Church

1. 0:00How do you conclude a doxology like that? Amen. This is the church that has an identity. We want to identify the church. So let's just go back to basic Bible teaching. Have an old-fashioned Bible study. Open your Bibles to the book of Acts chapter 2. The gospel was preached. Christ was crucified, buried, resurrected, ascended, coronated.
2. 0:26He has all the authority there is. And out of that sermon showing that Christ is the Lord with the authority to save men, as Joel prophesied and as Peter quoted in Acts 2.21, Peter said, Repent ye and be immersed, every one of you, in the name of, by the authority of. It's not a formula of words you have to repeat.
3. 0:51When you baptize somebody, it is the authority by which we're to be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. To receive the indwelling gift of the Holy Spirit apart from which no man is his. Romans 8 and verse 9. And it states in Acts that 3,000 people stepped forward for baptism. And the church of Christ came into existence. God purposed it. He promised it.
4. 1:20He prophesied it. Christ perfected it. And on Pentecost it was preached. And we have an assignment to perpetuate it until Jesus returns. It's an important thing, this thing called the church. So the church is what? Well, after those 3,000 were baptized, the good old King James, that's a good translation, folks. It comes from the Textus Receptus. And in the New King James, it says the Lord, Acts 2.47,
5. 1:48added to the church daily, such as should be saved. Now since that time, there have been some older manuscripts, the Sinaiticus and the Vaticanus, and these do not have what the King James has in Acts 2.47. The Lord added together, such as were being saved. But that's all right. It's just like our brother read a while ago in the book of Ephesians. The church is the body of the reconciled. We'll be there in just a moment.
6. 2:16Right now we're defining the church. What is it? It's all of the saved. Acts 2.47. The Lord added the saved to the church. What's the church? It's the saved. We're not speaking denominationally. We're speaking biblically. And that is that every member of Christ is a member of the church. Because when you're saved, Christ adds you to it. You don't join a thing. You let him add you to the body of Christ. That's the universal.
7. 2:46Body of Christ. So what's the church? Well, it's the saved of Christ. Now, outside we've got a sign. It's a good sign. It says the church of Christ. That's right. That's in harmony with Romans. Where in chapter 16, you find four local churches mentioned. And by the time he gets through talking about those churches, he says the churches of Christ salute you. That's not an orphan statement. It comes out of the preceding. Churches of Christ. That's not a name.
8. 3:16It's a designation of relationship. It's the church that belongs to Christ. Why? He saved it. And then in Acts 20, the Apostle Paul is speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus. And he says, Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his blood. Now, what is the church? It's the blood purchased.
9. 3:45It's everybody who at baptism received remission of sins for which Jesus shed His blood. Matthew 26, 28, He said as He held the cup up, This is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for remission of sins. But in Acts 2, we're baptized for the remission of sins. What is it then? Those who have remission are added to the church. What's the church? The blood purchased.
10. 4:11When you're baptized, you receive the benefits of the shed blood. You receive remission of sins. You're a member of the church. Denominationalism doesn't seem to understand that. Won't understand that. We need to be strong on this matter because there are people out here who've been led astray for the past 500 years. And it's difficult to be born.
11. 4:33brought up in a society that denies baptism as essential, teaches that we're saved by faith alone, despite the fact James 2.24 says you're not saved by faith alone, and to convert these people overnight? Very hard to do. So we're going to have to be very sympathetic. We're going to have to understand there's some people out there that don't get it any quicker than some of us do in class from time to time. What we need to do is to pray about it.
12. 4:59And then go right back to the same teaching. Until finally it breaks through. And that's going to take people who are prepared. Who know what they're talking about. In relation to the church. So what's the church? Well it's the blood purchased. Wouldn't that make a fine sign outside? The blood purchased of Jesus. Worship here. Of course if somebody was looking for the church. A place to worship. You might wonder what group of people that is. What are they teaching? But it's just as.
13. 5:29Biblical as the Church of Christ. Now I'm for just staying with the Church of Christ worldwide. But we're talking about what the Church is. Now turn with me over here to the book of 1 Corinthians. Are you there? Open that Bible. Look over there at 1 Corinthians 1, verse 1 and 2. He said, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, and Sosthenes, our brother, unto the Church of God, which is at Corinth, even them, now watch him identify the Church at Corinth, even them, the Church, singular,
14. 6:00even them, plural. Now here is the church. And he says, I'm writing to the church, even them that are sanctified, called to be saints. What's the church? It's the sanctified. It's the set apart. That's from the word hagios, holy. Now your NIV would have that translated a little bit different. It's just as good, but it doesn't communicate as well.
15. 6:26It says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the church of God, which is to Corinth, even them that are sanctified, called to be holy. How many people in this world do not know what holy is? They don't know what it means to be sanctified. Actually, in India, where you can have...
16. 6:51Victor, after 15 years of full-time service there, can tell you much more than I can. But I have seen holy men in India, according to their definition of holy. He climbs up on some kind of a concrete or a wooden stool, and he sits there. He takes a vow of silence, and people pass by and say, Isn't that marvelous? Isn't that wonderful? He's holy. What's he good for? Nothing. But they put money at his feet.
17. 7:20Decorate him with garlands that are fresh from the florist. What is it to be holy? It's to be sanctified. It's to be set apart. When you were baptized, you were set apart from sin, death, and hell. And aren't you glad? But that's the church. And so there's a marvelous sign outside. It says the church of Christ. But look here. We could say the sanctified of Jesus meet here. Wouldn't that be great? That would be just as biblical as what we have.
18. 7:47Them that are called to be saints. What's the church? Well, the word church from Ecclesia simply means a called out body of people. And when you answered, you know, in 1 Thessalonians 2.12, it says God called you into his own glory and kingdom. And in 2 Thessalonians 2.14, he reminds them of how they were called by the gospel. And when you answered the gospel, you answered the call, you became the called out.
19. 8:14And that's the church. Now that would be a good sign for outside. The called out of Jesus meet here. Nobody would know what it means, but that would be pretty good. We're telling you what the church is. The Bible tells us what the church is. It's people. People who put their trust in Christ as sin offering. They don't just say Jesus is the Son of God and get baptized. These are people who with faith in Jesus as the risen Son.
20. 8:45propitiation, the satisfaction for our sins, the sin offering that God made Jesus to be. We put our trust in Him that when we do what He asks us to do for the remission of sins, we believe He gives us remission. How do you know you have remission? Because He said He'd give it to you when you do what He asks you to. How do you know you have the Holy Spirit? Because He said if you're baptized for forgiveness, you'll receive the gift of the Spirit. How do you know you have the Spirit? Same way you know you have forgiveness. He said so.
21. 9:14My question is, do you trust Him? Or are you looking for some kind of a feeling experience by which you would, without the Holy Spirit's direct inspiration, interpret such feeling as a guarantee you have the Spirit? Baloney! The Bible doesn't teach that. What is the church? It's the people who are filled with the Spirit of God from their baptism. This is where denominationalism fails.
22. 9:41to communicate the good news of justification by the grace of God through an obedience of faith in Jesus Christ. What's the church? Well, turn over here to Ephesians 1. Look at chapter 1, verse 22 and 23, where it says, God gave Jesus to be head over all things to the church, which is His body. What's the church? It's His spiritual body. And what did we read just a moment ago? See already clearly. Listen to it.
23. 10:09Ephesians 2.14, He, Christ, is our peace, who made both, you and you, one, having broken down the middle wall of partition, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, He abolished it, that He might create in Himself of the two one new man, soul making peace, and might reconcile them both in one.
24. 10:33Body unto God by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. What is the church? Say what the text says. Don't say something else. Say what that says. What's the church? The body of the reconciled. There's not one reconciled person outside the church. What's this idea of be saved and join the church of your choice? It's garbage. It's language that doesn't belong to the Christian faith. It's inventions of men.
25. 11:03And when the body of Jesus Christ herself, particularly as we might hear that in leadership and in pulpit and in classroom, when they begin to talk about the church and other denominations, they're not thinking clearly. The church is not another denomination. Denominationism isn't the body of Christ. It falters because it doesn't have a respect for the authority of the teaching of the law of pardon and induction into the body.
