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(1 Corinthians 14:40) The basic structure of the New Testament church is determined by only one person—the Founder of the church, Jesus Christ! God is a God of order and He has plainly left us the order He desires. The measure of any church is its obedience to Christ. (0963250312) —-more—-
The Meaning of the Word “Church”
Words matter. So why did the Lord Jesus Christ choose the word church to represent his people in this world? The word church itself literally means a called out assembly. Now there’s two wonderful parts to that. First, we’ve been called out, are you glad you’ve been called out? Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:9 and says that we’ve been called out of darkness into his marvelous light. I love that. The Lord Jesus when he first came, called his disciples that they should be with him. So we’re part of that.
Called Out Assembly: Unity and Gathering
We’ve been called out, but then it’s a called out assembly. It presupposes the idea that we’re not just supposed to belong, we’re to be together. That we would meet, that we would gather, that we would stay connected to one another.
A called out assembly. Now, while every person on Earth that has put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal savior belongs to the Lord, that entire group has never met together at one time, no matter how big the meeting may be. And it never will meet together at one time until we all get to glory someday.
Won’t that be a wonderful assembly? What a day that’s gonna be. You’ve never been in a meeting, like the meeting around. The throne of God at the nail pierced feet of Jesus. That’s gonna be a great day.
Local New Testament Churches
But my point is this, the overwhelming emphasis in the New Testament regarding the New Testament Church is that the New Testament Church is a local assembly. It’s a local group of baptized believers who voluntarily joined themselves together to carry out the great commission. It is, if we might say it this way, a visible manifestation of the body of Christ in every place. For example, acts chapter eight, verse number one. This goes to really the heart of the church and the early stages of the church.
Acts chapter eight, verse one says, “And Saul was consenting unto his death.” That was the death of Stephen, the first martyr of the church. And the Bible says, and at that time there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem. There was a visible group of believers. Assembling together at Jerusalem.
If you go over a few pages to Acts chapter 13, verse one. “Now there were in the church that was at Antioch.” You hear that it’s a reference to the geographical location of each assembly? We could go through the letters of the Apostle Paul, you’d find it again and again. Galatians chapter one, verse number two, one Thessalonians chapter one, verse number one. How about this one? Philippians 1:1, “Paul and Otus, the servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons.” So our spiritual place is in Christ Jesus. We’re seated with him in heavenly places. Praise God for that. But physically speaking, geographically circumstantially, we are at Philippi. At Thessalonica in Galacia or wherever your local assembly meets today. So we’re dealing with local New Testament churches. Isn’t that a simple principle?
The Simplicity of God’s Church Structure
And a part of this simplicity, it’s wonderful, is to see the simple structure of God’s amazing work when the Lord Jesus founded his church. He established it in such a way that there was a simplicity to it. There was a simple structure. Let me give you a few thoughts today.
Two Ordinances: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper
First of all he established two ordinances. That’s wonderful. What are the two things he ordered that we do? They are baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Matthew chapter 28, before he left the disciples, he told them to go into all the world to teach and then to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. So He ordered that we would baptize new believers and that baptism would identify those people with Christ and with His church in this world. You’ve gotta have several things, right? To have the right baptism, you gotta have the right authority. That’s the local church.
You have to have a right candidate. That’s a saved person. They have to believe on Christ first. You have to have the right mode. That’s immersion. That’s what the word baptism means. It literally means to dip, immerse, or plunge, and so that’s God’s way. And then you have to have the right method, which is to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, because that’s the way Christ said to do it.
He ordered baptism. The second ordinance that he left the church was. What we refer to as the Lord’s Supper or the memorial supper. Paul really expounds on this in one Corinthians chapter 11 and it’s powerful, all the teaching that is there, but it was established with Christ and his disciples. At that last Passover.
He instituted a new supper. It was the first memorial supper on his way to the cross. He said, “I want you to do this in remembrance of me. This bread will represent my body. This fruit of the vine will represent my blood, which was shed for you.” It’s symbolic and so it’s beautiful that the two things Christ ordered that every local church do, baptism and the Lord’s Supper both point us to Jesus.
Isn’t that great? Everything points us not to an institution, but to an individual. It brings us to Christ. It’s a reminder that the church’s simple mission in this world is to point people to the Lord Jesus Christ. To show his death, to show the resurrection power, to show the fact that he is alive and is coming again. That’s what the two ordinances are all about.
Two Offices: Bishops and Deacons
Then He not only gave two ordinances, He gave two offices. I just read a moment ago, Philippians chapter one, verse number one with the bishops and deacons, right? There we go. That’s the two offices. The bishop, that’s the pastor. He has several titles or names ascribed to him in the New Testament.
He’s referred to as a pastor. That’s a shepherd of a flock he’s referred to here as a bishop. That word means to oversee, that emphasizes his function. He’s also referred to in the New Testament as an elder that emphasizes his office or his place within the body. And so God gives to a local church a pastor, someone to help guide the flock.
He is the Lord’s under shepherd. There’s only one good shepherd, but he’s the under shepherd. And he’s helping to guide the flock and feed the flock under the Lord Jesus Christ. And then alongside those bishops or pastors God calls or commands rather, that the church would call out deacons. I say it that way because I believe pastors are called to the Lord, deacons or chosen by the church.
And so while there may be one pastor of a local assembly, there are many deacons because the word deacon literally means servants. These are people who’ve come alongside to serve. They started in Acts chapter number six where the apostles had so much to do with the ministry of the word and prayer that the widows were being neglected.
So someone had to care for these things. And I just wanna pause and say, praise God for faithful deacons. And their place in the local assembly is just what the title means. It is to serve. It is to serve the Lord, to serve the pastor, to serve the congregation, to be a blessing and help. So there are two ordinances. There are two offices, and what do these tell us about the Lord?
God’s Order in the Church
They tell us that our God is a God of order. And by the way, we make things so everlasting complicated, don’t we? That’s what sin does. That’s what sinners do. But listen to this principle in one Corinthians chapter 14 and verse number 40, it’s powerful.
The Bible says, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” May I tell you that God is a God of order that’s revealed in the Bible from the very beginning of creation, and certainly that’s true in his church order is more than organization. It’s fulfilling God’s purpose. Organization can be of man.
Really the only way to organize an organism is to dissect it and that kills it. So it’s not mere organization we’re after. No. The New Testament church must follow the divine order. God’s simple plan for his local New Testament church. And if we’d follow the simple structure of God’s amazing work friend, we’d see God work because then we’re doing God’s work God’s way. May the Lord help all of us to help our churches. Because ever become everything that Christ founded them to be.
Outro and Resources
Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our Library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You’ll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening and we hope you’ll join us next time on enjoying the Journey.
