The Attributes of the Church

Tonight we're on lesson number five and we're going to be looking at the attributes of the church. Now that may be something you haven't thought of before. When we study theology, going back three years ago when we started this series, we began with theology proper and we looked at the nature and attributes of God. And we know God by His attributes. God is holy. God is love. God is true and so forth. Well, so too we can know the church by her attributes and her attributes are received through her union with Christ. And we're going to be looking at four key attributes of the church tonight.

We're going to begin with Bible point number one. The church is the great company of persons who Christ has saved, in whom He dwells, to whom and through whom He reveals God, and to whom and in whom He exercises spiritual dominion. This is the definition we've been working with of the church. The church is a saved people. The church is a people of God whom He dwells, whom He is united to, whom He's revealed Himself to and through, and in whom He exercises His dominion. He's Lord of the church. He is our Lord individually and He's Lord of us corporately as well. United to Christ, the church is glorious and reflects the very splendor of Christ. Scripture declares — or describes — the church under four key attributes. Attributes is the first blank. Under four key attributes that are always — that's the second blank — always true of the church. These four attributes are always true. And they're always true because she is united to Christ the Savior.

Third blank is Nicene — the Nicene, and that's spelled N-I-C-E-N-E — the Nicene Creed. As a Baptist, we're not really what we'd call a creedal people, right? Oftentimes the Baptist kind of almost bragged, no creed but the Bible, right? But that's kind of a creed in and of itself. But there have been historic creeds that have blessed the church and have helped the church in times of controversy. The Apostles' Creed is one of them. The Nicene Creed is another one. The Athanasian Creed is another one. We've looked at the Nicene Creed before, back when we looked at the attributes of God and we discussed the Trinity, because the Nicene Creed is the creed that first was established in 325 AD, where all the churches sent their bishops — their elders, if you will — to Nicaea, and they put into verbal form what they had been teaching about the church, and specifically about the Lord Jesus being the Son of God and the Holy Spirit and the Father being all God, one God in three persons. Well, in 325 they came up with basically the verbiage of the Nicene Creed, but they revised it in 381. This is about 50 years or so later, because what they realized is they got the Trinity right and they got the gospel right in the Nicene Creed, but they left out the church, and you can't have the Trinity and the gospel without the church. And so they worked on that, and it was actually pretty much already formulated before they met together. But in 381 they met in Constantinople and they revised the creed. They added verbiage about the church.

The Nicene Creed summarizes these four attributes saying, "We believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic church." There are four attributes that are mentioned there: one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic church. So we're going to be looking at all four of these attributes tonight.

Understanding these distinguishing attributes helps to see the church in her glory. Glory is the fourth blank. We're going to get there actually when we get to that particular attribute, I promise. That's the most common question that's asked when people recite the Nicene Creed. It's a very good question, a very astute question. So we'll get there, I promise. Flip over on the back, and here actually I've printed for you the Nicene Creed from 381, and I want to read it through real quickly.

"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made. Of one being with the Father, through Him all things were made. For us and for our salvation He" — that's Christ — "came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried. On the third day He arose again in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, and who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy Catholic and apostolic church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."

The creed is important because it's not Scripture, but it's a very faithful summary of Scripture, and that's where creeds are very helpful. When the Nicene Creed was first formulated in 325, there was a man named Arius, and Arius was denying the divinity of Christ. And so that's where a creed comes in really handy for churches to agree on — this is what the Scriptures say. So they're very helpful in times of controversy. And what's really important about this creed is that it's been in confession for over 1,500 years.

All churches of all different Christian denominations have held this. These four attributes — the church being one, being holy, being Catholic, being apostolic — have been a common confession of pretty much every church over the last 1,500 years. So they all agree, and when you can get that many churches to agree on something, that tells you that it's important. And we'll see from Scripture, all four of these attributes you can find in John 17, the high priestly prayer of Christ. You can also find them in Ephesians chapter two, and then you can find them also all throughout Scripture. But those two chapters in particular — Ephesians 2 and John chapter 17 — you find these pretty much stated as they are here in the creed.

