What Does the Bible Say About Why Am I A Member of the Church of Christ #10?

Arnie, Fred and Glenn continue the discussion of why am I a member of the Church of Christ? We ran out of time before we completed our discussion of the term saint that we find in the New Testament. We complete that in this episode. We move on to talk about denominations and some important facts about them that we should know. We begin by looking at some of the titles that are used in them and what Jesus says about that. We talk about how important teaching the word of God is and what James says about those who would become teachers. Next, we note that special clothing is sometimes worn by leaders in denominational churches and what the New Testament says about this. We talk about where the Christians met for worship in the first century and why that is important for us to know. Next, we discuss why denominations exist, where they come from and what the New Testament says about that. We begin the next phase of this study by looking at the exchange Jesus had with the scribes and Pharisees relating to their traditions and how they replaced God's commandments with them. There are a number of important lessons to be learned from Jesus' discussion with them. We talk about some of those lessons and how they relate to the denominations that exist today. We move on to look at a number of passages that tell us what happens when we do not follow what God says or the pattern, He provided for us to follow. We will continue this discussion in the next episode. Take about 30-minutes to listen in on our discussion. Have your Bible handy so you can verify what we are saying. There is a transcript of this Buzzsprout episode provided for your convenience.

Transcript

Fred Gosnell: 0:00

This is a presentation of the Woodland church of Christ meeting at 3370 Broad Street in Sumter, South Carolina. We meet for worship on Sunday at ten thirty am and five thirty pm. We meet for bible study at nine thirty am on Sunday and seven pm on Wednesday. If you have questions or comments on this lesson, you may email them to Fred Gosnell at fgosnell@ftc-i.net or to Arnie Granke at agranke440718@twc.com or to Glenn Landrum at scbamaboy2003@yahoo.com.

Arnie: 0:42

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This is Arnie Granke with the woodland church of Christ. And with me this evening is Glen Landrum and Fred Gosnell. And this is what does the Bible say that's brought to you by the church of Christ at Woodland. We would certainly encourage you on Lord's days if you happen to be in Sumter, perhaps at Shaw Air Force Base, maybe even if you're if you're just touring in the area and taking look at the sites around here, drop in and worship with us and and see what what you can find about churches of Christ and how we worship and and it might be something that really appeals to you. And we certainly hope that it that it would be. We meet on Sunday mornings at nine o'clock for a Bible study, which is serious Bible study, and then also on Wednesday evenings, at seven o'clock and and on Sundays, we worship at ten thirty and and in the evening, at five thirty. So come and be with us there. What we're talking about, why I am a member of the Church of Christ. Each of us are. Glenn, do ou want to pick it up from there?

Glenn: 2:09

Sure, and we are in in a lesson now that we've been talking about for for a couple of weeks, and it's about the structure of the church, and we've gotten so far through Christ being the head elders, being the spiritual leaders of the church, deacons, being the servants who take care of various works in the church. And then what we have after that are simply members or Christians or saints. And one of the things we're looking at right now is this word saint, because many people use the word saint to designate someone as being a special person who has been nominated and approved to be a saint, But saint is simply a word that means Christian. If you are a Christian, you are a saint. The last passage we read, we'll start first, Thessalonians, 3, 12, and 13. And it says, And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love, one to another and to all, just as we do you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in the holiness before God, our Father, at the coming of the Lord Jesus, with all his saints. So this was a passage that used that word. We had read several other passages prior to this about using the word saint, in a general sense, meaning that saints are Christians. Well, in denominations, we find the preachers being referred to as father, Pastor, Holy Father, divine leader, etc. Matthew 23 nine says, Do not call anyone on earth, your father for one is your father, he who is in heaven. Jesus told the multitudes of those whom he was speaking to to call no one on earth father. The only father we have, besides our earthly fathers, is God. God is our spiritual father. Therefore, we should not attach that title to men in a spiritual sense. We are all brethren, and that includes the ones who do the teaching and the preaching among us. Yes, teachers have a great responsibility. James three, verse one says, My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. Those of us who become teachers have a great responsibility to teach God's truth and not teach error. When we teach and honor that they should receive because the work in their teaching the word and doctrine. When we do that, we must ensure that we are teaching according to God's word and not teaching error. If we teach error, we are leading others down a path that does not lead to God. Yes, teachers have a great responsibility, but they are not on a higher spiritual plane or level than other saints. In the New Testament, we do find, we do not find any reference to preachers or clergy wearing any special clothing as priest under the old law, as the under low old law had done. Yes, priests under the old law, Moses wore elaborate clothing that set them apart. The Tabernacle and temple were elaborate, elaborate in their structure, with many precious metals and materials. There is no authorization in the New Testament for such. We do, by general reference, have the authority to build buildings to worship in, but there are no instructions or specifics given for the type of building we are to worship in. In the New Testament meeting together and worshiping in the church are core occurred quite often in the homes of saints. The general gist of where the church met in the New Testament times is that they met in places that offered the opportunity for them to meet and worship, and nothing beyond that. We have covered quite extensively that God does not want us to go beyond what he has recorded. Therefore we should keep things simple and cover the requirement. There was an old movie that somewhat demonstrated this idea, the bishop's wife. You may remember it. You say it's a movie that we see at Christmas time. It was made in the in the 1940s. It take, but it takes, it presents an idea that a leader in a denominational church wanted to build a huge, elaborate cathedral for the congregation that he worked in. It becomes evident that the main reason was a selfish reason, and in the end, the cathedral was not built and the money was used for good purposes rather than to build the big, elaborate, beautiful buildings that sentiment is scriptural sentiment. It is not the physical things that impress God, but the attitude of the people who follow him in the way that they follow Him. Remember the the old passage that we hear often, Ecclesiastes, 12, 13, it says, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, keep His commandments, for this is man's all for God will bring every work in the judgment, including every secret, secret thing, whether good or evil,

