The word “church” is used in so many ways that it is difficult for many to understand what the Church of God really is, as spoken of in scripture. “Feed the Church of God” (Acts 20:2828Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)). “Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God” (1 Cor. 10:3232Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: (1 Corinthians 10:32)). Thus in the New Testament there are three classes on this earth: the Jewish nation, the Gentile world, and the Church of God.
Do we ever find these three classes in the Old Testament? Never; neither in Moses, the Psalms, nor the prophets. Is that a fact? It is. Then what did Stephen refer to when he spake of “the church in the wilderness”? (Acts 7:3838This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: (Acts 7:38)). If you read the context, you will see that it was the children of Israel, or the nation of Israel gathered out of Egypt in the wilderness. It was one of the two things then on earth, and not the third thing, called in the New Testament “the Church of God.” That is quite clear.
I should like to ask, When was it first named in scripture? It was first named by the Lord Jesus in Matthew 16; but as a future thing. He said, “Upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” It is generally supposed that all saved persons, all believers, from the very first, say from Abel downwards, belong to the Church. Do we not read of the Jewish church? Yes, but not in scripture. Only in the books of men who are guided by custom, and who do not examine scripture for what they say.
Then again we hear and read of the church of Rome, church of England, Wesleyan, and Presbyterian church, etc. Is this a correct way of speaking? Well, men understand what they mean. But our Lord did not mean any of these when He said, “I will build My Church.” No, He did not say, “I will build the church of Rome,” or any of the churches that men have built. If any one of these was “the Church” that would exclude all other believers in the other churches from being saved, as “the Church” is also the “One Body,” and also the Bride of Christ. “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. 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 Cor. 12:12-1312For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13For 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 12:12‑13)). There is One Body (Eph. 4:44There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (Ephesians 4:4)). Who are meant by those that are baptized by the one Spirit into this One Body, the Church of God? “Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (1 Cor. 1:22Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: (1 Corinthians 1:2)).
Is it not evident from these scriptures that all true Christians form the One Body of Christ, the Church of God? So that if Christ meant any of those bodies of men which claim to be the One Body, the Church of God; or, to put it very plainly, if Christ meant that He would build the church of Rome, and that therefore it is the Church of God, this would undoubtedly prove that all outside the church of Rome are not Christians at all.
These remarks would be equally applicable to any other church which assumed the position of being the Church of God. As the Church is the One Body of Christ, you cannot be a saved Christian if you are outside that One Body.
Would it not then be foolish work to spend our time in trying to prove which of the many churches of Christendom is the true Church, since to do so would also prove that all other true Christians were not members of the Body of Christ? This is not our object, but simply to inquire what is the Church, the One Body of Christ, who is the Head of the Body in heaven.
What is God’s thought of the Church? We have already said that the Church is not once named in the Old Testament: was it, then, an afterthought of God, on the rejection of the Messiah by Israel? Far from this: we shall find that it was the first great purpose of God in giving His Son to accomplish redemption. And though this His purpose was never revealed, but kept hid for ages, yet we have most striking types of the Church, the Bride of Christ, in the Old Testament. We will take three of these types or pictures of the Church, the Bride of Christ. No doubt the Holy Spirit will teach us by these pictures, and help us to understand the New Testament scriptures better.
The first will illustrate the work of our God and Father; the second, the work of the Holy Spirit in gathering this Bride; and the third will bring before us the Bridegroom Himself, and very precious details as to how the Bride is redeemed and brought to Himself. We refer to Eve, Rebecca, and Ruth. Bear in mind, that we do not seek to prove the doctrine of the Church by these types, but use them to help us to understand the doctrine as taught in the Acts and the Epistles.