You are the Christ

I'm going to read verses 1 through 20. Matthew chapter 16 and you'll see the contrast In this passage. If you need a church Bible, raise your hand. We have the church Bibles in the back that are the English Standard Version. You'll see the contrast in these verses after verse 12. And so, Matthew chapter 16, you have the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees and the Sadducees and then you have Peter's confession of Christ and so focusing more on, Jesus relationship with his disciples. So you'll see that that transition in the text, but we're, we're going to focus on today is verses 13 through 20. Matthew chapter 16 starting in verse 1. And the Pharisees and Sadducees came and to test him, they asked him to show them a sign from Heaven, he answered them when it is evening, you say it will be fair weather for the sky is red in the morning. It will be stormy today for the sky is red and threatening You know, how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. So he left them and departed. When the disciples reach the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread, Jesus said to them watch and Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And they began discussing it among themselves. Saying, we brought no bread. But Jesus aware of this said, oh, you a little faith. Why are you discussing among yourselves? The fact that you have no bread? Do you not forget perceive, do you not remember the Five Loaves for the 5000 and how many baskets you gathered or the seven loaves for the 4000 and how many baskets you gathered? How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, then they understood that he did not tell them to Beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. now, when Jesus came into the District of caesarea, Philippi, why he asked his disciples, who do people say that the son of man is And they said some say, John the Baptist other say, Elijah and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them. But who do you say that? I am. Simon Peter replied. You are the Christ. The son of the Living God. And Jesus answered him. Blessed are you Simon bar Jonah for flesh? And blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church. And the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on Earth, shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on Earth. Shall be loosed in heaven. Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. This is God's word. Thanks be to God. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word that is closed. Who do you say that? I am. Is the one question that people have the freedom to ponder. Now, with people will not have the freedom to ponder when they die. That may sound tough but it is true.

Either Jesus will return in all his glory and power with his Holy Angels or you. And I will go to meet him first and stand before him. Specifically the scriptures teach and Luke chapter, 16, that there is no second chance, there is no time to deliberate. There's no time like on the game show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? There is no time to phone a friend. There is no time to consider the question. Who do you say that? I am as a question that Jesus asks, each of us now. now, you'll see where Jesus is, if we have this, I think we have a map here that we can show a map of Galilee and caesarea Philippi was about 25 miles, north of where the region of Galilee is until you see their caesarea over here on the coast. But then there's caesarea Philippi, which is distinguished from the other city of caesarea. So he's up in that Northern section and he asked his disciples, he personalized, is it notice how he personalized is it to his disciples after they respond? To his initial question, some say Elijah Elijah was predicted to come before the Messiah. Or Herod? Thought that that Jesus was John. The Baptist raised from the dead. So some say Elijah, some say, John the Baptist but then he says, but who do you say that? I am youportal you, my followers, you who have seen my Miracles, you who have listened to my teaching, you who have been with me and I have taught you. When you said Lord, teach us to pray, Jesus taught them how to pray, Our Father who art in heaven, but who do you say that I am. And Peter of all people Peter gets it, right? There's other times when Peter gets it very wrong, but here, Peter gets it, right?

You are the Christ, the son of the Living God, you are the Messiah. You are the one on whom the Jewish, people set their hope. You are our King. And so we're going to look at this text today. And one of the principles of just studying the scriptures specifically if you were to say inductive Bible study where you're getting your getting the data from the text itself, one of the principals is asking basic questions. So we're going to ask the basic questions may be in school. You learn the principle of you know who? What when where why and how. So we're going to answer those questions. First of all, how did Peter come to this conclusion? That's what we're going to ask of the text. Secondly, what or who is the rock that Jesus refers to? Thirdly, what is the church? This is the first time. The word church is used in the New Testament. and then forth, what are the keys and the binding and loosing, which Jesus gives We might not finish number for, but at least we'll finish the first three today. so Peter would Peter and the disciples were on the road so to speak in their understanding of who Jesus was and is In Matthew chapter 9, we have these verses 27 through 29, and as Jesus passed on from there two Blind Men followed him. Crying aloud, have mercy on us, son of David noticed the title from the Old Testament that the the Covenant that God made with David, the davidic Covenant, that there will be a future son of David, who would be a ruler of the people and they said the blind man recognized him have mercy on us son of David when he entered the house, the blind man came to him in. Jesus said to them. Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said yes. Lord, and he touched their eyes saying according to your faith. Be it done to you. The blind man, recognize his identity. And after that encounter, Jesus, then heals a demon depressed man who could not speak. And the people respond never was anything like this scene in Israel. And so there was great fervor around the identity of Jesus. Could this be our new king? Could this be our new ruler, our new leader, But notice. It wasn't just Peter seeing Jesus miracles and and deducing who he was from. Those encounters, notice how the text answers. Peter's confession in verse 17. Notice how Jesus answers blessed are. You Simon bar-jonah, Simon son of Jonah for flesh. And blood has not revealed this to you. But my father who is in heaven For a human being flesh. And blood has not revealed this to you. But my father who is in heaven

How did Peter come to this conclusion?

It was by God's intervention.

How does a person come to know Christ as Savior? And Lord, that's the question. Not only through an encounter with another person but through God's revelation, through God, revealing himself to a person not merely by human knowledge. Yes, we can give reasons for belief. Yes we can. Give evidence for the resurrection. Yes, we can give the the, the basics of the Gospel that the bullet points of the Gospel message. But ultimately, how does a person come to Faith? They come to Faith by God intervening in their hearts. By God changing their hearts. Brothers and sisters a person does not think their way to God. A person does not meditate his or her way into belief in Christ as Savior and Lord. A person cannot obey their way into true knowledge of God. You can look like a church-going person, you can give money in participate, in Acts of service, but that doesn't mean that. You know, God None of those human initiated actions. Bring saving faith in Christ. Jesus says, flesh. And blood has not revealed this to you but my father who is in heaven Think about how miraculous it was when you believed on Christ. For the first time, when when things clicked in your mind and you realize that you were in sin and you needed a savior and you recognize that Jesus is the only one who can forgive you, and he is the one who died in your place. And he is the one who rose again, and he is the one who promises his holy spirit to come live inside of you think about how big of a miracle that was never get over that miracle?

You did not get up that day. I did not get up that day and say to yourself. I think this is finally the day. Yes it is. I am finally going to take that step and I'm going to believe. Yep. Yep I got it in my day, planner right here. 2 p.m. Franklin Covey says it's going to happen. Member the Franklin Covey day, planners with all the little pages. I think I like those cuz of the bring binders, you know, something about the ring, binders reminded me of school.

My guess is it probably did not happen. That way, none of us woke up and said, I think this is the day. I'm going to finally cross the line to Faith. No. Usually people have several encounters on the way to coming to faith in Christ. There's a there's not I wouldn't call it a spectrum but but a progression of being having an awareness of God as maybe the Creator and all-powerful being and then having a more distinct knowledge of Jesus as God Son. And so there's there's different steps along the way. But God uses of course, God uses people as his means, he uses people to speak. The good news, he uses people to listen to our questions. He uses people to pray for our Salvation, he uses people to love us when we are difficult to love. He even uses people to point out our sin. God uses people in all these ways, but ultimately when our hearts are awake and when we are born again, it is the intervention of God, his Spirit blowing like a gale force, wind that knocked us over and we come to our senses and we say, I need Jesus. The Savior don't ever forget. That is a miracle. That is a miracle and Jesus said to his disciples, the fields are white for the Harvest, meaning, the week when it is, when it is ready for Harvest, there's a shimmer of whiteness that goes across the field. They are ripe for the Harvest who is God pursuing around you. Who is God working in around you? I remember when we lived in Florida, there was a gentleman named Keith who was a very good of Angeles and I said, well what's your secret to evangelism? And he said well, usually I look for people whose lives aren't working. And he had this kind of in a very friendly way of saying, you know, what's going on in your life and people would tell him about all of their various problems and he said, home sounds like that's not working for you. And then it was an entry way to share Christ with them. Who is God pursuing around you, who is God putting on your heart? And so we speak. We share the gospel as imperfectly as we can, but God is the only one who can open blind eyes to the truth of Christ crucified and risen. Amen. God is the one. Who does the work? We participate. We are intentional as Jeff mentioned. We are intentional about participating, but we recognize that it's not by anything. We say that a person comes to Faith, It Is by God intervening in their soul by God changing their heart.

