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You can turn in your Bibles to 
John chapter 10, please. John chapter 10. We're actually 
going to read a portion of John chapter 10 and then a portion 
of John 17 as we consider this morning the attributes of the 
true Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. The attributes of the 
true Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to read John 
chapter 10, 14 to 16, and then John 17, 15 to 23. So, John chapter 10, beginning 
at verse 14. I am the Good Shepherd, and I 
know my sheep, and am known by my own. As the Father knows me, 
even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 
And other sheep I have which are not of this fold. Them also 
I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one 
flock and one shepherd." John 17, beginning at verse 15. I do not pray that you should 
take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from 
the evil one. They are not of the world, just 
as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth, 
your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, 
I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I 
sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. I do not pray for these alone, 
but also for those who will believe in me through their word. that 
they all 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, and the glory which you gave me I have given 
them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and 
you in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the 
world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as 
you have loved me. Amen. Well, let's open again 
with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you again for 
this time to be together as your people. We pray, Lord God, that 
we would now prepare our hearts to consider your holy word, Lord 
God, knowing that it is not just a dusty old tome of truths, but 
it is the living and true word of the living and true God. We 
pray, Father, that you would give us minds again now to consider 
the weightiness of your word, the truthfulness of it, and Lord 
God, that we might act and that we might live according to it. 
We pray in the name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. 
Well, as I said, we're going to consider the attributes of 
the true Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when we consider 
or when we talk about attributes, what do we mean for the children 
here? Some children maybe don't know what that means. It is a 
larger word. But when we speak of attributes, 
we speak of those things that characterize, those things that 
identify, those things that mark something out. When we read from 
the Shorter Catechism, We read the section regarding God, and 
it speaks of his attributes, or what Robert Raymond likes 
to call his perfections. And it says that God is spirit, 
infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, 
justice, holiness, goodness, and truth. Those are attributes 
of our great God. Well, likewise, there are attributes 
regarding the Church. There are those things that characterize, 
those things that identify, the true church of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Now, there was an early church 
creedal statement that read this way, or a portion of the creedal 
statement read this way. We believe in one Catholic and 
Apostolic Church. Now, of course, I will qualify 
that statement by saying when that sort of language was used, 
there was a seeking to justify it biblically done on the part 
of those who were members of the true Church of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. In other words, when we hear that language, many of 
us who grew up in the Roman Catholic Church tend to back off and tend 
away and to shy away from that language. However, one, holy, 
catholic and apostolic church is a statement that is acceptable 
as long as it is understood in biblical terms. Now, it isn't 
just some sort of theological rigidity or some stuffy theological 
approach to identifying what the Bible says the attributes 
of the church are. No, these are valid. these are 
glorious attributes of the church that Jesus Christ shed his blood 
for. So we're going to consider these 
four things, the four attributes of the church, its oneness, its 
holiness, its catholicity, and its apostolicity. So first off, 
its oneness. You'll note when we started reading 
our text for this morning, John chapter 10, the Lord Jesus Christ 
ties his redemptive work, or the fact that he's giving his 
life for his people, he ties that to the oneness of the people 
that he is actually giving his life for. The Father knows me, 
even so I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 
and other sheep I have which are not of this foal, them also 
I must bring, and they will hear my voice, and note, and there 
will be one flock and one shepherd." The Lord Jesus Christ affirms, 
acknowledges the oneness of the Church, His Church, and then 
also in the prayer that we read in John 17, you have to note 
that the Lord Jesus Christ, in His prayer to His Father, uses 
the word one many times. especially in the portion verses 
20 to 23. I do not pray for these alone, 
but also for those who believe in me through their word, that 
they all 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, and the glory which you gave 
me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one. So not only does the Lord Jesus 
Christ affirm the oneness, the togetherness, the unity of his 
church, of his one flock, but he also likens it unto the oneness 
that he has with the Father and the Father with him. So certainly 
the oneness of the Church is something that the Lord Jesus 
Christ affirms and something that his apostles affirm also. 
Now just a brief introduction or a brief qualification of what 
oneness doesn't mean, what the oneness of the Church does not 
mean. First off, the oneness of the Church is not found is 
not found in denominational or institutional exclusivity. Now, what do I mean by that? 
