Chapter Six — The Church Is Universal
Now that we have considered the unity and holiness of the church, we can move on to the Nicene Creed's third descriptor of the church—the church is catholic. It's important to remember that the word catholic doesn't refer to the Roman Catholic Church. Rather, the term catholic means universal, or for all time and in all places. The idea is that the church of Jesus Christ is not a parochial body that is found only in a particular city or only among a unique people that are huddled together in some geographical
What Is the Church?
location. It's not even something that's bound by national borders. Rather, the church of Christ is something that is found all across the world, made up of people from every language, tongue, and nation.
Not too long ago, I spoke at a small church in Florida. There were about a hundred and fifty people in the con gregation that morning. I made the comment before I began to preach that I hoped they would excuse me for being nervous about speaking there but that I always got nervous when I preached in front of millions of people. They laughed and looked around to see if there was a radio program being done or a television camera to beam this out beyond the confines of this small church. I assured them that I was serious and turned their atten tion to a passage from the book of Hebrews. The author writes this:
"For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, 'If even a beast
The Church Is Universal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.' Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, 'I tremble with fear.' But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." (Heb. 12:18–24)
The author of Hebrews is speaking here of the church and the experience of the church universal. He reminds us of the new situation that has come to pass with the tri umph of Christ and that things have changed since the days of the Old Testament. He says that you don't come to that mountain that was covered with darkness and with thunder and lightning, that was a place of abject terror. (This describes the occasion when God came from heaven to Mount Sinai and gave the tablets of stone, the law, to Moses.) The author says that's not what we're doing when we go to church. Now when we attend church, we're
What Is the Church?
entering into heaven itself, where Christ has gone in His ascension. As our high priest, He has entered into the heav enly sanctuary once for all and has ripped apart this veil of separation that prohibited access for us into the immediate presence of God. According to this text, we have now been given access to heaven itself.
God is everywhere, He's not just inside a church build ing. We know we can't restrict His presence, but there is an important symbolic significance at the door of a church. When we walk into that building, spiritually speaking, we are coming to the place where God's people are assembled together to offer worship and the sacrifice of praise to Him. The church is holy ground. It's the sacred place where the people of God are gathered together for the sacred task of worship.
The New Testament says that when we enter into wor ship together, we're not just worshiping in an assembly of a hundred and fifty people, but our worship is taking place in heaven. Paul warns us of our behavior during the assem bly because the angels are watching and participating. Also, the author of Hebrews tells us that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses—the saints who have gone before us.
The Church Is Universal
So, who is in our congregation on Sunday morning? Last Sunday I was in church, and guess who was there? Abel, Noah, Abraham, and Isaac showed up, and also David and Deborah and Joshua and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Esther and Amos and Leah and Hosea and Joel and Ezekiel and Hannah and Daniel were there. Paul and Peter were there, as well as Stephen, Mary, Barnabas, and Luke, the great physician. Timothy comes to our church, along with Titus and James. And I looked around, and guess who else was there? I couldn't believe it. Athanasius, Augustine, Martin and Katie Luther, John and Idelette Calvin, Jonathan and Sarah Edwards, and B. B. Warfield. All of the saints who have entered into their rest are part of the heavenly assem bly. When the church gathers, no matter how small, no matter how remote the place where it assembles—it is the catholic church.
Not only that, but in our gathering in church we are enjoying what the Apostles' Creed calls the communio sanctorum—the communion of the saints. It's not just the saints who have gone before us into heaven—the church triumphant—but the saints who are still here in the church militant: the saints from the Czech Republic, the saints
What Is the Church?
from Hungary, from Romania, from China, from Brazil, from Kenya, from England, and all across the globe. We're joined together in a communion of the church catholic. How can that be? It's very simple. It's the mystical union of Christ and His bride. Everybody who's a part of the bride of Christ is in Christ Jesus. Wherever Christ is, there is His church.
Let's recall the book of Hebrews again:
"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." (Heb. 12:22–24)
The greatest thing about the church in worship is that the church is in the presence of Christ. Christ comes to his bride, and every time the bride assembles, the bridegroom is there. That's why you don't ever want to miss it. That's
The Church Is Universal why you never want to forsake the assembling together of the saints. If I put out a news bulletin and it said, "Guess who's going to be in church next Sunday? Jesus Himself is coming!" what appointment wouldn't you cancel to be there?