CHURCH HISTORY: Lesson Three “upon this rock”

THE MAJOR DIVISION OF THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH Apostolic ChurchPost – Apostolic Church Approx 30 AD Approx 100 AD Approx 450 AD AD (1688 in England PRESENT Transition PointsMAJOR CHANGE Early Church Medieval Church Reform ation

The Jewish Influence The Gentile Influence Greek Hellenism Language Philosophy Roman

ROMAN INFLUENCE COMMON POLITICAL LOYALTY 753 BCRomulus 509 BC pontifex maximus Rome as a Kingdom Third Century BCRoman expansion First Century BCseries of civil wars 67 BCPompey clears Mediterranean of pirates 63 BCFall of Jerusalem Pompey Power in hands of Senate Rome as a Republic

Julius Caesar BC Octavius Caesar 31BC-AD14 PAX ROMANA 27BC Augustus Rome as an Empire

Roman Road Marker COMMON ECONOMY ROMAN ROADS

COMMON INTELLECTUAL CULTURE Hellenism COMMON RELIGIOUS CULTURE Traditional Pagan Religions Emperor Worship Eastern Mystery Cults Philosophies “ A cosmopolitan quality of life not seen again until the advent of the telegraph and the railroad in the nineteenth century” Philip Schaff

What happened in Jerusalem? Religious Structure:High Priest Chief priests Ordinary priests Levites 1/3 of population Passover Pentecost Feast of Booths 1) Sound of violent wind, 2)Tongues of fire, 3) Speaking in other languages

Four major elements to apostolic preaching (F.F. Bruce) 1. Announcement that the age of fulfillment has arrived 2. Rehearsal of the ministry, death, and triumph of Jesus 3. Citation of Old Testament scriptures to prove Jesus is the Messiah 4. Call to repentance What is the Church? The Beginning of the Church

“The church is the New Covenant group of openly confessed and true disciples of Christ on earth (which in fact may wrongly include others) i.e., The Universal Church, which is largely made up of many groups of such disciples in specific geographical locations at specific times, called Local Churches FOUR PHASES WHICH TOGETHER CONSTITUTE THE BEGINNING OF THE CHURCH 1. The initiation of distinct disciples of Jesus Christ by the ritual of baptism 2.The institution of the Lord’s Supper and the transaction of the New Covenant 3.The institution of the Lord’s Day on the first day of the week, and the Corporate indwelling of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s church 4. The inclusion of Gentile believers into the church 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Mt. 16:18 15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Mt. 18:15-17

THE TWO BIBLICAL ELEMENTS OF THE CHURCH The Universal Church The Identity of the Church “The church is the New Covenant group of openly confessed and true disciples of Christ on earth (which in fact may wrongly include others) i.e., The Universal Church, which is largely made up of many groups of such disciples in specific geographical locations at specific times, called Local Churches 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. Eph 1:22-23

The Local Church 1:1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: I Cor 1:1-2 Not all individuals who are members of the universal church are necessarily members of particular local churches Not all groups which profess to be local churches of Jesus Christ are part of the universal church

What should be the composition of the church? What actually is the composition of the church?