Well, there isn't one denomination that can claim that it is the 
one true church and that all other denominations are false 
churches. Now, our minds might be turning. The Christian perversion in history 
that likes to identify themselves this way, of course, is the Roman 
Catholic Church. But there are other churches 
that do this also. They do so wrongly. They have 
a defective understanding of what the oneness of the Church 
of Christ actually is. Again, it is not found in denominational 
or institutional exclusivity. The oneness of the Church is 
not found in a perfect business model of church growth. that 
one church has, and every church is required to follow suit. In 
other words, there can be a sort of Protestant one true church, 
but a defective one, where they say, okay, we do everything right, 
we've got the perfect business marketing model of how to do 
church, and every other church, if they don't do it our way, 
well, they stink, and they just need to pony up and follow follow 
our model, follow our doing of church. No, that isn't the oneness 
of the church, biblically speaking. The oneness of the church is 
not found in some sort of unbiblical unity where the once-for-all 
delivered to the saints faith is compromised for emotional 
togetherness or social reform. So what I'm saying there is very 
often the church or those within Christendom will seek togetherness 
either with those or with other religions who do not claim Christianity, 
or those Christian perversions such as the Roman Catholic Church, 
such as Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons, those sorts of things, 
they'll seek togetherness for the sake of some sort of emotional, 
spiritual ambiguity. Let's just all love, let's just 
love, love, love, togetherness, joy, joy. No, that is to set 
aside doctrine, that is to set aside apostolicity, which we'll 
get to later, but that is to set aside the once-for-all delivered-to-the-saints 
faith for a wrong unity. And very often what another thing 
that people within the rank and file of Christendom or Christianity 
will do, will seek to set aside doctrine, will seek to set aside 
the teachings of our Lord Jesus so that they can tackle a social 
issue. And while tackling social issues 
is a righteous exercise, it ought not to be to the casualty or 
to the sacrifice of the purity of the doctrine of the Christian 
Church. So those are not, those things 
do not indicate or do not reflect the oneness of the Church of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. So what is the oneness of the 
Church of our Lord Jesus Christ? Well, positively speaking, the 
oneness of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ is a reality 
by virtue of its union to our Lord Jesus Christ. First and 
foremost, the Church is won because of Christ. As we work through 
these various attributes, you'll note that a defection from the 
biblical understanding of the attribute always comes back to 
the fact that they have steered it away from Christ Jesus as 
the source of that particular attribute. In other words, it 
isn't Christ that is the foundation of that which identifies the 
Church, it is now something that is external, something that is 
away from Christ, and maybe only distantly related. But first 
and foremost, or positively speaking, the oneness of the Church refers 
to the fact of the Church's union with Christ. You can turn to 
Ephesians chapter 4 for a moment. Ephesians chapter 4. If you're 
not forced to turn there, if you can, great. If you can't, 
I will read it for you. Ephesians chapter 4. speaking of oneness, speaking 
of other things also, but specifically in this context, Paul speaking 
of unity. Notice Ephesians 4, verses 3 
to 6, endeavouring, speaking to the people of Christ, endeavouring 
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is 
one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope 
of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and 
Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all." 
Now, the background of this particular exhortation by the Apostle Paul 
is everything that he's written before. Remember what Paul does 
when he opens up Ephesians, when he draws the Ephesian Christians' 
view or glance or gaze to triune salvation and that perfect triune 
salvation. God who chooses, Christ who redeems, 
Holy Spirit who seals unto that great day. And he speaks about 
the togetherness in chapter 2. He speaks first about grace, 
that God has made alive those who were dead in their trespasses 
and sins, and then he speaks of the unity between Jew and 
Gentile. In other words, everybody on 
earth. That God, through Christ, has 
made one new man, not bringing the Gentiles up to the level 
of the Jews, but making one new man in Christ Jesus, saved by 
grace through faith in him. Well, he gets to chapter 4, and 
now he's exhorting Christians to exercise a conduct, to live 
in a manner worthy of everything that he's written about. the 
perfect triune salvation, the redeeming work of a triune God, 
and one of those things that they are to strive for, that 
is to mark them, is unity. One body, one spirit, one hope 
of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and 
Father of all. So oneness, not only is that 
affirmed by our Lord Jesus Christ, not only does our Lord Jesus 
Christ pray for it to the Father, but the Apostles, by the instruction 
of the living Christ, Preach it and exhort Christians to seek 
after it. We have the same Lord, we share 
the same salvific reality, and we share the same mission. That's 
one thing that we ought to have in our minds as we seek unity 
with Christians, unity among ourselves to be sure, but unity 
with all those who name the name of Christ. We have the same Lord, 
we have the same salvific realities. What does that mean? Well, pertaining 
to salvation, we all have the same things in common. We have 
been regenerated by the Living Spirit. We have been justified 
by Jesus Christ. We are being sanctified by the 
Holy Spirit. We will one day enter into glory. We will be glorified by our Lord 
Jesus Christ. So, we share in the same Lord, 
we share the same salvation, and we share in the same mission. speaks something of why we ought 
to be united. 1 Peter 2.9, But you are a chosen 
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special 
people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called 
you out of darkness and into his marvellous light, who once 
were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not 
obtained mercy, but have now obtained mercy." Now, what does 
this have to do with oneness? Well, if there is an unbiblical 
division among people, then we are not doing this job properly. We are not proclaiming the praises 
of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. 
Christians, generally speaking, and as an assembly, whether visible 
or invisible, are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. So there is a oneness to the 
Church of God, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before we move on to 
holiness, we know from Paul's letters that oneness not only 
was it affirmed again, but it was appealed to both God and 
to men to be a reality in the Church of Christ. One thing that's 
very interesting about these, you'll notice, for anyone who 
was here last Lord's Day evening, we looked at the perseverance 
of the saints. And one thing that is unique 
to that, the perseverance of the saints, the fact that all 
of Christ's people will endure unto the end by amazing grace. That none will be lost, but all 
true Christians will enter into Emmanuel's land safe in the arms 
of Jesus. Well, with regards to perseverance 
of the saints, it is a reality that perseverance is true, but 
nevertheless the apostles exhort Christians unto persevering in 
the faith. It's an interesting dynamic. 
Yes, you will persevere unto the end because God is great 
and he has promised to do so covenantally, but nevertheless 
I'm going to exhort you to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. 
so that you do not fall away. Well, the same is with the attributes 
of the church. Not only has Christ already affirmed 
that his flock would be one, that the church would be one, 
but we have exhortations to the people of God to make sure that 
they maintain that unity. Romans chapter 15 at verse 5. You don't have to turn there. 
Romans chapter 15 at verse 5. Now may the God of patience and 
comfort according to Christ Jesus, that 
you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ." So not only does Paul appeal to 
God, but he appeals to men. Remember in that one discourse, 
not discourse, but when he's writing to the Corinthian church. 
He's writing to the Corinthian church, and he's appealing to 
men. In Romans he's appealing to God. In Corinthians he appeals 
to men, and in Romans he's appealing to God. in order to maintain 
that unity. Now, I plead with you, brethren, 
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the 
same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that 
you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same 
judgment. For it has been declared to me 
concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, 
that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each 
of you says, I am Paul, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, 
or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was 
Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name 
of Paul? So Paul's exhortation is not 
to have these sectarian divisions, not to be divided into these 
sort of competing divisions of Christians, No, he says, I plead 
with you, brethren. Not only does he plead with them, 
but he pleads with them by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that you all speak the same thing and there be no divisions among 
you. So they are, and that was an aspect, an attribute of the 
early church, if we read through the book of Acts correctly. When 
we read through the book of Acts, what do we find? Well, they prayed 
together with one accord. They were gathered together with 
one accord. There was a togetherness, a oneness, 
to the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. And God gives us, or 
sorry, Jesus gives us, Jesus is God, infested in the flesh. 
John 17, though, when Jesus is praying to the Father, he gives 
something of the purpose of this particular thing, the purpose 
of the oneness of the church. Verse 23 of John 17, I in them 
and you in me that they may be made perfect in one, and that 
the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them 
as you loved me." What does this mean? That means that the oneness 
of the Church, as an attribute, is to be visible by the world. 
Yes, there is an invisible oneness that we all have, we are united 
to Christ, but nevertheless, there is to be a visible aspect 
to that oneness. That's what Jesus just said, 
that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved 
them as you have loved me." So not only is the outside world 
supposed to see that these Christians are together, they are unified, 
they are one, they are to glorify the God and Father of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, according to Romans 15, 5-6, but they are also to 
know that God loves us. That God loves us. The world, 
the unbelieving world, is to look upon the Christian church 
and they are to see that there is a God in high heaven who loves 
his people. So let's strive together for 
that oneness, that biblical oneness. Secondly, holiness. Holiness 
is an attribute of the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. From the text of John 
17, we get that. We get that. Notice, if you're 
there, I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, 
but that you should keep them from the evil one. They are not 
of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by 
your truth. Your word is true." This speaks 
to the holiness of the Church, that the Church is to be a holy 
body. You are a chosen people, a royal 
priesthood, a holy nation. by the work of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, by His body being the recipient of breach upon breach 
in His flesh on the cross, He has breached us from the world. There has been a radical breach 
by the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His saving activity, 
He has purified a people, breaching them from the world, not removing 
them away from the world, out of the world to Venus or to the 
hills of the Rockies, but removing them from the activity of the 
world, from its fancies, from its sins, from its transgressions, 
from its dirtiness. He has purified a people and 
pulled them and separated them unto His use, His usefulness 
and His glory. Ephesians 5 verse 25 speaks to 
this particular reality. When we think of the holiness 
of the Church, let's qualify it. What it doesn't mean is that 
the Church obtains by sacramental grace communicated in the sacraments, 
or grace conveyed in the priesthood, some sort of holiness. Now, why 
do I say that? Well, because the Roman Catholic 
