1 The Church’s one foundation
is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
she is his new creation
by water and the Word.
From heav’n he came and sought her
to be his holy bride;
with his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.

2 Elect from ev’ry nation,
yet one o’er all the earth;
her charter of salvation:
one Lord, one faith, one birth.
One holy name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with ev’ry grace endued.

3 The Church shall never perish.
Her dear Lord to defend,
to guide, sustain, and cherish,
is with her to the end.
Tho’ there be those that hate her
and strive to see her fail,
against both foe and traitor
she ever shall prevail.

4 Tho’ with a scornful wonder
the world sees her oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping;
their cry goes up, “How long?”
and soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.

5 ‘Mid toil and tribulation
and tumult of her war
she waits the consummation
of peace forevermore
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great Church victorious
shall be the Church at rest

Author: S. J. Stone

This last Sunday we had the privilege of singing this great hymn at weekly worship. The hymn, while written in 1866, has such deep theology about the purpose of The Church. Those of us who are privileged to hold such membership in a local church body, are part of something much more glorious, we are the Universal Church.

The Church is made up of the “Elect from every nation, though one over all the Earth”. The universal church, not denominations or sects of Christians, but those who truly live each day as members of the elect, where our lives, our motivations, our thoughts are directed by the in-working of the Holy Spirit. The true church shares a “charter of salvation: one Lord, one faith, one birth.”

Read through this and see, how the church is growing with true saints, but also is being purged of those who are not part of the body. So many local churches are closed because of COVID. Why? because the church felt it was more important to close the doors to the assembly of the saints because of the wants of the government, rather than to obey and trust God.

In this fallen world, the church is a threat because Satan has no authority or power over the believers. When the church is united, it is a powerful foe. To keep it under the thumb is to prevent a great power that could change the world for good. We are called to respect and honor our government, but there is a place where obedience to God comes before obedience to men.

This is such a rich message for times such as this.