The Church
Text: Matthew 16:13-20
Core Idea: Jesus will build His church through the people who, by God’s grace, believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
INTRODUCTION
Good afternoon, Lighthouse family! It’s so good to have you here. For those of you joining us online, thank you. Thank you for your patience. I really wanted to celebrate every Sunday with everyone in-person, but I’m extremely sad that we can’t accommodate everyone with these restrictions. I’m really praying that all of us can gather to worship together soon; but until then, know that I’m praying for all of you – that we would always glorify God with all our hearts, minds, and strength.
It was so amazing to worship together last Sunday. My heart was just bursting with joy because it was so wonderful to be together. I’ll be honest though; it felt a little foreign because it was different. I was incredibly nervous because of the unknowns and the uncertainties. I was distracted at times because there were so many things on my mind. But when we started singing, I think God was beginning to bring peace to my heart. We’ll talk more about this today, but He reminded me that this is His church – which is why He is going to build this church. Our church will stand not because we have everything put together, not because we have this or that to offer, but simply because Jesus is the builder and the foundation of our church. When I meditated on that truth, I was beginning to experience this excitement and hope knowing that everything was going to be okay – He will take care of us. I’m so humbled and thankful that we can be on this journey together – I’m certain that He will continue to grow and mature us according to His will.
Last week, we talked about what it means for us as a community to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world – that as a lighthouse to this city, we would live to illuminate the hearts of the people to see the truth of God – to serve as a safe place for people to rest, but also to warn and show the world the way to our ultimate Lighthouse, Jesus Christ. And that a single grain of salt or a single ray of light cannot bring these changes – which is why this community is a gift from God to empower us to live this way. And this got me thinking a lot about the church.
Let me ask you: how do you understand what a church is? What is a church? Why is church an important aspect to our faith journey? Is the church an important aspect of your faith journey? Even though I’ve been in ministry for 14 years, God has been using this transition to show how limited, small my view of the church was – and that the church is a lot more glorious, beautiful, and awe-inspiring than I had ever imagined. Acts 20:28 tells us that the church has been bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. It cost the very life of Jesus Christ to establish this church. The church is the body of Christ. The church is the bride of Christ, the people of God, the family of God, the protectors of the truth, the citizens of God’s Kingdom. The church is God’s special possession that He cherishes, values, and loves – God treasures us. The church is a lot more precious, dynamic, diverse, accepting, love-driven, hope-filled, life-giving than we could ever imagine. Yes, the church is broken because it’s made up of people like us who are still battling, wrestling with sin. But with the help of the Spirit, we’re meant to be this glorious and holy entity as God envisioned it to be. Brothers and sisters, the church needs to be much more than an event that you attend on a Sunday. It can’t be just associated with a building or the things that we do. At the heart of it, the church must be the community which we do life together in the Lord. Then I want to take the next few weeks to explore the subject of church, and this may be the perfect place to start because it’ll take us to the root of what the church is meant to be. So, if you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew 16:13-20.
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” He asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 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. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you.
