You can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Matthew, Matthew chapter 16. We will return, God willing, to our studies in John's gospel on the 8th of October. Pastor Agalo will be preaching morning and evening on the 1st. I'll be away next Sunday, so God willing, John, back in October 8th.

I want to focus specifically on verses 13 to 18, but before I read, I just want to say it's good to be back. It was good to be away to get some rest. Got constant updates from Rick and Karen. They loved it here.

I tried to make a pitch for them to sell their house and to move up here, but they weren't quite that ready to take that step. But they spoke very highly of the congregation. They spoke very kindly of the work of Christ here in Chilliwack. It was a great encouragement to me.

And then Rick gave a report to their church. He had sent that report to me prior. And again, just a glowing report for the saints there in La Mirada. We can trust God that they will continue to pray for us.

We should continue to pray for them and other churches that share our confession of faith and churches that don't as well. But nevertheless, we do have a communion of saints that are rallied around a particular view of God's holy word. So as I said, our focus this morning is Matthew 16 verses 13 to 18, but I want to read beginning in verse 13 to the end of the chapter. So Matthew 16, 13.

Scripture Reading

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, Her 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. From that time, Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. Then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

For the son of man will come in the glory of his father with his angels, and then he will reward each according to his works. Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Our God and Father, we thank you for this beautiful day. We thank you for the majesty of God revealed in the created order. As well, we bless you and praise you for that majesty and that grace revealed in the redemptive order. We thank you for the gospel of our salvation, for the life and the death and the resurrection of our blessed Savior.

We pray now that the Holy Spirit would guide our thoughts as we consider this passage concerning the church. We pray that you would encourage our hearts, that you would build us up in our most holy faith, that you would cause us to be faithful in this present evil age, to shine as lights in this crooked generation, and to hold forth your word of truth. Forgive us for all sin, all iniquity, all transgression, all lawlessness, and cleanse us in that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And for any and all who've come here this morning that are dead in their trespasses and sins, we pray that today would be the day of salvation, that you in your grace and in your mercy with that voice that is able to crush the cedars of Lebanon, you would crush the hardened hearts of men, women, boys, and girls, and bring them forth out of darkness in the marvelous light, confessing the glory of Jesus Christ.

And we pray in his most blessed name, amen.

Introduction

Well, as I said, our focus will be on verses 13 to 18. I preached this sermon in February of 2021. That was at the height of the lockdown phase in terms of the COVID response on the part of the Canadian government. And in that particular sermon, I'm gonna quote myself here.

I said, even if we lose the court case this week, that does not mean that Christ has disregarded his promise. We did lose the court case. We have been pronounced guilty. But here we stand.

And we don't stand here because we're good and faithful. We stand here because Christ is good and faithful. Christ is the head, Christ is the builder, and Christ is the one who promised that his church would withstand the assault of the gates of Hades. And so in this particular passage, I want to look first at the question concerning Christ's identity in verses 13 to 15.

Secondly, the confession concerning Christ's person in verses 16 and 17. And then finally, the declaration concerning Christ's church in verse 18.

Christ's Identity: The Public Question

So notice with me first of all the question concerning his identity. The setting is given us there in chapter 16 at verse 13a when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi. He's engaged in his public ministry. He's going from place to place.

He's teaching the word of truth, he's engaged in healing miracles, he's engaged in what he has come to do, to seek and to save that which was lost. And then notice that Jesus asks his disciples a very pointed question in verses 13 to 15. Notice in the first place it's a question concerning the public's assessment of who he is. In other words, the disciples, they move and shake and have their being with other people there and in Israel in the first century.

So Jesus asked the question, who do men say that I, the son of man, am? And then notice how the disciples respond to that in verse 14. So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. So in other words, what he had been doing, what he had been teaching had not gone unnoticed.

By this time his fame had spread. By this time multitudes were drawing near to him because they wanted to hear what he had to say. And so Christ wants to get his finger on the pulse in terms of the public assessment. So he asks that question.

But then notice he moves from the general to the specific. He moves from out there to in here. He asks his disciples very pointedly and very specifically in verse 15, he said to them, but who do you say that I am? In other words, we are concerned about the public assessment, he says, but I also want to know what you have to say.

And if you've never pondered this particular question, it's a good time to perhaps pause and reflect upon it. Who do you say the son of man is? Who do you say that the Lord Jesus Christ is? Was he just the starter of a new religion?

Was he just an ethically good man that went about and taught behavior and moralism and ethics to the various crowds that would listen to him? Was he a revolutionary? I think the Jews who are looking for Messiah pretty much classify Jesus as something of a religious revolutionary in the first century. As well, there are those people that just, again, see him as an example to be followed.

But if we ask the Bible who does or who is Jesus Christ, we need to come to grips with the reality that he was the Word made flesh. That he is the second person of the triune God, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. That he is God most high, from everlasting to everlasting, but he assumed our humanity. He took to Him our humanity with all of the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof, and yet without sin.

And He did that so that He could live for us, so that He could die for us, and so that He could be raised again for us. So not just the beginner of a new religion, not just a revolutionary, not just an ethically good man, but the Son of God who came to save His people from their sins. And as we move through this passage, it's going to be a pretty focused or heavy emphasis upon the church today. But with reference to the church, the access to the church is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone.

In other words, confessing him the way that Peter does in the following verses. Confessing him the way the rest of the Bible teaches. The way that John the Apostle confesses, or writes concerning him, of him in John 1.1. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And then in John 1.14, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And when we consider that again, it ought to amaze us. It ought to cause us to stand in awe as believers that the Son of God came on this rescue mission to deliver us from this present evil age, to deliver us from the clutches of the devil, to deliver us from death itself, and to deliver us from our own sin, and our perversion, and our wickedness, and our lawlessness. And if you're not a believer here this morning, I would encourage you to consider who Jesus Christ really is.

In other words, take this thought home with you. Who do I say the Son of Man is? Do I confess Him as Lord and Savior? Do I own Him as the One who gave Himself for me, the way Paul does in Galatians 2.20?

He speaks of Jesus as the one who loved me and gave himself for me. In other words, the Christian religion is one of personal pronouns. I know there's a lot of nonsense outside these walls about pronouns today, but in terms of Christianity, it's a redemptive religion that involves the personal pronoun that Christ loved me. Christ gave himself for me.

So as we proceed in this passage, don't let this thought escape you. Who do I say that Jesus Christ is? Who do I say that the Son of Man is?

The Confession of Christ's Person

And that brings us secondly to consider the confession concerning his person in verses 16 to 17. Notice that it's Simon Peter that answers. Simon Peter functions as a bit of a spokesman for the rest of the disciples, specifically in Matthew's gospel. You see that in 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19.

He's one among equals, to be sure, but there is a certain priority that we see in Simon Peter. So it shouldn't surprise us that it's Simon Peter who ponies up here and he gives the answer. Now, when we reflect on Simon Peter, we're going to have to say a lot of things as we move through this passage to say what he what he wasn't or what he's not in terms of the Roman Catholic doctrine, but in terms of what he was. He was the first called by Christ in Matthew 4 to follow Jesus.

He is one of the first to be named as an apostle in Matthew 10. In other words, we maintain the priority of Peter among his fellows without maintaining Rome's insistence that this passage teaches that he was the first Pope. Spurgeon says, if there had been no Romanist to twist this passage, it would have presented no difficulty. And we'll see more about that as we proceed.

But then notice specifically the confession that Simon Peter makes in response to the question of Jesus. But who do you say that I am? Notice that Simon Peter confesses in verse 16, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, Christ is the Greek word that translates anointed one.

It's similar to the Hebrew word Messiah, which translated means anointed one. And so the Old Testament was a promise concerning the Messiah. It was a promise concerning the Anointed One. It was a promise concerning the Coming One of God Most High who would in fact save His people from their sins.

So when Simon Peter looks at Jesus and says, thou art the Christ, he is giving a very proper interpretation to that question. Who do you say that I am? In other words, this is what we need to confess about our Lord. Again, not just that he's a good man, not just that he's a good ethical teacher, but he is the promise, the fulfillment of God's promises.

All the promises of God, according to Paul, are yea and amen in him. So when Peter confesses that thou art the Christ, this is biblical. This is absolutely correct. This is on the right track.

But notice he doesn't stop there. He says, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, when you look at the Old Testament, you will see that this is taught. Jews, again, that have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ today are looking for the Messiah.

We had an intriguing opportunity on the Thursday night that we were in California. The second Thursday, I went to visit my sister's family in Palm Springs. And on Thursday night in Palm Springs, they have this open air sort of market. It's about a billion degrees out there.

It's dark, but there's all these people doing their thing. And then there's this booth with, ask a rabbi. And I asked the rabbi, what do you think of Jesus Christ? And he says, well, I don't think much of Jesus Christ.

And then he went on to tell me, well, the Messiah is not supposed to be the son of God. He's not supposed to be divine. He's not supposed to be, you know, this, that, and the other. I said, well, it sounds like you think about Jesus a lot, because that's precisely what the scripture says concerning Jesus.

Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Well, where does that come from? It comes from 2 Samuel chapter 7 in the promise of the Davidic covenant. God says that a son will indeed build a house for God.

It comes from the Psalms. It comes from the prophets. It comes from the Old Testament. Simon Peter confesses that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.

Living God picks up an Old Testament motif, which contrasts Yahweh of Israel with the dead idols all around Israel. And so again, he's speaking biblical truth in response to the question, who do you say that I am? As well, up to this point, we have seen Jesus called or addressed as son of God in Matthew's gospel. You see it in Matthew chapter 2.

Verse 15, the prophecy from Hosea. Out of Egypt I have called my firstborn son. What's Matthew telling us? Matthew is telling us that Hosea was prophesying concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As well, you see the Lord's relation to his father throughout Matthew's gospel. We see it preeminently in John's gospel. He's the son sent by the father. As well, you've got this Old Testament background, as I mentioned, 2 Samuel chapter 7.

Psalm 2, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And then in terms of Matthew's gospel, very specifically, you have the demons confess that Jesus is the Son of God, you have the devil confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and you have the Father confess that Jesus is the Son of God. And so when Simon Peter makes this declaration, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, He's right on. This is good.

This is what you need to listen to. This is what you need to affirm. If you are dead in your trespasses and sins, a bit of moral reformation isn't going to fix you. A little bit of do-goodery isn't going to save you.

Just making up your mind, well, I'm going to stop engaging in this particular practice and start doing this, isn't going to bring you into the presence of God Most High. You must see Christ. You must believe on Christ. You must look to Christ and live.

Remember our brother preached that passage, the first Sunday that he preached, I think it was the 20th of August, it's been so long ago, he preached from John's Gospel, John 3. And he likened, or rather he showed, how Jesus is responding, and he invokes that passage in the book of Numbers, when the Israelites were stung by those fiery serpents. How did the Israelites gain relief? Did they drag themselves over to that brazen serpent?

Did they kiss the brazen serpent? Did they first suck the venom out of their leg and then look to the brazen serpent? No, they looked and they lived. What's Jesus' point in John 3?

Look and live. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. If you subscribe to a religion that says, go out and try harder, go out and do more, go out and be better. You see that today in discourse and social media.

Do better. Do better. Well, oftentimes that's just a corrective to some fool you're dealing with on the internet. But that's the essence of man-centered religion.

Just do better. Brethren, if it was all about just doing better to secure our place in heaven, then why the cross? The Apostle Paul says, I do not set apart the grace of God. For if righteousness comes to the law, then Christ died in vain.

