by Rev. James McRobbie ©Pillar of Fire, International |
"The word
church
is not to be misconstrued with a structure, a denomination, or a class
of people." |
Learn more about the power of the Holy Spirit for personal holiness
through Sanctification
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Living Word] [Back: Chapter 14]
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Chapter 15 Contents: [The Christian Church]
[Significance and Commission] [Membership]
[Church Polity] [Sacraments]
[Purpose of the Church] [Church
Period and Consummation]
[What the Bible Teaches refers to
numerous passages from the Bible. Your study will be greatly
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the Bible and this study. All quotations in What the Bible Teaches
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from the King James Version [KJV] unless otherwise specified.]
Chapter 15: What the Bible Teaches ABOUT
THE CHURCH
In one way or another I take it that
God has always had a church. The Jewish people had their temple, their
mode of worship, their organized priesthood, and the Levitical tribal dedication
to the service of the Lord. Stephen made reference to that when, in his
famous apology, he said, "This is he, that was with the church in the wilderness"
[Acts 7:38]. Long before Moses' time, Melchizedek, a priest of God and
beautiful type of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom even Abraham gave tithes,
stood out conspicuously in those days when as yet there was no given code
of laws. Abel represented this nucleus. Following him was the lineage of
Seth, of which came Enoch and Noah. Job represented God's witness on the
earth in his time.
The Christian Church
The foundation of the New Testament
Church is built upon the "apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the chief corner stone" [Ephesians 2:20]. Here the church comes under the
beautiful emblem of a temple, a building, the purpose of which is, for
"an habitation of God through the Spirit" [Ephesians 2:22]. Coupled with
this thought is Christ's word to Peter in Matthew 16, which is so highly
stressed by the Roman Catholics: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I
will build my church" [verse 18]. Apart from the scriptural interpretation
of this passage, our good judgment tells us that weak, vacillating Peter
would be a poor rock on which to build such a universal structure as the
church. Our Lord said, "Thou art petros (meaning a small rock, a
cut rock, as a piece cut out of a quarry), but upon this petra
(meaning this great substrata rock, which of course is Himself, also including
the revelation of His divinity to Peter by the Father) I will build my
church." But, say the Roman Catholics, Peter received the "keys of the
kingdom." But so did they all; he was just representative. [See Matthew
18:18 with verse 1.] Peter, however, as spokesman and representative of
the others, was the outstanding personality at the inauguration of the
great Pentecostal movement. In the main, the first twelve chapters of the
Acts are connected with his ministry. To say that because of this and our
Lord's words in Matthew 16, that the church was founded on Peter, as the
Romanists do, is consummate folly. You will remember that Paul had to rebuke
Peter and even contend against him [Galatians 2: 1, 14].
The initiating, guiding and sustaining
power in the early church was the Holy Spirit. The birth of the Christian
church took place on that memorable occasion "when the day of Pentecost
was fully come." The hundred and twenty men and women waiting in the "upper
room" in Jerusalem were all baptized with the Holy Ghost. Immediately they
began to put into practice their divine commission, for great power came
upon them and they preached as "the Spirit gave them utterance," and all
those present realized that some supernatural power was in their midst,
for all heard them in their "own language."
In this way the greatest organization
the world has even known was divinely attested and inaugurated. It marked
the beginning of the church age, sometimes called the age of the Spirit,
the Gentiles, or grace. The incomparable story of the church from that
day to this presents an epic of reckless self-sacrifice, dauntless courage,
and indefatigable zeal beyond all comparison. Contemplate the character,
labors and consecration of those who have made up its members through the
passing centuries! There are first of all its preachers, from the ministries
of Peter and Paul down to our own time. You can name a list by heart. Then
there have been those who have molded the church's theology, from Paul
and Augustine down to the present day. The record of the faith and exhaustless
labors of the gallant band of foreign missionaries is an invigorating study.
Consider the legacy of inspiration, beauty and comfort the hymn writers
of the church have bequeathed to us in verse and heavenly melody! In a
less conspicuous role perhaps, but nonetheless important, have been the
devoted lay membership of the church, constituting all classes of business,
professional and working men and women, who have cheerfully dedicated their
means, talents, and moral support to its advancement.
