Sixth Grade Lessons, Block 6—The Meetings
(Revised on 4/22/2021)
Week 28
The Church—The Assembly and the Dwelling Place
Reading Reference: 1993 Blending Conference Messages concerning the Lord’s Recovery and Our Present Need, pp. 42-43; Lesson Book, Level 5: The Church—The Vision and Building Up of the Church, lessons 1, 3; Truth Lessons, Level 1, vol. 2, lesson 22; Matt. 16:18; 18:17; 1 Cor. 1:2; 14:33; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Eph. 2:22
Memory Verse: And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matt. 16:18)
Suggested Songs: Hymns, #1233
Scripture Reading: Matt. 16:18; 18:17; 1 Cor. 1:2; 14:33; 1 Tim. 3:15-16; Eph. 2:22
Points to Emphasize:
It is a wonderful thing to be saved, to have the divine life. When we received the divine life, that was marvelous. But that divine life in us brought us to the local church. It brought us to meet with the Christians in our locality to stand there as a testimony for God in that locality.
When some speak of the church, they mean a physical building. If they speak of going to church, they mean going to a chapel or cathedral or some kind of sanctuary. These are material things constructed of bricks, stones, steel, or wood. What a mistake this is.
The Church Being the Assembly of God’s Called Ones
The church (Matt. 16:18; 18:17) in Greek is ekklesia, composed of two words: ek, out, and kaleo-, called; the two words put together mean the called out congregation, or the 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.
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 basic concept of the church as the assembly is that the church is a gathering of the called out ones.
The Church Being the Composition of the Saints
First Corinthians 1:2 says, “To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints”. This indicates that the church is a composition of the saints, and the saints are the constituents of the church. First Corinthians 14:33 calls the churches the churches of the saints. This indicates that the saints are the constituents of the church; the church is composed of the saints. Individually speaking, we are the saints; corporately speaking, we are the church.
The Church Being the House of God and the Dwelling Place of God
First Timothy 3:15 says that the church is the house of God. The word house both in the original language and in the English language has two meanings: on one hand it refers to the household, and on the other hand it refers to the dwelling place. Hence, the church as the house of God indicates that the church, on the one hand, is the household, the family, of God, and, on the other hand, it is the dwelling place of God.
As the house of God, the church is the dwelling place of God. Ephesians 2:22 says, “In whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.’’ The word “you’’ here refers to the local saints. Paul is saying that the local saints, the saints in Ephesus, were being built together in Christ into a dwelling place of God.
The church, the dwelling place of God on earth, is the place in which God can have His rest and put His trust. In this dwelling place God lives and moves to accomplish His will and satisfy the desire of His heart.
Because the church is God’s dwelling place, the church is where God expresses Himself. A house is always the best place for a person to express himself. The kind of person you are is expressed by your house. Hence, if you look at a person’s house, you will be able to tell what kind of person he is, because a person’s house is his expression. The principle is the same with the church as the dwelling place of God. In His house, His dwelling place, God expresses Himself on earth. This is the reason 1 Timothy 3:16 reveals that the church is God’s manifestation in the flesh. God not only desires to make home in the church and to have a resting place there; He also wants to express Himself in the church.