I Will Build My Church — Keith Malcomson

Christ as the Only Foundation

I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 16 as we go to the Word of God in this series, Christ the Only Foundation, part 10. We've been dealing with Christ as the only foundation and the importance of foundations.

Bad foundations mean you're in trouble. Good foundations means it doesn't matter what gets thrown at you, you are going to stand, you are going to come through no matter what, and it's the same as a church.

But here this morning from Matthew chapter 16, I want to read from verse 13, and this is my message. It's simply a scriptural statement that I want to take from my message. I will build my church. That's my title.

Reading from verse 13, when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, some say thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias are one of the prophets.

He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou Simon Barjuna, for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders, and cheap priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying, be it far from thee, Lord this shall not be unto thee. But he, that is Jesus, turned and said unto Peter, get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense unto me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those things that be of men.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? And what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the Word of God this morning. Father, again for this solid foundation. Lord God, I pray that our heavenly Father, that you that sent your beloved Son, Lord God, that you'd be merciful to every single soul in this meeting that would watch us online later.

Oh God, that you'd open up the minds, the understanding, the hearts, that you'd bring a divine revelation concerning Christ as this foundation. My God, there's many things we can afford to fail at, but oh God, we cannot afford to fail concerning this foundation that's going to carry us out of time into eternity.

Lord God, that's going to lift us out of the judgment and the wrath of God. Lord God, from the punishment to come, and Lord God, it's going to set us in paradise for an eternity. Lord God, I ask of you, stir up the hearts, awaken us again, revive us.

Oh God, make us a burning fire in this new year twenty-four. My God, make us to shine as bright lights. Oh God, make us to be, nor God, zealous, oh God, in building upon a solid foundation. Oh God, with our eyes on eternity, nor God, with eternity in our hearts, nor God, I pray, rid us of all lethargy and laziness, oh God.

Lord God, all apathy and compromise. Lord God, all casualness, oh God. Father, we ask of you, open our eyes, lest we be deceived, nor God, don't let us be deceived, being hearers of the word and not doers of the word, but oh God, we ask of you for your power.

Thank you, oh God, that we're on a solid foundation, and we pray for a divine revelation of Christ, of his cross concerning the conflict, and Lord God, your will and desire for us in this last will and generation, in Jesus' mighty name, Amen.

Bless your word to our hearts this morning. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, our God. My message, Christ's words, there's nothing more powerful than a statement from Christ, I will build my church. What's Jesus saying in verse 18?

Upon this rock, I will build my church, upon this rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I want to know that rock that hell will not prevail against whatever is built on it. I want to know that rock.

I want to know that church. I want to know what this victory is. As you come to Matthew chapter 16, and we're told here that Jesus, in verse 13, that Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi. There's four words I want you to note, four C's.

It'll help you understand what is happening here in this chapter. Four very important things that appear for the first time in a dynamic way, in an unusual way here in this chapter. Do you know what the four are?

Christ, the cross, the conflict, and the church. This is the first time the word church is ever used in the New Testament, the first time Christ ever, ever mentions the word church, the first time. It's also the first mention, or the beginning of Christ revealing about His death, that He's going to die and rise again.

It's the first time, not the last time. There's several times He explicitly says, I'm going to die. But there's the first where He reveals it to His disciples. Before this, it's been the preaching of repentance, the kingdom of God.

There's been miracles, there's been healings, there's been vast crowds. But now He's dealing with His death, the first time. We also see here concerning the conflict, the conflict. In these few verses, you have a wonderful revelation of Christ, a dynamic one, and we're going to look at this.

You've got a glorious vision of a victorious church. You also have a terrible conflict with Satan, and last of all, a divine challenge to take up your cross and to follow Jesus Christ. We're going to look at this this morning, because I believe in a few short verses, you've got something dynamic, and it's all in around this foundation.

You're going to understand the dynamic work that is happening around this foundation. This is the rock. This is Christ. This is the foundation of all foundations. Don't you realize that Christ is the originator of all foundations?

