Title: Lord of the Church
Description There was a monk climbing on his knees up the 28 steps of the Basilica of Santa Scala. His knee was torn by the stone steps and bleeding. He wanted to have the assurance that all his sins were forgiven through his thorough penance. But he still could not have the remission of sins and the peace of salvation.
At that time, the Catholic Church was building St. Peter's Cathedral. A huge construction cost was required. Due to the lack of construction costs, the Catholic Church began teaching and selling the doctrine of indulgences. Anyone who buys indulgences with money can go to heaven. Even souls who have already died and are in purgatory can go to heaven if their descendants purchase indulgences. He took money from naive and foolish people by creating a doctrine that is not even in the Bible: “The moment you hear the sound of a coin falling into the box, your soul jumps to heaven.” Brothers and sisters, what was the problem? The Catholic Church at that time used God for their own purposes and led people astray by creating doctrines that were not even in the Bible. The biggest problem is that people have become the masters of the church. This is the fall of the church.
When the church fell like this, God created a man to restore the essence of the church. It was Martin Luther, who climbed on his knees the stone steps of a church in Rome to be assured of the remission of sins. Martin Luther experienced the assurance of salvation through the words of Romans: “The righteous shall live by faith.” He began God's work of reforming the church by pointing out the errors of the church at the time and writing 95 rebuttals asking for correction and attaching them to the church's front door. This is the beginning of Protestantism. It is to restore the essence of the church based on the words of the Bible.
Dear brothers and sisters, what is the essence of our church? Who is the owner of our church? What is the standard for governing our church? We want to look at these issues through the text we read today. We hope that our church will be based on the Word of God and that we will be governed by the Word of God.
One day, the Lord Jesus arrived in the region of Caesarea Philippi with his disciples. The Lord asked his disciples, “Who do people say I am?” The disciples answered, “Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. They reported the opinions of the people of the world. The Lord asked his disciples, “Then who do you say I am?” Then Peter answers. “You are the Christ. He is the Son of the Living God.” The Lord immediately said to Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” The Lord commended him very much when he said that this was a revelation of Christ. Dear brothers and sisters, if we are to become Christians, we must have the revelation of God. If you become a Christian, I want you to believe that you have already received a revelation from God. I hope that you who know and believe in Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God believe that you are blessed.
Brothers and sisters, look at verse 18. The Lord says, “And I say to you....” Note the small word “again” here. This is very important. There is another revelation. What is that? It is a revelation to the church. Half of God's revelation is to Christ, and the other half is to the church. The first is the head of the church. The rest is the body of the church.
What, then, is the Lord's revelation about the Church? Brothers and sisters, look at verse 18 again. “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
The most important word here is the word “I”. If you miss this word, you miss everything. Because it is the word that shows the body that builds the church. “Who builds the church?” The Lord, the Christ, the Son of God, establishes the church. It is the Lord Himself, not people, who establishes the church. We must always remember that it is the Lord, not us, that builds the church. It gives us great comfort to know that the Lord is building our church despite the mistakes and sins we often make. This fact is a wonderful encouragement for our church. That's right. The Lord is building our church. I hope you believe it. Brothers and sisters, we ask that we be convinced of this and confess it. When we can confess this right away, our church will be restored to its essence.
But where does the Lord say that the church is built? Look again at verse 18. Where do you set it up? Yes, the Lord is building the church “on this rock.” The Lord has chosen “on this rock” as the place where the church will be built. It is very important for us to know the meaning of the rock.
So what does the rock of the Lord mean? Coincidentally, the word “rock” and “Peter,” the name of the disciple who confessed his faith in the Lord, have the same etymology. The word Peter means rock. So what does the Lord mean by “this rock”? This does not refer to the person of Peter, but to the confession of faith that Peter made. This is because Peter is a masculine noun, whereas the rock the Lord spoke of is a feminine noun.
The Lord heard Peter's confession of faith and said that He would build a church on this confession of faith. What is the content of the confession of faith? Christ, the Son of God. It is to build the church on this Christ. The image the rock gives is solidity. It does not shake, it does not break. Christ, like this strong rock, is the foundation of the church. The unchanging Christ is the head of the church. The church cannot be established apart from Christ. The church cannot sustain life apart from Christ. Without Christ, no matter how many people gather, it is not a church. Because the Lord builds the church upon Christ.
What does it mean to build the church upon Christ? The church to be established is to show the characteristics of Christ. If Christ is the root of the church, then the stem, leaf, and fruit that come out of the root must resemble Christ. The most important criterion for evaluating and solving problems in the church is Christ. Because Christ is the essence of the church. In Ephesians 1:23 Paul said, “The church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” The church is the fullness of Christ.
Dear brothers and sisters, who we confess Jesus as is very important. Only those who have confessed Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God can participate in the Lord's Church. The Lord builds the church by using only those who receive revelation from God and know the Lord Jesus. Who do you think Jesus is? If you say, “Jesus is a great saint,” you are not a Christian. You are not a Christian if you say, “I think Jesus has a very good teaching.” Only when you can confess that Jesus is Lord, Christ, and God, you are a Christian, a blessed person, and participate in the church the Lord has established. I hope that all of you will confess Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
Who will be the owner of the church that the Lord builds upon Christ Himself, Peter's confession of faith? It is the Lord's Church. Because the Lord has established it. Because the Lord builds upon Him Himself, Christ. Look again at verse 18. The Lord says that the church being built now is “my church.” The church is not Peter's church, but the Lord's church. Churches today seem to think as if they were their own churches. The fall of the church. In our church, we are not the owner of the church, but the Lord is the owner of our church. We want you to always confess this fact.
When the Lord declares that He will build His Church upon Christ Himself, Peter's confession of faith, He tells a surprising fact. Look again at verse 18. It is the Lord's promise to the Church. “The powers of Hades will not prevail against it.” It is said that the powers of Hades will not shake the church. The church that the Lord established, Peter's confession of faith, the church built on Christ Himself, and the Lord's church, the powers of Hades cannot overcome. I hope you believe that even Satan cannot do anything about the church that confesses that the Lord is Lord. I want you to be convinced that Satan cannot shake the church that the Lord establishes and rules.
Dear brothers and sisters, you do not know how crafty and powerful the power of Satan is. They are trying to shake up our church in a clever way. Satan also attacks the church from the inside. They offend, divide, divide, and fight each other. They make each other uncomfortable, upset, hate each other, and cause conflicts of opinion. In times like these, what is most needed is the restoration of the profession of faith toward the Lord and the Church. The power of Satan cannot overcome the church that confesses Jesus, the Son of God and the Christ, as the Lord of the church.
Among the books of social psychologist Eric Fromm, there is a book called “You Shall be God”. It is said that all human beings have such an inner desire. The temptation to become a master, the desire to act like a master. Satan tempts us to think and live as if we were the masters of our life, as if we had everything. Satan tempts us to think that we are great things in the church. The Lord is the Lord. The Church is the Lord's Church, which the Lord builds upon Christ.
Dear saints, who is the owner of our church? The Lord of our church is the Lord. What is the essence of our church? Jesus Christ. Who is building our church? Our church is built by the Lord on the rock of Jesus Christ. I bless you in the name of the Lord that the Lord's revelation to the church will be confirmed and that you will be faithful in our church today.