The Church Jesus Built - Lesson 5
Jesus made a great promise when He promised to build His church. It all happened when Jesus stopped in Caesarea Philippi to ask the apostles some questions. He asked them what people were saying about Him. The apostles told me that some thought He was John the Baptist. Do you remember who John the Baptist was? He was a cousin of Jesus who was killed because he told the truth to a wicked ruler named Herod. If you want to read about it read Matthew 14:1-10. Other people said Jesus was Elijah or Jeremiah. Both of these men were prophets. But Jesus was not John the Baptist or any of the others. He was the Son of God.
He asked the apostles who they thought He was. Peter spoke up first and said "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). Jesus told Peter he was right and said it was God, the Father who said Jesus is the Son of God. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven like a dove and sat on Jesus. Then a voice came from heaven that said Jesus was the Son of the Living God. Please go back and read Matthew 3:13-17.
Jesus said that He was going to build His church on the rock. Jesus called what Peter said "the rock." The rock is the foundation of the church. Later Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and told them the only foundation the church can have is the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God (1 Cor. 3:11). To make something strong it must have a strong foundation. The church is strong because it is built on a strong foundation.
The church Jesus built was not a building of wood or bricks. It is not like the picture on the first page of this lesson. That is a picture of a building where people meet to worship. It is called a church building or meeting house. It is just a building. The word church really means a gathering of people. It means people who have been called to be together in one place. The church is made of people who are called "living stones" (1 Pet. 2:5). Peter said it was a spiritual house. Do you know what a spiritual house is? It is not like a school building or the house where you live. It is a house where people offer worship and praise to the Lord. It is made up of living stones. Real stones are not alive, but people are, and people who are saved are the living stones.
In another lesson we learned that the church Jesus promised to build got started on the Day of Pentecost. That was a Sunday, or the first day of the week. On the Day of Pentecost people who were saved were made members of the church. Can you remember what they had to do to be saved? The ones who felt really bad about killing Jesus asked what they had to do and Peter told them to "Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38). The one who were baptized were saved and added to the church. (Read Acts 2:41 and 47).
Members of the church Jesus promised to build were together a lot. Every Sunday they met to worship. In their worship they took the Lord’s Supper. Do you remember our lesson on the Lord’s Supper? Do you remember what was said about taking it every Sunday? Go back and study that lesson. They prayed together, gave money to help the poor, and listened to the Apostles preach. (Read Act
s 2:38). In meetings for worship they sang. Remember our lesson on music in worship? The only kind of music they had was singing. (Read Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16).Most of the members had to go away from Jerusalem because the Jews didn’t like them. They didn’t like to hear them preach about Jesus. The Jews tried to hurt the members of the church. They even killed a young man named Stephen. Everywhere members of the church went they preached the gospel and many people became members of the church. In the places where they went they started a church just like the one in Jerusalem. They did this by preaching the gospel.
The Bible tells us about churches in Judea, Antioch, and other places. These new churches were just like the one in Jerusalem. The members lived in other places and started churches where they could meet for worship. These are called local churches. In each local church men are asked to be elders and deacons. Paul wrote a letter to the local church in Philippi. He addressed it to "saints at Philippi with the bishops and deacons" (Phil. 1:1). A bishop is the same as an elder. These are the only ones who are to take charge of the local church. They take care of only one local church. Peter wrote to elders in Asia to take care of the church they had been asked to be elders in. (Read 1 Pet. 5:1-4). The flock is just another way of talking about the church.
Please remember, all the local churches were just alike. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth and said he wrote the same things to all the churches (Read 1 Cor. 4:17). He had to take care of all the churches (2 Cor. 11:28). So they were all alike. They were called churches of Christ. Romans 16:16 says "the churches of Christ salute you." Salute does not mean like a soldier salutes. It is like saying hello. The churches that sent a "hello" to the church in Rome were churches of Christ. One of them would be a church of Christ. Church of Christ shows that the church belongs to Christ. It shows it was started by Christ. It is the only one Jesus promised to build.
You can be a member of the church Jesus promised to build by doing just what the people did when it started. When anyone believes, repents, confesses faith in Jesus Christ, and is baptized for the remission of sins, the Lord still adds that person to the church.
Questions for Study:
1. Who did people think Jesus was?
2. What did Peter say He was?
3. What promise did Jesus make?
4. What did He say He would build His church on?
5. When did the church begin?
6. How did people become members of it?
7. Why did the members of the church leave Jerusalem?
8. How did they build churches where they went?
9. What kind of stones are used in building the church?
10. Name the things the church did on Sunday.
11. What are elders? What do they do?
12. How many churches do elders work in?
13. What does the word church mean?
14. How do we know all the churches in the New Testament are just alike?
Complete the following:
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this _______ I will build my _________; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).
Ye also, as ________ stones, are built up a __________ house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5).
Salute one another with an holy kiss. The _________ __ ________ salute you (Rom. 16:16).