What church would Christ attend?

 

Although the title’s question is hypothetical, our Lord is present when His followers gather to worship Him (Matt. 18:20). Moreover, we know that Christ dwells within the hearts of the faithful (Eph. 3:17). Knowing these things, the Scriptures provide enough information for us to answer the question.

 

If Jesus were to walk the face of this earth, where would He go to worship on Sunday? The answer can be found in Eph. 2:19, which describes God’s people as being part of a household. Christians belong to the family of God. When someone goes away on a trip and comes back, which family will he spend time with? That might seem like a silly question, but it will help us understand which church Jesus would worship with. Logically, He would spend time with His family and thus worship with His church.

 

Jesus said He was going to build His church (Matt. 16:18). This happened when He died on the cross and purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28). When someone is covered by His blood and becomes a Christian, the Lord adds them to His body – the church (Acts 2:38, 41, 47; Rev. 1:5). This is why Christ calls them His own special people (I Pet. 2:9).

 

If Jesus returned to earth, would He assemble with the church that He is the head of (Col. 1:18) or some manmade religious organization? The answer might seem obvious. But would Christ show His love by visiting every denomination? This is an interesting question.

 

This should cause us to ponder a few things. I expect that Christ would visit every religious sect. He would not visit to worship though – He would visit to correct and admonish, telling them they need to abide only in His doctrine (II John 9) and that there is only one gospel (Gal. 1:6-9). Consider Revelation chapters two and three – the deeds of every congregation were recognized, but they were not all praised.

 

Let us return to the original question; which church would Christ attend? It would be His. We should not expect Christ to choose to worship with us if we designed worship for our own preferences rather than for His (John 4:24). Furthermore, why would anyone think that Christ would gather where He is not recognized as the head? Paul called the faithful who gathered in certain cities as churches of Christ (Rom. 16:16) because they belong to Christ.

 

Would Christ be pleased and willing to worship at any place that called themselves a church that is Christ?  Not at all. Again, He may go there to rebuke and admonish them to repent, just as He did with the seven churches of Asia in Revelation chapters two and three. Five of those churches were told to repent or else their candlestick would be removed. Jesus could say these churches belong to Him!

 

Let me make this perfectly clear – Jesus is not coming back to live on the earth again. But He is coming back, and everyone will be judged (II Cor. 5:10). It will be at a time when not expected (II Pet. 3:9-10). It is therefore important to be found faithful. If Christ would not be found worshipping at a manmade church, why would He be pleased to find you at one?

 

People who claim it does not matter which church we go to should look to the Scriptures and see how Jesus addressed His church. Remember, there will be many in the last day who will think they are going to be received into heaven but will instead hear the Lord say, “I don’t know you” (Matt. 7:21-23). Which church will you belong to?

 

                                                                                              Chuck

The church is not a franchise 

 

In last week’s bulletin, we discussed the subject of church funds and examined what you can and cannot use these funds for. What we need to discuss further is the relationship between churches. After all, some religious groups are organized like a fast food franchise. In other words, you might own a local McDonalds, but as a franchise you send money to the corporate head to cover licensing costs, advertising, etc.

 

Churches of our Lord that you read about in the bible are not franchises. They did not send money to a centralized organization in charge of erecting church buildings, advertising, placing preachers, printing teaching material, etc. Instead, the local churches are self-governing and autonomous. With Christ being the head of the church (Col. 1:18), every local congregation takes care of its own business.

 

To be clear, God recognizes no universal church of Christ “organization”. There is no pattern or authority for this in the Bible.  The New Testament contains no faithful religious organization larger than the local church. Consider why seven letters were written to seven different churches of Christ in Asia (Rev. 2-3). There was no “head church” to filter a message through. Instead, a letter was written to each independent church.

 

Of course, this system of organization is very different from most denominations today. Most groups have an earthly headquarters, appoint people to various centralized leadership positions and devise their own bylaws for the organization. These rules are enforced, and those who do not abide by them might be ousted.

