Preached by Gregory W. Lee
13 April 2008
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Ephesians 5
22. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
23. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
24. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
26. to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
27. and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
28. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--
30. for we are members of his body.
31. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."
32. This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church.
33. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
-- there is a made-up story that described Jesus returning to heaven after He had lived here on earth -- as soon as Jesus got back up there, the angels all gathered around Him to find out about all the things that had happened while He had been down here
-- Jesus explained to the angels how He lived among people, shared His teachings -- expressed His love -- died on the cross to atone for humanity's sins -- and was resurrected to declare that the new Kingdom was at hand
-- when He finished telling His story, Michael the archangel asked the Lord, "What happens now"
-- Jesus replied, "I left behind a handful of faithful men and women -- they will tell the story -- they will express the love -- they will spread the Kingdom"
-- "But, what if they fail?" Michael asked -- "What then will be the plan?"
-- Jesus answered, "There is no other plan"
-- the title of my message this morning is, "I believe in the holy catholic church" -- maybe you never thought about it before, but the church is the only thing that Jesus left behind on earth
-- despite all of Jesus' teachings -- despite all the wonderful words that He preached -- Jesus never wrote anything down -- the only time the scriptures tell us that Jesus wrote is when He scribbled in the sand while the Pharisees brought the adulterous woman before Him
-- there are no manuscripts left behind that He wrote -- no letters to His believers -- no wood carvings showing the path to glory
-- the only thing that Jesus left behind -- other than His words and His teachings -- was the church -- the church is the only physical reminder that Jesus was ever on earth because it was all part of His plan
-- it was Jesus' plan to reach creation with the good news of the cross through the church -- it was Jesus' plan to transform and change the world through the church
-- all of Christianity hinges on the success or failure of the church of Christ
-- so, this morning, I want to spend some time looking at the holy catholic church that Jesus established as we continue in our series on the Apostles' Creed
II. The Church
-- so, what is the church? -- what are we talking about when we talk about the church of Christ?
-- well, the first thing that we have to know is that the church is not a building -- a lot of times, that's the only way we refer to it -- we have people stop by and they tell me, "I like your church," but what they're talking about is our church building -- our sanctuary -- and that's not the church
-- I heard an advertisement one time on the radio -- this guy was asking a preacher, "Where's your church?" -- and the preacher replied, "Well, Janet lives over on Oak Street -- and Bob's family lives on Main Street -- and several of our families live in that neighborhood across the street"
-- the man was wanting to find out where the church building was located -- but the preacher was making a point -- the church is not a building -- the church is not a location -- the church is something entirely different
-- look back at verse 22
22. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.
23. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
-- Paul tells us that the church is the body of Christ -- and that Jesus Himself is the head of the church
-- we see that analogy used many times in Scripture -- in Ephesians Chapter 1, Colossians Chapter 1, 1 Corinthians Chapter 10, and Romans Chapter 12, Paul tells us that the church is the body of Christ
-- but what does that mean?
-- if you would, hold your place right here but flip back over to 1 Corinthians 12, to a passage that we looked at just a few weeks ago
12. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
13. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.
-- what Paul is trying to get us to see with his analogy of the body is that each individual person -- every single person who comes to Christ -- who trusts in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins -- is just one part -- one member -- of a new and complete organism -- the body of Christ
-- it takes many different parts to make up your body -- your hands -- your arms -- your feet -- your torso -- your face -- your nose -- all your internal organs -- all your cells -- millions and millions of tiny parts
-- and just like all of those things combine to make your complete and individual body -- all of the people who have been saved by Christ are individual parts that come together to form a new body -- the church
-- some of you might say, "Well, then, there's no difference between the church and any other club -- a club has many different members and they all come together to form the club or the organization"
-- but there is a difference -- Paul tells us in this passage in Ephesians that the body of Christ is different from all other organisms and from all other bodies because Jesus is the head of the church -- and that makes all the difference in the world
-- let me carry Paul's analogy a little farther to show you what I mean
-- every part of your body shares the same DNA -- if you were to look at a cell from your arm and compare it with a cell from your heart -- you would find the same DNA -- a scientist could look at a cell from any place in your body and tell, without a doubt, that it belongs only to you -- your DNA is what makes you different and unique from all other bodies
-- there is one thing that separates Christians from non-Christians and that makes us different and unique from all other bodies and all other organizations -- and that is the living presence of God within us in the person of the Holy Spirit
-- the Holy Spirit becomes for us spiritual DNA that make us one -- that binds us together -- and that joins us for all eternity
-- so, that means that if you look at me, you will see the Holy Spirit -- and if you travel half-way around the world -- and find a believer in China and look at them -- you will find that same Holy Spirit
-- we are separate parts -- separate members -- but we share spiritual DNA -- we share the Holy Spirit -- and so we are actually part of the same body
31. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."
32. This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church.
33. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
-- Paul is trying to make the same point here -- the Bible teaches that when a man and woman unite in holy matrimony -- when they become married -- they actually become one flesh
-- well, in the same way, all of the parts of the church -- every individual believer who is indwelt with the Holy Spirit -- join together to become one flesh -- one body
-- this is different from any other organization or club -- I don't care how close you might get with your friends in the Lion's Club or the Kennel Club or the Chess Club or whatever club you might belong to -- you are not physically or spiritually joined with them -- there is nothing that unites you and makes you truly one flesh or one body -- you don't share the same DNA
-- but, in the body of Christ, all the different members are united to become one body through the presence of the Holy Spirit with Christ Jesus as our head
-- that is what we are saying we believe when we say, "I believe in the church"
III. The Catholic Church
-- but what do we mean when we say that we believe in the "catholic" church?
