Why It Matters Session Twelve: The Church A. Introduction An article in Newsweek magazine a few years ago said, Forget the church. Follow Jesus. People have also been quoted as saying, I love Jesus but I hate the church. Is this really possible? In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. The apostle Paul several times referred to the church as the body of Christ (Colossians 1:24, Ephesians 4:12, 1 Corinthians 1:27). If the church is the body of Christ, we cannot logically or Biblically follow Jesus and forget the church. B. The Universal Church As we consider the Biblical teaching about the church, we need to recognize that the word church can refer to two different things. The first is what is often called the universal church. This is made up of all followers of Jesus throughout history. Read: Matthew 16:18 After the apostle Peter confessed that he believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16, WEB), Jesus said that he would build his church on that confession of faith in Christ. All who put their faith in Jesus as the Son of God are part of the universal church Jesus said he would build. Read: Ephesians 5:25-27, 29-30 The church is both the body of Christ (v. 30) and the bride of Christ (vv. 25-27). Jesus died to make the universal church, his bride, holy and pure in his sight. He also loves and cares for the church (v. 29). This, too, is speaking of the universal church. 1. We learn that the church was God s idea, not man s. We cannot separate the church universal from Jesus, because the church is the body of Christ. Read: Ephesians 2:14-22 The apostle Paul makes it clear that the unity of the church is based on the work of Christ. Jesus broke down the division in his day between Jews and Gentiles. Paul pictures members of the church as fellow citizens (v. 19) and members of the same household (v. 19).
Read: Ephesians 3:6, 8-11 God s plan was to bring together Jews and Gentiles who believed in Jesus into one body, the church. This would demonstrate the grace and wisdom of God. This was speaking of the church universal, but it also had application to each local church where Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians joined together in worship and service. Read: Ephesians 4:3-6 The apostle Paul s call to unity with fellow Christians was based on the fact that there is one body the church universal. Ultimately, there is and will be only one church the bride of Christ. 2. We learn that the church universal is made up of all who have put their faith in Christ. All human divisions are irrelevant in the universal church. Faith in Christ unites all believers. Christians may disagree with each other about a number of different things. However, if they have trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they are one. The Biblical image is that we are all part of the same family the family of God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ with all true Christians, regardless of race, nationality, gender, social class, denomination, political party, etc. It is up to us to be eager to keep the unity that the Holy Spirit has created (Eph. 4:3, WEB). Question: In your opinion, do you think it is difficult to maintain the unity that the Holy Spirit has created between believers? If so, write a paragraph or two explaining your answer. C. The Local Church People today tend to think of a church s building as the church: We attend West Side Community Church. It is located on M-72 West. The Greek word for church means assembly. So in reality, the church is the assembly of people. A local church is the congregation, not the building. We have seen that some references in the New Testament refer to the universal church. Many other references to church in the New Testament refer to a local church in a particular community. We see this often in the book of Acts. For example, Acts. 8:1 refers to the church in Jerusalem. Acts 11:26 refers to the church in Antioch. Acts 12:5 indicates that the church in Jerusalem was praying for the apostle Peter, who had been put in prison. We also see that the apostle Paul wrote letters to churches in particular communities, such as Rome, Ephesus, Colossae, Philippi, Corinth, and Thessalonica. Revelation chapters 2 & 3 are directed to
individual churches at that time in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Read: 1 Peter 2:4-10 While this passage does not use the term church, it is addressing believers collectively (as a body), not individually. It provides several images of the church: 1. Living stones that together make a spiritual house (verse 5). 2. A chosen people (verse 9). In the Old Testament, Israel was described as the chosen people of God (Deuteronomy 10:15). 3. A royal priesthood (verse 9). 4. A holy nation (verse 9). In the Old Testament, Israel was described as a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6, WEB). 1. We learn that the church in the New Testament fulfills many of the same roles as Israel did in the Old Testament. The church is designed to be a visible demonstration of the mercy of God. Just as God desired to use the nation of Israel in the Old Testament to draw other peoples to himself, so God desires the church to draw unbelievers to God. While God deals with us individually, his purposes are best fulfilled through the community of the church. Outsiders can see love and mercy lived out in the body of the church as long as Christ is the foundation of the church. Then people will be drawn not only to Jesus as Savior but also to the community and fellowship of the church. Read: 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27 We saw earlier that the universal church is described as the body of Christ (Ephesians 5:20). In 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul compared the local church to the body of Christ (verse 27), going into a detailed comparison of the church to a human body. 2. We learn that the unity in Christ of the local church is more important than human divisions. In the first century world, Jews and Gentiles (non-jews) were divided. In many cases, they hated each other. There were also class divisions between people, especially between slaves and free people. The apostle Paul made it clear that in the body of Christ, those divisions were meaningless. Believers are all indwelt by the same Holy Spirit and are equally valuable in God s sight (1 Cor. 12:13, 25).
Fallen human beings seem prone to creating divisions between people, with one group being more important than another group. These divisions are unbiblical and opposed to God s plan. The call to keep the unity of the Spirit is best carried out in the local church as believers love each other and bear with each other s flaws (Eph. 4:3). Question: How do you think a demonstration of unity in the local church would help accomplish God s purpose for the church? Write one paragraph giving your answer. Read: Ephesians 4:7, 11-16 God provided certain positions in the church (apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastorteachers) to help the church function in the way he desired. His goal was for the church to grow in spiritual maturity. 3. We learn that God s purpose for the church is not only to draw unbelievers to God, it is also to help believers grow in maturity. Believers grow in faith and knowledge of the Son of God (Eph. 4:13) as the church body functions properly with each person doing his/her part (Eph. 4:16). The church is designed by God to help believers mature in love and truth. Here we see the devil s deception when Christians come to believe that they don t need the church. Growth and maturity comes primarily from the functioning of the church body. It is a huge mistake for any believers to separate themselves from any local church. In fact, the author of Hebrews instructed believers facing persecution to not give up meeting together but rather to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25). God created us with a need for each other. We simply cannot forget the church and follow Jesus, because Jesus created the church as imperfect as it is. Jesus works through the church, despite its imperfections, just as God worked through imperfect people throughout the Old Testament. Rick Mavis 2017 Guard Your Heart LLC