The idea of the church is as much a matter of faith as anything else. The church is so much bigger then what you see here, or the VGK Belleville, or our sister churches around the world. It is not less than that, but it is far more than that.
According the World Christian Encyclopedia published by Oxford university press there are over 33,000 groups of churches around the world. That is a staggering amount. It does not sound like one catholic or universal church. And in case you thinking the reformed churches are immune they say that there are 9000 different reformed/presbyterian denominations. Again, this does not sound like one universal church. It sounds like a royal mess. What do we do with this?
Hopefully, this sermon will answer this question to a certain extent, and possibly raise some others. But from the beginning I want to stress, that this doctrine too is a matter of faith. We fix our eyes on what is unseen, and not on what is seen. For what is unseen is eternal what is seen is temporary. The church is eternal. You cannot see all the people that have come before, and neither will you see all the people that come after. Neither do you know exactly who all belongs to this church. . This is not to say the church is not visible! It is but it is more than what is visible, but never less then. The local Church is a miniature picture of the global body.
Today we talk about the universal or Catholic Church of which we are a part, next week we will begin speaking about the local body.
The Catholic Church.
- The basis for unity (It discriminates)
- The extent of its unity (it does not discriminate)
- Throughout time
- Throughout the world
The Basis for unity (It discriminates)
So how in the world is it possible that the confession speaks of one catholic church while there are 9000 different protestant denominations? First of all it is because our Christian unity is not first and foremost and institutional unity it is a spiritual unity. It is not a man-made unity, but a God wrought unity.
We believe in a spiritual unity which moves toward outward unity but is not necessary always shown in outward unity. To think that this church and her members are the only part of the church in Cape Town is false. In fact, believing this makes us more Roman Catholic then Reformed.
It is the Roman Catholic catechism that says, ““The sole Church of Christ [is that] which our Savior, after his Resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care, commissioning him and the other apostles to extend and rule it… This Church, constituted and organized as a society in the present world, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him.”
This is wrong. This body - this holy catholic church - is not a man made, man shaped, man ordained institution. It is the work of God and him along. As the article’s states at the end, “…it is joined and united with heart and will in one and the same Spirit by the power of Faith.” This faith has real content. This content we have looked at in the preceding articles. And it is this faith that unites us as one. WE believe! Just because we do not believe we are the only true church, does not mean that we do not believe in only one true church. We absolutely do. But we believe God decides the boundaries of that church, and the one thing that unites is absolute and total allegiance to the King Jesus. Through faith in him they are made holy or set apart to God washed, sanctified, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
The word for Church in the Greek is Ekklessia which basically means “Called out one” or “elects ones.” Called to faith in Christ and sanctified by the Spirit.
This is a holy body. Therefore, it discriminates. Against all that is unholy. All that is profane. All that is not set apart to God. All that do not expect their entire salvation from Jesus Christ, all that are not washed in his blood, all that are not sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Christian unity does not require that we be a part of the same institution. It does require that we belong to the same kingdom. That we confess the same Lord. That we believe in the same savior. That we are indwelt with the same Spirit.
Real Christian unity is a common faith in Christ, and it is not man-made, but God-made and God-given. In 1 Corinthians 1:2-3, the Apostle Paul defines the church as “those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy.” The word there for called comes from the same root word used in Ekklesia.
God is the One who both sanctifies us in Christ, and the One who calls us to Himself. He unites us with Christ – “it is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:30). And since it is our common unity with Christ that unites believes to each other (1 Corinthians 10:17, 12:12-13), it can only be God who makes and gives Christian unity.
An because it is all grace no church can take pride in their own maturity or faith. No, let him who boast, boast only in the Lord. The warning to the church in Laodicea, is a warning to every church who says, “I am rich, I have prospered, I need nothing.” But God says the do not realize “they are wretched, poor, blind and naked.” As Paul says to the church in Corinth, ‘For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”
The extent of its unity in time and Space
These two points will be a bit briefer, but important. The church as always existed from the beginning of the world until now, says our confession.
Now right away we may say we believe this but in practice I wonder how much we really believe this. That their church was always there. I wonder how many of us could name a theologian, a brother and sister in Christ from the years 600-1500. In the reformed tradition there may sometimes be the temptation to think that the church was around through the Old Testament to Christ.
Then as reformed folk we have a great love for the church Fathers, and the early church, partly because our ecumenical creeds (Apostles, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds) come for this time up to the year of about 550. Then we also know that it is particularly important to know our church history at least going back to the reformation, because that is the tradition in which we stand and that is where our confessions were born (the Heidelberg, Belgic, and Canons of Dort).