Three things from this passage:
THE QUESTION THAT FORMS THE CHURCH (V. 13-15)
GOD’S GRACE THAT ANCHORS THE CHURCH (V. 16-17)
THE PERSON WHO BUILDS THE CHURCH (V. 18-20)
1) THE QUESTION THAT FORMS THE CHURCH (V. 13-15)
Let’s turn to verse 13. Here, Jesus asks a general question: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Just for your reference, the term “Son of Man” was Jesus’ humble way of referring to Himself in the Gospels. By this time, Jesus has been preaching and performing miracles like healing, casting out demons, and feeding multitudes of people, which meant that there must have been a buzz going around about Jesus. There must have been a reputation developing about Him. So, when Jesus asks, “Who do people say I am?” the disciples answer in verse 14, “Well, some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah or Jeremiah; and some have no clue – they just say You’re one of the prophets.” But notice that their assessment of Jesus was generally positive. Even when they didn’t know who He was, something about Jesus drew people in. And that seems to be true even today. There’s a lot of people who say, “I like Jesus, but I don’t like Christians. I believe in Jesus, but I don’t want to be associated with any church.” Isn’t that true? But we must realize that the crux of the question is not “do you believe in Jesus,” but “who is the Jesus you believe in?” This is important because He will not be honored by our ignorance. One pastor said, “There are times when a compliment is not a compliment.” For example, let’s say that you went to the gym and saw this guy playing basketball. You thought he was amazing – so, you walk up to him and say, “Hey, you should try out for a team here. I’m pretty sure you’ll make it.” But what if the person you were talking to was Michael Jordan. No matter how sincere you were in your compliment, he wouldn’t have taken that as a compliment, because it falls far too short of who he really is. In the same way, it’s not enough to think highly of Jesus. If we really want to honor Jesus, we can’t rely on how the media portrays Him, we can’t rely on our own expectation of who we want Him to be – no, we must embrace Him as He has revealed Himself in the Word – that’s how we honor Him. And He makes it clear that He is the Son of God, the Savior King, the promised Messiah, and the Lord of all. This is the Christ that we’re invited to worship. To see Christ as anything less than that is to actually reject Christ no matter how positive you may think of Him.
Let’s go back to the passage – verse 15. Jesus presses them more and says, “I get that that’s what people are saying. But what about you? Who do you say I am?” If you’re not yet a Christian, I get that you must have a lot of questions, objections, or doubts about Christianity, which is why I’m so thankful that you’re here – and I hope that we’ll have a chance to talk about those things. But before we get there, I want to invite you, challenge you to wrestle with this question first: “Who do you say that I am?” Seek to know the person of Jesus first. Get to know Him because Christianity is fundamentally about a person. To be a Christian is to enter into a relationship with Christ. Then there’s really nothing more important than to get to know Him before anything else.
Now, if you’re a Christian, I invite you to honestly and seriously wrestle with the same question. Jesus is asking you, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” You might say, “Jesus, You’re my Lord and Savior.” And that’s great. But what if He responds to you by asking, “Am I really?” How would you respond? In verse 16, Peter says, “Jesus, You’re the Messiah, the Son of the living God!” But he didn’t really understand what he said. He thought that Jesus was going to liberate Israel politically. But he was completely off. He said the right thing, but he didn’t fully understand what he was saying – the truth of his statement wasn’t being actualized, lived out in his life, which is why in verse 23, Jesus calls Peter “a stumbling block” to Him. Can you imagine Jesus saying to you, “You’re a stumbling block to me”? So, what about you? Do you really know Jesus? Are you growing in your understanding of who Jesus is in your faith journey? And more importantly, is your life reflective of your knowledge of Him? In other words, if you consider Him your Lord, is He really the Lord of all your life – your marriage, children, love life, money, career, your leisure time? Or are you tempted to say, “Jesus, you can have everything except this”? Brothers and sisters, I invite you to seek Christ – and make everything about Him. Give Him the honor that He deserves. But not just individually, as a church, we need to get this answer right because if we get this wrong, if Christ is not at the centre, then everything we do is in vain. The goal of our meeting isn’t to feel good about ourselves; the goal is to seek Christ, to glorify Christ, to honor Christ, and be transformed by Christ. Then who is Christ to us? This is the question that will determine the course of our church.
2) GOD’S GRACE THAT ANCHORS THE CHURCH (V. 16-17)
Let’s turn to verse 16. The answer that Peter gives to this important question is this: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Now, did you know that this wasn’t the first time Peter made this confession? In Matthew 14, when he saw Jesus, walking on the water, and when Jesus saves him from drowning, Peter worshipped Jesus by saying, “You are the Son of God” (Matt. 14:33). But that confession was made in the heat of the moment – when he just experienced an amazing miracle. But there was none of that here – nothing to sway his thoughts. Peter confidently, unashamedly says, “Jesus, You’re the One we’ve been waiting for – You’re the promised Savior, the King of the world.” And this is what every Christian must acknowledge, embrace, and believe – that Jesus is the Son of the living God.
