he 'rock' of this text," said
Robert. "Some affirm that it means Peter, others that it means Peter's
confession, and still others that it means Christ. I do not know which
is right, but I believe Christ is the real rock. Anyway, Mary, it
teaches that Christ did build a church, doesn't it? and that it should
not be overthrown. Read Acts 2:47."

"'Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord
added to the church daily such as should be saved,'" read Mary. "Then
the church was built by this time, wasn't it? 'And the Lord added to
the church,' Then I wonder if they joined the church? How did the Lord
add them?"

"I do not know," said Robert, "maybe there was no joining in that day.
It may be that as soon as they were saved they were counted members
of the church. There are several texts here in Acts about the church.
'There was a great persecution against the church which was at
Jerusalem,' (Acts 8:1); they 'ordained them elders in every church'
(Acts 14:23); Paul 'saluted the church' (Acts 18:22), etc. Well, there
was an early church, judging from these texts, which corroborates the
words of Jesus who said He would build a church."

"What was the name of that church?" asked Mary. "Are there any texts
that show what it was called?"

"Let us see. Here is a text--Acts 20:28. See what that verse says,"
replied Robert.

"'Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of
God, which he hath purchased with his own blood,'" said Mary.

"Here is another text--1 Cor. 1:2," said Robert.

"'Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are
sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in
every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs
and ours,'" read Mary.

"Here is another with 'church of God' in it--1 Cor. 10:32, and another
in Gal. 1:13; also one in I Tim. 3:5. All of these have 'church
of God' in them. Oh, yes, I skipped one text in I Cor. 15:9," said
Robert. "That is a good name. It shows that it is God's church."

"What have we learned so far?" asked Mary. "We have learned that
Christ built the church, and that it was named the church of God. What
else can we learn about it? I would like to know who the members were,
and how they were made members."

"Maybe there are Bible answers to these questions," said Robert. "See
Col. 1:24."

"'Who now rejoice in my sufferings