Home | Archive | Guest Book | Links | churches of Christ | Contact Us | Salvation | Correspondence Course | Bible Reading | Store | World Evangelism

In This Issue: Go to Page 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16

Go Through the Gate, Cast Up the Highway

By Mark McWhorter

Isaiah 62 says several things regarding the church. Isaiah is speaking hundreds of years before the church was established. So, Isaiah is prophesying of things in the future. The church will be made up of beings loved by God. Christians will be righteous individuals. They are portrayed as the bride of Christ.

Christians also have work to do. They are pictured as living within the heavenly Jerusalem. The city has gates. Christians are pictured as leaving the confines of the walled city. They do this so that they can make the way to the city easier for those who need to come to the city.

In ancient times, it was customary for kings to employ citizens to go before them and prepare the roadway. They cleaned off rocks that were in the way. They leveled the road. They built the road up if travel was to go through a swamp.

Christians are to do this for those that are lost. Christians are to go out and help build up the low places in people’s lives. Christians help cast away the spiritual stones that people are stumbling over. Christians then lift up the banner of Christ so that people can see the way to the heavenly Jerusalem.

Make sure you are making it easier for others to find their way to the church. Study your Bible. Learn what it says. If any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.

Glory of This Latter House

By Mark McWhorter

The prophet Haggai encouraged the Israelites to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The people that came back from captivity had begun to build but then stopped. It had been several years since they had worked on the Temple.

Haggai also gave prophecies of the church. In 2:9 we read, “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.”

Most commentators agree that this verse has reference to the church. However, what is sad is that many religious people today believe that the church is not the promised kingdom.

God established the Temple. He blessed those who built the Temple. Solomon’s Temple was considered one of the most magnificent buildings in existence before it was destroyed.

If the church has more glory than Solomon’s Temple, it cannot be because Christ failed to establish the kingdom and instead gave us the church. That would make the church a secondary institution that began from failure rather than from glory. The church is a glorious body. It has more glory than the Temple could ever have. The church is the kingdom (Colossians1:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:12). It is the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22).

Study your Bible. Learn all you can from it. Obey the commands in it and be a member of the Lord’s church. If any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.

Copyright 1999-2023                                                                                                  Conditions of Use