1448. The Church, a Temporalized Organism

The Church, a Temporalized Organism

"Ye do shew the Lord's death till He come" (1Co_11:26).

Our word may not be well chosen, but we use it to suggest the fact that the Church has a specific time boundary.

The Church began with Pentecost, and it concludes its ministrations at the Rapture.

This is clearly set forth in the statement:

"Ye do show the Lord's death, till He come."

1. Israel is broken off. When the Lord Jesus Christ moved among His people, they received Him not. He was despised and rejected of men.

For this cause the Lord rejected Israel. Three times Christ spoke of Israel's temporary setting aside.

In Mat_23:39, after Christ had told Israel that her house was left to her desolate, He said:

"I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

In Luk_21:24, after the Lord had told of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and of the woe of those days, He said:

"And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."

In Rom_11:25, Paul, after he had spoken of Israel's being broken off, and of the Gentiles being grafted in, said:

"Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in."

Thus we see clearly how Israel was set aside, not forever, but until the Lord's Return.

2. The Church is grafted in. The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is bounded with a time boundary. It began to operate at Pentecost, and it continues to be God's testimony to the world until it is raptured to meet the Lord in the air.

This was clearly established by the Lord when He told the disciples, on the occasion of His ascension, that they were to go into all the world and preach His Gospel; and that He would be with them till the consummation of the age (see Mat_28:18-19).

This fact is again established by the words of James at the council in Jerusalem. James said:

"Simon hath declared how God for the first time visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the house of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up" (Act_15:14-16).

It is needful that the Church should remember that it has but a short time for its labors. Its opportunity of preaching and of teaching Christ will soon be finished. The fullness of the Gentiles will come in; the Church will go to be joined to its risen Head, and Israel will once more become the people through whom God will make Himself known to the nations.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR