1] What is the
Church?
What do you think of
when someone says the word “church”. To some of you it conjure up
an image of quaint country buildings with steeples and crosses or a massive
medieval cathedral. Many people think of a place for worship services when they
think of a church. Other people think of church as meaning a worship service
that is held once a week. What does the Bible mean when it uses the word church?
In the UCG Bible Study Course we read:
“When
the New Testament talks about the Church, it speaks of an assembly of people.
In the Bible the word church is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia,
meaning 'a calling out'…
“It never refers to a building or meeting place, but always to people,
the ones 'called out' of the world's society by God calling them into
His service. The Church of the Bible is not a cold, stone building, but
a group of warm and loving people specially chosen by God.
“In the Scriptures church can refer to the group of believers in
a particular location, such as a city or region, or to the entire body of believers
God has called. So a building with no worshipers cannot really be a church in
the biblical sense. The New Testament Church is a group of people called out
of this world's society by God, even if they meet in a rented hall or on a grassy
hillside. For example, the apostle Paul greeted the church - the congregation
of people - that met in the house of Priscilla and Aquila in Rome (Romans
16:3-5)” (Lesson
10 - What is the Church?, p.2-3).
In the Old Testament He actively worked with the nation of Israel and called
them out to be a model people, even though they didn't have the Holy Spirit.
They were called the congregation or “church in the wilderness” in
Acts 7:38
meaning they were a called out people that
were to be separate from the world.
In the New Testament the church doesn't refer to physical Israel but refers
to those people God has called out from the world and have been given His Holy
Spirit which makes them holy, meaning separate from the world.
As God only gives us His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him (Acts
5:32), God's true church can be recognized
as those who strive to keep God's laws and maintain the true doctrines in God's
Word. Paul wrote that the church of God is the “THE PILLAR AND GROUND
OF THE TRUTH" in 1
Timothy 3:15. God will only work with a
corporate church organization when it remains a pillar and ground of the truth.
When a corporate church organization sufficiently rejects the truth of God,
God will no longer work with those who lead such a church organization.
There is a big difference between the true church of God, which is a spiritual
organism made up of those who have God's spirit, and a corporate church organization
as incorporated under the laws of man for the purpose of doing the business
aspects of preaching the gospel. It's an important distinction to keep in mind.
In Matthew
16:18 Christ said: “And I also say
to you that you are Peter (meaning a stone), and on this rock (Christ –
1 Corinthians
10:4) I will build My church, and the gates
of Hades (the grave) shall not prevail against it.”
On the Day of Pentecost after Christ had ascended to heaven the Holy Spirit
the church was born when God made the Holy Spirit available to all those He
would call (Acts 2).
As Christ promised in Matthew
16:18 the church would never die –
there would always be a group of people that would have God's spirit in this
world. This wasn't the case in Old Testament times as God gave His Holy Spirit
only to a select few of the prophets and holy men spoken of in the Bible.
Those Old Testament patriarchs and prophets such as Abraham, David and Daniel,
etc. were members of the church. To use an analogy, the church was begotten
like an embryo with the Old Testament prophets and patriarchs and later born
on the Day of Pentecost in A.D. 30.
To the members of the church in Ephesus Paul wrote: “You are no longer
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of
the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the
whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the
Spirit” (Ephesians
2:19-22).
2] How does one become
a part of the church?
In John 6:44
Christ said: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws
him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” To His disciples Jesus said,
“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should
go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you
ask the Father in My name He may give you” (John
15:16).
It is God the Father who moves us through His spirit to want to be a part of
the church. God initiates the process and He is the one who grants repentance
(Romans 2:4,
2 Timothy 2:25).
Repentance simply means to turn around and go in the opposite direction. To
repent means to turn from the direction of sin (the GET way of life) and start
obeying God and live by His laws. It is God who moves our heart to make the
decision to obey Him and if we respond to that call He also gives us the power
to fight our human nature and live His way of life (Philippians
2:13).
In 1
Corinthians 12:12-13 Paul wrote: “For
as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body,
being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we
were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves
or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit”.
The only way we become a part of the church is when we receive the Holy Spirit
at baptism. In Acts
2:38-39 we read: “Peter said to them,
'Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For
the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as
many as the Lord our God will call'”.
In many of the world's churches babies are baptized (or christened) but is this
what the Bible teaches? In Acts
2:38 we saw that the conditions that have
to be met before God gives someone the Holy Spirit are repentance and baptism.
Can a baby repent of its sins? Often babies are blissfully aware of the ceremony
that is being performed on them when they are christened or baptized. A degree
of maturity is required for a genuine, heartfelt repentance.
“An immature mind may experience an emotional feeling of temporary remorse,
and this may be falsely construed as REPENTANCE when it is only momentary, soon
forgotten. It is like 'puppy-love'. How many teenagers, 13 to 17, have a number
of temporary emotional experiences of feeling sure they are 'in love'. Of course
they themselves feel sure of it, and cannot be talked out of it. Usually they
grow out of it, but in rare cases, of course, they may really 'know their minds'
-- though this is the rare exception, not the rule. So with repentance and belief”
(All About Water Baptism,
p.21).
The ritual of baptism is often performed in many churches by sprinkling or pouring
water over people rather than immersing them into water. Are these practices
in line with what the Bible teaches? What is the proper form of baptism –
immersion, sprinkling or pouring?
Herbert W. Armstrong writes: “The word 'baptize' is not an English word.
It is a Greek word. The New Testament was written in the Greek language. In
translating it into English, the translators left this Greek word untranslated.
Literally, in the Greek, the word is 'baptizo'. The definition of this word
is 'IMMERSE.' It means to plunge into, put into, dip. It does not mean 'to sprinkle'
or 'to pour.' The Greek word for 'sprinkle' is 'rantidzo', and 'to pour' is
'cheo' in Greek. The Holy Spirit did not inspire the use of these words, but
baptizo, meaning IMMERSE, PUT INTO. Therefore sprinkling or pouring IS NOT BAPTIZING!…
“Baptism is a BURIAL, and a RISING from a grave. Notice Colossians
2:12. 'Buried with him in baptism, wherein
also ye are RISEN with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath
raised him from the dead.' Neither sprinkling nor pouring is a burial, and one
rises up out of neither. They do not picture the symbolic meaning of baptism,
and therefore are meaningless…
“When one is plunged INTO the water, he is in a watery grave. He would
not live ten minutes unless brought up out of the water -- unless RISEN from
this watery grave. Therefore a person immersed in water is in a literal grave.
Notice further: 'Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus
Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism
into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection' (Romans
6:3-5) …
“It pictures, in symbol, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
But it is a DUAL picture, as all things in God's Plan are DUAL in operation.
It also pictures the crucifixion of the old self (verses
6-7), or of the sinning life, the burial
of this sinning self, and the coming up out of this watery grave, symbolic of
a CHANGED person resurrected to a new, righteous, spiritual life in Christ Jesus.
Going down into the water pictures the DEATH of Christ, and of the old self.
Burial in the water pictures the BURIAL of Christ, and of the old self…It
is a beautiful [ceremony], full of meaning!” (All
About Water Baptism, p.15-17).
In 1
Peter 3:20-21 the apostle Peter wrote that
“in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared…a few,
that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which
now saves us—baptism.”
Paul in 1
Corinthians 10:1-2 wrote: “Moreover,
brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the
cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud
and in the sea”. Noah
and his family being saved from the watery grave of the Flood and the Israelites
walking through the parted waters of the Red Sea were types or symbols of this
ritual of baptism.
