The Christian life is relational. In Christ, we are connected to believers in a way incomparable to any earthly relationship. How are you stewarding your relationship with your local church?
(Matthew 18:15-20) There is much discussion today about what people think about church. Scripture tells us what Jesus thinks about the church, and how it should affect our thinking. Let’s let the Founder speak for Himself… (0962250311) —-more—-
Jesus: The Founder and Foundation of the Church
If you want to know about any institution, perhaps the best place to start is listen to the words of the founder. Recently I read an interview with Dr. Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A. It was fascinating. Not just because of his business sense, but because of his dedication to Christ, his Christian testimony. But it was so intriguing to me just to hear from the founder’s mouth, his own words the foundational principles that they’d built their company upon. If you want to know something about the church of the Lord, Jesus Christ, maybe it would be good if we asked the founder. In our world today, everybody has an opinion.
Everybody wants to give their idea. This is what I think of church. Now this is what we want church to be. Wait a minute, let’s get a word from the Founder today. What does He say about His church?
Jesus’ Vision for His Church
And we began this study in Matthew chapter 16, verse 18, where Jesus said, “And I say also unto thee that thou Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church.And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” So we know it’s his church. We know he’s building his church. We know he is building his church upon himself. It’s not upon Peter that the church is being built. As a matter of fact, there’s a little divine humor here. Peter’s name literally means a little pebble, a little rock.
And then he goes on to say, but I’m gonna build my church upon this rock. In other words, upon a great rock, a great truth, what is that great truth? Oh, it is the great truth of who Jesus is. Paul would later say, of the foundation, can no man lay then that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So this is where the Founder begins talking about His church.
But if you go two chapters later in the gospel, according to Matthew chapter 18, He continues. Remember, He’s laying foundational principles in the hearts and minds of His first followers, the original disciples. I believe it’s my conviction that the church started with Christ and His disciples.
Now, there’s some people that believe the church didn’t start until the Book of Acts. I believe from my study of scripture that the Lord Jesus who is the Founder of the church, was the first pastor, and I believe the original disciples that little group of 12, that was the first called out assembly, that was the first church, and that then that church was empowered by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in the Book of Acts.
In Acts, you see the advancement of the church. It’s the book of the Continuing Christ. But if you want to know something about the beginning of the church, then you have to go back and see what the Lord Jesus said to His disciples. And so in Matthew chapter 18, beginning in verse 15, Jesus is teaching something about discipline within the church.
Christ’s Purpose and Principles for His Church
Listen to what he says. “Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou is gain thy brother. But if you will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established.”
That’s not my purpose to get into all the implications here, but there’s a great principle. And the great principle is this, that when you have a problem with another brother or sister in Christ that should be dealt with personally, and then it should be dealt with privately within the local church.
This is a day and age, especially with social media where everything gets aired. The Lord Jesus said. There’s some things that ought to be dealt with in the family, within the family of God. So he goes on in verse number 17 and says this, “And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the church, but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man. And a publican verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loose in heaven.” Does that sound vaguely familiar? That is the same teaching that He gave in Matthew chapter 16, when he first talked about building his church, He said to Peter, “I’m going to give you the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth, we bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven.”
The Power of Prayer in the Church
In other words, God has given to his church the great privilege of prayer, which is the divine link. It is the connection between earth and heaven. Heaven and earth. Isn’t that glorious? And then he says in Matthew chapter 18, verse 19, “Again, I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it should be done for them of my father, which is in heaven.” And then perhaps one of the most beautiful verses in all of scripture as it comes to the church, the simplest form of a church the basic premise of the church is this Matthew 18, verse 20. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name there, am I in the midst of them.”
What makes a great church? Is it big buildings, lots of programs, money in the bank. Is it their pastor sermons? No. The thing that makes any church great is the presence of Jesus Christ in that church. It may be the most primitive church. It may be a handful of people, two or three people gathered together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. But Jesus promises, He says, “There am I in the midst of them.”
The Role and Authority of the Church
Now, what do we learn from Matthew chapter 18 about the church? One thing we learned. Is that the church is the Supreme Court of the Christian life. If I might use that expression, it means there’s no higher authority to appeal to on earth for the New Testament.
Christian, the Lord Jesus established his church to be the authority and the guiding factor for the people of God while they’re living in this earth. The rest of the New Testament develops on this idea. The Apostle Paul specifically was given the revelation more and more about the church. Paul writes more about the church than any other writer, and that’s profound.
Through the life and writings of the Apostle Paul, we learned something about the power of the church and the purpose of the church. But that all began with Christ, who is the founder and the founder said that the church is to be. The Supreme Court, if you will, in the life of the Believer. Now, why is that?
Because the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. That’s an expression from the Apostle Paul’s writings. In other words, it doesn’t mean that men in a church are the authority. No, my friend God is always his own authority. He is the one who lays out what he wants. The church’s role is simply to teach and preach the word of God. So as the church fulfills that, as we hold up the truth. Then we are giving guidance and direction to believers to move forward for the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Church as a Visible Body
Something else very practical we learned from Matthew Chapter 18 is this, according to the founder, the church must be a visible body. Now, there are many expressions through the New Testament for the place of believers.
For example, in Ephesians three 15, we’re referred to as the family of God. I love that expression. We’re called the people of God. Paul and Peter both use that that is a reminder that we belong to the Lord. We are his possession. There’s ownership. We’re the people of God. We’re also referred to as the body of Christ, Christ being the head, individual, believers, being the members of the body.
First Corinthians chapter 12 really develops that principle that the church is a living organism, the body of Christ, and carrying out his purposes in this world. We’re referred to in Ephesians two as the household of God. Something akin to the family, but the idea is it’s a place where God abides, where he lives we’re referred to as the bride of Christ.
I love that, don’t you? A reminder of our loving union with the Savior that we are a espoused to him, and we are going to be with him for all eternity. But while that’s the place of all believers in Matthew chapter 18, Jesus was speaking to a local group of believers. And he was addressing the fact that things must be dealt with within the context of a local New Testament church.
What does that mean? It means that the Lord Jesus established that local churches would be the place where people would find guidance for their life and accountability to one another and fellowship with like-minded believers.
Your Place in the Local Church
So I want to challenge you today to find your place in a local assembly of believers. If you love Christ and you love what Christ is doing in this world. Then you should connect yourself to his purpose in and through the local New Testament church. That’s not my word. That’s a word from the founder.
Outro and Resources
Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our Library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of scripture. You’ll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening and we hope you’ll join us next time on enjoying the Journey.