The application for number one: the church's attributes reflect the attributes of God. God is the blank here. The church receives these attributes, and they don't ever change because she's united to an unchanging Savior. And as we look at each one of these attributes, I'll show how it actually relates to an attribute in God.

But point number two, the church is one. That's the first part of the Nicene Creed: we believe in one. The church is one. It is a singular organism. Singular is the second blank. The church is the body of Christ, of which all believers are members. The church is directed by one head, Jesus Christ. The church is animated by one Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. All the members of the church share in the same faith. We've received the same love. The Bible says that the love of Christ has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And we live in the same hope.

Many local churches and various denominations are not necessarily a violation of this unity, as this unity is essential, internal — that's the third blank — internal and spiritual. Spiritual is the fourth blank — rather than external or physical. When we say that the church is one, we don't mean that all churches meet in the same building, or all churches worship in the same way, or in the same pattern with the same liturgy, or even hold to the same creeds, in the style of worship. But what we are saying is that all churches — and what is the definition of the church? It's those whom God has saved, in whom He dwells, in whom Christ — to and through, in whom He exercises dominion. We're talking about regenerate believers. All regenerate believers make up the one body of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Head, right? And His Spirit animates us. That's what we mean by the church being one, the church being singular.

Now that relates, of course, to God. What was the great quote from the Old Testament? "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one." You should worship Him with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, right? You worship Him with all your being.

And of course, we look at the doctrine of the Trinity, and we say that God is one in essence, yet three in persons. He's one in one way. The Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God, and there's one God, but there are three persons, right? That defines His very nature. So the church makes up the one body of Christ. There are not two peoples of God, right — Israel as a separate body of God and the church as a separate body of God. There are not different churches within Christianity.

I love reading theology, and when I read theology sometimes you'll hear about, for example, the Scottish theologians, right? You'll read about John Knox and these wonderful men. Then you may read about the German theologians, you read about Luther, right? You may read about African theology, African liberation theology that's been popular over the last 50 years or so. But there is no hyphenated groups within the church, right? The church consists of all those whom Christ has saved and in whom He dwells, and in whom He's revealed Himself to and through, and in whom He exercises dominion. So there's only one body of Christ, right? One church.

When we say that we have different denominations — I mentioned here, many local churches and various denominations are not necessarily a violation of this unity. It's natural for us to look around and say, "Well, we've got some differences with some of the body of Christ." For example, here — a great example is on this campus itself. On Sunday morning, we worship here, right? Bula Baptist worships in this building, but you know we have a Spanish congregation, and they worship in the Learning Center, right? Are they the church of Jesus Christ? Absolutely. God has saved them, He indwells them, He's revealed Himself to and through them, and He exercises dominion over them, right?

Now we have some differences, one being a language barrier, right? I can't speak Spanish, or not very good Spanish, right? And we may have some differences in beliefs as well, perhaps. I don't know that congregation well enough. They're a Baptist congregation, but they are our brothers and sisters. They make up the one body of Jesus Christ. At the same time that the Spanish church meets in the Learning Center, over in the chapel we have a Portuguese congregation, right? I don't know a lick of Portuguese, right? And not only are they a Portuguese congregation, but they're also a Portuguese Presbyterian congregation. They're going to have some differences in the way that they view ecclesiology, such as what we're studying right now, right? Especially when it comes to baptism and the makeup of the church. There are some differences, but has Christ saved them? Yes. Does He indwell them? Yes. Has He revealed Himself to them, and is He revealing Himself through them? Are they being a missional church? Yes. And does He rule over them? Yes. So they are the church. There's one body. There's one people of God here. So it's a singular church.

