Church-ification

The Church
Matthew 16:13-20

The Church is a blessing that God gives his people. Not the building of course, He gives us each other. We are not lone ranger Christians. And God’s promise is that in the church God’s Spirit will dwell. God gives us himself by giving us the church. It is something different than the other blessings (justification, sanctification, etc.), and it is something we get before we go on to glorification. God gives us the church. And friends the Church is a miracle. It is a supernatural, stunning, glorious miracle. It is an absolute miracle of God. It is not man made. It is God made.
There is no little tag on the church that says “Made in America” or “Made in China” or “Made in this world” Instead there is a tag on it that says “Made in Heaven, a miracle of God” Let’s look at that tag.

Turn with me to Matthew 16:13-20 where we will learn that the miracle of the church is built around who Christ is.

Let’s look together at three things we must do with the miracle of the church.

1. Pray that Christ will be miraculously revealed to us

In our passage, Jesus is in Caesarea Philippi with his disciples and he asks them the question “Who do people say that I am?” And the disciples are all over this question, “Some say you are John the Baptist back from the dead.” Somehow they got his head back on, I guess. “Others say Elijah, the prophet who was supposed to come before the messiah.” Then Jesus turns it around and says “Who do you say that I am?” To which Peter replies “I say you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

He’s got it. He nailed it. He figured it out. They have all suspected it from the beginning perhaps, but Peter has the crystal clear conviction that it’s true. Jesus is the Christ, God’s own Son.

How important is that? That’s the one thing that makes every Christian a Christian. In fact, that is what a church is, right? The church is those who believe Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God. If you have a bunch of people who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and you bring them all together in a big room like this one, they meet together, they worship together, they study the Scriptures together, they pray together, what do you have? A church.

So how do we get that? How do we get that deep conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God? Is it through careful reasoning and good argumentation? Perhaps a good debate between a Christian, a rabbi, and a Muslim cleric? If the Christian wins then you are convinced. Maybe you get it through hanging around with the right people. After hanging around with Christians long enough, you start to get that conviction: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Or maybe we can psycho-analyze it. Maybe it is all about conditioning. If you grow up in a Christian household, your parents read the Bible to you before you go to bed, you went to Sunday School your whole life, that’s how you get it. Well obviously those are all means God may use, but they are not the source of the conviction.

Let’s look at how Peter got it. Peter says “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” and Jesus says, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”

God did it. The Father did it. Peter didn’t figure it out on his own. It wasn’t something about his reasoning or his friends or his conditioning that brought him to his conviction. It was a miracle of God. God revealed it to Him. The deep conviction that Jesus is the Son of God, comes from the Father.

The same is true of us. Where do we get this deep conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God? We get it from the Father. He reveals it to us.

Sometimes we as Christians say things like, “I don’t know if I would be a Christian if I lived in Jesus time. Maybe I would be part of the crowd that rejected him. Or I don’t know if I would be a Christian if I lived in Iraq or Iran today. Friends, we are not Christians because of when or where we live, if we are true Christians who believe Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God, it is a miracle of God. Whether in the United States in 2008, or in the Middle East in the year 28. The Father reveals Christ to us.

Anyone looking forward to see the new Narnia movie coming out next month? Prince Caspian. My son can’t wait. He’s really looking forward to it. He knows it comes out in 33 days and 12 hours. Alright, actually I am probably looking forward to it more than him. I hope the movie will be faithful to the books. The first one was pretty close. The books written by CS Lewis are children’s books that bring out the imagery of Christianity. I hope it does real well, just so they will make the third one, which is my favorite out of the 7, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Because at the end of the third one, Christ is revealed. The kids travel all the way to the end of the world across the sea (Narnia is flat not round) to find Aslan’s country. Aslan is the great lion who is the King of Narnia. And when the kids finally find Him at the end of the world at the end of the book, Aslan is revealed to them. He is the Christ figure. He says to the kids, the reason I brought them into Narnia so that they might know me better in your own world. He is revealed to them as the Lord of all the worlds.

Friends, Christ must be revealed to us. Not just as a great man, another John the Baptist, but as the Lord of all the worlds. Knowing Christ is a miracle. You and I can’t do it, we can’t make it happen. You can’t make yourself convicted of the Christ anymore than you can make someone else convicted of it. The Father in Heaven does that.

