A Living Church?
Remember what Peter said:
“You also, a living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
1 Peter 2: 5, 6
The Church is a living organism made up of living stones joined together in the Spirit, with Christ as the Head. The Church was born on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out. The Church has and always will have an intimacy with the Holy Spirit, and where the Holy Spirit is, you will find the Church. We are connected together. The Church is dependent on the Holy Spirit, and because of Him, the Church is a Living organism and not an organization.
Not long after the Day of Pentecost, we start seeing this term, the Church, being used.
“So great fear came upon the Church and upon all who heard these things.”
Acts 5: 11
The Greek word used here for the church is, ‘Ekklesia” meaning a gathering together or assembling together. Stephen, in his mighty sermon, said:
“This is he (Moses) was in the congregation (church) in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us…”
Acts 7: 38
The term church was not a new term but rather a Jewish term referring to the gathering together of the Jewish people. Paul explains in the letter to the Ephesians that the Church is the Body of Christ, and Jesus is the Head…
“as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body…”
Ephesians 5: 23
And he further explains the mystery of the Church…
“This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
Ephesians 5: 32
What was Paul talking about? He refers to how a man will leave his father and mother and be joined by his wife and then how God makes them one. In marriage, the Lord gave the type and shadow of the Church. When we receive Christ, we must leave the old life and be joined to Him. Then by His working, we become one with Him. This was the Lord’s prayer on the night He was betrayed:
“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
John 17: 18-21
Jesus prayed not just for His disciples but for all those who would believe because of the message they would preach, which includes you and me. The Lord’s desire is to bring us to true unity in Him, and one of these days, He will gather us together in one place and at one time.
“For this we say to you by the WORD OF THE LORD, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4: 15-17
At this event, Paul explained:
“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven and which are on earth in Him…”
Ephesians 1: 11
And:
“That He might present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
Ephesians 5: 27
We must remember that Jesus explained that if He went away, then:
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
John 14: 3
The Church is His body of believers whom He will make one when He returns and takes His Church home. Every member of the Church has a divine appointment at this event, whether they have fallen asleep in death or live when He does return.
The Church is The Body of Christ
The Body of Christ is comprised of every believer in Christ. There is no separation in the Body, but in Him, we are one.
“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ Jesus have put on Christ. 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. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Galatians 3: 26-29
In the Body, we become members of His family, and His family has no distinctions or separations.
In the Old Testament days, we see the Law was given to the Jews, who were peculiar people unto God. They didn’t evangelize as the only way to be a Jew was by birth and having a Jewish mother.
But in Him, we became His people and His family. In this Body, there is neither Jew nor Gentile. Now, in another lesson, we will talk about how it was the blindness of the Jewish people and their resistance to the Gospel that opened the doors to the Gentiles. But the Lord has a plan for the Jewish people, and the Last Days and Tribulation Period are all about this plan and the harvest of the Jews.
“And He is before all things, and in Him all thigs consist. And He is the Head of the Body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.”
Colossians 1: 17, 18
Jesus was the firstborn to rise from the dead on Resurrection Sunday and became the Church’s head.
The Body is Made Up of Individuals
While we are one Body, we have all different functions and purposes. When we look at the Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, they are One. The Jews at Passover have a Unity bag for holding the Afikomen with three pockets. They believe it speaks of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But in Christ, we understand they represent the Father, the Son, and The Holy Ghost. Each member of the Trinity walks in unity, but they have different functions. Please see the lesson on the Trinity.
In the letter to the Ephesians, we see that God gave the five-fold ministry to help build up and equip His Body. They are to help polish, strengthen, and activate the call in each Body member.
The Role of the Church
As believers, we are members of a family, so we need to fellowship together. The Lord did not give one believer every gift or all knowledge, but rather He distributes the gifts and callings as He sees fit. Believers must recognize that we need each other. Many people write to me and say that they don’t need anyone else, just the Lord. That is not Scriptural. The writer of Hebrews said:
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together; as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as your see the Day approaching.”
Hebrews 10: 24, 25
If we believe we are truly in the Last Days and He is coming soon, then we need each other more than ever. We are to consider one another and provoke one another to love.
Paul adds more color to the roles of the Church in his letter to the Ephesians:
“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling”
Ephesians 4: 4
As Paul goes on to explain, we are all given a calling from Heaven. Some are called into the five-fold ministry (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers). The majority are called to be part of “helps,” but we are all called to minister.
Paul explained that the Lord gave the Body the five-fold ministry gifts to help believers mature and be effective in ministry. We all need to be part of a church and have a pastor. And we need exposure to the five-fold. The purpose of the five-fold, Paul explained, was:
- Equipping
- Edifying
- Bring to unity
- Bring into an intimate knowledge of Jesus
- To mature believers
- To help believers be stable
We will talk more about these when we look at ministry gifts. But where we plug in is meant to be the place of training us and helping us move into our ministries.
Church is a training ground to enable people to move forward in their call from Heaven.
“But, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head- Christ- from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does it share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Ephesians 4: 15-16
Further, the love of God is so big and great that the only way we can begin to comprehend it, is through each other.
“May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3: 18-19
And we are told by Paul:
“to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the Church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly place, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Ephesians 3: 10, 11
We are an army charged with boldly preaching the Gospel and making disciples of all nations. The Lord didn’t say to make converts but disciples. A major part of our discipleship occurs at Church.
We are called to evangelize but if those converted are not discipled, they are in danger of falling back into the world and their old ways.
Church is the place of connection with the Body of Christ globally and is a place for us to be blessed and bless. We are to love one another! We are to fellowship with one another! We are to come together stirred up spiritually so that we bless the church. We are to pray for one another!
Church is the place where we are to learn to walk in love:
“By this we know love because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our life for the brethren.”
1 John 3: 16
Many believers will say that they love the Lord, and surely that is enough?
“But if we walk in the light as He is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1: 7
And
“He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”
1 John 2: 10
Different Flows
You will see different flows or streams as you look at the Body of Christ. When we connect with the right flow or stream, we find ourselves running in the same direction and being a blessing. One of the biggest problems many believers face is being in a local church flowing in a different direction.
Listen to what Paul said in First Corinthians chapter twelve:
“For in fact the Body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the Body,’ it is therefore not of the Body? And the if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the Body,’ is it therefore not of the Body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the Body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the Body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one Body.”
1 Corinthians 12: 14-20
A lot of strife is caused by people trying to fit in or being forced to be a part of a Body that is of a different flow. We must in Christ find what “member” we belong to and allow Him to place us correctly. Remember, you are placed by function and no location.
Finding a good home church and building roots is always a good thing. But that does not mean that the Lord will not move us or cause us to start a new church, for example. Church hoppers are those who refuse to submit to any authority and just keep running. But there are some in a local church that He had a purpose to perhaps start a church, but they refuse to leave the comfort of that church.
That which is of the Lord will always build and seek to bring Him all the honor. We are not here to build our kingdoms or fulfill our agendas. It must always be about His kingdom. Being a part of a God church is an important part of the life of every believer. When we are submitted to a good pastor, we are able to grow up spiritually and have a solid foundation and support system to enable us to run our race effectively.
