What is the Church?

Q. What is the popular view of the Church today?

Q. What is the popular view of the Church today?

- one minute with the person/people next to you.

one minute with the person/people next to you.

There are many views of what the Church is; some good, so bad…

There are many views of what the Church is; some good, so bad.

· a building

a building

· a place full of hypocrites

a place full of hypocrites

lost touch with reality

· lost touch with reality

Stuck in the past

Some of the views many be right, they may be wrong. But the question is, how do we define what the true Church of Christ is? What is the true church?

, helps us answer that question.

Context: Jesus is now well known! He has just been speaking about the dangers of the Pharisees and the Sadducees; warning the disciples to guard against the yeast, the teaching, of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

As Jesus and His disciples move to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asks them a question.

: ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?

There will have been talk about the region, regarding Jesus. Regarding who He is. Amongst the disciples, there must have been many discussions about who Jesus was, since they spend the majority of time with Him.

Who is Jesus?

It’s a key question that needs to be answered. Because when we get it right, it changes everything.

They reply, :

Maybe He is John the Baptist come back from the dead, as Herod did in . John had such a great impact, surely his death could not be that last of him.

Others said that Jesus was Elijah. Those people saw Jesus as the fulfilment of the prophecy that Elijah would appear again, found in .

Others said Jeremiah. Possibly Jeremiah because in the Hebrew Scriptures Jeremiah is listed first.

And finally we get the more general, ‘one of the prophets’. No prophet in-particular, but great enough to be numbered among the prophets.

You can ask people today who Jesus was, and get just a varied list.

- A Good man

A good moral teacher

A Prophet

A godly man

Jesus then goes direct, and ask the disciples, : ‘BUT what about you?’

· Stuck in the past

Notice how we have moved from ‘people’ to ‘you’. It’s is more than likely, the disciples have had this conversation amongst themselves before.

Some of the views many be right, they may be wrong. But the question is, how do we define what the true Church of Christ is? What is the true church?

: ‘You are the Messiah’ God’s anointed One. The one who is sent from God to do God’s work of Salvation. He is the long awaited Messiah. Peter is speaking here for and on behalf of the other disciples. What a statement this is! Seeing Jesus for who He really is!

, helps us answer that question.

C.S. Lewis in his book ‘Mere Christianity’ says this...

“I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.”(page 52)

We must have a right view of who Jesus is.

Jesus responds by proclaiming Peter to be blessed, . Why? ‘For’ it was revealed to him by God. It wasn’t worked out by human knowledge or some profound human insight. It was revealed to him by the Father in Heaven. It is a work of God to see Jesus as God’s Messiah, His long awaited rescuer and King.

And it is on this confession by Peter that Jesus would build His church. The rock that the church will be built on is the proclamation of the confession of Peter in this passage. The confession of who Jesus is. And notice in , that it is Jesus who will do the building; ‘I will build my Church’. Whose Church is it? It’s Christ Church!

Context: Jesus is well known! He has done and said many amazing things! He has just been speaking about the dangers of the Pharisees and the Sadducees; warning the disciples to guard against the yeast, the teaching, of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

There have been many misunderstandings in regards to this verse. Peter has and is seen as the one who the church is built on and from. This is a misreading of the passage. Peter will go and proclaim the gospel of the Messiah, that Jesus is the Son of God, and from His preaching, , the church is built. But who is the one doing the building? It is Christ Himself. As we have seen the realisation of who Christ is, come only from the Father in heaven. That is the sense we are to take . From his preaching, many are brought into the Kingdom.

And so as Jesus and His disciples move to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asks them a question.

The stones of a building don’t build themselves. It needs the builder to decide to build!

is the great confession of the church. And the church is built on this confession.

: ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?

So back to the question we started with. Q. Who is the Church?

Who is Jesus? That is the key question that needs to be answered. It is getting that right that makes the difference and answers the question we started with.

The church is the people who have the same confession as Peter. The confession that says, ‘Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.’ That is the church. Any church that does not believe that, and confess that, is not a church.

They reply, :

When we are asked, ‘How can we know who the true church is?’ We need to look at what their view of Christ is. Do they confess the same thing as Peter?

Maybe He is John the Baptist come back from the dead, as Herod did in . John had such a great impact, surely his death could not be that last of him.

So what does that mean for us?

Others said that Jesus was Elijah. Those people saw Jesus as the fulfilment of the prophecy that Elijah would appear again, found in .

It is Christ Church! how many times have you heard someone say, ‘This is my church!’ The church is not ours but Christ’s! He is that one who should be at the centre of the church. He is the one who does the building up of the church. If He is not at the centre of all a church does, then it refocus itself. Q. Is Jesus at the centre of St Paul’s Church? We must lift our eyes to Jesus!

Others said Jeremiah. Possibly Jeremiah because in the Hebrew Scriptures Jeremiah is listed first.

Because it is Christ Church, how can we serve Him in it. We often can find serving in Church hard and tiring

It also means, our view of Christ has to be inline with Peter’s confession.

And finally, we get the more general, ‘one of the prophets’. No prophet in-particular, but great enough to be numbered among the prophets.

It also impacts the way we view one another. We are brought together, united together, in Christ Jesus.

You can ask people today who Jesus was, and get just a varied list…

· A good moral teacher

· A Prophet

· A godly man

Jesus then goes direct, and ask the disciples, : ‘BUT what about you?’

Notice how we have moved from ‘people’ to ‘you’. It’s is more than likely, the disciples have had this conversation amongst themselves before. But this time there is more clarity and understanding.

: ‘You are the Messiah’ God’s anointed One. The one who is sent from God to do God’s work of Salvation. He is the long-awaited Messiah. Peter is speaking here for and on behalf of the other disciples. What a statement this is! Seeing Jesus for who He really is!

C.S. Lewis in his book ‘Mere Christianity’ says this...

“I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him [Jesus Christ]: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.” (page 52)

We must have a right view of who Jesus is. He is either a liar, lunatic, a madman, or the Son of God!

Jesus responds by proclaiming Peter to be blessed, . Why? ‘For’ it was revealed to him by God. It wasn’t worked out by human knowledge or some profound human insight. It was revealed to him by the Father in Heaven. It is a work of God to see Jesus as God’s Messiah, His long-awaited rescuer and King.

And it is on this confession by Peter that Jesus would build His church. The rock that the church will be built on is the proclamation of the confession of Peter in this passage. The church began with Peter and proclamation of the gospel. But the church is dependant on God as the rock, not dependant on Peter. And notice in , that it is Jesus who will do the building; ‘I will build my Church’. The stones of a building don’t build themselves. It needs the builder to decide to build!

Whose Church is it? It’s Christ Church! And the gates of hades, a picture of the power of death, will not overcome the church. The true church will always survive! Isn’t that a great encouragement to us. The security of the church doesn’t depend upon man, but on God. And isn’t it an encouragement, when we read in news that the Church of England is in crisis. Numbers of Church members has decline and is only now a third of the church attendance of the 1960’s. But the church will last forever. The Church that confesses as Peter did, ‘Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’

So back to the question we started with. Q. What is the Church?

The church is a people who have the same confession as Peter. The confession that says, ‘Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.’ That is the church. Any church that does not believe that, and confess that, is not a church.

So what does that mean for us?

· Is that our confession? Do we as a Church here in Accrington, believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God? It’s Jesus’ Church, not ours. Is it reflected in the things we do? As we gather, we gather in Him, through him, around Him, and because of him. Jesus should be at the centre of all that we do as a Church. If He is not, then we need to refocus. If He is, we need to keep our eyes fixed on Him. We must lift our eyes to Christ.

· It also changes the way we serve in Church. What is our motivation for service? For praise, recognition? The motivation for service is anything done is for Christ. If it is His Church, then when we serve we serve Him. The Church belongs to Christ, we belong to it. Any serving done is done for Christ. And because it is done for our Saviour and King, it is to be done without grumbling.

· It also impacts our attitude to one another. Am I committed to the Church building, to a certain denomination? Or am I committed to a people; a people with the same confession of who Jesus is. We are united together in Christ Jesus. Committed to a people who are united together in Christ, through His work on the cross, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. What does being committed to one another look like?

o Share life together

o Comfort and encourage

o See a need, help

o Committed to meeting together

o Prayer

o Etc

The Church is a people united together in Christ, as a people who see who Jesus is; The Messiah, the Son of the living God.

Moments silence to ask God how to personally apply this…

Pray