Why the cross if you and I could just do better? The cross because we don't do better. The cross because we can't militate against our sin. the cross because we can't cleanse ourselves, we can't wash ourselves, we can't imbibe the perfection demanded by God's holy law, which is exact, which is entire, which is perpetual. That's God's demand upon us.

So the confession that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, is what is needful today for anybody dead in their trespasses and sins. And then notice how Jesus responds to this in verse 17. He pronounces a beatitude upon him. A beatitude is a blessing.

You see that previously in Matthew chapter 5. We call them the beatitudes in verses 3 to 12. And you see another one in chapter 13, specifically at verse 16. And Jesus pronounces Peter with this beatitude here.

Simply means, happy are you, blessed are you, whole are you, content are you, good are you. Not because of goodness in you, but he's pronouncing a good thing upon Simon Peter for this particular confession. So what does that show us? That's the affirmation of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

Not, well, you know, Peter, that's good, but you need to go out and work your fingers to the bone. That's good, Peter, but you need to do all these particular works in order to gain access into heaven. No, he pronounces him blessed on this particular point. But then notice specifically what he says.

Verse 17.

Grace Alone as the Ground of Confession

For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." In other words, he's not saying, blessed are you as a reward for your excellent studies in the Old Testament. Blessed are you because you mastered your Sabbath school lessons. Blessed are you, Simon Peter, because you're wiser than your contemporaries. Blessed are you, Simon Peter, because you're smarter than the guys around you.

No, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you. What is that underscore? You need God's grace to gain God's favor. It's not an autonomous attempt.

It's not a blank slate. It's not, you know, just do the best you can and God will receive you. No, that's not what Jesus is saying. Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood.

Didn't reveal this to you. You didn't learn this in Sabbath school. You didn't learn this unaided by the Spirit as you read the Old Testament scriptures. You didn't get this in your singing of the Psalms or your chanting of the Psalms in synagogue.

You didn't get this but by God's grace. See, the Reformed communion, the Reformed churches emphasize grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We don't do that because that's kind of our niche. It's just the way that we're a little bit different.

We don't speak in tongues and we emphasize grace. No, we do that because our Master does. It's not flesh and blood that brought you to this place, brethren. It's not your wisdom.

It's not your ingenuity. It's certainly not your good works. It's God the Father who opens the hardened hearts of men, who causes the new birth, who enables them to be born again. and grants them the saving graces of faith and repentance that they may lay hold of Christ and leave their sins in the dust. It is God that is glorified for this confession by Simon Peter.

Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." Now before you start to think, well, that means there's no hope. God the Father revealed this to Simon Peter. God the Father revealed this to the Apostle Paul. Remember on the road to Damascus?

Why was Paul going to Damascus? Because he wanted to join the Christian worship service? No, he went there with extradition papers in his hand. He went there to go to the synagogue to physically seize men and women, he says this, and take them back to Jerusalem.

Not so they could be heralded as champions of the new religion, but so that they could be persecuted, so that they could be in prison, perhaps so they could be executed. What stops Paul on the road to Damascus? Does he have a moment of reflection, a moment of recollection, a moment wherein he just says, you know, I've been all wrong here. My pursuit has been bad.

I need to reflect more on it. No. It was Christ who comes to him on the road to Damascus, and when he asks, who art thou? He says, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

You see, God sovereignly chooses a great multitude that no man can number. So that is purposeful in order to give you hope. It's not the case that there's just going to be a handful in heaven. Revelation 7, it's a great multitude from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

So instead of looking at the sovereignty of God as some sort of a challenge or an obstacle, see it as the blessed provision of God in the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In other words, there is hope in Christ. There is hope in the Father and the Spirit. There is hope in our blessed triune God.

No one should leave despondent. No one should leave in the sense that, well, I can never be saved. Well, if Paul, the chief of sinners, is saved, he's a trophy of God's sovereign grace, guess what? The lesser sinners can come to that table as well because of God's graciousness and because of faith in our blessed Savior.

So the apostle is pronounced blessed, not because he had this moment, but rather because God had favored him with this moment.

Declaration Concerning Christ's Church

And that brings us finally to consider the declaration concerning his church. Notice in verse 18, a few things to unpack here. 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. Notice, Peter's already had revelation.

He's already, by God's grace, understood that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. What happens on the heels of that? He gets more revelation. He gets more information.

He gets more data. It's a beautiful and a wonderful thing when you come to God's word as a saved sinner. What happens? It opens up.

What happens when you read that Bible? You've been in the way for many, many years. Sorry, sister. You've been in the way for several years.

What happens? Have you ever had that? Well, I've never seen that in the Bible. Well, it's not like it jumped in there on the 17th of September in 2023.

God reveals his glory to his people. God reveals his word to his people. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. I have found it curious before, when I've left to go on vacation or go somewhere else, and I come back and somebody says, oh, that particular pastor or that preacher, he said this, and it was incredible.

It penetrated my heart. I'd never heard anything like that before. And I've known that, yeah, you've probably heard it about 25 times in the last 26 years, right? It's just the way God works.

He moves in mysterious ways, His wonders do perform. The Word of God is not a closed up book. The Word of God is glorious. I mean, it's closed in the sense there's no new revelation being added to it.

But it's not the case that you read Genesis to Revelation and say, well, I'm done. I finished the textbook. I'm ready to go. Brethren, that's not how it works.

And in this instance, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. So on the heels of that, Jesus gives him more revelation. He gives him more instruction. He gives him more information.

Why? Because Peter, along with the other apostles, are going to be somewhat foundational to the building of this particular church. So let's look at what he says here in terms of the establishment of the church. Before we get to that, I want to look at the definition of the church.

What's the church? It's a good question, isn't it? What's the family? What's the civil state?

What's the Moose Lodge? What's the Alps? What is this thing that we're dealing with when it comes to the church? What is this thing that has the promise appended that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it?

