Confession and Condemnation.

Opening:

Good-morning again Connection Church. It is so wonderful to be gathered with you this morning. It is such a blessing to come together and worship God on the Lord’s Day. I have been so looking forward to gathering with you today to worship God.

Introduction of the Text:

As we move into our time of worshipping God through the reading and preaching of God’s Word, we will be in Matthew 16:13-23. I want to explain this text somewhat and why expository preaching is so important. This text we are going to cover today is one of, if not THE most controversial texts in all of Scripture. This is a text that has ignited fights and debate for centuries. Some have described this text as a suicide mission to preach. So I have endeavored to do the impossible and cover it in a single sermon.

If I may speak frankly, I do not believe this text to be one to be avoided. I reject the notion that this is a suicide mission to preach. I find it beautiful. We will cover it the same way we have covered every other passage in Matthew. We will look at what the Holy Spirit inspired and learn from what it says. I will say that this is a text that I approach in humility and much prayer. As a young pastor, were I to simply be picking topics or passages to preach on, I would not touch. But it is in Scripture, so will preach it. This is why I value preaching verse by verse, passage by passage through Scripture. I wish to teach you what God has said, not my opinions on some things that God has said. I believe every word and passage in Scripture is important and vital. So in humility and prayer we will cover it today.

We must remember that what God has said is what matters. We do not place opinions or thoughts on top of what God has said. We do not read and understand Scripture in different ways from passage to passage. We must be consistent. In theological terms, we must have a consistent hermeneutic. This means that we must have be consistent in how we come to the meaning of a passage.

With this being said, I believe this is one of the most beautiful passages about salvation, Christ, the Church, the gospel, and much more. So let’s walk through this passage and see what God has spoken to us through the words of the Apostle Matthew.

Reading of the Text:

Matthew 16:13-23 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say 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 replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 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. 18 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. 19 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.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

The Word of God. Amen.

Prayer:

Oh Lord, sovereign King of all, we come before and beg for clarity. Speak to us as you do, through your Word. Help us to understand what you have said. Give us wisdom and clarity. Lord, help us to understand that the saving faith only comes to us through the will of the Father. May we be humbled through this. May this crush our pride. May we leave in worship because of this.

Bring the knowledge of salvation to the lost here. Sanctify the saved her. And please strengthen me to speak the truth. Let us come to know you more today through your Word. In Jesus name, amen.

Transition:

Let us begin. Jesus is leading the disciples to Caesarea Philippi and asks them a pointed question. Who people say that Christ is?

Who do People Say That Christ is?

Explanation:

This is a powerful question, not just because of the question, but also because of where Jesus asked it. Caesarea Philippi was a place that was built on and continued on in idol worship. This region was founded to worship false gods and the practice was alive and active when Jesus took the disciples here. He took them a center or idolatry and asked them who people said He was. The disciples answered Him. They said that some said Jesus was John the Baptist. Remember, Herod was one of these confessing this. People thought that Jesus was John brought back to life. Others thought that Jesus was Elijah. Remember that there was the prophesy of Elijah coming before the messiah and the turn of the age. This was already fulfilled in John the Baptist, but the people did not understand that. Still others thought that He was Jeremiah. There was cultural thought that Jeremiah might return before the new age and the messiah would come. And finally, some others thought that Jesus may be one of the other prophets. They missed that Jesus was THE prophet, but simply thought He may be simply one of the other prophets returned.

Argumentation:

This is important because it speaks to the culture as a whole missing who Jesus was. The disciples mentioned only the positive confessions that people had made about Jesus. They did not mention the confessions of the Pharisees and Scribes who said that Jesus was Satan or a servant of Satan. However, even at the best of the confessions, the people still missed who Jesus was. They saw Him as a great teacher, or a prophet; but not as the Messiah, the Son of God. To this day, these are still the confessions others make of Christ. The world hails Jesus as a great moral teacher, or as a prophet if they regard Him at all. Other religions hail Jesus as a prophet but they reject who He really is. The confession of the world is misguided and wrong.

