Category Archives: New Testament Studies

Church Meetings – Part 5: What Functions Are Required at a Church Meeting?

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When we go to church, depending on your particular denomination or tradition, there are certain things which are expected. These include, music, singing, taking an offering, prayer(s), reading of Scripture, and preaching or teaching. Churches perform these functions and others regularly. We often have choirs, worship leaders, praise bands, and designated people who pray and preach. But what is actually required in the Bible for a meeting of a church?

Many of the current programs and ministries which many churches engage in, while often fulfilling a biblical function, are not absolutely necessary to fulfill that function.  Should we praise and worship God?  Yes.  Does that require a praise band and a worship leader?  No.  We can accomplish praise and worship without those things.  Should we study the Bible and have pastors/teachers to help us understand and apply it?  Yes.  Does that require attending a church service or Sunday School in a church building at a prescribed time and date?  No.  It requires a meeting of believers, anywhere, with a capable pastor/teacher.  Should we fellowship with other believers?  Yes.  Does that require that we meet primarily with those Christians who are members of our “local church” at scheduled times?  No.  We can meet with Christians wherever we live and work at any time/place. And are all these functions required at every meeting of believers? No.

Nowhere in the Bible is there an “order of service” or “service schedule” for a church service. There are no specifics given for a church meeting. By this, I mean that the biblical writers did not receive a revelation from God instructing us in how to conduct a church service. In 1 Corinthians, Paul addressed some problems with how those believers were conducting themselves when meeting, but there are no specifics on what must be included in church meetings. I can confirm that the prayer and edification (building each other up) was a mainstay when Christians met as there are a several references to that. However, how that was done had no consistent specifications.

Therefore, there is great freedom in how churches meet. It is not limited to a building, a local church, or a denomination. In my opinion, we place way too much emphasis on things which do not matter biblically. So if I’m in the workplace and 3 of us get together to pray, it doesn’t matter that one of us is a Methodist, another a Presbyterian, and another a Baptist. We can pray and exhort each other, and biblically, that is an “assembly” of believers. Consider the following:

So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. (Romans 12:5)

For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. (1 Corinthians 10:17)

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)

Paul was not a member of the local church at either Rome or Corinth. Yet, he considered himself a part of the same body–the body of Christ. This is the focus we are missing in the contemporary Church.

Church Meetings – Part 4: Where Should Churches Meet?

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As I stated in a previous article in this series, our modern view of church is typically associated with meeting in a building. We talk about, “Going to church.” By that we usually mean that we’re going to travel to a building and meet with other Christians for a formal assembly of believers. What do the Scriptures reveal about this?

There is no established place for Christians to assemble in the Bible.  The biblical text is clear.  They met in homes.  There was no “church building” for them to meet in. 

[As an aside, I have heard preachers use 1 Corinthians 11:18 as referring to a church building, “For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.” (KJV) There are two issues with the phrase “in the church”. First, the Greek preposition en, translated “in” has a broad array of meanings, depending on the context. Nearly every other English translation (NKJV, NASB, ESV, NIV, HCSB, RSV, et al.) renders it “as” which makes more sense in context. Second, there is no article (“the”) in the Greek text. The absence of the article usually means that it should be translated one of two ways: (1) “as church” indicating the character or quality of the church or (2) “as a church” indicating that the church is indefinite and not a specific one or location. (For you Greek students out there, I’m simplifying this for a general audience. It is understood that there are grammatical constructions which would make the phrase definite and thus require the article in English, but that is not the case here.) Again, context would indicate that it should be “as a church”. The only translation which does not follow this is the KJV. Now I love the KJV, but the Greek text trumps it.]

Again, I’m not saying that having a building is wrong.  I’m just saying that it’s foreign to the Bible.  So, if I meet with Christians at my workplace, even for a few minutes, to share, pray, and maybe even discuss Scripture, is that an assembly of the church?  Think about it before you answer.  We weren’t in a church building, but that’s not a biblical requirement.  We didn’t sing songs, but that’s not a biblical requirement either.  We didn’t take an offering, but since you cannot find even a single reference to a church in the Bible taking an offering for their own use, that’s not an issue either. 

