Physically eat as well. Turn
to Matthew chapter 16 again. I will read just one verse. The same verse I read last week.
Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18. I'm not going to rehash some
of the things I've already went over. Matthew 16 verse 18 where our
Lord said, And I say unto thee that thou art Peter. And upon
this rock will I build my church. And the gates of hell, this is
the main phrase I want to look at today, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. The primary purpose of the church
as implied by Christ, and I will admit it's implied by Christ.
It's not directly defined per se, but it's implied by Christ
and it's implied here as a metaphor. You understand that's a metaphor.
The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. It's not talking
about the abode of the damned, and somehow that the church shall
then get into the abode of the damned and rescue some from hell.
We know that's not the teaching of scripture. And we certainly
also know that it has nothing to do with the so-called purgatory. But our Lord's words here, as
implied by Christ in his first personal mention of the church,
The primary purpose of the church is to assault the gates of hell. That's what it's about. As a
matter of fact, the primary purpose of the church is what Joe preached
this morning. So I'm done. We can eat now. Seriously? No, not seriously. Preachers
lie even when he don't mean to lie. According to our Lord's words
here, the primary purpose of the church, I will build my church. We looked at that. Why is he
building his church? So that the assaulting of the
gates of hell cannot fail. I said it cannot fail. Now I
will thank God that just a few weeks ago, as a matter of fact,
I heard Don Fortner preach a message and he mentioned that very statement.
that gates are not weapons of offense. They are weapons of
offense. Gates are what you assault. It's the picture, the metaphor
here, of a citadel, of a castle with its gates there. And here
the church is seen, implied, as assaulting those gates. Christ implied that the church
is built for battle. You know what he says? I will
build my church and then immediately says, what? And the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it. Now it is true, there is
no doubt that we are to be set in the defense of the gospel.
Paul read about that from the Apostle Paul. And there is to
be a defense. We are to put on the whole armor
of God. But remember one of the last
things that the Apostle Paul mentions there is not in fact
a piece of armor. for defense. Some of those things
are for defense. But one of the last things he
mentions that we're to take in hand is the sword of the Spirit,
which is the Word of God. And the sword is a weapon of
what? Offense. That's right. We, in
other words, are to take the truth of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. We're to take it and assault
the very gates of hell with it. Yes, sir. The church is built
for battle. That's right. The Scriptures
are quite clear. This thing is a spiritual battle
now. Not a physical battle. Not trying
to force men and women to believe on Christ. Not trying to trick
men and women into believing on Christ. Not even trying to
entice men and women to believe on Christ. But to take the Gospel,
that is the preaching of the cross work of Jesus Christ and
to assault the very citadel of the enemy. because all of us
were in that citadel of the enemy at one time. And God Almighty
rescued us from that citadel by the preaching of His gospel.
Or, you are not rescued. You are not rescued. Of course,
the quintessential passage of this, turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
10, and I know you're aware of this. The quintessential, when
I say that, I don't mean the old medieval thing of the fifth
element, I don't mean that. But I mean the quintessential,
the crux of the matter is this. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, let
me just read it and make a few statements. Now I, Paul, myself,
beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. But let
me tell you, most people don't understand what meekness and
gentleness is. Moses is called the meekest man that ever walked
on the earth. Is that not true? Isn't that
what the Scripture said about Moses? And yet Moses, under the
authority of God, went right into Pharaoh and said, God says,
let my people go. He didn't go in and ask him.
He didn't go in and plead with him. He said, God said, let my
people go. By the meekness and gentleness
of Christ, Christ is so meek that he'll knock your door down
if that's what it takes. He's so gentle that he'll make
you willing in the day of his power. By the meekness and gentleness
of Christ, who in presence and base among you, but being absent
and bold toward you, but I beseech you that I may not be bold when
I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold
against some. In other words, Paul's saying there's some people
there that want to question my ministry. They want to push it,
I'll deal with it. That's what he's saying. They
want to push it, we'll deal with it. I'd rather not have to deal
with it, but if it needs be, we'll deal with it. Wherewith
I think to be bold against some, which think of us as though we
walked according to the flesh. You see, it's easy to criticize,
especially a pastor or a preacher of the gospel, that he ought
to be more this or he ought to be more that. It's easy to do
that when you're sitting back there and you don't have to stand
up here and do this. It's easy to do that. It's also easier
to criticize a pastor or a preacher based upon another pastor or
preacher that seems to appeal to you so well. You know what
I'm saying? Because we're not all of the
same ilk when it comes to character and makeup. Joe and I preach
in different manners, in different ways. But if we're preaching
Christ and Him crucified, that's the crux of everything. He says, which think of us as
though we walked according to the flesh, for though we walk
in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. And then he puts,
we see in this the parenthesis. So there's no misunderstanding
here. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. It's
not a literal sword. You can get men and women to
profess Christ if you threaten their lives. At least many of
them will. We could fill this church up
if all I did was threaten. If Joe and I just preached, hail,
hail, hail, and you're gonna go to hell if you don't get right
with the Lord. We'd probably see people start filling this
place up. But people don't want to hear the truth of God, of
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, but mighty through God. Mighty through God. Not
mighty through me. Not mighty through Joe. Not mighty
through you. Not mighty through any other
local assembly or the church universal. But mighty through
God. To the pulling down of strongholds. Pulling it down. down imaginations. Do you see it? Though we walk
after the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. Casting down
what? Imaginations. This world, and
especially Pseudo-Christianity is filled with imagination. And
you can, here it is. When you hear someone say, now
there are times you may say this when you're not sure about something.
But religion, pseudo-Christianity is filled with this. Penny and
I talked about it just this morning or last night and this morning.
Here's what I think. That's an imagination. That's
an imagination. But Paul says, our weapons do
what? They cast down imagination. You see, we are, as Christ said
metaphorically, we are assaulting the gates of hell. This is not
L.U.V. This is not love. This is not
the same kind of love that men love when they love chocolate,
as Earl used to say, or they love ice cream. This is about
taking the truth of God and assaulting the very gates of hell. It's
two enemies which are totally opposed to one another. But one
enemy is to assault the very gates of the other enemy. Why?
To bring out captives. And Ephesians Paul actually calls
us that, the captives of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church,
I say, is built for battle. The church is built to assault,
assault the very gates of hell. Preaching, and Joe's already
said it, according to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 21, preaching is primary. It's primary. but not just any
preaching. And I'm glad that displayed the
foundation in a manner of speaking for my very message. Preaching
is primary, but not just any preaching. According to verse
17 and 18 of that same chapter, 1 Corinthians 1, it is the preaching
of Jesus Christ crucified. Paul speaks of casting down the
walls of a citadel, doesn't he? Casting down imaginations. and
every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God. Understand that what we're taking
to men and women is offensive to men and women. Because it
was offensive to me when I first heard it. When God sent Joe Galusik to me, and he began
to speak to me of the things of Jesus Christ as best he could
and gave me some tapes and cassettes and some printed messages. I
thought, why is he telling me this? What about all them bad people
out there? Huh? That's one of my first thoughts
I began to have. I was a preacher! It doesn't matter what citadel
you're in. It doesn't matter what castle
that you built around yourself. God Almighty must assault your
castle through the preaching of the gospel or you have not
been conquered by God in Christ Jesus. Preaching is primary. That's
the primary purpose of the church. Preach Christ. Preach Christ.
Preach Christ. And people say, but that's too
simplistic. No, it's far more profound than people even think.
It's not simplistic. It's profound. So as I said,
Paul here in 2 Corinthians 10 speaks of casting down the walls
of the citadel, casting down imaginations and every high thing
that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing
into captivity. Do you see the words of battle
here? bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience
of Christ. In Philippians 3, verse 12, Paul
speaks of being arrested. Doesn't he? Apprehended, he says. That doesn't mean comprehend. It means apprehend. Jesus Christ
came and arrested me. And how did He do it? Primarily,
He did it by the preaching of the Gospel. That's where it's
at. Now listen to me. Now listen
to me. Paul speaks of the converting
power of the gospel. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 4 through
6. Knowing brethren, you're what?
You're election of God. I have made the statement. Others
make the statement. We probably will continue to
make the statement. And you hear it from some people
and it's meant as an excuse. Well, we don't know who the elect
are. Did you know that that's not true? No, no, we do not know
the names and the number of those that God chose in Christ before
the foundation of the world. But in time, through the preaching
of the gospel, God is manifesting the very names and number of
those he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Knowing, brethren beloved of the Lord, your election of God,
for our gospel didn't come to you in word only. It wasn't just
a message you heard some man preach, but it came in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. Much assurance
about what? About Jesus Christ. The gospel
assures us of who He is. Exactly. And Paul speaks of gospel
calling to the same people in his second epistle, 2 Thessalonians
2. But we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Not because of salvation. He
didn't look into the future and see who would accept Him and
choose them. It's not even that. He chose
us to salvation and then there were means through, first of
all, sanctification of the Spirit and that is absolutely essential.
As Joe pointed out, no one will ever believe the truth until
the Spirit of God, first of all, sets them apart unto it. Sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth whereunto He called you
how by our gospel When the children of Israel first went into the
promised land the first Peoples they conquered was who you remember
who it was Jericho remember Jericho and They were told to what? blow
the trumpet as you go around the city. And as you blow the
trumpet, the walls will fall. Bless God, that's what we're
doing now, is blowing the trumpet, and as we blow the trumpet, God
himself is knocking down the castle walls. That's what's taking
place now. So preaching is primary. This
is the primary purpose of the church. It's not to make the
community a better place to live. It's just not. And yet that's
what most of the talking heads you see on TV, no matter what
ilk they are, when they do talk about the church and the Bible
and Jesus, they always talk about it as some social gospel. as though it's to make communities
better. But often if you look at the
preaching of the gospel as recorded in the book of Acts, when the
gospel was brought into a community, it caused an uproar. Fights ensued. People were beaten and put in
prison because of the gospel. It didn't bring communities together,
it separated communities. Why? Because we're assaulting
the walls and the gates of the very citadel of the enemy. This is a battle. And battles
are not won by love. Hear me? Battles are not won by love.
In the preaching of the book of the Acts and all of those
messages, isn't it amazing you don't hear the apostles mention
God's love? How many times? How many times
do they mention God's love? They mention it none by word. But every time they mention the
name Jesus Christ, they cry out concerning the love of God. But
they also cry out, Joe, concerning the justice and the judgment
of God, all at the same time. You see, the religious world
wants one part of God. They don't want all of God. And
that's why they don't like the truth of the gospel, because
the gospel covers, Joe, both sides of the coin, so to speak.
Yeah. God told those Israelites, go
in there, march around that city, and blow the trumpet. And you
know what? The walls will fall. Just preach the gospel. Convert
a man to millennialism. What have you got? Nothing wrong
with that. Convert a man to millennialism.
I didn't mention a certain kind. There is only one kind that's
right, and that's the pre-kind, but I won't argue that. Well,
I guess I would. That's not the message. If I
can convince you from scripture where the Apostle John sees glorified
saints and they're still, they are crying out, even then, and
we shall reign on the earth. That lets me know two things.
One, it hadn't happened yet, but they're already in glory.
And two, it's absolutely certain. And they're crying out, we shall
reign on the earth. And then in Revelations 19, I
think it is, he actually says that saints will reign on the
earth for a thousand years. I believe that. But if I convert
you to believe that, you still may perish under the wrath and
judgment of God. If I convert you to a millennial,
it doesn't matter. Convert a man. Can a man be converted
into a particular kind of millennialism? Sure they can. But what do you
have? You've got a millennialist. Not
a believer in Christ necessarily. Some of us here know people like
that. I mean, I won't mention names, There's an individual that he
just caught up with millennialism. He wants a place to go where
he can hear true, bona fide millennialism. I understand that. But he has
no concern for going and hearing Christ crucified. That's scary. This is not just Walter picking
out a few things. I'm talking about real bona fide
people. And I'm sure, Joe, there's probably a lot more than just
that one fellow that's like that. They want to know about millennialism,
but they don't really care about the gospel of Christ. What have
you got? Convert a man to a knowledge
of total depravity. And what have you got? Somebody
that's totally depraved. Total depravity don't save you.