You know what we can do? Pray for it. We can beg God to reveal himself to us. “Father in Heaven, please please please, reveal Christ to us. Flesh and Blood cannot reveal him to us, but our Father in Heaven can!” If you have a son or daughter, or friend or parent who doesn’t believe in Christ, pray for them. 1 Sam 12:23, Samuel says, “far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you.” Come on Wednesday night and pray for people. Grab your spouse’s hand at night before you go to sleep, and pray with them. Get up in the morning and pray to God. “God reveal Jesus to us. It is only a miracle of God that will make it happen. So I ask you. I beg you to do it. Just like you did to Peter, reveal Christ to my son or daughter or friend or parent.” Pray for God to miraculously reveal Christ to us.


2. Look for leaders to be miraculously raised up for us

After Jesus says to Peter that the Father is the one who revealed this to you, Jesus says, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

Now this has been one of the most controversial passages in all of church history. I am going to try and simplify the issue as much as possible, but it is going to take some effort to follow. It all boils down to the question: ‘Who is the rock?’ The name Peter, comes from a masculine Greek word petros which means rock. Little rock, detached rock, a small boulder. Jesus says to Simon Peter ‘You are petros,’ and upon this Rock I will build my church. The word ‘Rock’ comes from a feminine Greek word ‘petra’ which means Rock, big rock, attached mountain rock.

So who is the rock? Is Peter the rock? The reason why this is important is the church is built on the rock? If Peter is the rock, then the church is built on Peter. That means he is really really important. In fact he must be so important that he’s really in charge of the church. And, those who succeed him generation after generation are also in charge of the church on earth. We call them, what? Popes, Cardinals, Bishops, Priests. The church is built on earthly leaders.

Others say “No, no, Jesus is the rock” Peter is nothing, he’s inconsequential. He’s not important at all. He’s no different than any other disciple. He’s just a stand in and anyone could have done what he did. If that is the case, Jesus is all that matters. It’s just me and Jesus. We don’t need pastors, and elders, and deacons, in fact we don’t need “the church” at all. All that stuff is ‘organized religion’. Just me and Jesus and my pickup truck is alls I need. But if Jesus is the rock, then why is he saying this to Peter “You are petros?

There is a third view that I think makes the most sense. The rock is not Peter, nor is it Jesus in this specific case, it is Peter’s confession “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” That is the rock that the church is built on: The declaration of who Christ is. The church is built on this confession. Through proclaiming Christ to be who he is, the church is built.

Practically speaking what does this mean? It would mean that Peter is important, but not the rock. He is the one who made the confession. It is almost like Jesus is saying “Peter you are rock, a little rock, a boulder. But out of a little rock like you comes the confession you just made about me, which is the solid rock mountain that the church is built on.

And I think we have to say, historically speaking Peter does play a huge role in the building of the church. He is the one who initially takes leadership in the church. He proclaims the gospel in the beginning of Acts, and is used by God to get the church going. But he does it through his confession “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Believe in him.

God does use people to serve and lead and direct his church. God raises up leaders like Peter, miraculously. Leaders in the church are different than leaders in business. They are different than leaders in politics, or sports, or the military. They are leaders under the authority and lordship of Christ, the Son of the Living God. Look for these leaders. We need them.

So this means there is no me and Jesus and my pickup truck Christianity. We need the church. We need each other, we need good loving leaders. I was given the advice before that we should always seek out people to minister to and at the same time people who are mentoring you. Find people you are giving to, and people who are giving to you. There are people in my life right now whom I feel a particular calling to lead and minister to. And there are people in my life right now whom I am receiving from and learning from: Pastor Howard being one of them. We need leaders who lead under the authority of the lordship of Christ.

But this also means, there are no popes and priests today. The rock upon which the church is built is not an earthly leader. We are all sinners who need a Savior. It has been said, at the foot of the cross, the ground is level. Because we are all sinners, no earthly leader is essential to the church. In fact, leadership can start getting to people’s heads. From world famous evangelists, to local church pastors, to the guy or girl leading a small group, there is the temptation to begin to think you are rock. Pride sets in. The rock upon which the church is built is not us, but the confession “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Any leaders God raises up minister under the Lordship of Christ.

Just to keep us humble so we don’t make too much of any mere human leader, we have in the next section after this one, Jesus rebuking Peter and saying “Get behind me Satan” Imagine going from “My Father in Heaven revealed this to you” to “Get behind me Satan” Be careful not to make too much of any mere human leader.

But God does miraculously provide leaders. We need to be looking for leaders. On the local level. Thank God for pastors like Howard and other local pastors. Also folks like Josh and Stacey Williams who lead the youth ministry. It is amazing to see someone like Nate becoming more and more a worship leader. But also look for leaders God has given us in the broader church picture. Look for good theologians and pastors, good sermons, good books from Christian leaders on the larger scale. And if you are really want some good Christian leadership: read dead guys. My favorite Christian leaders are all dead: Read the Reformers and the Puritans, Charles Spurgeon, Martin Lloyd-Jones and C S Lewis. Read biographies of famous missionaries.

God has built the church in such a way that we need good leaders like Peter to follow, no matter who you are. There are no Jesus and me and my pickup truck Christians and there are no popes, bishops, or priests. There are only leaders who lead under the authority of Christ.


3. Unleash the miraculous ministry of the Kingdom

Jesus says to Peter the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church. What does that mean? Hades is just a Greek word referring to the place of the dead. His point is that even death will not prevail against the church. The conviction of who Jesus is as the Christ, the Son of God, who dies for us and is risen is triumphant even over eternity.

Jesus tells Peter, as a leader of the church, “I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.” What the church binds in sin on this earth was bound in heaven, what the church looses from sin in this world was loosed in heaven.

Now what is he saying? Is Jesus saying we get to decide who goes to heaven and who doesn’t? Who is forgiven of their sin and who isn’t? Not exactly. Remember what we said, the conviction of who Jesus is, is something the Father reveals, not something we decide. We can’t save anyone. Only God does. We can’t condemn anyone. Only God does.

Here’s the point. The way in which God binds and looses people from sin, is through the ministry of the church. It is through the preaching, teaching, evangelizing, sharing of God’s people that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” That people are either bound to their sins because they reject the message, or loosed from their sin because the receive it.
Jesus tells us that what we can bind on earth though, is only what is bound in Heaven. Don’t be legalistic. We shouldn’t say something is sinful that God has not said is sinful. And we can’t loose on earth what is not loosed in Heaven. We better not say “Everyone goes to heaven no matter what religion, or what we believe” We have a responsibility to loose what God has loosed in Heaven.
I tried to think of an example of this, and the best I could come up with is a cop. What is the job of a cop? A police officer can only bind someone if the court says so. And the police officer can only loose someone, or let them go, if the court says so. Yes they have the practical work of binding and loosing, but only as so far as the court allows.
I can remember when I was a teenager driving home from Jessica’s house late at night one time. It was probably like 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning we had watched a movie. Now, I am a bad driver, I admit it. But that night I was particularly bad because I was barely able to stay awake. So I’m driving home and probably not doing a great job of driving in a straight line. Eventually a cop pulls me over. It ends up being this little woman probably about 5 feet tall 110 pounds. She tells me to get out of the car. I get out. She says put your hands on the back of the vehicle and spread your legs. So I do. She pats me down and searches my vehicle. Finally I explain to her that I am just really tired. I don’t do drugs, I don’t drink, I was just tired. And of course she let me go. She loosed me. Why? Because I was innocent.
Friends that is the job of the church. We bind only what God has bound in Heaven. And we loose, by the power of the gospel only what God has loosed in heaven.
But friends, what a privilege. The Church through confesses Jesus to be the Christ, gets to see the miraculous work of God. We get to watch God loose people from sin who have been imprisoned by it all there life.

If you are here and you are chained by sin. Maybe it’s a substance. Maybe it’s alcohol. Maybe it’s drugs. Or maybe it’s pornography. Maybe it is something less tangible like fear or anger or laziness. Friends, God can loose you from it. He does it through the gospel, through the Lordship of Christ. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He has the power to bind and loose.

How important is it for us to share the gospel with people: immeasurably important. God uses us to proclaim Christ. If you have a friend who has never heard the gospel, tell them. Tell them who Jesus is. But you can’t save anyone. God has to reveal Christ to them. If someone rejects the message of who Christ is from you, then their rejection binds them in sin not only on earth but in heaven. But if Christ is revealed to them, and someone does believe your message, they will be loosed for all eternity.

Well, we like to think about miracles. God giving sight to the blind, or healing the crippled, or even God raising the dead. A miracle by its very definition is not something we can do. There are no miracle Max’s. Anyone remember Miracle Max, the Princess’ Bride? He could only raise someone who was mostly dead. Well God can raise someone who is all dead. God can do any miracle. And one of his most stunning miracles, is the miracle of the church.

What other miracle does God work through that reveals Jesus to us as the Christ the Son of the Living God? What other miracle does God work through that raises up faithful leaders to guide and direct his church under the Lordship of Christ? What other miracle does God give us that looses people from the shackles of sin through the gospel? The miracle of the church built on the rock: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.