01.052. WHAT GOD IS DOING THROUGH THE CHURCH
Lesson Forty-Five WHAT GOD IS DOING THROUGH THE CHURCH Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:16-20; Matthew 24:3-14.
Scriptures to Memorize: “That thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).
72. Q. Who is the Administrator of the church of Christ?
A. The Holy Spirit is the Administrator of the true Church.
(1) Christ is the Head of the Church. On His return to the Father, however, the Holy Spirit “came down from heaven” to act as His Agent. (2) The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost to incorporate, indwell and administer the true Church throughout the present Dispensation. (3) The special work of the Holy Spirit in this Dispensation is to apply Christ’s atoning work to the hearts of men, and to realize and consummate God’s Plan of Redemption for man.
73. Q. Through what means does the Holy Spirit administer the church of Christ?
A. He does so through the Word of Christ, i.e., the New Testament Scriptures.
(1) It is through the Word that the Holy Spirit (a) convicts sinners, and (b) sanctifies the saints. John 16:8—“And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” Cf. Acts 2:37. Colossians 3:16—“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” (2) It is through the Word of Christ that the Holy Spirit organizes the local church, designates its officiary, and administers its affairs. Acts 20:28—“to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops,” etc.
74. Q. What are the three classes of officers authorized by the Holy Spirit for the local churches of Christ?
A. They are: Evangelists, Elders, and Deacons.
(1) Evangelists are also spoken of as ministers. Acts 21:8, Ephesians 4:11; 2 Timothy 4:5; 1 Timothy 4:6, etc. Evangelists are fundamentally preachers of the Gospel, bearers of the glad tidings, etc. 1 Timothy 5:17, 2 Timothy 4:12, 1 Corinthians 1:21, Romans 10:14, etc. (2) Elders are also known as bishops, pastors, overseers, presbyters, etc. Titus 1:5-9; 1 Tim. 3:17; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-4; Php 1:1; Ephesians 4:11; 1 Timothy 4:14, etc. To the elders of the local church is committed the spiritual leadership of the flock. (3) Deacons, Acts 6:1-6, Php 1:1, 1 Timothy 3:8-13. The word deacon means, literally, servant. Deacons are elected to look after the material and temporal interests of the local church. (4) It should be made clear at this point, that the apostolic and prophetic offices were extraordinary and temporary; that is, they belonged only to the infancy of the Church. The Apostles were witnesses and ambassadors of Christ, as we have already learned. (See Lesson Forty-One.) The prophets were inspired teachers. Acts 11:27; Acts 13:1-2; Ephesians 4:11. The apostolic and prophetic offices came to an end when the written Word was compiled and installed in the Church. We have the inspired Book, the New Testament Scriptures, which is truly the apostles’ teaching, as our all-sufficient guide in religious faith and practice. 1 Corinthians 13:8, Romans 10:8, 2 Peter 1:3, Jude 1:3, etc.
75. Q. What, firstly, is God doing through the Church?
A. Through the church of Christ, God is perpetuating and perfecting the essential laws, principles and institutions of true religion.
(1) Our Altar is Christ, the sacrificial Altar for all mankind. (2) Our Sacrifice is the Lamb of God Himself. John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 7:26-27, etc. (3) Our High Priest is Christ, and our Priesthood is a priesthood of all Christians. Hebrews 9:11-12; 1 Peter 2:5; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:10; Hebrews 13:15; Romans 12:1.
76. Q. What, secondly, is God doing through the Church?
A. Through the church of Christ, God is preserving and perpetuating the means and appointments of true Christian worship.
77. Q. What are the means and appointments of true Christian worship?
A. They are: (1) the preaching and teaching of the New Testament Scriptures, the apostles’ teaching; (2) the contribution of tithes and offerings; the Lord’s Supper, or breaking of bread; and prayer.
(1) Acts 2:42—“they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (2) The apostles’ teaching, which is the word of Christ, was at first oral, but is now embodied in the New Testament Scriptures. It is to be taught and proclaimed by faithful men, 2 Timothy 2:2. (3) Fellowship, from the Greek word koinonia, which is rendered “contribution” in Romans 15:26; and, in 2 Corinthians 8:4, is given “the fellowship in the ministering to the saints.” The term evidently alludes to the contribution and distribution of tithes and offerings, for the support of the ministry, the care of the needy, the aged, the distressed, etc. The offering is an essential part of Christian worship. 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. (4) The breaking of bread, otherwise known as the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20), and as the Communion of the Body and of the Blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16). The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of the Atonement; it commemorates and pictorilizes the death and suffering of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). It is the very heart and center of all true Christian worship. (5) Prayer, which is a necessary and vital part of true worship, and the only means which the Christian has to secure daily forgiveness of sin. Acts 8:22, 1 John 1:9, 1 John 2:1. 1 Thessalonians 5:17—“pray without ceasing.”
78. Q. What does Jesus say with regard to true worship?
A.He says: “God is a Spirit; and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). That is, true worship is the communion of the human spirit with the Divine Spirit, according to the terms, means and appointments laid down in the Word of truth. For Christians, the Word of truth is the New Testament Scriptures.
