Metanoia 10

The Only One Church
Stages of the Kingdom   Communion of Saints
Organization of the Church    Peter Infallible
Communities...Temple and Synagogue

 

The 3 Stages of the Kingdom:

    Continuation of Metanoia 9.   

    In his Second Coming Jesus will establish his definitive Kingdom or Church "only in Heaven", for ever and ever... Jesus will not come to establish a little Kingdom on earth for only 1,000 years... all the goodness of earth compared to Heaven are as an atom compared with the universe.

    But right now there are "3 stages of the Kingdom", 3 stages of the Mystical Body of Christ, of his only Church:

    1- The "Militant Church":
   Those Christians who live on earth. They are not in Heaven yet, and they still can go to Hell.

    2- The "Triumphant Church":
   Those who died and their "souls" are already in Heaven for eternity... and their "bodies" will be resurrected glorious and go to Heaven on the Second Coming... now the only ones in Heaven in body and soul are Jesus and Mary (Dogma of the Assumption of Mary).

    3- The "Purifying Church":
   Those who died and are in "Purgatory", and they will go for sure to Heaven after they have been totally purified. Some Christians do not believe in Purgatory, and their prayers for the loved death are in vain... because if they are saved in Heaven, they don't need prayers, and if they are not saved, in Hell, any prayer will be good for nothing...

The "Only One Church":

    There is only one true Church of Christ, as there is only one tree, one body, one building:
    - One Tree: I am the vine; you are the branches... Jesus in Jn.15:5 (Jn.15:1-7).
    - One Body: Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it... Paul in 1Cor.12.27 (1Cor.14-31, Rom.12, Eph.4).
    - One House: you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood... Peter in 1P.2:5 (1P.2:4-10).

   However the greatest shame and glory of the Church of Christ now is that there are over 7,000 denominations and sects claiming to be the Church of Christ, many of them with completely opposite believes: One says that Jesus is God, other believes he is not. Some say the Holy Spirit does not even exist. One believes in the Eucharist, another does not believe in it. One believes in Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, others don't. One loves the Mother of Jesus, other hates her. One says abortion and homosexuality are sins, other say they are good things to do... and so on hundreds of contradictions, and all believing they are the only true Church of Jesus Christ...

    It is a "shame", but also a "glory", because it is the fulfillment of the prophecies of Jesus who 2,000 years ago said, in the Sermon of the End of Times, that there will come many false prophets, with many false churches of Christ, that will deceive many (Matt.24:5,11,24)... and the same prophecy is made in the Bible by Peter and Paul (2Pet.2, 2Tim.3).

    Noah and Peter:

    I pray God you and I are not one of those "many" deceived, by the "many" false prophets... and it is something essential, because Jesus compared "his Church" to the "Ark of Noah" in the same Sermon of the End of Times (Matt.24:37): At the times of Noah there were many good boats, built by experts, but the only bout that did not sink was the one of Noah, because the only boat of God was the one where Noah was... at the End of Times there will also be many boats, many churches, but the only Church of Jesus Christ is where Peter is.

    David and Peter:

    Jesus did with "Peter" what God had done with "David":

    1- In Ezekiel 34 God says repeatedly "I myself will look after and tend my sheep"... "I myself will pasture my sheep" (34:11-15)... but in verse 23, God says: "I will appoint one shepherd over my sheep to pasture them, my servant David; he shall pasture my sheep and be their shepherd"... and so, he who is loyal to David or his successors, belongs to the People of God, and he who is not loyal to David or his successors, does not belong to the People of God, even if he is a Jew born in Jerusalem, rather he is a rebel, or a heretic ("heretic" means "rebel")...

    2- Jesus did the same: In John 10 he repeats "I am the shepherd... I am the good shepherd"... but in John 21, after resurrection, Jesus says 3 times to Peter, and only to Peter, in front of the other Apostles, "feed my lambs... tend my sheep... feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17)... "my lambs"... "my sheep"... the lambs and sheep of Jesus!... so now, accordingly, he who is loyal to Peter or his successors, belongs to the only Church of Christ, and he who is not loyal to Peter or his successors, does not belong to the Church of Christ, even if he knows all the Bible by heart, he is a rebel, a heretic.

