Church Construction
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 14 viewsThe mission of the local church; what the church is and isn’t; rural application
Notes
Transcript
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 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. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
COVID and the Identity Crisis of the Church
COVID and the Identity Crisis of the Church
For the past 8 months, more pastors than I can count (including myself) have been trapped in endless debates over the church. From when to meet to what to require, from face masks to online gatherings, we’ve been wrestling.
Should we or should we not? Do we or Do we not?
It has without question been the most difficult season in my 20 year life as a minister.
Some of the back and forth is absolutely understandable, but some of it has uncovered glaring weakness in the collective American understanding of the church: There is a sense in which we just we just don’t know what the church actually is and we don’t understand her mission.
How many times during this pandemic have you heard this statement spoken about your church or another church?
When is the church going to open back up?
It’s a popular question right now, and it is a completely honest question. Heck, I every once in a while ask the question myself...BUT, It. Is. The. Wrong. Question.
Here’s why…THE CHURCH WAS NEVER CLOSED…Sure, many of our buildings are unavailable. Sure most of us have been working with everything the Lord has given us to facilitate a sustained, safe, and essential Sunday Gathering, but family of God YOUR CHURCH WAS NEVER CLOSED.
In fact, in that statement, there sometimes lies a glimpse in what we believe the church to be: A building and/or a moment.
The church doesn’t have hours. It is not a place of business. It is not a building with physical locks and keys. The church is something greater. Something more permanent. Something more enduring.
Now that doesn’t mean that the church hasn’t had a tendency to act like it’s closed.
After all, when we confine the nature and the function of the church to what we do on Sunday morning, while it may be important, it actually leads to the impression that if Sunday is disrupted, then the church is no longer relevant, but that is not the result of the local church being deficient. Rather it is the result of our understanding and our commitment to her being deficient.
One thing that COVID-19 has done for me is to show me how important it is for us to rightly define what the church is and isn’t. To understand the nature, role, and function of the church…
I wanted to deal with this passage…this morning because it serves in helping us understand that.
It in fact is the first time we hear Jesus utter the word CHURCH!
And there is so much we can learn in this utterance about her nature, role, and function...
Look WITH me together at verse 13:
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
Caesarea Philippi was a territory captured by the Romans from the Greeks during their times of conquest. Before the Romans took over, the land was called Panias in honor of the Greek God Pan but after the Romans took over Herod Phillip named the city after himself.
The city was about as pagan as it gets. Many temples were erected in honor of false gods. Sacrifices were made in their honor. Despicable acts were performed in their honor.
In fact, it’s been said that many traveled on the outskirts of this city to avoid the rank wickedness of what was happening in the city.
On the outskirts amidst the temples of pagan worship, there was also a cave and it’s been said that this cave was known as the Gates of Hades...the Gates of Hell…
It’s here that many believed Jesus began this conversation with His disciples. The conversation starts with two questions. The first question is found in verse 13.
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
The first question: Who do people say that the Son of Man is?
The first thing we need to understand about the church is that it is built on WHO JESUS IS! In other words, it is built on the person of Jesus Christ.
1. The Church is built on WHO JESUS IS (v13-15)
1. The Church is built on WHO JESUS IS (v13-15)
Who we believe Jesus to be determines what type of church we will establish…
Here the initial answers were admirable answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. Each comparison was a powerful one and an admirable one. Each of these men identified spoke the very words of God to the people and called them to repentance. This was no rookie squad. This was an all-star caliber list and yet even the comparisons to these great men were insufficient.
By now everyone has seen Jesus performing these powerful miracles reminding them of Elijah or maybe His message of repentance gives them glimpses of John the Baptist.
None of these comparisons are bad; they are just woefully insufficient.
Some churches are indeed built on an insufficient vision of Jesus.
Some allow their churches to be built their church on the understanding that he is a miracle worker. The orientation is primarily around miracles, healing, prosperity, etc.
Some allow their churches to be built on the understanding that Christ is merely an agent of change. The orientation is primarily around social disruption and uprooting.
When we view him as Elijah, as John, as Jeremiah, we’re viewing him as a prophet or as a person of compassion and nothing is wrong with those sorts of comparisons except for the fact that they ARE NOT sufficient.
There are some who have seen Jesus as merely a good man, and they’ve allowed their churches to be built upon
the idea of Him being just a very good dude, but when we limit Jesus to being just another good and powerful man and nothing more than a man, we empty the church of its power and we place the burden for transformation and the burden for salvation in our hands.
Family, it doesn’t matter how much good we do in this world. How many demonstrations of love we show or how many acts of kindness we display. We are still hopelessly flawed. It doesn’t mean that a church should discount any of those things. In fact, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ should be known for those things. However, while we should be known for those things, we certainly are not saved by them. Without a supernatural savior, a divine rescuer, we are still hopelessly sinful and hopelessly falling short of the Glory of God.
What we need to fix our eternal dilemma is more than a mere man, a celebrity, or a politician. We need the God of the universe and our churches must reflect that.
This is why the second question Jesus asks his disciples is so important.
16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 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.
Again, the church is built on WHO JESUS IS. The person of Jesus Christ.
It is apparent here that what matters most is not what everyone else thinks about Jesus but rather what YOU think about Jesus. What do those who claim to follow Him actually think about who He is? ?
What’s even more important is that we don’t allow those who aren’t following him to dictate how we see him.
The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is made up of people who know who Jesus is!
THOSE on the outside can say who they believe him to be all they want but THOSE who profess to follow him must know who He is.
And who he is is more than a mere man. He is more than a mere prophet. He is the CHRIST, the Son of the Living God.
To say he is the Christ is to say that He is the one who is the fulfillment of all the promises of old made to God’s chosen people. God promised that there was one who was coming to right the ship for Israel. To bring restoration, healing, and salvation to His people.
But the depths of that restoration, healing, and salvation was beyond the natural, temporal, and/or political. It extended to the Spiritual and Eternal. Thus, this salvation required a divine answer and that divine answer came in the form of the Son of God.
10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
This is ground zero for the church. The fundamental building block upon which all of our other efforts and teachings must rest upon.
The Church must be built on WHO JESUS IS.
"The Christian Church is the creation of Jesus Christ, not its form but its reason for existence is bound up in Him"
- Edward Clowney
APPLICATION: If this is the truth, than all of the church’s activity must serve in prominently heralding this proclamation, sharing this proclamation, and implanting this proclamation deep into our lives. The ordinary means of grace serve us well in accomplishing this. A church must be a place where sermons are preached that point the listener back to this proclamation “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”, where we participate in the baptisms and the Lord’s Supper in order that we might be reminded that “Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”, where we serve our neighbors with love and good deeds in order that they may see that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God” and where WE FIGHT LIKE CRAZY to maintain the UNITY of the SPIRIT in order that the world at large may know that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”
JUST AS A QUICK ASIDE let’s just discuss the context in which Jesus is asking His disciples these two transcendent questions: Who do people say that I AM and who do you say that I AM?
THE CHURCH AND THE POLITICAL
THE CHURCH AND THE POLITICAL
Jesus just recently had demonstrated so much miraculous power and compassion for the people that they wanted to place him on a political throne and make him king!
14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
He rejected that power move and in that context, gives us this teaching on the church showing us that the nature and composition of the church comes apart from political power.
THE CHURCH AND POPULARITY
THE CHURCH AND POPULARITY
In addition, the power of Jesus was so impressive that crowds of people begin to follow him even crossing bodies of water to get to him. He was hitting peak celebrity when he declared:
53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
In that instant most of the followers left...
JESUS rejected the peak celebrity and in that context, gives us this teaching on the church showing us that the nature and composition of the church comes apart from celebrity.
APPLICATION: If Christ Church is not built on political power than we must avoid making it a space ruled by Earthly partisanship. Yes brothers even in Mississippi! Avoid making it a space where only a Republican can say AMEN. Avoid making it a space where only a Democrat can say Amen. Christ pushed back on the urge of the people to make him a King of a worldly Kingdom. So, now we must resist the people's urge to make earthly men the king of Christ’s otherworldly Kingdom.
AND
If Christ Church is not built on Celebrity then we resist the urge to build structures that cultivate a dependence on popularity and celebrity.
I don't believe there is anything wrong with contextualizing our church's for thr neighborhoods in which God has called us. If your plant is located in the heart of the farmlands of Tate County, MS, you may never hear Kirk Franklin or Fred Hammond in a worship service. On the flip side, if your church is planted near the basketball courts of South Jackson, you may hear more Kirk Franklin and Fred Hammond in your worship services than you ever had a desire to hear. There is nothing wrong with that. Our church in Vicksburg is varied: we are planted in a neighborhood of middle class young professionals and poor and working class, some single, some married, some white, some black and so our style of worship reflects that diversity as it should.
