The Lord's Church; Past, Present, and Future Part 1

Psalm 124 / Matt 16:13-20

The Gates, the Keys, and a Rock

The Gates

Caesarea Philippi - 25m N of Sea of Galilee / Mt Hermon

OT region of Bashan ( Half the tribe of Manasseh)

Mouth of the Jordan River

gods Molech, Malik, Pan

Known as the entrance to the underworld / realm of the dead / the gates of Hades

The Keys

What are keys in relation to a gate?

What gate / passage is in discussion?

What are the keys that allow entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven?

The Rock

Petrine Supremacy Built on him; Keys for him

Petrine Precedence

Conversational Context

v7 ‘ “we brought no bread”

v12 - then they understood… he was talking about the teaching of the Pharisees”

Matthew 16:23 “But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.””

Here Jesus describes the building of the New Testament Church; that it is comprised of a people HE gathers together who SHARE the testimony and experience of Peter.

For these people (and these people alone) the chains of death have no ability to hold. They are citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom. It is rightly sung by the redeemed that no grave can hold our bodies down.

It is also rightly said that the place to find the all-important gospel keys to gain entrance to that Kingdom is in His church, so if Jesus sets such high importance (connecting the church He is building) to this powerful gospel ministry, let us look further into this matter.

The Church Past (continuity)

When Jesus came on the scene...

Hebrew Scriptures were maintained, not cast away

Practices like prayer, fasting, and ritual washing were not totally cast aside

The Lord’s Supper itself is a continuation of the Feast of Passover

So how brand new an idea is the church?

OT Church?

Acts 7:37-38 (Stephen’s sermon) “This is the Moses who said to the Israelites (in Deut 18), ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai (in Exodus 20), and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us.”

Acts 7:38 KJV

38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Hebrews 2:12 “saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.””

Psalm 22:22 “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:” - Hebrew ‘qahal’

It seems a comprehensive look at the scriptures shows that God makes no distinction in the term used to describe His people between the Old Testament vs The New; The Assembly of Old Testament Israel has rightly been called the church of the old testament. This takes nothing away from the New Testament Churches, rather shows God’s great consistency; that He has been working to save lost humanity and to gether to Himself a people for their good and His Glory from old times! I thank God for the long and rich heritage God has grafted us into!

Progress, not Replacement

Tabernacle > Temple

Abraham (a man) > Hebrews (a people) > Israel (a nation)

Israel (the man) > Israel (the OT nation) > Paul says Israel is saved by Gentile inclusion

So Jesus in tour text uses the future tense, saying He WILL build His church. He chooses a word that is used in the Bible to describe OT Israel, yet sets His actions of building in the days of His ministry and beyond. Clearly He means to make some distinction.

The Church Present (distinction)

Israel, the National Church (THE congregation)

Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

The Synagogue System (The missing link)

John 12:42 “Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;”

Synagogue vs Church (Ekklesia)

James 2:2 “For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly (synagogue), and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in,”

Church Family, God has never strayed from His plan and purpose to save lost sinners, and to assemble them together in every age, in preparation for His return when God’s People will finally be gathered forever and completely apart from the sin and suffering of this world. Let us be encouraged and thankful that He is still building His Church that is not subject to the powers of death, Hell, and the grave.