Are you in search of the perfect church to attend? There are many opportunities to be disappointed in the congregation each one of us attends. Maybe you don’t like one of the people who visits the services. Maybe your friend does not like some of the doctrines that are being taught. Maybe I don’t like some of the practices at my church.

What is the point of going to church? To worship God with others of like precious faith, to encourage the brethren in their Christian walk, and to be reminded of the Truths from God’s Holy Word. Perfection in congregational methods is not the point. Meeting with perfect people is not the point. Finding people who perfectly agree with your opinions is not the point.

1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, [see that ye] love one another with a pure heart fervently:

We want to go to a nearby tolerable church, and pray that our ministry there might be a blessing to someone. If we are looking for fellowship that is not tainted by sinful humans, that is something we can only expect to find in Heaven.

Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is;] but exhorting [one another:] and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

There are some bothersome people who attend church. It is not prudent to assume they are evil. Some are hurting and weakened. They will be overly sensitive, mistaking even a proposed friendly alternative as an attack, and getting defensive. Others are immature, and their naivety can lead them into grossly divergent paths that are quite counter productive. Of course, there are those who simply have poor communication skills, which can cause misunderstandings and incite strife.

Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

They all need our love, patience, kindness, and encouragement. If we assume the worst about them, we are no friend. I must measure their behaviour with grace, the way I would want to be measured. Sincerely worship God with them, side by side. This will draw them into a closer relationship with Him. That is what will help them most. That is a blessing we all could use.

Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Is it reasonable to expect people to be fully capable and mature; every moment? Can we really require a brother or sister to have already learned everything that we have learned? Maybe they have been misled by someone they trusted. A person cannot learn everything at once. It takes time.

1 Peter 2:20 For what glory [is it,] if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer [for it,] ye take it patiently, this [is] acceptable with God.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Even if they mistreat you, God has allowed this. Trust God that He had a very good reason for this trial of faith in your life.

Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good

Psalm 119:71 [It is] good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

Romans 12:10 [Be] kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

Acts 20:35 I have showed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

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We worship The Word of God, “His name is called The Word of God.” (Revelation 19:3) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us …” (John 1:1,14). The Word of God is not paper and ink, but Jesus Christ. The Word of God is not a mere book, but the content of the Bible, holy, living, enduring, true.

How much does God care about His Word? “Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name.” (Psalm 138:2)

The True God wants us to find Him; to know Him. He has chosen to reveal Himself to us through His creation, so we will seek Him, then reveal Himself to us through His Word, so we will know Him. What good would it do if God revealed to us His Word, but then it later became impossible for anyone to find?

The true Word of God has always been there for the finding. If you seek, you will find. Jesus confirmed that the Scriptures had been preserved by the Jews. This is the same Old Testament that we use today.

When Erasmus looked for the New Testament, he found it. He also found that those who were blessed to have Scriptures through the centuries, almost exclusively, had the true version. The false versions had been largely rejected and discarded.

There were some places and people, who cared little for the integrity of the Scriptures, that had the rare, unique, corrupted variants. Not only are those texts distinct from the consensus of the majority texts, they also disagree with each other. Oddly, there are some (non-believers) who collected the minority texts and asserted that they were better than the vast majority that agreed with each other. The one reason they give to defend such a position is that those manuscripts are older. There are two problems with that explanation. One, they are not older. Two, Satan was providing corrupt copies of the Scriptures even while the apostles were still here to correct them. That is why the Bible itself contains corrections to false teachings that were being spread. So, even if they were older, that would not mean they were better.

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

In order for us to live by every word, then those words would need to be preserved. In the above verse of Scripture, the Greek word here translated “it is written” is used scores of times in this same form in the New Testament in reference to the Old Testament. The form, or tense, that is used could never be used in reference to something that a person wrote down for their own reference, then forgot where they left the parchment. The writing that is referenced here was written in the past but has carried forward to the present moment when it is referenced – it has been preserved.

Matthew 5:17-18
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

In the above passage, the mention of the law and the prophets is another way of saying “the Old Testament.” Jesus is the Word of God, so the Scripture is His Words. Thus, the following verse is saying that the Bible will be preserved. This includes both the Old Testament, and also the New Testament that He was in the process of establishing.

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Mark 16:15, 19-20
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
…
19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with [them,] and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Hebrews 2:1-4
1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let [them] slip.
2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard [him;]
4 God also bearing [them] witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

1 Peter 1:23-25
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh [is] as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Psalm 12:6-7
6 The words of the LORD [are] pure words: [as] silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

For more information regarding the reliability of the biblical texts, our favourite book on the subject is “Which Version is the Bible” by Floyd Nolen Jones.

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