Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

            A while ago there was a lot on the news about an IKEA store coming to Winnipeg.

As I saw what they were planning and the size of the investment in buildings and also in city infrastructure, I was thinking that it was a huge risk and a huge investment without any guarantee of success.

How do we know that the store will make it?

I know that some of you hope so, but we also know that there are large stores and even malls that have been leveled because they couldn’t make it.

What was the name of the mall on the west end of Portage Avenue in Winnipeg?

The only way that we will know that it succeeds is if after it is built there are lots of customers.

The church of Jesus Christ is in a much better position!

Investing in the church of Jesus is also a risk and involves a huge investment.

It is vulnerable in so many ways.

The church could be destroyed by persecution and other enemies from without.

It could be destroyed by affluence and apathy or other enemies from within.

How do we know it will succeed?

About this there is no doubt.

We know that the church will succeed!

God has promised that His work will not return empty.

But as we contemplate that promise, we might well ask, “what about our church?”

We know that the church of Jesus Christ will succeed, but we don’t know whether or not our church will continue to grow and be healthy.

This morning, I would like to invite you to look at a number of Scripture passages which encourage us with the assurance of God’s promise that His church will succeed and a number of other passages which show us the conditions under which our church can be a part of that promised victory.

Our primary focus today will be on two passages – Matthew 16:13-18 and Revelation 2, 3.

!

I.                   God Will Build His Church

            In both of these passages we have the great promise of God that His church will prevail!

!! A.                 Founded on Jesus

            One day when Jesus was walking along with his disciples in the remote region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They were able to answer because they had been listening to what people were saying.

Everyone agreed that Jesus was someone special.

Some thought that he was John the Baptist come back to life.

Others thought he was Elijah who had been one of the greatest prophets and miracle workers in their history.

Others thought he was Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.

They all recognized something unique in him.

When he asked them the same question it was Peter who answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus affirmed this answer and acknowledged that it did not come from human understanding, but from a revelation of God.

He further indicated that the church would be built upon the confession which Peter made, as the first one to recognize who Jesus really was.

The confession of Jesus as Lord is the foundation of the church.

With this confession we understand that Jesus is the one who has earned the highest position in all creation by his willingness to die and by the power demonstrated in His resurrection.

What a solid foundation!

Jesus is the one sent from God, the Son of God and the one who died and rose.

Anyone who has been involved in building knows that a solid foundation is critical and if the foundation is solid, the building will stand against anything.

The foundation of the church is Jesus and that foundation is solid.

!! B.                 I Will Build My Church!

On that foundation Jesus promised in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

The gates of Hades is a reference to death and the power of evil.

Jesus was saying that death would not overcome the project in which he was engaged.

Death has stopped many projects, but death could not stop God’s project.

When Jesus died, that was not the end.

Resurrection demonstrated this power of God in Jesus Christ and because of that we have the confidence that the project of Jesus, to build His church, will not be overcome ever.

If death could not overcome Jesus, there is nothing which will defeat the building of His church.

What a guarantee!

What a promise!

This promise has been powerfully fulfilled already in human history.

The persecution of Nero, the evil violence of Stalin and the restrictions of Mao have not been able to stop the growth of the church of Jesus Christ.

William Barclay says, “…this phrase triumphantly expresses the indestructibility of Christ and His church.”

!! C.                 Christ among the Churches

            Similar promises are also given in Revelation 2, 3.

In some ways Revelation expands on this promise.

In these chapters we have letters from God written to seven churches in Asia Minor.

Each message to these seven churches has a similar pattern and part of the pattern is a word of introduction from the one who speaks to them, from Jesus Himself.

If we look at the words used to describe Jesus we see once again the amazing truths which give us assurance that since the church is founded on Jesus Christ, it has a solid foundation.

Please turn to this passage in your Bibles and look at some of these statements.

In 2:7 we read of the one who has the authority to “give the right to eat from the tree of life…” This is a reference to what happened in the Garden of Eden when because of sin Adam and Eve were removed from the garden and an angel guarded the tree of life so that no one would be able to eat from it and live forever in their sin.

Jesus, however, has made eternal life a possibility and He is the one who can give that eternal life to all who come to Him.

In 2:8 we read that He is “the First and the Last.”

This same verse reminds us that Jesus is the one “who died and came to life again.”

We see something of the authority of Jesus in the phrase in 2:12 which speaks of “him who has the sharp, double edged sword.”

There are many other phrases including the powerful expression in 3:7 which speaks of “…him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David.

What he opens, no one can shut; and what he shuts, no one can open.”

We see in these expressions all kinds of truths which remind us of the power, position and authority which Jesus has as the head of the church.

This Jesus who has such authority and power cares about the church and is most concerned for the building of the church.

Revelation 2:1 encourages us that Jesus “walks among” the churches.

And as He walks among the churches, we hear another comforting word when we read the repeated phrase, “I know.”

Jesus knows what is going on in each church.

Jesus knows what is going on in our church.

But even more encouraging is the phrase in Revelation 3:9 which tells us the attitude with which Jesus knows what is happening in the church.

It assures us, “I have loved you.”

The image which presents itself to us in Revelation 2, 3 is a practical illustration of the fulfillment of the promise, “I will build my church.”

It is one of the most important truths that any Christian should know.

The church is God’s project.

The church is the bride of Christ.

The church is His special love and He will do all that He can to build His church and we have the assurance that He will succeed.

When all of history is over, the United Nations will not exist, the International Monetary Fund will not be needed, but the church of Jesus Christ will judge the nations and will rejoice in the great banquet which has been promised and will exist for all eternity in the presence of God.

Any person making investments is always looking for those investments which have the best chance of success.

You can’t have any better promise of success than the church.

Therefore, we are encouraged to give our lives for the building of the church.

!

II.

Will God Build Our Church?

The first church in which I was pastor was called Neighborhood Life Group.

We met across from the railway station in The Pas, Manitoba.

That congregation does not exist anymore.

Where is the promise which we have just looked at?

If God says “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” why do we hear about church closures?

I think we understand that although the church of Jesus Christ will never be overcome, individual churches might be overcome.

What about our church?

!! A.                 Warnings!

Both of the passages we are looking at today mention that there is an enemy of the church.

Matthew speaks of the “Gates of Hades” and Satan is mentioned five times in these two chapters in Revelation.

The promise of God is very clear that that enemy will not succeed in overcoming the church, but, what about individual churches?

What about our church?

It is possible for an individual church to fail.

Several times in Revelation 2, 3 we hear such a warning.

To the church in Ephesus the Spirit says in Revelation 2:5, “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

David Ewert says, “There is something ominous about this threat.