Jesus Builds His Church

Introduction

I want to begin by suggesting that it’s very easy to fall prey to assessing things from a carnal rather than a spiritual perspective or assessing things not for what they truly are in reality from the spiritual realm point of view, but from merely an earthly perspective. And that’s what Paul was suggesting the Corinthians that we’ve been talking about lately, were doing with him. They were looking at him from a merely this world perspective, and here is one who has been beaten up for the cause of Christ. And from the standpoint of physical appearance, at this time, Paul doesn’t look very impressive at all. He doesn’t speak extremely well, apparently, according to 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 10. And he says to them in verse 7, you are looking at things as they are outwardly, as they are looking down upon his physical presence.

If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ, so also are we. And he set all of this up, this discussion with the Corinthians about how they’re regarding him in chapter 4, and I don’t have time to go over the entire context now, but he says, Death works in us, but life in you. He says we’re constantly being delivered over to death. And while the outer man is decaying, you’ve got to assess this from a spiritual perspective, the inner man is being renewed day by day. And our momentary light affliction, oh, it seems severe and hurtful now, but our momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

Definitely one of my favorite verses of the New Testament. While we look not, he says, to the things which are seen, the things which are seen are temporal, but we look to the things which are not seen, and those things he says are eternal. And he talks then in chapter 5 about this house that we have with God. This ultimate abode that we’re looking for. We can fall victim to not looking at things from the right perspective and not realizing indeed how powerful and awesome they are. And I would suggest to you that happens in regard to this. And I was thinking about this. Of course, I knew what I was going to preach, but I was thinking about this as we were singing these songs, particularly the last one that I had John lead.

This is amazing, what goes on here, who we are, what we share in Christ, what we’re doing together. It’s incredible. It’s just so often not perceived that way. And people don’t look at their involvement in it as that big of a deal. And some will even walk away from it, thinking I won’t be missed, I’m not important, this isn’t all that significant. And they walk away. And if that’s the case, you’re just not seeing what this is really all about. And that’s what this lesson is designed to do today. And I want to make this important observation as well by way of introduction that connection with God and relationship with him is a powerful thing. Whether it’s perceived by others or not, whether the world recognizes it and applauds it or not.

If anyone loves God, he is known by him. That is a powerful thing demonstrated in a widow that came and cast two mics into the treasury. That’s all that she had to live on. Remember that story? As Jesus calls his disciples over and says, Hey, I want you to look at what this person did. It’s everything she had to live on. She put in. That didn’t seem like much from a carnal physical perspective, but from a spiritual perspective, that was huge. This widow’s gift was massive. If you see it from the right perspective. And so I want to talk to you about your connection with God. If indeed you are a member of his church. And I want to talk to you this morning about this perhaps familiar text in Matthew chapter 16, where Jesus promises that he will build his church.

1. Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church

Tonight we’re going to look at what happens when that goes awry. When man builds his church, which is far more common in our culture. But this morning we’re going to look at it from God’s perspective when Jesus builds his church. Let’s look at this text together, make some observations, and then we’ll go a few places with those thoughts. Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he began asking his disciples, saying, Who do the people say that the Son of Man is? And notice they know exactly what he’s asking here. And that he’s asking about himself and his own identity. And this was a messianic term that they quickly identified from Old Testament passages. It’s interesting if you’ll flip over before we read the rest of this to John chapter 9.

We were talking about this with the young people out at the Olympics on Sunday night past. About when he finds the blind man who has answered the Pharisees and has been cast out of the synagogue. Jesus goes and finds him, which is a wonderful part of the story, and he asked him, Do you believe in the Son of Man? And he knew it to be a messianic reference because he answered and said, And who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? Okay, well, yes, who is he? Where is he? And he says, I’m the one who speaks to you. And identifies himself as the Son of Man. And so they said, some say John the Baptist and others Elijah. Oh, by the way, the apostles never address Jesus as the Son of Man.

He’s the only, he’s the one that always introduces that about himself. But anyway, some say John the Baptist and others Elijah, but still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But he said to them, Who do you say that I am? And so again, they understand the connection between Jesus and the Son of Man. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ. You’re the Messiah. You’re the anointed one of the Old Testament that was promised. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew 16, 60. And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjonah. Because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church.

And the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. And that’s pretty powerful. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Thou art Peter. It’s interesting that Jesus insists that he shall be called Peter when he first meets it. Back in John chapter 1. And I’ve wondered if Jesus is anticipating this very discussion, where Peter is going to make this statement, and then he’s going to resort to a play on words with Peter’s name. Peter comes from the Greek Petros. Cephas is an Aramaic form of that, based in the Greek. And both mean rock or stone. And so he’s playing on that.

He says, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock. But he does not use the term petros in the second part of that. He uses the feminine version, Petra. And may I suggest to you that all the confusion that Catholicism brings to the table here in Matthew chapter 16, that Jesus was somehow saying that Peter is the rock upon which he was going to build his church, doesn’t recognize this. He would not refer to Peter as Petra. That it is obvious a play on words that he is using here. I’ll tell you this. None of the other disciples thought that he was going to build his church on Peter, because if that had been the case, there would have been a huge uproar that would have resulted right there.

Because they were always striving about rank anyway. They didn’t get that impression either. But obviously, the play on words has to do with the statement that Peter made, not Peter himself, which would be the bedrock or the stone upon which this church would be built. That Jesus is the Messiah. It’s all about his identity. As demonstrated in Matthew 16. As demonstrated in John chapter 9, it’s all about the identity that he was the Christ, the Messiah. He was the Son of God, and His church would be built upon that rock. This is the first time that Jesus refers in his ministry to his church. His ecclesia, his called out ones that he had planned to occur. Most often Jesus would speak of the term kingdom as he preached the gospel of the kingdom, a new sphere of God’s reign.

And we talked about that recently. And somehow these two things must come together because, and I think we oversimplify this sometimes when we say the kingdom is the church is kingdom. The church is simply that group of people who have come under the reign of God, this new sphere of God’s rule that he was about to introduce. Some of you standing here shall not taste of death till you see the kingdom of God come with power. He says in Mark chapter 9 and verse 1, indicating how near it was, and I like to make the point about this because it’s almost comical. Some think the kingdom of Christ is still yet future, and if that’s the case, then there’s some really old people walking around.

2. The Gates of Hades Shall Not Prevail

Because he said, Some of you standing here shall not taste of death until you see the kingdom of God come with power. Obviously, whatever Jesus was referring to, and his church is imminent, the kingdom is imminent, the two of these things must coincide. And he says, the gate of Hades shall not prevail against it. Now that’s pretty powerful. Hades is the realm of the dead. I know there’s a good aspect of that. There is paradise where the righteous saints go, but it is a bodiless existence. When the body dies, the spirit is removed from the body, the spirit goes to this realm of the dead. This was never God’s intentions for us. This is the result of sin. But something so powerful as death and the sting of death, which is the result of sin, even something so powerful as that could not prevail against this kingdom.

And that’s why in the book of Revelation, Hades is represented as an enemy of man. It’s the result of sin. And what he says is, this church is going to be built, and Hades can’t stop it. And I heard this many years ago from a preacher by the name of Osby Weaver, and I think he’s exactly right. In fact, I was talking with another older brother who’s a preacher, Ron Mosby, about it last week. And I think what he’s saying here is that Hades, the realm of the dead, that’s where Jesus went as he died and his spirit left the body, but he didn’t stay there.

You see, he conquered it by being the perfect sin sacrifice, the perfect Lamb of God. And he came up out of Hades. He rose from the dead. You see, Hades could not keep him out. And then Hades could not keep him in.

