Definition:-
“The church is the community of all true believers for all time.”
Wayne
Grudem.
What do we mean by
Church?
New Testament word =
ekklesia meaning congregation or assembly.
LXX (Septuagint) translation of O.T.
uses ekklesia when translating both congregation and assembly!
O.T. verb means “to
call.” N.T. verb to call out.
Church is those who are
called of God. God’s special people.
2 different views of the
church found in the N.T.
- The Universal Church.
- The Local Church.
- The Universal Church.
“The world-wide eternal
church.”
Eph. 5:25 “Christ loved
the church and gave himself up for her.” The church not just found
in one locality but a larger organisation that Christ died for. The
church is all the called people of God; the Elect!
Called
to what?
Repentance and salvation:
Those who are saved are the church universal! It is the whole body of
believers of which Christ is the Head. Col. 1:18 & 1:24
It is not an earthly
organisation! But it is the whole company of the “called ones.”
Those whom God called from the beginning of time, it is an eternal
body. But it is still being built.
Who
By?
The Lord Jesus Christ: Mt.
16:18
By
what foundation?
The confession of Peter!
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Mt.16:16
The church is built upon
the foundation of the “Lord Jesus Christ who loved the church and
gave Himself up for her.” It is His church and it is by Him that we
are called into membership!
When the N.T. speaks of
the church being built upon the foundations of the Apostles and the
Prophets, it is speaking of this very same person; the Lord Jesus
Christ. It was of Him that the Prophets spoke and also that the
Apostles testified to. The church is all about the Lord Jesus Christ,
He is the very cornerstone without which the building could not
stand. We are the building bricks!!
How do we become
members?
Automatically by faith:
It is when we are saved that we are included in the number. We become
members of the Body of Christ, bought by His blood, members of the
church, the community of true believers. Rev. 7:9 a great multitude
that no man can count, from every nation, tribe, people and language.
This is a truly cosmopolitan people.
- The Local Church.
In the N.T. we find
letters addressed to the “community of true believers” that met
in various different locations. We find letters addressed to the
church in Corinth, the churches in the region of Galatia and
Thessalonica from the Apostle Paul. We also find letters from the
Lord Jesus Christ addressed to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna,
Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea in the book of
Revelation. Other letters are addressed to the elect and the saints
gathered in different places. These are all the “called out ones”
the “community of true believers” in that particular locality.
Called to worship and serve the Lord in the cause of the gospel in
that locality. The local church is often known as the “visible”
church. “Visible” because it obvious to all around.
Whereas the church
universal is referred to as the invisible church it is known as
invisible because it is only seen in completeness by God Himself. The
universal church will therefore only contain true believers. Because
the local church is an organisation seen in the locality, organized
and led under the supervision of the Holy Spirit, it is not possible
to retain absolute purity. We are not God and cannot discern the
heart of all men. The Lord Himself warned of wolves coming in amongst
us. The local church will almost always contain those who are not
true believers but who may well look the part to us! The devil will
make sure of that. But this does not detract from the importance of
the local church.
Here at OBS we are the
local church. We are Christ’s chosen representatives gathered
together, serving Him here and in the community. We are a precious
people in His sight and have the authority and responsibility to
worship the Lord, teach the scriptures, administer the sacraments
(baptism & the Lord’s Supper) and bring others to our God by
the preaching of the gospel. We are His church here and He entrusts
us with the responsibility for the people of this village, and the
surrounding area.
What
are our obligations?
We must be true to the
Lord, under the authority of the scripture. We belong to Jesus and to
each other, “We are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 3:28 our
commission is to make disciples of all men. We are to be Evangelists.
Some would like to take Evangelical from our title, claiming it to be
confusing, but I wonder if it is not to remove our consciences!! We
are to spread the good news that Jesus saves. The first step towards
that is that we have love for one another. John 13:35 says that love
comes from “Him who first loved us.” Because He first loved us
then we must love each other. It is when the village sees our love
for our God and for each other then they will desire to know what it
is that makes us the people that we are!!
We are to be a committed
and a united people. We can observe something of the pattern in the
early New Testament church. On the day of Pentecost after many had
been converted we see the pattern of the church emerging.
We find the converts:-
- Committing themselves to the apostles teaching.
- Committing themselves to fellowship.
- Committing themselves to the breaking of bread.
- Committing themselves to prayer.
The new converts on the
day of Pentecost were not only committed to their recently discovered
Lord but they were committed to each other. They were committed to
being in fellowship together; they were committed to forming the
first New Testament church: the local church in Jerusalem. Are you
committed to the local church? Are you a member, it is important that
if you love the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour that just as
you belong to Him so we belong to each other.
But Which Church
Should I Belong To?
This has been the
question on the lips of Christians throughout history. Many have
remained undecided and never joined a local church. Are you one of
these?? Well these are confusing days, days when it is difficult to
determine which is the right church to join. The local church with
modern transport could easily be within quite a large radius. Ideally
we should never pass a church to attend another; our local church is
the nearest one to us:
BUT:
W e need to apply certain tests before we make our choice of church.
First we need to be in the place that God has called us to be. Then
we need to know that the place of worship is “a community of true
believers.” How do we discern a real church?
The
distinguishing Marks of a True Church.
- They are a community of true believers! What do I mean? Believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. (John 14:6) There are many groupings who claim to be Christian but believe many variations concerning the way of salvation: They are not Churches!!!!
- Their foundations are found in the teaching of the Apostles and the Prophets. A true church teaches the whole counsel of God from the whole canon of scripture, both Old & New testaments.
- Their whole desire is to worship and honour the Lord Jesus Christ in the whole of life both public and personal.
- They are committed to the sacraments of the Lord Jesus Christ, baptism of believers (in whatever form they understand) and the breaking of bread. Both of which are commanded for believers.
- They are committed to prayer.
- They are committed to the spread of the gospel believing it to be the [power of God for the salvation of sinners.
These are a few of the
distinguishing marks of a true church, the new converts on the day of
Pentecost committed themselves to such a fellowship. We are such a
company of believers trying under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to
be true to the biblical pattern of the local church, are you devoted
to us as the early Christians were to the church in Jerusalem??
How do we become
members of such a church?
Well first of all you
must belong to the universal church. You must be born again, then if
this is true of you ask!
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