The Church
Matthew 16:13-20
January 8, 2012
Well this morning we enter a relatively new section in Matthew’s gospel.
Generally speaking the public ministry of Jesus is over.
That does not mean He won’t ever be seen in public again,
For indeed the Passion Week is certainly a public event.
But as far as His own personal ministry is concerned
Jesus is now leaving the crowds and will begin to devote most of His time
To the training of the 12.
We actually saw this division in the text we studied last week.
Matthew 16:4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.”
The fact that Jesus went away is not insignificant.
It is a statement that coincides with John’s gospel.
John 12:36 “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.”
He came to His own and His own would not receive Him
And now they are rapidly losing their opportunity.
The ministry of Jesus will now be focused on the twelve.
He is only a few months away from His crucifixion at this point
And it is time to prepare these men who will shepherd His flock.
And the first subject of teaching
That Jesus brings to the table is His Church.
“church” comes from ECCLESIA
It literally means “the called out ones”.
It refers to any official group of people
Who have been called out into an assembly.
Stephen used the term (translated “congregation” in Acts 7:38
To talk of the people Moses called out of Egypt.
The term is used three times in Acts 19 (translated “assembly”)
To speak of the mob gathered together by the Ephesian silversmiths against Paul.
And obviously Christ used it to refer to those
Who have been called by God into a relationship with His Son.
So we are talking about the church.
And this is a fascinating text.
Over the years there have been thousands of books written on the church.
In our day the books tend mostly to deal with the growth of the church.
But I am convinced that if we would stop and really soak in
What Jesus tells us here about His church,
It would do more for us than all of those books combined.
This is directly from our Lord about His church – it is priceless.
4 things
#1 THE CONSENSUS
Matthew 16:13-14
It begins, with Jesus going to a private retreat.
“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi”
This was a remote, mountainous region.
The idea here was that there were no crowds.
If you need a visual, Jesus just took the twelve to Glorietta
And Jesus begins the lesson by asking for the General Consensus.
“He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
(and by “people” Jesus is referring to those not in our assembly)
But He asks the disciples what the most recent poll says about Him.
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
And that could be a worthwhile question for us.
In our day, “Who do people say Jesus is?”
“A Moral Teacher”
“A Prophet”
“A Good Man”
“The Guy Tim Tebo follows”
One commentator wrote:
“Since Jesus day, much of the world has similarly wanted to speak highly of Him without recognizing His deity and lordship. Pilate said, “I find no guilt in this man” (Luke 23:4). Napoleon said, “I know men, and Jesus was no mere man.” Diderot referred to Jesus as “the unsurpassed,” Strauss, the German rationalist, as “the highest model of religion,” John Stuart Mill as “the guide of humanity,” the French atheist Renan as “the greatest among the sons of men,” Theodore Parker as “a youth with god in His heart,” and Robert Owens as “the irreproachable one.” Some in our own day have called Him the ultimate Superstar.” (MacArthur, John, “The MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Matthew 16-23; Moody Press, Chicago, Ill. 1985, pg. 20)
Everyone has an opinion about Jesus, as to who He is.
They did in Jesus’ day as well.
(14) “And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
Now none of us can deny that that are flattering guesses.
And we can see how they could have confused Jesus with them.
• John was a bold man who forsook worldly comforts.
• Elijah was a great miracle worker.
• Jeremiah was the weeping prophet.
Beyond that all of these that are listed have something in common.
They were all considered by the Jews to be forerunners to the Messiah.
John was obvious.
As was Elijah.
Matthew 17:10 “And His disciples asked Him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
Even Jeremiah:
Jewish tradition said that before Babylon destroyed the temple that Jeremiah hid the Ark of the Covenant in a safe place. Many Jews waited for Jeremiah to bring the ark back before Messiah arrived.
Or He could have been any other prophet preparing the way.
The point is the people all thought Jesus could be the forerunner
But none thought He was actually the Messiah.
So there is the consensus.
#2 THE CONFESSION
Matthew 16:15-16
Now Jesus is about to reveal the difference.
“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
In other words, we know what the world thinks of Me,
What do you think of Me?
And just for a moment let me highlight the importance of this question.
It doesn’t really matter what other people think of Jesus,
But it matters a great deal what you think of Him.
It doesn’t matter what your friends or even your family think of Jesus,
It matters what you think.
YOU MUST DECIDE PERSONALLY
Do you remember what John said:
John 1:12-13 “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
You aren’t born into the kingdom, it doesn’t matter who your dad says Jesus is, it matters who you say He is.
(16) “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
There is an incident when Peter’s zeal worked for him.
“They all think you are the forerunner to the Messiah, I think You are actually Him!”
And there is Peter’s confession.
