PUP ColossiansLesson 5
What is “The Church”?
Day 1 The Church
“Church”
Ephesians 1:22–23 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Ephesians 5:22–33 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.23For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.24But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,26so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,27that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.28So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself;29for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church,30because we are members of His body.31For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.32This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.33Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
Day 3 “The Mystery”
Ephesians 1:9–12 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him10with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him11also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,12to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 5:32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.
Ephesians 6:18–20 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,19and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,20for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Mark 4:11–12 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables,12so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.”
Romans 16:25–27 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,26but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith;27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
1 Corinthians 2:6–13 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;7but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;8the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;9but just as it is written,“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,Andwhichhave not entered the heart of man,All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”10For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,13which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
1 Timothy 3:16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness:He who was revealed in the flesh,Was vindicated in the Spirit,Seen by angels,Proclaimed among the nations,Believed on in the world,Taken up in glory.
Day 4 The Church
Matthew 16:13–20 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”17And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.18“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.19“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”20Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.
1 Peter 2:4–8 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God,5you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.6For this is contained in Scripture:“Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, aprecious cornerstone,And he who believes inHim will not bedisappointed.”7This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,“The stone which the buildersrejected,This became the very cornerstone,”8and,“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.
Hebrews 12:22–24 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,24and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
1 Corinthians 12:12–13 For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.13For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
1 Timothy 3:15 but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
Acts 2:46–47 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
Day 4 WHEN Did The Church Begin?
Acts 2:1–21 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.2And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.3And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.5Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.6And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.7They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?8“And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?9“Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,11Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”12And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”13But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”14But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.15“For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day;16but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:17‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on allmankind;And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,And your young men shall see visions,And your old men shall dream dreams;18Even on My bondslaves, both men and women,I will in those days pour forth of My SpiritAnd they shall prophesy.19‘And I will grant wonders in the sky aboveAnd signs on the earth below,Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.20‘The sun will be turned into darknessAnd the moon into blood,Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.21‘And it shall be thateveryone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Acts 2:36–41 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”37Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”38Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized 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 your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”40And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”41So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
Acts 10:1–48 Nowthere was a man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort,2a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually.3About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come in and said to him, “Cornelius!”4And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.5“Now dispatch some men to Joppa and send for a man named Simon, who is also called Peter;6he is staying with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the sea.”7When the angel who was speaking to him had left, he summoned two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants,8and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.9On the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.10But he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he fell into a trance;11and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground,12and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air.13A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”14But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.”15Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”16This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into the sky.17Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in mind as to what the vision which he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate;18and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was staying there.19While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.20“But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”21Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?”22They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, was divinely directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and hear a message from you.”23So he invited them in and gave them lodging.And on the next day he got up and went away with them, and some of the brethren from Joppa accompanied him.24On the following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends.25When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him.26But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am just a man.”27As he talked with him, he entered and found many people assembled.28And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.29“That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me.”30Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour; and behold, a man stood before me in shining garments,31and he said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God.32‘Therefore send to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’33“So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”34Opening his mouth, Peter said:“I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality,35but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.36“The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)—37you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.38“You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.39“We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.40“God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,41not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.42“And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead.43“Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.45All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.46For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered,47“Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?”48And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.