He's so worthy and we are just so pleased to come before him as the church this morning and lift our voices together as one in the congregation of the saints in the assembly of those saved by Christ and we are pleased to be in his presence this morning. Just a couple of announcements. We have really exciting news and that is that we will be having a baptism service here next Sunday. And so that's going to be a very special time together just celebrating what the Lord has And so we'll look forward to that together. So in light of that, there won't be any Sunday school next week. So the kids will stay in with us to be with us for that special occasion. And we are just going to worship the Lord together and take part in what he has done together with the kids as well. So the kids can be dismissed to Sunday school now and enjoy that time studying the word of the Lord. May he drive it deep down into your hearts for your whole life. Let's pray together this morning as we bow our heads and just come before the Lord. Jesus, you said to Peter, this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And so our Father in heaven, we pray that you would open our eyes, that our minds and hearts would know you in ever increasing glory, that you would reveal your Son, Jesus the Christ, to us, whom we love with an inconsistent and unfaithful love, But who loves us so faithfully? And Father, it so grieves us that sin is still a part of us, for we fall in repentance that we ever stray from you at all. And as you reveal yourself to us, we pray we would be filled with your spirit to bring you glory and honor in your name alone. Amen. Who? Who? is the Lord. This is the most, this is the most important revelation you'll ever receive. This is what we've been studying with great joy in getting to know God, the greatest being of our universe. The infinite, incomparable, incomparable, glorious God who transcends all space, time, and matter. who is eternal in the past and in the future. We went through a small group Bible study over the last couple of years called Behold Your God. And there before us in God's word, driven into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, we met the Lord in a deeper and higher way that exalted our God and our view of God and humbled us greatly as God's glory was revealed to us. And then this past fall, We continued on in that journey into the Father's heart with a book by A.W. Tozer called The Attributes of God. And the infinite attributes of God were displayed before us in 4K Revolution or more by his word. Who is the Lord? This is eternally important. There is no more important question. Case in point, Matthew chapter 16, verse 15 to 17. As it reads like this, Jesus said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. The next thing Jesus says is that he describes how he will build his church. Here we have before us today a passage of such significance on the church that in it we find the eternal truth of God declaring what he will do with his church. We're beginning our membership classes today. As you know, after the service here in the sanctuary, those will run for about half an hour in tandem with that. I thought it would be so glorifying to the Lord if we would hear his word on his church. And so I'll do a short series here along with our membership classes in the scripture over the next few weeks on the church. Praise the Lord. So let's read Matthew chapter 16, verse 13 to 23 today. It makes sense to begin here. You know why? Because this is the very first time Jesus speaks of the church. He is introducing to us the church here. Amen, speak Lord Jesus. Let's listen to him. Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus answered 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 tell you, You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you, Lord, this shall never happen to you. But he turned to Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. The very first and most important foundation we find about the church is that the church belongs to Christ, is built by him, and exists because he is Lord, and he is Messiah, and he is the living God. Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain. He says, it's my church. Jesus is the head of the church. I don't get to define the church. I don't get to decide its purpose. I don't get to decide its message. I don't get to decide its strategy. I'm not in charge, but we must bow before and confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Only Jesus can build his church. There are churches built by men, yes for sure, but those are smoke shows built on good psychology, charisma, and methods designed to move the carnal human heart. It is my deepest heart's desire to see Christ build his church right here among us. I never wanna get to the end of my life and look at this church and wonder if he built it or if I built it or if you built it. Only Jesus can build His church, the one that is truly a worshiping church, truly a priesthood of all believers, leading one another in Christ, truly a submissive church under the lordship of Jesus, the head of the church. Only Jesus can build His church. And now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say that the Son of Man is? And they said, some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. Others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. These are guesses. And of course, you don't want to be guessing when it comes to who Jesus is. Some say John the Baptist, and true, that's what Herod had said. Herod had said, this must be John the Baptist, risen from the dead. in Matthew chapter 14, just a little while before this. This is what it says, Matthew chapter 14, verse one and two. At that time, Herod the Tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus and he said to his servants, this is John the Baptist. He's been raised from the dead. That's why these miraculous powers are at work with him. Which of course is quite funny. comical because it was Herod who had killed John the Baptist and had had his head served on a platter right at one of the king's parties there. And now he's trembling in his boots. This gotta be John the Baptist, risen from the dead. Of course, we'd all love to be compared to John the Baptist. Jesus held John the Baptist in such high esteem. In Matthew 11, 11, Jesus had said, truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Some guess Jesus was Elijah the prophet, some Jeremiah the prophet, or they just said, he's got to be one of the prophets. I don't know who, but he's got to be one of them. These are high compliments for Jesus in actuality. but they're woefully blasphemous because they fall so far short of who he truly is. They're not enough, not anywhere near, for Jesus is the promised eternal King, God himself robed in flesh. Come as Messiah, the Christ, Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, all of the above represented the Lord. spoke the word of the Lord, called people to repentance before the Lord. But while they all spoke the word of the Lord, Jesus spoke as Lord. He was the very God who had given each one of them the very words to speak. So the answers the people were giving about Jesus were woefully inadequate. But the next answer was not. Jesus turned to his disciples and he said to them, but who do you say that I am? And so Jesus asked him a question of greatest magnitude, of steepest consequence. Jesus' question is not a skill testing question. This is not a question of just getting the right answer. This is not a Sunday school answer question. This is a question of the magnitude of Christ. Do you know who he is? He is the Christ. That means he's God himself. For Peter declared this overpowering truth, testifying you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus immediately blesses Simon Peter. Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my father, who is in heaven, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. You got that right, Peter. You nailed it. In fact, you got that so right, it couldn't have come from you. You are not smart enough. You are too sinful to even know this. My father revealed that to you, praise the Lord. Peter's verdict is God's verdict. What Peter says is what God said. This is my son whom I love and in him, I'm well pleased. God the father said, Peter says, you are the Christ, the son. of the living God. And do you know what this means? This means that Jesus was the Christ, the long-awaited Messiah. Messiah and Christ are the same word. Messiah was the Hebrew word in the Old Testament for Christ, the Greek word in the New Testament. This means Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. He was the fulfillment of all those messianic prophecies. Isaiah 9, verse 6 and 7, every Jewish person would have known this verse. It reads like this. For to us, a child is born. To us, a son is given. You are the Christ, the Son. of the living God, Peter exclaimed. And the government shall be upon his shoulder. That means Jesus is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords. He governs everything. That means he is the sovereign God, the Messiah. And what will his name be? Jesus, wonderful counselor. Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, the Christ is at once the Almighty God, three in one, and at the same time the person of the Son incarnate. He is at the same time Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, three persons in one God in essence. These are the names. And here in Isaiah 9 verse 6 and 7, this prophecy of Christ continues of the increase of his government and of peace. There will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore, because the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. The Christ is the God of all. He's the ruler of all. Forevermore, his kingdom far supersedes any kingdom ever known to man. So when Peter called Jesus the Christ, the son of the living God, he was saying a lot. Wait a minute, you say, I thought this was a sermon about the church. Yes, yes, it is. For the one, the Christ, the son of the living God says, now I will build my church. It is built by me. It's my church. The purpose and the result of who he is is that the father reveals his son, the Christ to us, to your darkened heart. We are saved by him into the church. We are built up in him in the church. We are fearfully submitted to him for it is his church and we will forever worship him for eternity as his church, the bride of Christ. And as we understand the sheer magnitude of who Jesus is, we begin to grasp the magnitude of the question Jesus asks his disciples, but who do you say that I am? Every deviation from Christianity, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses are easy ones. They get the question, this question wrong, who is Christ, every time. But Peter says, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. And so, in verse 18, Jesus says, I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Jesus says, I will build my church. Now, in the Greek language, there's not a typical word order to the sentences, as you may know, the way that we have it in English. But one important thing about the Greek language is that when words are of significant importance in a sentence, they are usually front-loaded at the beginning of the sentence. So as to tell you, these are the very important words in this sentence. And so here Jesus begins this sentence with, my church, I will build. We learned last week, church is the Greek word, ekklesia, the word for God's people gathered, the assembly of God's people called to worship, those congregating, the congregation of those saved to worship him. Jesus said, it is God's church. Jesus claims it, and of course he does, he's God. The people of God are founded on me, Jesus says. They have assembled to worship me. They have been made worthy to worship me. They have been saved and called out of the world by me. Jesus says he will build his church. And just a few weeks later, after his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, the church begins to explode. Because Jesus keeps his word. He will build his church. It's a guaranteed success. He doesn't say, I'll try to build my church. I'll do the best I can. Sure hope some of the people like me and accept me. That's not what Jesus says. And so a few weeks later, remember Peter preaches, preaches praetors. Is that how it goes? Pete preaches that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and 