The Lord is to be
glorified by the worship He receives in His church. In Ephesians
3:21 we read, "To Him be glory in the church by Christ
Jesus." But how many churches does the Lord have? Jesus
says in Matthew 16:18, "Upon this rock I will build
My church." The word "My" shows possession and that
the church belongs to Jesus. How many churches did He say He was
going to build? He said, "I will build My church". The word
church is singular not plural. There is only one true church because
the Lord only promised to build His one
church.
In Ephesians 4:4-6
there are seven ones listed: "There is one
body, and one Spirit, even as you were called in one
hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all, and through
all, and in you all." Just as there is only one God and only
one Lord we also see there is only one body. The Bible says
there is only one body; so what is this one body? In
Ephesians 1:21-22 we find out what this one body is, "And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be
the head over all things to the church, which is His
body." Here we see that the Bible says the church is
the body. So if there is only one body and the one
body is the church, then there can only be one church that
belongs to the Lord. One might as well believe in more than one God
as to believe that the Lord has more than one church.
In Colossians 1:18
in speaking of Christ, we read, "And He is the head of
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the
dead; that in all things He may have the preeminence."
Here again we see that the body (singular) is the church
(singular). Again the Bible tells us that the Lord has only one
church. We also see that in all things Christ is to have
the preeminence. For Christ to have the preeminence in all
things, we must follow Christ in all things and not follow man. If
we follow men in some things then Christ does not have the preeminence in
all things.
Since Christ only
built His one church, we need to ask where did all these other churches
come from? The only answer is they were built by men, so men could
"attend the church of their choice", and not God’s choice. We read
in Ephesians 5:23, "Christ is the head of the
church, and he is the savior of the body." Christ
is only the saviour of His one body, His one church. Christ as head
over His body, His church, does not have many bodies; if He did He would
be a freak. In the Lord’s scheme of redemption, He has only planned
to have one church. He is going to only save His one church.
Are you in the one church in which Christ is going to save?
Since we have seen
in the Bible that the one body is the one church which the Lord built, and
that Christ has only promised to save His one body, His one church, then
what is going to happen to the hundreds of different kinds of other
churches we see in existence today? Again let us let God answer this
question. In Matthew 15:13 Jesus said, "Every
plant, which my heavenly Father has not planted will be
uprooted." What will happen to all those churches that God
did not plant? They will be rooted up. This is what God has
said He will do. This is frightening. I want to make sure I am
in the Lord’s church, the only one He is going to save.
In Psalms 127:1 we
read, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor
in vain that build it." This is a sad but serious
situation; one that concerns me greatly and causes me much grief and
sorrow to see honest people, who are honestly mistaken, laboring in
vain. This is a tragedy.
The Bible says
that:
1) Christ
is "the head of His church" (Ephesians 5:23).
2) The church is "subject unto
Christ" (Ephesians 5:24).
3) He is the "saviour of" His
church (Ephesians 5:23).
4) He "loved the church"
(Ephesians 5:25). 5)
He "gave Himself for it" (Ephesians 5:25).
6) He "sanctified and cleansed
it" (Ephesians 5:26).
7) He "nourishes and cherishes it" (Ephesians 5:29).
8) He is the founder and builder
of it (Matthew 16:18).
9) He is the foundation of it (1
Corinthians 3:11). 10) "He purchased it
with His own blood" (Acts 20:28).
11) He calls it "My church" (Matthew 16:18).
Is it any
wonder it is referred to as the church of Christ (Romans
16:16)?
The one church that
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 Pentecost, 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 which means universal, 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?
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 only one that Jesus "purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28)?
The church of Christ is the only one the Lord is going to save.
Christ did not shed His blood to purchase any denomination.
Denominations are counterfeits of Christianity. They may appear to
be genuine, but they are not. One cannot be saved by being a member
of a denomination. If you are not in the Lord's church, the church
of Christ, you are lost. Satan has blinded millions into accepting
denominationalism as God's plan. Instead of accepting the truth
regarding the Lord's one true church, man stands in rebellion to
God. God will not accept those as his children who have altered His
plan of salvation in any fashion.
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 you can’t then you will be laboring in vain if you
stay in it. 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.
Questions Lesson 22
We Must Worship The Lord In His
Church (click on the button of the answer of
your choice)
1) (Matthew 16:18) How many churches did the
Lord promise to build.
Many.
One, His (possessive) church (singular).
Four hundred.
2)
The Lord promised to build many churches.
3) (Ephesians 4:4-6) How many bodies are
there?
Many.
Few.
One.
4)
The Bible says there is only one body.
5) (Ephesians 1:21-22) The one body is
The Lord’s one church.
All of the different kinds of churches.
Some of the different kinds of churches.
6)
Since the one body is the church, then there can only be
one
church.
7) (Colossians 1:18) Besides Christ being the head
of the church
People are to have the preeminence in the church in all
things.
Christ is to have the preeminence in only some things.
Christ is to have the preeminence in all things.
8)
Christ is to have the preeminence in only some things.
9) (Ephesians 5:23) Besides being the head of His
body, His church
Christ is the saviour of His body, His church.
Christ is the saviour of many different bodies, many kinds of
churches.
Christ is not the saviour of His church.
10)
Christ is the saviour of only His body, His one church.
11) (Matthew 15:13) What will happen to the plants
(religious
organizations) that God did not plant?
God will continue to water them.
They will be rooted up.
They will all be saved.
12)
On Judgment Day it will be horrible not to be in the one
church God
planted.
13) (Psalms 127:1) If the Lord did not build the
house (church)
They labor in vain that build it.
They do not labor in vain that build it.
God will still accept them also.
14)
It is vain or useless for those to labor in a church that the
Lord did not
build.
15) (Romans 16:16) The name the church is referred
to should glorify
The Jewish day of Pentecost.
Martin Luther.
Christ.
16)
Even by the different names the vast majority of
denominations wear, they
do not even claim to be Christ’s
one church.