The Sunday School, which ranks second
to none among the influences for good in the world, is an organization
of recent inception. The idea of the Sunday school for children as a direct
adjunct of the church was first put into practice by Robert Raikes at Gloucester
[Scotland] in 1780.
Significance and Commission
The word church is not to
be misconstrued with a structure, a denomination or a class of people.
The Greek word for church, ecclesia, signifies the called-out ones,
comprising all who respond to the call of the Holy Spirit through the ministry
of the Word or otherwise, and who exercise "repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ" [Acts 20:21], and who, through the blood
of Jesus Christ, are cleansed from all sin. There is not a sinner in it
and not a saint out of it. It comprises the bloodwashed of all ages; it
is the "whole family in heaven and earth" of the redeemed, the militant
church -- the church on earth fighting the battle against sin and Satan;
the church triumphant -- those who have triumphed in the faith and gone
to be with Jesus to wait the first resurrection when they will be crowned
and rewarded.
The moving and directing power that
was ever and always conspicuous in the early church was the Holy Ghost
[Acts 13:2, 4, 9]. "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us" [Acts
15:28], said Peter, showing the controlling and guiding influence the Spirit
exercised in apostolic times.
The further work of the Holy Spirit
in the church was the unification of its members through His anointing
and sanctifying power. The purpose of the various ministries of the church
is to lead to a unity of faith. The church of Christ is not divided; it
is made one by the Holy Spirit, and as there is "one Spirit and one baptism"
[Ephesians 4:4], so there can be but one church. Even members of the respective
denominations who are truly forgiven and indwelt and cleansed by the Holy
Spirit are all of one mind and spirit.
The commission of the church is simple:
it is to "preach the gospel," to "make disciples of all nations." Simple
though it be, through the preaching of the "good news," God is pleased
to save those who believe. How great the responsibility -- "How shall they
hear without a preacher?" How absurd! -- "To all who perish foolishness."
What blessing to all who obey it! -- "How beautiful are the feet of them
that preach." What condemnation to all who refuse! -- "Woe is me if I preach
not the gospel." How universal! -- "Go ye into all the world;" preach to
"every creature;" make disciples of "all nations."
Omnipotence stands behind the preacher:
"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth -- Go ye therefore."
Note, too, the assurance: "Lo, I am with you alway." His presence is not
to be doubted; it is not a question. It is not, I may be with you; I will
be with you, but, "I am with you."
Membership
Those who constitute the membership
of God's family, the church, must of necessity be born into it. This was
how our Lord explained the kingdom of heaven to Nicodemus. His word was,
"Ye must be born anew" (R.V.) -- "born of water," typical of the washing
away of our sins; "born of the Spirit," showing it is spiritual, of God,
supernatural, and the impartation of the life of God through the Spirit.
Paul's word to the Corinthians was
that "if any man be in Christ he is a new creation." In Christ life begins
all over again.
"As newborn babes," is the word St.
Peter uses, and St. Paul said that he was born "out of due season."
An infant is equally as much one of
the family as an adult. Yet among members of the family circle, there is
a time when adulthood is reached. So it may be said, that the "new birth"
into the church is but initial -- the infant stage of membership in God's
family; and that it takes the enduing of the Spirit in the sanctification
of the believer's heart, to baptize him into the body in full membership.
To change the figure, we are "betrothed" to Christ in regeneration and
"married" to Him in sanctification.
What did Paul say to the church at
Corinth? "I have fed you with milk (as babes)" (1 Cor. 1:3), because they
had not as yet received the fulness of the Spirit in sanctification. They
were unstable like children; they had envyings, strife and divisions among
them (1 Cor. 3:3; Eph. 4:14).
Church Polity
It is said that Christ "ordained
twelve, that they should he with him" (Mark 3:14). The record does not
tell us how He did this. It signified their dedication to Him by which
they were set apart from their former secular employments. Timothy was
evidently ordained by the "laying on of hands of the presbytery" [1 Tim.
4:14]. Titus was counseled by Paul to "ordain elders in every city" when
he was left in Crete [Tit. 1:5].
The word bishop in the Greek is episcopos,
and means "overseers." It is translated "bishop" in 1 Timothy 3:1-2, and
"overseers" in Acts 20:28. Paul's charge was to the "elders of Ephesus."
