THE
GOSPEL TRUTH ABOUT THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
The introductory text for our lesson today is Matthew
16:13-19. While those who wish to follow along are turning to
this text, let's consider that when we look out at the religious
landscape today, we can see a whole multitude of organizations that
claim Jesus Christ as their savior, each one having its own unique
beliefs on what one must do in order to become a Christian and live
the life of faith God expects. The issue with this is
that in the gospel, there is only one institution which is referred
to in English as the church. That being said, for the purpose
of this lesson, we are going make a detailed examination of the one
church we read of in the gospel/good news of the new covenant.
During Jesus' earthly ministry at a time when He was on the coast of
ancient Caesarea Philippi, which today is in Lebanon on the eastern
coast of the Mediterranean Sea, he asked His traveling companions a
question recorded for us in Matthew 16:13, "Whom do men say that
I the Son of man am?" A number of His disciples gave
various answers to this question and then Simon Peter joins in and
nails it. In verse 16 of this account Peter is recorded as
saying, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
The Greek word for 'Christ' is pronounced 'Christos' and means the
anointed. Peter declared that Jesus was the anointed, or
chosen one, the Son of the living God. That's a pretty
emphatic declaration and it was obviously the answer Jesus was
looking for because in verses 17-19 we have recorded for us Jesus'
approval of Peter's declaration, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona,
because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father
who is in heaven. 18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon
this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not
overpower it. 19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." (NASU).
Now within this account, there is a lot of
information we can use in order to help us lay the ground work for
properly understanding the gospel truth about the church Jesus
promised to build.
Jesus said, I will build my church. Three points we need to
observe which are significant to understanding the gospel truth
about the church is that Jesus said,
"I will build"
Jesus says He will build this church. No
mere man is in view here at all. The church that is being
built is the product of divine construction through and through.
John 1:1 says that in the beginning was the word and the word
was with God and the word was God. In verse 14 of the same
context, we learn that the word which was God became flesh and
dwelt among men on earth. Jesus Christ, who was also known
as Emmanuel was literally God with us. In Acts 20:28
we read these words of Paul as recorded by Luke, "Take heed
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of
God, which HE [God] hath purchased with his own
blood." We all know that Jesus was the one who
shed His blood on the cross at Calvary. Paul said God
purchased the church with His own blood. Jesus was truly
Emmanuel meaning God with us. The church Jesus said He was
going to build was built and purchased by God, the Son of God in the Flesh.
God said He was going to build His church.
No mere man can improve on it. No mere man can take away
from it. It would be the epitome of gross presumption to
even think any mortal man would dare alter the design of the
church that God built.
"My church"
The church Jesus promised to build would be His
own possession. It belongs to Him and we saw in Acts 20:28
that the purchase price for it was His own blood.
Ephesians 5:25 reads, "Husbands, love your wives, even as
Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it."
The church Jesus promised to build literally cost Him His life.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God purchased the church He promised to
build with His life. The purchase price for it was His
life blood. It therefore indeed belongs to Him.
"church"
This is an English word that was used to
translate the Greek word Ekklesia. This Greek word carries two
meanings depending on the context in which it is used. And
this is so important in our understanding of the church we read
of in the gospel. The literal meaning of this word is 'the
called'. If we were to organize a birthday party and
invite several of our friends to it the people who show up for
the party would be the Ekklesia. An Ekklesia is an
assembly of people who were called together for a purpose.
This word is used in the new testament in
reference to a mob of people who were upset because Paul
preached against the pagan god Diana of the Ephesians.
This account is found in Acts 19. In verse 32 we read, "Some
therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly
[Ekklesia] was confused; and the more part knew not
wherefore they were come together." The word
'assembly' in this verse in the original language is 'Ekklesia'
which is the exact same word Jesus used for 'church'. This
is by no means an isolated instance. The word Ekklesia in
the original language is found in Acts 19:39, "But if ye
inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be
determined in a lawful assembly [Ekklesia] ."
And then again in Acts 19:41 which reads, "And when he had
thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly [Ekklesia]."
This was a mob of people who were intent on killing someone over
the preaching of the truth. That wasn't a church as we
know it by any means. The translators didn't translate
this word as church in these instances because the context did
not warrant it. It would have been an incorrect
translation to refer to this Ekklesia as a church. It
wasn't a church, it was an assembly of angry people so the
translators used the word assembly instead of church.
Other uses of the word Ekklesia in the original
language refer to individual assemblies of Christians in local
areas. One example of this is found in Romans 16:16 which
reads "Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of
Christ salute you." Paul referred to local assemblies
when he addressed a letter to the churches of Galatia in
Galatians 1:2. John recorded Jesus addressing the churches
of Asia in Revelation 1:4. Paul similarly referenced the
churches of Asia in 1 Corinthians 16:19. All of these were
assemblies of Christians. So we learn from this that a
local assembly of Christians is referred to as Ekklesia in the
original language. The translators used the English
word "church" when the assembly was in reference to Christians.
The other use of this word is used like the one
we saw in Matthew 16:18 in our introductory text to represent
the church or Ekklesia that Jesus promised to build which was
the one universal worldwide assembly or collection of followers.
When Jesus promised to build His church, He was saying He was
going to build His assembly of followers.
What we need to take from this is that never in
the new testament is the word Ekklesia ever used for anything
other than an assembly or group of people. It is never
used in reference to a temple, or a synagogue or any other
place, physical building or structure of any kind. It is
always used in reference to a collection of people assembled for
some specific purpose.
Now let's go back to Matthew 16:19 and we'll look at
something else Jesus said in response to Peter's declaration of
Jesus as the Son of the living God... Matthew 16:19, "And I
will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven".
Jesus makes a reference here to a kingdom. Jesus had just
promised to build His assembly of followers and now in the same
breath He tells Peter He's going to give Him what he needs to unlock
the doors or open the entrance to a kingdom. Obviously there
is a direct connection between the assembly of followers that Jesus
promised to build and the kingdom Jesus was going to open the
entrance to. This is not the first time Jesus ever mentioned a
kingdom and it certainly is not the last. We don't have near
enough time to look at them all, but we are going to mention a few
key things that will positively establish just what the connection
there is between the assembly of followers Jesus promised to build
and the kingdom He was going to grant access to.
In Luke 17:20-21, read, "And when he was demanded of the
Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and
said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the
kingdom of God is within you."
Jesus told them His kingdom was not something you
could see coming. You can see an earthly kingdom such as the
Roman Empire or the Israelite nation. You could see Rome and
you could see Jerusalem which was where these earthly kingdoms were
ruled from. Jesus told the Pharisees that the kingdom of God
was not like the earthly kingdoms they were familiar with.
This kingdom of God is something different. Then He went on to
say this kingdom resided "within you". This kingdom
Jesus was preaching was not a physical kingdom with an earthly
headquarters at all. With it residing within the hearts of the
people, it was spiritual in nature.
Jesus promised to build His church, His one assembly
of followers. The church was intended to be Jesus Christ's
assembly of saved souls from the beginning. This church was
going to be a non physical collection of followers who were called
together. The assembly of followers Jesus promised to
build is the kingdom He said He was going to grant access to.
In other words, Jesus told Peter and the others in Matthew 16:18,
"I'm going to build my assembly of believers and I'm going to give
you the way to unlock or reveal the entrance to it for everyone.
Both the church and the kingdom are non physical assemblies or
collections of people.
So what we see from Matthew 16:18-19 so far is that
Jesus promised to build His assembly or calling of people. It
would be His assembly and He only promised to build one. This
assembly would be a kingdom made entirely up of people and the
Apostles were going to open the doors to it for everyone. We
see now that the church and the kingdom are the same thing referred
to by different terms. There are other terms used in scripture
in reference to this assembly or kingdom of Christ followers.
Before we go in to a few of those, let's consider that each one of
these terms is used in a descriptive sense. These different
terms are used to illustrate key aspects of this assembly of Christ
followers in order to help us better understand its nature.
This assembly of Christ followers is a kingdom.
Jesus is the king of His kingdom. In Ephesians 1:20-23 we
read, "Which he [meaning God] wrought in Christ, when he
raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the
heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but
also in that which is to come: [Jesus is the king reigning
over His kingdom from heaven]
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to
be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all
in all.
Here's another one of those words used as a
descriptive term for the assembly of Christ followers. The
church is also the body of Christ. We see this repeated in
Ephesians 5:23 and then in Colossians 1:18 which reads, "And he
is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the
preeminence." Jesus is in charge. He is the king
over all things.
The term Ekklesia or church as it is translated in
English is descriptive of a people who are called out.
The term Kingdom is descriptive of a realm of people with a king who
rules over them.
The term body is a descriptive of unity of the whole
with different parts having different functions but all of the same
entity. A body has fingers, toes, arms, legs, etc, etc,
One body, with many parts serving different functions for one
purpose. A complete and functional body also has a head which
directs the toes, arms, legs, feet etc, etc.