That's what damns you. Total depravity is not what delivers
you. It's what shuts you in. Total depravity is a part of
the gate we should assault. Yes. But it's not the gate that
matters. It's the prize on the inside.
And that prize is to bring a person into captivity to Jesus Christ
and his personal work. You see, total depravity is not
the end, it's the beginning. I'm not saying we don't preach
proper millennialism, and I'm certainly not saying we don't
teach and preach total depravity, but that's not the primary purpose
of the church. It's not to prove to everybody
they're totally depraved. I had read the Bible for years
and had been preaching for a couple years and then finally God Almighty
taught me I was totally depraved. Convert a man to distinguish
between regeneration and conversion. And what do you got? What do
you got? A man that may know doctrine?
Yeah. May know some truth? But you can know some truth and
not know him who is the truth. We must be, Christ said a man
must be born from above. But born from above is not an
end in itself. It's for a reason. To be able
to see and then to be able to enter into the kingdom. And the
kingdom's about the king. That's what a kingdom's all about.
If you don't have a king and a kingdom, you got a ghost town.
There is no kingdom, right? The whole thing about a kingdom
is the king. So convert a man to millennialism?
Convert a man to a knowledge of total depravity? Convert a
man to distinguish between regeneration and conversion? What have you
got? Convert a man to acknowledge and believe that there is an
election and that election is absolutely of grace. What have
you got? I know people that use election
as an excuse not to believe God. They use it as an excuse not
to walk worthy of the gospel. I know people, even some, who've
been a member of this assembly and have left this assembly,
but now want to tell me someone that believes in free will is
equally my brother or sister in Jesus Christ. And I'm supposed
to wholeheartedly receive that person. It's a denial of the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But they might be one of the
elect. They might be. Maybe they're not, but here's
the question. Knowing, not the question, here's
the thing. Knowing, brethren, beloved of the Lord, your election
of God. Why? For our gospel came not to you in word only. And
when people respond to the gospel in faith and love toward Christ,
you can say God chose that person in Christ before the world began
and wrote their name down in the Lamb's book of life before
the world began. When the gospel of Jesus Christ
conquers your heart, mind, and soul, you can say, God Almighty
chose me way back yonder. You can say that. But not until.
And as long as the person's on the other side of those gates
of hell, then you deal with them as they are the enemy. The enemy. Saul of Tarsus was an enemy of
Jesus Christ. People weren't coming up to him
and saying, God loves you. Were they? Stephen didn't dare
walk up to that man and tell him God loves you. But what did
Stephen do? He preached the truth of who
Jesus Christ was and what God Almighty was doing in Jesus Christ
and Saul of Tarsus sat there and hailed the men's coats who
stoned Stephen to death. But I'll tell you what, it's
that same gospel, that same Christ that conquered Saul of Tarsus
on the road to Damascus. Our Lord said, all that the Father
giveth me. Oh yeah, that's true. There's a people that's given
to the Father. But He said, all that the Father giveth me shall
what? Come to me. Come to me. And remember, this is a battle.
It is assaulting the very gates of hell. It's not sitting back
and saying, we've got to defend ourselves. We do have to defend
ourselves. The enemy, Satan, throws his
fiery darts at us. But we're not to be content,
Mason, just to sit back and be defensive. We're to take the
assault to the enemy. Take the assault to the enemy.
It is no wonder that the Apostle Paul said to the people at Corinth,
they were a corrupt society, a corrupt people. They loved
partying. They love their idolatry and their drunkenness and their
fornications and their orgies if I could be downright blunt.
