Word of Salvation – Vol.38 No.32 – August 1993
The Church: The Apple Of God’s Eye
Sermon by Rev. W.J. Bosker on Lords Day 21 Q&A 54
Reading: Eph.1:1-14; Belgic Confession Art.27
Singing: BoW 371:1,3; 51A:1,2; 32:1; 203:1,2,3,4,5; 479:1,2,3,5.
Dear congregation, brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,
In our churches we usually say the Apostles’ Creed once per Sunday.
We make those words our confession of what we believe. Such a confession is a basic expression of the essential teachings of Scripture.
It’s good to know this Creed off by heart. And most of us do. But there’s also a danger of it just becoming words. Repeated over and over. Without really thinking about what they mean. ‘I believe a holy catholic church’, we say. Well, I’m glad you do, but what does it mean? Do you mean to say that you believe in a holy catholic church?
Take a closer look at the Apostles’ Creed. You’ll find it in LD 7 (Q&A 23). See how it’s divided into three sections?
– I believe IN God the Father, Almighty.
– I believe IN Jesus Christ.
– I believe IN the Holy Spirit.
And now, ‘I believe a holy catholic church…!’
Notice the distinction?
I believe IN A PERSON.
I believe IN God, IN Jesus, IN the Holy Spirit. But I believe that there is a holy catholic church.
The church is not the object of my faith.
I don’t pin my hope for salvation on the Church. The anchor of my faith is cast in Christ.
I believe in Him!
Does this then make the Church unimportant?
Is the church only an optional extra for the Christian?
I’m sure you are aware of the thinking that to be a Christian is only to have a personal relationship with the Lord. What counts is how it is between me and the Lord.
Other people don’t matter!
I can be a Christian island!
I’m self-sufficient with the Lord!
If I need the fellowship, I might go to church.
It’s what’s between me and the Lord that counts.
As appealing as that type of thinking may be, I hope you can see through it.
The tricky part about it is that it’s partly true. But half-truths are dangerous, because they’re also half-false!
To maintain that the church is not very important and to insist that it’s the personal relationship with the Lord that counts, is essentially a man-centred, self-oriented view.
- The church is God’s idea
The biblical view of the church is quite different. It’s reflected in the Catechism’s answer. Between Christ and His church there is an intimate relationship. A relationship which Scripture describes as Husband and Wife, Head and Body, Bridegroom and Bride.
The church is important and very special because it is God’s idea!
When God in His sovereign and electing grace decided to rescue a part of the human race, He looked at them, held them in the hollow of His hand and said: ‘These are my people. They are the apple of my eye.’
The English word ‘church’ comes from a Greek word meaning ‘That which belongs to the Lord’.
So God looked at His people and said: ‘I’ll call them THE CHURCH!’
We can imagine what the Father said in heaven to the Lord Jesus Christ:
‘My only and beloved Son,
I want you to rescue these people,
the apple of my eye, THE CHURCH.
Will you go down to the earth, become like one of them,
identify yourself with them
and lay down your life for them?
Then I will give them to you
to love and to cherish and to hold.’
To this Jesus replied:
‘Father, I will do as you ask.
Your will be done.’
And so Jesus came as the Christ child.
A manger for His throne.
The cross His crown.
Laying down His life for His own.
The ransom has been paid.
Now these people, the elect of God, the apple of His eye, were given to Jesus! And ever since His resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven, Christ has earned the people for whom He died.
The apple of God’s eye, the church, belongs to Jesus!
Although He is physically absent from this earth, He is spiritually present. Powerfully present. Ever since Pentecost the Holy Spirit has been poured out. He is the Spirit of Christ, the promised Counsellor.
The One who leads us into the truth. ‘The Spirit of Truth’ Jesus calls Him. He testifies to the Word and through the Word of God.
Christ, the Son of God gathers the church. He performs this activity through His Spirit as the Holy Spirit applies that Word to our hearts and brings us to faith in Christ.
What we have seen so far then is that we confess that we believe in Jesus Christ, in God, in the Holy Spirit, and we believe that there is a holy catholic church.
– The church is important because it was God’s idea.
– Jesus has paid for the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28). It is His!
– And He gathers His people through His Spirit as the Word is applied to our hearts to enable us to reach out in faith, owning Jesus as our Saviour and Lord.
In this way Christ draws us into His church.
We can see from the first two lines of the Catechism’s answer that the church is very much the activity of the triune God. But we can also see how Christ-centred the Catechism’s answer is.
The church belongs to Christ. It is the apple of His eye!
So be careful how you talk about it! Don’t look down upon the church. Don’t take it for granted.
Let us look a little more closely at the holy catholic church which Christ is gathering, protecting and preserving.
- The church is universal
Our view of the church can be pretty small and limited.
We often think in terms of our local congregation, or our denomination (RCA). Some have contact with other denominations, and most of us when thinking about the world-wide Christian church have a vague idea of millions of believers all around the world.
But Christ’s church is far greater than that!
Remember the church was God’s idea from the beginning. Christ has been gathering His church since God created man!
So Adam, Abraham, Ruth, David and Esther belong to Christ’s church.
– Also Peter, Paul, Mary and Lydia.
– Augustine, Calvin and Kuyper.
– Your believing grandparents, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters.
There are still those who have yet to hear the Gospel, and when they believe in the Lord Jesus they will also be joined to His church. And you also belong to His church!