Fred Gosnell: 7:49

Yeah, and our serving God is our devoted respect for him and his word. So we should respect him so much that we do what He has commanded and only what He has commanded. That is what we are trying to express to you in these lessons. Now in John 14 six, Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father, no one comes to the Father except through me. So in this passage, it's quoted often, but it's not given the respect it should be given. If it were, there would be far fewer groups who call themselves Christian, because everyone would only be following the words of the New Testament and not so many interpretations. The Bible is not really difficult to understand for most people, if they only read study and dedicate themselves to actually learning and knowing the truth that Jesus spoke about when he spoke those words above. That passage, implies that there is only one way. There's one truth, there's only one life. The word the implies singular or one. That's the definite article. So when we see 2000 denominations, what we see is 2000 different ways, different truths to them, it's not true what they do and lies. So why can we say that this with a surety? Because they all teach something different than than each other. Especially they all teach something different than what what Jesus spoke, what the Bible says, The church they have established is something different than the church Jesus built and established. The only way we can ensure that the church we are members of is the right church is to compare it to the pattern given in the scriptures, that which has been written down for us. So that is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. Jesus was speaking of, His way, His truth and His life. So the church mentioned in the New Testament, you it's either mentioned in a local sense, when it's plural, or in the individual sense, when it's the one spiritual body that Jesus built. So the the only time that it is inclusive of all Christians is when it's referring to the church that that belongs to Christ. It is the overall church. So just one passage Hebrews 12, 22, and 23 notice, notice what it says, it says that, You are coming to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all the spirits of just men made perfect. So, so that's those two passages describe the church that Jesus built. It's a spiritual body. It's in heaven. Of course, Jesus is the one that's the head of that church. Now, local congregations are independent of one another. Elders of a congregation that we've already talked about are only elders of that congregation, and they have no responsibility over other congregations. Each is autonomous, conduct its worship and work with Christ as its head. Although this is not written in the Scriptures, it is easy to see the wisdom of this. If one congregation goes astray in their teaching or their doctrine, other congregations are not going to be affected by what the first one has done. As we have mentioned earlier, Christ is the only head, and he is the only one who makes the rules. We only find his rules in the Bible, in His Word. We do not get it by by some new revelation or some new teaching and specified by some individual that seems to know what he's talking about.

Glenn: 11:37

Yeah. So. what we want to do at this point, we want to ask a question, does the church you are a member of have an organization or structure different than what the Bible presents? We've we've gone through those and given you the scriptures for those things about what the structure of the church is. Christ is as head, elders, as spiritual leaders, deacons, to serve the church, members, who are saints, to do the work of the church. We can also say that saints or members are the priests as well. These are the only positions you will find in a New Testament Church. Of course, one or more of those saints may be an evangelist or a preacher, but he has no more authority or responsibility than the other members of the saints. If you find that that group that you are a member of is different than what we was presented in the Bible, you you need to find a church that doesn't does follow the pattern in the New Testament. You can begin by finding a church that wears the name of its builder, Jesus, Christ. Beyond that, you will need to examine what you find after there. You'll, do they worship according to New Testament? Are they set up according to the Scriptures? Do they do all things according to the Scriptures? There are some other things we will cover concerning the New Testament Church, the Church of Christ, but what we have presented so far is basic information. So from this lesson, I can say that I am a member of the Church of Christ because it has a structure or organization taught in the New Testament. So this concludes this lesson, and we still have a little bit of time left, so we're going to start on our on our next lesson. So, Arnie if you would like to pick up there.

Arnie: 13:34

Well, Glen just mentioned there a second or two ago about being a saint. And, and spoke a little bit about saints and, and there's another definition to that word as well. Technically speaking, a saint is a sanctified individual. That's a very definition of of Christians. So there are a number of terms that the Bible uses there, and disciple and saint and, and Christian and, and some others as well. So we don't want you to think that we're talking about different groups of people when we use, when Fred uses one word and and Glen uses the different there. Those are all terms for the same thing. So as as Glenn started a list of things that we've discussed. We've talked about who built the church, we've talked about who its owner is, who is the foundation or or what. And I think it's actually a who that that's the foundation of the church. And you know who that is, Jesus. And Paul prophesied that corrupt people would enter into the church and and try to lead saints away from from the truth. And that was. One of the things that we've talked about. We talked about when the the church was established, and where it was it was established, how a person becomes a Christian, or a saint or a disciple there, how Christians in Christ's church, worship, that's an important thing as well, because many people have come up with their own design for worship, and not in harmony with with what the Bible teaches about that. So you may benefit from that as we, as we look at that and and how the, Christ's Church is is structured, with him as the head, with elders as spiritual leaders, deacons as servants that take care of various areas of work in the church. And of course, members, members also have an identity, and typically they're called disciples or saints or Christians, some of which are evangelists who preach the Word. So I think we're about ready to dig a little deeper concerning matters of Christ's Church. And if I can just read one passage of scripture for for you, I think that'll help to introduce these thoughts and and that passage is in Matthew, chapter 15, Beginning in in verse one, very important that that has a number of significant messages. So here it is, quoting now, Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem, came to Jesus, saying, Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders, for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. He answered and said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded saying, Honor your father and your mother, and he who curses his father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, whosoever says to his father and mother, whatsoever profit you might have received from me as a gift to God, then He need not honor his father or mother. Thus have you made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, These people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their their heart is far from me, and In vain, they worship Me, teaching as doctrines, the commandments of men. That sounds familiar, doesn't it? When he had called the multitude to himself, he said to them, Hear and understand not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. When His disciples came and said to him, You know that the Pharisees were offended when you when they heard this saying, But he answered and said, Every plant which my Heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They're blind leaders of the blind for and if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into the ditch. Then Peter answered and said to him, explain this parable to us. So Jesus said, are you also still without understanding? Do not yet understand what that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is a little is eliminated. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile the man, for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnesses, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man. But to eat with unwashing hands does not defile a man.

Glenn: 19:39

There are some particularly important lessons in this passage which we which directly relate to our study. First, Jesus is being rebuked by the Pharisees for allowing his disciples to eat with without washing their hands. They were imposing upon others a tradition that their predecessors had established, as law. They were trying to accuse Jesus and his followers are breaking a God given commandment when it was not a commandment of God. Jesus came back to them with the fact that they failed to follow or even taught against one, one of God's original commandments to honor father and mother. Verse Six is very important. Thus you have made the commandments of God, no effect by your traditions. This is directly to the point we are trying to make in this study. God requires us to follow his will, not our own ideas or our own traditions. God becomes very upset when we do that. We are trying to identify to all who are listening or reading this study that this is the main reason we have over 2000 groups, denominations that follow different teachings, who try to call themselves Christian. True Christians are obligated to follow only God's will. In a few moments, we will take a look at a few other passages that support this. At this point, we want to continue with the passage we just read Jesus in verse verses seven, seven through 20, explains that it is really what really defiles a person is what comes out of the mouth, or what the person actually does. It is very interesting that he explains in the biological process of eating food and the waste being eliminated, but this serves to allow the disciples to understand what he is teaching. When we, or any person, hears, reads, sees things being done, we have the have to process those things. In processing those things in our minds and our hearts, if we do the things that are wrong or sinful, then we have sinned, just like the example we saw, heard or read. What we should do when we see, hear or read things that are wrong or sinful is process them in our minds and hearts and reject them as bad and do not do them, thus eliminating them as our bodies do the impurities from the food that we eat. It is what we actually say and do that defiles us. When we refrain from doing those bad, evil things, when we are pleasing to God. In Verse seven, Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites, they claim to be righteous, but were actually sinning and causing others to do the same by demanding that their traditions be followed. You may not you may not have thought about it, but that is exactly what has happened in creating denominations that exist. God's word tells us how to set up the church and what we should be doing in the church, as well as how a person becomes safe. Each denomination teaches something different about those things, and they differ from the plan or the pattern established in the New Testament.