26. 11:33Of Jesus. As God purposed it. Christ fulfilled it. The spirit revealed it. The apostles preached it. It was written down. And Paul said. When you read it. You can understand it. Kind of hard to get people to read it. That's what we've got to do. We've got to be like Ezekiel. And take that word. And chew it up. And make it become a part. Of our very being. Oh yeah. What's the church? Oh. The church.
27. 12:02Well, it's the body of the reconciled. Wouldn't that be a good sign for outside? The body of the reconciled meet here. Well, let's look at another one. Look at Ephesians. Since we're in Ephesians, you know. And he says over there in Ephesians 4, there's one body. Look at that. There's one body. Now, the body is the church. Now, there's just as many churches as there are bodies. And there is one body. Ephesians 4 and verse 4. Now, turn to the fifth chapter.
28. 12:30He says, husbands, verse 25, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for it, having cleansed it. What's the church? The cleansed. There's not one cleansed from sin person outside the church. For all the cleansed are added to the church. Do you understand what the church is? It's the people that are saved, cleansed. And then he goes on, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church.
29. 13:01Gave himself up for it that he might sanctify it. What's the church? It's the sanctification. Having cleansed it. How? By the washing of water by the word. What's this washing? It's from lutro. And that means the whole body is bathed. Now there's two words for wash. There's the word lutro. Meaning the whole body is bathed in water. And then there's nipto.
30. 13:27And that means to wash apart of, like in John 13, where Jesus washed the disciples' feet. No fresh Greek student could miss that one. Niptoe washed their feet. Lutro, the whole body is washed. What is this when he says the church is washed in water by the Word? It's not talking about the blood, it's talking about the water that bathes the entire body.
31. 14:00Somebody says, I'll never remember, but what's the difference between Lutro and Nipto? Just remember this, Niptoed the Tiptoe in John 13, and that might help you to remember it. When I was doing my Greek studies, I did everything I could to remember my vocabulary. It just helps. What's the church? It's every person who's been washed in water by the commandment of the Word of God, trusting Jesus, not your action. Trusting Him to do what He said He would.
32. 14:31when you take action to obey Him. That's the church. Oh, it's wonderful to be a member of the church. I could go on. Just one more. Look at the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 12. Here he's going to define the church. He says, You have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the general assembly and church of the first...
33. 15:03Now we think from Colossians 1, Christ being the firstborn, having primacy, preeminence over everything, that that might be speaking of Jesus, but it's not. This is plural. This is in the plural. And so he says, the church, the city, the living God, the firstborn ones, that's us. We have a special relationship with God through our Savior, Jesus Christ. What's the church? It's every person on the face of the earth.
34. 15:31who, having taken Christ to be Lord, proven it in the waters of baptism, have now a special relationship. We are the firstborn. Like in the Hebrew patriarchy, one of the first things that the Hebrew father wanted to hear his son say, his firstborn son was Abba. That was a pet name. And you and I, as firstborn ones, can say Abba, Father. Isn't that marvelous?
35. 16:03That is a close relationship. Well, what is the church? Did you know the church is the covenant body of Christ? In the book of Jeremiah, chapter 31, in verse 33, the prophet looked 600 years into the future, and he said,
36. 16:25I'm going to make a new covenant. This is the covenant that I'll make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my laws in their mind and on their heart. I'll be their God. They should be my people. I will be their God. They will be my people. I'll forgive their sins. Whose sins will they forgive? Theirs. Whose? Read the text. Say what the text says. Here's the new covenant. It has laws. The laws are taught. The mind is educated. The heart's educated.
37. 16:54Now, the laws are in the mind, on the heart. We obey them, and we become His people. And He says, I'll forgive their sins. Nobody else's sins are going to be forgiven. He isn't anybody else's covenant God.
38. 17:09He's the covenant God of those who obey the covenant terms. But Peter on Pentecost preached that if you repent and are baptized for forgiveness of sins, you'll receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Spirit, and therefore you've obeyed the terms of the covenant. What is this church of Christ? It is the covenant people of God. We belong to Him. And this church, a little teacup.
