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What the Bible says about Church, Size of
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Why does Luke 12:32 say, "Do not fear, little flock . . ."? How big does the church need to be?

If God planned to save hundreds of thousands or millions of people in the first resurrection, Acts 2 would have been a wonderful place to start. Christ had died less than two months before; an earthquake had rattled Jerusalem; people physically rose from their graves and walked into town; the veil of the Temple had rent in two, exposing the Holy of Holies; and darkness fell at noon! Then came Pentecost: Tongues of fire appeared, the apostles spoke and people heard in dozens of languages. One would think the whole city would have heard and believed—yet the "best day ever" in the church produced a mere 3,000 converts!

This fledgling church "multiplied greatly" (Acts 6:7; 9:31; 18:10), but Acts 21:20 (KJV) still describes "how many thousands of Jews there are which believe." The church did not need huge auditoriums, for they met in private homes (Romans 16:5, Colossians 4:15, Philemon 2), and they were served worldwide by twelve apostles and a small number of elders. Even considering these small numbers, many fell away from the truth (I John 2:18-20; II Thessalonians 2:3, 7), and many followed false apostles (II Peter 2:1)!

Before the fall of Jerusalem, the true believers who had not yet migrated north fled to Pella. When the curtain came up after the first century, false apostles had syncretized paganism with the truth of God, forming a new and different church. The "little flock" of true Christians had disappeared. Most of those considered to be "Christians"—including many who died as martyrs—must have been syncretized pagans who believed a false gospel.

How many of those God will save are "firstfruits," and where do they fit? Paul includes himself and the congregation at Rome as firstfruits (Romans 8:23), as does James and the converted Israelites scattered abroad (James 1:18). In Romans 11:4-5, Paul refers to the 7,000 in Elijah's time who had not bowed their knee to Baal, and he uses this number to refer to his own time, saying, "Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace." Perhaps he did not mean exactly 7,000, but his quotation is consistent with the "thousands" we saw earlier.

There is a curious passage in Deuteronomy 33:2, 17:

The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints; from His right hand came a fiery law for them. . . . He [Joseph] shall push the peoples to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

We know God gave the law to millions of Israelites. This prophetic passage about the futures of the tribes of Israel may not "prove" anything about "church" numbers of and by itself. It becomes more interesting, however, when we notice a few clearer passages. Jude, quoting Enoch, writes, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints" (verse 14), meaning that the saints are numbered in the tens of thousands. Song of Songs 5:10 describes the Beloved, a type of Christ, as "chief among ten thousand." These numbers become very significant when we combine them with I Thessalonians 3:13, where Paul says Christ will return with "all His saints."

Staff
Who Are the 144,000?

Related Topics: Church, Size of | Firstfruits


 

Matthew 13:31

The mustard seed stands for the progress of the church from small beginnings. Because of its minuteness, the mustard seed came to symbolize small beginnings, denoting the smallest weight or measure, a tiny particle. The parable focuses on this idea of smallness. The mustard seed is something small that does its part to expand in preparation for the Kingdom of God. The seed represents an instrument by which spiritual growth can be advanced, just as a plant grows and reproduces itself through a seed.

In this parable, the small seed is the church, which appeared as the firstfruits of the Word. Just as in the Parable of the Sower, the one who sows the mustard seed is the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, and the field is the world. Jesus Himself had an insignificant entrance into the world by human standards, and the church He founded is likewise a "little flock" (Luke 12:31-32), small and designed by God not to become a physically powerful organization that would make a spectacle of itself.

In Matthew 7:13-14, Christ says the way that leads to eternal life is difficult and narrow, and few find it. He reiterates in Matthew 20:16 that few are chosen. In Luke 10:2, when sending the seventy out, He says the laborers are few. Paul argues in I Corinthians 1:26-29 that God calls the weak and the base of the world to put to shame the mighty and the noble. Jesus is referring to those few who, upon their calling by God, voluntarily submit to God's dominion, the Kingdom of God.

Martin G. Collins
Parables of Matthew 13 (Part Four): The Parable of the Mustard Seed

Matthew 13:32

The largest of mustard plants, even under ideal conditions, can grow only to a height of about 15 feet. Luke 13:19 describes it as "a large tree," yet the natural mustard plant is not "a large tree" by any stretch of the imagination. All varieties of the mustard family, which are herbs, have thin, pulpy—not woody—stems and branches. It is nothing like a tree.

This mustard plant did something abnormal by growing beyond its design parameters; it became larger than what God designed as normal. What is this large mustard tree in which, apparently, demons are welcome? As the church grew from a tiny seed into a small mustard bush, it was as God designed it, but over time, it mutated into a large tree, something never intended by God.

This plant ceased to be God's church when it perverted its doctrines and objectives, moving beyond God's intended limits. It became a counterfeit of the true church, appropriating the name "Christian" and blending or syncretizing pagan mystery religions with Christianity. Eventually, it called itself the Roman Catholic Church, and later produced Protestant daughter churches whose doctrines are rooted in Catholicism.

What became of the true church? When the mustard plant mutated from its original form, God replanted His true church in another corner of the field, beginning the process anew. It is a consistent characteristic of God's true church to remain as a small herb, spiritually feeding the few who are chosen to become regenerated children of the Kingdom of God.

Martin G. Collins
Parables of Matthew 13 (Part Four): The Parable of the Mustard Seed


 




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