The power to build the church comes from the
fulfillment of all the prophecies in the Bible including those that pertain to
the Incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension of Christ:
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah and still others, Jeremiah or one of the
prophets." "But what about
you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the
living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah,
for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of
heaven" (Matthew 16: 13-19
emphasis added).
Peter was given the privilege to preach the first
message of salvation and to open the door of the kingdom to the Jews, and then
to the Gentiles. The first day the gospel was preached, three thousand souls
repented, received salvation and came through Christ into the kingdom of
God. The age of the Church began.
Almost overnight, five thousand young converts to
Christianity were added to the way and the Lord was adding many souls
daily. What was to be done with all
these people? The answer is simple:
the Holy Spirit had them find their way into small groups that met in homes. Three
years with Jesus in community convinced the apostles of the durability of the
small church. Jesus molded the
indelible design of the first church in the heart of the apostles, and then
other first century leaders instinctively followed it.
Just as we observed the shift from animal
sacrifice to redemption through the blood of Jesus, we see the shift from a
centralized temple structure of a high priest to a decentralized structure of
the small church, served by elders. As
the many elders met together in a given city, the Holy Spirit was able to
maintain control because He was in leadership of each small church. Within this eldership were found the gifts
that Jesus gave to the Church, namely, apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and
teacher. The church of that city was the
whole church. The whole church consisted
of all the small house churches of the city.
Martin
Luther's Reformation attempted to fix an ailing church but did not include the
decentralization of the church. The
First Reformation was not a complete work, as it did not take us back to the
Lord's design for the church. We are now
either in the process of completing the First Reformation or we are seeing the
Second Reformation taking place throughout the world as the Holy Spirit is
taking control of the church once again.
The Holy Spirit is working to restore the small church, and the
restoration of the whole church will not be far behind. Can you imagine the positive impact on a city
when all the church of that city comes together at least several times a
year? This would complete the
Reformation process.
One intent of Jesus' ministry on earth was to
influence His followers beyond His death and resurrection. He was to be a continual Savior, from
generation to generation without having to be here in bodily form to lead the
charge. His plan was much greater than
simply trying to righteously influence one nation as God the Father did with
Israel. For all practical purposes that original plan (old covenant) was
purposely flawed, to give way to the new and perfect covenant personified by
Jesus the Savior. Why then would
Jesus put all His trust in twelve men to influence the world, especially after
knowing all the apostles would be martyred and that the flesh of Christians
would fatten the lions in Rome? That
would have been more than enough to derail and crush any fraudulent religious
movement. I believe part of the answer
is found in a powerful example that Jesus gave in Matthew's house:
As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named
Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told
him and Matthew got up and followed him.
While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors
and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. When the
Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat
with tax collectors and sinners?"
On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a
doctor, but the sick. But go and
learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners,” (Matthew 9: 9-13 emphasis added).
Jesus showed mercy by engaging sinners on their
own turf, regardless of the impression it might have given to the pharisaical
hypocrisy. To promote the saving of
souls from eternal death is the greatest act of mercy imaginable. Christ said, "Learn what this means." It is not enough to be acquainted with the
letter of Scripture, but we must learn to understand the meaning of it. Christ's reference to "not sacrifice" related to the Pharisees; He
condemns those who place religion into rituals, rather than in acts of mercy
shown to lost souls. I believe this picture of Christ sharing His
faith with sinners made an indelible impression on His disciples. It made Christian soldiers out of them. Nothing could stop their progress as long as
mercy was part of their lives. The die was
cast for them and must be for us also.
Jesus gave us a powerful example of reform. He gave us an early clue that things were
going to be different as we look at His birth in Bethlehem. A stable and a manger for the
Son of the most high God? Humility
and personal denial were going to be His constant companions. There was no pillow for His head, no home to
work out of, and the Mount of Olives became His shelter. The only things the world gave to the Son of
God were a manger, a cross and a borrowed tomb.
The veil in the temple was rent in two.
Its function of separation was completed, finished, over. Christ was going directly to the people, and
the people would have direct access to Him.
