Let The Church Begin
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Welcome to Church Did you know you were coming in to be a part a movement this morning? “The Unstoppable Movement of God”. It might sound like a “Blockbuster” movie but it is so much better than that.
Have you ever wondered where the phrase “blockbuster” came from? It actually came out of the war language of the 1940’s where so much of what came out of Hollywood was dedicated to our efforts in WW2. A “Block-buster” in that day was a a bomb had the kind of impact that would level a city block. The first movie this term was used for was one called “Bombardier ”, but as time went on a “blockbuster” came to mean a film that had an incredible impact. This typically meant that it was very costly, over the top spectacular and expected to bring in big profits. It was a “blockbuster” and if one of these “high impact” movies did hit that arbitrary mark of becoming a “blockbuster” all the talk then became: When will the sequel be coming out?
I share that with you because this morning we are launching out into a new series where we are going to be walking through the New Testament book called “The book of Acts”. In many ways, this book should be seen as a sequel, but not in the way that most Hollywood “blockbusters” come to have sequels.
You see sometimes an author, playwright or story-teller knows that the story they are going to tell is so large, so significant, so impactful that it will not fit in just one telling. So unlike the typical “blockbuster” they are not waiting for the response of the first part of the story to start planning the “sequel”. The “sequel” is already an assumed reality because it is simply the next chapter of the story. This is the kind of “sequel” that the “Book of Acts” is.
Tension
The book of Acts is the second book in the New Testament that was written by a man named Luke and that helps you all figure out the name of his first book. Along with the Book of Acts, Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke which begins with these words:
1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
Some of you might remember how we tackled the Gospel of Luke a few years back, going verse by verse through the book and we identified this character Luke as being an educated man…a doctor and researcher who was well traveled and well cultured and maybe more significant than any of that…he is the only New Testament writer who not Jewish. He was a gentile who studied Judaism, but did not grow up in it.
This all works to our advantage, because one of the things that Luke does well in his writing is to help non-Jews or Gentiles like us, understand what is happening by explaining how these things would have been seen from a 1st century Jewish perspective. This is a great service to us when reading through The Gospel of Luke, which is the longest and most detailed of the 4 biographies of Jesus’ life, but it may be even more important as we read through the book of Acts.
As this “blockbuster” story rolls naturally on from the book of Luke to the book of Acts we can see how the connection between these two books is so tight, that some theologians have come to refer to them with the label “Luke-Acts”. It is one story that was presented in a two volume series because it was just to impactful to fit in one telling. The Sequel was not offered because the first book sold so well, the sequel was always an essential part of the story…and that is what we are going to focus in on today.
So eventually we will end up in the first few verses of the book of Acts, but we are going to start back in the story in Jesus’ public ministry on earth to establish how the “sequel” was always a part of the plan. So open you Bibles with me to Matthew chapter 16, it’s on page 822 in Bibles in the Chairs. I know that might seem a little strange to be talking up the connection between Luke and Acts and then lead us to begin with a different Gospel Account but since Matthew doesn’t have a follow up book like Luke, He gives us more detail in this story than Luke feels he has to.
As you are turning there I will pray and then we will get into the deep connection between the Blockbuster story of Jesus’ life and the sequel that was always a part of the plan.
Let’s pray.
Truth
So you probably noticed how the title of our series is “Ekklesia” which is the Greek word that is translated as “Church” throughout the Scriptures. We are going to use the book of Acts as a timeline to track the early days of this “Movement” but what we will see this morning is that the Church was Jesus’ idea and for that we are going to look at part of His story from the Book of Matthew. Even though we can find this same event mentioned in the book of Luke, Matthew goes on to tell us how Jesus told us that His mission on earth will continue on through the work of His “Ekklesia” or His Church.
Starting in verse 13 of Matthew 16 we read:
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.”
This is a great question, and one that we will grapple with in our Table Talk groups this morning after the service. What do we hear from people today some 2000 years later? Who do people say that Jesus is now? We would love to have you stick around and share your thoughts on things like this.
You may remember that the “Son of Man” is Jesus’ favorite way of referring to himself through out all four Gospels. It is a prophetic title from Daniel chapter 7 that was given to the Messiah figure in that verse and yet still the people were did not yet recognizing Jesus as such.
