Today the word “church” is often used for a collection of “Christian” people who have formed an organization and are known by the name they have chosen for it. Also, it often refers to the building where the people meet. Scripture does not use the word in the sense of a building. It does use the word to refer to a collection or assembly of people. But “the church of God” and the churches of men are not the same thing.
The Greek word “ecclesia” has been translated into English as “church” and as “assembly.” Since the word “church” has been so misused, we will use the word “assembly” instead, and Scripture quotations are from the JND translation.
An assembly is a collection of people. “Speak unto all the assembly of the children of Israel” (Lev. 19:2). “Having said these things, he dismissed the assembly” (Acts 19:41). “When ye come together in assembly” (1 Cor. 11:18).
God’s Assembly
God has formed His assembly of people who before His calling were Jews or Gentiles. “Give no occasion to stumbling, whether to Jews, or Greeks, or the assembly of God” (1 Cor. 10:32). He has purchased them with the blood of His own Son (Acts 20:28). He, not man, adds to the assembly. “The Lord added [to the assembly] daily those that were to be saved” (Acts 2:47).
God’s assembly exists all the time, even when those in it are not gathered together. “If therefore the whole assembly come together in one place” (1 Cor. 14:23). When gathered together, they are “in assembly” (1 Cor. 11:18). Only when so gathered does the assembly act. “Being gathered together, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 5:4).
God’s assembly is one whole. Those in a geographical location may be distinguished from the whole, but they are not to be separated in thought or action from the whole. Those in a place represent and are viewed as the whole in that place. “To the assembly of God which is in Corinth.” “Ye are Christ’s body, and members in particular” (1 Cor. 1:2; 1 Cor. 12:27).
The Body and Bride of Christ
God has formed His assembly as “the bride” for His Son. Christ, the head, and she, the body, form “the Christ” (1 Cor. 6:15), just as God created the male and female and blessed them and “called their name Adam” (Gen. 5:2).
The Dwelling-Place of God
God is preparing His assembly to be an eternal dwelling-place for Himself.
“Yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). “Jesus Christ Himself being the corner-stone, in whom all [the] building fitted together increases to a holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are built together for a habitation of God in [the] Spirit” (Eph. 2:20-22).
The House of God
The place where God dwells among His people and where they come to meet Him is His house. (Notice 2 Samuel 7:6 and Leviticus 17:5-9.) Those in the house are to be behave in a manner which honors the house owner. As God is true, so His house is responsible to be the pillar and support of truth. Paul wrote to Timothy to “know how one ought to conduct oneself in God’s house, which is [the] assembly of [the] living God, [the] pillar and base of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). The assembly is a responsible “candlestick” to display the light and love of God in this present world (Rev. 2-3).
The Lord
God has appointed His Son as head over all things (Heb. 3:46; Eph. 1:22). He is head over His body, the assembly, and He is Lord of each individual in it. As Lord, He has a table, His table, where His own are to sit down with Him to partake of His supper in remembrance of Him (1 Cor. 10-11). When one partakes of the bread and wine, he expresses that he is part of the one body of Christ.
Within and Without
God speaks of a “within” and a “without” in respect to His assembly (1 Cor. 5:12; 1 Thess. 4:12). “Without God judges” (1 Cor. 5:13). For those “within,” God has given directions dealing with all matters concerning the order, conduct and maintenance of truth. Christ is in charge of all, and He directs all by the guidance and power of the Spirit, which indwells each member of the body. If one teaches or practices evil, it must be judged, and such a one must be removed from among those within (1 Cor. 5).
God and Man As Builders
When God is a builder, the materials and workmanship are perfect, and so “all [the] building fitted together increases to a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:21). Also, God has made man a builder and he is warned to take care “how he builds upon” the foundation (1 Cor. 3:10). All the work and the materials used in the construction will be tested by fire, which shall destroy all that is not of God.
A Great House
The foundation of God’s house is Christ, and “other foundation can no man lay besides that which [is] laid” (1 Cor. 3:11). Sadly, man has introduced bad material into God’s house, and it now contains vessels of wood and earth (unbelievers). In fact, the house has become so contaminated that God no longer calls it His, but instead He calls it “a great house.” Today this house is often called Christendom or the house of profession.
If one belongs to Christ, he is not to leave the house, for no other foundation can be laid. But, instead, God gives careful instructions for how one is to live in this house as a clean vessel, useful to the Master (2 Tim. 14).
Formation, History, Destiny
When Christ was on earth, the assembly did not yet exist. Before His death, Christ declared to the disciples, “I will build my church.” Fifty days after the Lord’s resurrection (the day of Pentecost), God formed His assembly as “one body” by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).
By God’s workmen the “good news” is presented to men. When they believe the gospel of their salvation, they are redeemed, cleansed, indwelt by the Spirit of God, added to God’s assembly, and so become living stones in His building and vessels of value in His house. Today that building is “increasing.”
The bride now lives in a world that must be judged for its rebellion against God and rejection of His Son, the Bridegroom. Soon the Father will send His Son to fetch home His bride for the wedding (1 Thess. 4; Rev. 19). Then, He, with His wife at His side, will execute the necessary judgments decreed by God upon the rebellious inhabitants of the earth. As King of kings and Lord of lords, He will reign over all created things in heaven, on earth and under the earth, to God the Father’s glory.
The Assembly Today
While men may form many organizations and call them churches, God has just one—one assembly, one building, one habitation, one house, one body—and that one body is united to her one Head to form the one “Christ.”
Today, the assembly, as responsible to God and for God, has become a great house and a miserable failure. As a candlestick for God, it will be put aside. In mercy, God has provided instructions so that each individual may still walk in obedience to the Word, may do so with others, and may still, by the guidance and power of the Spirit, sit down with the Lord at His table until He come.
Today, the Bridegroom, Christ, “nourishes and cherishes” the assembly. He is the Saviour of the body. He has delivered Himself up for it, and He is sanctifying it and purifying it that He might present it to Himself glorious, holy and blameless. The result of His work will be a perfect bride on the wedding day (Eph. 5:24-31).
D. F. Rule