So are all those to whom the Father reveals the Son. That means we have a great work to do. Does Jesus use the people I just mentioned? “But when Jesus was come into the parts of Caesarea-Philippi, he demanded of his disciples, saying, Who do men say that I the Son of man am? First, as we shall see in a few moments, the authority given in verse 19 was also given to all the apostles, not just Peter. Mt 7:21-23 -- This view of the Lord’s church is too “broad”! Who do you say the Son of Man is? . Jesus died, but Jesus conquered death and continued to build His church. Not only has He conquered death, but He has made death a vanquished enemy of all who believe (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Remember that Jesus is in the middle of what is often called His “withdrawal.” Since the beginning of Matthew 14, Jesus has been seeking a quiet place where He could teach His disciples. It comes to those who seek out God’s wisdom rather than human wisdom, for God’s righteousness rather than self-righteousness, for mercy and grace and the forgiveness of sins rather than a demand for favors. John 14:1-14:4. —Christ the Founder of the church. This city is very close to the ancient Hebrew city of Dan and to a sanctuary to the pagan god Pan. He miraculously fed two great crowds of people – one of more than 5,000 and one of more than 4,000. This was based on a tradition that had developed that Jeremiah had taken the Ark of the Covenant and the Altar of Incense out of the Temple prior to its looting and destruction by the Babylonians. It was because Jesus’ Father who is in heaven revealed it to Simon, and for that you, and for that reason Peter was blessed. Recall that earlier Jesus said, “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matthew 11:27). In verse 19 we find the authority of the church. In fact, Christ Glorified as the Builder of the Church, Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne…. Peter took the lead in doing just that in the first part of Acts, but all the apostles joined in doing the same thing. In Matt 16:18 Jesus said, “I will build my church.” The church belongs to Christ. Church is the walking, talking embodiment of Christ to a world where so many are not fulfilled because they do not love Him. If you are, then Jesus will use you and you will be part of the church that Jesus is building. He is the builder of the Church and He is building it according to a set pattern and for specific purposes; His pattern and His purposes. Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15,16, Jesus tells His apostles what he wants them to preach, what it takes to enter the church, and we see in Acts 2:27-39 how those who were first added to the church were being saved. In verse 15 Jesus makes His question more personal. Is He a good moral example? We need to keep in mind that salvation is a personal affair. Much of the “apostle’s doctrine” which the early church devoted themselves to in Acts 2:42 came from Peter. Are they understanding it? Instead it was mined, manufactured, mixed, and then poured into a particular place for a particular function including the foundation and the blocks that are cemented together that make up the walls. built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone].”. THE STRENGTH OF THE CHURCH (Matthew 16:18). Church is not a building or a day. What is the “gates of hades” referring to? (See: Beware of Poisoned Religion). Understanding this passage in its original language, Greek, provides the key to understanding what Christ meant. Until then, we have much work to do! The action of the verse is building the church and the one that performs the action of building is Jesus Christ. In his case it was a foundation stone on which other parts of the church would be built. In the case of the church, neither is true. What about the concrete in this building? This verse has become a point of debate, but one that is not really that difficult to understand. Finally in verse 20, we find that Jesus warns His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ. Not the pastor. The church is not built by a MAN, it is built by THE LORD! Maybe that is why Peter uses the building analogy to describe the church in 1 Peter 2 with each individual coming to Jesus as “a living stone, rejected by men, but choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”. History has proven Jesus’ words and the church has been built upon Peter, but Peter was not a pope. That is what everyone was expecting of Messiah, that he would be a conquering king who would change the social-political structures. For comments, please e-mail  Church office, Subscribe to Pastor Harris’ weekly Sermon Notes via email – Click Here, Grace Bible Church A superstar? And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of the heavens; and whatsoever you may bind upon the earth shall be bound in the heavens; and whatsoever you may loose on the earth shall be loosed in the heavens. Its role is to worship God, nurture and edify and reach out to a suffering world with the saving message of the gospel as well as the practical compassion and mercy exemplified in Christ. In the next verse he defines what foundation he used. The church is built with people, but death does not overpower the church. God made us in his own image. All Christians constitute the Church. What Jesus is saying to Peter is that Simon was the son of Jona, an earthly father, but he did not come to understand that Jesus was the Christ because of anything arising out of humanity. Jesus Christ is the foundation of and the only head of His church (1 Corinthians 3:11, Colossians 1, etc.). In the first message of the Jesus series, "The Builder,"  Pastor Robert talks about Jesus' occupation when He was on earth and how He continues to build today. v16; 1 Peter 2:4,5; Eph. And I also, I say unto you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it. The grandeur of a building has no connection to the faith of its people. Not you. Now we find that Jesus and the disciples are in the district of Caesarea Philippi. Now Jesus calls this man by the name we have come to know him by, Peter, which means “stone” or “rock.” Jesus then added that “upon this rock . Human wisdom cannot understand the things of God because a “natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them . There are many churches around the world, each one claiming they are "the way". Why? Maybe that is why there are so many “churches” around now that are nothing because they have left the Christ of the Scriptures outside their doors. Peter was useful to Jesus as a rock because He yielded himself to be used as Jesus saw fit. People are still the same way. Not the Apostles. Jesus still builds His Church on this testimony. . Not only is Jesus the foundation of the church, he is the provider of the building material that composes the church. Who or what would this refer to if not Peter? Wappingers Falls, NY 12590 I mean all them that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and truth, for these make up the one universal Church. Let me make it personal to you. Q: Does this mean that Jesus would build His church on Peter as the foundation? You don’t see anything else in creation that was made not considered great. (Matthew 16:13-17). Due to time constraints, I am not going to get into a lot of detail in this, but we are going to examine this again in Matthew 18. One who is in charge of erecting a building knows how important it is to have the proper foundation. The wood in this structure could have been used for firewood. He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. A:No. To put it simply, the Roman Catholic interpretation of this passage is unbiblical. People do not believe because their minds are blinded to the truth, their hearts are dead in trespasses and sins. Sorry Darwin, we didn’t come from a monkey. Certainly! The underlying Greek (tekton) refers to a builder or craftsman in any kind of material, [1] which in Palestine would generally be stone or brick. Jesus is the Builder and Foundation of the Church With so many different churches existing in the world today, with conflicting doctrines, you may be wondering why it’s important that Jesus Christ should be the builder and foundation of the church. Because Jesus is the one that builds the church. Do they yet recognize who he really is? Peter and the church would be nothing without Christ. On the testimony of Peter, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus has built His Church. This morning we come to one of the great texts of Scripture. Peter refers to himself it is as a “fellow elder” (1 Peter 5:1) and a “bond-servant” of Christ (2 Peter 1:1). This judgment is not arbitrary, but based upon the Scriptures themselves. Jesus Christ is the great BUILDER of the church. It is great because it describes so clearly the state of man – blind and without understanding – and the mercy of God in intervening into the life of man so that he may come to know the truth. From Mark 8:27 we know that they were just passing through some of the villages on the outskirts of the city of Caesarea Philippi. Peter and the church would be nothing without Christ. (845)-298-8481, The Day of the Lord – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, Comfort & Hope in Christ’s Return – 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Loving the Brethren, Living Your Life, Behavior Toward Outsiders – 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, God’s Will: Your Sanctification – 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8. Not any denomination. Look at Jesus’ commendation of Peter in verse 17. Jesus wants to know what they believe. Jesus will build His church, but He uses people as His building materials. Ethicists call Him the great moral example. Remember that this was the opinion of Herod Antipas in Matthew 14 and that idea had come from his advisors. Who is Jesus? The English rendering “carpenter” may reflect the fact that in London wood was the more common … What are the keys to the kingdom? While they did not have a full understanding of the full nature and work of Jesus the Christ, they did understand that He was one in essence with the eternal God because a son is one in nature with his father. And he won’t stop until it’s time for him to return again to establish permanent, forever peace on all the earth. Here we find that Jesus is specifically speaking to Peter, though remember that Peter is the representative of all of the apostles. In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Paul says, “I urge then, first of all, that petitions, … Jesus Christ is the builder--the church. It is Jesus that does the building. The binding and loosing deal with “whatever” not “whoever.” Binding and loosing are rabbinical terms meaning forbidding and permitting. How is such a thing done? “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). Now notice that they could not deny that what Jesus did was supernatural, therefore He must be someone special, but they could not accept the fact that He was the Messiah. We don’t have to agree to pray. They traveled all around the Sea of Galilee and even up into the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon, but everywhere they went the suffering of humanity moved Jesus to compassion and He healed multitudes of the sick, diseased, and lame. Nothing could be farther from the truth. (See: Compassion for People). Some people claim it is great because of the controversy that surrounds it, but controversy is not the basis for making something great. Jesus was a Stonemason known in the first century as a “tekton” or “architekton” which included knowledge of carpentry. Jesus IS building his church. Turn with me to Matthew 16:13-10 and follow along as I read through this passage to get an overview, then we will examine each verse individually so that we may see the hand of God at work, and at the same time cut through the controversy that has surrounded this section of Scripture. Man’s self-efforts at being righteous only leave Him in the filthy rags of sin. Why? Death. Our value only becomes apparent when Jesus puts us into His building where He wants us. But each and every brick has its part. If the builder of a building dies before it is completed, the building project dies too. . In addition, Jesus is the “Son of the living God.” Not a “son of a god” as in the Greek pantheon of gods, but THE son of THE God, creator of heaven and earth. Acts records a lot about the activities of Peter and the other apostles, but it was the Lord Himself that was “adding to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). It is arrogant ignorance that tries to take away from the text of the Scripture that which does not fit into its one’s own pre-conceived ideas. 