But what about the period in between? Is it important? Is that not also part of our history. Our fathers and mothers in faith. One popular book speaks about Christians throughout the centuries, but it does not mention one Christian from the year 900-1320 that is four hundred years of church history that is skipped. That is unfortunate for we confess here there was a church during that time. For Christ is not without subjects.
There was a revival the church during the reformation, but that does not mean there was no true church before that. As we march through the centuries we can speak of Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Augustine, Chrysostom, Gregory of basil, Columba the evangelist, Gottschalk, Bernard of Clairvaux Anslem, Wycliff, Hus, and more. The list can go on and on and on. Paul has his own OT list of Christian heroes when he says in Hebrews, “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised;” we can fill in our own list of legends through whom the promises shown, and the kingdom of God was established in every generation.
Yes, there are dark time in church history. In these times we particularly need the eyes of faith as the church is not very visible, at least as an institution. The Belgic Confession offers an example for the OT in the person of Elijah. When he could not see visibly that there was anyone but him left. But God said, open the eyes of faith, there are seven thousand who have not bowed the knee.
Another such example would be the 10th century (900s) of church history. Sinclair Ferguson writes about this time, “…the tenth century was in some ways the epitome of the so-called dark ages. In fact, in one poplar illustrated survey of church history it depicts no people and no events in the 10th century. The firmament was dark indeed. The church of Christ, although called to be the light of the world, was hiding the gospel. Called to be the salt of the earth, it had lost its saltiness. Seeking glory in the things of earth, it no longer shone with the glory of heaven. Seeking power in this world, it had become weak in witness to that world. The church had gained power. But the greater the power the greater the corruption. And, sadly, those who were called to minister God’s Word were increasingly ignorant of its truth.”
This is how Elijah must have felt in his own century. Alone. But God says you are not alone. No matter how small the church of Jesus Christ looks. And we believe that Christ is never without subjects, not in any year of Church history. This church history is like a photo album of the history of the family. And some years you don’t have a lot of photos that reflect the history of the family. Sometimes you have photos in there of aunts, and uncles that you might wonder if they should even be part of the family. But it is your family. And it is important that we own that.
Warts, blemishes, and all, my family is still my family—and it would be foolish to cut ourselves off from hundreds of years of family history. After all, I would not even be here without them. This is the amazing thing about the church. It will not just be the free Reformed church, but we belong to something that stretches throughout the ages, that has always existed! Isn’t that amazing! The fact that we are here shows us Gods faithfulness!
And technically we don’t talk about those saints as those who were part of the church, but those who are part of the church. We as a church every Sunday are united with the church in heaven, and with all those believers who are gathered also now to worship.
And this church does not only stretch back across history it is found all over the world. Some wear robes, some wear suits, some wear Shirts. Some play organs, some play other instruments, some don’t play anything, and just sing. Some have the name reformed in their name, some don’t, even though they hold onto Christ as we do. Some meet in a so-called church building, some in rented office space, some in the open field. They speak Chinese, Australian English, British English, American English (if you can call it that), Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa, Shona, Spanish, Dutch, Arabic, and thousands of other languages. There is such a glorious diversity in the church, a diversity born out of a triune God. A diversity in unity. These are our brothers and sisters, and the church on earth must embrace and reflect it on earth as it is in heaven.
In that diversity there is a supreme unity that only comes about by faith in that triune God. A unity that transcends borders, language, ethnicity, style, culture because it is God who makes binds them together in the one Spirit. In every country the gospel is being preached and shared. This is amazing. Gods word is coming true, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
There can be the temptation to look at it not from the eyes of faith and see the modern-day church and believe the church to be so small, and insignificant. It is then when we need to open the eyes of faith, and know that what we have here is the result of 2000 years of church history. We are part of a global universal kingdom that stretches across the globe. This is the kingdom of our God and the Messiah! Who rules and reigns!
It is Jesus Christ himself preserving us through the ages. Christ defending us. Christ gathering us. This is the mysterious work of God, not of us. Yet he invites us to be a part of it, and share in it, so Go! Go, dear church. Go into the world and make disciples this week. And hear the call of the kingdom! The time is coming when the call will no longer ring out, when the number shall be full! And then we will no longer need the eyes of faith, but we will see her the bride, dressed gloriously ready and perfected for the Groom from every tongue tribe, nation, and language. Till that day we live by faith and not by sight.
Amen.