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good morning to everyone welcome back to free grace Baptist Church and welcome a new welcome to anyone who's with us visiting this morning it's a joy to have you with us just a few announcements before we begin worship this morning the first off would just like to announce the engagement of Ashley lutein and Christophe van meirin's so that's a wonderful news another engagement in our midst in a future wedding in our mid so that's Ashley lutein and Christophe van Merrin we we pray for them and we're thankful and we rejoice along with them in that news so congratulations secondly it is the we have a fellowship luncheon this morning so it's it's on a a different sort of week than it normally might fall because this is the last day that the the Surrey folk are with us so when we do go up and eat for food everyone remaining in Chilliwack can get their food first and then all leaving to go to the survey church you have to wait until no everyone can eat without without prejudice and without partiality we welcome everyone to the fellowship lunch and it's a it's a bittersweet Sunday like we said last time and perhaps the time before we're sorry to see them leave and sad to see them leave but we rejoice that we have a church planted there in Surrey and we look forward to see God growing that work and prospering that work there so we'll have a lunch of rejoicing perhaps with the occasional tear as we see our brothers and sisters leave us and that's also connected to that then is that the Surry Reformed Baptist Church their first services begin next Lord's Day so we can praise God for that and we can keep that that church in our prayers moving forward well if you can turn in your Bibles with me please to Psalm 33 Psalm 33 we'll read verse 1 to verse 12 Psalm 33 beginning in verse 1 this is the Word of God rejoice in the Lord O you righteous for praise from the upright is beautiful praise the Lord with the harp make melody to him with an instrument of 10 strings sing to him a new song play guiltily with a shout of joy for the word of the Lord it's right and all his work is done in truth he loves righteousness and justice the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord by the word of the Lord the heavens were made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth he gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap he lays up the deep in storehouses let all the earth fear the Lord let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him for he spoke and it was done he commanded and it stood fast the Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing he makes the plans of the peoples of no effect the counsel of the Lord stands forever the plans of his heart to all generations blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord the people he has chosen as his own inheritance amen let's stand and sing together we're gonna sing in the thinner Trinity hymnal if you'll stand with me and we'll sing Psalm 24 to a familiar tune that Psalm 24 [Music] seat it let us pray let's go to our God in prayer Heavenly Father we come to you now in prayer rejoicing that we can gather together in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ in this place before the worship of you our great God Father Son and Holy Spirit and we do pray that you would help us to worship you are right we pray Lord God that your name would be hallowed in this place we pray that we would bring you those praises and that we would give you honor we would render unto you that worship that is do your most high name do help us in this and we know that often our minds can be stolen away to thinking about the past week or the upcoming week or earthly things and we do just pray that by your spirit you would cast away all intruding thoughts and help us to be focused on your worship we do pray that you'd help us that we might worship you in spirit and in truth we rejoice in the gospel we rejoice in our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ we rejoice in that most certain truth that in the fullness of the times you did send forth your son born of a woman and born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might have that adoption as sons we thank you for salvation for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone we thank you for the forgiveness of sins that we have in Christ Jesus the Lord by virtue of the shedding of his blood we thank you for his crucifixion upon Calvary's cross wherein we have that that forgiveness that punishment that he took upon himself that was due to his people and we rejoice ed that was a an atonement that was a sacrifice that was not one of maybe or perhaps but a perfect salvation rendered by our Savior upon that cross for all his people we rejoiced in that and we sing the praises of that resurrection the third day we thank you for that power and victory displayed in the resurrection from the dead of our Savior Jesus Christ the Lord we thank you that he has ascended to your right hand where he lives to make intercession for his people where he rules and reigns and where he subdues hearts we just thank you for our savior the Lord Jesus knowing that we have salvation solely and alone in him we are not saved by deeds of righteousness which we have done but we're saved solely by the perfect salvation afforded by Christ our Savior so do help our lips to to give you praise for these glorious truths of salvation and an amazing grace we do pray Lord that you'd be with us in worship again that we would be focused we pray as we go about the business of singing hymns and praying and reading from the Scriptures and taking in the preaching of the word we pray Lord God that you would be honored and glorified in this place we pray that you would be with Pastor Butler as he preaches your word God we know as we pray each and every Lord's Day we know that the minister of your gospel does not rest on human strength he does not rest upon human things but he rests in the confidence that the God of heaven and earth that will strengthen those ministers of his and we do pray unto that end that as he comes up into this pulpit he would know the aide of Father Son and spirit that he would know your strength and that he would proclaim richly the things of Jesus Christ and the truth of your word we do pray God that in the exercise of worship and in that exercise of preaching specifically that your saints would be edified and strengthened and nourished and your word and in your truth and we do pray Lord God that by your grace the sinners would be saved this morning whether young or old or whatever Lord we do pray that all those who entered in unbelief outside of Christ this morning would leave singing your praises would leave resting upon Christ alone would leave with the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life and we do pray unto that end that you would make more worshippers of yours this morning by your grace and for your glory sake we do pray again for all who are struggling physically with disease with injury with recovery from surgery and all of these things God just tend to the bodies of your saints help them to be knit back together strengthen your people Lord and we do pray that in the midst of pains and discomforts and and all of these things that they would nevertheless rejoice in you know that the God of heaven and earth does right for his own glory and for his people we do pray that you'd be with those who are with child still all the mothers in this place who are pregnant I just watch over them God strengthen them and we pray that you would watch over the babies in the wombs and nourish them daily and bring them forth in due time to draw air in this world to grow and to Lord at a young age own our Savior in our Christ we do pray Lord that you would be just with each and every couple in this place who has children that we're seeking to raise in the fear and admonition of the Lord we pray for all parents in this place who are seeking to raise their children in that Lord we pray that you attend to mothers and fathers and help them to do so to be able to tend to their children to be able to care for them and to bring them those words of truth from the Holy Scriptures and we do pray as we just prayed that Lord at a young age that our young ones in this place would come to a knowledge of you our God by your grace and for your glory they would own the name of our Redeemer and sing his praises we do pray God that you'd be with the Surrey the Surrey Reformed Baptist Church we are saddened in a sense that this is our last day with them but we rejoice in the fact that you have been faithful and planting another church as