“WHEN the day of Pentecost was 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 all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4).
Thus was accomplished for the disciples the promise of the Father, “which ye have heard of Me,” said our Lord (Acts 1:4). The Comforter was now with them, sent by the Father, in the name of the Son, “to teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26). Sent by Jesus glorified “from the Father, the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me,” said our Lord (John 15:26). Come in tongues of fire, and yet not consuming those on whom He came, for their hearts were, by sprinkling of the blood of Christ, purified from an evil conscience, and their bodies washed by the pure water of the Word (Heb. 10:22).
Jesus, who was anointed by the Holy Spirit for His earthly ministry (Acts 10:38), having now been “exalted by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear” (Acts 2:33). Such were the words of Peter to the multitudes who came together to hear the wonderful things of God, every man in his native language on that same day of Pentecost.
The House of God was that day formed on earth by the Holy Spirit come down from heaven, and who remains in the Church till it be caught up to meet the Lord at His coming. “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever” (John 14:16, 17).
That day many believed at the preaching of Peter, “And they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.... And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved,” i.e., the remnant of Israel (Acts 2:41, 42, 47).
When the Church was dispersed after the martyrdom of Stephen, “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. When they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” Afterward, the apostles, who had come down from Jerusalem, “laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost” (Acts 8).
The unity of the Church was thus preserved by God’s care, and Samaria could claim no independence of the Church at Jerusalem, nor of the apostles.
Peter, to whom the Lord had given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and who had opened to the Jews on the day of Pentecost, is sent to Cæsarea to open the door to the Gentiles, in the persons of Cornelius and his friends (Acts 10). He preaches the gospel to them—the person of Jesus Christ, the Lord of all (both Jews and Gentiles), His life, His death, His resurrection, His appointment as Judge of living and dead; and then, as he proclaims the remission of sins through His name to whomsoever believeth in Him,... “While Peter yet spake these words the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.” Peter, in giving account of the matter to those of the circumcision, said, “As I began to speak the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning” (Acts 11:15).
It is therefore clearly established that Gentile believers were admitted into the Church of God on exactly the same footing as the Jews. Peter’s part was to preach Jesus to them, and to command them to be baptized in the name of the Lord (10:44-48).
The second chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, verses 11-22, teach this truth, and the blessed fact that by the cross Christ reconciled both Jew and Gentile unto God in one body, and that He has come and preached peace to both those far off and those nigh, and that “through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” “Now therefore,” adds the apostle, “ye (Gentiles) are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord.”
Access to the Father by the one Spirit, such is the privilege of those who are of God’s house. Jesus glorified above is the chief corner stone, while the foundation here below is the apostles and New Testament prophets to whom the truth concerning the Church has been revealed (Eph. 3:5). The building is growing now in the Lord by the addition of living stones (1 Peter 2:4, 5), and is prophetically seen in glory, “having the glory of God,” as the holy Jerusalem, the Bride, the Lamb’s wife (Rev. 21:2, 9-11, 22, 23).
Now, upon earth, in the Lord, believers “are builded together for a habitation of God through (or by) the Spirit” (Eph. 2:22).
God’s house on earth: what a solemn privilege, and how our hearts and consciences, beloved brethren, should bow under the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit amongst us! But alas, we too often act as if we were in our own house instead of God’s, and the authority of the Holy Spirit present (Acts 5:3, 4, 9, 13:2; 1 Cor. 12:11.); the authority of Christ as Son over God’s house (Heb. 3:6) is ignored and practically set aside by us.
Paul wrote to Timothy, “That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). Alas, how far is the Church practically from this position! The Church is not said to be the teacher of the truth, but responsible to maintain the truth—the pillar and ground (or stay) of it. The unfaithfulness of the Church at large in no wise takes away the duty and responsibility of those who serve God and wait on Him, to maintain His truth in every respect. Man’s unfaithfulness in no wise changes the faithfulness of the Lord: “He abideth faithful. He cannot deny Himself” (2 Tim. 2:13).
Faithfulness in the most thorough dependence, and not strength, is what the Lord looks for in His own, and what the Spirit produces in those who wait on God. We may therefore well take courage, dear brethren, and count on God.
This complete failure of the Church to uphold the truth leads us naturally to consider the part God has committed to man’s responsibility in His Church. The third chapter of the first epistle to Corinthians instructs us. “We are laborers together with God,” says the apostle. “Ye are God’s husbandry, God’s building.” The foundation is perfect, laid by a wise architect; the building reared on this foundation is of various kinds, of which only part is fire-resisting. Read the whole passage, and weigh seriously before God the responsibility, and, alas! failure of the workmen. “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ”; perfect and eternal, altogether of God, never to be moved. Sure repose of heart for all who are on it, and for all who build according to God. “But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon.” Gold, silver, precious stones, built in divine righteousness, redeemed by the precious blood, beloved and precious to God, such are His saints, and such the day revealed in fire will have no power to destroy. Wood, hay, and stubble, mere professors (here looked at as the workmanship of the builders), will be burnt up.
There are three kinds of builders—1st, true servants who do good work: “He shall receive a reward” (vs. 14); 2nd, real Christians who build with bad, burnable materials: “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire” (vs. 15); 3rd, the mere professor who defiles the temple of God: “If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy” (vs. 17). “For the temple of God is holy, and such are ye.” “Holiness becometh Thine house, O Lord, forever” (Psa. 93:5).
In the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, the Lord Jesus, the Son of Man, is seen in the midst of the seven churches as the One who searches the reins and the heart. The Lord, the faithful Witness, is the divine resource, at the disposition of every hearing ear. Failure is written on the whole, while a special reward is promised to him who overcometh, to him who in simple dependence on God maintains the faith God has committed to the saints (Jude 3).
We hope in another paper to examine the path of the faithful in the present day. Our object here has been to trace the outline of the Church from its foundation on earth as the house of God, with the desire that each one of us, beloved brethren, may learn by the Spirit and from the Word of God what no one scan teach another.