Will you please turn to the Gospel according to Matthew?
Matthew 16:18:
And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Acts chapter 1, verses 6 through 9:
They therefore, when they were come together, asked Him, saying, Lord, dost Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
And He said unto them, It is not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within His own authority.
But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And when He had said these things, as they were looking, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Acts 1:12-14:
Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is nigh unto Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey off.
And when they were come in, they went up into the upper chamber, where they were abiding; both Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.
These all with one accord continued stedfastly in prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.
Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 4:
And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place.
And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, our hearts are full of gratitude in knowing that Thou dost love us so much in giving us Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus.
Lord, we do want to thank Thee for loving us so much as to come to this earth, go to the cross, shed Thy blood, and have Thy body broken. It is all for our sake. Oh, we do praise and thank Thee that we can come together this morning. It is all because of what Thou hast done for us.
And now, Lord, we ask that Thou wilt, by Thy Spirit, open Thy Word to us and draw us. Bring us into Thy truth, that Thy name may be glorified. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
For some time, we have been considering the life of Christ. Several months ago, we started on the life of the church.
We feel that the life of the church is but the continuation of the life of Christ, because in Acts chapter 1 we are told that, when Luke wrote his first discourse, he wrote of how our Lord Jesus began both to do and to teach.
In this second discourse, when he wrote the book of Acts, it is but the continuation of the doing and the teaching of our Lord Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, our Lord Jesus taught and did things in His physical body; but in the book of Acts, He continued to do and to teach in a mystical, corporate body.
So the life of the church actually is none other than the continuation of the life of Christ.
The concept of the church is not something recent. The church, even though it was born on the day of Pentecost two thousand years ago, was conceived in the thought of God even before the foundation of the world.
We are told in Ephesians chapter 3 that, even before the foundation of the world, God had purposed a purpose in Christ Jesus, and that purpose concerns the church of God. It was hidden; it was a mystery. Yet it has now been revealed by the Holy Spirit to the prophets and the apostles. So, to us today, it is an open secret.
This morning, we would like to continue on the life of the church with its birth. First, the concept—that is eternal—and now we will come to its birth.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He once said, “Thou art Peter,” a rock, a stone. “I will build My church upon this rock,” which is the confession of Peter.
Peter confessed Christ as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Upon that confession, upon that rock, our Lord Jesus said, “I will build My church with you, a stone, and many other living stones.”
Who is the Builder of the church? Oh, God. The Lord said, “I will build My church.”
And then we remember Hebrews 11:10. Abraham looked forward to a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God. So we are told that the church, that city with foundations, is planned and built by none other than God Himself.
Of course, we know that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and of might. He is also the One who builds the church.
You remember when our Lord Jesus came into this world and took upon Himself a physical body. It was because of the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit over the womb of Mary. So it is the Holy Spirit who gave the body to our Lord Jesus.
In the same way, it is the Holy Spirit who gives birth to the church, the body of Christ. So, brothers and sisters, the church is built by none other than God Himself. The Father purposed it, the Son prepared it, and the Holy Spirit performs it.
Therefore, the product is a holy thing. I do hope, brothers and sisters, that we may remember that the church is the work of God. It is not the work of man.
Just as the concept of the church is a divine concept, so the work, the building of the church, is a holy building. It is the work of God.
After our Lord Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples for forty days. Then He led them to the Mount of Olives.
Even at that moment, His disciples, being Jews, were still thinking of the restoration of the nation of Israel. They saw our Lord Jesus risen from the dead. He overcame death. All power, all authority, in heaven and on earth, had been given to Him.
So naturally they thought, “This must be the time that He will restore the kingdom of Israel.” Yet our Lord Jesus had something far, far better—greater than merely restoring the nation of Israel.
It is true that, one day, in God’s time, the nation of Israel will be restored. But before that should happen, a greater kingdom—the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of the Son of God’s love—must be built first.
So our Lord Jesus told His disciples, “Wait in Jerusalem until you receive the promise of the Father. You will receive power and will be My witnesses from Jerusalem through all Judaea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In other words, during the period from our Lord Jesus’ ascension to heaven until His return to this earth, what He wants us to be occupied with is this heavenly kingdom: that we should be His witnesses from Jerusalem to all Judaea, through Samaria, and unto the end of the earth.
A hundred and twenty of His disciples returned to Jerusalem. They went to that upper room, and there they continued with one accord in prayer, waiting for the promise of the Father.
And we know that, on the day of Pentecost, the church was born.
But, brothers and sisters, before we go into this history of the birth of the church, I think we need to consider together a very basic, universal law: the law of birth.
What is the law of birth? The law of birth is the law of travail. If there is no travail, there is no birth.
We remember Genesis 3:16. God said to the woman:
I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy travail;
in pain thou shalt bring forth children.
After the fall of man, travail would be with pain. But before the fall of man, it seems to me that this law was already there: without travail, there could be no birth. But after sin came into this world, the travail became painful.
Now, concerning the birth of the church, it is clear that it is because of the travail of our Lord Jesus.
He travailed when He emptied Himself and took upon Himself the form of a servant, even being found in fashion as a man when He came into this world. He travailed when He went down into the waters of the River Jordan to take the place of a sinner for us.
He travailed throughout His life. He travailed in the Garden of Gethsemane. We are told that His sweat was as great drops of blood falling down upon the ground.
He travailed on Calvary’s cross when He cried out:
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
It is because of the travail of our Lord Jesus.
To make sure that He was dead, a soldier thrust his spear into His side. Out of His side flowed blood and water. The apostle John witnessed it, and he said, “What I saw, what I witnessed to, was true. I saw blood and water coming out from His broken heart.”
And, brothers and sisters, we know that it is His blood and His water that build the church. We know that it is the blood of our Lord Jesus that cleanses us from all our sins, and it is His life, poured out like water, that gives us new life.
With that which came out of Him, God builds the church. So He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied.
But we cannot forget that it is not just God the Son who travailed with pain for the birth of the church. We know that God the Father travailed as much as the Son.
Just think: God forsook His only begotten Son. The communion between the Father and the Son was from eternity, and there was no second, no moment, of interruption. Even when the Son came upon this earth, our Lord Jesus said, “My Father is always with Me, and I always please the Father.”
Yet God, for our sake, because of His love for us, was willing to forsake His Son and even to crush Him on the cross. No wonder that from twelve o’clock to three o’clock that day, the sun was darkened, as if the Father hid His face. He would not see His Son crushed to death.
We cannot imagine how the Father travailed with pain for the birth of the church.
And now, of course, on the day of Pentecost, the Bible says there was a wind blowing. In the original, you see, it is a hard breathing. It is as if God the Holy Spirit was travailing for birth, and His breathing was hard. Through that hard breathing, the church was born.
So, dear brothers and sisters, we shall remember that the church is not only a divine concept from eternity. It is the work of God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—and therefore a holy thing.
But we must remember that, for the birth of the church, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit travailed in pain, and that brought forth the church.
But more than that, we find that in that upper room there were one hundred and twenty believers.
When our Lord Jesus was on earth, there were more than one hundred and twenty disciples. At one time, He appeared to more than five hundred brethren. But only one hundred and twenty, in obedience to the Lord’s command, gathered together in that upper room.
They were not passively waiting, but actively waiting. With one accord, they prayed for ten days.
What is the picture you see here? You see that there is not only the travail of God, but, in response and in sympathy with God, one hundred and twenty believers took upon themselves to travail for that which God was after.
It was through the travailing prayer of these one hundred and twenty believers that the day of Pentecost came to pass. On that day, these one hundred and twenty believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit into one body.
Brothers and sisters, the law of birth is the law of travail. This is true not only with the birth of the first church on earth. This is a principle that must be applied to every birth of the church of God throughout the ages and throughout the earth.
It was true in the first century, at the beginning of the first church, and it must be true whenever a church appears upon this earth. If it is by birth, it has to come with travail.
The church is not something organized. The church must be born. In order that a church might be born, there must be travailing. Some saints, in some spot on the earth, must have taken that burden from God and begun to travail for the birth of the church.
Through their travailing prayer, God would answer with the birth of a church. So I do hope, brothers and sisters, that we may see from the very outset that the church is something glorious. It comes in glory, but glory is preceded by travail.
On the day of Pentecost, after these one hundred and twenty had been praying together, preparing themselves and waiting for the promise of the Father, suddenly there was a hard breathing, a blowing over that house, which filled the room.
Then tongues like fire rested upon each of the one hundred and twenty there. They were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak with other tongues, speaking of the great things of God.
We usually think of Pentecost in terms of sound and sight. We are more attracted by that which is phenomenal. We are interested in what is individual.
