The Rock and the Hard Place Part 9
Scriptures: Matthew 16:13-19; Luke 9:23-26
Introduction:
This message will conclude my series “The Rock and the hard place.” In this series I wanted to accomplish a couple of things. First I wanted you to begin thinking about who your heavenly Father really is and what He stands for. Secondly I wanted you to understand the authority that we have in this world and how that authority is linked directly to our faith which links us directly to God. I wanted you to understand that knowing and understanding who God is includes believing and acting on what He has said in the Bible without compromise and without apology. Once we have this assurance deep down on the inside of us as an unshakeable truth, we will begin to grasp who we truly are – sons and daughters of God Almighty – who have everything we need to complete the assignment our Father has for us. That’s a very quick summary of the previous messages.
The message today may not seem like it fits but it’s just as much about faith as the others. This is the message that actually started Barry’s and my thinking about the whole series. I intentionally saved this message for last because I want to drive home a point that we must understand, sometimes we are between a rock and a hard place because we are standing on the word of God against a world that does not want us to. In this message the Rock is going to be God, not our troubles, but the one who is there to get us out of trouble. Let me explain.
If the Apostle Paul were to suddenly appear today, I’m not sure he would recognize the Church. He would see very little difference in the thought and behavior of those who say they are Christians and those who are not Christians. He would see very little difference in the way those who say they are Christians treat people and those who are not Christians. (Sometimes non-Christians treat people much better!) He would see those who call themselves Christians supporting the same things as those who are not Christians. He would see men and women in the pulpit saying “You live in God’s grace. All of your sins, past, present and future, have been covered by the blood of Jesus. So you don’t have to worry about repenting for those sins.” And, if I were the Apostle Paul looking at what the body of Christ had become I would ask “How did this happen?” I will tell you.
I. The Rock
Many of us in the body of Christ have found ourselves between “The Rock and the hard place.” Turn to Matthew 16:13-19. “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."
In this passage we see Jesus asking the disciples two questions: (1) who do men say I am and (2) who do you believe I am? This is crucial because what was most important to Jesus was not what the people thought, but what the disciples knew. After telling him who the people say he was Peter speaks up and says “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” How could Peter have known that with such conviction? Jesus answers this question in verse 17, “My Father has shown this to you Simon.” Then Jesus says “Peter, My Father has just revealed to you who I truly am and upon that rock – upon the revelation you just received from Him about who I am – I am going to build my church.” The rock that Jesus spoke of was not Himself but who He was and who He is to us. Some have taught that Jesus was speaking of Peter and that He would build His church on the shoulders of Peter, but this was not the case. Peter was one of the disciples, but Jesus was not building His church on Peter – He was building His Church on the knowledge of who He was and what this meant for our lives. This is why the gates of hell shall not prevail against it! Those gates cannot prevail against the revelation of who Jesus is and who we are because of Him while they could stand against Peter. Don’t get this confused! Jesus then tells Peter “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." In other words, I will show you how to live in the kingdom of heaven with authority on earth. What were these keys? Very simply everything Jesus taught and preached. Matthew 4:17: “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Everything Jesus taught were “rocks” – demonstrations of His life and how to live as a member of the kingdom of heaven here on earth. His teaching leads to a life of spiritual fulfillment, not only for us, but for those we interact with. This is why it is so important that we do more than just worship with each other. Lives are at stake and change is within our hands!
Jesus is the Rock and if we are walking with Him, we have the Rock leading us. Now imagine this if you will. You are looking at a path that is overgrown with trees, shrubbery, and other vegetation. You need to make a clear path so that you can get to your destination. What do you do? You get a bulldozer and start flattening everything in its path. Now imagine what would happen if you had a huge rock rolling in front of you flattening everything in your path! Can you see it? Can you see the trees falling and the shrubbery being flattened? The word of God tells us that when John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as the Son of God he said “Every ravine will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low; the crooked will become straight, and the rough roads smooth. And all flesh will see the salvation of God.” (Luke 3:5-6) Can you see Jesus as the Rock going forth before you making your way straight? But what if you do not want your way straight? What if you desire to get in front of the Rock to attempt to change its course? We find ourselves between the Rock and the hard place!
