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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 going 
to 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 1 Timothy to give him a 
bit of a charge, 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 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 weather, 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, but you 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. 
Now 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 they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have 
taken no bread. But Jesus, being aware of it, 
said to them, O you of little faith, why do you reason among 
yourselves because you have brought no bread? Do you not yet understand 
or remember the five loaves of the 5,000 and how many baskets 
you took up? Nor the seven loaves of the 4,000 
and how many large baskets you took up? How is it that you do 
not understand that 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 Barjona, 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 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, if you, 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 own 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 into 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 His 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 and these Sadducees, they're nice guys, they're pretty 
decent humans, it really doesn't matter that they're not spot-on 
with their orthodoxy, but no harm, no foul. No, Jesus says 
beware of them, 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 faithful remnant in 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 note in the first place the question concerning Christ's 
identity in verses 13 and 14, or 13 to 15. We see Jesus ask 
His disciples, who do men say that I the Son of Man am? Now, 
this is in fact the most important question in the world. You start 
getting older, and your eyes start to go, and you're 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, I don't want to live without 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 20 to 25 years? 
Again, questions 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, as 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 
do 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 or 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 one's 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 
had resisted and rejected the word of God. Jesus was, in many 
respects, Jeremiah-ed 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. 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 now 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 ten thousand? Have you recognized 
your own sinfulness and 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 or 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 Thomas, he 
was Rebellious Thomas. He said, unless I see and unless 
I todge, I will certainly not believe. Christ in His mercy 
and kindness comes to him 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 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? Do 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? You say, 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 going to 
say many things this morning, not too many. We're not going 
to go late, God willing. But you need to ponder this. 
Kids have 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. You can honestly say, I don't 
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 a bleak financial future, the death of a spouse. 
The problems are everlasting punishment, eternal damnation, 
torment in the lake of fire, a place wherein there is weeping 
and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Again, another subject that we 
don't often like to talk about in the life and the context of 
Christ's church. 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, 
then praise God Almighty. This is most important. Now notice the confession made 
by Peter in verses 16 and 17. Now Peter is the spokesman in 
many places in this particular gospel record. In 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 him up until the calling 
of Saul of Tarsus and Paul being sent out in that first missionary 
journey. Peter's the primary emphasis 
in the book of Acts, so there is a priority. In a few moments, 
we're going to try and differentiate a Protestant view of the next 
verse and 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, C.H. Spurgeon said 
if there had been no Romanists to twist this passage, it would 
have presented no difficulty. We'd never have a problem with 
the priority of Peter if the Romanists 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 
hypothetically, if you were to ask you, or when I ask 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 emphatic. Thou and thou 
alone. 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 in 
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, his status 
as 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 in 
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 is way up in 
the northern area in terms of northern part of 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 can 
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. It means that it's true that 
God sent his son into this world, sinners to save. And 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. 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 our prayer meeting 
this morning, Mr. Lawson read a bit from J.C. Ryle's 
Practical Religion. It was about happiness. And he 
starts off this particular essay, not Mr. Lawson, but Mr. Ryle, 
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. It wasn't Christ, it wasn't thou 
art 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? In other words, has your newfound, 
newfangled religion given 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 page in the newspaper, 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? You 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 thou 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. Never just wake up in the morning 
and 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 
on the driveway. Not because my favorite coffee 
is in the hopper waiting for me. But because my sins are forgiven. I'm heaven bound. Christ is mine 
and I am his. Jesus pronounces a beatitude 
upon 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 Barjona, 
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 Arminians 
or Pelagians in light of clear statements like this? It wasn't 
Peter's ingenuity that brought him into this sphere of blessing. 
It wasn't Peter's studiousness that brought him into this sphere 
of blessing. It wasn't Peter's training as a child that brought 
him into this sphere of blessing. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. 
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's 
going to 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 
and 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 sends 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 and every head is bowed and you get called forward. 
