Home: The Importance of the Local Church

Sunday, July 30th 2023

Matthew 16:13-20
Introduction

Jesus Will Build His Church and We Get to Participate

I. The Profession (v.13-17)
Jesus asks the disciples an important question, “Who do people say that the Son of
Man is?”
Jesus asks a very specific question, “Who do you say that I am? “Simon Peter replied,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
This confession has two elements to it:
1) His Office – You are the Christ…the Messiah…the Anointed One
2) His Person – You are the Son of the living God
It is this profession that the foundation of the church of Jesus Christ is built. This
profession is the center of the gospel.
v.17 – “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to
you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

II. The Promise (v.18-20)
“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 rock” – it’s not Peter, but Peter’s confession…You are the Christ and God’s Son.
v.19 – “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth will be hound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
heaven.”

III. The People (Church)
The church is God’s chosen means for carrying out His purposes until He returns. He
has ordained no other organization for this purpose.
God’s specific purposes for His people are accomplished as individuals join
themselves to and participate in a local church

Church membership is Biblical
This was the clear practice of the early church
Acts 2:47: “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being
saved.”
Acts 5:13: “None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.”
This is the necessary condition for pastoral care
Acts 20:28: “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy
Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with
his own blood.”
This is the assumed context for church discipline
Matthew 18:15-17 and 1 Corinthians 5 both describe situations in which believers are to
confront other believers who are persisting in a sinful way of life.
“God has given us four pictures of the church, not one. This is not just to emphasize and
prove the point by repetition, but also to say four different things about what it means to
be a member of a church. To be a stone in his temple means to belong to a worshipping
community. To be a part of a body means to belong to a living, functioning, serving,
witnessing community. To be a sheep in the flock means belonging to a community
dependent on him for food, protection, and direction. To be a member of a family is to
belong to a community bound by a common fatherhood. Put together you have the
main functions of an individual Christian. Evidently, we are meant to fulfill these not on
our own but together in the church. Now can you see the answer to the question why
you should join a church?” Eric Lane

Jesus Will Build His Church and We Get to Participate