Ephesians 4:4–6 says, "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling — for the one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all." When we get to verse 6, that's just so sublime to think about how He's above all, through all, and in you all. That's rich material there. And you'll find this in John 17. I mentioned that in John 17, the high priestly prayer of Christ, in verse 23, He says, "I in you" — speaking of the Father — "in you and Me, that they may be one in us," right?

Because God the Father and God the Son and God the Spirit are one, we are brought into that union through Jesus Christ. What a blessed gift that is. Flip over on the back.

1 Corinthians 12:13–14 and verse 27: "For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greek." Doesn't matter what your heritage is, okay? Whether you're Jew or Greek — which was a big thing in the first century because it was the Jews who had received the oracles of God. It was they who had the heritage, right? And they had the fathers, and all of a sudden the Messiah has come and they're not sure if these Gentiles should be a part of the new covenant, right? And so Paul's reminding them here, "For by one Spirit we're all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greek, whether slaves or free." Doesn't matter your social or economic status. That really turned things upside down in the early church when you could have a slave worshiping right beside his master in the church, and perhaps the slave even being a deacon or being in leadership. "And all have been made to drink into one Spirit, for in fact the body is not one member but many. Now you are the body of Christ and members individually."

Flip back over on the front. The application for number two. What makes us one with the underground church in China? China is the other side of the world, right? Have you looked at Chinese script? Oh, it's beautiful, but I can't decipher that at all. I could at least make out a few words in Spanish or something like that, or Italian, but not Chinese. But how are we one with them? How are we considered to be one body with the underground church that meets in China? Christ. They're the people whom Christ has saved, in whom He dwells, whom He's revealed Himself to and through, in whom He exercises His dominion, right? So we can have people that we've never met, have nothing at all in common with, but we do have everything in common because we share the Lord Jesus Christ as our King.

Bible point number three. While the church on earth is objectively one in its very union with Christ — we're actually one because we are in Christ, and Christ is in us — the church is called — called is the first blank — to outwardly — outwardly is the second blank — to outwardly express and truly live this inward unity. We're always one. That's an unchangeable fact of the church because we're united to Christ, but we are called to live and put into practice this unity, right? Not just positional unity, but practical unity. This call to unity is one of the chief subjects of Christ in His high priestly prayer, John 17:21. This call to unity in the church is an appeal to, quote, "walk worthy of the calling with which you were called," Ephesians 4:1.

The unity of the church is therefore both a positional reality and an aspirational ideal that we must endeavor to keep. In other words, unity doesn't just happen by itself within the church. We have to work towards it, right? We have to endeavor. The word "endeavor" that's used in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 3, means to work fervently, to work swiftly.

When things are out of line, you don't let them fester, right? You move in and you make things right. You don't let bitterness take root. You nip it in the bud, right? You be a peacemaker. "Blessed are the peacemakers," what the Lord Jesus says.

Ephesians 4:1–3 says this: "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you" — which is another way of saying, beg you — "to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring" — striving, working fervently — "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." To be able to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace within the church, it means, according to verse 2, that we have to do so with all lowliness and gentleness. There is no room for egos in the church. There's no room for pride in the church. We're to esteem others as better than ourselves, right? If we don't, what happens to unity? We treat others as less than, not as important as us. We can be a respecter of persons. I know the children have studied the book of James, right? And what does James tell us? Not to be a respecter of persons. If someone comes in and they don't have fancy clothes, we're not to treat them badly, or with indifference, and treat a rich man with his nice robes better. No, right? We treat everybody as a child of God who has been united to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Flip over on the back. John 17:20–21 — this is the high priestly prayer: "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may be one as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."

If the church does not display unity, will the world believe that Christ was sent? Will the world believe that these are redeemed people whom Christ indwells, whom Christ has revealed Himself to and through, and whom He governs, if we can't even have peace among ourselves? Right? Flip back over on the front.

The application for number three. Give examples of things that can swiftly — swiftly is the blank — divide a church. What are things that can swiftly divide or break the unity of a church?

Gossip. Lies?