Church, and other bodies likewise, will say that our holiness is 
accentuated or is made up of communicated grace through sacraments 
and by the priest. and that's ridiculous. That's 
to take away our holiness, away from Christ as the source of 
it, and to put it upon externals, rites, ceremonies, and all of 
those things. It's not, our holiness is not 
the acquisition of sanctity by works righteousness. In other 
words, we don't acquire our holiness, we don't earn our holiness by 
the performance of deeds. That is evidence of our holiness, 
but it is not something that makes us holy. And our holiness 
is not indicated by a personal or cultic adherence to appearance 
norms. What I mean by that is, oh, that 
person's so holy because their skirt is below their ankles, 
because their hair is in a net, because they have no makeup, 
and their toenails are free of any color. that doesn't indicate 
holiness. That is not holiness. What is 
holiness? Well, holiness, or the church 
is holy by virtue of the fact that Christ has cleansed us by 
his precious blood. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25, 
Paul here actually giving an exhortation to husbands gives 
us something of the sanctified church and what Christ did to 
sanctify it. HUSBANDS, LOVE YOUR WIVES JUST 
AS CHRIST ALSO LOVED THE CHURCH AND GAVE HIMSELF FOR HER, THAT 
HE MIGHT SANCTIFY AND CLEANSE HER WITH THE WASHING OF WATER 
BY THE WORD, THAT HE MIGHT PRESENT HER TO HIMSELF, A GLORIOUS CHURCH, 
NOT HAVING SPOT OR WRINKLE OR ANY SUCH THING, BUT THAT SHE 
SHOULD BE HOLY AND WITHOUT LIMITS. That is the work of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, Churchward, in cleansing her and in making her 
holy. So, when we speak of the holiness 
of the Church, first and foremost, like when we speak of the holiness 
of the Christian, we say that the Church is definitively holy 
because of our Lord Jesus Christ and His saving work. Absolutely 
holy, completely holy, perfected and sanctified and cleansed by 
Christ. So, the Church is definitively 
holy because of Christ's work. Now, the Church is also progressively 
sanctified. Just like the individual Christian 
is advancing in this lower world, but is not yet perfected, so 
too the Church is, ought to be, advancing in this lower world, 
but is not yet perfected. So, we have the fact that, yes, 
our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His work, His character, His 
person, His righteous activity, has definitively sanctified the 
Church. Nevertheless, the Church, as 
a body, as a growing entity, as a congregation of saved individuals, 
is not perfect, but is advancing, and will one day be perfect. The language of 1 Peter 1, 15-16, 
carries with it or maintains the language of the Old Testament 
with regards to God's covenant people. 1 Peter 1, 15-16. But 
as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your 
conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. So, God commands his people to 
be holy. Why? Well, first and foremost, 
because God is. We are to be God-like, not in 
our being, not in our power, but in seeking after those perfections 
and attributes that he wants us to seek after. We should be 
seeking after holiness. When I read that to a shorter 
catechism list of the attributes of God, there's a couple that 
we can't seek after. We can't seek after being, His 
being, and we can't seek after His power in order to acquire 
a measure of it. However, we should be seeking 
after wisdom, we should be seeking after justice, we should be seeking 
after holiness, goodness, and truth. There are aspects of God 
that we have no part in, but there are characteristics of 
God that we ought to seek after, and holiness is one of them. 
As He who called you is holy, so you be holy in all your conduct. Because it is written, Be holy, 
for I am holy. This is John Gill on this language. John Gill, our old Baptist brother, 
an argument the Apostle knew must have weight with these persons 
who were chiefly Jews scattered abroad among the Gentiles, and 
had a value for the Scriptures of truth, and therefore, as the 
argument for holiness of life from the nature and perfections 
of God, is strong. It must receive additional strength 
from this being the declared will of God, even their sanctification 
on this account. and though holiness equal to 
God is never to be attained to by a creature, yet so far as 
it is capable of it, it is desirable, because agreeable both to the 
nature and will of God, by all such who are truly his children, 
who love his name, adore his perfections, give thanks at the 
remembrance of his holiness, fear his goodness, and obey his 
will. So we, as his people, who are 
to do all those things, who give thanks, who give thanks at the 
remembrance of His holiness, who fear His goodness and obey 
His will, we are to seek after His characteristics. We are to 
be holy as He is holy, because He is holy. So that is actually 
reason one why we are to be holy. Reason two, we are to be holy 
because of covenant promises. we are to be holy because of 
covenant promises. A lot of scripture I know, but 
2 Corinthians 6, beginning at verse 14, We have the second reason. We are to be holy because of 
God's covenant promises. Do not be unequally yoked together 
with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness 
with lawlessness? And what communion has light 
with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what 
part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple 
of God with idols? For you are the temple of the 
living God. As God has said, I will dwell 
in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they 
shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among 
them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, 
and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and 
you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." Now 
notice the therefore that is throughout our scriptures, our 
Bibles. Therefore, having these promises, 
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh 
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." What is 
that therefore built upon, or from where does that therefore 
come, but the covenant promises in the two verses prior to it. 
because of the fact of our covenant Lord, because of the fact that 
He has made a covenant with us, that He will dwell with us, that 
He will walk among us, that He will be our God and that we will 
be His people, we are therefore to cleanse ourselves from filthiness 
and we are to perfect holiness in the fear of God. The third 
reason why we are to be holy, why holiness ought to be an aspect 
of the Church, is because of Unconditional Election. You remember 
what Unconditional Election means? It is the U in our acrostic tulip. Unconditional election means 
that God did not, in electing, look through the tunnel of time 
and see who would believe in the risen Christ and therefore 
elect based on that foreseen reality. No. God, according to 
His love, according to His purpose, according to the immutability 
of His will and His loving-kindness, chose a people before the foundation 
of the world to be saved by Christ Jesus. And so it is according 
to that unconditional election that we are to be holy. We just 
read that before. But you are a chosen generation, 
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that 
you may proclaim the praises of him who calls you out of darkness 
and into his marvelous light. we are to be holy because God, 
in his eternal loving kindness, chose us in Christ before the 
foundation of the world. Thirdly, the catholicity of the 
Church. One holy, catholic and apostolic 
Church. Now, catholic, just so I don't 
scare anybody away, means universal. The word Catholic means universal, 
so when we speak of the Catholicity of the Church, we speak of its 
universality. What we don't mean is this, or, 
Catholicity does not refer to the breadth of coverage of an 
institutional church, some notion of an ecclesiastical empire spreading 
its tentacles throughout the known world. that's not catholicity. That is not biblical catholicity. Sometime in the past, the medieval 
church felt that catholicity, or moved the notion of catholicity 
away from biblical universality, and applied the term to the fact 
that the Roman Catholic Church not only reigned in its monstrosity 
in Europe, but now it was in the New World. That became the 
external catholicity of the church. That is not Catholicity of the 
Bible. Catholicity, again, is not an 
external thing. Defective understandings, we 
already noted this, of the attributes, deviate from the glorious truth 
that Christ is the source or the foundation of the attribute, 
and the same is the case with Catholicity. I think a great 
Catholicity text is Revelation chapter 5, verse 9. Many of you 
may know what that verse speaks of, what it is, but if you want 
to learn biblical universality, biblical catholicity, it is Revelation 
chapter 5 verse 9, but I'll read verses 8 to 10. Now when he, 
speaking of Christ, had taken the scroll, the four living creatures 
and the 24 elders, fell down before the Lamb, each having 
a harp, and golden bulls full of incense, which are the prayers 
of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, 
You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals. For you 
were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood, out 
of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and have 
made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on 
the earth." Biblical Catholicity is that Jesus Christ, by His 
precious blood, has saved not just the whites, not just the 
blacks, not just the Native Indians, but every single, has saved a 
people from every race on the earth. Black, white, yellow, 
brown, pink, blue, covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. Now we did say earlier, or just 
a moment ago, that the biblical catholicity of the church is 
not simply geographical. It's not just tentacles going 
out and finding land to gobble up and people to bring to hell 
in your own perversion of what you think biblical religion is. 
That's not catholicity. But there is a geographical element 
to Catholicity that the Bible, or the truth of the Gospel, has 
gone forth. Jesus Christ promised, and gave 
exhortation to his apostles in Acts chapter 1 at verse 8, that 
they were to go first, or they were to be his witnesses, first 
in Jerusalem, then Judea and all Samaria, and then to the 
uttermost parts of the earth. So there is a geographical element 
to Catholicity, but as we noted, first and foremost, primarily, 
there is an ethnic catholicity to it. Again, every tribe, and 
nation, and tongue, and people. But there is also a social aspect 
to it, or a demographic element to it. One of the grievances 
I find in the church today is that you have the goth church, 
and the skaters church, and the people who wear pink church, 
church, and all these different churches that are just appealing 
to one demographic. Oh, how old are you? 55? No, 
sorry, you can't come in here. Oh, how old are you? You're 18? 
