PREFACE
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION
study began as a conviction that the
local church "the pillar and ground of the truth," I Tim. 3:15, was not being
given the regard due to it as set forth in the New Testament. In the modem
religious world, humanistic theology and programs and organizations are exalted
out of all due proportions to the disparagement of Divine truth and order. The
author is convinced that one of the most outstanding examples of this is the
great regard that is paid to the supposed "Universal Church." Yet only a
moment’s reflection will manifest that, in the words of Dr. S. E. Anderson (The
First Church, pp. 96-97), this supposed universal church—has
No address, locale, or building. No body, tangibility, or definable framework. No meetings, assemblies or meeting places. No discipline. No baptism. No Lord’s Supper. No deacons or deaconesses. No pastors or assistant pastors. No choir, organist or pianist. No treasury, collection or budget. No missionary collection or fellowship fund. No . moderator, chairman or president. No clerk, records or membership roll. No prayer meetings. No business meetings. No evangelistic meetings. No ordination of pastors or election of trustees. No messengers or delegates. No identity. No commission. No responsibility. No organization. No association with sister churches. No missionaries. No constitution. No by-laws or rules of order. No name.
—that, in a word, it is a non-entity; little wonder that such a theory is so popular, for it demands nothing of anyone, antagonizes no one, and accomplishes nothing, but must depend upon the members of the actual local church for its whole existence; yet it gets all the honor and glory, while the local church, which has done all the work and born all the reproach, gets only scorn and disrespect.
This conviction was the motivation for a series of twenty messages which were delivered in 1963 to the First Missionary Baptist Church of Kirk, Colorado, of which this writer was then pastor. Some of the material had already at that time been prepared and published serially in The Orthodox Baptist, a monthly denominational paper published at Ardmore, Oklahoma. This material was subsequently revised and enlarged until it finally became a manuscript of over six hundred pages, portions of which were also delivered at pastors’ conferences and fellowship meetings. The present booklet represents the first two of the original twelve chapters, the remainder of which will, if the Lord gives His smile of approval upon this work, be subsequently published in other booklets.
The conviction still abides that when the Apostle to the Gentiles said "To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end," (Eph. 3:21), He had reference to the local body. There is but "one body" (Eph. 4:4), it is true, and this one body is the church, (Eph. 1:23). Yet it is equally evident that the church is not numerically "one," else the word "church" would never appear in the plural form, which it does over thirty-five times in the New Testament. Clearly then this body must be "one" generically—"one" so far as kind is concerned—and that one kind a local body. Proof of this is to be seen in that more than nine out of every ten usages of this word in the New Testament refer to some specific local congregation of saints, and the dozen or so other usages do not conflict with this idea, but are simply abstract, generic or institutional usages of the word, none of which necessitate the existence of a "universal church" to fulfill the meaning of the word or its usage.
Therefore, the sooner God’s people get rid of the hopes of an easy Christianity, manifested in some sort of Universal Church which requires no labor or loyalty, sanctity or soundness, devotedness or discrimination, the sooner they will be prepared to studiously inquire of the local church what its requirements are for membership, what its reasons for existence are, how its members may fulfill their duties, what its history has been, etc.
It is with the hope that those who have previously held the Universal Church theory will be led to a prayerful reexamination of this theory in the light of the New Testament, and that those who have already recognized that the church of the New Testament is always and ever a local congregation will be strengthened in this knowledge, that the author sends this booklet forth. It is his prayer that the great Head of the Church will be pleased to use this humble effort to get "glory in the church" until His glorious and triumphant return. "Even so, come, Lord Jesus," (Rev. 22:20).
Davis W. Huckabee
April 15, 1970
PREFACE TO SECOND BOOKLET OF FIRST EDITION
The Origin And Nature Of The Church, the first volume in this series on Studies On The New Testament Church, having been given a ready acceptance in many areas, and the author having received a number of encouraging commendations of it, he is emboldened to send forth a second volume in the same series. The present book covers the next four chapters in the original manuscript of twelve chapters, and it relates to the basic make-up of the church of the New Testament its government, officers, membership and discipline. The important matter of the ordinances of the church, which is chapter five in the original manuscript, has, because of the length of the chapter on this subject, had to be by-passed for the time being, but will, if God wills it, be the subject of the next book in this series.
