I Will Build My Church

Matthew 16:18 “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Introduction

It is claimed that some heard the captain of the Titanic Capt. Edward John Smith

say something along the lines of "Even God himself couldn't sink this ship,”

Well, we all know the tragic history of what happened there. A technological

marvel in its time, a majestic ship that many thought would be unsinkable. Over

1500 souls slipped that night into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. And like the

story of the Titanic, there are many events and cities that we could look at like the

great city of Pompeii, a place of great wealth and luxury, once a thriving Roman

City completely destroyed.

Or what about the Tower of Babel in the Bible, where man sought to make a name

for himself and edify this great tower whose top reached the heavens? Man

Throughout history has been building and building, trying to achieve great feats

and accomplishments, but everything that we build turns into ruins.

In our passage this evening, we are going to consider the promise of the Lord

Jesus, that unlike man who builds great ships like the Titanic, great cities like

Pompeii and other great Greek and roman civilizations, and great towers like the

Tower of Babel or the Twin Towers, or the Burj Khalifa in Dubai — What the Lord

Jesus Christ builds endures forever.

1. Who does the building?

While this passage seems pretty straightforward in its meaning, there has been

much debate and dispute throughout church history, in particular trying to

understand verse 18.

As many of you already know, this verse is uniquely important in Roman Catholic

theology. The Roman church has taught throughout its history that here Christ is

officially setting Peter apart as the first pope of the Church. Furthermore they

argue that it is actually Peter himself, as the 1st pope, upon whom Christ builds the

church.

And from there they reason that it is through papal succession, beginning with

Peter, that Christ builds and rules the church here on earth. The pope is called the

vicar of Christ, the head of the church. And so they claim to have this long line of

succession beginning with Peter all the way down to our present day. But is that

what the Scriptures actually teach? According to our passage this evening, who is

building the church?

Brothers and sisters, I set before you this very day that it is Christ who builds his

Church. Even if you believe that the Lord Jesus is somehow setting Peter apart to

some sort of special office of Pope, which I firmly reject that; It is not Peter who

builds the church, it is the Lord Jesus Christ himself who builds his church.

I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH. That is the promise given in the passage. My purpose

this evening is not necessarily to go into all the arguments and different views of

the first portion of verse 18, so let me just give you what I believe the Scriptures

teach and you can look into it on your own time and see if you agree. Who or what

is this rock that Christ mentions?

This is why it is important when we are reading and interpreting the Bible to

remember this basic and yet crucial principle of hermeneutics. We must interpret

scripture with scripture. If you have a text that is a bit more difficult to understand,

it needs to be interpreted in light of clear passages. The reason is that we know

that all scripture is breathed out (theopneustos) by God (2 Tim 3:16), therefore it is

not going to contradict itself. There is consistency and harmony within the

Scriptures, and so we need to read all of scripture, both Old and New Testaments.

Listen to Ephesians 2:20 as I read it:

“Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens

with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the

foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief

cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy

temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place

of God in the Spirit.” (NKJV)

Paul here is writing to the Ephesian church and he tells them that they have been

built upon the foundation of the Papacy, the office of the pope. That’s what he

means right? That’s not what he says. He doesn’t even mention Peter exclusively,

but Paul in a very clear manner identifies that the foundation upon which the

household of God is built, that is the church of God, is the apostles and the

prophets. The church of Christ is built on the apostolic teaching that we have contained for us here in our Bible. It is

through this apostolic witness, that the Church is being built.

Listen to our confession, chapter 26, paragraph 4:

“The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church, in whom, by the appointment of

the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order or government of the church,

is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner; neither can the Pope of Rome in

any sense be head thereof…”

Now, where am I going with all of this? Here we have a glorious promise, brothers

and sisters, that we need to be reminded of.

In one sense it does not matter if our local church has been established for 30 or

40 years as a strong, mature congregation or perhaps our new church plant back

home (BBC). Whether old or young, we need to be reminded of this promise —

Christ has promised that he will build his church.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ himself.

And would we have it any other way? Would we want someone else to build the

Church of Christ? We would be hopeless if the destiny of the church rested upon

Pastor Cook or Pastor Ibrahim, or Pastor Bauer, or any of our pastors here at Grace

It would be disheartening if it depended on me!

The text does not tell us that it is the pastors or the deacons who build the church,

or any other mere man.

What I want to drive home here is that this is not dependent on human initiative or

human wisdom or human perseverance.

It is ultimately dependent on the power, wisdom, and faithfulness of the risen

and living Christ to keep this promise: "I will build my Church."

Not, "You will build my church." Or, "Missionaries will build my church." Or, "Pastors will build

my church." But, "I will build my church."

It is the God-man himself, the Lord Jesus, who is building his church.

He who gave himself for his church, the lamb who was slain, and with his blood

purchased for God a people out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

The builder and maker of the Church is Christ himself.

And this is cause for great joy and hope. Has God ever broken any of his

promises? Have any of his promises failed?

Then why would we ever think, how could we ever imagine that Jesus Christ

would fail to fulfill this promise? “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, AND THE GATES OF

HELL WILL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT.”

Grace Baptist Church, are you looking to the Savior? Are you looking to the

Lord Jesus Christ, to build his church here among you? Where does your hope lie?

2. How does Christ build His Church?

So far, we have considered that it is the Lord Jesus Christ himself who builds his

Church, but how does he do it? How does Jesus build his Church? What are his materials and tools?

In Zechariah 6:12 “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord.”

We have that wonderful promise that the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, and He shall build the temple of the LORD.

In the Old Testament, when one thinks of the tabernacle or the temple, what would they use to build those structures? You can read in 1st Kings chapters 6:

Solomon’s temple was built with large windows and chambers crafted with wood and large beams, boards of Cedar,

planks of Cypress, the cherubim were made of olive wood, and there was gold everywhere. It was furnished with the

most precious and excellent materials available.

But how does Christ build his Church? Does he use wood, gold, concrete, steel, or glass?

COMMENT

1 Peter 2:4-5 tells us:

“Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God

and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a

holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus

Christ.”

The material and workmanship of Christ is not physical stone or wood or gold but it is of a spiritual nature.

It is through the apostolic teaching; it is through the preaching of Jesus Christ and him

crucified by which God builds his church. As the Holy Spirit takes that word that is

preached and applies it to the heart of a lost sinner, that person is then converted

and living stones are added to the church of Christ.

Think of a Church being built brick by brick; as each brick is placed, one on top of

the other that structure begins to take form and is raised up, well in a similar

manner Christ is building his church, but not with physical bricks or stones, but

with living, spiritual stones.

As sinners are saved, and souls are added to the church, the structure begins to

take form, each redeemed soul is like a brick that is added one on top of another.

That’s why it is so marvelous to read in the book of Acts that 3000 souls were

added to the church in one day. Christ is building his church.

It is not by human power or wisdom. It is not through great political or military

might. But Christ is powerfully building His church as he calls sinners out of

darkness and into the marvelous light.

This effectual calling takes place through the means of the preached word and by the power of the Holy Spirit

according to the pattern of God’s electing purpose.

And here, as Christians, we have a much-needed reminder. It is through the

Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ, who He is and what he has done, that the church is built.

So many times, it is easy to get caught up in thinking that the Church of Jesus

Christ advances through other means. *Social Media*

Yes it is true that the work of the Gospel requires money.

“Though carnal sounding, cash is the fuel that runs the kingdom machinery. Many kingdom ships that could be launched end up rotting in the harbor due to lack of funds. Were it not for generous financial supporters, the great missionary Adoniram Judson would never have set sail for Burma. (78)” - Mark Chanski

— Manly Dominion

It costs money to print books and tracts, and to have a church building to meet in,

whether renting or buying, and it costs money to pay the pastor and to keep the

lights on, and to pay for resources such as teaching materials, and to run a seminary, and to fund missionary efforts,

and to give to those in need, and to feed the poor, and to have fellowship lunches, and the list can go on and on….

But never forget, brothers and sisters, that it is the Lord Jesus Christ himself who builds his church, and it is through

the proclamation of the Gospel that sinners are saved and added to his church.

May we never forget that! Even if we have no money to pay for any of those things that I just mentioned, may we never

abandon the primary means by which God has promised through Christ to build his church.

How many churches throughout history that were once flourishing churches, with great influence and great resources

are now no longer in existence? They slowly drifted away or altogether abandoned the gospel or compromised in some area.

May that never be said of us. May that never be said of Grace Baptist Church.

It is the preaching of Jesus Christ crucified that God has promised to bless and by

which to build his church.

Do we long to see the church of God full? Do we long to see Christ build his church and sinners converted? Do we long

to see Jesus Christ honored and glorified by a great multitude that no man can count or number..Then we must

continue to PREACH THE GOSPEL. There is no other way.

We must never fall prey to the mindset that somehow we outgrow the Gospel.

That the Gospel is simply the introduction to the Christian faith, and we somehow go on to bigger and better things.

Brothers and sisters, there is nothing more glorious than the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is nothing more glorious than to tell the dying world that there is a savior of Sinners.

That there is hope and healing and reconciliation with God.

That although they are great sinners, there is an even greater Savior of Sinners.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is God the Son who came into this world, born of a

virgin — he took to himself a human body and became man.

He is truly God and truly man. Man to identify and God to pacify.

This God-man came to save sinners and to do what none of us could ever do.

We could never save ourselves; we could never do enough good deeds to earn

God’s favor. We were lost and wretched, sick and diseased from our sins, blind

and hopeless.

BUT GOD… WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE WITH

WHICH HE LOVED US, EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN TRESPASSES, MADE US

ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST (BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED).

Oh, what a glorious gospel! What a glorious redeemer! The Lord Jesus Christ

offers himself freely to all who would come and receive him. He offers himself

freely to all, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting

life.

There are many who can preach the gospel better than I can, but none can preach

a better Gospel.

