The Founder

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This morning we are going to be starting a new series, I am pretty excited about it. The name of the new series is “UR the ChURch” And today we are going to talk about "Who founded the Church".
So if you would take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to Matthew 16:13.
Jesus is with His disciples at Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was a place of great beauty located in the northern part of Israel. In that place the Canaanites had established a place of worship for their gods. They had erected great idols and great statues in this place. This place was backed up by a magnificent cliff, solid rock. And Jesus is standing before that solid rock, that towering structure of rock and when He asks a question to the disciples.
Matthew 16:13–19 NKJV
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 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. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Now this is a most important part of Scripture where Jesus said here, "upon this rock I will build my church."
Satan knows that a church filled with the Spirit of God is a mighty instrument in the hand of God. And Satan will do everything he can to try to minimize the importance and the relevance of the church in your eyes and in the eyes of the world.
Now we need to understand that the church is not a building but it is a people.
Jesus Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. He literally poured out His blood on Calvary's cross for the church.
The church of Jesus Christ is not some organization of men, but the church is a living organism of called out believers who are organized and energized by the Holy Spirit to be sent out to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now I want us to see several things about the church this morning.

I. THE CORNERSTONE OF THE CHURCH - BUILT ON WORSHIP

First of all, the cornerstone of the church relates to worship. As you look at this passage, Jesus is talking about the cornerstone.
He gives Simon Peter a test and Peter passes the test.
"Whom do you say that I am?" Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." And Jesus said that is right Peter but you can't take any credit for the answer because it was revealed to you by My Father, but that is the right answer. And He said, "you are Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church."
What is the cornerstone upon which the church is to be built?
Well, when Jesus said to Peter, thou art Peter, we know that the word he used – petros means a little rock. It means a fragment of rock that came from a huge rock. He said, "thou art Peter" – petros. But upon this rock – Petra a different word for rock that means not a little rock but a huge rock, a foundation rock, a giant rock, I will build my church.
There are some people who say that Jesus was going to build the church on Simon Peter himself. But that is an incorrect translation and interpretation of this verse. Jesus said Peter you are a little fragment of rock from the much larger rock. Peter was an unstable follower of Christ. He was hot and then he was cold. He was a malaria kind of Christian, you know, fever – chill – fever – chill. He was a roller coaster Christian – up, down, up, down, up and down. He was always putting his mouth in gear before his mind was engaged. Jesus constantly corrected him. This is one of the only times he ever got the answer right and God the Father through the Holy Spirit had to give him the answer to the test question otherwise he wouldn't have gotten it right.
So Jesus was saying to him you are a fragment of rock Peter. But upon this rock I will build my church. Now some say that Jesus was saying upon Peter's confession of faith, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus would build His church. And that is a good idea. That is a good interpretation. Jesus may have been saying that. He may have been saying, upon people who confess faith in Me, upon people who will acknowledge and confess that I am the Christ, the Son of the living God, I will build my church.
But when you examine it more carefully, it seems that Jesus is saying more than just that. It is as though Jesus is there at Caesarea Philippi and He always used whatever was around for an illustration.
If He was in a field He used the seed and the sower of the seed. If He was on the Sea of Galilee, He used fishing. And here He is at a great cliff, a giant cliff of stone, solid stone. And I believe that Jesus that day said to Peter, as He picked up maybe a little stone there, a little fragment that had flaked off of that giant cliff, you are a little rock like this.
And then motioning back to Himself, Jesus said, but upon THIS rock, I will build my church. Jesus was saying I will build my church with my self as the chief cornerstone.
Now if you look in the Book of I Peter you will find that this is exactly what the apostle Peter was led to say later by the Holy Spirit.
In I Peter 2:5 speaking of the church he said,
1 Peter 2:5 NKJV
you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
You see one of the chief functions of the church and purposes of our lives is to worship Him. It is what this passage calls, “to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Why through Jesus, because He is the cornerstone. He is the founder. It is all about Him.
1 Peter 2:6–10 NKJV
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.” 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,” and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Jesus was saying I am the rock upon which the church is built. The rock upon which the church is built is an unmovable rock. It is a Gibraltar rock. It is the rock of ages.
Jesus is the chief cornerstone of the church.
Tradition tells us that when Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, that as you know from Scripture, they brought the stones in from the quarry and put the temple together. So they received one day as they were constructing the temple, a very unusual stone. And they didn't know where to put it. It didn't seem to fit in with the plans for the temple. They tried it here, they tried it there. They said there must be some mistake. So they just pushed it to the side. Later on someone said this rock is getting in the way. As the workers would work on the temple they would stumble on this big rock.
Finally someone said let's get it out of the way. So they rolled it off of the temple mount and it went down into the Valley of Kedron below. And then when it came the day to lay the cornerstone of the temple, they sent out to the quarry and they said, send us the cornerstone. We are ready for the cornerstone. And they said we have already sent it. And the builders said, we don't have it. Send us the cornerstone. And they said again, we have already sent you the cornerstone some time ago.
So they began to search and they began to look. And somebody remembered that odd shaped stone they had stumbled over and pushed down in to the valley. They went down and brought that stone up and it fit perfectly into the place of the cornerstone of the temple.
now that is exactly what happened with Jesus Christ. He was the stone the builders rejected. He was the stone over which people stumbled because they would not believe on Him because He didn't fit their plans and vision for the world. He came into His own. His own received Him not.
But that one has become the head of the corner. And the construction of the church begins and ends with Him. Jesus is the cornerstone of the church.

II. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CHURCH - BUILT ON FELLOWSHIP

Now let's look at the construction of the church. And that corresponds to the second purpose, which is fellowship.
He talks about the construction of the church, "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church..."
So we talk about a pastor building a church, no pastor could ever take credit for building a church. We talk about people building a church; no people could ever take credit for building a church. The only one who gets glory for building the church is Jesus. He is the one who is the builder of His church. He is the only one who can build it.
He constructs His church upon the fellowship of His people.
We are stones in that building. Peter said you are living stones. And I think about those stones. There are all types and shapes of stones in this building. Each of us is a stone in the construction of the church.
The Bible says in that analogy, "we are living stones."
Just as stones are different in size and shape, we are different in that the gifts God has given each of us. He gifted us in different ways so the body of Christ could be edified, built up.
And as we build our lives together on the cornerstone, and as we fulfill our purpose in the church by using the gifts and abilities that God has given to us, Jesus uses us as His instruments to build us in to a spiritual house. And that is the way the church is constructed. We are placed together in fellowship with God and with each others.
So Jesus constructs the church out of the fellowship of believers.

III. THE CHARACTER OF CHURCH - BUILT ON DISCIPLESHIP

Notice the character of the church – discipleship because the character of the church is developed as you and I believers follow Jesus Christ, and as we become deeper in our maturity, as we become deeper in our relationship with Him.
In verse 18, he uses the word church – "I will build my church." the Greek word for church is ecclesia. Ecclesia is a word that means the called out ones.
He has called us out of the world. He has called us out of sin. He has called us out of defeat into victory. He has called us out of sin and into salvation. He has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. He has called us out of hell and into heaven. We called us out to be His disciples.
And as His disciples we follow Jesus in the church, we are put together by mortar. And this mortar is what unites us. And the mortar is called love. The love of Jesus is the mortar that glues us together. And the love of Jesus is the mortar that separates us. We are all different so that we can all be one. If you were just like me, if your gifts were the same as mine, then I wouldn't be necessary or you wouldn't be necessary. But the truth is we are all necessary, so the body of Christ may be edified. That is the character of the church.

IV. THE CONQUEST OF THE CHURCH - BUILT ON MINISTRY

Now, notice the conquest of the church – ministry.
He said, "and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
What is our ministry? Our ministry is to minister to others in the name of Jesus.
Any time you do a kind act in the name of Jesus that is ministry. It doesn't have to be preaching or teaching, any time you help someone in the name of Jesus that is ministry. Jesus said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against my church."
For far too long the church has had the attitude that they are a a giant fortified structure with giant gates and walls that protect us as long as we stay inside those walls.
And the enemy is coming against us. Satan is coming against our gates. And there they are in this little fortified structure and so they are safe from the world. We have separated ourselves from sinners.
And we are behind these giant gates and Satan is coming against us and we are barely holding on. So we sing that old song, "hold the fort, hold the fort for I am coming. Jesus answers still. Leave the answer back to heaven, by thy grace we will." Oh Jesus, we are holding on, can you come quickly Lord? Hell is about to overcome us Lord.
That is not the picture here. Gates are not the weapons of defensive; they are a weapon of offense. You don't say to the military lets get a bunch of gates and charge the enemy. It is saying here that Satan is on the defense. Satan is in the castle. Satan is on the run. Satan is trapped. The church is a mighty army coming against the gates of hell. The church is on the march. It is on the move. It is charging the gates of hell. And the gates of hell will not stand against the triumphant, victorious church of the Lord Jesus Christ!
I tell you, it is Satan who needs to be hollering, "hold the fort" not the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

V. THE COMMISSION OF THE CHURCH - BUILT ON EVANGELISM

Now notice the commission of the church – evangelism.
He says, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Now in the 18th chapter of Matthew He makes it clear that not only is He giving the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter, but also He is giving the keys of the kingdom of heaven to the church.
It has already been settled in heaven.
Whatever the church binds on earth has already been bound in heaven. Whatever the church looses on earth has already been loosed in heaven. He says I give you the keys of the kingdom.
What are these keys?
These keys are the gospel of Jesus Christ. And He said your commission is to take that which is entrusted to you, the power to open the door to heaven, the power to close the door to hell, go out where people are in the bondage of sin, and preach the liberating, victorious gospel of Jesus Christ. And by the gospel of Jesus Christ you will unlock the chains that bind them. We have the keys!
You and I have been given the keys to heaven and the keys that lock the door to hell when we share Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.
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There are some of you this morning that came to church and you are bound. And you need to be set free. You are bound by Satan. You are bound in a life of sin. You are bound by habits that hold you captive. You are bound by despair and defeat.
My friend this morning the liberating Christ, the resurrected Jesus wants to set you free. And if you come to Him just like you are and repent of your sins, by giving Him your life and trusting in Him and confess Him and receive Him as your Lord and Savior, He will set you free. He will unlock the chains that bind you, that keep you from being the individual you ought to be, that keeps you from fulfilling God's purpose in your life. God has a purpose in your life. God has a plan for you and it cannot begin to operate until you fully surrender your life to Him. And say yes Jesus I confess you as my Lord. You are the Lord of my life.
This morning if you really want to be free you can be free through accepting Jesus in to your life or surrendering totally to Him if you are already a believer. I pray you will do it.
Let's bow our heads for prayer.
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