In this life we wage constant warfare, and we are wearied with the remnants of sin in our flesh, with burdens, and with sorrows. But when we are present with the Lord, we are freed from these burdens, and we receive great blessings prepared for us by God. Some of the most breathtakingly beautiful descriptions of that which awaits us are found in the book of Revelation. In chapter 7, John describes a vision he has of believers around the throne of God.
When we look at how the word “church” is used in the New Testament, we notice that it is used in a variety of ways. Sometimes it is used to refer to a specific local gathering of believers. We see this, for example, in 1 Corinthians 11:18 when Paul says, “In the first place, when you come together as a church . . .” Similarly, Jesus, talking about how to deal with a brother who has sinned against us, says: “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matt. 18:17). “Church” in these texts cannot refer to every believer around the world.
In a number of cases, the word “church” is used to speak of Christians within a certain geographical region without specifying one particular congregation. In Acts 8:3, for example, we are told, “Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” Saul was ravaging more than one local congregation. In Acts 9:31, we read: “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.” This had to do with believers in a number of cities in a large region.
Finally, some passages use the word “church” in a more universal sense, referring to all believers. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says, “I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” He isn’t talking about this or that local church. He’s talking about the universal church. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 12:28, writes, “God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.” God did not bestow gifts only on the local Corinthian church. He bestowed gifts on the entire church. In Ephesians 1:22–23, Paul writes, “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” The body of Christ is not limited to the local church in Ephesus. This, too, is a reference to the entire church.
Speaking of the universal church, Westminster Confession of Faith 25.1 explains:
The catholic or universal church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of him that fills all in all.
When we consider the church in this larger sense, the Bible forces us to make several distinctions in addition to those between the local church and the universal church. The distinction between the visible church and the invisible church, for example, helps us understand the difference between those who profess faith and are regenerate and those who profess faith without having been regenerated. It is a way of distinguishing among the kinds of seed that Jesus speaks of in the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1–23; Mark 4:1–20; Luke 8:4–15).
Another important distinction that has been made since the early centuries of the church is between the church militant and the church triumphant. This distinction is necessary given that the church consists of the whole number of the elect because some of those elect have died and are now present with the Lord while others among the elect are still here on earth. Those in the church who are still on earth are the church militant. They are called this because they are still engaged in warfare with the world (John 15:19; Rev. 17:14), the flesh (Rom. 8:7; Gal. 5:17), and the devil (Eph. 6:12; 1 Peter 5:8). The life of the church on earth is a life of warfare (Eph. 6:10–20).
Those who have finished their earthly battle join the ranks of the church triumphant. The church triumphant is enjoying rest and the blessedness of being in the presence of God. The sixteenth-century Reformed theologian Girolamo Zanchi explained it this way:
But we acknowledge, that this church, though it is, and ever was one: yet it is so distinct, that one part is triumphant in heaven with Christ, already raised from death, and sitting at the right hand of the Father: another part on earth, fighting still with flesh & blood with the world and the devil. Whereupon arises that usual distinction among all the godly writers of the church, of the triumphant and militant church.
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