How did Peter come to that confession? Because God revealed it to him? Second question who are, what is the rock that Jesus refers to in verse 18? And I tell you, you are Peter, Petrus and on this rock, the feminine form of the Greek word Petra. I will build my church and the Gates of Hell will not Prevail against it.

Now there are several options here one. Some people might say the rock is Peter because the Greek word Petra, sounds like Peter, but the differentiation in the verses when Jesus uses the term. The second time, it's the feminine form of the word. Petra Petra, said Petra. So I don't think Jesus is identifying Peter as The Rock. The other option is that the rock is the confession. That Peter makes that Jesus is the Christ upon this confession upon this truth. That Jesus is the Christ, I will build my church. That's a second option. The third option, which I think is the one I favor, is that the rock is Jesus. He's using a play on words. Saint Peter's name, he's using a play on Peter's name to illustrate a metaphor about what is to come.

He's getting Peter to think about the metaphor of a foundation. Jesus is not here. I don't think a signing any special authority to Peter beyond what the other Apostles have. How do we know that when we go to other scriptures, Ephesians chapter to read this? About the Apostle Paul talking about the church. He says you are no longer strangers and Aliens but you are fellow citizens with the Saints and members of God's household built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Christ, Jesus himself being the Cornerstone. In whom the whole structure being joined together, grows into a holy Temple in the Lord. And who in him, you are also being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit. The household of God including both Jew and Gentile is built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, but Christ is the Cornerstone When we sing the song, Cornerstone that we sang this morning, we're not singing about Peter. We're singing about Jesus. Who is the Cornerstone now to other scriptures that illustrate, this for us, Matthew chapter 21 verse 42. Jesus says, have you never read in the scriptures? The stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Jesus is quoting Psalm 118. And then also not only Jesus words, but Peter's words, and 1st Peter chapter 2. He says this. So, the honor is for you, who believe, but for those who do not believe the stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble, because they disobey the word as they were destined to do, God is Sovereign but people are also responsible for their choices. He says, they stumble because they disobey the word. So what is he referring to again? Psalm 118. Which was a Passover song. It was what the disciples would have sung after the Last Supper, it's referring to the fact that that the Jewish leaders were going to reject Jesus but he was the Cornerstone

Of what God was building of the church that God is building. The rock is Jesus himself.

And Peter's own words actually is the Clincher here in Peter in. I'm sorry in the book of Acts chapter 4, Peter preaching. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you the builders which has become the Cornerstone and there is salvation. And no one else for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved MN Jesus is the Cornerstone.

And again, this is Peter preaching in Acts chapter 4. Just days after he was the one who was, who was ashamed, and because he had denied the Lord, in that moment before the crucifixion. And Jesus came to him and restore him and said feed my lambs and hear Peter is preaching boldly. And saying, the one that you rejected is now the Cornerstone Peter is not claiming any special Authority for himself. He's preaching the gospel message that Jesus is the Christ. Now what was his distinct role? You might ask? Why didn't didn't Peter have us two distinct role will? Yes. He was the first of the disciples to make this confession. And fittingly he was the first to preach at Pentecost and following when the Holy Spirit was poured out and the church quickly grew So he did have a distinct role. He did have a distinct purpose but brothers and sister, let's remember that. You never have to go through another person to pray to Jesus. You never have to go through another person to pray to Jesus. It is not necessary to confess your sins to a priest, a pastor, a father, a reverend, or whoever in order to be forgiven, you confess to the Lord, you confess to God. Now you may choose to confess to others. The scripture says confess your sins to one another. Pray for one another. So there's there's good wisdom in confessing to one another sometimes. But we never need to do that in order to be forgiven. We are never required as followers of Christ to follow the teaching of anyone other than Christ, and the Holy Spirit and the scriptures. We're not we're not that's what the Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians. He says, he says you're saying you have factions in your church and you're saying I follow Paul. I follow Peter, I follow Apollo's. He says, no, no. Christ is not divided. We all follow Christ. He's the one we follow. And so one of the concepts of the Protestant Reformation is the idea of back the First Peter chapter 2, the idea of the priesthood of all believers. did every believer is a minister in some sense, every believer in Christ when we take communion we can say to one another, your sins are forgiven because of what Christ has done We we say that to one another. We can minister to one another

I can say a lot more about that, but I won't know the number 3. What is the church? What is the church? The ekklesia.

The church is the people of God dumb, Those whom God has called and is calling to be a part of the New Covenant established by Jesus blood. the church is the ekklesia, the people of God, the people who are called out, That God is gathering. The God has called, is calling and we'll call to be part of the New Covenant established by Jesus blood. That you say, well, how was someone saved in the Old Testament? Well, they were saved by grace through faith, Genesis 15 Verse 6, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

They were looking forward to the Messiah. And so you have continuity with the Old Testament, in the sense that God has always preserved in every generation of faithful. Remnant of people within the Israelite community.

But you also have discontinuity or distinction from the Old Testament in that. Now, the Messiah has been fully revealed. I mean, how many times does Paul say in his letters? He says there's there's the mystery that was put in place before the ages began, but is now fully revealed The Mystery of the Gospel. Is now been fully revealed in the Messiah.

Jesus is the savior. He is the Risen King and God. Now commands people everywhere to repent and place their trust in Christ because he is the mediator of the New Covenant.

now, Jesus says,

On this rock, I will build my church. And the Gates of Hell shall not Prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on Earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on Earth, shall be loosed in heaven, that we'll talk more about that next week, but I just want to give a quick definition of the keys here. What are the keys? The keys are not the same as the keys that Jesus has in the Book of Revelation to death and Hades in Revelation. Chapter 1, Jesus says, I have the keys to death and Hades those belong to Jesus. But these are the keys to the kingdom, the stewardship of the Kingdom, which means the preaching of the Gospel.

That Peter has been given the keys in the sense that he is the first to recognize this truth about Jesus, and he now has a stewardship in preaching the gospel. Let me close with this quote.

In full in the full Christian Perspective, the kingdom of God will be consummated, will be brought to fulfillment. In sudden apocalyptic fashion at Christ's second coming. When God's actions are final and are quite independent of human means, But now but for now the Keys of the Kingdom are confided to men and women. That is they are commanded to proclaim the good news. To forbid entrance, and to urge conversion. Meaning in the proclamation of the good news, there is a separation that happens that, that as the prophetess spoke about Jesus at his birth, you are to be a sign that would of Israel, the cause of the falling and rising and Benny, and Israel. So, in the proclamation, there is a, there is a distinction. We are urging people to conversion. But we are also telling, these are the consequences if you do not believe. And he says the church, the church constitutes a small minority in a big world. But their mission will be to function as the church, the ekklesia, the people of God that Jesus is building with in the world. What is the church is? The people of God, when we talked about the universal church, we talked about all believers from all time. Who are followers of Christ.

The church is not an institution, the church is not an organization. The church is not a social club. The church is not just a service agency. The church is the people of God who are, proclaiming the good news. What spray