COMMUNION OF SAINTS

Dr Green in his Harmony of the Westminster Presbyterian Standards uses Question 36 of the Shorter Catechism in two different places. Sometime before the Resurrection Season we considered that question as a summation of the section on justification, adoption and sanctification. Today we are using the same material from the Larger Catechism as part of a short study of the Communion of Saints. That question is probed and answered in some depth by the Westminster divines.

Yet, the answer here is so simple if we will just accept the teaching of God's holy Word. Remember, it is to the Word that we turn for final authority. We do not preach the catechism but the theology and doctrines revealed in Scripture. How wonderful is the doctrine of grace when we read it in Paul's letter to the saints in Ephesus.

"And you He made alive ... God who is rich in mercy ... made us alive together with Christ ... for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works."

I know, I've skipped over very much of the text, but I have only highlighted those phrases of sacred revelation which tell us the utter truth of how we came into the faith! And that is the gospel truth, God entered into us through His Holy Spirit and gave us life in the Spirit. Once a traveler stopped into my wife's store to ask directions. He asked for a small town that I had only vaguely heard of that I knew was some distance away to the south and east. But he argued, he couldn't be more than five or six miles off. The twenty miles that I estimated just had to be wrong. So he departed and when he turned out of the lane he headed north and west. Now there was a man who was lost, didn't realize how lost he was and one who was stubborn enough to continue in his condition!

According to a current joke, we have finally found out why most accidents are within six or seven miles from home! Too many people can't read maps! Neither can many people read the Bible to see the clear teaching of Scripture. You must be born again to be saved and just as there are precious few babies who have chosen their parents, so too is the second birth relationship. Sometimes when younger people whine about their family troubles, I ask them if they could have chosen better parents? Of course not! Then why do so many evangelical leaders, teachers and believers think that they are saved because they chose the best God available?

If we are to understand the gospel of Paul and all the other Apostles, "you He made alive"! If you have been born of God, just like little children in solid families, you know who your heavenly Father really is. Now as our catechism and Paul would instruct us, the knowledge of God gives us a specific theological perspective. Knowing God through Christ as the epitome of holiness, righteousness, kindness and truth, we begin to appreciate how opposite we truly are. Then knowing our true condition of lostness we better appreciate the awareness given to us by God's Holy Spirit.

Once when the family was traveling on the East Coast. The hotel where we were staying gave us a map so that we could find the hamburger row in town. The town was laid out around several circular driveways. As we drove, some of the landmarks became visible, but nothing seemed to be in the right perspective. We couldn't find any place that we wanted. Finally, we stumbled across a fast food place to eat. While we ate I studied the map over and over and compared it to another map that I had. I finally discovered the problem. The hotel had ignored the most basic rule of map making. North is always at the top of the page as you read the text and survey the streets. The map that I was given did not follow that simple and time bound rule! That is about as lost as I have ever been and all because of a blind guide who didn't know the first things about maps.

That experience more than anything else convinced me of the value of excellent maps. May we also learn that correct doctrine as it applies to understanding the clear teachings of Scripture is of even greater, infinite and eternal value? Would you be convinced that you are truly saved? Are you interested in knowing more about Jesus and the doctrines of grace? You see just as metal filings are attracted to a magnet, so are God's people attracted to His word, His Son and His grace. If you want to know more, please be assured that that is a sign of the new birth. If however you are content in not knowing any more, if you could care less about any doctrines, if you sense no need to read, study and learn, you should consider your spiritual situation carefully.

You see in the gathering company of the saints, there is a shared understanding of the presence of Christ among us. Do you want to have a sense of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit and a hope of glory as the catechism encourages us? All of that can be found in the company of the committed. In Shakespeare's Henry V, the young Harry who would be king, had to choose his companions well. The story shows that the more he puts behind him the drinking and party life of his youth, the more he is prepared for kingship and leading his army and people. One wag once observed that while heaven might be nice, the other place would be better to meet more of his old friends.

Both Paul in this Ephesians portion and our confession as well, address this obstacle to knowing the true faith.

"you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience."

Well does the New King James Version title our few verses in Ephesians today: "By Grace Through Faith".

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them."