Transition:

However, Jesus does not end the questions here. He then looks to the disciples and asks them this question. He asks who do the disciples say that Christ is?

Who do the Disciples Say that Christ is?

Explanation:

Here is the question placed before the followers of Christ. He asks the twelve who they say He is. He uses the plural form of the word “You.” He is asking them the question He has just asked of the culture. Here is the primary question. Are you such as the world? what is the answer of the disciples? They who have seen His works. They who have beheld Him. What is their answer? The world has missed Him, but have they?

Argumentation:

Still this is the primary question put to us. We may look at the culture and wonder at their answers to this question but we all must answer it. You must personally answer this question. Who do you say that Jesus is? This is the primary question. Who is Christ? Is He simply a good teacher? Is He the perhaps even a prophet? Is He a man sent from God? You must answer this question. But in warning, there is a right answer. Any other answer is wrong. It is wrong to say that Jesus is just a teacher. It is wrong to say that Jesus is just a prophet. Jesus the Christ! He is the Son of the living God. This is the right answer.

If you answer any other way, you are wrong. Many have twisted this passage, to try to make Jesus whoever you wish Him to be. They, in an evil way, try to twist the objective God into a subjective experience. I reject this as sinful and evil. Jesus is God. He is Lord of all. This is not an experiential question of “Who is Jesus to you?” No. Jesus is Lord. That is the truth. If you have not confessed Jesus as Lord, you are lost.

Transition:

This is Peter’s confession. Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ.

Explanation:

Here we see Peter’s highest moment to this point. Jesus asks the disciples who they He is and Peter answers. Peter is, as he so often is, the spokesman of the rest. Jesus asks them and Peter steps up and confesses the truth. He says “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This is a powerful confession of the truth. It is so simple, and so powerful.

“You are the Christ.” Christ is the Greek term used for “Messiah.” The prophesied one. The true King. The Lord. Peter here gets it. So often we see him put his foot in his mouth, but not here. He speaks the truth. Peter has confessed Jesus as the promised one from God. But he does not end here.

“Son of the Living God.” This is an amazing confession. Here Peter shows that he and the others understand the truth. Jesus is the Son of God. Here is the confession of the deity of Christ. It is openly stated and Christ confirms it by blessing Peter. But notice that statement “living God.” Remember where they are. They are in the middle of a place of great idol worship. Likely they are surrounded by people worshipping dead idols. In the middle of this, Peter says that Jesus is the Son of the LIVING God. What a powerful statement.

Argumentation:

This is an incredible confession. All Christians are confessional. Christians have believed in their hearts and confessed Christ as Lord. This is a type of the confession of all true Christians. Though we may not have used these exact same words, we have all made this confession. This is the Christian confession. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Again, if you have not made this confession, you are lost in your sins. I urge you to repent of your sins and trust in Christ. Make this the confession of your life. If you turn away from your sins and turn to Christ, you will be saved.

Transition:

Now however, we come to the controversial part of this text. Here we come to a passage that has widely divided Catholics and Protestants. While I cannot give a full refutation on Roman Catholicism, I must give some. If you desire a better and more full refutation, I would point you to men like R.C. Sproul, John MacArthur, James White, or go back to the original protesters, Martin Luther, John Calvin, or Ulrich Zwingli. I believe in his “Institutes” and commentary on this passage, John Calvin gives the best of defenses. I would love to give you hours of videos to watch and thousands of pages to read on this passage and topic. However, here is a refutation of the Papist Position on Apostolic Succession.

A Refutation of the Papist Position on Apostolic Succession.

Explanation:

Perhaps you hear that and your eyes roll back in your head, and you pass out. However, I beg you not to do so! This is an important debate. I imagine almost all of you at least vaguely familiar with the debate. The Roman church uses this passage and claims that Peter was here instituted as the first pope. This office was then passed down through what is known as Apostolic Succession through all of the Popes. Here is in very brief, how they interpret this passage.