    The Communion of Saints:

    All the members of the 3 stages of the Church live in the same Body of Christ... those in Heaven can help us, we can help those in Purgatory, we are all brothers as my right eye is brother of my left eye, members of the same Body.

    In Heaven there are Angels, and already many Saints... Jesus told the good thief, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Lk.23:43)... and for sure, he is not alone in Heaven, Peter and Paul are with him, and Virgin Mary and millions of Saints as John saw in the book of Revelation:

    After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. (Rev.7:9).   

    The Bible teaches about Purgatory:

    1- "It is a holy and pious thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sins" (2Macc.12:46).
    2- Some sins, like the one against the Holy Spirit, can not be forgiven neither on earth nor after death, but some sins can be forgiven and the person purified, either in this age or in the age to come (Matt.12:32).
    2- The "Baptism on behalf of the death" of 1Cor.15:29 is similar to the "Baptism of the Crucifixion" of Mr.10:38-38, it is an expiation sacrifice to help the death.   

Some Signs of the only one Church of Christ:

    1- Baptism of Children:

    If children can not be baptized in your church, then it is a church "without power", it is not the only Church of Christ, because in the Church of Christ there is "power" to baptize children, with the faith of the Church... as it was done in the houses of Lydia and the jailer, where the entire families were baptized, including the children! (Acts 16:15,33).

    2- Purgatory:

    The Catholic Church teaches that Purgatory is the place or state for the purification of those just souls who depart in venial sin or who are still subject to temporal punishment for sin.

    If in your church there is not the believe in "Purgatory", your church can not pray for your loved ones deceased,  because if they are saved, there is no need to pray for them, and if they are condemned to Hell, the prayers do nothing... even in the funerals you can't pray for your loved ones... it is a church "without power", it is not the Church of Christ where there is "power" to pray for the dead.

    We already commented what the Bible teaches about Purgatory:   

    3- The "power to forgive sins":

    It was reserved to God; only God could forgive sins (Mar.2:7)... but after his resurrection, Jesus gave the ministers of his Church the power to forgive sins, or to retain them, in John 20:23... if in your church there are no ministers with the power to forgive sins, it is a church "without power", get out of there!... because in the Church of Christ there are ministers with the "power" to forgive sins, or to retain them, in the Holy Sacrament of Confession. Forgive Sins.

    4- The Eucharist: It will be the subject of the next chapter.

     5- The Successor of Peter: The Pope: It has been treated above... and more comments will be made next.

Organization of the Church:

    Jesus founded "his Church" ((Matt.16:18), and gave her an specific way of government on earth, which is not a "democracy", but rather a "theocracy", like a kingdom on earth.

    - The 12 Apostles were not chosen by popular election, rather Jesus picked them up. The leader of the 12, Peter, was also picked up by Jesus (Mat.16:19).

    - In the Acts, when one was chosen to substitute Judas, he was not elected by the people, but the 11 Apostles cast lots among two proposed, and the lot fell on Matthias (Act.1:21-26).

    - The "deacons", however were elected democratically: The multitude chose 7 men, whom they set before the Apostles, who confirmed them laying their hands on them (Act.6:1-6).

    - When Timothy and Titus were elected to be the Bishops of Ephesus and Crete, were not elected by the people, but picked up by St. Paul (1Tim., Tit.).

    - So, these are the rough outlines of how the leaders of the Church of Christ were chosen.

    - And, may be, the most important part, is the position of the "leaders", and what they should do, as Jesus told them: "Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all" (Mr.10:43)... "servant", "slave"...

    - The first words of John Paul II when he was elected Pope: "I am the servant of the servants".


Peter Infallible:

"Peter" was chosen by Jesus to be the "leader" of the 12, and of the whole Church of Christ:

    - In Matt.16, Jesus promised Peter the primacy
    - In John 21, Jesus gave it to him.
    - In Acts, Peter exercised it.

    1- In Matt.16:19:

    "I will give you, Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven".

    Here, Jesus offers to Peter, 2 things:

    1- Jesus offers Peter, and only to Peter, the "keys of the kingdom", in front of the other 11 Apostles.

    2- Jesus promises Peter "infallibility"... if whatever he binds or looses on earth, shall be bound or loosed in heaven, it is because whatever he binds or looses it is the truth, "infallible", "without any possibility of error"!.