• It doesn’t matter what the world says…
• It doesn’t matter what my parents say…
• It doesn’t even matter what the rest of the 12 say…
I say, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And so the obvious point here is that the world has
A different view of Jesus than the church does.
• The world sees Him as a good example…
• The world sees Him as a potential leader…
• The world sees Him as a possible forerunner…
But the church sees Him different.
• The church sees Him as King.
• The church sees Him as Messiah.
• The church sees Him as Lord.
• The church sees Him as God.
NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE?
Submission.
The difference between Peter’s confession and that of the world
Is that Peter’s confession requires obedience.
And that is the difference.
We don’t just see Christ as someone to pattern our lives after,
But as someone to submit our lives to.
Entrance into the church requires this confession.
Romans 10:9 “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;”
Oh, you can come to the meetings. You can collect the bulletins.
You can give money. You might even figure out a way to make decisions.
But apart from a confession of Christ as Lord in your life
You cannot be a part of the assembly that Christ calls the church.
So Jesus points out that there is a great distinction.
The Consensus, The Confession
#3 THE COMMENDATION
Matthew 16:17
Now we notice right off the bat that Jesus starts this out with a blessing.
“Blessed are you Simon Barjona”
So after Jesus gets the answer from Peter,
He then tells Peter he is blessed.
The question at this point is WHY IS PETER BLESSED?
Most people would say, “Because he got the answer right”
Today if you ask a question and someone gets it right, you tell them good job.
THAT IS NOT WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE,
NOR IS IT WHY PETER IS BLESSED.
“Blessed are you Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
This is so important, for it again lends to the difference
Between the world and the church.
Peter wasn’t blessed because he knew the right answer.
Indeed there are many in the world today who know the right answer.
There are many who attend church every week who know the right answer.
There will even be many who are judged
And sent to hell who know the right answer.
We are all familiar with the “Lord, Lord” passage.
Peter is blessed because of where he got the answer.
• Not from “flesh and blood” (they don’t know who He is)
• But from “My Father who is in heaven.”
This, by the way, is not the first time Jesus has revealed this.
Remember back in chapter 13?
Matthew 13:11 “Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.”
Jesus went on to say later:
Matthew 13:16-17 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”
That is the same thing Jesus says here.
You are blessed because God has allowed you to see
What He has not allowed others to see.
Men don’t join Christ’s church, they are called into it.
Christ is sovereign, even over salvation and His church.
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
In the parable of the wedding banquet we find a man
Who tried to enter on his own, and in his own clothes.
Matthew 22:13-14 “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Even to His own disciples Jesus said:
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
Unlike any other club, organization, shrine, lodge, group, or team,
The church has the sole distinction of being God’s selected assembly.
If you are a part of it, take a moment and tell God thank you
For allowing you to be a part.
It is not about getting the answer right.
If that were the case, the kingdom of heaven
Would belong to the smart people.
(The smarter you are, the better chance you have of getting to heaven)
But it doesn’t.
It belongs to those whom God has chosen.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”
That is why Jesus didn’t tell Peter he was smart,
Jesus told Peter he was blessed!
So again, if you are fortunate enough to be a part of Christ’s church,
Stop and tell God thank you for including you.
SO THE ONLY WAY TO ENTER CHRIST’S CHURCH
IS IF GOD CHOOSES TO REVEAL CHRIST TO YOU.
And if He has, you are blessed.
(hang on to that)
The Consensus, The Confession, The Commendation
#4 THE COMMISSION
Matthew 16:18-20
Now is where the teaching on the church begins.
“I also say to you that you are Peter”
Peter certainly had to like that.
Jesus changed his name to PETROS, which means rock.
“I also say to you that you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church;”
Now what Jesus does here is make a play on words.
“Peter” translates PETROS and it means little stone.
“rock” translates PETRA and it means large mountain rock.
Jesus is revealing that Peter is a little part of something much bigger.
The question over the years has been, what is “this rock”
1) THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH
The Catholics have maintained that it is Peter, the first pope of the church.
(Obviously not, Christ is the high priest)
But really, it isn’t that difficult.
Back in Matthew 7 Jesus gave a parable of two men who built houses. Both built strong houses, but only one house survived the storm. The house tied to the rock.
Obviously there the rock was Jesus.
1 Corinthians 3:11 “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
Now some have contended it is the apostles:
Ephesians 2:20 “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,”
But Paul only reveals there that it is the apostle’s foundation,
Not that the apostles are the foundation. The foundation is always Christ.
Jesus told Peter that God had revealed to him the secret of it all.
The very foundation of the church is Christ and the fact that
He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
The church stands upon the person of Christ.
Submission to Jesus as Lord is the sole factor determining
If you are part of the church or not.
“The churches one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; She is His new creation, By Spirit and the Word; From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride, with His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.”
Jesus is Lord of the church.