Jesus blesses Peter, then He tells Peter that upon Peter would be built the church. They draw this conclusion from the fact that Peter’s name means small rock and Jesus says “On this rock I will build my church.” Then Jesus gives Peter the keys of the kingdom. This was Christ establishing Peter as the head of the church. This title is then passed down from Peter as the first Pope to all succeeding Popes. Because of this, the Pope still holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven. The Pope is therefore enabled to speak as the voice of God on earth. He is the direct emissary of Christ. This is the meaning of this passage in the eyes of Papists. This is the passage that they defend the doctrine of the Pope from.

Argumentation:

But why does this matter? What should we care? We aren’t Catholics. We reject the Pope. We are protestants. We affirm against the papacy! We claim the Pope has no authority over us, so who cares what they think? Right? Wrong. This matters because the Pope claims authority over the Church Universal. The Roman claim is that the Pope has authority over every true Christian everywhere. And this is the passage they point to for it. Now we can claim to reject this outright. But the question is, are they right? If they are right, then Pope Francis has authority over us. If this passage is teaching this, then we must give account for our disobedience to this man. If this passage of sacred Scripture is teaching what they claim, then we must obey it. However, if this passage is not teaching what they claim, then they are in open disobedience to God. They have established a false church and are twisting Scripture in an Idolatrous way to build up false worship. This is why this passage is controversial. This is why I approached this text in great humility and prayer.

I hold that the Roman church is wilfully misusing this passage to twist the words of Christ in a blasphemous way. They take things out of context, they twist them, and then use them to establish claims of authority that belong only to Christ. Perhaps you can come to a reading of this passage that seems like Peter is the foundation of the church. However, this in no way indicates that this office must be passed on. In fact, the word “foundation” would indicate that it is laid and left. In no way, shape, or form, does the word foundation hold the meaning of something that must be continually built over and over again. A foundation is laid once and that is it. So if for some reason, you come to the understanding of Peter as the foundation of the church, it is just him. There is not one single word in this text that indicated that the office must be passed on.

Beyond that, we must wrestle with the fact that the wording in this passage is confusing. It is not completely clear weather Jesus is referring to Peter specifically or Peter’s confession, or to the Apostles as a whole. The layout of the sentence structure could refer to any of these. Because of this, the papist insistence on one rigid, wooden interpretation of the only possibly meaning being that Peter is the foundation, is an extremely pour interpretation method. This is the method that many false teachers and cults use. They take a passage that could refer to several possibilities and insists that it must mean what benefits them. This is what Rome has done with the Pope. “It must mean Peter is the foundation of the Church, therefore the Pope is still the foundation of the Church.” It is a illogical leap over the grand canyon. Even if the wooden interpretation is correct, there is still no evidence in this passage that Peter’s office would carry on beyond the foundation of the Church being completed. To say “Peter is the foundation of the church, therefore so is the Pope” is like saying “Because Paul was a church planter like me, I am the author of Romans.” This is not how we read Scripture! We do not read what is said to one person and say, “It automatically applies to me to!” That is a heretical way to read the Bible. We read it in context.

Transition:

This is a blatant twisting and reading into the passage. This is why we must have a consistent view of Scripture. We must strive for the true meaning of a passage, not look at it for what benefits us most. We must not read things into Scripture. Therefore, let us look at the true meaning of this passage.

The True Meaning of This Passage.

Explanation:

The three most important rules of understanding Scripture correctly are “context, context, and context.” We look in the direct context of what is being said. For example, Jesus is speaking to Peter and the Apostles. Next we look in the surrounding context. What has and is being taught. Finally we look in the context of the whole of Scripture. How does the rest of the Bible speak about this passage. This is a vital rule for understanding the text. Honestly it is a universal rule for understanding the written word. Let’s say that I went on a missions trip to South America. For example, lets say I wrote you a letter and was describing the was that the city I was staying in. I begin to describe the cities failing electrical system. I make the statement “The bulbs cannot get full power. This whole city is dim.” You would know what I was saying based off of the context. Now if you just ripped the sentence, “The whole city is dim” it would sound like I was calling everyone dumb. We determine meaning based off of the context.