3,000 people repent and believe in Christ in one day, and they get baptized. And do you know what we find as the book of Acts describes this booming early church? In fact, Luke begins the story of the booming early church like this in Acts chapter one, verse one. This is how he starts. In my former book, the book of Luke, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach. Now in the book of Acts, Luke is writing about all that Jesus continued to do and teach as he built his church from babyhood up. So we get Peter preaching this sermon in Acts chapter two and 3,000 people repent and believe in Christ and get baptized. Wow, Peter must have been some preacher. Some charisma that preacher had. Is that what Luke says? No. But what does Luke tell us is really happening? Acts 2 47. And the Lord, and the Lord Jesus added to their number day by day those who were being saved. He will build his church. And so Jesus turns to Peter and he says, and I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. As you may know, this is the key verse of the Catholic Church, Matthew 16, 18. On this rock, you are Peter, and on this rock I'll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The Roman Catholic Church says this is when Peter was instated as the Pope, the very first Pope. which is quite an incredible claim, especially since five verses later, Jesus says to Peter in Matthew 16, 23, but he turned to Peter and said, get behind me, Satan. You are a hindrance to me. Now, maybe Jesus would say that to the Pope. It sounds comical, maybe. But the Pope is not doing the Lord's work, and he's not building God's church, but very likely Jesus would also say this to a great many pastors who are building their own churches, giving Jesus a seat in the parking lot. So what did Jesus mean when he said, and I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I'll build my church? We gotta get this right. This is a typical example of taking a verse out of context, right out of the situation where it is situated in the story. So let's look at this carefully. Can we get Matthew 16, verse 15 to 18 up on the screen? What is Jesus saying here? I'm gonna explain it simply to you. Jesus said to his disciples, but who do you say that I am? the key and crucial foundational question. And Simon Peter replied, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. That, my friends, is the foundation, the rock. Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. The church is built on him and he is gonna build it. And Jesus answers him, blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Is this about Peter at all? A little bit, we'll get there in a second. But Peter has just declared that this is all about you, Jesus. That's what I see and hear. And Jesus says, you are so blessed because God has opened your eyes wide. And I tell you, Peter, that on this rock I'll build my church, the Christ, the Son of the living God, being revealed to people by my Father. He is the rock. Most significantly here, the spotlight's not on Peter in this chapter, in this story, but on Jesus. Who is Jesus? What is Jesus gonna do? Every word Peter says confirms this is about Jesus, the astounding eternal greatness of Jesus, the Christ promised from all eternity past, the son of the living God, his authority, his position, his power, his will, his plan, his revelation, his sovereignty over all creation, his lordship, now, in the past, and forevermore. His church. He is the rock. But let's talk about Peter for a moment. I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I'll build my church. In the English translation, it doesn't come across as clearly as in the Greek here. Because what the Greek sentence actually says is, I tell you, you are petros. Okay, great. Which means small stone. And on this petra, Jesus uses another rock word, but a different one. That means rock, solid rock, bedrock, the kind of rock you would build a foundation on. I tell you, Peter, you are a small stone, but on this rock, I'll build my church. So what Jesus means is, you, Peter, are one stone in the church building I'm gonna build upon the rock who is me. Now, some people might argue with understanding it this way, but guess who did understand it this way? Peter. And he writes about it later by the providence of God. So we know exactly what he understood Jesus to be saying. Isn't that awesome? And so in 1 Peter 2, Verse four to six, we read Peter describing it like this. As you come to him, the living stone, the living God, the son of the living God. Peter had said, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, Peter here calls Christ the living stone. As you come to him, the living stone, rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him, you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house. So he is the living stone and we are living stones being built on him. And what's he building? A spiritual house, meaning a temple or a church, a spiritual house. You are the living stones being built by the living stone into the church, into the holy priesthood. Of course, it's the temple or the church that Jesus is building. Offering spiritual sacrifice is acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in the scripture it says, Just to let you know, Isaiah talked about Jesus too. Peter says, ah, see, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone. The one who trusts in him will never be put to shame. The foundation stone, the cornerstone of God's building is his son, Jesus Christ, the living stone. In ancient times, builders used cornerstones in their construction project. A cornerstone was the first foundational stone, the principal foundational stone, usually placed at the corner of an edifice to guide the workers on their course from that corner, straight out into good square walls. And the Bible describes a most carefully constructed church, Jesus as the cornerstone, that his church would be aligned with him, measuring exactly to him. So Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, is both the builder and the foundation, the rock. He is building his church, and it's a guaranteed success. I'm going to call the worship team to come and lead us in a song of worship this morning.