    - A friend of mine told me, it is impossible, because no one is infallible on earth... but then, he agreed with me that when Matthew or Solomon wrote the Bible, they were "infallible", it is the word of God!... so, dozens of people were infallible, when they wrote the Bible!...
       ... And to John, Luke, or David, God did not promised infallibility to write the Bible... but to Peter, Jesus promised directly "infallibility", in whatever he binds or looses on earth!...
       ... The Holy Spirit who inspired the authors of the Bible, is the same one who inspires Peter when he binds or looses on earth!.

    2- In John 21:15-17:

    In his last apparition to the Apostles after resurrection, "Jesus said to Simon Peter... feed "my" lambs... a second time... tend "my" sheep... the third time... feed "my" sheep"...

    Please, look again above.

    3- In Acts:

    Peter exercises his "supremacy". He is the one talking, when all the Apostles are present. The first 11 chapters of Acts, report 8 rather long sermons of Peter (1:15, 2:14, 3:12, 4:8, 5:29, 8:20, 10:34, 11:4).

    Another important fact in Acts:

    When Judas died, the other Apostles decided to name one to do the job Judas was supposed to do, "to take the place in this ministry and apostleship which Judas abandoned... and they choose Matthias, who was added to the 11 apostles" (Act.1:15-26)...
    You can be sure that when Peter died, the other apostles did the same, they choose one to do the job Peter was supposed to do... the actual Pope John Paul II is the 262 successor of Peter... and the Catholic Church is the only one to claim a successor of Peter!.

    Only to Peter Jesus said: "I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may nor fail, and when you are restored, you must strengthen your brothers" (Luk.22:32)... that's what Peter did in the first 11 chapters of Acts... and Peter was a sinner, the only one called "Satan" by Jesus! (Matt.16:23).
 

Communities in the Church:

    The Church of Christ should be catholic, which means "universal", to spread the good news all over the world... and so it is.

    However, since its beginning, the Church has been working in "small communities", in nations, dioceses, parishes, groups within the parishes...

    It is all according of what it was prophesied by Abraham when he built the 3 Altars in Genesis 14-16:   

    Temple and Synagogue:

    The worship at the times of Jesus was in the Temple and the Synagogue. Jesus blessed both with his presence…and today, in the Church of Christ, both institutions must be present.

    But somehow, many Protestants have been left without Temple, but with Synagogue, though they don't use that name... And many Catholics have been left with Temple but without Synagogue.

    The Temple: Was the "house of God", where God was present through the Ark of the Covenant. The Jews went to the Temple to adore God and make sacrifices to him. The center of every ritual is an altar, a sacrifice, and a priest to offer it.

   The Synagogue: Means "hall of meeting". God is not present there in the Ark, and the Jews went to the Synagogue to meet together to pray, to learn the Holy Scriptures, and to help each other in all social aspects. It is what actually do the Jews today in their Synagogues, and many Protestants in their Services. The center here is the "people"… there is no altar, no priests, no sacrifices, only rabbis (teachers), or preachers in the Protestant counterparts.

    Today, in the Catholic Church the Synagogue is somehow been represented by the different Parish Societies, like Holy Name, Legion of Mary, Prayer Groups, Cursillistas, Knights of Columbus, etc. etc.

    But in each Parish should be one Temple and one Synagogue… and, of course, all the Societies are members of that Synagogue, like all members of the Parish who do not belong to any Society … and more societies should emerge, very specially those dedicated to teaching the Holy Scriptures, which was and it is central in any Synagogue… today, if I want to send a person to learn Holy Scriptures, I have a hard time to find one in the Catholic Church, though there are going on many serious attempts...

    The Biblical studies could be one of good result of the Catholic Synagogue. Other important result is for the laymen to know and help each other in all social aspects in life, as the Jews do... today, many people in the Parish do not know what kind of work the "friend" does, nor how many children he has, not even his or her name... just "hey", Sunday after Sunday... Catholic Synagogue
 

    Next chapter will be on the Eucharist, the most cherished treasure of Christianity. In the Host and the Wine there is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ... it is real!... it is God Himself made more humble that in Bethlehem... it is the same Jesus of Calvary who wants to be our daily bread.

    For now metanoia!... there is only one Church of Christ... are you in the right boat?
 

Quotations: NIV at the Bible Gateway

Continuation: Metanoia 11