No, this is just for stuffy gray-haired folk with ties and suits. There 
is a Catholicity to the church, and it breaks social and demographic 
boundaries. Not only does it crack out of 
the walls of Jerusalem, not only is it not just for white folk, 
but it is also for young and old, male and female, plumbers 
and doctors, pediatricians and whoever else is saved by the 
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the issue here. When 
we apply anything other than biblical universality to the 
universality of the Church, we steal away from the redeeming 
work of the risen Christ. It is Christ who makes the Church 
universal. It is not the declarations and 
the pomp of a man wearing a big red hat in the Vatican. It is 
Jesus Christ who is the source and the foundation of biblical 
universality, and he did so by his victory upon Calvary Street, 
when he spread out his arms, when Roman nails were hammered 
into his appendages, when he died for sinners, when he rose 
again, when he ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on 
high, where he now lives to make intercession for us. Christ's 
redemption is the source of universality. the fourth attribute of the Church 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the fourth and the last, we will 
close with this one, apostolicity. Negatively, what doesn't that 
mean? Or negatively speaking, this 
apostolicity is not this, does not, apostolicity, does not refer 
to apostolic succession or a visible and traceable lineage from a 
current ruling hierarchy back through the past to Peter and 
the apostles. Why would you say all that? Well, 
some people, the Catholic Church and others, apply apostolicity 
to that particular notion. That they can trace their church, 
their ruling hierarchy, back through time to Peter and the 
apostles. That is not biblical apostolicity. And it is against, biblical apostolicity 
is against, on the other hand, a no-teaching-authority-required 
approach to the church. Now, what do I mean by that? 
Well, just as an introduction, 1 John 2, verse 27. Turn there if you wish, if you're 
quick, because I'm going to read it right now. But the anointing 
which you have received from him abides in you, and you do 
not need that anyone teach you, but as the same anointing teaches 
you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and 
just as it has taught you, you will abide in him. The Apostle 
John here says that you need that no one teach you. And so 
people will go to this text, and as people often do, wrench 
it out of this context and propagate error, saying that, oh, we don't 
need the Bible, we don't need instruction, we don't need doctrine, 
because the Spirit, in some sort of mystical way, teaches us. 
Well, the Spirit works by and with His Word. Jesus prayed in 
John 17, thy word is true. And so while 
apostolicity on the one hand isn't this unbiblical traceable 
lineage authority, nor is it the case that there is no teaching 
authority required. So what is the apostolicity of 
the Christian Church? Apostolicity of the Church refers 
to faithful adherence to the Apostles' doctrine and teaching. That is biblical apostolicity, 
faithful adherence to doctrine and teaching. Acts chapter 2 
verse 42, what happened there? Eder on the day of Pentecost 
had just preached a wonderful sermon. He had closed it by indicting 
the House of Israel. Therefore, let all the House 
of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom 
you crucified, both Lord and Christ. He commands those who 
are before him to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus 
Christ for the forgiveness of sins, then what do we see all 
those who believe? And they gathered together in 
one accord, and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles' 
doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers." 
They continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine. So that 
is the apostolicity of the Church. Again, faithful adherence to 
doctrine. The Apostles were the recipients of divine revelation. The apostles were recipients 
of God's will, His divine revelation. They, in turn, communicated and 
inscripturated the word by God's inspiration. And we have apostolic 
authority, not in a conglomeration or a congregation of men with 
big red hats, but in the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. 
We have apostolic authority in our Bibles, and we are to follow 
after it. A church can only claim apostolicity 
if it remains faithful to the gospel and teachings. Now, we 
see concern for this in the early church. Again, a true church 
can only maintain apostolicity if it remains faithful to the 
teachings of the apostles and true and proper doctrine. We 
have a wonderful connectivity between the ministry of our Lord 
Jesus Christ before his disciples, the exhortation of the apostles 
after his ascension, and then the church listening to that 
exhortation after that particular fact. I'm just going to trace 
through this, and you don't need to turn there, but Matthew 24, 
Jesus Christ speaking at verse 11. Many false prophets will 
rise up and deceive many, and because lawlessness will abound, 
the love of many will grow cold, will grow cold. He reiterates 
something of that in verse 24. For false Christs and false prophets 
will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, 
even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. 
