christ is the head of the church. [Ephesians 5:23, \u201cFor the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.\u201d]\n\nThe question is, when did he become the head of the church exactly?\u00a0 You\u2019ll find the answer in Ephesians 1.\u00a0 Ephesians 1:20 talks about His ascension.\u00a0 It says, \u201cseated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places\u201d that\u2019s His ascension.\u00a0\u00a0 And once that ascension took place He \u201cgave Him as head over all things to the\u201d what? \u201cthe church.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Ephesians 1:20, \u201cwhich He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, [21] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. [22] And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church.\u201d]\n\nJesus did not become head of the church or the body of Christ or the bride of Christ until after Acts 1 because this verse here says He became head over the church after his ascension and the ascension took place in which chapter of the Bible?\u00a0 Acts 1.\u00a0 If you have a church prior to Acts 1 basically what you\u2019ve got is a body functioning without a head.\u00a0 You know, Ichabod Crane, the headless horseman and all that stuff.\u00a0 So obviously you can\u2019t have the church with Christ as its head prior to Acts 1 because He became head over all things, including the church, following His ascension.\u00a0 So anybody that tells you the church is in the Old Testament is not paying attention to the details that we\u2019re talking about here.\n\nSo number 1, Christ referred to the church in the future tense. Number 2, Paul referred to the church as a \u201cmystery.\u201d\u00a0 Number 3, The church did not exist prior to Acts 1 since Christ became the head of the church after His ascension.\n\nReason number 4, the church did not exist prior to Acts 1 since spiritual gifts only came into existence after the ascension of Christ.\u00a0 You say spiritual gifts, what are those?\u00a0 Spiritual gifts are Spirit empowered abilities to serve God in a special way in His church.\u00a0 If the spiritual gifts are not in operation then you can\u2019t have a church.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because you don\u2019t have the divine means through which edification of the body takes place.\n\n\u201cBut to each\u2026\u201d by the way, did you know you have a spiritual gift too.\u00a0 It\u2019s not just the preacher and the piano player, everybody has a spiritual gift because of that word \u201ceach.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cBut to each one is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the\u201d what? \u201ccommon good.\u201d\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 12:7] As the spiritual gifts are being ministered the body of Christ is being edified for the common good; the body of Christ is being filled up. This is why Paul, when he is talking about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 14:26, says, \u201clet all these things be done\u201d so folks can win a popularity contest.\u00a0 Whoops, it doesn\u2019t say that, \u201clet all these things be done for edification\u201d which is building up of one another in the faith.\u00a0 That\u2019s what spiritual gifts are designed to do.\n\nEphesians 4:11 says, \u201cAnd He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists,\u201d look at this, \u201cand some as pastors and teachers,\u201d for what purpose?\u00a0 [12] \u201cfor the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;\u201d that\u2019s talking about the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher which the elders of this church feel that I possess and as I faithfully minister that gift, hopefully what\u2019s happening is you are being equipped for the ministry that God has for you, whatever that may be.\n\nNow what I want you to see is these spiritual gifts, which you have to have for a church to function, didn\u2019t exist prior to Acts 1.\u00a0 They did not exist the way we experience them today prior to the ascension of Christ because Paul earlier on in the passage, Ephesians 4:7-8 says, \u201cBut to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ\u2019s gift. [8] Therefore it says, \u2018\u201cWHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH,\u201d when was that?\u00a0 The ascension, Acts 1, \u201cWHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH\u201d \u00a0His first order of business was \u201cHe led a captive of hosts and He gave gifts,\u2019\u201d what gifts?\u00a0 They\u2019re spoken of later on in verse 11, verse 12, spiritual gifts, here he\u2019s focused on the gift of the pastor-teacher but all the gifts, \u201cHE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.\u201d\n\nSo you can\u2019t have the church existing prior to the ascension because the gifts of the Spirit weren\u2019t in operation yet.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 If you go to a church where the spiritual gifts are not in operation why even go, if\u00a0 you think about it.