I would like to again thank you for the privilege of allowing me to walk with you during this demanding yet exciting time in your life together at Christ the King.

Last week I introduced the topic for this six-week series entitled Jesus’ Vision for the Church. I began by emphasizing the need for all of us to grow in our understanding of how Jesus sees the Church. We all need to have our vision for the church re-invigorated / re-newed / restored.

We made three major points:

1. Jesus’ Vision for the Church is that He wants each church to be a dynamic expression of the Incarnate God living in their midst. Each church is to creatively express the presence of God in their midst as they listen to what God has put on the hearts and minds.
2. Jesus’ Vision of the Church is of an ever growing and outwardly expanding death defying living organism that is continually taking back territory that was given over to Satan.
3. Jesus’ Vision of the Church is that of a community that is built on love and forgiveness in the midst of fallen world with a balanced focus on building up the local body.

This week I would like to concentrate on Jesus’ Vision for the Church as an ever growing and outwardly expanding death defying community as revealed in Matthew 16:13-19. Let’s pray:

We cannot go too far with this passage without addressing the question:

Who or what is the Rock that Jesus is referring to in verse 18.

Most of you know that Jesus gave Simon the name Peter which means Rock. So when Jesus says:

I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church

in the Greek, it says

I also say to you that you are rock, and upon this rock I will build My church

Theologians have argued over what this means for centuries and I would like to summarize the three viewpoints and let you decide. I happen to like all three. They all have scriptural validity

1. One of the most obvious answers is that the Rock is Christ. Jesus’ response becomes:

There is strong and clear scriptural support for this. Jesus describes himself as the chief corner stone or foundation that the builders rejected (Matt 21:42) as does Peter (1 Peter 2:4-7). Paul described Jesus as the Rock in the wilderness (I Cor 10:42). Clearly no one would disagree with the truth that Jesus is the foundation of the church. St Augustine, who lived in 400 AD held this position.

2. Another possibility which was held by many of the early reformers was that Peter’s confession was the Rock.

There is ample evidence in the scripture that when people believed they were added to the church (Acts 2:41) and this too has wide support

3. Finally, there is the most widely held view by both Catholics and Protestants and that is the Rock is Peter himself. Accepting this position does not commit one to support the Roman Catholic view of Peter’s primacy or the role of his successors. It just states the obvious – Jesus is turning Peter’s name into a play on words and foretelling Peter’s foundational role that he was to play in the building of the Church. Remember, It was Peter who preached the first sermon on the day the Church was born. It was Peter to whom God revealed that the Gentiles were to be part of the church and used this revelation at the 1^st Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).

So as Augustine said in his Retraction – "But let the reader decide which … opinion is the more probable."

This passage doesn’t leave any doubt about the fact that the answer to question "Who is Jesus?" was going to be pivotal to the growth of the church. Jesus question "Who do you say that I am?" is the most important question in the world. And how we answer it makes all the difference in world.

But it wasn’t just how Peter answered the question that catches our attention. Peter’s answer ("You are the Christ; the Son of the Living God") was not just a rote response to a Sunday school question. Something took place deep within him, which Jesus recognized.

flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

What does it mean when Jesus says "flesh and blood did not reveal this." We know that first time Peter was introduced to Jesus, his brother Andrew said:

We have found the Messiah

And Peter was certainly there when Jesus cast out demons who were always declaring that he was the Son of God. And after Peter walked on water, all of the disciples declared that Jesus was the Son of God.

So flesh and blood had introduced the fact that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God. Something far more than head knowledge was happening here. Peter had had an encounter with the Father God through his profession of faith.

This is critical to our understanding of the Church’s outward focus.

Jesus’ Vision of the Church is that it be a place where the Father reveals himself to each individual / that each individual has an encounter with God / in response to His question: "Who do you say that I am?"

Jesus had said earlier that no one knows

the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son reveals Him

Jesus Vision of the Church is that it is to be a place where Divine Revelation of the Father and the Son plays a continuous role in its outward expansion.

If this is true, what does that mean for us? What role do we have in evangelism if nothing happens until the Father is supernaturally revealed? Do we just sit back and watch it happen?

I want to say we still play a major role: let me give you 4 things that define our role:

1. We have to have that Divine Revelation of the Father. We need to let Jesus ask us "Who do you say that I am?"
2. We need to live in this world so that Jesus’ question can be asked of those around us. "Who do you say that I am?" We do this simply by living among them. What did that great theologian Woody Allen say about "Just showing up." The Church brings Jesus presence by just showing up. We are Jesus to our neighbors whether we like it or not.
3. We must daily commit those around us to prayer. Prayer is asking God to do what we cannot.

This yearly time that Christ the King spends at the Air Show is a great example of the Church just being showing up – bringing the presence of Jesus into every situation. But I would like to challenge you – Is there any prayer coverage for this event – during the event. Maybe you cannot be there – but can you pray? Can you ask the Father to do what we cannot do? Remember, prayer is asking God to do what we cannot.