You know something I noticed just briefly this week? It just hit me. We're told in Job that we're at the foundation of the world, when God laid the foundations of the earth. Do you know the sons of God, the angels were there?

What were they doing? They were singing. Then this week, as I read Ezra, and it says about them laying the foundation, guess what they're doing? They are singing. They're worshiping. They're weeping as they see the foundation laid.

I don't think that's an accident, and then I started to think about what it says about one sinner that repents, in other words, gets converted, gets saved, that repents, turns from their sin. Remember what it says?

The angels rejoice over one sinner. Do you think it's an accident that all these foundations, there is great joy in heaven? There's joy in the house of God. There's something about seeing a foundation go down, whether it's a sinner repenting.

You know what? The angels in heaven are rejoicing. A sinner. Do you know one sinner? I don't care who they are, how insignificant, how bad their sin has been. The angels actually rejoice. The angels are looking in.

You may think nobody notices your conversion. I want to tell you, angels are rejoicing. Angels are taking note of that. Can you imagine the joy in heaven over one soul that turns to Jesus Christ? Have we lost the joy and the thrill of this?

The angels haven't. God hasn't. Remember what Christ said? Good shepherd will lead ninety and nine. They're safe. They're secure. They're fine. They're on their way to heaven. I'm going to go looking for one lost sheep.

It's a remarkable thing what we have here, concerning foundations. Let me give you five things here concerning these few verses where we have read concerning Christ saying, I will build my church. I want to know about this church that hell can't prevail against.

I want to know about this church where Christ says, there, right there, I'm going to build my church. Nowhere else. Only one place will He build the church. Only on one foundation can hell not prevail against the church.

You better understand what we're saying. It's so simple. It's elementary. It is basic. But this is one of the most powerful things you can imagine. I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

They cannot prevail. They will not prevail. It's impossible. Christ cannot lie. My first point here, a divine revelation of Christ. Look with me at verse 15 here. It says, he saith unto him. It's Jesus speaking to the disciples.

He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? He'd already asked them, who do men say I am? You know who they thought he was like? Elias or Jeremiah or one of the prophets. If you want to know Christ's preaching style, oh, I think he was meek and mild.

I think he was very tender. I think he was very calm, very unemotional. Do you really? Do you know when that generation came and heard Christ preach and they're asked, who do you think this Christ is?

We think he's one of the Old Testament prophets. We think he's a Jeremiah. We think he's like John the Baptist. You know what? They chose the farriest, most fervent, burning, most direct, dynamic preachers of all the generations.

He's like a prophet, an Old Testament prophet. That's what Christ is like. Who do you say he is? I think he's Jeremiah. Jeremiah's dead. Oh, I think he's come alive again. I think it's Elias. Remember the prophecy about Elias coming before the day of the Lord?

I think he's Elias, Elijah. I think he's that Old Testament prophet that went in a chariot up to heaven. When they stood and heard him preach, they went, this is Elijah come again. The man who went away in a fiery chariot, he is now standing preaching.

Don't tell me he was casual or cold or indifferent. You're talking about Christ preaching the Word of God. This is the opinion of that generation. But you know what? That isn't sufficient. Christ asked them, who do men say that I am?

Then he turns and says, who do you say that I am? Do you think I'm only a preacher, a prophet, a good man, a healer? Who do you say I am? Oh, that's wondrous. But if that's all you know about this Christ, you're in your way to hell.

You're in seer's trouble. And so he says, whom do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Look at this statement. This was not head knowledge.

This was not teaching. This was not scholarship. This was not some profound thing. It was simple. It was basic. It was elementary. And look how Jesus responds. And Jesus answered him and said, blessed art thou, Simon Barjuna, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

This is my first point, a divine revelation of Christ. Here is a divine revelation. Peter actually says, I know who you are. You are the Messiah. The word for Christ there, it's the word anointed. It's the Old Testament statement for the anointed one.

There are hundreds and hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament about a coming Messiah from Genesis all the way through to Malachi. Many prophecies concerning one who had come to save his people. One who would be given as a covenant, as a light to the Gentiles.

