Birth of the Church and God’s Work

Back to By David C. Pack

Christ understood and taught His disciples that of Himself He could do nothing (John 5:30). The Spirit of God enabled Him to accomplish all that He did. Prior to His ascension to heaven, Christ told His disciples He would soon send them God’s Holy Spirit.

This event, the beginning of the Church of God, occurred in A.D. 31. Christ described the significance of what happened at that time: “But you shall receive POWER, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: And you shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Ten days later, God gave His Spirit, initially to just 120 disciples.

Infused with the Holy Spirit, God’s people were now empowered to fulfil His mission. Like the first-century Church, this same twenty-first-century Church has neither millions of members nor political power or clout. The true New Testament Work of God also began in A.D. 31. In ignorance of the real gospel of the Bible, and what really is God’s Work, this world’s Christianity has trusted in a false gospel, merely about the Person of Christ. Most today think they must spread this “gospel,” seeking to bring as many people as possible to Jesus to be “saved.” This is far from the truth of the Bible.

Delivering Christ’s real gospel to the world—the GOOD NEWS of the coming kingdom of God—is and always has been the true Work of God’s Church!

Only One Church

Christ said, “I will build My Church” (Matt. 16:18). No matter how men interpret this verse, it speaks of a single Church! Christ continued, “and the gates of hell [the grave] shall not prevail against it.” He promised that His Church could never be destroyed.

In the previous chapter, Jesus had said, “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mt 15:9). In Mark’s parallel account of this statement, He continued, “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (Mk 7:9).

The world’s Christianity is filled with traditions, assumed by most to be biblical—when the Bible often teaches the exact opposite. One of the largest is the traditional view of what is the New Testament Church. Most ministers, theologians and religionists typically define the church in this way: “All those who sincerely believe in Jesus as their Saviour comprise the church.” This is often followed with the familiar statement, “There are many routes to heaven.” Though the Bible nowhere teaches that heaven is the reward of the saved, the clear implication of this statement is that people can largely believe what they want, or be a part of any group that they choose, and still be Christians. While people may sincerely believe these traditional ideas—they are sincerely wrong!

We saw that the Bible declares, “God is not the author of CONFUSION, but of peace” (I Cor. 14:33). God’s Church does reflect PEACE—not confusion!

You need not be confused about the identity of the true Church. God inspired Paul to write, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (I Thes. 5:21). Surely God would not exclude something of such magnitude—such vital importance—as the matter of what and where His true Church is. He would never tell people to prove what cannot be proven.

God’s Church also walks in complete unity—AGREEMENT—with all of the Bible’s doctrines. His servants live Christianity, practicing all the truths and ways of the Bible without compromise. While persecuted in a world rejecting God’s authority, they press forward, determined to fulfil their INCREDIBLE HUMAN POTENTIAL! When speaking to His disciples about the importance of seeking the kingdom of God, Christ said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the KINGDOM” (Luke 12:32). By no stretch of the imagination can churches comprised of over two billion professing Christians be considered a “little flock.” However, somewhere on earth today is that same little flock faithfully yielding to and obeying God, and fulfilling His SUPREME PLAN in this age.

You must set out to PROVE the location of God’s true Church!

When Christ stated, “I will build My Church,” it went far beyond just beginning, increasing and protecting it—insuring its survival. There is a great TRANSCENDENT PURPOSE for the Church that Christ built—the only true Church of God!

God’s Work—The Mission

God’s Church has a MISSION. Every member is called to become a part of the exciting, biblically-defined Work of God (Matt. 24:14; 28:19-20). We understand the need to spread the truth of God’s real message—to announce a new world order coming to a struggling, suffering civilization, incapable of even addressing, let alone fixing, its mounting troubles and difficulties. While the commission began with the original apostles, The Restored Church of God continues it today. The message and goal are the same—only the methods differ.

This mission has a two-fold commission. The first is “Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). The second is to feed the flock of God—to supply each member of God’s Church with spiritual food (John 21:15-17). As God’s members are fed, they grow spiritually, allowing them to serve and dedicate themselves more to the Church’s great First Commission. Today, large numbers of people can learn the full truth of God as never before. Many thousands around the world are learning sound, proven principles, straight from their Bible, helping them to live happier lives and become better citizens.

The Restored Church of God is a fountain of true knowledge in a parched world with ever-increasing evils!

Christ’s Great Commission

God’s people are on a crusade to take Christ’s ANNOUNCEMENT of the kingdom of God—the most important MESSAGE on earth today—to a sick, dying world. They are passionate about—consumed with—the need to complete Christ’s Great Commission while there is still time (John 9:4). You are now reading God’s final warning message to all those who will take heed!

Again, The Restored Church of God is fulfilling that commission, and you can be a part of it—YOU CAN BE PROTECTED. By now, you know that no secret rapture is coming, but instead God promises His faithful people a place of special protection—COMPLETE SAFETY—from the incomprehensible horrors soon to engulf the entire planet!

When world leaders, scientists, educators and others offer warnings of worsening global problems, the general public, feeling largely helpless, tunes them out. In addition, the world has many who find reasons to “cry wolf.” As a result, most people have become conditioned to ignore grave warnings. All who scoff at GOD’S WARNING, explained in this booklet, will soon scoff no more!

Will you prepare now—and be ready when time has run out? Will you submit to and obey God? Will you watch and pray always, demonstrate faith and practice patience, exhibiting zeal to grow and overcome, with your heart totally in the Work of God, having sought out the Church that Christ built? Will you be protected from the “hour of trial”—from the “snare”—that shall soon “come on ALL them that dwell on the face of the WHOLE EARTH”?