The Church in Promise, Prophecy, and Fact

By Al Felder

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established… and all nations shall flow unto it… for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2–3).

People have many ideas about what the church is, when it began, and where it came from. But God did not leave those questions unanswered. Long before the church existed in visible reality, the Lord spoke of it in promise and prophecy—and then brought it into existence in fact.

Isaiah’s words in Isaiah 2 do more than inspire. They answer four foundational questions about the church:

1. When would it be established?

2. What would be established?

3. Who would enter it?

4. Where would it begin?

When we let Scripture interpret Scripture, the picture becomes clear. The church is not an accident of history. It is God's eternal plan unfolding exactly as He said it would.

1) When did the church begin?

Isaiah points us to a specific time: “the last days.” That phrase is often misunderstood, but the New Testament explains it plainly.

On the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, Peter stood before the multitude and declared that what was happening was the fulfillment of prophecy: “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel… and it shall come to pass in the last days” (Acts 2:16–17). Peter did not speak as though the “last days” were far away. He identified his own moment—Pentecost—as the fulfillment of the “last days” language.

So what are “the last days”?

When you trace the flow of Scripture, you see God dealing with mankind in distinct periods of revealed law and responsibility:

• Patriarchal time: God dealt with families through the patriarchs.

• Mosaic time: God dealt with Israel as a nation through the Law of Moses.

• Christian time: God deals with all nations through the gospel of Christ.

That final period—the reign of Christ and the gospel age—is rightly called “the last days” because it is the last divine arrangement before the final judgment. There is no future covenant after Christ. There is no later system to replace the gospel. The Christian age is the final dispensation before eternity.

Pentecost in Acts 2 is not just an exciting day in Bible history—it is a turning point in God’s plan. The time Isaiah described arrived. The “last days” began.

2) What was to be established?

Isaiah calls it “the mountain of the Lord’s house.” Both phrases are loaded with meaning.

The “mountain”

In the Old Testament, mountains are frequently used to represent kingdoms, dominions, powers, and ruling authorities. When God described the fall of Babylon, for example, He used “mountain” language in judgment (Jeremiah 51:25). Isaiah’s point is that God would establish a new kingdom—exalted, unshakeable, and higher than all competing authorities.

The “Lord’s house”

Isaiah also calls it “the Lord’s house.” Zechariah echoes the same promise: “My house shall be built in it” (Zechariah 1:16). The Lord promised a house that would be established and built in the last days.

The New Testament identifies exactly what that “house” is: “the house of God… which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). God’s “house” is not bricks and timber. It is a spiritual household made up of redeemed people. The church is the Lord’s house because the church belongs to Christ, is purchased by His blood, and is governed by His word.

Hebrews reinforces that this “house” is made of people: “Christ as a Son over His own house; whose house are we” (Hebrews 3:6). The church is a living house—souls joined to Christ and to one another under the New Covenant.

So what was established in the last days? The kingdom—God’s house—the church.

3) What is “Zion,” and why does Isaiah connect it to the church?

Isaiah says, “Out of Zion shall go forth the law… from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3). Joel’s prophecy also speaks of deliverance in Zion (Joel 2:28–32). Many people read “Zion” as only a physical location, but the New Testament reveals a fuller meaning.

Hebrews draws a contrast between Mount Sinai (the old covenant) and Mount Zion (the new covenant). It says, “Ye are come unto mount Zion… the heavenly Jerusalem… to the general assembly and church of the firstborn” (Hebrews 12:22–23). Zion is pictured as a spiritual reality connected to the church—God’s people gathered under the authority of Christ and the blessings of the New Covenant.

Zion is the place of deliverance—not because of geography, but because salvation is found in Christ’s kingdom. It is where sinners are freed from bondage through the gospel, where forgiveness is offered through the blood of Christ, and where God’s people live under the reign of the King.

This is why Isaiah’s language is so powerful: he’s describing a future time when God’s kingdom would be established, God’s house would be built, and God’s law would go forth with authority from a specific beginning point.

4) Who would enter this house?

Isaiah gives the answer: “all nations shall flow unto it” (Isaiah 2:2).

That alone is significant. Under the Law of Moses, Israel stood as a distinct nation with covenant identity. But Isaiah foresaw something larger: a kingdom not limited by ethnicity, nationality, or language. A house open to every nation.

Acts 2 shows the beginning of that fulfillment. There were Jews in Jerusalem “out of every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5). The gospel was preached, and the invitation was extended. The terms of entry into God’s house were not hidden, and they have not changed.

The pattern is clear:

• The people heard the gospel.

• They were moved to believe that Jesus is the risen Christ (Acts 2:32).

• They were commanded to repent.

• They were commanded to be baptized… for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38).

• And then the Lord added them to the church (Acts 2:47).

The church is not entered by human vote, family tradition, or personal preference. The Lord adds the saved when they obey the gospel. The church is the body of the redeemed.

Zechariah also pictured the nations being drawn in—people from many cities, many languages, seeking the Lord (Zechariah 8:20–23). While the gospel began with the Jews, it was never intended to end with the Jews. In time, the gospel was preached to the Gentiles as well, and the separation that once existed was removed in Christ (Ephesians 2:14). God’s house would include all nations—not two kingdoms, not two plans, but one people under one King.

5) Where did it begin?

Isaiah’s prophecy points to Jerusalem. Zechariah speaks of Jerusalem. And the New Testament confirms it plainly.

Jesus said that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47). He also told the apostles to remain there until they were “endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). That power was the outpouring of the Spirit that took place on Pentecost in Acts 2.

So the location matters—not because the church is tied to a city forever, but because God promised a specific starting point, and He kept that promise exactly.

Jerusalem is where the word first went forth with New Covenant authority. It is where the gospel was first proclaimed in full light after the resurrection. It is where the church began in visible reality as souls were saved and added by the Lord.

The final test: Can it be traced to “the beginning”?

Later, when Peter explained the conversion of Cornelius and his household, he described the Spirit’s work as something that matched what happened “at the beginning” (Acts 11:15). That statement matters. It anchors the beginning of this gospel age to Pentecost.

That means something sobering and important:

Any “church” that cannot trace its origin to that beginning—Pentecost, the gospel, the apostolic foundation—is not the church that Jesus built.

Human institutions can arise at any moment in history. New denominations can be invented by new doctrines. But the church in promise, prophecy, and fact is the one God foretold, the one Christ purchased, and the one that began when the gospel first went forth from Jerusalem in the last days.

Practicing what is taught

Here are practical ways to take these truths beyond information and into conviction:

• Let Scripture define the church. Don’t start with tradition, culture, or family background—start with the Bible.

• Anchor your faith in God’s plan. The church is not an afterthought; it is the unfolding of God’s eternal purpose in Christ.

• Take the gospel terms seriously. The Lord adds the saved—so salvation must be approached the Lord’s way, not man’s.

• Value the church as God’s house. If it is truly the “pillar and ground of the truth,” it deserves reverence, loyalty, and love.

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Reflection questions

1. Do I see the church as God’s eternal plan—or merely as a human religious organization?

2. Have I allowed modern ideas to redefine what the church is and how it began?

3. Do I understand why “the last days” began in the first century and continue now?

4. Am I honoring the gospel terms that the Lord set for entry into His house?

5. Can I trace what I believe and practice back to the apostolic beginning revealed in Acts?