So from all generations, past, present, and future, from all parts of the world, Jesus gathers His church. Christ’s church is much bigger that you thought at first, isn’t it?
You can see why we have been so reluctant to change that word ‘catholic’. Because it means ‘universal’:
‘Out of the entire human race,
from the beginning of the world to its end’,
says the Catechism.
Just as an aside, note that we spell ‘catholic’ with a small ‘c’. With a capital ‘C’ it refers to the Roman Catholic church.
With a small ‘c’ it means the one universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- The church is protected and preserved by Christ
This universal, catholic church which Christ gathers is also protected and preserved by Him. The church is Christ’s precious possession.
Wouldn’t you protect and keep safe your prize possession? Of course you would!
Elijah, that great man of God had to be reminded of that. When wicked Queen Jezebel was trying to kill Elijah he was so despondent he thought he was the only one of the Lord’s people left.
How did the Lord answer him?
‘I have reserved 7000 in Israel who have not bowed the knee to Baal’ (Kings 19:18; Rom.11:4).
Biblical history and world history bear eloquent testimony to the protection and preservation that Jesus has given and will continue to give to His church. The church has outlasted democracies and civilisations. Not even the gates of Hell can prevail against it!
That should be a great comfort for us today as we see the church faced with many problems from within and without.
We also believe that Christ’s church is a holy church. It must be if it is Christ’s precious possession! It is holy because the Holy Spirit lives in every believer. He is the great Sanctifier, setting us apart for Christ; working in us to be more and more conformed to the image of Christ, becoming more like Him.
You know how it is said that over many years married couples begin to look like each other, sound like each other, even act like each other. So the Holy Spirit works in us. The longer we are ‘married’ to Christ as members of His church, the more the Holy Spirit is making us Christ-like, making His church holy. That is all part of the work that Jesus is doing through His Spirit and Word.
- The church is gathered by Christ
Whenever we are privileged to witness a baptism we see a real-life example of how Christ gathers His church. Take for instance a baby resting in the arms of his/her father at the baptismal font. Children of Christian parents are born into a Christian family. They are born into a Christian church. In their baptism God’s gracious promise of salvation in Christ is given and sealed to them. Christ’s seal of ownership is upon such little children’s heads, and of all this they are blissfully unaware!
The same applies to those who come into the church at a later age, whether through Calvinettes, Cadets, Youthclub, newspaper advertisements, or the prayer and witness of others.
Who is gathering people into the church? Can you see that it’s God’s initiative? He is sovereign. He’s in control, isn’t He? That’s how God works out His electing love. That’s how Christ gathers His church.
The doctrine of election, of God’s predestinating love is truly a comfort, so clearly taught in Scripture. And so wonderfully applied in this Lord’s Day. It’s a pity so many people misunderstand it and therefore object to it. They miss out on so much comfort and assurance! Yet in everyday life we are confronted with illustrations which support how God’s electing love is fair, realistic and reassuring. Has it ever happened to you that you found a bird, injured and unable to fly? Have you ever taken such a bird home and into your care, nursing it, feeding it, sheltering it until it was restored?
You had compassion on that bird, didn’t you? You showed mercy to it, didn’t you? Did you show that same love to every bird, or was it just this one that you chose to show a special love to? You didn’t have to rescue that bird. You chose to!
Isn’t that, in a simple way, how it is with God? He chooses to rescue us. He sends Christ to gather and protect us. I remember when I found a young injured bird. After some time I released that bird hoping it would survive. I couldn’t stand around all day and protect it, let alone preserve it! But the Lord Jesus Christ does that and more for us! Look at John 10:28-30.
Never perish! No one can snatch us out of His hand! The context is the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep. He chose us. He has gone out after us in His electing love.
In reality then, I hope you can see that theologically it is incorrect to say that it is we who have joined the church. That’s true as far as our human response is concerned. But before we can respond, God has already called us and Christ has already gathered us into His church. And the Good Shepherd doesn’t go around losing sheep. He gathers them into His flock. He surrounds us with His protecting love and His preserving care.
This is what gives the church a true sense of community. A gathering of people who have in common that they have been rescued by Christ and share a unity in true faith. The communion of saints is dealt with in the next Lord’s Day. But for now let us remember that Christ’s church is truly a community. A common-unity that’s where the word ‘community’ comes from.
– Where people have in common that they are brought together in Christ.
– Where people have a unity in the true faith, believing, as Paul says to the Ephesian Christians:
‘There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called
to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith,
one baptism; one God and Father of all,
who is over all, and through all and in all’ (Eph.4:3-6).
Conclusion
Brothers and sisters, and young people, this is particularly relevant to you: Consider it a gracious privilege that you are called to be living members of such a community.
Remember that it is Christ who has gathered and joined you to His church. Never forget that the church was God’s idea from the beginning.
In the light of these truths we may have to do some sincere soul-searching and re-examine our priorities.
Perhaps you have looked down upon the church, critical of the people in it, critical of the apple of God’s eye.
Maybe you have thought of the church as an optional extra, a place to go when you feel you need it.
Or could it be that the church has had to compete with other interests in your life, and has come off a poor second, third or fourth best?
If Christ is your Saviour, then the church is your life. You cannot separate one from the other. It’s as simple as that!
AMEN