The Church Before Pentecost – In Preparation (4)
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles1) The work of John the Baptist – John’s work was to herald the approach of the kingdom of heaven, the church (Matthew 3:1-2). John was the messenger to prepare the way before the Lord (Malachi 3:1); the Elijah who was to appear before the “great and terrible day of Jehovah come” (Malachi 4:5); the voice of one crying in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3; John 1:23); and the friend of the bridegroom whose work was to decrease while that of the Lord was to increase (John 3:29-30). The kingdom was to begin in Jerusalem and the law was to go forth from Zion (Isaiah 2:2-3), but the work of John and the message he preached started in the wilderness of Judaea. John made no claim of establishing a kingdom, he only said that it was “at hand” (Matthew 3:2) or near by. John was not in the kingdom of heaven. When John sent a committee to ask Jesus if he was the Messiah, Jesus told his disciples that “Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). If John was greater than all before him, but the least in the kingdom was greater than John, it follows that John was not in the kingdom. Why was he not in the kingdom? Could any man be called “great” by our Lord if he lived in disobedience to God? If the kingdom was in existence in John’s day and he was not in it, he lived in disobedience to God by not entering it (Matthew 23:13). John was not in the kingdom for the same reason Adam, Moses and David were not in it; he lived and died before the kingdom was established and so had no opportunity to be in it. He could do all God expected of him without entering the kingdom; but we who live during the existence of the kingdom and have the responsibility of entering and laboring in it cannot do our duty without becoming faithful citizens in the kingdom. John died before Jesus promised to build his church. Our best estimate of his death was in A.D. 27, and the promise of Jesus made in Caesarea Philippi concerning the building of his church was made in approximately A.D. 28. It is not possible to say how many months passed between the two events, perhaps six or more; but is is certain that John had been dead some months before Jesus made his promise to build his church (Matthew 16:13-20). Since John died before the church was built, his work could only be of a preparatory nature. It was his work to prepare material out of which the Messiah would build the church.
2) The personal ministry of Jesus – The work of Jesus in his personal ministry did not begin where the prophets said the kingdom would begin. He was baptized in the Jordan and did some quiet work among disciples of John (John 1:35-51). He left that vicinity and on the third day was attending a wedding in Cana of Galilee (John 2:1-11). From there we see him going throughout Galilee and finally coming to Nazareth where his neighbors attempted to throw him over a cliff to his death (Luke 4:14-30). The work of Jesus during his personal ministry was not for all nations as the prophets spoke concerning the kingdom. When the Canaanitish woman appealed to Jesus for help, he told her he “was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). He took his teaching to no foreign nation, nor did he do any work among any people other than the Jews.
The preaching of Jesus pointed toward the establishment of the kingdom (church). Like John the Baptist, Jesus preached, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus lived under the law of Moses; he recognized the authority of Moses and taught others to obey that law (Matthew 23:1-3). Yet he taught the principles of the new kingdom soon to be established so that his disciples and apostles would be prepared for it when it came. The sermon on the mount is an excellent example of his teaching of the principles of the kingdom he came to establish. the principles of the kingdom which he taught, while going beyond the law, did not contradict the law of Moses so that a man might practice them without bringing criticism upon himself. But there were principles which the disciples could not bear (John 16:12), such as the Lord’s supper, the Lord’s day and contribution on that day, things which were so different from the law of Moses that they could not be practiced until after Christ’s death and the establishment of his kingdom; these things he did not teach during his personal ministry which was preparative in its nature. The fact that Jesus joined John in preaching that the kingdom was at hand suggests that it had not arrived and that his work, like John’s, was in preparation for the establishment of that kingdom. And the fact that after the death of John, Jesus promised to build his church, which means to establish his kingdom (Matthew 16:18-19), is proof that he was making preparation for his kingdom.
3) The work of the twelve apostles – Their work did not begin in Jerusalem. Jesus was in Galilee when he called the twelve apostles to him and gave them authority over unclean spirits and diseases and sent them out in pairs to preach about the kingdom (Matthew 10:1-42; Luke 9:1-6). The prophets said the kingdom would begin in Jerusalem and that the law of that kingdom would go forth from that city. so the work of the twelve was not the establishment of the kingdom, but was merely in preparation for that event. They were to preach to Jews only (Matthew 10:6). The prophets said that the message of the kingdom would be for “all nations” (Isaiah 2:2); when it should be established. Both John and Jesus preached about the kingdom, but their messages were delivered only to Jews that they might be ready for the establishment of the kingdom. These apostles were limited in the territory where they could preach during this ministry. Jesus told them not to preach in Samaria and not to go into any Gentile territory preaching the kingdom (Matthew 10:5). The prophets said that when the kingdom should be established, “all nations” would flow into it. And when Jesus finally gave his church its marching orders, they were told to go into all the world and preach the gospel to “every creature” (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16). So we must conclude that this work of the twelve during the personal ministry of Jesus was in preparation for the coming of the kingdom which they declared was “at hand” (Matthew 10:7).
4) The work of the seventy disciples – Jesus called seventy disciples, in addition to the twelve previously sent, and gave them power to cast out demons and heal the sick (Luke 10:1-16). This was not the establishment of the kingdom, for their work did not begin in Jerusalem, they were not sent to any but the Jews, and they were to preach that the “kingdom of God is come nigh unto you” (Luke 10:9). Their ministry at this time has all the marks of a preparatory work which the work of the others we have studied had. The kingdom was nigh and they were helping to make preparation for its establishment in God’s own time.
Conclusion
It is this writer’s prayer that those who read this series of articles regarding the church, will share them with others who do not know or understand the spiritual nature of the church. Based on the scriptures presented, we can clearly see that the church was in the mind of God before its establishment on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.