When we first began to re-examine the Seventh-day Adventist church, we wanted primarily to see what the Bible had to say about the Apostolic Church that Christ established while on earth. We desired to see Adventism reflected in the pages of the New Testament, structurally, authoritatively, and doctrinally. It was during this review that we found several passages that that were enlightening to us regarding the Church that Christ had established. This is an important doctrine that I personally feel the Adventist church is almost completely remiss in teaching and reconciling. The true purpose and organization of Christ's early church as HE established it, is nearly lost in Adventist writings that I have seen.
We think it is apparent that Christ did in fact establish a church, in that He encouraged and taught a group or body of religious believers (The Apostles) and then sent them throughout the world to replicate themselves. (The Great Commission of Matthew) Before discussing what happened to those taught by the Apostles, let’s address some of the Biblical Passages that shed light as to what the Apostles taught about the church, its structure, and its purpose.
"18 Then Jesus approached and said to them, "All power 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, until the end of the age." (New American Bible)
Christ commanded the Apostles to go throughout the world to "all nations" making disciples, not of only the people, but the actual nations. However, the next statement is truly why I have quoted this verse "And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." What did Christ mean by the phrase "end of the age"? This phrase is used in a couple of other places in the New Testament, but I want to draw your attention to one text found in Matthew 13. After telling the disciples a parable about weeds in a field, Jesus was asked to explain it, the following was his explanation:
"36 Then, dismissing the crowds, he went into the house. His disciples approached him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."
37 He said in reply, "He who sows good seed is the Son of Man,
38 the field is the world, the good seed the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one,
39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 Just as weeds are collected and burned (up) with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers.
42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears ought to hear.
44 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.
46 When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind.
48 When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away.
49 Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous
50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
51 "Do you understand all these things?" They answered, "Yes."
Most Christians including Adventists understand this to be a description of some of the events that will take place at the end of the world, or during the end times. Christ uses the phrase "end of the age" to denote the end times. So what was Christ really promising his disciples in Matthew 28 when he said he would be with them "always, until the end of the age"? Did Christ expect the Apostles to live until the end times? I don't think He did. He knew the future of His church would extend beyond the lives of the Apostles. I find this verse is a promise not only to the Apostles, but also to the Church the Apostles were going to be working to expand. For the Church, not the Apostles, will remain until the end of the age, it is their work which continues to this very day.
Christ makes this promise again when he says that the “gates of Hell” will never prevail against His Church. "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[Or hell] will not overcome it.[Or not prove stronger than it]". Matthew 16:18
Christ promises (1)that he will always be with the Church, and (2) that when the Church is attacked, evil will not prevail against it. Christ setup His church as an institution of strength, fortified by his promise that He would ALWAYS BE WITH THE CHURCH. This is important to note because as we proceed further, we will find that this is necessary if the Church is to fulfill her role.
1 CORINTHIANS 12:28 "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, `divers' kinds of tongues."
God established certain offices or roles within the Church, which defined it as a visible and organized body of Christ. One could walk through town and say, “look there is an Apostle of God's Church”, or "here comes a teacher from the Christ’s Church.". This is the same visible Church that Christ promised to remain with until the end of the age. The same church which Christ promised to defend against the attacks of the gates of Hell.
Why did God implement these offices? What was the purpose? The Bible also answers that question, and within this answer, lays the one of the most important revelations to our understanding of the Church.
“EPHESIANS 4:11 And he gave some `to be' apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
EPHESIANS 4:12 for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
EPHESIANS 4:13 till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
EPHESIANS 4:14 that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
EPHESIANS 4:15 but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, `even' Christ; ”
These were powerful and telling verses to us! First, the verses plainly state that Christ did give us certain offices in the church, but then, the verses go further and tell us how long the offices are effectual. According to verse 13, the offices of the Church are given until we are in perfect unity of the faith AND attain unity of the knowledge of Christ. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think we are there yet. The Christians and the world as a whole are far from unity. Second, the offices within the church were given, according to verse 14, so that we will not be tossed around by doctrines of error!
This clear statement of scripture seems at odds with the protestant idea of Sola Scriptura. Sola Scriptura demands we turn to scripture as the final word in doctrinal matters, but here in Ephesians, scripture tell us that the CHURCH offices were given to us so that we would not be tossed around by error and false doctrines! To us this made it very important to identify the Apostolic Church of Christ. Now, notice the following verses:
“1 TIMOTHY 3:14 These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly;
1 TIMOTHY 3:15 but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
I hope everyone understands what that verse says, it says the CHURCH is the PILLAR AND GROUND (or foundation) of truth. OK, so the next logical question is: What church? There are literally Tens of thousands of Christian denominations out there, which one is “The Church”? Often we hear that the church is made up of all believers, which is true in one sense, but the Church is also, and primarily, made up of a visible body, officers, and offices, which were given to the church to protect us from errors and to be the pillar and ground of truth. So, which of the thousands of churches’ officers should we accept as those who Christ gave us to protect and teach us? After all, they all teach something different.
