The Lord Jesus Christ: The Foundation of the Church

Main Idea: Tonight we want to see that the foundation of the Church is and must always remain Jesus Christ.

The Foundation of the Church ()

A Catholic Understanding

Peter was given the keys to heaven, making him the first bishop of Rome (Pope)

Subsequent Popes inhabit Peter’s office as the vicar (representative) of Christ

Problems with this view

Popes

Was Peter ever in Rome?

Excludes the other apostles. Why?

Exalts a man above others

Subjugates the church to a man

A Baptist Correction

Petros refers to Peter and Petra refers to Christ or the confession of Christ

Christ’s address was to all of the apostles, whom Peter represents.

In , the keys are given to the church, not to Peter.

What about Jesus’s words to Peter in ?

The confession “Jesus is Lord” (and Jesus Christ Himself) is the Foundation of the Church!

Meaning of the confession that “Jesus is Lord.”

To confess that Jesus Christ is Lord is to confess that He is lord over Creation and is Lord over the Church

A confession of His deity

A confession of His dominion

A confession of His direction

“Christ only is king and lawgiver of the church and conscience.” [Early British Baptist pastor John Smyth, 1610].

Implications of this confession for us today

A declaration that each member is ultimately responsible to Jesus Christ.

“This doctrine has both individual and corporate implications. Individual believers who are not rightly related to a local congregation are not fully submitted to Christ’s lordship. In addition, each member is responsible to participate in the ministry of the local church. A person’s participation in the ministry of a local church is in part a declaration by him of his surrender to Christ’s lordship. [Stan Norman, The Baptist Way, 43].

A declaration that the risen Lord is at work within the church today.

Romans 14:7–9 NASB95

For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

A declaration that God gifts the church with leaders, but does not subjugate His sovereign control to leaders.

Ephesians 4:11–13 NASB95

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

A declaration that the church is a people bound by a common theological confession centered upon a common hope.

Revelation 1:4–8 NASB95

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 4:4–8 NASB95

Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads. Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.”

The Church’s One Foundation

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 Tho' with a scornful wonder, men see her sore 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.

4 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 false sons in her pale, against the foe or traitor she ever shall prevail.

5 'Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war, she waits the consummation of peace for evermore; till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest, and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

6 Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One, and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won. O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we, like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee.