Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 10
December 11, 1958
NUMBER 32, PAGE 5a

A Church That Is Worth Investigating

Gordon Wilson, North Sacramento, California

The church of Christ was not established on a sudden whim of the Lord, nor was its establishment merely an after-thought. It had been God's intention throughout the entire history of the world to build the church. All of the many centuries were spent in preparation for the establishment of the church. The church and its work is "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Eph. 3:10.)

About 800 years before Christ came to this earth the prophet Isaiah foretold that the government of the Lord's house should be established at Jerusalem, and all nations should flow unto it. (Isa. 2:2.) This could not have referred to the house of Israel, for that had already been established, and it was not for all nations. What then is the Lord's house of which the prophet wrote? Turning to I Timothy 3:15, we read, "But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." So we see that the house of God is the church, and of this house Isaiah wrote hundreds of years before Christ. What more is required to show the importance which God has placed upon the church of Christ? This brings us to the following question:

Why Is The Church Of Christ Important?

The church is important because God's wisdom is seen in it: "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." (Eph. 3:10.) Is it important to know the wisdom of God? Again, there is glory to God in the church: "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Eph. 3:21.) Is it important to glorify God? Also the church is important because its purchase price was the blood of Christ: "Feed the church of the Lord, which he hath purchased with his own blood." (Acts 20:28.) Do you believe the church is worth the purchase price? The church of Christ is important because Jesus "loved the church, and gave himself for it." (Eph. 5:25.) Would you give yourself for something that is not important to you? Finally, we shall mention that the church is important because all of the saved are added to it: "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." (Acts 2:47.) It is surely regrettable that denominationalists preach that the church is not important, and that some church members live as though they are convinced that that doctrine is true!

Not A Denomination The church of Christ is not, and cannot be, a human denomination because the church does not wear a denominational name. All denominations wear names which distinguish them from "other Christians", as they say. But the church of Christ does not seek to distinguish itself from others who are Christians, since we firmly believe that ALL Christians are members of the church of Christ. There is nothing denominational about the name which we wear, for it only honors Christ, and is worn by his command. (Acts 4:12, Rom. 16:16.) The church is not a denomination, furthermore, because we do not subscribe to a creed written by men. We believe in Jesus Christ as he is revealed in the New Testament, but we refuse to accept human interpretations of the New Testament. It is sectarian to make any book of human origin the standard of fellowship and communion. We extend our fellowship to any who follow only God's word. The church is not a denomination because we have no earthly headquarters. Christ is the only head of the church, (Col. 1:18, Eph. 1:22,23, Matt. 28:18), and he is in heaven. Thus, our headquarters is in heaven. Instead of all of the churches of Christ being tied into one central unit, each church is directly, and independently, responsible to Christ. We are different from the denominations in this.

The Right Church Almost all religious people are in agreement on one important point; that is, that the church we read about in the Bible is the right church. Most folks will also agree when asked that the Bible mentions only one church. Where, then, does the idea come from that one church is just as good as another? If the Bible only mentions one church, and this is the right church, it follows that all other churches are wrong. This is the case whether we wish to accept it or not. By this position we are not trying to consign all of the members of other churches to hell, but rather we are trying to teach them the truth so that they can be saved. Nor is the idea true that all denominations are simply branches of the Bible church, for all denominations contradict one another in points of faith, doctrine, name, and practice. The Bible does not contradict itself, so all of the many churches could not be parts of the Bible church. For a church to be the right church, it must be identical with the church that we read about in the New Testament. This is true of no religious body save the church of Christ. We do not need to make a labored attempt to distort history, and trace an unbroken chain of churches all the way back to Bible times, because we can prove by the Bible itself that every thing we teach, and everything we do, was taught and practiced by the church under the direction of the apostles. This makes us the right church, and nothing else can make a church right. We invite you to attend the services of the church of Christ in your community, and investigate our claims. We believe that we are a church that is worth investigating.