But the church is also a local community. People you know personally.
The Church, the ekklesia, is local and worldwide, the ekklesia, is the born again from above believers, it is not a mixture of saved and unsaved souls, it is not a building. Scripture is so clear on this. The Church, the ekklesia, is a body of believers, in a house, in the street, in a place for worship, in a town, in a city, in a country, in all the earth. We, the born again from above believers are the 'Body of Christ'. The Holy Temple is in every saved soul, it is the Holy Spirit that brings us together as one body, where ever we are in on earth.
Both John and Paul wrote letters to specific churches. In specific places.. specific cities you could go to on a map.
All you had to do was look them up on google maps. At booking.com you could rent a camel and a manger for the night if you needed to, for just a few shekels. Or just put it on on your Jerusalem Express card.
Paul wrote his letter to 'the church in, Galatia, Thessalonica, and more. He didn't write to a building, he wrote to the church in, he wrote to the saved souls in, he wrote to the ekklesia in... (more on this later)
But seriously.. they were local communities. We can't say the church is ONLY the global church.... that's not true.
We can't the church is only within us... that's not true either. I see verses that say we are a temple for the Holy Spirit, but I see no scriptures that say our bodies are a temple for ourselves.
We can't say the church only exists in heaven.. that isn't true either.
The church was a "congregation of people" sometimes.
In the OT they had synagogues and the Temple. Remember Jesus said, knock this Temple down and I will rebuild it in 3 days. He was as we know talking about the Spiritual Temple. Now in the NT times we have the church, the ekklesia, which consists of saved souls in every country of the world.
The Temple which lives in a saved soul id the Spirit of Christ, we know that, He is the Temple within us, there is no other Temple possible, it is Jesus Spirit within every believer. Through His Spirit we become living stones, living stones of what? Living stones of the ekklesia, this is the only church there is. When we are born again from above, the Holy Spirit comes into us, The Temple is within us, but the Temple alone is not enough, Jesus abides in our heart, we are to abide in him, Jesus is the life giving vine for every saved soul, we are grafted in when we are saved, we are given the Holy sap, we are given life, life in Him.
We are not saying 'the church' is in heaven only, no no no, we are not saying 'the church' is just worldwide, no brother. But scripture says, 'the church' the ekklesia, consists of born again believers, locally, nationally, all across and round the world,
spiritually. Scripture tells us clearly the church is the ekklesia, in all the world.
Sadly a system was set up, the RCC made changes as we know, 'the church' the kuriakon is one of them. They introduced the word kuriakon to mean church building, over the centuries preachers say come to church, congregation invite people to their church. It is not scriptural brother, it is a RCC introduction.
If we want to be right with God, we all do brother, we should rule out anything that is not in scripture and keep to what scripture says, surely. I think when this is mentioned some see it as an attack on their church, it is far from it, it is revealing the Truth in the Word regarding what a church is, what the ekklesia is.
We say when born again we are not of this world, we are alien to this world, that is true, but we tend to look at things in a worldly way, not as God sees things at times. We are looking at the place we worship as a church, why? Because that is what we have been taught, and the RCC addition has caused further misunderstandings, to kuriakon, not coming from scripture should not be considered any more.
Acts 4:32; And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.
This verse tels us clearly brother, 'the congregation of believers', it says the congregation of saved souls, were of one heart and soul. This is a winderful picture of the ekklesia, a body of born again form above souls, one body, one heart, in Christ, they were a 'congregation', they were a local 'fellowship', they are part of the global church, the body of Christ, ekklesia. His church, His Bride.
Acts 4:33; And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.
Acts 4:34; For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales
Acts 4:35; and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.
Acts 4:36; Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement),
Acts 4:37; and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Here we have a body of saved souls, all with one heart, all with Christ in them, all grafted into the main vine, that was why 'they had great power', they were a body of believers, with one accord, we can tell they were All saved souls, '
with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus' If they were not all saved souls, they would not have the power, they would not be preaching Christ Jesus.
A church was a specific area sometimes.
In the first chapter of Romans, Paul addresses them...
Rom 1:7; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I do not see where the church was an area Ray, but I do see from scripture, saved souls in an area.
The saints in Rome, the church is not the area, the believers are the church, the ekklesia who are in Rome.
He starts off 1 Corinthians with...
1Cor 1:2; To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling,
Paul specifically calls them a church here.
Agreed brother He does, because the church of God in Corinthmare those sanctified in Christ Jesus, they are believers, they are saved souls, they were called, they accepted Jesus in their hearts, they are born again. The are a group of spiritual stones, they are part of the worldwide ekklesia. They are an ekklesia in their area. The church is not the building it is born again from above, spirit filled believers, the church, the ekklesia, the living, spirit filled souls, together they are the church, or part of the worldwide church.
He starts off Galatians with...
Gal 1:2; and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:
Ephesians...
Eph 1:1; Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus:
Philippians...
Php 1:1; Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:
Paul recognized the church as a local community as well as a global church, heavenly church, spiritual church whatever other church there might be.
Colossians...
Col 1:2; To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
To the church in these places Paul did write, but he wrote to the saved souls in that area, never a building. To the saints in Christ Jesus, to the brethren, the body of saved believers. Always saved souls are referred to as the church, the ekklesia, never a building brother.
Now John it's John who writes Revelation... but he was in a vision when he wrote it. In the vision Jesus is speaking here. Jesus Himself recognizes churches as local communities.
Rev 2:1; "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:
Rev 2:8; "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:
Rev 2:12; "And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:
Rev 2:18; "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:
Rev 3:1; "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
Rev 3:7; "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:
Rev 3:14; "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
Now... are these letter prophetical or spiritual representations of the global church in some ways... yes I will even admit that. But even so... these were real churches with real problems in real communities.
To deny this.. is to deny what the Bible clearly states in many many places.
Acts 11:26; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
Matt 18:17; "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Acts 11:22; The news about them reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas off to Antioch.
Acts 9:31; So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.
Tell it to the church, PTL, tell it to the church. What is the church? The saints, the saved souls, the 'congregation of believers' 'the body of believers, 'the ones who are in Christ and Christ in them'
Always to the saved souls, never to saved and unsaved souls, never to a building called a church, RCC word for church building, kuriakon.
When John wrote to, To the angel of
the church in Ephesus write: and the others, He didn't write to the place, he didn't write to a building, the ekklesia is a Spiritual Church, with Christ as it's head, worthy to be called 'The Bride of Christ'
Bless you brother.