There were then in the early church the overseers, the elders, the presbyters,
the deacons. An elder was an officer in the church; it did not necessarily
imply seniority in years; but spiritual seniority. Peter called himself
an elder: "The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder"
(1 Peter 5:1).
There were some called the "pillars"
of the church; they were outstanding in the supervision and direction of
the new movement. "James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars" (Gal.
2:9), said Paul. In Acts 15, at the Jerusalem council, Peter and James
were apparently vested with special authority.
In Acts 6 we see the choosing of the
first seven deacons, although this name is not applied to them there. A
deacon was primarily to be responsible for the temporal economy of the
church, but in this instance at least, two of them became eminent speakers.
Deacons were to have a sevenfold qualification [1 Tim. 3:8, 10], and they
were set apart with prayer and the laying on of hands.
In the early churches three things
are clear: (1) all churches had services; (2) officers were then appointed;
(3) the sacraments were administered.
In order to promote the ministry of
the Word and the spiritual edification and perfection of Christ's body,
the church, we see by Ephesians 4:11 that God endued various ones with
special gifts for their respective ministries. Some were to act as apostles.
They were the pioneers; they were the "sent" ones, as the word would indicate.
This was the special title of those who had seen the Lord. It applies to
all who are truly sent of God. "Prophets" come next on the list, signifying
those who foretell, or forthtell. They were to speak to "edification, exhortation,
and comfort;" they were to expound the promises of God relating to future
hope and eternal destiny. "Evangelists" would apply to those with the special
gift of awakening sinners, conducting revivals and establishing churches.
"Pastors" have reference to those in charge of a church, the word signifying
shepherds. Some were to act as "teachers," being gifted and qualified to
inoculate true doctrine and to unfold the hidden mysteries of the Word.
Women also are shown to have had a
prominent place in the apostolic church. In Paul's salutation in Romans
16, their names are placed side by side with the names of the men. Women
labored with Paul "in the gospel." Philip the evangelist, one of the seven,
had four daughters "which did prophesy" (Acts 21:9). The words in 1 Timothy
2:11-12 are not to be misconstrued as a prohibition of the work of women
in the gospel, for this refers solely to domesticity.
The two verses more than all others
that have been used to prohibit the preaching of the gospel by women are
those in 1 Corinthians 14:34-35. How futile is this contention when the
verses are examined. Verse 34 says: "Let your women keep silence in the
churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak." Note the next verse:
"If they will learn anything." They were not teaching or preaching at all.
It is clearly seen that they were desirous of learning; they were talking
in the church during the sermon asking questions, asking what the minister
was saying. They were eager to know the meaning of his words, so they kept
babbling. The words "to speak," used here, mean to babble or gabble. Paul
was writing to prohibit them from babbling, not from preaching. He did
not desire them to remain in ignorance, but said they were to "ask their
husbands at home" -- not in the church. Besides, these were evidently married
women, nothing is said about the unmarried. Perhaps they were not making
a noise in the church. Strange, isn't it, that learned, dignified
divines would use this to close the mouths of women in the work of declaring
God's truth and the winning of souls!
In 1 Corinthians 11:5 Paul confirms
the fact that women did "prophesy." Just what it is to prophesy is seen
when compared with 1 Corinthians 14:3. This is nothing less than preaching
the gospel.
Sacraments
The word sacrament means sacred
rite. The Protestant churches observe two as obligatory -- baptism and
the Lord's supper. These have nothing whatever to do with our justification
or sanctification. "Baptism is an "outward visible sign of an inward spiritual
grace." It does not create the spiritual grace. Seeing that it is wholly
external, the much argumented mode of its administration makes little difference.
The Lord's supper, too, has been the object of much controversy. Yet the
words of I Corinthians 11:23-26 are so plain that no argument should be
necessary. This is to show the "Lord's death till he come," and, since
we are still partaking of it, it is conclusive that the Lord has not yet
appeared.
The Greek and Roman Catholics, who
are exceptionally fond of pomp and ceremony, have seven sacraments. They
are: The Lord's supper, baptism, confirmation, penance, holy orders, matrimony
and extreme unction [or the anointing of the sick].
Purpose of the Church
God's purpose in and through the
church is that it may serve as a witness for Him before a sinning world.
