What is Ecclesiology?

I will explain myself as to what I mean by the Church. The Church is a body subsisting in unity here below, formed by the power of God by the gathering together of His children in union with Christ who is its Head; a body which derives its existence and its unity from the work and the presence of the Holy Spirit come down from heaven, consequently on the ascension of Jesus the Son of God, and of His sitting at the right hand of the Father after having accomplished redemption.

32 This Church, united by the Spirit, as the body to the Head, to this Jesus seated at the Father's right hand, will, no doubt, be manifested in its totality, when Christ shall be manifested in His glory; but, meanwhile, as being formed by the presence of the Holy Ghost come down from heaven, it is essentially looked at, in the word of God, as subsisting in its unity on the earth. It is the habitation of God by the Spirit, essentially heavenly in its relationships, but having an earthly pilgrimage, as to the scene in which it is actually found and in which it ought to manifest the nature of the glory of Christ, as His epistle of commendation to the world, for it represents Him and is in His place. It is the bride of the Lamb, in its privileges and calling. It is presented as a chaste virgin to Christ for the day of the marriage of the Lamb. Evidently this last thought will have its accomplishment in resurrection; but, what characterizes the Church, as being quickened according to the power which has raised Christ from among the dead and set Him at the right hand of God, is the realization and manifestation of the glory of its Head by the power of the Holy Ghost, before Jesus its Head is revealed in Person.

The church of the living God is the body of saints formed on earth in unity with Christ in heaven as the Head, by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven to form them into unity with Christ at the right hand of God. The church is not merely a number of saved persons, but a body formed into unity with Christ their Head, by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven consequent on the exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God. There has been a habit of calling all the saints from first to last the church, and there is a fear lest tender-hearted saints who have done so should be alarmed by altering it. I greatly respect the jealousy of souls (who have the consciousness of the electing love of God, in saving every one whom He has called from Adam downward), in being alarmed lest this distinction should affect the foundation of salvation through the blood according to God's electing love; but still it is my duty as well as my privilege to understand the position in which God has set me, and to call by the right name what God has called by name in scripture.

397 The Lord said to Peter, "On this rock I will build my church." He had not been building from Adam downwards, but He says, "I will build." What do I find people talking about? A visible and invisible church. Now this is Satan's lie. The so-called visible church is in fact the world, and cannot give any testimony at all for Christ. If I say it is an invisible body, the testimony is all gone. In Israel, what was the visible body then? A nation. God's unity then was the unity of a nation, ninety-nine out of a hundred of whom were not converted - the true saints were invisible for God had His hidden ones among them. When Christ came Anna spake of Him to all who waited for redemption in Israel. But the church of God is very different, though so often confounded with this state of believers in Israel. The saints are now formed on earth into a body in unity with Christ risen by the Holy Ghost come down from heaven in consequence of the exaltation of Jesus. Our relations, our affections and our duty to Christ are all founded on this truth; and if it be not understood, there must be defect in the walk and in the consciences of the saints. When the Lord said to Peter, "I will build," of course it was a thing not yet done. The foundation stone was Christ.

The Church is that body which the Holy Ghost forms into unity, as connected with, and united to, the Lord Jesus Christ, its Head, sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven; and that which the Holy Ghost so unites to Him is the only* thing in Scripture called "the Church" (i.e. specially such).

333 Take the word: it includes an assembly such as at Ephesus. Take the thing; and the assembly in the wilderness, and God's assembly formed consequent on Christ's death, are founded on principles diametrically opposed and destructive one of another. And the definition ("A church comprehended a society of the people of God") is as vague and incorrect as may be. A church is an assembly: what is the meaning of "comprehending a society"? An assembly means an assembly; if not actually assembled, it may be used in a general way for those who habitually assemble, but then it is the society. When we speak of the Church in its Christian sense (and that only is what we are occupied with), it is God's assembly founded on the death of Christ, assembled by the power of the Holy Ghost, and dwelt in by Him. Christ gave Himself not for that nation only, but to gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. This is the general idea, for it is only stated here in general.

How wondrously this word ek-klesia describes the true Church of God today: — called out by the herald of the Gospel; called out from the world, for the one who answers this call is no longer of the world, even as Christ their Lord is not of the world; (John 17:16); gathered together unto the One we love, our Lord Jesus Christ; and so we form part of the Assembly, or Church of God.

'Assembly' is a better translation of ek-klesia than 'congregation,' for congregation has in it the meaning of to congregate, or come together, of one's own voluntary will; whereas ek-klesia emphasizes the call that brings them together: God's own call, through the herald of Jesus Christ our Lord. In Acts 19, we find this word three times translated 'assembly' in our Authorized Version.

She is pictured to us in a three-fold way, as the Body of Christ, the house of God, and the bride of Christ. As the body, there are the various members with the responsibility to function for Him in their assigned and fitted places under the direction of Christ the head. As the house of God, the Church is His dwelling place on earth and responsible to maintain God's order and holiness therein. As the bride of Christ, affection, intimacy, faithfulness, subjection, and eternal companionship and association with Jesus in all His glory is the portion, hope, and destiny of the Church.