You just do that and 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 are 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 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, and nation. And if you were to ask me, well, 
what am I supposed to do then? Believe the gospel. You just 
said it's up to God. Yeah, 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 Surrey. I remember a guy, 20 years ago, 
thought that he'd come up here and, boy, we'd just see a whole 
host of people get saved. Don't. Don't do that. Now, be 
confident, have expectation, pray to God Most High, but don't 
put yourself up in a bad situation where indiscouragement is likely 
to result. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, 
for flesh and blood has 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 1.42, and now he explains 
the significance. He pronounces him blessed in 
verse 17, and on the heels of that, he gives him 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 ekklesia, oftentimes 
people think, well, it means the called out ones. No, it corresponds 
to the Hebrew kahal, meant the assembly, the convocation, 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 
1 Corinthians 11 20. It's applied to the day in Revelation 
1 10. Koriake, that's where kirk comes 
from. So church isn't strictly a translation 
of ecclesia. If we strictly translate it, 
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 going to say you're 
going to hell if you do that. I'm not going to say that you've 
committed some sort of unpardonable. It's just common parlance. Yeah, 
that's my church. 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. The people of God could meet 
in a hut. They'd be the church. The people of God can meet in 
a school, and they will be the church. 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. It refers to all of God's 
elect in all ages, all times, all tribes, tongues, people, 
and nation. Jesus will use the word church or ecclesia in chapter 
18, and he deals specifically there with local churches. In 
other words, in church discipline, when somebody sins, 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 doesn't hear them, then tell it to the church. Jesus 
does not mean the church universal or invisible. He doesn't mean 
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 when he says, I will build 
my church, he means the elect in all ages from every tribe, 
tongue, people, and nation. Now they will be gathered together 
in local expressions. They will be gathered together 
in local churches like in Chilliwack or in Surrey or wherever people 
may be. But that's what he means by church. So it answers, it corresponds 
more to the Hebrew kahal, it means assembly, convocation, 
congregation. Now note the foundation of the 
church. Now this is where we differ from 
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 don't lick my finger and 
put it into an electrical socket or something like that. There 
is 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 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 men. 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 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. J.C. Ryle 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 whom 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. We're here 
because of Jesus. We're here because Christ in 
his kindness, Christ in his goodness, Christ in his mercy, Christ in 
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 mean 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 be in 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 plunged? That's not my calling, you see. Isn't that 
interesting? When you look at the spiritual 
gifts, when you go to these evangelical churches where they have, assess 
your spiritual gift. Why do people typically gravitate 
toward miracle worker and super preacher and teacher, but 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 Psalter, 
opening that hymn book 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 evangelical churches that have a ministry for everything. We have the parking lot ministry, 
we have the nursery ministry, we got the sound booth ministry. 
Everything has to be a ministry. We can't just do something unless 
it's a sanctioned, 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. You'll meet that. You'll bump into brethren from 
bigger churches, and they'll say, I'm in this ministry, I'm 
in that ministry. What do you do in 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 refer 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 need a 
pastoral recommendation. What's their ministry at the 
church? 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 going to 
exercise your gifts. Again, the upper echelon ones, 
not shoveling walkways. But you will do that. But why 
do we exist? Why do we drag ourselves in there 
on a Sunday morning and 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 and 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 to 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 unsophisticated 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 potpourri 
in this passage. The wine of Romanism is not to 
be pressed out of this cluster. Beautiful summary statement concerning 
the difference between Romanism and Protestantism. But let's 
hurry. Notice the builder. We're going 
to focus on that during our application time, which isn't much further. 
The builder. You know, you go 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. I think that's supposed to instill 
confidence in people. I want to buy a house from that 
guy because he's got a good reputation. He does good work. You lean on 
his wall and you don't fall through. It instills a degree of confidence. We look for that, don't we? We 
need to look for churches that are built by Christ, not built 
by men, not built upon men. A good test of a church is if 
the minister drops dead, is the church gonna march on? If the 
answer is no, then 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 you are 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 it's a 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 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 foe of the church. This is the enemy of the church. 
