If You Can't Believe What The Bible Says, What, or Who Can You
Believe?
Let us briefly run through some of the most important highlights of the
foundation and the growth of the only Church which Jesus Christ founded.
Matt 16:18, "And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build My Church." Jesus Christ founds His ONE and ONLY Church around 33 A.D.. At
the same time He made Peter the leader of the Apostles by changing his name from
Simon to Peter. See the file 'Primacy of Peter' elsewhere on this site.
Matt 16:18, "And the gates of hell shall NOT prevail against it." The
Church which Jesus Christ founded will be defended from within and from without.
Matt 18:17, "And if he refuse to hear them, appeal to the Church, but if
he refuse to hear even the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the
publican." The Church which Jesus Christ Himself founded in Matt 16:18, is
already in existence at this point.
Matt 28:20, "...And behold, I am
with you ALL days, even unto the consummation of the world." Jesus Christ will
be with the Church He founded, every day in every century until the end of time.
Right here Jesus Christ guaranteed that the Church He founded is still with us
to this very day. Which Church is it? John 14:18, "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you." Jesus Christ
will watch over the Church that He founded.
John 10:16, "And other sheep
I have that are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear My voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." All are not in the
Church which He founded, which is the one fold of the one shepherd.
John
14:16-17, "And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate to
dwell with you forever, the Spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive,
because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you shall know Him, because He
will dwell with you, and be with you." The Holy Spirit will dwell with the
Church that Jesus Christ founded, and with no other church, and that Church will
be the Church of truth.
John 14:26, "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to
your mind whatever I have said to you." The Church that Jesus Christ founded
will receive its teaching from the Holy Spirit. Matt 18:18, "Amen I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound
also in Heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in Heaven."
Here the Apostles are given the authority they need to conduct affairs of the
Church that Jesus Christ founded.
Acts 1:26, "And they drew lots between
them, and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven
Apostles." They voted among themselves to elect another Apostle. Isn't this how
they elect the Pope today?
Acts 15:7, "And after a long debate, Peter
got up and said to them, 'Brethren, you know that in early days GOD made choice
among us that through my mouth the Gentiles should
hear the word of the Gospel and believe'." Here Peter reaffirmed the primacy
given to him by GOD in Matt 16:18.
Acts 15:4-12, the embryo Church held
its first council, the Council of Jerusalem. 4 - "On arriving at Jerusalem they
were welcomed by the Church..." 6 - "So the Apostles and the presbyters
(priests) had a meeting to look into this matter." 12 - "Then the whole meeting
quieted down..." "Rome had spoken." The issue was settled. This is much the same
as what the Church does in councils today. 1Timothy 3:15, "...but in order that thou mayest know, if I am delayed, how
to conduct thyself in the House of GOD, the pillar and mainstay of the truth."
The Church which Jesus Chrust founded is the One True Church, and the Church of
truth.
1Cor 3:10-15, "According to the grace of GOD which has been given
to me, as a wise builder, I laid the foundation and another builds thereon. But
let everyone take care how he builds thereon..." Here we see that there will be
a succession of Church leaders to carry on the building of the Church.
Acts 20:28, "Take heed to yourselves and to the whole flock in which the
Holy Spirit has placed you as Bishops, to rule the Church of GOD, which He has
purchased with His own blood." Bishops will rule the Church which Jesus Christ
founded. Isn't that as true today as it was then?
1Timothy 3:8-10, 8 -
"Deacons also must be honorable... 10- and let them first be tried, and if found
without reproach, let them be allowed to serve." Deacons will be found in, and
will serve in, the Church that Jesus Christ founded. 1Cor 3:2, "I fed you with milk, not with solid food, for you were not yet
ready for it." Here Paul told us that knowlege of GODly things will come over
time. With the authority given to it, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit
as shown prior in this text, the Church can make announcement of doctrines such
as it did in 1854, the Immaculate Conception, and in 1950, the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary.
107 A.D., approximately, as St. Ignatius of
Antioch, an Apostolic father of the Church, was being taken to Rome in chains to
be martyred, he wrote several letters. In his letter to the Smyrneans he called
the Church, which Jesus Christ founded, by its proper name for the first time on
record (*CCC 830). In paragraph 8.2 of his letter he said, "Just as where Jesus
Christ is, there is the Catholic Church." Please read
the full text of this letter elsewhere
on this website.
397 A.D., at the Council of Carthage, the Church which
Jesus Christ founded, finalized the Canon of the Bible. The Old Testament would
retain all 46 books including the seven disputed books which it always had,
which were removed by the protestants later during the reformation. See the file
'Deuters'
elsewhere on this website.
1545, the Council of Trent was called in
response to the protestant reformation. One of the things the Church
accomplished at Trent was a reaffirmation of the canon of the Old Testament and
all 46 books were retained.
Now with all the evidence I have presented in this text, what is the
name of the Church which Jesus Christ founded? Is it your church?
Written by Bob Stanley, Sept 2, 1997 Updated May 25,
2000
*CCC is the
new Catechism of the Catholic Church...
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