A second principle for interpreting Scripture is that clear passages shed light on the unclear. We don’t start with the most confusing passage. We find a passage where the same subject is being addressed in a more clear light. The clear governs the unclear. Scripture is a singular book made up of sixty-six smaller books. It is one story. Therefore it may speak of the same thing in multiple places. If one is confusing, then we look to the clearer passages. These are two basic rules for understanding Scripture.

With these very simple and basic rules down, let’s look at what this passage means. Read it with me again. 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 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. 18 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. 19 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.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

So Jesus blesses Peter. Peter has acknowledged Jesus as the Christ. Jesus then says, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” So in this it is clear that Jesus is saying that Peter is blessed that the Father has revealed this to Him. Peter is not some super genius who figured it out. God revealed it to Him.

Next Jesus says, “18 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.” So He is addressing Peter. What is the “rock” Jesus is talking about? The structure is laid out such that it could be many things. It could be in reference to Peter. Peter is “Petros: Pebble or small stone” The word “rock” is “Petra: stone or rock.” But that doesn’t mean that there is a connection. They are totally different forms of the word. Jesus also doesn’t say “You are my rock that I will build the church on.” If it is referring to Peter, remember that Peter is speaking for all the Apostles. The Apostles could be the foundation. It could mean the testimony Peter gave. “You are Peter, on this rock (What Peter just said) I will build my church.”

It is very unclear. There is not a set answer. Therefore we must look at the whole of Scripture for clarity on what this means. For example, is Peter alone the foundation of the church? There are a couple passages that shed much clarity on this. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth, while addressing church division says this. “11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Co 3:11) Or again the Apostle Paul said in his letter the Ephesians, “19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Eph 2:19–22).

These passages make clear that the church was not built on the foundation of Jesus Christ and by extension, the apostles. Therefore if this refers to Peter alone, then Scripture is in open conflict with itself. But this is not the only understanding of the passage. These verses clearly re-enforce the understanding of this passage as referring to Christ Himself or to Christ and the Apostles. There is no conflict there. But to say that it can only be referring to Peter is to come into conflict with the rest of Scripture.

And while there may still be unanswered questions about the “Keys to the kingdom.” Most are answered when we look at the rock as referring to Peter’s confession of Jesus being the Christ or as referring to the Apostles. It makes sense to see that the Apostles had the keys of the kingdom. We even see evidence of this in Acts through the works of the Apostles. It does not make sense in this passage, nor in the whole of Scripture to view this as being just Peter.

Argumentation:

When we seek to understand what this passage is really saying, we see the beauty in it. We see the fact that this passage is fundamentally about Christ, not Peter. We learn about God from this passage. We see that Peter’s confession is not something he learned on his own. This is not because of how smart Peter is. Peter confesses Christ because the Father revealed it to him. This is the pattern of Scripture. God reveals the truth to us. This should cause us to stop and worship God that He has revealed the truth to us! We should be in absolute awe over this. God has revealed the truth to us. We cannot look at those who are lost and claim any superiority over them. We look at the world and say, “but for the grace of God, there go I.” Peter was better than no one. God revealed this to him.

We also see the beauty of Christ saying that Peter is blessed because God revealed salvation to him. This is a blessing! This is a blessing beyond words. How often do we stop and marvel over the blessing we have recieved in salvation? We do this so rarely. Truly we are blessed through salvation.

Seeking the true meaning of the text also reveals to us the beauty of Christ’s promise for the church. He says that the church will never fall. What a promise! We may be persecuted and abused, but the church will never be destroyed. God has promised that the church will never fall. This is not a promise that is founded on Peter. If it were founded on Peter, we would be hopeless. It would be over. But this promise is from the mouth of God, founded on the foundation of Jesus Christ. The church will never fall. This destroys the claims of the Mormon and founders of the Pentecostal movement. The Mormons claim that the church fell after the Apostles until Joseph Smith. This is in violation of this passage. It makes Christ a liar. The Pentecostal movement make a similar claim. They claim that the church fell right after the Apostles and has been being restored ever since with the completion coming at the Azusa street revivals in the early 1900’s. This is in violation of this passage. We have such a clear promise from Christ that not even hell itself will be able to prevail against the church. It will ever fall. It will never be destroyed.

