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And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.Jesus then gave the Apostles of his Church power and authority, and sent them, as the Father had sent Jesus:
John 20:21-23In fact, the Church Jesus built was here even before the New Testament was fully written. Most of the New Testament books were written by the Apostle Paul, and the Church was already here when he was still named "Saul" and was still persecuting the Church. (See the Bible texts below for the proof of that.)
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
Acts 7:58 to Acts 8:3As can be seen, when Saul was going around persecuting the Church that Jesus Christ founded, he got knocked down, and he heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" Saul replied, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." (Notice, Jesus did NOT say,"Why do you persecute my church?", he said,"Why do you persecute ME?")
Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him; and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And he knelt down and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep. And Saul was consenting to his death. And on that day a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen, and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
Acts 9:1-5
But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting."