In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of knowing Christ and being in the revelations of God. He highlights the two greatest revelations in the Bible: the Father revealing His Son and the Son revealing the church. The speaker encourages the audience to humble themselves before the Lord and make Christ the center of their lives. He also references Matthew 16:18, where Jesus declares that He will build His church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. The speaker concludes by urging the audience to seek the Spirit's revelation and be transformed into the image of Christ.

Will you please turn to Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3. We'll read from verse 9 through 11. Chapter 3 verse 9. And to enlighten all with the knowledge of what is the administration of the mystery hidden throughout the ages of God in God who has created all things in order that now to the principalities and authorities in the heavenlies might be made known through the church the all various wisdom of God according to the purpose of the ages which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Colossians chapter 1 verse 18. Colossians chapter 1 verse 18. And he that is our Lord Jesus is the head of the body the church who is the beginning first born from among the dead that he might have the first place in all things. First Corinthians chapter 2. First Corinthians chapter 2. We begin with verse 6. But we speak wisdom among the perfect but wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who come to naught but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery that hidden wisdom which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory which none of the princes of this age knew for had that known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory but according as it is written things which eye has not seen and ear not heard and which have not come into man's heart which God has prepared for them that love him but God has revealed to us by his spirit for the spirit searches all things even the depths of God for who of man had known the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him thus also the things of God knows no one except the spirit of God but we have received not a spirit of this world but the spirit which is of God that we may know the things which had been freely given to us of God which also we speak not in words taught by human wisdom but in those taught by the spirit communicating spiritual things by spiritual means but the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of God for they are folly to him and he cannot know them because they are spiritually discerned but the spiritual discerns all things and he is discerned of no one for who has known the mind of the Lord who shall instruct him but we have the mind of Christ let's have a word of prayer dear Lord as we gathered here this morning in thy precious name we believe that thou art in our midst we wait upon thee we ask thee Lord that thou will open our heart that our hearts may all be turned towards thee with unveiled faces that we may behold thee the glory of the Lord and be transformed and conformed to thy precious image Lord we acknowledge that without thy spirit's revelation we are totally lost but we praise and thank thee knowing that our spirit is moving and we ask that our spirit will lead us into thy truth and we want to give thee all the glory in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. I believe that we all know that the theme of this conference is taken from Matthew chapter 16 verse 18. Our Lord Jesus said on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Now brothers and sisters I think to many of you this is not only a familiar verse but you are familiar with this whole matter of building the church. A few days ago as I was thinking on this matter Isaiah chapter 66 came to me and will you please turn to it Isaiah chapter 66. We begin with verse one thus said Jehovah the heavens are my throne and the earth is my footstool what is the house that you will build unto me and what is the place of my rest even all these things had my hand made and all these things had been said Jehovah but to this man will I look to the afflicted and contrite in spirit and who trembleth at my word tremble at my word that is the word that the Lord seemed to speak to me we are so familiar with this matter of the church or the building of the church that somehow we think that we know it all we do not tremble at his word now but the Lord said he look upon those who tremble at his word I believe dear brothers and sisters if by the spirit of God we are really led into Matthew chapter 16 verse 18 I wonder how can we not tremble at his word these are wonderful words but these are terrible words too the Lord said I will build my church is he building us are we really in that building where are we are we working cooperating yielding allowing him to work in our lives or are we resisting rebelling hindering delaying his marvelous work the more I think about this matter I tremble so brothers and sisters my prayer is that we will not look upon this theme as common as something we are so familiar but let us have a contrite heart let us be afflicted in our spirit wait upon the Lord and let the word of God speak to each one of us to search us to deliver us and to bring us into the reality of his word brothers and sisters Matthew chapter 16 is a great chapter in the word of God our brother Kenny already mentioned last night that in this chapter you have the two greatest revelations that the world ever known the father in heaven reveals his son there is no greater revelation than that the son reveal the church to us that's the second to the first the whole Bible speak of these two things Christ and the church great revelations but brothers and sisters how much are we in the revelations of God how much do we really know Christ the necromancer never knew him it is the heavenly father who reveals him and it pleases the father to reveal his son in us but how much do we allow him to reveal this son in us what is the place of God's son in our life is he all to us I think this is something that we need to really humble before