Crumbs from the Lord's Table

2. A Church Witnessing unto all nations, so undoubtedly one Visible to all

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Sola Scriptura or Bible alone revisited
Sola Fide or Faith alone revisited
The One Church built by Christ
Peter the Rock / Stone misconception revisited
What the Bible says of Jesus' Only Church
1. Church is the Pillar of Truth, Manifold of Wisdom
2. A Church Witnessing unto all nations, so undoubtedly one Visible to all
3. One Single Visible Church in succession till His return
4. Revelation 12 - Church in the wilderness - not an invisible church
5. No separate invisible on earth ; One General Assembly: Visible on Earth with invisible in Heaven
6. An Imperfect Kingdom with Good & Bad Co-existing
7. The Vineyard appointed to new imperfect servants with successive authority till His return
Church Fathers say their church is Catholic
What the founder of Sola Scriptura & Sola Fide said of the Catholic Church
Did Luther or any other have the authority from the Lord or His Church
Who then is the Whore of Babylon?
The Catechism of the Catholic church on the separated communities and their Salvation
The various Christian denominations and their evolution
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Catholic Apologetics Links

A Witnessing (Visible) Church

 

“Joh:17:20-22: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them

also which shall believe on me through

their word;That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art

in me, and I in thee,that they also may be one in us: that the

world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory

which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even

as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made

perfect in one; and that the world may know that

thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 

 

Ro:10:13-15: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 

The church is a visible preaching church send to preach for all to hear. An invisible preaching church is absurd.

 

 

Jesus entrusted the mission of ‘teaching all nations’, Jesus’s own mission to the disciples who were to exist till the end of the world, i.e. to the church, Jesus send them with the mission to baptize and teach all nations. And He says He is with this church ‘always’ and ‘until the end of the world. (Mt 28:19). His church is one with the mission of witnessing to the world, a teaching church, a baptizing church, a disciple gathering church is the One church that has the promise of the everlasting presence of Jesus till the end of the world, one that is not an invisible one but a visible one then; a disciple making church baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; a teaching church, a church with a lot of activity in all the world. An invisible teaching church is absurd. Jesus the Light of the world and the apostles, all showed what a teaching church is. A very visible one. Jesus sent out a visible preaching church to gather a visible people. The church He instituted is a visible one. And to this visible church He promised His everlasting presence ‘always’ and until the end’. No church other than the Catholic church is accepted by history as the one in succession to this church. None other was heard of till the 16th century when men formed their own churches as per their tastes. The reformers themselves acknowledged the Catholic church’s right to this claim. Only that they said this church had gone apostate or corrupt (a claim that is against the Lord’s promises), and they wanted to reform this church. Documents from the Church Fathers who were the direct disciples of the apostles prove that the church of the Bible infact followed the Catholic way in terms of infant baptism, veneration of Mary and the saints, Primacy of Rome, Seat of the Pope, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and the church being called 'Catholic' to mention a few.

 

 

M't:28:19, 20:Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,

baptizing them in  the name of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching  them to observe all

thingswhatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo,

I am  with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

Amen.

 

Ro:10:14-18: How then shall they call on him in whom

they have not believed? and howshall they believe in him

of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear

without a preacher? And how shall they  preach, except

they be sent?  as it is written, How beautiful are the feet

of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad

tidings of good things! But I say, Have they not heard? Yes

verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their

words unto the ends of the world.

 

 The church of Jesus, is said in the Bible as the ‘light of the world’, so as to be seen by the world and acknowledged by the world.

 

M't:5:14-16 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is

set on an hill cannot be hid. 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. Let your

light so shine before men, that they may see your good

works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

 

Joh:13:34-35: A new commandment I give unto you, That

ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love

one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my

disciples, if ye have love one to another.

 

Joh:17:20-22: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them

also which shall believe on me through their word; That

they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in

thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may

believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou

gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even

as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be

made perfect in one; and that the world may know that

thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved

me. (visible throughout the successive generation of believers

‘for the world to see’)

 

Ph'p:2:15: 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;

 

The 'world', the Lord says will glorify God because of the works of this ‘city set on a hill’. A church that ‘shines before men’ that the world may see the good works and glorify God. The Lord prays also for ‘them also which shall believe on me through their word’ i.e. the successive generation of disciples also 'seen & known by the world’ and seeing them as one, may believe.  (Jn 17:20) He said that by 'seeing their (the apostles and the successive believers) being one, the world may believe’, these words again stressing a church witnessing as to be seen & known by the world, and this throughout successive generations. (Joh:17:20-22). The church ‘seen’ or acknowledged by the world as the Christian church in succession to the church instituted by Christ is the Catholic church. The world acknowledges the Catholic church as the only ‘city’ it had witnessed from the beginning to the reformation. No other existed till the 16th century reformation after which thousands were formed by men to suit to their tastes.