 

As for the Lord’s church as described in the New Testament, a local group that wanders away from following Christ will not have a direct impact on any other church that is His. Why? They take care of their own business and have Christ as their head. A local church may stray, but this will not drag down the “universal” church belonging to Christ. Contrast this with the denominational model described earlier. If the “head church” strays from Christ, then the entire organization will stray (and because they are using a non-Biblical organization model, they are already straying).

 

Because the churches of Christ are independent, each local group decides what they can afford to do – TV programs, radio shows, paying for a preacher full time, owning a building to meet within, etc.  These are all local decisions – no other church of Christ can interfere with the decision-making.

 

This does not mean that local churches have nothing to do with each other. In New Testament times, brethren had fellowship with one another. Paul visited many churches and even sent greetings from churches (Rom. 16:16). While Christians are encouraged to visit and worship with faithful congregations when travelling, they do not have a right to interfere with their affairs.

 

If two local, independent churches are both faithfully following the head – Christ – there should be no doctrinal differences. This makes sense because to abide in Christ’s doctrine of Christ means we are right with our God (II John 9). If you visit a place that teaches different things than where you have been going, that means they do not have the same doctrine. One group might be right while the other is wrong, or they might both wrong. If they differ on doctrinal matters, though, they both cannot be right (I Cor. 1:10)!

 

As you seek for the truth (Matt. 7:7), keep in mind that the denominational/franchise concept many religious groups use today is not found in the Bible. Instead, there is the church Jesus built (Matt. 16:16; Acts 20:28). Make sure you seek that one.

 

                                                                                             Chuck 

 

Are you really a faithful Christian?

 

We should not be surprised when we hear people claim they are faithful Christians regardless of their personal conduct. In the four gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), Jesus encountered many Pharisees and other religious people who claimed to have God’s approval. Like when Jesus asked, “Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46).

 

Jesus knew that they called Him Lord because they thought that would be enough. This is precisely what many religious people do today. They say, “I believe in Jesus Christ and have been baptized for the remission of my sins” but they do not worship God with His people, nor do they worship His way (Heb. 10:25; John 4:24).

 

In order to truly be a faithful Christian, one must walk in the light (I John 1:7). This does not mean we just walk around and say “God knows my heart.” If we are knowingly committing sin, God knows that our heart is not right (Acts 8:21). Just because we know that something is wrong does not mean we are automatically forgiven. As Jesus said, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish,” (Luke 13:3).

 

James had something to add when he wrote, “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin,” (James 4:17). Just as sin is held against us even if we know an activity is wrong, we will also be held accountable for the good works we knew we should do but did not. In both cases, God knows their heart. This just means that they need to repent and turn back to the Lord.

 

People have a knack for justifying not doing what the Lord demands. They tweak things to fit into what they personally want to do. This is nothing more than selfish living. To learn what Jesus thinks of that kind of thinking, just read Matthew 23. 

 

                                                                                           Chuck                                                                                     

How do you restore them? 

 

 The scriptures make it perfectly clear that there is a danger facing every child of God, and that is falling away (Heb. 3:12; 4:1; I Cor. 10:12 etc.). Knowing that there are Christians that turn their back on the Lord, we need to understand what the role of the faithful are when that happens. Since we know that those who fall away have a duty to return, let’s focus our attention on the responsibilities placed upon the faithful towards those who have departed.

 

We read in James 5:19-20, these words, “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” This text gives us plenty of insight as to the duties the faithful have towards the unfaithful.

 

The first thing that we glean from these inspired words is that Christians can know when another Christians turns his back on the Lord. I am not saying God’s people can read the thoughts of others. It’s just that this text implies that children of God can help their brothers and sisters in Christ because they can know when one has wanders away from the truth. How? Because the faithful know what the truth is. Therefore, when another does not abide in those truth, they are found out.

 

So what does one do when they see a member of the body of Christ not abiding in that truth? The worst thing we can do is ignore it. When the church at Corinth did that, they were rebuked (I Cor. 5:1-7).   To think, “It is none of my business” is not proper thinking. It is our business to be concerned for the spiritual welfare of our Christian family, and of course their physical needs too. Not only that, we have the ability to know when a member of the body of Christ is transgressing. If that were not true, then how could one fulfill their duty in helping to restore the fallen?

