Notes on the Church

Notes on the Church 

with Bible Verses

An explicit definition of the church

1 Corinthians 1:2 “The church of God is those who meet together, “those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.” 

1 Corinthians 8-9  tell us

“God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Faithful to do what? vs 8, to “confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Heaven on earth is right here in the Church. The church of God gathered, composed of those who have been called by God to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, constitute the church. The church is His kingdom; it’s His kingdom on earth, and it’s as close to heaven as you can get without being there.

The church is not a building. The church is not an institution of religion. It is not an ethical organization. It is not a sociopolitical association. The church is the assembly of those chosen by God, called by God, redeemed by Christ, and brought to final glory. It is redeemed sinners called out of darkness into light.

Colossians 1:13-14: “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” This is another direct description of the church. We have been rescued when we were helpless and hopeless. We’ve been rescued from the domain of darkness run by Satan and marked by sin and death. We have been transferred by the power of God into the kingdom of His beloved Son. We have been redeemed. Our sins have been forgiven.

There's another simple statement regarding the identity of the church in 1 Thessalonians 2:12 says the church are those who are called “into His own kingdom and glory. For this reason we . . . constantly thank God.” The church, then, are those called by God into His kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ, belief in the gospel; who are thus separated from sin and death and judgment, in a final sense; and they live to the glory of God.

Philippians 3:20, just kind of filling out our understanding of what the church is. Vs 20 says, “Our citizenship is in heaven.” Our Father is in heaven, our Savior is in heaven, our fellow saints are in heaven, the angels are in heaven, and so are we, as far as our citizenship goes. “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.” We are citizens of heaven already, and one day we will be transformed into glory, a body of glory, and taken into heaven.

Hebrews 12:23 says it another way: The church is the “assembly . . . of the firstborn,” “firstborn” being Christ. Of all who have ever been born, He is first. Of all who has ever been raised from the dead, He is first. The “assembly . . . of the firstborn,” Hebrews 12 says, “who are enrolled in heaven.” We are enrolled in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven. We have been taken out of the kingdom of darkness; we have been put into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. It is the kingdom of heaven; Christ is our King.

All of this points to the fact that the church is a foretaste of heaven. Though imperfect, the church represents the only place, the only place where you could honestly say heaven comes to earth, because the activities of heaven are reflected in the life of the church. In the church, God’s people desire to worship Him. God’s people love Him. God’s people submit to His moral will as expressed in Scripture. They seek to obey Him out of devotion. This is a taste of heaven. In heaven, believers will serve Him perfectly. And now we serve Him to the best of our ability, even though imperfectly, in the anticipation that someday it will be perfect when we see Him face-to-face.

In the church, believers continually offer adoration to God—as Hebrews 13 calls it, “a sacrifice of praise.” Such expressions of worship are exactly what heaven is doing, according to Revelation chapter 4. So for all eternity, believers, when in heaven, will exalt the Lord for His work of redemption.

The worship of heaven has a faint echo in the church here on earth. We bring heaven down—in a sense, in fulfillment of Matthew 6:10, our Lord’s Prayer, “Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That can only be in one place: the church. In the church we are not yet perfected, but you begin to glimpse a virtue and righteousness at a level that is manifestly different than the world surrounding us. Although it is not the holiness and purity that characterizes heaven in its perfection, it is the holiness and purity that characterizes heaven in its direction.

The absolute holiness of heaven is underscored in Revelation 21 and 22. It explains that the eternal glory of the final estate will be free from immorality, idolatry, and any form of impurity. So the church is called to be free from immorality, idolatry, and any form of impurity. And the church is to walk in righteousness, reflecting holiness.

In the church we enjoy rich fellowship. The church, when it’s built up and grown, is marked by love and fellowship. And this fellowship that we enjoy on earth, which is the richest of all possible human relations because it’s a taste of heaven, will one day erupt into an eternal fellowship, the likes of which we can’t even imagine. So we are citizens of heaven. Our Savior is there, our Father is there, our inheritance is there, our fellow saints are there, the angels are there; therefore, this world is not our home. We belong to the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven. It’s a strange thing to think about how many churches are trying to be as much like the world as they possibly can, when that defies the entire purpose of the church’s existence.

Submission to God’s will, Christ- centered worship, the pursuit of holiness, flourishing fellowship with other believers—these are the ways in which the church on earth foreshadows the glories of heaven. That’s why Paul tells us in Colossians chapter 3, “If you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” In the meantime, “Consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.” These are the things that will bring about “the wrath of God.” This is how you used to live; you don’t live that way anymore. 

And we serve. We serve Christ in the church as we will in Heaven. We will have a job and do it perfectly. See Eternal positions.(*)

So when you think about the church, I believe a wonderful place to start is to understand that the church is heaven on earth. Whatever is true of heaven, in some measure should be manifestly true of the redeemed church.

I love the church. I love everything about the church. I love the congregation. I can’t even fathom a life lived outside of the true biblical church of Jesus Christ.

We need to have an accurate foundational understanding of the doctrines of the church in order to be a faithful member of the local church and to be conformed to and live out a correct biblical worldview and know & stand against the lies of Satan.(*)

We need to be driven by doctrine, by divine truth. Be driven by, confined by, and conformed to biblical theology. It exercises control over your life personally and in service in the church. You must never be compelled by culture, demographics, polls, surveys, human expectations, the desires of the unconverted, the limits of the carnal, or the follies of the immature.(*)

1 Timothy 3:15 tells us the church is “the pillar and ground of the truth.” Scriptural authority needs to guide our life both personally and in ministry in the church in serving in whatever gifts God has given you, and of course overall in all areas in the Church for the congregation, and the leaders who are to be stewards over the flock.(*)

Footnotes:

Notes from Heaven on Earth pt1 of 4, John MacArthur 

(*) some slight edits & added notes and in these paragraphs. 

Notes ate from the 1st  minutes of the message 

Listen to the full series here 

To look at Eternal Positions go here

To return to Heaven & Eternity topic go here 

Understand what a Christian is; what they have surrendered to, turned from and turned to, and now live in righteousness of Christ.