Using common sense and history, it wasn’t hard to narrow our options down. First, it was obvious that the Church that Christ founded in the first century was the same church that was continued by the Apostles? So what happened after the Apostles died? Were there any provisions for continuing the church of Christ?
Clement, a leader of the church located in Rome after Peter and Paul died, wrote the following:
"Through countryside and city [the apostles] preached, and they appointed their earliest converts, testing them by the Spirit, to be the bishops and deacons of future believers. Nor was this a novelty, for bishops and deacons had been written about a long time earlier. . . . Our apostles knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would be strife for the office of bishop. For this reason, therefore, having received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have already been mentioned and afterwards added the further provision that, if they should die, other approved men should succeed to their ministry" (Letter to the Corinthians 42:4–5, 44:1–3 [A.D. 80]).
Notice this was written around 80AD, meaning that this was the understanding of how the church would continue, even while Apostles such as John were still alive! Clement was ordained by the Apostles themselves and taught by them too. He taught this tradition of succession, which continued to be the understanding of the church. Notice that almost 100 years later Iraneous says:
"It is possible, then, for everyone in every church, who may wish to know the truth, to contemplate the tradition of the apostles which has been made known to us throughout the whole world. And we are in a position to enumerate those who were instituted bishops by the apostles and their successors down to our own times, men who neither knew nor taught anything like what these heretics rave about" (Against Heresies 3:3:1 [A.D. 189]).
"Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on earth] a very long time, and, when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffering martyrdom, departed this life, having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time" (ibid., 3:3:4).
"The true knowledge is the doctrine of the apostles, and the ancient organization of the Church throughout the whole world, and the manifestation of the body of Christ according to the succession of bishops, by which succession the bishops have handed down the Church which is found everywhere" (ibid., 4:33:8).
So, the continuing Apostolic Church, correctly understood that the Church of Christ would remain through the succession of offices, much like the current Adventist Church does today. Elders ordain more elders, who in turn will ordain other elders before relinquishing their office. What’s more, this Apostolic Church would continue to be the Church that Christ protected from the “gates of hell” and promised to remain with forever. This is the Church that was given to us to teach us the difference between error and truth.
In our search for the Church described in the Bible, we discovered that the Apostles had to have founded it, and that those taught by the Apostles knew it would continue through a process of succession started by Christ through ordination. We knew it would continue that way, with visible officers, until the current time, because Christ promised to protect it and always remain with His Church. His promise would not have been kept if the original Church ever ceased to exist or fell into apostasy; nor could it be the “pillar of truth” if it ever ceased to exist, or fell into apostasy. Common sense also tells us that it could not be the teacher of correct doctrine, if her officers ceased to be visible and in a teaching office.
Next, we have faith that the church teaches correct doctrine because Christ promised that the “Gates of hell” would not prevail against the church. If the visible and organized Church that Christ founded as the pillar of truth, at anytime in the future began teaching false doctrines, then the gates of hell surely would have prevailed against her!
Well, it didn’t take us long to realize that most all protestant religions were immediately ruled out, since they were not founded in the first century and did not teach a doctrine of succession such as was understood by the Apostolic; nor did they square with scripture, which says that the Church is the pillar of truth. All protestant churches I am aware of claim that the Bible is our rule of faith and practice. We found that this doctrine is NO WHERE to be found in scripture, but according to scripture the Church is the supreme authority for truth.
This realization led us to a narrow search for churches; it basically left only Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Orthodox Churches as they are usually known are in imperfect communion with the Roman Catholic churches, and all recognize each other’s sacraments and bishops as belonging to the succession originally begun with Christ.
The early Christian Churches in Corinth, Rome, and Jerusalem, did not have a general conference, or even local conferences. They had bishops/presbyters and deacons. Church decisions were made by a council of the church leaders who would come from each city or area, not from nominated representatives, but by leaders appointed first by the apostles and later by their appointees, and so on.
We have an example of this type of Church Council Tradition in the Bible at the first Christian Council where Peter and the Council declare that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised to be Christians. Peter’s declaration settled the issue once and for all, as future church councils would do regarding other issues that the church faced. We found it unfortunate that Adventism seems to ignore much of the history of the Apostolic Church. Instead Adventism seeks to be a replacement or continuation of a Church, which already exists and will continue to exist “till the end of the age” As the current leader of the Apostolic Church, Pope Benedict XVI once said, “Truth is not determined by a majority vote”.