What about you sitting here today? Do you know this Savior? Are you part of his

church? I don’t mean are you necessarily a member of a local church although that is very important. We certainly

believe in biblical church membership. But there are people who are members of churches and are unconverted. Do

you belong to Christ, are your sins forgiven? Have you been united to him by faith?

Are you a living stone, offering up Spiritual worship? It is through this glorious gospel that the Lord Jesus Christ builds his church.

But notice 3rdly, not only that it is Jesus Christ himself, who builds his church and the means by which Christ builds his church as we just considered, namely the Gospel but notice 3rdly that Jesus promises that He WILL build his church.

3. He WILL Build his Church

I want to emphasize the word “WILL”. This indicates to us that Christ is not

finished building his church. This is a progressive work. The work is not done.

Christ is still building his church 2000 years later.

And we know this first because His word tells us so. We have the promise of the

Lord Jesus Christ, that he will build his church. But also we can see the tangible

evidence of that right here as we are gathered this evening.

Grace Baptist Church is evidence that Christ is building his church. Is it not?

This ought to encourage you to press on, to keep on, to not give up in your labors.

Christ has promised that he WILL build his church and so why would we give up?

why would we drawback when things get difficult? The captain of our salvation

has promised dear believer, that he is building his church all throughout the world,

and that includes this one.

4. The Ownership of the Church

Fourthly, notice the ownership of the

Church.

“I will build MY church.” In one sense, it is incorrect to say my church. Sometimes

We’ll say things like, “Welcome to my church”, now I know what we mean when we

say that. But this is an important reality. Brothers and Sisters, the church does not

belong to us. Christ promised that he would build his church, not our church, not

your church, not the pastor’s church. He is building his church. The Church

belongs to HIM. It is Christ’s Church.

Splitting hairs - But this is important. Not insignificant.

COMMENT 2 Corinthians 7:1 “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

Many in our day despise the church. They want nothing more than to destroy her.

Finally, we have that wonderful promise

that not even hell itself can stand against

the church.

VERSE 18:

“I will build My church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”

As Christ is building his church, here is this promise that he will

preserve and secure those who belong to him.

The reality is brethren, that the church does have an enemy. There are enemies that are waging war against the Church

of Christ, and seeking to destroy her. And so we need to be on guard, firmly rooted in the Lord

Jesus Christ. That is why Paul calls believers in Ephesians 6 to take up the whole

armor of God.

We are at war! We are in a spiritual battle. The devil and his minions are real. Sin is

real. And they are seeking to devour. And so we need to be prepared. It will not be

easy. Satan is not taking his defeat laying down.

There are two errors that we need to avoid. Satan is happy if we make these two

errors.

1. On the one hand, some see Satan under every rock and every leaf.

2. On the other hand, the Devil is nothing more than a defeated foe.

We need to be ready and recognize that there are those who will fight and oppose

the truths of the Gospel; who will persecute ministers of the Gospel and will

persecute Christians. They will try to slander, and if that does not work they will

try to seduce you into the pleasures of this world in order to corrupt the purity of

the church and its testimony and if that does not work they will by force try to root

out Christianity by any means necessary as Church history shows us.

But take heart dear Christian, while the world opposes itself to all that is of God -

we can be encouraged that the Church will not fail. The enemy will not ultimately

defeat her. Individual local churches may flourish or they may fail. But Christ has

his people in every part of the world. He has a people from every kindred, tribe,

tongue, people and nation.

In fact, the text tells us that the GATES of Hell will not prevail against the church.

Perhaps I am reading too much into the text, but it does tell us that they are gates.

As the Church we are to be on the offensive. We are to assail and assault the

gates of Hell with the Gospel. As Christ builds his church, sinners are plucked like

a brand from the fire; Sinners are rescued from the very city of Hell. It is the

church that is advancing and the gates of hell will not prevail against her.

He lives to crush the fiends of hell! Glory, Hallelujah!

To bring this all to a close - Grace, who is building the church here in this local body

of believers? Is it Christ or someone else?

Solomon tells us in Psalm 127 that “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor

in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman stays awake in

vain.”

IF YOU ARE HERE THIS MORNING AND YOU ARE NOT A BELIEVER…

Who do you say the Lord Jesus Christ is? (Matt 16:13) Is he just another prophet? Like Buddha,

Mohammed, Joseph Smith — Is he like those men? Just another person who

taught some good things; things about love and kindness and feeding the poor.

Was he just another religious leader?

Like Peter, you too must come to a decision and a confession. Who will you say

that Christ is? This is not a trivial matter. Your eternal destiny depends on it. You

cannot remain neutral. My dear friend you cannot continue to play both sides of

the field; you cannot keep straddling the fence.

Who do you say Christ is?

Oh that you would this very day, like Peter, confess to the Lord Jesus — “You are

the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And that you too, would hear those wonderful words from the lips of our Savior,

“Blessed are you, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father

who is in heaven.” AMEN.

Let’s close in prayer.