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The word church in the English New Testament is the translation of a Greek word ekklesia which in turn is from two words, ek, "out of," and kaleo, "to call." The term then means, the called out ones, or the assembly.

Etymological studies of the word often call attention to the fact that it means persons called out. I am of opinion, however, that the word had been used to describe an assembly so long that it no longer carried the definite significance of being called out at the time of the writing of the New Testament. I merely call attention to this in the interest of accuracy, as there is certainly no objection to the idea that the church is, in fact, called out of the world.

This church is a spiritual creation. It includes all of the redeemed in heaven and earth; and Christ is its head. Hear Paul: "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence .... Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church" (Col. 1:18, 24).

"And hath put all things kinder his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all" (Eph. 1:22-23).

Here the church is spoken of as the mystical body of Christ. This undoubtedly has a very real meaning, for our Lord himself introduced it at another time under a slightly different figure. He said: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit" (John 15: 5). It takes the branches to constitute the vine; and the vine is necessary to the branches. Both are one. Spiritually considered true Christians are actually a part of Christ; and he is a part of them.

The church is again represented as a pure bride, the wife of Christ; "Husbands, love your wives, even as 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).

Here the ordinance of marriage itself is set forth as a divine parable of the holy unity between Christ and his church. Viewed in this light the sublime story of Genesis takes on new meaning. Just as Adam went to sleep under God's hand and slept, as it were, the sleep of death, while God took his bride from a wound in Adam's side, so Jesus actually slept the sleep of death in the rich man's garden tomb; and God took the church, the divine bride, from the wound in his side from which his life had poured in atoning sorrow and pain.

And just as Adam awoke to find his beautiful bride present with him, so Jesus came forth from the tomb to claim his own immortal church—the glorious and blessed company of the redeemed of all lands and nations

Before Adam's bride was ever known to the world she already existed in the throbbing flesh that lay directly upon his heart; and before the church of Jesus ever came into outward form in this world, she had existed from eternity in the heart of Christ; she was forever predestinated in the eternal purpose of God. The world was made as a theater for her calling and her activities. For her the stars were set to shine in the vast expanse of the heavens. For her the sun shone and rivers ran; and the age long travail of the tortured earth throughout geologic time was to provide a place for her wooing by her heavenly Lord.

The foregoing view of the church, it may be said in perfect fairness, is well accepted by all Christians. There might be a certain amount of hair-splitting and technical definitions; but broadly speaking all Christians acknowledge a spiritual company who are the redeemed of the Lord.

The difficulty with this conception is in getting it translated into the realistic conditions of our earthly life. The first step Protestant theologians take is to differentiate between the visible and the invisible church. They say that the spiritual church is the invisible, and the congregations of the local church constitute the visible church. Of the invisible church all are saved; of the visible church a goodly proportion are very probably not of the elect.

Strictly speaking this distinction has no place in the Scriptures. It is true that the Scriptures speak of various local churches, which naturally were visible; but they were churches simply because they were local communities which manifestly translated the spiritual ideal of the mystical body into the flesh and blood of daily human life. They were not churches merely because they were religious organizations; but they were churches because they were living portions of the body of Christ.

If an unworthy person intruded himself into this company the exigencies of language made it necessary to say that he was in the church; but strictly speaking he was not in fact in the church, and could not be while devoid of spiritual life. This inexact use of language has been seized upon as justification for the theory that there are really two churches—a visible, comprising both saved and unsaved; and an invisible, comprising only the saved. As a matter of fact we use inexact language all the time. We speak of the sun as rising and setting, when we know that the change is due to the earth's turning in space. We speak of unworthy people being in the visible church,when as a matter of fact unworthy people are not in the real church of our Lord, by any means.

The church is at once visible and invisible in the same sense—and in no other—as a man is at once visible and invisible. Strictly speaking no one has ever seen the spiritual element about a human being which really makes him a man. In that sense he is certainly highly and perfectly invisible. At the same time we see the human embodiment of the spirit of man, busily working in the world performing the wonders of science and of industry, so that while we never really see the man we do not at all think of him as invisible. Just so we can never really see the living spirit of Christ; but as long as we can see people in whom he lives we may be said actually to behold the invisible church.

The real relation of Christ to his church may be well symbolized by a very simple experiment in physics. Take a handful of iron filings and sprinkle them on a thin sheet of paper. Then place a strong magnet kinder the sheet of paper. You will at once see the filings assume a new grouping. They will act as if they were alive; and although an onlooker may not see the magnet, he can see the way the filings shape themselves in response to its influence.

If we think of Christ as the magnet and the filings as the redeemed of the Lord, we have a picture of the real and spiritual church getting itself realized in human life.

The experiment can be modified to a great extent, however, by introducing paper walls of division between the filings here and there. The walls will prevent certain magnetized filings from getting together which otherwise might; and it will seriously modify the final shape of the magnetized pile. This is an illustration of the effect of the walls of denominational divisions between the spiritually magnetized individuals who have been touched with the spirit of Christ. They are prevented by their artificial isolation from realizing to its utmost the complete and holy fellowship of the blessed body of Christ.

Again, although each bit of filing is attracted toward each other bit, yet the paper walls will effectually prevent the whole pile from assuming what would otherwise be its normal, natural shape; and there can be no doubt that man-made divisions have to a certain extent at least frustrated the divine purpose in the organic unity of his people. They have not assumed the form and function to which the Spirit of God would have assigned them in a perfectly normal Christian church.

This one reason alone ought to make every Christian tremendously in earnest to see that the unity for which Christ prayed shall be attained. Who can tell what happiness he is missing, what usefulness he is falling short of, simply because the Lord Jesus does not have supreme and unhindered right of way in his church ?