Some of you may have wondered what all the fuss was about in the days of the
early church when there was a big dispute over whether people (such as Gentile
christians) should be circumcised or not. The dispute was not about whether
babies should be circumcised on the eighth day as per the law given in Leviticus
12:2-3. The dispute was about the law given
in Exodus
12:43-49 which says that no uncircumcised
person could keep the Passover.
After much discussion (Acts
15) a decision was made through the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit that adult male christians who were physically uncircumcised
did not need to be circumcised. This ritual was merely an outward sign of one's
commitment to God and this ritual was replaced with the ritual of baptism as
an outward sign of one's commitment to God. We read of this in Colossians
2:11-12: “In Him you were also circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins
of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism.”
In Acts 8:14-17
we see that there is another ritual that accompanies the ceremony of baptism
through which the Holy Spirit is given. “Now when the apostles who were
at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter
and John to them, who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might
receive the Holy Spirit. For as yet [it] had fallen upon none of them. They
had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on
them, and they received the Holy Spirit.”
Baptism washes away our sins and through this ceremony we are forgiven of our
past sins. The laying on of hands which accompanies it is where the newly baptized
member of the church receives the Holy Spirit. The laying on of hands is done
to set apart someone for a special purpose and also symbolizes receiving a blessing.
The laying on of hands is also used to ordain someone into the ministry (Acts
6:1-6), for the healing of the sick (Mark
16:18) and blessing little children (Matthew
19:13-15).
After baptism we are set apart from the world and receive the blessing of the
Holy Spirit. The human contact, the touch conveyed through the laying on of
hands, symbolizes God's personal concern for each of us at this time. God the
Father becomes our Father in the truest sense of the word at this moment when
we are begotten as a child of God by receiving the Holy Spirit – the very
power and life of God Himself.
3] What is the Purpose
of the Church?
Now that we've looked
at what the church is and how we become a part of it let's look at the reasons
why God started the church and what its purpose is.
1] To train
a group of converted people who will assist Christ in setting up His government
over the world in the millennium.
When we looked at God's 7000 year
plan we saw that at the end of man's 6000 years of self-rule, cut off from God's
help, that Jesus Christ will return and set up the Kingdom of God on this earth.
Jesus Christ is going to rule the whole world but He's not going to do it all
on His own.
A prime minister or president of a country doesn't run a whole country on his
own. He has a cabinet and a whole staff of people to assist him. Likewise, Jesus
is training others ahead of time who will help Him rule and fix up this world
during the millennium.
In Revelation
19:16 we read that Jesus returns that He
is called “Kings of kings and Lord of lords”. Who are these kings
and lords that He is King and Lord over? Revelation
5:10 shows that those christians who are
a part of the first resurrection will be “kings and priests to our God
and…shall reign on the earth.”
A number of other verses also show that christians who overcome will rule with
Jesus Christ when He sets up the Kingdom of God on earth. Let's look at a few
others.
In Revelation
2:26 we read: “And he who overcomes,
and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—He
shall rule them with a rod of iron”.
In Daniel
7:27 we read: “Then the kingdom and
dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be
given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.”
Jude in his epistle wrote: “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied
about these men also, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of
His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among
them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way,
and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him'”
(Jude 14-15).
In his book “Mystery
of the Ages” Herbert W. Armstrong tells us the following about God's
coming world-ruling government:
“King David, resurrected, immortal, in power and glory, will be king…over
all twelve nations of Israel (Jeremiah
30:9; Ezekiel 34:23-24; 37:24-25).
Each of the original twelve apostles will be king, under David, over one of
these then super-prosperous nations (Matthew
19:28). Under the apostles, each now king
over a great nation, will be the rulers over districts, states, shires, counties
or provinces, and over cities. But, in every case, these kings and rulers will
be resurrected immortals, born into the kingdom (family) of God as Spirit beings
-- not flesh-and-blood mortals…
“In the parable of the pounds (Luke
19:11-27), Jesus is pictured as the rich
young ruler going to God's throne in heaven to receive the kingdom of God. He
gave to each in the Church a pound, representing a portion of God's Holy Spirit.
This illustrates that we must grow in the Spirit, or in grace and knowledge,
during the Christian life. When Christ returns to earth, having received the
kingdom and being already crowned, he shall call those of the Church to an accounting.
The one who has multiplied the portion of the Holy Spirit received (has grown
and developed in grace and knowledge) by ten times over, shall be rewarded by
being given rule over ten cities. He who qualified by spiritual growth and development
only half as much shall reign over five cities as his reward” (p.277, 209).
We will look at this analogy in more detail in the next lesson on God's Holy
Days but God's plan of saving mankind is likened to a great harvest. In Israel
there were two harvest seasons. There was a small harvest early in the year
and then later on in the year there was a much larger harvest.
In God's great plan for mankind there are two spiritual harvests when people
are converted and God's character is developed in them. There is a small harvest
of people who are called ahead of time before Christ returns followed by the
much larger harvest of people to occur during and after the millennium.
Those who are called and chosen in the church are called the firstfruits of
the great harvest of people in God's plan. Revelation
14:4 says the following about the church:
“These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to
God and to the Lamb”. In James
1:18 we also read: “Of His own will
He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits
of His creatures”.
2] To proclaim God's truth and announce the coming Kingdom of God as a witness
to the world.
This is what is known as the great commission that Christ gave to the church
– to preach the gospel of the coming Kingdom and God's truth to as many
people as the church can with whatever resources God gives us as a church.
We read of this great commission in Matthew
28:18-20: “And Jesus came and spoke
to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the age.'”
The alternative version of the great commission is recorded for us in Mark
16:15-18 where we read: “And He said
to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He
who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will
be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they
will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents;
and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will
lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.'”
Christ told the church to go into all the world, preach the gospel and make
disciples (students) in all nations and teach those who are willing to learn
all things that He had taught them (the whole counsel of God – Acts
20:27).
We saw above that God is in process of training future world rulers. For
God to select people who will become one of these future rulers they have to
hear and be taught God's truth.
In Romans
10:14-15 Paul wrote: “How then shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe
in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful
are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings
of good things!'”
“Since…the early 1930s [when Herbert W. Armstrong began leading God's
end-time Work], millions of people have been reached, in one way or the other,
with the true gospel - by way of radio, television, publishing or personal evangelism.
But of those who have been reached or witnessed to with Christ's true gospel
and who have been actually called by God, only a very few have ever fully accepted
and responded to that call. The vast majority seem to pay little or no attention.
“If we diligently study the parable of the king who made a marriage [feast]
for his son (Matthew
22:2-14), we can better understand the
meaning of Christ's statement that 'Many are called, but few are chosen.'
“In this parable, the king 'sent forth his servants to call them that were
bidden to the wedding: and they would not come' (verse
3). How does God call us? By the preaching
of his Word. But the majority spurn that call. They pay little or no attention
to God's royal invitation (verse
4-7). Finally the king said, 'Go ye therefore
into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid [call] to the marriage'
(verse 9).
“Of the millions who hear God's Word preached, few ever pay serious attention
to that message. Primarily, it is the 'poor' of this world - those who we dissatisfied
with their lot and who are willing to give God the time of day - who pay any
real attention to God's message: 'Hath not God chosen the poor of this world
rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that
love him?' (James
2:5). The rich, the noble, the powerful
and the wise are too self-satisfied with their lot in this life to heed God's
call. They do not need God – so they think!” (Is God Trying to Save
the World Now?, p.30-31).
