I Believe an Holy Catholic Church
Minister: | Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: | 2/17/2019 AM |
Text: | Colossians 2; Lord's Day 21 |
Psalters: | 236, 241, 132, 380 |
- A glorious organism.
- As an object of faith, the church is a living organism, so every member has the same one life.
- It is a living organism, composed of only true believers from the beginning to the end of the world.
- It is one, catholic (universal and diverse, not identical), holy, and apostolic.
- Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the Head of the church and He is the life of all the members (Gal. 2:20).
- He is the life and the members live only in relationship to Him (John 11:25); He lives in them, and they out of Him.
- The relationship of Christ and the members is extremely close.
- As an object of faith, the church is a living organism, so every member has the same one life.
- The Head gathers, defends, and preserves to Himself this church by His Word and Spirit.
- He knows whom God has elected and those for whom He died, so them He gathers, defends, and preserves.
- He endured their hell, paid their debt to God, satisfied His Father’s justice and merited their righteousness.
- He gathers them, drawing them, and He preserves them by His Word, speaking as the Shepherd
- Thus God singles out the means of the preaching as His chief instrument to gather, defend, and preserve His church.
- The result of Jesus’ gathering, defending, and preserving is the visible manifestation of the church in the institute found in particular places (I Cor. 1:2).
- He knows whom God has elected and those for whom He died, so them He gathers, defends, and preserves.
- We highlight four glorious implications.
- First, the ones being saved are made to be a part of the instituted church (Acts 2:47).
- The church and her members must live in the consciousness of their total dependence on Christ, the Head.
- Jesus works all things in the history of the world “to the church,” i.e., for the sake of His church (Eph. 1:22).
- The members have the assurance that they are and forever shall remain living members thereof.