13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." 15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
For most of my life the church was the center of community and family life. In fact, "going to church" it was not only a big deal, in my youth it was expected. As far back as I can remember, Sunday has always been known, as the Lord’s Day. A day where those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, by way of repentance and faith, those who have received the forgiveness of sins, come together to worship and honor the Lord. I strongly believe this should be the desire of every believers heart, because Christ paid for our sins on the cross with His own blood. The highest price ever paid for the church. Is it any wonder why the church is then God's most precious possession?
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
Regrettably, today the greater emphasis is upon individuality and self within contemporary culture. I believe the biggest reason is because preachers have neglected to provide a biblical foundation for the doctrine. Many churches are more often like a political organization where people are invited and encouraged to declare openly their union with people who share the same political views rather than a House of God where people openly declare their union with Christ. Those entering into the church are no longer expected to walk in a way worthy of the high calling we've been given, bringing honor and glory to our Living Savior, but as members of a glorified social club. This is a perversion of the church.
People don’t need just another meeting place to socialize and enjoy a cup of coffee and a donut, they need a place where God’s Word preached, to govern their lives, their homes, and their families. We need to pray for God to rule over our government leaders to make decisions according to His, and our church. Allow me to remind you that we were purchased, not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The church is to be the pillar of divine truth, that is the very reason for our remaining on this planet, so that we can preach the Gospel to a lost world. Everything we need for life and evangelism can be found in His Word, and God has given us, the church, the task of doing His work. The Bible speaks to the issues of family, raising children, marriage, immorality, government, politics, God, evil, death, and more. In this time of confusion and uncertainty, I believe the church, by not being "the Church," is missing out a tremendous opportunity to bring lost sinners to Christ.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father we thank You for Your Word, You have given us so much, granting us the spiritual wisdom and knowledge to understand Your Word, directing us to be the church You've called us to be. May we serve You in a way that is pleasing to You. Lord, I pray for each one here to become Your son and daughter. I ask that You do a mighty work by Your Spirit in their hearts. O Father, let them prove to be a true disciple of Christ. All for Your glory. In Jesus' precious name I pray.
Amen
Today's Message: Is the Church still relevant?
When we do as we were called to do, I believe that the church is unparalleled, unequaled in its value. When we love and care for one another, love one another as Christ loves us we stimulate one another to love and good works. When we rightly manage the Words of God, we shine the light of the gospel into the darkness of the world. I believe the church is the light of the world, because Christ says so Himself in John 8, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
I don’t know if you can call some professing Christians "light," who have chosen to disassociate themselves with the redemptive work of Christ in their life, which is uncharacteristic of a true believer. I have had a number of people ask, "How do we know a true church?" This is a question, that has in one way or another, stimulated many vigorous debates within the Christian community for the last two thousand years. Let me begin by saying, it is not merely listing Christ’s name on a building. It is Christians, known by their confession that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Lord of lords, who are willing to joyfully acknowledge His Lordship and rule over their lives, and accept the responsibility to participate in the ongoing work of the Kingdom of God.
There certainly is a plethora of pagan idolatry occurring in the church, the place where God's people come together. If the Kingdom of God exists, I am confidently convinced that it does in fact, exist, God must be ruler of that Kingdom. And, if the church is to be the church, Jesus Christ must be preached and He must be the Head of the body of Christ. Allow me to burst your bubble in saying, not everyone is going to like you, nor are they going to like what you stand for. That does not mean the church can stop being the Church! While we must welcome sinners into the church, we cannot alter Christ's message to make the Gospel more palatable to sinners.
If there is to be a community worth living in, a government worth having, it will be because the church pushes back against the permeating forces of evil in our world. Not by conforming to it. The church must give her attention to the Word of God. When Jesus said, "I will build My church, and the gates of Hades, will not overpower it," He assured us that all the forces of
evil that would be relentlessly against the church the gates of Hell
would never be able to thwart His purpose. I believe we need to be reminded, that the church was never intended to be a friend or an ally of the world.