The apostle Paul wrote in 1
Corinthians 1:26-31: “For you see
your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish
things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things
of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things
of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things
which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should
glory in His presence…you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom
from God…as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.'”
God's plan has been executed in such a way that He has chosen the ordinary,
average people and not the world's great and mighty people who are rich and
famous so that no-one can say they made it into God's kingdom because of how
great that they are. He who wants to glory or boast should boast of God's greatness,
not their own.
“The parable of the sower (Luke
8:4-15) reveals that when the 'seed' (God's
word) is sown, some seeds fall by the 'wayside' (verse
5). The vast majority who hear the gospel
do not let the Word of God take root in them. They hear God's Word, but they
do not act on it (verse
12)” (Is God Trying to Save the World
Now?, p.31).
Like a good farmer, the church has to be wise with how it spreads the seed of
God's truth so it can yield the best return. Having said that, we don't know
how and who God God will draw into the church as they respond to the call of
hearing the gospel.
Throughout the Bible fishing, farming and building are used as analogies for
building the church. To Peter, James and John who were fishermen Jesus told
them that He would make them fishers of men (Luke
5:10). The lesson behind the miracle of
them not catching any fish all night and then their nets breaking when Jesus
asked them to cast their nets to find the nets brimming with fish was to teach
them that the great catch of men would not be from their own power but from
God's power (Luke
5:1-7).. There are different approaches
to catch fish just as there are in reaching the people that God calls.
God wants us to be sowing seeds for the gospel and being involved with His work
where we can. We can plant and prune but it is God who makes crops grow (1
Corinthians 3:5-8). We also need to match
the seed to the soil that will give those seeds the best chance to grow. God's
church is called the Temple of God (Ephesians
2:19-22) and the the building of the church
is likened to the construction of a building. We have to build properly and
with good quality materials because trials will come and test just how good
a job we have done in building the church (1
Corinthians 3:10-17).
Herbert W. Armstrong in his book “Mystery
of the Ages” writes the following about the great commission that Christ
gave to the church: “[The] great commission was given to the apostles.
To a lesser extent evangelists were used in carrying forth the message. Other
leaders -- ordained ministers -- were stationary, yet even the local pastor
of a church may hold evangelistic services in his area -- not the 'soul-saving
crusade' type, but lectures ANNOUNCING and PROCLAIMING as a witness the coming
KINGDOM OF GOD (the true gospel)! This ENTIRE GREAT COMMISSION -- proclaiming
GOOD NEWS of the coming kingdom, and 'feeding the sheep' -- is a COMBINED administration
and function of the Church.
“The individual lay member HAS HIS VITAL PART in proclaiming the GOOD NEWS
(gospel) to the world. How? Not by going out and himself proclaiming Christ's
message to the neighbourhood or to the world…In general, the whole operation
of the Church costs money in this…world. Facilities and methods are available
to the Church for performance of its commission that did not exist in the first-century
world [television, radio, magazines, the internet, etc.].
“Without the tithes and generous freewill offerings of lay members the
Church commission could not be performed in today's world. Without the fervent
and prevailing continual prayers of all members the work could not be accomplished.
Without the continual ENCOURAGEMENT of lay members and those over them locally,
those of us operating from headquarters could not bear up under the persecutions,
oppositions, trials and frustrations. Also in reverse, the lay members need
just as urgently the encouragement, teaching, counselling and leadership from
headquarters and local pastors” (p.219-221).
In the above quote Herbert W. Armstrong referred to the practice of tithing
as a means of financial support for the church. What is tithing? In the UCG
booklet “What
Does the Bible Teach About Tithing”
we read the following about tithing:
“The word tithe comes from an Old English word meaning 'tenth'. Tithing,
then, means merely the practice of 'tenthing', or simply giving back to God
10 percent of one's increase (see Leviticus
27:32). Tithing is simply a form of giving,
which is a godly practice (Matthew
19:21). It is in fact a form of worship
in which we show God respect: 'Honour the Lord with your possessions, and with
the firstfruits of your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will overflow with new wine' (Proverbs
3:9-10). The tithe is simply the divinely
ordained decree to which He expects us to give back to honour Him and to acknowledge
that He gives everything to us…Tithes are calculated on one's 'increase'
(Deuteronomy
14:22, 28; 2
Chronicles 31:5)…
“Jesus Himself clearly upheld the practice of tithing. 'Woe to you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and
have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.
These you ought to have done, without leaving the other things undone' (Matthew
23:23). As recorded here, only days before
His death Christ plainly confirmed that tithing should indeed be practiced,
along with sincere adherence to the 'weightier' spiritual matters the scribes
and Pharisees were obviously neglecting.
“Paul drew on an analogy to demonstrate that, as those ministering in the
temple were supported by the offerings given at the temple, so those ministering
in the Church should receive support from the Church. 'Even so the Lord has
commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel,' he
wrote (1
Corinthians 9:13-14)…
“Tithing reflects the unselfish, giving nature of our Creator and Provider.
Through willing and cheerful giving (2
Corinthians 9:6-8), we honour God while
supporting the physical means of preaching the gospel. Jesus Christ said, 'It
is more blessed to give than to receive' (Acts
20:35). So it should be noted that anyone
who gives a tithe should do so willingly. Although God equates withholding tithes
with robbing Him (Malachi
3:8-10), He does not force anyone to tithe”
(p.3, 9, 4-5).
The apostle Paul makes some very interesting comments in 1
Corinthians 9:19-22 where he writes: “For
though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that
I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew…to the weak I became
as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men,
that I might by all means save some.”
Paul did all he could to understand the interests of others and customize
the way he shared God's truth with people so that he might save some. We
know that it is God who saves people. So what did Paul mean when he said that
he (Paul) might save some? No one can convert someone unless God calls them
but what Paul is trying to get across is that our example and relationship with
someone and our zeal in supporting the church's work can be the difference in
God deciding whether to call someone into the church or not.
Jesus Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Let your light so shine
before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”
(Matthew
5:16). God wants us to be good examples
of His way of life to people in the world.
Peter also wrote that we should “always be ready to give
a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with
meekness and fear” (1
Peter 3:15). We should be excited about
God's coming kingdom and that should make us happy and positive people to be
around. If people in the world see that about us and ask us questions about
the Bible and God's incredible plan we should be able to answer them in a way
that will be most interesting and helpful to them. We're not to push our beliefs
on anyone but we should be able to talk about our beliefs in a way that people
in the world would find interesting if they come up naturally in conversation
with others.
In Christ's great prophecy that He gave on the Mount of Olives about the end-time
He said: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world
as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew
24:14).
Despite the great falling away of so many church members that we have seen in
recent years that was prophesied in 2
Thessalonians 2:3, the end of this age
has not come yet and so the church still has a responsibility to preach the
gospel of the kingdom as far and wide as it can as a witness to this world.
Not only do we, as a church, let people know that a better world is coming we
also help many people in a very practical way. Even if they don't come along
to church, many thousands of people are helped through the gospel work of the
church. Many have written to the church over the years telling us how their
marriages have been saved. Many people have written to the church telling us
how the teachings of God in the Bible have prevented them from taking their
lives. Many divided families have been united. Others who did not know how to
get and hold a good job have learned the laws of success and have been financially
blessed as a result.
A great number of people, who have never taken the step of attending church,
have benefited from learning and applying the wonderful teachings of the Bible
as taught through the church's magazines, booklets and by other means. God is
teaching us lessons of giving by the way we put our heart into the Work that
He is doing through the church. He wants us to be excited about helping others
through what the church is doing and support it the best way we can with our
tithes, offerings, our prayers and any other hands-on way that we can support
it.