Transition:

This is a beautiful, amazing, encouraging passage! Jesus is teaching such wonderful truths. Jesus continues on in teaching amazing things. Jesus teaches the disciples about His death and resurrection.

Jesus Teaches the Disciples about His Death and Resurrection.

Explanation:

Matthew records for us in verse 20-21, “20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. .21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Jesus has just charged the disciples not to tell anyone who He really was. Jesus is again refusing to spread His fame. Those whom the Father draws are His. Then He begins to teach the disciples about His death and resurrection.”

Jesus lays this out in detail. He tells them that He must go to Jerusalem. He tells them that He must suffer many things and at who’s hands He will suffer those things. He tells them that He will be killed. He finally them that He will be raised on the third day. This is a lot of detail. And we know from this passage and others that they do not understand. It is still hidden from them. Jesus is explaining in detail what He will suffer and they do not comprehend.

Argumentation:

What is so significant about this? We can see so clearly that Jesus is again showing His divinity. He is also showing His unity with the Father. He knows the Father’s plan and is following it completely. We also see the stability of the Father’s plan of salvation. Jesus is fully confident. Picture a scene with me if you will. Jesus teaching the disciples, saying “as long as all goes well, this is what will happen… I don’t know though… people could mess it up still. I mean, Judas here could decide not to betray me. Wouldn’t that be awkward? Or what is Herod doesn’t actually hand me over? Or what if it rains that day and the crowds don’t gather? Man, it would be so awkward if I came at the wrong time and I couldn’t actually redeem sinners.”

No! Jesus has confidence! He tells the disciples that this WILL happen. Nothing can stop it. Nothing can interfere with it. This is all according to the pre-determined will of God. Peter Himself acknowledges this in His first sermon in Acts. Acts 2:23 “23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” This is set. Therefore Jesus can speak of these things that will happen. God is in complete control.

Transition:

But what of those last few verses? Well, if there is one thing I really want you to walk away with today, it is how to interpret Scripture correctly. We spent a lot of time addressing the way that the previous passage is twisted and abused through faulty interpretation methods. So look with me again at these last verses and let’s apply what we have learned.

Verses 22-23 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Well? Is the first pope Satan?

Is the First Pope is Satan?

Explanation:

Okay, okay; yes I am being cheeky and irreverent. I hope I am doing this earnestly and with just cause. We have already established that Peter was clearly not the first pope. However, my goading is aimed at the way that the previous passage is twisted by being read in a stiff wooden way that is unnatural to the text. If we maintain any consistency in this method with these verses, we have a clear and emphatic statement from Jesus that Peter is actually Satan. This is such a startling revelation! Peter seemed like such a nice guy. I mean, sure, he was loud and talks a lot; but I didn’t think he was the Devil! Beyond that, if we maintain this interpretation method, it is likely that any who do what Peter did are probably the Devil or demons. Right? So if you set your mind on the things of man rather than God, that makes you a demon! This is horrible news.

Clearly this is not how we read anything. We read things in a natural way. When reading anything, we seek to understand the intent of what is communicated. To do so, we must read exaggerations as what they are. We must read hyperbole as what it is. We must not read every sentence as literal. This is a horrible way to read anything! When it says Peter took Jesus aside, that is literal! We do not read this in a hyper spiritualized way. We don’t say, “You know, when Peter pulled Jesus to the side, that speaks to how we should always take the first forty five minutes of our day and have a quiet time where we read our Bible’s and pray.” Now that is a good thing, but that is not what is happening here! That is not what that sentence means.

This come back to those rules I gave you for understanding the true meaning of the text. The three most important rules of understanding a passage of Scripture are? Context, context, and context. Good. the second one I gave you was that the clear passages govern the unclear. We do not found doctrine on the unclear passages in Scripture.

