The Pattern of the New Testament Church Part 1

Introduction

Good morning to everyone. Turn, if you will, to 2 Timothy, the first chapter. And we will start there in a moment. Wonderful to have everyone. Wonderful to have our visitors with us today. We have some from North Alabama from a congregation where I used to preach, and we’re very grateful to have them as well. In any sport, everything that you do is really built upon the basics. If you don’t have good basics, then your more advanced skills are going to be terrible. I know this in martial arts. That’s very much the case. A lot of people want to just skip the basics and they want to go right to the hard stuff. But if you do that, then you’re not going to have good form, you’re not going to execute techniques properly, and so forth.

And it’s the same in any field of study as well. It’s also no different in serving God and in studying God’s Word. So I just felt that, you know, it’s time that we need to go back and study some basic things about the church. And so what we’re going to be studying in today’s lesson, and then in part two of this, Lord willing next Sunday at 11, is the pattern of the New Testament church. It may be that it’s been a while since you’ve studied these things. It may be that you’re new here, and maybe you’ve never heard about what are the qualifications for elders. Or how is it that elders, as the pastors, is different from what the religious world normally thinks of as the pastor of the church, as the preacher.

How is that different? Or you may have never heard about what is the work of a local church, as we see revealed in Scripture. What is it that we are to be involved in and to be doing as we gather together? So these are some of the things we’re going to talk about in today’s lesson and next Sunday at 11. In 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 13 and 14, Paul is writing to a young preacher and says, Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. So Paul is telling this young preacher Timothy, I want you to remember the things that I taught you.

And I want you to teach it right. And it’s a pattern. Hold fast the pattern. Your version may say standard. The word in the Greek that’s translated pattern is a word that means an outline or a sketch. And it brings to my mind, really like the idea of a blueprint. And so we have a blueprint for everything that we are to do and believe within the faith. And I think that in a general way is what Paul is referring to. Now, certainly the pattern for the church would fit within that general pattern of sound words. In 1 Corinthians chapter 14, if you will turn there, Paul there is dealing with, well, he’s dealing with matters specifically about spiritual gifts, supernatural spiritual gifts that were still going on in the first century and the abuses of those gifts and the way that they were doing things that they shouldn’t be doing things.

And he wants them to do all things decently and in order. But notice in verse 37 and 38, if anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. Well, what he’s saying there is these matters about how the church is to operate. You know, for example, even in verse 34, he says, let the women remain silent in the churches. Well, how often is that just totally ignored in today’s religious climate? But what Paul is saying, these are not matters that are optional. This is the commandment of the Lord that I’m giving to you. And so what we need to realize is in a general way, we can apply this same principle and concept that the pattern for the church are the Lord’s uh is a matter of the Lord’s commandment.

And we don’t need to tinker with that. We don’t need to add to it. And we need to keep in mind that when we gather here, we’re we’re in God’s courts. We have entered through his gates and we are in his presence. And it is a very serious matter to take the presence of the Lord and to do with it what we want to do. We want to do what God wants us to do. We want to do what Christ wants us to do. He’s the king, as Greg so aptly preached last Sunday. That this, you know, the church is not a democracy. We don’t get a vote in the matter. We just have to do what the king wants us to do. And we follow that in the Bible.

1. What Is the Church

Now, before we can really get into the pattern of the New Testament church, we need to first establish just what is the church, because there is some confusion on this in some people’s mind. The Greek word translated church is the word ecclesia that just means called out. So it’s the idea of people that are that are out there that are called out to come together. A church, in a general sense, is a group of people. We could term church for any kind of gathering. I mean, if you wanted to, I guess you could call a football team a church in the sense that it’s just a group of people. The word ecclesia is also translated assembly or congregation in other parts of the Bible when it’s not talking about the Lord’s church.

Okay? But as it applies to the Lord’s church, we need to realize that the word never means a building. You know, we have the thing we say, here’s the church, here’s the steeple, open the doors, here’s all the people. Well, that’s actually not true. It’s not accurate. I certainly hope you don’t teach your children that because it’s not that here’s the church and inside are the people. No, the people inside are the church. This building is just brick and mortar. It’s just a place. In fact, you know, it’s not even accurate terminology. I’m not saying it’s sinful if you say this, but it’s not accurate terminology to say, let’s go to church, kids. Because really, we don’t go to church. The church goes to here. We are called out, and we come together and assemble in this place.

