What is a Church? (Part 3)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Okay, we're going to continue in our study. I hope Sister Judy is listening this morning. If she is, maybe she'll send me a text message, hint, hint, to let me know that she's listening, because this is part of some things she was asking me about. And we are going to begin our study today in Ephesians. Okay, so you can go ahead and turn to Ephesians. I'll do just a bit of review. We are studying on the subject of the broad subject of our church in this series. And we're going to cover a number of theological and practical things about our church and about the church in general. And so our first set of lessons here is called what is a Church? And so that's what we've looked at. We've seen that a church comes from a word that just means called out. It's just an assembly, one, a group of people that are distinct from a broader group. And we've seen already how it's used in scripture. We will look at a few things here in just a minute that will overlap a little bit from what we've already seen. Matthew, chapter 16, Matthew, chapter 18 in particular. And so that's what we're going to continue with what is a church. So let's pray. And then we will be in Ephesians chapter number one to start. All right, let me get there myself. And then we will Ephesians, chapter number one. All right, let's pray together. Our Lord in Heaven, thank youk for the opportunity to gather together, to assemble as yous people. And Lord, thank youk for your grace, the knowledge, the truth that, Lord, we at this moment know God because of the Lord Jesus Christ. We at this moment are forgiven of our sin. We at this moment have eternal life. At this moment, we have peace with God, Lord, and we have nothing to boast of whatsoever. It is all because of what you've done for us upon the cross. Thank you for that, Lord. I pray as we study this subject, Lord, that you would just completely control and take over the class, both the teaching and the hearing, the listening to the Word. And I pray that the Word of God would just really. Would you make it come alive to us? Would you make it just. The truths of it would just pop out and we would not only see the truths, but we would know exactly how to apply them. And so bless your people, teach them, teach us all here this morning, we ask in Jesus name, Amen. Okay, so we've seen what a church is in general, as in it's an assembly. It's a group, if you will, in its most broad sense. We saw in Matthew 16 how that Jesus said he would build his church. And then we also saw that repeated in Matthew, chapter 18. Not the same thing, but in the same, similar, at least similar context. But we need to go into a little subject here. And because there are some ideas that float around about the church that sometimes confuses people and are taken to like literally everything taken to one extreme or the other. And so we need to kind of. I want to look at the Scripture and I want to read. I actually want to read you part of a. A section of a church's, an actual church's doctrinal statement that I came across a church that's very similar to ours, as a matter of fact, very similar, except with this one particular point and not trying to pick fights with anybody, but we want to just. We want to let the Scripture guide us. And if that, you know, that. That different than somebody else, than other churches or whatever, and that's fine. It's not, it's. That's not our, our business. We want to be. We want to be as right with the scriptures we can be. And so we're going to start in Ephesians chapter one. There's this. The subject I want to talk about this morning is this question of the universal church or the local church. How many of you have heard of the term the universal church? Right. Just as advice, I would say if you discuss this subject with anybody, this is not something you would discuss. How many of you have ever had a conversation about this subject with anybody? Far less than have heard it. Right. It's just not something we're going to talk about except for people like Devin and Brother Jim and those of you who enjoy those kind of theological discussions. The visible church, the militant church. Some of you are like, got. Got that right? I got my gun on me. I'm the church militant. That's what it means. You carry a gun to church. Right. That's what that means. I expect next Sunday you're going to have the AR slung around your body. Church Militant. Yes, that's true. That's true. Yes. So these terminology, the universal church, the visible church, the militant church, the glorified church, all these. Listen, none of that, none of the terminology is in scripture. It's just. And I know terminology is not all bad. We're Baptists. That's the terminology that defines a particular thing. And that's all fine and good, but terminology also sometimes forces you to be put into little boxes that aren't so neat and tidy with the Bible, right? And so you got to understand that terminology is not intended to be a Lord, but a servant, right? So use it as much as you can. And one of these terms I want to look at today is this universal church versus the local church. And so first of all, I want us to see some of these passages because there are a group of people that do not believe in a universal church. Again, that's not a term I use. That's not something that I would say. But there are people who think, and this is what I want to discuss, that every instance of the word C H U r C h refers to a local assembly of believers. Every instance in the Bible must and does always refer to a local assembly of believers. And that's just not true. That's just not the case. So I want to show it to you in the Bible. Don't believe me, but believe what you read with your own eyes. Alright, let's look at chapter one, verse number of Ephesians. Chapter one, verse number, verse number 20. To pick up which he wrought in Christ when He raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet. This is the feet of Jesus now. And gave him to be the head over all things to the church. Keep reading. Which is his body? You see that? Now if I had a big blackboard. Whiteboard. Blackboards aren't really a thing very much anymore. If I had a big whiteboard, here's what I would write on it. Church equals his body. That's what the verses say in this verse. Verse number 22, 23. It defines the Church as the body of Christ. Does everybody see that? Okay, now go to Colossians chapter 1, verse 16 or verse 15 to pick up Colossians 1:15. Who is the image of the invisible God? Talking about Jesus Christ, the firstborn of every creature. For by him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible. There's that word, Brother David, if that makes you feel better. See, it's here. It's just not talking about the Church. Whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and for Him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist, and he is Jesus, the head of the body. What does it say? The Church? He Is the head of the body the church. Okay, so once again, it's almost. Almost the exact same language as Ephesians as in Colossians. Now, I'm just looking over my notes here. Now, here's the thing. We have to establish first, number one. In Scripture, the church is the body of Christ. Okay? So that's the first thing we have to establish. Because here's what happens is if that's not established later on down the line, someone's going to make a distinction between the two. Okay? And I'll show it to you in just a minute. Okay, now go to Romans, chapter number 12. We're going to be in Romans and First Corinthians, but we'll go in order. So if you turn there fast, we'll get through these verses quickly. But let's pause a minute and see each 1. Verse number 4, Romans 12, verse 4. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another. How many bodies are listed in verse 5? 1. Pretty simple, right? Pretty simple. Okay, look at First Corinthians, chapter 10, First Corinthians, chapter 10, verse number 16. First Corinthians, 10. 16 says this. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ and the bread which we break? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. How many bodies are there? Very good. Chapter 12, chapter 12, verse number 12. Chapter 12, verse 12 says this. For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. How many bodies? One. Again. Now, it says here, so also is Christ. So this is saying, this body to which we refer is actually referring to Christ's body. How many of those does Jesus have, both physically and spiritually? But one. Okay, I know you're like, we get it. Okay? We're going to keep. Let's just make sure we cover the bases, okay? All right, verse 13. For by one spirit, notice the one. Are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. Now, we're going to touch on this in just a minute, but notice, how do you get into this body? Verse number 13. Read it for yourself. How do you get into this body? It says you're baptized. Okay. But this is not that. You know how you know that? Because it says by the Spirit. Okay? So if anyone looks at this verse and says the way that you become a part of Choice Hills Baptist Church of this body is by being baptized in water. And then they cite this verse, they're already off base. Okay. Because the body being referred to here is not a local body. The body being referred to is the one body, which is Christ's body. Right. Christ only has one. All right. And the baptism being referred to by which we enter that is not water baptism, but spirit baptism, where the Spirit of God puts us in the body of Christ. And that happens when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Yeah. [00:13:54] Speaker B: So since teaches opposite of that, if we're in a cycle of arguments with somebody on that subject and they're citing verses like this, where do you even begin? Does it feel like at this point there's been so much like improper use. [00:14:14] Speaker A: Of the scriptures that it grows the assumptions? Like the assumption in this verse is the word baptize. And so the assumption is water, but it doesn't talk about water. So that's what I do. By being familiar yourself with the passage. Like, as they say, the way that you detect a counterfeit is by being super familiar with the real, with the genuine. And I think that's the best way to do it. So that when someone makes a statement that is based upon a false assumption, you immediately recognize it because you recognize every part of this passage. Does that make sense? That's. It's hard, though, because there are so many assumptions. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's what I do. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So if this refers to a local church and this is water baptism, or if it's just water baptism, you have a serious theological problem. Because now the way you get into the church is by being baptized. And that's a work. You see what I'm saying? Okay, let's move on. All right, let's look at Ephesians, chapter 4. Ephesians 4, verse 3. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you all. You see that? One body. Now, here's what I want to show you when you see verse number five. One Lord. We don't mean one kind of Lord. We mean there is a single individual who is Lord. That's Jesus, one faith. We don't mean one kind of faith, but we mean one faith, period. Right? When we see one Spirit, not one kind of spirit, but the Holy Spirit, there is only one. One hope of our calling, same truth, one God and Father of all. Verse number six. Not a kind of God. But here's the trick is that sometimes people insert the word kind of between the word one and the word body. So they mean. Not that they're. They mean not one body, but one kind of body. And that kind that they refer to as a local body. That's how they. That's how they interpret this. And baptism in this case is not referring to one kind of baptism. This is not a reference to water baptism. This is a reference to the Spirit baptism, right? By which we've all been placed into the one body of the one Lord, which is. It's all cohesive in the context. So sometimes Baptist people, which I am one. But sometimes we've used this verse to say there's only one kind of baptism, and that's by immersion. But that's not what this is referring to. You're going to have to go to a different verse to get that. But that's not what this is referring to. But the key thing is the one, the one, the one, the One. Okay, now go to Colossians, chapter three. Colossians, chapter three, Colossians three. And verse number 15 says this. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful once again. 1. Now think about all the times that Paul wrote to these people and he says, we. That's including himself, we being many, are one body in Christ. But he's writing to the Corinthians, which is a separate church, right? Colossae has a separate church, Ephesus, a separate church. And yet he writes to them and says, we are one body. He's referring to himself, even though he's not in that church. That is further evidence that when he's talking about one body, he's not referring to an individual local church. He's referring to the body of Christ composed of all believers who have been baptized by the Spirit into that body. So here's the takeaway truth from this is that. And this is the problem with interpreting the word church as local in every case, it negates this truth that you and I, who have, by virtue of our faith in Christ and the Holy Spirit in us, have a direct and essential connection with one another. No matter where we are. We're part of one group, right? We are brothers and sisters. We have one God. That's the spirit, the spirit of adoption. We have one father, and it's all related. All these truths are related, like they're woven together. And so when you say, oh, well, the word church there is just local, well, then that means that I'm not part of a one body with someone in a different church, but I actually, scripturally I am. Now, they might not be a part of this church, but they're a part of the body of Christ the church. And that's usually the terminology I'll use. I don't use universal church. I say the body of Christ the Church. That's usually how I'll describe it. Because there is but one body. Not one kind of body, local body. That's not what it. We're talking about the body of Christ. Not the kind of body of Christ, but the body of Christ. Subtle difference. Look at Galatians 3, Galatians 3, verse number. Look down at verse number 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come. We are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. See that for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, not this into Christ. Notice it says into Christ, that is his body, right? Him into him have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek bond or free, etc. He says, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Does everyone see this is the same exact language. This unity, this oneness of all believers. Right here, it's, it's clearly spelled out in one body in Christ himself, we are his body. That's what the text says. So is there a recognized group, a recognized assembly composed of all believers everywhere? All believers everywhere. Yes, there is. It is called the Church in Scripture because we saw church equals his body. We already saw that. Okay, everybody clear on that? Now go back to Galatians 1. Since we're already here, I'll show you this one other thing. Verse 13. For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews religion, how that beyond measure. I persecuted the church of God and wasted it. Notice I persecuted the church of God. Remember, what I'm addressing right now is those who think every reference to the word church is referring to a local congregation. Which local congregation did he persecute? If that's the case, he's not referring to that. He's referring to the church. Of God, the body of Christ, including all of the local congregations. He's referring to them all. He wasted many of them because he traveled from place to place. Okay, why does this matter? Well, one reason it matters is it has an effect as to whether you accept another person's baptism when they want to join and be a part of your church. It also affects whether or not someone who is not a member of this church can participate in the Lord's Supper. With this church, they're directly related. The people that I'm describing, the local only people, are like, their dying point is that you must be on the roll of this local church in order to take communion, or else it is wrong. Like, it is wrong. That's like their dying point. And they make a big deal of it. Like, as a missionary, I went to a church in New Jersey and I had a long, unpleasant conversation with the pastor and the man. Seriously, he viewed me as like a semi heretic because I did not agree with him on this point. Okay, so, okay, I'm going to read this doctrinal statement to you. Okay. Now that you've read the scripture, this is Article 13. This particular church, I'm not going to call the name. I could, but I'm not going to. It's far away from here. So none of you have ever been there? I'm certain. So, all right. And again, these people preach the gospel. I'm not saying they're like, they're going to hell. Are they peddling a false gospel? No, they preach the gospel. I mean, it's a church you would probably go to if you were lived in that area. And that was, you know, the best church you could find. You would probably go to it. Right. All right, here's what it says. We believe and teach that the local visible David assembly of scripturally baptized believers is Christ's body. See that? The local visible assembly of scripturally baptized believers is Christ's body. Notice what they've said. Not only do you have to be a member of a local church, but you also have to be baptized to be part of Christ's body. That presents some scriptural problems when you start looking at the references. Right? We're all children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Galatians 3. Right. But anyway. Yeah, well, there's more than that. Right. It says local, visible assembly of scripturally baptized believers is Christ's body, the one body of Ephesians 4:4, the only kind of quote church found in the New Testament. So I didn't make this up. Notice how he inserted the word kind of. He couldn't just leave one body. He had to put kind of body. Because this person does not recognize a body of all believers. So he doesn't recognize that. Okay, we do not believe in an invisible or universal church. Although the family of God, all blood washed, redeemed saints, is invisible in that sense. The heaven bound and heaven bound, not all believers are joined to a body of Christ. Where in the Bible did we come across the Word, a body of Christ? It ain't in there. It's always the body of Christ. But you see how that little subtle switch has affected it. Now I have to become. This is what this is saying now. I have to actually join a body of Christ, right? In order to be a part of the church, in order to be a part of this special group in heaven. Now, if I'm saved, now, believed in Christ, I will go to heaven, but I will not be part of this particular group. This is exactly what this teaches. Okay. All right, here's what it says. Not all believers are joined to a body of Christ, his local visible assembly, which he called my church. Now, that's a quotation from Matthew, chapter 16, which is not referring. See, the idea here is in Matthew 16, Jesus, when he said my church, he was referring to the 12 apostles. And that's just. Devin, that's just assumed, right? No proof. Just assumed. Okay. All right. The local New Testament. Here we go. Here, you're gonna love this. Baptist church alone was authorized to carry out the Great Commission. So not only do we have all these things, now we have. Now we have a Baptist church that was in the New Testament. The only time the word Baptist is found in the New Testament is in association with John the Baptist, who was not even part of the church because he died before Jesus even spoke. Matthew 16. Okay, anyway. Okay, but yet. And this is. Listen, I'm Baptist. I believe in Baptist doctrine. I believe scriptural doctrine. And Baptist is aligned with scriptural doctrine. I believe. Okay, so let me just clarify that. You all know that. But however, I am not going there. I am not saying that the church in the New Testament had a sign over the door that said Baptist church or something like that. I'm just. It's not that. And throughout the years, the name Baptist hasn't been there. And other names have been used in place of that to refer to people who believed essentially what we believe anyway. But you see, this is an assertion of a certain thing that the scripture just doesn't. Anyway, the first New Testament Baptist Church was founded by Jesus Christ during his own personal ministry, using the materials in quotes prepared by John the Baptist and membership in Christ's body, the local assembly. He said Christ's body, but he's not referring to just one. He's referring to the kind of body because he doesn't agree there's just one. He thinks there's many. Christ body. That's weird. That's just not scriptural. The manifestation of Christ in that locale is by scriptural baptism. And then he goes on, talk about independent congregation, et cetera, et cetera. So I just want to point out a few things. There's a subtle substitution of the word kind of between one and body. In Ephesians 4. 4, there's a distinction made between the family of God and the body of Christ. Problem is, that's not a scriptural distinction. If you read the context of those verses, we won't for time, but you can see that the family of God, the believers in Christ, the body of Christ, are all referring to the same thing in different ways. This person, this doctrinal statement, asserts that not all believers are in the body of Christ. He also asserts that Christ founded the church during his ministry, and he uses the term Baptist to refer to that. Primitive. We call it primitive. It was probably pure church in the beginning. That just. I don't know. This is my opinion, okay? I want to just state my opinion. You can have a different opinion because I know good people that have different opinions on this. But it kind of grates on me, irritates me a little bit when we throw around a modern denominational name and slap it on something that existed 2,000 years ago. Well, it still exists, but you know what I'm saying? Slap it on there. You know what it is? It's a trump card. That's all it is. It's a trump card. And it's like, I don't find it very tasteful. And so, again, my opinion, you can disagree, and that's fine. All right? This is the reason why I think that the Scripture teaches that every instance of the word church in the New Testament is not referring to a local congregation like you, but is referring to the one body of Christ of all believers who have been baptized by the Spirit into Christ. Does that make sense? This is the reason I believe that, okay? That means, number one, you and I and all believers the world over, even people who have passed away that are in heaven, are part of a body and are essentially connected as brothers and sisters, are essentially connected as one body, inseparable in the same way that your arm and your leg are connected. Okay. That's the New Testament description and analogy. Okay, yeah. [00:32:23] Speaker B: Pray for me on this. They do the same thing as they elaborate further on the bound. Universal. [00:32:30] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess that's who you pray to whenever you. You're mixing, you're making your sauce or something. Bless his sauce. Well, there's also the aspect of the. Of the. The Catholic Church has usurped the place has substituted themselves as the church. Universal. Yeah, I wouldn't use that term, although you will find it in older commentaries. You'll see the little C. Catholic, which just means universal. They don't intend on referring to the church at Rome, but sometimes you will see it. But anyway, there's one other thing I want to show you. So in this question of universal, local and all that. So. So I hope you see that in Scripture there is clear scripture that there is but one body, the body of Christ. All right. In the Bible There are about 114 references to the word church. In the New Testament, okay, We've covered a number of them. Of those 114 references, remember we covered two of them. Aren't even referring to the church at all. It's just kind of generic US Use of the word mean assembly aren't referring to the people of God. Alright, so put those aside. That leaves 112. In 112 instances, there are 76 times that the word church in the singular is used. I'm sorry, 74 times, not counting the two. 74 times that the word church is used in the singular. And there's 36 times that the word churches in the plural is used. Okay, of these 112 uses of the word church or churches, only 21 unequivocally refer to the body of Christ, the church. Every other time, which is 80%. Every other time that the word church or church is used, it refers to a local congregation of believers every other time. Okay, what that means is for every five mentions of the word, only one is referring to the body of Christ as a whole. Every other time it's referring to a local congregation like we have here. Okay, why does that matter? And in fact, every time the word occurs in the plural churches, it's referring to a local congregation, obviously. Because when you're referring to the body of Christ, there is but one church in that sense. Okay, so why. And I'll have to get into this next week. I was hoping I'd get into it today, but I just, I don't have time. Here's why that matters. Some people, you have the. On the one extreme, you have somebody. You have people that never see anything but a local church in the New Testament, they don't recognize it. But then you have others who is. As if they don't recognize the local New Testament church at all. As if the local congregation in Greenville as an example is just kind of a secondary. Kind of a secondary option. The real thing is the universal church, as it might be described. Well, I'm part of the universal church. I don't really need to go to a local church. You know, there's a lot of hypocrites there anyway. I. I'm part of the universal church. Well, that's good. But 80% of the time, in your New Testament, the word church is referring not to that, but to a local congregation. I'll say this and we're done. The local church is where the work of God is done. And this is what I'm going to show you next week is everything that is practical, everything that is everything related to service, everything related to the real life. Rubber meets the road. Christianity is done in a local assembly. And that is also New Testament doctrine. And therefore it cannot be looked lightly upon. It cannot not be scriptural. So there's where we'll have to pause. Let's pray together.