Which is the true church?
1. The owner
The owner of the church is Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” (Matthew 16:18) Christ said, "I will build my church," so the church belongs to Christ. In addition, because he said, "I will build" my church, the one who builds the church is He himself. The word Peter in Greek is Πέτρος that is pronounced Petros in English. Petros means a small stone. Jesus said on "this rock" I will build my Church. What Jesus called "this rock" is πέτρᾳ in Greek and is pronounced Petra in English, which means a large rock. (also ref. GN Jan 2024)
However, most of the churches in the world today are not owned by Christ. They are owned by pastors, elders, or members of the church who lead the congregation according to their heart desire. In some cases, even Christ has no place in those churches, where fulfilling the leader's own desires is more important than fulfilling Christ's will. The name Jesus Christ is used only as formality. However, since the church belongs to Christ, it needs to be returned to the rightful owner.
2. What is the church built on?
Christ said, "On this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). As explained above, what Christ said about this rock is Petra the big rock, which is he himself. Therefore, it means the church is built on Christ Himself. The church will be strong because it is built on Christ, who is the solid rock. As a consequence, it will not disappear on the day of judgment and will remain strong.
3. What are the tasks for the church?
The church must carry out the original tasks assigned by the owner. There is a need for discussion between the pastor (shepherd) and the members (sheep) about what they are supposed to do. They need to identify what they are, and carry out the purposes of Christ who is the owner of the church.
Christ's primary purposes of his church are:
(1) To shut the gate of hell
Regarding the church, Christ said: "the gates of Hades will not overcome it." (Matthew 16:18) . This means that the church exists to shut the gates of hell. The doors must be shut tight so that people will not be able to enter through the gates to hell. As it stands now, the gates of hell are open to all. The gates of hell cannot be shut by the work of man, by self-control, nor by good deeds. Christ specifically established the church to shut the gates. The church must shut that gates by proclaiming the good news about Christ's salvation. But false churches leave the gates of hell wide-open instead of shutting them off. How can that be? By not preaching about Christ's salvation, they leave the gates open . They do not talk about hell, nor talk about how to get to heaven, but only about worldly matters. They preach about success and prosperity in life instead. Since the dawn of time, man has a tendency to love and the desire to possess the world. Because the preachings only center around the things of this world, people are not afraid of going to hell. Since members of these churches have no desire to go to heaven, hell is the only destination for them in the end. You should not even be in such congregations.
(2) To unlock the heaven gate
To Peter, Christ said:" I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19). Therefore, the church must be the one that opens the gate of the kingdom of heaven. That is to say that the church has the responsibility to preach the message about going to heaven. Whoever believes about the preaching of salvation here on earth and accepts the forgiveness of sins, will be accepted in heaven. In the same way, anyone who does not accept the salvation here on earth will not be accepted in heaven. That's why the Bible says, "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 18:18)
4. How will then you know the true church?
(1) The true church must preach particularly about the salvation from sin. The preaching must be centered around rescuing people from hell and sending them to heaven. The objective of the true church should be about saving everyone. The church must invest plenty of time for that purpose. Church fund should be generously allocated for that purpose. Programs must focus on this rescue work. Those who have been saved must be taught to grow and mature, and those who have grown and mature must then be sent back to the world to share about the salvation so that they would give birth to their own spiritual children.
(2) The false churches do not talk about sin, nor about the salvation. They talk about how to succeed in this world, how they should solve problems they are facing in their day-to-day life, and how to get materially rich in this world. They do not welcome those who preach about the salvation; They consider themselves already saved. They hate those who preach about the salvation and make false statements about them. Since that type of church will only focus on worldly affairs rather than spiritual one, by participating in that church, you will die spiritually and suffer the wrath of God.
5. Church of Satan
There are more churches of Satan than churches of Christ in this world. The church of Satan may appear to be that of Christ at first glance. Salvation is not preached in the church of Satan. Their preaching revolves around practicing good deeds, unity and love, how to be successful in the world, and the importance of human rights, etc.
How did the Church of satan come about?
(1) Satan persecuted the church in the beginning (Acts 8:1).
(2) The people of Israel in those days were the tool satan used in persecuting the church (Acts 9).
(3) But the more they persecuted, the more the church grew in numbers. Therefore, satan stopped persecuting, and joined the church instead. (Matthew 7:21-23).
(4) Wild dogs came out from within the church (Acts 20:28-30). How so? By church members marrying with unbelievers, through the unbelieving children, or through spiritual backsliding believers.
6. Churches in view of Jesus
(1) Church of Ephesus
In the eyes of Jesus, the Church of Ephesus was hard working; they worked tirelessly; they had patient; they suffered for the sake of Christ's name and did not lose strength. They knew how to discern correct teachings from false, and reject false teachings. But they lost sight of their first love. The church of Ephesus was all good but no love. A person without love is like a robot. A church without love will not progress.
(2) Smyrna Church
They were very poor because they were steadfast in their faith for Christ's sake. But Christ said they were rich. They were ridiculed by satan's associates. However, they were not condemned by Christ.
(3) Pergamum Church
This church was where satan had his throne. They remained true to the name of Christ in times of persecution. However, Balaam's teaching was accepted. The prophet Balaam had advised the Moabite king Balak to sacrifice to their idols near where the Israelites were, and enticed the Israelites to commit sin by eating food sacrificed to idols (Numbers 21-24). After eating the food, the Israelites committed sexual sin. God then killed twenty-four thousand Israelites. Therefore, counseling to turn away from God and to worship idols is the doctrine of Balaam. Within the Pergamum church, there were those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. The teaching of Nicolaitans is similar to the doctrine of Balaam.
(4) Church of Thyatira
This church was steadfast in their faith. Christ acknowledged their faith, love and perseverance. They put their effort on those good qualities more than they had before. However, they allowed the teachings of the prophetess Jezebel, which misled them into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. Jezebel was the queen of King Ahaz of Israel who made the Israelites worship Baal. As in those days, worshiping of idols was accepted in the church of Thyatira. In addition, they accepted the mystery of Satan.
(5) Sardis Church
In the eyes of Christ, this church was alive but dead. They appeared to have been born again but were dead spiritually. They were overconfidence of themselves.
(6) The Church of Philadelphia
This was the second church that Christ did not condemn. Although weak in strength, the church kept God's words.
(7) The Church of Laodicea
It was the church that was only lukewarm. Christ said to them, "I am about to spit you out of my mouth". They say they were rich, but they were poor in the eye of God. They wore nice clothes, but their clothes were bare. They seemed to see, but were blind. Christ stood outside their door, knocking to enter.
Seven Churches from Paul's teaching
(1) Roman Church
When Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans, he had not yet come to that church. He did not reveal their weaknesses. He wrote the basic beliefs of Christians. Paul's message to that church could be considered the most important of all Paul's writings.
(2) Corinthian church
Paul wrote that the Corinthian church was childish and an immature. "Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?" (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)
It can be concluded from the following activities that the Corinthian church was an immature church.
(1) Competing for honor
(2) Quarreling
(3) Disagreeing with each other
(4) Could not eat hard-digested food. Needed to feed on milk only
(5) Misuse of the feast (1 Cor. 11)
(6) Confusion in the gifts of the Spirit (1 Cor. 12 and 14)
(3) Galatian churches
The Galatians were a Celtic people who lived in Galatia, a region of central Anatolia surrounding present-day Ankara. Paul wrote to the churches in the book of Galatians, "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?" (Galatians 3:1-3)
The Galatian churches wanted to begin with things spiritual but ended up with the flesh. This is to say that they were saved by grace; After receiving and believing that they received the Holy Spirit, they believed that they were saved by their good deeds or following the commandments. Therefore, Paul said to them, "You foolish Galatians'' and also asked them rhetorically, "Who cast a spell on you?''
(4) The church of Ephesus
The Ephesian church was not blamed by Paul. It was the church Paul established in Asia to preach the good news of salvation. Paul stayed in Ephesus for three years. That church was the church looked after by Paul, Timothy and the apostle John. Therefore, it has the right standing in faith. However, about 30 years later, it was the church that was first accused by Jesus of having no love.
(5) Philippian church
The Philippian church was a church without imperfections. Paul commended them for supporting his evangelistic work. That church was the first church in Europe and the place where Paul and Silas were imprisoned.
(6) The Colossian church
The Colossian church was among the churches that was not blamed by Paul. Paul revealed the foundation of Christians faith in that church: reconciliation between God and man; Redemption; Salvation; and Forgiveness.
(7) Thessalonian Church
Because the Thessalonian church suffered from persecution, the apostle Paul wrote about the coming of Christ in every chapter of his book. Paul wrote those letters in order to encourage them by saying that when Christ comes, their suffering would come to an end, and they would be relieved. (1 Thess 1:10, 2:19, 3:12, 4:15-1, 5:11, 2 Thess 1:6-8, 2:1-4)
