'...I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'
Mathew 16:18b
The church is the Bride and Christ is her Groom. The Church is Christ's. He said emphatically I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH There is ONLY ONE Church and that is the ONE Christ Jesus laid down His LIFE for. He paid THE PRICE.
John 10:
27 My sheep hear my voice, and *I know them, and they follow me:
28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Christ Jesus knows His Bride (The Church). The Church is NOT a denomination neither is it a building. You are The Church if Christ Jesus knows you and you hear His voice (you walk and talk the WORD OF GOD).
It's easy to criticise. It's the easiest thing to do. But note that anytime you make a blanket statement accusing The Church, you have taken judgment into your hand. There is ONLY ONE Church, so anything or anyone that is not known by Christ is NOT the Church. If you claim to be the Church and you stand 'outside' of the Church as it were and point accusing finger at the Church, you are deceiving yourself. Because you are part of the Church. You are accusing yourself. If you point an accusing finger at the Church the remaining 4 points back at you.
Read 1 Corinthians 12:
25-26
The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part is dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
27-31
You are Christ's body—that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body":
So my advice to you as you become critical of the Church or a member of the Body is, just make sure you are known by Christ as a member of His Church. And if you are really ONE and have understanding of WHO IS THE CHURCH you will be circumspect in sending derogatory post accusing the Church.
