How the word applies church
The only place we need to look to, is the bible to know how the word of God, uses the word church.
We have seen that the word temple gets used in a spiritual way, and in a physical way.
Physical way
Act 7:47 (47) But Solomon built him an house.
| Spiritual way
1Co 6:19 (19) What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
|
Even though our body is physical, we know that it is not literally a physical temple constructed by men, for we are not a building but rather human beings.
But in saying that, I think it is very appropriate that God in a spiritual or figurative manner calls us a temple, just because we are now his habitation, for he dwells in us.
And then we’ve seen that a synagogue points to a physical building:
Luk 7:5
(5) For he loveth our nation, and he hath
built us a synagogue.
But now how does the word of God apply the word church?
Word churchWell, let us start with our first scripture:
Col 1:18
(18) And he is the
head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Who is the body?
Rom 12:5
(5) So
we, being many, are
one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
We who are believers are the body of Christ, and in turn are the church.
So born again believers are the church.
So now that we have covered a verse that shows that we are the church, now let us cover the way it is used in certain phrases.
In the churchNow the phrase “
in the church” is used a few different ways in the bible.
I will cover first, one of the meanings, and then get to the second meaning.
One meaningEph 3:20-21
(20)
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
(21)
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
That is unto God be glory “
in the church” or “
within the body of believers”, so God wants to be glorified among his body or believers, which is what it is talking about here, within the phrase of being glorified in the church.
1Co 12:27-28
(27) Now
ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
(28) And
God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
Here it is just simply showing that “
in the church” or “
within the body of believers”, God sets up people to be apostles, prophets, teachers, or people to be used in gifts of healings and so on.
And for some, it is possible that they even take some of these verses as referring to a building, but then what about this next scripture?
Act 7:38
(38) This is he,
that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which
spake to him in the mount Sina, and
with our fathers: who received the
lively oracles to give unto us:
Now this is talking about Moses being in the church, in the wilderness with the angel which spake with him, which was God, which he spake to him in the mount called Sinai, (Sina in this case) .
And they received lively oracles.
Well what happened on mount Sinai?
Exo 19:10-11
(10) And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and
sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,
(11) And
be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will
come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.
So Moses was preparing the people to meet in some fashion with God.
And then we go to our next verses:
Exo 19:12
(12) And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves,
that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:
Exo 19:16
(16) And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were
thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the
voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp
trembled.
Exo 19:17
(17) And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp
to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
Now it is Moses that received the lively oracles from God and then gave it to the people.
So Moses was in the church, in the wilderness (
even though not being in a building), and at this point they were
meeting with God and receiving instruction from God, yet
even though they were not in a building, but rather they were in the wilderness, but more specifically were in the open air at the edge of the mountain, and Moses went up the mountain, yet Moses was still in the church.
But the way it is meaning here about Moses being in the church, is that Moses was within the body of God’s people, and really that is all it is meaning.
So now we will get to a second way that the term “in the church” is used.
A second meaning1Co 11:17-20
(17) Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye
come together not for the better, but for the worse.
(18) For first of all, when ye
come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
(19) For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
(20) When ye
come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
Now some might interpret verse 18 were it says “
when ye come together in the church”, to refer to a building, but is that term really referred to in that way? Or is it saying this in a different way?
Now there are many things mentioned between verses 17-20 of 1 Corinthians chapter 11.
And some things it talks about is
coming together in the church, and also
coming together into one place.
It is not giving any direct connection with the sayings
coming together in the church and
coming together into one place, but obviously they were coming together into one place for a reason.
And there were divisions among them, and some were not coming together for the better but for the worse.
So Paul was correcting the situation.
Now in retrospect to the place, it just simply says when you come together (therefore) into one place, and it does not specify what the place is, just that they would decide to meet at a certain place, which could have been a house, or it could have been a building, or it could have even been in a certain area where they were in the open air.
Paul’s focus was not on the specific place here, but rather his focus was to correct what certain of them were doing in this certain place that they decided to gather at.
1Co 11:22
(22) What?
have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
There is no doubt that people came from their houses to gather here, but this specific place that they gathered at here, is not specified, the more important issue was not the place, (
which could have been an house that could accommodate all these people or a building etc.) but rather why they were gathering for?
So they did gather somewhere, for you need somewhere to meet, but what was the true purpose for these gatherings here?
And what does verse 18 mean by “
when ye come together in the church”?
