Who is the Church?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
North Hills was started in 1976. North Hills is a local church that carries the name of Jesus to nations starting here in Vallejo. And while there is always vision and strategic plans and potlucks. The church isn’t built by the vision of man, but by the planning of God.
And North Hills is a local church in the Kingdom of God that is in a long line of churches that started all the way back in the book of Acts.
The local church has always been God’s plan to change the world through the power of the Gospel.
And today we see churches on every corner. We see denominations divided by small things.
We see history of wars between church leaders.
And it’s muddied the waters and leave us still to this day asking the question,
What is the church?
But the better question is, “Who is the church?” and we’ll see why in a few minutes.
Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 16:13-19.
We are right around the midpoint of the book of Matthew. And you have to remember that the gospels weren’t necessarily chronological history. Matthew had an argument he was making for Jesus. Matthew was written with the Jewish nation in mind begging them to make a decision about how they would respond to Jesus.
And right smack in the middle of the book is really the turning point of the book. And it is a question. A question that will change the lives of these 12 men and would become the foundation for answering the question:
Who is the church?
As we read this passage, let’s keep this big idea in mind.
Introduce:
Big Idea: The Church is a people who know and proclaim Jesus.
Big Idea: The Church is a people who know and proclaim Jesus.
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 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 loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Big Idea: The Church is a people who know and proclaim Jesus.
Big Idea: The Church is a people who know and proclaim Jesus.
Main Point #1 - Answer the most important question. (Matthew 16:13-15)
Main Point #1 - Answer the most important question. (Matthew 16:13-15)
Explanation: Who is Jesus? Don’t ever ask, “Who is Jesus to me?” You don’t get to make that decision. There is only one right answer. Jesus is either who He said He is or not worth following at all. Which is what this story is about. Up until this point, the disciples had spent quite a bit of time with Jesus. They have heard His great teaching, especially the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5-7. They had seen him do amazing things. In Chapter 8, He heals a leaper and in the case of a Centurion’s servant, he heals him from afar without touching him. In chapter 8 He also calms a storm and casts out demons. In chapter 9, he heals a paralytic and raises a little girl form the dead and heals a man unable to speak. Perhaps even more surprising, they watched Him stand toe to toe with the Pharisees in chapter 12 where He heals on the sabbath. In chapter 13, they heard Him teach in these parables that were meant to confuse any not called by God to believe. In chapter 14, He feeds 5,000 with five loves and 2 fish and then walks on water. They watched him heal the sick in Gennesaret. Again, He confounds the pharisees with His authoritative teaching in chapter 15 and then feeds 4,000 with seven loaves and a few small fish. Which brings us to chapter 16 and a question.
If you can put yourself in the disciple’s shoes and forget for a second what you know about Jesus, there is a natural progression of these stories about Jesus. The teaching, the miracles, the weird occurrences, the authority with which He stands up to the religious leaders. Like the disciples, a question would be growing in our minds, “Who is this guy?”
Sure there were discussions, we know that Andrew suggested to Peter that Jesus may be the Messiah (John 1:41). But it doesn’t seem like anyone dared to ask Jesus. So Jesus asks the question.
It’s always funny when God or Jesus asked a question, because they truly already know the answer. It’s an example of the humility of God expressed in the questions God asked. He doesn’t always just tell people things. He uses questions to draw out what we believe.
First He asks, “Who do people say that I am?” And perhaps this was a little easier for them to answer. People never lack opinions. Additionally, this is how the pharisees like to talk. They were always basing their opinions on someone else.
Rabbi so and so teaches this or that, but not willing to make it personal. But notice, how they didn’t answer....no one said that Jesus is the Messiah.
But then Jesus made it personal, “Who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answers correctly, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Illustration: When 2 people begin the American courtship ritual, they start with “talking.” Then they perhaps casually go on a few dates. They are getting to know one another. What are they like? What are they interested in? Could this be the one? Eventually, a conversation will take place where one or both will want to “Define the relationship.” Is this going somewhere? Are we dating? Are we pursuing marriage? Or am I just wasting time.
In a similar way, Jesus and the disciples needed to have a “Define the Relationship Moment.”
Was Jesus the Messiah or was He not? Was He more than just a good teacher who liked to rattle the cages of the religious elites? Or were they just wasting time that might ultimately get them killed?
