True Jesus Church - True Church or Cult?

John 17: 17

Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

John 4: 24

God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 1: 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

1Cor. 6: 19

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

John 16 : 13

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

John 14: 23

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Hebrews 2: 1 – 4

1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?

John 8: 31–32

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

James 2: 26

For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

Signs, miracles and wonders must be present in the Church of God, they will follow after the preaching of the Word to show the approval of God and to confirm the truth being from God.

The Word, which is the Truth, is the emphasis of the abidance of God.

The Spirit of God must be present in His Church, the Body of Christ.

On What Basis Can We Know If A Church Has The Abidance Of God?

True Church or Cult?

Contents

1. Brief History of the Christian Church.

2. History of the True Jesus Church.

3. Examining the Claims of the True Jesus Church.

4. Application.

• After Jesus' crucifixion, through the Holy Spirit and the fervency of the disciples, the Gospel spread widely
• Centuries later, churches began to deviate from the truth and started preaching their own doctrines
• Some even created their own bible
• Resulted in the cessation of the working of the Holy Spirit

(Deut. 11: 16 - 17; Jer. 3: 3)

1. Brief History of the Christian Church

• Martin Luther started church reform (1517 AD)
• Urged Christians to return to the Bible as the source of the Truth
• Did not achieve complete return to the original doctrines of the early church, instead caused more divisions
• Many Christian denominations arose having their own doctrines

Pentecostals

Evangelicals

Baptists

German Reform

African

Methodist

Episcopalian

Dutch Reform

Quakers

Methodist

Episcopalian

Episcopalian

Church

Church

of

England

Presbyterian

(John & Charles Wesley)

Anglican

Lutheran

Methodist

Protestantism

Flow-chart of Protestantism

Application

Chang Ling-Shen

• Originally an elder in the Presbyterian church
• First received a revelation from God to observe the correct day of Sabbath (Saturday)
• He received the Holy Spirit
• Met Paul Wei in 1918 and they started preaching together
• Accepted correct mode of baptism

Barnabas Chang

• Originally an antique seller
• Accepted the Gospel as preached by Ling-Shen Chang
• Joined the Church of the Apostolic Faith, and was ordained an elder
• Accepted the correct mode of water baptism as preached by Paul Wei
• Went to preach the Gospel, and by the power of God, performed many miracles and established churches in many regions

2. History of the True Jesus Church.

Paul Wei

• Merchant & member of the London Mission
• Contracted a serious illness
• Elders of the Church of the Apostolic Faith prayer for him, and he was healed
• He joined the Church of Apostolic Faith
• Received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues while praying in the upper floor of a storehouse
• Holy Spirit inspired him to fast for 39 days & revealed to him the correct mode of water baptism
• Holy Spirit revealed the Truth to him & charged him to correct the wrong teachings of the Christian churches

*Later on, around 1927, Barnabas claimed to be the founder of the church and after a dispute with Isaac Wei, headed to Hong Kong where he declared himself "Bishop" and the head of the Church by setting up his own General Assembly. As a result, he was later excommunicated by the church general coordination board in 1931

pls note: Chang Ling-Shen, *Barnabas Chang & Paul Wei did not claim to be "founders" of the True Jesus Church, and they also did not write articles or books to claim authority parallel to the Holy Bible. They were called "pioneers" or "early workers" of the True Jesus Church.

By 1949, the membership grew to around 120,000 in seven hundred churches and today there are officially 1.5 million members in fifty three countries.

What is the definition of a cult?

Webster’s dictionary provides the following definition of a cult: A cult is a religious group, bound together by their attachment to a person or a principle.

From the vantage point of evangelical Christianity, we can make a more specific definition: A cult is a perversion of the gospel, based upon an unholy devotion to a person, a principle, or both.

