Word of Salvation – Vol. 31 No. 01 – Jan 1986

 

The Church Of The Lord

 

Sermon by Dr. K. V. Warren on Heidelberg Catechism Lord’s Day 21, Q.&A. 54

Reading: Ephes. 1:1-14; Confession of Faith Art. 27

Singing: P.H. 198:1,3; 14:1; 233: 1,8; 121:1.3; 479:1,2,5;

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

The Church?  A bunch of hypocrites!

The Church?  Always wants your money!

The Church?  Alright for the wife and kids, but not me, no thanks!

The Church?  Totally out of date and out of touch!

Have you never heard people talk about the Church like that?
            Of course you have!  We all have.
            Many people say many negative things about the Church.
            Not only people “out there”, but also people “within”.

Is there any young person here who never said (or maybe thought):
            ‘I don’t want to go to church, I don’t like it.’
And … what about the grown-ups?
            Would there be many here who never said or thought:
                        ‘Those church people, what a selfish lot!’
                        ‘What a disappointing business; I don’t get anything out of it!’

Many people say or think many negative things about the Church.

But what does the Catechism say?

Or rather: what does the Christian say, what does the Church say, in the Catechism?

And the Catechism is doing no more than repeating the truth of Scripture.

Listen..!  What does it say?

I believe a holy catholic church; I believe a holy universal church.
            That’s the meaning of the word ‘catholic’: universal!

I believe that the Church is!

I believe that the Church is holy!

I believe that the Church is not bound to any one place, or any one time.  It is universal!

The Church is everywhere in human history, whatever time you look at.

The Church is everywhere throughout the earth, wherever you go.

And … part of the Church is already in heaven.

Says the Christian: I believe all that.  I believe a holy universal Church.

Young people, we better be very careful that we do not talk in a negative way about the Church.  For the Church is the apple of God’s eye, and you too are a real part of the Church.

You too ought to say it: I also believe a holy universal Church.

Mind you, we do not believe in it, we do not believe in the Church!  That would be wrong, if we did that: believe in the Church.  No, we believe in God, we believe in Jesus Christ, that means: we place all our trust in the Lord;
            Oh yes, we believe in Him!
But we do not put all our trust in the Church!
No, we better not do that.

How does that song go again?
            ‘Our hope is built on nothing less,
             than Jesus and His righteousness.’

Our hope should never be built on the Church; only on Jesus!

Do you see the difference, young people?
            We believe in Jesus; but we believe a holy universal Church.

In spite of all the negative things you hear about the Church…
  In spite of the problems, the quarrels, the hypocrites.
            Oh, yes, says the Christian, I still believe it.
            I have faith, I see the Church by faith.

And when you do not have faith, well, then you end up saying lots of negative things about the Church.

Alright, so we believe.

But what do you believe?

What is it, Christians, that you believe…?  About the Church…?

We want to look at 5 words: Who; How; Where; What; and Me.

1.  Who builds the Church?

2.  How is the Church built?

3.  Where is the Church?

4.  What is the Church?

5.  And what about Me and the Church?

Five words: Who; How; Where; What; Me.

Who?  The first word.  Who builds the Church?

Who makes the Church?  Is it us, you and me, families, singles?

We decide to come together?  We make the Church?

Now that would be true if the Church was a club, or an association,

a football club, a tennis club, a school association, an association for the blind or the handicapped.

These people come together, they have certain ideas, goals, aims, they draw up a constitution, form a club, there it is!  People take the initiative.

But not so with the Church!

The Church is not a voluntary association.

God takes the initiative.  No one of us does.  God does.

And that surely makes the Church very special, don’t you agree?

The Church was God’s idea – as it were – He thought it up.

Before we were born,
            before Australia and New Zealand were discovered,
            before the world was created.

Then, already then, so long ago, the Church was in the mind of God!  We read in Ephesians 1:
            ‘For God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world.’

Now that is staggering news, isn’t it!

Here we thought that we established the Church,

No, the Lord did it, calling His people, gathering His people.

The Son of God, Christ, is gathering, defending, preserving.

And that, congregation, is His good right.

For Christ died for the Church.  It became hell for Him, for the sake of the Church..
            He paid for the Church.  He owns the Church.
            So it is no wonder that He is gathering the Church,
                        that He is calling that which He owns, to Himself.

And of course He protects the Church.
Of Course He preserves the Church.

Wouldn’t you protect something that is yours?
Wouldn’t you preserve it, keep it safe, look after it?

Maybe this idea of the Church being kept safe is somewhat unreal to us.
But think of people who try to be real servants of Christ, in the Underground Church.
Think of boys and girls who see their father end up i prison because he’s a Christian;
How awful!

And yet they must find comfort in knowing that Christ protects and preserves for Himself His chosen people.

Say, we better be careful how we talk or think about the Church.

Do you know, boys and girls, what the Lord Jesus likes best of all here on earth?
You’re right, it’s the Church.
It’s the apple of His eye.
He cares very much about it.
He loved the Church so much that He died for it.

You’d better think twice next time, before you say: Church?  Boring!  Old-fashioned!

So that was the first word:
            Who.  Who builds the Church?

The second word is: How.  How is the Church built?

By evangelism?  The Evangelism Explosion programme; EE 3…?

Or is the Church built by money, so that all the jobs can be done?
Or… by a good session, a good minister?
Having things well organized, properly run?
Is that where the strength of the Church is?

No, it is not!  In none of these things is the real strength of the Church.