As well as preaching the good news of God's coming Kingdom the church in this
end-time has another commission which is proclaiming the Ezekiel warning message.
We read about this in Ezekiel
33:1-9:
“Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Son of man, speak to the
children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land,
and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their
watchman, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet
and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not
take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his
own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning;
his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.
But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and
the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from
among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at
the watchman's hand.'
“So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel;
therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. When I say
to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak
to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity;
but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the wicked
to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his
iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
In the last lesson we looked at some of the prophecies that show that how our
white English-speaking nations which have descended from Israel will go into
a terrible captivity just as Israel of old went into captivity because of their
national sins. If anyone in our Israelite nations today truly turns to God and
becomes a part of His church they can be spared of going through this terrible
captivity.
Just as the prophets
of old did in ancient Israel, the church has a responsibility, out of love,
to warn as many of our people as possible of this terrible time ahead (Amos
3:6-7) so that as many people as possible
might turn from their sins and be spared of what will soon come upon this world.
By the time the two witnesses come on the scene in great power (Revelation
11) it will be too late for them to do
this very important commission.
In Numbers 16
when the people murmured against Moses and Aaron, God said to Moses, “Get
away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment…So
Moses said to Aaron, 'Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense
on it and TAKE IT QUICKLY to the congregation and make atonement for
them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord'...Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded
and RAN into the midst of the congregation and already the plague had
begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the
people. And he stood between the living and the dead and the plague was stopped.
Now those who died in the plague were 14 700” (Numbers
16:45-49).
How many more people would have died if Aaron walked instead of ran? Possibly
many thousands more would have died. At this moment in time it was in the hands
of one man who determined if certain of these people lived or died by the urgency
by which he did his task.
There is yet to come a time of wrath on this earth. We know it's coming and
we even know how to tell it's close and we, as God's people, must collectively
support it with a sense of urgency, not complacency. Like Aaron did, the church
has a responsibility to stand before the living and the dead. As well as preaching
the good news of the coming Kingdom of God, we have to warn this world of the
Great Tribulation and the time of Jacob's Trouble so as many people can be spared
as possible through repentance and becoming a part of God's church.
3] To provide a group of people in which those who God calls can learn the lessons
of teamwork.
The church is made up of many different
people with different styles and personalities. The church is a microcosm of
the world. If we had to choose the kind of people that we wanted to be in the
church we would, no doubt, choose a lot of different people than God has chosen.
We would tend to choose the people we like or get along well with.
God wants us to be able to get along and work with people with all types of
different personalities and styles since the people of the world that we will
be working with in the World Tomorrow will all be very different. Some people
will have personalities that are easy to get along with while other people we
may find more difficult to get along with. The church is a training ground to
help us learn teamwork and these kind of people skills with all types of different
people.
In 1 Corinthians
12 Paul described the kind of teamwork
that we need to have in the church. He compared the church to a human body which
has many different parts that all have to harmoniously work together. He wrote:
“For in fact the body (the church) is not one member but many. If the foot
should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body', is it therefore
not of the body? And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I am not
of the body', is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were
an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing,
where would be the smelling?
”But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as
He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body
be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'; nor again the head
to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' No, much rather, those members of the
body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the
body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor;
and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable
parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor
to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body,
but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if
one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member
is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1
Corinthians 12:14-26).
Some people have ambition and want to be ministers when God knows that they
are too vain or don't treat people very well. Not all of us can do the things
which put us in the spotlight. Many opportunities to serve in the church don't
get noticed but are still important to God and the functioning of the local
church. Being noticed and praised by others shouldn't be our motive for serving
in the church (Matthew
6:1-4). We should serve to honour God and
help the church with whatever needs it has.
Paul says that there should be no schism or division in the church. God doesn't
want us leaving the church because we don't get along with certain people. We
should do all we can to get along harmoniously with others and work out our
differences (Matthew
18:3-18) and not simply walk away when
someone offends us. It is God's will that the church be as united as possible
(John 17:20-21).
It is something that Christ prayed very fervently for on his last night before
He was delivered to be crucified and it is something we must strive hard for
when we have problems getting along with others in the church. There are times
when we may have to separate ourselves from a corporate church organization
because of clear, persistent, unrepented of heresy (1
Timothy 6:3, 1
Corinthians 10:20-22, 2
Corinthians 6:14)
but otherwise God wants us to work together and be one body in the church.
There are many people in the “Stay-at-Home Church of God” in this
end-time era of the church. Even though most don't have a problem with the doctrinal
teachings of the church they prefer to stay at home and not come along to sabbath
services for various reasons. So till hurt from the apostasy that occurred
in our former association, others had problems with a local minister and don't
trust any minister as a result while others feel content just listening to sermon
tapes on the sabbath at home and won't bother driving to church and fellowshipping
with other members.
This is a problem that Paul prophesied would happen in the end-time era of the
church. In Hebrews
10:24-25 he wrote: “Let us consider
one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one
another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
An intimate part of keeping the sabbath holy is assembling for a holy convocation
(Ephesians
4:11-15). A convocation is a commanded
assembly or gathering of people. God commands our presence each sabbath in the
same way that a court can command our appearance to be a witness in a court
case unless we have a genuine reason such as sickness or distance.
Meeting with people who share our beliefs should be something we look forward
to each week. God has commanded it because He knows we need regular encouragement
and to regularly hear God's truth being taught to us to help us stick close
to God. Without our minds being fed by God's values on this regular basis we
quickly drift into our carnal ways which are often the path of least resistance.
There are some who feel that they can be fed well by sermon tapes and that is
true to a degree but we also have to remember that our local ministry and other
speakers know their own church areas well and can better customise their messages
to give us what we most need in our local church areas.
The fellowship we have with other members before and after church does a lot
to give us encouragement and support each week. We should also want to regularly
be there at church because we have a lot to give with our own encouragement
and conversation. We can help a lot of people with what we have to give but
if we don't come along on a regular basis then other people will miss out what
we have to offer. God is wanting to build His character in us and we need to
develop that character by practicing giving of our time, conversation and friendship
each week at church services.
In “Mystery of the
Ages” Herbert Armstrong wrote the following about the need to learn
teamwork through participating in our local church:
“Now what about the 'private', or 'individual Christian', who says, 'I
don't want to be a part of the Church -- I want to seek my salvation direct
and alone with Christ.' The answer is this: God himself laid out the plan and
the method by which humans may be, after begettal, trained and prepared to become
part of the divine personnel of born GOD BEINGS that shall form the KINGDOM
OF GOD! The kingdom of God will be the GOD FAMILY -- a superbly and highly trained
and organized family of GOD BEINGS. The Church is God's special school for training
those he has selected and called to be trained in his Church -- to be kings
and priests, to rule and to teach -- for their part in that kingdom…
“Take an analogy from [the] world. A football player says: 'I want to play
in all of the games, but I'll train alone. I don't want to be part of the TEAM
until the games start.' Would the coach let him be part of the team in the games,
without having learned TEAMWORK during practice season? Neither will God let
one INTO his family at the resurrection who refused to be part of it now --
in the CHURCH -- in the spiritual 'training season'" (p.222-223).
4] To teach and assist in
the character development those who God calls in this age.
The next purpose of the church we'll
look at is to help train and develop God's character in those who God calls
in this age. In Ephesians
4:11-15 Paul described how God gave those
of us in the church the gift of a ministry and leadership to help teach us how
to live by God's way of life and build God's character in us:
“And He Himself gave some to be
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for
the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the
body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness
of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things
into Him who is the head—Christ.”
The
ministry is there to not only protect us from false doctrines and false teachers
but also to teach us God's truth and way of life so that we might grow up spiritually
and be more and more like Jesus Christ in the way that we live our lives, displaying
all of the fruits of God's Holy Spirit (Galatians
5:22-23).
The first part of the great commission
God gave to the church is to preach the gospel to the whole world. The second
part of it is to make disciples and teach and train those who become a part
of the church.
God's people are often called sheep in the Bible (John
10) and this second part of the commission
to teach and spiritually strengthen God's people who attend church is often
called “feeding the flock”. This term “feeding of the flock”
comes from the occasion where Jesus asked Peter three times after His resurrection
if Peter loved Him since Peter had denied him three times before His crucifixion.
We read of this in John
21:15-17:
“So when they had eaten breakfast,
Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more
than these?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said
to him, 'Feed My lambs.' He said to him again a second time, 'Simon, son
of Jonah, do you love Me?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love
You.' He said to him, 'Tend My sheep.' He said to him the third time, 'Simon,
son of Jonah, do you love Me?' Peter was grieved because He said to him
the third time, 'Do you love Me?' And he said to Him, 'Lord, You know all things;
You know that I love You.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep.'”
Two of those three times Jesus told Peter to tend or feed His sheep. What's
interesting on the other occasion is that Christ asked Peter to “feed my
lambs”. The reason He talked about lambs instead of sheep here maybe is
to show that God is very interested and cares for our young people who attend
church. He has commissioned the ministry to show the same love and care for
them and assist parents in providing for the spiritual needs and character development
of our young people in the church.
The encouragement, teaching, counselling
and leadership of the ministry towards the members plays a vital part in helping
God's people hear and understand God's truth and bear spiritual fruit - “some
a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matthew
13:23). In Luke
16:10 we read: “He who is faithful
in what is least is faithful also in much.” We are being
trained in the smaller responsibilities of this present life so that God can
trust us with much greater responsibilities in the World Tomorrow.
The relationship between Christ and the church is described in Ephesians
5:25-27 where we read: “Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,
that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”
Christ is working with us and cleaning us up spiritually from the bad habits
that we have picked up from this sinful world. Through the Holy Spirit and the
work of the spiritual leadership in the church, Christ is cleaning up us and
helping us to build God's character so that, if we make it into the first resurrection,
we can help the rest of the world to also become a part of God's family.
5] To provide a support group for those who God would choose in this age.
The final purpose for the church we
will look at is to provide a support group of concerned members for those who
God calls in this age.
The apostle Paul spoke about this important point when he wrote that “members
should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the
members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members
rejoice with it” (1
Corinthians 12:14-26). He also wrote that
“we then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and
not to please ourselves” (Romans
15:1).
We should not be only focused on just our own interests and what's happening
in our own life but take a genuine interest and concern for all people. We should
encourage and help those who are struggling with various problems that they
might share with us. How are we going when it comes to helping and supporting
others in our own local church area?
The church in the early
days soon after Peter's sermon on the Day of Pentecost was a very close-knit
group of people who supported one another. We read this description of the early
church in the book of Acts:
“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and
many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed
were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and
goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with
one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their
food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with
all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being
saved” (Acts
2:42-46).
Let's look at those qualities a little more closely -:
· "They
continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship” –
They were devoted to the true teachings they were being taught.
· "They were hungry to learn more and very
eager to discuss what they were learning with others.
· "in the breaking
of bread” – They were big on hospitality and enjoying meals with others.
· “in
prayers” – They were concerned and prayed for one another and the
work of the church in spreading the gospel.
· “Then
fear came upon every soul” – They had a great love and respect for
God and feared to disappoint or displease Him with their actions as a result.
· “Now
all who believed were together” – They were eager to spend as much
time with one another in the church as possible.
· “and
had all things in common and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them
among all, as anyone had need” – They made sure that no-one was doing
without or that their needs were being neglected. If someone had little they
were all willing to give and share what they had to those who had little.
· “breaking
bread from house to house” – Again we see this emphasis on hospitality
and inviting people over and sharing a meal with them.
· “praising
God and having favour with all the people” – They praised and thanked
God for all the blessings that they had and the church was well liked because
they were happy and positive people.
Often we think of the “feeding the flock” part of the commission to
the church as something that is only done by the ministry through sermons and
so on when in reality, we all play a part in it. When we support and encourage
one another with our time and our friendship and when we “stir up love
and good works” (Hebrews
10:24) in one another we play a part in
feeding the flock. Our support and friendship can play a big part in helping
others people to grow spiritually and make it into God's Kingdom.
In this end-time age relationships are often shallow and only skin deep. This
world is full of sin and Jesus warned that in this end-time society the love
of many would grow cold - even in the church (Matthew
24:12).
The Bible calls the church a family (Ephesians
3:15) for we are the very begotten sons
and daughters of God (Hebrews
2:10)! Do we stop and consider what that
really means that the church is a family? Do we show the kind of love and concern
for others in the church that we would for those in our own physical families?
There will obviously be a difference in the quantity of time we spend with others
in the church compared to our physical families but the quality of love and
concern should be similar to that we show to those in our own families.
Jesus told His disciples, "A new command I give you that you love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know you are
my disciples if you love another" (John
13:34-35). When you think about the example
of Jesus Christ in how He loved others, He really has raised the bar quite considerably
by asking us to love others as He did. The incredible way in which He raised
the standard by His example is what is so incredible and “new” about
this command to love others.
From a kind word, an encouraging note, a thoughtful gesture, an ear to listen,
or an expression of appreciation, to a sacrifice of time, energy or convenience,
love is a way of life. And it is a way of life that is not out for recognition.
It does what it does because it feels it. And it feels it because it believes
in it, and is led by God's spirit that comes from the God who is love.
God wants us in the church to be united, not as a team where members get
dropped if they don't perform well enough, but as a family. Ultimately we've
got to stoop down and help and serve and bring into eternal life every human
being who's ever lived from terrible dictators to starving kids on the streets
of Calcutta. In order to learn the lessons of dealing with people in all different
situations God has called us into the church with people from all walks of life.
4] How is the Church
Run?
Now that we what the
purpose of the church is, how is the church run and organized? How is government
in the church structured? Who leads it?
We read in Colossians
1:18 and Ephesians
5:23 that Jesus Christ is the living, active
head of the church. He guides and directs it, inspiring the ministers in the
church as they lead the flock, working out circumstances to help all of us to
grow and opens up doors for the work of preaching the gospel to reach far and
wide into the world.
He does allow us to make mistakes and even allow leaders to go off the track
to help us learn and grow from those kind of circumstances. He doesn't take
away free moral agency from us or the leadership in God's church but He does
everything He can to help us to grow as we submit to Him.
In an article entitled "The Model for Church Government is the Family"
that appeared in the March 25, 1996 issue of “In Transition” the following
fine comments were made regarding how a church should be run is similar to the
pattern of how a good family is run:
"Wise families under the direction of competent parents set goals and plan
their fulfilment with the talents and resources of each family member in mind.
Everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, needs to be serving the families
by using and developing his own talents. There is no excuse for competition
or duplication of effort; the goal is big enough to employ everyone's energies.
