The

Church
Church ecclesia in Greek. Which means the the called ones. The
church is composed of
those persons w ho took a positive response to
Gods call. The church is not the physical structure or the building; this
physical structure is called the church building, but the people who worship
God inside that building are the members of the church who took a positive
response to Gods call. Therefore those persons who took a positive response
to Gods call are the church themselves for they are the called ones.

The Spiritual body of Christ

The church is the spiritual body of Christ. In 1Cor.12:12-13 Paul
said that, (12) For the body is one and has many members, but all the
members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. (13)
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body whether Jews or
Greeks, whether slaves or free and have all made to drink into one Spirit. In
verse 12 Paul was saying that though the body has many members the
members are also one just as the Lord Jesus has one body. Therefore the
church that the Lord Jesus is building is just one church. And in verse 13 Paul
was saying that since all the believers were baptized into one body which is
the church through one and the same Spirit which is the Holy Spirit; we can
conclude that the church that the Lord Jesus is building is a universal church.
For whomever you are or wherever you may be in this planet; if you believed
in the name of the Lord Jesus, you have been baptized into the universal
church through one and the same Spirit that baptized every believer all over
the world into the universal church. And this universal church is composed of
those believers who are already living in heaven and those believers who are
still living here on earth. Therefore the church that the Lord Jesus is building
is just one universal spiritual church which members are those believers from
the start of creation down to the end of the world. Those who are still living
here on earth are members of the local churches. There are many local
churches around the world who worship God in Spirit and in Truth. These are
those who believed in the name of the Lord Jesus by accepting Him as their

own God whom they are worshiping and serving and accepting Him also as
their own Lord by accepting His word the bible. These are also those who are
being indwelt by the Holy Spirit who sealed them up to the day of
redemption. This is the church that the Lord Jesus is building up to this
present time and will continue to build His church up to the end of the world.

The Call
How does God call anybody anyway? God calls us through His
WORD; the written WORD (bible), the SPOKEN WORD (Holy Spirit) and living
WORD who is the Lord Jesus. Yes God calls us through His WORD. When we
read the bible or when we hear the preaching of the word of God; God is
calling us to become part of His wonderful plan. God is calling us to become
a part of His family. God is calling us so that God can take away our sins
against Him if we will put our faith in the name of the Lord Jesus.

The first Church

In Mathew 16:17-19 the Lord Jesus made the first mention of the
word church. The Lord Jesus said that He will build His church upon a rock.
And the Lord was referring to Himself as the rock for He is the rock of our
salvation. The Lord Jesus when He started His ministry in Jerusalem first
called Peter and Andrew who were brothers then the brothers James and
John; and then the rest of the twelve apostles then eventually all the
disciples. And at the later part of His ministry and His life as well, the Lord
Jesus told His followers about the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of those
who believed and those who will believe in His name. In the Gospel of John
14:16-18 the Lord said to His disciples that He will pray the Father to give
them another helper in the person of the Holy Spirit. The Lord describes the
Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth and the world cannot know for the world
cannot see Him. In verse 17 the Lord went on to say that the Holy Spirit is
dwelling with them and will be In them. The Lord Jesus said this for He
was still alive then and the Holy Spirit is not yet dwelling into the bodies of
His believers. But when the Lord Jesus finally ascended up to heaven to be
with the Father; in the upper room where all the apostles and the disciples
were all gathered together to pray, suddenly the Holy Spirit came upon each
one of them and indwelt them as they spoke in different tongues. This event
was then called the Pentecost. And this event marked the beginning of the
CHURCH which the Lord Jesus said in Mathew 16:17-19 that He will build. The
church in Jerusalem was the very first church that has ever been established.

But during the height of persecutions by the Jewish leaders many of its
members were scattered and wherever they go churches were built as they
zealously preached the words of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul was
converted, Christianity spread into the gentile world and churches were built
and established within the gentile communities and cities. However during
this early period of church growth; as God was working through the church to
save as many as He could, Satan also was working double time to subvert
the growth of the churches by sending false teachers teaching heresies into
the churches. This was the very reason why the apostles and disciples of the
Lord Jesus wrote the four Gospels and epistles in order to counter the evil
and heresies in the churches. The entire New Testament was actually written
for the purpose of retaining or perpetuating the teachings of the Lord Jesus
for the believers to be guided, strengthen, encouraged and be edified in the
midst of the onslaught of satanic teachings that was creeping into the
churches. And at the death of all the apostles or the end of apostolic period,
the church in Rome became the center of Christian faith. And here in the
church at Rome Satan was able to establish his evil doctrines within the
church through Marcion (150 A.D.) using Gnosticism and philosophy. The rise
of these heresies prompts the church to canonize the bible and was
completed on 397 A.D.
On 189 A.D. Irenaeus advocated the infant baptism but Tertullian
on 193 opposed it and insisted on adult baptism. And evidently Irenaeus
infant baptism prevailed over Tertullians adult baptism for the Roman
Catholic Church still upholds this practice up to the present times.
During the time of Leo I (Leo the great; 440-461), marked the entry
of the barbarians (Goths-Arian, frank, Celtic Britons, Ireland, Columbia and
Scotland) into Christianity and lead to celebration of more festivals and
introductions of more sacraments; the approval of veneration of saints and
Mary, the eventual acceptance of the image of Saints and Christ and Mary
which is Idolatry and the issuance of certificate of indulgence. Which are in a
direct contradiction to the teachings of the bible.
Satan practically took over the control of the church. But God was
well aware of this and as there are remnants of Israel there were also people
of God whom God reserved for Himself who will never bow down their knees
to Idols. God cause the emergence of reformation period that served as the
first step to the return of Gods people to the true teachings of God in the
bible. Reformation (1517-1516 A.D.) was lead by a German monk named
Martin Luther. Then later; the Anabaptist who brought back the true and

biblical baptism which adult baptism. Now in this present age there are
churches that teach the bible and not teachings of men. They teach that a
person can only be saved by the Grace of God through faith in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And that person will become a child of God and that
person will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit to seal him on the day of salvation
as soon as that person believed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
these are the churches that the Lord Jesus is building up to these present
times and will continue to build up to the end of the world.
As we can observe in the four Gospels and even in the epistles of
the Apostles to the believers, were warnings of the coming of the anti Christ
and the false teachers and prophets. And this attack of Satan towards the
church was already evident during those days when the Apostles were still
alive evidenced by the fact that they were still able to write to the believers
about it and gave a strong rebuke against them. And even in the book of
revelation the Lord Himself wrote to the seven churches and warned them of
the satanic teachings in their respective local churches. Satan at the end of
the apostolic period made his way through into the church in Rome. But God
knows how to handle the situation for He knew that this will eventually
happen therefore God raised men whom He used to bring back the true
believers to His word the bible.