We Believe In One Holy Catholic... Church

This afternoon I was at the gathering of the Newcastle Chinese Christian Church, down on Westgate Road. It was planted by a handful of Chinese students about thirteen years ago, and now numbers over a hundred. Not all of its members are ethnic chinese – indeed their youth pastor is English – but, as you would expect, most of them are. It is a non-denominational church, but with close links to other churches, especially this one. Most of the older generation speak little English, so whenever I preach I have an interpreter beside me. I presume that what he says is roughly equivalent to what I've said.

Now it is true that I am myself of mixed race. My grandmother was Welsh. But I am not remotely Chinese. True, the Chinese Church is only down the road. But culturally it might as well be in Hong Kong. So when I go to that church, which is something I do regularly, what would you say is the basis on which I go? In what way do I have to adapt?

Are their basic beliefs different? No. Do I have to leave my Bible at home and take a different one? No – though they do have the same book in a Chinese translation. Do I have to preach a different gospel about a different Jesus? No. Same Jesus. Same heavenly Father. Same Holy Spirit. Same gospel.

Am I going to a different church when I join them? Yes and no. It's a different local church, certainly. But at the same time, we are the same church. When I'm there, I know that I'm among brothers and sisters, serving the same Lord, with the same destination.

It's the same when a choir of Norwegian Lutherans joins us here as they did last week. It's the same when Alison Turner attends the baptism of an ex-JPC student who's now back home in Japan. It's the same when some of us go to Mburi in Kenya or Armonia in Mexico. We find ourselves among brothers and sisters saved by faith in the same gospel; battling with the same pressures from the world, the flesh and devil; worshipping the same Lord Jesus.

That's something that I take for granted. I shouldn't. And nor should you. We should treasure it, we should rejoice in it, and we should give glory to the Lord who rules over us all. We and they are manifestations of the same church. And what church is that? It's the one holy catholic and apostolic church.

Over these Sunday evenings we're thinking about the nature of the church as it's described in the Nicene Creed:

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.

This evening we come to the word 'catholic'. We believe in a 'catholic' church. What does that mean? It is a term that can create confusion. But properly understood, it does point to one of the most exciting and glorious aspects of being a Christian.

The confusion arises because the word 'catholic' is used in at least two different senses. First, it is used to apply to the Roman Catholic Church. So 'catholic' is often taken to mean 'Roman Catholic' and the question arises in people's minds, 'How can a church such as this, which is not Roman Catholic, and which, for instance, does not accept that the Pope is uniquely the representative of Christ on earth – how can a church such as this say that we believe in the catholic church? The answer is quite simply that in this context in the creed the word does not mean 'Roman Catholic'. It means 'universal'.

The catholicity of the church is closely linked to its unity. We believe in one universal church that has the same Scriptures, the same gospel, the same Lord, and the same destination. Now there is both an exclusive and an inclusive side to the catholic, universal nature of the church.

When we say we believe in the catholic church, we are being exclusive in a number of ways. So any church that does not have the same Scriptures is not a manifestation of the catholic church. Therefore the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons), with its Book of Mormon, is not catholic, for all it has the name of Jesus in its title. It is a different church – not the universal church of which we are a part.

And any church that denies that Jesus is fully God as well as fully man, as the Unitarian churches do, is not catholic. It has formally and officially clearly abandoned the apostolic gospel. So even though catholic means universal, it does not mean that any church that defines itself as Christian must be accepted as such. You cannot in some way reject the Lord of the church or his word, and still be part of the true church. Catholicity is inevitably exclusive.

But there is also a wonderfully inclusive side to the catholic nature of the church. By the grace of God, we are one local manifestation of the universal church, in one particular place (Tyneside, on earth) at one particular time (the early part of the twenty-first century). But we are part of a church that is spread to every corner of the globe. There are apparently about 300,000 local churches in Europe; 600,000 in Africa; 700,000 in Asia; 40,000 in Oceania; 500,000 in North America; and 200,000 in South America.

And we are part of a church that is spread not just around the world but through time. Say I was invited to speak at a church back in the fifth century. Granted, there might be one or two transport issues that we'd need to resolve. But would I need to change my Bible for another one in the time capsule? No. Same Bible. Would I need to learn a different gospel for a different era? No. Same gospel. Would I truly be joining brothers and sisters whose motivation and worship and fellowship I could share in? Yes. I might get a few odd looks because of the strange style of my clothes. Mind you, if I went like this, I might not! But I would be amongst family.

This catholic, universal church of which we are a part reaches back to the Day of Pentecost and beyond. And it reaches forward to the Day when Jesus will return. It stretches not just throughout the world, but through history as well.

And even that is not all. Death itself is no boundary to the universal church. Believers who have died and gone to be with Christ are all part of this astonishing fellowship with us. To be sure, for believers death is a veil – a curtain – through which we cannot communicate with one another. But death no more destroys our fellowship than being in different countries means that brothers are no longer brothers.

One day we will be fully reunited. Either we will go through the veil ourselves and join them in the presence of Jesus. Or the End of the Age will come, and Jesus will return to wrap up history, bringing them with him to help populate the new heaven and the new earth.

The catholic church reaches to every corner of the world; it reaches through history; and it reaches from earth to heaven, and into eternity. And Jesus is the Lord and Saviour of every one of us in it. We are all members of his body. And he is the head.

Now if you want to see the life of this catholic, universal church in action, then I know of no better place to go than the Book of Revelation. You can see it there in all its dimensions. What I want to do is to give you an instant overview of the first seven chapters. I know it would be good to do more, but I restricted myself. We'll begin at Revelation 1. My first heading is this:


First, THE GIVING OF THE PROMISE

This is 1.9 – 3.22. And in this section Christ speaks to the whole church on earth now.

Let me say that it's easy to be rather daunted by Revelation, but you shouldn't be. Think of it, if you like, as the biblical equivalent of political cartoons. Cartoonists commonly represent great powers as individual people; or nations and rulers as animals. Winston Churchill as a bulldog, and so on. There is a great deal of symbolism. The symbolism has certain conventions that you get used to after a while.

A political cartoon can be highly symbolic but still be representing real history – real events. Indeed, that's the whole point of them. The same is true of the Book of Revelation. Once the symbolism of a political cartoon is grasped, which becomes second nature, it communicates in a very graphic, punchy and and powerful way that grabs your imagination and sticks in the mind. If some of the details pass you by, that doesn't matter too much. The point of it is not in the detail. It's in the big picture.

So for instance, in Revelation Jesus is both the King and the Lamb. He is the one who gave his life for the sins of the world like a sacrificial lamb. He is also the all conquering King. It is quite possible for him to be both the King and the Lamb at the same time. He is not literally a lamb, of course. But he is truly. The whole of Revelation is a vision – or a series of visions – given by the risen Jesus to John. Chapter one tells us that. In 1.12 John says:

I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man"…

That's Jesus present in the midst of the universal church. The lampstands are churches. That's the symbolism. How do I know? 1.20 tells us:

… the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

But why, then, do I say that Jesus is in the midst of the universal church? Doesn't Jesus address seven specific churches individually in chapters 2 and 3? He does do that. But the number seven is very significant in Revelation, as any reader of it soon discovers. Indeed it's significant throughout the bible. It represents completeness or wholeness.

The letters to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3 are not only to those individual churches. They are the message of the risen Christ to the whole church throughout history, and to every individual local manifestation of that universal church. That's why we still read them today. We see ourselves reflected in them and addressed face to face, as it were, by Jesus. The seven churches represent the whole church. The catholic church, if you will.

It is a church, as presented in Revelation, that struggles. Don't we know it. Life for the universal church is tough. Isaac has given us one example of that from the Sudan this evening. The church struggles with the world, the flesh and the devil.

So what is Jesus's message? He warns. He rebukes. He urges. He encourages. And he also gives a series of promises. Put together, they make up one massive promise to the universal church. The references to this sevenfold promise are there on the sheet. Let me put them all together and read them through. This is the promise of Jesus to us, the church:

(2.7) To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (2.11) He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. (2.17) To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. (2.26-28) To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations – 'He will rule them with an iron sceptre; he will dash them to pieces like pottery' – just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. (3.5) He who overcomes will … be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before by Father and his angels. (3.12) Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. (3.21) To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

This promise of Jesus is both exclusive and inclusive. It applies to those who overcome. That is, it applies to all those who show by their perseverance in living by faith in Christ despite all the pressures that they are members of the true universal church. Jesus knows the desperate struggle of the church on earth. So he reassures us with his promise.

