Defines the church not as an organization, but as a living organism, emphasizing that membership is by divine addition, not human joining. It clarifies that material buildings, social clubs, or man-dominated hierarchies do not constitute the true church, drawing distinctions from passages like Ephesians and Matthew. The core lesson is that Christ is the sole head of the church, and believers are called to recognize His authority through the Holy Spirit and Scripture, rather than human leaders. Ultimately, this understanding of the church compels believers to accept their God-given place, stir up their gifts, love fellow believers, participate in local meetings, and avoid entangling alliances, demonstrating faith through action.
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This study is on the life of faith in the church. Now God has asked us to walk by faith. We saw in our last study, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Colossians two, verse six tells us. Number one, section one of this study, faith knows what the church is not. One, it is not an organization. A, it is an organism, that is a living body.
Ephesians one, twenty-two and twenty-three says that God has given him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body. And B, it was not put together by men. Ephesians three, one to six, tells us that in other ages this was not made known, was not known, but was made known to the apostles. It was a revelation from God. It was part of what he called his eternal purpose. We always have to think things up, think things through. And it comes the first time for our thoughts.
But God's purposes are called eternal purposes. And then see it is impossible to join this body. Acts two forty seven says the Lord adds to the church daily, such as we're being saved. And Acts five and thirteen tells us of the rest there's no man joining himself to them. So the church of which we are a part is not an organization. Now, number two, no material building can be called a church. A, God does not dwell in edifices.
Acts seven, forty-eight, sermon of Stephen. He recalled that Solomon had built a temple for the Lord, but he says God does not dwell does not, meaning in the present tense, God does not dwell in temples made with hands. It's wrong to speak of any religious building as being the church. It's a church house, it's a meeting house, but it is not the church. And B, the church is indestructible. Matthew, sixteen, eighteen. Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Anything can destroy a church building. Even some of the famous cathedrals were destroyed during the war. So that is not the church. And three, to get a little closer to the home, it is not a social club. It is made up of former enemies. Ephesians two, eleven to eighteen. The Jews and the Gentiles, he says, were at enmity with one another, but they have now been brought together by the Spirit into one, forming one new man. And he has slain the enmity in so doing.
read through that passage, the second chapter of Ephesians, and notice what wonderful things have been wrought in bringing together into this one body those who were formerly enemies. And B, Christ divides households. Matthew ten, thirty-four to thirty-nine, the Lord Jesus said, I come not to bring peace, but a sword. And he said, A man's foes shall be they of his own household. The father against the son, mother against the daughter, mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law. If it were a social club, naturally it would bring together all the kindred spirits, all the relatives, but the church is not that.
And four, it is not to be dominated by a man or a hierarchy. Hierarchy means simply a religious body that rules or regulates. It is not to be dominated by a man or a hierarchy. A. As diatrophies. Who loved preeminent. That's spelled D-I-O-T-R-E-P-H-E-S. You read about him in third John verses nine to eleven. The only two places in the Bible... that the word preeminence occur is here and in the first chapter Colossians where the Lord Jesus was said to have the preeminence.
But diatrophies love to have it and he was rebuked by the Apostle John for this. And B, the council at Jerusalem had only God's word. Acts fifteen. Now, the reason I mention this is because many churches feel that they have a perfect right to set up a hierarchy or that they have a perfect right to have a headquarters, that's at Jerusalem, where all decisions are made and they say, remember the Council of Jerusalem. So if you'll read the Fifteenth of Acts, you'll see that they didn't settle anything because they were a hierarchy.
They settled it entirely by the Word of God. So, faith knows what the church is not. You see, if you're going to walk by faith, you have to have scriptural foundation on which to walk. Walking by faith is not simply saying, well, I think my faith is real strong, so I'm going to live by faith now. But faith is finding out what God has said and doing exactly that, believing that God is right. And so, section two, faith believes God about the church. One, there is only one true church.
A, Christ called it my church. Acts, sixteen, eighteen. Upon this rock I will build my church. And B, it began on the day of Pentecost. Acts II, the last few verses, tell us very plainly that the Lord added three thousand souls, and then he goes on to say the Lord added to the church daily, such as were being saved. Now there is a group known as ultra-dispensationalists, although they don't like that term, a group of people who who make a great deal of grace and teach a great deal of truth.
But they also teach a very serious error. They teach that the church that began on the day of Pentecost was the Jewish church. They're not right sure. They can't even agree among themselves when the church, which is his body, began. That's kind of strange. Some of them say it began the tenth of Acts when the first Gentiles were saved, and some say it began, well, they moved it on up until some say the twenty-eighth of Acts. But before the book of the Acts was true, they think that the church, which now exists, got started. If this is the case, then we've got two churches. And we have no indication when the second one began.
This is hairstyling. This is not teaching. dispensational truth at all. I'm going to be fooled by that thing. There's only one church and it began on the day of Pentecost. See, there are many local expressions. I like this term, which I've copied from an old book. The local church, that is an assembly of believers, a company of Christians meeting together, is also called a church. And you read about this in Romans sixteen and sixteen, where he says, The churches of Christ salute you. And in First Thessalonians two fourteen, where he says you were followers of the churches of God in Judea.
