Let us turn to the Acts of the
Apostles here in chapter 7 where we were reading and I'll read
again verses 37 and 38 this part of Stephen's remarkable words
his great apology for his faith he speaks of Moses been relating
something of the history of the children of Israel from the days
of Abram to Moses. And he says, verse 37, this is
that Moses which said unto the children of Israel a prophet
shall the Lord your God rise up unto you of your brethren
like unto me. Him shall ye hear. This is he
that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which
spake to him in the Mount Sinai and with our fathers who received
the lively oracles to give unto us. The words really that I want
to center your attention on for a while are those at the beginning
of verse 38 where we read of the church in the wilderness
Speaking of the days of Moses, this is he that was in the church,
in the wilderness. I want to try to say something
with regards to the church, the history of the church, the doctrine
of the church in some measure. We have, over the last couple
of weeks, tried to say something with regards to that testimony
that's spoken of back in 1st Timothy chapter 2 and verse 6, that dispensation really of the
gospel that Paul is referring to in that passage in 1st Timothy
2. We're living in that day, the
dispensation of the gospel and we often speak of it as that
that commences in good measure with the day of Pentecost and
last time we did preach from the concluding part of Peter's
great sermon on that day of Pentecost the outpouring of the Spirit
when the day of Pentecost was fully come and so we were looking
at the preaching of the Apostles And sometimes we might refer
to Pentecost as the birthday of the Church. Well, it was a
remarkable occasion in the history of the Church, of God. But the
Church of God, of course, has been there, in a sense, from
the beginning. And that's what I want to try
to establish this evening. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
speaks of the Church. in the course of his own ministry
when Peter made that great confession in Caesarea Philippi thou art
the Christ the son of the living God and as the Lord goes on to
announce that Peter is a blessed man it's not been revealed to
him by flesh and blood it's a revelation from God and he's a blessed man
and he goes on doesn't he to say concerning what Peter had
confessed Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Upon
this rock I will build my church. Why other foundation can no man
lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ the Lord?
Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it." And the disciples don't have
to ask him what the church is. They're obviously aware. of what
the church is. There's a church there. And again
later in Matthew chapter 18 the Lord once more makes reference
to the church. He speaks of a brother who's
been offended by someone. What is he to do? Well he's to
go and he's to seek reconciliation with his brother. But if he can't
gain his brother, what should he do? Well, he should take two
witnesses and to see if peace can be restored in the mouth
of these witnesses. And what if that doesn't succeed?
Well, says the Lord, if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it
unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the
church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. the Lord then can speak quite
freely to his disciples concerning the church. And the church as
I said goes back right to the beginning. So I want to go back
really to the time of the patriarchs as a church in those days from
the very beginning. And when we consider the patriarchs
and their religion we we can discover something of the characteristics
of those who are in the church. At least two characteristics
are evident there. Those who are in the church are
such as call upon the name of the Lord. Right back in Genesis
chapter 4 and verse 26 we read these words to Seth To him also
there was born a son, and he called his name Enos. Then began
man to call upon the name of the Lord." Then began man to
call upon the name of the Lord. You remember how after the fall
sin becomes so prevalent. Two sons are born to Adam and
Eve, Cain and Abel, and Cain kills his brother Abel. There's
murder at the beginning and how quickly things degenerate. By
the time we come to Genesis chapter 6, we see how evil is everywhere
in the world. Every imagination of the thoughts
of men's heart is only evil continually. And the Lord God, it says, repents
of the man that he has made, what has been the consequence
of the fall of our first parents. God is going to visit the earth
with a terrible, calamitous flood, a universal flood and wipe out
His creation for He spares Noah and his wife and his sons and
their wives. But it does seem that in those
days previous to the flood there were but few who were calling
upon the name of the Lord. And so those significant words,
it's the first time in the early chapters of Genesis that we read
of men calling upon the name of the Lord, Enos. He's marked
by that fact. He calls upon the Lord's name.
He prays. He praises. And isn't that one
of the mark of those who are the people of God? God's people
pray to Him. They worship Him. They show forth
His praises. They call upon His name. And then subsequently, when the
Lord God calls Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees and that's
really where Stephen begins his great defense by speaking of
the call of Abraham. We read time and again as he's
called out of Ur of the Chaldees he's given promise concerning
the land of Cana but he doesn't come into the possession of it.
