"The Lord's Church"

“The Lord’s Church”

The Church of Christ is distinctive in its purpose. In Eph. 3:21 we are informed of the divine purpose of the body of Christ. That reason for existence is to glorify God. It was the Father’s will, from eternity, to         establish the Church as “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).

For a congregation to give glory to the Creator, it must follow the divine pattern (Heb. 8:5) revealed in the Bible. Each doctrine, item of worship or any organizational procedure must be based upon a “thus saith the Lord”. One pertinent question for all of us to ponder is this: “Do we have a scriptural reason for what we do in religion?” Is the name we wear, spiritually, contained in the Bible? Or, do we have to find it in secular      history? It does make a difference.

Unless our faith comes by hearing the word of God (Rom. 10:17), we are walking after the precepts of men instead of mandates of Jesus Christ. The Church we read about in the New Testament glorified God by teaching the gospel (1 Tim. 4:16). They “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4).

Today many ministers omit the scriptures from their sermons and substitute human philosophy. This approach will not please God nor will it edify mankind. The church glorified God in the first century by being kind to others. Paul wrote, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10).

So let us all conclude that through evangelism, edification and benevolence the church in the first century glorified God. Christ established His church for no other purpose. We need to return to the ideal position of letting the church be the church. The province of the church of Christ is to save souls that are lost in sin. Let us begin now to honor and appreciate God’s plan for the ages- The distinctive church of the Lord Jesus Christ.