Apostolic Friends Forum
Tab Menu 1
Go Back   Apostolic Friends Forum > The Fellowship Hall > Fellowship Hall
Facebook

Notices

Fellowship Hall The place to go for Fellowship & Fun!


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-18-2009, 10:23 PM
Sam's Avatar
Sam Sam is offline
Jesus' Name Pentecostal


 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: near Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 17,805
When did the Church (God's Church) begin?

This is a post from another forum I am on. The question was about when the church began and if the church was in the Old Testament. I thought this was a pretty good summary of different opinions and I have the author’s permission to quote it and post it in other forums.

The word "church" in our New Testament is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia. This is designated by number 1577 in the Strongs Concordance and in there it is given the pronunciation of ek-klay-SEE-ah. It means a called out group or assembly. According to Strongs the word church (singular) occurs 80 times in the New Testament and the word churches (plural) occurs 37 times. I think, if I remember correctly, it applies to God's people in just about every case except in Acts chapter 19 where it applies to a group of people who had assembled together to see what they could do to get rid of the Apostle Paul and the effects of his ministry. In this case it is called an assembly.

Israel in the wilderness is called "the church in the wilderness" by Stephen in Acts 7:38. Again, this means assembly. God's people were assembled in the wilderness and that has the same meaning as church.

There are differences of opinion among Apostolic Pentecostals as to when the church began.

1. In Ephesians chapter 1, it speaks of God choosing "us" in Him before the foundation of the world. Some see this as the beginning of the Church. In their opinion, the church existed in the mind and plan of God before He ever called Abraham, or gave the law to Moses, and everything before the New Testament Church was temporary and preparatory.

2. Some believe that Adam, Eve, and the Word (Jesus) were two or three gathered together in the name of the Lord so the church began there and then, continued through the line of Seth, was on the ark as Noah’s family, and has continued on through Abram and his seed (natural and spiritual seed or natural and spiritual Israel.

3. Some believe the "church" began with the call of Abraham and the church has always been God's called out ones whether it was Abraham and his family, or the congregation in the wilderness, or God's people in Canaan, or God's people even in captivity. When Jesus came and presented Himself to His people and they rejected Him, the real Church was those who accepted Him even though the "visible" Church was all of Israel after the flesh. When Jesus spoke in John 10:16 of having other sheep which were not part of the fold but they would be brought into the fold, He was speaking of Gentiles who would later come into the Church which would be "the Israel of God." Galatians 6:16, Romans 10:6-8, and Galatians 3:16-18, 26-29.

4. Others see the Church and the Kingdom being different terms for the same thing. They see the Church beginning after John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the Messiah and as the Lamb of God. In their opinion, the church then began in John 1:35 where John pointed some of his disciples to Jesus and they left John and joined themselves to Jesus. The following day, more joined themselves to Jesus. The simplest definition of "church" is two or three gathered in Jesus' name so according to this teaching, when those disciples left John and began to follow Jesus, that was the beginning of the New Testament Church. A couple verses for this teaching are Mark 1:14-15 and Luke 16:16.

5. Others, some times referred to as "dispensationalists" believe the church began on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. Acts 11:15 refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost as "the beginning." Some who believe this dispensationalism, believe that the 120 who gathered together in Acts 1:12-16 were not actually saved or converted or born again until they spoke with tongues on the Day of Pentecost. Some dispensationalists believe that the 120 (including 12 Apostles) got baptized in Jesus' name on the Day of Pentecost and are included in the number of "about 3000 souls" who were water baptized that day.

Dispensationalists place a lot of emphasis on the word "will" in Matthew 16:18 and say that since the word "will" is future tense it means the church did not exist at the time Jesus spoke those words but that the church would come into being some time in the future. This is promoted by the notes in the Scofield Bible which is "dispensationalist." However, the word "build" is the word "edify" as in 1 Corinthians 14 and Jesus could have just been saying that He was building up His church (which was already in existence at that time).

There may be other opinions among Oneness Pentecostals, but these are the main ones I can think of right now. There is a lot more diversity among Apostolics than we may hear about in our local church.
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 01-18-2009, 10:28 PM
Apprehended's Avatar
Apprehended Apprehended is offline
DOING THE FIRST WORKS


 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,069
Re: When did the Church (God's Church) begin?

The first church of God, the ecclesia (called out) was in the garden of Eden. Man was called out of the earth, separated to come into fellowship with God.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-18-2009, 10:33 PM
stmatthew's Avatar
stmatthew stmatthew is offline
Smiles everyone...Smiles!!


 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sparta, TN
Posts: 2,399
Re: When did the Church (God's Church) begin?

Since "Church", as you have defined it, is a called out group or assembly, I believe we must look for the first group or assembly that was called out by God. My belief is it starts with Abraham.


Now in terms of covenants it is a different story.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 01-18-2009, 10:34 PM
stmatthew's Avatar
stmatthew stmatthew is offline
Smiles everyone...Smiles!!


 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sparta, TN
Posts: 2,399
Re: When did the Church (God's Church) begin?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Apprehended View Post
The first church of God, the ecclesia (called out) was in the garden of Eden. Man was called out of the earth, separated to come into fellowship with God.


Well, there's one I had not considered.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-18-2009, 11:03 PM
Sam's Avatar
Sam Sam is offline
Jesus' Name Pentecostal


 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: near Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 17,805
Re: When did the Church (God's Church) begin?

Quote:
Originally Posted by stmatthew View Post
Well, there's one I had not considered.
That was choice number 2 in my post
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 01-19-2009, 08:04 AM
A.W. Bowman's Avatar
A.W. Bowman A.W. Bowman is offline
A Student of the Word


 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: East Texas
Posts: 1,132
Re: When did the Church (God's Church) begin?

Love ya Sam! For an old kid, you do good! LOLOL

BTW, can I use your original post (above) on my forum?
__________________
It makes no difference whether you study in the holy language, or in Arabic, or Aramaic [or in Greek or even in English]; it matters only whether it is done with understanding. - Moshe Maimonides.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 01-19-2009, 11:25 AM
Sam's Avatar
Sam Sam is offline
Jesus' Name Pentecostal


 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: near Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 17,805
Re: When did the Church (God's Church) begin?

Quote:
Originally Posted by HaShaliach View Post
Love ya Sam! For an old kid, you do good! LOLOL

BTW, can I use your original post (above) on my forum?
Sure, use it wherever
(just be sure the royalty checks keep coming to me)

just kidding (about the royalty checks)
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 01-19-2009, 11:45 AM
Timmy's Avatar
Timmy Timmy is offline
Don't ask.


 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Texas
Posts: 24,212
Re: When did the Church (God's Church) begin?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Apprehended View Post
The first church of God, the ecclesia (called out) was in the garden of Eden. Man was called out of the earth, separated to come into fellowship with God.
Even before that, wasn't there a church in heaven? You know, the one where the "Praise & Worship" leader got a big head and caused a ruckus? You know, the one that experienced the very first ever "church split"?

__________________
Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty

More New Stuff in Timmy Talk!
My Countdown Counting down to: Rapture. Again.
Why am I not surprised?
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 01-19-2009, 01:26 PM
pelathais's Avatar
pelathais pelathais is offline
Accepts all friends requests


 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 13,609
Re: When did the Church (God's Church) begin?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Apprehended View Post
The first church of God, the ecclesia (called out) was in the garden of Eden. Man was called out of the earth, separated to come into fellowship with God.
Excellent thought.

Another, sort of curious "church" was the mob in Acts 19. See especially the word "assembly" in Acts 19:41. In this chapter a call went out (Acts 19:23-25). Those who heard the call and responded to its appeal seperated themselves and underwent a change of heart (Acts 19:28) and they spoke in a "language" that was not understood by others (Acts 19:32).

But in the end, they were just a mob.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
When Did the Church Begin? Sam Fellowship Hall 2 10-27-2008 07:07 PM
Large church or small church? Subdued Fellowship Hall 21 11-27-2007 09:20 AM
What is God's dream for His church? Sister Alvear Deep Waters 22 09-20-2007 06:53 PM
Comparison -- Today's Church vs Early Church Malvaro Deep Waters 30 03-13-2007 11:08 AM

 
User Infomation
Your Avatar

Latest Threads
- by Salome

Help Support AFF!

Advertisement




All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:55 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.5
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.