the Lord what the son desires is the church but do we really desire the church as the son desires he says he is building it are we in that building process every day where are we I think these are very important questions we have to ask we look to the Lord that during these few days that God will open our understanding and give us a fresh new deeper revelation of that which is in the heart of God which is in the heart of our Lord Jesus that we may love what God loves and this is our prayer so dear brothers and sisters I hope that during these few days that we will pray continuously before him that by the grace of God we may be led into these precious words my responsibility is to share with your dear brothers and sisters on this matter of who is the builder of the church I think it is so simple it is self-evident really there is no need to talk about it we all know about it the Lord Jesus said very clearly thou art Peter on this rock I will build my church who can build the church of God except God himself in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 10 Abraham looked forward to that city with foundations whose artificer architect and constructor is God Psalm 127 verse 1 unless the Lord build a house in vain the builders labor so brothers and sisters I think it is crystal clear in this matter of the building of the house of God God himself is the builder our Lord himself undertakes the building of his house and nobody else can do such a work now it is true when you read 1st Corinthians chapter 3 the apostle Paul said I'm a master builder I lay the foundation and there is no other foundation man can lay but Jesus Christ our Lord and he also said that we who are the Lord we are all builders we are all engaged in this building work so brothers and sisters who is building the house of God God are you who are building it when Paul talks about himself as the master builder it is because he has the believers in view so far as the believers are concerned as the Corinthian believers are concerned they are all builders may we say they are all laborers and Paul is a master builder but when you think of Paul's relationship with the Lord is concerned then you discover what Paul really means is he is a foreman our Lord Jesus is the master builder the real master builder and Paul is under him as a foreman and we are under Paul in a sense laboring in that work more than that you think you are building the house of God not to say that many times we are building a different house we do not realize that we are building the power of Babel how can we build the house of God unless we allowed the Lord to build in us and then through us so who is really building the house of God God himself you cannot build I cannot build man cannot build it is such a glorious marvelous building I hope as we go on we will discover more and more that this is a building nobody can do but God now when you think of a builder now I came from a builder's family my grandfather was a builder my uncles were builders my elder brother was a builder but I know nothing about building builders they build a house but to our modern idea probably we will limit the builder just in the process of building in other words you may have an idea you want a house you have a general idea what a house you want but you do not have the technical knowledge so you engage an architect and you ask the architect to design a house for you according to the instruction that you give to him just some basic principles how is the house you want and the architect with his technical knowledge he will draw a blueprint put your ideas into that blueprint then you will ask a builder to come and build it according to the pattern that architect has drawn so in modern times a builder probably is rather limited in its application but I believe when you come to this matter of God being the builder of the house of God he being the builder of the new Jerusalem I think probably the idea is more like a modern developer you know in our time we have people who are developers and they have an idea they look at some needs in a market and they look for some locations that will be good to build on it to fit that need and in that developer's office they will have architect there and they will put the idea into a blueprint and they even have the finance for it and they will prepare the finance and they will build the house and after they build it they will sell it to other people but so far as God as the builder is concerned is more than that in other words you'll find God is the builder in a most comprehensive sense he is the one who get the idea he is the one who draw the blueprint he is the one who gather the materials he is the one who finance it he is the one who builds it and he is the one who owns it and dwells in it now that is the meaning God is the builder of the church for this these three mornings sessions we would like to look at God as the originator of the building of the church then we will look at God as the planner of the building of the church and finally God as the constructor of the building of the church now whose idea is the church who first conceived this thought now when you turn to Ephesians chapter three it is very clearly stated here that even before the ages that is before the foundation of the world before the creation of the heavens and the earth before there was anything before there was time and space God the eternal God God he purposed a purpose in his son now it is tremendous brothers and sisters just think of that before there was time before there was space before creation even in eternity past God God conceived an idea he conceived that idea for his son in his son now that must be a wonderful idea when you open Genesis chapter one in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth but remember that idea of the church was already there that idea was conceived even before the beginning of the heavens and the earth or put it in another way when God created the heavens and the earth for what purpose why did he create the heavens and the earth all the heavens and the earth the purpose the end of God's work no he created the heavens and the earth for something in view God so loved