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Amen and Amen,
Well said - Nothing like plainness of speech to
communicate the oracles of God.
judyt
Try to grt over the idea that the Church is a small or large
organization. It is neither It is a living organism, a spiritual
house made of living stones. It is the Church, singular, one, with one
cornerstone, one foundation, and a jillion living stones being added all the
time, all over the world. The head is Jesus Christ. It is His
Church. There are no guys with dresses and funny hats in
charge.
Terry
David Miller wrote:
Terry wrote:
> I think that when He said, "Church", He meant
> Church. If He had meant churches, He would
> have said churches.
I agree. He meant church. The question is, did he have a
specific church in mind, or did he have a huge worldwide organization in
mind like Roman Catholicism or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints? A few chapters later, in Mat. 18, Jesus uses the word church
in the singular there also. Does he have in mind there some gigantic
worldwide metaphysical church or does he have in mind a local church?
It seems to me in Mat. 18, we can infer from context that he has in mind a
local church. The problem in Mat. 16 is that there isn't much context
from which to make a determination. Most people assume a worldwide
assembly, but I think that comes more from culture than from illumination
from the Holy Spirit.
If we translate the word "church" here as "congregation," like
Tyndale's translation did, would you read it differently? If Jesus
said, "upon this rock I will build my congregation...," does it make it
easier for you to see how the local congregation might be what Jesus has in
mind? Was Jesus really trying to indicate his intent to build an
empire, a global church, or was he keenly interested in a quality
congregation in Jerusalem, knowing in the back of his mind that at some
point he would replicate this and also build other churches?
Peace be with you.
David
Miller ================================================================
Try
to grt over the idea that the Church is a small or large organization.
It is neither It is a living organism, a spiritual house made of living
stones. It is the Church, singular, one, with one cornerstone, one
foundation, and a jillion living stones being added all the time, all over the
world. The head is Jesus Christ. It is His Church. There are
no guys with dresses and funny hats in charge.
Terry
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