Well we will get into what the saying of “coming together in the church” is referring to, but before I go there, I just want to mention the Strong’s definition of the word church:
(Strong's concordance, word church)
(G1577
ἐκκλησία
ekklēsia
ek-klay-see'-ah
From a compound of G1537 and a derivative of G2564; a calling out, that is, (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both): - assembly, church.
Total KJV occurrences: 115)Notice the word meeting.
Here is a comment on this:
(B.W. Johnson)(…When ye come together in the church. In a meeting of the church.……It is not to eat the Lord's supper. Coming in such a spirit they were in no fit mind to eat the Lord's supper.…)Now let us go back to our Corinthian scriptures and explore it a little bit more.
1Co 11:20
(20) When ye come together therefore into one place,
this is not to eat the Lord's supper.
It seems that some were not rightly interpreting what the Lord’s Supper was all about.
It seems that some thought it was some kind of feast.
1Co 11:21-22
(21)
For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and
another is drunken.
(22) What?
have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.
Yet Paul says do ye not have houses to eat in or drink in?
It seems that Paul incorporated the Lord’s Supper into their meetings.
And it is not that it is wrong for us to have meals together, but during the service, it is not the time for that, for it is a time set aside strictly for blessing the Lord and the building up of the body.
And I personally believe in having fellowship and having meetings, and there is a time for everything.
1Co 11:23-24
(23)
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
(24) And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
So what Paul was correcting was what the Lord’s Supper was truly about.
And the saying of “
coming together in the church” is actually referring to a
church service, or
a meeting.
And in our meetings, or in the church, make sure you gather for the right reasons.
And the phrase that says “
coming together into one place” is just simply referring to the place we are meeting at, which can be a building, a house, a tent, or even outdoors.
Maybe if some persecutions get very severe, we may have to gather in caves.
So we can see here, that there is not a clear direct connection to a physical place, in regards to the word church.
Now some might say then what about this scripture?
1Ti 3:15
(15) But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself
in the house of God,
which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
Well since we have not seen any direct connections, in the verses we have quoted, in regards to the word church referring to a physically constructed building, then we have to ask ourselves, what is this verse referring to, a physical house or a spiritual house?
Well the word of God says this:
Heb 3:6
(6) But Christ as a son over his own house;
whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
So, 1 Timothy connects the church with being a house, and this scripture shows us that we are his house.
So Paul was mentioning how we ought to behave ourselves among
the body of believers, and that is all it is saying.
And there are other verses in the bible to were being “
in the church” refers to a meeting or church service.
So now that we have addressed these things, let us see how Paul and the disciples and so on, addressed the churches, and concerning some greetings.
Addressing/greeting churches1Co 1:2
(2)
Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Rev 2:1
(1) Unto the angel of
the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
Phm 1:2
(2) And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and
to the church in thy house:
Rom 16:5
(5) Likewise
greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
Notice how the churches are addressed.
-
Unto the church of God which his at Corinth= which is just saying to the body of believers which are at Corinth.
-
Unto…the church of Ephesus= which is just saying unto the body of believers who are of Ephesus.
-
To the church in thy house= it is just simply referring to the body of believers that gathered at this person’s house.
-
Greet the church that is in their house= it just simply points to greeting the body of Christ which gathered at this specific house.
And now we go to this next scripture:
1Co 16:19
(19) The
churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord,
with the church that is in their house.
Here Paul is relaying a message to the Corinthians of how that the churches of Asia were saluting them, and then it specifies a particular salutation from Aquila and Priscilla, with the church that is in their house, both Aquila and Priscilla and the body of believers that gathered at their house were saluting the Corinthians.
And notice that not once does it mention a physical house or building as being a church, no not once!!!
It does not say the church which is the house but rather the church which is in their house.
Notice that the bible never ever mentions a saying of going to church, no not once, now it does mention coming in the church, which at times is referring to coming into a meeting, or church service, to were people of God are assembled at.
Why doesn’t the bible ever mention going to church at a building?
Well because the new testament focus is not on a building, nor on going to a building called the church, but rather the focus is on being the church, being the church, being the church!!!!!!!
And if you are being the church, you know what you will do, you will seek to obey God’s word, and you will obey things like this:
Heb 10:25
(25)
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
And if you are being the church, you will be loving God with all your heart, mind ,and soul, and your neighbor as yourself, and you will be standing on truth, and really it will be the living word flowing through, for you are being the church.
I will see if I will cover another saying in another post, we will see.
Love yous in the Lord.