Storming the Gates
Notes
Transcript
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Talk about the mission trip to Israel Palestine. We received so much grace in the nations. I will talk later about it. I will incorporate a report of our trip with this message.
Common Themes from today’s passage:
Who Jesus really was
Peter’s confession - some religions use this as a basis of the primacy of Peter (rock)
The building of the church
Caesarea Philippi is said to be a city that existed during the time of Jesus.. the distance from the region of the Sea of Galilee to this city is 25 miles north of the sea of Galilee… sparsely populated.
A focus on why did Jesus take His disciples to a place called Caesarea Philippi? He certainly took them to a 25 mile walk to that place with much less people for a reason.
Perfect place for a getaway from their busy ministry in other parts of Galilee.. could it be to have some peace and quiet? .. maybe the Lord took them to a retreat
Caesarea Philippi was located in the foothills of Mount Hermon (picture) is said to have a had a beautiful water spring near it, the largest water source to the lake of Galilee.
Picture of water from Mt. Hermon here
One other fact about Caesarea Philippi was that it was a center for idol worship and pagan practices (expand)..
Picture of the pagan worship center here.
Herod the Great built a temple for Augustus Caesar here.. emperors were worshipped as gods.
It is also a place of demonic activity
Pagans believe the Greek god Pan (talk) lived there..
Caesarea Philippi was also called the gates of hell, a “gate” to the underworld where the fertility gods lived.. they tie the streams coming from Mt. Hermon, committed sexual acts..
Because Israel at that time was agricultural, fertility of the land leads to prosperity.
In visiting Caesarea Philippi...
Jesus challenged his disciples to face evil and not hide from it.
This is the essence of spiritual warfare.
In the middle of all this pagan worship and the presence of evil.. Jesus chose this place to ask His disciples in verse 13:
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
We can only have victory in this warfare in the Name of Jesus. We can only fight the spiritual war most effectively if we know Who Jesus is and the authority He has over the forces of darkness.
We fight the warfare by praying without ceasing and without wavering in the Name of Jesus.
Jesus was affirming this:
a) that He is to be worshipped and that all these idols are false gods
b) that He has power and authority over all the evil and demons behind these idols
What was the disciples’ response to His question?
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
They have no opinion (talk):
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Knowing Jesus is not having second hand information about Him. From a lecture, from tradition in the family.. it does not matter what others think of Jesus. the decision of others cannot be a substitute to your own personal decision
There are billions perishing in the world and each and every single one of these souls have to personally confront the reality of Who Jesus is!
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter’s confession.
Jesus is asking today: “you, yes you Who do you say that I am?”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
This confession is not something that Peter made up in his head, no. This confession is of supernatural origin — Jesus said flesh and blood has not revealed this to you..
True confession of faith is rooted in an act of God that transformed us so that we truly believe because of the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts.
We don’t confess Jesus is Lord and treat Him like a cosmic genie that will give us things that will make us prosper. He is not like the gods of fertility and prosperity that followers of the pagan gods of Caesarea Philippi followed.
Do you have a relationship with Jesus Who is the Christ? Is that the basis of your confession. Do you wholeheartedly trust Him as Lord of all your life that your faith is unshakeable no matter what your circumstances may be?
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
There are theological arguments about the rock Jesus mentioned, did Jesus actually mean that Peter was the rock on which He would build His church? (basis of a belief that Peter is the first pope) I will not get into too much detail on this..
There are two words “petros” or in Aramaic “Cephas” (Peter’s name which means “stone”)
and “Petra” which means a large rock..
I will just argue that Peter himself called those who confess Jesus as Lord as “living stones” in 1 Peter 2 and in 1 Corinthians 3 Paul said:
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
There is no question that Jesus is the Rock of our faith and Peter’s confession affirms it.
And on this Rock of Himself, Jesus built His church (we) … and listen to this:
The gates of hell will not prevail..
We are storming the gates of hell and conquering enemy territory.. we go to places where the enemy rules and Jesus is not worshipped.
Picture of attacking gates here.
In visiting Caesarea Philippi...
Jesus did not overlook anyone or any place in preaching the gospel.
He reached the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed of society.
Above all of this, his heart is for missions..
Caesarea was the last place you could have found people of God, as it was associated with evil. By visiting the place and declaring that he would build a church on it, Jesus showed how far he would go to stop evil and save souls.
We had a breakthrough in our mission trip on both the Israel and Palestinian side.
Pictures of souls we led to the Lord.
The realities of Israel and Palestine. Sensed the heart of God for both people..
In Romans chapters 9 to 11, Paul talks about the Jewish people and Israel, how his heart is grieved with continued sorrow because of their rejection of Christ.. and that salvation has come to the gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy.
But God is not done with Israel yet, someday there will be a remnant in Israel that will be saved. There is a hardening in part that happened to Israel until the fullness of the gentiles has come.
6 Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
What we saw in Israel/Palestine is a microcosm of this scripture, the words are alive.
Winning the Spiritual warfare leads to a breakthrough, and when we have these breakthroughs multiplied and seen in many lives and souls are being won for God — that is when revival happens.
Takeaways:
Make sure our confession is true and founded on Jesus and a true relationship with Him.
From our confession, wage war though prayer.
Enlist in God’s rising army, His church in these end times.
The gates of hell will not prevail against the church of Jesus Christ!