And there is nothing wrong with a church being respected and loved in its neighborhood. Christ calls us the light and thus we should be the light that causes men and women to look to Heaven and give thanks to God because of the Gospel work taking place.
But what we must not do is try and create spaces where the primary goal is to be liked. No, if we are to take part in Christ's building of His church then the primary goal is to create spaces where Peter's proclamation is in the mouths of the people, shaping their hearts and informing the movement of their feet and the activity of their hands. If they are liked then praise God, but should they ever be despised (for CHRIST’S SAKE, not for being arrogant, unloving, or some combination of both)…should they ever be despised for Christ’s sake then praise God
Here’s what the context of this text teaches us about church planting and churches in general, if you are seeking to establish churches with popularity or political partisanship. You’re building churches that see Jesus as nothing more than a MEANS to an end. In churches like these, he is an Elijah, He is a John, He is Jeremiah, He is a miracle worker, He is a Republican, He is a Democrat, He is a celebrity. But he is not is the CHRIST!
Family, our effectiveness and faithfulness as a church is not based on how well liked we are or how much political power we accumulate. It is based on whether this confession is at the CENTER OF ALL WE DO!
Look also at verse 17:
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
So as we said earlier, the church must be built on who Jesus is...and the church is made up of those who know who Jesus is…
But the church knows who Jesus is because the Father makes Him known by the Spirit.
3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
If you are part of the true church of Jesus Christ, it is because you know who JESUS IS and if you know who JESUS IS, it is only because the Spirit has made him known to you.
APPLICATION: How many of you treat your actual union with the Lord’s church like the SUPERNATURAL ACT OF GRACE that it really is!
Your salvation through Christ is a divine act of Grace but so is your joining to His church.
We must savor our union not just with God but with the people of God and we must treat that union as a gift.
Our union with Christ is a gift from the Spirit. Our union with His church is a gift from the Spirit and our growing embodiment of Peter’s proclamation “Jesus, you are the Christ! The Son of the Living God” is a gift from the Spirit.
What is one of the chief ways in which we reflect our grasp of that reality. PRAYER.
Family, does your church pray! Prayer is an open acknowledgement that Lord we will only embody this proclamation as your Spirit empowers us to do so. We will only deepen in our proclaiming of this proclamation as your Spirit empowers us to so.
ILLUSTRATION: One of the things I love about the people that Lord has surrounded me with is how much they challenge me to pray. My wife and I are currently living in the most difficult season of our lives. For reasons that are beyond our comprehension and control, the Lord has allowed my wife to undergo SIGNIFICANT bouts with her health for the past several years and those bouts have increasingly intensified. She is often heavy on pain and light on remedies for that pain. Her struggle has not been pleasant and while I am not in her shoes, it has not been very pleasant to watch that struggle either. It has in many ways taken a toll on me. The other elder of our church (who is here this morning) reached out to me this week and said can we carve out time to just put you and your wife before the church this week so we can collectively petition the throne of grace on your behalf!
To hear those words blessed my soul so much. For one, I was reminded that we are deeply loved at our church, but for two, I was reminded that any strength that we have to stand as a couple. Any strength that we have to labor for His Kingdom, any strength we have to embody the proclamation “Jesus, YOU ARE THE CHRIST. THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD” is going to come from the SPIRIT OF GOD!
So again, we understand that those who belong to the church belong because they know who Jesus is and we understand that this is important because the church is built on who Jesus is…
But in rounding the turn on our time together this morning, I want to draw your attention to one more major point in the text:
2. The Church is BUILT by WHAT Jesus’ Does
2. The Church is BUILT by WHAT Jesus’ Does
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.
Before I dive to deep into the implications here, let me offer one more aside here...
PETER AND IDENTITY
PETER AND IDENTITY
Peter is given identity within the context of his confession. In the context of the church…
You are the Christ! You are Peter!!! You are a Rock
“Your identity is found in the establishment of a church and that is what the Gates of Hell cannot overcome because the Holy Spirit through the church gathers people together, grants them the reconciliation and the power that comes through the Holy Spirit.” - Russell Moore
Also, consider Peter is declared a rock but he may be the most fragile rock we’ve ever seen. Called a devil a few verses later, denied Jesus shortly after, called out for his cowardice by Paul later on in his partiality towards the Gentiles in front of his Jewish buddies...