\u00a0 I mean, why don\u2019t you just go to the Rotary Club.\u00a0 I mean, no one has the gift of preaching, no one has the gift of teaching, no one has the gift of mercy, exhortation, evangelism, mercy, but you get the drift.\u00a0 The reason you come to a church is to be\u2026 it\u2019s typically to use your gifts to help others and then you become the recipient of someone else\u2019s spiritual gifts.\u00a0 So the reality of the situation is prior to Acts 1 you don\u2019t have spiritual gifts because Jesus Christ gave those gifts once he ascended to the right hand of the Father.\u00a0 So you cannot have a church in existence prior to Acts chapter 1.\n\nGoing back to our reasons here, number 1, Christ referred to the church in the future tense.\u00a0 Reason 2, Paul referred to the church as a mystery.\u00a0 Reason 3, the church did not exist prior to Acts 1 since Christ became the head of the church after His ascension.\u00a0 Reason number 4, the church did not exist prior to Acts 1 since spiritual gifts only came into existence after His ascension.\u00a0 So what we\u2019re doing here is we\u2019re narrowing the window, gradually, trying to figure out when the church started.\n\nThis takes us to number 5.\u00a0 Number 5 is the church existed before Paul\u2019s conversion in Acts 9.\u00a0 Many, many people will tell you that the church started with Paul.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that\u2019s true at all.\u00a0 The church was in existence before Paul ever got saved.\u00a0 You say well, I thought to Paul alone was given the mystery of the church.\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s not true because the mystery was given to the Holy apostles, singular or plural?\u00a0 Plural!\u00a0 Paul is not starting a new dispensation; Paul, by God\u2019s grace is a theologian God raised up to give us the greatest explanation of the mystery.\u00a0 And people are confusing the explanation of the mystery with when the mystery started.\u00a0 That\u2019s the confusion.\n\nSo it\u2019s very clear here that the church existed before Paul.\u00a0 Paul is converted in Acts 9. What do we read here in Acts 5?\u00a0 Would you all agree that Acts 5 comes before Acts 9.\u00a0 This is the Ananias and Sapphira, who were slain in the Holy Spirit (which is not a good thing by the way), it says, \u201cAnd great fear came over the whole church,\u201d well, there\u2019s your reference to church, ekklesia,<\/em> something that was functioning in Jerusalem prior to the conversion of the Apostle Paul.\n\nIn fact, this was the body that Paul, then Saul, was persecuting.\u00a0 Acts 8:1 says, \u201cSaul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, [and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.\u201d\u00a0 Verse 3, \u201cBut Saul began ravaging the church,\u201d so clearly Saul is attacking something; he\u2019s attacking the existent church.\u00a0 Paul over and over again tells us that he attacked the church. That\u2019s why he calls himself the least and the last of the apostles.\n\nHe says in Galatians 1:13, \u201cFor you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I\u201d that\u2019s Paul, \u201cused to persecute the\u201d what? \u201cchurch of God [beyond measure and tried to destroy it.\u201d]\u00a0 1 Corinthians 15:9, Paul says, \u201cFor I\u201d that\u2019s Paul, \u201cam the least of the apostles and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.\u201d\u00a0 He says over in Philippians 3:6, \u201cas to zeal, a persecutor of the\u201d what\u201d \u201cof the church\u2026.\u201d\n\nNow what many, many people will tell you is well, that was the Jewish church; Paul started the Gentile church and what he\u2019s attacking here is the Jewish church.\u00a0 Folks, there is no such thing as a difference between a Jewish church and a Gentile church; it\u2019s the exact same church.\u00a0 The complexion of the church was Jewish right up to the conversion of who?\u00a0 Cornelius.\u00a0 Acts 10.\u00a0 [Acts 10:1, \u201cNow there was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort.\u201d]\u00a0 And then by the time Paul goes on his first missionary journey that\u2019s when the Gentiles start getting saved like crazy and the Gentiles become the dominant members of the church.\u00a0 So there is no doubt that the ethnic complexion of the church changed over time but it\u2019s the exact same church.\u00a0 Paul was persecuting God\u2019s church.\n\nJesus said this, and these are some of the hints that Jesus gives of a coming church age.\u00a0 He says, \u201cI have other sheep\u201d who would those other sheep be?\u00a0 Gentiles, \u201cwhich are not of this fold.\u00a0 I must bring them also and they will hear My voice and they will become\u201d what?\u00a0 the second flock\u2026 does it say that?\u00a0 It says, \u201cthey will become one flock..\u201d\u00a0 [John 10:16, \u201cI have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.