What is this institution given by God Most High that will survive into the eschaton? Think about it. The family is not going to be the same in the age to come. We'll be like the angels, neither marrying nor given in marriage.

The civil state doesn't continue into the eschaton, for which we praise God most high. But the church does. When we've been there 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. It is to the church that our Lord Jesus appends or attaches this particular promise that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

So what is the church? The church, or the word church, is used three times in the Gospels. It's used once here and twice in Matthew. Here, the emphasis is upon the universal church.

I will build my church. In Matthew 18, it's upon the local church. If your brother sins, go to him. If he hears you, you've won your brother.

If he doesn't hear you, take two or three witnesses. If he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. Not every single church out there, but to the local church of which he is a member. So you see this emphasis on church here twice, or three times, to local church, one universal church here in Matthew's gospel.

Now, the word church is more related to the Dutch and the German kirk, or the Scottish kirk. And that comes from one Greek word that's used twice in the New Testament, kuriakon. That means something that belongs specially to the Lord. It's used of the supper in 1 Corinthians, and it's used of the day in Revelation 1.

So kirk or kuriakon, that which belongs to the Lord. Now the Greek word that we see translated church is ekklesia. And you've probably heard pastors, or you've probably heard students of the Bible say, well, ekklesia means it's the called out of God. They look at the etymology, the exit, the out called ones of God.

That's not what it means. It corresponds with the kahal. In Israel, the Old Testament, the Hebrew word kahal means the assembly. the convocation, the gathering of God's people. That's the emphasis that we find.

I will build my church. It's not a building. Now, we need to make sure that we're not foolish in this regard as well. Remember back in the pandemic, we don't need a building to worship God.

Of course we don't need a building to worship God, but it's kind of nice to keep the rain off our heads when we do worship God. The argument was never, you have to have a building. The argument was always, don't stop us from worshiping God, whether we happen to meet at our public building or we happen to meet in a living room. We like to not get wet when we engage in this particular endeavor.

So when it comes to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's the primary emphasis. In fact, R.T. France makes this observation. He says, the Greek term ekklesia never denotes a physical structure in the New Testament.

I mean, we say, oh, my church is on Wellington, or my church is on Yale, or my. We need to make sure that we're not, you know, the super psycho Pharisee. Well, the church isn't. People use that as a common form of parlance.

That's OK. But when you stop to think and when you stop to define, it's not the structure. It's not the building. If God obliterates this building, then we'll still continue to meet as the church.

The Greek term ekklesia never denotes a physical structure in the New Testament, but always a community of people. The New Temple is not a building of literal stones, but consists of living stones. That's a good emphasis for us to remember. Now, as we look back at our text, we want to look at what Jesus says concerning the church.

Verse 18. 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 Foundation of the Church

So first, look at the foundation of the church. Now there's been significant amount of debate about this passage between what's called Protestants and what's called Roman Catholics. Notice verse 18, I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock, is Peter the rock? Is Peter the foundation?

Is he the Pope? Is he the successor of Jesus Christ on earth? Is he the vicar? Is he the ruler over all Christians on earth?

Well, in terms of the identification of the rock, those are the positions that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that Peter is the rock. Again, they derive their doctrine of papal infallibility, papal succession, all that stuff from Simon Peter. Amongst Protestants, there's two basic approaches. One, the rock is Peter's confession of faith.

Based on this confession of faith, Peter, that's the rock upon which I will build my church. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with that, but I think the third interpretation gets at it even more clearly. And that simply is that the rock is the Christ who Peter confessed. The rock is the Christ who Peter confessed.

Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. Then I say to you, Simon Peter, upon this rock I will build my church.

In other words, it's Christ. in His person. It's Christ, that second person of the Godhead that takes on our humanity and lives and dies and is raised again for us and for our salvation. The Rock is our blessed Savior. He's the foundation of the Church.

He is the reason for it. He is the rationale for it. Owen makes this observation. 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. So again, he's not saying, Peter, lucky you, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. You won the prize. Upon you is going to be built the church.

Now consider this in terms of Roman Catholicism. Some of you, many of you, perhaps, have no knowledge. You didn't grow up in it. You weren't raised in it.

You don't know much about it. It seems a bit odd. They wear funny hats if they're in the priesthood, or they're popes, or the hippie pope right now seems a bit odd. He seems more like a Marxist and a leftist.

Is this really consistent with Roman Catholic theology? So there's a lot of puzzling things about Romanism. But know this, that this is the passage upon which they have their idea of the Pope. The R.C. of the Roman Catholic Church teaches that Peter, in his person, was the rock, and that this is the justification for papal authority.

In other words, he and his successors are the popes who have supreme authority over Christians on earth. And this is to quote them. This is the Catholic Encyclopedia. The Pope, as Bishop of Rome, is the successor of St.

Peter, and therefore the visible head of the church on earth, the vice-regent of Christ, and the supreme ruler of all Christians. Now, probably you will all join me with saying, praise God, that's not true. Praise God that Francis isn't my head. Praise God that the hope of the glory and the maturation and the growth and the success and triumph of the church is not appended to him or to any that will succeed him or any that preceded him.

Now when it comes to Peter, we don't want to go the opposite direction and say, well, you know, he was just a derelict like the rest of us. No, the Bible envisages good things about Peter. The Apostle Peter does occupy a place of priority among the disciples. Acts 2, Acts 8, once the narrative shifts to focus on the Apostle Paul in terms of the outermost parts of the earth, in terms of the gospel going forth, Peter is the I don't want to say the star of the first half of the Book of Acts, but he certainly got priority among the others.

As well, the Apostle Peter was not infallible. That's part of Roman Catholic dogma with reference to Peter. Not everything, you know, I'll have the chicken instead of the steak, and he ends up with bad steak. That doesn't mean infallibility in all things, but it means infallibility on doctrine. infallibility on dogma, infallibility on things that matter in terms of religion, in terms of access to God.

