Turn with me, if you will, to
Matthew chapter 16. We'll begin reading at verse
13. And when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? And they said, Some say thou
art John the Baptist, and some Elias, or Elijah, and others
Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. And he saith unto them, but whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for
flesh and blood have not revealed this unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven. 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. 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. Then charge
to his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus
the Christ. The title of my message is Upon
This Rock, of course, from verse 18, being my text. But first
notice again, if you will, our Lord's question in verse 13.
They came away from the multitude into a private place, and then
he asked his disciples, the twelve, whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? I don't think, I'm sure, that
it's not possible to overemphasize the importance of that question,
who Christ is. Because knowing him, knowing
him is the criteria, if you will, as to where I spend eternity,
whether in heaven or whether in hell. It's dependent upon
whether I know Him or not. Whether I'm saved with all the
blessings that are included in God's great salvation. It's all
dependent upon, do I know him? You remember what he said in
his high priestly prayer? Father, this is life eternal,
that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou didst send. And then in verse 14, they answer
his question. Some say, some say, that's always
the case, isn't it? religious people or not. Perhaps just, perhaps the profane. It doesn't really matter. They
all seem to have an opinion of who Jesus Christ is, just as
it was when he was on earth. It's the same today. I dare say
you cannot go anywhere and ask anyone, at least in this country,
who Jesus Christ is if they won't have an answer, that they won't
have an opinion, just like they did in our Lord's time. And their opinion, at least to
themselves, they seem to think by that, that it settles the
matter. This is what I think. And it
may not be any better of an answer than what the popular opinion
was of our Lord. He was a prophet. He was a great
teacher. He was a great moral leader.
He was a martyr. He gave us an example of how
we ought to live. Love thy neighbor and so forth.
But as far as being the Messiah? As far as being God? No, we can't
buy that. We can't go that far. And they
seem to rest in that and feel like it's enough. No, it's not
enough. Don't ever be content with just
a bare knowledge of Christ as far as an historical person. Notice what he says in verse
15. He saith unto them. Another question. Not asking now who the crowd
says I am, but who do you say I am? James and John and Andrew
and Peter and Matthew. Who am I? to you. It's obvious
that this very chapter reveals that there was much that Peter
had yet to learn, was there not? I mean, just a few verses down,
we didn't read down that far, but it's evident, obvious that
Peter had a lot to learn. But he knew who Christ was. And that's what he answered.
Verse 16, And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ. Notice, Peter says, I'm not influenced
by the majority. The majority. How often we've
heard said, well, can so many people be wrong? You better believe
it. They were in Christ's day. But Peter says, it doesn't matter.
I'm not influenced by that. It doesn't sway me whatsoever.
I'm convinced I know. Regardless of what the multitude
or the majority might say, you're the Christ. You're the Messiah. You're the promised one, the
Son of God, the eternal Son of God that should come into the
world. Bless god. What a what a blessed
blessed thing. Peter's answer reveals. As we
said, though there was much he had yet to learn, he knew who
Christ was. He knew like Mary, that one thing
needful that would not be taken away from him. Jesus, the son
of god. Is that not what gives us a So much, like Peter, that I don't
understand. So much. I believe God's promise
that all things work together for good, but I often don't see
how. Don't see how. Oh, but I know
who's doing the work. Who's doing the working? God
works all things. And this is what Peter knew.
And this is what brings us peace. And this is what gives us a good
hope before God. We know him. We know him. And that's what matters. That's
what gives us peace in this world. Is this not the reason? Is this
not the reason? Is this not the only reason?
When the storms of life are raging, that we're not drowned by them,
because we know that the captain of our salvation is on board
our vessel, that he never abandoned ship. Look at verse 17. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and
blood have not revealed this unto thee, but my Father, but
my Father which is in heaven." Consider all that Peter had experienced
up to this time. All that he had seen. I mean,
he lived with Christ. Andrew came to him that day.
and said, Peter, brother, come with me. We found the Messiah
and he brought him to Christ. And Peter afterwards, in the
boat with his brother Andrew, the Lord walks by and says, leave
those nets. Follow me, and I'll make you
a fisher of men." And Simon Barjona followed the Lord of Glory. Simon Barjona followed, lived
with, for three and a half years, God Almighty in the flesh. That unique, one of a kind, the
God-man. The Word that was made flesh
and dwelt among us. Peter lived with him. ate with
him, slept where he slept, abided where he abode. Oh, what time
Peter spent with Christ. And yet our Lord says, this is
still necessary. The revelation of who I am can
only be experienced by God's doing for us what he did for
Peter. Peter, you're blessed because
I've called you and you've seen what I've done. You've seen the
miracles I've performed. You've heard my parables. I've
spoken to you in private that none else have heard. And yet,
Peter, that's not enough. That's not enough. My Heavenly
Father has done something for you. And He's not done that for
the majority. He's not done that to all those
who say, I'm just a prophet. I'm Elias, or John the Baptist,
or Jeremiah. Peter, He's revealed to you who
I am. You know. You know that I'm exactly
who I claim to be. I'm the Son of God. I'm the Messiah. Isn't that a marvelous thing?
But it required the revelation of God Almighty to Peter's heart. The other things weren't sufficient. The other things wouldn't have
done this. Faith is a gift of God. It's still true. Look, if
you will, in John's Gospel, chapter 6. And this is exactly what our
Lord is saying here. In John 6, verses 44 and 45. He said, no man can come to me
except the Father which has sent me draw him. And of course he
didn't mean a physical coming because those who he was speaking
to at this very time had followed him physically. had followed
Him with their feet, because He had fed them. They got hungry
again, so they followed Him. And He says, no man can come
to Me. What's He talking about spiritually? Savingly. No man
can come to Me except this. Except the Father which has sent
Me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It's
written in the Prophets. And they shall all be taught
of God. All of His people, all of His
elect. Every man therefore that have heard and have learned of
the Father comes unto me. That's what happened to Peter.
Oh, how blessed is the man! How blessed is the man! And even
as I say those words, This man knows he's not appreciative enough,
he's not thankful enough for this rich blessing of God's grace
to him. How blessed is the man or the
woman that can say what Peter said, you're the Christ. Lord, let the world say what
they will. Their opinions don't matter at
all, have no weight at all. I know that thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. How do I know that? Am I smarter
than my brothers? No, of course not. God Almighty has revealed it,
just as He did to Peter. That's what's necessary, or we
would never believe otherwise. Look in chapter 11, back in chapter
11 of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 11, verse 25. And our
Lord rejoiced in this. At that same time, or that time
rather, Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, Because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even
so, father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things
are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him. Now back in chapter 16, that
brings us to our text, verse 18. And I say unto thee, 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." Here's another example, another demonstration
of those words that were spoken concerning the Son of Man. When
they said about Him, never a man spake like this man. Is this
not another example of it? Who but Christ dare speak such
words as these? Can you imagine a mere man saying
words like these? Who but Christ in truth and in
reality could speak thus? What he said here is no less
remarkable than what he said in another place. on a stormy
sea, being awakened by his disciples, his fearful disciples. Lord, we perish. And he stands
on the deck of the ship and says, peace be still. Now Lester, if
you and I went out on the lake in a boat, and a storm arose,
and we stood out and said, peace be still. We could say it until
we got hoarse or until somebody called the people to come and
take us away, because it wouldn't happen. Oh, but this is no mere
man. This is the God-man. When he
stood and commanded the waves and the wind to be quiet, silence,
peace, we read, and there was a great calm. Oh, what manner
of man is this, they said. Or when he spoke to that poor
leper, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. You can perform
a miracle. You can cleanse me of this leprosy.
And he said, I will. I will. Be thou clean. And his will accomplished it.
Or even Lazarus. Another example, dead four days
and he stands before the tomb and says, Lazarus come forth.
And he that was dead came forth. Life first and then movement. People say, believe and you'll
be born again. Oh, no, no. No, that's exactly
opposite. That's exactly backwards. No,
you must have life and then you'll believe. Then you'll repent.
Then you will willingly come to Christ just as Lazarus did. Life first and then movement. But by these words in verse 18,
Christ declares that there will never be a possibility. that
his church, whether they realize it or not, whether they feel
like it or not, because often we don't. But there'll never
be a possibility that his church, all the redeemed, and you know,
the church is not this building, this is where the church meets,
but his church are all his redeemed ones, all those the father chose,
all those who are in time called, the church on earth and in heaven,
all the elect. He says there's not a possibility
that they could ever be destroyed. Christ's church in this world
is a standing miracle, is it not? It's the evidence of the
sufficiency of the foundation on which it's built, that it's
not destroyed, that it can't perish. Upon this rock, he said,
three things. The foundation, this rock. The builder, I will build, Christ
says. And the certain outcome, the
certain result, the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. First, the foundation. Christ
says, upon this rock. This rock. And I hope it'll be
delightful. delightful just to rehearse and
identify who this rock is. Not that you don't know. Oh,
but it may refresh our soul just to be reminded of it, just to
hear it again upon this rock. This was his answer to Peter.
And of course, he's speaking of himself, not Peter, not Peter. You're aware that that church that Catholic church, they take
this very verse of scripture that we read and say, right then
is when the Lord made Peter the first pope. And all the other
popes are descendants of Peter. And he was talking about Peter
when he said, upon this rock, this is what they teach. upon
Peter as the pope of the church. Upon Peter, Christ would build
his church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Could anything be more absurd?
Of course, that goes along with all the other nonsense they teach.
If Peter was the first pope of the church, and all those who
have been popes since Peter are descendants of his, then God's
church must presently be in trouble. If that be true, they're without
a foundation all week long. Every time I turned on the news,
they said, the Pope, the Pope, the Pope has left the building.
Good. I thought, good. It's too bad
he doesn't take all those priests and nuns and all that other nonsense.
Take them with him wherever he's going. Take them all. Oh, no. Now, the Pope may leave the building,
may leave the Vatican, but it won't affect this building that
Christ spoke of. It won't affect His church, because
its foundation is built not on Peter, but on Christ Himself. Our Lord was saying, Peter, upon
the truth of what you just said, upon the truth of your confession,
that I am the Christ, That's what Peter said. You're the Christ.
And Christ said, you're right. And upon this foundation, upon
this rock, I'll build my church. Upon myself. Only then could
he say the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Only
if it's built upon him. Its foundation rests on, is built
on, not Peter. But Christ, Christ, as we mentioned
a moment ago, what sort of foundation would Peter be on down in the
chapter when our Lord spoke about him going to Jerusalem and being
crucified and raising the third day? In verse 32, Peter says,
I won't allow that. We just can't have that. And
Peter, of course, as we say, meant well. But does that not
display how ignorant Peter was about so many things up to that
time? He would learn better afterwards.
But at this moment, he didn't even know the reason of Christ
coming into the world. Some foundation. And then afterwards,
when he did know better, in Acts chapter 3, After healing the
lame man at the gate of the temple, all the crowd rushes around.
Remember? Just beholding, wondering, because
they knew this man. Now they seem leaping and praising
God, not crippled anymore. And Peter said, well, bow down
and kiss my ring. I'm Pope Peter. No, no, no. He said, why do you look on me
and John As though by our own power of holiness, this man has
been made whole. We didn't do this. But I'll tell
you who did do it, Peter said. Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified. God has exalted to be a prince
and a savior. Oh yes. The foundation of the
church, this rock, is Christ. Always has been. Remember we
read a moment ago in Ephesians. that that foundation of the apostles
and prophets is one in the same, always will be. Other foundation
can no man lay other than that which is laid, Jesus Christ himself. I hear folks say, and you have
too, as some excuse for all those
Christians, they're called, that trotted up an aisle And as Brother
Henry said, just don't even bother to take out their bubble gum.
Say a little prayer, then trot out back out into the world. No change whatsoever. How could
there be? So the excuse is, well, they're
Christians. They've accepted Jesus as Savior,
but not as Lord. Oh, no. No. No such thing. No such thing. Make him Lord.
Too late. Too late. God's already made
him Lord. And God Almighty's already laid
the foundation. Don't need another. Don't need
another. Turn, if you will, to 1 Peter
and see what he himself says concerning the foundation of
the church, Jesus Christ himself. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 6. Peter here is quoting from Isaiah
chapter 28, but in chapter 6, or I'm sorry, verse 6 of chapter
2, wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, this
is God speaking, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect and precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. unto you therefore which believe he is precious,
but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders
disallow, the same is made the head of the corner. This is the
Lord's doing. I lay in Zion. The foundation
is Christ himself. Do you reckon that's enough?
Do you reckon that's enough? Jesus Christ himself, this rock,
singular, there's only one. God's people in every age, in
every place, Old Testament, New Testament, they've always laid
up on one foundation, Jesus Christ himself. Oh, are we not secure? Our best old hymns, One we sang just a moment ago,
speak of this. Rock of ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. The church's one foundation is
Jesus Christ the Lord, and another with which we'll close, the solid
rock. On Christ the solid rock I stand. I stand. Stand accepted before a holy
God. kept, brought to glory. Remember when John saw that multitude
in chapter 7 of Revelation? The elder seems to say to John,
these were once like you, John. They came out of tribulation.
They were once like you, where you're at now, on the Isle of
Patmos. John was outcast there for preaching
the gospel. And the elder seems to say that,
John, these were like you at one time, but look where they're
at now. God brought them out of their
tribulation, and he'll bring you. Oh, yes, preserved and brought
to glory. The solid rock on which I stand,
all other ground is sinking sand. Secondly, notice in our text,
our Lord says, upon this rock I'll build my church. I'll build
my church. You mean, he's not only the foundation,
he's the builder too? Yes, Christ is all. As you've
heard said and heard me say and other men and perhaps you've
said it yourself, it's a hymn book. This Bible, Old Testament
and New, it's a hymn book. It's about Him. Christ is the
builder as well as the foundation of the church. I remember when
I was forced to go to a church one time, there was a poor old
woman. We'd get up and sing. Why in
the world the pastor asked that woman to sing, I never know.
But she would sing. I thought about this this afternoon. I'm working on a building. If she was singing Amazing Grace,
it had been bad enough. She couldn't carry a tune in
the bucket. But she's saying, I'm working on a building. I'm
working on a building for my Lord, for my Lord. Well, that's
going to be a shock. Oh no, the building that Christ
speaks of, His church, He's the builder of it. We read in 1 John
concerning the creation, we can say the same thing concerning
the building of His church. All things were made by Him.
And without Him was not anything made that was made. Notice what
Christ says again. I will build my church. When
Christ says I will, then whatever follows, whatever follows those
words must be done because He's God. And as God, He says, I will
do all my pleasure, saith our God. Remember what Isaiah said
concerning Him? He shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. As Wonderful, as Counselor, He
doesn't need our advice or instruction in building His church, asked
Job. As the Mighty God, as such, He
doesn't need our assistance because none can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? Asked Nebuchadnezzar. And as
the everlasting father, as the everlasting father, Isaiah said,
he shall be called the everlasting father. And as such, he has all
the care, all the care. What comforting words our Lord
said to his disciples, your heavenly father knoweth. Isn't that comforting? Your Heavenly Father knoweth.
He knows what you need. He knows what you have need of.
And as the everlasting Father, He has all the care and all the
wisdom to build His church. Isaiah also said, the Prince
of Peace. And as the Prince of Peace, He's
laid the foundation upon which a sinner stands before God on
a platform of perfect peace. Peace with God. We read it, didn't we? He is
our peace. Jesus Christ himself. Often, it's just our nature. We've fallen, we've taken our
eyes off Christ, and we try to make things right by our works. Instead of just looking back
to him, Instead of just falling back down on Him, there's something
that's in our nature, very contrary to grace, but we want to try
to, by our own works, I'll just try to make things right. And then maybe I'll again experience
the peace of God. The peace that Paul spoke of
is not determined by anything we do. Or don't do. He said, Christ is our peace. He's made peace with God. What
a sweet comforting thought. Our peace with God is always
the same. It's never more. It's never less. It's Jesus Christ himself. And he said, I will build my
church. The great architect of all creation
constructs his church with all the wisdom and all the skill
and all the power and all the grace that's needed. to present his workmanship so
complete that his church lacks nothing. Nothing that will be
necessary to present her back to God, back to his heavenly
father, who entrusted it into his hands, his capable hands,
and presented back to him a glorious church, not having a spot or
a wrinkle or any such thing. How's that sound? Without spot
or wrinkle or any such thing. That's what we read in Ephesians
5. John said, I saw the church,
New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, prepared as a bride,
adorned, adorned, dressed up, dressed up, adorned. dressed
in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, adorned as a
bride for her husband. Christ says, I will build my
church. In Acts chapter 2, after Peter
preached and 3,000 were saved, we're told, and the Lord continued,
he added to the church daily such as should be saved. It's God's work to do that. It's
my responsibility to preach the gospel, but only God can make
it effectual. Only God can save sinners, but
bless God, He does. That's His work, and I'm thankful
that it's so. When I was still working at UK,
University of Kentucky, sometimes when I would come back
on a Monday and the fellows that I worked with knew If I had traveled
somewhere to preach, they would say, well, there were a few of
them. I don't know whether they were
just ignorant or trying to be smart, both. Did you get anybody
saved over the weekend? No, no. I can't save anyone. That's God's work. And I'm so
thankful. Otherwise, I'm so thankful that
God adds to the church. Otherwise, we would end up with
goats. and tears, but not if God adds
to the church. There's no uncertainty about
his work. Paul and Barnabas went to Antioch.
We read about it in Acts 13. And they preached to the Jews
and some believed the things that were spoken and some believed
not. That's always the case. And Paul
said to the Jews, because you count yourselves unworthy of
eternal life and won't believe, we'll go to the Gentiles. And
in verse 48, we read, when the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced. And we also read these words,
as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Now, that's another
thing that the religious world has backwards in our day. They
say believe and you'll be ordained to eternal life. No, no, no.
As many as were ordained to eternal life believed and got added to
the church. Now, last of all, the security
of the church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. The gates of hell, that is the
powers of hell. Turn back, if you will, to chapter
7 of Matthew. Matthew chapter 7. Our Lord speaks
of this in his parable about the two builders and the outcome
of the work of God and the work of man. Verse 24. Therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken
him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the
rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and
beat upon that house, and it fell not. Why? Why? For, because it was founded upon
a rock, the rock Christ Jesus. It fell not. How could it with
such a foundation? As long as the foundation is
secure, so are all those who rest upon it. Rest easy, child
of God. We read in 1 Peter chapter 2
a moment ago and said that Peter was quoting from Isaiah Isaiah
chapter 28, but I'd like to close the message by reading that verse
from Isaiah chapter 28, verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the
Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, immovable
stone, immutable stone, impregnable stone, a tried stone, a precious
stone, a sure stone, And he that believeth shall not make haste. He that believeth shall not make
haste. No reason to be wary. No reason
to fret. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
He that's on this foundation shall not make haste. Just stay
calm. Rest easy. The Lord himself promises
all of his own. Upon this rock, I'll build my
church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Amen.