THE APOSTLES' CREED (Part 8)

-In his book Radical, David Platt wrote this:

I am most convicted as a pastor that I am part of a system that has created a whole host of means and methods, plans and strategies for doing church that require little if any power from God. I am frightened by the reality that the church I lead can carry on most of our activities never realizing that the Holy Spirit of God is virtually absent from the picture.

-This quote not only exposes our self-reliance as big, strong Americans, but also how little we think of the Holy Spirit (and I mean by saying that, that we do not regard Him very often, but I also mean that we think Him insignificant). Too often, the Holy Spirit is just an add-on—something extra that is an added bonus to God the Father and God the Son. I think of the Google Chrome web browser that I use the most, and you can add these extensions into the program that help Chrome interact with certain computer programs or websites. These are added on to the browser to make it easier to integrate things from Chrome into those programs or vice versa. They aren’t the main program or browser—they are mere add-ons. That’s what we think of the Holy Spirit.

-But the truth is, we would have nothing without the Holy Spirit. We cannot so separate the persons of the Godhead that one becomes less important than the others. They work in tandem, together in their different roles, to bless us with every spiritual blessing—and without the Godhead as it is, we would lose everything. So, that includes the church. Not only does the Holy Spirit empower the church, the Holy Spirit started the church—there would be no church without the work of the Holy Spirit. And this includes so much more. And the ending of the Apostles’ Creed, while it seems to be a bunch of random theological statements, really are connected with the Holy Spirit, for it is His work that has made these things real and active.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary; Suffered under Pontius Pilate; Was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; The holy catholic church; The communion of saints; The forgiveness of sins; The resurrection of the body, And the life everlasting. Amen.

-Last week I spoke about some general teachings about the Holy Spirit, but tonight I want to talk about how He connects with the rest of what is said in the creed. It starts by say that we believe in the HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. And as first glance you might freak out a little bit seeing the word CATHOLIC there, maybe thinking I have regressed to my pre-salvation days. You see the word and you think, WAIT A MINUTE WE’RE BAPTIST, WE’RE NOT CATHOLIC. But it’s not talking about the Roman Catholic denomination. The word CATHOLIC itself simply means universal. This phrase, along with the phrase COMMUNION OF SAINTS is stating that we believe that there is one true church that stretches out over all the earth over all of time ever since the inception of the church. We believe that God has one people—one church. Yes, the church has local institutions, but in a spiritual sense, there is only one true church. Christ the bridegroom only has one bride, and that is the church universal. So, that is what is meant by a HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH that is the COMMUNION OF SAINTS.

-Jesus founded the church, but then the Holy Spirit birthed the church. What do I mean by that? First consider this passage:

Matthew 16:13–19 ESV

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

-Here Jesus tells us about this new people that He would create—His assembly of believers—His church. He first says that this will be a people who will be founded on one confession of truth. They would confess a faith that will grant them entrance into the people of God. This confession of faith would be based on the truth of who Jesus was. We join Peter in his confession that Jesus IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. A complete trust that Jesus is who claimed to be, and accomplished what He set to accomplish in His death and resurrection. That is the founding confession of the church. You become part of the assembly through that confession of belief.

-But we also notice that the church is founded in power. Jesus says that those who are part of the church through that confession will not allow the gates of hell to prevail against it. This can be taken from many different angles. We first normally take it as meaning that we won’t let the gates of hell keep us from our missionary and Great Commission task. But it also means that hell won’t be able to fence us in (so to speak) to keep us from our Savior or to keep us from spreading throughout the world. No matter what lies the world and the devil throw our way, the church cannot be stopped.

-But the church is also given an authority. Jesus says the keys of the kingdom are given to the church, which is authority over these spiritual matters. What the church, as a group, adjudicates to be the truth of matters according to Scripture is binding. The church is given a great responsibility of a stewardship of authority.

-But what does this have to do with the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit birthed the church and then made these things a reality—the Holy Spirit draws people to make the confession of truth in Christ and empowers to overcome the gates of hell and gives the authority to bind and loose on earth. We see this first in the book of Acts, which is all about the beginnings of the church. After Jesus was raised from the dead He told His disciples

Acts 1:4–5 ESV

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

-And then later it happened:

Acts 2:1–4 ESV

1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

-This is the birth of the church. Those who confessed the truth about Christ were filled and empowered, they went out and preached the good news so that others believed and confessed and they too became part of the church. And the entire book of Acts is the fulfillment of what Jesus promised in Matthew 16, as the church would then spread throughout the world, going from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth—the gates of hell unable to contain them, laying the foundation of faith for the church for thousands of years to come.

-When the Holy Spirit descended and indwelt and filled on Pentecost, God’s people became ONE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH. There is a spiritual unity making one entity and one people—the church. It is holy in that Christ is sanctifying a people for Himself. It is catholic in that it is universal—crossing geographic, racial, and even denominational lines. It is apostolic in that it is founded on the teachings of the Holy-Spirit inspired apostles—the Scriptures. You could say this is summarized:

Titus 2:11–14 ESV

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

-We are a people unto God, through Christ, and it is the Holy Spirit that realizes this in the lives of believers. So, we become a communion of saints. The word saints in the normal use of the term is speaking about believers—holy ones. Saint is not some super status that only certain people reach. All believers are saints in that they are holy ones. And this means that we are separated out of the world, and separated unto God. And again, it is the Holy Spirit that makes this a reality in our life.

-The term COMMUNION OF SAINTS reminds us that we are not loner Christians—there is no such thing. We are part of a group. We have the local church that we are a part of and through whom God works—we are Harvest Baptist Church. We are also part of the church at large throughout the world—we are all brothers and sister in Christ in the church. But we are also a part of the church that has existed ever since Pentecost, and we have a rich ancestry of theology and teaching that we benefit from. As Al Mohler wrote:

We are a church made courageous by the examples of countless ministers and martyrs who have gone before us. The communion of saints reminds us that we are with them—together forever in Christ’s church.

-All Christians are members of a community that share in the riches of Christ, and we use those riches to further the church—calling others to confess and to believe and partake. And it is the Holy Spirit who works.

-We want to pray that we do not grieve the Spirit or quench the Spirit, but the we are the CHURCH that the Holy Spirit has birthed—the bride of Christ...