When we think of Pentecost, that is usually the way we think. We think of the sound, a wind blowing. We think of the sight, tongues like fire falling. We think of that which is phenomenal, speaking in tongues. We think of that which is individual: each one is filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks of the great things of God.
Now, brothers and sisters, these things are true. But Pentecost is much more than that.
We need to understand the actual, not the phenomenal. We need to enter into the real, not the external, because that is what God has done.
The wonder of Pentecost is not in sound and sight. It is not merely those phenomenal things. The wonder of Pentecost is that God did something tremendous, great, marvelous, and glorious.
Now, what is the meaning of Pentecost? What had God done on that day?
If you listen to Peter, he stood up because the rumor went out. I believe the one hundred and twenty must have moved from that upper room, perhaps to Solomon’s Porch, because that was where the disciples in the early days usually met.
It was a large place, because you find that the rumor went out and the whole city seemed to come together. That upper room was too small for that. So evidently they must have moved to Solomon’s Porch.
There Peter stood up with the eleven and gave the first message. He explained the phenomena. He explained what had happened, because the people were wondering what it was.
Some said they were drunk with new wine. Peter said, “No, this is early morning, nine o’clock. It cannot be that way.” Then he explained the meaning of Pentecost.
Acts 2:33:
Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He hath poured forth this, which ye see and hear.
What had happened was because of the exaltation of our Lord Jesus. When our Lord Jesus was exalted to the right hand of the Father, He received from God the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, and He poured Him out. So that is what was happening.
Then, in Acts 2:36, Peter says:
Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly, that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified.
When you connect Acts 2:33 and Acts 2:36, you come to see the meaning of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. You come to see the meaning of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
What does it mean? It means that God has made Jesus both Lord and Christ. That is the meaning of Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit came down to testify to one thing: Jesus is Lord. He is Lord of all the earth. He is Christ, the Anointed One, who has accomplished what God sent Him to do.
He is not only the Savior; He is also the High Priest, the Christ. So, brothers and sisters, what the Holy Spirit has done is just this: the exaltation of Christ.
God has made Him Lord and Christ. He is the Head.
By the Holy Spirit, we are to recognize that Jesus is Lord. He is the only Head of the universe. He is our Head. He is the Head of the church.
Now, that is one side of Pentecost. The other side is explained in 1 Corinthians 12:13. We know that the epistles explain the history found in the Acts of the Apostles.
1 Corinthians 12:13:
For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free;
and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
The baptism with the Holy Spirit performs two things. One is that it reveals to us that Jesus is Lord. He is Lord of all, the only Lord, the only King, the only Head.
It also reveals to us another thing: in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body and were all made to drink of one Spirit.
First, you have the Head. Then you have the body.
The one hundred and twenty in that upper room—were they the elite, the cream of the disciples of our Lord Jesus? You had the eleven apostles there. They had been with the Lord for over three years.
You had other brethren there who followed the Lord from the days of John the Baptist until the taking up of our Lord Jesus. You had some women there, the mother of Jesus, and even the brothers according to the flesh of our Lord Jesus.
You remember that when our Lord was on earth, His brothers did not believe in Him. Yet after His death and resurrection, they were all converted and trusted in Him. So these were the brethren.
Here you find one hundred and twenty. When you look at each one of them, each had some history. We would say today that every one was a good Christian.
Even though these one hundred and twenty were the elite of the disciples of our Lord Jesus, devoted to Christ, they were able to gather together with one accord. Now, it is very difficult for one hundred and twenty people to be in one accord.
If they were in one accord for a minute, it might be possible. But for ten days, giving themselves to continual prayer—not just praying for five minutes, but continual prayer—you find this congregation of one hundred and twenty members gathering together for ten days.
I believe that if there is any pastor who would not admire having such a congregation, I do not know who he would be.
Yet, brothers and sisters, it was just a congregation, a gathering together of one hundred and twenty members. There was still not that organic growing together.
Because it was a congregation, they could gather and they could scatter. It was not organically united.
But the wonder of Pentecost is this: on that day, in one Spirit, these one hundred and twenty were baptized into one body.
They were no longer a congregation of one hundred and twenty members. They became a body with one hundred and twenty members. Brothers and sisters, do you see the difference?
The one is an external coming together; the other is an inward uniting into one.
They were all made to drink of one Spirit. The Holy Spirit not only came upon them and gave them power to be witnesses; the Holy Spirit came into them, and they were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Now, that is Pentecost.
We often think of the work of the Holy Spirit as the One who convicts us, demonstrating to us sin and righteousness. We think of the Holy Spirit as the One who begets us, because he that is born of the Spirit is spirit.
But, brothers and sisters, do you know that not only, when you believe in the Lord Jesus, are you born of the Spirit, but at the same time you are baptized in the Spirit into one body?
What is the meaning of Pentecost? The headship of Christ and the body of Christ.
You cannot separate the Head from the body, nor the body from the Head. You have to see the Head first, and then you will come to realize that you are His body.
So, brothers and sisters, the wonder of Pentecost is that, on that day, Christ, the risen Christ, took upon Himself a corporate body. In this corporate body, He continues to do and to teach.
That is the history of the life of the church.
I mentioned before that we always think in terms of individuals. But if we enter into the full purpose of God, we have to see that, even though individually we are saved, God has done something far greater than merely saving individuals.
It is true that no other person can be saved for you. Each one has to repent, believe in the Lord Jesus, and be saved. It is true that, as individual believers, we need to seek to grow personally, having a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus. This is important.
But, brothers and sisters, let us remember: God has done something far greater than just individuals. He has brought us together and made us one body.
We are today members one of another. In other words, there comes a relationship—not only a relationship with the Head, but a relationship with one another.
I think it is evident that we cannot do without our Lord Jesus, without our Head.
I remember when our brother Watchman came back from England. He visited an elderly brother, George Cutting. At that time, I think he was in his nineties. He was the one who wrote Safety, Certainty, and Enjoyment, that pamphlet which God used to save many people.
When our brother went to visit him, he was so aged that he was in bed and unconscious most of the time. But from time to time he woke up and became conscious. So our brother sat by his bed, waiting for him to come back.
When he came back, he told our brother, “I cannot do without Him, and He cannot do without me.” Then he went to sleep again.
Now, brothers and sisters, I think it is clear that we cannot do without Him. How can we do without Christ? But have we come to realize that He cannot do without you?
Our Lord Jesus cannot do without you. He needs you, just as you need Him. There is a relationship between you and the Lord which is so precious.
Then our brother expanded it and said to us, “Not only should we say to the Lord, ‘I cannot do without You. Thank God, You cannot do without me.’”
But we should say to one another, “I cannot do without you, and you cannot do without me.”
Why is it that I cannot do without Him and He cannot do without me? Because He is the Head, and I am a part of His body.
As a member of the body, how can I do without a Head? But the Head will say, “How can I do without you? Because you are My member. I cannot express Myself. I cannot find My fulfillment if I do not have you.”
Brothers and sisters, the same thing is true as members one of another. Can we, or have we come to see, that we cannot do without each other?
Just recently, I was in Toronto, and a few brothers were together. One brother confessed. He turned to one brother and said, “Brother, I cannot do without you.”
But he turned to another brother and said, “I do not have the same feeling about you.” It was a confession, and it touched me very deeply.
How often we say to one brother or one sister, “Yes, we are so close. I cannot do without you.” But we turn immediately to another and, in effect, say, “I do not need you. I can go on without you.”
How sad this is.
May the Lord really show us what He has done on the day of Pentecost. He has brought us into one body, brothers and sisters, and we need to come to realize that we cannot do without one another.
We have to ask the Lord to bring us to a point when we can honestly say, “I cannot do without any brother and sister, all my brothers and sisters.”
The same thing will be said of me. However small a member I am, the other brothers and sisters will say, “No, you are needed. I need you.”
This is the wonder of Pentecost. So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Dear Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that, for the birth of the church, Thou hast travailed with pain.
We are so grateful that Thou hast brought us into being. What a glorious thing is the church, the body of Christ.
We do praise and thank Thee that we are in that body. We do acknowledge our Lord Jesus as our Head. There is no other Head but Christ Jesus.
We do acknowledge that we are but members, and yet members one of another, belonging to the same body.
Lord, we just pray that Thou wilt, by Thy Holy Spirit, bring us into this glorious truth: that we cannot do without Christ, as Christ cannot do without us; and likewise, we cannot do without one another.
Lord, bring us to Thy truth, that Thou mayest be able to continue to do and to teach through that body of Thine until one day there will be that eternal union.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.