For All Churches To Be Right After Peter had acknowledged that Christ was the Son of the living God, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 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.” (Matthew 16:17-18). Jesus said that He would build His church upon the great and precious truth that He was the Christ the Son of the living God. The gates of hell or hades did not prevail against His building His church. The 2nd chapter of Acts closes with this statement: “Praising God, and having favour with all the people, And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts 2:47). It is evident that Jesus had built His church and those who are saved by obeying the gospel of Christ are added to the church which He built. The New Testament speaks of only one church builder, and that builder is Jesus Christ. The New Testament speaks of only one church which He built, and that is the church which is revealed within the writings of the New Testament. Furthermore, Jesus said: “Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” (Matthew 15:13). Men may find satisfaction in that which the Father has not planted, but we must remember that the rooting up time in the day of judgment is yet to come. For all churches to be right, one must acknowledge that other church builders and their churches are scriptural. Furthermore, in our previous lesson, we mentioned that for the whole to be right the ingredients must be right. In other words, if churches are right, what they practice and stand for must be right. We pointed out that the existence of earthly headquarters and the use of mechanical music in worship is found in most of the denomination churches. If they are right, then these practices, must be considered right! How could one say that the church is right if these practices are not recognized as being right? We add to these the following practices: No pattern for the Lord’s Supper observance. “And they continued stedfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42) The breaking of bread in this verse is associated with spiritual endeavors, and conveys the thought of the Lord’s supper. The breaking of bread, in vs. 46, suggests a common meal, as it is associated with that which they did daily from house to house as they ate their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. “And they continued stedfastly” evidences their respect for the observance of breaking of bread in remembrance of the death of the Lord, as well as these other items of a spiritual nature. “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.” (Acts 20:7). The primary purpose of the disciples meeting on the first day of the week was to observe the Lord’s supper. The authority to do so is established by apostolic example. Paul assembled with the disciples when the disciples came together to break bread. This verse reveals when the disciples assembled to observe the Lord’s supper. By apostolic example, we are told when to assemble, and that being on the first day of the week. By necessary inference, we conclude that it was each first day of the week. If they met on one first day of the week, what authority kept them from doing what they did the other times they assembled? Under the Old Law, the Jews were to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. It never said every Sabbath, but it certainly meant it. The Sabbath breaker in Numbers 15 certainly discovered that to his grief! Most churches of men have no respect for the pattern of observing the Lord’s Supper on each first day of the week. Many will observe it monthly, quarterly or even yearly. Others will even observe it on special occasions separate from the first day of the week. All of these practices must be honored as being right if all churches are right. If the whole is right, then the ingredients or practices must be right, regardless what they might be! Disregard of silence of scriptures. We are to respect the silence of the scriptures just as we are to respect what the scriptures direct us to do. This is largely ignored in the churches of men! The memberships of these churches hardly hear anything of this nature mentioned. John spoke of the silence of the scriptures when he wrote: “Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God, He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” (II John 9). If something is not taught or found in the doctrine of Christ, Christ does not authorize it. Sometimes individuals will ask what is wrong in sprinkling babies and calling it baptism? The answer is very simple. Such a practice is not found in the teaching or doctrine of Christ. We have no authority for such, and we must respect the silence of the scriptures if we are to have the approval of both the Father and the Son. For all churches to be right, disregard for the silence of the scriptures must be accepted because this is their practice.
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