In Eph 1:22 we saw that Jesus is indeed the head over
the body. He rules over it. He directs it and the body
obeys and follows His lead. Jesus is the king over His kingdom
and the head over His body. We have two different descriptive
terms in reference to the same thing. Paul described the
concept in detail of the many functional parts of the body of Christ
in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. I would encourage everyone to look
that up and study that in its entirety. Verse 12 starts this
wonderful illustration with "For as the body is one, and
hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many,
are one body: so also is Christ." Paul goes on to describe the
different essential functions of the human body and comparing those
with the various activities of those within the body of Christ.
In verse 27, Paul concluded this illustration of the body of Christ
with "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."
In Colossians 2:17, Paul wrote, "...the body is of Christ."
So the church of the gospel, the church Jesus
promised to build in Matthew 16:18 is the kingdom of Christ, the
body of Christ, and the called out assembly of Christians who follow
Christ. It is not a physical thing like a building or a thing.
It is a people who make up the spiritual kingdom and the spiritual
body of followers of Christ.
The church, the kingdom and the body of Christ are the same thing
and is populated by Christians. All Christians are in the
church, the kingdom and the body of Christ. If you are a
Christian, you are in the church. If you are a Christian you are in
the body of Christ. And if you are a Christian, you are in the
kingdom. So when we see references in the word of God to
any of these three things, we can be confident that it is applicable
to Christians only.
Jesus Christ is intimately associated with His
church. he built it and He owns it, Matthew 16:18. He
heads or rules over it, Colossians 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 might have the preeminence."
And then in Ephesians 5:23, "For the husband is
the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and
he is the saviour of the body." Jesus is the savior of the
body which means He is also the savior of the kingdom and the
church.
We saw earlier in Acts 20:28 that Jesus purchased the
church with His own blood. Jesus gave Himself for the church,
Ephesians 5:25-27, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ
also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and
without blemish." So we see that the church/body of
Christ, kingdom of Christ came at a great personal cost to Jesus.
Indeed, He gave His life as a sacrifice for it, for all Christians
everywhere.
And then in Ephesians 4:4-6, we read, "There is
one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are 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."
There is only one body, kingdom and church of Christ.
Jesus built one church. Jesus owns one church.
Jesus bled for one church. Jesus died for one church.
Jesus reigns over His kingdom which is the church; the one body of
Christ. Jesus is the savior of one church. In the Gospel
there was only one church in reference to the universal world wide
body of Christians. When we open the pages of the Bible, we
see that there was only one body or kingdom or church of Christ.
The church of Christ was united under one hope. The church of
Christ followed one Lord. The church of Christ practiced one
unified faith. The church of Christ administered only one
baptism. This one church was built, bought, possessed, bled
for, died for, ruled, loved and saved by Jesus Christ. In Acts
2:47 we learn that after baptism, one is added to this church by God
Himself... Acts 2:47, "Praising God, and having
favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily
such as should be saved."
Now since Jesus only built, bought, possessed, bled
for, died for, ruled, loved, adds to and saves one church, then that
better be the one we are members of. That church must be the
one we are part of and no other.
How do we make sure in this world of religious
division we live in today that God added us to the church He built,
bought, possessed, bled for, died for, ruled, loved, adds to and
saves? The answer to that question is found in 1 Thessalonians
2:14 which reads, "For you, brethren, became imitators of the
churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus."
The Christians in Thessalonica patterned their faith after the
churches in Judea which were in Christ. They used the
churches in Judea as their pattern and they did what those churches
did.
So let's apply what they did then to what we do
today. If it worked for them, why would it not work for us
today? If we study the individual churches in Christ that we
read of in the new testament and we do what they did to become
Christians would we not be added to the one church by the Lord like
they were? Of course we would.
After we are added to the church and we worship how
they worshipped and we obey God's will like they did and we live
faithfully like they did and we die in Christ like they did, would
we not be today what they were then? Of course we would.
There were faithful Christians living in the first century when the
gospel was given. The Bible records the lives of Christians
that we can study and learn about. These Christians were saved
and added to the church Jesus built, bought, possessed, bled for,
died for, ruled, loved, adds to and saves. Just like the
Christians in Thessalonica did with the churches in Judea; if we
will apply that to ourselves and do the same things; if we believe
what the faithful first century Christians in the gospel age
believed and do what they did, and are saved like they were and if
we live faithfully like they lived and worship how they worshipped,
adding nothing to nor taking anything away from what they did, we
will be today, just what they were then. Christians, added to
the one church that Jesus built, bought, possessed, bled for, died
for, ruled, loved, adds to and saves.
In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said upon this rock I will
build my church. The Lord's church was built on rock. It's
Immovable, Indestructible, unconquerable even by death. We
today can be added to that church if we will simply do today what
they did then.
