Sunday, August 30, 2015

Two Minutes With The Bible ~ What Is a Church?

What Is a Church? 

by Pastor Cornelius R. Stam

It is strange but true that most people — even the great majority of religious people — do not know what a church is. Ask the average man what a church is, and he’s apt to reply: “Well, anybody knows that! A church is a building where people go to worship God.” But this is not correct. The word translated church, in our Bibles, simply means assembly. A church is not a building, but the assembly that meets in the building. Technically, a church is not even a religious gathering, for the same word is used in Acts 19:32 of a riotous mob which had assembled at Ephesus, and this verse says that this assembly was confused and that “the greater part knew not wherefore they were come together.” Perhaps this could apply to many a church today, but the point is that a church is not a building but an assembly of people.

The church of which the Bible has most to say is “the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28), and St. Paul calls the church of this present dispensation, “the Body of Christ,” or “the Church which is His Body” (I Cor. 12:27; Eph.1:22,23).

Men cannot join this Church by water baptism or any other religious rite, but only by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. With regard to believers in Christ St. Paul declares: “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one Body” (I Cor. 12:13). And in Rom. 12:5 the Apostle says that “ye, being many, are one body in Christ.”

Many sincere people have had their names on local church rolls for many years before learning this great truth — that the true Church of God is not a building, but the assembly of those who trust in Christ as their Savior. Doubtless, people in and out of many of the religious organizations we call churches belong to this one great Bible Church, while others, with all their religious profession, do not. The question is: Have we sincerely trusted in Christ as the Savior who died for our sins?


To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."
To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.

7 comments:

  1. Beautiful, Sparky. Have a lovely day, friend.

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  2. Said in the right way (Truth) will set you free.
    Thanks, great post!

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  3. I too, believe that the church is the assembly, not the building. Christ taught from a hill, on a step, etc. and those surrounding him were the church. Good article my friend.

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  4. People gathered together in His name, that makes sense.

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  5. It is the BODY OF CHRIST, isn't it....An assembly of believers in Him.
    I sat today through the sermon thinking how blessed I was to have a pastor whose sermons are so deep but approachable, if you know what I mean? And what a blessing that all assembled have a leader like him as he preaches God's word and applies it to our daily lives.

    Sparky, I also wanted to thank you SO MUCH for your amazing comment to me at my blog on my article about my Muriel....how very kind you are.
    xxxx

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  6. Thank you Sparky for this series of sermons you publish every Sunday. I really appreciate them and look forward to reading them.

    God bless you and your family.

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  7. Thank you Victor. I'm humbled that sharing these has meant so much to so many people.
    For Everyone: Hope your day is blessed. I know mine is thanks to your visits. ~:)

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⭐ A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. ~ Walter Winchell