No longer was the temple the only place you could find God. The Holy of Holies, as the Jewish nation knew
it, would no longer be contained in one room.
A drastic change had taken
place.
From His birth to His crucifixion, the Father
made sure His Son touched every human emotion that exists. From the lows of His lifestyle to the highs
of raising people from the dead, no human emotion escaped Him. No human being on earth could ever say, "But Lord, you don't understand my
problems or condition." His
example of trying to work within the traditional church is noted. It cost Him His life. It seems that suffering and persecution are a
natural by-product of the work of the reformer.
Paul said it nicely in Romans 8:17:
"Now if we are children,
then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in
His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory."
The Holy Spirit came and replaced the Holy of
Holies. His Church could now have access
to Him anytime, night or day.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17)
Although religious and political leaders may give
different reasons for persecuting Christians, I believe that the real culprit is
the heart's enmity against Christ and His truth, as it is reflected in the
Godly lives of His people. The Romans
professed to tolerate all religions, since the empire had nothing to fear. This was their boasted liberality. Even the Jews were allowed to live according
to their own laws. What was it, we may
well ask, that kindled such severity toward the Christians? Had the Roman Empire anything to fear from
them? Had it anything to fear from those
whose lives were blameless, whose doctrines was the pure truth of heaven, and
whose religion was conducive to the people's welfare, both publicly and
privately?
The following may be considered as one of the
unavoidable causes of persecution, looking at both sides of the question as
Andrew Miller explains it:
Christianity, unlike all other
religions that preceded it, was aggressive in its character. Judaism was exclusive; the religion of one
nation. Christianity was proclaimed as
the religion of mankind, for the whole world.
This was entirely a new thing on the earth. The pagan religion, which
Christianity was rapidly undermining and destined to overthrow, was an
institution of the state.
It was so closely interwoven with the entire civil and social system that an attack on religion brought one into conflict with both the civil and the social norms. And this was exactly what took place. Had the primitive Church been as accommodating to the world as Christendom is now, much persecution might have been avoided.
The Christians naturally withdrew themselves from
the pagans. They became a separate and distinct people. They could not but
condemn and abhor polytheism, as being utterly opposed to the one living and
true God, and to the gospel of His Son Jesus Christ. This gave the Romans the idea that Christians
were unfriendly to the human race, seeing that they condemned all religions but
their own. Hence they were called
"atheists" because they did not believe in the heathen deities and
derided the heathen worship.
Simplicity
and humility characterized the
Christians' worship. They peaceably came
together before sunrise or after sunset, to avoid giving offense. They sang hymns to Christ as to God, they "broke bread" in remembrance
of His love in dying for them, they edified one another and pledged themselves
to a life of holiness. But they had no
fine temples, no statues, no order of priests and no victims to offer in
sacrifice. The contrast between their
worship and that of all others in the empire became most manifest. Christian
worship, in true simplicity, without the aid of temples and priests, rites and
ceremonies, is not much better understood now by the professing Christendom
than it was then by pagan Rome. Still,
it is true, "God is a Spirit; and
they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John
4:24).
By the progress of
Christianity, the temporal interests of a great number of persons were
seriously affected. This was a bitter
catalyst for persecution. A countless
throng of priests, image makers, dealers, soothsayers, augurs and artisans
found good livings in connection with the worship of so many deities. All these, seeing their craft in danger, rose
up in united strength against the Christians and sought, by every means, to
arrest the progress of Christianity.
They invented and disseminated vile calumnies against everything
Christian. The cunning priests and the
artful soothsayers easily persuaded the public mind that all the calamities,
wars, tempests and diseases that afflicted mankind were set upon them by the
angry gods, because the Christians who despised their authority were tolerated
everywhere. A moment's reflection will
convince every reader of the truth of this, but faith could see the Lord's hand
and hear His voice in it all." [i]
Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:17 & 34).
Having said this much regarding the great
opposition against which the early church had to contend, it will be necessary
to glance for a moment in the next chapter at the reasons for its rapid
progress.