July 15, 2012
Morning Worship
Text: Matthew 16:13-20
Subject: Who Jesus Is
Title: Building the Church on Your Confession
I have been talking a lot about revival. I will continue to talk about it because we are in revival mode in this church. There is a level of expectation among many of you as we continue to wait for more dynamic manifestations of God’s Spirit among us. As we anticipate a new and fresh outpouring of the Spirit and open ourselves to whatever God desires to do in our lives, we invite a newness and freshness into our midst like we have never seen before.
In order for that to happen we need to have a new and fresh understanding of God’s Word. How many of you can honestly say that you have a clear understanding of the things that God's Word says about your life? And that is why we have church. God has sent me here to open the Word for you so the Holy Spirit can give you those revelation moments.
Amos 18:11 says, “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water,
but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
I believe this is where America is today concerning God's Word – even Christians. New Age teachings have crept into the church. Social doctrines have invaded the body. Last week the Episcopal Church voted to bless same – sex unions in the church. In other words, to have wedding ceremonies for same – sex couples. Other denominations deny the power of God through His Spirit and reject the gifts as being outdated. Some churches claim final authority over the scriptures. Watered down gospels, entertainment oriented services and a lack of call to holiness invades the church. Why? It is because the Jesus that some people are worshipping is not the Jesus of the bible.
The Jesus of the bible is the One who is in agreement with the God of the Bible who has written this book through His Holy Spirit. In John 14:9 Jesus said, …Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
Romans 10:17 in the NIV, Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. The previous verses in Romans tell us that our faith is expressed by our confession.
I want to show you today that the coming revival will be built on the truth of God's Word and our confession of that truth. We must build the church by our confession.
Read Matthew 16:13-20
I believe this is God's Word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
And I appropriate it to my life today…
I. WHAT DOES THE WORLD THINK ABOUT JESUS? 13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” If you asked that question today you would get a variety of answers.
God or Man?
Who Jesus Was
Jesus' Purpose
Resurrection
Happened?
Buddhism
Man
Wise and enlightened man who taught similar things to the Buddha.
To teach humanity wisdom and the way to enlightenment.
Not addressed
Christian Science
Man
Wise man especially attuned to the divine Christ.
To teach humanity, heal, and overcome death.
Yes
Hinduism
Views vary
Incarnation of God akin to Krishna, or wise man.
Not addressed
Not addressed
Islam
Man
True prophet sent by God, but superseded by Muhammad.
To reveal God's will in a progressive revelation that ended with Muhammad.
No
Jehovah's Witnesses
An archangel
Son of God, Word of God, God's first creation, Archangel Michael.
Teach about God, provide a model for right living, die sacrificially for human sin.
Yes
Mormonism (LDS)
Man
Son of God, Savior, originally one of the spirit beings that all humans used to be. Has a physical body.
To teach about God, provide a model for living, die sacrificially for sin.
Yes
I want you to look at the response that the disciples gave Jesus. 14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Things aren’t much different now than they were then… except that we have 2000 years of bible study that we can look back on to help us understand who Jesus is. The Jews of Jesus’ time also had nearly 2000 years of ancient writings to study that would show them without any doubt what the Messiah would be like. Now, I have said all that to say this: Too much of the world’s view of who Jesus is has entered into the church and the picture of the biblical Jesus has become distorted. So the Jesus we see portrayed today is a Jesus who saves, but that’s it. He’s not the healer, provider, deliverer… So if those who trust in Christ as their Savior confess Him as savior, what will they get? Salvation! But if they deny Him as healer, provider, deliverer, what will they get? Nothing! That brings us to the next question Jesus asks.
II. WHO DO BELIEVERS SAY THAT JESUS IS? 15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” That is the same question that He is asking today. Who do you say that He is? 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” There are three things taking place here. 1) Peter is making a confession according to the Messianic expectations of the Old Testament. Isaiah 61:1-3, 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair… 2) Peter is making a confession according to his own observations of Jesus’ life… It began with Jesus’ first preaching date at His home synagogue when he read from that passage in Isaiah that I just read. And then He said that this was now fulfilled within their hearing. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to question Jesus how did He respond? Matthew 11:4-5, 4Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 3) This may be the most important for believers today. Peter made a confession of revelation received under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. Now, once again let me say that we have a book that has been written by the very hand of God Himself through men under the anointing of the Spirit. All we have to do is look at the book to see who Jesus is. If your understanding of this Jesus does not line up with what the bible says about Him, you need to change the way you think about who He is to you. Hebrews 1:1-3, 1In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
II. WHAT SHALL YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU KNOW? 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Let me say right now that this passage has nothing to do with Peter being the first pope. What it does do is that it sets the stage for what the real foundation of the church would be. The name “Peter” is the Greek word petros and it means a piece of a rock. Peter himself would be but a small stone in the foundation that was built on the apostles and prophets… (Ephesians 2:19 - 20) 19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. The second word we need to look at in verse 18 is the word “rock”. It is the Greek word petra and it means a mass of rock. So Peter, the little rock, begins to build not on himself, but upon the confession that he has made of who Jesus is. So Jesus acknowledges the confession and then continues with what Peter needs to do with that confession. 1) Jesus will use that confession as the foundation upon which He would build His church. Listen to me, this is not just the confession of who Jesus is, but the confession of all that He would do as the Messiah – the Anointed One of God. 2) 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; What are the keys to the kingdom of heaven? The real key is in understanding what belongs to us as disciples. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that those who are in Christ are new creations. We now begin to think about things and see things the way God sees them. We have the mind of Christ… Healing is ours. Blessings are ours… authority is ours… deliverance is ours… 3) whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” The word “bind” is used in a legal sense… as in a binding contract. As believers in Jesus Christ you have the authority to procure every promise on your behalf for your benefit by that authority. This is not just about binding demonic spirits. This is about binding sickness, poverty, depression, etc. 1 John 3:8 is written in the context of sin, but it relates to everything that Jesus accomplished. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. How do you appropriate binding and loosing into your life? By confessing what God says about every situation that comes against you. Jesus finishes by saying something that seems odd to us. 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. Why not? The word Christ or christos in the Greek is the same word as Messiah in the Hebrew scriptures and it means the anointed one… Jesus did not want his disciples to tell the other Jews that He was their Messiah because he wanted them to first come to the understanding that they needed to be set free from the bondage of sin before they were set free from the bondage of the Roman empire.
The Lord has spoken to us about revival. This is the year of the Harvest. When the Lord spoke that to me He did not say that it is going to be the Year of the Harvest. It IS the Year of the Harvest.
Who do you say that Jesus is? Is He still the healer? Only if you confess what He says about it. Is He still the deliverer? Only when your words line up with His words. Is He still the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit? If you say so…
Jesus has given you binding authority on the earth so that what you say in agreement to His word is done in heaven. Jesus is still building His church through you the body of Christ. He is still the foundation – the cornerstone. And your confession of His words will build the church.
