Truth That Changes Lives

Guest (Male): Christ's church is only made up of those people who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): To your name be the glory. Yes. Thank you for joining us on Truth That Changes Lives. Pastor J.P. Jones is the senior pastor of Crossline Community Church in Laguna Hills, California and a professor in biblical studies at Biola University.

Today on Truth That Changes Lives, Pastor J.P. will be giving us a message from a series entitled Foundations. Let's listen in as J.P. delivers the message What We Believe About the Church.

JP Jones: Well, we are talking this morning about the church and what we believe about the church. In the area of theology, that's known as ecclesiology. The Greek word for church is ecclesia. It means the assembly or the gathering or the group of called-out ones.

For the past 18 years, as most of you know, I've been teaching theology at Biola University, and I teach a class on ecclesiology. What does the Bible teach about the church? And let me tell you, the Bible says a lot about the church.

Our doctrinal statement and our core belief with respect to what we believe here at Crossline about the church is this: We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of the church, which is His body, composed of all true believers.

We believe that the church exists to glorify God through worship, ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship. The mission of the church is to fulfill the Great Commission.

Now that statement has a lot in it, and first and foremost is the statement that Jesus Christ is the head of the church. We believe that every local church, using biblical principles, is free to organize itself and to structure itself and to establish its purposes and missions. But what it is not free to do is to decide who's in charge. Jesus is in charge.

Jesus is the head of the church. And we all are gathered together as believers with our own personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but who voluntarily gather together as a local body. And because of the spiritual unity that we have, we're part of the larger body of Christ. But our goal is to find the mind of Christ, to find the life of Christ and to overflow with the life of Christ, because He's the head of the church.

The church is composed of all true believers. Christ's church, the body of Christ, is made up of people who have crossed the line, confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord, have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and have come into a living eternal relationship with Jesus.

Now, any given Sunday when we gather here at Crossline, we fully expect that not everybody has experienced that, because we want to reach lost people for Jesus. We want to be a church that shares the good news with the community. We expect and we pray for and we invite friends and guests and neighbors to be here.

So you may be here this morning as a seeker, someone who's considering what a relationship with Jesus Christ would be like. We're glad that you're here.

But I want to tell you, positively and truthfully, Christ's church is only made up of those people who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's His body. We believe that the church exists to glorify God. The bottom line of any issue in life is the glory of God.

You know, the opening paragraph of Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life, is not about me, it's about God. And everything that God does is for His glory, and the church exists for His glory. And the Bible says that God's glory is mediated and expressed through the church through worship, ministry, evangelism, fellowship, and discipleship.

That's basically taking the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. The Great Commandment, "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as you love yourself." The Great Commission, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you, and lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age."

The Great Commandment, worship, "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." Ministry, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself." The Great Commission, evangelism, "Go and make disciples." Fellowship, "Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Discipleship, "Teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you."

You see, we believe that the church has marching orders from Jesus Christ. There's great freedom to express those biblical values, but you can't deviate from those values because they're Jesus's values and He's commanded us to live them out.

And the mission of the church is to fulfill the Great Commission. You know, in John chapter 17, this great chapter that records the high priestly prayer of Jesus, what Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His going to the cross and then dying and then being resurrected.

And in this high priestly prayer, you see Jesus emphasize three priorities. The priority of our relationship with God, the priority of our relationship with one another, and the priority of our relationship with the world.

So in this life, we will be able to worship God, fellowship with one another, and share the good news of Jesus with people in the world. But when we are in heaven, we will continue to be able to worship God, and we're going to continue to be able to fellowship with one another. But one thing we won't be doing is sharing the good news of Jesus with a lost world.

And so there is a preeminence with respect to the marching orders of the church to focus on the Great Commission, to do as Acts 1:8 says, which is to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, to be witnesses for Jesus in our Jerusalem, our Judea and Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts of the earth.

So, in a very capsulized way, that's what we believe about the church. I want to share though, some thoughts based upon Jesus's teaching about the church. In fact, it's the first time the term church is introduced to us in the New Testament. It's found in Matthew chapter 16.

And if you have your Bibles, you can turn there. If not, you can look up on the screen as we see this passage before us, Matthew chapter 16, starting at verse 15. Jesus says, "But what about you? Who do you say that I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

This is the first time the term church is found in the New Testament. And what's interesting is this full description is given to us in Matthew's gospel. Mark and Luke record a similar portion of it, but not in its fullest detail. And Matthew's gospel, by its very nature and very design, is a gospel that was written with a Jewish audience in mind. And Jesus is presented as the King of the Jews. And Jesus is is defended as the Messiah of the Jews.

And there's the most most extensive quotation of Hebrew scripture found in Matthew's gospel and the most developed Jewish theology in Matthew's gospel because it was written to a Jewish audience. Yet it's in this gospel that Jesus reveals the fullest nature of the church, which Paul tells us in Ephesians is Jew and Gentile, male and female, child and adult, everyone who's come into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

The church is God's kingdom agent in this age. The church is God's kingdom agent in this age. Four things I want to observe about the church from this passage. Here's the first one. God reveals Jesus to people. God reveals Jesus to people, because Jesus said, "Who do people say that I am?"

And the apostles responded back, "Well, you know, some say you're Elijah, and some say you're John the Baptist, and some say you're one of the prophets." He said, "Okay, enough of that. What I really want to know is, who do you think that I am?" Peter says, "You're the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, flesh and blood did not reveal that to you. It came from my Father who is in heaven."

Did you know that the nature of the case is that if we were left to our own devices, none of us would ever find God? God is infinite, we're finite. God is holy, we're sinful. God finds us. God looks for us. God reveals Himself to us. Jesus said in John chapter 3, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

God reveals Himself to people. In fact, if you're here this morning and you have confidence that you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it's because God revealed Himself to you. And if you're here and you're not sure, the very reason you're here is because God is drawing you. And you're seeking, and you're searching, and that in itself is a divine process that God's a part of.

God reveals Himself. Now, God reveals Himself in a lot of ways. God reveals Himself through creation. Psalm 19 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God." Romans chapter 1 says that, "Since the creation of the universe, God's invisible nature, His divine attributes, His eternal power have been clearly seen through what has been made."

God reveals Himself through our conscience, our own internal sense of right and wrong. Romans chapter 2 says that, "The work of the law has been written in our hearts so that our conscience bears us witness so that we either accept or reject the truth about God."

God reveals Himself through miracles. God reveals Himself through gifts of the Spirit. God reveals Himself through scripture. God reveals Himself through the spirit-empowered preaching of the gospel. That's why Paul said in Romans chapter 1, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew and to the Gentile."

And Paul said in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 that, "We preach Christ." To some, it's a stumbling block. To others, it's foolishness. But to those who are being saved, the preaching of Christ is the power of God. Preaching, the gospel.

God reveals Himself to people. Here's a second observation from this passage. Jesus is the foundation of the church. Jesus responds to Peter, and he says, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you're Peter, and on this rock I will build my church."

Now, this passage, interestingly enough, has been understood in three ways. And it's been understood in three ways since the beginning of the church. When you study church history and the writings of the church fathers and the councils that debated and discussed various doctrines, and then you look at the history of the church through the Reformation and the church today, there have been three ways of understanding this passage, and it pretty much splits evenly across these three ways.

Some people have taken these words of Jesus where He says, "You're Peter, and upon this rock I'll build my church," that Jesus is talking about Peter. Well, Peter was the chief apostle. Peter was a foundational spokesperson for the gospel. Peter dictated his eyewitness account of the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and it was written down by Mark. Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote 1st and 2nd Peter. And Ephesians chapter 2 says that, "The church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets." That's Peter.

So, you know what? You can find biblical justification to think that is exactly what Jesus meant. Other people have said, "No, he's not talking about Peter." When Jesus says, "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church," Jesus uses two different words. He says, "You're Peter," and the Greek word for Peter is petros, and that means little rock.