"Heard lies?" Yeah.

Pride. Exactly. What does James say about the tongue?

It's deceitful. It sets the world on fire. So we have to be careful with our words. We have to be careful with our actions. We have to be mindful of one thing in churches that's often common — sometimes it's not meant, but it happens — is we become kind of cliquish, right? In other words, we have folks that we're very close to, and it's really easy after Sunday worship to speak to your good buddy, your brother or sister, that you love in Christ, that you haven't seen in a while. But there may be someone else who isn't so connected to the church, right? And no one's talking to them, and they may walk away feeling as if the congregation is divided, right? So that's where we say, I know my brother's going to love me; if I don't talk to him today, I'm going to go and talk to this sister, I'm going to talk to this brother. I'm going to make them feel welcome, right? We have to be intentional in doing so to maintain this unity and the bond of peace.

Yeah, exactly. Sin that's tolerated — which we'll be getting to when we talk about the holiness of the church — but that is a divisive thing, right? Oh, we tolerate some sins, but pastor sure likes to call out my sin, right? But he doesn't call out that person's sin. We can't tolerate any sin — sin is corruptive, right? Excellent.

About point number four, the church is holy. So there's one holy Catholic and apostolic church. The church is holy. That's the first blank. The church is sanctified. That's the second blank. Sanctified means to be made holy. It means to be set apart. The church is sanctified in Christ and even called saints — it's the name for believers, both of individuals and for the church at large. And what does "saints" mean? Holy ones.

The church is holy because she is united to the Holy One. Holy is the third blank. You have Mark 1:24, Acts 3:14 — several references there. Jesus Christ is called the Holy One of Israel, right? And in Acts, the apostles upbraided the crowd: "You released Barabbas but you condemned the Holy One," right? Remember the demons — they said, "We know who You are, Jesus, You are the Holy One of God," right? As is the Head, so is the body. Because Christ is holy, He is the holy God, the church is holy. The church is made holy. Holy is the third blank.

There are three holies here: holy, holy, holy. The church is made holy by belonging to Christ. We all know Ephesians 5, where it talks about a husband loving his wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, and how He washes her with the word of God and sanctifies her, that He can present her a spotless bride. Then Paul goes on to say, "I speak in a mystery, but I'm really speaking about Christ and His church," right? Because that's one of the figures of the church's union with Christ — that between a groom and a bride, right? The church is called the bride of Christ. So we are made holy because Christ is holy.

1 Corinthians 1:2 says, "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints." Saying, the church of Corinth — they are sanctified. They are already set apart. They are already called holy ones because in God's eyes they are, right? They are in Christ. Flip over on the back.

1 Corinthians 6:11. Earlier in this chapter, he lists a ton of abhorrent sins — the worst you can imagine. And then this is what he tells the Corinthians: "And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." When we studied soteriology, if you remember, Mike Sampayo taught us on sanctification. And sanctification is God making us holy from the moment of our salvation all the way until our glorification — God conforming us into the image of Christ. But the Bible also uses sanctification in a sense past tense, almost similar to justification, in that we are positionally sanctified. We're considered already set apart and already holy because we're united to Christ who is the Holy One. Flip over on the front.

The application for number four: how is a church made to be holy? And I mentioned here 1 Corinthians 6:11 in parentheses — that's the verse that we just read. How is the church considered holy?

We have a hymn or a praise song that we sing here called "His Robes for Mine," right? It talks about our union with Christ, that when we place our trust and our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, what does He do? He takes our filthiness, He takes our impurity — our sins like scarlet, right? Takes them away. And what does He do? He gives us the very robe of His righteousness, the robe that belongs to Christ. Christ makes us righteous because He gives us His own righteousness, and He in turn takes our sin, our shame, and bore it on the cross on our behalf.

