Matthew 16, the church that Christ
builds. Now this is the first time in verse 18 that the word church
is mentioned in the Bible. It's not in the Old Testament.
And in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, it's only
used twice, both times by the Lord Jesus. both times, just
two times, right here in Matthew. The apostles used the word frequently
and often in their epistles. But while our Lord was ministering
here on the earth in the flesh, when he was instructing his disciples,
he used the word church two times. And the apostles used it many
times thereafter. And it's very significant. It's
very significant and most important for us to note that in the first
mission of the church, the very first mission by our Lord, he
connected the church with the right knowledge of himself. To
know Christ is to be in the church. Not to know Christ and who he
is and what he did, where he is, is not to be in the church.
No matter what name we wear. But he connects it with himself.
Now watch this. Here in Matthew 16. And he asked them in verse
13, when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he
asked his disciples. Now read this carefully. Whom
do men say that I the Son of Man am? And he asked his disciples,
whom do you say that I the Son of Man am? He asked them, whom
do you say that I am? But whom did they say that I,
the Son of Man, the Man Jesus Christ? That's the only way they
looked at him. That's the way the world looked
at him. He was in the world and the world didn't know him. He
came into his own. His own received him not. They
said, this is the carpenter, a winebibber, a gluttonous man.
We know his mother and father. We know his brothers and sisters. So he asked them, well, whom
do men say that I, the Son of Man, Jesus of Nazareth? And they
told him. People out there don't agree
on who you are. They say you're a whole lot of different things.
Some say you're John the Baptist, risen from the dead. Some say
you're Elijah. Some say you're Jeremiah, or
one of the prophets. They've got a lot of ideas about
who you are. None of them right. None of them right. But then
he asked them this question, he said, but whom do you say
that I am? Now you know that goes back to
the rock, I mean the burning bush, goes back to the burning
bush in Exodus. Moses stood at that bush and
the voice of God spoke to him and told him he'd go down and
lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. And he said, well,
They're going to ask me, who sent me? Who this God is that
sent me? What's my name? What shall I
say? Tell them, I am that I am. And that's what our Lord is saying
to these disciples. Whom do you say? I am. And Peter answered. And Peter
answered and said, Thou art the Christ. Thou art the Son of the
living God. And Peter Christ said, Peter,
blessed are you, Simon Barjona. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. Flesh and blood, those folks out there just answered
the flesh and blood opinion of Christ. Elijah, John the Baptist,
Jeremiah, one of the prophets. But my Father which is in heaven,
he revealed to you who I am and that I am. And I say unto you
that you're Peter, In that way, the seekers are a stone. And upon this rock, I'll build
my church, first time. And I say, you're Peter. You're
a stone. And upon this confession, upon
this knowledge of who I am, upon this confession and this knowledge
of who I am, that's the foundation of my church. I'll build my church.
This is the question to be put to any who would be in the church,
this church. This is the question to put to
any person who would be in this church. Who is he? Whom say you
that I am? If you can't answer that question,
you don't belong in his church. You're not a part of his church.
Whom do you say that I am? Thou to Christ, the Son of the
Living God. One cannot be right in anything
pertaining to God unless he's right on who Christ is. No one
can be in his church, in his kingdom, in his covenant, or
rejoiced in his heaven who does not confess from his soul that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's right. In all things,
it's first Christ and then the church. If you're going to preach
on the church, you've got to first preach Christ. Because
this is the foundation. This is the confession. This
is the knowledge on which I'll build my church. Christ is first
and then the church. There's a whole lot of preaching
today which centers on the church. And there's a lot of talk about
its creed, its covenants, its government, its laws, its origin,
its succession, its name, its ordinances. But our chief concern
is Christ, it's head. Christ, then the church. Christ
is the root, we're the branches. Christ is the head, we're the
body. Christ is the builder, the church
is the building. Follow that with that over in
Hebrews 3, turn over there with me. Christ is the builder, the
church is the building. And who's the greater? The building
or the building? All right, let's read in Hebrews
3, verse 1. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of
our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him that
appointed him, God appointed Christ our Redeemer, as also
Moses was faithful in all his house. And this man, Jesus Christ,
was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who
hath builded the house hath more honor than the house." Don't
exalt the church. Call people's attention to the
church. It's Christ. He's the root. We're the branches. He's the head. We're the body,
he's the builder, we're the building. And outside of this circle of
believers, wherever they are, outside of this circle of believers,
Jesus of Nazareth is a dozen different things. But inside
this circle of believers, Jesus Christ is the Son of the living
God. And men may talk of division.
