Lesson - 22
The Lord's Church
(Part B)

The Lord's Church

The one church that Christ purchased with His own blood belongs to Him and it must honor Him.

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 only one that Jesus purchased with His own blood.

Romans 16:16
"The churches of Christ greet you."

Acts 20:28
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

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.

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 in which you are a member prove that it is the one and only church the Lord built? 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.

Be in the Church that the Lord established.

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.

Acts 2:47
"Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved."

The Lord only adds the saved to His church.

We must believe and be baptized for the Lord to add us to His church. There are no unsaved people in His church. We are not saved just because we are a member of the local congregation or 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.

Matthew 7:21
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Jesus is quite clear as to who the saved are.

Mark l6:16
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned."

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. It is only after we believe and are baptized that the Lord will add us to His church. 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?

We are not going to be judged by what some denominational organization says or by what our preacher says. We will be judged only by what the Word of God says.

John 12:48
"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."

Obey the Lord's command to be baptized

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.

1 Peter 3:21-22
"The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him."

The church must worship God
according to the way He has specified

It is very wise 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.

Ephesians 5:17
"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is."

Worship Christ the way He specified
in the Bible or your worship is vain.

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.

Mark 7:7
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

We must observe all things that
the Lord has commanded us.

Matthew 28:20
"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

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.