we've prayed over the years for this we thank you for this work and we thank you that they'll have their first services next Lord's Day we do just pray that you'd watch over this church you'd be with Mike and Jessica that you'd be with all of those who are congregating with them and who will constitute the membership and we pray that you would just strengthen this body of believers that you'd give them daily much Grace and Sunday in and Sunday out that a unity that ought to a accompany the Church of Christ just give them strength and rally them by your spirit around the gospel of Jesus Christ and we pray that that many sinners would come within their doors to hear the gospel and Lord we do just pray that you would prosper that work and that you would though they are leaving us maintain our fellowship and keep us united in a common goal to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and to be lights in this place we do pray God that you'd be with Ashley Kristof we thank you for this news we rejoice that you bring Christians together that you knit them that knit their hearts together Lord and that you caused them to seek that blessed Covenant of marriage and we do just pray that you'd watch over them a guard their hearts and minds and help them to look forward with great joy to that day will that where they will be brought together and in marriage we do just pray that you watch over them cause the families to rejoice as well and these good things we do pray that you'd be with us now Lord then as we continue in worship we pray God for your name to be glorified we pray for Christ to be exalted upon the praises of this gathered assembly and we do pray Lord God that we would leave this place still rejoicing in you and seeking to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of your glorious gospel of Amazing Grace we pray in Christ's name Amen let's stand together and sing this time we're going to sing 280 if you'll stand with me and sing 280 in the larger Trinity hymnal [Music] [Music] please be seated you can turn in your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Luke our New Testament scripture reading picks up this Lord's Day at Luke five verse 17 so we will begin reading reading there and we'll read to the end of the chapter that's Luke 5 verse 17 once again this is the Word of God now it happened on a certain day as he was teaching that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by who had come out of every town of Galilee Judea and Jerusalem and the power of the Lord was present to heal them then behold men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed whom they sought to bring in and lay before him and when they could not find how they might bring him in because of the crowd they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus when he saw their faith he said to him man your sins are forgiven you and the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason saying who is this who speaks blasphemies who can forgive sins but God alone but when Jesus perceived their thoughts he answered and said to them why are you reasoning in your hearts which is easier easier to say your sins are forgiven you or to say rise up and walk but that you may know that the Son of man has power on earth to forgive sins he said to the man who was paralyzed I say to you arise take up your bed and go to your house immediately he rose up before them took up what he had been lying on and departed to his own house glorifying God and they were all amazed and they glorified God and were filled with fear saying we have seen strange things today after these things he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting on the tax awe sitting at the tax office and he said to him follow me so he left all rose up and followed him then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house and there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them and their scribes and the Pharisees complained against his disciples saying why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners jesus answered and said to them those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance then they said to him why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers and likewise those of the Pharisees but yours eat and drink and he said to them can you make the phret can you make the Friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them but the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them and they will fast in those days then he spoke a parable to them no one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one otherwise the new makes a tear and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old and no one puts new wine into old wineskins or else the new wine will burst the wine skins and be spilled and the wine skins will be ruined but new wine must be put into new wineskins and both are preserved and no one having drunk old wine immediately desires new for he says the old is better amen one of the things among many others that we see in this passage is the the greatness of the forgiveness of sins we see here the reaction following Christ's healing yes but also following the declaration that this men's sins are forgiven answering to this reality who can forgive sins but God alone the Savior Jesus Christ forgives the sins of this man and we see what we ought to see in when we're faced with the reality perhaps we're just so used to it as we traffic in our Christianity that God forgives sins that God takes a sinner from the kingdom of darkness and translate and translates him into the kingdom of the the son of his love would we marvel more or do we marvel more a sick man made well or do we marvel more at a sinner made a saint by the power of Amazing Grace so what we're we're to be brought to a point here here where we are amazed where we glorify God and where were filled with fear the forgiveness of the sins of a sinner the the the regeneration the effectual calling of a sinner from out of the madness and darkness of sin to the marvelous light of gospel truth is an amazing thing that ought to cause us to fear because a God so powerful can turn a heart so dark and so lost and so dead making those who formerly blaspheme him to sing his praises and to rejoice in his name this is a passage that yes we ought to marvel at the kindness and the mercy extended to a lame man made well who rises up and walked but we ought to move from that to the even higher place of one of the condescending loving kindness of a God who would forgive the sins of so great a sinner if you're a Christian today you can see yourself in this man who went from under the condemnation and power of sin to light and light and a light in life in Christ Jesus the Lord well let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your Holy Scriptures we rejoice and your revelation to the sons of men and we pray that we would always delight and rejoice and in these things that we can read of our condescended Savior healing a man and even more forgiving his sins and we rejoice in this truth and we rejoice in the fact that this is still an ongoing reality that you bring sons of perdition that you bring a sons of darkness that you bring those who are of their father the devil from the darkness and the deadness of sin to Jesus Christ to light in life in the Savior and we do pray that you'd help us to rejoice in this that we would continue in worship singing the praises of Father Son and Holy Spirit we pray in Christ's name Amen our final him before the preaching you can stand with me again is 268 will stand and sing that together to 68 [Music] [Music] well please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 16 God willing we'll return to Matthew 27 in a couple of weeks but this morning we're gonna look at Matthew 16 specifically verses 13 to 18 a couple months ago I think when we ordained Mike into the gospel ministry I preached from first Timothy to give him a bit of a a charge just a particular charge to Mike as a minister of the gospel this morning as we see the Surrey people leaving us and starting a new work in South Surrey I thought it would be good for us to remind ourselves who builds the church and that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and in this we greatly rejoice so I want to read beginning in chapter 16 at verse 1 and then as I said our focus will be 13 to 18 then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and testing him asked what he would show them for us or asked that he would show them a sign from heaven he answered and said to them when it is evening you say it will be fair whether for the sky is red and in the morning it will be foul weather for the sky is red and threatening hypocrites you know how to discern the face of the sky which cannot discern the signs of the times a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah and he left them and departed and when his disciples had come to the other side they had forgotten to take bread then jesus said to them take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the reason among themselves saying it is because we have taken no bread but Jesus being aware of it said to them oh you of little faith why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread do you not yet understand to remember the five loaves or of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up how is it that you do not understand the I did not speak to you concerning bread but to beware of the leaven of the pharisees and sadducees then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples saying who do men say that I the Son of Man am so they said some say John the Baptist some Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets he said to them but who do you say that I am Simon Peter answered and said you are the Christ the Son of the Living God jesus answered and said to him blessed are You Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven and I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven then he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ amen well let us pray our Father we thank you for the word of God we thank you for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit and we pray that even now you would send him forth to guide us to direct us to illumine our minds and our hearts that we may receive the encouragement from our text how we praise you for the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God how we praise you that he is the one who builds the church he is the one that protects and defends and secures or her and we pray God that this would be the case in Surrey starting next week we thank you for this work we pray God that your blessing would be upon it we pray that you would prosper her that you would use her in that community as a means by which sinners would come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior do forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions cleanse us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ the psalmist said a few Lord should mark iniquities O Lord who could stand but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared may that be the case in our hearts even now may that forgiveness of sins promote and produce the fear of God in us and may you give us ears to hear and hearts to receive your truth and father for any and all who have come here this morning that are outside of Christ those who are dead in their trespasses and sins may they come to face the question posed by our Lord in this passage who do men say that I am may it be the case that your Holy Spirit would promote a searching of the heart and may the Holy Spirit grant the graces of faith and repentance so that sinners today may be called out of darkness and a marvelous light praising God Most High and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well it's been some time since we've been in Matthew 16 just by way of reminder at this particular section or in this particular context we see varying responses to our Lord Jesus we see there are some who receive him they receive as testimony they acknowledge that he is in fact come from God but for the most part persons reject our Lord and we see that here with the Pharisees and the Sadducees we see them demand a sign from him and after that particular encounter Jesus warns his disciples against them he warns them against their doctrine Jesus does something that is somewhat lacking in the church today we need to warn the people of God about false doctrine not all roads lead to heaven not every doctrine that claims to be Christian is necessarily Christian our Lord didn't say well these Pharisees in there said these Sadducees they're nice guys there they're pretty decent humans it really doesn't matter that they're not spot-on Orthodox spot on with their orthodoxy but but no harm no foul now Jesus says beware of that beware of their doctrine beware of the things that they teach because ultimately it will lead you to hell we need to not only highlight what is true and Noble and lovely and good but we need to point out what is false what is heretical what is damning and what is damaging to the Church of our Lord Jesus and he sets forth that example here and then we get to the region of Caesarea Philippi according to verse 13 now the Galilean ministry has ended after a time here in Caesarea Philippi they'll then travel south Jesus makes the declaration in verse 21 that he must go to Jerusalem and then the remainder of Matthew's Gospel is taken up with that reality Christ goes to Jerusalem there it would be that he would suffer there it would be that he would die and there it would be that he would be raised again the third day but here specifically in Caesarea Philippi we see first the question concerning Christ's identity in verses 13 to 15 second we see the confession made by the Apostle Peter in verses 16 to 17 and then we see thirdly the establishment of the church in verse 18 now I'm not suggesting there were no Christians prior to this time I'm not suggesting that the the faithful remnant and Israel formed a church but when I speak of the establishment of the church I speak of it with reference to its new covenant expression under the leadership and the headship of our Lord Jesus Christ that is the establishment he is speaking of here in verse 18 we don't have time to deal with verse 19 this morning but as I said our hope is to highlight some encouraging thoughts for this new work in South Surrey but known in the first place the question concerning Christ's identity in verses 13 and 14 or 13 to 15 we see Jesus asked his disciples who do men say that I the Son of Man and now this is in fact the most important question in the world you know you start getting older and your eyes start to go and your your getting closer to the grave and you ask questions you didn't use to ask or you make statements you didn't use to make you tell your wife please don't die before me not that I want to die before her but I don't want to live without you you you don't think about this in your 20s or even your 30s but as you get older you start asking questions you might have to look at your financial situation you know what are we going to eat if we don't drop dead at 60 right after retirement how are we going to finance this for the next twenty to twenty-five years again question you don't ask when you're in your 20s there are big questions that face us in this world but there is none as big as the question is who do you say that Jesus Christ is and notice within the context of the various responses or varying responses to our Lord Jesus he asks his disciples what's the word on the street outside of us what's happening around us who do men say that I the Son of Man am now this son of man title used by our Lord highlights the fact that he is Israel's Messiah it highlights the fact that he is the one sent by God it highlights the fact that he is the one of whom the prophets wrote and he says to them who the men say that I the Son of Man am and so the disciples respond notice in verse 14 some say John the Baptist that he might have been a resurrected version of that preacher who lost his head some say Elijah now Elijah was a major figure in the Old Testament and there was this supposition of this assumption that he would be a major figure at the time of Messiah as well and some suggested that Jesus was in fact Elijah others said that he was Jeremiah that was always intrigued me because Jeremiah was characterized or is described as the weeping prophet Jeremiah was a man who grieved over the situation confronting Israel he grieved over the fact that the nation was apostate and had defected from God and it resisted and rejected the Word of God Jesus was in many respects jeremiad in his approach to ministry with reference to his own contemporaries Isaiah tells us he was a man of sorrows he was in fact acquainted with grief and then the last statement is or one of the prophets oh there was this sort of idea outside of the disciple community that Jesus was something Jesus had a degree of notoriety Jesus was perhaps in league with those former prophets but they'll notice what Jesus goes on to say he says in verse 15 but who do you say that I am I love the fact that Jesus here doesn't assume that the professing disciples are necessarily possessing disciples I think the church makes that mistake a lot of times as well we