THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH

COME AND WORSHIP JESUS CHRIST


 

THE SEVEN FOUNDATIONAL DOCTRINES AND AUTHORITIES OF THE CHURCH

The seven foundational doctrines and authorities of the church are:

1. Go and preach to all nations the gospel of repentance.

2. Baptize those who believe and accept in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

3. Build the church and teach them to observe everything I have commanded you.

4. Forgive their sins.

5. Guide and rule them.

6. Wait and receive the Holy Spirit to perform all these.

7. Observe the Holy Communion (Eucharist) in remembrance of Me till I come.

The church is the divine mystery, which had been planned by God long before the creation of this world and which is now revealed in these last days (Rm; Eph. 3:6,9-10, 5:32; II Tim; Titus 3:4-5). It is also known as the kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. Church is the final plan of God.

God has created everything beautifully. "God saw all that He had made and it was very good" (Gen. 1:31). His words are perfect (Mark 7:37) to which man should not add or subtract or substitute. Be it is a small rose or jasmine flower or any other creation, God has created them all very beautifully. How will it look if you pluck a few petals from a rose or give it a different color? Can you add or reduce the fragrance, which God has given to the jasmine flower? Or can your plastic flowers match the natural flowers created by God? In this way, whether the creation is small or big, God has created them well. Jesus Christ said that He would build His church (Mat. 16:18). Did Jesus Christ build His church? When? Even when Jesus Christ was in this world, the gospel was preached; the sick were healed; demons were driven out; and the apostles had left everything and remained with Christ for training in ministry; But there was no church (Mat. 10:5-15, 19:27-30; Luke 10:1-20). Because Jesus was not then glorified and the Holy Spirit was not given (John 7:37-39). All of them had been baptized and saved. But the church was not yet established. They preached that the kingdom of God was near (Mat. 3:2, 4:17, 10:7; Luke 9:2, 10:9). Our Lord instructed them to preach in that manner. He too preached the same (Mark 1:14-15). Saints were waiting for this kingdom of God, the church (Luke 2:25,28, 23:51). For the sins of mankind our Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross of Calvary, died, was buried but rose again on the third day and appeared to His disciples who saw Him and worshipped Him. He appeared to the apostles for forty days, discussed with them on mysteries pertaining to the church and gave them commands by His Spirit. Even at that time there was no church. When the time approached for Him to be taken up, those who had gathered there asked Him, "Lord are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" Jesus replied them, "It is not for you to know the times and seasons the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses... to the ends of the earth" (Act. 1:6-8). The Lord commanded them not to leave Jerusalem till the Holy Spirit comes on them (Luke 24:48-49). Also Jesus Christ commanded them that thereafter repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached beginning at Jerusalem (Mat. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:47). The apostles and disciples waited in Jerusalem till the day of the Pentecost. The Holy Spirit descended on them and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in other tongues (Act. 2:1-4). The church was established on earth. It was established at the right time in fulfillment of the prophecy (Isa. 2:2-3; Dan. 2:44-45; Mica. 4:1-2). Jesus Christ founded His church on the earth.

In accordance with His word, "I will build My church" (Mat. 16:18-19), on the day of Pentecost, Jesus Christ built on this earth His church which was in heaven. Then onwards, those who were saved were being added to the kingdom of God as its members. That is, they were added to the church with the apostles. It was only through baptism and the anointing of the Holy Spirit that a person became a member of the church. The Lord added to the church three thousand people who were saved by the sermon of apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost and those who were being saved daily (Act. 2:41-42,47). Later priests and multitude of people who obeyed the faith, were added to the Lord (Act. 5:14, 6:7). Being added to the Lord and being added to the church, both are the same. It is by baptism and anointing of the Holy Spirit that a person is added to the church, the kingdom of God (John 3:3-5).

In the days following the day of Pentecost, the kingdom of God was preached. It was not preached that the kingdom of God was near. It was preached that people should join the kingdom of God which had already been established (Act. 8:12, 20:25, 28:31). Some people of Colosse were delivered from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God (Col. 1:13). Thessalonians were called into the kingdom of God (I Thes. 2:12). Therefore the kingdom of God came with the arrival of the Holy Spirit (Mark 9:1; Act. 1:8). This church was established at Jerusalem. It began to spread from there (Luke 24:47-48; Act. 2, 5:12-16, 6:7) and not from Rome. It is not the Roman church but only Jerusalem was the mother-church (Gal. 4:26). How does Christ build His church? He builds it through His apostles. "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" (Mat. 16:19, 18:18). In the same breath when the Lord was speaking about the church, He said of the keys to the kingdom of heaven. The church and the kingdom of heaven, both are the same.

On the day of Pentecost, Jesus worked through Peter (Act. 2:14-42). Peter and other apostles laid the foundation well. Though the church was built on the rock of Christ, the foundation stones were apostle Peter and other apostles and prophets. The first stone was Apostle Peter only (Mat. 16:18; Eph. 2:20). He gives the church the necessary ministers (I Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11-13). God has done everything not only for the salvation of man but also for his eternal salvation. His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness (II Pet. 1:3). Also all Scripture is given by inspiration of God so that the man of God may be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work (II Tim 3:16). If you leave any of this or add to this something not given by God, you will not be perfect. Are you wiser than God?

