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The Early Church, Part 1 of 3

Larry Glander

When you think of the early church, you probably think of Paul, Peter, Matthew, and John. But the church existed before then; Jesus said "I came not to destroy the church, but to establish it." The early church started, in fact, with Abraham.

What if I told you that Abraham was a squatter? In Haiti, they build walls around their land before they build a house on it. The reason they do that is that, if they built the house first, and then they left it alone for a few hours, another family would move in and it would become their house.

About 3,700 years of recorded history occurred before the birth of Christ, and we're now in the second millenium afterward. But believing that takes faith. Science and God differ on their history. Science says that a dinosaur bone is millions of years old, but God could have planted it pre-aged.

Abraham's vision was to establish the nation of Israel. Let's draw some parallels with America. Why was America established?

  • Freedom of religion
  • Freedom from oppression
  • Failure of due process
  • Laws being set aside at the king's whim

The key word is freedom. We still hear it today, right? Today we're talking about freedom, about the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.

The whole existence of the nation of Israel is based on their belief in God. Is it any wonder that their whole history is filled with wars for their freedom? In America we pursue the same goals. It's part of our culture.

Hebrew
The people who crossed over.

Without that element of freedom and belief in God, Abraham would be no more than a land-squatter who wanted his own kingdom.

What was the purpose of the sacrifice? The purpose is that a person would be accepted by God, in spite of their sins. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.

Hebrews 9:22
  1. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Leviticus 17:11
  1. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

There were a lot of different sacrifices, and each had their own purpose, and each one was given by exact instruction from God.

We know that God has all wisdom and all knowledge. They didn't have refrigerators back then, so they had to do something to make sure they didn't die from their food.

Leviticus 11:1-8
  1. And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them,
  2. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.
  3. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.
  4. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
  5. And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
  6. And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
  7. And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
  8. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

The rest of the chapter has a lot more. The first time I ever heard that, I got all confused. What is all these parting of hooves and chewing of cud for? Let me break it down. They didn't have refrigerators. God knew what was clean and what was not. God knew that if they ate that pork and it wasn't cooked to at least 160 degrees, they would get sick and die. Mozart died that way. But all the things that God listed were safe to eat.

Leviticus 3:16-17
  1. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the LORD's.
  2. It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.

See, fat is bad for you. Even God said so. In those times, the fat held the disease and bugs that they couldn't get rid of. Our American cows these days are taken care of so their fat doesn't have those things, but they didn't have that advantage back then.

Leviticus 11:9-12
  1. These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
  2. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
  3. They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
  4. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

The regular fish are safe to eat, but bottom-feeders like catfish, and crustaceans like shrimp and crab can carry disease or poison.

In Jerusalem, in Jesus' day, the church had already been established for a long time. So they had a ruling council called "The Sanhedrin." Later on, they had another council called "The Jerusalem Council" which were made up of Christians. But the Sanhedrin were Jews, and they didn't get along with Jesus.

If somebody comes into your office and starts using your computer and doing your work, how does that make you feel? Not happy at all, right? That's your realm responsibility, and you like to do it. If Pastor Paine is up there preaching, and somebody else were to get up there and start preaching, it would get taken care of pretty quickly. So imagine the Sanhedrin, who wore these big symbols on their forehead to show how holy they were, and along comes this Jesus.

Around 37 B.C., King Herod separated the functions of the high priest and the secular rulers, forcing the priests to limit their authority to the religious activities of the church. So these guys weren't happy to begin with. First King Herod took away most of their power, and then Jesus started preaching that people could go straight to God without consulting them, first. He was taking their power away. Think about that the next time you watch "The Passion of The Christ." Remember the scene where they were going around at night, rousing people up for the next day? They had to do it at night so the Roman soldiers wouldn't find out.

Let's talk about the wise men. Were there three? We don't really know; there were three different gifts. Who were they? We know that they came from the East, so it's possible they were descendants Abraham. Remember that Abraham gave gifts to his sons and sent away to the East.

Micah 5:2
  1. But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

This is the verse that shook up Herod, because it challenged his rule.

Matthew 2:7-10
  1. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
  2. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
  3. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
  4. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

It took them a while to get there. The scriptures hint at it by calling him a child rather than a baby. That's why Herod killed all the children under two years of age, to make sure he got them all.

Matthew 2:11-12
  1. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
  2. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

So they were spiritual. They listened to God.

Matthew 2:13
  1. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

Even there, God had a plan. He sent the wise men and gave them a dream. You might ask, "Why would Herod send soldiers with the three wise men?" They wouldn't have led them to the child. They were smart; they would have gone another way.

Matthew 2:16
  1. Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

So it wasn't just Bethlehem.

Matthew 2:17-18
  1. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,
  2. In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.

God had a plan. He took this man Abraham out of his land, and said "Here is a new place for you; I want you start a country with its basis on worshipping God." That basis still stands today.

Handout: Christ and the New Testament Tabernacle

Hebrews 9:1-10:10The New Covenant
Exodus 25:8-9 The Old Tabernacle 
Exodus 27:9-21One Door 
Exodus 27:1-8 The Altar of Sacrifice 
Exodus 30:18-21 The Lavern 
Exodus 26:1-33 The Holy and Most Holy Place 
Exodus 25:10-22 The Ark and Mercy Seat 
Exodus 25:23-33 The Table of Shewbread 
Exodus 25:31-39 The Candlestick 
Exodus 30:1-6 The Altar of Incense 
John 8:24 Christ Our Tabernacle 
John 10:7-10 One Door 
John 12:23-32 Our Altar of Sacrifice 

Mark 16:16; 1 John 5:6-8 

Water 
John 6:48 Bread 
John 8:12 Light 
John 14:13-14 Prayer