But Paul said, I determined to know nothing among you. When
I first came and began preaching to you, I determined to know
nothing among you save what? You need to turn from your sin
and get right with God. No, I determined to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Why? Because that's the weapon
with which we assault the gates of hell. He said to the people at Rome,
he said, I desire to come preach to you also. I'd like some fruit.
He said, I'd love to see some people in Rome converted through
my preaching of the gospel. That's what he's talking about.
He said, but I was hindered, I was let hitherto. He said,
for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it, the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein,
for where? In the gospel is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. And it's no wonder that
the Apostle Paul marveled at the Galatians. I marvel that
you're so soon removed from him that called you unto another
gospel. And Paul said, but it's not really
another. It's a perversion of a gospel. That's strong language.
I know men don't have to be like me. And if you think I'm too
strong in this, pray for me. But let me tell you something.
This thing's a war from day one. this thing is taking God Almighty
uses one sinner who he's conquered already and has that sinner proclaimed
to another sinner who's yet to be conquered, maybe, and brings
the very truth of God to that person and God Almighty then
begins his work of breaking down the citadel, casting down imagination. People are wrong and they're
so wrong they're going to go to hell for it. That's how serious it is. And
they know that when we tell them what we tell them, they know
I don't believe that. And that person is telling me
I'm wrong. And they know that what you're in effect telling
them is what? As long as you stay in that condition, you'll
perish. Now that's what we're telling them. Assaulting the
gates of a citadel is not a sneak attack. As Earl used to say, you cannot
sneak the truth of God in the back door. You might as well
just pound on the front door the very gates of hell with the
truth of God and lay it out like it is. It's no wonder Paul said,
if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which I have
preached unto you already, either me or an angel for heaven, let
him be accursed. So much so that in the last of
that epistle, he says, God forbid that I should glory in what?
One thing, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You see, as we set our hearts
and minds to preach Christ, as God providentially provides,
we don't have a big voice, Joe, but we're to seek to have a voice
nonetheless. You understand what I'm saying?
We may not have the, and I know there are probably better words,
but the persuasion and the outreach of some, but that's not the point.
Pound the gates of hell nonetheless. As God providentially provides,
we should assault the very gates of the enemy and the gospel preached
will assault and break down and conquer and arrest the people
as trophies to God's free sovereign grace. It will happen. Even though
we might not be, but two or three handfuls, it's happened for everyone
here that it's happened to. You were in a citadel, in enmity
against God Almighty, and He sent His truth to you and brought
you down and conquered you and bowed you before His Son, Jesus
Christ. And if that hadn't happened to
you, you're not saved. I'm just telling you, I'm here not to
be mean, but because I care for the soul. If God Almighty hasn't
conquered you through the preaching of the Gospel, you're still at
enmity against God. You're still in rebellion. Well,
I believe I've been regenerated. Based on what? What proof? What evidence do you offer up?
The only evidence of regeneration is conversion by the Gospel.
When you hear the Gospel, it bows you down before Jesus Christ. It will assault. Upon this rock
I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. Every sheep will be conquered
by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every one of them. Every one
of them. This is no sneak attack. This
is not trying to bring the gospel into the back door by ecumenical
maneuver. If you would just show a little
compassion. Truth is compassion. Paul told the Galatians, am I
your enemy because I tell you the truth? And he had just warned
them, I'm afraid of you. I'm not for sure you really got
what you and I both thought you had. But I'm not your enemy because
I tell you the truth. I know men use tough love. We're
not talking about tough love. We're talking about divine love.
Where justice had to be satisfied or not one would ever be saved.
That's the preaching of the cross of Christ. Let us assault the
very gates of hell. You cannot love an enemy into
submission. Not this kind of enemy. You see
what I'm saying? This kind of enemy, enmity toward
God is not loved into submission. An attempt to love is to deny
Christ's instruction to the church. the gates of hell are to be assaulted. Remember, gospel preaching equals
conversion. That's what it's all about. Sadly,
there are a lot of people, and I just say this because it's
one thing that a few of us are dealing with quite heavily, this
idea of, well, but they might be one of the elect. but they
show no submission to the gospel of Christ. And you're thinking,
this person's sitting in our assembly. I'm thinking, did I
misinstruct them somehow, Joe? Did they misunderstand something
I was saying? I baptized some of these people.
And yet they think, as long as a person makes some religious
profession, everything's okay. No, it's about being conquered
by the preaching of the cross work of Jesus Christ. You've
got no right to claim election. You've got no right to claim
regeneration until you've been conquered by the preaching of
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Though election and regeneration
must precede it. But you've got no right to think
it of yourself or claim it until God Almighty storms your castle
wall by the gospel and breaks you down and bows you before
Jesus Christ. Remember, as I said, gospel preaching
equals conversion. And Christ said, except you be
converted, ye shall all likewise perish. And then he taught also,
repent and believe what? The gospel. The gospel. Now let me give you a quote in
summary. The primary purpose of the church
is what? Preach Christ. Just preach Christ. Preach Christ.
Whether we're doing it in, and let me tell you, preaching Christ
is not only what I do here every morning. Or what men do when
we go to conferences, David. Preaching Christ is taking the
message of Christ to people around you in your everyday work where
you live. That's assaulting. We're not
assaulting the gates of hell here. You understand what I'm
saying? It's not just that, I should
say. But here, let me give you the quote. If men love doctrines
more than Christ, they are rationalists. Penny and I are dealing with
a few rationalists right now. If men love doctrines more than
Christ, they are rationalists. They rationalize. If men love
ceremonies more than Christ, they are ritualists. Some of
us know people like that. If men love works more than Christ,
they are legalists. If men love the local church
more than Christ, they are sectarians. Churches represent localities
not doctrines That's why to an extent our title sovereign grace
Chapel is just for this building because it ain't just about sovereign
grace It's about Jesus Christ That's what it's really about
What have I done if I convince you God's sovereign and that
grace is sovereign and if you never bow to Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior You'll still perish, right? If they love local churches more
than Christ, they're sectarians. Churches represent localities,
not doctrines. When any leader, any doctrine,
any creed, or any organization becomes the center for drawing
people together, then it is the center other than the person
and work of Jesus Christ. The person and work of Jesus
Christ is central to those who are truly saved. Period. He's everything. Jesus Christ
means more to me than that woman right back there that I love
very much. His gospel and His truth comes
before her. And the same thing I know applies
of her to me. And if either one of us begins
to turn from that, it will be goodbye. Doesn't 1 Corinthians
7 teach that? If the unbelieving depart, what
does it say to do, David? let them depart. The believer
is not under bondage in such a case. Why? Because nothing competes with
Christ. Nothing. Now God willing, I'm not saying
nothing ought to compete, nothing competes with Christ. If you've
got something competing with Christ, you've never had your
citadel conquered yet. I don't care what you professed. When the Lord of Glory, Joe,
knocks down your gates and comes in and takes you as a captive,
He's going to bow you down under His foot. But He's going to do
it, and you're going to do it willingly, lovingly, conscientiously,
and gladly. You'll thank yourself. Thank
God He rescued me from that castle. Won't He? That's the way it is.
If you think you're under Christ's dominion, but you hate being
under His dominion, you're actually in deception and you're still
in the castle of the gates of hell. Because those that Christ
conquers, He brings them to love Him supremely. You remember, the Ethiopian eunuch
was asked by Philip, wasn't it? I think it was Philip, wasn't
it? He said, here's water. What does it mean to be baptized?
And Philip told him, if you believe with what? All your heart. What's
that mean? What's it believe with all your
heart? Is our inner being, whatever it be, whether it be the muscle
or be the inner being of a man, is there little compartments
of it? People are very confused. You
know what it means? It means Christ is all or He's nothing
to you. He does not compete with anything
or anyone. And that's what we looked at
last week. It just doesn't happen. Why? Because the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. God willing, next week we'll
look at the church's organization. Father, as we continue here and
we eat together, may it be that we find our fellowship in the
truth of the person of work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank
you in his name. Amen.