Up to this point in Jesus’ public ministry He had been doing many signs and wonders among the people that all pointed to Him being something more than just the latest greatest teacher, sage or rabbi. So Jesus is asking his Disciples to give him something of a “ministry status report”.
It is almost as if Jesus is asking His disciples, are you seeing what I am seeing here? As you are walking around and listening to people, what are you overhearing them say about me. How are things going when it comes to their seeing who I am through the message I am preaching and the signs that I have been performing? After all this...Who do they say that I am?
And the truth is, they were somewhere in the ballpark with their answers. They certainly recognized him as being more than just a carpenter with an unusually developed speaking ability. He was special but they just didn’t yet realize how special.
And of course these questions were not about Jesus getting information but about the Disciples processing through the question themselves. Jesus was just getting them thinking in this direction so He could ask them this next, Most important question:
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
This is the most important question that has ever been asked Not just as it is asked to Jesus’ disciples in this moment but in how it is by extension offered to each one of us. Who do we say that Jesus is? How you answer that question will not only impact every day of your life here on earth, but it will echo on into your eternity.
Who so you say that Jesus is? And talk is cheap here guys, this is not just something that we answer with our words…it is something that we answer with every decision in our life.
This could be described as a “blockbuster” event in the story of Jesus’ life here on earth because everything changed from here on out. This event ended the popular season of Jesus’ ministry. The crowds who were really there for the big show began to be disappointed because he kept running off with his disciples to teach and train them. And this training involved some really hard teachings like How Jesus will be leaving soon.
That is why this question was so vital…Who do you say that I am? because after Jesus has returned to the Father’s side these men will be the leaders of this “Movement” and if they didn’t really understand who Jesus was then it would fall right on it’s face.
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.
1. The true Church confesses Jesus as Christ, the Son of God (Matthew 16:13-17).
1. The true Church confesses Jesus as Christ, the Son of God (Matthew 16:13-17).
Peter is known to be the outspoken one, and here he definitely got it right. And sitting on this side of history we are so used to this declaration that it hardly even fazes us, but realize that this is the first time that the Disciples declared this.
They wondered about it. They talked to one another about it. They stood there with open mouths after the healings and in the boat after the storm and asked, “Who is this that even the wind and the rain obey Him”…but they never declared it like this until this moment when Peter boldly steps up and declares: You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God
And did you catch why it was that Jesus said that Peter was blessed? Was it because he got the answer right? That’s certainly a part of it, but Jesus specifically commends him for something else. He is commended because his answer did not come from regurgitating something that he learned from a an earthly rabbi or teacher. What Peter declared that day was something that God the Father had revealed to him.
This is significant to all of us, but maybe especially so for those of us who grew up in the Church…or in many of our cases are growing up in the Church right now. It is one thing to be able to declare true and right things that you were taught by someone you know, love and trust here on earth but it is something very different to believe those things because God has revealed them to you.
I have longed believed that most every person who grew up in the Church at some point experiences something I usually call “a crisis of faith”. It is a time where they begin to wonder and question for themselves if what they have been taught all their lives is really true.
And parents, sometimes this is especially hard on us. We tend to panic or over react when our kids start to ask questions on things that we know we have taught them and they know the answer…but sometimes their questioning is not about remembering what we taught them, it is about God drawing them to Himself so that they start believing the truth because God has revealed it to them.
Questioning is not always a step backwards, sometimes it is the only way to truly take the next step forward.
This is the kind of growth that Jesus has recognized in Peter. Just as our children will not always be under our roof or care, Jesus is preparing his Disciples for his departure. And this was just one of many new steps that Jesus’ followers will make in line with the answer to this most powerful question: Who do you say that Jesus is?
1. The true Church confesses Jesus as Christ, the Son of God
1. The true Church confesses Jesus as Christ, the Son of God
2. The true Church proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16:18-20).
2. The true Church proclaims the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16:18-20).
Jesus proclaims Peter as blessed because the Father has revealed to him that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah and then he continues...
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.
We talked back in Feb about the significance of these words being spoken here in Cesarea Philippi. Remember how this city had this large Temple complex dedicated to the false god “Pan” and he was worshiped here in the mouth of this cave where you can even go today and see and hear the waters that run below the rocks of this hillside. The pagan people believed that the running water deep in the cave made this a portal to the underworld so they called this place “The gates of hades” or as the ESV translates it “the gates of hell”.
