THE ECCLESIA OF CHRIST
THE ECCLESIA OF CHRIST
However, there is an equally clear passage which points us much further back in our consideration of the ecclesia: "This is that Moses . .. that was in the church [ecclesia] in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina . . ." (Acts 7:37-38). God has been taking out of the nations a people for His Name from the beginning; and, since the basic meaning of the Greek word ekklesia is that of an assembly called together for a particular purpose, it should not surprise us that Stephen, under inspiration, should project our understanding of the concept of the ecclesia way back into Old Testament times. This article will therefore consider the development of the ecclesia from earliest days, and seek to draw from the records those lessons which will help the twentieth-century ecclesia as it waits for the return of the Master. The ecclesia in Eden
It is my belief that the garden of Eden was a type of the temple of the age to come. It was high and lifted up, for the river which flowed out of it watered, that is, gave life to, the whole earth (Genesis 2:10-14). The garden, almost certainly, had a wall around it, with the entrance on the east (Genesis 3:24). It was of large extent, for it contained "every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food" (Genesis 2:9). Within it there was fellowship between man and the Elohim (Genesis 3:8). When Adam was expelled from the garden, it was both geographically and spiritually logical that the place where our earliest parents worshipped God should be before the cherubim at the east of the garden. Since both animal sacrifices and meal offerings were made, there must have been an altar. In later years, when the Aaronic priests first offered upon their altar, "there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat" (Leviticus 9:24); so, again, I think that it is a reasonable assumption that the acceptance of sacrifice outside the garden was by fire coming forth from the cherubim. What a privilege that must have been, to assemble as an ecclesia before the manifestation of the glory of the God of creation and receive the sign of acceptance at His hand! Sadly, all in the ecclesia did not see it in this light.
"And in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering [Heb. minchah] unto the LORD" (Genesis 4:3). Abel too brought his minchah (v. 4), but he understood by faith (Hebrews 11:4) that the first thing that a man needs to bring before God is atoning blood. He, therefore, brought a lamb for himself and (if "sin" in Genesis 4:7 is translated, as it can be, "sin offering") for his brother also. Cain’s wrath could not be placated, however, so Abel became the first prophet martyr (Luke 11:50-51), and Cain went out and founded the first apostate city community. Against this community the true ecclesia witnessed through the mouths of Enoch (Genesis 4:23-24; Jude 1:14-15) and Noah, until the Divine judgement fell upon the wicked.
(I believe that the faithful Enoch ofGenesis 5:21-24was the "young man" threatened by the wicked Lamech inGenesis 4:23-24, and that this Lamech was one of the "ungodly sinners" who uttered the "hard speeches" referred to by Enoch in his prophecy as recorded inJude 1:15.)
Thus, for a time after the events of Genesis 3:1-24, there was a faithful ecclesia around the altar at the gate of the garden. Then human nature asserted itself, Cain chose his own mode of worship, and the first apostasy (translated "a falling away" in 2 Thessalonians 2:3) occurred. What began as a division within the ecclesia developed into a situation where the true ecclesia was only a tiny remnant of eight persons, and the thoughts of every other man’s heart was only evil continually. It should not therefore surprise us in these latter days if those who are "not of us" (1 John 2:19) go out from us, and if the ecclesia is a tiny community in a wicked world. The examples of Enoch and Noah are exhortations to us to both witness against and preach the gospel to that world.