If you call yourself a Christian, don't tell me that you are an advocate of LGBTQ2++ pastors and bishops, or whatever they call themselves now, or that the true Church should just accept a demonic religion from out of hell as it's equal. Don't tell me you advocate blurring the clear lines between male and female, as defined by the One Who created them both, because you desire to justify satanic activity. This has to stop, Satan is the enemy of Christ! The Church of Christ must return to a biblical view of God, not a self-constructed view of Jesus, not some sentimental view of Jesus, Who loves everyone so much He is ok with tolerating their sin, but a biblical view of Jesus. Once you know Who Jesus is, you can find Him all over the pages of Scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments. He is the One Who reigns in glory. It's time the church repents and receives the true Gospel. We do not own the church, Christ does!
Jesus was very clear when He said in John 15, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’"
And, in Galatians chapter 5, verses 19-21, Paul writes "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying,
drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you,
just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will
not inherit the kingdom of God."
Now, having said all that, I believe the answer to the question "How do we know a true church?,"becomes crystal clear in today's passage.
"Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He *said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
Let's look at verse 13, "Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" The true church is known by it's confession of Who Christ is, this is important, in fact, it is foundational of any true church. It's not a matter of believing in the Jesus created by your own imagination. In order to know Who Jesus is, we must read God’s Word to fill ourselves with Truth. Many are deceived about Who Christ is, there's a great deal of that today. The true church is not built on anything other than a right view of the nature and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is essential to allow the Truth of God permeate your heart, soul, and mind.
Caesarea Philippi was originally called Paneas to give honor to Caesar Augustus, who believe that he needed to be worshiped. At the time of Jesus, Caesarea Philippi had a plethora of pagan idols and many gods. It was a place of blasphemy against the true and living God, so it was the perfect place for Jesus to ask His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" Jesus is asking the obvious question.
In Verse 14, we see there were multiple views concerning who Jesus is. It is the responsibility of every Christians to seek the Truth. "And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." Despite the growing popularity that Jesus was timid, or passive, this is not biblical. Jesus was meek, He was humble, and He was confrontational. You don't get to make your own Jesus and claim your worshipping the true living God.
Look at verses 15 and 16, "He *said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." That is exactly what Peter was saying here. Even the Jewish religious leaders understood what Jesus was saying, and in John chapter 5, the reason that they wanted to kill Him, Jesus equaled Himself to God.
According to a study conducted by LifeWay Research, created for Ligonier Ministries, a staggering 65 percent of evangelicals believe "Jesus is the first and greatest
being created by God," a statement that goes against the Bible’s
teachings. It is clear indication that the church is drifting away from God’s absolute standard in Scripture. In fact, that’s a damning heresy! It is the confession that Jesus is Lord that establishes the church, an assembly of people who make the great confession "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
The apostle Paul makes it clear in Romans 10, salvation only comes to those who confess Jesus as Lord. This is the common confession necessary for those who are truly redeemed, the common confession of God’s people. "That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." If you deny the deity of Christ, you are not a Christian. If you are not a child of the True Living God, you're a child of Satan. All true believers have the same core beliefs, they all unanimously agree about the person of Jesus Christ. It is the revelation by the working of the Spirit, Jesus is the incarnate God in the flesh. Jesus Christ is the One and only Savior. It is alarming to me that people within church don’t even necessarily believe that Jesus Christ is both Lord and Savior. This is so foundational to the Church, it's really, really frightening.
That's the reason why thee Apostle John writes at the end of his gospel, John 20:31, "But these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." In fact, that’s the reason for all four of the Gospels. That's the reason for everything I preach, it is all about Christ. The findings of the LifeWay poll I mentioned earlier are very concerning. Do professing Christians even know the Truth anymore? Denial is the same as betrayal.
Verse 17, "And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." Peter is blessed because he has been given the revelation about Christ by heaven, not of his intuition. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:14-16, "But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ." What a gift we've been given to have the mind of Christ. To those who are perishing, it is foolishness. That's why Jesus says "because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." Over and over again, the Gospels announce His incarnation. You cannot confess Jesus as Lord except by the Spirit of God. This is the work of heaven.