One that would bear the sin of many. There are hundreds of prophecies about this Messiah. He would come and open the blind eyes. He would open the prison doors. He would set the captive free. He would heal the brokenhearted.

All of these hundreds of prophecies are about the Messiah contained within the written Scripture. What does Peter say? This rugged fisherman, this man with rough hands, this man that smells of fish, I guarantee he still had the stain of fish upon him.

Hard to get rid of. This man said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You know what Jesus says, this is an intellect. Man did not teach you this. This is a divine revelation of Christ. This isn't merely learning facts and details.

Christ says you're blessed. This is the greatest blessing of all. See sitting here, if you know Christ, not intellectually, but your heart has been so changed that you see who He is, the Son of God, the Creator, eternal life, a salvation, the only way to God the Father.

When you see it and you know it's God that has done this, you're very blessed. He goes on to say, flesh and blood has not revealed this. The word revealed means to take the cover off, or to open everything up so you can see it, or to remove everything out of the way.

That's a revealing. This is a divine revelation that comes from God. It's not a man. No man reveals the Son. No man comes to the Son. No man gets born again merely by the activity of people around him.

You know from a young boy, do you know what I've heard many through the years say? And usually they're so-called mature Christians, preachers, or active in evangelism. They say it's easy to get someone saved.

That's easy. The hard bits, the other stuff. I immediately knew, from a kid it used to horrify me when I heard that. It's easy to get them saved, to get someone saved. You know immediately what I know?

They don't know what the new birth is. They don't know what salvation is. You know what they mean? They mean they can convince someone. They can talk to you, get you to say a sinner's prayer. The hard bit is to stop you sinning.

But we got you saved. We said a little prayer with you and said, there, now if you have any doubts, it's the devil. Don't accept it. But we've got a convert. We've had people in this city, 500 converts in the past several weeks.

Wow, that's amazing. Why are they still out there drinking? Why didn't they turn up Sunday morning at your service? But they're calling these converts. You know what those that say salvation is simple haven't got a clue what they're talking about.

It is a divine revelation from God the Father. And that's what Christ is saying. As Peter stands there and the power of this and the reality, you, Jesus standing here, you're not a preacher. You're not a prophet.

You are the promised one going all the way back to Genesis chapter 3, the seed of the woman that's going to smite the head of the serpent. Can you imagine the revelation dawning, the one who you're sleeping with, living with, walking with, traveling with?

He is the fulfillment of every single prophecy of the Old Testament. He is the promised one of every generation, the desired of every nation. This is him that's going to be a light unto all the Gentiles, the seed that Abraham was going to have that would bless every single family in the earth.

Can you imagine the revelation of this? You know what with Peter, it was from the Father. He didn't work this out. He didn't just study hard at this. But do you know what, when a revelation comes from God the Father, it's always a biblical revelation.

It's what you can't see naturally. You could learn this book intellectually. You could know it. You could remember it. You could verbalize it, but you don't have a revelation from the Father. It could be mere dead knowledge.

Will you damage others? You don't even know how to minister. There's no life in it. It doesn't set you free, doesn't bring joy in your life, and it doesn't anyone else around you. It's mere deadness. You know what Paul writes, the letter of the law kills.

It kills. But do you know what, the spirit of life, it brings life. That is the difference. You better be sure you have a divine revelation of Christ. I've seen people join the church and they get educated.

They learn more. They hear sermons, but they're dead. They're absolutely dead. They're not living stones. They're dead stones because they've had no revelation of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. Christ says, upon this rock.

What rock? We said before, Peter isn't the rock. Hope that's settled here this morning. Peter's not the rock. You don't want to build a church on Peter. This is a bad foundation. What is the rock? It's a feminine term, so it can't be a man.

It's talking about the revelation of Christ. What is it that Christ said? Upon this rock, I will build my church. It's the verse before he's explaining what is the rock upon which he builds a church. What just happened?

