One Church

Apostle’s Creed X

This is the tenth in our series. It is usually at least two weeks between installments but Steve and I had to trade Sundays, so this is two weeks in a row. Last week we talked about judgement. I believe Christ arose from the grave, and resides with the Father in heaven, and from there, he will judge us all. The creed doesn’t say so, but I believe Jesus will judge us by how well we demonstrate what He taught us. He will judge us on whether or not we love God and love our neighbor. When we all get to haven what a day of rejoicing it will be. The next line in the Apostle’s Creed says “I believe in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Catholic Church.”

We discussed briefly the Holy Spirit back toward the beginning when we considered the line that says Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. I looked the term up in both webster and in my Bible Dictionary and found it said The Holy Spirit was the power of God. We further discussed the concept that all of us has a spirit that is independent of our bodies and can live on in others after we die. The Holy Spirit, however, is the power of God and God is immortal, thus the Holy Spirit is all around and in each of us. I am familiar with the Great Commission in the Gospels and with the instructions of Jesus for his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit. It came when they were gathered in an upper room. It came as a flame that didn’t burn. Then Peter went out, spoke in tongues, and converted 5000 listeners to Christ. I decided to find the first mention of the Holy Spirit in scripture. I was surprised to find it in the first paragraph of Genesis. “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” The olySpirit was there in the beginning. The Holy Spirit was also there during the Exodus, “The Lord filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God.” The Holy spirit was also apparent during the time of judges, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah.” The Holy Spirit blessed the first King of Israel, “The Spirit of God came upon Saul.” The Holy Spirit was there as Christ was born and watched over Him as He was baptized. “The Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove.” As you can see, the Holy Spirit was not only there in the beginning, it has been there forever, and is with us today. How many of you can testify to being filled with an overwhelming feeling of emotion, perhaps a calmness in a time of crises? How many of you have experienced a surge of power in a critical situation? The holy Spirit can be within us or take on a physical shape. It can appear like a dove or a raging bull. Who guided the stone from David’s sling to strike Goliath in the forehead?

If you believe in God, you believe in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the projection of God’s force. It is God in Action. The fifth chapter of Acts tells that Peter and John continued to ignore the Sanhedrin’s orders to cease preaching until they were jailed for their defiance. “But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison.” That angel was the Holy Spirit. It was God in action. If you believe in the virgin birth, you believe in the Holy Spirit. Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit, God in action. If you believe in the resurrection, you believe in the Holy Spirit. It was one of God’s greatest actions.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you are filled with the power of God. Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit when he stepped out on that balcony during Pentecost and addressed thousands of travelers from the four corners of the Jewish world. They were a mixed lot of nationalities and languages. But the power of God allowed Peter to speak to them each in their own tongue simultaneously. There is no way any human being could have done that.

The next line reads, “I believe in on holy catholic church.” One of the rarest things in the universe is agreement between two or more theologians. On this line, however, they all agree that catholic in this case means universal. It even says so in our hymnal. Webster says it means, “all embracing” which is pretty much the same thing. But do we actually have one universal, all embracing Christian Church?

We had a single organization based in Rome for over 1000 years after the crucifixion, then political ambitions caused the great schism separating the eastern and western churches. The church began fragmenting right away. There are currently eight major branches including the Malabar in India, the Jacobite church in Syria, and the Coptic sect in Africa. All divisions were based on territorial and political differences. The Roman church remained intact for another 500 years or before Martin Luther posted his criticism of the Pope on the church door. He strongly objected to the Pope claiming to be a near-deity and selling absolution. Within a 25-year period further spin offs from Rome included the Church of England by Henry VIII, the Presbyterians in Scotland, and the Mennonites in Switzerland. The Mennonites rejected to baptism of infants, the Presbyterians objected ornate churches, and Henry VII wanted a divorce. More recent denominations include the Mormons who believe the authority to baptize was lost during the Roman persecution and the Adventists who are adamant about the Sabbath being Saturday. All denominations believe Christ was the Son of God who was crucified and rose from the grave. So, let me ask again. Is there actually one single identifiable body of believers. I believe we do.

The church is divided over non-salvation issues. Some of these issues are significant enough to believers. Significant enough to cause some fairly big wars. The Irish continue to kill each other over whether the head of the church is located in London or Rome; purely a non-salvation issue. But, if we have a universal, all encompassing family of believers, what is it that unites them? The Holy Spirit unites them. All of us, all Christians, have the opportunity to be filled with the force of God now and forever.

I have heard it said that love only grows when you share it. The same is true of the love of God. It grows when we both individually and collectively are filled with His power. Satan cannot exist in the presence of the Holy Spirit.