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"I attend church every Sunday. Surely
you will see me in heaven". Oh Really......"NOT"
If your testimony is similar, you are terribly
deceived. Many people fall into this category. Your
salvation was purchased with the precious blood of Jesus. He is your only way to heaven.
He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and
our sins are forgiven. Eph 1:7
As believers had an open way to the presence of God, it became them to use this privilege. The way and means by which
Christians enjoy such privileges, is by the blood of Jesus, by the merit of that blood
which he offered up as an atoning sacrifice. The agreement of infinite holiness with
pardoning mercy, was not clearly understood till the human nature of Christ, the Son of
God, was wounded and bruised for our sins. Our way to heaven is by a crucified Saviour;
his death is to us the way of life, and to those who believe this, he will be precious.
They must draw near to God; it would be contempt of Christ, still to keep at a distance.
Believers are to consider how they can be of service to each other, especially stirring up
each other to the more vigorous and abundant exercise of love, and the practice of good
works. The communion of saints (church), is a great help and privilege, and a means of
stedfastness and perseverance. We should observe the coming of times of trial, and be
thereby quickened to greater diligence. There is a trying day coming on all men, the day
of our death. Matthew Henry
With the wide variety of churches and religions in today's society, lets look at the
church from God's perspective:
The preeminent characteristic of the church in the New Testament is devotion to Jesus
Christ as Lord. He established the church under His authority (Matt. 16:13-20) and created
the foundation for its existence in His redeeming death and demonstration of God’s
power in His resurrection. Christ’s position as the Lord evoked, sustained, and
governed the major characteristics of the life of the church in the way members were
admitted, treated one another, witnessed to His power, worshiped, and lived in hope of His
return.
Persons were admitted to the local congregation only upon their placing their trust in
Christ as Savior (Acts 2:37-42), openly confessing this (Rom. 10:9-13), and being baptized
(Acts 10:44-48). Baptism or immersion in water was performed because Christ had commanded
it (Matt. 28:18-20) and was itself a dramatic symbolic picturing of the burial and
resurrection of Christ (Rom. 6:3-4). Joining the church made one a fully participating
member in it, unlike many of the religious groups in the first century in which there was
a substantial period of probation before full acceptance. When Christ accepted the person,
the congregation did also, even though the members might be aware of weaknesses (Rom.
14:1-4).
The way in which members of the church were called on to treat one another was modeled by
what God had done in Christ for the church. They were to forgive one another (Col.
3:12-14) and to love one another (Eph. 5:1-2; 1 John 3:16) because God had done this for
all of them in Christ. This foundation for Christian fellowship gave an ultimacy to its
requirements that reflected on each church member’s relationship with God (1 John
2:7-11).
Members of the church were called on to demonstrate the power of Christ’s redemption
in their own lives by exemplary conduct, embracing every area of life (Rom. 12:1-13:7;
Col. 3:12-4:1). The overcoming of sins in the lives of Christians was a witness to the
redeeming power of Christ in action in the community (Gal. 5:22-26), and the sins to which
the communities were prone were clearly identified and challenged (Gal. 5:19-21). The
Christians were expected to adopt a new life style that was appropriate to their
commitment to Christ (Eph. 4:17-24).
The worship of the early church demonstrated the lordship of Christ, not only in the fact
that He was extolled and praised but also in the fact that worship demonstrated the
obligation of Christians to love and to nurture one another (1 Cor. 11:17-22; 14:1-5). In
distinction from worship as it was practiced in the pagan cults of Greece and Rome,
Christian worship not only stressed the relation of a person to the Deity but went beyond
this to stress that worship should edify and strengthen the Christians present (1 Cor.
14:26) and should challenge pagans to accept Christ (1 Cor. 14:20-25). Christian worship
was often enthusiastic and usually involved all Christians present as participants (1 Cor.
14:26). This openness both inspired creativity and opened the way for excesses which were
curbed by specific suggestions (1 Cor. 14:26-33a; 1 Tim. 2:1-10) and by the rule that what
was done should be appropriate to those committed to a God of peace (1 Cor. 14:33a).
All of these characteristics of the life of the church existed in the context of an
urgency created by the awareness that Christ was going to return (1 Thess. 1:9-10).
Christ’s return would bring judgment to the unbelievers (1 Thess. 5:1-10) and thus
made witnessing to them an urgent concern. How central this belief was to the early church
is illustrated by the fact that the Lord’s Supper, which they observed at His command
was seen as proclaiming "the Lord’s death till he come (1 Cor. 11:26). The
return of Christ was to result in glorious joy and the transformation of the
Christians—a hope that sustained them in difficult times (2 Thess. 1:5-12). Harold S.
Songer
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved. "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does
not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God. John 3:16-18
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