Fred Gosnell: 23:11

Okay, so. So now let's look at some scriptures. Now notice Isaiah, 59 one and two. Notice what Isaiah writes. He says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, and it cannot save nor His ear heavy than it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that he will not hear. So this verse holds true, sin hides God from us, and we do not have access to God when we sin, God expects us to obey His commands and live as he has instructed us to do. Unfortunately, people do things that please them, and what, when it's contrary to what God says, then God is not pleased. Now notice what he says in Isaiah, 55, seven through nine. Of course, remember Isaiah is writing to a the the Israelites, who were basically violating God's Will all the time. They weren't doing what he said. So Isaiah 55, seven through nine, he says, Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. The point that Glenn was making there, the things we think we translate into doing those things, and then once, once we do things that are not right, then we sin. So let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways, says the Lord, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Now, verse seven in the passage says exactly what we had just mentioned, but in the positive, if we turn away from our sin, God will have mercy on us, and He will abundantly pardon. Verse eight and nine are very important, and they still hold true. God has said that our thoughts are different from his. God's thoughts are higher, much more righteous than ours. He says our thoughts are as far away from his as heaven is from earth. Things of the earth are called worldly, and those of God are called heavenly or righteous, spiritual. With this in mind, explains why the churches that that people have set up or started are not in line with God's word. We put greater emphasis on different things than God would. Remember the last section we talked about. The Pharisees, who were supposed to be religiously educated men at the time had started enforcing traditions as law and actually violating God's commands.

Arnie: 25:38

Fred, I'm looking at Hosea, chapter 14 and and verse nine, they kind of follow similarly to what you were just reading and talking about. Hosea asks, Who is wise, let him understand these things. Who is prudent, let him know them, for the ways of the Lord are right and the righteous walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. If we're wise and prudent, we'll follow God's precepts and commands. It's our responsibility to learn and to know God's will. Paul wrote to Timothy in who, who he had taught the gospel and who became a co worker of his in, in taking the Word of God to a lot of places there. Second, Timothy, chapter two and and, verse 15, Paul said, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God a worker who does not need to be ashamed. Rightly dividing the word of truth. Very simple, very direct, and and we are diligently to study, to learn God's word and how to use it that the past, the last part of that verse, rightly dividing the word of truth has has a couple of meanings. One is to learn how to use God's word effectively, and the other is to learn how to separate the different parts of the Bible into the correct time periods. What we need to know about this going into a full separate study, is that it is the New Testament that applies to Christians. The moral truth presented in the Old Testament still apply to us as God's moral standard, but have have never, never changed. And how we worship, how we are saved, are different Glen, will you have some passages?

Glenn: 28:04

Yeah. We we only have a couple of minutes left, and so we'll look at a couple real quick here. First, Timothy 3, 16, and 17, says, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly furnished, equipped or thoroughly furnished or equipped for every good work. Second Peter one, two through four says, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God of Jesus and our Lord and His divine power has given us all things that pertain the life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the correct, corruption that is in the world through lust. We have mentioned these two before, and they are worthy of mentioning. Again, God's word, it is said in the first passage, is given by inspiration. That's literally God breathed. The Scriptures came directly from God, and they will make us spiritually complete. The second says that God's Word gives us everything we need for life and godliness. That means that it includes everything we need to live our lives and to live godly lives. We do not need to come up with our own ideas about the church, how to be saved, how to worship, or what the church is and does. Every denomination has been established with some person's ideas about those things, and they differ from God's Word. We simply need to follow God's word and all of his word concerning these things. What people have done is to either leave some of those things that out or add things to them, those things that are not mentioned in God's Word. Christ's Church, the Church of Christ is not a denomination, but the original church that Jesus built and established and died for. We teach only what the God's word says. We we if we don't find God's, something in God's word, then it is not authorized by God. There are a few areas in which we have some latitude, but they are very few. An example would be when Jesus said in Matthew 28, 19, Go you therefore and teach all nations, we have the latitude to determine how we go. In the days of Jesus, the methods of travel and communication was much more limited than to that today. Today we have cars, planes, trains, radio, internet. We use those methods to go. Not only can we use those methods, I believe we should use those methods as we have the opportunity. We have, have to be careful that we do not exceed God's commands, though.

Fred Gosnell: 30:59

Well, we're out of time, so we invite you to listen to our program on the radio. We also make a podcast out of this, and it'll be online as as well. So we're grateful for your listening to us, and we will see you next week, same time, same station.