The Church
Back to the Basics • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Thank you for praying for us… We missed last week because our baby girl got married.
We are starting a series over the next several weeks that I am calling “Back to the Basics.”
Why Back to the Basics?
Many of you know that I used to be a football coach and still love to watch football.
As a coach at both the HS and collegiate levels, I found that every year, when players arrived, we had to start with the basics.
Some players had bad technique they had learned, and we needed to coach it out of them.
Others became lazy with their technique, and we had to reteach proper form.
And still others, especially in HS, were brand new to the game and needed to learn basic movements.
I believe Christians are much the same way…
Some Christians have been taught or believe things that are not biblically correct, and it is our job here at Calvary Baptist to help you learn and practice what the Bible actually teaches.
Some Christians know the truth but get lazy and need to be reminded what God’s word says about certain things.
And some of you are brand new Christians and are just starting to learn, so we want to make sure you learn the truth from the Word of God before you are influenced by those who would distort the scriptures or teach outright heresy, leading many astray with their teachings.
In getting “Back to the Basics,” I felt it would be good to begin with “The Church.”
Many people today understand the church as a building. This is not a biblical understanding of the church. The word “church” translates the Greek word ekklesia, which means “an assembly” or “called-out ones.” The root meaning of church is not a building but people.
The church is made up of the body of Christ, and He is the head of the church.
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
But before we study more about the church’s beginning, structure, and operation, I want to look at its foundation.
I hope you brought your bibles with you this morning… if not please grab a bible from the pew in front of you.
Turn with me to Matthew 16:18, however, I want to begin reading from verse 13.
This morning, I want us to focus on verse 18.
There three things I would like to point out that are are key to understanding “The Church.”
Jesus Christ is the Rock
Jesus Christ is the Rock
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Illustration: Mary and I are in the process of working toward building a house at some point.
We have looked at many plans.
We have considered different colors and single- or two-story designs.
There are so many options and questions to ask before you build.
But the most important part of any home is not the façade, not the color, or the flooring.
The most important part is the foundation.
When Jesus says “upon this rock,” He is not referring to Peter but to Himself.
There are some faiths and others who believe “upon this rock” refers to Peter, but I want to show you why it is not and why it is important that the rock be Jesus.
Let’s take a moment to look at the Greek together, and perhaps it will help us understand why it’s Jesus and not Peter.
The word for “Peter,” Petros, is a masculine noun meaning “a detached stone, a stone that might be thrown or easily moved.”
The word for “rock” next mentioned is a different Greek word, petra, a feminine noun meaning “a mass of rock” or “a cliff,” and therefore something foundational.
The difference in the two terms suggests that Jesus was contrasting Peter with Himself.
Jesus was saying, “You are the small rock, but I am the foundation of the church.”
In other scriptures, Jesus often refers to Himself as “The Foundation” rather than Peter.
For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Remember the Sunday School song from many years ago about building on the rock?
The Wise Man: Built his house upon the rock. The rains came down, the floods came up, and the house stood firm.
The Foolish Man: Built his house upon the sand. The rains came down, the floods came up, and the house went SPLAT!
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
If we try to build anything on a man, we are surely building on unsolid ground, but if we build on the Rock, who is Jesus Christ, then we will stand firm forever.
Were Peter and the other Apostles important to the church's founding? Absolutely!
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
Peter and the Apostles were vital in getting the church started; they were foundational from that standpoint, but Christ Himself is called the “chief cornerstone.”
He is the most important rock to which every other rock in the building is anchored.
So not only are Peter and the Apostles anchored to Jesus as the cornerstone, but so are we.
All believers are little stones anchored to the cornerstone, which makes up the church as a whole.
Not only is Jesus the Rock the Foundation of the Church, but…
Jesus is the Founder of the Church
Jesus is the Founder of the Church
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Notice the pronouns used here… “I will build My church.”
Illustration: Too many churches today have lost sight of whose church it is.
They have become nothing more than a country club.
A gossip center.
A day care for kids.
And many churches today will go through an entire service without singing or talking about Jesus at all.
But Jesus says, “This is mine! I will build My church.”
As the founder and owner of the church, Jesus is also, in practice, the head of the church. We see this universally in Eph. 5:23 and in other passages like 1 Cor. 12:27.
Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
We are not the head but the body of Christ.
If Jesus is the head and founder of the church universally, then He should also be the head of the church at the local level.
Calvary Baptist Church was founded many years ago. The one thing that has remained and will continue to remain is that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church.
I might be preaching; we, as a body or as leadership, may make decisions on various matters, but it is Jesus who leads.
The Church is Secure
The Church is Secure
“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Many people misinterpret this phrase. It is not a defensive term regarding the church but rather an offensive image: Ancient city gates served as defensive structures. Since gates do not move or attack, the image represents the church advancing and breaking through the stronghold of death and evil to save people, instead of hiding in fear.
This phrase signifies that Christ's followers are undefeated by death and the grave.
That is why we have verses like 1 Corinthians 15:55, which states,
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
When the church operates as it is supposed to and allows Jesus to lead, death has no victory, because believers do not fear death.
When the church is doing its job, we are literally ripping people from hell’s grip as they come to know Christ as their Savior.
Since city gates in ancient times functioned as defensive barriers or council locations, the metaphor suggests that neither death nor demonic forces can impede the church's progress or threaten its eternal security.
There is a battle raging between the demonic world and the church, and the church must stand firm, fighting the enemy, not itself.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Too often in church, we get caught up in fighting each other rather than recognizing we have a common enemy.
When the church operates as it is supposed to and allows Jesus to lead, the demons tremble because they know it cannot be stopped.
“After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
Meanwhile, as believers and as the church, we have a job to do.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Jesus is the foundation; He is the Founder, and He has promised us that even the gates of Hell cannot stop us.
So my challenge to you, church, is that we not sit quietly in our pews, then go home and move on with life as if this doesn’t matter.
You have been charged by Jesus Himself to take the battle to the enemy.
You have been charged to share the gospel with those who are lost.
And as we, as a church, collectively do our job of sharing the gospel, not only are we building up the church, but we are engaging in battle by the power of Jesus, ripping souls out of the hands of Satan, and there is nothing He can do about it.
Amen!
Let’s Pray