his beloved son God is love brothers and sisters those you who are parents or especially grandparents you know how you love your children you know how you love their grandchildren and you want to give everything to them you want to satisfy their heart you're willing to sacrifice yourself for your children or for your grandchildren but this is human think of divine think of God who is love his self God loves his only begotten son it all begins there because he so loved his begotten son he wants to do something for his son he wants to please his son to satisfy his son and it is out of that he built he created the heavens and the earth so the heavens and the earth do not exist by themselves we remember in revelation chapter four he said is by thy will that they are created now what is thy will thy will is to give the heavens and the earth and all that are in them to his beloved son as a gift now if not to say the heavens and the earth if someone can give you rich man as a gift to you how will you feel but not with God or with his son even though God created heavens and the earth and all that are in it the angels and all the other things he knew him that his son was not satisfied there is something in the heart of his beloved son longing for a companion something that can answer to him something like him something that can fellowship with him something that can be united in one with him something that can enjoy all things with him and to govern all things with him and help me that's what he wants and dear brothers and sisters the heavenly father knew about it so before the foundation of the world even before God created the heavens and earth God already had that idea I'm going to give my son a life companion his counterpart his life that will be my supreme gift to my son the heavens and the earth are only complimentary secondary not primary but there's a long way to go it takes all the time to accomplish this so dear brothers and sisters do you now understand what the church is in the heart of God when God created man he created man in his image according to his likeness now brothers and sisters we must ask the question why when he created the heavens and the earth he spoke the word and it was done but when he created man there was a council among the godhead let us created man in our image according to our likeness now why it is not because of this one reason that God wanted man to be so transformed that they can be the counterpart the helpmate of his beloved son that was God's supreme gift to his beloved son God has that in you but unfortunately man instead of obeying God and taking the tree of life because without divine life he can never accomplish God's purpose but instead of doing that he was tempted he fell into sin he took the forbidden fruit he was driven out of the garden of Eden so dear brothers and sisters did God give up no he continued to work you remember our Lord Jesus said my father worketh until now and I work God has one work to do sometimes you wonder why is it that during the life of our Lord Jesus on earth he mentioned the word church only twice once in Matthew 16 18 while he was rejected by his own people he retreated to the border of a gentile city Caesarea Philippi and then he raised this question to his disciples who do men say that I am who do you say that I am and after Peter said you are the Christ the son of the living God our Lord Jesus Simon Barjona you are blessed because this is not flesh and blood that reveals to you it is my father who is in heaven reveals to you God the father revealed the son and on the basis of that revelation the son further revealed what is in his heart you are Peter on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it what a revelation and the second time he mentioned that was in Matthew 18 chapter 17 if your brother sin against you go to him try to recover him with love if he did not listen get one or two others and go together trying to convince him to rescue him and he would not listen then you tell the church you know our Lord mentioned this word church the second time during the time when the disciples the 12 disciples were arguing among themselves who was the greatest that was the occasion our Lord only to mention two two times the word church now if the church is so important if the church is in the heart of God even before the foundation of the world if the church is what our Lord Jesus came to this earth for why is it that he did not mention it many many many many times now it is something very dear to your heart the center of your heart you cannot hide it you will talk about it you will dream about it even you can dream you will be talking about it but why is it that this matter of the church so important to God so important to our Lord Jesus and yet in the old new test old testament time it wasn't mentioned in the new testament time when our Lord was on earth he didn't mention until towards the very last now why because there's so much work to be done God is working in a mysterious way wonder to perform brothers and sisters our Lord Jesus God himself conceive this idea of the church now it is very true even though God has never come out to speak plainly what is in his heart yet he cannot but drop hints here and there throughout history as a matter of fact when you turn to genesis chapter 2 you'll find there's some hint already there after God created Adam he said it is not good for man to be alone I will make him a helpmate his like now brothers and sisters whose idea is that now in chapter one of genesis we are told when God created man his concept of man is a male and a female because he's a male and female created in them but he first created Adam and because Adam was only half of the man there was the other half missing so God said it is not good for man to be alone I will make him a helpmate his like and then you remember how God bring all the animals before Adam and Adam looked at all these animals and give their names you know names describe something so Adam gives names to all these animals but he couldn't find his like there they are beautiful birds dogs cats all these pets or even gorilla Adam can enjoy them he can look at them oh this is this is a