The Ohio Independent Baptist, March 1966

Your State Missionary Rev. Earl D. Umbaugh The Local Church By Earl D. Umbaugh The local church is given a promin– ent place in the New Testament and it<; history may be traced through its pages. It i een in prophetic forn1 in the words of Je u to His disciples when He said, ' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church..." (Matthew 16:18). In fulfillment of that utterance, Jesus brought the church into existence on the day of Pentecost and has con– tinued its fulfillment , by e tablishing local churches throughout the world for more than nineteen hundred years. The birth of the local church began \Vith the regeneration of individuals o n the day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2:41. Here is the New Testa– ment pattern: salvation of the in– dividual by gladly receiving the word of truth baptism of those believers in water in the name of the Father ' and o f the on and of the Holy 1host , and then organizing those be– lievers into a local church whe re they can be t aught the Wo rd of ,o d a nd gi ,,e n o pportunities fior hristian se rv– ice. 'l here i no place in the cw Dr. Jackson in Ohio I r. P au l 11. J ac 0 11 , a tio11a l R eJJ– re 111at ive of tl1e 1.A . J{ .B . . ,.. i ll 1> peaking a t tl1e I ib)e Ila 1)t ist l1u1 11, irard, Iii , 1arc11 13- 18 and at 111 rand A 11t1 B, JJt i t l1urcl1, airl, r ,1, J1i , 1\1arc11 20. C. E. Director Called ']J1 }1urcl1l f ll I I t 11 i r a 11 i 11 g 11 I\ u)]- t 111 J 1r t r f 11ri t1a1 dt1 ti 11 . ·re tan1ent for what on1e folks have called ''pL1re evangeli . n1'' by which they n1ean the winning of the lo t to Chri. t VY i thot1t any effort to lead then1 into the waters of bapti n1 and on into the member hip of some local Bible-believing church. The Ne; Te tament pattern includes adding to the local church tho e who are being aved. When this is done a new church i born. A local church must not only be born, it al o must grow. Its spiritual gro'vvth wi l l be commen urate with the piritual growth of it members. In preaching to the Ephesian elders Paul in tructed them 'to feed the church of God which he hath pur– chased with bi own blood. ' some– thing purcha ed at so great a price mu t not be neglected. It must grow and it food for growth is the Word of God. A local church ha a mi ion to perform. Part of that mi s ion i~ found in Fir t Timothy 3: 15 where the church of the living God i described a the pillar and ground of the trt1th. The church is not the truth but it has the task of pre erving the truth that has been recorded in the Bible and of passing that truth on to each new generation. A local church ha an expansion in what to engage. According to Epehesians 4: 12, the aint are to be brought to the p]ace of spiritual ma– turity o that they can engage in the work of the mini try which, in it fines t definition, i the winning of the Jo t to the Lord Jesu Chri t. The local church ha an end in view for its member . Eventually, each one will be like the Lord Je u Christ ( 1 John 3: 2) , will be with Him throughot1t the age of eternity (John 14 : 3) and will erve Hin1 (Revela tion 22: 3) unhindered a nd un– han1pered by our pre ent l1n1it a tion . The local cht1rch hac; a great place i11 lhe econo n1 y of od . May ,ve (l o o t1r t1t111ost to pl ace one 1n cYer \ con1- n1t1n1t y throt1 ghot1t the ta tc o l Ohio. Specia l Meetings Blessed A Bible a r1d 11ssio1 ar)' nfc rc 11cc V., S held rec ~r1tl y i11 tile rr'ri nit ' Ba1>– t i L l1urch l... ora i11 , hio ,vi tl1 lle \'. . [ 0 11 a l J 1o ffa t, edit 1r f 111 C . l . f:J . as gti t::s t s1 cak r. 11si J r, l"> l \\ a J>laccd 0 1 tl1 111att t::r f 1 r 1 al \Vi t11 t:: ing a 11l lt1l ,,i11- 1 ing. l'n t r J 111 1\ll t::11 ,, ri L t, ti11g tl ldt t}l 1 1cDl ing ,v 1 •,t r , l l)l - i11g , 11 I \\ il l 11, \' , 1·1 ti11g t i11 tli cl1l1r ll. " 1 ~ ,1 e1 n \\ a fH 11 f 1 ' , r-1 ng 1111ll1a i t I) Jlla I 011 n1i si 11 i1 tl1 l 1L11 11 . Glimpses of Truth from the Greek New Testament By Dr. Geo. Lawlor John 3: 16 is probably the best known ver e among believer , and the mo t widely used of any single ver e in all the Scripture . But there i one word in this grand ver e which ha been ignored by mo t Chri tian , and mi interpreted by many, yet which i actually the key to the clear understanding of the profound depth of. the ver e and its proper interpre– tation. The word is " o ' - "For God so loved the world . . . ' The word i the Greek houtos, and stand first in the Greek sentence, i.e. i the fir t word in the original text of the ver e ' and therefore ha a pecial empha i . It mean : 'in thi manner ' and hou ld be o rendered. It i not to be taken in the en e of degree, '· o much, o greatly' . God loved the world "in thi manner.' In what manner? The con– text i fir t to give an wer in v . 14, "And even a Mo e lifted up the serpent in the de ert, in this manner ( ame word, the Greek hoz1 tos) it i nece ary for the Son of Man to be lifted up ( on the cro ) in order that everyone who believe in Hin1 may have eternal life.' ' It i in thi n1anner that God ]oved the world and den1 n- trated it : "that He gave Hi only– begolten on in order that everyon who belie"e in Him hould n t p r– i h , but have eternal life,,. ( . 16). Here then i a littl w rd that ha been verlooked, ignored, an<.l e ·– e luded fron1 the correct r nder1ng of thi \ great ver. c, 1 et \\.hich 10 it O\vn t1r11qt1c and r n1ark.,1bl \.\ ,.l)' , t1nder– l tne the pr tot1nd trt1th o f the .. t1b– \ l1lL1ti onar, at 1ne111ent , i1r1d pt)Int~ t1n- 1111 , tc.1k :.tbl, in a v. i.\\, th,lt C,\011 t p - sthl) b 111i\t111dcr t (I , t the l1tc1ng t t}) o f the t)n f , ti n the c1 s, f t) I , tl L't) 111111e r1de<.I Hi" l \et \\ ,\Ill tt s 111 th at ,, h ilc ,, e ,ver~ \ ct ,11111e1" ~ h r is t t i c ti f t) 1 l t ". Hebron Men's Banquet t1 l l c hr 11 1 11 s ll t i t l1 t1c l I 11 at l z 11, ' R st t t Ir· 11 t "t I , t t 11 j t t n ti <111 I I ) , t 11 r 11 i I I 1ing t1r ,,if r , t i J I J) 1 11 . Illlll. I l3 Il– l , l 11 1( t 11 \\ hi h i ll)- 9 h ). ' ·'"' o..>'"'.r, , ti n 11 i r > 11 l . I l, 11 11 , l t t 11d111g! MARCH, 1966 PAGE 7