Could it be that Hebrews 10:25 could refer to something other than our traditional concept of a church assembly?  The Greek word for “assembling” (episunagoge) refers to a “gathering together in one place”.  It does not speak to the number of people or a building or a need to have a pastor present or singing or preaching and it certainly does not refer to a denomination.  The context is that we “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works”.  (Heb. 10:24)  And remember, Jesus made a propositional statement in Matthew 18:20 that where 2 or 3 are gathered that He’s there.  It’s something to think about.

In conclusion, an assembly of believers (a church) can occur anywhere. Our concept of “going to church” is shaped by our contemporary view of it. The biblical text requires Christians meeting together and that can occur anywhere Christians are assembled.

Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon – Sermon 7-8: Christ Crucified

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The gospel to the Christian is a thing of power. What is it that makes the young man devote himself as a missionary to the cause of God, to leave father and mother, and go into distant lands? It is a thing of power that does it—it is the gospel. What is it that constrains yonder minister, in the midst of the cholera, to climb up that creaking staircase, and stand by the bed of some dying creature who has that dire disease? It must be a thing of power which leads him to venture his life; it is love of the cross of Christ which bids him do it. What is that which enables one man to stand up before a multitude of his fellows, all unprepared it may be, but determined that he will speak nothing but Christ and him crucified? What is it that enables him to cry, like the war-horse of Job in battle, Aha! and move glorious in might? It is a thing of power that does it—it is Christ crucified. And what emboldens that timid female to walk down that dark lane in the wet evening, that she may go and sit beside the victim of a contagious fever? What strengthens her to go through that den of thieves, and pass by the profligate and profane? What influences her to enter into that charnel-house of death, and there sit down and whisper words of comfort? Does gold make her do it? They are too poor to give her gold. Does fame make her do it? She shall never be known, nor written among the mighty women of this earth. What makes her do it? Is it love of merit? No; she knows she has no desert before high heaven. What impels her to it? It is the power of the gospel on her heart; it is the cross of Christ; she loves it, and she therefore says—”Were the whole realm of nature mine. That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 7-8 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

https://ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons01/sermons01.vii.html

The Image of the Invisible God

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The doctrine of Jesus’ divinity is not limited to just the Gospels. The Apostle Paul also affirms Jesus’ divine nature. Here is one such passage which demonstrates this.

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:12-17)

Here Jesus is the One through Whom redemption comes. (vs. 14) Then in verse 15, we see why–Jesus is “the image of the invisible God”. Only the God-man can provide redemption through His blood, because His blood alone is pure–untouched by sin. As 1 John 3:5 states, “And ye know that he [Jesus] was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.” Jesus’ blood was “precious blood” because He was “a lamb without blemish and without spot”. (1 Peter 1:19)

The word translated “image” is the Greek word from which we get the term “icon”. It communicates that Jesus is the physical form of God who is “invisible” (vs. 15) As John 4:24 states, “God is a spirit”. We cannot see him physically, but Jesus is the physical representation of God. He is truly God in the flesh.

Jesus’ divinity is further supported by verse 16, where He is identified as the Creator of “all things”. Genesis 1:1 is clear that “God created the heavens and the earth” which is certainly included in “all things”. So it logically follows that if God is the Creator and Jesus is the Creator, then Jesus is God.

Verse 17 also speaks to Jesus’ divine nature. Jesus is “before all things”. He is not created. He simply exists. He is the great I AM–the self-existent One, Who we call “God the Son.”

Sermon Shorts from Spurgeon – Sermon 6: Sweet Comfort for Feeble Saints

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When God puts his hand to a man, if he were worthless and useless before, he can make him very valuable. You know the price of an article does not depend so much upon the value of the raw material to begin with—bruised reeds and smoking flax; but by Divine workmanship both these things become of wondrous value. You tell me the bruised reed is good for nothing; I tell you that Christ will take that bruised reed and mend it up, and fit it in the pipes of heaven. Then when the grand orchestra shall send forth its music, when the organs of the skies shall peal forth their deep-toned sounds, we shall ask, “What was that sweet note heard there, mingling with the rest?” And some one shall say, “It was a bruised reed.”

From the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volume 1, Sermon 6 by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

https://ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons01/sermons01.vi.html