it had already begun when the first disciples had been baptized by John?
...Did they at the moment of that embolden become a part of, " but also we ourselves, having the first-fruit of the Spirit," ? Is that when they were indwelt with the Spirit, Christ was in them and they in the Church?
...Here is a thought. Is the Church being built with, Spirit filled, flesh and blood, humans called of God?
Can flesh and blood humans, called of God, inherit the kingdom of God? Will those of Rom. 8:23 inherit the kingdom of God? I wonder why, we groan within ourselves?
In 1 Corinthians 12:28, Paul says through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
And God hath set some in the church, first apostles,...
from:
http://www.ntbt.org/Articles/ChurchBook for PDF.pdf
The first office that God set in the local church (ecclesia) was that of the apostles.
Luke 6:12-13 gives us the time when this took place.
And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles (emphasis added).
Jesus, in obedience to His Father, spent the night in prayer, after which He called His disciples around him. It was from that group of disciples that he chose his twelve apostles.
These twelve became the nucleus with which Christ started his church.
Therefore, according to Scripture,
the local New Testament church began in Luke 6.
These twelve apostles were “in the church” long before Pentecost.
When Christ called them to follow Him, they became a distinct entity, a closely knit group, a called-out body of believers, with Christ as their sole Head.
They forsook their former associations and became followers of Christ.
He was their pastor, their Good shepherd (Greek, poimen, John 10:14).12
There are numerous verses that we could call to the forefront to prove that the church was started before Pentecost, but because of space we will look at only a few.
(1) In Acts 2:41 we read, Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls (emphasis added).
This took place on the day of Pentecost.
How can you add someone to something that has not been in existence?
Therefore, they must have been added to the local New 10 Testament church.
Let me illustrate. If I add $50.00 to my bank account, you would automatically assume that I have an account already established at the bank. You would be right.
Therefore the Lord's New Testament church was already in existence at the time of Pentecost.
(2) In Matthew 18:17 Jesus said,
And 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 (emphasis added).
In this passage, Jesus is speaking about local church discipline. Why would Jesus make such a statement if the local church was not yet in existence?
(3) To say that the church was not in existence until Pentecost would undermine the Lord's Supper. …let us note that, unless the church existed previous to Pentecost, the Lord's Supper is not a church ordinance.
If He gave it only to individuals as such, when they died the ordinance died with them. We cannot believe this in the light of Paul's account of the institution of the Supper as given in 1 Corinthians 11.
Here, according to the account given, Jesus clearly implied that this memorial ordinance will be observed till He come again.
The individuals who were present at the Supper have been dead for centuries, and still He has not come.
Evidently, it was not to individuals as such that He gave the ordinance, but to individuals as constituting the church.
Only this church, the church to which continuous existence has been promised could observe the Memorial Meal continuously from the time of its institution until He comes again.13
Needless to say, there are many instances with which to prove that the church was started before Pentecost.
1. Christian believers before Pentecost had the gospel (Matt. 4:23; Mark 1:1; Matt. 9:35; 11:5; 24:14; 26:13; Mark 1:14, 15; 8:35; 10:29; 13:10; 16:9, 15; Luke 4:18; 9:6; 20:1, etc.)
2. They were converted (Matt. 3:5-8; 18:3; Luke 19:1-10).
3. They were baptized after conversion (Matt. 3:6; Acts 1:22).
4. The
Lord's New Testament church had Christ as Head (Matt. 23:8; Mark 1:1; John 1:29).
5. The
Lord's New Testament church were instructed in church truths (Matt. 18:15-20).
6. The
Lord's New Testament church were called to obey Christ (Matt. 4:18-20).
7. The
Lord's New Testament church were ordained (Matt. 10:1-5; John 15:16).
8. The
Lord's New Testament church was commissioned (Matt. 28:18-20).
9. The
Lord's New Testament church were organized enough for their needs (John 13:29).
10. The
Lord's New Testament church had a missionary program (Matt. 10:1-11:1).
11. The
Lord's New Testament church had a teaching program (Matt. 4:23; 10:1-42).
12. The
Lord's New Testament church had a healing program (Matt. 10:1; Luke 9:1; 10:9).
13. The
Lord's New Testament churches were promised a permanent church (Matt. 16:18).
14. The
Lord's New Testament church had church discipline (Matt. 18:15-17).
15.
The Lord's New Testament church had divine authority (Matt. 18:18; 28:18- 20).
16. The
Lord's New Testament church had essentials of church life (Matt. 4:19; 18:20).
17. The
Lord's New Testament church had true church democracy (Matt. 23:8- 12).
18. The
Lord's New Testament church had qualified Pastors (John 15:16; 21:15- 17).
19. The
Lord's New Testament church had the Lord's Supper (Matt. 26:26-28).
20. The
Lord's New Testament church had the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13; John 20:22).
21. The
Lord's New Testament church had divine power to do Christ's work (Luke 9:1).
22. The
Lord's New Testament church sang in the midst of the church (Matt. 26:30; Heb. 2:12).
23. The
Lord's New Testament church had prayer meetings (Acts 1:14).
24. The
Lord's New Testament church had business meetings (Acts 1:15-26).
25. The
Lord's New Testament church had a membership roll (Matt. 10:2-4; Acts 1:13-15).
26. The
Lord's New Testament church were united and added unto (Acts 2:1,41).
27. Jesus Christ was their cornerstone (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:20).14
Jesus Christ is the founder of the local New Testament church.
He took three years to train his disciples
on how he wanted his church to function.
From that time, to our present day,
the gates of hell have not yet prevailed on the church that Jesus built!