Discerning or distinguishi the Church of God.

There is only one Body.

Ephesians 4:3–6 (NKJV)

3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;

5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Define Body: it is the church

Eph 1:20-23 “20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

So one body means one church.

This is not to say that when you look into the world, you will find one church, one spirit, one calling, one lord or one batpsim or one God.

Rather it is to say, that they is only :-

one Church that is of God

One faith that is of God

There is only one Baptism

There is only one True God and one true lord.

1 Cor 8:5-6 “5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”

Now we first understand there is only one church. Then comes disiguishing the church from all other churches

Why is it important to distinguish the true church from the false churches, the true body of Christ from the so -called body of Christ.

Your salvation depends on it.

There is this mindset that some people have that They don’t need a church, they only need Jesus.

The church is the body of Christ, and you have to be in the right body, in the right church to be saved.

Noah as an example,

How many arks did Noah build ( 1)

The purpose of the ark was not for show, or glamour but it was to save people,

You have to enter in that one body which is the church of the living God to be able to save your soul.

The problem

Though Noah build one ark and he had only to convince the people to get to the ark.

We preachers of the Gospel today have two task, not only do we have to convince people to get to the ark but also to distinguish the true ark from the false.

You role is not only to enter to the right ark but also to distinguish it from the others.

How do you distinguish it.

Matthew 16:13–19 (NKJV)

13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (hell) shall not prevail against it.

19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

The question that was asked is who do you say that I am?

The correct answer to this question becomes the bedrock upon which Jesus builds his Church.

The church of God is distinguished by the foundation upon which its build upon.

It is established upon the truth of the revelation of who the Son of God is.

Upon this revelation God builds his church.

Who is the Son of God?

John 1:1–14 (KJV 1900)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In the begining was the Word,

reffering the spoken Word that brought everything to existence.

The Word was with God

Define God: 1 Cor 8:5-6 “5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.”

Define “with”

2 Kings 3:12 “12 And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.”

Romans 9:14 “14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!”

Proverbs 11:2 “2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.”

Isaiah 55:11 “11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

The Word was God

The word was the father

The father and the Word are one of the same.

John 10:30 “30 I and My Father are one.””

John is giving a revealtion of the Son of God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The Son of God, is the Word of God that became flesh, In that flesh all the divine glory, divine power and fullness of God was manifested and dwelled amon us

Matthew 1:23 “23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.””

Colossians 2:8–9 (NKJV)

8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;

This is the foundation, this is the truth that church of God is founded upon

1 timothy 3:16 “16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.”

1 Corinthians 3:9–11 NKJV

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

How the Devil works with his ark.

2 Corinthians 11:1–5 (NKJV)

1 Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear with me.

2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!

5 For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.

6 Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things.

The corinthians church were putting with people who were preaching error.

They were okay with people who were presenting to them a jesus that was tampered with. A perverted Jesus

Paul tells us that it was because they were swayed by the gifts of these so called super Apostles,

The corinthian Church had a big problem that can be seen in 1 Corinthians.

They were so into attracted to gifts and sign to the point where they neglected to a point of ignorance the truth.

So Paul spends the whole chapter 15, in his first letter trying to remind them of the Gospel he preached. They had no knowledge of God and also he shows that the heavenly body of Christ was different than the earthly body of Christ inroder to defend the ressurection.

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 NKJV

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

You believed in vain.

If you tend to be a person that is very unhealthy attraction to the gifts and to signs and miracles. You will be prey of the work of the devil in this last day.

The enemies net in this last day is going to be lying sings and wonders and deciet.

Deuteronomy 13:1–3 (NKJV)

1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,

2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’

3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

People who tend to be woed by signs, miracles and prophesies than the truth, will be vulnerable to the decietful work of the devil in this last days.

The truth (identity of Jesus Christ) is how you distinguish the Church of God from all the false Churches

Matthew 6:22–23 NKJV

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Matthew 16:18 (KJV 1900)

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

1 Timothy 3:15 (NKJV)

15 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

John 8:44 “44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

Warning

Ezekiel 17:1–10 (NKJV)

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “A great eagle with large wings and long pinions, Full of feathers of various colors, Came to Lebanon And took from the cedar the highest branch.

4 He cropped off its topmost young twig And carried it to a land of trade; He set it in a city of merchants.

5 Then he took some of the seed of the land And planted it in a fertile field; He placed it by abundant waters And set it like a willow tree.

6 And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature; Its branches turned toward him, But its roots were under it. So it became a vine, Brought forth branches, And put forth shoots.

The Eagle is Christ /The truth. When our roots and our branches are being fed from the source of truth we will prosper

7 “But there was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers; And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, And stretched its branches toward him, From the garden terrace where it had been planted, That he might water it.

This was majestic eagle, and resembles the first eagle but it was decietful, it was not the true eagle.It represents the false Christ and false churches

8 It was planted in good soil by many waters, To bring forth branches, bear fruit, And become a majestic vine.” ’

9 “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots, Cut off its fruit, And leave it to wither? All of its spring leaves will wither, And no great power or many people Will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.

10 Behold, it is planted, Will it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew.” ’ ”