So they're called the churches of Christ and the churches of God, because these are individual companies. But every epistle in the New Testament was addressed to one church, except Galatians. Now, the reason for that is that Galatia was a district, all of the area north of the Mediterranean Sea for quite a distance. And there were a number of churches in Galatia. And so he addressed the churches in Galatia. But it was always the church in any given city. Even the city like Rome. And the last chapter of Romans indicates that there were at least six different places where the Christians were meeting together.
And yet it was one church because it was looked upon as a church being in that city. Now D, it shall be presented to Christ as one. Ephesians five, twenty-seven says that he shall present it to himself a glorious church. One church in that coming day. Whatever has been done in the way of schism in the body or what we call sectarianism Splitting up the people of God now, this is going to be disregarded when the Lord sets everything right. Now, number two, Christ is the only head over the church.
Colossians one eighteen. And he is the head of the body, the church. Now, if Dr. Puba is the head, then Christ isn't the head. If Christ is the head, then no other man is the head. You simply can't have two heads. That's a monotrosity. When I was down in eastern Colorado preaching on the prairies one time, a calf was born with two heads. It only lived a few minutes, but it nearly went crazy. The veterinarian dissected it afterward and said that actually both brains were in existence and post-final cords were joined together where the next came together and two heads were trying to direct that poor thing.
No wonder you only lived a few minutes. This is what you've got in Christendom today. You've got the Word of God, the Lord in heaven, who wants to guide these people and would guide these people, but there's Dr. Pooball back in New York or Chicago or someplace that's also making the regulations or the hierarchy of which he's a part. This is a sad thing. Now, A, this place was given to him by God. Ephesians one, twenty-two. He hath given him to be head over all things to the church. This was given to him by God. And B, as such, he supplies the whole body.
Ephesians four, fifteen and sixteen. There he refers to the head, which is Christ from whom the whole body fitly joined together. And so on. He tells how the edification of the church takes place through this one head. And see, we are responsible to hold the head. Colossians two, nineteen. Where he rebukes some. because they did not hold the head. That means that they did not regard, they did not allow the head to be their leader.
Well, subdivision three of the section, the scriptures are the sole guide and authority. A, the Holy Spirit is present in the church. Ephesians two, verse twenty two. Now we all recognize that the Holy Spirit is present in our individual bodies. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. That is your physical body. But it's also true that the Holy Spirit is present in the local church. We call this the presidency of the Holy Spirit. The Roman Catholic Pope is called the vicar of Christ on earth.
But he isn't. The liquor of Christ on earth, in this sense, is the Holy Spirit himself. He was sent down by the Lord, and he is here present to lead in the church. And B, he is the author and teacher, that is, of the Word of God. He is the author, Second Timothy three sixteen, all scriptures given by inspiration of God. And he is the teacher, John fourteen twenty-six. When he has come, he shall teach you all things. See, turning from the word is apostasy.
Second Timothy four, one to four, He says the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but shall turn away. And you have this in Christendom today. Just recently one of the large denominations had a conference and they decided at that conference that they would permit women to enter the ministry on an equality with the men. this had never been allowed in all of the three hundred or more, four hundred years, I don't know how long of the church's existence, but now we've decided that the time has come. Not one word about what the scripture says, although twice in the Bible he plainly tells us that a woman is not to teach, she is not even to take a public part in the church.
Total disregard of scripture. Now that's only a sample of it. Most of the churches have passed on divorce and remarriage, and they have gradually gone along with the custom of the country in which they're located. If the whole country decides that grounds for divorce can be anything, mental cruelty, whatever that is, all the way through, well, then the church decides the same thing, although the Bible plainly tells us that this is not right. That is called apostasy. Now, number four, only born-again believers are members of the church.
A, the Lord adds the saved ones. This is mentioned twice in the Acts. The Lord adds the saved ones. And B, the Holy Spirit baptizes into the one body. First Corinthians, twelve, thirteen. By one spirit are ye all, ye all. Now he wrote this to the most unspiritual church, probably in New Testament time, although Galatians might run them a close second. The Corinthians were as bad as they could be, and yet he said, by one spirit are we all baptized into one body. But only born again believers are put into that church.
Now, section three, because I believe God's word about the church, one, I know that I am a member. First Corinthians twelve, eighteen says that God has set the members in the church as it pleased him. Now, I know that I have received Christ as my Savior. I know that the Holy Spirit has come to indwell me. Therefore, I know that I am a member of God's true church. Number two, I know that I have one or more gifts.
Remember these gifts that we studied in First Corinthians chapter twelve. In verses seven and eleven, he tells us very plainly that every man, every believer, has received at least one gift, which he is responsible to use. And number three, I know that I have a function to perform. In Ephesians four, fifteen and sixteen, he points out how that every joint supplies that which is needed.
keep the body running smoothly to edify itself, to build it up, and it is done so by the direction of the head. Someone has said that that's every joint supplied is like what is supplied in the human body by every joint. There's a lubricating matter where every two bones come together. And where every two members touch each other, there's room for friction. But love of each other, if the Holy Spirit is put within us, will keep us from friction.
