0943. Christ's Silence As to the Church

Christ's Silence As to the Church

"And I say also unto Thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Mat_16:18)

There are only two passages in the four Gospels where the word "Church" is used. One of these speaks clearly of the Church, and the other has at least an application for the Church. The first passage is our key verse, the second passage is found in Mat_18:17.

It may seem strange to some that the Lord Jesus did not preach frequently about the Church. He certainly knew that the Church was to be rebuilded. He knew that the Church would be His witness among men during all these twenty centuries which have followed His ascension to Heaven.

The fact that Christ was silent as to the Church during more than three years of His ministry, and then only once prophesied its establishment is seen in the attitude of the disciples. After the resurrection Christ said to the Apostles, "John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence."

The fact that the Apostles did not sense the Church even though Christ had once spoken of it to them, is seen in their reply, Act_1:6 : "When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?"

The reason why Christ was almost silent as to the Church is that Christ came to offer Himself to Israel as King.

John the Baptist's first message was, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

Christ's first message was, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

The Seventy went forth and preached, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

Jesus Christ was born King of the Jews, He was offered as King of the Jews, and He was crucified King of the Jews. He is a rejected King.

There are some who object to the conception that Christ held back the Church message until Israel's setting aside was complete. They imagine that such an action suggests that Christ did not know all things and was waiting to discover what Israel would do with the acceptance or rejection of the Kingdom.

Such a conclusion is foolish. Of course, Christ knew from all eternity that Israel would reject the Kingdom and crucify the King; He also knew the Church would be set up; however, Christ did not see fit to reveal all He knew.

Christ holds many things secret today. The Book of Daniel's prophecies was sealed until the time of the end; certain things John saw on Patmos were left unrevealed; the ages to come hold "exceeding riches of His grace" yet to be made known.

The Church age is, so to speak, an age thrown in, to fill in the gap between the time of Israel's fall and restoration. Thus Christ only once prophesied that He would build His Church, and He left the fuller message concerning the doctrines and duty of the Church to be revealed through Paul.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR