Who Is Your Builder?

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — 2 Corinthians 2:14
• Hymn — All You That Fear Jehovah's Name
• Prayer of Invocation
• Reading of the Law — 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
• Prayer of Confession
• Assurance of Pardon — Colossians 1:21-22
• Scripture Reading — Ezra 8:24-36
• Hymn — Through All the Changing Scenes of Life
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken
• Sermon
• Hymn — The Church's One Foundation
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26
• Doxology

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Sermon Title: Who Is Your Builder?

Scripture: Matthew 16:13-20

I. Clarification (vv. 13–15)

A. Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

1. Jesus is not asking out of ego — the question is for the benefit of his disciples
2. The disciples report that people identify Jesus as John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets
3. The people are only partly right — Jesus is a prophet, even the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15, but he is far more

B. Jesus makes the question personal: "But who do you say that I am?" (v. 15)

1. The disciples have walked with Jesus through healings, feeding thousands, calming storms, and the Sermon on the Mount — they have been eyewitnesses
2. After the storm in Matthew 8, the disciples themselves asked, "What sort of man is this?"
3. The question is inescapable for every person regardless of age, background, or circumstance
4. Common modern answers: good moral teacher, someone offensive, a comfort blanket, a Savior without Lordship
5. C.S. Lewis's trilemma: Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord
6. Application: What does your life say about who you believe Jesus to be?

II. Confession (vv. 16–17)

A. The subject of the confession — Peter answers: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (v. 16)

1. Christ is not a surname — it is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew Messiah, meaning "the Anointed One"
2. R.T. France: for most Jews of the day, the title pointed to a coming king of the line of David who would restore national independence and the preeminence of God's people
3. Jesus is the Christ — but not the conquering political king the people expected; he is the suffering and conquering King who defeats sin and death at the cross and resurrection
4. The greatest enemy of man in every age is sin against God and the need for reconciliation — that is what Christ came to accomplish
5. Peter also confesses Jesus as the Son of the living God — marking him as second Adam, new Israel, son of David, and ultimately the eternal Son of God, very God of very God, of one substance with the Father
6. Only the person of the Son could bear the weight of sin and the wrath of God on the cross, and only the Son could rise again

B. The source of the confession (v. 17)

1. Jesus responds with a beatitude: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah"
2. The confession did not originate with Peter — "flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven"
3. The Father alone can reveal the true identity of Jesus to whomsoever he will
4. Application: Let this humble you — you did not arrive at your confession on your own
5. Application: Let this encourage persistent intercessory prayer for unbelieving loved ones, neighbors, and enemies — the source of confession is the Father

III. Construction (vv. 18–19)

A. The builder of the church

1. Jesus says, "I myself will build my church" — the pronouns in the Greek are emphatic
2. Jesus the Christ is the sole builder of his church; no one is more qualified than the one who loved her and gave himself up for her

B. The blueprint — the rock upon which the church is built

1. There is a wordplay: Peter (Petros, small rock) and this rock (petra, large boulder/bedrock)
2. The church is built upon Peter as representative of the apostles and their confession of Christ
3. Ephesians 2:20 — the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone
4. With help from J.C. Ryle: the church is the whole body of believers of every age, tongue, and people who have made and hold to the good confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God
5. The keys of the kingdom given to the apostles involve binding and loosing — a doctrinal and judicial determination of what is and is not the gospel, and the ordering of the church, carried out by elders throughout the ages

C. The unsuccessful enemy of the church

1. "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (v. 18)
2. The church stands secure on an indestructible and enduring foundation
3. J.C. Ryle: "The true church never dies. Like the bush that Moses saw, it may burn but shall not be consumed. Every member of it shall be brought safe to glory."
4. Application: No matter how much it appears that everything is set against Christ and his church, neither the enemy nor his servants will ultimately prevail — because of who the builder is and because his blueprint is wise, good, and flawless