Basic HTML Version
wrong, after all! But did not Jesus
Christ found bis CHURCH? He sure–
!
y did, and 1 found where he said the
gates of the grave would never pre–
vail against it-IT WOULD EN–
DURE- IT COULD NOT BE DE–
STROYED!
l
found where Jesus
Christ said he would never leave nor
forsake it- where he would always
be "in the midst" of it.
1
found
where he was the living HEAD of it!
Jesus Christ was resurrected from
the grave. HE IS STILL
AL/VE!
So
WHERE
was the Church
HE
was guiding, directing and using?
1
was perplexed. But
1
kept
searching.
1
continued studying.
1
found where Jesus Christ carne
to oo THE WORK oF Goo. He
carne to bring mankind the Gos–
PEL, from Goo. Yet he said that
of
himself-as
a human- by bis own
human power, he could do noth–
ing- he was utterly
powerless,
of
himself, for this divine spiritual
MISSION. The Father tbat dwelt
within him- by the power of his
Holy Spirit-did the work.
So it was really Goo doing it, by
his Holy Spirit, using the individu–
al human body of Jesus as bis
instrument. Goo carried on bis
WORK of revealing HIS MESSAGE
through the individual human
BODY of Jesus Christ.
1
saw where God's true CHURCH
is called "THE BODY OF CHRIST"
(1
Cor. 12:27, 13; Rom. 12:5).
How could tbe CHURCH be the
BODY OF CHRIST?
1
searcbed.
1
studied . God's Word made the
truth PLAJN. God
started
bis Gos–
pel WoRK- proclaiming the Gos–
pel (Good News) of bis KINGDOM
through the individual humah
BODY of Jesus. But after his resur–
rection, Jesus sent the same HoLY
SPIRJT to enter, on the day of Pen–
tecost, A.D. 31, and thereafter, into
the COLLECTIVE BODY of those in
Goo's CHURCH.
The CHURCH, then, is the COL–
LECTIVE BODY Christ uses as HIS
JNSTRUMENT, empowered by God's
Spirit, to carry on Goo's WORK.
Jesus Christ heads and directs it
from heaven!
How does one get into this ONE
soov? By receiving God's Holy
Spirit. ' 'For by one Spirit are we all
baptized [immersed] into ONE
2
BODY." To baptize is to immerse–
to plunge into.
lt
is God's Holy
Spirit that PUTS ONE INTO tbe only
true Church!
But are there MANY churches?
No, everywhere the New Testa–
ment speaks of the ONE Body–
ONE
CHURCH. Christ is NOT
divided
(1
Cor. 1:13). There is ONE
true Church. All in it "speak the
same thing" (J Cor. 1:1 O) and there
is NO DIVISION!
But WHAT is the divine MISSION
of that Church? What is its PUR–
POSE? Tbe answer is to
do
the
WORK OF Goo, wbich Jesus
started, and now continues
through
his Cburch. And
what
did Jesus
start DOING?
Mark tells us. "The
beginning
of
''
The Church, then, is
the collective body
Christ uses as his
instrument,
empowered by God's
Spirit, to carry on
Go<l's Work.
''
the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God" (Mark 1:1). Then, begin–
ning verse 2, Mark records how
John the Baptist prepared the way
before him. Coming, then, directly
to the BEGINNING of the W ORK
Christ did, Mark says: "Now after
that John was put in prison, Jesus
carne into Galilee ..."-DOING
WHAT? " ... preaching the gospel of
the kingdom of God, and saying,
The time is fulfilled, and the king–
dom .of God is at hand: REPENT ye,
and BELIEVE the gospel" (Mark
1: 14-15).
Two things Jesus commanded his
hearers to do: 1) REPENT, and 2)
BELIEVE. But believe WHAT?
Believe J Esus! Believe bis mes–
sage-bis GosPEL. You have to
believe that Gospel-that Good
News of the KJNGDOM OF Goo, to
be saved! JEsus SAID so!
The I<INGDOM OF Goo is the
GOVERNMENT
of God.
It
is also
the divine FAMILY of God, into
which we may be born .
lt
is the
UNIVERSE-RUL/NG family! You
repent
of-WHAT? Your rebellion
against that GOVERNMENT of God.
God governs by his LA
w,
summed
up by the Ten Commandments.
Sorne will say, we must repent of
SIN! Yes, SURELY! For sin
/S
the
transgression of THE LA
w
(1 John
3:4).
lt
means unconditional SUR–
RENDER to the GOVERNMENT of
God- to yield to Jet God RULE your
life, according to HIS 1aws-it
means to Jive by EVERY WORD IN
THE BIBLE (Matt. 4:4).
What is the divine MISSION of
God's true CHURCH? Jesus com–
missioned bis Church: "Go ye into
all the world, and PREACH THE
GOSPEL to every creature." Not
just
any
gospel. Not a gospel
merely
about
the Person of
Christ- but HIS Gospel of the
Kingdom of God- the Gospel he
said we have to BELIEVE in order
to be converted and saved!
Again, Matthew records bis
Great Commission: "Go ye there–
fore, and teach all nations, baptiz–
ing them in
[into]
the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy [Spirit]:
teaching them to
observe al/ things whatsoever 1
have COMMANDED you:
and, lo,
1
am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world" (Matt. 28:19-
20). In proclaiming bis GOSPEL,
Jesus specifically said, teach them
to OBEY God'S COMMANDMENTS!
Jesus gave a prophecy for our
time- just before the END of this
world. The SIGN of bis coming and
the end of this age is this: "And
this
gospel of the KINGDOM [the
same Gospel he taught the original
apostles] shall be preached in all
the world for a witness unto all
nations; and
THEN
shall the END
come" (Matt. 24:14).
That
Gospel was not preached
after A.D. 70 to al! the world. In
every generation it has been
preached-to a FEW, but
not
TO
ALL THE WORLD---On ALL CONTI–
NENTS!
Wherever God's one true
Church is-the ONE Church that
(Continued on page 42)
The
PLAIN
TRUTH