He's a stranger, he's a pilgrim, and we see him wandering from
place to place. But now, time and again, he will
build an altar, and he calls upon the name of the Lord. If we go back again to the words
of Holy Scripture there in Genesis chapter 12, verse 8, concerning
Abraham, when the Lord appears to him. He appears to him there
in verse 7 and says, Unto thy seed will I give this land. And
we're told, There builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared
unto him. And he removed from thence unto
a mansion on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having
Bethel on the west and Haii on the east. And there he builded
an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. he made sacrifice and in doing
that he calls upon the name of the Lord and then again in chapter
13 he comes again onto the place of the altar which he had made
there at the first and there Abram called on the name of the
Lord here is a marking of the of the faith of Abram he is one
who calls upon the name of the Lord And then when we come over
to the New Testament, we discover that those who are in the Church
of Jesus Christ are such as will call upon his name. We have these
various epistles that are being addressed to churches. This is Paul's pattern as he
has gone ministering the Word of God, preaching throughout
many regions, taking the Gospel to the Gentiles, and people being
converted, churches being established, And so he writes to the Corinthians.
And how does he address them? There in the opening chapter
of 1 Corinthians, Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ,
through the will of God, and sustain us, our brother, unto
the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified
in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. And then he says, with
all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ
our Lord both theirs and ours it's not just to the Corinthians
it's addressed really to all in every place who are calling upon
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and it belongs to us if we're
those who would call upon that name pray in that name and worship
God who desire to sing the praises of God isn't this one of the
marks then of those who are the people of God and those who form
the church of God they not only call upon his name they are also
spoken of as the sons of God and they are existing people
we see that certainly at the beginning You remember again
the solemn scene that's painted in Genesis chapter 6, the opening
verses. It came to pass when men began
to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born
unto them that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that
they were fair and they took them their They took them wives,
of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit
shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh. Yet his days shall be an hundred
and twenty years. It's the first intimation that
the flood is going to come. God is going to visit judgment.
And why is this? Because the sons of God seeing
the daughters of men, it's the godly seed those who call upon
the name of the Lord and it seems a remnant and yet they're marrying
now with the daughters of men and God's people are a distinctive
people, a separated people the Lord God reminds the children
of Israel of that fact when they're there on the borders of the promised
land, remember in Deuteronomy, after the 40 years of wilderness
wanderings, they're now about to enter into that land that
God had promised to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob. But as they're about to go in,
it's Joshua who will take them in, and they'll take the land. But now God reminds them that
they are not to marry with any of the wicked peoples, the Canaanites
and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Jebusites, these wicked
nations that are inhabiting the land. They are to be a people
quite separate from those who we might say were the daughters
or the sons of men in Deuteronomy 7. Verse 3, Neither shalt thou
make marriages with him. Thy daughter thou shalt not give
unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they
may serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord
be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. For thou art an
holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that
are upon the face of the earth. For they are the Lord's people,
that to be separate they are the sons of God. O behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, to call us
the sons of God, not to mix them with the ungodly seed. And of
course the same truth as you know, is brought out in the New
Testament. God's people are called, aren't
they, to be a separate people. The language that Ford uses is
very strong in 2 Corinthians 6. Verse 14, Be ye not unequally
owed together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness?
Wherefore he says, Come out from among them, and be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will
receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my
sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. And what does
he go on to say in chapter 7, having therefore these promises?
Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. For these are to be the sons
of God, and holy nation, Peter says, a peculiar people. And they make up the church.
amazing the words of the Lord Jesus himself in the course of
his ministry Matthew 8 and verse 7 rather verse 11 he speaks of
them as those who are united with the patriarchs he says many
from the east and west shall come and sit down with Abraham
Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. He's speaking of the
gospel day. Those who come from amongst the
Gentiles from the east and from the west, from all parts of the
earth, they're going to sit down in the kingdom of heaven with
the patriarchs. It's one church, it's one people
of God. There's a church of the patriarchs
back then at the beginning. But then we come to What's spoken
of here in the text? The church in the wilderness. The church in the wilderness. Oh, what a church was that! Prophet Jeremiah reminds the
people of those days. I remember thee, says the Lord
God through His servant. I remember thee, the kindness
of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when they went just
after me in the wilderness in a land that was not so Israel
was holiness to the Lord. It's that generation you see
that arose during the wilderness wanderings those who came out
Remember how they were full of unbelief. When the spies come
back with their report, having spied out the land, it's only
two men, it's only Joshua and Caleb who give a good report,
but the other ten spies give an evil report. Why? The land
is full of giants and walled cities. And the people are afraid
and they condemn them by God to wilderness wanderings. But
there's a generation that follows. born at that period, the church
in the wilderness. Those are the ones who will go
in and possess the land. And what was Israel at that time?
