The True Marks of the Invisible Church

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The gospel text for.

Our meditation this evening is taken from the gospel of Mark chapter 4 verses 1 through 20. Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea.

And while the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land, he was teaching them many things and parables. And in his teaching he said to them, Listen, behold a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path.

The birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. And immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched. And since it had no root, it withered away.

Other seed fell among thorns. And the thorns grew up and choked it and yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.

And he said, He who has ears, let him hear. And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God.

But for those outside, everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see, but not perceive, may indeed hear, but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. And he said to them, Do you not understand this parable?

How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word, and these are the ones along the path where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

And these are the ones sown on the rocky ground, the ones who when they hear the word immediately receive it with joy, and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while. Then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

The others are the ones sown among the thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. This is the gospel of the Lord. In the name of Jesus.

So, when I was a kid, I remember asking my parents that all-important question that every parent dreads to hear from their children, where do babies come from? It's always an awkward moment. I had to go through that awkward moment three times.

And I always would say the same thing, go ask your mother. But, the question that is before us as we study the church tonight is where do Christians come from? What are the marks of a true church? In a sense, last week we talked about what the church is, and what the church is not.

The church is us. The church is not the building. The building is named a church by virtue of the fact that a church meets here. But, the church is us. The church are those who have been united with Christ.

And so, I think it's important that we recognize that there are true signs, true marks, that a true church is present. Because always and again, we must remember when we confess that we believe in the communion of the saints, believing in the communion of the saints, and believing that the church exists is a doctrine that we believe by faith.

You sit there and go, well, I see people here. Yeah, I know. I know that's kind of the tricky part, because in other parables that Jesus gave, we know that weeds and wheat are kind of sewn together. Things are a little more, well, let's just put it this way, not everything is as they seem, or as they meet the eye.

The weeds look a lot like wheat until they finally mature. That's kind of the issue. So, believing in the communion of the saints is a doctrine of faith. Augsburg 7, by the way, says this. It's taught among us that one holy Christian church will be and will remain forever.

That's right. Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. And it hasn't. The church is still present. Now, this is the assembly of all the believers, among whom the gospel is preached in its purity.

Interesting. Where the gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel. In other words, the marks of a true church are actually kind of humble. You're going to hear the gospel preached in purity, not mixed with a whole bunch of other nonsense.

God's word is going to reign supreme. And as we learn from Christ in our parable today that we just listened to, well, it's the word of God that is sown. I always like to note that whenever I preach on the parable of the sower and the soils, that this farmer is like the worst farmer ever.

I'm pretty sure in talking with the farmers that attend Kongsvinger, and haven't discussed this with those who are at Emmanuel, that seed comes at a high price nowadays. That there are whole seed companies and there are guys who, when they plant their crops, the logo of the seed company goes up in one manner or another.

It's a big business, this seed stuff when it comes to planting. And this fellow in this parable is like the worst farmer ever. He has no care whatsoever where that seed goes. In among the weeds, among the rocks, in the good soil.

Oh, and some on a path. Who's expecting a crop on a path? I mean, really, who is this guy? It makes me wonder if it's Jesus. The reason I say that is because he just wantonly takes his seed and throws it everywhere.

And we learn then from Jesus' explanation, his explanation of this parable, that the seed is the word. It's the word. It's the word. Always and again, I am dumbfounded, dumbstruck, well, oftentimes shocked, surprised, and I shouldn't be, that God's word does stuff.

It really does. You know, from time to time after a sermon, I have no idea what God's word is going to do. My job is to get up here and preach the word, rightly divide law and gospel, and just let it hang out there.

And the thing is, is that I'm not really doing any of the heavy lifting. As Paul says in his epistles, one plants, another waters. It's God who gives the increase. One plants, another waters, and they're nothing.

But the person who's everything is the one who gives the increase. And so there I am at the end of a service, and people are coming through and shaking hands and giving hugs to Barb and chatting and socializing.

And from time to time, somebody will say, Oh, pastor. Oh, pastor. It's like you've been reading my mail. I heard a new one recently. Somebody said to me, Oh, pastor, do you own a drone? No, I do not own a drone.

And he said, Well, I feel like you've been following me around all week after that sermon. Okay. But I'm pretty sure it's not me. It's God the Holy Spirit. And so the idea then is that the word is the thing that we've got to focus on.

And you'll note then, the purity of the word and the sacraments administered according to the what? The gospel. There are churches, and this is really sad, whole denominations where the sacraments are administered according to the law.

Not a very fun place. So you learn that the sacraments, God's Eucharist, the Lord's body and blood, it's not that at all. It's a symbol and it's an ordinance. It's a thing you've got to do rather than a gift received from the hands of Christ.

And then baptism is something that you've got to do. It's a work that you are to engage in rather than the gift that it is. The uniting of a dead sinner in the death and resurrection of Christ. Somebody having their sins washed away, their heart circumcised by the very hand of Christ himself.

Having been set free from slavery to sin, death and the devil and dominion of darkness. And so you'll note then, when it comes to the marks of the true church, they're quite simple. Word rightly divided in its purity.

Sacraments administered according to the gospel. And it's through this word then that God makes Christians. God makes the church. And this is what distinguishes us in many ways from other bodies that call themselves churches.

But consider what the word says in this matter. In 2 Thessalonians, Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica, chapter 2, verses 13 through 15. Now he says, we ought to always give thanks to God for you.

Brothers, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as first fruits to be saved through sanctification by the spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you, listen, through our gospel. So that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So then brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us. Either by our spoken word or by our letter. And so here we see Paul himself recognizes what Jesus taught us in this parable of the sower in the soils.

