Matt. 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Introduction:
The Church of Christ now stands at a critical point in history. It has been the object of attacks from without and disintegration from within. Its members have reacted with apology for proclaiming the truth instead of the “life and death” resolve to give the only soul saving information that was demonstrated by the church when it was in its infancy. First century Christians withstood persecution; death, beatings, and humiliations for the sake of faithfulness to Christ. It seemed that they fully realized the indispensability of doing what God commanded rather than man. Mt. 10: 28: And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Satan’s single-minded attack is designed to accomplish one thing; and that is to hamper the effectiveness of the Lords church and thereby negating its soul-saving impact on the lost. The lost needs nothing more than a means of salvation; the devil wants nothing more than to side-track a person and cause them to be just enough off the mark to not notice that what they’re doing and what God commands are different. I shall spent the next few minutes pointing out some subtle differences that will make an eternity of difference in the outcome of a soul.
Following are the erroneous thought which are answered in God’s word:
1. “We’re all serving the same God and it doesn’t matter which church you serve Him in”.
The idea here is that sincerity of heart is the determining factor in salvation. If that be the case then one would have to ask themselves about Saul of Tarsus. Saul’s zeal and dedication was very evident as he persecuted the Church of Christ. He had been taught that the law was the path that God preferred that believers follow. Paul held fast to his conviction until the words of Jesus undeniably confronted him on the road to Demascus. Jesus spoke to him, and he listened and changed his position on religious matters. If one listens only to what Jesus teaches and refuse to allow human opinion and tradition to become a part of the conversation; the teachings of Jesus will produce a Christian, nothing more , nothing less.
Mt.18:3: And said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
2. “Why do you people in the church of Christ think that you’re the only ones going to heaven?”
The thought here is that members are narrow- minded and uncharitable in their thinking. If that be the case then we are in some pretty prominent company. Noah for instance; This old man had to pass by every other kinds of wood that was available and seek out gopher wood. The vehicle that he was charged with making had to fit some very specific specs. If he had substituted any other wood for the wood that God had specified then the Ark would not have been successful in its mission of saving those who were to be saved.
(1Pet. 3: 20: Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.) Those eight were saved because obedience to God’s specific will was adhered to.
(Gen.6: 14-15: Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: )
The Church is the second Ark. Through it and by it will those who shall be saved will be saved. Its Specifications are just as precise as the specs for the Ark that Noah built.
Col.1: 18: And he is the head of the body, the church:
Eph.4: 4: There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.
Now, as far as who will be going to heaven and who will not the bible clearly speaks: Mt.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.
3. Why does the Church of Christ teach against instrumental music in light of Psa. 150?
Indeed David did state in Psa. 150 “6: Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. But God gave retort in the book of Amos; 5: 23: Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
If you will look closely at Amos 5:23 we can detect something very subtle but important in how the word of God describes the effects of the viols; He calls it the” noise” of our songs.
Heb.13: 15: By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
This gives us a look into the heart of God concerning what He wants from His children: Only that which comes from our hearts. In our giving, in our singing , in our service; only that which comes from the heart.
1 Cor.14: 15: What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
Eph.5: 19: Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Col.3: 16: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
4. Baptism is to show that you have been saved:
If that is true then 1+1+1-1 still equals 3; and all you have to do is buy some food in order to be full. You don’t have to eat it. And today when you leave all you have to do is get into your car and drive away; you don’t have to start it up. The reason that I’m making these absurd statements is because Jesus tells us how to come to the state of salvation. He says, “He that believeth,(step 1) and is baptized,(step 2) shall be saved,(end result). Jesus demonstrated the process when He went down into the Jordan and was baptized by John.
Rom.6:4 : “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
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