SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/13/2022 9:04 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-4 “I Will Build My Church”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
16:18
Message of the verse: “18 "And I
also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church;
and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.”
I mentioned in our last SD that I would quote from
John MacArthur’s commentary on this fourth section about the church as it is
really something new that I have learned and so I think that is the best way to
present it.
“Fourth,
Jesus emphasized the identity and continuity of His people. They are His church. The word ekklesia
(church) literally means ‘the called out ones’ and was used as a general
and nontechnical term for any officially assembled group of people. It was often used of civic gatherings such as
town meetings, where important announcements were made and community issues
were debated. That is the sense in which
Stephen used ekklesia in Acts 7:38 to
refer to ‘the congregation’ of Israel called out by Moses in the wilderness
(cf. Ex. 19:17). Luke used it of a riotous
mob (‘assembly’) incited by the Ephesians silversmiths against Paul (Acts 19:32,
41).
“Matthew
16:18 contains the first use of ekklesia in
the New Testament, and Jesus here gives it no qualifying explanation. Therefore the apostles could not have
understood it in any way but its most common and general sense. The epistles use the term in a more distinct
and specialized way and give instructions for its proper functioning and for
its leadership. But at Caesarea
Philippi, Jesus’ use of ekklesia could
only have carried the idea of ‘assembly,’ ‘community,’ or ‘congregation.’ If He spoke in Aramaic, as probably, He would
have used the term qahal (taken
directly from the Hebrew), which means an invited gathering, and was commonly used
of synagogue meetings. In fact, the word
synagogue itself originally referred
to any gathering or congregation of people.
Only during the Babylonian exile did Jews begin using it to denote their
formal and organized place of religious activity and worship. And only after the Day of Pentecost did the
term ekklesia take on a new and
technical significance in reference to the distinct redeemed community build on
the work of Christ by the Holy Spirit’s coming.
“In
describing the inhabitants of heaven, the writer of Hebrews speaks of ‘the
general assembly and church of the first-born’ (Heb. 12:23), referring to the
redeemed saints of all ages. That seems
to be the sense in which Christ uses church in Matthew 16:18, as a synonym for
citizens of His eternal kingdom, to which He refers in the following
verse. The Lord does not build His
kingdom apart from His church or His church apart from His kingdom.”
As
I was reading over this section a couple of times the thought came into my mind
about the time that I went to a church service in Florida a number of years ago
and the preacher was referring to some Old Testament passage as being the
church. I contacted him and asked if he
had made a mistake about this and he said no it was no mistake in what he said. Well it was to me and I wonder if he referred
to the church being in the Old Testament because of the word ekklesia found
there, perhaps in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Any way I know he was wrong and I think that
this section from MacArthur’s commentary help cleared up this in my mind. We are now living in the church age which
began on the Pentecost after Christ’s resurrection and according to 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18 the church age will end at what is called the Rapture of
the church, the taking away to heaven all saved members of the church whether
dead or alive. Once everyone is in
heaven after the tribulation period and the millennial kingdom then as stated
in MacArthur’s commentary we will all be one group. The darker this world gets, and it is getting
darker by the day, it is my hope and prayer that the Lord will return to take
His bride back to heaven real soon.
9/13/2022 9:33 AM
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