What Is The Church? (Matt.16; Acts 2;) 20230115 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

01/15 What Is The Church​? (Matthew 16; Acts 2) Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20230115_the-church.mp3

We’ve been looking at Jesus’ commission (Mat.5:14) that we together are the light of the world; ‘You (plural) are the light of the world.’ Our new identity shapes how we walk in step with that new identity, reflecting the light of Jesus in this dark world. There are actions, thoughts and attitudes to put off, that are part of our old way of living; and actions, thoughts and attitudes to put on as consistent with our new identity. But what does that ‘you’ plural mean? We are such an individualistic society. How are we togther to be the light of the world?

The beginning of a new year is a good time to reflect together on who we are, what our mission is, what our purpose is, so that together we can move in unity toward the same goal.

Today I want to examine the question ‘What is the church?’

An Assembly of People Called Out to Follow Jesus

We are going to start in Matthew 16, where Jesus said he would build his church. Jesus is asking his disciples privately what people are saying about him. Then,

Matthew 16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The word ‘church’ [ἐκκλησία] means ‘called out’ a called out assembly or gathering; people called out of their homes or out of slavery; to assemble, to come together for a specific purpose.

Jesus speaks of building his church in the future tense; ‘I will build my church.’ So the church is a new thing, different from what we saw in the Old Testament. Jesus is calling out a people to follow him. It is Jesus’ church, Jesus’ assembly; the church belongs to Jesus.

Founded on the Identity of Jesus

This promise ‘I will build my church’ comes out of a discussion of the identity of Jesus; Who do people say that the Son of Man is? But who do you say that I am? The church is built on the rock solid foundation of the supernaturally revealed identity of Jesus as the Christ – the promised Messiah, the unique only-begotten Son of the living God. Peter didn’t come up with this on his own; it was given to him, revealed to him by the Father. The Father testifies to the identity of his only Son.

I’ve always assumed that this was a supernatural enlightenment of Peter at that very moment Jesus asked the question; the lights came on for Peter and he spoke by the Holy Spirit; ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus doesn’t say when the Father revealed this to Peter, but it could have been all the way back in Matthew 3 at Jesus’ baptism, when;

Matthew 3:17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

John testified that Jesus is ‘the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ (1:29). John said that although Jesus was born 6 months after him, Jesus ranks before him because he existed before him (1:30). John testified ‘that this is the Son of God’ (1:34).

Andrew, who had been following John, went and told his brother.

John 1:40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

Peter was believing the word of the Father about Jesus and the testimony of John, which were communicated to him by his brother Andrew. Jesus affirms ‘flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.’

This was confirmed firsthand to Peter in Matthew 17, when Jesus took Peter, James and John up on the mountain, and God interrupted Peter’s speech:

Matthew 17:5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Later, Peter writes of this experience:

2 Peter 1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.

Eyewitnesses of the majesty, the glory, the splendor, the magnificence of the Lord of us, YHWH; Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ. This is the foundational truth on which the church is established (2Pet.1:12). Jesus will build his church on the foundation of his own identity as promised Messiah, unique Son of God.

A New Covenant Community

Remember, this is new; Jesus will build his church on the foundation of the testimony of his Father about his own identity. The church is the New Covenant community; the fulfillment of the inner Spirit wrought transformation promised in Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 11, Ezekiel 36 & 37; that Jesus taught about in John 3, where he said ‘You must be born again’ (Jn.3:3-7)

Ezekiel 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

This is the background of Jesus’ statement in

John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Jesus said at the last supper, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Lk.22:20).

The Promised Spirit in You

In Jesus’ great commission to his disciples in Luke 24, he said:

Luke 24:46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

I am sending the promise of my Father upon you, so wait. Jesus had told them in John 14 of the promised Holy Spirit,

John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

The Holy Spirit, him, not it (pronouns matter!) a person of the triune God, is everywhere present. As God, the Holy Spirit is always present everywhere. But Jesus is promising a new relationship that we have with God the Spirit. He said to his disciples, you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. This promise of the permanent ‘in you’ relationship of the Holy Spirit to believers is what was promised in the New Covenant in Jeremiah, in Ezekiel.