Verse 18, "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." What exactly is the Lord Jesus saying here? What He’s saying simply this: "Upon the rock," He's talking about the confession that Peter made, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." On rock bed of your confession, the divine truth that comes from heaven, I will build My church. In the original text, Jesus say that you, Peter are the "petros," one of the twelve apostles, a small stone. And upon this rock, "petra," a large mass of connected rock, the confession that you have made, "I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it." He did not say upon Peter, but upon his confession, by which Peter would serve to bring the church into existence when impelled by
the Spirit he would speak at Pentecost, becoming God’s instrument to
turn many Jews to faith.
There's a lot of confusion surrounding this verse for many. Because we have the Word of God, upon which the Lord will build His church, we can tell people "Your sins are forgiven, based upon that they believe the Scripture. And, we can tell people, "Your sins are not forgiven, on the basis that they do not believe the Scripture. If you're going to claim being a Christian, than you have to agree with what heaven has revealed.
That brings us to verse 19, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." Divine Truth allows you to unlock the kingdom of heaven, to bind and loose. The Word of God is that powerful. We have not been given our own authority to say "You shall be loosed from sins," or "You shall be bound in sins," other than based upon what Scripture says. If you confess your sins and embrace Christ as both Lord and Savior,
Scripture says that your sins are forgiven. I speak on the authority of the revelation from
heaven, if you're unwilling to do that, based on what heaven has
revealed, you are bound by your sins and your sins are not forgiven.
In spite of the claims of the Catholic church, they were not given some priestly authority, pontifical authority. To acknowledge that Peter was the rock does not make the claim of the papacy credible. For that to be true would require an entire set of propositions, which are unsustainable. Peter was the first to both understand who Jesus was and to declare openly that truth. Therefore, Peter was the beginning of the new Israel of those believing on Christ's Name. It's ironic that Peter went from being a rock to being a stumbling block just after Jesus said He was going to die. We'll get more into that next time.
No one, including myself, has any authority other than the Word of God. I have no authority unless I speak to you the Word of God. That's where all my authority comes from. On that basis, and your response to that, I can tell you what Scripture says about your consequences. We cannot exercise any authority other than the Word of God. So fill yourself with truth.
In Closing..
I’m here for the salvation of souls, that's why I preach the Gospel, so that even one more may hear and believe the Truth. It is irrelevant to me what the earthly leaders and governments are doing that have no connection to the kingdom of God, other than their souls. Whether the politics the world succeed or fail has absolutely no affect on the kingdom of God. That's why social activism, moralism which see the church caught up in it today, is doing so much damage. The true church, the people of God are not to march for anything but the gospel of Jesus Christ. The mission of the Church, is to better government, better society, better people through salvation. That is our mission. We are never to reduce the Gospel, our message, to what the unsaved world wants. That's what Satan did when he showed up to tempt Jesus to the wilderness, "I’ll give You everything the Father’s promised You, and You can skip the cross."
The cross of Christ is essential, that's why Jesus took all the punishment for all the sins of all the people who would ever believe throughout all of human history. There’s only one God, the true and living God, Who has come into the world in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, and through Him and Him alone is eternal salvation. That's a hard sell to ungodly hearts, those entrapped by false religion. That's why Jesus was rejected by nearly the entire nation of Israel, including the religious leaders.
People get into trouble when they ascribe to something more than what God has said. If we want to further our understanding of Christ’s intent in using this term "rock," we only need to look to Peter.
1 Peter 2:4-8, "And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed." This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone, "and, "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed."
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed." This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone, "and, "A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed."
Peter humbly accepted that he was the first to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. He did not think himself to be superior in any way to the other apostles, he saw himself as a living stone in the house of God. He did not imagine himself to be greater than anyone else. For all alike are living stones in the House of the Lord. Just a reminder that church..don’t get on the wrong side of divine purpose, because that puts you on Satan’s side. It's sad to see so many within the church today, who do not know God, defecting to Satan’s agenda. We must understand this is spiritual warfare, a battle we must fight with the true Word of God.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen