The Rock That Doesn’t Roll
(Matthew 16:13-20)
Good morning! What a great joy it is to be with you this morning. I trust that you’ve come with an open heart and mind this morning and that you want to hear from God and not from just another preacher. I want you to know I’m not here to entertain you or to try to impress you with fancy words or just a bunch of bible knowledge this morning. I mean look at me folks; I’m as plain as they come and in my own strength what you see up here behind the pulpit couldn’t sell a glass of water to a man dying of thirst. But I’m not here to sell anything. I’m here to share something with you that’s free.
The word of God tells us in Isaiah 55:1, “If you’re thirsty, come to the water”. Jesus said, “If any man drinks of this water he’ll thirst again, but if he drinks the water I offer he’ll never thirst.” Folks in Jesus Christ we’re drawing from the well that never runs dry! So let’s turn our eyes upon Jesus this morning. He’s our stability in this crumbling world that we live in. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and it beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”
The rock! Let me ask you something this morning, Is your life built on the rock? Is your marriage built on the rock? Is your home built on the rock? What about your faith? Is your faith built on the rock? I want to talk about that rock this morning. Turn to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 16. We’re going to be looking at verses 13-20. I’ve entitled today’s message, “The Rock that doesn’t Roll.” As you’re turning there I want to remind us that the word of God is the ultimate source of truth in a world that full of false hope. The world will tell you it’s impossible, but God says, “All things are possible.” The world will tell you, “Nobody really loves you, you’re not worth anything.” But Jesus says, “I love you and I care about you, cast all your cares upon Me. Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are worth it.”
Friend, I want to tell you this, nobody ever loved you like Jesus does. And when the devil messes with you and you can’t figure things out and you don’t know which way to turn, God says, “Acknowledge Me in all of your ways and I’ll direct your every step.” Folks, when we read the word of God we read truth! I mean, we don’t just use truth as a theological term; His word is truth because He’s truth! Look with me at Matthew 16, verses 13-20. (Read Matt. 16:13-20/Pray)
You know, in God’s Word there are some passages that we are more familiar with than others and there are those that we use frequently to get our point across. One of those is what we call The Great Commission, where we are told to make disciples as we’re sharing the Good News. In this passage of scripture we see what I want to call The Great Confession because these scriptures tell us plainly who The Lord Jesus Christ is. And in verses 13-20 I also want us to see 6 things about this great confession. The first one is this,
1. This is not the Confession of the World (verses 13-14).
In verse 13 Jesus asked His disciples a very simple question, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man am?” Did you notice there that Jesus used the term “Son of Man” instead of Son of God? That’s not a denial of His Deity, that’s just a term that Jesus used to show His human side. I mean, we know from scripture that He is God. We’ve covered that before. But we also know that He was fully human too. So, this term “Son of Man” doesn’t take away from who He is. And let me say this, it’s important that we know who people think Jesus is, because what people think of Jesus determines their destiny. It shows us how we need to reach out to them. It also determines how a society is going to react and behave in reference to who He is. So it’s important for us to know who people think Jesus is.
Well, the disciples throw out some names in verse 14, and as you can see, these were some people who were heavy duty prophets. I mean these were some guys who were well respected among the Jewish people. If you remember from Matthew chapter 14, it mentions Herod hearing about Jesus and making the statement, “This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.” And there were other similarities that Jesus and John the Baptist had; they both preached repentance and the Kingdom of God, both were doing a great work for God. Now, these people were really mixed up when you think about it because there were some that thought John the Baptist was the Messiah, Remember? But when John was asked about it he said plainly in John 1:28, “I am not the Christ.” And now we have people in this portion of scripture that think the Messiah is John the Baptist. But that’s not the only person they thought He was. Some people were saying Jesus was Elijah come back to the world. You see, Elijah was considered to be greatest of all the Old Testament prophets and Jesus was doing some of the same kind of things Elijah was doing miraculously. And it was believed among the Jews that Jeremiah would return right before the coming of the Messiah. But in all of these, Jesus was not who they thought He was.
Did you know that people after people, generation after generation have had their own ideas about who Jesus is? They still have them today. A lot of people think He’s a great teacher along the same as Mohammad or Buddha or any of that bunch. There have even been people throughout history and from ever kind of background that others have worshiped as the Messiah from Sung Yung Moon to Charles Manson. You know, people are funny. They believe different things. You have somebody come along and persuade a few folks that they have the truth when in reality they are liars and they don’t have any righteousness at all. And then you have Jesus the true Messiah, the way, the truth, and the life, and people think He’s just another teacher like all the rest that made a great contribution to mankind. And in the meantime everybody’s looking for truth and real meaning in life and a purpose to live. But there’s missing it because they think Jesus is somebody else! The second thing I want us to see is,
2. This Confession is Personal (Verses 15-16)
In verse 15 Jesus asks another question. But this question is different than the first. This is a personal question. He asks His disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” As a matter of fact, in the Greek it is even more personal. The Greek says, “But you, who do you say that I am?” You can’t get any more personal than that! And folks, this is the question of all questions because how you answer it determines where you will spend eternity. Well, notice who’s the first one to speak out, it’s old Simon Peter! Peter is the one who always seems to speak out first but the problem is he usually puts his foot in his mouth like most of us do. But here’s one time when he said the right thing at the right time. Peter responds, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” And this is something that has come out of Simon Peter by personal conviction. He’s not just saying it because it’s the thing to say. He means it from his heart. Peter makes 3 important statements about Jesus in this confession,
a. Jesus is the Christ – The Annointed One of God.
b. The Son of God – Notice he didn’t say Son of Man. He’s saying Jesus is one with the Father because Jesus has the same characteristics the Father does.
c. The Son of the Living God – He is the Source and being of life and According to John 5:26, He has the power of life within Himself.” We serve a living God. We don’t serve a god like the one the prophets of Baal cried out to morning, noon, and night and they cut their selves and bled to try to get his attention. But the scripture says in I Kings 18:29, “But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.” Folks, as Christians we don’t serve a dead God, we serve the very giver and taker of life itself. I don’t care what Frederick Neitche said about God being dead. Neitche knows the truth now! “Folks, as believers our testimony can be summed up by Psalm 34:6, “This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”
You know when Peter said this, he didn’t know all that was going to take place in the future like the cross and the Resurrection and the Ascension. What he said came from a simple trust from a heart that really was convinced that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And that’s the kind of simple trust that God wants, nothing more and nothing less. “I believe you’re the true Messiah. You’re not just a mere man. You’re the Son of God sent by God to fulfill all that the prophets foretold. This confession is personal and the question is one that everybody has to answer sooner or later. The third thing about this confession is this,
3. It’s a Confession that only God Reveals (verse 17/Read).
This wasn’t something that Peter went around and investigated and came to a conclusion. God revealed this to him. You see, one of the verses that I use a lot is Romans 10:17 which says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (or that which preaches Christ)”. As your Associate Pastor when I have the opportunity to preach, my job is to bring you the Word of God. It’s not my job to convict you of your sin and to trust in Christ. That’s the Holy Spirit’s job. John 16:8 says this, “And when He has come (the Holy Spirit), He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” If you make a decision for Christ, it’s not something I say that does it. That’s a God thing! Only He can do that. God revealed to Simon Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God just like He did to you and me that have been saved by God’s grace. You know, something I found interesting in preparing this, earlier in this chapter the Pharisees and the Sadducees were testing Jesus and asking Him for a sign to show who He was. And later Jesus tells His disciples to beware of what the Pharisees and the Sadducees teach. Those guys were supposed to lead the people in the truth about God and they were rejecting the Son of God and here you have a poor uneducated fisherman proclaiming the truth of the ages.
Just a few pages back in chapter 11, Jesus looks up to God and says in verse 25, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.” The supposedly all wise Pharisees and Sadducees rejected the truth but the humble disciples accepted truth and shared it. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” – James 4:6. The fourth thing about this confession is this,
4. This Confession is the Foundation of the Church (Look at verse 18/ Read).
Now we’re going to step into some deep theological waters for a minute. There are those in other faiths that teach this passage with an entirely different point of view. I don’t hold to that point of view for several reasons. The main reason is because I don’t believe that’s what the scriptures teach. I have also studied this passage from both the English and Greek translation, which is necessary I think if you want accurate Bible information these days (and by the way, that’s not as difficult as it sounds with all of the Bible study resources we have available today). But looking at the Greek is the key to really understanding this verse. It really helps bring it to light.
In verse 18 the key to understanding this verse is the difference between two words that sound a lot alike in the Greek. First of all, we see the name Peter which in the Greek is the word petros, which means “a stone or a small pebble.” And then you have the word “rock” which is the Greek word petra which means “a massive boulder.” Now why is that so significant? Here’s why! Jesus tells Simon in this verse that he is Peter and on this rock He will build His church. Is He saying that He will build His church on the foundation of Peter? NO! Remember what Peter’s name means? It means a stone, a small pebble. Is that what Jesus is going to build His church on? Certainly not! Let me ask you this, “How could the infallible God build His church on a fallible man?” The answer – He didn’t! He says “on this rock” (the word “rock” there referring to the word petra which means a massive boulder). That’s what He’s going to build His church on, not a person! But what does the phrase “on this rock” refer to? When Jesus said “on this rock I will build My church” He was referring to the confession Peter made in verse 16 that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That’s it. That is the foundation of the church. It’s not built upon a person; it’s built upon who Jesus Christ is – the Son of the Living God!
To back that up I Cor. 3:11 says, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Jesus is the foundation rock of the church and everything else is built upon Him. If you know anything about building houses, which I don’t but one thing I do know, if the foundation isn’t right the whole house isn’t right. The confession that Simon Peter made about Jesus is a massive boulder in relation to the little bitty pebble that he was.
Now let me say this about Simon Peter. He was a rock in a lot of ways. He was the first of the disciples to fully grasp who Jesus was and later on when Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit, he becomes a real fireball for Christ. He said in Acts chapter 4 that Jesus was not only the foundation of the church, He is the chief cornerstone and that salvation is not found in any other name given among men. Peter was a rock all right but he wasn’t the Rock! Jesus is!
Jesus also said in this verse that the gates of Hell would not prevail against His church. A better translation of that is “the gates of Hades”. Hell is the Greek word Geheena which is the final destiny for all the unsaved after the Great White Throne Judgment in Revelation chapter 20. Hades is simply the realm of the dead and that’s what’s referred to here. In the Bible “gates” represents authority and power. Where today we have a city hall, they had the city gates. That’s where all the important business transactions took place. So in this verse the phrase “the gates of Hades” would be symbolic of the organized power of death and Satan. You see in just a few chapters The Lord Jesus is going to the cross and die, and then conquer death by rising from the dead and because He’s done that, those who put their trust in Him will conquer death too! Isn’t that great? I want to add that there are only a couple of places in the Gospels where the word “church” is used, here and in Matthew chapter 18 verse 17. We really think about the birth of the church in Acts chapter 2 but Jesus talked about the church here in contrast to the other assemblies of the Jews. He was showing something new to His disciples. The word “church” means the “called out ones” and that’s what we are. Okay, the next thing I want us to see about this confession is,
5. This Confession bears Great Responsibility (Look at verse 19/Read).
I want to give an illustration here about binding and loosening. A steward is someone who has the responsibility for something. The steward of the house is given the keys to the house. He also has the responsibility to close (or to bind) and to open (or loose) the house. The key is the Gospel, the message of the Lord Jesus Himself. It’s the business of the steward to proclaim and teach the Gospel. And by doing that he opens the door; by not doing that he closes the door. The keys are not to the church they’re to the kingdom of heaven. You see keys in scripture represent authority too. We use keys to open things and lock things. Now, what does all of this have to do with Peter?
First of all, we’ve all heard jokes or seen dramas or whatever about Peter being at the Pearly Gates with a key that opens the door to heaven letting in people or he’s rejecting them. Folks, that not scriptural! That’s a misunderstanding about this verse. The Bible doesn’t say one single word about anybody standing before Peter waiting for him to open the gates of heaven to anybody. What the Bible shows us about Peter is that after Pentecost he was the first man to preach the Gospel and to open the door to salvation for the Jews and not only that, he was the one who opened the door to salvation for the Gentiles by sharing with Cornelius in Acts chapter 10.
Peter never claimed any authority or power other than the Gospel. We don’t see it here or in any of his epistles. As a matter of fact, in the Jerusalem Council James was the one that presided over everything, not Peter. Peter was bold but he was a humble man. Don’t let the terms binding and loosing confuse you about this verse. You see to the Jews that was an everyday expression. They knew just what it meant because the Rabbis often spoke about binding and loosing. What that basically means is forbidding or permitting. Those who accept the Gospel and trust Christ the door to heaven is open and in the end those who reject the Gospel and die without Christ, the door is closed for them because we know from Luke chapter 16 that once you die there is no second chance for salvation.
We are to be faithful in sharing the Gospel. Romans 10:14-15 says, “How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher (or a proclaimer)? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” Folks, I’ve got news for you, we have been sent! That what the Great Commission is all about! There are people all around us that are looking for something good for their lives and as Christians we have the best thing anybody could ever share. I’ll tell you, I’m glad somebody shared with me, aren’t you?
Now, the last thing about Peter’s confession that I want to share this morning is this,
6. This Confession must be Understood before it can be Shared (Look at verse 20/Read).
Now this is not a contradiction to what I just said. What I just said applies to us today. But at this time in Jesus’ earthly ministry there were several reasons why the disciples weren’t allowed to share what Jesus had taught them.
1. They still needed more preparation. Their time of training wasn’t over by a long shot. They did not yet know the full Gospel. The death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus had not taken place yet and that is the very core of the Gospel message.
2. The disciples needed the the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit if their message was going to be effective, and the Spirit had not yet come at that time.
3. The people were already misunderstanding the prophecies about the Messiah and if the disciples starting preaching in a forceful way, the people would have possibly revolted against the Romans, which would have caused all kinds of problems for the Jewish people at this time in history.
So Jesus knew that at this time the disciples were to continue with their time of preparation. They would have opportunities everyday of their life in the future and every single one of them will lose their life for the cause of Christ either by martyrdom or dying in exile.
Two things are essential before a believer can effectively proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ:
1. He has to understand the death and resurrection of Christ. We find that in I Corinthians 15:1-4.
2. He has to be indwelt and filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Acts 1:8 says, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Now as far as I can read in the Gospels the disciples were obedient to what Jesus told them to do. There were others that Jesus told to be quiet about Him but they went and told about Him anyway because they couldn’t hold it back.
Let me ask you this, “what about you? Is your life built on the Rock that doesn’t roll? Are you like the wise man who built his house on the rock that had a firm foundation or are you like the foolish man that built his house on the shifting sands?”
(Every head bowed please)
Is your hope built on anything less than Jesus blood and righteousness? Are you standing on Christ the solid rock this morning? The song says it all – All other ground is sinking sand. The Lord Jesus Christ loves you this morning and has a wonderful plan for your life. All you have to do is bow before in childlike faith, turn from your way of doing things and simply trust Him and what He did on the cross of Calvary for you, inviting Him to come into your life and He will! He said He would and He wouldn’t lie to us.
Maybe this morning there is other business you need to take care of with God today. Folks, this altar is always open for prayer. After we pray and our invitation hymn starts if you need to come forward and make a public decision or come for prayer you come.
(Pray)
Invitation