cat but he cannot find his like something that answers to him God knew it you know the reason why God brought all these animals before Adam is the law of elimination it would be very sad if Adam slipped and look at it that's it he will never be happy afterwards brothers and sisters it is God's idea even though Adam felt lonely Adam felt incomplete he had a something empty but he didn't know what and he couldn't find it anywhere in all these living animals no one can answer to him but God knew so brothers and sisters it is God's idea I will make him a helpmate the idea comes from God not from man and we all know that Adam in the Bible is a type of Christ Eve is a type of the church when you come to Ephesians chapter 5 verse 32 it is said the mystery is great but I'm speaking of Christ and the church so you see the idea is already there the idea comes from God originates from God and the same thing is true when you think of the tabernacle after God led the children of Israel out of Egypt he brought them to Sinai and there he declared his will to the children of Israel and after he gave them the law then in chapter 25 he said build me a sanctuary that I may dwell among you whose idea is that it is not Moses idea it is not Aaron's idea it is not the idea of any of the children of Israel it is God's idea God said I want to dwell with you build me a sanctuary so the whole idea came from God not from man now maybe you said David it is David's idea to build a temple you know David he lived in his palace and he talked to Nathan he said well how can I live in a palace and God's ark is in a tent I cannot stand it anymore I want to build him a temple it seems as if the idea comes from David no the Bible said David is a man at the God's own heart he knew God's heart so it begins in God's heart and somehow God impressed upon the heart of David that idea of a temple and David only spoke out God's heart so you find that everything comes from God the whole idea comes from God not from man I think this is very important you know it is important for us to realize that the whole concept of the church comes from God you know unfortunately in our mind because of the church that we know today it is the product of history it is the idea of man so we lose that clarity that the whole concept of the church originates in God and if we can see this brothers and sisters it will make a great difference in Colossians chapter one you find that the relationship of our Lord Jesus both with his father with the old creation and with the new creation and when he came to the new creation now it is said he is the head of the body the church the head of the body the church now what is the head to the body in Ephesians chapter one verse 23 it said Christ is the head of the church his body the fullness of him who fills all and in all in other words the body is the fullness of the head if you do not have the head there is nobody the body serves a purpose of containing the fullness of the head and to manifest the riches the glory of the head so without the head there is nobody and that's the reason why if we do not have the revelation of the father concerning his son we will never be able to enter into the revelation of the son concerning the church no Christ no church he is the beginning everything begins in him everything comes from him and he is the firstborn from among the dead now what does that mean it means that the church is on resurrection ground the church is not built on natural ground the church is built on resurrection ground and our Lord Jesus he is the resurrection and the life the firstborn in other words he has the sovereignty and the priority and all who are to build in the church has to be born from above in resurrection life that's what the church is and then if you turn to first Corinthians chapter 2 brothers and sisters we often quote the first five verses of chapter 2 the apostle Paul said to the Corinthian believers I'm determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified and brothers and sisters how we both we know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified now thank God this is foundation but is there anything to be built on that foundation begin from verse 6 Paul said but among the perfect with the Corinthian believers they are bathed in Christ and with the babes you can only talk to them of Jesus Christ and him crucified in other words the basic gospel truth because without that there is no foundation to build upon but after you believe in the Lord Jesus after you accepted him the crucified then when you grow up perfect in the scripture means the grown up the matured when you are growing up there is a wisdom in mystery that we talk about in other words you go back to purpose you go back to God's purpose and there you see that God has prepared for those who love him things that eyes have not seen ears have not heard and no one had ever conceived in his mind it is concerning our glory brothers and sisters what is that that is the church the glorious church that the Lord is building this is the work of God throughout the ages this is the work that our Lord Jesus came to do and this is the work that he calls us to work with him by them and for him so dear brothers and sisters this matter of the building of the church is very very important and I do pray that first of all we will focus our thought on the Lord Jesus do not think that because this is God's work so let us rise up and do it you cannot he is the builder the originator of the church so we have to give him that first place and yield ourselves to him and allow him to work out his purpose let us pray dear heavenly father we do sense the importance of this matter of the building of the church the house of God dear Lord we want to tremble at thy word Lord it is such a glorious tremendous work of thine it serves such a glorious purpose even to satisfy the heart of thy beloved son oh Lord forgive us for our complacency forgive us for our opposition forgive us for our negligence forgive us for obstructing thy work Lord bring us to a place where we will be reduced to zero and allow thee to do the work because thou alone can do it we worship thee in our precious name amen