Then Jesus says, "You are Peter," petros, "but upon this rock," now Jesus uses a different word. He says, petra, and a petra means a large foundation stone. So Jesus says, "You're petros, little rock, but upon this petra I will build my church." Well, what's the petra? And some have thought Jesus was speaking about himself. So as if he was going, "You're Peter, but upon this rock I'll build my church."

You can't argue with the fact that the church is built on Jesus Christ. He's the head of the church. He's the center of the church. He's the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Him. We share in any relationship with each other because we have a common connection to Jesus. He's the true vine, John 15 says, and we're just the branches that abide in Him.

Well, then there's a third way that people have understood this passage, and they take that the same way, when it says, "You are petros, but upon this petra." But they have understood the petra to be the confession that Peter made because when he's asked, "Who do you say that I am?" He says, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus says, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona. Flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you, but it came from my Father in heaven. And you are petros, and upon this rock," the confession you just made, "that you're the Christ, the Son of the living God, I'm going to build my church." It doesn't matter to me how you take it, because I can give you biblical support for all three views.

And all three really come back to the one, Jesus. The church is built upon Jesus and the apostolic preaching of Jesus. And any local church, for it to be a biblical church, has got to be built on that foundation. We are not, as I've said many times, the Kuanas Club. We're not just a group of people who have some common interest and decide to get together and have some meetings.

We've been transformed by Jesus Christ. We gather together under the authority of Jesus Christ. We share a commitment to Jesus Christ, and the authority for what we believe and how we live and what our mission is, is Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the foundation of the church. Here's a third observation. Jesus is building His church. Jesus is building His church. "I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church."

Did you know that Jesus is active in His church? The church is not something that was built. The church is not something that is going to be built. The church is something that is being built. Jesus is changing lives right now. Jesus is growing congregations right now. Jesus is advancing His kingdom right now.

Jesus is doing His work because He is the head of the church. And our only our only mission is to find the will of Jesus and stay connected to Jesus, to be completely humble and surrendered so that Jesus can do in our lives what only Jesus can do, so that Jesus can do in our church what only Jesus can do. He's building His church.

And I'll tell you, it is tremendously freeing as your pastor to say, it's not up to me to build this church. It's not up to our staff to build this church. It's not up to our deacons to build this church. It's not up to us collectively to build this church. We have a part to play. I'm not saying that. But ultimately, Jesus is the one who builds His church.

And so it becomes very clear what our focus ought to be, to keep our eyes on Jesus, to love Jesus, to abide in Jesus, to preach Jesus, to obey Jesus. Here's the last observation. The church is on victorious mission for Jesus. Victorious mission. God has not called His church to be passive, but active. The church is not a fortress, it's an army.

Because Jesus says, "The gates of Hades will not overcome it." Jesus is not describing the church as some castle fortress with these big gates and Hades is trying to pound at us, but no, no, no. It's the gates of Hades. The gates of Hades can't stop us. We are the victorious church of Jesus Christ, who've been given marching orders to make disciples and advance the kingdom, and death itself can't stop us. We're breaking down the gates of Hades and setting prisoners free.

And many of us can testify we were once those prisoners, and we've been set free. We are on victorious mission for Jesus. So the local church, whether it's gathered here in Southern California, or in Malawi, or in Honduras, or any other part of the earth, it's it's been called and established by Jesus. Jesus himself is building it, and it's been given marching orders to advance the kingdom of God.

And in fact, Jesus says it this way, "I give you the keys of the kingdom of God, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." My goodness, if you think about what Jesus is saying there, it's unbelievable. Jesus is investing His authority to His people.

Jesus is giving His spiritual authority. And in Matthew 28, He says, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." And He's saying in this passage to to Peter and His apostles, to the church of Jesus Christ, "I'm going to build My church. The gates of Hades can't overcome it. And I'm giving to you the keys of the kingdom. And whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Jesus Christ gives us the spiritual authority to proclaim the gospel so that people can be saved and be set free. Those who are bound can be loosed. That's why all the more as stewards, our one and only issue before us is to find the will of Jesus Christ and to do the will of Jesus Christ, not to champion any human agenda. There's no dictator here, nor to just get the polling of the people and majority rules. No, Jesus rules.