Well, the Apostle Paul, knowing that this was already going to 
be taking place in his particular time, tells the Ephesian elders 
in Acts 20, beginning at verse 28. take heed, or therefore take 
heed to yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy 
Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God 
which he purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that 
after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing 
the flock." Also, from among yourselves men will rise up, 
speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after 
themselves. So then we get to the book of 
Revelation, Jesus Christ commending the church at Ephesus, I know 
your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot 
bear those who are evil, and you have tested those who say 
they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. We 
have a wonderful chronology there. if you will, our Lord Jesus Christ. 
preaching, foretelling that many false teachers would arise among 
them, savage wolves. The apostle Paul reiterates that 
in exhorting the church elders in Ephesus, savage wolves will 
rise up among you. The church at Ephesus listens 
to him, listens by virtue of listening to Paul, to the risen 
Christ, and they exercise church discipline and they put doctrine 
to use by testing those who said that they were apostles and were 
not. and found them to be liars. So, we find where, again, the 
apostolicity of the Church refers to the apostolic teaching, doctrine, 
the faith of the Gospel, the faith once for all delivered 
to the saints. Now, this is, you may be asking, 
well, what is that then? What is doctrine? What is apostolic 
teaching? Well, it's what the Bible says. what the Bible says. But I'm 
going to refer or defer to John Gill here for a moment because 
he gives a wonderful summary and then we will close with some 
brief application and then pray. This is John Gill speaking about 
that verse from Philippians 127 where the Apostle Paul is writing 
to the church at Philippi because a discord among the believers 
there. And he says, conduct yourselves 
in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. and he asks them, 
or he exhorts them, to stand fast as one man, in one spirit, 
and to strive for what? The faith of the gospel. And 
that faith of the gospel refers to an objective body of doctrine 
and truth committed to the Church for her defense and for her proclamation. And this is what John Gill says 
regarding that exhortation, striving for the faith of the gospel. 
And for this, in all its parts and branches, believers should 
strive, as for all those doctrines of faith which concern the unity 
of God, the trinity of persons in the Godhead. the Divine Sonship 
of Christ, the proper deity and distinct personality of Him in 
the Blessed Spirit, and for all such doctrines as regard the 
state and condition of men by the fall of Adam, as that the 
guilt of his sin is imputed to all his posterity, the pollution 
of nature by it, derived and communicated to them, that the 
bias of man's mind is naturally to that which is evil, and is 
averse to that which is good, and that he is impotent to everything 
that is spiritually good, and for all those doctrines which 
regard the free and distinguishing grace of God, of election as 
eternal, personal, and irrespective of faith, holiness, and good 
works, as motives and conditions of it. of the covenant of grace 
as from everlasting, absolute and unconditional, sure and firm, 
of redemption as particular and as proceeding upon a full satisfaction 
forced in to law and justice, of justification by the righteousness 
of Christ, of peace imparted by His blood, of regeneration, 
conversion and sanctification as entirely owing to powerful 
and efficacious grace, and not to man's free will. Of the saint's 
final perseverance, the resurrection of the dead, a future judgment, 
and eternal life as the free gift of God." That is a mouthful, 
that is a lot. Kids, memorize that and go tell 
it to your friends at school. adults, to people in the workplace, 
but that is a wonderful summary. Now, you might be saying, oh, 
do I need to know every single word there, or else, you know, 
I'm just a jerk? No, but that is a wonderful summary 
of what the Bible teaches regarding apostolic doctrine. If you want 
to know what doctrine is, then you can, well, read the Bible, 
first and foremost, but if you want to read a good summary, 
you can look up what John Gill says on Philippians 127. That 
stresses, that whole mouthful stresses something of the importance 
of doctrine. Now, doctrine is something that 
is often thrown out the window. Doctrine, you know, we don't 
need doctrine, we just need to love Jesus. We need to love Jesus, 
but putting aside doctrine is to hate Jesus. I don't need to 
sound strong and I don't want to sound strong, but Jesus Christ 
taught doctrine, communicated it to his apostles, demanded 
that his apostles instruct others in it, and we, by hearing the 
apostles, hear Christ. We, by reading the New Testament, 
read Christ and hear Christ. If we reject one of Christ's 
apostles, Jesus says, we reject him and so reject the Father. So we are to love doctrine. Setting 
it aside is to set aside Christ for some emotional sort of Christianity, 
a spiritual ambiguity wrapped up in a fluffy love. Biblical 
love, among other things, is to love the doctrine of the one 
who is to be loved. We are to love the law. We are 
to love the doctrine of Christ. We are to be joyful recipients 
of a communicated Bible and a read Bible. Now, one last thing here. Apostolic succession. We just 
talked about apostolicity. And apostolic succession is one 
of those things that we say no, because apostolicity was this 
doctrine, the Apostles' doctrine. But I'm going to give you something 
that is a quote that tells us of Protestant apostolic succession. Now, what do you mean? Well, 
can we trace apostolicity through the ages? Yes, we can. Do we 
just set aside the history of the Church and just say, now 
we are considering and recognizing and owning doctrine and teaching 
and the gospel, the truth of it? There is Protestant apostolic 
succession, C. H. Spurgeon. It is no novelty, 
then, that I am preaching no new doctrine. I love to proclaim 
these strong old doctrines that are called by nickname Calvinism, 
but which are truly and verily the revealed truth of God as 
it is in Christ Jesus. By this truth I make my pilgrimage 
into the past, and as I go I see father after father, confessor 
after confessor, martyr after martyr standing up to shake hands 
with me. Taking these things to be the 
standard of my faith, I see the land of the ancients peopled 
with my brethren. I behold multitudes who confess 
the same as I do and acknowledge that this is the religion of 
God's own Church. And so when we own and when we 
amen and when we praise Christ for the doctrine that we read 
in 2009 in the lower mainland of British Columbia, we can with 
Spurgeon look back into time and shake hands with our brethren. 
