This study was first taught on July 8, 2018

Topic: What is the Church of God? (2): Who is Running the Church?

(use the audio to study)

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Background
We began to ask the question, last week, “What is the Church of God?” We observed that it is not just the gathering of people together in one place, neither is it about the eloquence of the preacher or the charisma of the leader in the group, nor is it about how wealthy or not, the gathered people are!

The Church of God is a people who have been called out permanently from the world (having first put their trust in the finished works of Christ and made Him their Lord of their lives) and gathered together by the authority of the Lord Jesus and upon whom the Spirit of God has come. Essentially, if the Holy Spirit is not upon a people who have gathered in one place, even though by the authority of the Lord, it is not the church of God! We may preach or teach the word of God to people and gather them into a place; but those gathered, even though they may have been born again, are not a church without the presence of the Holy Spirit! Thus, the Church of God are a people who are being saved and being sanctified, and brought together, not necessarily in one physical geographical location, by the Lord Jesus Christ under the direction and leading of the Holy Spirit.

We also noted that there is the church on the earth, and the church in heaven. The church on the earth is God’s quarry site where He, by the Holy Spirit, is making us ready to be a part of the church in heaven; which is why the Lord said to us, not to rejoice that we are working or witnessing miracles, preaching or teaching, and casting our demons; but we should rejoice that our names have been written in the Book of Life in heaven!

In our conclusion, we saw that even though Simon the Sorcerer believed the message which Philip preached along with other Samaritans, and was baptized in the name of Jesus, yet because he could not receive the Holy Spirit and sought to make a purchase of Him, he was told that he had no part in/with the Church! And then, we noted that after the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon the Samaritan believers, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, and Philip was sent to ‘Desert Road’ to preach to the Ethiopian eunuch, after which he (Philip) was taken away to Azotus. We then asked the questions:
(a) Was there a church of God in that town of Samaria?
(b) If “Yes”, who was in charge of the Church of God in that town?

Scripture Text(s)
Acts 8:25-28, 39-40
We have already noted that without the Holy Spirit actively involved in the lives of those gathered in the name (or authority) of the Lord Jesus, there is no church—only a club, cult, civil society, etc. So, once the Holy Spirit is given, we have a church going; hence, we conclude that there was a church going in that Samaritan town where Philip had preached the gospel and over whom Peter and John had prayed to receive the Holy Spirit. Now, since the apostles and the deacon were now out of the newly formed church in the Samarian city, who was running the church? May the Holy Spirit speak to us clearly today, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Not only in Samaria do we see a situation in which people accept Christ, only for the preacher (or evangelist) to leave; yet the bible acknowledges that there is a church going!
Acts 10:44-48; 11:1-3, 19-26; 13:1-4, 44-52; 14:19-28; 17:1-10; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10.

Conclusion
The Holy Spirit forms the church coming into and upon those who have believed in Jesus for their salvation and who are being sanctified, making them able to obey God (“… walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.”). After the church is formed, He (the Holy Spirit) also ordains those who will be engaged in keeping the meetings going—these are called the “elders”. Please note that these ‘elders’ were ordained by the Holy Spirit using men (Acts 20:28). Also note that no ‘elder’ doubled as minister over more than one church (Titus 1:5—“Elders in every city”)!

The work of the Holy Spirit continues even after the church is formed, as He sanctifies men and makes them ready for the work He wants them to do. These men are the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, elders! In our next meeting (by the grace of God), we shall look at the Officers of the Church of God and what their role is.

At this time, we let us pray that we would be yielded to the Holy Spirit’s working in and upon us, so that we can be fit and useful to God (2 Timothy 2:20-22); and that we would allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in the Church and not usurp His role!

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