-- the word catholic has caused more misunderstanding than any other term in this whole Apostles' Creed
-- I was at a Walk to Emmaus one time, and at that retreat we all join together and say the Apostle's Creed and then share in Holy Communion -- we actually had one person walk out of the room when we started saying that creed
-- one of the other spiritual directors went out with him and asked him what was going on -- and he said that he didn't want anything to do with the Catholic Church -- he had misunderstood what this word means
-- if you look at the Apostle's Creed in your hymnal or if you look up the word "Catholic" in a dictionary, you'll see that the word means "universal" -- it doesn't refer to any branch or denomination of Christianity
-- when we recite, "I believe in the holy catholic church" -- we aren't talking about the church in Rome -- we aren't talking about the Pope -- we are talking about the church universal -- the worldwide church of believers in Christ
-- what we're talking about here is the true body of Christ -- all of the different parts -- all of the different members -- all of those with the same spiritual DNA and with the same Holy Spirit -- who are joined together through Christ to form His body
-- it doesn't matter if you're Methodist or Baptist or Presbyterian or Episcopalian or non-denominational -- it doesn't matter what you call yourself -- if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior -- if you are trusting Him for your salvation and for the forgiveness of your sins -- then you are all part of one body -- of one church -- the catholic, universal church
-- one body -- one church -- the catholic, universal church
-- and this includes all of those who have ever believed, living or dead -- that's what the next line in the creed stands for -- it says, "I believe in the communion of saints"
-- now a saint is nothing more than someone who believes in Jesus -- a person is not a saint because the Pope says they are -- a person is a saint because they have been saved by Jesus -- if you want to start calling yourself by the title, "Saint," then go right ahead -- you are biblically justified in that
-- the communion of saints -- in Latin, the Communio Sanctorum -- refers to the spiritual union of all Christians, living and dead, into one body with Christ as its head
-- what this means is that those who have died and gone on before are still part of the church of Christ -- the cloud of witnesses that Hebrews 12 talks about who surround us and whose faith propel us to go forward in faithfulness and ministry to Christ
-- they are the church invisible -- those who have gone ahead -- while we who are here are the living church -- the church visible
-- together, we all make up the catholic -- universal -- church
-- that is what we mean when we say, "I believe in the catholic church and the communion of saints"
IV. The Holy Catholic Church
-- but what about the whole phrase, "I believe in the holy catholic church?" -- what does the word "holy" bring into the mix?
-- look back at verse 25 in Ephesians 5
25. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
26. to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
27. and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
-- the word "holy" means "to set apart," "to sanctify" -- "To cleanse and make pure"
-- these verses tell us that Jesus loved the church and gave himself up for her -- dying on the cross in our place so that He might make the church holy and blameless -- without stain or wrinkle
-- when we proclaim that we believe in the holy catholic church, we are proclaiming that we believe in the finished work of Christ on the cross and in the on-going work of the Holy Spirit as He sanctifies us and continues to make us more and more like Christ
-- this word "holy" also speaks to our purpose -- the reason He created us in the first place -- Jesus set us apart and sanctified us for the work that He has called us to do
-- the church exists for a reason -- to glorify Christ and to proclaim the good news to the world around us -- this includes witnessing to people -- telling them about Jesus -- and this includes ministering to them -- meeting their needs as parts of Jesus' body -- being His hands and His feet in this world -- reaching out to people with His love so that they might respond to His word and be saved
-- this is what we mean when we say, "I believe in the holy catholic church and the communion of saints"
V. Closing
-- there once was a college student who was struggling in many areas in his life -- he spent a great deal of his time feeling angry and frustrated -- finally, he couldn't stand it any longer -- so, he got up and went to the little chapel on campus that very few people ever visited
-- he paced up and down the aisles -- slapping the back of the empty pews -- he yelled -- he cried -- and he raged at God
-- "God, you created this world -- what could you have possibly been thinking? -- look at the problems in this world -- look at the pain and the suffering and the hunger -- look at the neglect -- the waste -- the abuse -- Everywhere I look, I see messed-up people -- hurting people -- lonely people"
-- this went on for a long time as the student ranted on and on and on
-- finally, exhausted, the student sat in the front pew and looked hopelessly at the cross -- its tarnished surface reflected the dusty sunlight filtering in through the stained glass windows
-- "It's all such a mess -- this world you created is nothing but a terrible mess -- why I could make a world better than this one"
-- and then, in the silence of that dusty, deserted chapel, the young man heard a voice that made his eyes open wide and his jaw drop
-- "And that is exactly what I want you to do."
-- that is why God created the church -- that is why He built it with His very own body and blood -- why He loved it into being -- and breathed into it His very presence
-- as God's church -- as members of the holy, catholic church of God, we have been called to be the hands and feet of Jesus -- we have been called to minister the presence and the message of Jesus to a broken and hurting world
-- I believe in the holy catholic church -- I believe in the communion of saints -- and I believe that God can use us to change lives and transform hearts and turn this world around
-- the church is not a building -- it is not a location -- it is you and me and all the other saints in this place and around this world
-- what is the church? -- the body of Christ
-- who is the church? -- we are
-- and who will leave this place -- who will go forth and answer the call of Christ -- to be part of His body -- to be His hands and feet in this world -- ministering in His name to those around us? -- only you can answer that question
-- let us pray
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