If you turn to the passage we
read, Matthew chapter 16. I want to draw your attention
to a few verses beginning at verse 13. Matthew 16 verses 13
through to verse 18, where we read, 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 that thou art John the Baptist. some Elias, and others Jeremias,
or one of the prophets. 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 it 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. Thou art Peter and upon this
rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. Christ in this passage asks his
disciples a very pertinent question. Whom do men say that I the Son
of Man am? Who am I? Who do they say that
I am? The disciples answered, some
say they were John the Baptist, some Elias and others Jeremiah
or one of the prophets. Men recognize that Christ is
not the same as others. They recognised that he's a great
teacher, a prophet. They speculated at the time that
he was Elias, Jeremiah, John the Baptist. But they didn't
know that he was the son of God. Christ asked the question again
of the disciples, but whom say ye that I am? Whom say ye that
I am? We may ask, who do you say that
Christ is? Who is he? Who is he to you? Who is he to you? You may say he's Jesus Christ. son of God. I've read it in the
Bible, I've heard it in the gospel, that's who he is. But do you know him? Who is he
to you? There are many figures in history
of whom we hear, there are many whom we can describe and name. But who is Christ to us? What
is he to us? Do we know him as more than just
a name? More than just an account? More
than someone described in the pages of the scriptures and in
the message of the gospel? Is he someone that we know? Is
he someone that we have heard? Is he someone whom God the Father
has revealed unto us. Whom say ye that I am? Well, 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 it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. Simon Peter knew. There was a
time when he didn't, but when Christ came to this point and
asked him, Who am I, Peter? He knew. Thou Lord art the Christ,
the Son of the Living God. I know it, I believe it, Thou
art the Christ. Flesh and blood had not revealed
it unto him. Man had not told Peter who Christ
was. He did not simply see Him, and
no, He did not simply see Him in the flesh and no, this is
God, this is the Son of God. Many saw Him in the flesh, many
heard Him in the flesh, many heard His speech, His discourses,
His sayings, many saw His miracles and His great signs and wonders
which He wrought. Many saw the sick brought whole
again, the blind made to see, the deaf made to hear, the lame
made to walk and they did not know that the Son of Man that
did these things was Christ the Son of the Living God. When asked
they said that man, that miracle worker, That great teacher, he's
John the Baptist. He's Elias, he's Jeremiah, he's
a prophet. They knew he was different. But they did not know him. Flesh
and blood will reveal a great deal. But to know Christ as the
son of the living God, to know him personally, takes a revelation. beyond that of flesh and blood.
Flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee, Peter, but my Father
which is in heaven has. This is him who has revealed
me unto thee. 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. Thou art
Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it. Well here we have two great
verses or passages which are often taken separately but which
are intrinsically linked. People will often speak of the
question, who is Christ? And Peter's answer, thou art
the Christ, the son of the living God. And I'll end there. And others will come to verse
18 and speak of Christ's declaration unto Peter that thou art Peter
and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. as though it's something that
Christ has just gone on to talk about following his question. But the reality is is that that
question and the answer and what gave Peter the answer is the
foundation of the point that Christ is making in verse 18
about building his church. He says he'll build his church
because Peter My Father in heaven showed you who I am. He revealed it unto you, Peter.
And it's on this revelation that I will build my church. flesh and blood have not revealed
it unto thee but my father which is in heaven and it is upon this
revelation this truth this revelation of this truth this rock that
i will build my church there's no building except the
father in heaven reveals unto those whom he builds into his
church, that his Son, that Jesus is Christ, the Son of the Living
God. Upon this rock I will build my
church. Who is the Son of Man? He is
Christ, the Anointed, God's Anointed, The One whom God the Father sent. The Saviour. The Son of the Living
God. The One He sent into the world
to die in the place of sinners. The Son of the Living God. He
is the one who came, made a man, made a little lower than the
angels even for the suffering of death. The one who lived amongst
men, a real man and yet truly God. A real man as unto other
men and yet without sin. The only one who could come to
suffer for sin because he was the only man who was without
sin. He was the only one who could
come in the place of sinners and die the death that they as
sinners deserve to die, that he might take the wrath of God
against their sins and blot it out and wash them clean. He is the great hope of sinners,
the Redeemer, the Savior, the Justifier, the Deliverer, the
Messiah, the one of whom all the prophets prophesied, the
one who must come, the one who must save. And he is also, as he says in
verse 18, the builder of his church. That salvation which
he wrought for all his people upon the cross laid the foundation by which
he delivers and saves a great company whom he takes and builds
into his church. Upon this rock I will build my
church, my ecclesia, my assembly, my people called out from all
people my people who were not a people whom i will say now
are my people my bride who was filthy and black but who by my
own blood i have washed clean and is pure and white whiter
than snow my church my ecclesia i will build my church. Who do men say that I am? Who
is he? He is the builder of the church,
the builder of the assembly of God, of the ecclesia, the church. What is the church? is Christ's. Christ's people, Christ's company,
Christ's people gathered, his assembly of his people. That
people gathered as one company, one people throughout all the
world, throughout all time until the end of time when he comes
to gather them in and bring them into eternal glory with him.
One church throughout all the ages, built out of many stones,
many people, many individuals, many blood-bought souls, all
scattered throughout the world, one or two here, three or four
there, 50 or 100 over there, gathered into congregations and
assemblies in this place and that place, sometimes just a
couple, two or three gathered, other times two or three hundred
gathered, But wherever they're gathered, however few, however
great, whatever the time, whatever the age, if they're washed in
His blood, they are His blood-bought people, His called-out separated
company, His assembly, His church. And He, and He alone, is the
builder of that church. What is the church? It is Christ,
it's his people. How is it built? Well, it's built
by Christ and Christ alone. He builds it. He alone can build
it. We see many buildings, congregations,
gatherings in our day and throughout the ages which call themselves
churches. which take Christ's name and
call themselves churches. But so much of the activity in
the building of those congregations, in the gathering in of the people,
in the proselytizing, the attempts to convert souls and to gather
them in and add them to the company, so much of the activity is what
man does. and of man's persuasion, man's
attempts to persuade people to believe the gospel, man's attempts
to persuade people to accept the truth of the gospel, to accept
Jesus into their hearts, man's attempts to make himself right
before a holy God, man's attempts to live by works and his own
righteousness before God, to attain unto heaven. So much of
the building of churches in this world is the building of man.
What must we do to build the church? How can we see it built
in our day? Especially in days when few gather
as we see in our day. Especially in days when the world
has departed from the truth. When the world at large rejects
the truth of the gospel. When it despises it. And when the fashionable thinking
of the age is to speak of the great worth of man and his own
wisdom and intellect, and to scoff at the things of God, to
scoff at the things of eternity, to scoff at the revelation of
God in the gospel, to scoff at the things of God, the great
trend in our day is not for the congregation to be built up,
but for them to dwindle in number. And this puts a great pressure
and concern upon those in these meetings of how they may keep
the numbers up and how they may attract people in. And so much
activity goes on in the churches as they call them to attract
people in, to evangelize, to persuade people to come. How
may we get them in? How may they listen? How may
we be building up the church? and whether the things they do
are right things or wrong things so much of the push and the impetus
towards doing these things comes from man and man's wisdom and
man's desire to see this and to see that where the churches
have paid ministers the minister needs to keep the company there
that he may have an income. So many meetings dwindle to so
few numbers that there's no possibility of them supporting a preacher. And though many preachers would
seek to do that which is right before God, nevertheless these
things bring a pressure, a natural pressure, a pressure to see the
congregations added to, to see them built up. And sadly so much building in
a professing church is the building of man. But a wise man called Solomon
wrote this in the 127th Psalm. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the
city, the watchmen wake if but in vain. It is vain for you to
rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows,
for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are an heritage
of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows
are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his
quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but
they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Now we may take those words and
we may speak of natural children and the blessedness of those
who have families and who have children given to them of the
Lord but Solomon's wisdom here goes beyond the natural the natural
house, the natural family, the natural children he's speaking
of the building up of God's kingdom of the house of the Lord and
of those children which are born of God in the preaching of the
Gospel, of those who hear the truth of the Gospel and are born
again by the Spirit of God. Children are an heritage of the
Lord. The salvation of sinners is the
Lord's work. You can't convert anyone. We can't cause any to be born
again. We can't go out with the gospel
and twist men's arms and persuade them to make a decision and think
that they are born again. None are born again but by the
mighty operations of the Holy Spirit. The persuasion of man
is worthless. You can talk and you can persuade
and many churches get many in for many reasons. particularly
those who are lonely, those who have natural needs, those who
see some of those needs met by the church and the congregations
and the kindness shown unto them, those who have a fear of death
and who long to have a persuasion that they will go to heaven for
some reason. There are many things which can
bring people in, bring them to make a professional faith in
Christ, bring them to an association with the church of Christ. but
none are truly born again except God brings it to pass. Children are an heritage of the
Lord, the fruit of the womb is his reward. Except the Lord build
the house, they labour in vain that build it. Except the Lord
keep the city, the watchmen wake if but in vain. It's the Lord's
work. He builds his church. He preaches
his gospel. He delivers out of darkness into
light. He brings the dead to live. He
causes dead sinners, born of Adam, born naturally, fallen
in sin, to hear the gospel and by the Spirit of God to be born
again. Christ is the builder of his church. I will build my
church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The church is built and Christ builds it. He said, then I will
build my church. He had been building, he continued
to build and he continues to build. He will build his church. It will be built to perfection. It is being built today. And
the gates of hell shall not, they have not and they will not
ever prevail against it. He's building it. and no one
else is building it. Though Christ means of building
his churches through the preaching of his gospel and though he sends
preachers he calls men to preach his gospel and though they are
actively involved in preaching that gospel and though the church
is built from those who are saved under the preaching of that gospel
And though the assembly is comprised of sinners saved by grace, saved
by the gospel, and though all those sinners who have been washed
by the blood of Christ, all those members of his church are active,
though they all have a part to play, though they're all led
to pray, to worship, to speak of Christ, to testify of Christ,
to go here, to go there, though they all are led of the Spirit
as one company in the truth, nevertheless the building is
not accredited to them but unto Christ. Yes Christ speaks by
his Spirit through a preacher but it's Christ who speaks. The
preacher's voice is nothing worth except the Spirit speak through
him, and except Christ's speech is conveyed by that Spirit through
that man and through the preaching of that gospel. He builds his
church. The church is built. Well, how
is it built? And how does Christ testify here
that it is built? I say also unto thee, Simon,
that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church. Thou art Peter and upon this
rock I will build my church. Well I said, this rock is the
revelation, the revelation to Peter that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the Living God. This rock is the fact that flesh
and blood had not revealed it unto him, but his Father which
is in heaven. And it is upon this rock and
this revelation that Christ built his church. Then his church is
built by revelation. and nothing short of revelation
brings about the building of Christ's church. And where there
is no revelation, where there is no being brought to see and
to understand and to know who Christ is as the Son of the Living
God, then there is no church. It's by revelation. We read of
the revelation of God in the gospel in various respects. Here the person of Christ is
revealed as he is unto Peter. In Romans Paul speaks of a twofold
revelation in the gospel. He speaks of the gospel being
the power of God unto salvation. and he gives the ground of the
power of God unto salvation being the fact that in the gospel the
righteousness of God is revealed and unless the righteousness
of God is revealed unto us through the preaching of that gospel we will never know the power
of God unto salvation we will never know salvation and we will
never know Christ And before the righteousness of God is ever
revealed unto us, and before the person of Christ as the Son
of the living God is ever revealed unto us, there is another revelation
of which Paul speaks in Romans. And that is the revelation of
the wrath of God, revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness on man. The church is built by revelation. And it starts somewhere. It starts
with where we are. It starts with where those stones
with which Christ will build his church are found. And where
he finds them is in the gut of the sewer of this world. As lost
sinners in the ditch, black and filthy, wicked rebels against
God rebels against Christ and against his father hating the
things of God the things of the truth the gospel and his church
rebels this is where he finds them and he finds them in that
place where the wrath of God burns from heaven against their
sins Do you know anything of the revelation
of the wrath of God burning against your sins? Because where if you're
outside of Christ, if you've not come to the point that Peter
was brought to where he can say with a certainty that thou art
the Christ, the son of the living God, if you know him not as your
savior, then you're just a filthy sinner in the gutter, a rebel
against God. upon whom the wrath of God burns
against your sins. Oh that God would reveal your
state and your position under this revelation, under this wrath. That an alarm would be sounded,
that you would come to hear and to know that if left there you
will enter hell with a certainty. You will never be a part of this
church which Christ builds if you're left in such a state.
You will never know what it is to be washed by the blood of
the Lamb of God if you remain in such a state. With a hardened
heart, a cold heart towards the gospel and the things of God.
Apathetic towards the truth. Rebellious against the truth. Oh be aware that in such a state
the wrath of God burns against your ungodliness and your unrighteousness. God convict you of your sin.
God lead you from that sin to the one saviour of sinners, to
your one hope. God reveal unto you in his gospel
another revelation. Have you been taught that you're
a sinner? Have you begun to call? Has the alarm been sounded? For
if it has, then in the Gospel you will hear of another revelation,
not simply the wrath of God burning, but the revelation of the righteousness
of God. by which God judged those sins,
that unrighteousness in His Son upon the cross, by which God
put away sin forever, by which God washed His people clean,
by which His Son died under the judgment of God against their
sins, and by which they are washed clean and declared perfect before
a holy God. Oh, have you seen the Savior
crucified upon the tree? And have you seen him crucified
for you? Have you seen the revelation
of the righteousness of God in the gospel as Christ washed your
sins away upon the cross? Did he wash your sins away upon
the cross? Was the righteousness of God
revealed as being yours in the gospel of Christ? Have you seen
him? Have you been brought to call
upon him, brought to cry out for salvation? Have you heard
his voice in the gospel, declaring that in his death the righteousness
of God is made known? That believe on me, believe on
me and you shall have eternal life. Look unto me and you shall
be saved, all the ends of the earth. Look unto me, see my blood,
wash in my blood. you will be righteous have you
looked upon me have you come unto me as those who caught who
are convicted of your sins sinner have you looked under him and
have you seen the revelation of his righteousness the righteousness
of God in the gospel We need this revelation. We need to see
the revelation of the Rapha God first. We need to be taught our
state and our need of Christ. But we need that righteousness
which Christ brought upon the cross and made his peoples. We need to be washed clean, we
need that blood to cleanse us. And we need to know that he who
died, he who was judged, he who took away the sin, he who justified
his people, he whose blood was shed, was the Christ, the Son
of the Living God. We need this revelation. nothing
short of it saves nothing else can save and no knowledge of
these things beyond which stops short of being the true revelation
of the father unto our souls of jesus christ and his salvation
no knowledge that stops short of that revelation will save
head knowledge is not enough Reading it in the Bible is not
enough. Hearing it told us by others
is not enough. We must hear Christ declaring
unto us his righteousness. We must hear the Father say unto
us, Behold my Son, in whom I am well pleased. This is my Son. He is the Son of the Living God. We must hear that voice. It must
be real. nothing short of it saves. Last week we considered that
picture of the church in the old testament of Israel being
led out of Egypt through the wilderness ultimately to be brought
into the promised land by Joshua and we said that as a figure
as a whole God's people, all for whom Christ died, all who
are delivered from condemnation from the world, from Egypt, from
bondage, are ultimately brought into the promised land of salvation. But it has to be said that in
the historical account of Israel, in the details of the passages,
because many in that company rebelled and grew cold. They never actually entered the
promised land. Taken as a whole as a figure
of the church, the church was delivered from Egypt, brought
through the wilderness and brought with a certainty into that promised
land. But the individuals historically
in Israel, many of them did not have the faith that made them
part of the reality of which they were a picture. and many
of them perished in the wilderness never being brought into the
promised land. And in that sense they are a
picture of something else. Firstly they are a picture of
God's chastise in hand upon those who rebel against him in the
church. For God does chastise and correct
his people. But much more than this They
are a picture of those who associate with God's people in the church.
Those who come to the meetings. Those who make a profession of
faith. Those who attend. Those who hear. Those who hear the word of God.
Those who hear the gospel. But never ever enter the promised
land of glory when they die. because they never had the reality
of faith in Christ in the heart. They never had that revelation
of Christ in the heart. They never truly had the revelation
of the wrath of God against their sins. They never truly had the
revelation of the righteousness of God made theirs in Christ.
And they never truly knew Christ as the son of the living God
and as their savior. They professed it They walked
with the company. They were in the meeting. But
they never entered into the rest. They never entered into that
rest which is often spoken of in the book of Hebrews. Labouring
to enter into the rest. Into the promised land. They
were amongst those who, as the writer of the Hebrews says in
chapter 6, they were those who were once enlightened, they tasted
of the heavenly gift, made partakers of the Holy Ghost, tasted the
good word of God, the powers of the world to come, but they
fell away. And it's impossible when they've
fallen away from such things to renew them again unto repentance
seeing that they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh. and put
him to an open shame. They'd heard these things. They'd
had some taste of these things. But never the reality. Head knowledge won't do. Presumption
won't do. Attending the meetings won't
do. Hearing the gospel in word only
won't do. Being a member of a church won't
do, being baptized won't do, taking the Lord's Supper won't
do. Nothing that you can do outwardly
will guarantee your entering into glory, into the promised
land, unless there is that revelation which was made under Peter, which
can bring you to that point truly from the heart of being able
to say with a certainty, thou art the Christ. the Son of the
Living God. We need faith, not presumption,
not presumption. And Christ is revealed, revealed
to faith and to faith alone. Well, have you seen him? And
have you that faith that God alone can give? For we do not
have it naturally, we're not born with faith. People speak
of faith, putting their faith in things. But this is not a
natural faith, this is that faith that God gives to see those things
unto which naturally spiritually we are blind. To hear those things
which naturally we cannot hear. To hear that voice from heaven
which the natural ear cannot hear. We need this revelation. From whence comes this revelation?
From where does it come? It comes from God, from my Father
which is in heaven, and it comes through his gospel, and through
his gospel alone. We must hear that gospel, but
we must hear it not in word only, but by the Spirit of God. We
must hear it through faith. This revelation comes through
the gospel and by the preaching of the gospel in the spirit by
those whom God sends that Christ may build his church through
such preaching. I will build my church and he
builds it through the preaching of the gospel by the spirit by
those whom he has called and sent to preach it. and no other
way. I will build my church. It has
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe by the foolishness of preaching. I will build my church. What is the church built from?
It is built from stones. Thou art Peter and upon this
rock I will build my church. Peter in the Greek petros a stone
a small rock a rock but a small rock thou art a rock Peter but
upon this rock this petra this huge rock I will build my church
I will build my church upon this huge rock of the revelation that I am the Son of the Living
God the builder of my church I will build upon it rocks like
you, Peter, to build up into the house of God. The rock, the
Petra is the revelation of who Christ is. He is the chief cornerstone
in his church. And he and the foundations of
that church, he being the chief cornerstone, the stones being
his people like Peter, the Petros, are set upon a foundation. The foundations are built but
the foundations are laid in rock. The foundations are the 12 apostles
we read in the scriptures. The apostolic doctrine, the gospel,
this is the foundation of the church, the preaching of the
gospel. The apostolic foundation, the
apostles, with Christ the chief cornerstone for the gospel makes
known Christ. But that gospel must be laid
in something. must be laid in something it's
preached in all the world and many hear that gospel and it
has no foundation it's like it's laid upon sand and it was it's
washed away when the waters come. But when that gospel, when that
is laid upon a solid rock of foundation in the hearts of the
hearers, it's as it were, it's laid upon the rock and the house
is built upon rock and when the storms come, it's not washed
away as Matthew, as Christ says earlier in the gospel of Matthew. It's not washed away, it's built
upon rock. Well, the rock is the revelation
in the heart of Christ. And when the Gospel is laid upon
the revelation of the Father in the heart, it's built upon
rock. When the ground is prepared,
when the Spirit has gone forth and revealed the wrath of God
to people, caused them to cry out unto God for salvation, caused
them to come to the cross, caused them to see the revelation of
the righteousness of God in the gospel, caused them to see and
to understand who Christ is and to know him by revelation. When faith has been put in the
heart to hear and to believe, then the gospel, then the gospel
is laid upon a foundation of rock. laid upon the holy mountains
my foundation is in the holy mountains we read in the psalms
upon rock it's made the church is made out of these stones these
rocks like peter laid upon this foundation as peter says in his
epistle first peter chapter 2 He says, We come unto Christ, to
whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men,
but chosen of God and precious. Ye also, as lively stones, are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. wherefore also
it is contained in the scripture, behold I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect 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 disallowed, the same is made the head of
the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense even to
those which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto
also they were appointed. But you who believe, you who
are lively stones, are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
an holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the
praises of him who have called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light, which in time past were not a people but are
now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy but now
have obtained mercy. these people, these stones, he
builds his church out of these stones, nothings, they were not
a people but now they are. Chosen of God, precious, precious
his people, his stones out of which he builds his church upon
the revelation that he is Christ, the Son of the Living God. will
build upon this rock I will build my church it's my church he says
his church not man's it's not shared it's not the Church of
Rome it's not the Church of England it's not the Baptist the Brethren
or anyone's it's his church my church it's not man's it's Christ's
it's he's the builder it's his and it's not theirs as though
he gives it to them but it is his for him they are saved not
simply for the wondrous blessings that they receive by being saved
but they are saved for him he died for his people because he
loved them and would have them for his they are his purchased
possession His church is His, it's for Him. He owns it, He
loves it, He gave Himself for it, He dwells in it. It is in
Him and He is in it. It is called out, separated under
Him and His gospel. It is His church. The preaching
of the gospel is central within it. This is what brings the church
into being. This is what declares the message
of the church. The gospel declares why the church
exists, whose it is, what Christ did to purchase it, how he builds
it, how he loves it. The gospel builds the church
and it declares the reason for the church and whose the church
is, it is Christ's. He builds it because he loves
it. He saved that people because
he loved that people. though they hated him. He saved
Peter because he loved Peter, though Peter even after this
time would reject him three times. Though he would reject that he
knew him three times and be brought to much sorrow because of it,
nevertheless he loved Peter and he laid down his life for Peter.
And though the church is comprised of those who were lost in trespasses
and sins, fools, rebels, nothings, people like you and me, those
utterly undeserving, nevertheless from all time, all eternity he
loved them and he gave himself for them. He loved the church
and gave himself for it. gave himself for it. I will build
my church, he says, because I loved it and I laid down my life for
it and I will save and bring all for whom I died to hear this
message, this gospel. They will be gathered in, they
will be added and they will be built. I loved them then and
I love them now and I will love them to the end. I will build
my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it he's building his
church today he will build his church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it he builds it and nothing nothing
nothing can prevent that building Nothing can prevail against the
Church of Christ. Nothing can prevent it being
built. Nothing can prevent sinners from
hearing this Gospel and being saved. Nothing can prevent them
from being added to the assembly, the gathered congregations. Nothing
can prevent that gospel bringing forth fruit as God determines
that it shall. It will accomplish that which
God determines it will accomplish. It will save and that church
will be built. Nothing, nothing can prevent
it. Our willingness to go here, to
go there, to do this, to do that, our willingness to pray or not
to pray, our coldness of heart, our apathy, our sorrows, our
doubts, our fears, will not prevent Christ from building his church.
All these things are part of all the things which work together
for the good of those that love the Lord. They're part of all
the things that work together as the providence of God determines
that these events will come to pass, that one will go this way
and go that way, one will fall in a ditch and be lifted out,
one will go into error and be corrected, one will grow cold
and be brought back again. one will rebel and be reproved
rebuked and restored again this will happen and that will happen
but ultimately despite all the contrivances of man either to
build or not to build either to work for the glory of God
or to work against the glory of God, whatever man may do in
the church, whatever leaven may be in the church, whatever chaff
may be mixed in with the wheat, whatever opposition there may
be, whatever problems may come, the church will be built. the gospel will bring forth fruit,
I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. This is a great hope, a great
confidence that in whatever state we're in and whatever circumstance
we're in, however few we are, however much, Hell and the world
seems to prevail against the gospel and the truth and the
church. They cannot and they will not. But Christ is building,
he was building, he's continuing to build today and he will build
until the last sinner is brought in and he returns in glory to
bring that one perfect church to be with him forevermore. I
will build my church. Why? Why? Because Christ loved
the church. and gave himself for it. Christ
loved the church and gave himself for it. So he will, he says,
upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell
shall not, shall not prevail against it.