Watchman Magazine

"For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words." (1 Corinthians 2:10-13, NASB)

From this passage we learn that God has revealed Himself through the work of the Holy Spirit to the chosen apostles of Christ. The apostles are said to teach in words, “…not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit.” It is only reasonable to assume that the revelation of the mind of God in words are words that man can understand, and understand these words in the same way that God understands them. The issue of understandable language gets to the very heart of the issue of faith. Do we believe the Bible? Is it God’s word? Is the Bible God’s complete and final revelation of God to man? Does Hebrews 1:1-2 mean what it says about God’s speaking to man in these last times? "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world" (NASB). When you break down this statement without all the modifiers it says that God has spoken, that God has spoken to man, and that God has spoken to man through His Son. What do we believe?

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The Church Of Christ

The Church And Salvation
What The Church Is Not
What The Church Is
The Work Of The Church
The Lord’s One Church

The Church Of Christ

One Cannot Be Saved
Outside The Church

Ephesians 5:23
Acts 2:47
Ephesians 1:22-23
2 Timothy 2:10

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In Matthew 16 the inspired historian revealed a promise made by Jesus to Peter and his other disciples. The promise concerned a significant aspect of God’s plan of redemption for mankind. In verse 18 Jesus said, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The church of Christ is a divine institution, formed by Christ, and governed by principles established by Him and His ambassadors, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).

Unfortunately men have continually shown themselves unwilling to acquiesce to Christ’s will regarding His church, and have altered the divine plan. Departures have been seen with regard to the worship of the church. Men have promoted innovations such as instruments of music to accompany the singing which is commanded in scripture, and have altered acts of worship such as the Lord’s Supper to the point where they are almost unrecognizable distortions of the divine plan. Men have distorted the work of the church as well, a common example of this is the present emphasis on the church as an agent of social change. This social emphasis is a far cry from the work of evangelism and edification indicated by Paul when he declared the church to be “the pillar and ground of the truth” (cf. 1 Timothy 3:15). Men have changed at their whim the organization of the church. There has been the activation of the “universal” church, the centralization and consolidation of authority; and the alliance of the church with human institutions, councils and societies. Among the distortions of God’s blueprint for the church, and the focus of this article, is an assault on the concept of church autonomy as revealed in scripture.

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The church at Ephesus receives ample attention in the scriptures. Besides having two epistles written to it (Ephesians; Rev. 2:1-7), the space of two chapters of the book of Acts is given to describing events involved in its establishment and early growth, along with Paul’s parting words to its elders (Acts 18:19-19:41; 20:17-38). Ephesus was an important center for spreading the Gospel to regions round about it (Acts 19:10). Also, brethren there worked hard in the service of God during a large part of its history (Rev. 2:2-3). In many ways the church there stands as a worthy example for churches today.

What a boon it would be for the cause of our Lord if such churches were established in various parts of the world today! In light of this, let us study some things involved in the planting of the church at Ephesus.

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Before we deal with the question as to the advisability of using the designation, “church of Christ,” perhaps we should establish that it is a scriptural label. In 1 Thessalonians 2:14, the Spirit cited “the churches of God.” However, when he wanted to speak of one such church, he spoke of, “the church of God” (1 Cor. 1:2). Thus, the singular of “churches of God” is “church of God.” In Romans 16:16, the Holy Spirit mentioned “the churches of Christ.” Since the singular of “churches of God” is “church of God,” what is the singular of “churches of Christ”? (If you do not know the answer to that question, there will be no need for you to worry, or to read further. Bless your heart, God will take care of you.) Over the years, some have said it would be best if we ceased to put the name, “Church Of Christ,” on our meetinghouses. Various reasons have been given. “It’s confusing.” “People with a negative view of the church won’t attend when they see the name.” “It’s too traditional.” What shall we say to these objections?

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God is the Master designer. We need only look at the physical universe to realize this. Psalm 19:1 tells us that, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.” The intricate and marvelous design of the creation shows the wisdom of God. “O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all…” (Psalm 104:24). Of course, God’s wisdom can be seen in other things He has designed - like the church. Ephesians 3:10 teaches that the “manifold wisdom of God” is made known through the church.

God is the Creator and Designer of the local church, too. His wisdom is seen in the way the church is designed to work just as it is seen in the way the physical creation is designed to work. Men cannot improve upon God’s designs. At our best, we learn to read the blueprints and follow them.

Unfortunately, many fail to recognize this when it comes to the local church. They view the local church as some sort of free-form association of Christians, whose own members are at liberty to determine its form and function - how it will work and what it will do.

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“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And 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. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:15-19 ).

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus promised to build His church. In Mark 16:15-16 he instructed his disciples to teach all nations his word baptizing those that believe. On Pentecost following the ascension of Jesus those saved by obedient baptism were added by the Lord to the church Acts 2:37-47. To what church were they added by the Lord? Acts 2:47 simply states “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” What is meant by “the church” in this verse? We understand there was a group of God’s children working together in the area of Jerusalem to teach the Gospel. Was this the church to which the Lord added the saved? Is this the church that Jesus promised to build? If this is the church Jesus built then I must be a part of that assembly. To better understand the phrase “the church” we must understand what church means.

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The work under consideration in this article is that of the individual Christian. This is not an attempt to justify any activation of the church in a “universal” sense. The church in the “universal” or “relational” sense merely refers to all Christians of all time in every location who have been saved by the blood of Christ and have submitted themselves to His headship. It is not the sum of all local churches presently in existence. Thus, the “universal” church is relational in its nature, not functional.

As individual Christians, we share a relationship to one another regardless of our present location due to our common family in the new birth. The love and concern that comes with that family bond leads us to fulfill various responsibilities which we have to our brothers and sisters wherever they might be. Though the Lord established local churches to function corporately in ways prescribed by His will, He did not relegate all religious action to the joint work of a local church. Much of the work to be done in spiritual matters has been left to individual Christians. When engaged in such work, the individual Christian is not restricted to acting only within some diocesan border defined by geographic locality.

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(The Gospel Guardian, Vol. 6, No. 43, March 10, 1955)

God often revealed His will to prophets through visions. Such was the case in Zechariah 1:18-21 when the prophet saw four horns. In answer to his question “What be these?” the Lord replied: “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” The word “horn” was used in the Old Testament as a symbol of power and often of destruction. Obviously, the horns of the prophet’s vision referred to the nations that had perplexed and scattered God’s people, Israel. In the same vision, the prophet is assured that these powers shall be justly punished for their havoc and destruction, for he is told that the four carpenters or smiths “are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it” (Zechariah 1:21). These horns had reference to nations, thus designating evil and harm to Israel from external forces. However, many of Israel’s troubles came from within. There were several “horns” or powers of destruction which ultimately led God’s family down the trail of sorrow and ruin. I am borrowing the expression from the prophet to use accomodatively, in order to bring out three points that show the reasons for Israel’s decline, and to show that these same features can produce harm and possible ruin in spiritual Israel, the church. It is in this sense that the expression “horns of destruction” is herein used.

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