II. The Hard Place
Now how do we find ourselves between “The Rock and the hard place”? When we look at the life of Jesus, He was not swayed by the doctrines of the day that went against what He was preaching and teaching. Jesus was firm and uncompromising on what He taught about sin, God, money, relationships, etc. He didn’t accept anything that differed from what He taught. Let that sink in. If it went against what Jesus taught then He didn’t accept it and He didn’t have a problem telling you that you were wrong. For many of us, we find ourselves in “The hard place” because we want to make allowances for things that don’t agree with the “Rock” we see in the Bible. Anytime we consider something that goes against what Jesus taught we are making a decision to put ourselves in “the hard place.” We are making a decision to put ourselves in a place that is in opposition to Jesus. Think about that. Why do so many in the Church find themselves between “The Rock” and “the hard place”? Let’s answer this question from scripture. 2 Timothy 1:13 says “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” Titus 1:9 says “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.” Finally 2 Timothy 2:2 says “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
In these verses Paul is telling Timothy, and us, that there will be those in the body of Christ who will teach things that he did not teach. They will be teaching things that God had not given to him. So he tells them to take the word that he taught them and learn it and hold on to it for dear life because if they didn’t they would let it go because what the others were teaching sounded so good. Are we not seeing this today? We are seeing teaching from the pulpit that show “the sound words” have been let go – have not been held on to for dear life. You now have ministers who preach a loving God would not be against same-sex marriage. You have ministers who preach a person committed to living a homosexual lifestyle can still go to heaven. You have ministers who preach God wants us living lavishly because it brings glory to Him. You have ministers who have and continue to commit adultery with knowledge of it being very public and are still in the pulpit each Sunday and adored by their congregations. These are examples of how the church has lost “the sound words” that we see on the pages of the Bible and is finding itself in “The hard place.”
Are there other ways we put ourselves in “The hard place” and in opposition to “The Rock” of who Jesus is and what He taught? 2 Timothy 3:16 says “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Peter 1:20-21 says “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
What am I telling you this morning? It costs something to serve God openly and without compromise. I am not saying that we should judge anyone or treat anyone without dignity and/or respect, but that should not change how we accept and/or view sin. When I sinned, and yes I have committed many, I knew it was sin. I did not try and justify the sins or try to fool myself into thinking that God was ok with it because He was not. I knew what I was doing and I knew it did not please God. Likewise, as I have shared with you repeatedly in this series, when I recognized where my faith was in different areas of my life, I knew part of it was tied to what I truly believed in my heart as it pertained to His word versus the words of the world. I know my stance on some things conflict with others who do not believe as I do, and I am okay with that. Why? It is not because I am so arrogant to believe that I have the only answers, it is because I choose to take the Bible at its word. I choose to believe that Jesus meant exactly what He said and the God that I serve is big enough to ensure that what He wanted captured in the Bible for all generations to have access to was actually captured even if many question it. But what is most important is what God has done in my life through His Son Jesus Christ. He brought me out of sin. He gave me authority. He gave me an inheritance. He gave me the ability to be a blessing to others and to live my life so that I can bring others to Him. He looked beyond all of my issues and chose me anyway. He looked beyond all of what you can see and looked into my heart. Because He chose me, cleansed me, and called me son, I am willing to take the abuse, criticism and judgments from others because I believe His word. I refuse to be between the Rock and a hard place anymore. What about you?
Conclusion
I want to conclude this series with something that Jesus said to His disciples which also includes all of us. As I have shared with you earlier, Jesus had asked the disciples who people said that He was. After they gave different answers Peter spoke up and said He was the Christ. Jesus told them not to tell anyone and then began to tell them how He must suffer many things. Here is what is recorded in Luke 9:23-26. I am only touching on this today and I will do an entire message on this Scripture in the future if the Lord wills. Luke 9:23-26 says: “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."
Jesus said that for anyone who desired to follow Him they must deny themselves and take up his own cross and follow Him. The cross was a well-known instrument of death. This reference was indicating that the person who would follow Jesus would die (or separate) from the old life that marked our lives before we accepted Him. This was not a one-time event, but a change in lifestyle. Jesus said that those who were willing to forfeit their lives for Him would actually end up saving their own life. He asks His disciples what was the profit in a man gaining the whole world and then dying and going to hell. Have you thought about that? Finally Jesus said that if we were ashamed of Him in this world He would be ashamed of us when He comes in His glory. Is that what He said? No, that is partially what He said which gets repeated often. What He really said was that if we are ashamed of Him and His Words then He would be ashamed of us when He comes in His glory. You see, we try to separate Jesus from His words; from His teaching. This is what places us between The Rock and a hard place – we want Jesus in our lives but we want to live without His words in a lot of areas of our lives.
As I close this morning I want you to reflect on this one thing: are you between The Rock and a hard place? Are you in a situation where Christ and His words are causing you trouble because those around you do not accept them. Are you finding it difficult to maintain and grow your faith when the world around you is telling you that you’re wrong and prejudiced against others? Are you finding it difficult to stand in your integrity as a child of God when the world tells you it is okay to deceive others as long as no real harm is done? If you’re struggling with any of these areas and others, you’re between The Rock and a hard place. Take a stand this morning. Choose the Rock. I will leave you with these words from the song “I Go to the Rock” by Aaron Jeoffrey. “Where do I go, when there's nobody else to turn to? Who do I talk to, when no one wants to listen? Who do I lean on when there's no foundation stable? I go to the Rock, I know He's able, I go to the Rock. I go to the Rock of my Salvation, I go to the Stone that the builders rejected. I run to the mountain and the mountain stands by me. When the earth all around me is sinking sand, on Christ, the solid rock I stand. When I need a shelter, when I need a friend, I go to the Rock.”
I also want to give a special shout-out to my big, older brother Barry who contributed much to this series. Thank you Barry – I love you!
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
