LSB #645 "Built on the Rock"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 16:13-18, Ephesians 2:19-22, 1 Corinthians 3:11-16, Acts 17:24

Matthew 16:13-18:  "13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is?'  14 And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'  15 He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?'  16 Simon Peter replied, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'  17 And Jesus answered him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'"

Ephesians 2:19-22:  "19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.  22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit."

1 Corinthians 3:11-16:  "11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.  14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.  15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

"16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"

Acts 17:24:  "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man"

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The text is public domain:

Built on the Rock the Church shall stand

Even when steeples are falling.

Crumbled have spires in ev'ry land;

Bells still are chiming and calling,

Calling the young and old to rest,

But above all the souls distressed,

Longing for rest everlasting.

Surely in temples made with hands

God, the Most High, is not dwelling;

High above earth His temple stands,

All earthly temples excelling.

Yet He who dwells in heav'n above

Chooses to live with us in love,

Making our bodies His temple.

We are God's house of living stones,

Built for His own habitation.

He through baptismal grace us owns

Heirs of His wondrous salvation.

Were we but two His name to tell,

Yet He would deign with us to dwell

With all His grace and His favor.

Here stands the font before our eyes,

Telling how God has received us.

The altar recalls Christ's sacrifice

And what His Supper here gives us.

Here sound the Scriptures that proclaim

Christ yesterday, today, the same,

And evermore, our Redeemer.

Grant, then, O God, Your will be done,

That, when the church bells are ringing,

Many in saving faith may come

Where Christ His message is bringing:

"I know My own; My own know Me.

You, not the world, My face shall see.

My peace I leave with you.  Amen."

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The first three cited passages (Matthew 16:13-18, Ephesians 2:19-22, and 1 Corinthians 3:11-16) are all present in the first line:  "Built on the Rock the Church shall stand."  The passage from Ephesians 2 is also present in the lines "Yet He who dwells in heav'n above / Chooses to live with us in love, / Making our bodies His temple" in the second verse (overlapping with 1 Corinthians 3:16) and in the line "We are God's house of living stones" in the third verse.

Acts 17:24 appears in the lines "Surely in temples made with hands / God, the Most High, is not dwelling" at the beginning of the second verse.

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The lines "Were we but two His name to tell, / Yet He would deign with us to dwell" in the third verse refer to Matthew 18:20:  "'For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.'"

The lines "Christ yesterday, today, the same, / And evermore, our Redeemer" at the end of the fourth verse come from Hebrews 13:8:  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

In the fifth verse, the line "'I know My own; My own know Me'" is from John 10:14 ("'I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me'"), and "My peace I leave with you" is from John 14:27 ("'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.'").

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The version of this hymn in Lutheran Worship is a bit different, and at the beginning of the fourth verse, there's a reference to Jesus' blessing the little children (Mark 10:13-16):  "Yet in this house, an earthly frame, / Jesus the children is blessing."