TO KNOW THE TRUE CHUCH AND THE MEMBERS’ DUTY

K.E.Yao

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ.  As a blessed member of the body of Christ, I would like to offer my thanksgiving by sharing my understanding of the basic characteristics of the TrueChurch and our duty as its members.

I.       The TrueChurch

The TrueChurch is the holy body of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Her members have been redeemed for the sinful world through His precious blood.  With the promised Holy Spirit dwelling in their hearts, the members are God’s children, God’s chosen people, and the true Israelites.

The TrueChurch must have the presence of the Holy Spirit.  The perfect Gospel and the Truth that she preaches must be in accordance with the teachings in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.  God also bears witness by signs and wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will (Eph 1:7,23; Rom 8:9,14-16; Gal 4:6; 1 Pet2:9; 1 Cor 12:4-12,27; Mark 16:17-20; Heb 2:4)

Hallelujah! In 1917 in Beijing, China, the Holy Spirit (the Latter Rain) established a true church, named “True Jesus Church”, with the worldwide mission of the reformation of Christianity from east to west.  The name concurs with and is supported by the Scriptures:

A.     God is true.  God is the head of Jesus, and Jesus is the head of the church (1 Jn5:20; 1Cor 11:3; Col 1:18)

B.     Jesus is the head of the church (His body), of which He is the Savior.  Jesus is the mediator between God and men (the church) (Eph 5:23; 1 Tim 2:5)

C.     The church is the body of Christ, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (Eph 1:23)

D.     Jesus in the True Vine, God is the Vinedresser, and the believers are branches of the Vine and members of the body (Jn 15:1-5; 1 Cor 12:27)

E.     Jesus’ church ought to bear His precious name (Acts 4:12).          

II.    Our Duty as Members

As God’s children, we should know what God wants us to accomplish with the aid of His Holy Spirit. “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc 12:!3). We know that God’s law is spiritual but man, of flesh, is easily tempted by Satan and has difficulty in keeping this law.

Thank God, the time has come for the gospel of salvation to be revealed to us.  Our sins have been washed away by Jesus’ precious blood through the one true water baptism set forth in the Bible.  We are baptized in the Holy Spirit, and pray with tongues (dorea), which is the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit. The promised Holy Spirit enters and dwells in our hearts as a constant comforter, counselor, and helper as long as we are determined to abide in Him.  With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we can be God’s obedient children, fulfilling our duties in order to glorify God and benefit man.

A.     Grow up in the Lord

After the baptisms of water and the Holy Spirit, we are merely spiritual infants in the Lord.  We must grow up in the Lord in both God’s Word and Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth which will lead us to an understanding of the entire truth.  The Holy Spirit is the spirit of power which will equip us with the ability to proclaim the Gospel and provide us with the strength to walk in the Lord’s way (Rom6:3,4; 8:4; Jn 14:16-23; 16:7-16; Acts 1:8; 2:4)

1.        Grow up in God’s Word

God’s Word is Truth. We must let the words of Christ dwell in us richly.  With the abidance of the word of God, we will be able to overcome the evil one.  Thus, we should take to read the Bible and the church’s religious publications, and to attend church services and fellowships whenever they occur.  We should also water or listen to service tapes , as these are also beneficial, especially in areas in which there is no church.  Moreover, we need to meditate on God’s Word more often (Jn17:17; Col3:16; 1Jn2:14; Ps1:2)

2.        Grow up in the Spirit

 a.      We should pray with both mind and spirit so that we will become more spiritual (1Cor14-15)

(a)     Pray with understanding

Pray in understandable language so that our minds will be fruitful.  The Lord’s prayer is the model upon which we should meditate more often (Phil 4:6; Matt 6:9-13)

(b)      Pray in Spirit

Speaking in tongues is for praying to God in Spirit, to edify oneself according to the will of God.  If we have been given the privilege of praying in tongues, we must pray that the Holy Spirit will enter and dwell in our hearts, which have been cleansed by Jesus’ blood through the power of water baptism. Thus, the Holy Spirit can abide in us as a constant comforter, counselor, and helper as promised by our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 8:9-16, 26,27; Jn 16:7-15; 1Cor 14:4)

 b.      Live and walk by the Spirit

We should be renewed in the Holy Spirit and bear the spiritual fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  We must strive to lead a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called.  We should let our manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, fully pleasing to Him as we bear fruit in every good work and increase in the knowledge of God (Tit 3:5; Gal 5::22, 26; Eph 4:1; Phil 1:27).

3.        Partake of the Divine Nature -  Spiritual Nurture (Cultivation)

We should make every effort to supplement our faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.  If we do these things, we will never stumble.  We will then be supplied abundantly to enter into the everlasting kingdom our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet1:5-11)

B.     Serve the Lord However and Whenever We can

            We should present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rom 12:1)

1.        Pray for God’s sacred work and His church (Matt9:38; Eph 6:19; Col 1:9-11; 4:3)

 a.      Pray that the Lord of the harvest may send out more laborers to reap His harvest.

 b.      Pray that God open a door for the Word.

 c.      Pray that the church brothers and sisters will glorify God’s name in their daily lives.

2.        Witness for Jesus in both preaching the Gospel and doing good deeds, in order to lead people to accept Jesus as their Savior and share in God’s blessings (Acts 1:8; Matt 5:16)

3.        Serve one another in one accord with spiritual gifts and love (Rom 12:1-8; Eph 4:2,3,7-16; 1 Cor 12:4-31; 1 Pet 4:10,11; Rom 9::21-23; Lk 22:42)

 a.      As each has received a gift, let us then employ if for one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

 b.      Live in harmony and respect one another with all lowliness and meekness, with patience, forbearing one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

 c.      Practice self-denial

In God’s house we are each merely empty vessels to be filled with spiritual gifts, to accomplish the Lord’s work according to His will.  As recipients of His grace, we must completely empty ourselves, always maintaining, as Christ said, “Not my will, but Thine own be done.”  In absolutely no situation should we allow an iota of our own wills to dominate.

4.        Offer tithes willingly (Mal 3:8-10; Matt23:23)

C.     Strive to be perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48).  To be perfect in the Lord is our final goal.

1.        Fight a victorious spiritual battle (Eph 6:10-20; James 4:7; 1 Pet 5:8,9).

We know that we are of God, and the whole world is in the power of the evil one.  Our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.  We should be sober and watchful, to resist the devil.  To aid in our battle, we must put on the whole armor of God, which includes truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and God’s word.  We must pray at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication, so that we will be able to mount an effective spiritual battle.

2.        Strive for honesty, purity, and holiness (Jas 3:2; 4:7,8; Matt 12:37; 1Jn 3:2,3; Eph 5:3-6; Heb 12:14; 1 Pet 1:15,16)

 a.      Make no mistakes in what we say

 b.      Purify our minds and hearts.

 c.      Be holy in our conduct.

3.        Be righteous (1 Jn 3:7; 2:29; 3:9)

He who does right is righteous, as God is righteous. Every one who does right is born of God. No one born of God commits sins, for God’s nature abides in him.  He therefore cannot sin because he is born of God.

4.        Love God (Matt22:37)

We shall love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul.  In our daily life we should think of and ask God first before doing anything.

D.     Love one another (Jn 13:34; Rom 13:8-10; 1Jn 4:7-16; 1 Cor 13:4-8)

We shall love our neighbor as ourselves and love one another.  Love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God.  God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.  Love is patient and kind, love is not jealous or boastful, it is not arrogant or rude.  It is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong but rejoices in the right.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.  Hallelujah.  Amen.