Sermon Manuscript

Who Is The Church? 1Cor.1; Acts 2 ~ 20250126 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

01/26 Who Is The Church? 1 Cor.1; Acts 2; Those Who Call on The Name of The Lord; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20250126_who-is-church.mp3

Elder/Overseer/Shepherd

We have been looking for the past few weeks at what the Bible teaches about leadership in the church; elders who are above reproach, men of integrity, able to teach; they are to devote themselves to prayer and the word. Elders are to oversee, to watch over, and to shepherd; to guide, guard, lead, and feed. But who are they watching over? Paul says to the elders of Ephesus in Acts 20;

Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Peter says in 1 Peter 5:

1 Peter 5:1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Who are the elders to be watching over, shepherding, guiding, guarding, leading, and feeding? ‘Pay careful attention ...to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers; Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight ...over those in your charge.’ Who? Who is the flock of God in which the Spirit has made you overseers? Who are those in your charge? Who is the church?

What I want to do today is get a biblical vision of who the church is. In the coming weeks I want to look more at what that means for each one of us, what it means to be the church. But I want to start with the basics, the big picture.

Who Is The Church? 1 Corinthians 1

Who is the church? Paul addresses his letter, 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

This helps us, because he clarifies a few things. He identifies who the church belongs to. It belongs to God; it belongs to no man. He identifies the church in the context of a geographic location; it exists in the city of Corinth. And he further clarifies who the church consists of; those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints. We will come back to what that means, but before we do we should notice that he connects this local geographical gathering of saints with ‘all those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours’. There is a local church, but they are connected to all those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as YHWH God. There is a church of God that exists in Corinth, but they are united to a larger people, united under one Lord, one King, one Sovereign.

Call On the Name of the Lord (Acts 2)

This idea of ‘calling on the name of the Lord’ is an Old Testament one; in Acts 2, when the promised Holy Spirit is poured out on the Apostles, Peter explains what is happening as the fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel 2:28-32. God will pour out his Spirit on all flesh,

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ [Quoting Joel 2:32]

Then he connects this with Jesus of Nazareth (Acts 2:23-24, 32-33), crucified, resurrected, exalted at the right hand of God the Father, now pouring out his Holy Spirit. Jesus is God, the Lord YHWH whose name we are to call upon.

Acts 2:36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Repent; turn away from what you were trusting in. Call on the name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. Notice, we are told to call on the name of the Lord to be saved, and the Lord is calling to himself those who will be saved. The word ‘church’ in Greek is ἐκκλησία; it means an assembly, a gathering; literally those who are called out. God calls us to himself, and we call out to him in faith for rescue. Those who are called out by the Lord call out to the Lord.

How did the people respond to this message of rescue in Jesus?

Acts 2:41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

There’s a lot here. But I want to focus on one thing; ‘those who received his word’. Peter proclaimed Jesus crucified, resurrected, exalted as Lord of all. Some received this word. Some turned from what they had been trusting in and called on the name of Jesus for rescue from their sins. Not the entire crowd, a subset of the crowd. Some walked away unconvinced, unchanged. But those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. Those who believed responded, and their lives began to show that they had been changed. And the chapter closes

Acts 2:47 ...And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Added to what number? The number of those who received the word, who called out to Jesus as Lord, who surrendered to Jesus as King and Sovereign. The Lord was adding to his people, his called out assembly, the church, those who bow the knee to King Jesus.

Call On the Name of the Lord (Romans 10)

Paul references this same Joel prophecy in Romans 10 also in connection with salvation:

Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Confess and believe that Jesus is Lord, resurrected from the dead, Lord over every ethnicity, every people group. Call on his name. This is the gospel, the good news; there is a universal King, his name is Jesus of Nazareth, who died for our sins, was resurrected, and is now exalted and eager to answer our prayers. Calling on him comes from a heart of faith; it requires believing in him, understanding who he claims to be and willing to rely on him completely. You have only one call; who will you call for help? This kind of trust in Jesus means you must hear the news about him; hearing requires someone to proclaim the news, the one who preaches must be sent out with the message. Good news to the nations!

Jesus the Sovereign Lord (Matthew 28; Philippians 2)

Jesus is the one Sovereign Lord. As Jesus claimed in Matthew 28;

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

All authority. All authority in the heavenly realms. All authority on the planet. Jesus is Lord. Jesus possesses supreme authority. And he commissions his disciples to make disciples who follow him and bow the knee to him, obeying everything he says.

Philippians 2 tells us that:

Philippians 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. All those in heaven, everyone on earth, everyone already dead. Every knee without exception will bow to his sovereign authority. (That’s what sovereign authority means!) But those who call on his name, who believe in him and cry out to him in dependence before that awesome and terrible day will be saved. These are those who belong to the church, that called out assembly of saints.

When Peter confessed Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God” Jesus said

Matthew 16:18 ...on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Jesus is building his church; believers are being added to the Lord.

Believers Added To The Lord (Acts)

We see in Acts 5

Acts 5:14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

Believers. Those who cry out to Jesus, those who believe the good news message of Jesus crucified, resurrected, exalted as Lord over all. Believers in the Lord are added to the Lord, to his people, people who are gathered under his name, under his sovereignty. In Acts 6

Acts 6:1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number,.. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Disciples, those who became followers of King Jesus increased in number. Even priests believed in their Messiah; they bowed the knee to King Jesus. Acts 11

Acts 11:24 ...And a great many people were added to the Lord.

People added to the Lord. People who now belong to King Jesus. The church is a people who believe the good news about Jesus, who call out to him in dependence, who surrender to him as Sovereign. They are a new people group under their King.

The Church; Set Apart for the Lord (1 Corinthians 1)

Let’s return to 1 Corinthians 1 and look again at what it tells us about the church.

The church consists of those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus. The word sanctified, like the word saint, has as its root the word ‘holy’. Holy means in a class by itself, separated or set apart. Sanctified is a passive verb. It means ‘to be made holy’. In the Old Testament tabernacle and temple there were holy things and holy people. Both things and people could be sanctified, made holy, set apart for sacred temple use through washing and with blood. The only way for a sinner to be set apart, made holy, is in Jesus, cleansed by the blood of Jesus. It is a passive verb; we don’t make ourselves holy, it something that is done to us; we are cleansed, set apart and made holy in Jesus. We are called to be saints, holy ones, holy people. The tabernacle and everything associated with the tabernacle was to be holy, set apart. The people who served the tabernacle were to be holy, cleansed and set apart. We, the church, are sanctified saints, called, cleansed by the blood and set apart for holy service to the Lord.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul is addressing disunity in the church. Division flys in the face of what the church is; a blood bought people united under one sovereign Lord. Paul reminds them of the gospel he preached, the life transforming word of the cross (1:17-18, 23-24). This gospel word of Christ crucified divides humanity. It draws a clear line between those who are being saved and those who are perishing. That is the only division of any real consequence. The church is made up of those who believe the good news message of Christ crucified for sinners, those who are called and who call on the name of the Lord Jesus, who are set apart and united as one people under one sovereign Lord.

Citizens of A Heavenly Colony (Philippians 1, 3)

In Philippians 3, Paul warns of those who are enemies of the cross, whose end is destruction, whose minds are set on earthly things. The line is clear.

Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

Paul is writing to the Roman colony of Philippi. They are proud of their Roman citizenship, a little outpost of Rome in the middle of Macedonia. Politically, their allegiance is to Rome, but as followers of Jesus, their citizenship is in heaven. They are to honor and submit to Caesar as their earthly king, but they have a greater King, their Savior, the Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ, to whom they owe ultimate allegiance. Paul tells them in chapter 1

Philippians 1:27 Only let your manner of life be [live as citizens] worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,

Paul uses the verb form of the noun citizenship; ‘let your manner of life be’ is literally ‘live as citizens’. Live as citizens consistent with the gospel of Christ. In Philippi, you are an outpost of Rome. But your ultimate allegiance is to the Lord Jesus Christ, and your citizenship is in heaven. So live as an outpost of heaven here on earth, practicing heavenly culture, promoting allegiance to your sovereign Lord.

The church is a colony of heaven on earth, advancing our King’s agenda, inviting his kingdom to come and his will to penetrate the darkness and reign supreme.

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2025.01.26 Sermon Notes

Who Is Church? 1 Cor.1; Acts 2; Those Who Call On the Name of The Lord

Who are elders to oversee and shepherd?

Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-4

The church belongs to God, exists in a location,

is connected to a people under one King

1 Corinthians 1:2

All those who call upon the Name of the Lord

Acts 2:21; Joel 2:28-32; Romans 10:9-15

Jesus proclaimed as crucified, resurrected,

exalted as Lord of all Acts 2:23-24, 32-33

those who received his word

...were added to their number Acts 2:41-47

Jesus is the sovereign Lord;

all who depend on him will be saved

Matthew 16:18; 28:18-20; Philippians 2:9-11

Believers are added to the Lord

Acts 5:14; 6:1, 7; 11:24

The church: sanctified saints set apart to the Lord

1 Corinthians 1:2, 17-18, 23-24

The church; citizens of a heavenly colony

Philippians 1:27; 3:20

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org