The Perpetuity of the Church
ARTICLE V In the sermon on the mountain our Saviour gave instructions to the Church to let her light so shine before men, that they may see her good works, and glorify her Father which is in heaven. He said to the Church, "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." All that were in the house had the light and the Son of God told them to let it shine, "That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world."--Phil. ii. 15. The Church is a house of light and all her material are children of light. Before the new birth they were children of the flesh; children of wrath even as others. "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in. the Lord; walk as children of light."--Eph, v. 8. When the Church walks as her Husband commanded her to, she is letting her spiritual light shine; and when the members are walking and living right, they are letting their spiritual and religious light shine. As the Church of God is a city of light, there is no hiding place in it for wrong doing. "There is no dark. ness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves" (in the Church of God).--Job xxxiv. 22. "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven (Church); but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."---Matt, v. 19. This indeed would be queer language for any man to use if he knew there was no Church or kingdom at the time he used it. Jesus knew He, at that time, had a kingdom or Church, and so He said, "For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." It is claimed by some that the expression found in the disciples' prayer, "Thy kingdom come," means that k was not yet set up, or in existence. I am at a loss to know how something could come that did not exist. To my mind it only means that the disciples were to pray for it to come with power. "That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power."--Mark ix. 1. When our Saviour said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you," He was not trifling with, or mocking, His disciples. Just as well try to prove that His righteousness and all these things did not exist as to try to prove that His kingdom did not exist. If it did not exist at that very time, then the Saviour told, or instructed, His disciples to seek something that was not in existence, and that He knew they could not find. In Matthew vii. 21 we have this language, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." If there was no Church or kingdom when the Saviour used this language, then those who did the will of God did not enter the kingdom of God, as He said they would. Paul said, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son."--Col. i. 13. I know this cannot be the kingdom mentioned by the Lord; Jesus Christ in His sermon in the mount, for He told His disciples they entered it by doing the will of their Father. In our Saviour's sermon in the mount He called the Church exactly by the name the prophet said it would be called. "And they shall call thee, the city of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel."--Isa. ix. 14. It is said: "He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him."--Matt. v. 1. Let me quote Psalm ii. 6. "Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion." Jesus was to come suddenly to His temple, or Church (Mai. iii. 1). "And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness."--Mai, iii. 3. Let us read what Jesus said in His wonderful sermon: "Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor (people), and gather. His wheat (people) into the garner (Church); but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."--Matt, iii. 12. The holy man of God was to come to His temple, not in a chariot drawn by fine horses, but upon an ass. If we cart, find when this text was fulfilled we may know assuredly that the Church was then in existence. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee; He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass."--Zech, ix. 9. We cannot expect to find this scripture fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. This scripture was actually fulfilled during the life of Jesus on earth, and, of course, before His ascension to His Father. "On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, Took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna; Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when He had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Sion, behold thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt."--John xii. 12-15. John the Baptist said, "He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom; but the friend of the Bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice; this my joy therefore is fulfilled."--John iii. 29. Bride means a woman newly married, or a woman ready to get married; while bridegroom means a man just married, or fixing to get married. The holy scriptures do not teach that the Son of God died and then married, but they do teach that He was married to His Church, or wife, and then died for His wife. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it."--Eph, v. 25.
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