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 world ‘always’ 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 men, And 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!