This is Satan and his hosts. See, the common interpretation 
is the church is holed up and Satan's kingdom continues to 
advance. 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. Isn't that 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 turn 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 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 
hair, and all those sorts of things. It's not that. The church will meet with opposition. McShane readers, you all read 
Acts 14 this morning. What was Paul's sermon after 
he had been stoned? We must, through many tribulations, 
enter the kingdom of heaven. What's Paul saying in 2 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. Then 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's going to hell 
in a handbasket, and why should we polish the brass on a sinking 
ship? But we also need to avoid the 
sort of triumphalism represented, not by post-millennialism, 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 gonna 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 their 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've got issues, I've got problems, 
I've 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. You're 
Christ's. Once in Christ, you're safe. That's good news. It's blessed 
news, wonderful news. Well, brethren, in summary, or 
in conclusion, are a couple of things we ought to appreciate 
in terms of application. If you want, you can leave your 
pencil there and turn back for just a moment to 2 Samuel 7. 
I just want to show you a neat parallel between 2 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. Who 
do you say that I, the Son of Man, am? Thou art the Christ, 
the Son of the living God. So 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 other 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, 2 Samuel 
7 is called the Davidic Covenant, the covenant of 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 yea and amen, 
who will be that one who sits upon David's throne and who will 
reign over an eternal kingdom. The similarities are beautiful. 
Notice in 2 Samuel 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. Isn't 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. I mean, 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 I am's with the predicate. He'd say, you are the light of 
the world, and be right. He'd 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 
2 Samuel 7. David has consolidated power. David has the kingdom. David 
has Jerusalem as both political and religious capital. David 
is musing about his particular position and he comes to 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 going to build a house for me. I'm going 
to build a house for you, a dynasty. And from that dynasty, one is 
going to 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 2 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 fathers, I will set up your seat 
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 Hades shall not prevail against it. Sounds like 
the promises associated with the incarnation of our Lord in 
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 out 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 
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 and 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. It's 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 text 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 going to 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 to say, well, that's my church. You're not 
going to hell for doing that. But if you wanna be theologically 
and ecclesiastically proper, it's Christ's church. always 
and forever. What's Paul's argument for elders 
with reference to their qualification in 1 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 fist 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 way, 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 and chief among 10,000. 
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's certainly involved in ruling it in terms 
of how they approach my father in worship. Christ makes the 
call, not men. What happens when you leave worship 
to men? They do a whole host of weird 
things. They bow to Baal. They offer up incense. They have puppets, ponies, and 
programs where pulpits should be. They do that kind of stuff. I mean, it's bizarre out there. 
I mean, there's 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 supposed to look that 
way. They continued steadfastly in 
the apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and 
prayers. Deuteronomy 12.32, God shows 
that He is very concerned about the way Israel approaches Him. 
1 Timothy 3.15, Paul says, so that you know how you ought to 
conduct yourself, in the church of God, the house of God, 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? Acceptably. Not acceptably 
to us. Acceptable to us would be, well, 
you know, I 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 me. That's 
how we would fashion worship if it was after us. No, 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 bitter 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, as Pastor Barcelos has charged 
to me, 1 Corinthians 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 and his 
word. Faithfulness with reference to 
the onslaught of humanism, paganism, all manner of wretchedism, 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, the gates of Hades 
shall not prevail against it. Yours is to be faithful. That's it. If he's not faithful, 
call me. Cam will 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 camp beating 
people up. I'm sorry, brother. He's the nicest guy in the world. 
I don't know why we predicate 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? If 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 say 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 in the history of our church at the birth of this new church. 
May you grant the brethren grace to be faithful. May you grant 
them grace to be persevering and consistent in the things 
of biblical churchmanship. 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 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 fellowship hall.