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Keypoints on this page
	Using examples from the past, the Bible shows the importance of serving God in the way he asks us to serve him.
	Since the time of Christ, new ideas and doctines have been introduced, changing the original forms and practices of Christianity.
	God's word doesn't change and that alone should be our instructor and guide.

The answer we hear so often to the question why there are so many churches is ‘I suppose all roads lead to God in the end, don’t they?’ It is of course a popular idea that if our intentions are generally good, God will look after us and He will sort it all out for us when our lives come to an end.

An ancient print depicting the return of the Ark to Jerusalem by King David when Uzza was struck dead by God and the procession halted.

The lesson of Uzza
I suppose Uzza was like that. He lived during the time of king David, Israel’s greatest king. King David came to the throne at a time when Israel had been defeated by the Philistines, resulting in the death of the former king (Saul) and the capture of Israel’s most holy symbol, the Ark of the Covenant, which contained two stone tablets on which were written God’s law.

One of David’s first tasks after becoming king was to retrieve the Ark and bring it to Jerusalem:

`And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah…to bring up thence the ark of God the LORD…And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart. And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.’ [1 Chronicles 13.6-8]

We can picture the scene. Here was David, along with Uzza and the others, bringing to Jerusalem this holy Ark which contained God’s Law, to put it back where it belonged, with everybody singing and praising God for all their worth.

But there was a problem. Part of God’s Law gave instructions that the Ark should only be handled by the Kohathites who were from the tribe of Levi. [Numbers 3.30,31] The Ark had been provided with staves for carrying and no instructions were ever given for the Ark to be carried on a cart.

So this was the test case. Here we have people who were following God with great zeal. Their hearts, it would seem, were in the right place but something was wrong, as we read:

‘And when they came unto the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God.’ [1 Chronicles 13.9,10]

Uzza and David also, had ignored the God-given rules. God had commanded who could and who could not touch or handle the Ark and had given instructions for its transport. In the same way we must be careful how we handle God’s Law. We ignore it at our peril!

The teaching of Paul
The account of Uzza’s misfortune was recorded as a lesson for us, a lesson that is picked up on and emphasised in the New Testament:

‘For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.’ [Romans 15.4]

‘There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism.’ [Ephesians 4.4,5]

The Apostle Paul who wrote these words, knew that there is one code of belief and practice contained in God’s Word and that there is just one hope for the future for the followers of those beliefs and practices. Paul again emphasises the point:

‘Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers:... Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. [2 Corinthians 6.14,17,18]

We are beginning to see just how important it is to know what God really wants of us. Paul here tells us that this is essential if we are to be God’s children. The Bible goes on to warn against those trying to pollute God’s message:

‘But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.’ [Galatians 1.8,9]

‘A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject.’ [Titus 3.10]

Again and again the same message is repeated:

`Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.’ [1Corinthians 1.10]

But this brings a problem. There are many different churches, all of them claiming the Bible as their basis, all of them claiming to worship the same God. Yet all of them teach widely differing beliefs. How are we to find which of these many churches, if any, teach the true gospel preached by the Apostle Paul?

We have established from the Bible that only one way truly leads to God. The problem is - which is the right way?

Many people try to teach us their understanding of the Scriptures. There is no reason why we should not listen to them but we must refer back to the Bible and check whether what we are being told is right or not. This is what the Bereans of old did as we read in the book of Acts:

`And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.’ [Acts 17.10,11]

Only in the Bible is to be found the wisdom to save us as Paul wrote to Timothy:

‘…from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.’ [2 Timothy 3.15]

‘…that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies…’
[1 Timothy 1.3,4]

So important are the Scriptures that they are referred to as the `word of life’ and Paul exhorted the believers at Phillipi to hold it forth or teach it to others. [Philippians 2.16] If we really want to please God, to find out what He wants from us, the only way we can do this is by studying the Bible and following its teaching.

Only the Bible contains ‘the word of life.’ Through its pages we can find our way down life’s highway in a manner which pleases God for as the Psalmist wrote:

`Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’
[Psalm 119.105]

The pollution of 'the word of life'
Why, then, are there all these churches teaching different things? We can liken the history of Christianity to a stream of clear water which is pure at it source but, as it becomes a great river, it becomes muddied and polluted. The Bible foretold this would happen as church leaders turned aside from ‘the word of life’ and taught man-made doctrines:

`For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.’
[2 Timothy 4.3,4]

Even in the later years of the Apostles Paul and John this was beginning to happen. The Apostle John’s letters are full of warnings about those who would not adhere to the sound doctrine taught by Jesus and his apostles. We read:

‘For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.’
[2 John 7]

This was the beginning of the pollution of ‘the word of life’ but things got worse. Irenaeus, Tertullian, Pantaenus, Clemens, Alexandrinus and others became involved in debates surrounding a dangerous mix of Bible teaching and pagan philosophy between about AD 160-210. In AD 240 Origen and Eusebius openly propagated the pagan teaching of the immortality of the soul as ‘official’ church doctrine. At the African Council in AD 253, the immortality of the soul and infant sprinkling were finally accepted. From that time to the present, ‘Christianity’ has been a varying mix of Bible teaching and pagan philosophy. With such unsure foundations and many different shades of the mix, many ‘Christian’ denominations have inevitably emerged, as the Bible predicted.

God's unchanging Word
We read in the last book of the Old Testament these words:

`…I am the LORD, I change not…’ [Malachi 3.6]

God never changes, neither does His Word. Man has corrupted God’s Word which has resulted in the many different `Christian’ churches that exist today. However, God’s Word is still there. God’s true, uncorrupted message can still be found, but don’t expect it to be easy. As Jesus taught, we have to dig for it:

`Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.’
[Matthew 13.44]

The treasure is there. Don’t take the easy way out like so many of our contemporaries. Our appeal to you as students of the Bible, is to start digging. Only then will you find the hidden treasure, which is contained in ‘the word of life’