Amen.
I think Paul asked me in passing in the early summer if I would come down and I didn't think he was serious so I think I foolishly said of course.
And then I should have realised one of two things. Either that he'd already asked the people who are really his best friends and he was kind of getting near desperation point.
Or he had this extraordinary Celtic prophetic gift and that he knew the nation would be in political crisis.
And being a Welshman ministering in England with an Irish wife had kind of limited the field of guest preachers for an occasion like this and he thought he would look after the barber.
And I do, it really is a tremendous honour. It's got a minor evangelical knighthood to be asked to be part of this service today.
And I realised earlier on this morning that Paul is actually preaching through Matthew's Gospel.
Thankfully for me he hasn't reached chapter 16 yet and my purpose is not to expound the whole of this passage.
He will do that I'm sure later on in the year.
But to draw your attention to the famous words of Jesus in verse 18.
You are Peter.
Peter has confessed that Jesus is the Christ.
On this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not be able to prevail against it.
Many of us I think have been praying that this weekend and the opening of this building,
which is obviously a decisive point in the history of this church,
will also be in God's providence a turning point in the ministry and fruitfulness of the church's life.
And it's really for that reason that I've chosen this text.
Because it is both a decisive point and a turning point in the Gospel.
It's a decisive point because this is the moment where Peter's eyes are opened by the Lord
and he confesses that Jesus is the Christ.
If Peter ever afterwards were asked to date the turning point in his life,
when he fully came into a confession of Jesus Christ,
having followed him but now confessing him,
undoubtedly this would be the decisive point.
But it's also, as you'd have picked up in the reading,
the turning point in the Gospel.
And so Matthew tells us it was from this time onwards
that Jesus began to emphasize very clearly to the Apostles,
and he does this on a number of successive occasions,
that because he is the Christ,
because he's going to fulfill the ancient prophecies
as the Messiah, as the suffering servant,
as the Savior.
It means he's going to Jerusalem,
he is going to suffer and be crucified,
and on the third day he is going to rise again.
And so this is very much a hinge point
in Peter's experience,
and it's a hinge point in the Gospel story.
It's a decisive point,
and it's a turning point.
And I want us to try and think
about the meaning of what Jesus says to him,
but also the significance of that for us
in our Christian lives,
but also perhaps especially in the story of this church.
And I want you to notice four things with me.
The first is, in some ways,
the most fundamental.
It is that Christ's building of the church
is the absolute focus of his ministry.
The statement he makes has a kind of,
well, it's almost got the ring of a manifesto.
This is his program.
And it, in the synoptic Gospels,
in Matthew here,
it has the ring of one of those
double amen sayings of Jesus.
Everything he says is true,
but there are some things that are,
as it were, centrally true,
that make sense of all the other things
that are true.
And you can sense that
in the way he addresses Peter here.
You are Peter,
on this rock.
Here is my own building program.
I am going to build my church.
Now, most of you know
that one of the strange things about this is
that the word church is mentioned
on only three occasions in the Gospel.
Mentioned here in Matthew 16.
It's mentioned twice in Matthew 18.
And it's often been a conundrum to people.
How can we say that the church
is the epicenter of Christ's ministry program
when he scarcely mentions the church?
The answer, I think, actually is
that it's pretty clear in this passage
that although Simon Peter and the others
confessed him,
they didn't understand him.
And until they understood
who Jesus really was
and what his ministry was,
there was no way under the sun
they would ever understand
what the church really is.
And that's still true, isn't it?
People who don't know
who Christ really is
think of the church
characteristically
in organizational, superficial ways.
And so there's a very clear reason
why it is that
Jesus infrequently mentions,
uses the term church.
But it's very evident
from his parables,
from the fact that he had chosen
these apostles,
from the fact that he was preparing them
for a future ministry,
that all the word occurs infrequently.
The idea is the big idea
in Jesus' mind.
That is to say,
Jesus did not come only
to redeem individuals.
Jesus came to create
a new community altogether.
He came not to save
one and then another,
but his vision was
to bring a glorious restoration
of what had been fragmented
and fractured
and virtually destroyed
in the fall.
And so Jesus comes
and he is going to build
his church.
He is going to create
this new community.
And it's clear
that the apostles
understood this.
Paul, in his letter
to the Ephesians,
again and again
speaks about how
Christ is the,
he's the head of everything,
but he's the head of everything
for the building
of the church.
And he's given gifts
in order that the church
might be built
and churches work properly
and build themselves up
when each part
is functioning
in the power of the Spirit
and the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's evident
that they understood
very clearly
after Jesus' resurrection
and the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit
that what Jesus
always had in view
in his coming
and teaching
and dying,
shedding his blood,
rising,
ascending,
now sending his Spirit,
was to create
this new,
ages long,
worldwide,
multi-ethnic,
new community
that here in Matthew 16, 18
he had described
as the church.
And so right
from the day of Pentecost,
the way in which
the apostles
think about
what is happening
is this,
that the Lord
adds daily
to the church
those who are being saved.
This is a
Christ-created,
spirit-endowed,
divinely planned,
new community.
And that reminds us
in a way
as we read through
the New Testament
that at the end
of the day
it is Jesus' church
that is his
greatest evangelistic
instrument
in the world.
And it is that.
And this is a very
striking thing
in the New Testament,
isn't it?
Very few
instructions
about how
to do evangelism.
Why are there
so few
instructions
about how
to do evangelism?
Because they
understood
that this new
community
that Christ
was creating
that caused
Peter,
you remember,
Peter says this
in his first letter,
people will ask
you
questions
about the
hope
that's in you.
Why would
people ask
them questions
about the hope
that's in them
when people
asked so few
questions
about the
organizational church
about the hope
that's in them?
Because they
had been brought
into this
glorious new
community.
And in many
ways,
in that day
and in our
day,
they lived in
a pre-Christian
era,
we lived
manifestly
in a post-Christian
era.
This was
what struck
people.
The early
chapters of
the Acts
of the Apostles
were told
on the one
hand,
people looked
at the church
and they
thought,
I'd run
rather than
think I
would join
them.
And then you
remember,
in the very
next breath,
Luke is
telling us
that people
were actually
crowding into
the church.
Why was
that?
Because they
saw the
reality of
the presence
of Christ
in the midst
of his
people.
And this
is surely
our prayer
for here,
that strangers
coming in,
as they might
have come into
the church
in Corinth
and sensing,
yes,
an atmosphere,
would find
themselves at
least inwardly
bowing down
and saying,
surely God
is in the
midst of
these people.
And this
is our
experience,
isn't it?
People come
to the funeral
of a believer
and they
find themselves,
for all our
sadness
and loss,
they find
themselves in
a world
they have
never seen,
of people
with joy
in the midst
of sorrow,
with hope
in the midst
of death.
And they
wonder why
it's so
different.
Or they
come in
from their
dysfunctional
families,
which are
in extraordinary
proportions in
our day.
And they
see the
family of
the Lord
Jesus
functioning,
and although
they have
no words to
articulate what
they see and
experience,
they realize,
love it or
hate it,
join it or
seek to
destroy it,
in whatever
sophisticated ways
that this is
how God
meant life
to be.
And there
is a taste
of it in
his church.
And this
is our
Lord Jesus
vision.
And when
you think
of it,
it's an
extraordinary
vision,
not just
because it's
an amazing
thing that
this was
the goal
of his
ministry,
but because
he makes
it very
clear here
and elsewhere
that he
intended to
build his
church with
people,
who were
marked by
tremendous
frailty.
And that's
really, you
know, you
all know
there are
great debates
about this
text, but
this is
really the
point of
this text,
isn't it?
This is
really the
point of
saying,
you are
Peter and
on this
rock I
will build
my church.
This is a
crumbling
rock.
And it
becomes
evident almost
in the next
sentences,
when Jesus
begins to
explain how
he's going
to do it,
Peter takes
hold of
him and
refuses to
take it
in.
It puts
his body
between the
cross and
Jesus.
And even
after Pentecost,
he still
struggles.
The point
here is
that the
Lord Jesus
is going
to use
stones
that have
cracks in
them.
to
work
them
together
in
order
to
build
his
church.
And it's
a message
that runs
through the
whole of
the New
Testament,
isn't it?
From here
right to
the end
of it,
that the
Lord delights
to use
broken,
fragile
people
whom he
is beginning
to mend.
People
with angles
and awkwardnesses
that he's
chiseling away
in order
to bring
them together
so that they
may encourage
one another.
And it's
an amazing
thing when you
think about it,
isn't it?
Whatever Jesus
means when he
says,
you're Peter
and on this
rock I'm going
to build my
church,
there is some
sense in which
Peter was the
key man,
wasn't he?
Every time the
apostles are
listed in the
New Testament,
Peter's the
first one to be
mentioned.
Every time the
three are listed,
Peter's the
first one to
be mentioned.
What's Jesus
talking about
here?
He'll build
his church,
he'll give
him the
keys.