We could be assembling under a tree, and still there’s the church. Second of all, the word church never means a denomination, as it is commonly used today. Somebody might say, well, I’m a part of the Baptist church or the Presbyterian church and so forth. Never is it used that way in Scripture. Also, the word church in Scripture is never used to refer to a social club, a place to come and to eat food and to play games and to be entertained, as is so often the case in so many so many churches that Bible study and learning is almost just a thing on the side. And we want to come together and have fun first and foremost. Now, that that’s not always the case, but that can be the case in many places.

The Lord’s church is a body of saved individuals. Acts 2 47. The Lord added to the church day by day, those who are being saved. And therefore, the purposes of the church are not carnal in nature, but are spiritual. In 1 Timothy 3.15, Paul said, In case I’m delayed, I am writing these things so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar in support of the truth. So what is the church the pillar in support of? Food? Fun? Frolic? Entertainment. Comedy acts. Financial well-being. No. Somebody said this a second. Truth. The pillar in support of the truth. And that’s what we must be about. The truth is that which will save man’s soul.

2. The Church Locally and the Church Universally

And that’s what’s important. And so I’ll get into that more too. But really, before I can go further still, we need to make sure that we distinguish between the church locally and the church universally. Because there is some confusion. For example, Jimmy Swaggard said of Jim Baker, that man is a cancer that needs to be cut out of the body of Christ.

I’m going to come back to that, because I think that is a very ignorant statement. Now, let’s define, first of all, the universal church. Universal church is the sum of all the saved of all the world. Okay? In Matthew 16, 18, when Jesus said, Upon this rock I will build my church, did he mean I’m going to build a great big church building? He’s not talking about a local church. He was talking about his body of saved individuals. At the end of Ephesians chapter 1, it says, and he put all things under his feet and gave them his head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who feels all in all. So the church is the body of Christ, this universal body of believers.

Hebrews 12 23 speaks of the general assembly and the church of the firstborn, who are registered in heaven. So that’s easy enough. What about the local church? Well, simply a group of saints who live at the same time in the same area who work and worship together. Philippians 1 and verse 1. Now that’s easy enough. Now who determines membership in each of these? Who determines membership in the universal church? Well, it is God, it is the Lord who determines membership. In Acts 2 and verse 47, I referred to this passage earlier. This is on Pentecost, after those 3,000 were baptized and responded to Peter’s preaching, it says, And the Lord was adding to the church day by day those who are being saved. Or the New American Standard says was adding to their number.

Well, that’s what the church is, the number of the saved. Who was adding to their number? The Lord was, when these people were being saved. In Revelation 3 and verse 5, he who overcomes shall be clothed with white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life. That’s what the Lord says in the letter to the church at Sardis. Now, what that infers is that if a person does not overcome, then what will the Lord do? He will blot out that person’s name. That’s what that passage necessarily infers. So go back to the statement that Jimmy Swaggart said of Jim Baker. That man is a cancer that needs to be cut out of the body of Christ. Now I’m not I’m not giving approval to either one of those men, but that statement shows a fundamental misunderstanding between the nature of the universal church and the local church.

Because we could cut somebody out of a local church, but who and who only can cut people out of the body of Christ? Who can blot their name out? That’s right. The Lord. The Lord. Now, we could kick somebody out of a local church. Okay, I’m saying men could do that. Because membership is subject to man’s judgment. Okay, in Acts chapter 9. Now, I hope that that didn’t sound like I was saying, hey, it’s a good thing that we need to kick people out. Okay? I’m just saying that is a thing that could potentially happen. In Acts chapter 9 and verse 26, starting, we have Saul of Tarsus, who of course we normally call Paul the apostle. He went to Jerusalem. We read. And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples.

But they were all afraid of him and did not believe that he was a disciple. Now, that’s not hard to understand. If there was a known terrorist who we know of in the area that liked to persecute Christians, and he showed up at our front door, we’d probably hesitate to believe it when he said, I’m now a Christian, right? And I want to be part of the group here at South Bumby. So they were hesitant. And they were ready to reject a man who was in the body of Christ. Now think about that. Here’s Saul of Tarsus, he’s in the body of Christ. And he wants to be recognized among these brethren there in Jerusalem, and they’re ready to reject him. See? But verse 27, but Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles.

