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Pastor: Dr. Lester Hutson

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How Important is the Right Church to God?

1.  Ephesians 5:25 - Christ died for it. This one verse alone clearly tells us just how precious the church is to God. It reads,   'Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.' God gave up His Son, we know, to redeem mankind (John 3:16), but He also gave Him up for the organization which He, Christ, would found and educate during His earthly ministry. Jesus said 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends' (John 15:13), and He proved that on Calvary when He died for sinners and for His church. If Almighty God places such a high value on the church shouldn't you and I also esteem it to the same degree?

2. Mark 3:13-19, Luke 6:12-16 - Christ founded it. Not only did God pay a dear price for the church but He also used extreme measures to found it. Christ put aside His will, His position as Lord of the Universe and gave up all the glories of Heaven to take on the form of man to live a rejected and abused life in order to establish the first church, educate its charter members and then to die a lonely, horrible death on the cross for the redemption of mankind. Can you think of a more extreme act to accomplish a goal? However, despite the value God places on the church and the lengths He went to establish it the vast majority of Christians today are confused about its inception and its character. Let us apply our recently learned principles of proper Biblical interpretation  to understand from God's Word that Christ did indeed found the first church. Remember the principle of 'original meanings'? Here is where that principle comes into play in a very important manner. Our English New Testament uses the word 'church'. The original word used by the Holy Spirit was the Greek word 'ecclesia'.   Our English word is ambiguous and can be used equally as well in speaking of a building as of a group of people. The original word, 'ecclesia', is much more exact. It means 'a called out assembly'. It can never be used to identify a building but must always represent a congregation of persons. In Acts chapter 19 there is recorded a town meeting in Ephesus. The idol makers of that city were concerned that Paul's preaching would damage their sales. It was a confused and unsuccessful meeting, but the important and relative point is that the meeting was correctly referred to as an 'assembly' and not a 'church' by the English translators. Yet the same Greek word, 'ecclesia', was used in this passage as well as in the many other passages where the English word 'church' appears. You see, 'ecclesia' was an everyday word meaning a group of people called out to meet together. And it was precisely that word that the Holy Spirit used in the original writings because He wanted that same exact meaning to be conveyed. The church is a called out group of individuals in a specific geographic location. Now look at Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 6:12-16. Both of these passages relate the same event; Christ's calling out His 12 from the many of John the Baptist's disciples. The apostle Paul confirmed this fact in 1 Corinthians 12:28 where he wrote, 'And God hath set some in the church, first apostles...'. So here is recorded the founding of Christ's ecclesia, His called out group of 12, who along with Himself, formed that first church.

And Christ not only founded the first church, He spent three years training its elders (the 12 apostles) on everything from soul-winning to church discipline and church business.

3. Matthew 16:18 - Christ states He will personally edify His new church and promised it perpetuity. We saw in the previous point that Christ founded His 'ecclesia', or 'assembly' when He called out His twelve disciples from the many of John the Baptist's. Now, sometime later He makes this statement, 'And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' We know Christ was not speaking prophetically of some future event because as we have already learned He had already founded His church. In addition, if we look at the original word used for 'will build' we will see that the Holy Spirit used the Greek word 'oikodomeo' which means to 'build up' or to 'edify'. Christ was simply stating that He was the foundation of the church, and that He would edify or educate, strengthen and empower it. And, He also states here that nothing will be able to destroy His church. In other words, there would always be one of His churches alive and functioning in this age.

4.  Matthew 18:15-19 - Christ instructed His church on matters of discipline and voting. In this passage in Matthew Christ instructs his new church members on how to handle personal offenses within the church membership and that voting is to be the method the church body is to use to make decisions. Notice verse 17 in particular. Here the Lord tells His church members that if an offending brother refuses to repent they should take the matter before the church. Now obviously they could not do this if the church did not exist at the time. Furthermore, His lesson would have been lost on them had they not already understood what an 'ecclesia' was. This lesson could only be applied to a local congregation. This lesson was just one of the many which our Lord gave His first church during His earthly ministry. In fact, as mentioned before, His entire ministry was primarily devoted to the training of His 12 charter church members. Then, after His resurrection He met with His church and gave them their marching orders, their mission statement.

5.  Matthew 28:18-20 Christ gave the church its mission. In Matthew 28:18-20 is recorded what we Christians have labeled the Great Commission. Christ founded His first church and gave it the order to 'teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.' We must remember that Christ was speaking here to His first church and not to just Christian individuals. This commission was not given to individuals but to a congregation, an assembly, a church. So, if we apply the principle of 'application and limitation' to this passage we can only apply it to other congregations and churches. It is not each Christian's mission to reach the world for Christ; it is each church's responsibility. It is, however, each Christian's responsibility to join one of the Lord's churches and help that church reach the world for Christ.

6.  Acts 1:8, Acts 2:1-4 - Christ promised and delivered Holy Ghost power to His first church. Sadly this great one-time event is one of the most misunderstood and misapplied miracles of this age. In the last meeting with His church on earth Christ promised to empower them with His Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). Then, on the day of Pentecost, during another church meeting Christ delivered on that promise and poured out the Holy Spirit on the twelve elders of that first church. This was not an individual event but a church event. The shekinah glory of God had appeared twice before in the history of mankind: in the pillar of fire and pillar of cloud over the tabernacle, and then a second time when Solomon's temple was built. In each of those occurrences God was putting His stamp of approval on that particular organization. Now, a third time, He shows His approval on this new organization, the church. Once again, by applying the principle of 'application and limitation' we can only apply this event to the Apostles and to that first church. The power Christ gave them was in order to prove to all the world that He was to be worshipped in the church and not anywhere else, that this new organization, an assembly of baptized believers, was His chosen method of presenting Himself and His message to the entire world for the rest of this age.

7.  Much of the New Testament written to churches and church members. Remember Christ's promise to edify His church? Well, His earthly ministry was primarily devoted to the training of His first church's leaders. Then, after His ascension to glory He fulfilled that promise through the revelation of the New Testament. Within its pages are contained everything God wanted the first churches to know and practice, and from them we today can compare our churches to see which ones are following the New Testament pattern and are therefore one of His churches. 

8. Revelation 2:1 - Revelation 3:22 - Christ's last words were to local churches. Finally, as if to put an exclamation point on the subject, Christ's last recorded words were to 7 local churches. He personally dictated to John 7 letters addressed to the 7 specific congregations in existence at that time (approximately 96 A.D.). And His final admonition is that all who hear (or read) take heed to what He, through the Holy Spirit, has said to the churches.

Summary: So how important is the right church to God? Very. Christ founded it, dedicated His earthly ministry to educating its leaders, died for it, commissioned it to reach the world with the Gospel and to reproduce itself down through time until the end of this age, empowered it with the Holy Ghost and inspired the New Testament for its edification. And now, almost 20 centuries later His churches still exist and continue doing what He instructed His first church to do. But there are also many churches which are not following the New Testament pattern and which have deviated so far from Christ's teachings that they cannot be called one of His churches. So how can we tell which of today's churches are one of His churches? By studying God's Word and learning what the identifying characteristics of Christ's first church and of the churches of the New Testament.

Next Lesson:  Join me next lesson as we look into God's Word to learn what it says are 'The Characteristics of the Right Church'.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"