Christ and the Church

Matt 16:13-20 “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.”

INTRODUCTION

We are coming to a turning point in this gospel. Up until this point Jesus has taught publically, been followed by crowds everywhere, fed multitudes, healed sicknesses and cast out demons, BUT from this point on His focus becomes on the cross.

This passage is the climax of the whole gospel. Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, and Jesus introduces us to the church. And that is what our message will be about this morning.

The very word church means “someone who has been called out.” The Greek word that is translated as "church" in the Bible is ekklesia. This word is made up of the prefix: ek, which means "out of " or "from." The root of the word is kaleo, which means "to call." Thus, ekklesia means "those who are the called-out ones."

The true church, the invisible church, is made up of those who are called by God not only outwardly but inwardly by the Holy Spirit. When Jesus calls someone to discipleship, He is calling that person to Himself, to belong to Him, to follow Him, to learn from Him, to become like Him, and to carry on His mission the He began.

What comes to mind when you think About the church? Most of us think about a gathering and we think about many gatherings all over the world making up many churches. But church is not a place, or a building, or a specific name but a group of people who have been separated from the world because they have been redeemed by Jesus Christ.

And there is but ONE church in this world. And we are all serving the same Lord, and we have all been called to the same mission. We are headed to the same place.

And Jesus introduces us to the church today, and we are going to learn some important things that we need to know.

The conviction of the church is that Jesus is the Messiah

Matthew 16:13–16 NASB95

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.”

Explanation

In this passage Jesus asked the disciples who people outside His inner circle thought He was.

But Jesus wasn’t really trying to solicit information about his reputation on earth.

Jesus asked the question to lead to a greater question and that was because what Jesus really wanted from them was a confession of who He is.

“But who do YOU say that I am?”

The “you” is plural so Jesus is asking the entire group who they really think He is

Now we have got to remember these men have been with him for over 2 years.

They have seen Jesus do things that only God can do

And what Jesus is doing is bringing them to a point of decision to settle this matter and begin to live by this conviction!

And as we know Peter becomes the spokesman for the crowd and confesses that Jesus is the Messiah.

What is Confession?

To confess literally means: “to speak or say the same thing”

So when Peter confesses Christ, he is declaring openly what God says about Jesus!

So, a confession is an outward expression of faith in the heart!

Romans 10:9–10 NASB95

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.

We often call this a profession of faith today, which is just another way of saying we confess our faith publically.

Application: Who do you say that Jesus is?

This is the question that Jesus presented the disciples and this is the question that Jesus is presenting to us today.

And notice that Jesus doesn’t ask them who they think He is

He says, “who do you say that I am?”

And Peter responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Peter’s confession was also His conviction

He confessed Jesus on Pentecost

He confessed Jesus to the Jewish leaders

He confessed Jesus to the Samaritans

He confessed Jesus to the Gentiles

My question to you is, “does your confession match your convictions?”

There are two things Peter says about Jesus that should make all the difference in our lives:

Jesus is the Son of God

Peter says, “You are the Son of God!”

This means that Peter believes He is divine. He is not just a man but He is the God in the flesh.

He is God who walked upon the face of his earth

He is the Creator who walked among His creation.

And He invites us to know Him personally!

Just like Peter knew Him and talked with Him , and walked with Him, and died for Him!

Peter says, "You are the Christ”

The word means “anointed one”

It means Messiah, the One promised that would be sent by God to save His people!

All throughout the OT, a Deliver is mentioned who will come to save!

This began all the way back in Gen 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.””

And it continued through the prophets such as Is 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

And even prophecy naming where this Messiah would be born Micah 5:2 ““But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.””

So when Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God, he is saying that God Himself came down in the flesh and has come to save his people and that the hope now for humanity is found in this Deliverer!

And I think that is the place Jesus was leading the disciples

He wanted them to come to a settled conclusion of who He so that they could live out their lives based upon that conviction!

What is a conviction: the word means “to be convinced”

We live by convictions.

I have a conviction that in will never touch another drop of alcohol

I have a conviction that I will study the Word of God regularly

I have a conviction that I will love my wife as Christ loved the church

I have a conviction that i will share my faith regularly!

I have a conviction that I will spend my life living for Christ and that is why I am still here!

Convictions change the way that we live

We must be fully convinced in our hearts before our lives will change!

And convictions arise from our confession!

What we truly confess from the heart leads to convictions that dictate our lives!

What are your convictions about Christ?

If you truly believe he is the Messiah, if you confess that with your mouth, does your life reflect that?

If you truly believe he is the Son of God, it will be evident from your convictions that you live by

Everything the church is can be summed up by saying we believe and confess that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God and EVERYTHING that we do will stem from that conviction.

Jesus will build his church upon the confession of Christ

Matthew 16:17–18 NASB95

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.

Explanation

Jesus looks at Peter and says yes Peter that is correct! Your confession is exactly who I am! In fact, only God could have revealed that to you!

And I want you to know something else, upon this rock I will build my church

And here is where things get complicated. The question becomes what is Jesus referring to as “the rock”?

Is Peter the rock?

Is Peter’s confession the rock?

Is Jesus the rock?

Which one do you think?

The most natural reading of this is that Peter is the rock that Jesus will build the church upon.

And the reason so many people turn away from this view is because the Catholic Church has built much of their ecclesiology of an authoritative Pope from these verses. They claim that Peter was the first Pope, who had successors after him passing the power down the torch from one generation to the next.