And we do whatever we can to find the will of Jesus because He's the head of the church. He's the foundation of the church, and He's given us the keys of the kingdom. We better steward that in a holy way, to bring Him all the glory and to set prisoners free, and to change the world with the message of the kingdom.

Guest (Male): What a great message for all of us today. Pastor J.P. provides us with great insight. That is why we'd like to make it available to you on CD. Just get in touch and mention today's date. We'll send it your way for just $5. Or if you'd like to support this ministry, you can write us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653, or give us a call at 949-916-0250. That's 949-916-0250.

For your gift of $25 or more, we will send you a signed copy of J.P.'s new book, Facing Goliath. Please join us every Sunday at 9:00 or 11:00 AM at Crossline Church in Laguna Hills. The address is 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or check us out on the web at crosslinechurch.com.

We're going to get to the address and phone number again in a moment, but before we do that, Pastor J.P., do you have any insight from today's message?

JP Jones: Thanks, Greg. Today we're talking about the church. What is the church? The church is the called-out gathering community of believers in Jesus Christ. This has been God's great dream from eternity. In fact, in Ephesians chapter 3, it says that the church, which we as believers in Christ are now a part of, is God's mystery, which was always in the heart and mind of God, but has been revealed through the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head of the church.

See, to be a part of the church means to come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and by means of the Holy Spirit to be placed into the body of Christ. So every believer in Jesus is a part of his church. It's a universal church. It transcends culture and generation and it transcends human barriers. The church is a spiritual, organic unity of people who've come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Jesus himself is the head of the church.

In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus said, "He's going to build his church." In fact, He gives to his followers the keys of the kingdom of God, and whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And Jesus gives spiritual gifts to the members of his church so that everybody who's a believer in Christ is a gifted one, gifted to contribute to build up the whole body of Christ.

And Jesus gives a purpose to the church. He gives us marching orders. He calls us to go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching people to observe all that he has commanded, and with this promise, knowing that he's with us even to the end of the age.

The church is God's dynamic movement, God's representation of his kingdom in this age, the body of Christ. And if you believe in Jesus Christ, you're part of the church. Now, the local church is a visible expression of the universal church. The local church is important. The local church is the place where we gather with other believers, we worship, we study the word of God, we share in community, we are equipped to go be witnesses for Jesus Christ to the world.

Every believer in Christ, if they have the opportunity, barring persecution, should be part of a local church. But the local church is merely an expression of the universal church, the body of Christ. We have been called to be part of the church. We're gifted with the privilege of being in community and relationship with other believers. We're to sharpen one another, encourage one another, bear one another's burdens. We're to do all we can to help one another be complete in Christ so that we might carry out the mission of Christ, which is to proclaim the gospel to all the nations.

That's our call as followers of Jesus Christ. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you've been privileged to become part of his church. Make sure you're stewarding that privilege by being actively involved in a local church. If you're hearing this message and you've yet to come to know Jesus, here's the good news. When you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, not only are your sins forgiven, and not only do you receive the gift of eternal life, you are instantly made a part of Christ's body. You become connected to every other believer in Jesus Christ.

And you grow in your relationship with Christ as you live out that following of Jesus in community with other believers in a local church. So the blessing of scripture is that we have been made part of the body of Christ, the church, and Jesus himself is the head. Our goal is to find out what Jesus wants and to do it in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let me pray for us. God, I pray that we would be disciples of you. We'd be connected to one another in the church. We'd build up the body of Christ. We'd use our talents and our gifts and our abilities to serve one another, to grow your church, and we might be spirit-empowered witnesses of Jesus to reach the whole world for Christ. I pray for that in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): We want to help you in your relationship with Christ. Please get in touch with us at Truth That Changes Lives, 23331 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California, 92653. Or call us at 949-916-0250.

On the internet, you will find us at crosslinechurch.com. We hope to see you at one of our services every Sunday at our new campus in Laguna Hills. For more information and directions, please go to crosslinechurch.com. Please join us next time on Truth That Changes Lives.