The only time this word, in the Greek, is used for a building made with hands, is in Acts 19:3737For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. (Acts 19:37). It should be idol temples. At that time there were no buildings called churches. In verses 32, 39, 41 of same chapter the word assembly, is rightly translated. The assembly here was the heathen mob, opposing the truth. In Acts 7:3838This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: (Acts 7:38) it is the assembly of Israel going through the wilderness. In all the rest of the places in Scripture, it is used for the assembly formed by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We will, therefore, use the word assembly in this paper.
Matthew 16:1818And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18) is the first mention of the assembly in Scripture. The Lord has been rejected by Israel, and He has rejected them, but He is also thinking of God’s purposes, which are unfolded to us in the Epistle to the Ephesians, and of which He had spoken in Matthew 13, as the pearl of great price. It is not Israel as a nation that is now before Him, but those gathered out from Jew and Gentile, brought by redemption, into a new place and relationship. He is not speaking of Himself, as Messiah, but as Son of Man, the rejected Son of Man, and He asks His disciples, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” And again, “Whom say ye that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered him, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee, Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build My church (assembly); and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
It was not any suggestion of the mind, or discernment of Peter’s own, that led him to say, “Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God,” but it was a revelation from the Father in heaven. Flesh and blood had no part in it. Thou art Peter (a stone), and upon this Rock (Christ, the Son of the living God), Peter and all true believers (living stones), would be built as His assembly.
“I will build,” tells of the Lord’s intention to do this when the proper moment came. He had to suffer and die to glorify God about sin, and it was when He was risen and glorified that the Holy Spirit would come (John 7:3939(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John 7:39)), and not till then would this word be fulfilled, “I will build My assembly.” There can be no mistakes here. It is a divine Builder, a heavenly Architect; He knows each stone, each has eternal life; each partakes of His new risen life as Head of the new creation. In John 20:2222And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: (John 20:22), He breathed on them, and said, “Receive ye the Holy Spirit.” It is a life like His that can never die, and the Holy Spirit is its power. The gates of hell (hades), the power of death, shall not prevail against the assembly. It is different from Israel, or the nations. The power of the enemy has destroyed them, but in Christ’s assembly, which is made up of all who believe on Him, all are eternally secure.
There are other aspects of the assembly, where there are professors in it, without life, a name to live, and yet dead (Rev. 3:11And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. (Revelation 3:1)): but every true believer is included in Christ’s assembly, and no condemnation can come to them; they are built on the Rock which nothing can shake.
There are no keys to the assembly, and there are no keys to heaven. The keys given to Peter were keys of the kingdom of heaven; that is the profession of Christ’s name on earth. Peter, in his preaching in Acts 2, opened the door for repentant Jews; and in Acts 10, for the Godly Gentiles, and the keys are not needed anymore. The door is open; all may enter in and be saved through the precious death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Peter’s writings are in accord with Matthew 16:1818And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18). The hope of setting up the kingdom of Israel in the land of Palestine, had died out, and they were scattered into many lands. But those who believed in God, by Jesus Christ, were through abundant mercy, begotten again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and a heavenly inheritance was now before them. They were born again of incorruptible seed, by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever. And again, “To whom coming, as unto a living Stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious. Ye also as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” It is a house of priestly worshippers, whose right from God is, to worship in His presence as holy priests, and the exercise of it was meant for us here on our journey through the wilderness. And have we not realized a little of it when gathered as in Matthew 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20), around our Lord Jesus to remember Him?
The confusions and divisions that exist now are far from the normal state of Christ’s assembly. His saints suffer loss through this, and the Lord does not get the praise due Him, because His people do not know their portion and liberty as holy priests. Man’s arrangements have interfered with their liberty, yet we thank God for the full assurance His Word gives of the eternal security of every dear, blood-washed child of God. (Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5).) None can pluck them out of His, and the Father’s hands, are His words. (John 10:28, 2928And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:28‑29).)
There are other ways in which this assembly is revealed to us. As the body, and bride of Christ: as the house, or dwelling place of God, and also in its responsibility on earth, and its perfection in glory.
We may look again at these again, if the Lord will.