THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH


“And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18, ASV).

WHAT IS THE CHURCH?

  1. The word church comes from “ekklesia” which means the called out (Thayer).
  2. It is the body of Christ (Colossians. 1:18).
  3. It is the family of God (I Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 2:19).
  4. It is the kingdom of God and Christ (Ephesians 5:5).
  5. It is the pillar and ground at the truth (1 Tim. 3:15).

WHAT IS IT CALLED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT?

  1. My (the Lord’s) church (Mat 16:18).
  2. The church (Acts 8:1).       
  3. The church of the Lord (Acts 20:28).
  4. The church of God (I Corinthians 1:1, 2)
  5. The churches of Christ (Romans 16:16).
  6. The body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12).
  7. The church of the firstborn (Hebrews 12:23).

WHAT ARE THE MEMBERS CALLED?

  1. Disciples (Acts 20:7).
  2. Saints (I Corinthians 1:2).
  3. Beloved of God (Romans 1:7).
  4. Brethren (Col.ossians1:2).
  5. Sons of God (Romans 8:14).
  6. Children of God (I John 3:1).
  7. Heirs of God (Romans 8:17).
  8. Royal Priesthood (I Peter 2:9).
  9. Christians (Acts 11:26, 1 Peter 4:16).

Are You Wearing These Scriptural Names Only?

 

WHEN WAS THE CHURCH ESTABLISHED?

  1. In the last days in Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2-4).
  2. In the days of these Kings (Daniel 2:44).
  3. It was “at hand” in John’s day (Matthew 3:1-2).
  4. The disciples prayed for its coming (Matthew 6:9-10).
  5. Christ said: “I will build” it (Matthew 16:18).
  6. It was to come during the lifetime of some of the disciples
  7. (Mark 9:1).
  8. The disciples had not entered it [before the death, burial, and resurrection of the Christ and Acts 2] (Matthew 18:3).
  9. Just before his death Christ said: “The kingdom of God shall come” (Luke 22:18).
  10. The kingdom was to come with power (Mark 9:1). The power was to come when the Spirit came (Acts 1:8).
  11. All of these requirements were fulfilled on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:1-4).

HOW CAN ONE ENTER THE CHURCH?

  1. Hear the gospel of Christ (Romans10:13-17).
  2. Believe in Christ (Acts 16:31).
  3. Repent of past sins (Luke 24:47; Acts 17:30).
  4. Confess faith in Christ (Romans 10:8-10).
  5. Be baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:3). Thus, one is born into the family of God (John 3:5).

WHAT CONSTITUTES BAPTISM?

  1. Water (Matthew 3:11).
  2. Much water (John 3:23).
  3. Going down into the water (Acts 8:38).
  4. A burial and a resurrection (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12).
  5. Coming up out of the water (Acts 8:39; Matthew 3:16).

 Are You A Member of New Testament Church?

 

WHERE IS SALVATION?

  1. Salvation is in Christ’s church, because it is the blood bought institution (Acts 20: 28; I Corinthians 6:20).
  2. Salvation is in the church, for Paul affirmed that Christ would save the church (Ephesians 5:23). No promise to those outside.
  3. Salvation is in the church, for it is there that man is reconciled unto God (Ephesians 2:16). Man must be reconciled to God.
  4. Salvation is in the church, because that is the group that Christ will present unto Himself. (Ephesians 5:27)
  5. Man cannot be saved out of the church, because God adds all the saved to it (Acts 2:47). The requirements of salvation and church membership are the same.
  6. The church is the family of God and certainly one cannot be saved out of God’s family (I Timothy 3:15). To say that God has children out of His family would be to charge Him with spiritual adultery.
  7. Take the children of Israel as a type: (I Corinthians 10:2-6).
  • Crossing the Red Sea was a type of baptism (I Corinthians 10:2).
  • Israel in the wilderness was a type of the church (Acts 7:38).
  • Crossing the Jordan River was a type of death.
  • The land of Canaan was a type of heaven.
  • They had to pass through the wilderness [a time of proving Deuteronomy 8:1-3] (church) to get into Canaan (heaven).
  • Therefore, we must pass through the church to enter heaven at last.

 Are You Seeking Salvation in the Right Place?