The author has seen no reason to change his belief that the reference was to the local congregation when Paul said "To Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end," (Eph. 3;21), and this present book is intended to be a practical exposition of the constitution of a new Testament church, for no one can discharge his responsibility to glorify God in the church until he first understands what a church is, and how he fits into it as an individual member.
This book is commended to the public with the hope that it will be the instrument to make Baptist churches sounder in their constitutions, and Baptist church members more holy and dedicated in their conduct. The fearful individual and ecclesiastical apostasy that is rampant in the land today should make every Baptist who is worthy of the name tremble for the generation that is to follow the present one. Unless doctrinal corruption that is so common today is stemmed, the truth will perish from off the earth in the next generation or two. Because of this, everyone who loves the truth is duty bound to stand firm for the truth, and to endeavor to pass it on to the next generation in an undiluted form.
It is the author’s hope that these books will be the instruments of establishing the saints in Church truth. If they are, then he will feel that his labors have not been in vain, and will humbly thank God for the privilege of being so used for His glory.
Davis W. Huckabee
Wellington, Kansas,
June 18, 1973.
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
Subsequent to the publication of The Origin And Nature Of The Church, and The Constitution Of The Church, there was published the third booklet in this series, The Ordinance Of The Church, in 1977, which was received as graciously as had been the two previous booklets. The only criticism of these booklets to come to the author’s ears was that they did not so fully cover the subject of the Church Truth as desired and as needed. And it was also expressed that a complete one volume work of the whale subject was desirable.
However, it had been found by painful experience by the author that the publishing arrangements entered into in having the second and third booklets printed was a most unwise one, which worked wholly to the detriment of the aim of getting the whole work printed. The first book had been put into print wholly at the author’s expense. Because he had always been pastor to small and poor churches, he had to take out a loan to print the first book, and since he gave away so many of the booklets in order to advertise the series, the loan was slow in being paid back. At this point the publisher offered to bear the expense of publishing additional volumes, then sell needed copies to the author at a large discount so that his profit would be from the sales of these. This sounded like it might enable the books to be made available, with the possibility of a small return on the large expense of resource materials. But experience soon showed that this resulted in the author being in competition with the publisher in most all instances so that he had no way of even recouping his original investment. For this reason, the author stopped publication of further booklets or reprinting of the first booklets until a wiser plan could be developed, which explains why over twenty years have passed since the printing of The Ordinances Of The Church.
Another factor that entered into the printing of this work, was the desire to correct certain printing errors, to put in some things that were omitted from the original booklets, and to improve the wording in certain places, as well as to add some new material that was thought to be profitable to Baptist Church members. Some of this latter material has been found and developed in more recent times as the Lord led the author into his third pastorate. The original material was prepared during the time the author was pastor of The First Baptist Church of Kirk, Colorado (1959-1969). The printing of these booklets was done while he was pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church of Wellington, Kansas (1969-1982). Since 1983, the author has been pastor of Heritage Baptist Church of Salem, Ohio. And during this time, he has fallen into possession of some important historical information that he feels will be good for the Lord’s churches to have, and which is to be incorporated in the section on the History of the Lord’s Churches.
Having said all this, the new edition encompassing all of the original manuscript, plus some additional information, is commended to the Brotherhood of the Lord’s Churches with the prayer that it may be blessed to their good. And that they will be moved to desire that they might be the instruments of "glory in the church by Christ Jesus," Eph. 3:21, by a fuller knowledge of what God’s will is for His people in this age. It is with the prayer that God would use this work for His glory that this new edition is sent forth.
Davis W. Huckabee
Salem, Ohio
February 24, 1998