And number four, I know that I am responsible to the head. Well, this makes us conscious of the Lord Jesus. in heaven and of our responsibility directly to him. However, A, he rules through the Spirit. First Corinthians two, thirteen or sixteen tells us there plainly that when Paul came to him, he was not speaking the words of man's wisdom, but that which the Holy Spirit teaches.
He went on to say that the Holy Spirit had revealed these things to us. We are responsible to hold them, to believe them. And be through chosen elders. Acts twenty and verse twenty eight. Take heed to yourselves and to the church over the which the Holy Ghost have made you overseers. So I am directly responsible to the head. I must be conscious of the leading of the Holy Spirit of God, and I must be subject to the direction, the leadership of the local elders.
Number five, I know that I am interdependent, not independent, but interdependent with all members. I visited the place and I asked about a man that I had met when I was there some five years before. And they said, oh, he left us. I said, well, I'm sorry to hear that. Well, they said we didn't need him anyway. Well, I said that the twelfth chapter of first Corinthians says that even the head cannot say to the feet, I have no need of thee. And the head is Christ. And the feet are the part that are farthest away from the head. The Lord never says I don't need any of them.
And no Christian should ever say we don't need him. We are interdependent with all members. Number six, I know that Christ is present with the twos and threes, where two or threes are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. We know and claim his presence. And finally, number seven, I know that following men is carnal. Carnal comes from the Latin word carny, which is the flesh.
It can be used of meat. You buy chili con carny, you get chili with meat in it, presumably. And if you believe that... that we have two natures, the spiritual and the fleshly, and you know that you are led by the Spirit of God, you are spiritual, and you know that if you are led by the flesh, you are carnal. And he tells us plainly in First Corinthians three, also again in Revelation three, that those who are followers of men have denied his name, and they are carnal.
Before Martin Luther died, he begged those whom he had led to Christ. Never call yourselves, never allow anybody to call you Lutherans. Well, they've totally disregarded that until it's one of the largest sects of Christianity today, and many of them not born again at all. The Lord never intended for us have anything to do with these divisions now finally the fourth section this belief will lead to action brothers and sisters you do not believe god if you don't act upon his word it's no use to say i believe what god's word says and then go in the other direction god made it so that your feet and your eyes face the same direction That's the way you're made up physically.
And that's the way we're made up spiritually. If you really believe God, you really are trying to do what He says in the Word of God, that means that it's going to come out in your daily walk. You do not believe God unless you obey Him. That's how you prove it. Remember, we studied in James. You say you have faith. Show me your faith without your words. You can't do it. I'll show you my faith. by my works. Now works and faith don't save us. They're not jointly part of our salvation. We're saved by grace through faith plus nothing. But we prove to all men that we have faith by our behavior.
So this belief will lead to action. One, and I put this in the form of a resolution by God's help. I will accept my God-given place in the church. Ephesians four, eleven to sixteen tells us about that. We've already referred to it. That's where you have to begin. Find where God has put you. Somebody asked a friend of mine on the train one time, what church do you belong to? He said, I belong to the only church the Bible tells me to belong to.
And quite surprised the inquirer said, well, what church is that? Well, he said, you find out what church the Bible puts me in, and then you know what one I'm in. And after two or three hours, this person came back with the Bible and said, I haven't been able to find where God puts you in any church. So he turned into First Corinthians twelve, where he plainly says that he has put us into the body of Christ. Now he said, I have no business joining another body. if any member of my body were capable of joining another body, it would immediately become useless to me. Think that one over.
Number two, I will stir up the gift within me. Second Timothy, one, six, Paul wrote to Timothy to do this very thing. Now, you do have a gift, or more gifts than one. Whether you are developing that gift or not is another thing. Maybe you need to stir it up. Maybe you need to find out what it is. Maybe you need to begin to function. Number three, I will love and serve all fellow believers. Galatians five, thirteen. By love, serve one another.
not just the Baptists, not just the Methodists, not just the Roman Catholics, the believers. Now, you can find believers almost anyplace except in hell. This is sad. It shouldn't be this way, but it's true anyway. When you find a believer, that believer is your fellow member. You may not be able to go along with it. You don't have to do the things that he's doing that's wrong, but you ought to love him. and you ought to do everything you can to help him. And number four, I will take active interest in the local meetings. Hebrews ten, twenty five, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.
Don't ever say that you're a lone wolf because you're a sheep, and the sheep belong together in a flock. And there's something wrong with the sheep that doesn't want to be with the rest of the flock. I learned that soon after I went to live on the farm. You see, any animal off away from the others, you better ride out in the pasture and find out what's wrong with it, because it belongs with the others. And number five, I will keep myself from entangling alliances. Second Timothy two, one to seven says, No man that wareth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life.
If I am here to represent Christ, then I must keep myself from entangling alliances. Now this doesn't cover the whole topic, but this is something of what it means to live a life of faith in the church.