\u201d]\n\nSo Jesus is hinting at a time when Gentile believers are going to start getting saved like crazy and they\u2019re going to be brought into, not their separate flock but one flock along with believing Hebrews.\u00a0 Paul himself in Ephesians 4:4 says there\u2019s how many bodies? One body; these are all one, one body, one Spirit and what have you.\u00a0 [Ephesians 4:4, \u201cThere is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;\u201d]\u00a0 And this is a verse that folks, and I\u2019ve tried to look into this, who believe the church started, I tried to look through their systematic theologies to see how they answer this, it\u2019s a verse like it doesn\u2019t even register.\n\nPaul, in Romans 16:7 makes this statement, He says, \u201cGreet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen\u00a0\u00a0 and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles,\u201d look at this, \u201cwho also were in Christ\u201d what? \u201cbefore me.\u201d\u00a0 Now do a word study on the prepositional phrase \u201cin Christ,\u201d that expression is used about 99-100 times and it always refers to Christ\u2019s body, the church.\u00a0 In fact,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 that expression occurs in the famous rapture passage, where it says, \u201cthe dead in Christ will rise first.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [1 Thessalonians 4:16, \u201cFor the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with\u00a0 the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.\u201d]\n\nWhat is Paul talking about here?\u00a0 He\u2019s talking about people who were \u201cin Christ\u201d before him.\u00a0 He mentions them by name, Andronicus and Junias.\u00a0 These are people who were \u201cin Christ\u201d a term used only of the church of Christ; a term used only of the body of Christ, who were \u201cin Christ\u201d before him so quite obviously the church could not have started with Paul because he\u2019s talking about people \u201cin Christ\u201d before he was even saved in Acts 9.\u00a0 See that.\n\nNumber 1, Christ referred to the church in the future tense.\u00a0 [Matthew 16:18]\u00a0 Number 2, Paul referred to the church as a \u201cmystery\u201d [Ephesians 3:4-5, 9]\u00a0 Number 3, The church couldn\u2019t have existed prior to Acts 1 because that\u2019s when Christ became the head of the church. [Ephesians 5:23, after His ascension [Ephesians\u00a0 1:20-22] Number 4, The church did not exist prior to Acts 1\u00a0 because that\u2019s when, at least after Acts 1 at least after Acts 1 because that\u2019s when the spiritual gifts came into existence.\u00a0 Number 5, as we\u2019ve looked at, the church existed before Paul\u2019s conversion.\u00a0 You see many, many references to that.\n\nSo see what I\u2019ve done here is I\u2019ve said this: it couldn\u2019t exist in the Old Testament, it couldn\u2019t exist in the time of Christ, it couldn\u2019t have existed prior to Acts 1, but I\u2019m also saying this: it was entity, it was a reality, it was a change of rules that was already in effect by the time Saul is converted to Paul in Acts 9.\u00a0 So it\u2019s not way back then and it\u2019s not in the life of Paul as when the birthday of the church actually is.\u00a0 The birthday of the church is Acts 2.\n\nNow let me explain why I think that.\u00a0 I\u2019ve given you the outer edges and I\u2019m trying to narrow the window down now to Acts 2.\u00a0 It\u2019s not way back when, not in the life of Paul, it\u2019s sometime in between the two.\u00a0 So you\u2019ve got to put at least three verses together to understand this.\u00a0 The first is 1 Corinthians 12:13.\u00a0 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, \u201cFor by one Spirit we were all\u201d what\u201d baptized into\u201d what? \u201cone body,\u201d it doesn\u2019t matter \u201cwhether we\u2019re Jews or Greeks\u201d we\u2019re all in the same body.\u00a0 Right?\n\nWhat does this word \u201cbaptize\u201d mean?\u00a0 People think it means water baptism.\u00a0 It means that many times but this context does not deal with water baptism at all.\u00a0 The Greek verb is baptiz\u014d<\/em> which means identification.\u00a0 Water baptism just celebrates what has already happened in terms of a spirit baptism.\u00a0 At the point of personal faith in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit takes the lost sinner who is now saved and baptizes them, identifies them with Christ\u2019s new man, new body, called the church.\n\nThis is something that the Holy Spirit does incorporating new believers into the body.\u00a0 See that. So if you can figure out when this started, it\u2019s been going on for the last 2,000 years, if you can figure out when this started you can figure out when God changed the rules, regardless of whether Peter or anybody else understood the rule change.\n\nSo when did the baptism of the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ start because if you can figure that out you can sort of figure out when the body of Christ started.\u00a0 When did the Holy Spirit start this new work exactly?\u00a0 Well, what did Jesus say in Acts 1:5, just before He left the earth.\u00a0 He said in Acts 1:5, \u201cfor John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.\u201d\u00a0 When he says \u201cyou will be baptized with the Holy Spirit\u201d they probably didn\u2019t even know what He was talking about.\u00a0 Paul is going to come along in 1 Corinthians 12:13 and explain it.\u00a0 See that.\u00a0 So Jesus made this statement in Acts 1, this was during the forty day interval in between His resurrection and ascension; He had not ascended yet and He\u2019s basically saying by the way, gentlemen, about a few days from now the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ is going to start.\n\nNow Acts 1 precedes Acts 2, you guys with me on that, Acts 1 comes before Acts 2.\u00a0 So at some point after Acts 1:5 this unique change of rules, the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit started.\u00a0 Now, having said that go to Acts 11:15-16.\u00a0 Who just got saved in Acts 10?\u00a0 The first Gentile, named Cornelius; everybody is shocked a Gentile got saved, so they\u2019ve got to go back to Jerusalem and have a big pow-wow and say to themselves can a Gentile really get saved?\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s going on in Acts 11.\n\nActs 11 really is the first Jerusalem Council.\u00a0 The one I referred to earlier is the second Jerusalem Council.\u00a0 The first Jerusalem Council they\u2019re trying to figure out can a Gentile in the age of the church get saved, a non-Jew.\u00a0 The second Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 they\u2019re trying to figure out well all these saved Gentiles, they already knew a Gentile could get saved, Cornelius got saved, what do we do with them?\u00a0 Do we make them become Jews, as has happened for 1500 years, or not.\u00a0 So in Acts 11 they\u2019re having a big discussion about is it true that a Gentile could get saved because Peter had gone to Caesarea, which is a beautiful city.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been there myself, beautiful turquoise water there on the Mediterranean Sea, and there\u2019s a great big Roman coliseum built there.\u00a0 And it was there that the Apostle Peter shared the gospel with Cornelius and Cornelius gets saved, a Gentile. That\u2019s Acts 10.\n\nNow in Acts 11 they\u2019re having a meeting about it to figure out did this just happen or not?\u00a0 I mean, can a Gentile really get saved.\u00a0 See how they haven\u2019t really caught up with something God was doing.\n\nSo in the course of recounting the event Peter is summoned and he recounts the events of Cornelius\u2019 salvation and before the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem and he makes this very interesting statement.\u00a0 He says, \u201cAnd as I began to speak the Holy Spirit fell upon them\u201d that\u2019s Cornelius and his entourage, \u201cfell on them just as He did upon us\u201d \u201cus\u201d being who? us Jews, when? \u201cat the beginning.\u201d\u00a0 So what happened with Cornelius, Acts 10, has already happened to us Jews. So if we can figure out when the Lord started doing this early on, beginning with the Jews, you can figure out when the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit and the body of Christ started.\n\nVerse 16 is the clue.\u00a0 Peter says, \u201cAnd I remembered the Word of the Lord, how He used to say John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with\u201d what? \u201cthe Holy Spirit,\u201d he\u2019s remembering what Jesus said back where? Acts 1:5.\u00a0 So see what\u2019s happened here?\u00a0 Jesus has said the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit is going to begin a few days from now, so it\u2019s got to be some time after Acts 5.\u00a0 Peter says you know, this guy, Cornelius, was baptized in the Holy Spirit like we were from the beginning.\u00a0 So the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit has to take place sometime before Acts 11 or even Acts 10.\u00a0 Are you with me?\n\nSo the Holy Spirit changes the rules sometime after Acts 1 and some time prior to Acts 10.\u00a0 Now you go and study those chapters all you want, the only time in between Acts 1 and Acts 10 where the Holy Spirit is poured out in an unprecedented monumental way is which chapter of the Bible?\u00a0 Acts 2.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say hey you all, the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit is starting now.\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus already said it was going to start soon.\u00a0 Peter said it started some time prior to Acts 10.\u00a0 And you go right through those chapters and the only one where the Holy Spirit is doing anything of this gravity is in Acts 2.\n\nIt says in Acts 2:1-4, \u201cWhen the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. [2] And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. [3] And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. [4] And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.