Jesus Said I Will Build My Church (Mt. 16:18)

One of the most interesting subjects throughout history has been the subject of the church. How many times has the subject of church come up between you and another person? Maybe you have been asked to go to church by a family member, friend or co-worker. The Greek word used for church in this statement is ekklesia, which means the called out assembly. We will get back to the word church and it’s meaning a little later in this paper, but first let’s look at what Jesus said He would do. I will build My church. The word build here is the Greek word “oikodomeo”, which means to build a house or erect a building from a foundation. Scripture has a lot to say about foundation. When building a structure such as a house or a building you must start with a solid foundation. For a structure to be strong and able to withstand the forces of nature such as wind, rain, earthquakes, etc., it must have a solid foundation.


BUILDING THE TRUE FOUNDATION:
The largest denomination in the world today, the Roman Catholic Church, has taught that the foundation that Jesus was referring to in these passages was Peter. This is why they claim that Peter was the first pope of the church and through the succession of the pope we would get the true foundation of the church. The thought was because Jesus was leaving, He was appointing Peter (giving him the keys) to be the representative of Christ on the earth. He would be the Vicar of Christ, as the Pope is commonly called today. Was Jesus referring to Peter, whose name means stone or rock, as the foundation of the church or was he referring to the revelation that Peter had when he told Jesus that He was the Christ the Son of the living God? Was he to be the lone representative of Christ and the figure head or CEO of the Christian church? Throughout the history of religion, we see religious structures being built on a man and his teachings. Buddhism was founded on the teachings of Buddha. Islam was found on the teaching of Mohammad etc. etc. I think we can get a clear picture that even before the Roman Catholic Church would make a claim that the church was to be ruled and built upon a man (Peter), there were major religions that had the same ideas. In the early formation of building the church, Paul, while addressing the church that was in Corinth had this to say about the foundation of the church. (1 Cor 3:11) For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. Why would he have to make such a statement? Should this have been clear to those in the church from the beginning? Because remember that in building a structure the most important part to having a strong building is the foundation. Paul was addressing the church of Corinth that had begun to lay a wrong foundation in their church. And what was the wrong foundation? In 1 Cor 1:10-11 he addresses the issue of contentions. What was the root of these contentions? The church was beginning to split up into different camps or factions that were started by following one man above another. Each of you say that I am of Apollos or I am of Cephas (Peter was called Cephas by Jesus in Jn 1:42), or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul. Of course we know the answer to this would be no. Not one of the people in the groups were baptized in the name of Paul or in anybody else’s name but Jesus Christ. The question I would ask the reader is the same one Paul asked. Is Christ divided? As we look at the church today, some 2000 years later, we would have to say yes. But was it supposed to be this way? If we look at what was happening in the church today and the Corinthian church today, we can get a clear understanding of why Paul would make such a statement. He was bringing them back to the true foundation. Jesus Christ is the True Foundation and not individual men who say they follow Jesus Christ. All over the world today in every denomination people are following a man or men that say they follow Jesus Christ. Now there is nothing wrong with having leaders in the church. This would also be error. But to have someone other than Jesus Christ as The Foundation is totally wrong. This is why the church is in the mess it’s in today. In the rest of the verse leading up to Ch 3 we see that Paul would reiterate what is the true foundation. It is Christ crucified. Going back to the beginning verse in Mt 16, we see that the statement Peter made was that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God. What did the meaning of Peter saying that Jesus was the Christ have to do with anything? Well, if you look up the meaning of Christ, you will see that it means Anointed One. The term in the Old Testament for anointed one was Messiah. What was the anointed one going to do for his people? Was He to set up an earthly kingdom and be the king of an earthly Israel? No, He would be the head of a Spiritual kingdom and He was anointed or chosen to die for the sins of His people. Christ would be crucified. Peter could not see this and Jesus had to rebuke him and called him Satan for trying to question Him. The crucifixion has always been misunderstood by carnal man. Jesus pointed out to Peter that he was only mindful or had his mind on the things that pertain to man. This is the same accusation that Paul had for the Corinthian church. 1 Cor. 3:1-4 Paul states that they were behaving like mere men and carnal.

HOW IS THE FOUNDATION LAID?

In verse 5 of Chapter 3, Paul begins to explain who he and the other men were in the church. He states that the men that he mentioned including himself were ministers through whom the Corinthians believed. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters, but God that gives the increase”. So we see that men are ministers by which men believe. One plants the seed of the crucified Christ, another waters the seed, but God gives the increase. Also the ministers are nothing but vessels and God is the one who is to be the preeminent One. How different is this from today, where men are given the preeminence through using Gods name? In verse 10 we Paul states “that according to the grace (gift) that God has given me. As a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. How was the foundation laid? It was laid when Paul preached Christ crucified to them and they believed. In Heb 6: 1-2 the writer of Hebrews who most believe was Paul, states Therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God.” Here we see that there were elementary principles or teachings of Christ in the early church and the foundation of these principles was repentance from dead works and faith towards God. To repent means to change the way you think thus changing the way you live or act. What were they to repent from? “Dead works” or works that lead to death. We well know that works that lead to death is sin. The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Theses works can be religious in nature in terms of the Jews who were doing a lot of religious works but it wasn’t producing the life of God. The Gentiles had their own works of religion and sins that lead to death. So what was the response of the Gentiles to Paul’s preaching? Well according to the scripture, it was to repent from their dead works and believe or put their faith in God’s remedy for those dead works, Jesus crucified. Notice the foundation was not laid by someone joining a “church” through membership or by attending a set of meetings. The foundation was laid through the preached word and people responding to that word by repentance and faith. Notice also that there were no mention of altar calls, the sinners prayer, crusades, etc. Another example of laying foundation in found in Lk.6:46-49. The verses state “But why do you call Me Lord and do not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to me and hears my sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” Jesus likens a man who builds his foundation (of his house being his life) on the rock by hearing and doing the sayings of Jesus. He also likens a man who does not lay a foundation but builds his house on the earth. The way he does not lay a foundation is by hearing the words of Jesus and not doing what He said. What sayings was Jesus referring to? Well in the previous verses beginning in verse 20 and ending in verse 45. You ought to take a minute right now and read these verses. It may sound like the first time you have ever heard these verses. What about the sayings of Jesus in Mt Ch 5 thru Ch 7. Is hearing and obeying these scriptures in your foundation. What about the Christians that you know? Are hearing and obeying these scriptures in the foundation of their lives? If not, then I would ask this simple question: Are you part of the church that Jesus is building or are you a part of the church that man is building? What type of foundation are you built on? Is it Jesus Christ or is it on a man or mans teaching about Jesus Christ? One last scripture on foundation is found in 2 Tim 2:19. “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: The Lord knows who are His and let everyone who names the name of Jesus depart from iniquity”. Do you have this foundation in your life? Does the Lord (a Lord is someone whom you hear their saying and obey them see previous verses mentioned) know you? In Mt 7:23 Jesus on the great judgment day proclaims “depart from me you workers of iniquity I never knew you”. Notice he called them workers of iniquity. These people had a very religious house (did things in his name) but did not have a proper foundation so all they built (did) would be burned with the fire of God’s judgment. Jesus’ words in Lk 6:49 would come true in their case. Great is the ruination of their house. Don’t get confused from the three instances I mentioned about foundation. To have Jesus Christ as your true foundation you must first hear the message of His crucifixion, repent from your dead works (sins) and put your faith in Jesus Christ. He also must become Lord of Your life and you must hear and obey His voice and His words. The understanding of this should be clear enough but how clouded has man made the way for thousands upon thousands of people in the world.

TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS:

In Mt 22:37-39 the question was asked of Jesus by one of the religious people of His day, Master which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said unto Him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. In the answer Jesus gave to the Pharisee, love is the common action word used. The two recipients of this love are God and neighbor. The Greek word used for love here is agape or the God kind of love. In Jn 15 9-13, Jesus would teach His disciples that to love Him truly was to keep and follow His commands. He then would give them the commandment “to love one another as I have loved you”. What confusion would be overturned if the church would simply follow these two commandments and quit following our traditions, philosophies and man made doctrines. Ch. 13 of 1 Corinthians Paul would give a clear writing as to what true love was. What a great foundation the church would have if love for God and love for our neighbor was what we built our life upon. What a difference the church could make in this world if love for God and love for our neighbor was our motive for doing anything we do.

LIVING STONES:

Now that we know what the true foundation is,we now must see what is to be built on this foundation. The first part of building a house is to lay the foundation, then comes the structure that is to be built on it. What type of church or house is Jesus building? Well according to the scripture the house consists of people from every tribe tongue and nation. In Eph 2: 19-22 Paul writes Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Paul describes the church of God as a building of people that are fitted and knit together. That assembly of people that are together would be the dwelling place of God. How clear this should have been to the Jews who had heard the stories of Solomon’ temple and of how God’s presence would fill the temple. Now God through the death burial and resurrection of His Son was bringing together Gentiles and Jews (See previous verse in Eph Ch 2) alike to be a building, not made of bricks, mortar and clay but a building made up of people who love God with all their hearts soul and mind and their neighbors as themselves. I like the word together here. It speaks of relationships with one another. We are called to be together and not split apart. As I mentioned in the previous part of this writing, The Catholic Church has put Peter as the stone or rock that the church was to be built upon. Lets see what Peter (Stone) had to say about stones in his writings. In 1 Pet 2: 4-5 Peter would write: Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 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. According to Peter, Jesus Christ is the one chosen by God as the precious stone. Precious here means the most honorable or the one to whom the most honor is due. Again, He is the rock or foundation of the church. He then would address the ones that who were following Him at that time. He called them living stones that are being built up to be a spiritual house. Peter was explaining the revelation of each person, like himself, being stones by which Jesus would build His church. The emphasis here is on the people and nothing is said about the building where those people met. If you search the New Testament, beginning in Acts, you will not find buildings (other than the people) being emphasized. Peter was so clearly pointing out what Paul would teach in Eph. 2. Peter, as well as all other believers, would be called stones and we would all be used as holy priests to offer up Spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. We as living stones are being built together to be a house for God to dwell in. This doesn’t just mean you and those you are presently going to church with, but the whole church of Jesus Christ all over the world. What a vast difference in what the scripture envisioned as the church and what we have today as the church.