Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - What Is The Church?

Episode Date: January 23, 2024

In this episode, Jonny Ardavanis begins a short-series on the nature, function, and mission of the church. Furthermore, in the weeks to come, Jonny will detail the believer’s responsibility within the church as they steward their spiritual gift for the building up of the Body of Christ. In this episode, Jonny turns to Matthew 16 and examines:1. The church’s confession2. The church’s builder3. The church’s invincibilityIf you enjoy this episode, please share with others to that they may be encouraged in their love and commitment to the church! Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey folks, my name is Johnny Artavanis and this is Dial-In. In this episode, I want to begin a short series on the nature and purpose of the church. I want to define what a church even is, how a church is structured with pastors and elders in the weeks to come. I want to look at your spiritual gift and how to ascertain that because if you're a Christian, you've been given by the Holy Spirit a spiritual gift that you are to employ in the service of the body of Christ. And I want to talk even in the weeks to come about the priority of loving one another within the church. There is today, I fear, amongst many professing evangelicals, an idea

that you can love God and belong to God, but not love or belong to the church. This, however, is a wildly unbiblical idea and one that will be fleshed out over the weeks to come. But I want to ask you, even as we begin this episode and begin this new series, do you love the local church? Are you passionate about the church? I hope you are, and I'm going to detail for you in this episode what the church even is and why, in fact, you should, as a Christian, commit your life to that which Christ Jesus died to purchase. Let's dial in. Growing up every Friday night or so, my family would pile in the van with my dad

and go to a store that you may be familiar with, a store called Blockbuster. It was almost like a Friday night tradition. We didn't have cable growing up, nor did we have Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, or Prime. They didn't even exist at that point, but we would, however, every so often go and rent a movie. At one point, this store, Blockbuster, had 9,000 locations with 84,000 employees and was a company worth over $9 billion. But in high school, we started to hear about this other video company, one who had a strange idea that they would send DVDs directly to your door. At one point, Blockbuster had the option of purchasing the entire company, this other competitor, for $50 million. But they passed on this new company, which in their mind was doomed to fail. The Blockbuster CEO, James

Key, said, I've been frankly confused by this fascination that everybody has with Netflix. Netflix doesn't really do or have anything that we can't or don't already do ourselves. Well, in a matter of years, the company that was once an icon of American business, that being Blockbuster, it has now been reduced to, watch this, a single location. Yes, you can still go to a blockbuster, but you will have to visit Bend, Oregon to go to one. And this once multi-billion dollar business now trades for three-tenths of a single cent on the stock market. You can go knock yourself out and buy a million shares. Oh, and the company that they neglected to buy for $50 million is now worth

$200 billion. Many people wonder what happened to Blockbuster? What happened to this once thriving institution? Many said that they didn't keep up with the times, they became irrelevant, they didn't adapt, they didn't transfer their strategy to the next generation. Often today, you will hear the church described in many of the same ways as Blockbuster, not adapting, irrelevant, unnecessary, antiquated, a tradition of the past. One writer, Thomas McDaniel says, many churches in America have failed to learn the lessons from marketplace companies such as Kodak and Blockbuster, that being, quote, change with the times or die. Now, my question for you in this episode is, is that true? Do churches need to change with the times or face inevitable death and decline like Blockbuster? Maybe we can start to believe statements such as this when we

take into consideration that we are witnessing a significant departure from the Christian church in our own country if you live in the USA. When my dad was in junior high, 92% of Americans would have said they were Christians. To be American was to be a Christian. That figure today is about 60%, so down 32%. You might think, well, hey, that's not too bad, but we must also take into consideration that statistic that out of those 60% in America that still today claim to be Christians, over half of them agreed with the following statement, according to one survey, quote, God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Additionally, 43% of church-going Christian-claiming Americans agreed with the following statement.

Quote, Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God. Now, it is true that there are still a lot of churches in the United States of America, if that's where you're listening from. For instance, I live in Tennessee now, Franklin, Tennessee, and there are 41,000 square miles within the state. And within that 41,000 square miles, there are 11,000 churches. Fewer and fewer, however, will stand firm on the exclusivity of Christ, biblical sexuality, and pursue holiness, purity, and so forth. Many people today may be looking for a church, but they may be asking the question, what kind of a church should I be looking for?

There are no perfect churches, but do you know what there are? There are, by God's grace, healthy churches. Maybe you have asked, what is a church? And furthermore, what marks a healthy one? Well, in order to answer that question, we must turn to the word of God so that we might be freed from the tyranny of human opinion and pragmatic thought. So what I want to do is I want to turn our attention to Matthew chapter 16, starting in verse 13. And I want to set the stage for you as you listen to what is happening in the scripture, as Jesus is going to articulate what is the nature and purpose and function of the church. In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus has been

with his disciples for two years, and he comes into the district of Caesarea Philippi. Now, if you are standing on the north end of the Sea of Galilee and went 25 miles northeast, you would end up going above sea level, about 1,700 feet, and there at the foot of Mount Hermon is a town that was known as Panaeus. Today, this part of the world is the southwestern corner of what we know as Syria. This town looked over the villages in the northern part of Galilee, such as Cana and Nazareth. And it was called Panaeus, this town, because it was dedicated to the Greek god Pan, who was conceived and lived in the caves nearby.

I've been to the site a number of times, and this place was the apex of Greek and Roman idolatry. There were idols all over the place, and yet they occupied this land with the Jews. And in your Bibles, it says that Jesus came to a place called Caesarea Philippi, and that is because it was renamed from Panaeus to Caesarea Philippi because the Caesars believed they were also gods. And therefore, at this site, there was built another massive temple to the god Caesar. So there at this location, there is a convergence of pagan idolatry and Judaism. And I say all this to point out to you that there is never a random moment or random location for what Jesus says, both to the crowds that follow him and to his disciples. For instance, in the midst of great darkness at the Feast of Booths,

Jesus will say in John 8, I am the light of the world. To the woman at the well, he explains that he is living water. And here amongst a smorgasbord of false religion, idolatry, and the Jews who are confused about his identity, Jesus in Matthew 16 is going to ask the most important question in human history. Who do people say that the Son of Man is? The answer that follows in this chapter and the response Jesus gives in the following verses function as the thrust of our focus in this episode. I want to look at this passage and in doing so,

examine three core truths regarding Christ's church. The first of which is the church's confession. Back to Jesus' question, he arrives at the scene and Jesus asks his disciples in verse 13, who do people say that the Son of Man is? This, by the way, is Jesus' favorite name for himself, the Son of Man. More than any other title, Jesus throughout the gospel will refer to himself as the Son of Man 80 times throughout the New Testament. It is used as a sign of his humility and his identification with

humanity. We know him to be the Son of God, for he is, but it is equally dangerous to fail to believe in his humanity. Therefore, Jesus reminds us not only of his deity through his words and signs that he performs, but of his humanity by the chief description that he uses of himself. So he's asking the question, who do people say that I am? Who exactly is Jesus Christ? At this point, Jesus has been doing signs and wonders. He's been preaching mighty words and performing mighty deeds, and he is now going to conduct a litmus test for his disciples. They cannot carry his message forward

if they are not convinced of his identity. They respond in Matthew 16, 14, saying, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and some say Jeremiah. Now, John the Baptist was the greatest man and prophet born outside of Christ. That's what Jesus says explicitly in Matthew 11, 11. So this was not a denigrating remark. This was a compliment. They say, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah. Now, Elijah was, of course, the greatest Old Testament prophet. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration. And they say, some say Elijah, and then others say Jeremiah. And Jeremiah himself was a great prophet. So from the mouth of other people, when Jesus asked the disciples the question, who do people say that I am? They all respond and agree that

Jesus was a great prophet, a miracle worker, like Elijah who called down fire from heaven. Everybody that was a Jew had high regard for Jesus and knew that he must be from God. This is what Nicodemus says in John chapter three. He says, teacher, we know that you must come from God. So they had high thoughts about Jesus, but watch this. They were off in regards to a true understanding and belief in his identity, his true identity. And listen here, because every true church is grounded in proper Christology, every single false religion boils down to an aberrant view and understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. Let me explain. Islam refers to Jesus as Hazrat Isa, which means revered Jesus, or Isa Allahi Salim, which means Jesus, peace be upon him. Muslims believe that he was a messenger to the children of Israel in Quran 3, 49 through 51,

and they believe that he was a prophet of Allah and his word. Muslims also believe that he performed many miracles, but watch this. They do not believe that Jesus was God. Hindus believe that Jesus qualifies as a saint on the basis of his life and teaching. Gandhi admired Jesus' teaching, especially that of the Sermon on the Mount. Hindus believe that Jesus is simply one of the many Ishtas, the forms of the divine in the history of mankind. Buddhists believe that Jesus was an enlightened man. The Dalai Lama describes him as a holy man. The Mormon church says in 2 Nephi 25, 26, that they also talk of Christ. They say, we talk of Christ, quote,

we rejoice in Christ. We preach of Christ. We prophesy of Christ. You could say that the desire of the Mormon church is to be Christ centered. But sadly, the Christ of the Mormon church isn't the Christ of Christianity. Recently, a Christian television producer said that his Mormon friends absolutely love the same Jesus that he does. He may be well-intended, but the problem is that if you're a Christian, you do not love the same Jesus as the Mormons at all. Here's what the Mormons believe about Jesus. They believe that he is the brother of Lucifer who proposed a better plan for redemption and thus won the designation of Messiah from Lucifer. They also believe that God the Father was once a man and that he progressed to Godhood and that we, like God the Father, can go through a process of deification where we become gods.

LDS President Lorenzo Snow taught, quote, As man now is, God once was. As God now is, man may become. So Muslims believe that Jesus was a great prophet. Hindus believe Jesus to be a saint and an example. Buddhists believe him to be an enlightened man. And to this sort of an idea, C.S. Lewis once responded saying, a man who is merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg, or he would be the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this

man was and is the son of God or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool. You can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about him being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. Christ is either a liar or a lunatic, or he is Lord. Now let me ask you this. Do you see how important it is to have an accurate view and understanding of the identity of Jesus Christ? So Jesus hears what the people are saying about him, that he's Elijah or John the Baptist or Jeremiah. But then he asked the disciples a pointed question. He says, but who do you say that I am in Matthew 16, 15? Now,

this, by the way, is the question that every church must answer. And Peter responds with brief profundity in the following verse. He says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Other religions downplay Jesus's identity to being a prophet, a teacher, a healer, a liberator, a model, an example, a social justice warrior, and a friend of outcasts. But the church's foundation is upon this common confession. Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. The foundation of any true church is their Christology. Who do they say Jesus is? Of course, this must be full-orbed, meaning that Jesus is not only the friend of

sinners, not only Savior, but he is also a holy judge, an exalted king, and the Lord of our life. This may be obvious to you, but according to Ligonier State of Theology, 43% of the American church agreed with this statement, quote, Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God. Listen, if you miss the answer to Jesus' question, when he asks, who do you say that I am? You miss everything. You miss life. You miss the forgiveness of your sins. You miss it all. And Jesus asked them, who do you say that I am? And Peter says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, what's Jesus' response to Peter in Matthew 16, 17? He says this, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to

you, but my father who is in heaven. Now, question for you, who reveals the truth to someone that they not only would understand, but come to believe that Jesus is the Christ? Jesus says, not flesh and blood, meaning no parent, no school, no region of this country, no teacher, no professor, nobody can convince the heart of this reality. Then who does? Jesus says, my father who is in heaven. There is only one way to come to Christ and it is by divine revelation. No one comes to Christ getting there by their own intuition or human invention, but by divine revelation. This is why first Peter one 23 says you have been born again, not of seed, which is perishable, but imperishable.

That is through the living and enduring word of God. So that is the church's confession. The church is grounded upon a common confession that Jesus is the Christ. Now I'm going to look secondly with you at the church's builder. Jesus then says in verse 18, upon this rock, meaning Peter's confession, I will build my church. Now the question is, who is the one building his church? It's not pragmatic strategist. Jesus says, I, he doesn't say can or may, but he says, I will build my church. In Colossians 1.18, we read, he also is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from

the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. The church is not a human invention. It is a divine institution. And Jesus says here, the church belongs to him. Listen, if you are a member of the church, you are a part of something that Christ loves, that Christ is building, and that Christ is coming back for. The word church is ecclesia. The word is used 114 times in the New Testament, and 109 of those times it refers to a Christian assembly. The preposition ek and ecclesia means from or out of, and the root word is the form of the verb kaleo, which means to call. Thus, ekklesia means those who are the called out ones, who are called out of the world. But not only that, it's not just those who have been called out of the world, but those who have been called together to form a new

assembly before God. This is important in an age where people think that the church is them sitting on their couch with an iPad. This may be very helpful at times during profound illness. But listen here. The church is, at its very definitive core, a physical gathering and assembly of believers. It's not so much the building in which the people meet, but the people who assemble in the building.

The church is not the four walls. The church is, watch this, it's you. You are the church. And the idea of the church doesn't begin here in Matthew 16, although this is the first time the word is used, but this was Jesus's intended goal in creation, to gather a people for himself. We see the tracings of this all the way back in the opening pages of scripture. In examining the word church, we are compelled to remember the first great assembly of the Lord in the days of the Exodus. When God redeemed his people, he called them out of Egypt and he not only delivered them, but he delivered them so that he could bring them together and meet with them in an assembly at the foot of Mount

Sinai. This was the purpose of the Exodus, not just so that they would be freed from their bondage, but that they would gather and assemble before the face of God in worship and praise. There were additionally these great festivals in the Old Testament, such as in Deuteronomy 4 and in Deuteronomy 9, and these assemblies, they would have the people gather before God. And this system in the Old Testament, though, was just a shadow, a prototype of what was to come. And this Old Testament system left the people of God longing for the true fulfillment of what it meant to gather and assemble before him and to have his presence be amongst them. This is God's purpose and redemption. He doesn't deliver so that he might ditch his people. He delivers his people so that they might dwell and assemble before his face.

And so even in the church today, the church gathers before the face of God, but they do not gather at the foot of Mount Sinai, but in local congregations all over God's world. And there, when we gather in the local church, God is there with us. And at that moment, as the body meets together, heaven breaks through into earth and earth breaks through into heaven. And those who are visiting that don't know Christ can look at the gathering that takes place amongst the saints and pause and ponder and say, something is different here. This is more than a huddle. This is more than a meeting. This is more than just a speech. There is something other worldly

here. And so it is. So you may be asking, what is the church? Well, I can give you a brief definition. Again, the church is not a group of people who come to hear a speech or join a club or want to feel spiritual. It is those who have been called out of the world and called together to make a common confession of Christ deity and mutually submit to Christ authority as revealed in his word. They are the ones who have been called out of the world. And this word calling is important. Watch this in 1 Peter 2.9. Peter says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him, watch this, who called you out of darkness

into his marvelous light. In 1 Corinthians 1-2, Paul says, To the church of God who is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by our calling. In Ephesians 4-1, Paul says, Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of your calling. What is the calling he's talking about?

It's the calling that the church has because they have been called or grabbed out of the world and into the family and into the assembly of God. Now listen, in a world where people are increasingly lackluster in their commitment to the church, Hebrews 10 25 says, do not forsake the assembling together, but exhort one another daily. You need your life to be lived in the context of relationships, but not just any relationships, relationships that are within the family and assembly of God at your own local church. And if you're deficient in your commitment to the church, it reveals an anemic understanding of God's purpose and reasoning for calling you out of the darkness in the first place. Christ,

our great shepherd, did not come to save isolated sheep, but to draw his wandering sheep to himself in the same fold amongst his other sheep so that they might bond in mutual love for their common shepherd. So we've looked thus far at the church's confession. Then we looked at the church's builder, secondly. And then third here, and finally, I want to look at the church's invincibility. Jesus says, I will build my church. And then he says, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Do you know what this means?

It means that as Christ Jesus builds his church, there will be opposition. Jesus says the gates of Hades will not overpower it. The gates in ancient times were the location where strategy and counsel and plans were made. And wherever the kingdom of God advances, it is inevitable that the schemes and strategies of the world and of the devil will be intent on preventing Christ from what he is building. Why? Because the church advances on enemy-occupied territory. At times, we may look around and think that the church is losing. 4,500 churches shut down during 2019 alone. Many are leaving, and many that have stayed have strayed from the scriptures. But listen here, the gates of hell will not prevail. If you're a Christian and you're committed

to a Bible preaching Christ exalting church, you are a part of a mission that cannot fail because our captain, our savior, and our king has conquered death. No weapon formed against us, I want to be a part of the local church, don't you? Listen, maybe you're asking, how is Jesus Christ, as we close, how is he going to do all this? Why is the church so invincible? Well, Jesus gives us the answer in this same passage, but it's just a couple verses later in Matthew 16 verse 21. It says, from that time on, Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things

from the elders, chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and to be raised up on the third day. Jesus says he's going to build his church. The gates of Hades will not overpower it. And then three verses later, he says that he's going to die. Why? Well, because the dowry price that Jesus Christ paid for his bride was not gold or silver, but his precious blood. Kings and thrones perish.

Dynasties die, empires rot, but the Son will say on the final day to the Father, not one of those that you gave to me is lost. Why is the church invisible? Because Christ has already won the battle. He has already paid for our sins in his death and in his resurrection. Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, if you do love the groom, you must also love his bride. I pray that you love the church and understand that when Jesus Christ called you out of the darkness, he not only called you out of the darkness, but he called you to gather amongst his family, which is the body of Christ. In the weeks to come, I want you to understand more fully that as Jesus is building his family, which is the body of Christ. In the weeks to come, I want you to understand more fully that as Jesus is building his church, one of the wonders of scripture is that he is going to employ

us and involve us in the glorious mission that he is unfolding and the church that he is one day coming back for. Stay dialed in.