\u201d So the Spirit is doing this thing; He\u2019s baptizing men and women in the body of Christ.\u00a0 He\u2019s taking people who have exercised faith in Christ and He is identifying them for the very first time into a new body called the body of Christ.\n\nAnd the Holy Spirit is pretty good at doing this by the way, because Peter stood up and he gave the gospel and what does it say in Acts 2:37-41, \u201cNow when they heard this,<\/em> they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, \u2018Brethren, what shall we do?\u2019 [38] Peter said<\/em> to them, \u2018Repent,\u201d which is a synonym for believe, we don\u2019t have time to get into that, repent means change of mind which is a synonym for belief.\u00a0 \u201cPeter said to them, \u2018Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ\u201d now the translations here are very weak.\u00a0 The NKJB says \u201cfor the remission of sins,\u201d when you study this word translated \u201cfor\u201d it is easily translated in many places, like Matthew 12:41, \u201cbecause of.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s not saying you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.\u00a0 What it\u2019s saying is be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ because of the remission of sins.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s the Greek conjunction eis<\/em>, if I\u2019m not mistaken, I should have looked it up.\u00a0 Maybe I can talk about that more next time.\n\nBut it\u2019s easily translated because of rather than for.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Verse 39, \u201cFor the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.\u2019 [40] And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, \u201cBe saved from this perverse generation!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Which generation?\u00a0 Israel, that was under divine condemnation because of the leadership\u2019s rejection of their Messiah.\u00a0 So they are moving off into judgment in A.D. 70 because of the cycles of discipline that God gave to Israel in the Mosaic Law.\u00a0 And then it says, [41] \u201cSo then, those who had received his word were\u201d what? \u201cbaptized; and that day there were about three thousand souls were added to them.\n\nAnd then as you move down to verses 42-47 it describes the first church meeting which we\u2019re going to study.\u00a0 What is happening in Acts 2 is what Jesus said would happen a few days from now, the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 It\u2019s what Peter said in Acts 11 happened to Cornelius like it happened to us Jews at the beginning.\n\nSo the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of the body of Christ, I believe when you look at all of these clues starts in Acts 2.\u00a0 Paul explains the baptism of the Spirit.\u00a0 Christ says it\u2019s going to happen a few days from now, Act 1.\u00a0 Peter said it happened to Cornelius like it happened to us from the beginning.\u00a0 And you go through those chapters and the only place it fits where the Holy Spirit is doing something of that caliber is Acts 2.\u00a0 So the rules change in Acts 2. Now Paul is going to come along and explain the change of rules but Paul didn\u2019t start the change of rules.\u00a0 So when is the birthday of the church.\u00a0 The birthday of the church is Acts chapter 2; that\u2019s when God changed the house rules.\u00a0 How do I know that?\n\nNumber 1, Christ referred to the church in the future tense.\n\nNumber 2, Paul referred to the church as a mystery, you don\u2019t have it in the Old Testament, you don\u2019t have it in the life of Christ, although Christ makes some hints thereof.\n\nNumber 3, the church did not exist prior to Acts 1 since Christ became the head of the church after His ascension.\n\nNumber 4, the church did not exist prior to Acts 1 since spiritual gifts, which are necessary for a church to function only came into existence after Christ\u2019s ascension.\n\nNumber 5, many, many verses tell us that the church was in existence prior to Paul.\n\nAnd then finally, number 6, when you follow the clues what you\u2019ll see is the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit which Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12:13 started sometime after Acts 1 but prior to Acts 10, and the only logical place it shifts.\u00a0 So that\u2019s when the Lord changed the house rules and the church, the birthday of the church started in our estimation.\u00a0 I went into a lot of detail about that, I was hoping to open it up for \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Q and A but you guys can e-mail me\u00a0 your questions.\u00a0 Let me close us in a word of prayer\n\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for today, grateful for the church, we\u2019re grateful for the fact that we are part of it and thank You for Your Word and the truth that it teaches us about this.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said...","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t