It's the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's God the Father teaching you, opening your eyes to who Jesus is, that you can say, He is the Son of God. He is the Messiah. He is the fulfillment of all Scripture.

He is the lover of my soul. He is my salvation. He is my Redeemer. He's my Savior. He bare my sin. He took the wrath of God in my place. All of these things are dynamic things. It says in Matthew 11, a bit earlier, verse 25.

At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank these, praying to the Father. Oh, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent. You've hid them. Intelligence doesn't make you understand this.

I'm not against intelligence. I quite like it, okay, so keep it up. I'm for intelligence. I'm for study. I'm for using your brain. Any church that says, leave your brain at the door, is a dangerous place to be.

You ought to activate your brain, but that doesn't save you. You can never learn how to be saved. What Jesus say elsewhere, you do search the Scriptures thinking that you find life in them, but there's no life for you.

Isn't it amazing that something that is good can be terribly, terribly misused? Things that are good and important in this church can actually be a curse on to you. When mishandled, it's like a rifle can be used for good or for terrible things.

A car could be as well. And so here's Christ praying to his heavenly Father, saying, thank you. Can you imagine? Thank you that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent. That hiding is not natural.

Do you realize there's some people think by intellect, mental ability, much study, they can do this. No, you're going to have to get on your face and break and repent and cry unto your heavenly Father and say, speak to me, change me, move on my heart.

Oh God, have mercy on me. You won't work this out intellectually. You know what God can do? God the Father, Christ says it. Thank you that you've hidden these things. They can't even see it. They don't even understand it.

The great men of the earth don't understand what I understand here this morning. You know when this was revealed to me as a four and a half year old kid in one moment of time, I was raised in a good Christian family and yet that night for the first time I'd become conscious of my sin.

For the first time become conscious I would die and go to hell that night if I died without Christ. That night I knew Jesus was the answer. That night I cried out unto him, save me, come into my life, change me and he answered my prayer.

What does Jesus say? Because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Jesus is thanking the Father that these things are hidden from the wise, the prudent, the mature and yet he reveals them unto little children.

He reveals who he is. Saints of God, this is more than intellectual power. This is a relationship. This is where Jesus is revealed by the Father. Only the Father can reveal him. You can't even come to Jesus.

You can't even see who he is. You can't even know him. You can't even understand this unless God the Father reveals him unto you. You know some people get all confused. In this generation, in my lifetime, so they all go pro the Holy Spirit.

Heaven's the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit do this. Holy Spirit do that. Where do you get that sort of prayer in the New Testament? Not once do you get a prayer to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament. Not once.

We're told pray to the Father through the Son. Oh I talk to the Son. I love you Jesus. I love you. But do you know what he said? Jesus said, don't you ask me for anything. Ask the Father in my name because he'll delight them to answer that prayer.

It really will. When you begin to see this divine revelation, this is what you have here with Peter. What is this divine revelation? Hear me. It's a foundation upon which he's going to build the entire church.

What is the revelation? I, God the Father, am revealing who the Son is. Remember what Jesus says? No man can come unto me unless the Father draw him. I'm not Narminianist. Neither am I a Calvinist. What I want to tell you, I'm not Narminianist.

You do not have the free will and power to come. People want to argue for free will or against free will. My Bible says no one can come unto Jesus and believe on him and see who he is unless the Father draw him.

That is scripture. You don't have anything unless the Father opens it up. It's his desire that none perish, that all repent, that all come to salvation. That's his desire. He takes no delight in the death of the wicked.

But do you know what? It takes a divine revelation, not learning something, not your little prayer, not attending church. It takes a dynamic hour where you have an encounter and God the Father reveals who the Son is.

Have you had that encounter? Have you had that revelation that transforms your entire life? And Jesus said, blessed are you, Simon Virgina. Because you know what? Man didn't reveal the Son to you. My Father in heaven revealed it.

You've been taught by the Father in heaven. He says in John 6, 45, it is written in the prophets, Christ quoting the prophets, and they shall be taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard and has learned of the Father cometh after me or cometh unto me.

