What is the Church?
Matthew 16:13-18
In this sermon we will look at a scripture that is so often misused when giving a definition of the church. In order to properly define what the church is we will be doing some simple studies through the bible to show the not show us what the rock is as well as what the verse means when it says, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”. In the end we will also show how you can be a member of the only church that really matters.
What does the Bible say the Rock is?
- Exodus 17:6 (Israel needed water, so Moses struck the rock and water came forth)
- Deuteronomy 32:4,15,30,31 (God is the Rock but there is a fake rock)
- Psalm 118:22-23 (Here we see a stone that is rejected)
- Matthew 21:42-44 (Jesus is referring to himself as the previous rejected stone)
- 1 Corinthians 10:4 (Jesus is the rock from which Israel drank)
- 1 Peter 2:4-8 (Jesus is the living stone)
It is clear from the word of God that Jesus is the rock, not Peter.
What about the last part of the verse regarding the gates of hell?
- When it says the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, the it is the rock not the church.
- When Jesus died his body went into the grave (Luke 23:52-53), his spirit went back to God (Luke 23:46), his soul went to the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40, Luke 23:43).
- During his 3 days of being in the heart of the earth he when to paradise (Luke 23:43 and also his soul went to hell (Isaiah 53:10-12 ; Acts 2:27-31)
- Hell has gates and those gates have keys, Jesus has those after he is resurrected from the dead (Revelation 1:18). Death and the earth are said to have gates and bars, these are literal (Job 17:16 ; 38:17 ; Psalm 9:13 ; Jonah 2:1-6)
- Since Jesus is the rock then through his resurrection from the dead, the gates of hell literally did not prevail against him.
What is the definition of the Church?
- In Ephesians 1:22-33 it is defined as the body of Christ. The simplest definition for the church is the resurrected body of Jesus Christ.
- How can I become a member of this Church? Being saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-10) and having the Holy Ghost baptize us into the body of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 ; Galatians 3:26-27)
- When we receive Jesus as our savior by faith we are baptized into his body which is the Church, making us part of a spiritual household (Ephesians 2:19-23)
The only church membership that matters is being in the body of Jesus Christ!