“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized (this word means to be dipped under):…And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers. …And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:41-42 & 47) Here in the second chapter of Acts verses 41-47 we read the simplest and yet the best-defined account of the Church of Jesus Christ in the scripture. We read here of its foundation. It was born of the Spirit and preached word. It was founded upon the apostles’ doctrine and continued therein. It had a heart for the Word of God and an appreciation for those who preached it. It was made up of men and women who had a love for the common faith and ambition for the common welfare for each one that made up their assembly. The Church that Jesus Christ built and continues to add to continues so today. Boards, synods, assemblies, presbyteries, and bishoprics do not govern it. Jesus Christ governs it through the ministry of His Word. The Church of Jesus Christ has, form its beginning and remains so today, always been that Church distinguished not by denominational titles, but by doctrine and practice, which it finds as its only source, the Holy Scriptures. We find it not in bits and pieces, but in the whole systematic course of the Bible. It is in His Temple, His Body, His Church that the Lord God makes a special display of Himself. God is to be seen in the midst of her as her helper, her strength, her teacher, her guide, her deliver, her sanctifier. He is seen in holy communion, in the breaking of bread and in the pouring out of wine; in holy baptism, in the immersion of believers into the Lord Jesus Christ; in the preaching of the Word, in the constant declaration of the great salvation of Jesus; in the lifting up of the cross, in the high exalting of Him that died upon it; in the preaching of the Covenant, in the declaration of the grace of God. Here is He to be seen, here is His name written in brighter letters and in clearer lines than elsewhere the wide world over. Christ’s Church is said to be His temple. If you are part of His building you know this, for God dwells in you and walks with you; you dwell in Him and He dwells in you. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” It is your happy privilege to walk with God; He manifests Himself to you, as He does not to the world. He takes you into His inner chamber; He manifests His love; the Song of Solomon is sung in your courts and nowhere else. It is not the song of the world; it is the sonnet of the inner chamber, the song of the house of wine, the music of the banquet. You understand this, for you have been brought into acquaintance with Christ. You have been made to lean your head upon His bosom, you have been taught to look into His heart, and to see eternal thoughts of love here toward you. You know well what it is to be part of the Church that Jesus built.
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