think just because we go to church just because we carry a Bible just because we might go to prayer we aren't necessarily saved well Jesus doesn't assume that if that's the word on the street who do you say that I am he moves from the general to the particular he moves from outside to inside he moves to the heart of the disciples and he says to them very clearly and very candidly who do you say that I am again I think you ought to consider this particular question in your own hearts this morning some of you have grown up in the church some of you have never missed a Sunday some of you if there was a perfect attendance award might get that but do you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have you confessed him as the altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 have you recognized your own sinfulness in your depravity and your waywardness and your defection against a holy God have you recognized that Christ alone is the one who can save you from your sins have you recognized that he is the one God made to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him do you know Jesus that's the question that trumps every other that's the question that absolutely matters how we'll plan for retirement whether the husband of the wife will die first whether we'll go to college whether we'll work in this particular industry all of that is unimportant to every one of us unless we've come to grips with this reality who do you say that Christ is can you with Judgment Day honesty with clarity of heart say Christ is my Lord can you say with the Apostle Paul he loved me and he gave himself for me can you confess with Thomas we call him doubting Thomas he wasn't doubting Tom as he was rebellious Thomas said unless I see and unless I touch I will certainly not believe Christ in His mercy and kindness comes down and enables him to make a gracious discovery of who Jesus is and on the heels of that Thomas says my Lord and my god you see it's not enough to say well I know Jesus was a historical man a historical figure I know that he did come from God I know that he had some sort of association with the prophets I I know that he did fulfill some things that were written of him of old I know that he is the savior for many out there but it's been well observed that Christianity is a religion of personal pronouns Paul says who loved me and gave himself for me Thomas says my Lord and my god do you know that today you have that today is that something you can confess if Christ were to come to you physically and say who do you say that I the Son of Man am she said well I know that you're a historical figure I know that you're one of the prophets I know that you've done some amazing and incredible things could you say he is the one who loved me and gave himself for me again we're gonna say many things this morning not too many we're not gonna go late God willing but you need to ponder this kids who've been brought up in the context of this local church this isn't just some sort of guilt trip we try and lay on you every Sunday and honestly say I wake up on a Sunday morning and say God bless the guilt trip that I hope to peddle today you know travel agent guilt trips are my specialty I want to make sure everybody feels miserable that's not the reason why you hear this every single Sunday you hear it every single Sunday because of its importance who do men say that I the Son of Man am if you are wrong with this particular question if you cannot answer this particular question the problems aren't oblique financial future of the death in a spouse the problems are everlasting punishment eternal damnation torment in the lake of fire a place wherein there is weeping and wailing and Nash of teeth again another subject that we don't often like to talk about in the life in the context of Christchurch we don't want to make people feel bad we don't want to bring them down we don't want to hurt their self-esteem or their self-worth brethren if your self-esteem and self-worth are hurt now to the salvation of your wretched soul for a blessed and glorious future with Christ Almighty and praised God Almighty this is most important now notice the confession made by Peter in verses 16 and 17 Simon Peter answered and said you are the Christ the Son of the Living God now Peter is the spokesman in many places in this particular gospel record fact we might even say that Peter has a degree of priority we see him with some priority on the day of Pentecost we see them up until the calling of Saul of Tarsus and saw Paul being sent out and that first missionary journey Peter's the primary emphasis in the book of Acts so there is a priority a few moments we're going to try and differentiate a prostitue of the next verse and in a Roman Catholic view but as Protestants we ought not to shy away from the reality that Peter was the real deal God raised Peter up Christ blessed Peter Christ used Peter the Apostles were foundational in the life and Ministry of the church that ought not to freak a Protestant out in fact CH Spurgeon said if there had been no Romanist to twist this passage it would have presented no difficulty we'd never have a problem with the priority of Peter if the Romanist hadn't read their weirdness into this particular section he's the first called by Christ to follow he's the first named as an apostle to maintain Peter's priority even in light of verses 18 and 19 does not feed a Roman Catholic interpretation of this particular passage and just to be clear Peter got the question right if Jesus did appear to you physically today which he will not by any means the next time Christ comes it will be in the glory of his father taking vengeance on those who know not God and on those who do not obey the gospel but I pathetically if you were to ask you or when I asked you who do you say that Christ or the son of man is this is the correct answer thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God Christ is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah both are translated as the Anointed One and so for Peter to express this to the Savior he was saying a mouthful thou art the Christ and it's in fatik thousand dowell own it's not a whole host of you there's not a lot of duplicates there's no replication of who Jesus is there is one we see that Matthew 1:21 he alone will save his people from their sins thou art the Christ Peter confesses and then he goes on to highlight the Son of the Living God this whole idea of sonship is really beautiful not only does Christ have this particular office or function in terms of mediator but he has a unique relationship with reference to the father there are three persons in the Godhead the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and these three are one God the same in substance equal in power and glory Christ is the son of the Living God he maintains that unique position between heaven and earth because of his unique being as his status is the second person of the triune God that one who took on our humanity with all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof yet without sin so Peter is making the right confession thou art the Christ the Son of now notice he goes on to highlight God the Living God God's called the Living God many many Old Testament passages and one person says it is a common Old Testament designation for God especially when contrasting him with dead idols and this was indeed a fitting description of God in a region that was given over to idolatry Caesarea Philippi has way up in the northern area in terms of a northern part of it was Israel and it was a pagan area it was a sinful area and for Peter to say thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God he is indeed giving the proper response he is indeed making the claim that needs to be claimed again the right answer is thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God not academically but experientially you see what I mean you could still say well yeah Peter was right he is the Christ he is the son of the Living God see brethren confession is owning for ourselves that's what faith and belief and the gospel means means that it's true that God sent his son into this world sinners to save I'm one of those sinners that he saved by grace through faith in Christ now note Jesus response to this Peter confesses Jesus pronounces a beatitude we see the Beatitudes proper in Matthew chapter 5 we also see one in Matthew chapter 13 verse 16 blessed are your eyes for they see in your ears for they hear well here's a particular beatitude a pronouncement of blessing you are a happy one that's how we could you know most generally translate this word you're a happy one the last hour at a prayer meeting this morning mr. Lawson read a bit from JC Ryles practical religion it was about happiness and he starts off this particular essay not mr. Lawson but mr. rile this way a man was trying to get Christians to abandon their hope to abandon their Bibles to abandon everything that they had previously or that they were presently holding on to he had found new theories that were more conducive to his own way of thought wasn't Christ it wasn't though heart the Christ the Son of the Living God it wasn't faith in Jesus and a woman asked him well are you happy are you happy or it has your newfound newfangled religion giving you peace with God you see the essence of Christianity pastor Porter mentioned earlier is the forgiveness of sins or one of the chief boons brethren what happens when your sins are forgiven you get happy don't you don't you you sing with the hymn writer my sin oh the Bliss of this glorious thought my sin not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more praise the Lord praise the Lord arguably when we just mutter out singing I don't mean we specifically I love the singing in our church I hope it's that way in Surrey but when we sing or when we mutter through prayers or when we mutter through reading the Bible or when men come up to preach and they slip a hand in their pocket and they do it as if they're reading the stock you know the the stock page in the newspaper is it or isn't it arguable are you happy about what you're doing are you happy about these particulars when you're singing these hymns are you happy we see confessing that thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God brings this commendation of happiness upon the head of Peter blessed are you simon barjona brethren do you ever count yourselves blessed because you've been enabled by grace to confess now art the Christ the Son of the Living God you may have a pretty miserable existence as far as life goes but if you are able to confess truly that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God you're blessed if we just wake up in the morning say praise God I'm blessed not because the sun is shining though it is today and it's beautiful not because I have a nice car in the driveway not because you know my favorite coffees in the in the hopper waiting for me but because my sins are forgiven I'm heaven bound Christ is mine I am his Jesus pronounces a beatitude upon Simon Peter a Peter here because of this confession of faith now notice he goes on blessed are you simon barjona and then he gives the reason for this not because you're a wise man simon barjona it's not because you are a very religious man simon barjona it's not because you're a better man than others simon barjona but blessed are You Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father who is in heaven and persons actually want to argue about grace persons actually want to argue about whether or not Calvinism is true versus Arminianism persons will still remain our minions or Pelagians in light of clear statements like this it wasn't Peters ingenuity that brought him into this sphere of blessing it wasn't Peter studious Ness that brought it into the sphere of blessing it wasn't Peters training as a child that brought him into this sphere of blessing blessed to use simon barjona in fact christ necessarily excludes all that by saying flesh and blood did not reveal this to you you didn't stumble upon this because you're a great guy you didn't stumble upon this because you opened a fortune cookie that said everything is gonna be good for you no God the father opened your heart and deposited this truth therein there's the double blessing not only are we forgiven but God in His grace made it so we have been given faith we have been given repentance we have had the veil lifted from our eyes to behold the one who is altogether lovely and the one who is chief among 10,000 why do so many make a wretched choice rather than come to Christ why is it the case that you and I are in Christ is it because flesh and blood did this is it because we are wise because we are religious or we are good absolutely not flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father who is in heaven he opened your heart he gave you the graces of faith in repentance he took the veil off your eyes he showed you the glory of Jesus Christ it is because of God that you confess thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God now some might say well that removes from me any hope of salvation no that's the basis for hope you see you left alone you left subject to flesh and blood and your industry and your religion and your good works will always find your way to hell but because God opens hearts because God removes veils because God sangs the spirit praise God there is hope for salvation it's like John 3 you know we get that passage wrong you must be born again Jesus isn't commanding Nicodemus to go out and be born again Nicodemus go to a Billy Graham crusade when every hand goes up and every eye is closed every head is bowed and you get called forward you just do that you'll be born again that's not what Jesus is doing with Nicodemus he is stressing to Nicodemus that we are subject to the grace of God we're subject to the power of God so if I stand in this pulpit and say you can't make yourself be born again certainly you can walk out being a bit despairing and say well if I don't have the ability well that makes me makes it impossible and that's no good but God has the ability God has the power and God has purpose to save a great multitude that no man can number from every tribe tongue people in Asia and if you were to ask me what am I supposed to do then believe the gospel she just said it's up to God but I don't know the secret things concerning God I do what God says preach the gospel and let him save people it's good encouragement you can't save siree I remember a guy years ago thought that he'd come up here and boy we just see a whole host of people get saved don't don't do that not now being confident have expectation pray to God Most High but don't put yourself up in a bad situation we're in discouragement is likely to result blessed art thou simon there blessed are You Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood did not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven now let's look at verse 18 the establishment of the church a couple of things we ought to observe here first the revelation to Peter he says and I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it it's a beautiful thing Jesus had previously called Simon Peter in John 142 and now he explains the significance he pronounces him blessed in verse 17 and on the heels of that he gives in further revelation he is opening up more concerning God's plan to peter concerning the establishment of the church that is precisely what he is doing here in verses 18 and 19 now notice with reference to the church he says and i also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church what does the word church mean it's always good for us to ask that question especially as we seek to plant another Church it's not a club it's not a loosely organized group of people that share some similar interests it's not the lions it's not the Elks it's not the Moose it's certainly not the Masonic it is not those things what is the church intriguingly our word church corresponds to that used in Scotland our word church corresponds to that used I think in Dutch and German Kirk now that is not the particular Greek word that is used here it's only used three times in Matthew's Gospel the word ecclesia oftentimes people think that called out once no it corresponds to the Hebrew qahal meant the Assembly the convocation the the gathering of the people of God the same is true here the word Kirk or Church corresponds to a Greek word that means belonging particularly to the Lord it's applied to the supper in 1st Corinthians 11:20 it's applied to the day in Revelation 1:10 kori okay that's where Kirk comes from so church isn't strictly a translation of ekklesia if we strictly translated it would probably be more like assembly or congregation so that's what church is France points out that in none of its uses does it denote a physical structure now I know that it's become sort of commonplace to say well that's my church as we drive by and we see the building now I'm not gonna say you're going to hell if you do that I'm not gonna say that you've committed some sort of unpardonable it's just common parlance yeah that's my church oh you all know that the church isn't the structure the church is the people it's not made up of real tangible stones it's made up of people as the living stones so the people of