It was really a theocracy. God was their king. God had brought
them to himself at Mount Sinai. He had entered into covenant
with them. He'd given them the Ten Commandments. Moses had gone
into the mountain. There was all the other instructions
that were given all those various civil laws that marked them out
as a distinctive people, all that God required with regards
to his true worship. God was their King. And then
they enter into the land and Joshua is the one who takes them
in. When Joshua dies, what does God
do? He raises up Judges. We have
the book of Judges and we read of Many judgments have come upon
them because of their sins, but God will raise up a judge to
be their deliverer. And then the last of all the
judges, of course, is Samuel. And it's in the days of Samuel
that they begin then to desire to be like the other nations.
They want a king, like all the nations round about them. They
want a king to be set over them. There in the first book of Samuel,
And we read of what the Lord God says there to his servant. In 1 Samuel 8 and verse 4 we
read about the elders gathered themselves together. They came
to Samuel at Ramah and they say to him, Behold thou art old and
thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now make us a king to judge us
like all the nations. They don't want to be a distinctive
people with God as their king. But the thing displeased Samuel,
when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed
unto the Lord, and the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the
voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they
have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should
not reign over them. according to all the works which
they have done, since the day that I brought them out of Egypt,
even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served
other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto
their voice, albeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show
them the manner of the king that shall reign over them." It's
God's purpose that they will have a kingdom. In fact, even
before that incident, the very matter is prophesied back in
Deuteronomy 17 and there at verse 14 following. There would be
a king, of course, David will be the king eventually. But it's
sad really what's happening because that generation in the wilderness
Oh God, remember their beginnings, you see, when they weren't in
possession of the land of promise, they were in the wilderness,
and yet, Oh Israel, their holiness to the Lord. And it's that particular
period that I'm thinking of with regards to the church in the
wilderness and the language that's used. to describe them at that
time. There are two particular words
that are repeatedly used in those books of Moses describing their
experiences in the wilderness wanderings. They're often referred
to as the assembly. The assembly of the children
of Israel, Numbers 8 and verse 9, the whole assembly of the
children of Israel we read of. and at times God will summon
them together and to that end he institutes the silver trumpets
spoken of there in the 10th chapter of Numbers and how they were
to use these trumpets. Chapter 10 of Numbers, the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver of
a whole piece, that thou mayest use them for the calling of the
assembly, the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying
of the camps. And when they shall blow with
them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. they are an assembler. Now, the
interesting, the significant thing really is that of course
when we come to the period of the New Testament, the ministry
of Christ and his apostles, by then the Old Testament Hebrew
scriptures had been translated into the Greek language. There
was a book called the Septuagint, a Greek version of the Hebrew
Scriptures. And the disciples were familiar
with that translation. And of course, when it comes
to the New Testament, that is actually written in the Greek.
The Old Testament original Scriptures is all in Hebrew, the New Testament
is in Greek, but that Septuagint, as you were, bridges the two.
And it's interesting to consider the the Greek words that are
used in that Old Testament translation. And when it comes to the word
assembly, in the Septuagint, that word is translated as Ecclesia. Ecclesia. And the word Ecclesia,
it's derived from a verb that literally means to call out. They'd been brought out. God
had called them out of Egypt. And there they are in the wilderness
and they are in a closet. They are a called out people.
And they are to gather together. They are to assemble together. They are called out by God And
now those, as we were saying with regards to the patriarchs,
one of the marks of the godly is that they call on the name
of the Lord. God calls them out and they call upon His name. And when we come to the New Testament,
of course, the word that is continually used is church. The The word Ecclesia in our
authorised version is rendered by the word Church. It's different
really in the version of William Tyndale. Much of the authorised
version of course is based on Tyndale's translation. Tyndale
would use the word Congregation. That's how he rendered it, Congregation.
