06.21. The Church Marches On
The Church Marches On Matthew 16:13-18
The church has been compared to an old ship that is sailing on the sea of life with her sails tattered and torn still sailing to her port of destination. Some feel it is an outdated archaic part of our history that needs to be forgotten or at least given over to history. Some would simply like to replace it with a Sunday morning blast of TV extravaganza. It has been black-eyed by it members, persecuted by its enemies still it carries on. It thrives in the underground of places like China, Cuba etc. When oppressed it struggles when things are good it risk the danger of forgetting God and simply becoming another religion. Satan has attached the Scripture in the past, the people of God and now in the end he is unleashing an all out attack on the church. The church was the second great institution set up by the God of heaven. The first was the home and then the church. The church was the great mystery in the Old Testament and was not revealed until the time of Christ.
I- Word Pictures of the Church:
The Scriptures paint us vivid word pictures to help us to understand what the church is and its unique relationship to Christ. We understand that He is the Head and the church is His body. (Romans 12:3-4, Colossians 1:18 ) He is called the Bridegroom and the church is called the bride. (Ephesians 5:25-32) He is the vine and we are the branches bearing fruit only on the strength of the vine. (John 15:1-5 ) He is called the Shepherd and we are His sheep. (John 10:11 ) Christ is called the High Priest and we as the church are a kingdom of priests. (Revelation 20:6 ) He is called the Chief Cornerstone and we are the living stones. (Zephaniah 2:19-22 ; 1 Peter 2:4-5 ) II- The Meaning of Church:
The word we have translated church in our Bible is the Greek word "Ekklesia." It is used 114 times in the New Testament and means, "a calling out" or "the called out ones." Of the 114 times it is used Christ only used it three times and only five times is it used different than we know it. (In Acts 19:32 a mob is translated a church when it was only an assembly or meeting of people.) We understand that the church is two fold in nature. It is a universal church made up of all believers who have accepted Christ as Savior. These are those both living and dead. Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" The church as well is a local body of baptized believers. In most of the cases the word church in the New Testament refers to local churches (93 times). Most of the writings of Paul were to local congregations of believers such as the Philippians, the Ephesians etc.
III- Out of Which Rock?
Who was the founder of the church and the foundation of it. The Roman Catholic view is that Peter was the first Pope and it was with Peter the church began. This leads me to ask the question out of which rock is the church hewn. Pope Leo I based the claim of the papacy upon Matthew 16:18-19 among other scripture. Leo taught that Christ was telling Peter that He would build His church upon the foundation of Peter. Most non-Catholic scholars see Peter in our text as simply the one that was speaking for the twelve disciples and Christ statement as being to the twelve. Allow me to quote from Herschel Hobbs to show that the foundation of the church is not Peter but Christ. "Peter" translates the masculine Greek word petros. "Rock" renders the feminine word petra. The difference in gender forbids "rock" from referring to Peter. Petra connotes a large ledge rock such as the foundation stone of a building or a cliff....Petros means a small stone broken off of a petra and partaking of its nature. (Hobbs, Herschel; E.Y. Mullins; The Axioms of Religion Revised Edition. Broadman Press, Nashville, TN. 1978. p.99-100. ) So we can state with authority that Peter is not the rock of the foundation of the church. Ephesians 2:20 ff says we are "...built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 3:11 says, "For other foundation can no man lay that that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." With the utmost authority we can thus state that Christ is the foundation of the church and not any man.
IV-When Did The Church Begin?
Some say it was with Adam and still others will tell us it began with Moses or Abraham. John the Baptist, Paul and on and on. We have already looked at the idea it began with Simon Peter. I want to state that the church was born on Pentecost. There are several reasons for this being the time. In Matthew 16:18 Christ spoke of the church as being yet future. Matthew 16:18 "...I will build my church..." Before Pentecost Christ had not yet resurrected and ascended. The resurrection and ascension are essential to operate the church in the power of God. We know from Ephesians 1:19-20 ; Ephesians 4:7-12 that Christ empowered the church by the giving of spiritual gifts. The giving of these gifts happened only after the ascension back to heaven. Christ had promised that when He went away He would send the Spirit. We know the baptism of the Holy Spirit came upon the church at Pentecost and not before. According to 1 Corinthians 12:13 the Holy Spirit is the one who places us into the body of Christ, the church.
V- The Tie That Binds! The Purpose of the Church:
The reason I would call this the tie that binds is when a local church understand its purpose it will be unified to fulfill its purpose. When a church loses its purpose and implodes on itself that it will be dysfunctional. When a church becomes just another social club that takes care only of itself it has lost its purpose. When a church becomes a struggle for power and is controlled by a few political individuals it has lost its purpose. We know our purpose is not to save this world (system). It is not to serve this world, nor to fight this world. It was never intended for the church to rule this world. We certainly are not to isolate ourselves from this world and most assuredly not to imitate the world. So what are we to do? When we take all of these out it seems there is not much left to do doesn’t it? I think we can break the purpose of the church into four broad categories. We are to worship God, have fellowship with each other, evangelize the lost here and abroad, and educate the converted. There are several other things that we do but most of them would fit into one of these four categories.
A- Worship God:
The psalmist stated in Psalms 22:3, "But thou are holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." We must realize that our purpose is to bring praise to God with our lives and to worship Him with our words and songs and He will dwell in our midst. We need to love God with our whole being and out of this love will come worship. Worship involves all of life and spills over into every area, activity and interest in our life. John records the story of the woman at the well. Look at John 4:23-24 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Notice that God is worshipped by believers everywhere not just Matthew 11:00 on Sunday morning.
B- Evangelize:
Matthew 28:19-20 "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." The great commission gives us a mandate to go win the lost. This is a twofold mandate in that it not only encompasses our local community but the world itself. There was a missionary at a dinner in London that was asked by a lady, "Is it true that you are a missionary?" His reply was, "Is it true that you are not?"
C- Fellowship:
The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia and means acceptance and intimate communication. We as humans have a built in need for social contact. Fellowship implies the nurturing of each other and the edifying of each other. Ephesians 4:11-12 "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ."
Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."
Part of this is to care for our own in time of need. James 2:15-16 "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?". (This is called Ministry in 40 Days)
D- Teach:
Again the great commission to the church in Matthew 28 says, "Teaching them to observe all things..." The work of evangelism is only part of this commission. We need to teach and instruct in the things of God.
VI- Return to Our Roots: Church Growth.
We know based on the great commission that we are to reach out and increase our numbers. We might ask why the early church grew so dramatic, as many as several thousand a day. The early church had an inflexible zeal and enthusiasm about the work of evangelism and a passion for Christ being their Savior. They preached hope in a dark world about the future life. They sought to look and act different from the world. They were pure and morally restrained. We should return to our roots. (Next week we will look at this subject) VII- The Future of the Church:
As we work, worship and witness our minds are never far from the fact that any instant we could leave this world behind. We listen with one ear to the cry of those in need in this world and with one ear for the sound of the trumpet. We my friends are headed home glory. (See 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 .)