1. Know for sure the TJC is not a cult but is the Body of Christ.

2. Continue to be diligent to seek the truth.

3. Be sure of your salvation, know whom you have believed.

4. Stand up for the truth and defend it at all cost.

5. Aspire to work for the Lord, do not stop preaching the complete truth of salvation, because people need the Lord's salvation. "...pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." Jude 23

source: bible.org

3. Examining the Claims

of True Jesus Church

The 10 Articles of Faith of The True Jesus Church

1. Jesus Christ, the Word who became flesh, died on the cross for the redemption of sinners, resurrected on the third day, and ascended to heaven. He is the only Savior of mankind, the Creator of the heavens and earth, and the only true God.

2. The Holy Bible, consisting of the Old and New Testaments, is inspired by God, the only scriptural truth, and the standard for Christian living.

3. The True Jesus Church, established by our Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit during the time of the 'latter rain', is the restored true church of the apostolic time.

4. Water baptism is the sacrament for the remission of sins for regeneration. The baptism must take place in natural living water, such as the river, sea, or spring. The Baptist, who already has had received baptism of water and the Holy Spirit, conducts the baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the person receiving the baptism must be completely immersed in water with head bowed and face downward.

5. Receiving the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, is the guarantee of our inheritance of the kingdom of heaven.

6. The sacrament of footwashing enables one to have a part with the Lord Jesus. It also serves as a constant reminder that one should have love, holiness, humility, forgiveness, and service. Every person who has received water baptism must have his/her feet washed in the name of Jesus Christ. Mutual footwashing may be practiced whenever is appropriate.

7. The Holy Communion is the sacrament to commemorate the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It enables us to partake of the flesh and blood of our Lord and to be in communion with Him so that we can have eternal life and be raised on the last day. This sacrament shall be held as often as possible. Only one unleavened bread and grape juice shall be used.

8. The Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week (Saturday), is a holy day, blessed and sanctified by God. It is to be observed under the Lord's grace for the commemoration of God's creation and salvation, and with the hope of eternal rest in the life to come.

9. Salvation is given by the grace of God through faith. Believers must rely on the Holy Spirit to pursue holiness, to honor God, and to love humanity.

10. The Lord's Second Coming will take place on the last day when He descends from heaven to judge the world: the righteous will receive eternal life, while the wicked will be eternally condemned.

Why the name

"True Jesus Church"?

see Eze. 43: 1 - 2, *11 ~ vision of the 3rd Temple, a spiritual Temple

Mat. 24: 27 ~ the coming of the Son of Man like lightning

Is It Biblical To Say That God Desires Only ONE Church

To Be Called His Church?

The Oneness of God

• God is ONE. (Gen. 1: 1, Deut. 6: 4)
• He only created ONE man in the beginning. (Gen. 1: 27, 2: 7)
• He instructed Noah to build ONE ark. (Gen. 6: 14)
• He chose ONE nation to be called His people. (Deut. 7: 6 – *7)
• He instructed David to build ONE Temple. (I Chr. 28: 9 – 10)
• Jesus' desire to be the Shepherd of ONE flock. (Jn. 10: 16)
• The Church is the bride of Christ, there is only ONE bride of Christ. (2 Cor. 11: 2; Eph. 5: 25 - 27; Rev. 19: 7 -9)
• ONE body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, GOD. (Eph. 4: 4 – 6)

In Summary:

1. The True Jesus Church were not founded by man, but by the Holy Spirit.

2. The teachings of TJC have no conflict with the Scriptures. She does not have any extra books to be authoritative with the Bible.

3. TJC is not being exclusive, but adhering strictly to the Scriptures, and the leadership is not restricting the members to any human principles or rules.

4. Even though TJC has some differences in doctrines with the majority of the Christian churches, that cannot warrant the TJC to be a cult.

<Jesus Christ was being accused as a lunatic in His time by the Jews (Jn. 8:48), but He was preaching the truth. The apostles and the disciples were called a sect by the Pharisees (Acts 24:14; 28:22), but the Apostolic Church was preaching the truth about salvation in the Name of Jesus.>