The church family like the extended family of the patriarchs, encompasses fathers,
mothers, aunts, uncles and children. These individuals, with varying talents
at different stages in life, learn and grow together, helping each other toward
maturity...The church is to serve as a model family, just as Israel was to be
a model nation: to demonstrate the fruits of righteous living…
"If we accept this family model, the kind of family we become will be determined
largely by the quality of family leadership (the elders), the responsiveness
of the children (the brethren) and the goals the church family sets. What happens
in a family when authority is abused by domineering parents, misused by self-serving
parents or relinquished by permissive parents? The family suffers, and the light
it may send to the world around will be diminished accordingly. So it is that
the church family can be most effective only when respective responsibilities
are clearly defined and church leaders exercise balanced authority to promote
the self-discipline and intellectual and spiritual curiosity essential for growth
to christian maturity.”
Godly church government emphasises "service more than command [Luke
22:25-27]; gentle encouragement more than
rebuke; being 'helpers of your joy' (2
Corinthians 1:24) more than policeman over
their faith; visiting, counselling, anointing, encouraging more than criticising;
seeking those who are straying rather than threatening the weak with excommunication
[Luke 15:3-10];
building up faith, not instilling fear" (Where is the True Church?, p.33-34).
There are two scriptures that give us a list of the various ministerial (meaning
service) functions in the church. In 1
Corinthians 12:28 we read: "And God
(not man) has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets,
thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments,(and)
diversities of tongues".
Paul also wrote in Ephesians
4:11-12: "And he himself gave some
to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ."
These offices each have a specific function. Herman Hoeh wrote the following
in describing these various functions in the church:
"Christ directed the church through the apostles who were chosen directly
by Him (Luke
6:13). The apostles were His direct representatives
sent into the world as ambassadors bearing authority [All the word 'apostle'
means is 'one sent forth']… The apostles were instruments in Jesus' hands,
through which He could spread the gospel, correct, reprove and lead the church.
“The...apostles...all held equality of office. Peter had no one-man dictatorial
authority over the other eleven. Peter was never a pope. The same authority
vested in Peter was also vested by Jesus in the other apostles (Matthew
16:19,18:18 and
John 20:23)…
“[Among the apostles, Peter led from the front, as he did when Jesus was
still with them, because he had good leadership qualities] "Paul, himself,
said that Jesus entrusted Peter with the direction of the gospel to Israel as
Jesus had entrusted Paul with the direction of the gospel to the Gentiles (Galatians
2:7-8). But in another place we find that
the apostles SENT Peter and John to Samaria, although Peter may have suggested
this (Acts
8:14)...
“Among the twelve there must have been such a spirit of peace and harmony
without jealousy in equality of office. They did not quarrel amongst themselves
by trying to build on another man's foundation as some might do today (Romans
15:20) [As well as the original 12 apostles
there were other apostles such as Paul and Barnabas (Acts
14:14), Andronicus and Junia (Romans
6:7), Silvanus and Timothy (1
Thessalonians 1:1, 2:6)
and James the brother of Jesus (Galatians
1:19)] …
"Next, in government authority, we find the evangelists - Timothy, Titus,
Demas, Silas and many others - who directly assisted the apostle Paul as he
was directed by Christ. Paul had the authority when necessary to command
Silas and Timothy to go wherever he designated. In Acts
17:15 we read: 'So those who conducted
Paul brought him to Athens, and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy
to come to him with all speed, they departed.' In other instances when duties
were not imperative, Paul sometimes left it to the convenience of the evangelists
(1 Corinthians
16:12). Paul was not a dictator.
"The evangelists, under the direction of the apostle Paul, preached to
the unconverted. Evangelist means an announcer of good news. They made converts,
established local churches and appointed elders and deacons (Titus
1:5), and visited established churches
(Philippians
2:19-20) with authority over local officers…
"The word pastor means 'shepherd'. He is one who tends the flock...Over
each local congregation there is also a local pastor. He is the presiding elder
or bishop over other elders in a local congregation...All elders must be apt
to teach (1
Timothy 3:2), hence they are called teachers
in 1 Corinthians
12:28 and Ephesians
4:11. Elders who rule well are to be highly
respected for their work's sake, especially those who labour in preaching and
teaching (1
Timothy 5:17) ...The members do not elect
and dismiss elders, nor do they vote on doctrines which the elders are to preach"
(Good News, Aug.1953, p.4-7).
The apostle Peter tells the local elders in 1
Peter 5:2-3 to "shepherd the flock
of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by constraint but willingly,
not for dishonest gain but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted
to you, but being examples to the flock". Again the focus is on discouraging
any in authority from lording it over the flock but serving the church with
all of their might out of love. The greater the authority the greater the responsibility
and job to serve the church and the greater accountability in God's eyes (1
Corinthians 3:17, James 3:1).
It we take the New Testament passages at face value we see there was a pattern
of a chain of authority in the early New Testament church but it was a kind
and gentle one compared to the top-down governments in this world.
5] How Do You Identify
the True Church?
In 2
Corinthians 11:13-15 the apostle Paul wrote:
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves
into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself
into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his
ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end
will be according to their works.”
Paul tells us that there are false ministers who masquerade as true ministers
of God. One of Satan's great means of deception is to counterfeit God's teachings
and practices with false ones. Jesus Himself said in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly
they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits…Not everyone
who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who
does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and
done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew
you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” (Matthew
7:15-23).
Knowing that there are false teachers and counterfeit churches out there how
can we be sure where God's true church is? The UCG Bible Study Course gives
us some of the features which distinguish the true church of God with the false
churches of the world:
“What is God's Church called in the Bible? 'Therefore take heed to yourselves
and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to
shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood' (Acts
20:28).
“The phrase church of God appears eight times in the Bible (Acts
20:28; 1
Corinthians 1:2; 10:32;
11:22;
15:9;
2 Corinthians 1:1;
Galatians 1:13;
1 Timothy 3:5).
'Churches of God' appears another three times (1
Corinthians 11:16; 1
Thessalonians 2:14; 2
Thessalonians 1:4) and 'the church of the
living God' occurs once (1
Timothy 3:15)...
“The Gospels and Acts are equally clear that Christ, the disciples and
the early Church kept the weekly Sabbath from Friday evening to Saturday evening,
the seventh day of the week - as their day of rest and worship (Mark
6:2; Luke 4:16, 31-32,
13:10; Acts
13:14-44, 18:4).
Jesus even called Himself 'Lord of the Sabbath' (Mark
2.28).
“It was Jesus' custom to go to the synagogue every Sabbath to worship (Luke
4:16) Contrary to the teaching of those
who say that Paul abandoned the Sabbath, it was his custom, too, to go to the
synagogue every Sabbath (Acts
17:1-3), using the opportunity to teach
others about Jesus as Saviour and Messiah…
“[God's feast days (Leviticus
23) and] the Sabbath [are] ignored by the
overwhelming majority of churches. Rather than keeping the Sabbath as God commanded,
most churches meet on the first day of the week – Sunday - a day nowhere
commanded in the Bible as a day of worship. Why? If we are to observe any day
as a weekly day of rest and worship, shouldn't it be the same day Jesus and
the apostles kept?…
“Many churches teach that obedience to God's law is unnecessary, that Christ
kept it for us or it was 'nailed to the cross' with Christ. This is directly
contrary to Jesus' own words (Matthew
4:11; 5:17-19)
and the teaching and practice of the apostles (Acts
24:14, 25:8; Romans
7:12, 22; 1
Corinthians 7:19; 2 Timothy 3:15-17).
