Series: Solid Rock Choice
I Will Build
Matthew 16:15-18, John 21:21-22
This week I had this memory pop back into my head of something that happened in the country of Colombia when a few of us were on a mission trip there a few years ago – we were helping with the construction of a tower which would hold clean water for the camp – part of the structure consisted of blocks that seemed to be made out of pottery. They would break fairly easily and the plan was to make a wall out of them in order to lock up the equipment. Now the blocks put together in a wall you could break through fairly easily, but after they were set in place, the builder came back with a mix of cement and sand, making a smooth coating so that the wall looked like it was made out of cement. What the coating did is not just cover the blocks but it connected and hardened them into a single wall which had strength beyond what the blocks individually were capable of. That covering unified them into something that would be extremely difficult to break, without it they would be a wall but not as strong. The reason this came to mind is because of this series about Jesus building his church – about building a group of people and binding them together forming something lasting and strong.
Last week we began with the truth of Christ being the solid foundation of the church and we are going to continue with that section from Matthew 16 with a conversation between Jesus and Peter. The conversation began when Jesus asked Peter who people generally though Jesus really was. From what Peter said most of the people thought Jesus was a messenger or one of the OT prophets reborn. Then Jesus asked Peter..
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church
An important revelation happened in that moment – Jesus gives Peter a glimpse into the future and tells him that this thing called the church would be something built by himself. He claims that the things we call the church – our group and those who belong to God, are there because of his power and effort to do so. And through his relationship to individual people, like blocks to form a wall he would put them together and build the church. So let’s look first at that idea….
I. Basic Biblical Building
A. Start back where we ended last week – the question to be answered is the same one Peter had to answer, “Who do you say I am?”
1. Many people have sought to become the leader or a founder of an organization by searching out a group of people to form a pact or club and through their collective power they work to accomplish the goals of their leader.
2. Read through the Bible to where Jesus speaks to the crowds you will find that similar method of seeking out a group but he behaves differently than most people who seek to influence a large group. He preached to the individuals not the group as a whole but addressed them as individuals among the group, calling them to change their ways and be radically different instead of playing upon their strengths to gain their affection.
3. Then he claimed the authority of God – a move that would be nearly impossible to prove if he were not who he said he was.
*C.S. Lewis in "Mere Christianity" when talking about Jesus - “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg—or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.” Because if Jesus isn’t who he said he is then this church and every other one out there is just a group of people trying to do good and not the extension of Christ’s kingdom on earth. We have to ask ourselves why we belong, come, and work together because if it isn’t for Christ then it isn’t on solid ground. Mr. Lewis is right, Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh, and left no other option for us to believe – he didn’t leave any wiggle room other than you consider him insane or an absolute liar.
4. He would teach people not just to love their fellow man but to love their neighbor and even to love their enemy, he taught that a city has lights that shine which cannot be hidden but then said, “You, individually, let your light shine before men.”
*From the beginning of his ministry to the end the main focus of Christ’s teaching was directed to the individual person. There is a point at the end of the book of John that also involves Peter where Jesus tells Peter to follow him as he was walking away, John kind of tagged along behind. Then Peter spoke to Jesus point out that he hadn’t said anything to John, it is in John 21:21-22 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”
22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”
Now Jesus loved John dearly but that wasn’t the point he was making nor was it about John never dying. It was at that moment only about Peter and Jesus – and a question to Peter was about whether he would follow even if no one else would. Only that attitude would keep Peter from falling away from living for Christ.
5. For everyone who chooses to be part of the church this is the answer that must be This is how his church would be structured – as a collection of people who have made the decision on their own who Jesus is.
B. In a church every person is first to be committed to Christ.
*In the Matthew passage, let me take you again to the original language – Greek- which Matthew used to communicate this gospel. When Jesus says he will build his church he uses the word Ekklesia – greek word for church. This word is really a combination of two Greek words. The first is ek – which is defined as "out" or "out of" and the second half of the word is kaleo – which means "to call." Combined the word is ekklesia and it came to mean "a group of people called out and assembled for a specific purpose."
Jesus would call people out of their current existence into his purpose and plan, building his kingdom not on a location of soil but upon the collection of his people. They would be unified on their commitment to Christ before they would become formed into the church which he planned them to become.
1. Countless charitable organizations in our modern day do great things in this world. Various individuals have worked to bring great benefit to society. And when a world looks and says “That’s the kind of church we need, one that really helps. One that meets the real needs of people and not just preaches at them.” But really that isn’t the church the world needs.
2. The world needs a church that puts a supreme value on Christ Jesus – and whose individual members are first and foremost dedicated to their walk with him. Because if being a Christian is all about being seen as good there really isn’t any reason to have Christ in our hearts.
3. Basic Biblical truth is that Jesus builds his church by his direct relationship to each person. You are responsible to Christ to be part of his church, if you are not with Christ you aren’t part of his church. You can call yourself a member of an organization or a group but only those who are committed to Jesus are members of his church because he is the one who is building it.
*And it is why we don’t christen babies or sprinkle infants at Forest Dale because it goes completely against the principle of people making their own choice which Jesus himself showed how to do when he went into the Jordan river to be immersed in baptism. A baby cannot make a choice to follow Christ, and though as parents we might want them to do so according to God’s word that has to be that individual’s free choice. And it is also why people can be brought up in the church, participate in worship and service, know the Bible, and then walk away from their faith when they are older – it was the mistaken impression that being in or with the church will automatically make you follow Christ. If a person expects a sermon, a song, a parent, or a friend to show them how to be better or give them the information to make them a Christian it is going to fall flat because that isn’t how God wants it done.
Romans 3:21 -23 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
*That’s simple right? But if we go to a church and belong to that body because of the location, the people, we were made to go as a child, the preacher, the music or the free coffee then we kind of have it backwards – yet that is the common way in which people decide to belong to the church. And if it completely depends on the people then when they die or fail or struggle or forget, then it is finished. The first basic understanding that we all need to have is that we must belong to Christ before we belong to the church. Then the next step is…
II. Direction is Determined Divinely.
A. Every church who claims to belong to God will move and work according to the principles that Jesus taught.
1. We recognize the church as physical group of people and the building which are part of this kingdom. Forest Dale is the name that God’s people gave this ekklisea.
2. And there are names on the pews you are sitting in of people who gave their money and time and prayer to helping establish this group, they were vital component on helping this place be what it is.
3. Most of them are gone and their names are not known by the majority of people who walk through the doors, but the church isn’t about them nor are they in charge of how and what it will be because their name is one something.
4. And as we vote on leaders in the church to keep us on the right path, they are to be guided by Christ’s instruction even if it goes against what they want to do or are comfortable with.
*And that is what happened. Through the NT we are able to read how the truth spread through the world, by our own history books we can read how it went through Europe and Asia, how groups of people driven to celebrate and dedicate themselves to Christ without oppression were the first to come across the ocean to this country and how that same fervor to share the good news sent people through the land even converting some of those who were all ready here. The evidence of what Jesus said still coming true right in front of our eyes – because people and places have change but the truths he taught are still taught in our world. And more are going to the ends of the earth with the message of truth, driven not by money or fame or fortune but by the inspiring call of Christ to build the church. And people will still come to even now because Jesus is still offering them salvation and Jesus is still building his church.
B. And again referring to that verse in Matthew Jesus says “I will build my church.”
1. Notice that word “I will” which how he is talking about starting this group this ekklesia and his prophecy of how it will continue into the future. He is going to make it happen through his power, his will and it is going to work toward the goals he sets forth.
2. Because this kingdom at its core would be a spiritual one and the Holy Spirit would be given to each person who belonged to that church. The Spirit would assist, encourage, convict and direct God’s people to work for the goals that Christ wants.
*Like that expert builder, Jesus makes his people the blocks of his church, binds us together through our common savior, and coats the whole wall with the Holy Spirit to make a strong connection. So our connection to Christ makes us solid – like a block, then our connection to each other as Christians is the mortar and that covering coating which starts to form something that is strong and more useful that it would be on its own. That Jesus building his church – and if you c Then the next thing is we have to be aware that the church is ....
III. Made For the Master.
A. Now the last part of that verse Jesus says “My church.”
1. There are millions of opinions on who Jesus is and multiple arguments about whether he was human or God. That question has to be answered first before we can ever understand how to be part of his church.
2. And that first point I mentioned has bearing on our understanding of this last one. Jesus has ownership of us individually, then he is to direct the work we are supposed to do, and then he says that the church belongs to him.
*For instance, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, has the name Jesus Christ but the church isn’t built on Christ as the exclusive Son of the Living God. The Mormon church has many gods and sons of god who are equal to Jesus Christ, and the organization has been built by people on their own foundation of what they call truth and then they slapped the name of Jesus on the organization to capitalize on His status as the Son of the living God. They also believe that Satan was a son of God so their fundamental understanding of the spiritual world is warped and unbiblical. To be part of Christ’s church requires the acknowledgement of this fundamental truth and anyone not willing to confess this truth is not part of Christ’s church. 1 John 4 states 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
B. So question comes, why did Jesus build the church? And why does he make such a point of saying that it was made for him?
1. He wants us to know we matter in his work. Jesus left the work of his kingdom to us – not just a church but the one he died for. He isn’t going to do it for us, he is going to help and move in our work but the real effort has been left to us, and if we don’t do it then it won’t get done. That isn’t just a sideline, that is the way in which Jesus wants to reach the world. The only way. You are not just a person who goes to church you are the person Jesus wants to be here.
2. He wants us to be hopeful through times of danger – Because there are going to be challenges you will have to meet throughout your life – ones that other people will need to be there for you because they have been through them before. By Christ binding you to other people they are there to help you see hope when your circumstances say there is none.
3. He wants us to show the world how to live – Jesus Christ lived the right way, but since all have sinned what really needs to happen is for someone to go from their sinful condition to a changed and matured and transformed into something that goes beyond explanation. This is what Christ seeks to do in each person, to not just make them better but to hold them up as an example of someone who has been changed.
*I love that passage from 1 Corinthians 6 where Paul writes that the wicked will not inherit heaven, and he lists all the bad stuff – sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, prostitutes, homosexual offenders, thieves, drunks, slanders, and swindlers – then he says in verse 11 - 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. How can a world argue with people who were one way and then change to be another way? They can’t. They will say it is a lie or you are faking it. But this is what Jesus loves doing, tearing down the old ways and building a new person and then putting them out there saying “This is my church, they belong to me and you need to see what I can do.”
4. He wants us to see a glimpse of what is to come. His church is to be a glimpse of heaven. Now I don’t mean a glimpse of this building in our vision being heaven or even our worship service being heaven, but there are flashes of heaven when you fully engage your heart, soul, mind, and strength in Christ Jesus and what he is doing. And when we respond with grace, truth, perseverance, boldness, and kindness when no one else is, that glimpse becomes clear to those who believe and those who do not.
*So when hardship happens it is how we respond to it that shows the world whether or not we really believe all those things Jesus taught. An interesting fable is told of a rich man who wanted to help a poor man. The rich man hired the poor man to build a house on the hillside and went away on a long journey. The carpenter said to himself, My boss is away and I can use cheap materials for the parts of the house which will not show. The house will be weak and undesirable but nobody will know except me. But when the rich man returned he said, The house is not for me: it is for you! The carpenter accepted the key in astonishment. Instead of a first class home he now had a fourth-class home. God gives us a job, a life to build. We have to live in the house we build. If we do a shoddy job, we cheat one person-our self. (Michael McCartney, Sermoncentral.com)