And he declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. Don’t you love Barnabas, Mr. Encouragement, son of encouragement? But in our vernacular, that would basically be Mr. Encouragement. And he’s he’s vetting for Paul here. So, verse 28, so he, that is Paul or Saul, was with them at Jerusalem, coming in and going out. And so it’s possible to reject someone that the Lord accepts. In a local church, it’s also possible to accept someone in a local church whom the Lord rejects. I mean, that can happen. So, how is it that we attain this membership and become added to, first of all, the universal church or the body of Christ?

Well, by obeying the conditions of salvation, just like on the day of Pentecost, when Peter had preached and he reached his conclusion in verse 36, when he when he said, Let all the house of Israel uh know that this Jesus whom you crucified is both Lord and Christ. So you need to believe in Christ. And then in verse 38, he said, Repent, let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then in verse 41, 3,000 souls were baptized. And the Lord added them to the church. We see there, of course, in verse 47. But what about in the local church? How is a person added to a local church?

Well, I think we see a good example there with Paul. First, you identify yourself with a group. I’d like to be involved here. And then you get verified by the leadership. We don’t have apostles today like they did in Jerusalem, but we have elders. And the elders have the responsibility to verify people who come in and say, I want to become a member here. Now, some confusion can happen here if you don’t make this distinction between a local church and a universal church. Bill Hall, who is a well-known preacher, especially in North Alabama, he talks about how when he preached a gospel meeting at one place, a lady came forward and wanted to respond to the gospel, wanted to get baptized. But she was really worried because she was afraid that if she got baptized at that particular congregation where Bill Hall was preaching the gospel meeting, that she would automatically be a member of that congregation.

And she didn’t want to be a member of that congregation. She wanted to be a member of the congregation back in her hometown. So he helped to teach her that no, that that’s not how it works. And so these two are separate and distinct. Well, now that we have established just what is the church and what is the difference between a local church and a universal church, we’re going to spend the remainder of our time now talking about the work of the local church. This is a very important part of this pattern that we see in uh the New Testament. Now, we traditionally sum the three works of the church up with benevolence, edification, and evangelism, in whatever order you like to say that. I like to say it that way because it’s the acronym B.

3. A Work of the Church Is to Teach the Truth

And we as a church need to be as busy as a bee. Benevolence, edification, evangelism. Now, I’m going to divide that information up a little bit differently here in this particular lesson, if that’s okay. But first of all, uh, a work of the church is to teach the truth. The church is a pillar in support of the truth. And that needs to be what we’re about. You know, it is often neglected this idea that the church is a place to come and actually it’s not a place, is it? That the church is an assembly of people, and what we do is we come together to learn. That’s one of the main things we do. We come together to learn. So many times the church is just a matter of entertainment, as I said earlier, instead of learning the truth.

Now, this teaching of the truth is accomplished by elders. Part and parcel of that is the elders, because they are the shepherds of the flock. It is their responsibility to feed the flock, and they are to be apt to teach. If they’re not, then they’re not a they’re not a scriptural elder. Also, preachers accomplish this, and other teachers who aren’t preachers and who are not elders. This teaching is to be done to the saved as well as to the lost. You know, I’m afraid that sometimes we’ve left off being fishers of men and have just become keepers of the aquarium. But we’ve got to reach out there to those fish out there and put them in this aquarium. And there are some fish here and in this place now that are that are lost.

4. Collective Spiritual Activities

And you’re learning the truth, and you need to respond to that truth and be saved. This teaching of the truth is to be done locally as well as abroad by the support of preachers who might be in other states in this country or even in other countries. And we support many preachers here at South Bumby. Preachers, as well as elders, can be supported financially by the church in order to preach the gospel. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 14, those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel. So that’s the first work of the church I wanted to focus on. The second one is collective spiritual activities. This is what we do when we come together on the first day of the week.

And some of these things we can do on any day of the week. But a couple of them we can only do on the first day of the week. Turn, if you will, to Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, and I want to look with you in verse 47. This group of Christians that were baptized on the day of Pentecost, this group of 3,000, and the number, of course, continues to just grow as we go along Acts. But we we read there in Acts chapter 2 and verse 42, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread and in prayers. And we learn several things about our collective activities in that one verse. First, the apostles’ doctrine. So this is the learning of God’s word, as we were just talking about.

