The Church: Reflections – 2

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4.

“…and that day there were added about three thousand souls.” Acts 2:41b.

“And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47b.

Prior to the day of Pentecost recorded in Acts Chapter Two there had been many assemblies of God’s people over the centuries. Under the Law that Yahweh gave to Moses the people of God were to observe feasts and holy days throughout the year, assembling before the Tabernacle of Moses, and later assembling at the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. During the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple the people assembled at various times. During the Intertestamental Period the people assembled in Jerusalem as well as in synagogues throughout the region. During the time Jesus walked the earth people continued to assemble in Jerusalem and in synagogues; Jesus and his disciples went to many of these assemblies. Yet, the assembly of Acts Chapter Two was different from every assembly of worshippers that had preceded it – what was the difference, what was the distinction?

When the Tabernacle of Moses was dedicated God’s Presence filled the Tabernacle but not the people. When the Temple of Solomon was dedicated God’s Presence filled the Temple, but not the people. In Acts Chapter Two God’s Presence did not fill the Temple in Jerusalem, He filled the people – “…they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” A New Reality came into existence on the Day of Pentecost, a New Temple appeared on earth – not a temple made with wood and animal skills and metals, nor a temple made with stone, but a living breathing Temple of people filled with the Holy Spirit.

We often think of a temple as a place where people go to worship, but originally a temple was the place where a god, or gods, or the True and Living God, lived. People went to temples to worship because that is where the gods lived. This is an important distinction – temples were where gods lived and therefore people went to temples to worship. People did not go to temples to worship hoping that gods would come to meet them, they went to temples to meet the gods who were already there.

With this background, think what must have been going through the minds of Paul’s readers when they read, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple (or sanctuary) in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19 – 22).

Here is a radical reorientation of worship, of relationship with Deity, of identity, and of relationship with others – whether Jew or Greek. That which was once outside is now inside, and not just inside “me” but rather inside “us”. Jesus says (John 14:16 – 17), “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” Prior to Pentecost the Holy Spirit was with Peter, James, and John; on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit filled Peter, James, and John and from that day forth lived in them.

As Peter says (Acts 2:33, 38, 39), “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He [Jesus] has poured forth this which you both see and hear….Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”

Acts Chapter Two shows the birth of a Living Temple, a People, and it shows that others were being added to this Temple, to this People (verses 41 and 47). Paul writes (1 Cor. 12:12 – 13), “For even as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

No longer must people go to special geographical places to meet God, for God now lives within His people and they meet God within one another. Collectively they are the Temple of God, and as the life of Christ flows through His Body His people respond to Him and they serve both Him and one another. Note that the manifestation of God dwelling within His people, of His people being filled with the Holy Spirit, was that the people were together; together in the Word of God, together breaking bread, together in prayer, together in meeting the needs of one another (Acts 2:42 – 47; 4:32 – 35). (Just because we don’t go to Jerusalem anymore doesn’t mean that we don’t still assemble – if we don’t assemble we can’t be together).

It has been said that the Book of the Acts of the Apostles could just as easily, and perhaps more appropriately, be titled the Book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit. In the pages of Acts we see the Holy Spirit animating the People of God; the Holy Spirit is inspiring, directing, encouraging, comforting, and warning God’s People. The People of God are not separate and apart from God, they are the dwelling place of God; they are also the Body of Christ, not separate and apart from the Head; they are also the Bride of Christ, not separate and apart from the Bridegroom.

There is an essential unity of God and His people which is the fulfillment (in an already-not yet sense) of Jesus’ prayer, “…that they may all be one; even as You, Father are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in us…I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected into one…” (John 17). The nature of God lives within the people of God; this, after all, is what the new birth is all about – we were dead in trespasses and sins without the life of God, we have been raised to life in Jesus Christ and now the life of God lives within us (Ephesians 2) – we live by the life of God.

What is the nature of the Church? The nature of the Church is Jesus Christ – we are not of the world, our nature is not of the world, we do not belong to the world, nor to ourselves, we belong to God in Christ. The Biblical Church is filled with the Holy Spirit, this is the nature of the Church – the Spirit of God, the life of God, worshipping God in Spirit and Truth (John 4). Since the Church begins with the filling of the Holy Spirit, how can we understand the Church if we do not begin at the beginning? The Holy Spirit is present at the creation of the world (Genesis 1:1 – 2) and the Holy Spirit is present at the birth of the Church – the difference is that while the Holy Spirit does not live within nature, He lives within God’s people.

If we consider that many Christians know little, if anything, about the Holy Spirit; if we consider that many Christians do not experience being led by the Spirit of God as a way of life (Paul writes, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God”); if we consider that many Christians have no awareness of God dwelling within His people – then we must conclude that much of the church does not know its true nature and identity. This leads to the question, “How can we think about what we do and how we do it if we do not know who we are? If we do not know our true nature, if the indwelling Trinity (John 14:16 – 24) is not at the core of our thinking, feeling, and soul – then how can we possibly live as the people God has called us to be, live as the People we are?

Outward conformity to Biblical precepts and commandments is not the same as obedience to Christ that springs from relationship empowered by the Holy Spirit. Mimicking a religious pattern, even a pattern with Biblical elements, is not the same as organically living in the image of Christ. I am reminded of a quote that goes something like (I can’t recall who said it), “There are those who have a life they never live, and then there are those who try to live a life they do not have.”

What is the nature of the Church?