Does It Matter?

Cliff Hollard

“Does it really matter when the church began?” this question was asked of us when we sought to show that Christendom is seriously in error by starting the One Body church of Ephesians and Colossians at Acts chapter 2, which chapter tells of what took place on “the day of Pentecost.”

It matters much more than people realize, because the traditional starting-point or Pentecost has been the cause of much confusion.

If we start the church of today at Pentecost it naturally follows that we should be performing in the churches today all that was enacted in the church from Pentecost on and right throughout the book of Acts; and in their endeavours to be consistent, many well-meaning Christians have sought to do just that. They claim that the miraculous phenomena such as healings, recovery of sight to the blind, tongues, etc., all so evidently set forth throughout the book of Acts should be the normal order of things in the church of today.

But many who once followed that teaching have become disillusioned and have been forced to give it up, finding they do not possess the powers experienced by the Christians of that early church. It has disturbed the peace of many; in some cases bringing disastrous results.

The teaching of things divine is a serious business and we must learn to keep things in their proper place. There were those who, in Paul’s day, taught, “the resurrection is passed.” (2 Timothy 2:18). These people did not deny the resurrection but they were putting it in the wrong place. Paul said, “their word will eat as doth a canker” (gangrene), and would “overthrow the faith of some.”

And there are those today who teach that the things written in the book of Revelation are “past already”. This too, is putting things in their wrong place.

Let us be careful. The starting of the church of today at the wrong place can lead to dire consequences. The writer of these words you are reading was once among those who looked upon Pentecost as “the birthday” of the church of today, but by the mercy of God his eyes were opened to see the error.

Pentecost was a feast of the Jews, having its origin in Leviticus among other feasts, such as the Sabbath, Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Trumpets and the Day of Atonement.

The “day of Pentecost was fully come” (Acts 2:1) at the 50^th day after the Jewish Passover and Jews out of every nation were gathered at Jerusalem for the Feast. The only Gentiles present were the proselytes (Gentiles who had embraced Judaism.) Gentiles who had not embraced Judaism were excluded.

Not only is that second chapter of Acts Jewish in character – but the rest of the book of Acts is Jewish – right to the very last chapter, that of twenty-eight.

That 28^th chapter tells us of one last entreaty by the Lord through Paul to Israel, calling on them to repent and believe that Jesus was the Christ and their true Messiah. They failed, and God then revealed through Paul the secret He had kept hidden all through the ages. Israel went out into their present blindness and the Gentiles came in in all their fullness, which is precisely where the One Body church of today began, not at Pentecost.

The Jewish feasts from thereon were now pointless in the sight of God. So were the miracles, signs and wonders – all so prevalent during the Acts period – for Israel ceased to be God’s people and will continue so until He takes up with them again sometime in the future – we believe the very near future.

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