in the churches, and yea, there are many. But in the true church,
of which he is the foundation and the head and the builder,
there are no divisions. Those who are taught of God are
of one mind, regarding the chief one, Jehovah God. One mind, one
heart, one confession. And if tonight I should go over
this world and select 1,000 different believers and march them one
at a time up these steps and across this platform and in front
of this pulpit and ask each of them this question. Who is Jesus
of Nazareth? Without a doubt, every one of
them would say, He's the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's
right. Every one of them. There are
no divisions in regard to who he is. He is Christ, the Son
of the living God, who redeemed us to God by his blood, out of
every kindred, nation, tongue, and people on this earth. It's
Christ. Then talk about the Church. I'm going to divide this message
into four parts. Our Lord mentions four things
here. First of all, he says there's a building. There's a building. Peter, on this rock, I will build
my church. Well, let's see what Peter says
about that building, that church. Turn with me to 1 Peter, chapter
2. 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 5. Verse 4 and 5, 1 Peter 2, 4 and
5, I will build my church. A church is not a material structure. The church is a spiritual house.
The church is not a national organization. The Catholic Church,
the Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, the Baptist
Church, no, it's not a national organization. The church is not
even a denomination. It's a spiritual house. Look
at 1 Peter 2 verse 4. To whom coming as unto a living
stone, this is Christ, disallowed indeed of men, rejected of men,
despised of men, but he is chosen of God and precious, you also
are living stones. You weren't living when he found
you, you were dead in the rock quarry of human depravity and
he found you. But now you're a living stone
and you're built up. A spiritual house, a spiritual
temple, a church, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. When the average person on the
street is asked about his church, he will tell you about the building
where he worships on Sunday. When the Catholic mentions the
church, he means the Roman Catholic hierarchy ruled over by the Pope,
the Cardinals, and the Bishops. When the Protestant leaders speak
of the church, they refer to their denomination, the Methodist
Church. the Anglican Church, the Presbyterian
Church, the Lutheran Church. When the independent speaks of
the church, he means his local assembly, where he's a member,
where he takes the Lord's Supper, where he is baptized. And most
of the time, when the apostles talk about the church, they're
talking about that local assembly. When the apostles talk about
the church at Galatia, That's not this church Christ is talking
about here in Matthew 16. The church at Ephesus, the church
at Thessalonica, the church at Ashland, the church at Lexington,
the church at Danville, those are individual, autonomous, indigenous,
separate, independent assemblies that meet together with pastors,
elders who worship God. Churches! Churches. And Christ meets you in that
church. Turn to Matthew 18. Matthew 18. Matthew 18, verse
15. Now this is the second time he
mentions the word church. First time he's talking about
that church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven.
He's talking about that church in which there's not a lost person,
not a tire or a chaff. It's the redeemed of all ages,
given to Christ in the covenant of grace. He's talking about
the local assembly. Now watch it. Matthew 18. Christ
recognizes both. He says in verse 15, moreover
if your brother shall trespass against you. He did something
wrong. Now you go tell him his fault
between you and him alone. You go tell him you're offended
with him and he's offended you. And if he hears you, you've gained
your brother. This is our Lord speaking now.