God could meet in a hot may be the church the people of God can meet in a school and it will be the church so so we need to understand what we are dealing with here now I also suspect that what we're dealing with here in verse 18 is what we might call the universal Church or the invisible church refers to all of God's elect in all ages all times all tribes tongues people a nation Jesus will use the word church wreckless sia in chapter 18 and he deals specifically there with local churches lords in church discipline when somebody sends Jesus says rebuke him he repents you've won your brother if he continues in sin take two or three witnesses rebuke him if he if he doesn't hear them then tell it to the church Jesus does not mean the Church Universal or invisible he doesn't Facebook that he means talk to the people in a particular local congregation our confession of faith makes this distinction as well in chapter 26 you can look at that later this Universal or invisible church and then the local church I suspect that what Jesus is doing here but he says I will build my church he means the elect in all ages from every tribe tongue people in Asia now they will be cataract gathered together in local expressions they will be gathered together in local churches like in Chilliwack or in Surrey or wherever people may be that that's what he means by church so it answers or corresponds more to the Hebrew qahal and means assembly convocation congregation now note the foundation of the church now this is where we differ from Roman Roman Catholicism and you might say well I wasn't brought up Catholic I don't know any Catholics so why waste time trying to explain this because it's important I don't know anything about how it happens that when I flip a switch light comes on but I understand that whole process is important to at least somebody and I should have some degree of understanding so I'll lick my finger and put it into an electrical socket or nothing like that there's a big difference between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism with what Jesus means here and it is very important for us to understand this distinction or difference and why it is that we're right the identification of the rock notice I say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church now the Roman Catholic position is that the rock is the person of Peter in other words Peter was the first pope Peter was the first one closed with maple and clothed with papal infallibility Peter was the one that served as the Vicar of Christ after Christ ascended on high led captivity captive and gave gifts to man this was the gift he gave in the Pope called Peter now certainly that is a wrong interpretation if you want more in terms of explanation you can go back to sermon audio you'll find the message there and you can look listen to it in more detail a second interpretation closer is the rock is Peter's confession of faith or as the rock isn't Peter it's what Peter confesses thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God JC Royall says the true meaning of the rock in this passage appears to be the truth of our Lord's Messiahship and divinity which Peter had just confessed I think even closer and not dissimilar but maybe amplifying that just a bit is John Owen the rock is the Christ who Peter confessed the rock is the Christ who Peter confessed Owen says it is not the person of Peter who confessed Christ but the person of Christ whom Peter confessed that is the rock on which the church is built you see that's what's foundational we're not here because we're great guys and girls were here because of Jesus we're here because Christ in his kindness Christ and His goodness Christ and His mercy Christ and His love lived for us died for us was raised for us to call us out of darkness into marvelous light and to gather us into local expressions of the church so that we can worship Him so that we can praise him so that we can testify concerning him and so that we can bring glory to him in this world you ever hear this people say well you know I don't have a ministry at the church what do I do at the church I got to serve in the church well next time it snows gather with me on Saturday morning and help me shovel the sidewalks it's always intrigued me that's typically not what people mean when they want a ministry at the church they don't typically need mowing the lawn every week no no my gifts aren't really suited for that I'm more of the kind of guy or gal that needs to and an upper echelon sort of a situation where I can really distribute and demonstrate my giftedness to others how about when the toilet needs to be plunging that's not my calling you see this is that interesting when you look at the spiritual gifts or you go to these evangelical churches where they have assess your spiritual gift why do people typically gravitate toward you know miracle worker and super preacher and teacher but you know plunging toilets doesn't ever get the sort of attention that I desperately think it deserves do you know what your service is fundamentally and foundationally is showing up opening that Salter opening that handbook and opening that mouth and praising God you see I think genuine biblical service is such that God is glorified and not men what do you do at your church I mean again brethren you all mix with people that go to big of angelical churches that have a ministry for everything and we have the parking-lot ministry we have the nursery ministry we got the sound booth finish everything has to be a ministry well we can't just do something unless it's a sanctioned you know quantifiable ministry just show up and plunge the toilet just show up and shovel the walkway just show up and mow the lawn show up early and make the coffee well that's not my ministry you see she'll meet that you'll bump into brethren from bigger churches and there's I'm in this ministry man that minister what are you doing your church I show up and I sing praises to God somehow that doesn't qualify anymore resist that temptation brethren that is why you've been saved you know that classic text that Pastor Porter and myself often referred to why is it that we were called out of darkness into marvelous light to lead our ministry no to proclaim his excellence to proclaim his praise some of you send your children to Christian school and you get these sorts of letters that say what do you do at your church or I get them and you know you need a pastoral recommendation what's their ministry that shirt I'm not kidding your kid can't come to our school unless you can be in five ministries at your local church brethren if you show up and praise God Almighty I'm happy to write that on your form more than happy because that's what you've been saved to do see it's a fundamental misunderstanding of why church exists do you know that church doesn't exist primarily for you to exercise your gifts it exists primarily for the glory of God now certainly you're gonna exercise your gifts again the upper echelon one's not shoveling walkways but you will do that but why do we exist why do we drag ourselves in there on a Sunday morning in a Sunday afternoon it's for God it's for Jehovah it's for the creator of the universe the one who sustains all things by the word of his power it's for the Redeemer it's for our God blessed are You Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father was in heaven and the foundation of this church is Christ I'm not going to rehearse the Roman Catholic in the Protestant just trust me on this no I'm kidding go back and listen to the sermon if you're mistaken read John Owen better read the good brothers or just listen to what Spurgeon had to say he says no unsophisticated reader you got a mark Spurgeon's words no unsophisticated reader it's only the sophisticated that would turn out a Roman Catholic with this passage because only the sophisticated is going to read it into the passage but Spurgeon's quote is clear no uncie fistic ated reader the guy like you and me that opens to Matthew 16 and reads Jesus words we're not going to come out Roman Catholic he says no unsophisticated reader of his Bible sees any trace of popery in this passage the wine of Romanism is not to be pressed out of this cluster it's a beautiful summary statement concerning the difference between Roman ISM and Protestantism but let's hurry notice the builder we're gonna focus on that during our application time which isn't much further the Builder you know you're going around Chilliwack and you see these various job sites and you see homes being built and you see the sign telling us who the Builder is you know this group or that group or I think that's supposed to instill