Chapter II: The Founding of the Church

1. FORETOLD BY CHRIST.

Matt. 16:16-18--". . . . On this rock I will build my church." Here is the Church in prophecy and promise; the first mention of the Church in the New Testament. Note the distinction here recognized between the "Kingdom" and the "Church."

The Church is to be founded on Peter's confession of Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God. No supremacy is here given to Peter, as a comparison of these verses with John 20:19-23, and Matt. 18:18--in which the same privilege of the binding and loosing is given to the whole Church and to all the apostles--will show.

In Matthew 18:15-20 our Lord recognizes the fact of the Church, and also that it has the divine seal and sanction in the exercising of the power of the keys.

2. HISTORICALLY FOUNDED BY THE APOSTLES.

Acts 1-2:47. The promise and prophecy of Matt. 16:16-18 is here fulfilled. Here is the account of the first Christian Church in its glorious beginning, and as it actually existed in Jerusalem. When a man became regenerate by believing in Jesus Christ he was thereby constituted a member of the Church. There was no question as to whether he ought to join himself to the Church or not; that was a fact taken for granted. So we read that the Lord was adding to the Church daily such as were being saved. The Church was already a concrete institution to which every believer in Christ united himself.

"The Apostles' doctrine" formed the standard of faith--a fulfillment of Christ's prophecy and promise in Matthew 16:16-18: "On this rock I will build my church," etc.

The Church had _stated places of meeting:_ the upper room (Acts 1:13), the temple (5:12), the homes of members (2:46, 12:12), and the synagogue; _stated times of_ meeting: daily (2:46), each Lord's Day (20:7), the _regular hours_ of prayer (3:1; 10:9); _a regular church roll:_ 120 (1:15), 3,000 (2:41), 5,000 (4:4); _daily additions_ (2:47).

That there were definitely, regularly organized churches is clear from the fact that the Apostle Paul addressed many of his epistles to churches in different localities. The letters to the Corinthians (e.g., 1 Ep. 12-14) show that the churches had already recognized certain forms of service and liturgy; those to Timothy and Titus presume a regularly organized congregation of believers. That there is a Church in the world is clear from 1 Cor. 5:9-13. The Christian Church is as much an entity as the Gentile, or the Jew (1 Cor. 10:32). The existence of church officers proves the existence of the Church in an organized form: bishops and deacons (Phil. 1:1), elders (Acts 20:17), the presbytery (1 Tim. 4:14). Church letters were granted to members (Acts 18:27).