I mean, in this passage, he goes from being pronounced, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but then he hears, get behind me, Satan. He tries to forbid Jesus from going to Jerusalem once Jesus starts to say how that church is going to come to fruition and how that church is going to be built and how that church is going to withstand the gates of Hades itself. He does so by telling or outlining the mission of the Messiah. I must go to Jerusalem.

I must be tried, I must die, I must be raised again. What does Peter say? Forbid it, Lord! Get behind me, Satan!

You see, in Galatians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul rebukes Simon Peter, because Simon Peter didn't want to eat with the Gentiles, because he thought that would offend certain Jews. You see as well in the book of Acts, chapter 15, when they convene to consider Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God, Peter is subject to James. James is the leader of the church in Jerusalem. So there's no infallibility of Peter as we find it here in Scripture.

The Lord Jesus here is not instituting a succession of popes. Consider, if he had, then after Peter's death, there would have been a new pope, and he would have presided over John the Apostle, who was still alive. That just doesn't make any sense. Plus, there are several commentators.

I think John Calvin holds that Simon Peter never, ever went to Rome. So there's problems with the Roman Catholic interpretation of this passage. The position of the Roman Catholic Church is not exegetical. It is an imposition upon the text of a particular ecclesiology.

In fact, Spurgeon says, no unsophisticated reader. I love the way he does that. No unsophisticated reader. You know who that is?

That's us. You have to be sophisticated to see potpourri in Matthew 16. You have to engage in sophistry. You have to engage in things outside of Matthew 16 to see papal succession in Matthew 16.

So he says, no unsophisticated reader of the Bible sees any trace of potpourri in this passage. The wine of Romanism is not to be pressed out of this cluster. That's just a wrong interpretation. Now, this isn't, let's bash the Roman Catholic Church and all their bad things.

I mean, that would take a series of sermons, to be sure. But it's simply to say that it's Christ that's the rock. It's Christ that's the foundation. It's Christ, as I said, that's the rationale, the very reason for the Church of Christ.

And it's as a result of that that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. If it's simply man, if it's simply a group of elders, if it's simply a group of so-called popes, it's going to fail. How do we withstand the gates of Hades? Well, we do it because our head is triumphant.

We do it because our head is powerful. We do it because our head is champion. We do it because our head is able to bring down the gates of Hades through his work at the right hand of the Father. So the Protestant understanding of the Rock understands that it's Christ who is the foundation of the Church.

But the Protestants also recognize that the apostles play a foundational role. You see it in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 20. And then in the book of Revelation at chapter 21 verse 14, the names of the 12 apostles are on the gates there. delegate, or we don't derogate them or subjugate them to the regular, you know, everybody's on the same footing. No, they wrote the New Testament.

They taught us how to interpret the Old Testament. You understand that, right? When Matthew, for instance, in Matthew 2, invokes Hosea as the rationale for Jesus leaving Egypt, we need to listen to how he's interpreting the Word of God. When the Apostle Paul in Romans 4 tells us that Jesus inherits the world, that helps us to understand those promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that they transcended the geography of Israel.

When the New Testament applies Old Testament promise to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, vis-a-vis Exodus chapter 19. What was Israel supposed to function as in the world? As a kingdom of priests. Do they pass that?

Do they make it to that? Do they become that? No. They fail miserably.

But the true Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, is successful in his work of redemption. And so by virtue of our union with him, all those covenant promises of God are received by the church. It's the most blessed thing. So we understand that the apostles had a very important and foundational role.

But it's Christ as the rock. It's Christ as the foundation. It's Christ who is the one that gives meaning to this very passage. Not Peter, not a succession of Peters, but rather it is Jesus.

Now that's the foundation, but

Christ as Builder of the Church

notice secondly the builder of the church, and I think this is very encouraging. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I, not I, Jimmy, but I, Jesus, says, will build my church. Jesus Christ builds the church, not elders, not deacons, not faithful churchmen. It's Christ who builds the church.

It's Christ who puts it together. It's Christ who sustains it. I think I once read where there was a handful of fathers, church fathers, early, you know, early centuries of the church. And they were musing on the reality that if it were up to us, we would have never made it this far.

So like second, third century, they're musing on that. If it were up to us, we'd have never made it thus far. We're in the 21st century now, brethren. Are we going to start patting ourselves on the back?

Are we going to start saying, well, it was John Calvin and C.H. Spurgeon. They kept it all together. They were faithful servants of Christ Most High.

They were faithful preachers of the doctrines of grace. They were faithful, you know, servants of our blessed Savior. But who gets the credit? Who gets the win?

Who gets the glory for building the church? It's not the industry of the church. It's not the committees in the church. It's not the servants of the church.

But it's Jesus Christ who builds his church. I think there's a world of encouragement in that small phrase, I will build my church. He will not be thwarted. He will not be frustrated.

He will not be stopped. He will not go away. As much as our current political system would like for him to go away, He ain't going anywhere. He is going to accomplish His purpose from every tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation.

He is going to amass that great multitude that is going to end up before the throne of God Most High singing His praises through all eternity. I will build my church.

Triumph Without Triumphalism

And then notice the promise of triumph. Now, I'm not suggesting triumphalism. Everything's gonna be hunky-dory. You're part of the church.

You're the king's children. Everything's only ever gonna be great. No, brethren, you know that's not the case. That's a lie.

Oh, come to Jesus and everything's gonna be, you know, just always wonderful. Really? Did David experience that? 1 Samuel chapter 16, he's anointed by Saul, by Samuel rather, and in 1 Samuel 16, he's driven out by Saul. Does Jesus in his earthly ministry have the spirit of triumphalism?

No, he's a man of sorrows. He's acquainted with grief. Read the book of Acts. Is that the triumphalism of the early church?

No, it's the triumph, but not triumphalism. We need to be careful that we don't become obnoxious, that we don't become the sorts of people that gloat, the sorts of people that are arrogant, the sorts of people that do not have that humility of spirit, understanding that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against us, but nevertheless, they're going to try. There will be that contrast in the Christian life. In this world, Jesus says in John 16, 33, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer.

I've overcome the world. So my argument is that this passage promises triumph, but it ought not to produce in us triumphalism, that obnoxious spirit that says, oh, nothing ever bad is going to happen to me. Nothing ever contrary is going to happen to me. The health, wealth, and prosperity liars take this particular attack.

Come to Jesus and you'll get not only salvation, but you'll get a new car. You'll get a new summer home. And if you don't, it's because you lack faith. Well, what happens to the bruised, broken, battered child of God that doesn't get those things?

Does that mean Jesus fails us? That's what their theology inevitably has to lead to. Jesus never fails. Jesus never disappoints.

It may be in this world that we don't get those things that we were promised by godless men, but Christ has glorious things in our future at that harvest time. So notice, with reference to this statement, this latter statement in verse 18, when he says, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it, there are two things taught here.

Perpetual Assault and Perpetual Triumph

First, the perpetual assault against the church, and secondly, the perpetual triumph of the church. The perpetual assault against the church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I don't want to spend too much time on this word Hades, but suffice to say it's probably the two compartment sort of place of the dead until the resurrection. We see that death in Hades, according to the book of Revelation, are delivered up, cast ultimately into the lake of fire, which is hell.

So a lot of scholars see a two compartment sort of place for the dead until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, a place for the righteous and a place for the wicked. It does seem to take the nuance here of being the antagonistic enemy of God's people. those who wish to thwart, those who wish to stop, those who wish to conquer Jesus and his church. So notice, he says, in the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. So we have that promise of triumph that we'll see in just a moment, but we also have this promise that they're going to try.

I just, you know, I don't like to say these kinds of things because I don't want to be sort of a, you know, party pooper, but if you haven't had a tough Christian life, just hang on. It's gonna happen. Again, I'm not trying to jinx you or, you know, put some bad mojo or anything like that, or juju or whatever they call it. I'm not.

But in this world, you will have tribulation. John 16, 33. What's Paul's surmise according to 2 Timothy 3, 12? All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus shall what?

They'll just walk unharmed in the earth around them? All the perverts and the murderers and the criminals and all the people on the street. I'm describing the politicians. They're all going to be antagonistic.

They're all going to be contrary. They're all going to be enemies to you. Be of good cheer. I've overcome the world.

There's going to be persecution. There's going to be hardship. There's going to be turmoil. There's going to be affliction.

Children of God are not immune from those things. Children of God don't have some bubble around them. It's not like, you know, that big thick shipping bubble wrap that sort of surrounds us and wherever we go, we're safe and unaffected by the problems around us. All you have to do is read Acts.

All you have to do is read the latter part of Hebrews chapter 11. All you have to do is focus on the epistles in Revelation 2 and 3 to the churches in Asia Minor. All you have to do is take a brief glance at the history of the church. All you have to do is see the early controversies concerning the Trinity and Christology.

What happened to people that were telling the truth? They would get exiled. They would actually have to leave their homes and their places and their families and go live out in the desert. For the heresy of maintaining that Christ is the Word made flesh who dwelt among us.

And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. One need only think of the Scottish Covenanters. One need only think of the Huguenot in France. One need only think about just about every other country on the face of the earth presently.

Come to a morning prayer meeting on a Sunday morning at 0930. will take a tour around the earth to hear that there is persecution, there is suffering, there is affliction. What does that suggest? The gates of Hades are going to be defeated, but they're not going to go away without trying to mount up a last resistance. In other words, the devil roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, according to Peter in 1 Peter 5.

So the passage not only promises triumph, but it also promises hardship and difficulty and things that are not necessarily a happy event for the people of God. But one other thought in terms of the perpetual assault against the church. We need to make sure we keep the proper emphasis here. Notice that Jesus does not say that Hades itself or the devil himself, or, I mean, there is a sense where instrumentally that happens, but what does Gates suggest to you?

Gates are defensive, aren't they? If you build your house and you put a fence around it, why do you do that? Well, I don't want stray dogs coming into my yard. I don't want, you know, my neighbor's pet ferret coming into my yard.

You probably also don't want two-legged creatures with guns coming into your yard, so you put a gate or a fence around your property. We used to do this in countries. We called them borders, but those seem to have dissipated. What is Jesus saying?

It's the church now that is on the march. And this is where the church today needs to wake up. The church is on the march. The church isn't surrounding itself with the covered wagons.

The church isn't hunkered down in the corner. The church isn't busy biting their collective fingernails and letting their collective knees knock while they just hope everything turns out good. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Well, what does that mean?

It means the church is on this trajectory to proclaim the gospel and to make disciples of all the nations, to baptize those disciples, and then to teach those disciples everything that Jesus commanded. And while the church is engaged in that particular activity or task, the gates of Hades will be plundered. In other words, it's when the church does what the church is supposed to do that the gates of Hades are ineffective. In fact, I think you see something of this illustrated in Colossians 1 at verses 13 and 14.

The Apostle says, He, God, has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Listen to that. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. What's He conveyed us out of?

The kingdom of darkness. The power of the devil. the gates of Hades. See, what we find Jesus saying here is that the church is on the offense, not with military might, not with guns blazing, but with the weapons that God has equipped his church with, preaching and prayer. There's other things to be sure, but those are the emphases we find in the New Testament very often.

Preach the word, Paul says, to Timothy. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. How does God advance his kingdom in the time of the Covenanters? How does he advance his kingdom in the time of the Huguenots?

How does he advance his kingdom today in Indonesia? How does he advance his kingdom today in China? How does he advance his kingdom today in Canada? Yes, through loving deeds and through kindness and encouragement and all the sorts of things that the people of God are to muster.

But it's through the foolishness of the message preached, God saves those who believe. It is the plundering ministry of Christ through his church to snatch hell-bound sinners out of that kingdom of darkness and convey them into the kingdom of the Son of God's love. It is the most blessed thing we find here in Matthew 16, 18. If we get this in our hearts and minds, in our prayer closets, in our corporate meetings, in our public services with reference to worship, I'm not saying everything's gonna magically happen, everything's gonna turn around.

Justin Trudeau will get converted if that happens. I'm not suggesting that at all. But I am suggesting when the church aligns with God's word and will, that's when she's in a better position to engage in the warfare currently in our sights. Gill says, all the infernal principalities and powers, with all their united cunning and strength, will never be able to extirpate his gospel to destroy his interests, to demolish his church in general, or ruin any one particular soul that is built upon him.

So there is this perpetual assault against the church but there is this perpetual triumph of the church. And again, why does this happen? Not because of Peter, not because of his successors, not because of pastors and deacons, not because of faithful church attendance, but he does this because Jesus builds his church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Brethren, we ought to be encouraged, we ought to be hopeful, we ought to see for sure what's happening in the world around us, but we're not to let that dictate our present activity in terms of service to our sovereign Lord.

We have marching orders. We have the Great Commission. We have the emphasis in Holy Scripture on how we're supposed to conduct ourselves in this present evil age.

Application

Now, in conclusion, just a few thoughts and then we'll go. First, the head of the church. I think that in Matthew 16, if you compare this with 2 Samuel chapter 7, you will see something very interesting, very unique. I've often taught on 2 Samuel.

I've referred to it many times. It's the Davidic covenant. Basically, David is sitting in his house. He's sitting in his mansion.

He's sitting in his palace. And David says, you know what? I'm sitting in a palace. And God dwells in a tent, the tabernacle at that time.

There was no permanent fixture. There was no temple at that point. There was the tabernacle. You could put it up.

You could take it down. It was designed that way for the wilderness wanderings of Israel before they arrived in the promised land. So David's musing is legit. I'm dwelling in pomp and glory.

And God lives in a tent. So he wants to build a house for God. He wants to build a temple for God. And then, of course, Nathan the prophet encourages him.

And then God says to Nathan, no, don't encourage him. It's not going to be him. It's going to be Solomon, his son. David secured the kingdom through bloodshed.

Solomon would have a peaceful reign in which he could build the temple. But the word house is used. God says, I'm going to build a house out of David. And what he means there is dynasty, a succession of kings.

One will rise up from David, and he will build a house for God. So when Simon Peter says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And when Jesus says on this rock, I will build my church or God's house. You see the fruition or fulfillment of the second Samuel seven, Davidic covenant right here in Matthew 16.

God always had as his purpose, a son of God who would build a house for God and who would reign forever to the glory of God. That's our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church. Secondly, we need to understand with reference to the foundation of the church, it's Jesus.

He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That is foundational. No church without that confession. There's no church without that hope.

There's no kahal, no assembly, no convocation, no God's people without the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But as I said, brethren, we need to respect and esteem the apostles. We need to understand that that office is closed. There's no new apostles today.

I know in charismatic circles, sometimes they have an apostle. No, the apostolic ministry is over. He gave some to be apostles. He gave some to be prophets.

He gave some to be evangelists, pastors, and teachers. The abiding offices in the church today is elder and deacon, not apostles. The apostles were unique. The apostles, as I said, preachers of the gospel. missionaries, to the people that God had purposed to hear the truth, writers of the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and interpreters of the Old Testament so that we may learn how to read it properly.

You see, we need them and we need the New Testament to help us understand the Old Testament. But with reference to the Old Testament, we need that as well. I think it's symptomatic of the church today that we don't always read the Old Testament. One of the brothers in the prayer meeting this morning said, you know, in a general way, may the world sort of wake up to the Ten Commandments of God.

I mean, when you look around the world today, we need a good dose of that law, don't we? You're not supposed to kill people. I mean, you are, but they need to be the right people. Problem isn't that government kills.

It's they kill the wrong people. They kill babies in the womb. They kill elderly people. They kill the mentally ill and the infirm and that sort of thing.

Who should they kill? Well, they should kill criminals, murderers, rapists, pedophiles, things like that. Wouldn't it be a nice thing for the world to have a dose of the law of God? And as I was amening that prayer, brothers and sisters, I'm right there with him, I also thought, you know, sometimes you think when somebody else is praying, it'd be nice if the church could recover those commandments too.

It'd be just wonderful if the effects of a theology that relegated the commandments to some future millennial kingdom was not affecting the mass of Christianity today. In other words, brethren, the church, as church, needs the apostles to help with the Old Testament. And that doesn't mean we dispense with it. It doesn't mean we disregard it, like the Ten Commandments.

It means we listen to Paul, we listen to Peter, we listen to James and John, and we listen to how these brothers understand the Old Testament. And we follow them in that pursuit so that we can understand that Christ is, in fact, the promise of God realized. Now thirdly, the function of the church. I gave a definition of us, what we are, what we do.

What's the function? What's the church supposed to do? Well, if we try to do everything, we'll do nothing right or nothing well. My favorite sort of summary statement about the mission of the church or what we call the marks of the church is Belgic Confession 29.

So that's not the Bible. Well, it accurately summarizes what's in the Bible. You know what the Belgian Confession says are the three marks of the church? Now, there's other things we can do, other things we perhaps should do, but there are three things we must do.

The preaching of the word of God. not encounter sessions, not group therapy, not, you know, group hugs, not story time with the, you know, the storyteller. I shared before that somebody said, you know, my congregation loves stories. So we moved the pulpit and I got a big easy chair and I just sit there and I tell stories. Man, if you want to waste a Sunday morning like that, you go right ahead.

