THE ESSENCE OF A TRUE CHURCH OR CONGREGATION
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: “Die kenmerke van 'n ware kerk of gemeente"
Someone wrote to me as follows:
“Is there such a thing as a wrong church? If so, how do I know I’m in a wrong church? Am I going to hell if I find myself in such a church?”
I want to start to change the question to me slightly and the reason is because satan will make it difficult enough for someone to get a church that is part of the true church en therefor I want to concentrate on the characteristics of a true church, namely:
“Is there anything such as a real/true church? If so, how do I know I am part of such a church?
Here then is how I understand the answer to this question from the Bible:
How the true Church of Christ seems to be, is clearly spelled out for us in the New Testament by Jesus; how the history of the church began and so forth in Acts and further pre-eminently in Paul’s letters. Paul – to whom our Lord entrusted the majority of the New Testament.
Speaking of Paul, look how strong he puts it, that we must make sure that we do not engage in false preaching, or – to refer to the question that was sent to me – we must not become involved in an untrue church.
GAL 1:8-9
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
Paul is mentioning here something that the Holy Spirit told him to express himself very strong and I quote again a part of verse 8 and 9 to which I want to draw your attention:
8 But even if we or an angel from heaven …
9 … If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
You can find people today, with these incredible personalities and great charisma and with these personalities and charisma they manage to preach a kind of gospel that brings in a lot of prestige and worldly wealth to them.
Therefore, even before you walk into a congregation’s place of worship, always remember this that I am now going to share with you:
To begin with –
If the Evangelist stands out more that the gospel he is preaching: If the messenger behind or in front of the pulpit or on the stage by his actions stands out more as the Message of Jesus Christ, then be very careful because it’s part of satan’s modus operandi (technique) to give his messengers the appearance of a messenger from heaven.
2COR 11:13-15
13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
Consider this, how can I know if the congregation where I worship, is a part of the Church of Christ?
Personally I think in a time as this where new this and new that and new revelations and teachings arise daily, I would propose the following:
Ask for a copy of the church or congregation’s constitution and compare it with the Bible. For the Word is the one director and guide (measure) that first must be used to see if that church is Holy Spirit inspired. Then you can also look into the following aspects which I mention briefly:
We may disagree over baptism whether you should immerse one or three times.
We might disagree on the method we use Communion – for example whether we all use one cup or individual cups.
We may disagree whether the Sabbath is on Saturday or Sunday.
So I can go on and on but for what I am about to share with you now – NO, absolutely NO compromise can be made or even think about a compromise or half a compromise:
With the Bible as our guide, you must first of all find the following in the church:
That the church which you attend to worship, must believe that there is one Almighty God who created heaven and earth and maintains it.
GEN 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
This church must belief and confesses that God Almighty sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to this world as a Gift to eternal life in heaven to every person who accepts Him as their Lord and Saviour when they step out of this world and enter eternity.
JOHN 3:16-17
16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
The church must belief that Jesus Christ became human:
JOH 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
That this Jesus, God that became man, with the supernational work by the Holy Spirit within a virgin that gave birth, entered this world.
MAT 1-22-23
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).
They must belief that this Jesus gave His life as the only perfect gift in the universe, to us on the cross on Calvary.
JOH 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
JOH 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
The church must believe that this Jesus physically rose from the dead:
MAT 28:5-7
5 But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.
7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you."
The church must believe that this Jesus literally ascended visibly to the heavens:
ACT 1:9-11
9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,
11 and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."
The church must believe that Jesus will come again back to earth as He went, and all His children who are still in this life at that time will meet Him and our loved ones in the air and we will be with Him for always:
1THS 4:13-18
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Listen attentively:
1COR 3:11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
You see, there is NO, absolutely NO other way to connect with God Almighty or eventually to get to Him in heaven, except through Jesus Christ:
ACT 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
Therefor Jesus – God that became man, our Saviour and Redeemer – Himself says to us:
JOH 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
FIL 2:9-11
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
To summarise:
How do you know in this time that we live, with all its falsehoods, deception and distortion of the Bible, that you worship at a church that is essentially still a true Christian church?
Ask yourself the following question after you done your research:
Is Jesus Christ, God who became man….
JOH 1:1-5,14
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Is Jesus Christ the Alfa and Omega in the Gospel that this church preaches?
REV 1:7-8
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
In closing:
You ask: “Am I going to hell if I am in the wrong church?
According to God’s Word, a person goes to hell only if they did not receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour:
JOH 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
JOH 1:12-13
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
With Jesus’ Holy Spirit in you, you may find yourself in a wrong church or any other wrong situation, but you will certainly not stay there.
Greetings,
Sakkie