Now, Jesus responds in verse 17: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” In other words, Jesus was saying, “Peter, you understand it correctly. But you must realize that you came to this conclusion not because of any effort on your own, not because you have deeper spiritual insight than others, not because you’re smarter than others or morally more pure than others. The only reason you know this is because it’s been revealed to you by my Father in heaven.” In other words, everything about Christianity is completely a gift from God – our salvation, sanctification, skills, wisdom, possessions, community, everything we have is a gift from God. We see this clearly just by looking at the disciples. The disciples were always depicted as clueless and self-centred in the Gospels. But despite their flaws, it’s incredible how patient Jesus was – He loved them, protected them, taught them, led them, trained them until they became the foundation of the church. The only reason why they became the pillars of the church is purely by the grace of God. Jesus made them useful, worthy, courageous, and wise. Everything about them was a gift not an achievement.
I love what Pastor David Platt says, “The grace of God is the only way that anyone can behold the beauty of Christ.” Jesus says in John 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them.” No one without an exception can see the beauty of Christ because we love the darkness, or as Paul says in Ephesians 2, because we “were dead in our transgressions and sins. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive.” He has made us alive and opened our eyes to see Jesus, to know who He is, to believe in Him, and to confess that He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. Brothers and sisters, you and I are alive, we’re part of the church only because of His grace, His mercy for us. Then what’s there for us to boast about except Christ Himself?
I’m unshakably certain that if you’re not yet a Christian, it’s not an accident that you’re here. It’s God’s grace that drew you to be here – to hear this truth today. Jesus is the promised Messiah who came to save us by dying for us on the cross; but He rose from the grave so that all who turn from their sin and trust in Him will be saved to know God and enjoy Him forever. I desperately pray that God will open your eyes to see who Jesus is.
Now, what does it mean to be a community that is anchored in God’s grace? It’s a community that prays. We need to learn to lean on God always. I love what this Christian author says: “Prayer is oxygen for the Christian. It sustains us. So, it follows that prayer must be a source of life for any community of Christians. Yet many of our gatherings could be likened to people coming together merely to hold their collective breath. This would explain why people seem to have so little energy for actually living out the Christian life. But breathing together is what our churches need. Prayer humbles us like nothing else.” That is insightful. I wonder how many of us know what to do, how we should live, yet lack the energy to live that way because we’re holding our breath. Brothers and sisters, it’s time to breathe again. The Bible characterizes the church as a people of prayer. Just in the book of Acts, every time Luke records about prayer, they’re mostly prayers done corporately – together as a people of God. Luke intentionally highlights that the church did more than just learn truths about God. They really leaned on Him – they regularly gathered for prayer. Then as a community anchored in His grace, I invite you, Lighthouse, to pray – pray for the lost; pray for those who are suffering; pray for the leaders, the children, the youths, the singles, the married; pray for personal and corporate needs; pray for other churches and pray for this city. Let us be a church that is anchored in God’s grace.
3) THE PERSON WHO BUILDS THE CHURCH (V. 18-20)
Let’s turn to verse 18. “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.” Jesus makes it clear that He is the builder of the church. Alicia and I have been doing a lot of renovations, rearranging of furniture, and painting around the house to prepare for our second baby. I’ll be honest; these things don’t excite me. It takes a lot out of me to engage in these things – and the worst part is that I’m really not good at it. So, I find myself constantly asking Alicia, “What do I do here? How do I use this? Where do you want this?” And obviously, I made a lot of mistakes – thankfully, Alicia is always forgiving. Now, I want to be honest with you in something else: I really don’t know how to build a church either. Okay, before you get disappointed and frantically find a way out of this church, let Jesus’ words bring comfort to your hearts. It’s true; I don’t know much about building a church. I had a lot of fears because I knew I was inadequate in many ways. But this truth reminded me that this is not my church. Lighthouse Toronto is His church. And personally, it was so comforting to hear Jesus say, “I will build my church.”
Think about this statement carefully. “I,” the Author and Perfecter of faith, the Creator of the universe, the Giver of life, the King of kings and the Lord of lords; “will,” He will do this no matter what, no matter how difficult it is, no matter what it takes; “build,” He’s going to build it by tearing down the old walls, by setting a firm foundation, by assembling brick by brick, by giving its form, by cutting away the unnecessary parts, so that it becomes beautiful, holy, and loving as it was meant to be; “my church,” He’s going to do this because this is His church – Lighthouse Toronto is His church. He loves this church. He cares for this church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. The gates of Hades are the gates of death. In other words, the gates of Hades are the gates that make death look powerful and invincible. Think about the power of death. With death, everything comes to a halt. It destroys meaning, dignity, and relationship from all people. And every human being without exception will one day face this great destroyer. And here’s Jesus, who says, “The gates of Hades will not overcome you because I’m going to be victorious against death. Your life is secure with me.” Now, how did He do this? By going to the cross. It’s true that initially on the cross, it looked like death swallowed up the Son of God; it looked like Jesus was consumed by the grave. Yet at that precise moment, when it looked like death has won, Jesus burst into life again. You see, through His death, He opened those gates open wide so that those who trust in Him will not remain in their grave, but that they too will burst with life again. Brothers and sisters, I pray that this will bring comfort to your hearts – Jesus will build this church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
With that in mind, an important question we need to settle is this: who’s the rock Jesus is talking about here? Now, there’s a bit of a play on words here because Peter’s name sounds like the word “rock” in Greek – Petros and petra. So, it’s true that Jesus is acknowledging some kind of foundation in Peter. What’s going on here? Think with me. By God’s grace alone, Peter just confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God. The focus was not on Peter but on God who made this confession possible in Peter. Immediately after this, Jesus says that upon this rock, He’s going to build His church. Then this is what it means: the rock Jesus is talking about is Peter and his confession of faith – but more than that it refers to the people of God, the church, that believes and upholds the confession that Peter made – and upon this truth being proclaimed through us, Jesus is going to build His church. Brothers and sisters, He’s going to build His church through our lives. It’s not through programs that we offer or the music we have here. It’s going to be through people who love Jesus, who have passion for Him, whose lives have been transformed by Him. It’s going to be through us – going out to our workplace, neighborhood, schools, proclaiming that Jesus is the Savior King, the Son of the living God. And this is why even though I’m not in charge of building this church, my role is to constantly point you to Christ. So, pray for me that I will preach Christ. And pray that we will preach Christ. This is what I want our church to be known for – a church that is faithful to Christ, a church where people are being transformed by Christ, a church that operates because of our love for Christ. Isn’t that the church that you want to be part of?
In verse 19, Jesus says that He’s giving Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven so that whatever he binds on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever he looses on earth will be loosed in heaven. What does this mean? We must remember that Jesus has the authority to save anyone who turns from their sins and trust Him. Then this verse means that when we share the gospel, we speak with the authority of Christ. We have the authority, the privilege, and the responsibility of telling people who can be in the kingdom or not. If you feel overwhelmed, don’t be – because everything we need is found in the Word. We simply preach the Word as we invite people to make the same confession that Peter made. This is the authority that has been entrusted to us as the church – this is how Jesus will build His church.
CONCLUSION
Brothers and sisters, who do you say Jesus is? Do you truly believe that He is the Messiah, the Son of the living God? If you do, then thank God because His grace has opened your heart to see this. Then let us continue to centre ourselves around Christ as we learn to lean on Him. Lighthouse family let’s believe this; let’s stand on this together because Jesus will build His church.