By Charles Johnson, Pastor • Rosewood Baptist Church, Gilmer, Texas
The following is BMAA President Charles Johnson’s message preached at the BMA of America’s national meeting at Pathway Baptist Church in Waxahachie, Texas, on April 22, 2025.
The site of Simon Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ was Caesarea Philippi. This town, named after Tiberius Caesar and Philip the tetrarch, a son of King Herod, was located in the northernmost part of Israel. It is at the base of Mount Hermon, the highest point in Israel.
Caesarea Philippi is near the headwaters of the Jordan River. The unauthorized temple built by the rebellious tribe of Dan is near this site. Like many religious followers today, the Danites decided they knew more than God and built their own temple with exact dimensions to the temple in Jerusalem. Very soon, however, this temple was used to promote idolatry, and the tribe of Dan is still under God’s judgment, as this tribe has no part in God’s future plans for Israel, according to Revelation chapter 7.
Also, near Caesarea Philippi was located a Roman pagan temple to the false god Pan, who was supposedly half man and half goat. Through this temple flowed a stream from underground sources, which was referred to as “The Gates of Hell” river.
With so much heretical influence concentrated in this region, Jesus wanted to be sure His disciples knew of a certainty His correct identity, so He asked, “Who do men say that I am?” The disciples answered that some men were saying Jesus was John the Baptist, who had risen from the dead. This was King Herod’s belief. Others said He was Elijah or Jeremiah or one of the Old Testament prophets.
Jesus very straightforwardly asked His disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter readily and rightly proclaimed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 15:16 ESV) Jesus responded that this answer was correct and let Peter know the Father had given him this knowledge.
Jesus then uses a bit of humor (pun) by saying, “You are Peter (a small pebble) but I will build my church on the rock (petra or large stone).” This is the first use of the word “church” or ekklesia in the Bible. It will be used over 100 more times in the New Testament, but this is the initial usage.
Some in the religious world believe the church was founded on Peter, and he was the first pope. Peter would not have made a good pope. He certainly was not celibate, as the Bible tells us he had a mother-in-law. If the Lord’s churches had been built on Peter, they would not be around 2,000 years later. The Lord’s churches are built on the Rock of Ages, the Lord Jesus Christ, and “the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18)
Our Lord’s plan for His churches is not hard but a rather simple and uncomplicated one. Let’s look at three areas of His plan — The Makeup of the New Testament Churches, The Mission of the New Testament Churches and the Message of the New Testament Churches.
The Makeup of the New Testament Churches
The church is a body. More particularly, the church is a local, visible assembly of baptized believers who are called to use the keys to the kingdom — the preaching of the gospel — to bind repentant souls for Heaven and to bind those who reject the gospel for Hell.
It is important to establish the birth of the Lord’s first church. In the spring semester of 1972, I was in Dr. Leon Gaylor’s “Life of Paul” class at Jacksonville College. On the first day of class, Dr. Gaylor explained we would mostly use the Book of Acts and the Pauline epistles for our study.
We had also been required to purchase an Acts commentary book, and Dr. Gaylor explained there was a chapter in the book with which he strongly disagreed. This chapter was entitled “The Birthday of the Church” and described the Day of Pentecost. Dr. Gaylor passionately informed us that the Lord’s Church was around before Pentecost.
So, when was the Lord’s first church founded? I believe there is ample Scriptural proof that the Church was established sometime after Jesus’ baptism and during His earthly ministry. There is evidence of this establishment — Jesus called His disciples from various walks of life into one body; His disciples were baptizing repentant sinners; they had officers with Peter as the moderator and Judas Iscariot as the treasurer; they observed the Lord’s Supper before Pentecost; and conducted business with selecting Matthias to replace Judas.
Why is this an important doctrine? What difference does it make whether the Lord’s first church was started at Pentecost or a short time earlier? The importance lies in considering to whom the Great Commission was given. The Commission was most assuredly given to the church if the church was established during Christ’s earthly ministry. If it was established on the Day of Pentecost, the Commission must have been given to Israel, and we know this was not the case.
The makeup of the Lord’s churches also includes a burden. The greatest burden our churches should have is for lost souls to be saved. James Poole, one of my early ministerial mentors, told me one time, “There is nothing else which will help a church more than a soul being saved.” He was right. A second burden New Testament Churches need is to help people grow in the Lord — to make disciples who will win the lost and make more disciples.
The Mission of the New Testament Churches
A second factor to consider in God’s plan for His churches is their mission. God’s mission plan is outlined. Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8 are perhaps the most familiar commissions, but the Great Commission is also recorded in Luke 24 and Mark 16. The following is my own “Johnsonology” take on this, but I believe perhaps Jesus commissioned His followers each time He appeared alive during the 40 days between His resurrection and His ascension back to Heaven. John tells us there are many things Jesus did that were impossible to record.
The Lord’s plan for His churches is also ordered. He does not do things haphazardly. He specifically commanded us to be His witnesses in Jerusalem (our home), in Judea (our state), in Samaria (other states) and unto the uttermost part of the earth (all nations).
Jesus’ commission to “Go” is in the participle tense. These are those verbs with the “-ing” on the end. Dr. David Hellwig explained in a DiscipleWay class at the seminary that the Matthew 28 commission is better rendered “as you are going,” or in other words, the Lord understood His disciples would be “going with the gospel.” The Lord orders us “as we are going” to evangelize, baptize those who accept Jesus, and catechize or teach those baptized to observe all Christ has commanded.
God’s plan must also be obeyed. Modes and methods may evolve and change over the years. Our methods today as an association are probably not the same as those of our ancestors when the BMA was formed in 1950, but the mission of New Testament Churches has not changed and remains the same 2,000 years later.
The Message of the New Testament Churches
The Lord’s plan for His churches also includes His message for us to proclaim. The gospel message is good news. It is good news that God set aside His only begotten Son as a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. It is good news that the Old Testament animal sacrifices, types and shadows of Christ all pointed to a Redeemer who would come.
It is good news that God became flesh when a virgin conceived of the Holy Spirit and brought forth a child destined to become the Savior of the world. It is good news that Jesus began an earthly ministry at age 30, culminating in His death, burial and resurrection.
It is good news that He appeared numerous times with infallible proofs of being alive after His resurrection. It is good news after His ascension from the Mount of Olives when Heaven’s angels promised: “This same Jesus who you saw go up into a cloud will so come again in like manner.” It is good news that He has not forgotten us nor forsaken us, but is coming back to deliver us from this sinful earth.
The church’s message is also a message of grace. My favorite Bible passage is Eph. 2:8-9, “For by grace are you saved through faith and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.” This is the Scripture the Holy Spirit used to convince me of my need to trust Jesus as my personal Savior.
Jesus and Jesus alone is the grace message of salvation. I make no apologies for proclaiming the exclusivity of Jesus only for our redemption. Jesus Himself stated in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes unto the Father except by Me.” Luke recorded in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other for there is no name under heaven given by men whereby we must be saved.”
This message is also a glorious message. It is glorious because we have the “Star of the Ages” on our side.
In the 1973-74 school year, I was in the teacher education program at the University of Texas at Tyler. I was assigned to spend three weeks observing and writing about my thoughts on the campus of John Tyler High School. This was a large school with about 5,000 students. There was one “Big Man on Campus,” literally and figuratively, at John Tyler that year in his senior year. His name was Earl Campbell.
Earl Campbell led John Tyler to the state championship in football in the largest classification in Texas. He went on to the University of Texas (UT) and, during his senior season, had over 1,700 yards of rushing. He led UT to a perfect 10-0 regular season record and a national championship. He also won the Heisman Trophy.
Earl was drafted by the NFL’s Houston Oilers under Coach Bum Phillips. The Oilers soon became a powerhouse in the AFC. If video review had been available in those days, the Oilers would have played the Cowboys in the Super Bowl instead of the Steelers.
When Earl Campbell was on your roster and in the starting backfield, the game plan was pretty simple — you run Earl right, left, up the middle and throw him an occasional screen pass to keep everybody honest. His coaches did this with outstanding results at all levels of his football career.
Folks, we have the Bright and Morning Star on our side as New Testament churches. We simply need to send Him right, left and up the middle. We need to do the same thing the believers in the book of Acts did — take Jesus down South, up North, over East and out West with the glorious message, “Jesus Saves! Jesus Saves!”
Hear the words of the glorious classic hymn: “We have heard the joyful sound, Jesus saves, Jesus saves; spread the tidings all around, Jesus Saves, Jesus Saves; bear the news to every land, climb the steeps and cross the waves, onward ‘tis our Lord’s command, Jesus Saves, Jesus Saves.”
God has a plan for His New Testament churches. It’s not a hard one, but rather simple. It is our responsibility and privilege to implement God’s plan.
