For millions of people the church doesn’t seem to make much of a difference in their lives. Even those who proclaim to be Christians, surveys have shown that less than 20% are in houses of worship on any given Sunday. So, they basically are saying, “Why bother, what value is there in attending worship services?”
Many think that the church is an archaic organization whose time is past. But the truth of the matter is that God created the church for every age until he returns. Paul declared: “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” ( Eph. 1:22-23). The church is the body of Christ—if you are in Christ, you are in his church!
It is important to remember that the church is not a building, it is the people, those who are saved. The buildings are merely for our convenience. Believers are “added” to the church by God (Acts 2:47).
Paul also declared, “His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:10-11). We his people, his church, have the very purpose of proclaiming God’s gospel message and wisdom. What a sobering responsibility.
Jesus promised to build his church but Satan wants to destroy it. Satan attempted to to destroy the church by persecution. But He has tried to destroy the church by other means such as corruption and division.
Paul warned Timothy about false teachers, “The time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Tim. 4:3). So, we see this happening today.
It is possible to find churches preaching and teaching whatever you want to hear. Most of it is not found in Scripture! God commands all of us to stand for the truth – to preach the Word of God. The comment about the first church should be true for us today, ““They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…” The King James version says, “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine…” (Acts 2:42).
So, we see that ...