Bible point number five. While the church on earth is indeed holy before God objectively in Christ — in is the first blank — in Christ. Because we're in Christ, we're holy before God, absolutely holy before God because we're in Christ. She is simultaneously being made holy by Christ — by Christ is the second blank. And I want you to open up your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 10. I want you to see these two verses here side by side. We're studying the book of Hebrews on Sunday morning, and to be able to see that we are both objectively holy in Christ and yet we're being made holy in Christ — the Bible has no problem stating both within just a few verses of each other.

Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10: "By that will we have been sanctified" — that means made holy, set apart — "through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." In Christ, we are once and for all holy because His sacrifice is sufficient, His sacrifice pleased — or appeased — the wrath of God, and it's finished; His work is done. But then look at verse 14: "For by one offering He has perfected forever" — here again, we see that we've been forever perfected by His sacrifice — "those who are being sanctified." It says we've been perfected, but yet we're being perfected.

So it's not wrong at all to say that the church is holy in Christ, but she's also being made holy by Christ. The church is to pursue holiness, which is commanded in Hebrews 12:14, and to align our life with our calling. Pursue is the third blank and life is the fourth blank. We are to pursue holiness. We're not to be passive in our sanctification. Yes, but we are to pursue it. We are to hunger and thirst for righteousness, for His name's sake.

Matthew 5:48 — Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." You see where the church derives her holiness? It's from the holiness of God. God's holiness is a self-affirmation and a self-willing — His self-affirmation being that He wills for us the best, and what is the best for us is His infinite perfection. If He willed for us sin, or if He willed for us falling short or missing the mark, that wouldn't be His best for us. But His self-affirmation is the very best thing for us. He wills Himself to us. This is both a self-affirmation and a self-willing. His willing is presented to us in the command: "Be holy as I am holy. Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."

The application for number five: grow into a holy temple in the Lord.

Flip over on the back and let's look at reference number five here. Speaking of the church, saying that we are the church in whom "the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord." We're not just called a temple; we're called a what? A holy temple. Because we take on the very character of our Lord, right? "And in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." The church is to be holy.

Application for number five: we are to grow into a holy temple in the Lord. How do we grow in holiness?

Reading the Bible — exactly right. When you read about the character of Christ, it transforms you, right? We're beholding His character and we're being transformed into His very image by the Spirit. How else do we grow in holiness?

Yeah. Fellowship with like-minded people. When we can encourage one another and edify one another — sometimes maybe a gentle correction or admonishment. "David, you're straying there; you need to get back on the path." We need that, right? Just as kids need that, we need that as adults from one another — accountability. Happy, yeah? Prayer. When you say, "Holy Spirit, make me holy," right? It's wonderful.

So we need to grow into a holy temple of the Lord.

Bible point number six, the church is Catholic. And you can see the spelling there right beside the next sentence: Catholic — C-A-T-H-O-L-I-C. Notice, Catholic is not what we mean by the Roman Catholic Church, okay? Catholic does not mean the Roman church. It means literally "spread abroad." Spread is the second blank. The church is universal in the sense that she is not tied to a specific geography or nation or people group as it was in the old covenant. In the old covenant, the people of God was who? Israel, right? And where was their geographic locale? Israel, right? That land, right?

But the church is Catholic. And we say Catholic meaning that it's spread out. It is universal. It's not tied to one specific people group, as if to say, "Well, if you're a Gentile, you're not welcome," or "If you do not dwell in the promised land, then you will not be blessed." Not that at all. The church is not confined to nationality — that's the third blank — or heritage, societal and economic status, or gender. You find that in Ephesians 2:14–18 and Galatians 3:28 as well.