Those who do not obey Him, do not know Him.
1 John 2:3-6 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”
So the church is built upon the rock of Christ.
The Foundation of the Church
2) THE BUILDER OF THE CHURCH
“and upon this rock I will build My church”
Who is the builder?
Christ.
So much is made today about church growth and growing the church,
But there has always only been one builder.
Only One can add to His church and that is Christ.
John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
It is not now, nor has it ever been,
Our responsibility to grow God’s church, that is Christ’s job.
We spread the seed, but God makes it grow.
Christ builds the church.
That means He is both architect, designer, and builder.
Not only does He pick the color of the bricks,
But He determines where they go.
The church is on dangerous ground when they start thinking
They have the right to design the church of God.
He is the builder, not us.
The Foundation, The Builder
3) THE OWNER OF THE CHURCH
“I will build My church”
Acts 20:28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
1 Peter 1:17-19 “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
And that means that the church is His possession.
It is not for men, it is for Christ.
The church exists to please Him as we are His possession.
It is not about what we want, it is about what He wants.
And He presently washes the church
To make her into something desirable to Him.
Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”
Christ is the Foundation, Christ is the Builder, Christ is the Owner
4) THE VICTORY OF THE CHURCH
“and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”
He did not say the sword of Hades will not overpower it.
Jesus referred to the “gates”.
Gates are defensive weapon.
More specifically Jesus has in mind her prison gates.
“gates of Hades” is a euphemism for death.
Remember why Jesus came?
Hebrews 2:14-15 “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”
Jesus was here revealing an astounding fact about His church.
His church will have victory over death.
Remember Revelation?
Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
Jesus is building a spiritual assembly that even death can’t handle.
And then we get to the point we have been waiting for: our role.
5) THE STEWARDS OF THE CHURCH
(19) “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.”
More than one person has read that verse and scratched their head.
But let’s look at it in an objective light
And you will see it makes perfect sense.
The first thing you have to notice is that whatever it is that Peter is doing,
It is something that has already been done in heaven.
It doesn’t matter if he is binding, or loosing,
Whatever he does is already done in heaven.
That means that in reality, Peter isn’t actually doing anything,
He is only revealing on earth what is already done in heaven.
The next question is, what is binding and loosing.
The Lord has just talked about “the gates of Hades”
Which is a euphemism for death and hell.
Those who are bound are obviously condemned,
And those who are loosed are obviously set free or forgiven.
So Jesus is telling Peter he has the ability to reveal
Who is condemned and who is forgiven.
John 20:21-23
“So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”
That is the same thing here.
Not necessarily to forgive or condemn,
But to reveal who is forgiven and who is condemned.
Remember Peter with Simon the magician?
Acts 8:20-23 “But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”
Peter didn’t condemn him, Peter only revealed that he was condemned.
So Peter will have the ability
To make heaven’s realities revealed on earth.
But it is more than that,
Peter actually has the responsibility to do it, for he has “the keys”.
What are “the keys”
WELL, WHAT IS IT THAT HAS THE POWER TO LOOSE OR KEEP BOUND?
The gospel.
Men are either bound because they reject it,
Or loosed because they accept it.
Peter’s job (as well as that of the church)
Is merely to take the gospel and present it to men.
If they are bound in heaven, they will remain bound on earth,
If they have been loosed in heaven, they will be loosed on earth.
It is all tied to the sovereignty of God.
• He chooses.
• He builds.
• He owns.
So again, if you have been loosed from sin and invited into the kingdom,
Then one more time tell God thank you for doing that.
And so we understand the church’s mission.
• We don’t know who is bound or who is loosed.
• The only way we find out is by trying the keys on their lock.
That is the stewardship of the church, to seek out the chosen.
And the church knew this.
Listen to Paul:
2 Timothy 2:10 “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”
Acts 13:48 “When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”
Acts 18:9-10 “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”
Or remember Pentecost?
Acts 2:38-39 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
We are all Isaiah’s merely rendering the hearts of the people hard,
Their eyes blind, their ears deaf.
We take the gospel and reveal what heaven already knows.
We call out the called.
Now all that being said, notice the last verse.
(20) “Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.”
WHY?
1) The Final Sign hasn’t been given (sign of Jonah)
2) The Holy Spirit hasn’t come
But Jesus was revealing their future role.
BUT THE BEAUTY IS CHRIST’S CHURCH.
It is a spiritual assembly, chosen of God, built by Christ,
Purchased by His blood, sovereignly selected in heaven,
And victorious over death forever.
And those of us who are a part are blessed to be those
Who have been shown that Jesus is the Messiah,
And have confessed Him as such, knowing that now we go
And seek to set free those who still belong.
NOW WE DO OUR PART AND SHARE THE GOSPEL
Matthew 16:18 “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.”
