INTRODUCTION:
A. I am firmly convinced that there is a lot of misunderstanding among God's people in
regard to the relationship between the Word and the church
B. Many seem to think that some institution saves them or stands between then and
God. We hear people urge members to "stay faithful to the church"
C. Just to what are we converted; to Jesus Christ or the church
D. What was it that was to "go forth from Jerusalem," was it the church or the word
that was to go forth?
DISCUSSION:
I. A LOOK AT PROPHECY AND FULFILLMENT
A. Isa 2:3; Micah 4:2; Joel 2:32
1.Ways; Paths; Law; Word -- go forth
2. Salvation received by "calling on the name of the Lord
B. Fulfillment in Acts 2 vindicates the prediction (prophecy)
1. Peter's emphasis not on some institution that saved or stands between God
and man
2. Yes the Lord's church was established and we must not detract from its
importance
3. Yet, it was the WORD that people gladly received Jhn 1:1 (that which went
forth from Jerusalem)
4. As a result they became a part of the "called out body" that belongs to Christ
Acts 2:47
a. How called? By the gospel 2Thess 2:14
b. Called out of what, into what - out of darkness into light 1Pet 2:9
C. It is Jesus who saves Through His Ways, Paths, Laws, etc.
II. HOW THEN DID THE CHURCH GROW? Acts 11:14,19,20
A. Gospel teachers went out and preached. What did they preach?
1. Did they preach the church? NO
a. Preached "words" v.14
b.Preached THE "Word" v.19
2. What were these words? The Lord Jesus v.20
3. Preached same as on Pentecost "That which went forth from Jerusalem"
i.e. "ways, paths, law, word."
B. What happened as a result of this teaching?
1. Great numbers believed and turned unto:
a. The church? No! "To the Lord" v.21
b. Yes, in so doing they became a part of the church - the Lord's people
2. But it was the "Lord" they "turned to."
C. To what or whom are we to stay faithful?
1. "Cleave" Be faithful to the church? No!
2. Exhorted to "cleave" to the Lord Acts 11:23
3. Why not say "cleave" to the church?
a. Because the church has no saving power
b. If we stay faithful to the Lord we will be saved and all saved are in the
church
D. Let's be satisfied with God's way
1. The "word" or way of the Lord was preached
2. People turned to the Lord, were added to the Lord and were exhorted to
cleave to the Lord
III. CHURCH - PRODUCT OF THE PROCESS OF SAVING SOULS
A. Church (ekklesia) the called out people of God 1Pet 2:9
B. Terms "flock", "body", "family", "kingdom", etc. are designations, each of which
emphasize some special characteristic of people who have "turned to the Lord."
C. "Church" is a collective noun (like flock) that is applied to these people
1. As a whole Matt 16:18
2. With geographic restrictions Acts 9:31 (ASV)
3. To local organized units Phil 1:1 with 4:15
D. Individuals may be cut off from this body of people who have turned to the
Lord Rom 11:20-22
E. Local churches may be no longer recognized -- their "candlestick"
removed Rev 2:1-5
F. Men can change the "church roster" 3Jhn 9,10; 2Tim 2:16-19. But the basis for
fellowship is still "that which went forth from Jerusalem" 1Jhn 1:5-10
CONCLUSION:
A. Emphasis upon the institutional aspect of "the church" was one of the earliest
steps to apostasy.
B. The whole or universal body was seen as a corporate "society" which took
precedence over the word of God
C. The church, then was soon regarded as authority for the word or the producer
of the word
D. This produced the idea of the "infallible" church, which we very quickly reject, but
then turn around and plant the seeds that produce the idea by the way we use the
word "church" and also many times by what we practice in religion
E. We understand that the "church" is a corporate "society". But we need also to
understand that it is the Word of God that produces and regulates this society, it is
the Word that makes Christians and then these Christians or disciples make up the
corporate society which belongs to God by right of purchase Acts 20:28
Outline arranged by Jerry L. henderson