There is nothing in this verse that suggests any kind of succession of power! What we do find here is Jesus confessing Peter as the rock and then declaring that he will build His church upon Peter who just confessed Jesus as the Messiah.

I believe that Jesus is saying Peter is the rock, but Jesus is not saying He will build His church upon Peter, but that Peter will be foundational in the beginning of the church!

It was Peter in Acts 2 who confessed him as the Messiah and the church was birthed.

In Acts 10, Peter has the vision of unclean animals giving him orders to take the gospel to the Gentiles.

It was Peter who confessed Jesus as the Messiah to the religious leaders who threatened to take his life.

Peter was instrumental in the birth and expansion of the church which was only through his continued confession of Christ.

Two Observations from this verse

Jesus builds His church

God works through people to build the church, but ultimately God is the architect.

Only God can build a church because the church is built through conversions and only God can take someone from death to life!

So when Jesus says that He will build His church, He is saying that He will be the One responsible for the growth of the church.

How does God use people to build he church if God is the One who saves people into the church?

By the church confessing Christ!

Just like Jesus said he would build upon Peter who just confessed him, God will build through us by confessing Him to the world!

So as long as the church members are faithful in their proclamation of Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God then I believe in all my heart God will grow His church.

This also means conversions are the only way the church grows.

Just because someone is added to the church role does not mean the church grew.

Numbers mean nothing if the person never gets saved!

That is why having a building full of lost people means nothing in the Kingdom of God.

Hell CANNOT defeat the church

No matter how bad things look, we will never be defeated. No matter how hard things get, we will never be beaten.

Satan has no power over the church. He has no power over those who have been redeemed by Christ.

And when we get weary, and discouraged, and think our work in this place is not making a difference, we must look back and remember what Jesus said, “the gates of Hades will not overpower it”.

This is no greater power in this world than Christ, and He is for His church!

And if you are a blood bought believer then you are His church!

And no power hell nor scheme of man will ever overcome Christ!

The church will be victorious!

All confessing Christians have been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven

Matthew 16:19 NASB95

“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.”

Explanation

First off we should not read this and think that Peter is standing at the pearly gates in heaven controlling who enters or who is turned away. We clearly know that position is given to Christ and Christ alone (Matt 7:21).

Only Jesus has those keys to heaven, and no one can go in without His blood covering their soul.

Revelation 1:18 NASB95

and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Keys symbolize access not ownership.

When one has the keys to the home he has the access to that home, but may not be the homeowner. The deed signifies the owner of that home.

But the keys to that home can be given to anyone who we want to gain access.

Jesus told Peter he has the keys to the Kingdom of God. This does not mean Peter has authority over who comes in and who is not allowed. It means Peter has the means of access. And what are those keys?

Now how did this manifest in Peter’s life?

It was Peter who first preached the gospel to the Jews in Acts 2 and provided access for them to repent and believe the gospel.

It was Peter who preached to the Samaritans in Acts chapter 8 and provided access to them into kingdom of God.

It was Peter who first preached the gospel to Gentiles in Acts 11 and provided access into the Kingdom of God.

The Keys Peter had was the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It was the message that jesus was the Christ, the Son of God who came to earth to die for sins, He was raised to life on the third day, and now lives to make intercession for us. And all those who confess Him as Lord, and believe that God raised Him from the dead shall be saved!

Principle

And those same keys that Peter held, are held by every single believer today who confesses Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.

Who lives by the conviction that Jesus is the only hope of the world and He is worth giving everything for!

Application

Have you ever thought of yourself as a gatekeeper?

The keys that you and I hold are the words of eternal life.

Paul said in Romans 1: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.””

Our friends, our neighbors, those around this church do not have the keys. The church has the keys, and it is such a shame when the church forgets that they are gatekeepers.

Who has God placed in your life that needs to be saved?

Who is in your circle that needs Jesus and you know that they do?

If you are the church, you have the keys.

Do not think it is my job to come and witness to your family, friends, neighbors, and children.

That is your responsibility and I cannot think of any greater responsibility that has been given to the church!

What are you doing with the keys?

Do you know the gospel well enough to share it effectively?

Do you understand the gospel well enough to tell someone how they can be saved?

Do you have a testimony of your conversion and what Christ did for you?

Jesus goes on to say, “whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven”

Binding and loosing are metaphors for what is and what is not permitted.

What Jesus is saying that Peter has been given is an administrative role over the church.

And the idea here is not with those inside the church, but from the outside.

In other words, Peter has the authority and right to only let those in the church who share in the same confession of Christ that God has revealed to him.

We must keep this in mind in this church.

Only those who share our same confessions, our same convictions, who demonstrate that their lives have been transformed by Jesus can be members of this church.

One of my personal convictions in planting this church was that we would have meaningful membership.

That means that every member takes our covenant seriously, they take the faith seriously, they take the church seriously, they take evangelism seriously because I believe those are marks of a true Christian.

CONCLUSION

Who do you say that Jesus IS?

Do you truly believe that he is the Messiah, our only hope?

And if you do, does your life reflect that?

You can settle the matter today by publically professing to this church that You want to follow Jesus.

You don’t have to know everything, you just have to give Jesus everything you know to Christ and begin to trust in Him

And you can do that today, publically, just as Peter did.

~PRAYER~

Related Media

Related Sermons