Jesus Builds His Church, Matthew 16:18

Jesus Builds His Church

Matthew 16:13-25 (p. 1524)                                                 September 10, 2017    

And I tell you that you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build my church . . . .
Matthew 16:18

Intro:
               1)  Jesus’ first (see also Matt. 18) recorded use of  ekklēsia,
“the called out ones, the assembly”
— Jesus doesn’t differentiate here between church local
and church universal
2) “build together” is both a construction term (house + roof) and a organic term, like bones healing

Built on the rock

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to by man,
but by my Father in heaven.”
 Matthew 16:16

1. The rock: THE TESTIMONY OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS
   — Ephesians 2:19-20; Revelation 21 and the foundation of the Holy City = the church
2. The confession: A WORK OF GOD à includes the cross (see Matthew 16:21-28)
3. The blessing: SERVING A MOVEMENT (stolen from the title of Tim Keller’s book)
   — the keys of kingdom meas at least this: that we are invited to participate
   wherever we see the kingdom breaking in

Am I really joined to you?
“built together” = sum + oiukidomeō, the construction concept
“joined together” = sum + armologeō, the organic concept

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people,
and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
with Christ himself as the chief cornerstone.
In him the whole building is joined together . . . .
And in him you are being built together to become a dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22

1. We  ARE KNOWN — the promise of George Fox University
   — neither zenoi (different or stranger)
   nor paroikio (along side + household)
   — we don’t stay on the outside
   but are invited in (therefore  hospitality next week!)
2. We share the same  LOYALTY (but in every culture but ours, this means duty, like Canada)  — sum + politēs
3. We  DEPEND ON  each other à “members of the household” is one word, oikeios
4. Our  PURPOSE à MISSION  is defined by Jesus!

More resources for studying the church

John MacArthur’s sermon, “Upon This Rock” at https://bible.org
/seriespage/exploring-riches-book-romans-romans-1-16

Ligon Duncan’s message “The Confession of the Kingdom” at http://www.fpcjackson.org/resource-library/sermons/the-confession-and-the-cross-of-the-kingdom-part-1-the-confession-of-the-kingdom