This country is in a civil war. It’s not the north and south like the conflict that was fought 160 years ago. This civil war is for the hearts, minds, and for the very soul of America. And it would appear that America is losing its heart, mind, and soul to the dark forces of the world. The sides are not very clearly drawn because there are people scattered throughout the spectrum from conservative to moderate to liberal to leftist. But there is another side, there are godly and the ungodly. Where is God’s people in all of this?
As a I was preparing for this message, I was studying about the functions, purpose, and mission of the church. And what I found disturbing, is that the church, throughout all of this current conflict, has been on sideline, been merely a commentator, relatively uninvolved and as a result, the church is actively being attacked and marginalized by the world. There are some denominations that have surrendered and gone over to side of the world and popular culture. One article I was reading an article by Perry Noble about the future he sees for the church. His last comment was, “I believe God has called the church to CHANGE the world…not complain about it!!!” That hit me between the eyes, because I’m good at saying what is wrong with the world and our nation, but I do very little to make a change.
We know that our fight is not flesh and blood but:
Ephesians 6:12 (NASB95) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
So how do we fight this battle. We will get into the tools, the weapons for this battle later, but for now, Let us consider the fact that we do not fight these spiritual battles alone. Jesus has given us the church, we are His body here on earth. We are the Church, Christ's Army here on earth.
Our passage today deals with Jesus’ first mention of the church in the gospels. It comes right after Peter makes the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the long waited Messiah, the Son of the living God.
Matthew 16:18–19
Is it Possible To Be Christian Without Church? Answer: Yes, it is possible. It is something like being:
A student who will not go to school.
A soldier who will not join an army.
A citizen who does not pay taxes or vote.
A salesman with no customers.
A sailor without a ship.
An author without readers.
A tuba player without an orchestra.
A parent without a family.
A football player without a team.
A politician who is a hermit.
A scientist who does not share his findings.
A bee without a hive.
Jesus instituted the church. It is the church through which the fight is taken to the enemy. It is the church that Christians are organized to accomplish the mission. It is to the church that Jesus gives us our marching orders. And what are those orders? the Great Commission:
Matthew 28:18–20 (NASB95) And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This Great Commission is a tall order, especially in today’s world. But I hope you catch what is being said here. We fight by spreading the gospel. That is the only thing that will save us as a people. One method of spreading the gospel is with our testimony. What has Jesus done for us. Do not underestimate the power of your testimony concerning Jesus.
Revelation 12:11 (NASB95) “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.
Note that “him” in this passage is the devil. We all hold to the same testimony and it is far easier to hold to it when we hold to it together.
Now for our focal passage today. Let’s put it into context. Look in your Bibles back a few verses to verse 13. We see that Jesus had taken his disciples to the area of Caesarea Philippi. This area was a strong Roman settlement, few Jews lived there. It was a pagan stronghold. Perhaps Jesus went there to escape the crowds so to be able to instruct his 12 disciples without interference. There in Caesarea Philippi was a number of temples to the various Roman gods. This area is in northern Israel near the base of Mt Hermon in the area we call the Golan Heights. Here is were the Hermon Springs are, the headwaters of the Jordan River. One of these temples was to the Roman god, Pan, the half goat/half man god. Behind the temple was a grotto or cave with a very deep pit. This grotto was also known as the Gates of Hades, or the entranceway to the underworld. Today this grotto or cave is very visible. It is against this backdrop that Jesus asks the question, “Who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15). Upon Peter’s confession of faith, saying that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus went on to say, against the backdrop of the gates of Hades that He would build His church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Matthew 16:18 (NASB95) “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.
Most of you have heard about the play on words here in the Greek. Peter, or “Petros” in Greek (Cephas in Aramaic) means a stone or a pebble. And rock in Greek is “petra” meaning a bolder or even a cliff. Big difference between the similar sounding words. Throughout the OT, “Rock” has always stood for Yahweh God. Just a couple of examples from many:
Deuteronomy 32:4 (NASB95) “The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.
Psalm 18:2 (NASB95) The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
And there are many other examples. The rock that Jesus is building the church upon is Himself. Jesus is that rock.
1 Corinthians 10:4 (NASB95) and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
Put into context, Paul was using the example of Moses and the Hebrew wanderings in the wilderness, drinking water that poured from the rock. Jesus is the Rock upon which the church is built. We are the building stones, the living stones if you will.
1 Peter 2:5 (NASB95) you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
And Jesus is the cornerstone.
1 Peter 2:6 (NASB95) For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”
This fits well with the comparison of the church being the body of Christ, with Jesus being the head.