Now, actually, before I pop this one up on the screen, now the next term that you see there is and fellowship. Now, in the Bible, fellowship is always a spiritual sharing. It never means coffee and donuts. It doesn’t. In the Bible, it doesn’t mean, you know, getting together and playing volleyball. In the New Testament, fellowship is meant as a spiritual sharing. And I think this in a way just sums up what they’re doing here. This is all fellowship. Did you know that here we have a fellowship hall? You’re sitting in it. Because we’re fellowshipping right now. We even have a fellowship meal in this fellowship hall. You know what it is? The Lord’s Supper. And we just ate it a little while ago. And that’s, I think, the idea that we have here, this sharing together.

The next term says, in the breaking of bread. Now, this is something they were continually devoting themselves to. I think it’s clear in the context that this is not talking about food that they would be continually devoting themselves to. But this in the context, I believe, is the Lord’s Supper. In Acts 20, and in verse 7, Luke says, and on the first day of the week, we, when we were gathered together to break bread. That Paul began his message and so forth. And so I think really we can gain from that verse not only that the Lord’s Supper is something we do on the first day of the week, and every week has a first day. And what an encouraging thing it is to have our spiritual batteries recharged by coming and thinking about what the Lord has done for us, this memorial uh feast that we have, every first day of the week, and this reminder, not only a reminder, but a renewing of our covenant and this putting of Jesus into ourselves as we eat that sin sacrifice that was given for us.

And we have Christ in us in a very symbolic way. But how powerful is that? I need that every week. And so that’s the pattern that we see. But I think we also see that the primary reason for coming together mentioned in Acts 20 and verse 7 is to break bread. And Paul also preached. But I mean, it is so central to what we do when we come together and we memorialize the Lord’s death. Thirdly, there we see prayer, or finally, there we see prayer, and third on our list is prayer. We come together, and one thing we do together when we’re gathered is we pray. Now, in other passages, we read about singing. Ephesians 5 19, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.

That’s truly a wonderful thing. It’s an uplifting thing, and it’s one of my favorite things we do. Of course, I’d probably say that about all five of them, but we’re going to list. But it’s so uplifting. But nowhere in the New Testament do we find singing with instruments. We don’t see the use of instruments. We just don’t see it. We see it in the Old Testament, and we we see rules about what instruments were to be used and when and by who. But we don’t see that command of David. We don’t see that in the New Testament. It’s just the absence of that. We just see singing only. And so uh, in fact, the term a cappella means in the manner or in the style of the church.

Why? Because that was that was what you expected. The church was just a cappella. He just sang. For hundreds of years, for several centuries, until slowly instruments began to be introduced. And the widespread use of instruments in virtually every church all around is a very new phenomenon. I mean, within the last hundred years, it’s become so widespread that it’s expected. But that is not the norm throughout history. Fifth is the giving of money. This is another spiritual activity. And this is really an act of worship. As we think about God is so good. He’s blessed me so much. And I want to be generous and give back. I want to turn and read 1 Corinthians 16 and verses 1 and 2. This is in the context where Paul is anticipating coming to Corinth, and he wants them to be preparing to have some money set aside so that he can take this money to bring to the needy Christians in Judea.

And that’s the context of this passage. Verses 1 and 2. Now, concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. On the first day of the week, let each of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there may be no collections when I come. Now, though that is a specific context, I do think that we can see here a general pattern that we need to follow. That how does the church raise money? By free will offerings. Not by car washes and whatever. But by free will offerings on the first day of the week. That’s the pattern that we see revealed. And so that’s why we do what we do every first day of the week.

5. Financial Help of Needy Brethren

The King James has the phrase lay by in store. And as a kid, that always confused me. And sometimes, you know, on Sundays, the man heading the table would say, At this time we’re going to lay by in store. And in my mind, as a child, I just saw a homeless man laying in front of a store who had a little cup for receiving people’s change or something. And I was really confused by that. But all it means is making this contribution that would be stored up so that when Paul came, he could take that money. Third work of the church is the financial help of needy brethren. Financial help of needy brethren. This is what we mean when we say benevolence. And what we see over and over in this pattern is that when the church from its treasury uses money to help people who are in dire straits, it is saints, faithful brethren, that are to be helped with that money.