“Following Christ's example, the apostles powerfully preached about His
return to establish the Kingdom of God (Luke
4:43; 8:1; 21:27,
31; Acts
1:3; 8:12; 14:22;
19:8, 28:23,
31).
But Paul warned that, even in his day, some already preached 'a different gospel'
(2 Corinthians
11:4, Galatians 1:6).
“We see much confusion in churches about what the gospel is. Most view
it as a message about Christ's birth, life and death without understanding why
He came and why He had to die. Few proclaim the message of God's Kingdom that
Jesus Himself taught (Mark
1:14-15).
“Similarly, Jesus and the apostles never taught that the righteous ascend
to heaven at death (John
3:13; Acts 2:29, 34),
and they understood that man does not possess an immortal soul (Ezekiel
18:4, 20; Matthew
10:28) that would spend eternity in either
heaven or hell.
“Nowhere do we find popular religious holidays such as Christmas approved
in the Bible. The only time Easter is mentioned in the Bible (Acts
12:4, King James Version) it is a blatant
mistranslation of the Greek word for Passover. Lent and its practices are nowhere
found. The early Church also followed God's instructions regarding which meats
were suitable to be eaten (Acts
10:9-14). These clean and unclean meats
are listed in Leviticus
11…
“There are major differences between the Christianity of the time of Christ
and the apostles and that commonly practiced today” (Lesson
10 – What is the Church?, p.15, 8-9).
6] What has the History of the Church Been Like?
In Matthew
16:18 Jesus said: “I will build My
church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” In other
words once He built that church it would not die – it would always exist!
For most of the past 2000 years the Western world has been dominated by a great
false church that does not bear much resemblance to the church that Jesus founded
nor has it taught the beliefs that identify the true church of God. Where has
the true church been all that time?
It has continued
to exist and seven letters recorded in Revelation
2 and 3 contain
a number of snapshots of the church at various times in history over the past
2000 years. Herbert W. Armstrong in his book “Mystery
of the Ages” makes these comments:
“The book of Revelation records seven messages to seven churches that existed
in Asia Minor [Turkey] toward the end of the first century A.D. These churches
-- Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea --
were located along one of the mail routes of the old Roman Empire. Riders would
follow the route -- carrying messages from town to town. The messages to the
seven churches have words of both encouragement and correction and they clearly
show the dominant characteristics of each of the congregations at that time.
But these messages were intended for a wider audience than the Christians in
these small towns.
“They are a series of remarkable prophecies, by which the future of the
true Church was foretold in outline form, from the day it began on Pentecost,
A.D. 30, until the Second Coming of Christ. The history of the Church
would fall into seven distinct eras -- each with its own strengths and weaknesses
and its own special trials and problems. Just as a message could pass along
the mail route from Ephesus to Laodicea, so would the truth of God be passed
from era to era. It was like a relay race -- in which the baton is passed from
runner to runner, each one doing his part, until the finish line is reached…
“Powerless, often persecuted, and rejected as heretics, the world lost
sight of them. Instead, there emerged from the lost century a church that was
steadily growing in popularity but growing further away from the gospel that
Jesus taught. Persecution continued at various times under the Romans until
the fourth century, when Constantine recognized the degenerate Church of that
period as an official religion of the empire. But the Church that he recognized
was by now very different from the Church that Jesus founded. The doctrines
and teachings that He had taught His apostles were now buried amid the trappings,
ceremonies, mysteries and rituals of a church that called itself by the name
of Christ. It was essentially the Babylonian Mystery religion, now being called
Christian, accepting the doctrine of grace but turning it into license [to sin].
In other words, it was the old pagan Babylonian Mystery religion wearing a new
cloak: 'Christianity'” (p.232-233).
The Book of Revelation is a book about prophecy. It is about "things which
must shortly come to pass" (Revelation
1:1). If there wasn't something prophetic
about these letters they wouldn't be included in the Book of Revelation. Like
many other prophecies in the Bible these letters are dual in nature highlighting
qualities of the church at that time yet also containing prophecies about the
future of the church.
Notice what Christ said to the churches with regards to His coming:-
"I will come to you quickly" -
Ephesus
"I will come to you quickly"
-
Pergamos
"I will come upon you as a thief"
- Sardis
"I come quickly" (no will this time)
- Philadelphia
"I am at the door"
-
Laodicea
There is a progression of time that is seen in these phrases. The progression
seen in those phrases along with the great number of historical co-incidences
that we will look at, supports the teaching that each of these letters describe
seven church eras from the time of the apostles to Jesus Christ's second coming.
The number of seven is used in the Bible to symbolize completion – the
whole church. Each letter finishes with the phrase “He who has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”. There are lessons for
all of us to be learned in all of the seven letters to the churches.
Let's now have a look at these fascinating prophecies. First of all, we have
the Ephesian era. Christ gives them a high commendation for their work when
they started red-hot with their first love but as time wore on they lost that
first love and were starting to decline (Revelation
2:2-4). The Apostolic era started red-hot
but as the church went on false teachers gradually watered-down and changed
the truth and they lost their zeal. This is a perfect description of the first
century church.
Philadelphia
was prophesied to do a mighty work (Revelation
3:8) and was the only other church along
with Smyrna, which received no criticism. Herbert W. Armstrong powerfully taught
where the throne of David was and who the modern descendants of Israel were (Revelation
3:7). Through the Plain Truth magazine and
World Tomorrow telecast, millions heard of the true gospel of God's coming kingdom
all around the world. 1]
What is the Church?
· When
the New Testament talks about the Church, it speaks of an assembly of people.
In the Bible the word church is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia,
meaning 'a calling out'. It never refers to a building or meeting place, but
always to people, the ones 'called out' of the world's society by God calling
them into His service.
2] How does one become a part
of the church?
· It
is God the Father who moves us through His spirit to want to be a part of the
church (John
6:44). God initiates the process and He
is the one who grants repentance (Romans
2:4, 2 Timothy 2:25).
· The
only way we become a part of the church is when we receive the Holy Spirit at
baptism (1
Corinthians 12:12-13).
· In
many of the world's churches babies are baptized (or christened) but this is
contrary to what the Bible teaches. Acts
2:38 shows that the conditions that have
to be met before God gives someone the Holy Spirit are repentance and baptism.
A degree of maturity is required for a genuine, heartfelt repentance.
· The
word 'baptize' is not an English word. It is a Greek word. In translating it
into English, the translators left this Greek word untranslated. Literally,
in the Greek, the word is 'baptizo'. The definition of this word is 'IMMERSE.'
It means to plunge into, put into, dip. It does not mean 'to sprinkle' or 'to
pour' as practiced by many of the world's churches.
· Baptism
pictures, in symbol, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. But it is
a DUAL picture, as all things in God's Plan are DUAL in operation. It also pictures
the crucifixion of the old self (Romans
6:3-7), or of the sinning life, the burial
of this sinning self, and the coming up out of this watery grave, symbolic of
a CHANGED person resurrected to a new, righteous, spiritual life in Christ Jesus.
· Noah
and his family being saved from the watery grave of the Flood (1
Peter 3:20-21) and the Israelites walking
through the parted waters of the Red Sea (1
Corinthians 10:1-2) were types or symbols
of this ritual of baptism.
· Baptism
washes away our sins and through this ceremony we are forgiven of our past sins.
The laying on of hands which accompanies it is where the newly baptized member
of the church receives the Holy Spirit (Acts
8:14-17).
3] What is the Purpose of the
Church?
· God
has raised up the church for the following important reasons :-
1]
To train a group of converted people who will assist Christ in setting up His
government over the world in the millennium.
