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 Penticost, the apostles,
Rome, Antioch, Nazareth, the Greeks, the Russians, the methodical
way of doing things, Christians, the free will, being primitive,
southern, missionary, general, the seventh day, science, catholic,
the advent, and the list goes on and on. Even by their names
they do not claim to be Christ's one church. Why can’t
we give the glory and honor to God and Christ where the honor
belongs?
Today we hear the sincere but mistaken plea to "attend
the church of your choice." Why not attend the church
of God’s choice, the church of Christ, the only one that
Jesus "purchased with His own blood" (Acts 20:28).
Christ did not shed His blood to purchase any denomination
nor did He purchase a group of denominations. The word denomination
means a fraction or part of a whole. The Lord's church is not
a fraction or a part of anything. It is complete within itself.
To identify the Lord's church, the Bible gives us the specifications
to go by. Any church claiming to be the only church Jesus bought
with His own blood should be able to prove from the Bible they
are that church of the Bible. Can the church which you are
a member prove that it is the one and only church the Lord
built, which is the church of Christ? If it 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 and have blindly followed men.
In order to be in the one church the Lord established, those
added to it by the Lord must be saved according to His requirements.
In Acts 2:47 we read, "And the Lord added to the church
daily those who were being saved." The Lord only adds
the saved to His church. There are no unsaved people in His
church. We are not saved just because we think or feel in our
hearts we are. We are saved only when we have done what God
has said we must do. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, "Not
everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father which is in
heaven." We must do God’s will, not man’s
will, to go to heaven.
According to the Bible, who are the saved? Jesus is quite
clear as to who the saved are. Jesus says in Mark l6:16, "He
that believes and is baptized shall be saved." A person
has to have help to misunderstand what the Lord says here.
Here we see the Bible says we must believe and be baptized
in order to be saved. This is what Jesus says. But men have
tried to change what the Lord has said. Men say that one does
not have to be baptized, to be saved. Who are you going to
follow men or Christ? Jesus says in John 12:48, "The word
that I have spoken will judge him in the last day." We
are not going to be judged by what our preacher says.
And also Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:21, "The like figure
baptism does now save us." Only when we have obeyed the
Lord’s command to be baptized will we be saved. The Bible
will be the only standard of judgment on Judgment Day, and
not what we think or what men say. Are you putting your trust
and confidence in what men say or what God has said in the
Bible? You are making this choice everyday as to who you are
following.
Also in order to be the church which Jesus built, the church
must worship God and Christ according to the way They have
specified. We are told in Ephesians 5:17, "Therefore do
not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." It
is very unwise not to find out and understand what the will
of the Lord is from the Bible. Many people are not finding
out for themselves but are relying on someone else to tell
them. All you have to do is look around and see all of the
differing doctrines that are being taught in all the different
churches. Are they understanding and following the will of
God? Absolutely not. If they were there would only be the one
church, which Christ established, the church of Christ. What
a pitiful condition the religious world is in, one of which
people should be ashamed, but they are not.
If you are not worshipping God and Christ the way They have
specified in the Bible then your worship is vain. Our Lord
says in Mark 7:7, "And in vain they worship Me, teaching
as doctrines the commandments of men." Have you been following
the commandments of men and only some of what God says in the
Bible? If you have then your worship is vain. Jesus says in
Matthew 28:20, "Teaching them to observe all things that
I have commanded you." We must observe all things and
only the things the Lord has commanded us. Is your worship
vain? If it is then it will do you no good and you will be
lost eternally. Please follow God and not men.