Jesus always calls us what he really see us as...Identity isn’t in how the world sees you. It is in how Jesus sees you.
And that sight of us is fortified not apart from the church but through the church.
In this context, one of the more difficult things you’re going to face is helping people move from an earthly identified forged in culture, ethnicity, heritage, and politics to a heavenly identity forged in Christ.
Two competing...
RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM vs HOMETOWN COMMUNALISM
YOU ARE PETER, and on this rock I will build my church…
This is truly one of the most challenging Scriptures in all of the Bible…
Here’s what we know: (1) It is a play on words. Peter’s name means rock and thus, it is as if Jesus saying “YOU ARE A ROCK and on this ROCK I will build my church.”
Our Roman Catholic friends I believe take this Scripture too far as they try and use it to establish the authority of the Pope by saying in this moment God is giving the authority of the church to Peter and thus through the years starting with Peter it is then handed down from one man to the next. Again, I believe that is taking it a little too far.
Our Protestant brothers and sisters at times don’t take it far enough because some don’t believe it has anything to do with Peter, but rather it is based on Peter’s statement. Christ is not building his church on an individual. He is building His church on the proclamation that thou are the Christ the Son of the Living God.
One of the early church father’s Augustine saw it as a little bit of both. You cannot ignore the word play with Peter’s name meaning rock and Jesus saying He was going to build His church on the rock, but you also couldn’t ignore Peter’s confession as it is the grounds by which the entire Gospel is built on “YOU ARE THE CHRIST. THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD!”
So, what do we do with it? I think we see it as Jesus is saying I will build my church on the Apostles as they proclaim the confession…
In other places in Scripture, PETER SEES JESUS AS THE STONE
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
In other places in Scripture, PAUL SEES JESUS AS THE STONE
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
In other places in Scripture, THE APOSTLES and PROPHETS are seen as foundational with Jesus being seen as the cornerstone
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
Listen to this one theologian’s quote that captures my heart a little better than I can:
Jesus acknowledges, then, some kind of foundation in Peter. By God's grace alone, Peter has just confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. It's immediately after this confession that Jesus spoke of the church that He is building upon Peter and his confession of faith. Therefore, based on the immediate context, this is how we should understand the rock of the church: the people of God proclaiming the gospel of Christ.
Peter is the first apostle who makes this declaration of Christ's identity, and he is the apostle upon whom much of the church's foundation would be built beginning in Acts 2. As a result of Peter's initial proclamation of the gospel in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, around three thousand people were saved (Acts 2:41). Right after this, the early church devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching of the Word and thousands more came to Christ in the days ahead (Acts 2:42-47). Jesus was building His church, and Peter continued to play a central role in this mission throughout the first 12 chapters of Acts. But Peter was not alone, for Paul says in Ephesians 2:20 that the church is built on the foundation of all the apostles. And beyond Peter, Martin Luther declared, "All who agree with the confession of Peter (in Matt 16:16) are Peters themselves setting a sure foundation". This is not to take away from the uniqueness of Peter, but it is to remind us that as we proclaim the gospel, we too are building upon the foundational confession made by Peter approximately two thousand years ago.
David Platt, Exalting Jesus in Matthew, ed. David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, Tony Merida, (Nashville, TN: B & H Academic, 2013), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 216-217.
Did you catch the takeaway? The rock of the church is the people of God proclaiming the gospel of Christ.
Yes, Peter played a prominent role and Jesus calls him a rock but just a few verses down when Peter jumps up to say that Jesus can’t be crucified, Jesus calls him Satan!
As far as Peter is building on the person and work of Christ, he is the rock. When he is deviating from that he takes on the work of the devil. So, we can’t overplay Peter in the narrative of the Gospel story.
Peter does have a prominent role in NT establishing of the Lord’s church but ultimately the rock of the church is the people of God proclaiming the gospel of Christ.
But unless we begin to think that this construction is happening in our own power, pay very close attention to the words of Jesus in verse 18…
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.
Matthew 16:18
You are a rock and on this rock...I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH.
We may labor but JESUS BUILDS the church. He may use us for a number of different construction projects, if you will, BUT JESUS BUILDS THE CHURCH.
Here are two important lessons we can take away from this one fact:
Lesson #1: When the church loses sight that Christ builds the Church, we set ourselves up for possible compromise or possible disappointment.
Lesson #1: When the church loses sight that Christ builds the Church, we set ourselves up for possible compromise or possible disappointment.
Possible Compromise because when we believe the church is solely on us to build and it doesn’t appear to be going fast enough then we start trying to shortcut and manipulate the process to produce the result we desire.
Sometimes the compromise comes with trying to take the edge off the message of the Gospel. Lowering the cost of following Jesus in hopes that more folks might stick around and embrace a watered down message...
Sometimes the compromise comes with having no expectations of those who become members of our church. Leaving sin untouched and unchecked so our numbers are never threatened…
Sometimes the disappointment comes with the pursuit of being the perfect church in order to draw people with the perfect sermon and all the best amenities and all the best furnishings…
Sometimes the disappointment comes with comparing ourselves with other churches around us and seeing the Lord increasing in ways there that HE DOESN’T appear to be doing here...
BROTHERS AND SISTERS, YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE TO BUILD THE CHURCH OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST! CHRIST carries the weight of BUILDING HIS CHURCH AND HE WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH!
Now of course, He is building it on us. Of course, He is leveraging and using our proclamation of the Gospel and our lives to make Himself known but HE IS THE ONE WHO CARRIES THE BURDEN OF BUILDING and bringing His church to completion, not us.
Lesson #2: Because Jesus builds the church, it is guaranteed to prevail against evil and death.
Lesson #2: Because Jesus builds the church, it is guaranteed to prevail against evil and death.
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.
THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT.
Two things could be happening here in this text.
1st: The Gates of Hell is actually a Jewish phrase referring to the place of the dead. It is actually referred to in the Old Testament.
10 I said, In the middle of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
It is referring to the place of death. So given this cultural connection. Jesus could possibly be saying that because I am building my church...IT CANNOT AND WILL NOT DIE!
There is a very popular saying that is used in books, movies, and tv shows: The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.
The church has been said to be dying ever since its inception, but no matter how much it has been persecuted...no matter how much it has been mocked and ridiculed...no matter how much it has been rendered outdated and not relevant. THE CHURCH CANNOT AND WILL NOT DIE...
Even when it’s been discovered to be “declining,” we only find it surging and exploding in another place.
WHY? Because CHRIST SAID I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH and THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT.
We must go into the world, into our churches, and into our church plants with that confidence…
Here’s the second thing that could be happening here and the final point I want to make from the text:
Remember the location of this story: We are in Caesarea Philippi. We are on the outskirts of this city, a pagan city with so much idolatry and wickedness that it’s been said some rabbis taught their students that no good Jew would ever go there, AND YET here are the disciples, brought to this place by Jesus.
Now remember in this city was a massive cave considered by many as a passageway for the idol gods between earth and the underworld…A gates
It is here that it is believed we hear Jesus’ words: the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
So, based on what we know about the location, what could He be saying? Well, thinking about the location and the connection of idol gods to the cave, the most likely interpretation is that through ME, the church will be built and that through me, though the church may stand right smack dead in the middle of death and evil, there will be no principality, ruler, or devil in hell that will be able to over take it.
The church that is built on who Jesus is namely the CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD, who has come to take away the sins of the world.
AND The church that is built by what Christ has done and is doing, namely His most important work of dying on a cross for the sins of the world that whosoever shall trust Him with their lives and repent of their sins shall not perish but will have everlasting life.
THAT CHURCH, NO MATTER WHAT DEMONIC FORCES opposes it, WILL PREVAIL…
THAT CHURCH CAN STEP BOLDLY INTO THE FANNED FLAMES OF RACISM AND INJUSTICE and it will not be consumed but it shall prevail.
NO PANDEMIC WILL DESTROY THAT CHURCH…
PERSECUTION CAN NOT DESTROY THAT CHURCH…
NO IDOL CAN DESTROY THAT CHURCH...NO DEVIL CAN DESTROY CHURCH…
That church can sing the words of the Psalmist...Yea though I walk through the valley and the shadow of death I WILL FEAR NO EVIL!
That is the church that Christ has built and is building
That is the church that we are all a part of because we are a part of Christ.
That is the church that is never closed. Its doors are always open and its work is always being done.