Proof of The Church

Jesus Christ said, "I will build My Church." (Matthew 16:18) He started His Church with the disciples and those who received His Spirit on Pentecost Day. Jesus did not construct a cathedral, basilica, mosque, or any other kind of physical structure - but he began bringing together His saints - the Church. The most High God does not dwell in man-made temples (Acts 7:48). Christians are the temple of God. He lives in them, walks in them; He is their God and they are His people (2Corinthians 6:16).

The Church of God is: One Church

Jesus Christ is the head of the one true Church. God the Father made Jesus Christ to be the head of the Church (Ephesians 1:22, Ephesians 5:23;). All the different kinds of church organizations on earth today, professing conflicting doctrines, cannot be the same church that Jesus founded; that would be confusion. Jesus says to those who would alter His teachings, “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46) The True Church that Jesus built possesses, practices and believes the set of guidelines He originally proclaimed, including the Doctrines of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 6:1-2), His commandments (including the Saturday Sabbath), the Feasts of the Lord (Leviticus 23), and every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

God the Father Calls the Brethren

The Church of God that Jesus began to build was the group of faithful people called out of this world, one by one, directly by God the Father. Jesus said that no man could come unto Him unless the Father gave it unto him - the Father must draw him to me (John 6:65, John 6:44). God then grants them repentance from sin because no man is able to turn around from his sinful life on his own (Romans 2:4). It is also God the Father who reveals that salvation is only obtainable through His Son. God gives that belief and faith in Jesus Christ as a personal Savior only to those He calls into the Church (Ephesians 2:8). Those two things - repentance and faith are necessary for baptism.

The Brethren Are the Church

Only those men and women in whom the Spirit of God resides are the Church - the children of God. Children of God live their lives led by God's Spirit (Romans 8:9, Romans 8:14). A child of God receives God's Holy Spirit at baptism and with the laying on of hands (Acts 8:17, Acts 13:4, Acts 19:6). For the convert, having himself placed under water is a picture of the burial of the old sinner. Coming up out of the watery grave is a picture of being raised to life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:4). With his sins forgiven, he is prepared to receive the promise of the Father - God's Holy Spirit. Jesus has only one Church. "There is one Body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, And through all, and in you all." (Ephesians 4:4-6)

The Church of God is the Body of Jesus Christ

What does Paul mean when he says, “The Father is…in you all?” In the exact same way that a daddy gives life to his unborn child, God the Father gives His Life - His Spirit - to His newly begotten child of God with the laying on of hands after baptism. John writes that the new Christian becomes a child of God, a part of the Church of God (1John 3:2). Paul shows that the Church of God is the Body of Jesus Christ. "…The Church, which is His Body." (Ephesians 1:22-23) "…For His [Christ’s] body's sake, which is the Church." (Colossians 1:24) "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body... and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." "You are the Body of Christ, and members in particular." (1Corinthians 12:13, 1Corinthians 12:27)

The Work of God

Jesus said that it is His Father who does the work. What is that ‘work of God’? The Bible defines in Jesus’ own words what the ‘Work of God’ is: “This is the Work of God, that you believe on Him [Jesus] whom He [the Father] hath sent.” (John 6:29) The Father is bringing many sons to glory by bringing them to Jesus (Hebrews 2:10). Christians, then, are the fruit or product of God’s work. Sometimes men build church organizations and then claim the way to God is through them. Jesus is the only mediator between man and God. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1Timothy 2:5)

The Name of the Church is: The Church of God

On the night before He died, Jesus prayed a special prayer to His Father. Being concerned about the Church brethren who would remain, Jesus asked that they be looked after and protected. He prayed, “Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” (John 17:11) The Bible records many instances of Christians being referred to as the Church of God. “Unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1Corinthians 1:2)

Where is the Church of Jesus Christ Today?

Jesus said that you could identify His followers by their fruits. He meant that His saints would be recognizable because they would be living their lives differently from the world around them (Matthew 7:20). That is because a Christian’s life is changed by the working of God’s Spirit in them. They begin to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit. “The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.” (Ephesians 5:9) Some of the other fruits or virtues of which Jesus taught are listed in Galatians 5:22: Godly love, cheerfulness, peace, longsuffering, moral excellence, goodness, faith, humility, and self-control. The faithful brethren of God’s Church, the first fruits, who practice their Christian faith in this way, and endure until the end will become part of the first fruits harvest, and be kings and priests working to save the rest of mankind in the Kingdom of God.

Summary

The Church is the Body of Christ, the body of believers, the children of God and the first fruits in Gods plan, who have God’s Holy Spirit. The true Church of God is not an earthly organization, denomination or a corporate body – it is a spiritual entity. The brethren who constitute the Church of God are promised the better resurrection; that is a resurrection to Spirit God-life, and to rule under the authority of Jesus Christ all throughout the millennium. No man has dominion over a Church member’s faith. Each converted person must work out his/her own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). God places each person within the Church as it pleases Him. Spiritual gifts are given to the individual Church members for the profit of all the brethren (1Corinthians 12:7). The Church is to preach the same Gospel that Jesus proclaimed - the coming Kingdom of God, (including a warning to all nations especially the lost tribes of the house of Israel). The Church is the Kingdom of God in embryo in which God is reproducing Himself in man.

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Sermon:

"Proof of The Church"