Revelation 7 - True Catholicity

Revelation 7 - After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!' (v. 9-10)

Message: True Catholicity 

Time: John mentions himself 4 times as author. It was written around the year 95 on John's exile to the island of Patmos after preaching the gospel to Asia. Revelation comes from the Greek word for apocalypse and refers to an unveiling. The book is about the tribulation period with symbolic language, giving us the end of the story -- Jesus will once and for all heal the wounds of sin, reign for a thousand years on earth, then re-create the world into a place that represents God's original design.

What the Lord is Saying:

Catholicity means universal. In referring to the catholic church, it means the universal church. As we continue to study 4 truths about the church of Christ from the Apostle's creed, we are looking at its unity, its holiness, its catholicity, and its Apostolicity. We have a unity or core beliefs that encompasses all believes throughout the world, those seen visible, but even more so those that belong via the invisible church, the believers that are only seen currently by our omniscient God. This church is holy or set apart for God's purpose in that the members are holy and continue to manifest holiness through there deeds and choices which are to glorify God. His church is universal. There is one church to redeem the world. That church is made up of "whoever believes in Him (John 3:16)." It is "one body and one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:4-6)."  

The Romans Catholic church has asserted or claimed that the universal church consists only of those churches united to the bishop of Rome, the pope. I see other churches that often will do this as well. In conversations with very conservative members of the church of Christ there is the feeling that they are the only true church. The LDS church also makes this claim. But it seems that in this way these churches limit the work of God in our world, decreeing that certain tenets must be a part of church doctrine. Again, often we speak of common truths that we can agree upon and yet many churches hold to truths that many would view negotiable and yet they view as non-negotiable. 

The challenge I believe is to focus on the biblical gospel. I've looked at this before, but I believe the shift from man's condition to seated in the heavenly places is entirely God. Thus, holding to the gospel is holding to the power of God and what He has done in rescuing or redeeming his people. And this comes about by "whoever believes in Him (John 3:16" and "received Him (John 1:12)." 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!' (Revelation 7:9-10)

Summary: God's people includes men and women from every tribe and every tongue that hold to the biblical gospel. 

Promise: Our differences speak to all of our expressions of biblical church. 

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the church and its variation and its many different expressions. We too often focus on our differences with the expectation that we must all be the same. Lord, help us as a people to center ourselves on the gospel and what you have done God in saving us. I pray Lord that the church would be about this mission and we would see that we can still come alongside one another even when we have differences or different ways of expressing our faith in You. Bring us together God. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am now working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of August is about the Body of the Lord - the Church recovered in the Reformation; July was the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation, Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God. 

Christ's Body

The Body of Christ - The Church is the Body of Christ and Christ loves the church. We are to imitate Christ and see that the Church is how Christ carries out His purposes in the world. The Head of the Church - Christ is Head of the church and he only has final authority and gives life to the church. Life is found only in Jesus Christ our Lord. - The Church We Can See - Belonging to a church is not optional, for anyone. We are meant to live in a community with other believers, to hear the Word of God preached, and to grow. The Church We Cannot See - What we see is the Visible church, the invisible church only God knows because He is omniscient and that is the Church we cannot see. 

Truths about the Church from the Apostles Creed

Church Unity - The church is bigger than our local assembly; there are core beliefs among the invisible church. One People Throughout History - God has only one people; throughout the world there are people that share doctrines and truths despite their being differences in where we attend or belong. God's Holy People - By being in Christ, though we still have a fallen nature, God has set us apart as holy, as his saints.