confidence in people one of my house from that guy because he's got a good reputation he does good work he you lean on his wall and you don't fall through it instills a degree of confidence we looked for that don't we we need to look for churches that are built by Christ a built by men not built upon men a good test of a church as if the minister drops dead is the church going to march on if the answer's no that I would suggest you don't go there because the church is founded on him we live in a celebrity preacher crazed culture oh my guy is this and my guy is that and my guy is this and my guy is that brethren do not do that don't put all your eggs in the basket of a human being it's Christ who builds the church again we'll focus on this in a bit more detail in a few moments but notice the triumph of the church something we should never tire of he says and I also say to you that your Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it again I think some misunderstanding with reference to this passage what's our typical understanding of this passage the church is sort of holed up in one particular place and Hades is attacking Hades in this context we'll just kind of use the synonymously with Hell there's some differentiation there's some you know difficulty in parsing out all the particulars I want to spare you from at this particular moment but just suffice it to say Hades here doesn't mean death it's not that death won't triumph against the church this is the the foe of the church this is the enemy of the church this is Satan in his hosts see the common interpretation is the church has holed up and Satan's Kingdom continues to advance she won ultimate leo he won't ultimately win but it's going to happen gates are a defensive mechanism isn't it or aren't they how does Jesus express it the church marches on in history the church marches against the kingdom of Satan the church is on the offensive and the gates of Hell itself shall not prevail in other words God will accomplish his purposes God will accomplish his plan God will assemble from every tribe tongue people and nation a glorious bride for his son but beautiful the gates of Hades shall not prevail Pastor Porter referred to Colossians 1 what's one of the beauties of our salvation he has transferred us or translated us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of the son of his love so let's just suppose one of you reflect upon that question who do I say the son of man is and the Holy Spirit's at work in your heart and you by grace believe the gospel you turned from your sin you confess Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God you see what's happened there he has transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the son of his love we see that the the church marches on and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it but this also suggests there will be an attempt by the gates of Hades to prevail against us in other words it's not the health wealth prosperity sort of view of the church that we're going to march on with big cars big houses big wives with big air and all those sorts of things it's not that the church will meet with opposition McShane readers y'all read Acts 14 this morning what was Paul's sermon after he'd been stoned we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of heaven what's Paul say in 2nd Corinthians about his sufferings for the cause of God and truth he speaks about all the physical torture he had undergone all of the difficulties he had undergone that he says and what comes upon me daily is my concern for the church probably the Corinthians to whom he's writing at that particular time because they're asking him crazy questions you see this passage positions us in a realistic place we're not to be the pessimistic dispensationalist that thinks that everything going to hell in a handbasket and why should we polish the Brent brass on a sinking ship but we also need to avoid the sort of triumphalism represented not by postmillennialism don't make that mistake but by the health wealth prosperity fools that teaches that we're gonna just March onward and everything's only going to be good no this places us with a big dose of Biblical realism the church is gonna win but it's gonna be tough not because Christ can't do it overnight but because he uses the toughness to toughen up his people you see that's what we need to appreciate john gill said that all the infernal principalities and powers with all the united cunning and strength will never be able to extirpate that means remove or destroy his gospel to destroy his interest to demolish his church in general or ruin any one particular soul that is built upon him that's good you get down don't you oh wow man I've got sin I got issues got problems I got the devil if you are truly in Christ if you have confessed by grace thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God this infernal kingdom will never ever get you back your Christ's once in Christ you're safe that's goodness it's blessedness wonderful news well brethren in summary or in conclusion or a couple of things we ought to appreciate terms of application if you want you can leave your pencil there and turn back for just a moment to second samuel 7 just want to show you a neat parallel between 2nd samuel 7 and matthew 16 because to have a proper understanding of the foundation and the function of the church we need to have a proper understanding of who Jesus is I think he teaches us that oh he doesn't I don't think it he does what do you say but i the son of man am without the Christ the Son of the Living God it's on the heels of that confession that Jesus then enters into the establishment of the church in verse 18 and then the authority of the church in verse 19 that's a whole mother's a study but you see here that David was given a promise many many years before Matthew 16 and it's important for us to see this in relation to Matthew 16 now second samuel 7 is called the Davidic covenant the Covenant did the kingdom God makes a promise to David that from his line one will be raised up in whom all the promises of God are yes Amen who will be that one who sits upon David's throne and who will reign over an eternal Kingdom but the similarities are beautiful notice in 2nd Kings I'm sorry 2nd samuel chapter 7 verse 14 when God comes to David to tell him about this promise he says I will be his father and he shall be my son that's very important with reference to the Davidic covenant he will be my son so this interesting who do men say that I the Son of Man am there's probably a whole host of ways Peter could have answered that and been right and there's various titles isn't there of our Lord there's various identifiers with reference to our Lord Pastor Mike had been teaching through the eye and with the predicate say you are the light of the world and be right say you're the gate of the Sheep and be right you are the bread of life and be right but it's intriguing Peter says thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God the Davidic covenant promised a son of God notice as well with reference to the Davidic covenant this son of God would build the house of God this is the whole situation in 2nd Samuel 7 David has consolidated power david has the kingdom david has Jerusalem is both political and religious capital David is musing about his his particular position and he comes from the selves himself and he says wait a minute I'm sitting in a fine Palace and God lives in a tent I want to build a house for God God says you're not gonna build a house for me I'm gonna build a house for you a dynasty and from that dynasty one is gonna rise up and he is going to build the house notice in verse 13 he shall build a house for my name it's the church isn't it Jesus the Son of God says that he will build the house of God identified as the church and then notice in the second Samuel 7 Davidic covenant this son of God who builds a house for God will have an eternal Kingdom verse 12 when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your father's I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom he shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever sounds just like what Jesus says the gates of ATS shall not prevail against it sounds like the promises associated with the incarnation of our Lord and Luke's Gospel what does it tell us there and of his kingdom there will be no end Christ is the son of God that builds a house for God that reigns over the kingdom of God forever and ever and ever this is foundational to proper church life if we miss this it's going to be a club if we miss this it's going to be whatever it is that churches can fall into a second