The Church

Christian Life Study   •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  41:21
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Intro; This is probably one of the most important doctrinal studies for the Christian to conduct. It is important for various reasons that we will discover, but I believe for three specific ones to start with.
First, Jesus gave His life for the church;
Ephesians 5:25 NKJV
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
Second, Jesus said He will build His church;
Matthew 16:18 (NKJV)
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Third, You are a part of the church;
Acts 2:47 NKJV
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Church- Greek word ekklesia, which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones.” The church is a group of people, not a building.
God called Israel out of Egypt, they congregated in the wilderness; “they were the church in the wilderness”.
Deuteronomy 14:2 NKJV
For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Today God calls the saved out of the world to congregate in worship. This is the church in the world but not of it. Unlike the church in the wilderness, the Church that Jesus is calling out will never cease.
Matthew 16:18 (NKJV)
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
The Church is made up of all believers in Jesus Christ from the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) until Christ’s return. Only blood-washed, born again, Spirit filled, baptized believers constitute the Church that Jesus is building.
I want us to look at two forms of the church tonight as we begin this Christian Life Study #8 by Porter Barrington.

1. The Universal Church;

The universal church consists of everyone, everywhere, who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is the church worldwide.
1 Corinthians 12:13 NKJV
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
Galatians 3:26–29 NKJV
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Colossians 3:11 NKJV
where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
First, we see that the “church” is not a physical building but a “spiritual organism”
Organism- a complex structure of interdependent and subordinate elements whose relations and properties are largely determined by their function in the whole. [living, breathing, functioning body]
The church is living because of the Spirit! We are breathing because of the Spirit! We are the functioning body of Christ because of the Spirit!
Second, the “universal church” is made up of people of faith in Christ Jesus alone, regardless of geography, group or gender. People from every nation, tribe, people, and language from all over the world who have been saved through faith in Christ. Christians everywhere—from Arkansas to Zimbabwe, from Sweden to the South Dakota—comprise the universal church.
Revelation 7:9–10 NKJV
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Third, the “universal church” is not a denomination. There are denominations in the “universal church” but the church is not a denomination!
Denomination- a recognized autonomous branch of the Christian church. [The rise of denominations within the Christian faith can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation, the movement to “reform” the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century, out of which four major divisions or traditions of Protestantism would emerge: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, and Anglican. From these four, other denominations grew over the centuries].
The Lutheran denomination was named after Martin Luther and was based on his teachings. The Methodists got their name because their founder, John Wesley, was famous for coming up with “methods” for spiritual growth. Presbyterians are named for their view on church leadership—the Greek word for “elder” is presbyteros. Baptists got their name because they have always emphasized the importance of believers’ baptism. Each denomination has a slightly different doctrine or emphasis from the others such as the method of baptism, the availability of the Lord’s Supper to all or just to those whose testimonies can be verified by church leaders, the sovereignty of God vs. free will in the matter of salvation, the future of Israel and the church, pre-tribulation vs. post-tribulation rapture, the existence of the “sign” gifts in the modern era, and so on. The point of these divisions is never Christ as Lord and Savior, but rather honest differences of opinion by godly, albeit flawed, people seeking to honor God and retain doctrinal purity according to their consciences and their understanding of His Word. [Got Questions]
Nowhere in the Bible will you see where Jesus named any denomination, but only His church/body. Nowhere in Scripture is there a mandate for denominations; to the contrary, the mandate is for unity.
1 Corinthians 1:10–17 NKJV
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
The Bible does not envision the Christian life as one lived apart from other believers. All members of the universal church, the body of Christ, are to be actively and intimately involved in local assemblies.
John F. MacArthur

2. The Local Church;

The local church is a assembly of believers of like minded beliefs and worship in a certain localized area.
1 Corinthians 1:2 NKJV
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Galatians 1:1–2 NKJV
Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
Ephesians 1:1 NKJV
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus:
Philippians 1:1 NKJV
Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Colossians 1:1 NKJV
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
1 Thessalonians 1:1 NKJV
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The local church has three important functions;
Building up of the faith in Christ
Ephesians 4:11–12 NKJV
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
Localized ministry
John 4:28–29 NKJV
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
John 4:39 NKJV
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”
Global outreach
Matthew 28:19–20 (NKJV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Close;
The church is the church even when it is not holding an official meeting. Because the true church of Christ is the blood-washed, born again, Spirit filled, baptized believers called out by God, through the Spirit to bring glory to the Head, Jesus Christ!
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