When Christ spoke of the coming of the Holy Spirit upon His disciples,
He said: "Ye shall be witnesses" (Acts 1:8). In this they were to imitate
their Lord and Master who came into the world for this sole purpose. The
gospel is to be preached in all the world "for a witness unto all nations."
When this is fully accomplished the "end" will come. The world is to be
evangelized, but that does not mean that it is to be converted in this
age.
The second great purpose of God in
and through the church is to "take out of them a people for his name" (Acts
15:14). The ones He is taking out are those who respond to the call of
the Holy Spirit. They are those who renounce the devil and his works;
who see the emptiness of the world's glory and the transitoriness of all
earthly things, who cast themselves upon Christ and who find joy and contentment
in doing His will.
Christ tasted death for every human
being (Heb. 2:9, W.), but that does not mean that all are to be saved,
for such was never in the mind of God. Christ "gave himself for our sins
that he might deliver us from this present evil world" (Gal. 1:4). The
evil world will go on in its gambling, Sabbath breaking, revelry, worldly
pleasure, and fortune seeking; but the bride of Christ, though in the world,
does not set her heart on these things; she has a heavenly citizenship
and divine call, and is eagerly looking for the return of her divine Lord
and King.
Church Period and Consummation
The church period had a definite beginning
and it is to have a definite ending. The character of the church age has
been prophetically given to us in the seven churches of Revelation [chs.
2-3), with which is linked the seven parables of Matthew 13. This makes
an interesting study. Ephesus corresponds to the parable of the sower.
It represents the first period or apostolic church era, covering the period
from Pentecost to the death of John, about 100 A.D. Smyrna and the parable
of the wheat and tares, represents the next church period which reached
from the apostolic age to the time of Constantine, at the beginning of
the fourth century. It was a period of intense persecution, yet the church
kept pure until Constantine embraced the Christian faith, figuratively,
the sowing of the tares, when pagan rites and heathen superstitions became
incorporated into church worship. Next is Pergamos and the parable of the
mustard seed. In this period is seen the development and the organization
of the Papacy -- from the Constantinian period to the crowning of the first
Pope. The church period which Thyatira represents is in conjuncfion with
the parable of the leaven, and covers a thousand years, roughly from the
sixth to the sixteenth century -- the period so often referred to as the
"dark ages." The light that rose to dispel the gloom and superstition of
the dark ages was the Protestant Reformation which is seen under the emblem
of the church of Sardis and the fifth parable -- the finding of the hidden
treasure. The next period, that of Philadelphia and the parable of the
pearl of great price, coincide with the great missionary movement of the
last two hundred years and the Wesleyan revival. The last church period,
the one in which we are now living, is to manifest the Laodicean characteristics
of lukewarmness. Here, too, is the last parable, that of the dragnet, signifying
the end of the church dispensation and judgment; the good are gathered
into vessels, the bad are cast away, to which is added: "So will it be
at the close of the age. The angels will go forth and separate the wicked
from among the righteous, and will throw them into a fiery furnace. There
shall be weeping aloud and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 13:49-50; W.).
The consummation and glorification
of the church will take place at the rapture. Then the "dead in Christ"
will be raised and the living saints will be "caught up" to meet the Lord
in the air. Associated with this will be a three-fold miracle: (1) the
miracle of the resurrection -- the "dead in Christ shall rise first;" (2)
the miracle of instant change-- "we shall all be changed" -- we will receive
glorified bodies; [3) the miracle of translation -- "we shall be caught
up." [See 1 Thess. 4:13-17; I Cot. 15:51-54.)
The church will escape "all these
things" that are to come upon the earth (Luke 21:36), by which we understand
that it will be taken away before the outbreak af the tribulation wars
upon the nations. The individual members of the church, caught up to be
with the Lord, will be rewarded, after which they will return with Him
and the redeemed of all ages to sit with Him on His throne, the throne
of David. The saints will then be associated with Him during His reign
of righteousness upon the earth (Rev. 20), after which, throughout the
eternal ages, they shall make up the Holy City, and enter into their inheritance
in Christ, and enjoy those things which their faithful Creator has laid
up for those who love Him.
Now, in our earthly probationary relationship
the Spirit calls one and all to forsake the world and sin, so soon to be
judged, to surrender self, to take Christ as God's sufficient and only
remedy for the sinful soul, and thus become one of the "members in particular"
of His glorious church.
Have you answered the Spirit's call?
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