The Church Defined (Continued)

4. LOCAL VERSUS UNIVERSAL
1. According to the Scriptures
1. The Lord’s church that He would build (Matthew 16:18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
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1. This is a difficult passage to judge.
2. The church referenced here would appear to be all future believers.
3. The only problem is that the gates of hell appear to be fighting against it, and in reality the gates of hell are fighting against individual bodies of believers.
2. An individual body of believers that are gathered together to hear of disciplinary action (Matthew 18:17And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
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3. The Lord added to the church such as should be saved (Acts 2:47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
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1. This is another difficult passage.
2. The people gathered for Pentecost were from various places.
3. It appears though, that the people who believed stayed in Jerusalem to continue to worship with the other believers.
4. This would lead us to believe they were a local body of believers.
4. The local body of believers in Jerusalem (Acts 5:11And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
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5. The local body of believers in the wilderness (Acts 7:38This 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:
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6. The local body of believers at Jerusalem (Acts 8:1And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
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7. The local body of believers at Jerusalem (Acts 8:3As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.
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8. Multiple local bodies of believers throughout Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria (Acts 9:31Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
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9. The local body of believers at Jerusalem (Acts 11:22Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.
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10. The local body of believers at Antioch (Acts 11:26And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
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11. Herod stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church (Acts 12:1Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.
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1. This passage could be arguable.
2. Could Herod have been persecuting multiple bodies of believers? Sure, he could have.
3. It would, however, appear that this was specifically aimed at the church at Jerusalem. If this is true, then this is another reference to a local body of believers.
12. Prayer was made of the church of God (Acts 12:5Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.
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1. This is another difficult passage.
2. Could multiple bodies of believers from various locations have been praying for Peter? Sure, they could have.
3. Yet, it would appear that this is specifically talking about the group found in Acts 12:12-17 [12] And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. [13] And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. [14] And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. [15] And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. [16] But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. [17] But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.
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4. Note: This was not the complete body of believers.
13. The local body of believers at Antioch (Acts 13:1Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
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14. Multiple bodies of believers (Acts 14:23And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
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15. The local body of believers at Antioch (Acts 14:27And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
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16. Paul, Barnabas and Titus were brought on their way by the church (Acts 15:3And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren.
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1. This is a difficult passage.
2. Perhaps they are talking about the local body of believers at Jerusalem where they are heading.
3. Perhaps they are talking about doing something under the authority of the local body of believers at Antioch from where Paul was sent.
4. Perhaps it is talking about multiple bodies of believers who assisted them on their journey. This would mean the phrase “the church” is used to denote multiple churches.
5. Perhaps the passage is talking about “the church” of Galatia, but the problem is there were multiple churches in Galatia (Galatians 1:2And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:
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17. The local body of believers at Jerusalem (Acts 15:4And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.
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18. Multiple bodies of believers in Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:41And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.
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19. Multiple bodies of believers (Acts 16:5And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
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20. The local body of believers at Caesarea (Acts 18:22And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch.
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21. Multiple bodies of believers possibly of false religion (Acts 19:37For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.
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22. The local body of believers at Ephesus (Acts 20:17And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
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23. The local body of believers at Cenchrea (Romans 16:1I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea:
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24. Multiple bodies of believers (Romans 16:4Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
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25. The local body of believers in the house of Priscilla and Aquila (Romans 16:5Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
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26. Multiple bodies of believers (Romans 16:16Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you.
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27. Gaius hosts the whole church (Romans 16:23Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.
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1. Gaius was hosting Tertius.
2. This could mean that Gaius hosted people from his own local body of believers.
3. More than likely this is stating that Gaius was a host to all believers who came by his way.
28. The local body of believers at Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:2Unto 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:
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29. Multiple bodies of believers (1 Corinthians 4:17For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.
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30. The local body of believers at Corinth (1 Corinthians 6:4If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.
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31. Multiple bodies of believers (1 Corinthians 7:17But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.
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32. Give none offence to the church of God (1 Corinthians 10:32Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
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1. This passage seems very strongly to point toward multiple churches being labeled as “the church of God.”
2. Notice the groups
1. Jews – all Jews
2. Gentiles – all Gentiles
3. The church of God – all the saved
33. Multiple bodies of believers (1 Corinthians 11:16But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.
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34. The local body of believers in Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:18For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
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35. God’s positioning of servant in “the church” (1 Corinthians 12:28And 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.
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1. The passage is dealing with the “body of Christ” at Corinth (1 Corinthians 12:27Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
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2. The passage then goes on to discuss people who were placed in the church.
3. The first group mentioned is apostles. So which apostles were first placed in the body at Corinth? Another good question is did all bodies of believers begin with apostles in their midst?
4. The honest answer is that this passage seems to speak of the church as a larger body than just a local body of believers.
36. The local body of believers at Corinth (1 Corinthians 14:4He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
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37. A local body of believers (1 Corinthians 14:19Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.
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38. A local body of believers (1 Corinthians 14:23If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
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1. Notice the word “whole.” Apparently part of the people can constitute a church.
2. Notice also that unbelievers are not part of the church though they can come into its midst.