 

Getting back to how we help the fallen, Paul gives us some incite as to how we can help them, and he said be spiritual (Gal. 6:1). In other words, the ungodly can be helped by godly people. This is why Jesus said that one must remove the beam out of their own eye before they remove a speck from their brother’s eye (Matt. 7:1-4). It isn’t wrong to identify and try to help the fallen. The problem comes when one is playing the hypocrite while trying to do so.

 

Looking at the text in James 5 again, we need to see that we are told that those who have wandered away need to be told to turn back, else they will remain lost in their sins. That may sound harsh, but you cannot sugar coat the lost state of someone. They need to know what they have done was wrong and what they need to do to fix it. There are many examples of brethren doing this. Paul did it to Peter (Gal. 2:11-14); Peter did it to Simon (Acts 8:20-23); and Paul did it to the church at Corinth (I Cor. 5:1-7), etc.

 

No matter what a brother or sister has done, the goal is to bring them back. There need not be hatred towards them. Even when efforts to restore them are rejected and they are withdrawn from, they still need to be admonished as a brother and not as an enemy (II Thes. 3:15).  Of course, the step of delivering one to Satan, the withdrawing, happens after the wayward member refuses to meet and talk so as to get help. When that happens a church has no alternative other than to mark them (Matt. 18:15-17; Rom. 16:17-18).

 

The motivation to help a fallen member is easy to see. We don’t want to see anyone lost. Our desire is to help them get to heaven is our goal. It is out a love that we look out for one another. But the sad truth is, it isn’t always appreciated, but we must do the will of our Father.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Chuck

 

You cannot be a faithful Christian without repenting 

 

“Christian” is one of those terms used so loosely today that we have people claiming to faithful Christians when they are anything but. This is not new. There were individuals in Sardis that called themselves something they were not (Rev. 3:1). The fact is, one cannot be a Christian and walk in sin. Repent means “to turn away from”. To help make things perfectly clear, a person is not a faithful Christian if they do any of these things:

 

1. Marry someone unlawfully (Matt. 14:4; 5:32; 19:9).

 

2. Are a female preacher (I Cor. 14:34-35; I Tim. 2:11-12).

 

3. Are a member of a man-made religious organization – i.e., a denomination (Matt. 16:18; Acts 2:47; Rom. 16:16).

 

4. Wear a special title as a religious leader (Matt. 23:7-10; I Cor. 1:12-13; Acts 10:25-26).

 

5. Refuse to belong to a local church that is Christ’s (I Pet. 5:1-2; I Cor. 11:17-18; Acts 9:26).

 

6. Try to follow the gospel and, at the same time, follow the law of Moses (Gal. 5:1-4; Heb. 8:7-8; 9:16-17). 

 

7. Worship God based on what they like rather than seeing what God has authorized/instructed (John 4:24; Matt. 15:1-9; Col. 3:17).

 

8. Conform to the world via immodest dress, corrupt speech and sexual immorality (I Tim. 2:9; Eph. 5:4; Gal. 5:19).

 

9. Keep returning to the passing pleasures of sin with drugs, gambling, drinking and the like (I Cor. 9:27; I Pet. 4:3; Gal. 5:21).

 

10. Go through life trying to serve two masters (Matt. 6:24; I John 2:15-16).

 

11. Put their earthly family ahead of the Lord (Matt. 10:37; 6:33).

 

12. Serve as an elder in a church when not married or not meeting other qualifications (I Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).

 

13. Claim to love the Lord yet hate their brother (I John 4:7-8, 20).

 

14. Get married but refused to leave their father and mother (Matt. 19:4-6; Eph. 5:22-33).

 

15. Act kindly toward some people but have prejudices toward others (Gal. 2:11-13; Gal. 3:27-28).

 

16.  One who has accepted the world’s standard for entertainment when it ungodly (Rom. 12:1-2).

 

Many people are fooling themselves by saying they are Christians when they do not live Christ-like lives (I Pet. 2:21). Christians may sin from time to time, but they are required to repent (I John 1:8-10).  Remember, repenting means “to turn away from”. We all need to think about that.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Chuck