2] To proclaim God's truth and announce the coming Kingdom of God as a witness
to the world.
3] To provide a group of people in which those who God calls can learn the lessons
of teamwork.
4] To teach and assist in the character development those who God calls in this
age.
5] To provide a support group for those who God would choose in this age.
· A prime minister
or president of a country doesn't run a whole country on his own. He has a cabinet
and a whole staff of people to assist him. Likewise, Jesus is training others
ahead of time who will help Him rule and fix up this world during the millennium.
A number of other verses show that christians who overcome will rule with Jesus
Christ when He sets up the Kingdom of God on earth Daniel
7:27, Jude
14-15, Revelation 2:26,
5:10).
· King
David will be resurrected to immortality at Christ's return and be king over
all twelve nations of Israel (Jeremiah
30:9; Ezekiel 34:23-24; 37:24-25).
Each of the original twelve apostles will be king, under David, over one of
these then super-prosperous nations (Matthew
19:28). Under the apostles, each now king
over a great nation, will be rulers over districts, states, shires, counties
or provinces, and over cities (Luke
19:11-27). These kings and rulers will
be resurrected immortals, born into the kingdom (family) of God as Spirit beings.
· Those
who are called and chosen in the church are called the firstfruits of the great
harvest of people in God's plan (James
1:18, Revelation 14:4).
· Christ
told the church to go into all the world, preach the gospel and make disciples
(students) in all nations and teach those who are willing to learn all things
that He had taught them (Matthew
28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18).
· God
is in process of training future world rulers. For God to select people who
will become one of these future rulers they have to hear and be taught God's
truth (Romans
10:14-15).
· God's
plan has been executed in such a way that He has chosen the ordinary, average
people and not the world's great and mighty people who are rich and famous so
that no-one can say they made it into God's kingdom because of how great that
they are. He who wants to glory or boast should boast of God's greatness, not
their own. (1
Corinthians 1:26-31).
· The
word tithe comes from an Old English word meaning 'tenth'. Tithing, then, means
merely the practice of 'tenthing', or simply giving back to God 10 percent of
one's increase (Leviticus
27:32). Jesus Himself and the apostle Paul
upheld the practice of tithing (Matthew
23:23, 1 Corinthians 9:13-14) as
God's means of financially supporting the church and its work of preaching the
gospel.
· As
well as preaching the good news of God's coming Kingdom the church in this end-time
has another commission which is proclaiming the Ezekiel warning message
(Ezekiel 33:1-9, Amos
3:6-7).
· God
wants us to be able to get along and work with people with all types of different
personalities and styles since the people of the world that we will be working
with in the World Tomorrow will all be very different. Some people will have
personalities that are easy to get along with while other people we may find
more difficult to get along with. The church is a training ground to help us
learn teamwork and these kind of people skills with all types of different people
(1 Corinthians
12:14-26).
· God
gave those of us in the church the gift of a ministry and leadership to help
teach us how to live by God's way of life and build God's character in us (Ephesians
4:11-15, John 21:15-17).
· The
church is to be a support group of concerned members for those who God calls
in this age (1
Corinthians 12:14-26, Romans 15:1).
· Often
we think of the “feeding the flock” part of the commission to the
church as something that is only done by the ministry through sermons and so
on when, in reality, we all play a part in it. When we support and encourage
one another with our time and our friendship and when we “stir up love
and good works” (Hebrews
10:24) in one another we play a part in
feeding the flock. Our support and friendship can play a big part in helping
other people to grow spiritually and make it into God's Kingdom.
4] How is the Church Run?
· Jesus
Christ is the living, active head of the church
(Colossians 1:18,
Ephesians
5:23). He guides and directs it, inspiring
the ministers in the church as they lead the flock, working out circumstances
to help all of us to grow and opens up doors for the work of preaching the gospel
to reach far and wide into the world.
· Godly
church government emphasises service more than command (Luke
22:25-27); gentle encouragement more than
rebuke; being 'helpers of your joy' (2
Corinthians 1:24) more than policeman over
their faith; visiting, counselling, anointing, encouraging more than criticising;
seeking those who are straying rather than threatening the weak with excommunication
(Luke 15:3-10);
building up faith, not instilling fear.
· There
are two scriptures that give us a list of the various ministerial (meaning service)
functions in the church (Ephesians
4:11-12, 1 Corinthians 12:28).
Some of those ministerial functions include
positions such as apostles, evangelists, pastors and elders.
· Christ
directed the early church through the apostles who were chosen directly by Him
(Luke 6:13).
The word 'apostle' simply means 'one sent forth'. The apostles were instruments
in Jesus' hands, through which He could spread the gospel, correct, reprove
and lead the church.
· An
evangelist means an announcer of good news. They made converts, established
local churches and appointed elders and deacons (Titus
1:5), and visited established churches
(Philippians
2:19-20) with authority over local officers.
· The
word pastor means 'shepherd' (Ephesians
4:11). Over each local congregation there
is also a local pastor. He is the presiding elder or bishop (1
Timothy 3:1-2) over other elders in a local
congregation.
· Jesus
Christ and the apostle warn us that there are false ministers who masquerade
as true ministers of God (Matthew
7:15-23, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15).
5] How Do You Identify the True
Church?
· Some
of the identifying signs of God's true church include:
– The
correct name – the Church of God (Acts
20:28; 1
Corinthians 1:2; 10:32;
11:22;
15:9;
2 Corinthians 1:1;
Galatians 1:13;
1 Timothy 3:5)
– Keeping the Sabbath day (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) holy
(Exodus
20:8-11, Luke 4:16, 31-32)
– Observing God's Holy Days (Leviticus
23)
– Preaching obedience to God's laws (Matthew
4:11; 5:17-19)
– Preaching the gospel of the coming Kingdom of God (Mark
1:14, Acts
1:3; 8:12; 14:22)
– Not teaching false doctrines and practices such as man having an immortal soul
which goes straight to heaven or hell when we die (Ezekiel
18:4, 20; Matthew
10:28) and not observing pagan holidays
such as Christmas and Easter.
6] What has the History of the
Church Been Like?
· Jesus
said: “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it” (Matthew
16:18). In other words once He built that
church it would not die – it would always exist! Powerless, often persecuted,
and rejected as heretics, the world lost sight of them. Instead, there emerged
from the lost century a church that was steadily growing in popularity but growing
further away from the gospel that Jesus taught (Revelation
17).
· It
has continued to exist and seven letters recorded in Revelation
2 and 3 contain
a number of snapshots of the church at various times in history over the past
2000 years. Like many other prophecies in the Bible these letters are dual in
nature highlighting qualities of the church at that time yet also containing
prophecies about the future of the church.
· We
need to learn from the lessons of the seven churches. Some of those important
lessons include keeping our first love alive for God and His way of life (Revelation
2:2-4), standing firm in the midst of trials
like Smyrna (Revelation
2:9-10), keeping ourselves pure from the
wrong influences and ways of the world (Revelation
2:20), holding fast to God's truth against
the attacks of false teachers (Revelation
3:11) and not being lukewarm, self-satisfied
and complacent like the Laodiceans by drawing near to God with zeal (Revelation
3:17-19)..
· God's
true church has always been small compared to the world's false churches (Luke
12:32) but it is faithful to the truth
of the Bible and its commission of preaching the gospel to the world and making
disciples of all nations. Through the church, God is preparing a people who
will become the future rulers of the world in the World Tomorrow and who will
help Jesus Christ bring the rest of humanity into the family of God.