Because the land of the ancients is peopled with our brothers 
and our sisters in Christ Jesus. And there is true biblical apostolic 
succession, not men with red hats, but people, brothers and 
sisters in Christ, loving the doctrine of Christ and seeking 
to defend it throughout the ages. And in closing, that is one of 
the applications. We ought not to, and never should, 
set aside doctrine. We are to earnestly contend for 
the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 
Jude set aside speaking about common salvation so that he might 
exhort the people in his day to earnestly defend and contend 
for Christianity. We are to do that likewise, knowing 
that Oneness is an attribute of the Church we are to seek 
for unity. We are to set aside selfishness, set aside greed, 
and we are to work unto a unity, and we are to love our brethren. 
Knowing that an aspect of the Church is holiness, what are 
we to do? Well, we are to walk in a manner 
worthy of our calling. We are to walk in a manner worthy 
of the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing that an 
attribute is catholicity, we are not to put signs on our doors 
saying whites only. We're not to put signs on our 
doors saying anybody between the ages of whatever and whatever 
go down the street. We are to open up our arms and 
recognize that Christ shed his blood for every tribe and tongue 
and people and nation. And knowing that an attribute 
is apostolicity, we defend that apostolic truth. We defend the 
doctrine of Christ. We defend all of those things 
that we read our brother Gil expound upon. we defend and contend 
for our precious faith. And remember at the outset I 
said that all of these attributes are because of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. All of these attributes, oneness, 
holiness, Catholicity, apostolicity, flow from Christ and his redemptive 
work if you do not know Christ. It is the preacher's wholesome 
job and it is wholesome activity to plead with you to repent and 
believe the gospel. If you don't know this Christ, 
you don't just enter off into an eternal state of indifference, 
you enter off into an eternal state of eternal punishment. 
Jesus Christ in this lower world and in this time is lowering 
and pushing his boots and his bootstraps upon his enemies, 
upon those who do not believe the gospel and own the God of 
Holy Scripture. Christ is pressing down those 
strong feet upon his enemies. Well, in eternal life, when we 
pass away from this life and into eternity, if you are not 
in Christ, you are in a bad place. Eternal torment, eternal punishment, 
away from the glory and the presence and the common grace of a righteous 
God. And the exhortation to you, the pleading with you, or the 
plea to you is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Kids, 
you hear this very often. very often, and it isn't just 
the mechanical reverberations of a preacher, it is the genuine 
plea of the preacher, the genuine plea of the preacher that you 
bend a knee to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, because 
there will be a day when pleading will no longer be, when He will 
come and your knee will be forced, because it will be forced in 
fear, will be forced under the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and you will bend it reluctantly, but you will bend it. And you 
may even confess, yes, he is Lord, but it will still be in 
hatred. It'll still be at enmity. Bend an knee in saving faith. 
Bend an knee believing in the one who died upon the cross to 
save sinners perfectly and to bring them into everlasting bliss. 
Believe in him and you will be saved and saints rejoice in him 
this day and seek after these attributes knowing that Christ 
is the fountain of them. Let's pray. Father, we ask you 
that you help us, God, help your saints in this place to rejoice 
in the church that you saved with your own precious blood 
as we read in Acts chapter 20. We pray, Father, that we would 
seek after these attributes, not as simple theological truths, 
God, but as things that come from the Holy Scripture, as things, 
Lord God, that flow from the redeeming work of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. We pray that each and every saint 
in this place would seek after oneness, that we would seek after, 
Lord God, holiness, that we would seek after a universality. and 
that we would seek after apostolic doctrine and the maintaining 
of it. Help us, Father, to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel 
of Christ. Help us to live according to your truth, according to your 
holiness, according, Lord God, to all of your perfections. We 
pray, Father, that you would save those who do not know you 
in this place. Even now, Father, I pray that 
you would remove hearts of stone, replace them with hearts of flesh 
that beat for the risen Christ. Might you, Father, do a work 
of salvation in our midst, and might it be to the praise of 
your glorious grace. We pray these things now in the 
name of our Savior and our Redeemer and our victor, the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Amen.