1“Let not your hearts be troubled; believe£ in God, believe also in me. The temple was the place where God specially dwelt. He is prominent among the apostles but he has no supremacy over any of them. This means that God dwells in the church (1 Tim. He is said to have hid them somewhere on Mt. Dutchess County A Message from the Primary General Presidency. I will build my church.” The question that has become such a point of debate is to whom, or what, does the phrase “upon this rock” refer? .” (1 Corinthians 2:14). They may believe they are still His disciples, doing things for Him; but unless they continue to do the Father’s will, they are sadly mistaken! Jesus isn’t hiring Peter—a fisherman by trade—as a subcontractor to erect a building with a steeple. It is fitting that Jesus is a MASTER BUILDER because tore down the physical temple and rebuilt it HIMSELF in three days as the New Testament church. Not Peter. From Luke 9:18 we know that Jesus had just spent time praying alone before He asked them that all important question we find at the end of Matthew 16:13, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”, WHO IS THE SON OF MAN? The emphasis in verse 18 is not on Peter or even upon the rock, but upon the builder of the church. We will cover this issue in depth when we reach Matthew 18. Are you ready and willing to be a brick, a piece of wood, a yard of fabric, or whatever else is needed to be used by Him however He sees fit? Is the … We must remember that people have their eyes “blinded by the god of this age.” The people in Jesus’ time were firsthand witnesses of miracle after miracle. Jesus wanted to know what the people were thinking, but even more Jesus wanted to know what the disciples believed. Many have interpreted this as a reference to the church withstanding the onslaughts of the devil. 3:15). We introduce the series Search for the True Church by briefly looking at the statement of Jesus, "I will build my church". By 1861, plans were discussed for construction of a second Tabernacle, a building with proposed dimensions of 250 feet by 150 feet, a curved ceiling and a seating capacity of more than 12,000. Malachi 4:5 alludes to Elijah returning in such a role, but Jesus had already said that John the Baptist had fulfilled that role. The word for “rock,” “Petra,” is normally a feminine gender noun, but to use that noun as a name for a man it must be changed into a masculine form which is “Petros.” Even in Greek Jesus is saying, “You are rock and on this rock – or rocky ledge – I will build my church.” And as Hendrickson points out, “The word THIS makes reference to anything other than the immediately preceding ‘Petros’ (Peter) very unnatural.”, The rock referred to is Peter. Institutions will quiver and fall, but the living Church will not … The Bible describes Jesus … In addition, when the apostles died and then the successive church leaders over the generation have also died, the church has continued on and continued to grow. Second, Peter never claimed nor do any of the other apostles give Peter such place of prominence or authority in the Church. Soon after he died and arose from the dead, he did exactly that —He built his church, and he has been building it ever since. Are you ready and willing to be used by Jesus in that manner? Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord works in our hearts – shaping, moulding, calling us through the gospel. At this point please just keep this in mind, the church does have authority to discipline those that profess to be Christians. In this case, keeping something in for it would make no sense for the church to be seeking to enter into the abode of the dead. .”. Peter was the primary character in the early chapters of Acts. It is a great text because it centers on God’s ability to use people that yield themselves to Him. He is not asking for gossip or for statements from foolish people, and you will note in a few minutes that the disciples do not say anything about the Pharisees’ comments that Jesus is empowered by the devil, but Jesus wants a report on how the people are responding to His message. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be … In addition, gates are not weapons of warfare but of containment. . And so Jesus asks them, “But who do you say that I am?” This question is asked with great emphasis on the “you,” which is plural here. Jesus would not build His church on a fallible man and, in fact, 1 Corinthians 3:11 says that Christ is the foundation. By the proclamation of the gospel. Peter and the other disciples are not any more intelligent than the crowds. Corporately, the church is God’s house, God’s dwelling place. The third matter raised by a discussion of Jesus’ remarkable words, "I will build My Church," is the fact of the prophecy of the Builder. They experienced His love and compassion, and yet they did not recognize Him and turned away from Him. A great thinker? Salvation does not come by human means or methods. The others agreed that Jesus was special, but could not be the Messiah Himself. The message of the poem has prompted my thinking and comforted my soul, for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was the supreme architect and builder of bridges for you, for me, for all mankind. Jesus told His disciples shortly after His resurrection in John 20:23 that “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.” Peter, and later the other apostles and the church, are given authority to examine the Scriptures and examine a person’s life and determine whether they are in sin or not and whether they are repentant or not. A model for life? Consider the materials that make up the building we are in: wood, concrete, brick, block, plaster, metals of various sorts, fabric, and carpeting. He says to them, But you, who do you say that I am?