No Church But the Lord's

Matthew 16:18

Introduction:

A.              Our culture has prized “rugged individualism” from the very beginning.

B.               But in Scripture, though faith is individual and is not transferable from one to another, the corporate or body life of God people also receives its due.

C.               This church is neither:

1.                Jewish.

a.                Though Rome early on considered the Christians a sect of Judaism, it was never so.

b.                Rom 7:1-6; Eph 2:11-18

2.                Catholic

a.                The church of the New Testament is never designated as the Catholic Church or the Roman Catholic Church.

b.                Cardinal doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church – the primacy of Peter, Mariolatry, papal infallibility – are unknown in Scripture.

3.                Nor Protestant

a.                The Protestant denominations of our day were established by men hundreds of years after Pentecost in Acts 2, when the Lord’s church was begun.

b.                The Lord’s church is one, a unity, not a denomination, which by definition demands division.

D.              What characterizes the Lord’s church.

I.                 Christ is its builder.

A.              Jesus said, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18).

B.               Two things are especially noteworthy here:

1.                The church belongs to Jesus and to him alone.

2.                It is singular in number; there is only one church.

a.                Eph 1:22-23 –  “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

b.                Eph 4:4-6 –  “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

3.                The concept of building and builder is…

a.                Not just the idea of erecting

b.                But also of maintaining

II.               Christ is its foundation.

A.              Matt 16:13-20

B.               1 Cor 3:11 –  “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

!! C.               1 Peter 2:6-7 –  “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, / ‘Behold, I lay in Zion / A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, / And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’  / 7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, / ‘The stone which the builders rejected / Has become the chief cornerstone,’” (Isa 28:16)

D.              “On Christ the solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.”

III.             Christ is its head.

A.              Drawn from the image of a body and its members.

B.               Eph 1:22-23 –  “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

C.               Col 1:18 –  “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.”

D.              Col 1:24 –  “I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,”

1.                The fullness of Christ.

2.                Fill up what is lacking.

IV.            Christ is its husband.

A.              Eph 5:22-33…

B.               Jesus

1.                Sacrificed himself for the church.

2.                To cleanse her and make her spotless.

3.                He is savior of the body.

C.               The church will respond to her husband in submission.

Conclusion:

A.              Salvation is in it. Eph 5:23 –  “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.”

B.               To be in the body of Christ is to be in Christ, a significant New Testament concept.

1.                Rom 12:5 –  “so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”

2.                Rom 16:7 –  “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.”

3.                2 Cor 5:17 –  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

C.               Will you enter into Christ today?

D.              Will you become part of this great body of the saved in Christ?

1.                1 Cor 12:13 –  “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”

2.                Gal 3:27 –  “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”  (Rom 6:3)