Well,
he's talking
first of all
about that
moment on
the day of
Pentecost
when one
might say
the spirit
whispered to
Simon Peter,
you're the
one with the
keys in your
pocket,
get up and
preach.
And Peter
got up and
the doors of
the kingdom of
heaven were
swung open.
The sins of
thousands,
they experienced
forgiveness.
They were
baptized and
physically,
as it were,
tangibly
experienced this
symbol of the
washing away of
their guilt and
their sins.
And in the
very territory
where they could
point to the
place where
endless thousands
of sacrifices
had been made,
that they knew
could not
really take
away their
sins.
And Peter
flung open
the gates of
the kingdom of
God to them
and later on
in Acts to
the Gentiles.
it is an
amazing thing
that he takes
this proud
man with
so little
emotional
intelligence,
so little
real self-knowledge,
and in a
sense he
walks Peter
through his
being crushed.
Oh,
Peter,
Satan has
desired to
have you,
to sift you
like wheat,
and the
only reason
you'll survive
is because I
have prayed for
you that your
faith will not
fail, and
this is,
I remember
when I was a
teenager reading
this kind of,
I guess it was
meant as a
slightly funny
comment, but
it had its own
penetration of the
angels in heaven
watching this,
and then turning
to the father
and saying,
so what's
plan B?
that this
should be
plan A,
and you can
see why this
happens,
it is so that
none of the
glory will go
to Simon
Peter,
but that all
of the glory
will go to
the Lord
Jesus,
it's what
Paul says
in 2 Corinthians
4,
isn't it,
that he puts
the treasure
in earthen
vessels,
so that all
the glory
will be the
Lord's,
the joy
will be ours,
the thankfulness
will be ours,
but the glory
will exclusively
be his,
the older
Christians used
to think that
Paul was
referring to
Gideon and
the 300
there,
that you
could defeat
the Midianites,
remember the
Christmas prophecy,
it will be as
in the day of
the Midianites,
that it's these
frail vessels
broken open
and the
light shining
that brings
the victory
and the
triumph
so
marvellously,
this is a,
this is an
amazing statement
Jesus makes
and it's an
encouraging statement
for,
for us,
just look at
you,
look at
you,
the rich and
beautiful people
of Ealing
in the leafy
suburbs of
London,
no we're not,
we're,
we're nobodies,
most of us in
the room are
absolutely nobodies,
people pass us in
the street,
don't give us a
second look,
but Jesus is
building his
church,
through us,
and the gates
of hell,
says Jesus,
will not be able
to prevail
against it,
that's the third
thing I want you
to notice,
Jesus'
church building
lies at the
heart of his
ministry,
it's his
goal,
he's doing
it through
people who
are marked
by great
frailty,
and the
third and
important thing
is,
he's doing
this on
enemy
occupied
territory,
I mean,
what's happened
here in a
sense,
I'm not saying
the sisters
were the
enemy,
but what's
happened here,
land has
been reclaimed,
a new building
has been
built,
and this is
what Jesus
is doing,
he is
reclaiming
territory
from his
enemy,
the gates
of Hades,
he says,
will not be
able to
withstand,
actually,
that's the
same verb
that's used
in the
passion
narrative
about the
people
shouting
for Jesus'
crucifixion,
and their
voices
triumphing,
and Jesus
is saying,
no matter
how many
voices
call for
the destruction
of the
Christian
church,
what are
the people
around here
were saying,
you know,
these poor
people in
that strange
little
Presbyterian
church,
and they've
had to move
out,
and they're
meeting in
all kinds
of places,
that there
is no
chance that
they will
ever be able
to do
anything
here,
that you
see,
Jesus is
building his
church,
and nothing
can prevail
against Jesus
building his
church.
For my
own part,
I think
when Jesus
speaks about
the gates
of Hades,
he's not
just speaking
about darkness
and death,
or even the
place of the
dead,
I think he
uses that
expression,
gates,
because it
has a
certain ring
to it,
the gates
in antiquity,
of a city.
Those were
the places
of authority.
You remember
when Boaz
wanted to
marry Ruth,
where did
he go?
Where was
Town Hall?
He went
to the
gates.
You want
to look
at a
virtuous
woman,
then Proverbs
tells you
that her
husband will
be esteemed
at the
city gate.
Does that
mean she's
banished him
from the
house?
No,
it means
he's part
of the
leadership.
Part of
the
strategy
group of
the village
or the
town or
the city.
And Jesus
is giving
them and
us this
insight into
the fact
that he is
going to
build his
church on
territory that
the enemy
has come to
occupy from
Genesis 3
onwards.
words.
This is
why at
the end
of this
gospel,
Jesus
says,
now you
need to
know this,
all authority
in heaven
and earth
has been
given to
me.
Well,
didn't he
always have
all authority
in heaven
and earth?
No,
he didn't.
No,
he didn't.
He had to
deal with the
prince of the
power of the
air before
he won back
authority on
earth.
That's why
he's able to
say the
son of man
has authority
on earth
to forgive
sins because
of what he's
going to do
on the cross.
And this
is a powerful
thing that
Jesus is
saying.
We have to
go into all
the world
because he's
regained as
the second
man and the
last Adam.
He has
regained the
authority that
Adam lost,
created to
have authority,
to have
reign,
given dominion
and losing
the kingdom.
And now
Jesus has
overcome the
enemy.
And he's
got twelve
men and one
of them will
betray him.
And he's
down to
eleven.
And the
gates of
Hades.
You can
see that.
You can
see in the
gospel story
how
Satan's
strategy
against
Jesus
changes.
Early on
it's to
keep him
from the
cross.
Later on
it's to
get him
to the
cross,
outside of
the will
of God.
So he
will use
every hellish
strategy
to destroy
this kingdom.
But Jesus
prevails.
And from
then on
he prevails
everywhere.
he
will use
him.
But it's a
word of
counsel to
us,
isn't it?
That wherever
he builds,
the gates of
Hades will
seek to
withstand.
They will
seek to
shout down.
That's an
interesting metaphor,
isn't it?
Because it's
happening all
around us.
Just mention
the name of
Jesus or
say something
about the
Bible and
you're liable
to be
shouted down.
this is a
contemporary
ring about
it.
And I want
you to know
that this is
not just
some
future
prophecy
that Jesus
is giving.
These
very men
saw this
promise
and prophecy
come true
within
18 months.
They saw
Jesus building
his church
and then in
the early
chapters of
Acts,
what do
you discover?
You discover
all hell
being let
loose.
And
employing
Satan's
three
characteristic
strategies.
First of
all,
intimidation.
Seeking to
intimidate the
church from
outside.
And then
the seeking
of position
by individuals
inside,
Annias and
Sapphira.
And then
when both of
these strategies
fail,
then the
third
strategy is
one of
producing
internal
division,
isn't it?
In Acts
chapter 6.
Get them
murmuring
against each
other.
These are
these three
characteristic
strategies.
He's always
using them.
He uses
them against
every Christian,
every church,
every fellowship
of God's
people.
But here is
the promise
to which we
anchor
ourselves.
Jesus is
building his
church.
And the
gates of
Hades will
not be able
to prevail
against it.
But my
dear friends,
we need to
have, we
need to have
the wisdom
that we get
from the
Lord Jesus
to keep our
eyes open
for those
strategies
as he
builds
his church
here.
And that
leads to
the fourth
thing.
Jesus
building the
churches at
the center
of his
ministry.
Jesus
builds this
church with
people like
ourselves,
marked by
great fragility.
Jesus
is ongoingly
building his
church in
enemy-occupied
territory.
And Jesus
is always
building his
church on
the pattern
of his own
destiny.
Church
architects are
really interesting
people.
And some
of them are
really strange
people.
For example,
it's a very
unusual church
architect who
knows how to
build a pulpit.
You go to
the lecterns,
the lectern
architects
design, and
they're designed
for architects,
not for
preachers.
But I want
you to notice
this.
When Jesus
is the
architect, he
builds the
church on
the pattern
of his
own destiny.
I wonder
if that's
why ye
oldie,
worldie
architects,
when they
built
churches,
they
characteristically
built churches
with the
ground plan
of the
cross.
And the
rest of
this narrative,
as you will
find out in
however many
weeks'
time,
is a
narrative that
tells you
that when
Jesus builds
his church,
he molds
his people
into the
shape of
his own
destiny.
And so he
speaks here
about his
crucifixion and
his resurrection,
and he goes on
to speak about
the fact that
the disciples are
going to share
in that
crucifixion by
taking up the
cross, and
they're also
going to share
in that triumph,
because they will
see the Son of
Man coming in
his glory, and
they get a
little glimpse
of that, three
of them, on
the Mount of
Transfiguration
later on, but
they're all
going to see
that.
And you see,
he's advising
them from the
beginning, although
only later on
would they
understand it,
that since the
Father used a
cross-shaped
model in the
life of his
Son, he will
of course continue
to use that
model as he
builds the
church.
And so the
whole pattern
of our
individual
Christian lives,
as the
apostles make
clear, and
the whole
pattern of
the life of
our church is
going to be a
sharing in the
sufferings of
Christ.
I long to
fill up, says
Paul, what's
still lacking in
me of my
fellowship with
Christ and his
sufferings.
I want to
share in the
fellowship of his
sufferings so that
I can share in
the triumph of
his resurrection.
It's the shape of
the Christian life,
and it is the
shape of the
church.
And a glorious
new building, and
the more you look
around this building,
the more interesting
it becomes.
A glorious new
building will not
change the pattern
that Jesus is
using.
There will be
suffering.
There will be
apparent setbacks.
There will be
disappointments.
There will be a
tremendous sense of
our own weakness, and
not knowing what to
do or how to do it.
But if Jesus
continues to build
his church here, as
we pray and believe
he will, there will
also be those
marvelous moments
when we sense we
are sharing in the
fruit of his
suffering and in the
power of his
resurrection.
And we see people
coming in who have
never been to church
in their lives.
People who have
begun to read the
Bible.
Strangers and
sometimes strange
people.
And we discover
perhaps that Satan
creates conflicts
within, and we
need all to flee to
Jesus, the
crucified and
risen one, and
cling to his
promise that he
will build his
church.
Calvin says so
beautifully in his
commentary on 1
Peter from the
very beginning,
Christ has shaped
the church to
share in his
death and in his
resurrection so
that death would
be the way to
life and the
cross the way
to victory.
This is a little
share in the
resurrection, isn't
it?
I mean, we
wouldn't be here
unless Jesus were
risen.
But we've come to
know him in the
power of his
resurrection and we
will share in the
fellowship of his
sufferings, become
like him in his
death.
But yes, we will
share here and
hereafter in the
glories of his
resurrection.
He is our church
builder, our risen
Lord, our glorious
king.
and as long as our
eyes are fixed upon
him, then all will
be well because he
and not we, he is
the real church
builder.
When Paul asked me
for a text and a
title, I did
actually answer his
email, incidentally.
I said to him, you
know, it would be
fun to call it
build and they
will come.
But then I said,
that won't do.
Call it Christ the
church builder.
And then I noticed
it's called build and
they will come.
That won't mean
anything to you.
And I'm not a great
movie watcher.
But there is a, there's
a Kevin Costner movie.
Some of you will have
seen Field of Dreams.
It's very American.
I know, I've been
there.
And it's very, you
know, it's almost
new age-ish.
This man in Iowa
or somewhere, he
hears this voice
saying, build and
they will come.
And so he builds a
baseball field because
he's had this voice
saying, build and
they will come.
And it costs him
up the earth.
I think he mortgages
the farm.
People think he's
off his rocker.
And then towards
the end of the
movie, all these
great baseball stars
who incidentally
are not grown men
wearing pajamas.
You want to see a
ball being hurled
at you a hundred
miles an hour and
being able to hit
it.
And all these great
baseball stars from
the past come because
he's heard the voice
build and they will
come.
Of course, it's
sheer fantasy.
fantasy.
But this is reality.
Because he is the
builder.
So keep your eyes
fixed on him for
this reason.
He's both the
architect and the
builder.
More, he's the
son and he owns
the house.
thanks be to God
for him, for this,
for you, for these
children who should be
in the choir of the
year competition.
Either that or this
room has fabulous
acoustics.
Both I suspect are
true.
May God bless this
church to his
glory.
Let's pray.
Our heavenly
father, we thank you
for the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
We think of the
sacrifice that has
been made that we
might sit in this
room.
We know it has all
without any
diminution been
because of his
great sacrifice for
us.
Where would we be?
We would not know
each other.
We would not love
each other.
We would not have
walked together
through this journey.
we would not have
the hope of the
gospel.
We would be
separated from God
and without hope
in this world.
But you have shown
such grace to us
in your son.
We thank you for
the thrill of
living in his
reclaimed world
and seeing his
kingdom extended.
And we pray
earnestly,
father, that you
would guard this
family of yours
here.
That you would
wonderfully use
them for your
glory.
That their number
may increase.
That you will add
to the church
here.
And that we will
be able to look
back on this day
as a decisive
day because so
much of the work
is now completed.
But also a day
of turning when
it seemed as
though the
windows of heaven
were opened and
you poured out
new blessings
upon your
people.
Hear us, we
pray, and receive
our thanks in
Jesus' name.
Amen.