Abraham’s ecclesia The man Abraham was not a solitary worshipper of the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Genesis 14:14 states that he had 318 "trained [mg. instructed] servants". The root Hebrew word occurs in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go ..."; and the sense is given by Strong as ’to narrow’ Abraham had therefore taught these men the narrow way which leads to life. Reference is made in Genesis 14:13 to Mamre, Eshcol and Aner, who were "confederate" with Abraham. The Hebrew is literally "men [or masters] of a covenant with Abraham". (See Strong’s Concordance nos. 1167, 1285.) There was, therefore, a sizeable ecclesia in his time, consisting of those born in his house and those whom he had brought into the bonds of the covenant through his preaching of "the gospel" (Galatians 3:8). The ecclesia in Abraham’s day was not left without Divine instruction: "Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws" (Genesis 26:5). This verse indicates that a considerable body of teaching had been given to the patriarchs; and there are a number of practical instances of this teaching being applied throughout the book of Genesis. In Genesis 38:1 it is recorded that "Judah went down from his brethren . . ."; that is to say, he left Jacob’s altar and established his own ecclesia. The patriarchal law was observed in Judah’s ecclesia, for Onan was commanded to "raise up seed" to his brother, and Tamar (the daughter-in-law of the priest of the ecclesia) was commanded to be burnt when she was believed to be with child by whoredom (Genesis 38:24; Leviticus 21:9). Sadly, the doctrine of fellowship was not so well understood, for, after the death of Onan, Judah put away the innocent Tamar from amongst them (1 Corinthians 5:13). Yet Tamar remained faithful whilst in the world in the house of her father, and eventually Judah had to recognise her righteousness and receive her back into fellowship. All these things are "written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [ages] are come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). The ecclesia in the wilderness As was noted at the beginning of this article, the Spirit’s use of the word ekklesia in Acts 7:38 form the basis of our understanding that the "congregation" of Israel in the wilderness is a type of the ecclesia of Christ. The Apostle Paul puts it in even clearer terms in 1 Corinthians 10:1-33 : "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:1-4). In later verses in this passage the inspired apostle uses the Greek word for ’types’ (1 Corinthians 10:6, 1 Corinthians 10:11), thus showing us the way in which we should regard Israel in the wilderness—and what lessons that people has to teach us! There are warnings of the dangers of faithlessness, such as when they esteemed themselves to be as grasshoppers in the sight of the Canaanites and took up the cry of ’back to Egypt’. There is warning of the peril of secret idolatry, for, although the golden calf had been destroyed and the Kohathites carried the tabernacle of witness through the wilderness, in their hearts they carried "the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves" (Amos 5:26). There was apostasy in the ecclesia in the wilderness, for Korah set up his tabernacle in the midst of them (Numbers 16:24) and sought to lead the people into ’another fellowship’ ministered to by his 250 priests who burned incense. There was immorality too, when another tent, literally ’the place of curse’ (25:8), was set up in the camp and many committed fornication there (1 Corinthians 10:8). Yet, in the midst of all this, men like Joshua, Caleb and Phinehas walked faithfully, did not murmur or rebel, and were ultimately given inheritance in the land which flowed with milk and honey (Numbers 13:30; Numbers 14:6-9, Numbers 14:36-38; Joshua 14:6-14). There too, in the midst of the ecclesia, was the man Moses, the meekest of all men when subject to personal attack (Numbers 12:1-16), but valiant for the truth in the earth when Korah and all his company rose up against the ordinances of God (Numbers 16:1-50).
"Moses verily was faithful in all His house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after" (Hebrews 3:5). How sad it was, therefore, that on the day when "Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation [the ecclesia] together before the rock" (Numbers 20:10), when they should have spoken to the rock, which was now representative of the resurrected Christ, and out of which would have flowed rivers of living water (John 7:38), Moses himself became the rebel and forfeited his immediate place in the land.
"Upon this rock"
"And upon this rock I will build my church [ecclesia]" (Matthew 16:18). With the Old Testament background considered above, it is easy to see the true meaning of the Lord’s words. He is the foundation of the ecclesia: "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11). It is his life and his teaching that should be the basis of the life and teaching of the ecclesia. There is no spiritual profit in building upon any other foundation; some in the wilderness sought to be founded on Korah, and some in Corinth claimed to be baptized into the name of one other than Christ (1 Corinthians 1:12-15).
What do we build upon this foundation: "gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble" (1 Corinthians 3:12)? Whatever we build, the quality of our work will eventually become apparent, for "Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is" (1 Corinthians 3:13). The Apostles Paul and Peter clearly regarded each of us as individual stones, being built into a spiritual temple: "Now therefore ye are . . . fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord" (Ephesians 2:19-21). In 1 Peter 2:4-9 the believers are described as "lively stones", being built up as "a spiritual house" whose "chief corner stone" is the Lord Jesus Christ. The lesson of this figure is that, just as the children of Israel had to keep the camp in the wilderness physically clean so that God might continue to walk among them (Deuteronomy 23:12-14), so we must ensure that there is no spiritual uncleanness within the ecclesia by dealing with such matters in the way in which Paul taught the Corinthians to do in 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. The head of the body
There are nine passages in the New Testament where the ecclesia is described as a body or as the body of Christ. (Romans 12:4-5;1 Corinthians 10:17;1 Corinthians 10:12-27;Ephesians 2:16;Ephesians 4:12-16;Ephesians 5:23-30;Colossians 1:18;Colossians 2:19;Colossians 3:15.) These passages make it clear that Jesus is the head of the body, being its saviour (Ephesians 5:23) and "the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence" (Colossians 1:18). The ecclesia is to be subject to Christ (that is, obedient to his teaching and conforming to his example), for he loved the ecclesia and gave himself for it (Ephesians 5:24-25). The ecclesia is cleansed "with the washing of water by the word" (Ephesians 5:26), but for this to happen the ecclesia must read the Word, understand it and put its precepts into practice. This washing process is able to remove all spots and wrinkles, and to make the ecclesia holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27).