I mean, we see that here in 1 Corinthians 16 1. Now concerning the collection, the collection for the saints. Or another key verse here is in Romans chapter 15 and in verse 26. If you want to turn there, Romans chapter 15, verses 25 and 26. He was also anticipating coming to Rome and gathering money. But now I’m going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. Now, if the Bible taught that we need to just be a benevolent organization like the Red Cross or like the Salvation Army and just use our money to help anyone and everyone out there, then I’d be up here preaching that.

6. Corrective Discipline

But that’s just not what we see. And the pattern, the blueprint that’s been revealed for us in the New Testament. That would be a great burden on the church. It would really water down the work that we are going to be trying to do. But the focus is on those who are needy Christians and who are faithful. 1 Timothy chapter 5 is a good passage to look at that. A fourth and final work of the local church that I’d like to emphasize here, and I do think this one deserves its own point, it’s its own separate section here. Corrective discipline. That is a very important function of local churches that is often overlooked or just completely ignored. And the idea here is what Jesus taught in Matthew 18.

If you want to turn there to Matthew chapter 18 and verses 15 through 17. The Lord Jesus said, Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him it’s fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. Well, what does that mean? To regard him like a heathen and a tax collector. Well, it means don’t associate with him. That’s what it means.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 5, a man had slept with his father’s wife. So the wife that his father was now married to. This man had slept with, and the congregation knew about it, but they were puffed up. And they didn’t mourn about it. They were arrogant. And Paul says, You need to withdraw from this man. Withdraw from him. Don’t associate with him. And the goal of that is to get the person to repent. If someone is living in habitual sin, now we all sin, but this is someone who stubbornly is refusing to repent. And they’re among our number. And we just wrap our arms around them and say, hey, you know, we love you anyway. You’re sleeping with your father’s wife, but that’s okay. We just love you how you are.

You’re living a homosexual lifestyle. That’s okay. We love you. Boy. That’s what the church of Corinth was doing. That would only enable the person and further encourage the person to continue in their sin. And so we withdraw from such a one. But that doesn’t mean we regard them as an enemy. In fact, in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 16, it says, do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother. It’s done in love, with a goal that they will repent. And when they do, then we need to quickly and openly forgive and embrace that brother or sister. These are just some basics that I felt like we needed to touch on again. As a reminder. Or maybe as I said for the first time.

Conclusion

Our goal is to be just like the church that we read about in the New Testament. I’m careful when I say that because sometimes the church in the New Testament acted up. So let me say it this way. We need to be just like the pattern that we see revealed for what the churches were to be like in the New Testament. I told a lady one time that very thing, and she said, if we do that, nobody would come. And I said, first of all, yes, they will. And I said, second of all, they will be the ones who are coming, hopefully for the right reasons. Because you won’t be coming to get your tummies filled, or coming to get your uh, you know, your senses entertained or to get your ears tickled.

But hopefully it’ll be those who come because they’re attracted to the gospel and to the truth. And hopefully, that’s why every one of you who are here are here. And I trust that that’s the case. We need to have integrity with the Word of God. And I’ve often said, I don’t care which way it is, as long as I can know which way it is. But when I see what the Bible says, I’m not going to teach what I want. I want to teach what the Bible says, no matter what I think about the matter. And I’m going to come to terms with, you know what? The Lord’s way is the best way. And I’m going to love his way and not just do his way.

Would you bow your head with me in a word of prayer? Our Father, our God, we trust you, we love you, we thank you for revealing to us a pattern, a blueprint for everything that we are to do and believe and practice. And specifically today, Father, in this lesson, we’re so thankful that you’ve revealed to us a pattern for the local church, so that we can know the kinds of things we ought to be doing and the things that we should not be doing. And that we can do this to your glory and not to ours. Because we realize that when we come together like this, we’re not the audience. You are. And we are in your territory. Through your Son we pray. Amen. If you’re not a Christian, you need to do what they did on Pentecost.

You need to believe in the Lord and confess that belief. You need to repent of your sins and you need to be immersed. And then continue steadfastly to obey the Lord. If you’d like to become a Christian, please do so today as we stand and sing the song of invitation.