The House of GOD is the Awesome Church of GOD!
Psalms 127:1, "Unless the Lord builds
the house, those who build it labor in vain." Micah 4:1-2,
"It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the
house of the LORD shall be
established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the
hills; and peoples shall flow to it, and many nations shall come, and say:
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of
Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths." For out of
Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem." Hebrews 10:21, "And a high priest over the house of GOD:" 1Peter 4:17, "For the time is, that judgment should begin at the
house of GOD. And if at first at us,
what shall be the end of them that believe not the gospel of God?"
If it was not
founded by GOD, it simply is not the House of GOD."
"Great shall be the glory of
this last house more than of the first, saith the Lord of hosts:
and in this place I will
give peace, saith the Lord of hosts."
Haggai 2:9 (10)
Notice that this
verse refers to a last house (singular) of GOD, and the glory of it
is greater than the first.
And
the word of the Lord did go forth from Jerusalem and it did indeed encompass the
whole world.
Acts 1:8, "But you shall receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses for me
in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the very ends of the
earth."
"The New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in
the New." Saint Augustine
Typology is the key which unlocks this relationship
between the Old and the New Testaments.
See how the Old Testament types above, point to the New
Testament realities below.
Likewise, in the New Testament, there is only one House of GOD.
1Timothy 3:15, "But if I
tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of GOD, which is the Church (singular) of the living GOD, the pillar and ground of the
truth."
How many
"pillars" and "grounds of the truth" can there possibly be?
Truth is one and it is a person, John 17:17-23, James
2:10.
Elucidation:
Since Saint Paul in 1Timothy 3:15 clearly equated the House of GOD to the Church of GOD, we can with
certainty, make some very substantial and irrefutable conclusions from
verses presented in this writing, and by using Holy Scripture ALONE.
I believe the common term for
this Protestant invention is Sola Scriptura!
By using your very own GOD given
common sense
and reasoning power,
the end result should be obvious for "He who has wisdom" (Revelation
17:9).
Therefore.....
1. The House of
GOD is Built by GOD. Psalms 127:1,
Matthew 16:18, Acts 20:28
2. The House of GOD is
Only One House. John 17:21
3. The
House of GOD is One Fold With One
Shepherd. John 10:16
4. The
House of GOD is Not Built by Men. Psalms 127:1
5. The House of
GOD is Awesome. Genesis 28:17
6.
The House of GOD is the Gate of Heaven. Genesis
28:17
7. The House of GOD is the Narrow
Gate. Matthew 7:13-14
8. The
House of GOD is the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 13:31
9. The House of GOD is the Kingdom of GOD. Luke
4:43
10. The House of GOD is the Church of the Living GOD. Acts
20:28, 1Timothy 3:15
11. The House of GOD is
the Holy Mountain. Zechariah
8:3
12. The House of GOD is
the City Set on a Mountain. Matthew
5:14
13. The House of GOD is the City of
the Living GOD. Hebrews 12:22
14. The House
of GOD is the City of My GOD. Revelation 3:12
15. The House of GOD is the New Jerusalem. Isaiah
65:18, Revelation 3:12, 21:2
16. The House of
GOD is the Heavenly Jerusalem. Hebrews 12:22
17. The House of
GOD is the Jerusalem From Above. Galatians 4:26
18. The House of GOD is the Bride of Christ. John 3:29,
Revelation 21:2
19. The House of GOD is the
Spouse of the Lamb. Revelation 19:7,
21:9
20. The House of GOD is the Daughter
of the King. Psalms
45:13
21. The House of
GOD is the Mother of us all. Galatians 4:26
22. The
House of GOD is the Pillar and Foundation of the
Truth. 1Timothy 3:15
23. The House of GOD is the City of Truth. Zechariah
8:3
24. The House of GOD is the
Dispenser of the Wisdom of GOD. Ephesians
3:7-11
25. The House of GOD of the
New Covenant, was Founded by Jesus Christ.