thing we ought to appreciate and I brought this briefly the triumph and the suffering of the church both concepts are taught there to guard against this idea of the health wealth and prosperity of the kind of social gospel post millennialism and make a difference different differentiation here of the early 20th century that just taught if man just does what he's supposed to do there will be this utopia there will be this golden age there will be this golden era there will never be a golden age there will never be a golden era if it is founded upon men the best that we can do is continually sin against God one another if you are looking for utopia with men you are going to be frustrated but I think this text teaches us there's not going to necessarily be a utopia on earth postmillennialism a good robust optimistic amillennialism the idea that the church is going to grow the church is going to advance the church is going to increase but it's not going to be without blood sweat and tears is not going to be without aches and pains it's not going to be without those tribulations by which we must enter the kingdom of heaven it's not going to be that way and this tax protects us from that kind of a mindset Calvin said all who are united to Christ and acknowledge him to be Christ and mediator will remain to the end safe from all danger for what is said of the body of the church belongs to each of its members since they are one in Christ yet this passage also instructs us that so long as the church shall continue to be a pilgrim on the earth she will be exposed to many attacks for when it is declared that Satan will not conquer this implies that he will be her constant enemy he may not be victorious but he's going to try he may not well he's not going to be victorious but that doesn't mean he's not gonna throw rocks at her he's going to attack and then finally specific encouragement for the church from this statement I will build my church in the first place Christ owns the church and not men again it's common parlance say well that's my church you're not going to hell for doing that but if you want to be theological enoch least ii ecclesiastically proper it's christ's church always and forever what's Paul's argument for elders with reference to their qualification in 1st Timothy 3 if a man does not know how to rule over his own household now for Paul that doesn't mean sitting on the easy boy in the living room pounding his fists on his tray and demanding that his wife and his children serve Him as loyal vassals that's not what Paul means by rule there but it is intriguing if a man does not know how to rule his own house how shall he take care of the Church of God elders aren't supposed to rule with an iron fist lead government rule you can use that terminology but it's not an easy boy with abject absolute authority saying this is the what this belongs to Jesus good for us to remember this secondly Christ builds the church not men that's really good news that's really really good news we speak of gospel that means good news and we typically mean the life the death the resurrection of Jesus this text is ecclesiastical gospel Christ builds the church we can praise God for that because if it was up to men we would destroy the church we would ruin the church the church would be no more I would dare say one of the proofs that Christ is who he is is that there is still a church 21 centuries after he went back to heaven how does that happen how is it that we can continue along together apart from divine aid it just couldn't happen you get me Christ not only owns it but Christ builds it thirdly Christ protects the church certainly elders deacons members everybody has a role to play when it comes to this whole idea of protection but in the final analysis at the end of the day who is it that holds his bride secure it's the one who's altogether lovely in chief among ten thousand as well Christ defines proper conduct in the church I will build my church if Christ is that vested in owning it and in building it he certainly involved in ruling it in terms of how they approached my father in worship Lord's Christ makes the call not men what happens when you leave worship to men they do a whole host of weird things they bowed a bail they offer up you know incense they they have puppets ponies and programs where pulpit should be they do that kind of stuff I mean it's bizarre out there I mean there's you know blog sites that just sort of catalog and record the odd things that go on the weird the zany the wacky the crazy it's not suppose to look that way they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine in fellowship in the breaking of bread and prayers Deuteronomy 12:30 to God shows that he is very concerned about it the way Israel approaches it first into the 3:15 Paul says so that you know how you ought to conduct yourself in the Church of God the house of God with the house of the Living God which is the Church of God the pillar and ground of the truth Hebrews 12 same sort of thing how are we supposed to approach God except ibly not acceptable to us acceptable to us would be well you don't feel like going today and if I do go I hope there's a couch for me and I can eat shrimp while the guy you know speaks a 10-minute sermon on how to be a better meaning that's how we would fashion worship if it was after us know Christ defines the conduct of the church and finally brethren Michael Jessica brethren that are leaving us I told Mike his first official act as a minister of the gospel is stealing sheep from our church and he knows I'm kidding it is bittersweet it's better to see brethren that you know and you love go but it's sweet because Christ is building his church you know what he calls upon you to be faithful not fantastic not sensational not gifted not the best but faithful I know when I left to come here when I left Palmdale this pastor Barcelos is charged to me first Corinthians chapter 4 moreover it is required of stewards that they be found faithful see that's not for us today if I'm not a celebrity preacher and my face isn't on a coffee cup I feel hurt faithfulness is the order of the day faithfulness to Christ in his word faithfulness with reference to the onslaught of humanism paganism all manner of wretched ISM not from outside but within faithfulness will stem the tide under god of the encroaching world into the church and the encroaching kingdom of satan remember that gates of Hades shall not prevail against it yours is to be faith full that's it he's not faithful call me cam we'll go beat him up if people aren't faithful exhort them encourage them teach them call them to faithfulness and if they still don't cam will come beat them up we have a great sort of structure in place for this going forward it always involves cam beating people up I'm sorry brother he's the nicest guy in the world I don't know why we predicated that of him other than he's just a massive dude in a good way faithfulness that's it moreover it is required of stewards that they be found faithful now I say that's it that's the hardest thing it's easy to jump on the bandwagon and get on the new church growth scheme and implement this and you'll have more people just be faithful and for any and all who do not know Jesus please reflect upon that question that was posed at the outset of our text who do you say that Christ is he is not your Lord and he is not your Savior you are going to go to hell he by grace can be your Lord and Savior by belief look to him believe what the Scriptures saying concerning him that he lived he died he was raised the third day and he did this for sinners like you just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must also the Son of Man be lifted up in that scene in the Book of Numbers when Moses lifted that brazen serpent it was a look and it was a live and that's the same with the Son of Man look and live and be saved well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for this exciting time and the history of our church at the birth of this new church I mean you grant the Brethren grace to be faithful I mean he grant them grace to be persevering and consistent and the things of biblical church Manship may they never forget that it's Christ who owns the church it's Christ who builds the church it's Christ who rules the church and demands the kinds of kind of worship that the people of God undertake be with them bless them help them and encourage their hearts and we pray these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well Lucas will play for a moment and then I'll come back up and thank the Lord for the food that he has given to us and then we'll adjourn to the to the fellowship hall you