The church is not confined to any place — reference John 4:21. If you remember, Jesus is traveling and He goes to Samaria. And there's a Samaritan woman, and Jesus strikes up a conversation with her. And she says, "Well, tell me this" — she says, "My people say we should worship on Mount Gerizim." She was what we would call a half-breed Samaritan. The Samaritans were the northern ten tribes of Israel when they were wiped off the map by the Assyrians. Few of them were left, and they intermarried with both the Assyrians who were imported there. And so they were not considered pure Israelites. And so the southern kingdom rejected them and said, "You're not welcome to worship in our temple, because you've intermarried, you sinned against God." Well, there was no love lost. The Samaritans said, "Well, we're going to have our own temple and we're going to have our own place to sacrifice, and we're going to do it up on Mount Gerizim." They set up basically competing churches, if you will, to use that word. And she asked Christ, "Where should we worship? Gerizim, or should it be in Jerusalem?" And Jesus says, "Neither. The day is coming and now is when you shall worship the Lord in spirit and in truth." He's not tied to locality, right? He's not tied to people group. The church is not confined to any place, but worships God everywhere in spirit and in truth.

The church is spread all over the world according to God's eternal decree and for His glory. This was His plan from the very beginning — to spread the gospel throughout the entire world. And I want you to see this; open up your Bibles to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 12. Genesis chapter 12 is where Abraham, the father of the faithful, is called by God. Genesis 12:1–3: "Now the Lord said to Abram, get out of your country and from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing." Verse 3: "I will bless those who bless you. I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

See, from the very beginning, God intended to send blessing on the entire world through Abraham. It was through Abraham that the Messiah would come, right? That's the first time that God makes a promise to Abraham. There are three other instances. The next one you'll see is in Genesis 15. It's a flip over a couple pages. With each of these promises, the promises get more expansive, larger and greater. Look in Genesis 15:5: "Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward the heaven and count the stars, if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.' And he believed the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness." So you see the promises getting even bigger. Who can count the stars, right? No one can.

Let's go a little bit further. Let's look in Genesis 17. Here's the third time where God comes to Abraham. The promises again get bigger and bigger. Genesis 17:4–6: "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham. For I have made you a father of many nations, and I will make you exceedingly fruitful. And I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you." He's telling Abraham now: not just one nation, but the father of many, many nations — for generations you can't even count or fathom — is what He's telling him.

Then look again in Genesis 22. This is the fourth time that God makes these promises. Again, the promises get bigger and bigger. Genesis 22:17–18: "Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand on the seashore, and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." Even the sand on the seashore — you can't even count that, right? "And in your seed all the nations will be blessed."

And of course, when you get to Galatians — in fact, let's go there. Galatians chapter 3. We see that his seed is Christ. It was through Christ that these blessings have come upon the world. Galatians 3:13–14: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,' that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles" — that just means nations, all nations — "in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." The blessing of Abraham is made to all nations through faith in Jesus Christ, through receiving His Spirit, through being united to Christ.

And I could go on, but I'll let you read these on your own time. Psalm 67 speaks of this. Psalm 117 speaks of this. Even in John 17, you'll see in verse 9 and verse 23 this ever-increasing blessing of the church, the spreading out of the church. And that's what we mean by simply saying that the church is Catholic — not that it's the Roman Catholic Church, but that it is spread out and that it is universal. The gospel is for every person; whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

John 4:23, reading ahead here: "But the hour is coming, and now is, that true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." And we can relate that to the character of God. Does God have a body like us? He's Spirit, right? He fills all space — above all, and through all, and in all, right? And yet He's rather non-spatial; He is the Lord of space. He fills all heaven and all earth in His immensity, right? So there's not one place that you worship God. You worship God everywhere, because He is everywhere.

The application — the church is a temple of God made to worship Him. Temple is the blank for number six. You are the temple. You are the church. So everywhere you go, you worship God. Your very life is a living sacrifice to worship God. You can worship God in your work, right? When customers are giving you a hard time, when coworkers are being stubborn and you're frustrated, you can worship God right then and there — worship Him by turning the other cheek, showing the love of Christ, being a witness to them. Worship God wherever you are.

Bible point number seven. While the church is indeed spread all over the world, the church is called to be a missional — missional, as in mission — people. The church is sent — sent is the second blank — into the world to be Christ's ambassadors, given Christ's ministry of reconciliation. Yes, the church is spread all over the world, but we are to be spreaders of the church, right? We are to spread the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The church seeks to obey Christ by making disciples of all nations.