But if he won't hear you, Take with you one or two more friends,
brethren, that in the mouth of truthful witnesses every word
may be established. But if he will not hear them,
tell it to the church. And if he neglects to hear the
church, the elders and the men of the church, and when the church
makes an observation, a decision concerning this conflict, if
he won't hear the church, Then let him be counted to you a heathen
and a publican. You see, our Lord's talking about
13th Street Baptist Church or the church at Galatia. He's saying
two brethren have a quarrel. Y'all settle it. Don't make it
a church matter. Y'all settle it. And if you can't
settle it, then get some of the brothers and y'all settle it. But if he continues to be a vagabond
and a repple, then take it to the church. Let the church make
a decision, and he's got to hear the church. If he doesn't hear
the church, dismiss him. So the Lord's talking about,
but now here in Matthew 16, our Lord's not talking about local
assemblies, he's not talking about churches at all. He said,
I'll build my church. The gifts of hell will not prevail
against him. And the Lord is speaking here
of his elect. He's speaking here of that blessed company of God's
children in heaven and earth. He's speaking of the household
of faith. That's what he calls it, household
of faith. He's speaking of the call of Christ Jesus. He's speaking
of the church which he purchased with his own blood. Purchased,
paid for, redeemed, washed in the blood of the Lamb. He's speaking
of the multitude that shall be assembled in his presence and
glory, not one missing. He's speaking of the sheep of
his pasture. He's speaking of the bride of
Christ. He's speaking of those who are called by his name, the
Lord our righteousness. I'll build my church. Let's read
about it in Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 5. Now, and
I try to tell people With all my heart, I love the local New
Testament church. I've been pastor of one for years
and years and years. I believe preachers are trained
by the churches. I believe missionaries are sent
out from the churches. I believe the churches have been
given charge or authority over the district in
the ordinances, the baptism. And making elders and ordaining
preachers, that's church, churches. But that's not the church. The
church is made up of every true believer. Now listen to this
right here. He says in Ephesians 5 verse
23, For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is
the head of the church. Christ is the head of the church.
He's the Savior of the body, the church and the body. This
is not bodies. He has one body. He doesn't have
a bunch of bodies. He's got one. One church, one
body. Therefore as the church is subject
to Christ, so let the wives be their own husbands in everything.
Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. There isn't
anywhere in this world you can put the 13th Street Baptist Church
in that place there. This is the elect of God. Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it, that he might sanctify it and cleanse it with
the washing of the water of the word, cleanse the whole church,
every believer. that he might present it to himself
a glorious church. Not glorious churches, but a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. Look at Ephesians
1. Why do you have Ephesians? Ephesians
1, verse 22. It says here that the Father
hath put all things unto his feet, and gave him to be the
head over all things in the church. Now Hebrews 2, let's go to Hebrews
2. And Paul talks in Hebrews about
this church. Hebrews 2, verse 11 and 12. Hebrews 2, 11 and 12. For both
he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of
one. One. For which cause he is not
ashamed to call them brethren. saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren in the midst of the church, that I sing praise
unto thee." There are churches literally everywhere, all kinds,
shapes, forms, but there is one glorious, sanctified, redeemed,
blood-washed church, which is the body of Christ. Look at Hebrews
12, and we read about it here. verse 22, Hebrews 12 verse 22. He says, You are come unto Mount
Zion, unto the city of the living God. This is all one covenant,
one people. Zion, city of the living God,
heaven of Jerusalem, an innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly, to the church of the firstborn, which is written in
heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of
just men, made perfect. I build my church. The Lord is
speaking here of his elect. And in this church, there are
no tyrants. There's no chaff. There's no
false professors. There's no unbelievers. They've
all been born of God. repented of sin, believed on
Christ, made new creatures in Christ, and they're all accepted
and beloved, and every one of them are looking for his return.
Build my church. All right, secondly, there's
a building. Now, secondly, there's a builder.
The Lord Jesus said, I will build my church. I will build my church. Well, the Church of the Lord
Jesus Christ is tenderly loved and cared for by all three persons
in the Blessed Trinity. The Father loved us. The Father
chose us. The Father gave us to Christ. The Father accepted us in the
Beloved. The Holy Spirit quickened us.
The Holy Spirit convicted us. The Holy Spirit teaches us. The
Holy Spirit sanctifies us and the Holy Spirit comforts us.
But Christ said, I'll build my church. He's the builder. It says in Acts 2, And the Lord
added to the church daily, such as should be saved. He's the
builder. He alone can open the door. He
alone can add to the church. Until he opens, no man will open.
And when he opens, no man will shut. Take for example the thief
on the cross. He was never baptized. He was
never received in the local church. He was never voted on. He was
never given the bread and the wine. He never had a human pastor. And he may not be recognized
by a lot of people. But he was received by Christ
into his church and taken with him to glory and all the religious
organizations and power in this world can't exclude him. That's
right. That's the church I want to be
a part of. I'll build my church. Salvation
is of the Lord. I jotted down some things that
only refer to Christ in this thing of building his
church. Number one, he gives us life. The Son quickeneth whom he will. He said, my sheep hear my voice,
and they follow me, and I give them eternal life. Secondly,
he redeemed us by his blood. Christ redeemed me by his blood.