It is a promise of everlasting life. It is a promise of forgiveness and cleansing. It is a promise that we will be co-heirs with him, sharing in his glory, reigning with him, knowing him and being individually known by him – by name, face to face, eternally secure in the heavenly city, never to leave his side again.

That is the promise that Jesus gives to the whole church on earth now. He is in the midst of the church. It is his church. He bought it with his blood. The church sins and the church suffers, but he will never let it go. He will bring her safely through to eternity. That's a promise.

The next section gives us a vision of the universal church from a different perspective. My second heading, then, is this:


Secondly, THE OUTWORKING OF THE PROMISE

We're looking now at 4.1 – 7.8. And what we have here are pictures of the whole church on earth and in heaven until the Day of Judgement.

The catholic church is the gathering of all believers around the throne of God, and that is exactly what we get a glimpse of here. But the remarkable thing is that in this section the earthly church is clearly still continuing. We are seeing the earthly church that Jesus addresses in the seven letters of chapters 2 and 3. But we are also seeing the heavenly church of those who have gone before. So 4.1 says:

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven.

In other words, here is the universal church in both its earthly and its heavenly dimensions. Let me quickly highlight the key elements of the vision. You can take the outline home with you and follow these references through in more detail on your own. At the centre of the church, then, is God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

(4.2) At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. (4.5) From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. [Which, as the NIV footnote indicates, is referring to the one Holy Spirit. It isn't saying there are seven Holy Spirits. Remember that seven refers to wholeness or, in relation to God, perfection.] (5.6) Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre of the throne...

The Father on the throne, the Spirit before the throne, the Son at the centre of the throne. One God in three, ruling all things. Then around the throne are the representatives of God's creation (4.6):

In the centre, around the throne, were four living creatures…

In a circle around them are the representatives of the whole church. Twenty four is two times twelve which maybe refers to the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles – the Old Covenant and the New Covenant people of God in heaven (4.4):

Surrounding the throne were twenty four other thrones and seated on them were twenty four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.

Then in a larger circle around them, there are the angels. 5.11:

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain…

But that is not all. Later on there are others revealed. 6.9:

… I saw under the altar [that is to say, safely in the very presence of God] the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow-servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.

Clearly this is talking about the period between the coming of Christ and his final return. The Day of Judgement has not yet come. In other words this is now. The catholic church suffers. Some people are dying for their faith. They always have. They are now, around the world. They will continue to do so. And those who do, it seems, are given a place of special honour, even as they are told to be patient and wait.

But the suffering of God's people, even to death, will never destroy them. Why? Because they are protected. They are sealed, to use the language of Revelation. All the destructive forces unleashed on the earth will not finish them. Look on to 7.3, where there's a kind of flashback. A messenger of God cries out to the angels who are about to unleash destruction:

"Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.

These 'servants of God' are the members of the church still struggling away on earth. These are the overcomers who Jesus speaks to in the seven letters, who make up the true, universal church on earth. They are the servants of God, the inheritors of the promise. We are the servants of God if we listen to the voice of Jesus and remain faithful. All this is an astounding insight into the way things really are. You won't hear this on the Nightly News. You won't see this on the filmed reports from trouble spots around the world. But this is the real story. This is the situation of the catholic church – all God's people, on earth and in heaven. And then in the second half of chapter 7, the scene shifts again, and we get a view of the end. Which brings me to my third and final heading:


Thirdly, THE FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISE

This, then, is 7.9-17, where we are given a vision of the whole church with God in eternity.

And it makes the heart leap in anticipation. 7.9:

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language [from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Southern Sudan, Mount Kenya, Mexico City, Tokyo, Tyneside and the rest], standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes [the clothing of forgiveness and acceptance and the gift of holiness] and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.

And from 7.13:

Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes – who are they, and where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation [in other words the overcomers who have suffered and struggled on earth with a hostile world, the sinful nature and Satan]; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [they have overcome by faith in Christ who died for their sins]. Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

The suffering, and the sinning, and the wearying struggle, at last, are over. That is the destiny of the catholic, universal church. That is what we hold on to. By faith, we reach out and take hold of that day. That is where we are, even in the thick of the battle. We believe in one holy catholic… church.