In the New Testament the Assembly of God is presented under four figures — a House, a Body, a Candlestick, and a Bride. Each figure suggests a different idea. The House of God is where He dwells — the relationship of the Assembly to God; the Body of Christ is its relationship to Christ, that by which His life, taken from the earth, is now to be expressed here; the Candlestick is to carry the light the Spirit gives — the responsible vessel of testimony for Christ on earth during His absence; while the Bride is more connected with what is heavenly and eternal, when the Assembly, the object of the affection of Christ, will be for ever with Him who is the Bridegroom. This latter truth presents the final destiny of the Assembly, for "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:25-27). And in the day when the last component part of the Assembly shall have been brought in, by the blessed activity of the Spirit of God, the Bride will be taken home by the Lord to be with Himself for ever; a very bright hope to the heart of the Christian. But there it will never cease to be "the fulness of him that fills all in all," as the Body (Eph. 1:23), or the dwelling-place of God, as the House.

Mr. Hole uses the word church and assembly interchangeably, which might cause some confusion. The Greek word ecclesia is used in the New Testament to describe both the true universal Church of God, comprised of all believers, and also the local church or assembly. The word means called out ones. The English word assembly is thus a better translation of ecclesia than is the word church. But as long as we know its true meaning, either church or assembly can be used without problems. The main problem with the word church is that people get it mixed up with some church-building or some denomination (the Baptist church, etc.). Neither of these is a correct use of ecclesia.

But if the Church is a treasure hid it the field, only God could discern it. From other scriptures we learn that the manifestation of the Church (i.e., in its perfect state) will not be in this world, or age, or rather, the manifestation will take place in the new age; for this will have closed when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven, taking vengeance, etc., but then the Church will be revealed also (Col. 3:4). The manifestation of the sons of God, the Church, is an event for which all creation, animate and inanimate, are represented as earnestly waiting (Rom. 8:19-23.) But this manifestation of the Church refers to the future glory, and is the term put to this hiding of our life in the passage above cited, viz., Col. 3:4, "Our life is hid with Christ in God," etc. We hear in our day about an invisible Church, as if it were the will of God and the Church should be hidden now; but there is no scriptural warrant for such a thought. It is a sad and solemn fact that there are many of God's children who walk not as children of the light, and the Church corporately is not known as a distinct and separate body from the world. There may be a few here and there who endeavour so to walk in separation from evil, and to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; but alas, how few comparatively! But it does not appear from scripture that God designed the Church to occupy such a position, in which it could scarcely be distinguished from the world, but on the contrary, it does appear from scripture that the word "hid" refers to the past. Nowhere do we find the idea of an invisible Church as God's intention and desire. It was set up in broad day, in the face of all the languages assembled in Jerusalem, and in an instant the tongue of the unlearned was loosened, and gave testimony to the grace of God in the various languages to the astonished multitude. Enemies reviled, and said, "These are full of new wine." There was no invisibility here. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another." God designed that unity and love, after Christ's pattern, were to be the evidence to all men that they were his disciples. This is quite inconsistent with invisibility, save as the result of man's sin; for alas! here, as in every other position in which man has been placed, is failure. The Church as a body visible, is ruined; it is broken and split up into sects and parties, and in many cases the bitterest enmity exists between the rivals. Surely this is not what was intended. This cannot be the effect of the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church, but because that presence has been denied, and human authority has usurped the place of the Spirit. The natural, necessary consequence is, that, till Christ comes, the lusts of the flesh and the power and subtlety of Satan have broken up and for ever marred the visible unity of the Church upon the earth. "From whence come wars and fightings among you?" etc. It was the secret purpose of God before the foundation of the world, that from the race of men living in the world, and irrespectively of His governmental distinctions, He would at the proper time form His Church. This purpose was intimated when Christ came, and developed by the Spirit afterwards. "On this Rock I will build my Church." At the day of Pentecost God put his plan into execution. He began to build His spiritual house when the Holy Ghost descended upon the saints (Acts 2:1-4). For the Church is not merely an assembly of believers, but an assembly formed into one body corporate, by the actual and personal presence of the Holy Ghost, who is just in the same sense present, as the Lord Jesus is now absent. This is the Church. It is evident that such a body could not exist previously, because that Christ had not ascended, and the Comforter could not come till Christ had gone up (John 14, et seq.) It is true, that many things in the old economy typified the Church, or rather, Christ's members, in certain respects; but it is equally true that the Lord revealed His assembly as his purpose, and that Paul was the chosen one to bring it fully out. Eph. 2, Col. 1.

By the “Church” I do not mean the clergy, nor do I allude to any part or section of the professing body, but rather the whole company of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ extant on earth, at any given time, between the coming of the Holy Most on day of Pentecost and the moment when, at His second coming, all such, dead or living, shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and to be for ever with Him—in it word, the body of Christ.