How vital it is, then, that, as a community, we continue to read the Word of God together, not just formally in meetings, but whenever we have opportunity! If we know that we are going to meet brethren and sisters we should have a Bible with us, and make it our practice to open it and talk about it. We cannot all teach, but we can all ask one another, "What have you found in the readings today?". Shame on us if we cannot answer that question because we have not read, or have read without thinking about the meaning of God’s Word. "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend" (Proverbs 27:17). We demonstrate the depth and warMath of our friendships in the Truth by the amount of sharpening which we do.
While Christ is several times described as the head of the body, or the ecclesia, it is important to notice that Scripture never calls him the King of the ecclesia. The study of the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ is too large a subject to cover in depth in this article, but the basic facts are these:
1 There are references in the Gospels to Jesus as King of the Jews (for example, Matthew 2:2; Matthew 27:11, Matthew 27:29, Matthew 27:37, Matthew 27:42). These are often accusations by Jesus’s enemies.
2 To Jesus in the days of his flesh God was "the great King" (Matthew 5:35).
3 Enemies of the Truth accused the disciples of preaching Jesus as a rival king to Caesar (Acts 17:7), but there is no evidence in the Acts or epistles that they ever did this.
4 The only references in the epistles of Paul and Peter to any other than earthly kings are to God (1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:15).
5 Only when the Lamb appears at the head of his armies is he described as "Lord of lords, and King of kings" (Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16).
Thus the concept of Jesus ruling now in the hearts and minds of his servants is entirely absent from the New Testament Scriptures. The bridegroom and the bride For the Lord Jesus Christ and for the ecclesia this is a time of waiting and watching for the consummation of the Father’s purpose. Jesus is now, as he said, "set down with my Father in His throne" in the heavens (Revelation 3:21), waiting for the time when he will sit on his own throne in Jerusalem (Luke 1:32). During this waiting period Jesus both described himself and is described by the inspired New Testament writers as "the bridegroom", while the ecclesia is described as "the bride". The present work of the bride (the ecclesia) is to "[make] herself ready" (Revelation 19:7) for the coming of the bridegroom. Only when she has done this will it be "granted" to her to be "arrayed in fine linen, clean and white", which is defined as "the righteousness of saints" (Revelation 19:8).
How this process should work is illustrated in Psalms 45:1-17. There, the bride is commanded to "forget .. . thine own people, and thy father’s house" (Psalms 45:10). There has to be separation from the world. Before the bride is brought unto the king "in raiment of needlework" (Psalms 45:14) she is said in verse 13 to be "all glorious within". The word translated "within" occurs in 2 Chronicles 29:16 ("inner part"), where it describes the holy of holies which was in process of being cleansed by Hezekiah’s priests. Putting these two passages together, it becomes clear that it is our responsibility, as constituents of the bride, to cleanse our hearts in preparation for the coming of the bridegroom.
Taking another aspect of the figure, Jesus described his disciples as ten virgins who, as they watched for the coming bridegroom, all slumbered and slept (Matthew 25:1-13). The Apostle Paul warned the ecclesia in his day of the dangers of spiritually going to sleep in the face of the imminent coming of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:1-9). The true bride is presented in Scripture as a chaste virgin; and, as such, there is always a danger of corruption taking place before the coming of the bridegroom. In 2 Corinthians 11:2-4 the danger is doctrinal: "another Jesus", or "another gospel". In Ephesians 5:1-21 (in the context of the great passage about Christ and the ecclesia in the latter part of the chapter) Paul warned of the dangers of moral corruption in the ecclesia, and exhorted that there be no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.
How much do we love the bridegroom? The basis of the relationship between bride and bridegroom is (or ought to be) love. In the case of the Lord there is no doubt. John wrote of "him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood" (Revelation 1:5). But what of our love for him? Consider the following words:
"If God were your Father, ye would love me" (John 8:42);
"If a man love me, he will keep my words" (John 14:23);
"Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?" (John 21:15);
"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema" (1 Corinthians 16:22);
"Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity" (Ephesians 6:24);
".. . hearing of thy love and faith, which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus" (Philemon 1:5).
Love of the Lord Jesus Christ should be one of the greatest motivating forces in our lives, both as individuals and as an ecclesia: "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).