And that is that it's the gospel that calls us. It's through the word that we are made Christians. Paul says this much also in Romans 1, 15 and 17, where he says, I'm so eager to preach the gospel to you in Rome.

And he says, and the reason is because I'm not ashamed of the gospel. And listen to the words, for it, the gospel, it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in it, in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. And last week we talked about how God wills to save all of us, but he chooses to save us by willing for us to hear this gospel.

And this is why the communion of the saints is so vital because the where the gospel is preached is here. Where the church is. And so God wills for the community around us to come and hear the good news of Christ.

In fact, Paul kind of talking in this way explains to us even our theology in relation to the word and evangelism and mission work. In Romans 10, 14, Paul asks the question, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?

You'll note that people are not Christians by walking down the street on a commute to work with their headphones in their ears, listening to their iPods or their smartphones or whatever they're listening to.

And all of a sudden lightning strikes them and they go, I'm a Christian. I was an atheist one minute and now I'm a Christian. It doesn't work that way. In fact, it didn't even work that way with the apostle Paul.

Consider Paul on the road to Damascus to round up the Christians to have them arrested and drug back to Jerusalem in chains. You can only imagine what their plight would have been. And Jesus himself appears to him on the road to Damascus, knocks him down, blinds him.

It's a harrowing story. And you'll note that after his appearance, after his encounter with Jesus, Saul of Tarsus is still not a Christian. He has to hear. Christ wills that Christians be made through water and the word.

And so Jesus gets on the phone and he calls up Ananias and says, Ananias, and he immediately knows who it is. And Ananias says, yes, Lord. He says, as a fellow, I want you to go visit on Straight Street.

His name is Saul. He's blind. He's been praying. And he's heard that he saw a vision that Ananias is going to come visit him. And Ananias says, yeah, I know about that guy, Lord. He's killing everybody that proclaims you.

You sure you want me to go talk to him? Roseboros paraphrase, by the way. Roseboros paraphrase. I'm taking some liberty here. But what happens is that Christ says, I've chosen him. So what does he do?

He goes and he meets with Saul of Tarsus. Blind at the moment. Preaches the gospel to him. And he says, well, what are we waiting for? Rise, Saul. Washing away your sins. And he baptizes him. And after hearing the gospel and being washed in water and the word, Saul of Tarsus, Christ, through his word, makes him the Apostle Paul.

And what a dramatic change that was. So how will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? This same Paul writes. And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Answer, they can't. And so how are they to preach unless they are sent? Huh. Now we begin to see even hints of what we'll talk about a little bit next week. The office of the ministry. The pastoral office.

You see, Christ sends pastors here. I'm just the current one. And should Christ continue to tarry, Christ will send other guys in the future to preach the word. And so that you can hear what God has willed for you to hear.

The good news that Jesus Christ has bled and died even for you. The good news that he's risen again on the third day after suffering under Pontius Pilate. And now he's ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

See, this is the good news. He wills for you to hear this over and over and over again. So how are they to hear without someone being sent, as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.

Always an interesting and awkward compliment that I get from time to time. Oh, pastor, your feet were beautiful today. Maybe I'm telling on too many people, right? But they have not all obeyed the gospel.

Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? So faith, listen to the words, faith comes from hearing, hearing through the word of Christ. Faith comes from hearing, hearing through the word of Christ.

This is what Christ wills to have happen. This is how Christians are made, through the word. In fact, Jerome, the church father, writes this, the church does not consist of walls, but in the truth of its teachings.

The church does not consist in its walls, but in the truth of its teaching. The church is there where there is the true faith being preached. I think Jerome knew what he was talking about. The famous preacher John Christos, whom I love to quote from time to time, says, when you perceive an impious heresy, which is an army of antichrist, standing in the holy place of the church.

He says, then let him who is in Judea flee into the mountains. That is to say, let him who is in Christendom turn to the holy scriptures, for the true Judea is Christendom, but the mountains are the scriptures of the prophets and the apostles.

But why does the Lord mandate that at these times all Christians should turn to scripture, knowing full well that in the last days there will be great confusion? The Lord mandates then that Christians, who are true Christians and who desire to obtain the firmness of the true faith, to seek refuge nowhere else than in scripture.

Otherwise, if they look to something else, they will be offended and be lost, for they will not recognize which is the church, and so they will succumb to the abomination of desolation that stands in the holy place.

Wow. What a quote. So, brothers and sisters, as Christ, that terrible farmer, maybe he's smarter than we think, is sowing the seed of his word, recognize then that we are to be where Christ wills for us to be, where his word is taught in its purity, the gospel proclaimed, the sacraments administered according to the gospel, and when you see those things present, even when the pastor is, well, a weak sinner himself.

You see, a strong pastor with charisma or speaking ability is not the sign of a true church. The sign of a true church is whether or not he preaches the word, rightly administers the sacraments. When these things are occurring, you know that the church is present, and you know that you are in a safe place.

So keep that in mind. What is the church? It is the place where we hear the word of God, where we receive the body and blood of Christ, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins. The church is the place where Jesus is making Christians by mixing them with water and the word, the baptismal font.

They're the true churches. Those are the signs. Look for other things, and you'll miss it. You'll miss it all together. So, let us again consider the simplicity, the wisdom, and even the humility with which Christ has called us to embrace these truths and believe what is true about what his church is and how he makes Christians and how he sustains them, and let us not wander off into novelties, into strange and exotic attractions and things that entertain.

Let us again continue to focus where Christ has told us to focus, word and sacrament. In the name of Jesus, amen.

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