FOUNDATIONAL TRUTHS (1)

 

There Is One Church

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   One of the interesting aspects of the Bible is that almost every point within it is controversial.

 

B.   The controversy goes all the way back to Genesis 1.

1.    “In the beginning God…” (Gen. 1:1).  Is there really a God?

2.    “In the beginning God created…” (Gen. 1:1).  The world evolved; it was not created, some will argue.

3.    “…male and female created he them” (Gen. 1:27).  There are not just two genders some will say.

4.    “And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Gen. 1:31).  It has taken billions of years for the earth to evolve many believe.

 

C.   Satan is the one who is responsible for the religious controversy that exists in the world. 

1.    He was the first denier of truth.  “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). 

2.    Too, he is the fountain of all confusion (See 1 Cor. 14:33).

 

For God is not the author of confusion…

 

D.   The New Testament teaches us some significant facts about the Lord’s church.

1.    The church is the eternal purpose of God (Eph. 3:8-11).

2.    Jesus promised to build it (Matt. 16:18).

3.    Jesus purchased it with His blood (Acts 20:28).

4.    The Lord adds the saved to it (Acts 2:47).

5.    It is in the church that He reconciles men into one body (Eph. 2:13-16).

6.    Glory is given to God “in the church” (Eph. 3:21).

7.    In the last day, Jesus is going to return for His bride, the church (Eph. 5:27, 32).

 

E.   Since the church is vital in God’s plan, it is not surprising that controversy surrounds the precious church of Christ.

1.    Is the church important?

2.    Is the church really the eternal plan of God?  or, is it just a stop-gap measure in God’s plan?

3.    Do all the denominations make up the church?

4.    Are the church and the kingdom the same thing?

5.    Does the church of the New Testament still exist today?

6.    Is there only one church that belongs to Jesus and that houses the saved?

 

F.    We are beginning a series entitled:  “Foundational Truths.”  This is the first lesson.  It is subtitled:  “There Is One church.”

 

I.             JESUS PROMISED TO BUILD ONLY ONE CHURCH

 

A.   Jesus is the first person in the New Testament that uses the word “church” (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 thee.

 

B.   The word “church” is singular, not plural. 

1.    I will build my church.

2.    Jesus did not say:  “I will build my churches.”

 

II.           ONLY ONE CHURCH ESTABLISHED

 

A.   The church was brought into existence on the day of Pentecost following our Lord’s ascension to the right hand of God.

 

B.   Peter told those who were convicted to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of their sins (Acts 2:38).  “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized:  and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls” (Acts 2:41).

 

C.   Acts 2:47 tell us that to which the saved were added.

 

Praising God, and having favour with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

 

1.    The saved were added to the church.

2.    Again, the word is singular not plural.

a.    The saved were added to the church.

b.    The saved were not added to churches.

 

III.         THE TYPES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT PREDICT ONLY ONE CHURCH

 

A.   A “type” was a shadow of something that was to come.

1.    It was not the actual thing.

2.    But, it closely resembled the actual thing.

3.    It was a similar likeness to that which was to come in the future.

 

B.   Let’s look at two types or shadows of the church found in the Old Testament.

1.    First, God had a nation known as the nation of Israel.

a.    Exodus 19:6a

 

And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation…

 

b.    God did not have many nations that belong to Him as a peculiar treasure.  He had only one nation.

c.    In the New Testament, the church is referred to a God’s holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9).

 

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar treasure…

 

2.    Second, the Jews had a tabernacle, then a temple in the Old Testament.

a.    Exodus 25:8-9

 

And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.  According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

 

b.    God did not have many tabernacles built.  He only had one.  Eventually, in the days of Solomon it was replaced with a permanent structure, the temple erected in the city of Jerusalem.

c.    God still has one temple today.  That temple is the church (1 Cor. 3:16-17).

 

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

 

IV.         THE NEW TESTAMENT FIGURES TEACH ONE CHURCH

 

A.   The church is extremely complex.  In order to understand its purposes, God presents it to us by means of several different figures.

 

B.   Several figures:

1.    A body

a.    Ephesians 4:4

 

There is one body…

 

b.    1 Corinthians 12:12

 

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many are one body:  so also is Christ.

 

2.    A bride (2 Cor. 11:2)

 

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:  for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

 

3.    A priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5)

 

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

 

4.    A vineyard (Matt. 20:1)

 

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

 

5.    A sheepfold (John 10:1-2)

 

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door in the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

 

6.    A kingdom (Col. 1:13).

 

Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.

 

C.   Every time these figures are used, there is only one of them that is presented:  one body, one bride, one priesthood, etc.

 

V.           THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND SALVATION

 

A.   There is a close tie that exists between the church and salvation.

 

B.   When we speak of the church as a created institution, it leaves the impression that the institution and the members are separate.

1.    The Boy Scouts were formed, then went out and got members.

2.    Rotary was formed, then went out and got members.

 

C.   The very moment Christians were made the church was in existence.

1.    Christians are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:5).

 

…Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.

 

2.    The church is purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28).

 

…feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood.

 

3.    The same process that puts us in contact with the blood of Jesus and cleanses us from sins causes us to be members of the church.

a.    A person arises from the waters of baptism to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:3-4).

b.    A person rises from the waters of baptism and is immediately put into that group of people known as “the called out ones,” that is, “the church.”

 

D.   NOTE:  God has never had numerous organizations that house the redeemed.  He has only had one body, the church, from the day of its inception until now.

 

VI.         WHY WOULD MORE CHURCHES BE NEEDED?

 

A.   This is a commonsense approach to our study.

 

B.   God planned the church from all eternity (Eph. 3:8-11).

He sent Jesus to purchase the church with His blood (Acts 20:28).

He established the church and added men to it (Acts 2:47).

 

C.   Why would God use thousands of man-made organizations that only confuse the religious world?

1.    He already had the church that could do exactly what He wanted it to do, that is, to house the saved.

2.    Was the church failing in her mission?

3.    Are the denominations of man able to do something that the divine institution called the church unable to do?  If so, what?

4.    If man-made denominations are needed to help save the world, isn’t this an indictment upon the wisdom and the power of God?

 

VII.       MANY CHURCHES DEFY GOD’S DESIRE FOR UNITY IN ONE CHURCH

 

A.   The theme of the book of Ephesians is the church.

1.    The church is the place God designed to unite men and woman of all colors, cultures, languages, and tongues together as one.

2.    In the Old Testament, the Jews were separated out from all other nations. 

3.    The New Testament brings all men together in one fellowship, the body of Christ, the church (Eph. 3:6).

 

That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.

 

B.   Separating God’s people into thousands of different churches goes against the very plan of God.  NOTE:  God wants His people to be one like the oneness that exists between Him and the Father (John 17:20-23).

 

Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us:  that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   The Bible plainly teaches that God designed and established only one church.

 

B.   The concept of exclusivity is difficult for many people it the religious world to grasp.  It is why they will say:  “Oh, so you think you are the only ones who will be saved.”

 

C.   This, like all other teachings, should involve an answer to one question:  “What does the Bible teach about this matter?”

 

D.   The Biblical answer is simple.  “There is one body” (Eph. 4:4).  The body is the church (Col. 1:18).