What Is A Church?
From the booklet "Recovered Truths"
The Question which I desire to consider with you in this
letter is that of the church. Perhaps that is the most important subject for
believers at the present time, both on account of its intrinsic character, and
also on account of the confusion not to say ignorance that prevails on this
point in Christendom. A Roman Catholic will of course tell you that the church
is the Church of Rome; but many Episcopalians would equally identify it with
the Establishment, which is indeed termed the Church of England; Dissenters
will tell you that while the church composes all believers of all times, they
are yet members of the church meeting at Blackheath Chapel, or, to increase the
confusion, at Brownford Congregational Church; whereas Wesleyans will modestly
say that they are members of the Society, etc. Now if we do not know what the
church is, we cannot know the privileges which attach to our belonging to it;
and hence we desire to ask, What Is The Church?
1. In the first
place, it is material to notice that the church in the sense, under discussion,
of the body of Christ is not found in the Old Testament. This statement is
often denied on the basis of a single passage in the Acts of the Apostles,
which it is therefore incumbent upon us to carefully examine. In the speech of
Stephen before the Sanhedrim, we find these words: 'This is he that was in the
church in the wilderness,' etc. (Acts 7:38); and on these words the whole
question turns, because there is not a single passage in the Old Testament
Scriptures themselves which even hints at the existence of the church as known
in the New Testament. Now we admit at once that the word 'church' is that which
is also used of the church of God; it is ekklesía. But what does
this word ekklesía mean? It means simply an 'assembly,' leaving
the nature of the assembly to be defined by the context. For example, the same
word is applied three times to the tumultuous gathering at Ephesus, which was
brought together through the actions of Demetrius the silversmith and his
fellow tradesmen (Acts 19:32, 39, 41); and here, in each instance, it is
translated assembly. What then, we ask, was the assembly in the wilderness? The
answer is plain. It was the congregation of Israel. But was this congregation
the church of God? Impossible; for while there men born of God amongst that
congregation, the congregation was composed of the nation of Israel after the
flesh, so that every child born of the Jews was, by virtue of his birth, a
member of it. If therefore it is contended that this was the church of God, the
inference which meets us is that the church of God in the wilderness was
composed of men after the flesh; for the new birth clearly had nothing whatever
to do with forming its members, inasmuch as the whole nation was included. So
stated, every instructed will at once perceive that the assembly or
congregation of Israel was not, in any sense, the church according to the New
Testament Scriptures.
2. Another important point is, that the church
is not seen as existent in the Gospels. Indeed the word is only found three
times in Matthew, and not at all in the other evangelists. We have only then to
examine the places where it occurs in the first Gospel. The first passage in
which it occurs is as follows: 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my church,' etc. (Matt. 16:18). Now mark the language employed by our Lord. He
says, 'Upon this rock I WILL build my church,' speaking in the future tense of
something which had not yet begun to be, but which He was going to build. Such
language would have been impossible had the church been in existence, and
reveals, as plainly as words could reveal, that the commencement of the church
was at that time a yet future thing. The only other passage (for the word
occurs twice in it.) is Matt. 18:17, containing instruction as to how we should
deal with a brother who should trespass against us. But the very place of this
instruction, coming as it does after the revelation of the future building of
the church, and bound up with church or corporate action, as it is in the
context, explains its significance, especially if we are careful to note that
the Lord concludes this instruction with the especial promise of being in their
midst when they should be gathered together unto His name, (Matt. 18:20) a
thing that could take not take place as long as He was present with them. The
church therefore is no more found in the Gospels than it is in the Old
Testament Scriptures.
3. It is not until we find it in the Acts of the
Apostles that we find it actually existent. And accordingly, the word, either
in the singular or plural, is now found no less than twenty or twenty-one times
(I say, or twenty-one, for Acts 2:47 is, to say the least, doubtful); and the
thing signified by the word the assembly of God is met with in almost every
chapter. When then, we ask, did the church commence its existence? Or rather,
When did the Lord Jesus commence to build His church on the rock of which He
had spoken? It was on the day of Pentecost, and not before, that those who
received the apostles' words, and who were baptized, were built upon the Rock;
and, being baptized by one Spirit into one body, became the church of God. I
will not dwell further on this point now, as successive proofs of this will
appear as we proceed.
4. Let us then now consider distinctly from the
Scriptures our question,What is the church? We have a twofold reply. It is the
body of Christ, and it is the house of God. Thus, in Ephesians, after the
apostle has spoken of the display of the mighty power of God in the
resurrection of Christ from the dead, and His supreme exaltation, he proceeds,
'But gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the
fullness of Him that filleth all in all' (Eph. 1:2023. See also Rom. 12;5; 1
Cor. 10:16, 17; 12:27; Eph. 2:16; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:30; Col. 1:1824; 2:19). And in
the epistle to Timothy we read of 'the house of God, which is the church of the
living God'(1 Tim. 3:15); and in Ephesians, 'In whom ye also are built together
for an habitation of God through the Spirit.' (Eph. 2:22. See also Heb. 3:6;
10:21; 1 Peter 2:5; 4:17; also 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Cor. 6:16, etc.). If you will be
at the pains to search out the several passages given, you will see that these
are the two characteristics of the church as presented in the word of God.
I shall not at this time point out the distinction between the 'house'
and the 'body,' as it would lead us too far away from the subject in hand; but
I shall now seek to show that these two terms conclusively prove the statements
already made as to the time of the commencement of the church. Thus take the
term 'body.' The church, as we have seen, is the body of Christ; and if so, as
indeed is also stated (Col. 1:18), Christ is the head of the body. Consequently
it was not until after the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus
that the Head was in heaven, and the body formed; for while in the flesh the
Lord Jesus abode alone, union with Him being possible only in resurrection.
(John 12:23, 24)
Again, let me ask, How is {was} the body formed? 'By
one Spirit are we all baptized into one body,' etc. (1 Cor. 12:13). But 'the
Holy Ghost was not yet [given], because that Jesus was not yet glorified' (John
7:39); and hence, until Jesus was glorified, the Spirit was not down here on
earth to baptize believers into one body, and thus we see again that the church
could not be formed until on and after Pentecost. Once more, let me remind you
that the characteristic of the body is, that all national distinctions are
abrogated, that it is composed alike of Jews and Gentiles (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal.
3:28; Eph. 2:1316; Col. 3:10, 11); but up to the crucifixion of Christ the
Jewish nation possessed its special and peculiar privileges, and we are
expressly told in the Ephesians that these national distinctions were abolished
through His death. The apostle says, 'For He is our peace, who hath made both
one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition [between] us: having
abolished in His flesh the enmity, [even] e law of the commandments [contained]
in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace;
and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,' etc. (Eph.
2:1416). Finally, we are expressly told that the mystery of the body was not
revealed until after Pentecost until, in fact, the time of the apostle Paul
(Rom. 16:25, 26; Eph. 3:211; Col. 1:2528).
The same result will be
reached if we consider the term 'house' the church, as the house of God. Thus
in Eph. 2:20 we are told that believers 'are built upon the foundation of
apostles and prophets.' Are these the prophets of the Old Testament, or of the
New? The order of the words has surely special significance; or if not, turn
with me to Eph. 4, where we have an enumeration of gifts that proceeded from
the ascended Christ. 'He gave some,' it is said, 'apostles, and some prophets,'
etc. (V. 11); and thus the question is settled (for it is the same order of
words.), that they are New Testament prophets, and consequently the church was
not built upon this foundation until after Pentecost. Another consideration (I
hope you will not be wearied with the abundance of proofs) points exactly the
same way. As the house, the church is the habitation of God through the Spirit
(Eph. 2:22); and as we have seen, the Spirit was not given until Pentecost
(Acts 1:4; 2:23); and therefore God could not have had His habitation through
the Spirit in the church before that time. God indeed dwelt in the tabernacle
of witness and in the temple both of which were shadows of His temple in the
church; but just because they were shadows or types, it proves that the thing
adumbrated or typified was not yet existent.
It is therefore
abundantly plain as all the different lines of argument we have adduced from
the Scriptures show that the church of God had its commencement here on earth
on the day of Pentecost. But the church is also the bride of Christ (see Eph.
5:2333; 2 Cor. 11:2; Rev. 19:69; 21:29, etc.), and hence the church must be
complete when the 'marriage of the Lamb' takes place. Now it is seen from Rev.
19 that this event will occur previous to the Lord's appearing to His coming to
the earth to establish His kingdom (vv. 69), and we know from manifold
Scriptures (e.g. 2 Thess. 1; Col. 3:14; Rom. 8:1621; 1 Thess. 4:1318, etc.)
That the hope of the church is the coming of the Lord, that having suffered
with Christ she will be glorified and reign together with Him in His kingdom.
Hencethe period of the church extends from Pentecost until the Lord's coming
for His saints; and consequently the church of God comprises all believers
during that period all those believers therefore who have been indwelt by the
Holy Ghost, baptized by Him into one body, and united therefore by Him to the
glorified man, Christ Jesus, as their Head in heaven.
Such is the
answer which the word of God supplies to the question, What is the church? And
we are very sure that it is the only answer that can be found in the
Scriptures.