Matthew 16:18 “And 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.” Notice, the words "I will build my church," Jesus is saying that he did not build his church in his earthly ministry, for he is saying "I will" that is in the future tense, which means the church will be built in the future. After his ascension, the Holy Spirit descended in Acts 2, that is the foundation of the church. So, Christ said "I will build my church." That is not physical church building, that is in spiritual sense.

2. Peter writes that the church is really a building – I Peter 2:5

I Peter 2:5 “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” Peter is saying that the church in a spiritual sense, is a spiritual building and not literal physical building made of or built by man's hand.

We learned from this passage that the church is a building, a spiritual house composed of and built with living stones. This is not a physical house made of cement, brick, steel, and wood.

The Bible is clearly teaching that the church is not a literal or physical building. The church is a spiritual building made up of those people who have been quickened or made alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:5 "Even when were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved;"). It means the Believers are the spiritual building who was made alive when they are saved by the grace of God. That is why we notice that Paul could write in I Corinthians 3:9 “For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.” Paul is saying the Believers in Corinth are God’s spiritual building.

In the New Testament the word “church” always means “an assembly, a company of people “gathered together, come together, assemble together for a certain purpose.”

There are words used to describe the church in the New Testament:

1. The church gathered together

Acts 14:27 "And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and ho he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles."

2. The church come together

Acts 19:32 “Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused: and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.”

The word “assembly” mentioned in this verse is usually translated “church,” This passage in Acts 19:23-41 does not refer to a New Testament church, but it is referring to an angry mob of people in Ephesus encountered by Paul during his missionary journey, who had come together and had assembled together with an aim to arouse riot.

I Corinthians 11:18 “For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.”

I Corinthians 14:23 “If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?”

3. The church assembled together

Acts 11:26 “And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

Hebrews 12:23 “To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,”

Acts 2:42, 46 “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. ⁴⁶And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,”

What have you notice in this passage, did the early church in Jerusalem assembled together? Yes, they are with one accord daily in the temple. The church means assembly, so it is not appropriate for a person who is a member of the church not to assemble together with other Christians who also belong to the church. You should assemble if you are a part of the assembly. That is why God exhorts us in Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” It is strange that some neglect, some forsake, some are irregular, and some refused to assemble.

Read I Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.” This signifies that all the people who assemble together in all the assemblies or churches are the people called saints. The saints refer to those who are set apart and separated unto the Lord. These people are saved sanctified, set apart for God’s use.

The word “church” is the translation of the Greek word EKKLESIA which is really made up of two Greek words:

1. EK means “out” or “out of”

2. KLESIS means “a calling” (from the verb KALEO which means “to call”.

If we put together or combined these two words, it means we have “a calling out”

In other words, the word “church” EKKLESIA means “an assembly of called out ones, a called-out assembly.

Read Acts 7:38 “This 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:” We learn that the nation of Israel is a called-out assembly. This assembly was in the wilderness. The church which is Israel was the called-out assembly in the wilderness. Now, the children of Israel had been, according to Acts 7:39- 40 “brought out of the land of Egypt.” The Scriptures tell us whom the Lord love in Hosea 11:1 “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt." The Bible identified who is God’s son in Exodus 4:22 “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son,” So, it is clear from the Word of God that Israel is God’s called out assembly or church in the wilderness whom God called out of Egypt whom God loved. But listen carefully, the assembly of Israelites who gathered in the wilderness was not the same or different from the New Testament Church, although there are similarities. The same word “church” or called out assembly used to describe both the assembly of Israel and the New Testament Church.

Helpful comparison between the children of Israel and the New Testament Believers:

1.THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL

The children of Israel were the God’s called out assembly (Acts 7:38 “church in the wilderness”), who are called out (Hosea 11:1 “called my son out of Egypt”) from the bondage of Egypt (Exodus 20:2 “the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”) to have liberty.

2. NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS

The New Testament Believers in Christ are the God’s called ones (I Peter 2:9 “him who hath called you”), who are called out of darkness (I Peter 2:9 “who hath called you out of darkness”) from the bondage of sin (Galatians 5:1 “Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”; Romans 6:20 “For when ye were the servants of sin,”) that God called us into marvellous light (I Peter 2:9 “into His marvelous light”) so we are called unto liberty (Galatians 5:13 “brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”).

In summary, God called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Peter 2:9 “ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;”); so, in order to have fellowship with God, we should not walk in darkness but walk in the light because God is in the light (I John 1:6-7 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”).

The Church is a God’s special called-out assembly, they are a company of people gathered together (Acts 14:27 “gathered the church together; I Corinthians 11:18 “come together in the church,”; I Corinthians 14:23 “whole church be come together”; Acts 11:26 “assembled themselves with the church”; Hebrews 12:23 “the general assembly and church”; Acts 2:46 “continuing daily with one accord in the temple,”), called for a certain purpose (Romans 8:28 “to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” What is the purpose of God for the believers? The purpose of God for the Believer is, according to (Romans 8:29 “to be conformed to the image of His Son,”) so that the believer might like the Lord Jesus Christ (I John 3:2 “we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him;”. Now, when the Apostle Paul wrote according to (I Corinthians 1:2 “unto the church of God which is at Corinth”), Paul told the brethren in church of Corinth that they were according to I Corinthians 1:9 “called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”

God is calling out and taking out today a special group of people for Himself. Notice, when Simon Peter declared that God visited the nations to call out people, we can see that in Acts 15:14 “Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.” This particular special called-out group of people is the church.

To whom the church belongs?

Matthew 16:18 “That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.” Jesus said, He will build His church. The church belongs to Jesus Christ.

I Timothy 3:15 “thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,” Paul said to Timothy that the house of God is the church of the living God.

Do you agree with the Pastor who says, "This is my church"? Is the Pastor is telling the truth to the congregation if he says, “This is my church”? Should the church members, and deacons would claim and say, “This is my church”? Sad to say some Pastor challenges their people in the church when they say, "you must love your church, we must love our church". Those people who fully understand the Bible truth about the doctrine of the church will say, “This is God’s church”. "We must serve God in His church." "We must give to the church of God." The true church of God is not man's-controlled church. We should be careful to exalt any leader in the church, this is not Pastor's church. We therefore conclude that this special called-out assembly, which is the church belongs to the living God, the Lord Jesus Christ who purchased it by His precious blood. Amen!