 

The Lord said this light 'of the world' or this 'city' cannot be hid.(Mt. 5:14-16). He is talking of a church that ‘cannot be hid’, a church of believers whose good works can be ‘seen’ by men or the world, a church whose unity is seen by the world. Or is it that the light went off for a period from the 4th or 6th century to the 16th century without a trace as not to be seen, or has His word failed and the light ‘went invisible’ where He had said  it ‘cannot be hid’ i.e. it shall be visible for ‘the world’ to see and glorify God for what it has seen. The only one church that was never hidden & the work of which was ‘seen’ by men from the beginning was of course only the Catholic church. Not even a spec of proof of another church  that existed before the 16th century reformation is available, or of a generation of elders under whom a devout sect worshipped, or of even places of worship, at a time when even the smallest of pagan sects can be traced out from historical records, artifacts, etc. The words of the Lord clearly states that the Lord talks of a visible church in the world, a witnessing church, a church in the worldalways’ and ‘till the end of the world’ and not something invisible. No other church other than the Catholic church & the Eastern Orthodox church that split from the Catholic church ever existed or was seen or heard of till the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The Lord as He said is with His church ‘always’ till the end of world. Only one church ever existed ‘always’, it has withstood severe persecutions under several beasts of the Roman empire, it has withstood attacks during and after the Reformation and it will exist till the end because it has its foundation in the Lord and the guidance of His Spirit forever. It is God made not man made. The only church seen and acknowledged by the world as the church in continuation with the church founded by Christ is the Catholic church and the Orthodox church that split from the Catholic church on political grounds. There is no evidence of any other that ‘always’ existed and still exists.

 

Other group of protestants claim that a small group of true believers in succession to the apostolic church existed during those times but lived in hiding, persecuted by the Catholic church. But for this again there is first of all no evidence of such a group’s existence, and  if you look at the Bible, we can see that such a church cannot be the church Jesus instituted. Jesus did not institute a church that was such, but one where preachers are send out to preach. The Bible says, and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? (Rom 10:14-18). A church that was to preach on the housetops, a church that was not to fear to give testimony of the Lord (2Tim 1:7,8), a church of believers who Christ Himself had insisted that who confesses Him before menAnd he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. Thus the church of the Lord is a church with a lot of activity before men of the world.

 

M't:10:27, 28: What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye

in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon

the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him

which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.;

 

2Tm:1:7,8: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear;

but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not

thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,

nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the

 afflictions of the gospel according  to the power of God;

 

M't:10:33: But whosoever shall deny me before men, him

will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

 

M't:10:38: And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth

after me, is not worthy of me.

 

To the hypocrites He had only one say, and that was:  

But woe unto you (M't:23:13; M't:23:14; M't:23:15;

M't:23:16;  M't:23:23; M't:23:25; M't:23:27;  M't:23:29).

 

So not a hidden church but one with a lot of activity before men or the world is the church of Jesus. We have examples of brave martyrs who gave their lives in preaching without fear. In Revelation we see the First Resurrection of those who lived through the persecutions. The letter of St Peter & the Book of Revelation, etc were written in fact to encourage the believers who faced severe persecution.

 

 

 

St Paul again said, that if he does not preach the gospel, let him be accursed, (1Co:9:16) then, what of the invisible church that was in hiding, which did not do its main task that was to preach to all nations.

 

 

Then the two ideas; an invisible only church and a hiding church, do not meet the criteria of the Lord’s church. These two cannot be the church send by Jesus.

 

 

M't:10:27: What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in

light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon

the housetops.

 

 

M't:24:14: And this gospel of the kingdom shall

be preached in all the world for a witness unto all

nations; and then shall the end come.

 

 

M'r:16:15: And he said unto them, Go ye into all

the  world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

 

 

Lu:24:47: And that repentance and remission of sins

should be preached in his name among all

 nations,  beginning at Jerusalem.

 

Joh:17:18: As thou hast sent me into the world, even so

have I also sent them into the world. (The Father did not send an invisible Jesus).

 

Ro:10:14-18: How then shall they call on him in whom

they have not believed? and howshall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear

without a preacher? And how shall they  preach, except

they be sent?  as it is written, How beautiful are the feet

of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad

tidings of good things! But I say, Have they not heard? Yes

verily, their sound went  into all the earth, and their

words unto the ends of the world.

 

The only church seen and known to all men, of being in unbroken succession to the One and only church instituted by Christ Himself is the Catholic church. To believe in the word and interpretation of mere men or to believe the church the ground of truth, the manifold of wisdom with the promise of Christ’s perpetual presence and promise from the Lord of it’s infallibility, it is left to the believer.

 

 

                   Next>>  3. One Single Visible Church

                                in succession till His return

 

 

 

Christ Reigns!