Do you see what the teaching of the Holy Spirit is? Every real child of God is taught of God. Are you a taught one? Unless you've been taught, you don't even know who Christ is. And yet in having a revelation, it's always going to be biblical.

You have people who have revelations, it's not biblical. Then you have others who have understand of the Bible, they have no revelation. It actually takes it that God the Father opens up and reveals who Christ is, the biblical Christ in the light of God's Word.

And that's why Jesus says here, all of them are taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard has learned of the Father and cometh unto me. How do I know someone's taught of God? How do I know God has taught you?

Because you come. Remember what Jesus says in John 10, I am the good shepherd. My sheep hear my voice and they follow me. They hear my voice, they're being taught. They're following the message. They're listening my voice.

Revelation is coming. Are you taught by the Holy Spirit? Do you know what it is for the Father to teach you who the Son is? Jesus again says in Matthew 18, 3, verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye be converted and become like little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of God.

Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Do you know the mark that Jesus taught about is humility. You can't be proud and like a child.

You can't exalt yourself and be proud and say, I'm childlike. No, you're not. You're arrogant. You're proud. What Christ is talking here about that you must be converted and become like little children if you're going to enter the kingdom of God.

Saints of God, when we're dealing with this foundation, you don't have a foundation. This is the foundation. You're taught of God, a solid foundation. Christ himself revealed what the foundation is. This is the only foundation.

We know from Paul, Christ is the foundation. But what does that mean? It is a revelation. The Father teaching you, here is the Son. He died for you. This is the Son. And that revelation becomes the entire foundation, the only foundation, the one foundation, which Jesus says, I will build my church, my church.

The Church Built on Divine Revelation

Well, it's not man's church. It's not a preacher's church. It's not a denominational church. There's only one church he built and he'll never build it anywhere else. If you go to churches and denominations and there's no revelation of Christ, no preaching of the supernatural birth, of a divine encounter, of God the Father revealing the Son, of having a changed heart.

Oh, I grew up in this. I've always been a Christian. Where'd you get that in the Bible? Where's the verse? Who taught you that? Because we're taught all are born sinners, separated from God. None is righteous.

None is good. None seeketh after God. None. That's your natural state. Oh, we can all come anytime. Who told you that? Do you know the Calvinist says, God only draws the elect. But the Arminianist is just as bad.

Don't let them off the hook. They say anybody can come anytime they want. Can they? You have to respond. It takes a divine work of the Holy Spirit. Do you know when you put yourselves into camps like this, you are going to make serious errors.

Because either you'll reject all the Calvinism, and do you know what? You'll reject Scripture as well. Some things they got right. Or else you'll be on the Calvinistic side and say, those untaught Arminianists, they don't know what we know.

And they restrict the work of the cross. They can't even with confidence that Jesus died for you or loves you. They can't say that. We need to come back to this divine revelation. What is the rock upon which Jesus is going to build is an entire worldwide church in every single generation for 2000 years upon this rock.

Sorry, it's not more complicated than this. I can't tidy it up or make it look spectacular. A foundation. You don't paint foundations. You don't decorate foundations. No one does that. You're not there going, now this has got to look beautiful.

You're not even going to see the foundation. The foundation is to withhold the entire building. But that foundation has to be in place. If you don't have this in place, your entire Christianity is going to be off course.

Absolutely off course. If it's not a divine revelation of the Son, the Father opening up and saying, here's the Son. I want to teach you who the Son is. This is where Peter was. This is what happened to him.

Do you realize this is Peter being brought onto the foundation to be built as a part of this vital building? It's not techniques of salvation. It's not mechanical ways to get someone born again. It's not in your evangelism going out there and saying, I can convince people to believe in Christ.

You can convince anyone of almost anything in this generation. And some of them will say your little prayer just to get rid of you. And they'll go on down the street laughing at you. And you go, guess what?

I got a convert. No, you didn't. It was the big fish that got away because it won't be there Sunday morning. Someone said, Malcolmson has seen one of your converts out there drinking. I said, you're absolutely right.

