One Big Church!
I still believe in the concept of ONE BIG CHURCH that has room for ALL even though I no longer attend a local organized congregation. I base my continued belief because of the following verses.
Matt 16:13-18
13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And 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.
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.
Verse 16 clearly shows the foundation on which the church is built because Jesus laid that thought out in verse 17. But let’s examine just what this foundation is like.
He says the foundation is about a confession that a common human being would make that was not revealed from any flesh and blood source, but rather it was revealed from the Father.
Now I ask you, was Peter’s faith something that was of himself or was it from God the Father? If it was from God the Father then doesn’t this verse teach that God will reveal His glory to ALL and that’s why the foundation is so strong that the gates of HELL shall NOT prevail against it?
Yet today there are many who teach the gates of HELL will prevail. They teach most are going to HELL because they don’t have faith, but how can they have faith if God the Father doesn’t reveal it to them?
You may say, “Well once God reveals it then we must believe it like Peter did”. But we know that Peter’s faith failed more then once. It failed three times the very night of Christ greatest sacrifice, and it would later fail even after he had seen the risen Christ. At one point Paul had to rebuke Peter to his face for falling back under the system of law.
Now as I have often said in the past, our faith can be of great benefit in this life on earth but our faith counts for nothing when it comes to who will actually end up being a believer. Paul said quoting from Isaiah, “Every knee will bow, and every tongue will give praise to God.”
The bowing and the praising will always be a result of our Father revealing His glory to us, but what is behind the bowing and the praising is when a common human being sees the TRUTH that GOD HIMSELF HAS REDEEMED US ALL FROM OUR IGNORANCE, OUR UNBELIEF, OUR SINFULNESS, AND OUR SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Yes, there will be only ONE BIG CHURCH and ALL of us will be apart of it, and it will be built on a foundation that God himself laid by the sacrifice of JESUS CHRIST, SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.
The last thing I would like to add is a question for Christians who are under the bondage of their religion:
Are you really a believer?
I hope the answer is yes, but my experience within the organized church is that it is FULL of unbelievers.
Paul said quoting from Isaiah, “Every knee will bow, and every tongue will give praise to God.”
Now cliff ijohn lets us know that no man can call jesus lord but bythe spirit of God.So will all recieve the spirit of God?If so,then they will be his, because they that recieve the spirit of God are born from above.
What do you think?Selfrighteousness blinds the heart and the mind.But the righteousness of christ freely imputted to the human race will open the hearts and minds of the people to see that we are indeed all one.Some know it now but all will know it then.When as you have said,“Every knee will bow, and every tongue will give praise to God.”
thankyou for this post cliff,
kenneth
Thanks Kenneth. The quicker we see this oneness the sooner we enjoy peace right here on earth.
Hi
I have been looking for some answers. and cliff son you were railroaded
This post is what I’ve seen in the past weeks. The preaching cliff that you do. I’ve herd in other sermons. other men and churches. It maybe packaged different but the inner core is the same Its been called a new way of thanking. The methodist calls it open doors open minds open hearts. cliff this is what you have said all a long, so as always I feel its the book not the verses that matter. The
certain few that railroaded you if I remember right (and I always do) didn’t like the paster before you because of his hell fire and gilt filled preaching . you came with a new way of thinking and they didn’t like that ether What do they want????It enough to drive a person from God not to him. To rail road someone because they made them think. Sorry but I don’t get it.
You guys keep up the good fight Your being heard. people are taking notice and for the ones that don’t or wont have ears to hear Screw em
Jim Meyerholtz
jpm@indy.net
Hey Jimmy, I appreciate your concern but I want you to know that I really never felt rail roaded. I am so confident in our Father’s love that every thing that happens I trust to be the best plan He has for me. Please know that I love you with all my heart and am grateful to God for your friendship and the best thing you can do for me is to continue being the man of love that I know you are. Each and every day I pray for the Straughn Community Chapel and my only hope is that LOVE will lead them in every decision they make. Thank you for your friendship and for the comments. You are always welcome on this site as well as at my house anytime.