4. And we cannot convert or transform anybody. We must face this fact.

So Jesus’ vision of the Visible Church is of a community that continuously and in a variety ways presents Jesus to a dying world and through prayer presents this dying world to Jesus.

The second part of this passage that I would like to look at is Jesus’ words

upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

Over the years, there has been some misunderstanding of this because the King James translation says "gates of Hell." Some people, having been fed up with computers and software from Microsoft have even gone so far as to come up with their own interpretation of "gates of Hell."

Really, Jesus did not use the word typically translated Hell but used the word "Hades." For the disciples – that meant the abode of departed spirits. The place of the dead.

But that still doesn’t explain the phrase "gates of Hades" – because most of us have never been overpowered by a gate. You know what the literal meaning of the Greek word used for "gate" is?

Gate

So, that doesn’t help us either – But to the ears of the 1^st century disciples – gates were the places of power and authority. Cities in the Middle East were the original "gated communities." And the leadership often ruled in the Gates. The word gate is used in both the Old Testament and New Testament to indicate the seat of power and authority. So Jesus is saying that the power of death itself will not overpower it / prevail against it.

In other words, Jesus is building a church that need not be afraid of that which has bound man kind since the beginning of time:

Fear of Death.

The writer to the Hebrews describes Jesus as delivering those who for fear of death, have been in bondage throughout our entire lives.

And the Church is a testimony of that truth. We don’t need to Fear death. It is not going to over power us.

Now let me say, Jesus doesn’t waste time stating the obvious. He is making this statement because he knew that the church would be confronted with death at every turn. Every one of the Apostles save John met a martyr’s death. We still face death. It is still scary. But Jesus is telling us his vision of the Church – We need not be afraid of death. Because He has overcome death. Hallelujah!

The final point I want to extract from this passage is taken from verse 19.

I believe that this passage has been taken totally out of context in the past 40 years and used in such a way so as to remove all of its power. Many are using this passage to justify going around and binding and loosing the devil and his demons. If you are in the practice of binding or loosing demonic forces, I would encourage you to talk with me some time after the service.

I don’t have time today to get into the danger of that – but I would like to present what this meant to the disciples.

When the 1^st century disciple heard Jesus talk about "binding and loosing" they knew what this term meant from rabbinical teaching. When a 1^st century rabbi talked about "binding and loosing" he was referring to "forbidding and allowing" certain actions. Of course, with the Old Testament law, there were a lot of things that needed to be defined in terms of what was forbidden and what was allowed. Over the years the rabbis had added thousands of rules allowing this and forbiding that. And this was called "binding and loosing."

And the rabbis had great power over people – generally for harm. Remember when Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees that they bind heavy burdens on the shoulders of their disciples and make them more fit for hell than before.

Jesus spoke about "binding and loosing" twice (here and in Matthew 18). Both times it was in the context of the church. The individual doesn’t have this authority – thank God – but Jesus is giving it to the church.

This is an awesome responsibility for the church. Jesus is saying to church – that it will have tremendous authority here on earth.

Let me illustrate this with an example. Imagine that I am going to send you to Tanzania to establish a new division of my company. I want to give you full authority to make this happen. So I say to you.

Whatever business deals you make, we will stand behind you back here in the US. Consider it already approved. When you break a business relationship – consider it a done deal. I am giving you full authority.

Another way to say this – is to imagine you are 16 and your Dad or Mom says to you –
"Here’s the keys to car. Take it where ever you want – but remember that whatever you do– I will stand behind you 100%"

I don’t know about you, but that kind of authority would cause me to have fear and trembling. What if I’m wrong?

But this is exactly what Jesus is saying. He is giving incredible power and authority to the church. He didn’t intend for it to be used willy-nilly.

I believe we Protestants have lost this prophetic voice in our culture. To its credit, the Catholic Church still takes this very seriously. They believe that when they instruct their members that they are allowed to do something or forbidden to do something, Heaven stands behind it. This kind of power and authority should have us on our knees before God asking for his help and guidance. And we need to restore the prophetic voice to this culture that has lost its connection to objective truth and right and wrong and say:

"This is allowed – but this isn’t"

Jesus Vision of the Church is of a community of men and women who collectively speak with Heaven’s authority about right and wrong in their cultures.

It’s my prayer for Christ the King Church in Westfield that you capture Jesus’ vision of the church – a community of people that continues to bring Jesus presence every where she goes, trusting the results to the Father in prayer, not afraid of losing her life in the process. And that she would speak truth to the broken and dying world with the authority and power that Jesus meant her to have. Amen

As we prepare for communion, I want to ask that each of us allow Jesus to ask us the question: "Who do you say that I am?" Whether you have known Him your whole life or just beginning to get to know him – Let him ask you that question – and then in His light – allow the Father to reveal Jesus, the Christ, the son of the Living God through this bread and this cup.