Background to passage: Jesus has been ministering up as far as Tyre and Sidon, then back to the Sea of Galilee and then to Caesarea Philippi. He fed the 4000, moved around the sea, and the disciples having caught up, he warned to stay away from the leaven of the Pharisees, which they completely missed. In this text we have the great confession of faith, and so many other things that could be taught, but in continuing our series on evangelism, which is the first part of discipleship (never separated), I want to look at what success looks like.
Matthew 16:13–20 ESV
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
Opening illustration: Jacob’s success was not in having hundreds of sheep and goats, camels and donkeys, male and female servants, it was his faithfulness in going back to Canaan, reconciling with his brother, and taking his place in the fulfillment of the promise. “He who dies with the most toys wins.”
Main thought: Redefining success from a strict qualitative accomplishment perspective to faithfulness being the biblical standard of success
1) Jesus’s Faithfulness (v. 18-19)
Matthew 16:18–19 ESV
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
1) Jesus’s Faithfulness (v. 18-19)
Explanation: Jesus makes a statement here that is clear and vague at the same time. He says that he will be the one to build his church. He definitely puts the responsibility of “building” the church on himself. Yet, he doesn’t say what he is going to do. We know that he clarifies the mission a little more with telling us to go to the nations and make disciples. We know that the Holy Spirit empowers us and convicts of sin and righteousness.
The point is the Jesus is the one that will do the building. Jesus will do the drawing. He will do the saving. He will do the eye-opening, repentance and faith giving, opening the heart miracle of conversion. That is his responsibility. He also says that he will give us the keys to the kingdom, so that we could pronounce forgiveness upon those who repent and believe. He promises to put the right people in a church. If you are here, he has put you here to serve and build up the body.
Argumentation:
Illustration: Testify about Jesus’s provision of Mackenzie’s medicine. But what if he didn’t? Does Jesus promise to provide for our medicine? Does He promise to grow His church?
Application: Jesus promises to do something: build his church. The “success” if you want to call it that, is on Jesus. He is always faithful to do what he promises. If you want to see a church truly grow, let Jesus have his way. Jesus says he will build it on the confession of faith that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Do we trust Christ to build his church? Do we look to him first and foremost? Not buildings, equipment, ministries, charismatic personalities, but truly put our faith in Jesus? He will never fail. Our success in guaranteed in Christ’s faithfulness. Maybe a more practical question is do we ensure opportunities to share? Jesus does promises to save by the hearing of the word, through people sharing.
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2) Your Faithfulness (v. 16)
Matthew 16:16 ESV
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
2) Your Faithfulness (v. 16)
Explanation: There is a human side to evangelism and a divine side. Before Jesus declared his part, Peter gave the answer to the question about who the disciples thought Jesus was. His answer was right, correct, theologically sound, and is still the rightful proclamation of the gospel.
This is the part that I want to redefine: there is only one way to fail in evangelism. The good news is that we don’t evaluate “success” in evangelism by the vast numbers of people who do or don’t come to know Jesus (that’s Jesus’s job). We evaluate “success” by our faithfulness. Do we follow and obey? The only way to fail in evangelism is never share. It is not to be obedient to the promptings of the Spirit. There are dozens of ways to share and witness, but have you been faithful?
Acts 2:42–47 ESV
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
And all who believed were together and had all things in common.
And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,
praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Illustration: Tell about some witnessing encounters — Shoshanna, Peggy Carter,
Application: There is no need to fear saying the wrong things. There is no need to fear not having all the answers. There is no need to fear awkwardness. At least not to the point that it can cause you to fail. You can’t fail if you are obedient. There are different strokes for different folks. People need to hear the gospel through so many ways. Many need to see a legitimate Christian. Many need to have a clear understanding of salvation. Some need a 1000 little things, some need a dozen people, but you might be number 8. So need to be fed and clothed first. Some need to be encouraged and befriended first.
We don’t have to think of evangelism as only going door to door telling the old story. It can be. It can be street preaching, but it can be so much more. But the important thing is that we keep it in the forefront of our minds that the things we do and are done to give away this great Treasure that we have.
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Closing illustration: Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) went through many hard times in Burma. But when he died in 1850, there were 7,000 baptized believers, 63 Christian congregations, and 163 missionaries in the country.
Recap
