THE CHURCH CAN CLAIM A HEAVENLY ORIGIN

“And I say unto thee….upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (MATTHEW 16:18).

The highest expression of the will of God in this age is the Church which He purchased with His own blood.

According to the Scriptures the Church is the habitation of God through the Spirit, and as such is the most important organism beneath the sun. She is not one more good institution along with the home, the state, and the school; she is the only one that can claim a heavenly origin!

 

The Church is found wherever the Holy Spirit has drawn together a few persons who trust Christ for their salvation, worship God in spirit and have no dealings with the world and the flesh. The members may by necessity be scattered and separated by distance and circumstances, but in every true member of the Church is the homing instinct and the longing of the sheep for the fold and the shepherd.

 

Give a few real Christians half a chance and they will get together and organize and plan regular meetings for prayer and worship and Bible study and try as far as possible to spread the saving gospel to the lost world. Such groups are cells in the Body of Christ, and each one is a true church, a real part of the greater Church. It is in and through these cells that the Spirit does His work on earth. Whoever scorns the local church scorns the Body of Christ.

 

The Church is still to be reckoned with—“The gates of hell shall not prevail against her.”

 W. Tozer