With his stripes I'm healed. He gives me peace. He says, my
peace I give unto you. He gives me rest. He said, you
come to me, I'll give you rest. And the more you learn of me,
the more rest you'll find. He makes me a son of God. To
his men is received him. To them gave he the power to
be a son of God. He keeps me from falling. Now
unto him that's able to keep us from falling. He presents
me holy and unbendable before the Father in his divine presence. He intercedes for me. I've got
one mediator between me and God. One. Jesus Christ the righteous. And one day he'll come for me. I'm not waiting on a millennium.
I'm waiting for the king of the millennium. I'm not waiting for
an event. I'm waiting for him. I'm not
waiting for a wedding. I'm waiting for the bridegroom. Get that through our heads, and
we won't be disturbed by all this. What's his name, Van Antwerp
or something? I wish the Lord heard him come
and said, he'd get off the air, don't you? He said, I'm going
to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where
I am there you may be. I'll build my church, and he'll
keep me to the river, raise his waters at my feet, and he'll
bear me safely over where my Savior I shall meet. All right, let's look at this
text again. There's a building. He called
it his church. I will build my church. There's
a builder. But there's a foundation. There's a foundation. Go back
and read verse 17. Peter said, verse 16, Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord Jesus answered
and said, Blessed art thou, Simon, by Jonah, son of Jonah. flesh
and blood didn't reveal that to you, but my Father which is
in heaven. And I say unto you that you are
Cephas, a stone. Upon this rock I will build my
church." Well, my friends, that rock is not Peter, it can't be.
The cornerstone of the Lord's church is not this fallible man,
Peter. The foundation is Christ. Christ
and the mighty truth God revealed to Peter, who Christ is, what
Christ did, and why he did it. Let's let Peter describe that
in himself. Turn back to that text in 1 Peter
2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Let me read a couple more verses,
1 Peter 2. Go back and start where we were.
Christ, the foundation was laid at a mighty cost, the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And to that foundation every
believer as a living stone is joined. This church is a spiritual
house, a living temple, the house of God. Christ, this cornerstone,
every believer a living stone in that house. All right, read
Peter here, 1 Peter 2, 4. To whom coming as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious,
You also as living stones. Now a person that's not saved
doesn't know Christ, who he is. He's not a living stone. You don't put dead stones in
a living building on a spiritual house. You as living stones are
built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also
it's contained in the scriptures. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious. He that believeth on him shall
not be ashamed, shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore
which believe, he is precious. But unto them that are disobedient,
religious or nonreligious, the stone which the builders disallowed,
the same is made the head of the corner, and to them To you
he's precious. To them he's a stone of stumbling.
He's a rock of offense. Even to them would stumble at
the word, being disobedient, whereunto they were appointed.
But you, my church, your chosen generation, chosen by God, your
royal priesthood, he's made us kings and priests. That's the
royal priesthood, the king priest. You are a holy nation, holy and
righteous in his righteousness. You are a peculiar or purchased
people, that you should show forth the praises of him who
hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, wherein
which in time past were not a people. But now you are the people of
God. You had not obtained mercy, but now you have obtained mercy. Christ is the foundation. Turn
to Matthew 7 just a moment. I believe this scripture in Matthew
7 relates to this rock. There are two or three verses
I want to show you here. Matthew 7, verse 24. Therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and deareth them, I liken him unto a wise
man, who built his house, on a rock. That rock is Christ. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it
fell not. It was founded on a rock. One
other scripture, Isaiah 28. I believe that Peter was quoting
Isaiah 28 over there, as we just read. Behold, I lay in Zion a
tribestone. chief cornerstone, and here is
what he was quoting from the Old Testament. Isaiah 28, verse
14. God rebukes the religious people
who speak in his name but do not know him. Verse 14, Isaiah
28, verse 14. Wherefore, hear the word of the
Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. That was the religious rulers,
Pharisees, and so forth. Because you've said, we've made
a covenant with death. We're not afraid to die. With
hell and we're at agreement, it's not going to have anything
to do with us. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it shall not come unto us. We've made
lies our refuge. We have a refuge, God calls it
a refuge of lies. There's only one refuge and that's
Christ. Under falsehoods we hid ourselves,
therefore thus saith the Lord God. Now here's the foundation. Here's Christ. Behold, I lay
in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a tried stone. He was tried, keeped in all points
as we are yet without sin, a precious cornerstone. To you that believe
he's precious, to the Father he's precious, his blood's precious.
