Mat_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.
What did Christ mean when he said this? What was he trying to convey? Well
we will attempt to give some insight to the questions ask or statement made by
our Lord.
Frist:
The Church is the catalyst to advance the
Kingdom of God
through
mankind, to complete the original mandate that was given to Adam from
the beginning. It’s not just a building, but is the flesh and blood of men
and women, who make up the body of Jesus the Christ, by proclaiming,
teaching and living the gospel of Christ, as it is written; "he is the head of
the body, (the Church), who is the beginning, the first born from the
dead",
Col 1:18
, and, "ye are the body of Christ, and members in
particular (individually)",
1 Cor. 12: 27
, and "for His body’s sake, which is
the Church",
Col 1:24
, and since, He "hath put all things under his feet,
and ga
be Head over all things to the Church, which is His
body, the fullness of Him
l in all",
Eph 1:22-23
.
Second:
1 Cor. 3:16-17
identifies our bodies as a "temple of God". A
temple is a place where we worship our God. “
hat ye are
the temple of God, and
that
the Spirit of God dwe
f any man
holy, which
temple
ye are.”
[
1 Cor. 3:16-17
, Bible, KJV]
Third:
The Church can meet in many places and is not restricted to any
building or Physical place, a
For where two or three are
gathered together in my na
the midst of them
",
Mathew
18:20
.
The Church can be a building where the body meets or it can be
any house (of a believer in Jesus the Christ) in order to function as a
Church of Acts, since Paul spoke, "and how I kept back nothing t
le (helpful) unto you, but showed
(proclaimed) you and have taught
you publicly
and from house to house",
Acts 20:20
"and to our beloved
Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the Church in your
house",
Philemon 1:2
.
Fourth:
In
e Court decision considering the case of
Everson
ucation,
330 U.S. 1
(1947), LEd 2nd 711
,
the Court held that: The "
establishment of religion
" of the
First
Amendment means: Neither a state nor the Federal Government
can set up a church. Neither can it pass laws which aid one
religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another
.
Neither can it force nor influence a person to go to or to remain
away from a church against his will or force him to profess a belief
or disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for
entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church
attendance or nonattendance.
Well, as you can see the Church mandate was to raise up a nation
or the Kingdom of God in the people hearts and minds, not just
brick and mortar!
Heb_8:10
For this
is
the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put
my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will
be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
Heb_10:16
This
is
the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their
minds will I write them; this not to say that we should not meet in
a building nor to forgo altogether the assembly of ourselves
because this is a sin also.
Heb 10:23
Let us hold fast the profession
of
our
faith without wavering; (for he
is
faithful that promised ;)
Heb 10:24
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love
and to good works:
Heb 10:25
Not forsaking the assembling of
ourselves together, as the manner of some
is;
but exhorting
one
another:
and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Cont. see pg (10)
CALLED OUT!
EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE
