The Church That Jesus is Building

INTRODUCTION

There has been much recent discussion about the decline and death of many churches in North America. When we take into consideration the reports that continue to suggest that the church is now just an old relic of the distant past and that a new study from Lifeway Research suggests more Protestant churches closed in 2019 than opened — continuing a decades-long congregational slide that is only expected to accelerate. It is as frightening a prospect as the discovery of the Octavius, a vessel discovered a century ago, among the icebergs of the Arctic ocean, with the captain frozen as he was making his last entry in the logbook. The crew were discovered, some in their hammocks and some in the cabin, all frozen to death. The last date in the logbook showed that for thirteen years that vessel had been moving among the icebergs, “a drifting sepulchre, manned by a frozen crew.” Are there not churches in a like condition?

—Prosser

I am sorely afraid that there are indeed churches in that same condition in 2022. But I fear it may be so because they are not part of the Church that Jesus is building. In the text before us this afternoon we are introduced to the word “church” for the first time in the Bible. In short, Church, is (ekklesia): the word means to call out a gathering, an assembly. In the Greek, there is no spiritual significance ascribed to the word itself. An example is the town meeting in Ephesus which was called out (ekklesia). It was only an official city-wide meeting (Ac. 19:32, 39, 41).

The question that we should be asking is

What is the difference then between such secular gatherings and the church of God?

1. It is God who calls together and gathers His church. His church is the body of people “called out” from the world by Him. They are His body of people, a people sanctified or set apart by Him to form the church of the living God.

2. God dwells within the very presence of believers when they gather together (see note—1 Co. 3:16–17).

3. The gathering of God meets together for two purposes—worship and mission. God is the object of worship, and His mission becomes the objective of the church. Therefore, God’s church, the local assembly, gathers together to worship and to pool its resources in order to carry out the mission of God Himself. It should be noted that if these conditions are absent in the gathering it is very likely that the Lord is not builder.

It would stand to reason then why so many places of worship are declining and dying.

Context of the Text

Jesus is in the last year of his earthly ministry and takes this time to spend with his disciples alone away from crowds. He brings them to mountainous region of Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi (a city distinct from the usual New Testament Caesarea, which was on the coast) was pagan territory, near a grotto devoted to the worship of the Greek deity Pan; Herod had also dedicated a temple for the worship of Caesar there. Thus it was hardly the most expected site for a divine revelation. The city was some twenty-five miles from the Lake of Galilee and about seventeen hundred feet higher, hence the need to stop along the way (15:21); it lay near the source of the Jordan, at the Old Testament Dan, the northern boundary of ancient Israel.

It was here that Jesus began to question his disciples about the public’s opinion of him: “Who do the people say that I am?” They answered him that the general concensus among the people was that he was someone notable. Jesus then personalized the question and asked them: “But who do you say that I am?” That is when Simon-Peter spoke up and said you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This statement known as Peter’s great confession is the foundation of the Church that Jesus is building .

CENTRAL IDEA

The Church that Jesus is building is on a firms foundation because He is the Builder, the Owner, and the Keeper of it.

I. He is the Builder (I will build)

a. Build - to construct in a transcendent sense as in the building up of the Christian congregation/church.

b. See Psalm 127:1

Psalm 127:1 NASB95

1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.

II. He is the Owner of it (My Church)

a. Mine: Personal Possession See Mal 3:16; 1 Pet 2:9

Malachi 3:17 NASB95

17 “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”

1 Peter 2:9 NASB95

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

b. Remember putting your face above a headless frame painted to represent a muscle man, a clown, or even a bathing beauty? Many of us have had our pictures taken this way, and the photos are humorous because the head doesn't fit the body. If we could picture Christ as the head of our local body of believers, would the world laugh at the misfit? Or would they stand in awe of a human body so closely related to a divine head?

Dan Bernard

III. He is the Keeper of it (The gates of hell shall not prevail against it).

a. Figuratively the gates of hádēs ([86], hell) refers to the powers of Satan and his hosts as commanding hádēs, the realm of death, including both the grave and the place of departed spirits. Death and hell are the effect of sin. Man is under the power of hell because he is under the power of sin. Satan is the father of sin and the lord of hell. Those whom he holds under sin, he holds under death. The redeeming work of Christ overcame the power of sin and hence the power of Satan and hell (1 Cor. 15:52–57; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8; Rev. 1:18). The Church is the company of the redeemed and as such cannot be overcome by all the powers of hell.

b. See 1 Pet 2:25

1 Peter 2:25 NASB95

25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

Conclusion

Matthew-II: Chapters 16:13–28:20 (King James Version) A. The Messiah’s Dramatic Revelation of Himself and His Church: Peter’s Great Confession, 16:13–20

Thought 1. The true church is universal. It is made up of all who genuinely confess Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. But note: He is the Son of the living God. If God is living, then Christ is living. He is, therefore, “My Lord, my God.” A genuine believer, that is, a true church member, becomes a person who has surrendered himself to be a servant of God’s Son, of God’s Lord.

Thought 2. We should go to Christ often and confess our trust and faith in Him. We should do so alone, demonstrating strength, devotion, tenderness, and warmth. He desires such strong and warm devotion, for we are the “living stones” of His church.

Thought 3. Note a fact often overlooked. Christ not only loved and died for us individually—He also loved and died for the church as a whole (universally). “Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it” (Ep. 5:25).

References

Zodhiates, Spiros. 2000. In The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament, electronic ed. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. 2000. In A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., 696. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Keener, Craig S. 1993. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 1996. Matthew: Chapters 16:13–28:20. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 1996. Matthew: Chapters 16:13–28:20. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

Tan, Paul Lee. 1996. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times. Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.