He's a sure foundation. All who are built on him are
redeemed eternally, forever. And he that believeth shall not
make haste, shall not be ashamed, shall not be confounded. That's
our foundation. All right, Matthew 16, and one
final point. There's a building, I'll build
my church. There's a builder, I'll build
my church. There's a foundation upon this
rock, the art of Christ. The art of Christ, the art of
the Son of the living God, who came to earth and worked out
a perfect obedience, died on the cross, redeemed us by his
blood, went back to glory where he intercedes and come again
for us. That's our foundation. Now here's the church succession. Listen. And the gates of hell. What are the gates of hell? Well,
the gates of hell are the powers of evil. We wrestle now against
flesh and blood. but principalities and powers,
rulers of the darkness, spiritual wickedness in our places. The
head of the church has enemies, and his church has enemies, and
these enemies are the gates of hell. They're the powers of evil
and sin and darkness and death. The history of God's church has
been a history of conflict Which of the prophets did not your
father stone? All of the apostles were martyred
except one. People killed them just like
they killed their Lord. The early church was scattered because
of persecution, harassment. They ridiculed them and called
them the people of the way. Saul of Tarsus said, I went to
Damascus and if I found any of that way, There are plenty of
synagogues and temples and religious organizations, but if I find
any of them that way, I'll put them in prison, and I'll kill
them. The history of Christ's church has been one of conflict,
persecution, harassment, and war. Satan hates the true church. He hates this church. I'll tell you this, and I'm not
ashamed to say this, and he's in league. with a lot of churches. That's where Satan operates in
false religion. His ministers are called ministers
of righteousness. Not Christ's righteousness, but
man's righteousness. Satan hates the true church.
Satan hates the true Redeemer. The world hates the true Redeemer
and hates his church and hates his prophets and hates his apostles.
And while the world's religious organizations have times of peace
and human glory and recognition, and they call on them to pray
at all the special national events, but this church, this church
has never had a day of peace, not in this world. In me you
have peace, in this world you have tribulation. That's what
he said. I didn't come to send peace, but a sword. While the world's religious organizations
had peace, not the true church. The world's not at peace with
this church, and this church's not at peace with the world.
But we're at peace with Christ. But he promises here, the gates
of hell shall not prevail against us. I prepared the table before
him in the presence of my enemies. He spread the table. And it's
delicious, it's so satisfying, it's peaceful, restful, joyful
in the presence of our enemies. And empires have risen and fallen,
but this church lives on. And great cities have become
heaps of ruins, but his church goes on. Mighty kings have been overthrown,
and his church lives on. Powerful religious organizations
have risen, ruled their day, and disappeared. His church goes
on. On this rock, thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God, and all related to that, and all
that he is and did and where he is now. And his glorious covenant
and kingdom, on this rock I'll build my church, my church. And
the gates of hell will never prevail against it. They'll try. He didn't say they'll never attack
it, he said they'll never prevail. They'll never win the battle.
And one of the poets wrote this, listen. Talk about these stones,
these living stones. Scattered over all the earth
they lie, these stones, these stones watched over by God's
eye. And then each one drawn by the power of his name, and
he builds them into a beautiful frame. And for this purpose his sovereign
spirit groans and gathers all these chosen ones, greatest of
gifts His love imparts and makes them one in mind and heart. And the Spirit joins every soul
that looks to be in bonds of perfect charity. And the gates
of hell shall not prevail. This church, his church, will
never fail. And he said in verse 19, let
me give you this because somebody is going to ask this. And Peter,
I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever I shall
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. What are these keys?
Well, Peter doesn't have the keys to eternal life. Scripture
says on his side are the keys of hell and death. Christ has
those keys. He opens and no man shuts. He
shuts and no man is open. These keys are the gospel. I've
got them right here. It's the gospel. The people who
preach the gospel. He's given Peter and the apostles
the gospel. And they go out. It's the key
to life. It's the key to truth. It's the
key to heaven. It's the key. It's Christ. And
we preach Christ. And those who receive it and
they're bound together here will be bound in heaven. And those
who won't receive it and they leave it They've left heaven
too. That's what he's saying there. No question about that.
No question about that.