I will build my church – Part 1

Text: Matthew 16:18 “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.” Ephesians 5:26-27 “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

Brethren, we all should understand that the church of God is not the physical building, or the architectural structure in which we usually go into for worship, or service. The church is you and I, and all other members of the church, including the young, the old, the rich, and the poor. And the builder of the church is not you, or me, or the other members. The builder of the church is God Himself, the Creator. Matthew 16:18. Here, the Lord established Apostle Peter as the church, and subsequently built him, and the gates of hell could not prevail over him.

Today, in the present generation, you and I constitute the church, and the Lord is building us according to His will, His dictates, His purpose, and design. He is building us according to His standard and what He wants us to be.

It follows, therefore, as a church, if certain things are not going according to your desire, do not worry, as that desire of yours may not be according to the design of God to build you as a church. He would rather build you according to His design.

1Peter 1:15-16 “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
This is the desire of God, He wants you and I to be holy and in Matthew 4:19 “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Here, the apostles ordinarily would have been contented, or preferred to remain as farmers, fish farmers, and making more money. Apparently, that was not the will, or design of the Lord for them. He had to cause them to abandon what seemed to be a more lucrative business for them, and turned them to something less lucrative, fishing of men (evangelism). Similarly, today, in our present generation, many people are in the wrong places, or occupation, and as a result, they are facing various challenges. Some people would prefer to be in so-called lucrative professions, instead of being a committed worker in the house of God.

There are so many other people who could not find their feet, they could not breakthrough on their own effort, no matter how much they tried, or struggled. Their breakthrough came as soon as they allowed the Lord to build them. Today, the Lord is telling you to follow me and I will make you fishers of men. I will make you that which I want you to be.

Revelation 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

I want you to understand my brother and sisters that all of us were created by God and for His own purpose and pleasure. He is the one that is building us and working out whatsoever He wants us to be, and our duty is to follow today and do what He wants us to be.

Many preachers are thinking they are building the church of God, the body of Christ, and in the process they isolate the Master builder. I want to let you know that, if you are a preacher, and a child of God and you are building a church without Christ, the builder, you are making a lot of mistakes, no matter the cost of that building, that is outside His will, it will never pass the test of time. He is the Master builder and you must never isolate Him.

Hebrew 3:4 “For every house is built by some man; but he that built all things is God.”God is the one that builds all things, including the church. I want you to understand that you are among the church the Lord is building, and there is nothing that will stop Him from finishing His work in your life today.

The devil cannot stop Him, man cannot, kingdoms cannot stop Him from finishing His work today, because He is the All powerful, the Almighty. He has all the resources to make you what He wants you to be. Therefore, the gates of hell, the persecutors, enemies of righteousness, the demons can never stop Him because unto Him every knee shall bow.

Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”From the above chapter/verse, it is God that is working through us, working through you to perfect and qualify you for His purpose. It is not any man, but God. Therefore, as His servants, appointed to do His work, we must build by His grace and not by our power.

Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. Yes, as believers, we can do all things; we can preach the gospel, win souls, create wealth and rule the world. Yes we can.