ESTABLISHED BY CHRIST

THERE ARE PEOPLE who find it hard to believe that it was our Lord Jesus Christ Himself who established the Church Of Christ or Iglesia Ni Cristo which emerged in the Philippines.  "How could He," they usually ask, "when He is already in heaven?" They say this on the presumption that in establishing an organization the founder must necessarily be present.

A Prophecy made
Before His glorious ascension, the Lord Jesus made a prophecy regarding the Church Of Christ That would emerge in the Philippines. He said:

"I have other sheep too.  They are not in this flock here.  I must lead them also.  They will listen to my voice. In the future there will be one flock and one shepherd."  (John 10:16 Easy-to-Read Version)

Jesus spoke of His "other sheep" that would, at a future time, become on flock.  These other sheep were not yet in the fold or flock that existed during the time of Christ and His Apostles in the first century.  They have yet to listen to His voice and were yet to be called to become one flock.

To hear or listen to the voice of Christ is to put His words into practice---to obey or follow them (Matt. 7:24-25,  New International Version). And what people need to follow was emphasized by our Lord Jesus himself.  He declared, ".....I am the door of the sheepfold.....anyone who comes into the fold through me shall be safe" (John 10:7,9, New English Bible).

Those who enter through Christ, the door of the sheepfold, become His sheep and are found in the fold or flock.  The fold or flock is the Church Of Christ (Acts 20:28, Lamsa Translation).
    
The prophesied other sheep of Christ, therefore, are those to be called by the Lord at a future time to be one flock or Church Of Christ.

Through divine authority
Though Christ's call necessitates listening to and understanding His words, not all Bible preachers today can teach His words that will bring people into the true Church.

Those who have exclusive authority to preach the pristine gospel are the ones sent by God-- His messengers:

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?..."(Rom. 10:14-15 NIV).

On the other hand, those who use the Bible and claim to preach the gospel, but without divine authority, only preach a perverted gospel that is really no gospel at all (Gal. 1:6-8, Ibid.) and will lead people to damnation.

God's policy since the beginning has always been to send messengers who will preach His laws and commands. To reject the messenger of God is equivalent to rejecting both the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord God (Luke 10:16).
   
Called by His name
Why are we certain that the "other sheep" of Christ mentioned in John 10:16 refers to the Church of Christ that emerged in the Philippines? How many groups of people compose the Church established by Christ? In Acts 2:39, it is written:
    
"For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." (New King James Version)

Apostle Peter mentions three groups of people that make up the Church established  by Christ.  The first two groups referred to as "you and to your children" were the Jews and the Gentiles who had already been called by God and became members of the Church during the first century (Rom. 9:24). The third group--those who are afar off--are those who, then, were yet to be called by God into the Church (Col. 3:15: 1:18) They were not yet members of the flock or Church in the first century.  They are the members of the Church Of Christ prophesied to emerge in the future.

But where from "afar off" would this third group emerge?  The prophecies in the Book of Isaiah teach that this group would emerge in the Far East, in the islands of the sea:

"From the far east will I bring your offspring, and from the far west I will gather you." (Isa.43:5, Moffatt Translation)

"Therefore in the east give glory to the LORD, exalt the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea." (Isa. 24:15, NIV).

True to these prophecies, the Church of Christ emerged  in the Philippines, a nation in the Far East (Horacio dela Costa, Asia and the Philippines, p.169) composed of more than 7,100 islands. Aside from being acknowledged by God Himself as His children (Isa. 43:5-6), the members of this prophesied Church will be called by His name:

"Fear not , for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather your from the west; I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, Do not keep them back!' Bing My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth---Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory' I have formed him, yes, I have made him." (Isa.43:5-7, NKJV).

The name by which God's nation in the Christian Era is called, is that which God gave Christ (John 17:11, Today's  English Versin), hence, the name Church Of Christ (Acts 20:28 Lamsa; Rom. 16:16).

The True Founder
Take note that when the third group of people were called to become members of the church of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ had long been in heaven.  He did not have to come down to preach His words in order to establish His Church in the Philippines; instead, a  messenger was sent to do this task.  Listening to and accepting the preaching of this messenger is equivalent to listening to and accepting the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 10:16; John 13:20).

And so, the fact that Brother Felix Y. Manalo was the one who preached this Church in 1914 does not make him its founder.  Like the apostles, he was merely instrumental in preaching the true gospel of Christ, so that the believers in these last days would be called to become part of the true Church Of Christ which the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has established.  Brother Manalo is the messenger of God (Isa.41:9-10; 46:11-13)  through whose preaching of the pure gospel Christ stabled His Church in these last days.

Hence, the emergence of the Church Of Christ in the Philippines if the fulfillment of Christ's prophecy regarding His other sheep.  The true founder of the Church Of Christ that emerged in the Philippines, therefore, is Christ Himself...!!!


By SIEGFRED T. GOLLAYAN
GOD'S MESSAGE July 2015 [volume 67- Number 7 ISSN 0116-1636]