The Doctrine of the Church continued.
When was the church founded?
Once again we are up against the popular theologians in this question. There is a uniqueness about biblical doctrines. Doctrines are built upon doctrines. Very often one doctrine, teaching, will lead to another. In this session we have such a remarkable fact. The doctrine of Christ building His church bridges to the doctrine as to when the church was built. We saw this in the way that church discipline leads to closed communion. This doctrine couples with the doctrine of Baptism—Water baptism, and/or Spirit baptism.
First we turn to scripture:
- The Promise
- Acts 1:4, And, [Jesus] being assembled together with them [the disciples], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
- 5, For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
- 8, But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
- 15, And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)
- The Baptismal Event (Promise Fulfilled)
- Acts 2:1-4, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
- 2, And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
- 3, And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
- 4, And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Here we have the scenario. Jesus appeared to the eleven and told them to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of being baptized with (Greek in) the Holy Spirit in a few days. At the time when the Holy Spirit was to be poured out upon them they were to receive power. The number of the disciples assembled was about one hundred and twenty.
The scene shifts to the day of Pentecost and the house where the one hundred and twenty were sitting. Notice they were all with one accord. (With one purpose, in harmony in obedience to the command of Christ that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise.) This does not suggest a random gathering of people, quite the opposite—a called out gathering.
Then a phenomenon totally unexpected happened. The Holy Spirit was poured out upon them as promised. With this outpouring (literally an “out-gushing”) there was the appearance of cloven tongues of fire, sitting on each of them. This was the receiving of power of being filled with the Holy Spirit. and they spoke with other tongues (languages) as the Spirit gave them speech.
It is asserted, especially by Charismatics, that this outpouring was a “Spiritual Baptism”—the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But, in reality the Spirit baptized no one. The disciples were baptized in the Spirit and not by the Spirit. The same as when we were baptized—we were all baptized in water and not baptized by water. Water never does the baptizing, simple isn’t it? The disciples in that place were immersed into the Holy Spirit by Christ.
When the Holy Spirit came upon that assembly on that day it only happened to the approximately one hundred and twenty disciples, Acts 1:15. What of the other Christians alive at that precise time living scattered throughout Judea? I Corinthians 15:6 says that Jesus appeared to five hundred brethren after His resurrection. Did the absent ones receive the outpouring of the Spirit? Did they even know of the outpouring? Did they at that time speak with other tongues? At that precise time did they preach and baptize by the promised power? According to the theory of the great universal invisible church all the saved now became members of that church. Unfortunately, if there is such a thing as a universal church these poor church members had no idea of what just happened. Unless they were present they were totally in the dark, and they most certainly did not receive any Baptism in the Spirit..
Another false assertion which evolved in consequence of that day is “Spirit Baptism.” Teachers of this error say from that time forward all redeemed persons are baptized by the Holy Spirit at the point of their salvation. And this secret baptism puts them into the Church without their knowledge. If a thing happens to a person without their knowledge of it how can they know it actually happened, they have no experience of the event. Moreover, they teach that without Spirit baptism there is no salvation. The question is—What of those who believed and died before the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Have they been truly saved? Well, perhaps if there is more than one method of salvation. (With Spirit baptism and Without) I think something is wrong here! Are there multiple methods of salvation?
Return Home