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By Rev. Dale Shelton, Worship Minister, Victory Church of God, Greeneville, TN Assistant Dean of Biblical Studies for the Church of God Bible Institute |
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It is true that to see and understand spiritual things, one must first be in tune with the Spirit. I have found it to be a waste of time to argue theology with people who are not believers. Yet, you also find that a great many unbelievers have very strong opinions of theology. Likewise, I have found it unproductive to try to show someone the church. There is a sense that one must have the church revealed to them rather than simply being able to look and see the church.
The Apostle John was given a vision of the church in Revelation 21. I am drawn to verse 9 where the Scripture says, “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (KJV).
This verse and other experiences lead me to believe that unless the church is revealed by the Holy Spirit, we cannot truly see the fullness of it. Having attended a Church of God Movement congregation from infancy, and being brought up under the preaching and teaching of the Reformation principles, I took a lot of things for granted, not giving very much deep thought to what I believed. While at Gulf Coast Bible College in the early 70s, I was somewhat puzzled when some of my fellow class-mates and professors asked the question, “Brother, have you seen the church?” Now, 45 years later, I am grateful for those who ignited within me the desire to dig deeper and not just take for granted the truths that I had always been taught. I am still in the process of seeing the church. It has taken the Holy Spirit’s guidance to give me this great revelation of the Lamb’s bride. I have heard and read testimonies of great saints who were proud to share how this revelation of the church was made to them.
A couple of those I want to share. When I went to Pioneer, Louisiana, to assume the pastorate of the New Hope Church of God, in June of 1975, I was all excited about being called to my first church. New Hope had been through the years one of those small, rural congregations that trained ministers. Many young ministers like myself had served this church as their first pastorate. As we were moving into the parsonage, Sister Sadie Bible, who was a retired minister that lived across the road, came to me and very excitedly exclaimed, “Bro. Dale, let me tell you how I saw the Church!” She related to me that early in her ministry, she had a dream. In the dream, she was preaching and the altar was full of people seeking salvation. At this time, in her dream, Jesus appeared and with outstretched arms over those praying at the altar said to her, “This is my church.”
More recently, as I was reading Eric Metaxas’ book Bonhoeffer Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, I was drawn to Chapter 3 where Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s understanding of the church is given. In his diary and in his theology, Bonhoeffer received his revelation of the church in one of the most unlikely places. He was only 18 at the time and his parents had sent him with his older brother on a tour of Europe. On Palm Sunday, Bonhoeffer was attending mass at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican City. A cardinal was leading the mass, while Bonhoeffer was looking around at the other people in attendance. There were white, black, yellow, and Bonhoeffer realized that the church is universal and that it transcends Lutheran Germany and Catholic Rome. He believed that if the church actually existed, then it existed beyond both Germany and Rome. This was a revelation to Bonhoeffer as a very young man who gave much thought and writing to the question “What is the church?”
As I read Metaxas’ condensation of Bonhoeffer’s teaching of the church, I kept thinking that this fits right into the Church of God Reformation Movement’s teaching about the Church.
Whether one sees the church within the pages of God’s Word, in a dream, or standing at St. Peter’s on Palm Sunday, or in a variety of other ways, the vision of Christ’s Bride will grip the heart of the believer. There is the sense that one will experience the confirmation that, “This is truth!” And when it grips your heart, you are spoiled, for nothing else will measure up. I’m glad that God revealed His church to me. She truly is the “. . . mother of the free, the blessed home of all the saved, I dwell content in Thee.”
Metaxas, Eric. Bonhoeffer Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2010) pp. 53-57
Naylor, Charles W., “O Church of God” Worship the Lord, Hymnal of the Church of God. (Anderson, Indiana: Warner Press, 1989) Number 289.
The word CHURCH is taken from the Greek word Ekklesia and means simply the called out people of God. Any assembly, political, social or otherwise would be an Ekklesia. The Christians of New Testament times were familiar with the word Ekklesia used in their Greek translation of the Old Testament to signify the ideal assembly of Israel. They used the word Ekklesia to indicate that they, as Christians, were now the true Israel of God.
The Divine Ekklesia means those who have heard and responded to the call of the Holy Ghost and have been called out from the world and sin, and have identified themselves with the family of God through regeneration. Congregation of God, or Assembly of God would be an even more appropriate term to use.
The word CATHOLIC means “comprehensive, broad, general, universal.” (Funk & Wagnall)
Thus the Holy Catholic Church is the assembly of God in all the world.
From The Only True Holy Catholic Church by O.O. Boggess
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