But man, that is not the purpose for God's church. It is the proclamation of God's word, law and gospel. Secondly, it's the administration of the sacraments. Make disciples, baptize them, and then Matthew 26, take, eat, and drink.

When it comes to the church, that's something we must be about. And then the third thing, you see it in Matthew chapter 18, is the exercise of church discipline. Those are things that churches must be about. Notice what's not in that list, entertainment. group therapy, all those sorts of things that have superseded the mission of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So not enough just to know what we are, but we ought to know what we're supposed to do. How do we function in this present evil age? What is our niche? How do we fit in the community?

Are we supposed to go out and hand out hot dogs? Are we supposed to go out and hand out shoe shines? Are we supposed to go out and do all these things? Again, some of those things might be OK.

Some of those things might be permissible. But the things that the church must be about is preaching, the sacraments, and discipline. It's a very wonderful summary statement concerning the function of the church. And then fourth, I want to suggest, with reference to us all, the encouragement of the church.

I was very encouraged this past week that this is over. I mean, it's not, but at least I think our part is. And it just fizzled out. In February 2021, it was a different ballgame, wasn't it?

It was a different scenario altogether, especially November 2020. The order's given. You can't meet. Don't go.

That's it. It was all over the news. It was all over the progress. It was all over everything.

It was email. Everybody's talking. All that sort of thing. Death threats and hate.

All this stuff. There were seven of us in the courtroom on Wednesday morning. The judge, the bailiff, the Crown counsel, the defense, Marty, me, Tim Champ, and his wife. Oh, the bailiff.

Did I say the bailiff? Seven of us. Nobody cared. I'm not saying you didn't, you didn't, weren't proud.

I'm just saying, in the grand scheme of things, it came and it went. And that's just minutia in terms of the history of the church. Brethren, the Roman Empire was formidable. The Roman Empire was really good at crushing other peoples.

The Roman Empire was at an art level of vanquishing enemies and detractors and anybody who wouldn't confess Caesar as Lord and Savior. Where's the Roman Empire today? What was the battle cry of the church at that time? It was Psalm 110.1.

The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. In other words, whatever man brings against our blessed Savior, the Savior knows how to deal. And the Savior will deal. And as the psalmist says, he will tread down our enemies.

That is a promise that should uphold the people of God as we move our way through this present evil age. He will tread down our enemies. Again, not us. guns blazing, or C4 charges when we go into mass groups of people. It is Christ who builds this church.

So there's a great deal of encouragement in this passage. First, Christ owns the church, not men. I will build my church. This ought to affect every elder, every deacon, every church member, to realize when we use this conversationally, and that's fine.

My church is on Wellington. My church does this. My church sings well. My church, again, let's not be hyper-Pharisaical.

Let us touch your church. It belongs to Jesus. Okay, beyond that hyper-Pharisee, we need to understand it's Jesus' church. It's His project.

It's His building plan. He is the project manager. 1 Timothy 3.15, I write, so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. It is Christ's church. He owns it.

As well, secondly, Christ builds the church, not man. Now again, men are supposed to serve, men are supposed to function, men are supposed to carry out their tasks. Calvin and Luther and Spurgeon and Chrysostom and Athanasius and Cyril and all those guys had their marching orders dictated to them by Christ. But it's Christ ultimately who builds his church, and that is encouraging.

As well, thirdly, Christ protects the church, not men. Again, we do all we can, we seek to facilitate the protection of the bride of Christ, but it's ultimately Christ. The victory is the Lord's, the horse is prepared for the battle, but the day of victory belongs to Yahweh. And we understand that, and we rejoice in that.

Fourth, Christ defines proper conduct in the church, not man. This is why I highlight the marks of the church. It's not a free-for-all. Well, you know, I think we should do this, and I think we should do that, and we think we should...

No, we do what Christ has commanded. And then as well, Christ demands that his people be faithful with reference to the church. We don't build it, we don't ultimately protect it, we don't ultimately defeat the gates of Hades, but we're to be faithful relative to her. We're to love her, we're to care for her, we're to pray for her.

And may I just say, as I close right now, I'm thankful for this church. I was happy to come back. I'm not saying that the beaches in Southern California were terrible or In-N-Out Burger was bad. But when it comes to being in the house of God, brethren, there's no other place I'd rather be.

I love this church. I love the brothers and the sisters. I love being here. So that wasn't the welcome back email, look forward to work.

I really did. My wife and I both. woke up this morning with that spirit of David in Psalm 122, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord. May God bless us, may God keep us, may God prosper us, not with what the world defines as prosperity, but with a faithful resolve to serve our blessed Savior and to count ourselves blessed to be functioning in his cause and for his glory. And if you are a believer, rejoice, be encouraged.

If you're not a believer, come to the Savior. Join the rank and file of God's people and serve on the winning team. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your grace and for your mercy and for your loving kindness. We thank you that you, by grace, have kept us. We pray that you would continue with us, that you would bless us and help us to be faithful. in the coming age, and we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, you can take your hymn books and we'll sing 568 to close our service this morning.

Doxology in praise to our triune God. 568, we'll stand as we sing together. ♪ Praise Him, all creatures here below ♪ ♪ Praise Him, above ye heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ I am who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith, to God alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. May this be the case most high. as the church serves you in this lower world in this present age. And may you be glorified.

And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Exodus 19
• 1 Samuel 16
• 2 Samuel 7
• Psalms 2; 110:1; 122
• Matthew 2:15; 4; 5:3-12; 10; 13:16; 15; 16:13-18; 17; 18; 19; 26
• John 1:1; 1:14; 3; 3:16; 16:33
• Romans 4
• 1 Corinthians 11
• 2 Corinthians 1:20
• Galatians 2:20; 2:21
• Ephesians 2:20
• Colossians 1:13-14
• 1 Timothy 3:15
• 2 Timothy 3:12
• Hebrews 11
• 1 Peter 5
• Revelation 1; 2; 3; 7; 21:14