Application: At some point in our lives, we have to answer the question, who do we say that Jesus is?
Is He fiction?
Is He a teacher who said some stuff I like, but some stuff I don’t like?
Is He a prophet like Muslims believe?
Was He a liar?
Was He a lunatic?
Or perhaps, as Peter answered, Is He the Messiah, the Son of God, who saved us from our sins?
How we answer this question, dictates more than where we spend eternity (thought that is a big deal), it also will dictate how we spend the rest of our lives. And the answer to this question, like a code word, is the entrance to the church.
Take a moment and ask yourself, “Who do I say Jesus is?”
Now let me tell you why this question matters so much.
Main Point #2 - Let the Father reveal the Son. (Matthew 16:16)
Main Point #2 - Let the Father reveal the Son. (Matthew 16:16)
Explanation: Contained in this story is some amazing truth about how we come to know Jesus. Jesus says that Peter is blessed, not because he got the right answer, but because that answer was given to him by God. The truth about Jesus cannot be discerned by thinking deep thoughts. You can’t study enough. It has to be revealed to you.
65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
You see all the way back in John 1:41, Andrew may have told Peter that He had found the Messiah, but it wasn’t until this moment when it was real to Peter. And after Jesus walked on water, they acknowledged that Jesus was the Son of God. But here in Chapter 16, something has changed in Peter.
Illustration: Many people can tell you a lot of things. The sky is blue. Pineapple doesn’t belong on pizza, Epstein didn’t Kill Himself.
But it’s not until we internalize these truths to the point that they become a part of who we are that they have the ability to change our future.
Jesus being the Messiah and the Son of God was maybe a cool idea for those disciples.
But now, having verbalized this will set Peter on a new trajectory in life and be the foundation for the church.
Application:
God reveals the truth of who Jesus is to whomever He wills so that they might be drawn in His church. And perhaps today, He’s revealing Jesus to you.
It all comes down to this, Have you embraced who Jesus is? And again, it’s who you think Jesus is or who you want Him to be. Do you embrace Jesus as He has revealed Himself? That’s what is important.
And then, now what?
You become a part of His Church.
Main Point #3 - Be the Church. (Matthew 16:17-19)
Main Point #3 - Be the Church. (Matthew 16:17-19)
Explanation: Verse 18 is perhaps the most controversial verse in all of scripture.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Depending how you understand this verse will ultimately determine how you view the church.
First of all, the word church is used only 3 times by Jesus and always refers to His people who are united in HIs name. The work is ἐκκλησία means called out for the purpose of gathering. So yes, the Church should gather as the people of God. To not gather as the church is to cease to be a church. To not gather with the church is to fail to uphold your Christian duty. We are called out. So who is it that is called out? Who is the church?
Roman Catholics believe that Jesus was saying that He would build His church on Peter as the first pope. And then the church will be carried along history by the succession of popes. I want to be fair to Roman Catholics, but it’s not hard to see that this has led to the understanding of church as a building that you go to where the Priest absolves you of sin and gives you grace to get into the kingdom of God.
And then the keys to the kingdom would be controlled by the leadership of the church. They determine who gets in and who stays out regardless of what they believe.
However, that’s not what Jesus said at all.
Jesus said, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.
So what is “this rock?” It’s a play on words. Peter means Rock, but it’s not the exact work as “this Rock.” So there is a distinction here distinguishing Peter from this Rock.
It is more likely that “this rock” refers not to Peter but to what Peter said.
The Rock, on which Jesus will build His church, is the confession that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
So the church is not a building where a priest serves. The church is a people united by a common faith in Jesus who have made common confession in that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And that makes the church way more than just a religion or ritualistic program.
The church is a people.
But something interesting happened in Acts. Many of us have probably heard the distinction between the Universal Church and the Local church. Some might say that “I belong to the universal church, but not a local church.” Wrong. You access the universal church....through the local church.
That’s why in every town the apostle Paul went, He started churches. And it only took a few believers to start a church. But in those churches, they appointed pastors, elders, deacons who in a sense controlled the Keys to the Kingdom in their churches.
And there are 3 aspects that defined a local church.
The right preaching of the word of God.
The right administration of the Sacraments (Lord’s Supper and Baptism)
Church discipline.
So then the keys to the kingdom of God are controlled within the local gathering of the people of God in the church. The congregation of a local church holds the authority.
The church becomes the guardians of sound doctrine.
The church calls it’s own pastors and leaders.
The church votes in it’s members by determining whether or not they hold to the confession.
And whenever necessary, the church votes those out who have failed to yield to ongoing correction by the church.
Made a false profession of faith
Continue in unrepentant sin.
Don’t support the church through regular attendance.
All that to say that if you are a Christian, the local church will be a priority for you.
Illustration:
Someone once told me that nothing does more good than the local church when it’s functioning properly. On the other hand, nothing causes more damage than the local church when it’s not.
There is a reason why the most common analogy for the church is a body.
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
A body is dependent upon all of it’s members to function properly. Pain in one part affects the whole part. And it’s amazing how a little cancerous cell, can kill the whole body.
But the one thing a body can’t survive without....the head…and that’s Christ.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Application: There is this powerful statement by Jesus that the church would be so powerful and so unstoppable that even the very gates of Hell would never overcome it. And how amazing is that?
People from every tongue, tribe and nation who have nothing in common but what they confess about jesus would band together and be an unstoppable force to change the world with the Gospel.
So to answer the question, “Who is the church?”
The church is a people who are united in their confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
The church is a gathering of people who have a purpose for the taking the gospel to the world.
And the Church storms the gates of Hell.
So what are the gates of Hell?
In the City of Caesarea Philippi, there is a cave called the Cave of Pan.
The Cave of Pan is located near Caesarea Philippi is called the Gates of Hell. A place This is the only mention of Caesarea Philippi in the Bible. And it’s significant that He would make this statement in this geographic location considering a place called the Gates of Hell was located there.
Something that everyone was so afraid of would not have any power over the church.
Which is further evidence that it wasn’t Peter alone. Peter died, yet the church still goes on. There have been over 50 generations since Jesus. They’ve all died. Yet the church goes on.
The Gates of Hell is death. Though people will die and go to glory, the church will go on.
Response: Who do you say Jesus is? Are you a part of the Christ’s Church?
Response: Who do you say Jesus is? Are you a part of the Christ’s Church?
Summation:
Whenever we talk about the church, we must start with the question of “Who is Jesus?”
Because being a part of a church has less to do with friends, community and personal preferences of music than it does with whether or not we believe Jesus is who He said He was.
You can be in church your whole life. Know all the songs. Take notes on the sermon and know all the answers to all the questions asked in Bible study. You can attend everything and you can serve in 10 ministries and still not be truly a part of the church.
Benjamin Franklin was not a Christian, but he believed that the church was a moral force for good so he went. And many today may still have that idea.
If you don’t believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God, then you are not a Christian and you will never truly belong. But in believing the truth about Jesus, we get Jesus and a family that is made up of people around the world starting with your local church.
But if you happen to find yourself in villages and towns around the world, a Christian can find a church and belong. You must belong to a local church to belong to the universal church.
We also recognize the church is made up of those who have been called about by God to belong to His church and to serve His purposes in the World.
And it starts with a little faith.
The Church is built on Faith in Jesus. Faith is like a seed that grows. The disciples didn’t get it all right away. Jesus spent His time building the faith of these disciples so that they could in turn encourage others as they grown in faith together.
Conclusion:
I think a quote from one of our North Hills Christian School students really sums this idea up and the need for Christians to be a part of a local church.
Quote from a North Hills students: “I developed a new outlook on Christianity during my past year at North Hills. I learned the meaning behind the phrase that the church is the body of Christ. This made me look at my peers as people that are with me to guide me through my journey with God, and I am the same for them. It made me see how the building is not what makes up the church, but it is the people instead. This allowed me to look for a different approach to conquering my challenges with faith. I was able to seek the help of my peers and those in counselor positions to grow my relationship with God. Now I am in a place where I am not scared to ask questions and to seek ways of strengthening my relationship with him. I learned that I cannot always depend on myself. God put certain people in my life because they walked in the same shoes as me. I learned that God is guiding me through those people. My relationship with God is more than just the 2 of us. It is something that can be strengthened through the help of others.”
May we as Christians, united in faith in Jesus, join together as the local church to be an unstoppable force for good in the world around us.
Let’s Pray