Jesus asked His apostles this question: “Who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered Peter and said, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:17-18).
We don’t find this conversation in the gospel of John; however, in John’s gospel, we find Jesus giving wonderful illumination as to the meaning and understanding of His words of building His church upon a rock. In John, Jesus makes the words “My church” into the more personal “My fold.” In the building of it, Jesus gives a prophetic picture of His work: He will gather from the Jews, His sheep; and He will also gather other sheep which are not of that fold, which would be the Gentiles (not Jewish).
“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and they know Me. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd…. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one” (John 10:14-16, 27-30).
I was a devout Catholic for the first 30 years of my life. I began being indoctrinated on Catholic teaching and practices at the ripe age of six. And one of the very first things I was taught was that the Roman Catholic Church was the true church, and Martin Luther was a heretic, and all protestants were going to Hell. I was also taught that to ever attend any protestant church service was a sin that would send me to Hell.
I was taught that the pope was like God on earth, and the local priest was next to him. I believed in the Catholic Church and everything that it taught and practiced, including not reading a Bible. I grew up believing everything I was taught, without questioning anything. If you indoctrinate a child early enough, they will never question what you teach them.
Right after I turned 29, a horrible fear came over me that if I died, I would go straight to Hell. At that time, I was married and we had three children. My wife was raised up in a Pentecostal church, and so every Sunday, I would go to Mass and then attend Sunday School with her. But neither her church nor the priest was saying anything to address my fears, which, by the way, were 24/7. My fears persisted for many months, and I didn’t know what to do about them.
One Friday, on the way home from work, I stopped at a small Christian bookstore to see if I could maybe find a book to help me. I walked over to a bookshelf that had a whole shelf of paperback books. As I randomly ran my finger across the titles, my eyes caught the title, The Secret of Happiness by Billy Graham. At the time, I had never heard of him, but I liked the title and purchased it.
That evening, I went to bed early and began to read the book. From the opening page, it seemed to be speaking to me. I read many pages but had to stop since I had to get up early the next morning for work. The next day at work, what I had read stayed with me, and I could hardly wait to pick up where I had left off.
That night, I again went to bed early and began reading the book. Within a few pages, I came to this statement: “If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, there’s no point in reading the rest of this book.” Immediately, my 30 years (I had just turned 30) flashed in front of me: I had been very religious, but that was the one thing I had never done.
I got out of bed, shut the door, and knelt at the foot of my bed and told God I was sorry for my sins and wanted Jesus to be my Savior. (Just that short.) Well, the room was so quiet, so I told God that I didn’t hear anything, I didn’t feel anything, but just to make sure that He understood what I was wanting to do, I repeated those same words. And as I was getting up, I said very plainly, “God, I’ve come as far as I can go; the rest is up to you.”
I got back in bed and began to read my book. About 20 minutes later, all of a sudden, I knew my sins were forgiven, and a peace and joy came over me that surely passed all of my understanding. God and Jesus became real to me, and it was like I was all alone with Jesus. I began to praise the Lord and thank Jesus, which never in my life had I done. When my wife came to bed, I tried to explain to her what happened, and she said, Bill, you got saved. It was a good while before I read about being born again.
The next morning, I knew I would never return to the Catholic Church. I went to my wife’s church, and as soon as I stepped inside, I loved everybody. I joined her church and began to be taught what they believed. I also started reading the Bible and memorizing Scripture. Later, I felt the call to preach, and so I began to diligently study God’s word, and also what her Church taught. As time passed, I realized that some of their foundational teachings, which they insisted be preached, weren’t biblical. Their number one teaching was that they were the true church of God, the only bride of Christ. I loved the people but had to depart.
I came upon the Church of Christ, which at first glance seemed to be where I wanted to be. Their theme was: “We speak where the Bible speaks, and are silent where the Bible is silent.” As I got into their teaching, they taught that they were the true church, and everyone else was going to Hell. Well, within 6 months, after telling them what I thought, I was basically booted out.
I began attending other denominations, serving and preaching. But all the while, I came to realize that in most churches, folks don’t read or study their Bibles; they’re content with what they’ve been taught, right or wrong, hit or miss. In my later years, I was asked to pastor a small, country, Southern Baptist church. I ministered there 16 ½ years. It was there that I learned how deep-seated folks’ unbiblical beliefs can be.
I’ll just give one example that is most prominent in my mind. I had preached on water baptism one Sunday morning. At the end of the service, as people were leaving, one of the most prominent ladies in our congregation came up to me and said: “I don’t believe what you preached this morning.” I replied, “Well, it’s Bible.” To which she said, “I don’t care what the Bible says; that’s not what Southern Baptists believe!”
I have said all of this just to hopefully make one point: Jesus is still building His church; His church is not a particular denomination, and certainly not an apostate church. Jesus’ church—His flock, His body, His bride, is made up of those who have been born again. I’m satisfied that His sheep can be found in many places around the world.
I’m also sure that where Jesus’ sheep are, there you will find plenty of goats and wolves to try to mess them up. But here’s something to ponder on: All of God’s children have the Spirit of Truth abiding in them: they believe in the Jesus of the Bible. The virgin-born Son of God, who from eternity past was the Word of God. They all believe Jesus died for us and paid for our sins with His precious blood.
They all believe Jesus died, was buried, and raised from the dead and is seated at the right hand of God, as Lord. They all believe He is preparing a home for us, and one day, hopefully very soon, will return to catch us away and give us glorious, incorruptible, immortal bodies.
God help the members of the church of God to honor Christ in their walk and to love one another as Christ loved us, as we wait for His return. This is the true church of God.
Brother Bill Oldham