Matthew 16:18
26. The House of GOD is Built
on Rock. Matthew 7:24, 16:18
27. The House of GOD is Not Built on Sand. Matthew
7:26-27
28. The House of GOD is the House of
Christ. Hebrews 3:6
29. The House of GOD is the
Household of Faith. Galatians 6:10
30. The House of
GOD is the Fold of Christ. John
10:16
31. The House of GOD is Protected by Jesus
Christ. Ephesians 5:23
32. The House of GOD is The
Body of Christ. Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:23, Colossians 1:18, 1:24
33. The
House of GOD has Jesus Christ as its Head. Ephesians
1:22-23, Colossians 1:18
34. The House of GOD is Subject
to Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:24
35. The House of GOD is The Barque of Peter From Which Jesus Christ Taught. Luke
5:3
36. The House of GOD is Without Spot or
Wrinkle. Ephesians 5:27
37. The House of GOD is The Holy City. Revelation 21:2
38. The House of
GOD is Loved by Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:25,
5:29
39. The House of GOD is Filled with The Glory of the
Lord. 1Kings 8:11
40. The House of GOD is Guided
by The Holy Spirit. John 14:16-17, John 16:12-13, Acts 15:28
41.
The House of GOD is the Only Church Which Was Given
Authority by GOD. Luke 10:16, John 20:21-23
42. The House of GOD
is the Final Authority. Matthew 18:17
43. The
House of GOD is Encompassing the Entire Earth. Acts
1:8, 9:31, 1Corinthians 4:17
44. The House of GOD is the Whole Church (singular). Romans 16:23,
1Corinthians 14:23
45. The House of GOD is Offering
Sacrifice All Day, Every Day, and in Every Place. Malachi
1:11
46. The House of GOD is the Church of the
Saints. Psalms 149:1
47. The House of GOD Holds Periodic Church Councils. Proverbs
11:14,15:22, Acts 15:1-33
48. The House of GOD will Last Throughout All Time. Isaiah 59:21, Matthew 28:20,
Ephesians 3:21
49. The House of GOD is the
Dwelling Place For GOD. Ephesians 2:22
50. The House of GOD
is Where GOD Will Dwell Forever. 1Kings 8:13
Since there is only One GOD, and His House (Church) is always referred to in the
singular*, why then do some try to justify the false belief
that GOD has more than one Church? Who can name
the one Church which fits all
of the Sola Scriptura requirements
above?
* It is to be noted that there are about 35 verses in the New
Testament in which the word "churches" is used such as Acts 16:5, but in every
case they refer to the multiple churches of which the Apostles, all teaching the
same truth, founded in various cities. They are all likened to parishes of
today, located in many cities but still the same one Church. In the Old
Covenant there was only one Jewish temple and it was located in Jerusalem. Jews
from miles around had to make long trips in order to visit it. This trend became
an impossibility when in the New Covenant, the reach of the House of GOD extended to all the world,
Acts 1:8.
Here is
an important message from Bishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979), which helps
"He who has wisdom" (Revelation 17:9),
and GOD
given common sense, and
the power to reason from Sola Scriptura alone, which is the one and
only House of GOD...
"If I were not a
Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look
for the one Church which did not get along well with the world; in other words,
I would look for the Church which the world hates. My reason for doing this
would be, that if Christ is in any one of the churches in the world today, He
must still be hated as He was when He was on earth in the flesh. If you would
find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world.
Look for the Church which is hated by the world, as Christ was hated by the
world. Look for the Church which is accused of being behind the times, as Our
Lord was accused of being ignorant and of never having learned. Look for the
Church which men sneer at as socially inferior, as they sneered at Our Lord
because He came from Nazareth. Look for the Church which is accused of having a
devil, as Our Lord was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub, the Prince of
Devils. Look for the Church which, in seasons of bigotry, men say must be
destroyed in the name of GOD as men crucified Christ and thought they had done a
service to GOD. Look for the Church which the world rejects because it claims it
is infallible, as Pilate rejected Christ because He called Himself The Truth.
Look for the Church which is rejected by the world as Our Lord was rejected by
men. Look for the Church which amid the confusion of conflicting opinions, its
members love as they love Christ, and respect its Voice as the very voice of its
Founder, and the suspicion will grow, that if the Church is unpopular with the
spirit of the world, then it is unworldly, and if it is unworldly, it is
other-worldly. Since it is other-worldly it is infinitely loved and infinitely
hated as was Christ Himself. But only that which is Divine can be infinitely
hated and infinitely loved. Therefore the Church is Divine."
Monsignor
(at the time of writing) Fulton J. Sheen D.D..
Preface to Radio Replies
Volume #1, Fr. Leslie Rumble and Fr. Charles Carty, a Tan Book.