 

WHAT IS IN CHRIST – THE CHURCH?

  1. Forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7).
  2. Salvation (II Timothy 2:10).
  3. Redemption (Colossians 1:14).
  4. The grace of God (II Timothy 2:1).
  5. All the promises of God (II Corinthians 1:20).
  6. All spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3).

Can one be saved without these blessings? They are all in Him, His body, the church. (Ephesians 1:22, 23; Colossians 1:18) How then does one get into Christ where these blessings can be enjoyed (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27)?

(above adapted by John Rose from a tract)

What is the Kingdom of God?

That the same is meant by “kingdom of God,” “kingdom of heaven,” “his kingdom,” and the “kingdom of his dear Son,” as a general rule, there can be little doubt, whether the same is meant in every instance or not. That which is called “his kingdom” (Matthew 16:28) is called “the kingdom of God” (Mark 9:1; Luke 9:27). The same kingdom mentioned in the phrase, “the Son of man coming in his kingdom,” is also mentioned in the phrase “the kingdom of God,” for these are two reports of the same speech. The two expressions are simply two designations of the same kingdom. The same, precisely, that is called “the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23) is called “the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:25).In Matthew the record is: “That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of God.” The “kingdom of heaven” is at hand, as recorded (Matthew 3:2), is undoubted the same as “the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:14), for these are two records of the same thing. The same kingdom is meant (Matthew 13:11) in the words, “Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” that is meant (Mark 4:11) in “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God.” “He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11), and “He that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he” (Luke 7:28), are simply two records of the same thing, and the same kingdom is meant in both records.

In the following language the phrases “my church” and “the kingdom of heaven” are two designations for the same. That which is called “my church” is called “kingdom of heaven.” “I say also 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; and I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (See Matthew 16:18-19). When we think and speak of what the Lord calls “my church,” we should keep in mind that He calls the same thing, in the same connection, “the kingdom of heaven,” and that He calls the same “my kingdom” (John 18:36). Paul’s “general assembly and the church of the firstborn,” to which he said “we are come”(Hebrews 12:23), is the same as his “kingdom that cannot be moved”(verse 28 of the same chapter). It is the same as His “one body”(Ephesians 4:4; I Corinthians 12:13). All who enter the “one body” at all are immersed into it, or all who enter the kingdom at all, which is the same as entering the “one body,” enter it by being born of water and of the Spirit. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see [or enjoy] the kingdom of God.” (See John 3:3.) “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (See John 3:5.) The same community is styled “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15). “In Christ” is in the body, church, or kingdom. To know what the church is, the body of Christ, the house of God, the temple of God, the building of God, is to know what the kingdom of God is. This view will assist much in ascertaining what the kingdom of God is, and several other things to be investigated in this article.

When we are thinking of the Lord’s community as a body, we think of the head and the individual members, the life and support of the body. When we think of the same community as a house, or family, we immediately think of the head of the family, the members, the discipline and ruling of a family, the care and oversight of a family, the support and dependence of a family, the accession by birth or adoption, whichever figure may be used, and the losses by death, or those who have abandoned the family. When we think of the same community as a temple, or building, we think of the proprietor, foundation, the lively stones built together in it, and the builders. When we think of it as a kingdom, we think of a king, constitution, laws, territory, subjects. When we think of it literally, as the church, congregation or community founded by Christ, the only divinely founded religious community on earth, we think of God, who authorized it; of the prophets, who predicted its founding, with many of its stupendous and momentous surroundings—the Lord Messiah, who founded it; the great truth on which it is built; the authorized apostles and evangelists who first preached the Gospel, called people together, under their new head, in the new community, or the church, making “one new man.” It has Christ for its head; the Gospel—the power of God—to turn the world to God; the teaching of Christ and His apostles for its edification and instruction.Christ is its supreme authority for everything. His authority is set forth in His own teaching and that of His divinely authorized and inspired apostles.

