Church is the word provided in English for the Greek ekklesia. Eklessia derives from ek, meaning out of, and klesis, meaning a calling. The word was used by the Greeks to describe a body of citizens gathered to discuss the affairs of State — “But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly” (Acts 19:3939But if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. (Acts 19:39)). In the Septuagint it is used to describe the gathering of Israel, or of a gathering regarded as representative of the whole nation.1 While this gives us a clue to its meaning in Scripture, we must turn to the Word of God to determine its full meaning and application.
The only reference to ekklesia found in the gospels is in Matthew — a remarkable thing in light of that book’s Jewish character.
Upon This Rock I Will Build My Church
What is that Rock? In the Gospel of John we read concerning Peter: “Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone” (John 1:4242And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone. (John 1:42)). Cephas is Aramaic for ‘stone’; and the last word used in this verse — “stone” — is petros, the Greek word from which we get the name Peter.
“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” It is upon This Rock that the church is built — Peter was but a stone.
Christ said He would build the Church Himself on the foundation of His own Person, acknowledged by faith to be “the Son of the living God.”2
Two other important points are to be made: it is “I will build,” and it is “My church.”
Christ is the Builder, and the building is His.
The gates of hell will not prevail against it. It is perfect! Also we note that when the Lord made this statement, the Church was not yet — “I will build” — it was a future thing.
There is another interesting phrase in the verse just considered: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” What is the Kingdom of Heaven? Again we must turn to the Scriptures to understand what our Lord means by this phrase.
In chapter 13 of Matthew we find seven parables. Upon presenting the first, the parable of The Sower, the Lord explains to His disciples why He spoke in parables — “it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given” (Matthew 13:1111He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. (Matthew 13:11)).
The Kingdom of Heaven is a mystery. The Jews looked for an earthly kingdom, but it was the Kingdom of Heaven that was at hand (see Matthew 3:22And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 3:2)).
The remaining six parables are introduced with: The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto:
Wheat and tares (13:24)
A grain of mustard seed (13:31)
Leaven hid in three measures of meal (13:33)
Treasure hid in a field (13:44)
A pearl of great price (13:45)
A net cast into the sea (13:47)
Israel had rejected their King; the Lord was no longer seeking fruit in Israel. He is now seen as a sower — a new work had commenced. In the parable of the wheat and tares we find that evil men are brought into the kingdom. The enemy that sowed them is the devil (Matthew 13:3939The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. (Matthew 13:39)). Like a grain of mustard seed, the kingdom grows to become a great power in the world in which the birds of the air lodge. Satan’s servants take shelter in the kingdom (see also Matthew 13:44And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: (Matthew 13:4)). Like leaven in a loaf, the whole lump is leavened, till every part of the kingdom is brought under the influence of the evil.
In the last three parables we see the kingdom from a different perspective: a treasure hid in a field, a pearl of great price, and a net full of fishes of every kind. “At the end of the age, the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just” (Matthew 13:4949So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, (Matthew 13:49)).
So what is the kingdom? The Church is a perfect structure; in contrast, within the Kingdom of Heaven evil dwells. The wheat and tares grow up together. The leaven leavens the whole lump. The guilty are not put out of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:28-2928He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. (Matthew 13:28‑29)). The Kingdom of Heaven is the sphere of Christ’s rule, and takes in the entire sphere of Christian profession. It is by water baptism that we enter that sphere.
Where the seed of the gospel has been sown and men have professed Christianity, there we have the Kingdom of Heaven.
Returning back to our verse in Matthew 16:1919And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19), what then are the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven given unto Peter? We do not have to search far to find Peter using these keys. We see him opening the Kingdom of Heaven to both the Jew (Acts 2) and the Gentile (Acts 10) through the preaching of the Gospel.
From what we have learned, the following most important point must be noted:
The Kingdom of Heaven is not the church.
Not only did Peter receive the keys, the means whereby he might open up the doors of this new dispensation, but he is also instructed: “and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:1919And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19)). We find this repeated again in Matthew chapter 18: “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:1818Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:18)).
Peter, and then the Apostles, received this commission. What does it mean? Clearly they received authority and power to administer that which is connected with the kingdom, to bind and to loose, but limited in result to this earth.
The binding and loosing is on earth. Nothing is said about man deciding anything as to heaven. This is not a question of eternal forgiveness or eternal judgment.
Though we are getting a little ahead of ourselves, it is natural enough to ask, was this authority limited to the Apostles? The verses following Matthew 18:1818Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 18:18) indicate otherwise: “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:19-2019Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:19‑20)). Indeed, as we explore the subject further we find that the assembly has a responsibility to act: “For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person” (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).
The assembly has a responsibility to act in matters of discipline. The assembly acts because Christ is “Son over His own house, whose house are we” (Hebrews 3:66But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. (Hebrews 3:6)). It is His authority in the assembly (1 Corinthians 5:4).
When the church acts according to the commission of Christ, it has the promise of ratification in heaven.