The one church Christ purchased
with His own blood belongs to Him and the name it wears must honor Him.
We read in Romans 16:16, "The churches of Christ
greet you." This name glorifies and honors Christ, the one
who built it. Other names honor and glorify John the Baptist, Martin
Luther, the day of Penticost, the apostles, Rome, Antioch, Nazareth, the
Greeks, the Russians, the methodical way of doing things, Christians, the
free will, being primitive, southern, missionary, general, the seventh
day, science, catholic, the advent, and the list goes on and on.
Even by their names they do not claim to be Christ's one church.
Why can’t we give the glory and honor to God and Christ where the honor
belongs? You cannot read about these churches in the Bible because
they are foreign to the Bible. Denominations are worthless religious
organizations started by men.
Satan is telling us there are
many ways to Heaven. Today we hear the sincere but mistaken plea
to "attend the church of your choice." Why not attend the church
of God’s choice, the church of Christ; the only one that Jesus "purchased
with His own blood" (Acts 20:28). The church of Christ is
not a denomination. It was not started by man but by our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shed His blood for it alone. Christ did not shed His
blood to purchase any denomination nor did He purchase a group of denominations.
Christ did not establish any of the many different denominational churches
we see today. Men established them. The word denomination means
a fraction or part of a whole. The Lord's church is not a fraction
or a part of anything. It is complete within itself.
None of the more than 600 different
denominational churches we see today existed in the days of the apostles.
They have come into existence during the past 500 years. Since the
Lord has only one church then all of the other different churches are counterfeits.
They are all fakes. In 1 John 4:1 we are warned, "Beloved,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:
because many false prophets are gone out into the world."
Today just as it was in the first century "many false prophets have gone
out into the world". We cannot be too careful with our soul.
To identify the Lord's church,
the Bible gives us the specifications to go by. Any church claiming
to be the only church Jesus bought with His own blood should be able to
prove from the Bible they are that church of the Bible. Can the church
which you are a member prove that it is the one and only church the Lord
built? If it can’t then you will be laboring in vain if you stay
in it. If it can't, you need to get out of it for the eternal sake
of your soul. You need to be a member of the Lord's church, the church
of Christ, the only church Christ is going to save. This may sound
harsh. I say this with sincerity and sadness, but it will really
be harsh if you are lost in eternity. We must wake up because this
concerns the welfare of our souls and where we will spend eternity.
People too long have ignored what the Lord has said in the Bible and have
blindly followed men in their establishment of their many churches.
Jesus
only promised to build His one church (Matthew 16:18) “upon this rock I
will build My church”.Jesus
only gave Himself for His one church (Ephesians 5:25) “and gave Himself
for her”.Jesus
only purchased His one church (Acts 20:28) “which He purchased with His
own blood”.Jesus
is the head of only His one church (Ephesians 1:22-23) “head over all things
to the church, which is His body”.
In order to be in the one church
the Lord established, those added to it by the Lord must be saved according
to His requirements. In Acts 2:47 we read, "And
the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."
The Lord only adds the saved to His church. There are no unsaved
people in His church. We are not saved just because we think or feel
in our hearts we are. We are saved only when we have done what God
has said we must do. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, "Not
everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father which is in heaven."
We must do God’s will, not man’s will, to go to heaven.
According to the Bible, who are
the saved? Jesus is quite clear as to who the saved are. Jesus
says in Mark l6:16, "He that believes and is baptized
shall be saved." A person has to have help to misunderstand
what the Lord says here. Here we see the Bible says we must believe
and be baptized in order to be saved. This is what Jesus says.
But men have tried to change what the Lord has said. Men say that
one does not have to be baptized, to be saved. Men also say you can
be sprinkled as an infant; and there are many other perversions of God's
word. Who are you going to follow men or Christ? Jesus says
in John 12:48, "The word that I have spoken will
judge him in the last day." We are not going to be judged
by what our preacher says.
And also Peter tells us in 1
Peter 3:21, "The like figure baptism does now save
us." Only when we have obeyed the Lord’s command to be baptized
will we be saved. The Bible will be the only standard of judgment
on Judgment Day, and not what we think or what men say. Are you putting
your trust and confidence in what men say or what God has said in the Bible?
You are making this choice everyday as to who you are following.
Also in order to be the church
which Jesus built, the church must worship God and Christ according to
the way They have specified. We are told in Ephesians 5:17, "Therefore
do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
It is very unwise not to find out and understand what the will of the Lord
is from the Bible. Many people are not finding out for themselves
but are relying on someone else to tell them. All you have to do
is look around and see all of the differing doctrines that are being taught
in all the different denominational churches. Are they understanding
and following the will of God? Absolutely not. If they were
there would only be the one church, which Christ established, the church
of Christ. What a pitiful condition the religious world is in, one
of which people should be ashamed, but they are not.
If you are not worshipping God
and Christ the way They have specified in the Bible then your worship is
vain. Our Lord says in Mark 7:7, "And in vain
they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."
Have you been following the commandments of men and only some of what God
says in the Bible? If you have then your worship is vain. Jesus says
in Matthew 28:20, "Teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you." We must observe all
things and only the things the Lord has commanded us. Is your
worship vain? If it is then it will do you no good and you will be
lost eternally. Please follow God and not men.
Questions Lesson 23
The Lord's Church (Part B) (click on the button of the
answer of your choice)
1) (Romans 16:16) Which church do you read about
in the Bible?
Baptist
Church.
Lutheran
Church.
church
of Christ.
2) The
Methodist Church is mentioned in the Bible.
3) (Acts 2:47) How do you get into the Lord's church?
You
join His church.
The
Lord adds the saved to the church.
You
are voted into His church.
4) Only
the saved are added to the Lord's church.
5) (Acts 20:28) Christ purchased His church with
Money.
Nothing
since it didn't cost Him anything.
His
own blood.
6) Any
church claiming to be the one church the Lord purchased with His own blood
should be able to prove from the Bible they are that church.
7) (Mark 7:7) If we try to worship God according
to the doctrines of men
It
will be alright if we are sincere.
It
is vain.
God
will overlook it.
8) If
our worship is vain it will cause us to be lost.