Says the Catechism… says the Bible: by the Word of Christ and the Spirit of Christ.

And we say: Yes, of course, of course.  How could I forget?

For the Church is the Body of Christ, the people of Christ, and that Church is built by the Word of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ.

Oh, isn’t it remarkable how often we forget!

Yes, we often put things upside down, back to front.

A very gifted Minister, that’s what we need.  That will build the Church!

Plenty of capable people in all our activities.  Good outreach, good programmes, that will build the Church.

Now I’m not suggesting that these things just mentioned are totally without value, of course not.  But listen, listen.

I’ve made up this story:

There was a Church in town, they had marvellous buildings, baby-sit room, Sunday school rooms, lovely church, great acoustics, plenty of people involved in plenty of programmes, the minister was the pick of bunch, financially they were doing fine; the treasurer never had to put a notice in the church bulletin encouraging some of the slower members to honour their responsibilities before the Lord; and some other Christians, in other churches, they actually were a little jealous of the church where everything was so marvellous.  For these people had it all!  They had it all!

Ah, but they did not!  They did not.

For with all their splendid organization these people did not really care about the Word of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ.

So they actually had nothing.  Nothing.

And the minister preached, and the choir sang, and the committees met, but it was all a waste of time!

The Church only exists when the Word of salvation is proclaimed; when that Word is believed and honoured; when that Word is a guide for every-day living; when that Word is preached in such a way that Christ is glorified.

The Church only exists when the Bible is opened; when the Bible read; when the Bible is loved as the Book of God’s salvation for a world lost in sin.

The Church only exists when the Spirit can do His work, guiding, convicting of sin, encouraging, testifying to Christ,

The Church only exists when it is a dwelling place of the Spirit, where the Spirit is not grieved, where the Spirit’s fire is not put out; where the Spirit is the One who gives power to the Word.

            Only the Word, that is impossible,

            Only the Spirit, that is also impossible,

            Both Word and Spirit!

We must feed on the Word, and the Spirit brings it all home to our hearts.

John Calvin says some beautiful words about the togetherness of Word and Spirit; he says:

‘For by a kind of mutual bond the Lord has joined together the certainty of His Word and of His Spirit, so that the perfect religion of the Word may abide in our minds when the Spirit, Who causes us to contemplate God’s face, shines; and that we in turn may embrace the Spirit with no fear of being deceived when we recognize Him in His own image, namely, in the Word.’

The Word is the image of the Spirit, and the Spirit is the power of the Word.  And listen:
            the Word is the Word of Christ,
            and the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ,
            our strength is only in Christ!

How is the Church built?

The Church is built on nothing less, than Jesus and His righteousness.

The third word we look at is: Where?

Where is the Church?  In this city?  But where then precisely?  There is more than one church in this place.

The Confession of Faith, in Article 29, makes it very clear.  The Church is there:

‘If all things are managed according to the pure Word of God, all things contrary to the Word of God rejected, and Jesus Christ acknowledged as the Head of the Church.’

And then some so-called churches just do not measure up.

But at the same time, the Church is as wide as the earth, and as long as history; says the Catechism: ‘Out of the entire human race, from the beginning of the world to its end.’

Only one Church.

Abraham is in that Church.  And I am in that Church.

And that little girl in South America, she hasn’t heard of the Lord Jesus yet, but she will, and she’s going to believe, and she will be in that Church too!

The Church of the past; David, Paul, all those who are now in heaven; our loved ones who died in the Lord.

The Church of the present, you, me, all those who love the Lord Jesus.

The Church of the future, those who are still to come to faith in Christ.

One Church –  the Church of the past, the present, the future!

Isn’t the Church beautiful?  Of course, she is the Body of Christ!

Not quite complete yet; there are still some more people who have to come to faith, some who haven’t yet heard of Christ.  Wouldn’t we want to see the Church complete?

Shouldn’t we become impatient that the Church is not yet complete?  Well, we ought we to pray: Lord, use us, even us.

A fourth word: What.  What is the Church?

The Church is holy.

Holy?  Look at how these Christians quarrel, and gossip, and do all kinds of wrong things.

Ah, but the Church is holy in Christ.  The Church is holy because of Christ.  The holiness of Jesus is given to the Church.  God sees the Church as if she has the holiness of His beloved Son.

And Christ has only one desire now: to make the Church more and more beautiful!  In Ephesians 5 we read of Christ loving the Church and giving Himself up for her, ‘to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless,’ (vss.6,27).

Would you like to be more beautiful?  That people can see the holiness, the beauty of Jesus, in you, in me?  Can they?  Can they see it?  In the way you are at home, at work, at school?

Is the holiness of Jesus in this church too?  Thank God it is!

But we must always watch and be careful that we do not make it difficult for others to see it, that holiness.

The fifth word we are looking at – you may remember – is Me.

What about me and the Church?

The Catechism again: ‘And of this community I am and always will be a living member.’

Not a fence-sitter; not a negative critic; not lukewarm; not half-hearted.

No, a living member!

Knowing that my place is in the Church, in the midst of the people of God.

Now and always, the Catechism says.  Now and always, the Church confesses.

What beautiful assurance!  What marvellous confidence!

Now and always!  How is it that the Church is so bold in this confession?  How is it that the believer is so bold: ‘and that I am, and forever shall remain, a living member thereof.’

Me!

Because the true believer knows that:
            Jesus gathers, protects, and preserves the Church,
             and that includes ME!

HALLELUJAH, PRAISE BE TO GOD!

AMEN.