79. Q. Through what local institution does God thus perpetuate the means and appointments of true Christian worship?
A.Through the local assembly or congregation of obedient believers, i.e., the local church. The church universal concretes itself on earth in the local congregation of Christians. It is through the local church that the means and appointments of true Christian worship are thus preserved; and not through a lodge, club, fraternity, or human society of any kind. 1 Corinthians 11:20—“when therefore ye assemble yourselves together.” Hebrews 10:25—“not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is.” Ephesians 2:22—“ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.”
80. Q. What is the day divinely appointed for Christian worship and service?
A. The first day of the week, known as the Lord’s Day.
Acts 20:7—“Upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread,” etc. Revelation 1:10—“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.” The Lord’s Day is essentially a memorial of the resurrection of Christ. Mark 16:9—“Now when he was risen early on the first day of the week,” etc.
81. Q. What, thirdly, is God doing through the Church?
A. Through the church of Christ, God is preserving and perpetuating His divine ordinances.
82. Q. What are the Christian ordinances?
A. They are: Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.
(1) Baptism, scripturally, is the immersion of a penitent believer in water, in obedience to the command of Christ. See Mark 16:16, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:38, Acts 8:36-39, Colossians 2:12, Romans 6:3-4, etc. (2) The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of the suffering and death of Christ on the Cross. See 1 Corinthians 10:16; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
83. Q. Should we speak of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as “ordinances of the Church”?
A. No. They are ordinances of Christ, which He has ordained for the Church to keep.
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are not “ordinances of the Church.” They were instituted by Christ Himself for the Church to observe in their original manner and frequency of observance. See Matthew 26:26-29, Luke 22:14-23, Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:16. No group of churchmen, clergymen, theologians or priests; no assembly, conference, council, synod or congregation has any right to change, in any particular whatsoever, the observance of the Lord’s ordinances as described in the New Testament Scriptures. They should be regarded as sacred trusts, to be perpetuated by the Church in their original simplicity and purity.
84. Q. What, fourthly, is God doing through the Church?
A. Through the church of Christ, God is preserving and perpetuating His Word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:19—“Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth.” Matthew 24:35—“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” 1 Timothy 3:15—“the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” Departure from God’s truth is heresy, and it is the duty of the Church to resist and expose heresy. 2 John 1:9, “Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God. . . . If any one cometh unto you, and bringeth not this teaching, receive him not into your house, and give him no greeting: for he that giveth him greeting partaketh in his evil works.”
85. Q. What, fifthly, is God doing through the Church?
A. Through the church of Christ, God is causing the Gospel to be preached for a testimony unto all the nations.
Mark 16:15—“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation.” Matthew 28:19—“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations,” etc. Matthew 24:14—“this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.” The field is the world.
86. Q. What, sixthly, is God doing through the Church?
A.Through the church of Christ, God is perpetuating and realizing His Plan of Redemption for mankind. The Father originates and plans. The Son executes. The Spirit applies, realizes and consummates. So the Holy Spirit is the Agent of the Godhead throughout the present Dispensation, in applying the benefits of Christ’s redemptive work to the hearts and lives of men and women; thus regenerating them, sanctifying them, and making them partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and fitting them for their eternal inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, and which fadeth not away (1 Peter 1:4). 1 Peter 1:2—“according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”
87. Q. What, then, is the twofold mission of the Church?
A. The twofold mission of the church of Christ is: (1) to preserve the truth of God in its simplicity and purity; and (2) to proclaim the truth of God for a testimony unto all the nations.
88. Q. What fundamental truth with regard to the Church should be impressed upon the minds of people of our day and age?
A.The truth that the one and only institution in which God has promised to enter into covenant relationship with men, throughout the Christian Dispensation, is the church of Christ. In saying this, we make no exceptions or qualifications. No man can hope to be saved on the ground of his morality, respectability, good citizenship, etc.; or in consequence of his social, fraternal, or political connections. We cannot be saved because we are good Masons, good Odd Fellows, good citizens, etc. Salvation is only in Christ; and to be in Christ, scripturally, is to be in the church of Christ, which is his body. “Unto him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations for ever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:21).
REVIEW EXAMINATION OVER LESSON FORTY-FIVE 72.Q.Who is the Administrator of the church of Christ?
73. Q. Through what means does the Holy Spirit administer the church of Christ?
74. Q. What are the three classes of officers authorized by the Holy Spirit for the local churches of Christ?
75. Q. What, firstly, is God doing through the Church?
76. Q. What, secondly, is God doing through the Church?
77. Q. What are the means and appointments of true Christian worship?
78. Q. What does Jesus say with regard to true worship?
79. Q. Through what local institution does God thus perpetuate the means and appointments of true Christian worship?
80. Q. What is the day divinely appointed for Christian worship and service?
81. Q. What, thirdly, is God doing through the Church?
82. Q. What are the Christian ordinances?
83. Q. Should we speak of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper as “ordinances of the Church”?
84. Q. What, fourthly, is God doing through the Church?
85. Q. What, fifthly, is God doing through the Church?
86. Q. What, sixthly, is God doing through the Church?
87. Q. What, then, is the twofold mission of the Church?
88. Q. What fundamental truth with regard to the Church should be impressed upon the minds of people of our day and age?