Note 5 — Theodosia Ernest. Volume II.: or, Ten Days’ Travel in Search of the Church. (continued 2)

During the lifetime of Christ the kingdom was established, but the Church, as the executive of the kingdom, was not needful, for the King himself was present, and acted as his own executive. The apostles who were with him, receiving instructions, may be regarded as in some sort his ekklesia. They were an assembly of his people, and were engaged in the preparatory business pertaining to the kingdom. We may, without impropriety, therefore, consider the meetings of the apostles to receive the ordinances and laws of the kingdom from the mouth of Christ, as meetings of his ekklesia. We may consider the apostles as constituting a Church when they, after the Passover, received the ordinance of the supper with instructions for its continuance; and so we may consider that as a Church meeting in which Thomas saw and believed; and that in which Peter was restored to favor and specially charged to feed Christ’s sheep. And so each of those assemblies which gathered around the Saviour during the forty days that he remained upon the earth to receive instruction in the things pertaining to the kingdom, may be regarded as a Church meeting. We may consider the Church as organized from the time that Christ called the twelve to be with him; but it was not till he was about to ascend that it received authority to transact the business of the kingdom, as his judiciary and executive.