The Church - Online Literature

"And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence." (Col. 1:18)

A Spiritual Vision for the Local Church

By Pastor Joseph Jacowitz

The Church's Greatest Need

By Earnest C. Reisinger

Let me state at the outset what I believe to be the church's greatest need, and I do so without fear of contradiction by any serious, discerning observer. The greatest need and one of deepest importance is for the continual manifestation of the Holy Spirit...

The True Church

By J.C. Ryle
(1816 - 1900)

I want you to belong to the one true Church: to the Church outside of which there is no salvation. I do not ask where you go on a Sunday; I only ask, "Do you belong to the one true Church?"

George Muller on the Holy Spirit

By George Muller
(1805 - 1898)

The Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost to the church in her collective capacity, to abide with her forever, and has not been taken away, notwithstanding our many failings. Just as the fiery pillar was not taken from the Israelites, notwithstanding their many provocations, so the blessed Spirit of God has not been taken away from the church. Moreover God has given His Spirit to the individual believer—to all who put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit & The Church

By Dr. P. F. Bresee

Without the manifest presence of the Holy Ghost any church is a failure.

Grievances

By A.W. Pink
(1886 - 1952)

You have been wronged, grievously wronged, cruelly and unjustly treated

Amongst the various characters that are ever moving up and down in this busy world, we sometimes encounter that peculiar and by no means pleasant one which we may call a man with a grievance. Even amongst your own relations and friends you may find him; for he is usually not very far to seek. Most of us know some querulous, discontented individual who is the worst used person in the world, who is always being injured, and whose general conversation is a tissue of complaints against everybody—but himself.

Exposed Positions

By E.M. Bounds
(1835 - 1913)

"Through death he deposed him who had the power of death and delivered them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."—H. W. Hodge.

The Need of the Hour -Specific Ministry

By T. Austin Sparks
(1889 - 1971)

As we take account of the situation in the Church today we feel more and more deeply convinced that the greatest need of the hour is for men of vision and courage.

The Devil & the Church

By E.M. Bounds
(1835 - 1913)

The author in his straightforward style provides much needed insight for Christian soldiers of all true churches who desperately need to sustain spiritual life where it exists. He also sounds a clarion call to take back the church from the world and reverse the tide of apostasy now sweeping through many churches.

The Church's Greatest Need

By Charles Spurgeon
(1834 - 1892)

The greatest thing the church needs in this time, is God's Holy Spirit.

"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb. 10:24-25)

"I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”" (Psalm 122:1)

"One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple." (Psalm 27:4)

"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42)

"But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”" (Eph. 4:7-8)

"For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." (Rom. 12:4-8)

"For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.

And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually." (1 Cor. 12:14-27)