The church, community of living God, is composed of members, and has a head, Gospel, teaching or territory. Bishops or overseers, and deacons, in their work, are limited to the congregation in their own vicinity, having no jurisdiction in other congregations. The church of the living God, the body of Christ, or kingdom of God, embraces all the local congregations, with the members, in all the world—all who are truly the people of God. As a whole, it is not an organized body, and has no method of acting in conventional form, in making decrees, laws or decisions. Its head has made, signed, sealed and delivered to it His laws and decrees, and demands of the church, or kingdom, implicit obedience. It is not the business of the church to make laws or decrees, but implicitly to obey and submit to the laws and decrees made by the head of the church.

This community, church or kingdom, of which Christ is the head or King, and all that pertains to it, was embraced in “the eternal purpose of God,” but had no existence, in the form of a community, church or kingdom, only in the purpose of God, for ages. The same that was embodied in the eternal purpose—“a secret,” “hid in God”—was subsequently embodied in the promise to Abraham. It was still a secret, a mystery, in the promise of a blessing for all families of the earth, without any revelation explaining what that blessing was. That promise embraced the Messiah, the Gospel, the church, and all the attendant blessings for the human race. Still, the church, or kingdom, did not exist in fact, and the blessings were spoken of as “good things to come,” and not good things already come. The same precisely, embodied first in the purpose, and then in the promise of God, subsequently filled a large space in prophecy, but still as “good things to come.” Peter has the following comment touching the prophets: “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come to you: searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. To whom it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to us, they did minister these things, which are now reported to you by them who have preached the gospel to you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; into which things the angels desire to look.” (See I Peter 1:10-12.) The kingdom of God is found, first, in the eternal purpose of God, then in the promise of God to Abraham, then in the prophecy, and then in the preaching of John the Immerser. In the preaching of John it is in different form, and a new item comes into the preaching. It is now “the kingdom of God is at hand,” “the kingdom of God approaches.” 

Benjamin Franklin

1812-1878

Taken from New Testament Christianity, Vol. I (1923), pages 198-204.

 

Our Cares and God’s Care

A verse that we all should commit to memory and upon which we should ever rely is the following: “Casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you” (I Peter 5:7). When we learn to trust this promise, it will bring us great consolation and courage.

Because of persecution, there was great anxiety among the brethren to whom Peter wrote. They were being “put to grief in manifold trials,” and their faith was being “proved by fire” (I Peter 1: 6–7). There was a “fiery trial” among them (I Peter 4:12). In 23 of this epistle’s 95 verses, Peter alludes to the persecutions and immense sufferings these brethren were undergoing for the Lord. A major purpose of this letter was to tell them how to deal with these anxieties.

Anxiety in 1 Peter 5:7 translates a word that refers to those things about which we worry and about which we are unsettled or undecided. Paul once confessed that he had daily “anxiety for all the churches” (II Corinthians 11:28). While his concern over the welfare of the Cause never faded, it appears that, by the time of his first imprisonment in Rome, he had learned the futility of “worrying” about it. He thus exhorted the Philippians, “In nothing be anxious…” (Philippians 4:6a).

The Lord made a lengthy statement on this subject in the Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on…. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof (Matthew 6:25–34).

If there is a difference in the exhortations of the Lord, of Paul, and of Peter, perhaps it is this: The Lord and Paul urge us to cultivate a calm and settled approach to life that will help prevent our becoming anxious about life’s experiences in the first place. Peter tells us what to do when we nonetheless, through human weakness, become anxious and distressed.

The antidote for worry is the promise of God's care and concern for His children. The word Peter used for God's “care” refers to His interest and concern and implies both His willingness and His ability to meet our needs. If God cares for the sparrow and the raven and adorns the expendable grass of the field, does He not much more care for those who are His children (Luke 12:6, 24, 28)? If He knows the very number of the hairs on our heads, He knows and is concerned about all of our far more important needs (Luke 12:7).

The promises of God and His Son to ever be with us are many. God's promise to Israel in this respect applies to us: I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee. So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear: What shall man do unto me? (Hebrews 13:5–6).

Our Savior promised that He would be with His people as they do His work “always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Peter's words are an echo of Psalms 55:22: “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.”

Immediately after urging us to be anxious in nothing, Paul wrote: “But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6b). With deep faith in and reliance upon God, even in the face of the great trials and storms of life, we can claim a blessed tranquility: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). Therefore, in a very uncertain world with Christians facing a very uncertain future in our own nation, let us fret less and trust and pray more.

Dub McClish