In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said, "I will build my church." He would build - yet the church is not a building. We sometimes say he instituted the church, yet the church is not an institution. We may refer to it as an "organization," and yet it is not an organization, such as the Lion's Club, Rotary Club, or whatever. When Jesus used the word "church," he did not coin a word, but used one in common usage of his day. The word is ekklesia, a word generally meaning "called out." The church then is simply a group of "called out people;" called out of the world into a relationship with God. This church is referred to by several terms in the New Testament, and we will notice these over the next several lessons.

The word "church" is used in at least two ways in the New Testament. It is used in what is usually called the universal sense. This is how Jesus used the word in Matthew 16:18, or as Paul used it in Ephesians 3:10. When Jesus said "I will build my church," he was not speaking of a congregation in a given locality, but in a universal sense. One way to put the matter is to say that the church in this universal sense includes every saved person on the face of the earth, regardless of where they may be. It would even include those faithful people of God who have died.

Then the word "church" is used in a local sense. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:2) and at Colosse (Col. 1:2) and other places. Here were groups of people, already belonging to the universal church by virtue of their obedience to the gospel who have agreed to band together in a local, geographical area to work and worship. It should be understood, however, that the universal church is not a "church-hood;" i.e. composed of all the various congregations. Rather it is a "brotherhood" composed of all saved people. Unless these two terms are properly understood, all sorts of unscriptural ideas and practices arise concerning the church. In conclusion on this matter, we might say that the church universal is a relationship between saints and God. The local church is a relationship between saints and saints.

Now to the matter of "the organization of the church." Although organized, the church is not an organization, per se. Rather, it hs been given an organization by the Lord. The organizational aspect of the church is peculiar only to the local church; never the universal church. God never gave the universal church any organization. But the local church is an organized entity. When a congregation has matured to the point that God expects, it is made up of elders, deacons and saints (Phil. 1;1). There are no "committees" in the New Testament church! The work of elders is that of oversight (Acts 20:28), and feeding and maturing the church among them (1 Pet. 5:2). Qualifications for these man may be found in First Timothy chapter three and Titus chapter one.

The work of the New Testament church is threefold in nature. It was to see that the gospel was preached (1 Thess. 1:8), to edify her own members (Eph. 4:12) and to perform limited works of benevolence. We say "limited" because this work was always limited to needy saints. Any other work a congregation engages in is without the authority of God.

When the New Testament church worshipped, they sang (Eph. 5:19), observed the Lord's Supper (Acts 20:7), prayed (Acts 2:42) and gave of their material means (1 Cor. 16:1-2). God limited the worship of the church to these things; anything added or subtracted is again done so without Bible authority.