And it was King James I, James I of England, James VI of Scotland
of course. He was the man who insisted with
the translators of the authorised version that they didn't use
that word congregation as was to be found in Tyndale's version,
but they must use church. And the significance of that,
well we'll come to that presently. but they were an assembly in
fact the word congregation is also used in the Septuagint there
was another word many times we read not just of
the assembly of the of the children of Israel but of the congregation
certainly that's the language that's employed when it comes
to their deliverance after God had sent all of those dreadful
plagues, the ten plagues, a lot of the plagues of course, the
destruction of all the firstborn, and how God preserves the children
of Israel. is appointed the feast of the
Passover they are to remain in their dwellings and they are
to take the blood of that Passover lamb that they've slain and they
are to put the blood upon the doorpost and the lintels and
they are to remain in their dwellings and the destroying angel will
pass over them but destroy all the firstborn of Egypt and then
the Egyptians will thrust them out and they will come out and
so they did and we read of them taking their journey there in
Exodus 16, they took their journey from Elim, and it says, all the
congregation, is another word, all the congregation of the children
of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim
and Sinai, on the 15th day of the second month after their
departing out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation
of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the
wilderness. how, alas, they are ever a complaining
people. And so they murmur against Moses
and his brother. And then later, that same chapter,
that 15th chapter, or that 16th chapter in the book of Genesis,
We read at verse 9 now, Moses spake unto Aaron, saying unto
all the congregation, all the congregation of the children
of Israel, come near before the Lord, for he hath heard your
murmurings. And he came to pass, as Aaron spake, unto the whole
congregation of the children of Israel, that they look toward
the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in
the clouds. But we have this particular word
that's continually being used. Besides the word assembly, they're
an assembly, they're also a congregation. Now, the word that's being translated
there is the word synagogue. And of course, our English word,
synagogue. is simply a transliteration of
that Greek word. The congregation is the synege,
the synagogue. And that's derived from a verb
that literally means to gather. So, the one word has the idea
of them being called out. The other word has the idea of
them being gathered together. They're an assembly, they're
a They are a congregation, but there are people who are called
out, there are people who are gathered together. These two
words, in that sense, they come together. And so, what do we
see concerning the doctrine of the church? We see that the church
is a gathered church. And isn't that what we believe
in? The Lord God calls the people out of the world and the Lord
God gathers them together in local churches. And we believe
that is the right understanding of the church, the doctrine of
the church. It's an independent church. Now,
of course, we live in a country that would once have been described
as a Christian country, so we have an established church. But
what does the Church of England do? Well, the Church of England,
being a national church, it divides the whole country into two provinces
and so you've got a province in the north which centers upon
York and the Archbishop of York and you have a province in the
south which centers upon Canterbury and you have another Archbishop
so you've got two great areas one in the north one in the south
and then those are divided into dioceses so you have cathedral
cities and you have bishops under the two archbishops and those
diocesan bishops they are responsible for the parishes all the diocese
are then divided into parishes so in every parish you have a
church it's a territorial church But
that's not what we see with regards to the doctrine of the church
when we go back to the Old Testament. The children of Israel, oh yes,
it's the whole of the people, they're ethnic Israel, they're
the physical descendants of Jacob and his sons, but it's a congregation,
it's an assembly. And when we come to the New Testament
it is so evident that much of the way in which the churches
were organized in the Acts of the Apostles owes a great deal
to the synagogues. You remember Paul's practice
as he goes from place to place preaching the gospel. He initially
would always go to the synagogue. We see it For example, we could
refer to various parts, but in chapter 17 of Acts we're told
how they pass through Amphipolis and Apollonia and they come to
Thessalonica and it says, where was the synagogue of the Jews?
And Paul, as is man who was, went in unto them, and three
Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening
and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen
again from the dead, and that Jesus, whom I preach unto you,
is Christ. And some of them believed and
consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks a great
multitude, and of the chief women not a few." But this is the pattern
of his ministry. And the churches that are then
formed really formed much of their organization to what pertained
in the synagogue. And what was the synagogue? The
synagogue was a congregation where Israel is referred to in
the Old Testament as a congregation. It's that word, synagogue. It's
a people gathered together. It's the principle of the gathered
church. And we need to formulate our
understanding, our doctrine of the church from what we read
in the in the New, not just in the New Testament, but in all
of the scriptures. We have an Old Testament as well
as a New Testament. And we need to go back. We need
to recognize that there was a church. There was a church in the wilderness.
As there was a church in the time of the patriarchs. There
was a people called out, a people who are calling upon the name
of the Lord. They are distinct people, they are the sons of
God, they are different to other people, and they gather together. And so, even today, that's the
way in which gospel churches are to be formed. Ultimately,
of course, Paul has to turn away from the Jews, and he's ministering
really, ultimately, to to the Gentiles. He's the apostle to
the Gentiles. But as we come to a conclusion, what's the significance of this?