Colossians 1:18 (NASB95) He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
So it is upon the rock that is Jesus that the church is being built. A couple of details we must not miss, first is that the church belongs to Jesus, he says verse 19, “my church.” The church does not belong to us, it is not our church, it is not the pastor’s church. The church belongs to Jesus. And second Jesus said that “I will build my church.” The church growth does not happen because of some new fad church growth plan, the growth comes because Jesus grows the church. The church is built in size as well as in depth, and Jesus uses you and me to accomplish His purposes.
And concerning the spiritual battle the church will face, Jesus said, “and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” The KJV has “Hell” but the Greek has “Hades.” The Hebrew word would be “sheol.” These do not mean the place of everlasting torment, but rather it means the place of the dead. Hades is the place where the un-saved go to await the resurrection unto judgment. We know now from the NT that those who are in Christ, are in His presences at the point of death.
The imagery of gates at the entrance to the underworld or realm of the dead was widespread in the ancient world. As might be expected, the imagery is used for entry to or exit from the underworld: the opening of the gates or even proximity to the gates may be an unwelcome indication that death is threatening; the closing of the gates may suggest the irreversibility, for the most part, of the claim of death; the gates stand as a barrier between those on either side; sometimes there is an interest in what may persuade the gatekeeper(s) to open the gates.
But death has no power over the church. Jesus overcame death on the cross, with His resurrection from the grave. The word tells us Jesus is the first fruits of those who will rise.
1 Corinthians 15:20 (NASB95) But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.
In Revelation, Jesus tells us:
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.
The church will never die – though some individual churches may falter – the church as a whole will never die. The church is the earthly body of Christ. There is nothing that can kill the church. It is with this in mind I ask the question, Why is the church acting like it is so afraid? Death has no power over the church.
It is interesting to note that throughout history, the more the church was persecuted, the more it grows. We read about the crackdown on churches in China, but the church there is larger and stronger now than it has ever been. I’m am afraid it will take persecution here in the United States to start growing the church again. Let me tell you what persecution does, it weeds out the dead beats, the pretend Christians, those that would hold back the church.
Jesus has given the church a job to do.
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.”
From this verse we have the unfortunate miss-guided image of Peter at the pearly gates letting some in and keeping others out. The keys are to the kingdom: - not to heaven. The kingdom equates to the King. We have the keys to the King Himself. And the keys are for opening. We know that these keys are not for death and eternity because we just read in Revelation 1:18 that Jesus has those keys. This is an image from the OT:
Isaiah 22:22 (NASB95) “Then I will set the key of the house of David on his shoulder, When he opens no one will shut, When he shuts no one will open.
This is in reverence to Eliakin, steward of the King David’s house. Eliakin opened the doors to the king and allowed some to see the king and closes the door for others. When he opened the door no one would close it, and once he closed, no one would open it.
To bind and loose – a common Jewish phrase. To allow or to forbid. We hold the keys to the Kingdom. When we preach the gospel, we are opening the doors to the kingdom, perhaps a few might come in. But if we do not tell people about Jesus, we lock the door to the kingdom. Jesus had words for those who closed the doors
Matthew 23:13 (NASB95) “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
It is a war we are fighting. The enemy wins when we keep the door closed. We need to be careful here. When we, as a the church, bind and loosen, it does not determine policy in heaven. What we do reflects what has already been determined in heaven. The phrase in Matthew 16:19, “shall have been bound” and “shall have been loosed,” in the Greek it is in the perfect passive tense, passive meaning it has already been done, and perfect meaning it is a completed action. What we bound and what we loosen here on earth is only what has already been bounded and loosened in heaven.
This is why we need to know our scripture. This why I can say with confidence and authority to someone who has just been saved, “Your sin have been forgiven,” Not that I pronounce them forgiven, but the word tell me that Jesus, who died for our sins had forgiven them at the moment of salvation.
Let me concluded by stating a few things I believe about the church: I believe God has called the church to CHANGE the world…not complain about it! I believe the potential for the local church to do good and create positive change in the world is greater than it has ever been. I believe that the ROOT of the desire to do good and create positive change in the world HAS to be the GOSPEL, and if it isn’t, what will develop is cool ministry fads and ideas…but nothing revolutionary that will impact the world.
It is the Gospel that changes the world. I believe that some of the greatest Christian leaders that the world will ever know are currently in elementary school, middle school, and high school…thus making youth and children’s ministry one of the greatest mission opportunities that the local church can invest in. Yet why are we so hard pressed to find teachers to teach the children?
I believe that we will see some of the greatest moves of God this world has ever seen, will happen when the local church finally decided to step up and be the church.
We are in this Army together – We do not fight this battle alone. We have each other and the head of the church, Jesus. What is God calling you to do today? Is it to be active in the this local unit – this local church?
Maybe someone today has yet to enlist. You are clearly losing in this spiritual battle and you want to be on the winning side.
Yes, there is a spiritual battle to waged, and Jesus has given us the church, as His body on earth to fight these battles. We are not alone.