VII & VI : Note the above doctrines carefully. We see people who claim to be doing the ministry of God and build the church even before being anointed by the Holy Spirit. That is not the New Testament ministry. Even those who have not received the anointing of the Holy Spirit are allowed to take part in the Holy Communion in Pentecostal churches. Though they preach and write that only the anointing of the Holy Spirit makes a person a member of the church, they allow those who have not received the anointing of the Holy Spirit (non-members of the church), to take part in the Holy Communion because they don't have apostles and as they do not belong to the true church. Look at what the Lord has told us. The Lord said: 'Wait and receive Holy Spirit in order to perform all these and observe the Holy Communion (Eucharist) in remembrance of Me. Even before Pentecost, the disciples came together along with Mary the mother of Jesus and other women, to worship God. But the Holy Communion was not observed (Act. 1:12-14). Only after the Pentecostal experience, the Holy Communion was observed (Act. 2:42,46). God had hidden this secret to them who call themselves apostles because they claim to have renounced everything. But He revealed that secret to us. In New Jerusalem Church, only those who received baptism and the anointing by the Holy Spirit are allowed to take part in the Holy Communion because New Jerusalem Church is like the early church. Can every church be a true church? No. There is only one church and not many (Eph. 4:4).

IV. The authority to forgive sins: This is an apostolic authority. When Jesus Christ was on this earth, He did not give this authority to His disciples who left everything and chose to be under Him to receive training in ministry. He gave this authority only to the apostles after His resurrection, as He sent them saying, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" and breathing on them said, "Receive the Holy Spirit". Those who don't have apostles will not understand this apostolic authority. As even the early apostles who received direct command from Lord Jesus Christ to go and make disciples of all nations and to join them in the church, took many years to understand this, we don't believe that the present day half-baked philosophers would understand this quickly. Only after the Lord spoke in a vision to Apostle Peter, after He commanded the godly gentile named Cornelius appearing in His dream, and after the Holy Spirit led Peter with the command, "Go with the people doubting nothing for I have sent them", after God anointing the gentiles too with the Holy Spirit causing them to speak in tongues and after clarifying that it was the will of God that the gentiles too should be saved, that, apostle Peter proceeded to baptize them and join them to the church. When the other apostles and believers heard that Peter stayed with and ate in the house of a gentile, they argued with him and only after knowing the truth, they understood that the gospel belonged to everyone (Act. 11:1-18). What is the certainty that the people of today would understand this? Note that till Apostle Paul rose to spread the gospel among the Gentiles, the early Christians (Jews) confined preaching the gospel only to their own community(Act. 11:19, 13:46-48). Some say that Jesus Christ gave just two important commands to establish the church; First was 'Receive the Holy Spirit' and the second was as narrated in Mat. 28:16-20. It is not so. The Lord gave seven commands, and if we place them in their order, the first was forgiving sins (John 20:21-23). The Lord issued this command in the evening of the day of His resurrection.

V. The Rule: 1. The church was called a flock (Act. 20:28). For a flock, shepherds are necessary. 2. The church is called a kingdom (Col. 1:13). In a kingdom, there ought to be a king and many officers working under him. 3. The church is called a body (Eph.4: 4; Col. 1:18). For a body to function, it should have a head and many parts. As the husband is the head of the women having a head, Jesus Christ is the head of the church with a head (Eph. 5: 23). Jesus Christ is not the head of the headless body. 4. The church is called an army. An army should have a general and subordinate officers. God had given like that to his church (Eph. 4:11-13).

III. Building the Church: In a place which is not the church, all that the Lord commanded would not be taught and there would not be perfection (Mat. 28:18-20; I Cor. 1:5-7; Col. 1:26). They don't need an apostle to perfect them (II Cor. 11:2). The Lord builds His church using human instruments who are His representatives.

II. Baptism: The word baptism means immersion. Not sprinkling but immersion only (Eph. 5:26; Titus 3:5). There is confusion among those who do not belong to the church as to how and by whom and by which name the baptism should be given. In the midst of hypocrisy and self-satisfaction, there are those who deny the necessity of baptism. Baptism signifies burial. Don't bury those who are not yet dead. Some people deny the importance of baptism. They say that the moment a man believes in Jesus Christ He is saved. He becomes a new creature. Therefore they say that they baptize the saved people. That is, they say that baptism is an external expression of an internal transformation. If that is so, are such people burying the born-again persons who had taken new birth? Poor people they are! The Lord said: "Make disciples of those who repent hearing the gospel and believe in Jesus. Then baptize them (Mat. 28:18-19). The true repentance is not being taught these days. They don't make disciples. People do not leave their ancestral customs. Generally even the preacher does not leave his caste/ racial prejudices. Then how will those people leave such ugly practices? They don't leave anything. Without making them disciples, they just dip the people in water as if they are birds or animals. When even the ministers themselves are full of caste/ racial prejudice, the people in their fold are more so. There are some people who say that what Jesus had told that one must hate everything even to become disciple (Luke 14:26), was meant only for the apostles. They further say that to be an apostle, one must leave everything and if one is married then he must leave his wife and children or he must not marry at all. Such people assert that they are the ones mentioned in Rev. 14:1-5. We pity them. After the early apostle, God has handed over the doctrines and authorities of the church only to us, the New Jerusalem Church. New Jerusalem Church will fill the earth.

"He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen" (Act. 1:2)

This article was published by Chief Pastor N. Lazar, New Jerusalem Church

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