At a recent Saturday morning men's Bible study at our church, a reference was made to the passage of scripture where Jesus had proclaimed that He would build His church. The passage is found in Matthew 16:18, where the author records these words spoken by Jesus to the Apostle Peter; "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."
The point of this short article is not to debate the various views held by professing Christians regarding "this rock" that Jesus said He would build His church upon. I will simply say I believe He is building His church upon the truth that Peter had been inspired to proclaim in Matthew 16:16, where he said of Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." As the Apostle Paul also wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:11, "For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." And speaking of those of the Exodus, in 1 Corinthians 10:4 Paul wrote, "and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ."
Anyway, my thoughts are really on the building of His church, and the promise that the "gates of Hades will not overpower it." The proclamation is clear and precise. Men will still quibble about His statement but I suggest that we take Him at His word. "I will build My church", Jesus said. I believe He is. It was through Him that the world was created and thank God, "in Him all things hold together". I trust He knows best how to build His church. I trust that He is building His church just as He has purposed to do so. He is making no mistakes.
The Church, or the body of Christ, is God's purposeful work of art and grace. As we see in Romans chapter 6, there are many members of the body of Christ, each believer, individually a member, and each one, "members one of another." And in 1 Corinthians 12:18 we read, "But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired." You and I are in the body of Christ, the Church Jesus is building, not by chance or by accident, but just as He has desired!
When I consider all of the bad news a person can read or hear about on any given day, most of it declaring loudly the depravity of man, I remind myself of this truth. Christ is still building His church. The Holy Spirit is still moving in the hearts and minds of individuals all over this world, revealing the truth of Jesus according to His sovereign will. I believe it is true today and that it will be so again tomorrow; a boy, a girl, a man or a woman will be the object of the Spirit's life changing work and come to know the truth of Jesus today. They will come to know the joy of forgiveness, the hope of salvation and the love of a Savior. They will become members of the body of Christ and the Church He is building.
In the flesh, men are prone to have the desire to usurp the place of God in the building of His church. I chose this term because its meaning, to seize or to take the place of without right or legal claim, seems appropriate in what I wish to express. We have no right to take His place in the building of His church. Without the right, without the knowledge, without the wisdom and without the power. And yet, perhaps often with good intentions, we find ourselves trying to build His church. We ought to be content with the privileges that are bestowed upon us, to be those who plant and those who water. As Paul was inspired to write to the Corinthian believers, the one who plants and the one who waters are nothing. The One who is anything, the One who is everything, is God. He is the One who causes the increase. He is the One building His church.
Oh, to be sure, there is much that He has called us and equipped us to do and I wish not to minimize the importance this. So great is this subject that it would take much time and space if I attempted to write an all inclusive list here and now. I will just say that building His church would not be on the list I would write. Jesus is building His church.
I say all of this to get to the thought that had first come to my mind when this verse from Matthew 16 was referenced at the bible study mentioned above. The latter part of the verse quotes Jesus as saying "the gates of Hades will not overpower" His church. This is crucial for us to take note of. For sure, we have been given a tremendous promise in this verse. It is one that has been leaned on by His children throughout the centuries. But let us see clearly that His promise is in regards to the church He is building and not the ones that men build apart from Him. The church built by a man or a group of men is susceptible of being overpowered and most likely will be in time. It can be overpowered by the very ones who built it. Let us rejoice and be glad to learn of, and walk in our proper role in the Church He is building, the one "the gates of Hades will not overpower"!
No comments:
Post a Comment