John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

This all looks forward to the time when the Spirit would be poured out on believers in Jesus.

Luke continues his story in Acts:

Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit came on the apostles and Peter interpreted it as the fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel 2 of the Spirit being poured out on all flesh. He preached Jesus as the promised Christ, crucified and risen.

Acts 2:32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

When the crowds heard Peter preaching about Jesus,

Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

They were cut to the heart. By whom? This was the conviction of the Spirit of God through the word of God. Peter tells them to repent; turn from whatever you were trusting in and trust Jesus alone. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Paul in Romans 8:9 makes it clear that everyone who belongs to Jesus has the Spirit of God dwelling in them. Notice he says the promise is for everyone, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. God the Spirit is cutting them to the heart; YHWH God is calling people to himself, to repent and believe in Jesus. The church, the [ἐκκλησία], is a called out assembly or gathering, those called by the Spirit out of darkness into the light of Jesus.

The Lord Building His Church

Acts 2:41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Those who received his word were baptized. They were immersed in water, an outward picture of what had happened inside, as they had been immersed by Jesus in the Holy Spirit, as John had predicted (Mt.3:11). Notice the careful wording ‘there were added that day about three thousand souls’ and in verse 47 ‘the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved’. It was the Lord, the Lord Jesus building his church as he had promised; ‘I will build my church.’

Devoted to Apostles’ Teaching and Fellowship

While we are here in Acts 2, notice what the church was about. Verse 42 tells us what they devoted themselves to; they were devoted to the apostles’ teaching. They had the apostles, who were teaching them. We have the apostles’ teaching today in the form of the New Testament.

Peter wrote:

2 Peter 1:12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Peter, knowing he would soon die, wrote a letter, so that ‘after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.’

By the way, the apostles, following the example of their Lord Jesus (Lk.24:27), opened the Old Testament and showed how it all points to Jesus (Acts 3:18; 17:2-3; 26:22-23;1Pet.1:10).That is why we are a church ‘of the Bible’; we are passionate about, devoted to hearing and obeying God’s word, seeing how it all points us to Jesus. The church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching.

And they were devoted to the fellowship. The [κοινωνια], partnership, communion, community. They were devoted to having things in common, meeting the needs of one another, meeting together, being together. They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread, remembering Jesus together in communion or the Lord’s supper. They devoted themselves to the prayers. Praying together. Praising God together, praying for one another, seeking the Lord together. Being constant in prayer.

Teaching, fellowship, breaking bread together, praying together. This is what the church devoted themselves to.

Summary

Who are we? What is the church? The church is this New Covenant community created by Jesus, called out by Jesus, by his death and resurrection, birthed by the Spirit, united by the Father into one diverse body, devoted to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. The church is built by Jesus on his own identity as its one cornerstone, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

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2023.01.15 Sermon Notes

What Is The Church? (Matthew 16; Acts 2)

The Church; an assembly of people called out to follow Jesus

Matthew 16:18

The identity of Jesus is the foundation of the church

Matthew 16:13-18; 3:17; John 1:29-42; Matthew 17:5;

2 Peter 1:16-18

The church is a New Covenant community

Jeremiah 31:31, Ezekiel 11:19-20; 36:25-27;

John 3:3-7; Luke 22:20

The promised Spirit will be in you

Luke 24:46-49; John 14:16-17; 7:37-39;

Acts 1:1-5; Acts 2:32-39; Romans 8:9-11

Jesus is building his church

Acts 2:41-47; Matthew 3:11

The church was devoted to the Apostles’ teaching

Acts 2:42; 2 Peter 1:12-15;

Luke 24:27; Acts 3:18; 12:2-3; 26:22-23; 1 Peter 1:10

The church was devoted to fellowship; the breaking of bread and the prayers

Acts 2:42-47

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org