The Lord’s Church
Robert Meredith
How often have you heard the statement concerning “joining the church of your choice”? Many honestly believe that it really does not matter at all. Their view of the church is far different than that which is portrayed in the Scriptures. So many have a false view of the church and therefore have never enjoyed salvation because Satan has tricked them into believing a lie. The Scriptures reveal something quite different than the denominational concept of the Church. Let us notice what the Bible teaches about the church and let us appreciate and accept it by following what we learn.
In the Old Testament, God through the prophets reveals much about the characteristics of the Church. It was to be established during a period of time known as the “last days” in the city of Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2-3). It would be set up during the reign of the Roman Empire (Daniel 2:44). Also Zechariah informed man that the Messiah would be King and Priest at the same time (Zechariah 6:13). My friends, let us notice that all these prophecies concerning the Church/Kingdom are all singular. God was not going to establish many Houses, Kingdoms, or Temples, just one.
When Jesus came to this earth He did not say He was going to build many churches, but He said, “I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18). How many churches were there in the first century? Peter was not a member of one and Andrew another. James and John were not members of another religious group. There was but one Church and that one Church all taught the doctrine (Acts 2:42; 1 Corinthians 4:17). Why is it taught today that there are many churches, and that it does not matter of which one is a member? Should not one desire to be a member of the one Jesus promised to build, and not a member of something else? Remember the Holy Spirit had Solomon to pen, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it” (Psalm 127:1). Furthermore our Lord said, “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). My friends, Jesus said one’s worship is vain if he is not following the Bible. Certainly every honest person can see that the religious worlds’ idea of the Church can not be right. There are hundreds of churches all teaching conflicting and contradictory doctrines. Jesus condemned such.
How can one find the church of Christ? Find the one that started in Jerusalem during the “last days” (Acts 2:5, 17, 41, 47). Search for the only one that was established during the days of the Roman Empire, not hundreds of years later. Seek for the one that has Jesus presiding as King and High Priest at the same time (1 Timothy 6:15; Hebrews 4:14-15). Only one church in the world believes and follows all these. His Church! Manmade churches all started somewhere other than Jerusalem and many years too late, long after the Roman Empire had fallen. No other church only follows Christ as her head. They have counsels and different unscriptural governing bodies which serve as their heads. Most of the man-made organizations teach that His Kingdom has not been set up yet and that He will come in the future to establish it. If that were true, then He is not our High Priest and man is still in his sins. Remember Zechariah declared that He would be King and High Priest at the same time (Zechariah 6:13).
As recorded in Acts 2, His Kingdom was established. God translates those who obey the gospel into it (Colossians 1:13; Acts 2:47; John 3:3-5). It should be one’s desire to come to Christ in a humble obedient faith, thereby accessing God’s wonderful saving grace and then laboring faithfully as one of His children in His one Church, Body, Kingdom and House (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 4:4; Revelation 1:9; 1 Timothy 3:15).