Many of us still get much of our understanding of “hell” from pop culture and in this way we are no better than the pagans who called this hole in the ground such things. We should not be thinking of hell as some endless cave dwelling that Satan rules over with his little horns, pitchfork and red pajamas with little patches of fire popping up here and there. That is not what Jesus is talking about here.
“Hades” as Jesus spoke of it here was simply the realm of the dead. Jesus is saying that just as so many people are “gathered” here to try and appease these fake gods who they believed held the keys to the gates of death, He was going to give his people some thing even better.
He continues to say:
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.
The keys that Jesus is handing the Disciples is the power behind the message of the Gospel. The message that Jesus suffered and died and then on the third day He rose again. The Apostles are given the authority to admit entrance into the kingdom by preaching the message of the Gospel.
And we will see the Apostles doing this very thing as we progress in our study of the book of Acts and even Peter specifically. Peter is the one who first preaches the Gospel to the Jews at Pentecost in Acts 2, he is the first to preach the Gospel to the Samaritans in Acts 8 and he is the first to preach to the Gentiles in Acts 10. The Apostle Paul quickly catches up with him from then on out, but still the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven is the message of the Gospel as the early Church leaders passed it on from one person to the next to the next.
We see this same idea repeated a couple of chapter later in the only other place where we read of Jesus saying the word “Ekklesia”. He is actually addressing what one of his followers should do if another of his followers sins against him. In this He says:
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Not only does this affirm how the “sequel”...the Church... was always Jesus’ plan, it also shows us how He knew from the very beginning that we would not do it well…so He gives His Disciples and by extension us a way to reconcile to one another when we sin against each other. Because Jesus knows that this will happen in His Church, so here is how to handle it when it does.
But it is after this that we here Jesus say again to an even wider audience:
18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
The “gathered” Church, the “Ekklesia” was always a part of Jesus’ plan so early on He equipped the Disciples with the tools they would need to lead the Church well, especially pointing them to the power behind the message of the Gospel.
Now that we have established that the “sequel” was alway Jesus’ plan, we will use the last little time we have to take a look at the opening verses to the book of Acts where we see how...
3. The true Church follows Jesus’ teachings revealed in the Bible by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-3).
3. The true Church follows Jesus’ teachings revealed in the Bible by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-3).
So since Luke is writing this book with the same purpose and to the same person, Luke opens up this book by lookig back on his first book. He says...
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
If the Gospel of Luke dealt with all that Jesus “BEGAN” to do and teach then we can know that this “first book” was not the end of Jesus’ “doing” and teaching in our world...but just the beginning. In fact, when we realize that most every time that the New Testament talks about the “Lord” it is referring to Jesus, we see him actively “doing” and teaching His “Ekklesia” through out the rest of human history.
How does Jesus do this? Well He tells us how. In John 14 starting in verse 25 we read of Jesus telling His disciples...
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.
Jesus was clear that He would not always be with the Disciples in the same way…but (verse 26)
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
We are able to follow the teachings of Jesus because they were written down for us by the Disciples who were given the Holy Spirit so that they would know exactly what Jesus wanted to teach us.
This year we are going to be learning about the Ekklesia of Jesus Christ and how The True Church confesses Jesus as Christ, proclaims the Gospel and follows Jesus’ teachings as they are given us by the Holy Spirit in God’s Word the Bible.
Gospel Application
It will be an interesting journey as we study the early Christian Church because the truth is the story of the “Ekklesia” of Jesus has not been fully written yet. In addition to the “blockbuster” and the sequel the story of the Church is still going on. It is as if the author has written his story in such a way that those who begin to read it eventually becomes characters in the plot.
And this was a huge part of Luke’s motivation for writing this unique book of Acts. It is really the only book of history in the New Testament. But God led Luke to write this for the many Christians like Theopholis who were anticipating Jesus’ return any day and they began to wonder if maybe something happened and plan got off course.
Landing
Here we are 2,000 years later and we might think the same thing. We too are... anxiously at times…awaiting the return of Christ but in turning into the book of Acts we can know that this “sequel” to bring on the Church..that we are now a part of... was always a part of the plan of the Unstopable movement of God.
Let’s pray.