39. 17:41of a church in an ocean of humanity. But this is the apple of His eye. Many are called. Few are chosen. That's not God's will. That's just man's way. But this church has a power to carry out the greatest commission men have ever heard. A commission that many members of the church aren't paying any attention to. We have a commission to save souls.
40. 18:18And in 1 Peter 2 and verse 9, I hope you're getting used to this passage now. It has two parts. The first part says who you are, what you became at baptism. You're an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession. That's covenant language. Why did He make us to be His possession? That you may declare, that you may preach, that you may proclaim, that you may tell out the excellences of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
41. 18:48You have the commission to teach others according to ability, according to opportunity. He doesn't expect everybody to be a public proclaimer. We understand that. But the Church of Christ needs to understand what years ago she understood better than she does now. She's under obligation. She's under covenant obligation to fulfill a commission. And that is to do the best you can to save a soul. But He hadn't left us by ourself.
42. 19:20Oh, He hasn't left us. He said, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age. There's a supernatural, marvelous thing. Not miraculous. Not all supernaturalism is miraculous. But there's something supernatural taking place when we go out to tell others. If we're Christians, He's going to be with us to help us get the job done. I'm thinking of a passage in Ephesians 1. And herein we're going to have to...
43. 19:50shut down our lesson for this morning. But I want you to see the power that the Apostle Paul prayed for the people who received the Ephesian letter, that they would understand that power, and that they would put their trust in God to give them that power for the great purpose for which He told us that power is given. Look at it, Ephesians 1. Paul has been praising God from chapter 1, verse 3 through 14, and this praise turns into prayer. Verse 15.
44. 20:20And down here in verse 18, he says, I'm praying that you might know, and this is know by experience, that you might know the exceeding greatness of his power towards usward who believe. Now, he's not talking about the power he gives to us. Say what the text says. He's talking about the power that he exercises in our behalf. He's not talking about what he gives us. He's talking about what he does for us.
45. 20:48And he says, I want you to know the exceeding greatness. How great? Exceeding great. The exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe. And he defines it according to that working of the strength of his might when he walked in Christ when he raised him from the dead. That's pretty good power. Resurrection. Supreme power. Paul says, wait a minute. That didn't catch it all. He says, raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. That quotes the 110th Psalm.
46. 21:18Any man that sits at the right hand of God has power. Jesus has all the power. But you and I, Ephesians 2.6, from baptism have been raised to sit with Him in the heavenly places. Where are we sitting? With Christ at the right hand of God. And we have this power. And He's sitting at the right hand of God. And Paul says, wait a minute, I'm not through. That doesn't get it. He says, it's the power of the resurrection.
47. 21:43That doesn't mean he's going to raise the dead, but the power he used to raise the dead is the power he exercised on behalf of the church. It's the power that one who sits at the right hand of God has. Only Jesus sits there. And he says then, I'm going to give it one last shot. He said, far, what power? Far above all rule and authority and power, dominion, every name that is named, not only in this world, in that which is to come.
48. 22:10And after He describes this indescribable power that Christ Jesus has, He says, and He gave Him to be head over what? All things. Doesn't say head of the church. Say what the text says. Now in Ephesians 5 and verse 22 and 3, He's the head of the church. Colossians 1.18 and verse 24, He's the head of the church. But this doesn't say He's the head of the church. This says He's head over everything there is for the church. To the church.
49. 22:40What for? For the fulfilling of the Great Commission. To do the job that's out there. Oh, folks, the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ is a confirmation of this marvelous thing called the Church. And the exceeding greatness of His power that Christ Jesus will exercise in behalf of every single individual who, being a member of the Church, takes up the banner of Christ and is ready to go out into the world.
50. 23:10and preach the gospel of Christ. Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto him be the glory, where? In the church and in Christ, unto all generations, forever and ever. Amen. I heard a lesson like that from Brother Ed 43 years ago.
51. 23:49when I was a student, and he'd been preaching it already a dozen years by that time. Ed, like our Lord Jesus Christ, loves the church in all of her glory. The church, the saved, all of the saved, nothing but the saved by the grace of God. Brother Ed, we appreciate your faithfulness and your long-time commitment to teaching and helping us understand the glories of the Lord's church.
52. 24:21Do we have any visitors with us this morning?

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