In this message we come to the status of the church. As we consider the status of the church, we shall see the reality concerning the church and the real definition of the church. Therefore, we need to get into the depth of each aspect of the status of the church.
The church has a sevenfold status: the assembly, the house of God, the kingdom of God, the Body of Christ, the counterpart of Christ, the new man, and the golden lampstands.
In the Bible the church is first called the assembly. This is revealed by the Lord Jesus Himself in Matthew 16:18, where He speaks concerning the universal aspect of the church, and in 18:17, where He speaks concerning the local aspect of the church. The Greek word translated “church” in these verses is ekklesia, composed of two words: ek, out, and kaleo, called. Put together, these two words mean a called out congregation or an assembly of the called ones. Hence, according to the literal sense of the word, the church is the assembly of those called out of the world by God.
In ancient times the mayor of a city would sometimes call the people together as a congregation, as an assembly, for a particular purpose. The Greek word used to denote such a gathering is ekklesia (cf. Acts 19:41). The point we would emphasize here is that the word ekklesia, according to biblical usage, refers to the church as a called out congregation. The church is a congregation called out of the world unto God for His purpose. It is much better to translate ekklesia not as church but as assembly. The Brethren teachers insisted on this, and the congregations among the Brethren were known as the Brethren assemblies. I agree with their use of the word assembly. The word assembly is better than the word church.
Although there is no plain mentioning of the church in the Old Testament, there is a picture concerning the church as the assembly. When the children of Israel went out of Egypt, they came to the foot of Mount Sinai. There they were formed into one coordinated entity to assemble before God with the tabernacle as the center and the twelve tribes as the circumference encamping around the tabernacle (Num. 2). Thus, they became one corporate body, the ekklesia, the assembly of God’s called ones. For this reason, the New Testament calls them the ekklesia (Acts 7:38, the word assembly is ekklesia). On the one hand, they were called out by God from Egypt (signifying the world); on the other hand, they were the congregation gathering before God. The children of Israel did not have the nature of the church; they were merely a type, a picture, showing us that the church is the assembling together of those who have been called out of the world by God through His redemption and saving power.
Because the church has the status of the assembly, the ekklesia, we need to gather together. We must assemble and meet in order to have a congregation for God to work and move among us. When God’s called out ones meet together, this is the church. Without such a gathering together of the believers in a locality, there is no practical church life. The practical church life consists in the gathering of the saints in a certain locality. If believers live in a particular city but do not assemble, then in a practical way there is no church in that city. The basic concept of the church as the assembly is that the church is a gathering of the called out ones.
The word church has been damaged by traditional usage. Today many people use this word to denote a physical building with a tower. When these people speak of going to church, they mean that they are going to a building. This concept is absolutely off. The church is not a lifeless building but something organic and full of life. The church is not a physical building without life-the church is an assembly of living persons called out of the world by God for His purpose.
We need to be impressed with the fact that, as used in the New Testament with respect to the church, the Greek word ekklesia indicates that the church is a congregation called out of the world so that God may carry out His purpose. According to Genesis 1:26, man was created by God to bear His image and to carry His authority. However, man fell again and again. Eventually, in the last stage of his fall, man fell into the world, the system of Satan. In the eyes of God, as a result of the fall the entire human race has actually become the world. In John 3:16 human beings as a totality are called “the world.” Since fallen man is in the world and has even become the world, how can God fulfill His purpose with man and through man? The only way is for God to call out a part of the human race. God has done this very thing. In applying His salvation to us, the first thing God does is to call us. Therefore, the first status of the church is that of the assembly of those who have been called out of the world by God to Himself for the fulfillment of His purpose.
Because the church as the assembly is separated from the world, we may say that the church is composed of the real Hebrews. The root of the word “Hebrew” (Gen. 14:13) means “to pass over”; it especially means to pass over a river from one region to another and from one side to another. Hence, the word Hebrew denotes a river crosser, one who crosses a river. The church is composed of the believers who, as real Hebrews, have been called by God out of the world and have “crossed the river” from one realm to another. Now as believers in Christ we are the called out ones, the assembly, the congregation called out by God, the ekklesia in opposition to the world, which is on the other side of the river we have crossed. Just as our forefather Abraham was called out of the land of Chaldea, so we have been called out of the world by God to be His assembly.
Whenever we speak of the church as the assembly, the ekklesia, we need to realize that this means that the church has been separated from the world. The first status of the church indicates a thorough separation of God’s called out ones from the world. There must be a great and thorough separation between the church as the ekklesia and the world as the system, the cosmos, of Satan. As the assembly, the church is separated entirely for God so that He may have a means to carry out His eternal purpose.
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