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Where is the
Problem? Where is the Answer?
All bickering is done by prideful people, not necessarily those in
denominations. Jesus is our guide in life, if we are
saved. If not
saved, the Holy Spirit is our guide to salvation.
We must follow Jesus.
He is the supreme example. He left us the church, which is the
body of Christ, comprising all past, present and future
saved individuals. He
also left us the church which does the baptizing, Lord's Supper,
corporate prayer and praise, training and spiritual maturity. It is not enough
to belong to the Body of Christ, we need to belong to a local
church, too. According to the
author of Hebrews 10:25 all saints are commanded to "forsake not the
assembling" to church.
Many say, but I do not get anything from church but aggravation from its members.
AGREED!
But our personal comfort is not the reason for "assembling",
neither is getting something from the congregation. The
rest of the verse reads "exhorting one another". Attendance is not
for me, but for my encouraging you. And the final part of the verse
lets us know that we are to keep up this uplifting even "more as you
see the (judgment) day approaching".
What day?
The last day, which will be the worst day of our time. So the
worse everyone gets the more urgent it is for us to be at church to
encourage the discouraged, prideful, arrogant, denomination pushers,
etc.
Which church?
This is simple. In context of the discussed verse in Hebrews, it
is the church whose members are encouraging one another. Of course
there will only be a few exhorting today and fewer tomorrow as we
approach the last day.
In context of the rest of the Bible, it is the church whose members love God with everything they have and love their neighbors as themselves. (This is the New Testament version of the Old Testament Commandments.) Just as likely, there will be only a few loving God and their neighbors in the church today and even fewer tomorrow as we approach the end.
We have always attended a Baptist church, because this is where we were told how to be saved and actually received salvation. Many churches, if not all, will tell their congregations how to be saved, but life changing salvation is not received because of the error of their salvation message.
Fundamental Baptist churches are careful to use the Bible as their
sole measuring stick for ...
* personal revelation from the Holy Spirit,
* conducting business
* the program of the church
* for all Bible preaching and teaching
I personally have never known of a corporately evangelistic church, that does not use the King James Bible. And you would not be reading this, if a soul winning minded person had not impart the Gospel to you. So I would look for a Baptist church using this Bible and corporately takes the Gospel to the lost.
Baptist churches are usually not part of a denomination, meaning they do not get their marching orders from a higher man-made authority.
What is
loving your neighbor as yourself?
Fair question. The type of love involved here is not emotional,
and probably not intellectual, but simple commitment to do what is
best for the person in need. The greatest need of all men is to be
saved. What good is this life if there is no comfort in the next?
So, the right kind of church is one that is taking the Gospel to the lost and encouraging the saints in the membership.
Now, the main course of attention should be placed on ...
What is the Gospel?
Many are preaching all kinds of Gospels from all kinds of
churches. So, which is the right one.
The simplest test.
I tried the "Gospel of being good and religious in order to be
saved for eternity" and I never received the "change" that 2
Corinthians 5:17 promised.
Then I jumped in with both feet in the Gospel of only trusting Jesus Christ for salvation and I got the change. It was not a change I made, and I have made many changes since. It was a change that God made in my life. The PROOF!
So the correct church is the one who
1. Has saints that need encouraging
2. Loves God and loves their neighbor (taking to them, at the very least the
Gospel and whatever else is truly needed)
3. preaches the true Gospel
What
is the above church called in your town?
I don't know. But find it. I always recommend a fundamental Baptist
church. "Fundamental" includes the above 3 points plus much
more.
G. Steven Andres
Psalms 45:17
Missionary Evangelist
Copyright - 1996 to 2010