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Colossians 1:18 - And he is the head of the body, the
church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he
might have the preeminence.
I. Christ is the head of the corner - or the chief corner stone - the stone
which holds all the little stones together.
A. According to verse 19 of our text, the fullness of the Father dwells in
Christ.
B. The Jewish nation received from God the authority to represent him on
this earth, but because the Jews rejected Christ as Savior, Christ will take
the kingdom away from them, and give it to the Gentiles, which operate through
the local churches established by Christ. Every local church is not one of the
Lord’s local churches. Every Independent Baptist Church is not one of the
Lord’s local churches.
1. Matthew 21:41 - They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those
wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall
render him the fruits in their seasons. 42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye
never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the
same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is
marvellous in our eyes? 43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God
shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits
thereof. 44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on
whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 45 And when the chief
priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake
of them.
2. Luke 11:52 – Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the
key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering
in ye hindered.
3. Matthew 16:18,19 - 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. 19 And 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.
4. John 20:21-23 - Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you:
as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22 And when he had said this,
he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23
Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever
sins ye retain, they are retained. Verse 23 aligns with Matthew 16:19 in
every respect.
C. Luke 20:17 - Christ speaks a parable concerning the vineyard and the
evil servants killing the son. The father will then take the kingdom away from
them and give it to others.
D. Acts 4:11 - Peter doing miracles and preaching to the unbelieving Jews
about Christ even after they have rejected and killed Christ. Christ is the
head of the corner.
E. I Peter 2:7,8 - To the believing, Christ, the head of the corner, is
very precious, but to the unbelievers, he is a stone of stumbling.
II. People often reject the importance of the local church by saying they can
worship God just as good at home as they can in church services.
A. It is very possible to worship God at home by Bible reading, praying and
mediating on the Word of God.
1. Frankly, if you do not worship God at home, you will not be ready to
worship God when you come to church services.
2. Hebrews 10:25,26 – Faithful Christians will always worship at home,
but they will also be very careful to encourage others by faithfully
attending church services.
B. Examples of Christ appearing in special ways to his local church.
1. Mark 12:12-14 – Christ established the Lord’s Supper while eating
the Passover with his church.
2. John 20:19-23 – Jesus first appeared to his church after his
resurrection, and gave them the keys to the kingdom he had removed from the
Jewish nation.
a. John 20:24,25 – Thomas was not present in this Sunday evening
church service, therefore missed the blessing of see Christ.
b. Thomas did not believe even though the other disciples (church
members) told him, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
c. John 20:26 – the next Sunday, Thomas was present in church
services when Christ appeared to them the second time.
d. Acts 1:21 – When it came time to chose an apostle to replace
Judas, the scripture demanded that one baptized with John’s baptism and
had taught by Christ be the replacement.
e. Acts 2 – The events on the Day of Pentecost happened to the
church, not to all the world.
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