NT Framework - Who were members of the first church?

Was it Adam and Eve? Or perhaps Abraham and Sarah? Or were the first members of the church the disciples of Christ following Pentecost? 

More information about Beyond the Walls, including additional resources can be found at www.beyondthewalls-ministry.com 

This series included graphics to illustrate what is being taught, if you would like to watch the teachings you can do so on Rumble (https://rumble.com/user/SpokaneBibleChurch) or on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtV_KhFVZ_waBcnuywiRKIyEcDkiujRqP).

Jeremy Thomas is the pastor at Spokane Bible Church in Spokane, Washington and a professor at Chafer Theological Seminary. He has been teaching the Bible for over 20 years, always seeking to present its truths in a clear and understandable manner. 

Transcript

Welcome And Series Context

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Welcome to Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas and our series on the New Testament framework. Today, a smaller, bite-sized piece from the larger lesson. We hope you enjoy it.

Five Proofs For Pentecost

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And I'm going to give you four or five, I'm going to give you five proofs that the church began on the day of Pentecost. The first one is that Spirit, the Spirit baptizing ministry did not begin until Acts 2. In other words, the Holy Spirit's the third person of the Trinity, right? Everlasting. He's gotten certain ministries in the Old Testament, such as restraining sin. He temporarily indwells kings, prophets, priests to do their functions. He filled people in the Old Testament who were constructing various furniture for the tabernacle and things like that. So he has ministries, right? One of the ministries he doesn't have in the Old Testament is this idea of baptizing a person. So it's obviously a dry baptism. You're not getting wet. It's a baptism that's carried out by the Spirit. What it does is it identifies the person with Christ, it puts them in Christ. And this is a ministry that did not begin until the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. And it's the distinguishing marker of what puts a person in the church, which is the body of Christ. So when I was in seminary, uh Dr. Robert Leitner taught this, I don't know how many times, how many occasions he taught this. But it's down to the point now where I just basically ripped through this type of thing real fast. So I'll just rip through it real fast, then we'll go through the point point by point. Here's the deal. Jesus said, Matthew 16, 18, I will build my church. So it was still future. In Acts chapter 1, verse 5, he says, not many days from now you will be baptized by the Spirit. Not many days from now. Not many days is like a key phrase, right? Because it means not many days. You will be baptized by the Spirit. So it's going to happen not many days from Acts 1.5, which in not many days was Acts chapter 2. So okay. Now, the Spirit baptizes us into one body. 1 Corinthians 12, 13. For by one spirit we were baptized into one body, whether Jew or Greek. Now the body is the church. Ephesians 1, 22 and 23, Colossians 1, he says, his body, which is the church. So the body is the church. So when you're baptized by the Spirit into the body, the body is the church. So you're being baptized into the church. In Acts 1.5, it was still future. In Acts 11.15, Peter comes along and says, Well, so then, you know, the Gentiles, they were baptized in the same body as us Jews in the beginning. He'd just been at Cornes' house, the Gentile. So in Acts 1.5, it was still future. In Acts 11.15, it was past. So it has to be somewhere between Acts 11.15 and Acts 1.5. The only logical place is not many days from now, which was the day of Pentecost. So that's the sum and substance

Acts Timeline That Pins It Down

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of the argument. But notice, first of all, point A, the church was still future. After Israel rejected the Messiah in Matthew 12, Jesus announced, I will build my church. So it's future. He was not already building it, it was an entire future building project. So it could not have begun to be built before he uttered these words. That's just simply not possible. I don't care if your name's Bannerman, Piper. I don't care what your name is. Your name's not Jesus, and you're not right. Number two, Spirit baptism is still future in Acts 1.5. After he died and he was resurrected, he said, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. At this point, the Spirit baptism was, of course, still future because Jesus said so. Is that enough? Third, the spirit baptism baptism required is what brings about entrance into the body. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, 1 Corinthians 12, 13. By one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jew and Greek. Now, but then you have to define that the body is actually the church. And so we have Ephesians 1, 22 and 23. He put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body. So the body is the church. And then lastly, in Acts 11, 15, Peter says spirit baptism had already begun or it was past. Peter says, as he explains what happened at Cornelius' house, and as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, the Gentiles, at Cornelius' house, as he did upon us, that's the Jews, at the beginning. And I remember the word of the Lord, how he used to say, John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And that's a quote from Acts 1.5, right? So where between Acts 1.5 and Acts 11, 15, and 16 did the church begin? Well, I mean us Jews at the beginning, that's got to be the day of Pentecost. I mean, there's really no other place in the book of Acts that even makes sense. And after Acts 2 in the book of Acts, where Jews were baptized by the Spirit for the first time and placed in the body of Christ as the first members, the first fruit. Then you have the Samaritans added in Acts 8, and then in Acts 10, you have Gentiles. And then this statement was made. So, conclusion, the church must have begun between Acts 1.5 when the baptism was still future, and Acts 11, 15 to 16, where Spirit baptism was past. So the only logical place is Acts 2, the day of Pentecost. And Dr. Leitner made us memorize this argument and spit it out on many tests.

Four Events Required Before Church

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Second argument is that there are four events in Jesus' life that had to occur before the church could begin. First of all, the death, then the resurrection, then the ascension, and then his session at the right hand of the Father. Those four things. The death, the resurrection, the ascension, and the session. So first of all, the death. The church is built on Jesus' death. So how could it be built on, how could it be built before he died? The church's Lord's Supper, which Christ instituted at Israel's last Passover, right, is a memorial of Christ's death. And it could not have been instituted before his death. It's just not possible. And so the church requires Christ's death before it can begin. You know, Israel had the Passover. We don't, we have the Lord's Supper, but it did grow out of it, right? It grew out of the last Passover. But it's a memorial of his death. And so since the church doesn't take Passover, but we take communion, and communion is a memorial of his death, then of course his death had to happen first before the church could be there to memorialize it. Second, the resurrection. The church is built on the resurrected Christ. Amen. It could not have been built upon a dead man or someone who'd never been born. He is the cornerstone of the building project. Ephesians 2, 19. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 19. By the way, the key word for Ephesians is church. If you want to know the nature of the church, Jew and Gentile one body, then this is the book to study. To get all the details. Ephesians 2, 19. So he says to the Gentiles, so Gentile believers, so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, Jewish saints, and are of God's household. Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone. And the cornerstone had to be laid before the rest of the foundation was laid so that it was all square and level. And then, of course, you could begin building the church on top of it. So the church is built on the resurrected Christ, which means it could not have begun to be built before the resurrection, and definitely not with Abraham or Adam.

Visuals And Final Requests

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Thank you for joining us on Beyond the Walls with Jeremy Thomas. If you would like to see the visuals that went along with today's sermon, you can find those on Rumble and on YouTube under Spokane Bible Church. That is where Jeremy is the pastor and teacher. We hope you found today's lesson productive and useful in growing closer to God and walking more obediently with Him. If you found this podcast to be useful and helpful, then please consider rating us in your favorite podcast app. And until next time, we hope you have a blessed and wonderful day.