I Will Build My Church

Trinity Wesleyan Holiness Church, Inc. Am Worship Service Sunday July 29, 2018 Text: Matthew 16:13-18 Topic: I Will Build My Church. Speaker: Rev. Lorenze H. Davis, Sr. Introduction: In last Sunday’s message we said that there were many reasons why Jesus came to earth. And we saw where Jesus stated in John 6:38, For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. The title of this three-part message which we started last Sunday is suggesting to us that Jesus’ intention to build His church is in full agreement with the will of His father. From the text we highlighted the words, I will build my church, because not only do they formulate the title of the message, but they also declare Jesus’ unwavering commitment to building His church as the church shows forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Moreover, we stated the fact that God is still building his church. We suggested to us that when Jesus said, I will build my church, He was expressing His father’s three-fold plan to build the church. The three-fold plan included: 1. God’s purpose in building His church, which we excavated last Sunday, 2. God’s promise to build His church, which we will be excavating today, 3. God’s power planted within the church, which we will conclude next Sunday. The last time we excavated God’s purpose for building His church, we saw that that purpose was that He might sanctify and cleanse the church with the washing of water by the word, And also, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. Today let us uncover together: II. God’s promise to build His church We will be looking at three promises that God made to the church as He builds His church. A. The first of those promises that God fulfilled in building His church is the promise of salvation. 1. Jesus’ promise to build his church begins with the offer of eternal life to all who believe in Him. 2. And all who respond by faith to this promise of eternal life become part of the church that Jesus promised to build: 3. The Bible says in Romans 10:9-11, 4. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 5. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Jesus’ promise to build His church, is both a wonderful and powerful promise. • I want us to understand this morning that building the church is not my responsibility, and neither is it your responsibility. • Christ is the builder of the church, and He is responsible to build His church. • The apostle Paul testified in 1 Corinthians 3:6, I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. • Have you benefited from God’s promise of salvation? • All those who have, have something to talk about, they have something to testify about. B. The second promise that God fulfilled in building His church is not only the promise of salvation, but He also fulfilled the promise of sending His Spirit’s power. 1. Jesus said in john 14:16, 2. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever. 3. Jesus knew that the church would need the power of the Holy Spirit to: • contend with the gates of hell • counteract the forces of evil. • Confront the powers of darkness • Cancel the plans of Satan. 4. Therefore, on the day of Pentecost God fulfilled His promise, by sending the Holy Spirit into the church with the sound of a rushing mighty wind to fill every member of the church who was present in the upper room. 5. And that filling prepared them to be His witness both in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. And I want to say to us today as a church, that God knows that each of us needs the power of His Holy Spirit right now to: • contend with the gates of hell • counteract the forces of evil. • Confront the powers of darkness • Cancel the plans of Satan. 6. I want us to know this morning that God has that same filling for His church today. 7. And what that filling accomplished in the lives of the early church, the Spirit of God want to accomplish in the church that He is building today. 8. The Holy Spirit is the “building block” of the church. 9. The Holy Spirit is the stabilizing power of the church 10. Without the Holy Spirit, the church will crumble. • But God is not in the crumbling business, God is in the constructing business. • Thank God for the Holy Spirit that fortifies and strengthens the body of Christ. • Thank God for the Holy Spirit that is available to fortify and strengthen you and me today as members of the body of Christ. A third and final promise that God fulfilled in building His church is not only the promise of salvation, and the promise of sending His Spirit’s power, but God also promised to: C. Send His son back to receive His chosen ones. 1. In addition to promising the presence of His Holy Spirit. 2. Jesus also promised in John 14: 2C, I go to prepare a place for you. 3. And he continues in verse 3, 4. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 5. The word of God also assures us in Matthew 24:31, that God shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 6. And verse 36 sounds the alarm that precedes the sound of the trumpet, it says, 7. “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 8. Finally, in verse 44, it alerts us therefore to be ye also ready: for in such an hour as we think not the Son of man will come. Jesus Christ has promised to build His church, and He has kept His promise, and He continues to keep it today, and He will continue to keep it until that day that the angel of God will stand with his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth and proclaim that time shall be no more, according to Revelation 10:1-6. Has God been preparing you as an individual member of His church? Have you given Him the opportunity to fulfill His promise of salvation in your life? Have you given him the option to fulfill the promise of His Spirit’s power in you? And will you be ready when He sends His son back to receive you? He wants to fulfill His promise of: Salvation in you. He wants to fulfill the promise of: His spirit in you. And He wants to fulfill His promise of: Sending His son to receive you. Trinity Wesleyan Holiness Church, Inc. Am Worship Service Sunday July 29, 2018 Text: Matthew 16:18 Topic: I Will Build My Church. Speaker: Rev. Lorenze H. Davis, Sr. A. The first of those promises that God fulfilled in building His church is the promise of salvation. B. The second promise that God fulfilled in building His church is not only the promise of salvation, but He also fulfilled the promise of sending His Spirit’s power. The third and final promise that God fulfilled in building His church is not only the promise of salvation, and the promise of sending His Spirit’s power, but God also promised to: C. Send His son back to receive His chosen ones.