Well, if we trace back the origin of the Church into the Old Testament,
we immediately see the great error of dispensationalism. There are those professed Christians,
evangelical, people who are dispensationists and they say there was no church
there was no church in the Old Testament but there is a church
in the Old Testament there's a church in the wilderness definitely
that's what Stephen speaks of here in the text this is he that
was in the church in the wilderness with the angel. Who is the angel? That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the angel of the Lord. He's the one who spoke to him
out of the burning bush. And that was in Mount Horeb,
the very place where he would eventually take the children
of Israel when they came out. And God would come down upon
the mount and God would speak unto them the Ten Commandments. And Christ is always in the midst
of his church. is that Shiloh unto him shall
the gathering of the people be. And there ever was such a church,
the church in the Old Testament. Dispensationists are wrong in
denying that. And of course what they really
say is that the Lord Jesus Christ comes as the Messiah of Israel
but he comes to his own and they refuse him. They reject Him. They don't receive Him. And so
God has a second thought, and you'll say, sinners of the Gentiles,
and so that's the birth of the church. It's a sort of second
thought on the part of God, but there was always a church. And
interestingly, in the New Testament, there in Galatians 6 and verse
16, Paul refers to the church as the Israel of God. We are the Israel of God. And that's why, of course, in
his paraphrases of so many of the Psalms, we find Isaac Watts
referring to the Church as Zion. We can use Old Testament language
in relation to the Church. The Church is the Israel of God. In Old Testament times, there
was ethnic Israel, but there in the midst of that nation,
the descendants, the physical descendants of Jacob who became
Israel, there was a true spiritual Israel and often a very small
remnant in the midst of ethnic Israel. They're not all Israel
that are of Israel. And you know the words of Paul
there in Romans 2, he is not a Jew which is one outwardly.
neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh
but he is a Jew which is one inwardly and circumcision is
that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter whose prize
is not of men but of God Paul is so emphatic this man who was
once so zealous as a Jew and so zealous for circumcision and
yet now he sees the truth of it God's true Israel is a spiritual
people The Lord Jesus himself says to the Jews, your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad. Abraham
is saved in the Lord Jesus Christ. And all those who have the faith
of Abraham, they are the true people of God, are they not?
He is the father of all them that believe. If ye be Christ, then are ye
Abraham's seed. Oh, Abram's true seed. And to
him belong the promises of God. All of the Scripture, you see,
belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ. From Genesis right through
to the book of Malachi in the Old Testament, then of course
from Matthew right through to the book of the Revelation in
the New Testament. It belongs to the people of God.
No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. It belongs to the church. All
of the church. And when we read in the New Testament,
what does Paul say, for example, in 1 Corinthians 10 with regards
to some of the experiences of the children of Israel. He's
speaking there in chapter 10 of how they came out of Egypt
and they go through the Red Sea. And he makes that statement,
doesn't he, that all these things, all that was happening to them
were ensembles or types. And they're written, he says,
for us. us Christians upon whom the ends of the world are come
the book belongs to us in it's totality it's the word of God
and it's God's word to us as we saw there in that second verse
in 1st Corinthians 1 all them in every place who call upon
the name of the Lord or do we bear that mark? are we those
the church in the wilderness and remember what we read is
that lovely verse in the Song of Solomon there in the last
chapter verse 5 who is this that cometh up from the wilderness
leaning upon her beloved how the church is often as it were
coming up from the wilderness how the church is set in the
wilderness of this world. The world lies in wickedness,
all that is in the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eyes, the pride of life, not of the Father, but of the
world. And often times how the church
is persecuted in the world, in the world Christ says you shall
have tribulation, there will be troubles and trials and difficulties. And often God's people feel themselves
to be such a very small remnant. Well, we see it in the very opening
chapter of Isaiah's prophecy. Except the Lord had left unto
us a very small remnant. Oh, not just a remnant, not just
a small remnant, a very small remnant. We should have been
like Sodom and like unto Gomorrah. God has a people. And there's
that remarkable verse in Revelation, Revelation 12, 6. We read of the woman. Isn't that
the Church, the Bride of Christ? In the Old Testament, Israel
is His wife. But that's just a type of the
Church, that's the Bride of Christ. Christ has come to purchase His
Bride, to take her to Himself. But there in Revelation 12, 6,
we're told the woman fled into the wilderness where she had
a place prepared of God that they should feed her. There she
is nourished, even in the wilderness. Or can God furnish a table in
the wilderness is the question that's put in the psalm. Can God furnish a table in the
wilderness? Well, He can. It's a rhetorical
question. The answer to that question is
God can. He does. He nourishes His people. And
how does He nourish us? He nourishes us with His Word.
And we have all of the Word. The totality of Scripture belongs
to the Church. And it belongs to us as a Church
of Jesus Christ. So we might feel ourselves to
be very very little and so insignificant and yet all we have here are
God's words the exceeding great and precious promises all those
holy precepts of the gospel all those great doctrinal truths
that centre in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ
all we are not worthy are we of the least of his favours and
all that truth that He has shown unto us. May the Lord bless His
word to us tonight. Amen.