My convert. Because I tell you, a real convert of Christ won't be out there. There might be a convert of LCC that could be off taking their drugs. They're not convert of Christ. You know, I can see the mark of a convert of Christ, a divine revelation.

I love this. You know, just sitting with Ina on Friday night, we're just talking. And I could almost laugh because I know my scriptures. I know my Bible. And I just listen to her talk. She's just talking out of her heart.

And I could laugh because she doesn't know all these things I know. But I tell you what she knows, the master. There's a divine revelation. That's what this is built on. And you know what's the amazing thing?

When you have him, you've got it all. She can talk away and I'm going scripture, scripture, scripture. She doesn't know scripture or not as much as me just yet. See, this is the foundation. This is the rock.

A Glorious Vision of a Victorious Church

Second of all, a glorious vision of a victorious church. This is the first mentioned by Christ of the church. Here's a divine revelation coming to Peter. Peter, you didn't learn this from any man. He grew up in synagogues.

He grew up knowing the But he didn't have a revelation from the father. His eyes weren't open to see Christ in all of scripture. But this second thing, a glorious vision of a victorious church. What did Christ say?

Upon this rock, this revelation. It's not Peter. Remember what we said about it. Peter is the Petros. Peter, you're Petros. You're a rock. You're a movable small stone in the hand. But this rock is a different Greek word.

It's Petra. It's an immovable mass of foundational rock that you build a house upon. That's two different rocks. Peter, see you. You're not this rock upon which I'll build my church. But upon this rock, the revelation of who I am, you being taught.

Peter, you've been taught by your heavenly father. That's the revelation. That's the foundation. Upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Christ's church that he builds, and notice it's his work.

I build the church. Upon this revelation, I then begin to build my church. I put a stone in. Peter, you're a stone in the wall. Do you know Peter later in his letters, he calls Christians, individual believers, living stones being built into a spiritual house upon the rock.

That's what Peter writes about. Don't you think this revelation, the day he had a revelation from the father, don't you think that so impacted him that years later he writes about it in his letter and he begins to explain it?

And he begins to show you we're living stones being brought in. There's another one. I look around this room, another stone, another stone, another stone, a divine revelation comes. And then what does Christ do?

Upon this rock, this revelation, I will build my church. Men don't do that. We'll send you to rehab. We'll take you through courses. We'll put you on a discipleship course. Christ says, I will build you upon this revelation.

This is where I stand. When your eyes are open to who I am, you're set free. I can't even explain this. Do you know what we've lost in the church is the awesomeness of the new birth. We don't even believe it's supernatural anymore, but you've seen it in the past several weeks.

When a man and woman gets born again, their cocaine addiction from 10 years, it falls off. It falls off. What is that? Man, I didn't even get to break all the curses or cast all the demons out or begin ministering to all their inner hurts from all the years, what their mommy did and their daddy did and their grandfather and the Freemasons did.

Slow down guys. I've got all this ministry to do. You look at all their textbook of this generation. Hold on. We're not doing it the right way. You guys are suddenly supernaturally getting revelations of Christ and your sin has fallen off and you're coming out from the world and you stop blaspheming.

You leave your drink and your drugs and your beds of sex. You get out of bed to come to church on a Sunday morning. You throw your idols and your statues out. Thank God I didn't have to do all that. Can you imagine the pressure I've been on?

This one, I've got to keep them saved and I've got to go looking for them and I've got to prop this one up and I've got to keep him away from the bottle. I'd go crazy. That's impossible. That would be a shepherd with a short lifespan that's going to take a heart attack.

Jesus says here in verse 18, upon this rock, I will build my church. Look at this glorious church. Imagine building a church out of new converts. Converts taught by the father. Can you imagine that? Not us trying to church growth to make the church grow.

We want numbers. There's a church in this city. I heard the pastor. He said, our vision for this church in this city is to have the biggest church. I went, God help you. You're going to have trouble. You want the biggest church.