3. The Eternal Purpose and Plan of God

He gives us hope beyond death, you see. And one day he has promised us a glorious body at his return in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And so he helps us to overcome. The gate of Hades shall not prevail against it. And he says, I will give you, the apostles, the terms of access to my kingdom. See how he intermingles this idea of church and kingdom? I will give you the keys of the kingdom. They will help people to gain access to this called out body of people who submit to the reign and rule of Christ. Well, how significant is all of this? Jesus says, I will build my church. Paul tells us in Ephesians. This has to do with the eternal purpose and plan of God.

This issues from eternity as he’s talking about the unfathomable riches of the gospel of Christ and preaching those unfathomable riches. Our involvement in this stems from eternity. Seven hundred years prior to Jesus’ ministry, there is the promise, which came to Nebuchadnezzar in a vision, which Daniel had to explain. But in the days of those kings, the Roman kings, the fourth empire, God would establish his kingdom that would never be destroyed. An eternal plan with an eternal result. A kingdom that shall never be destroyed. And then the reference to the Son of Man in chapter 7, who has come, who comes before the throne of the living God and is given a kingdom that lasts forever and ever again, where the Son of Man, Messianic concept comes from.

4. Added to His Church in Acts 2

In Haggai chapter 2 and verse 7, also a passage that I preached on not very long ago. He says, I will fill this house with glory. God has future intentions for his true temple, and he says, I will fill this house with glory, speaking to this eternal plan that God has. So when all this happened? When did this church, this kingdom that was imminent, this reign of God and the lives of his people, when did it happen? We have read Acts 2 so much that I think some of the splendor and magnificence of it has been lost on us. When that noise of the Holy Spirit descending and fire upon the apostles, what happened when that happened? I know the apostles ultimately spoke in tongues and everyone heard them in their own language.

That’s spectacular, isn’t it? But as a result of even the noise, everybody came rushing to the temple area. People are drawn to this, and the apostles preach, they speak in tongues, and people hear in their own language, and the sermon is presented that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved has Gentile application. An implication.

Those that gladly received His word were baptized, and they were added that day about 3,000 people. Has that ever happened since then? Has there ever been anything like that before then? 3,000 people among that vast majority who brothers and said, we’re baptized. Something pretty incredible is going on here in Acts chapter 2, isn’t there? No wonder some have stuff styled it. The hub of the Bible.

5. It Is Jesus Who Leads His Church

Why is it? Because it’s the fulfillment of all this. And they were being added to his church daily, those who are being saved. Acts chapter 2 and verse 47. Added to the number of the saved. That’s when this happens. This new sphere of the reign of God. This is extraordinary. And if that’s indeed what we are, then it is my hope and my intention that’s exactly what we are and continue to be. His people who have submitted to his reign and rule. If that’s what we are, if that’s what you are, if you have participation in this, it’s extraordinary. No matter what it looks like from a carnal or physical perspective, value this. Appreciate this. There’s another implication that flows out of this. And that is if Jesus says, I will build my church, then it is Jesus who leads his church.

If it is indeed his. If we would truly be the church that he built, then Jesus must be the leader of that church. And I owe this section of the material to Chris Emerson, who preached a very powerful lesson about this, and I’m only able to give you the summary of what he presented. Leadership is the key to the success of any people. People will not rise above generally their leadership. Chris said a very important thing. He says, You show me your leadership and I’ll show you your future. Have you ever had a bad boss? Someone who is a poor leader. What does this person look like? This picture explains what bad leadership looks like. This person sits above the people. And this leadership model, it’s true of whether we’re talking about kingdoms, whether we’re talking about our homes, our employment.

This is a poor leader. He sits above the people. He is purposefully impersonal in his leadership. He sits behind them and above them. It is not important that he knows who they are. All that’s important is that they know who he is. He is the boss. I’m better than them, and he keeps his distance to prove it. He is above the work and making it harder. He is really, though, just a noisy follower. You see, the work is dependent upon these other people. He’s just barking orders and giving commands. You do the work, he takes the credit. You don’t do the work, he blames you for the failure. I pity any system with a leader like this.

That is not the leadership that Jesus modeled with his church. You change one thing about this picture. And true leadership is demonstrated. The only thing that changes is what the leader is doing. It’s not the weight of the work or the distance to the goal. He’s marching with the people. He’s marching side by side with the people.

There is a fellowship. Many of you ever seen the show Undercover Boss. Isn’t it amazing the epiphany that the boss always goes through when he gets down with the people who are his employees and sees their lives and sees how hard they work and the sacrifices that they make, some that don’t, and they get trouble. But he mingles with his work. He has a new appreciation for his whole organization or company. Because he’s now concerned about these little people who are actually doing all the work that’s bringing in all of his money and making his company a success. It’s extraordinary. How even these worldly people are impacted by this. And then they start, it seems, after this one experience, they start doing it more often. They’re mingling with the people.

He’s actually doing work and pressing toward the goal himself with his people, and yes, he is making noise, but he’s saying things, getting inspirational speeches, and issuing direct commands, perhaps, but he is also a trailblazer in the work himself. And that’s our king. That’s the one who leads us. Jesus Christ is the leader of his church. Our kingdom has a great leader. And just like the picture suggests, and this is why our king deserves our loyalty and our service. Because he doesn’t ask us to do anything that he hasn’t already done. Even something like partaking of the Lord’s Supper, he’s the one that instituted it with his disciples. Before we baptism. You ever wonder why Jesus had to be baptized? That’s a question that is perplexing to most of us.

When we’ve studied his baptism by John. John at first didn’t want to do it, but Jesus says what? To fulfill all righteousness. He wasn’t a sinner that needs to be cleansed. In some ways, this marked the beginning of his public ministry, and so he’s immersed into this new role as the public teacher that he becomes and the miracle worker and all that flows out of that. But I wonder if more than anything else, Jesus knows that we would be baptized. To gain access to this kingdom, the terms of access would involve our submission to being baptized. And thus he says, John permitted to fulfill all righteousness. It’s right. That’s why we’re going to do this. It’s the right thing to do, just like my disciples are going to do.

Jesus says, how faithful and loyal should you be to his cause? Even to what? Can you finish the sentence? Even unto death. Well, that’s huge. Revelation 2.10. Be faithful, even if it is going to mean your death for this cause. That’s all that they can do, by the way, if they kill you. Jesus says that’s all that they can do. Well, that’s a big thing. But there’s hope beyond the death, is what Jesus tells his disciples. You know what’s amazing about that? Jesus has already done that. He did it first. He persevered in doing the Father’s will all the way to his death. He went first. And that’s just the short list of the things that we can talk about. When, for example, he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren.

1 John 3. Why should we serve our brethren? Because Jesus did. He’s our leader. He showed us so many things that we could look at this morning. He went first. And he’s not done. It’s not like he’s up in heaven and he’s saying, okay, now y’all work it out and get on up here. Where I am. And he’s cracking the whip on us. He’s still intimately involved in our lives. That’s what the whole book of Hebrews is about. I’m not going to go through the entire book of Hebrews. But that’s what’s going on there. He is able to come to the aid of the tempted. He is our high priest. He’s still working. And we can go boldly to the throne of grace and find help and mercy in a time of need.

6. What Ought to Flow Out of This

He’s still intimately involved in all of this. He ever lives to make intercession to plead our case before the Father. I’m glad that’s going on, aren’t you? And he is able to save forever those who draw near to him. The Hebrew writer says in chapter 7 and verse 25. And he’s promised to be with us, as he promised to be with his apostles in Matthew chapter 28 and verse 20. So what ought to flow out of this? I mean, three things very briefly that ought to put a smile on our face. If we’re involved in this great cause, if we are the called out ones who are in his church, a plan from all eternity, that ought to cause us some joy and rejoicing, right, Kevin?

As he talked about that on Wednesday night, that was precisely his point. We have a lot to be thankful for. And we ought to stay busy just like our leader worked. My food is to do the will of him who sent me, he says in John chapter 4 and verse 34. No wonder we’re called upon to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. In Ephesians 4 and verse 1. And look, especially the men in our audience, whether we’re talking about in our home or among his people. If we have been called upon to lead, let us lead like the Lord leads. Caring about each individual sheep as he does.

They call him by name. He knows them by name. According to John chapter 10, I am the good shepherd. Well, where’s all this going? And that’s another marvelous thing about all of this. We need a leader like him. Where’s all this going? Ephesians chapter 5, as we wrap this up this morning, Ephesians chapter 5. Husbands are admonished to love their wives. And the model has already, again, Jesus went first. He’s already modeled this as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, redeemed by the precious blood of a lamb. That he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

Beautiful, pristine. All the wrinkles ironed out, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and blameless. Those among his people who pursue his kingship, who live lives of holiness and pursue blamelessness. One day he’s going to make a presentation of the church in all her glory. It doesn’t matter how our community perceives us. This small ragtag group of people known as the Decker Prairie Church of Christ. If we’re pursuing being one of his called out ones, living by his example. It’s not talking about the local church in Ephesians chapter 5. Sometimes in the local church you have imposters, there’s wheat and there’s tares. There’s other parables that talk about that. Sometimes in local churches, you have people who are not dedicated and loyal to Christ.

But those of us who are pursuing holy and blameless from all over the world, there’s going to be a great presentation. The church in all her glory. Those who have given glory to God, that’s what the church exists. Ephesians 3, 20 and 21. You need to be a part of this eternal plan and purpose of God. And so that means these called out ones pursue his likeness. That’s why we have all these Bible classes. We’ve got to think like the Lord thought. We’ve got to value what he valued. We’ve got to serve like he served. And we need instruction and growth in those things. That’s why we’re studying so much of the word, better understanding what God wants for us. Giving our all in living his way.

Though undeserving and inadequate, he’s going to bring us to glory if we will just continue to plod along faithfully in his service. And I’m not going to read this entire text in 1 Peter chapter 2. But wonderful concept. It says we are, as his people are living stones built upon the foundation of the rejected stone, the chief cornerstone, which is Jesus Christ, that we are living stones in God’s house. Awesome. God built something. We are God’s building and we’re a part of it. And as a result of that, there are two things that bracket those comments about being living stones as newborn babes. We need to be longing for the pure milk of the word, that by it we may grow in respect to salvation. This is all about him.

We’re learning to live his way.

Longing for the pure milk of the word. And then he concludes.

Conclusion

That you may proclaim his excellency. Who calls you out of darkness and into his marvelous light, into this new reign or sphere of his rule. You have been called out of darkness and into his marvelous light that you may proclaim his. It is all about him. Things go awry. And the church becomes something that man built. When it is no longer all about him, but it becomes to be about us. We are merely living stones built upon his foundation. And we’re to be doing his bidding and proclaiming his excellencies and longing for the pure milk of his word, that by it we may grow and be molded into the image of our great leader. That was a lot of information. But as I come to the end of this, my question to you is, are you a part of this?

If not, you’re missing out. And you could well miss out in all eternity if you don’t get involved. Jesus died for you, he paved the way for you. He’s the most awesome leader that has ever lived. And he wants to lead you to eternal salvation. And if you’re in this church, if you were like those people on the day of Pentecost who were baptized and they were added to the body of the Saved, would you please not lose sight of the magnitude of all of this? We sing songs like, I love thy kingdom, Lord. Truly awesome things. Said about our involvement together as his people and the great blessings we enjoy in Christ with one another and what God has planned for us.

Don’t lose sight of it. Don’t lose your spiritual focus. Or you’ll be in trouble, like the Corinthians were. How are you assessing things this morning? Is it time for you to follow our great leader, Jesus Christ? We seem to encourage your response. Let’s stand this thing together.