The church prays — that's the third blank — for boldness to proclaim Christ. I encourage you to look up these references. We're not going to look them up just because of time. It's amazing how many times the apostles pray for boldness, right? In fact, I am going to read to you from Acts 4:29. This is one of those touchstone passages. Acts 4:29: "Now, Lord, look on their threats and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word."

We're to pray for boldness, right? If Peter would make such a prayer, if Paul were to request prayer for boldness, don't you think we need to pray for boldness as well? We do. The church prays for boldness to proclaim Christ. The church depends — that's the fourth blank — on the Spirit for empowerment and opportunity. We depend on the Spirit to empower us, to give us boldness, and to open up doors, right, that we may have utterance to speak.

Look at Acts 4:29: "Now look upon their threats and grant to Your servants with all boldness that they may speak Your word." Let me show you what happens in verse 31: "And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness." When you pray for boldness, when you pray for unction, and ask the Holy Spirit to give you boldness, don't be surprised what He does, right? And when it comes out, it's like, "Praise the Lord, that's not me — that's the Lord doing it."

Application for number seven: be filled with the Spirit and speak the word with boldness. That's what they were. The place was rattled, they were filled with the Spirit, and they spoke the word with boldness. They didn't merely live their life with boldness. They spoke the word with boldness, because that's how people are saved, right? "How will they hear without a preacher?" That's what the book of Romans tells us.

Bible point number eight: the church is apostolic. Apostolic. This does not mean that the church has an apostolic succession of leaders, as claimed erroneously by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, and the Assyrian churches. I don't know how well you know church history, but those are four branches that all have competing popes. They all claim different lineage directly from Saint Peter, and they all claim to have apostolic succession, as if Peter named his successor, and then he named his successor all the way down to now. And it's not just these four.

Believe it or not, the Lutheran church has their version of apostolic succession. The English Anglican church has their version, and even the Swedish national church has their version of apostolic succession. Now, you know that apostolic succession — there's a Greek word for it, and it's called baloney. You find the whole account there in Acts, and what happens after Judas has hanged himself? The disciples take it upon themselves to name his successor. Yes, they cast lots. They ask God's blessing in a backhanded way, and they pick a man, Matthias. Whatever happened to him? History doesn't remember him, but we remember Paul, because Paul was the last of the apostles. He's the one chosen in due time by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Those apostles were called by our Lord Jesus Christ directly. There's no apostolic succession there. But when we say the church is apostolic, it's apostolic in that it is grounded in apostolic succession of truth. Truth is the second blank. In other words, the church is built on the teaching of the apostles. The apostles were eyewitnesses to the Lord Jesus Christ. They were chosen to go and plant churches and to be missionaries. It is their kerygma — their preaching — which is Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. That's what the church is founded upon. In that sense, we are apostolic because we continue in the very same gospel that Paul preached, the very same gospel that John preached, the very same gospel that Peter preached. We preach, right? We hold dear to it.

The word of God forms the church. That's the third blank. It's very important, because in some churches, such as the Roman Catholic Church, where they believe in apostolic succession and apostolic authority, the Pope's word rivals that of the written word, right? But the church does not make the word of God. The church was made by the word of God. We are a creature of the word. The church does not form the word, but is a creature of the word. Romans 10:17: "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

1 Peter 1:23–25 — we'll look at that on the back. Flip over on the back. "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever. Because" — here he quotes Isaiah — "all flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you," right? It's that same word that births the church, right? It's the word of Christ. And we are apostolic in that we proclaim the same gospel and hold the same faith as the apostles.

The church is built — that's the fourth blank — built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets who rest entirely on Jesus Christ and testify that He is the Word of God made flesh. See that in Ephesians 2:20: "having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone." See, the church is built on the foundation. Everything that the prophets in the Old Testament were speaking of, they were declaring Christ, right? Find that at the very end of Luke's gospel. We find that also in Paul's testimony before Festus, right? They are testifying that it was necessary that Christ must suffer, be buried, and rise again. That's the testimony of the prophets. That's the testimony of the apostles. And the church is built on that because we're united to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God is the God of all truth. So this attribute of the church is related to that eternal attribute of God. He's altogether true, right? And He is the Christ — the Word of God made flesh, the divine Logos.

Application for number eight: "Have you been born again through the word of God?" And they here quote 1 Peter 1:23 that we read there on the back. What I mean by that is this: there are many people who claim salvation but not based on the word of God. They say, "Oh, I'm going to heaven. St. Peter, he's got my place warmed up for me because my daddy was a deacon," right? They're basing it on their heritage, or they're basing it on a false gospel. "Oh, I've done good. I've walked some old ladies across the street. I put my little money in the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas time. Heaven's for me." They're not basing their salvation on the word of God. And our salvation is only found in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.

Bible point number nine. While the church is the recipient of the apostolic faith grounded in the gospel of Christ, it must, quote, "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints," Jude 3. We are the recipients of the gospel. We are formed by the word of Christ. We are in Christ who is the truth of God, yet we must contend for this faith that was once delivered to the saints.

Every church must be always battling against false doctrines, heresies, right? False gospels that will lead our congregants astray. We must contend. What does "contend" mean?

Fight, right? If you're a boxer, you say he's a contender, right? And so we've got to fight for the truth of God. Don't give any place to deceptions, to half-truths, to falsehoods, to lies. Fight. We contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.

The church must guard — that's the second blank — guard what was committed to her trust. We, as bearers of the apostolic faith, have been given the apostolic faith in trust. And we are to keep it, we are to guard it, and we are to share it, right? The church must commit — that's the third blank — this deposit to faithful men to teach — teach is the fourth blank — others. What good is it to possess the apostolic faith if you're not teaching it to others, right? Isn't that what the great commission is all about? Make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all things, right? That's what the church must do. If the church is not making disciples, then it can't be said to be truly an apostolic church, right? She must contend earnestly for the faith, she must keep that which was committed to her, and she must teach it to other men who would then make disciples, who will then make disciples, right? That's just an appropriation of the Old Testament, that you are to take the words of the Lord and teach them to your family, right? When you sit down, when you walk, when you rise up.

Flip over on the back. 1 Timothy 6:20–21: "O Timothy, guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen." This is how he closes 1 Timothy, saying: "Stick to the faithful apostolic word that was committed to you. Guard it."

Then 2 Timothy 1:13–14: "Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us."

The application for number nine: how can you be a part of the church's disciple-making ministry? Disciples is the blank. How can you be a part of the church's disciple-making ministry?

Probably better to phrase it: how are you a part of the church's disciple-making ministry?

Do you have family worship? Sharing the gospel — exactly right.

How else are we partakers of this disciple-making ministry?

Handing out tracts — sure — going out and being an evangelist, right?

Financial support. We don't think about that often, but that is a ministry. Stewardship. When we give faithfully — one of our sisters here at the church brought a change bucket last week that she had collected for a long time, wanted to be given toward benevolence — and how sweet that is, right? That's the widow's mite, so to speak, right there. When we do that, that allows the church to make disciples, right? That allows the church to do ministry, pays the bills so we can meet and we can worship together, right? When we worship and sing, that's part of disciple-making, because do not our hymns teach us sound doctrine, right? And do they not extol the Savior whom we love and whose disciples we are? So every one of us is a part of the disciple-making ministry of the church, whether it's through evangelism, whether it's through your home where you have home worship, whether it's through discipling someone else, whether it's through giving — there are so many ways that we're all part of this apostolic church.

So those are the attributes of the church. We are one church. We are holy. We are Catholic. And we are apostolic.