So let’s use the context rule and read this passage again. “22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Now, basic question. Is Jesus here saying that Peter is actually Lucifer, Satan in disguise? No! Why not? Well, let’s apply the context. In context we see that Jesus is reacting to Peter’s Statement. Jesus uses very strong language against what Peter has just said. The clear context of this passage is that Jesus is using hyperbole to strongly rebuke Peter for what he just did. Now lets take it back to the context of the surrounding passages. We just saw Jesus commend and bless Peter, promising him a great future. In previous passages we saw Jesus appoint Peter as an apostle. In following Passages, we see Peter go on to be a great leader in the church. He spreads the gospel to his dying breath. Clearly Peter is not Satan. Therefore the reading of this passage in context is that Peter rebukes Jesus for saying that Jesus would suffer and die. Jesus then harshly rebukes Peter because Peter had no idea that this was God’s sovereign plan and had no right to speak against it.

Transition:

Now, because this passage is clear to understand, we really have no need to seek out more clear passages that show that Peter is not literally the Devil. We have come to a very clear understanding just by looking at the context. But what does this matter? You may be wondering what the point of this is. You may be saying, “I’m not a scholar. I’m not a theologian, why should I care?” Well, let me explain the importance of a consistent interpretation method.

The Importance of a Consistent Interpretation Method.

Argumentation:

The Word of God is to the church. It is God speaking to all true Christians. Because of this, all true Christians should care what God has said. If we are really Christians, we should never wilfully manipulate what God has revealed. If we love God, we will care what He has said. This is vital to the Christian walk. Ask yourself this, If you have truly been saved by the grace of God through faith in what Jesus did on your behalf, why would you not want to know everything you possibly can about Him and His plan for what you are to do? There is no conceivable reason for a true Christian to be careless about what God has said.

Because of this, you must know how to read and understand Scripture. I wish to teach you these things so that you are not weak babies sucking milk. I want you to be grown, strong men and women who can study and learn from the deep things of God. A person who is not growing, is dead. Think of it, a child that never grows. A baby that never learns to walk; that never moves past formula; that never is toilette trained; that never learns to speak, to read, to write. This is a grotesque mental image. We almost cannot conceive of it. However, all we have to do is look around sanctuaries and we will see that this is the population of many of the seats.

I do not wish for you to be this way. So perhaps you are here and you do not think it is important to you to know how the Roman church twists this passage, but I can assure you that it is vital for you to be able to recognize when someone is twisting a passage. It is vital for you to be able to know how to understand what God has spoken! I want you to be able to rely on me to be able to hear the truth. However, if you ate only one meal every week, you would die. You must be fed Spiritually more than just this morning. You must be able to identify what is true and what is false. You must be able to read and understand the Word of God. This is my desire for you.

Application:

If I were to give you anything to walk away from here with it would be that you could understand how to interpret Scripture properly. I would that you would also take to heart Christ’s promise of the enduring Church, and the sovereignty of God. Think about this, Christ told the disciples all that He would suffer. He knew what was coming for Him. He knew of how His body would be broken. He knew of how His blood would be shed.

Communion:

Now we get to remember Christ’s broken body and His shed blood. We do this as Jesus commanded us to. In Matthew 26:26-28 Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper. We remember what Jesus did for us and come to commune at the Lord’s Table. This is why it is reserved for Christians only. Only a Christian can do this in remembrance of Christ. So if you are here, and you are a Christian, you are trusting in Jesus Christ’s death on your behalf for the forgiveness of sins, I invite you to come and receive the body and the blood.

I cannot forgive your sins. Only God can forgive sins. Communion is a joyous act because it is a physical reminder of Christ’s sacrifice that saves us. It is a physical confession of what Christ did. We eat the bread, the body. We drink the wine, the blood. We do this in remembrance of Christ. This is a comfort to sinners. Are you sinners? Do you need forgiveness? Are you trusting in Jesus Christ for salvation? Then it is the promise of Scripture that you are saved. All of your sins are forgiven. Let us remember what Jesus did for us as we follow His command.

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

Let us take the bread.

27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Let us take the cup.

Prayer:

Let’s pray.

Closing Hymn:

Closing Benediction:

I leave you with the closing words of the gospel of Matthew. Christ’s command to the church.

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”