FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Matthew 16:13-25

2. The Church’s Effectual Relationship to Christ – Continued

Third, the church only prevails and is successful through the power of Christ Jesus. After Jesus told the disciples He would build a church, He made this great promise, “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it!” When I first read that statement, I thought of the church as being shut up like a fortress with the forces of hell attacking the church. Upon closer scrutiny, I discovered that the passage taught just the opposite. Jesus said that the gates of hell could not prevail against the church. The church is attacking the gates of Hades. As the church carries out its evangelistic ministry by sharing the gospel, we batter down the gates of hell and death. As the church preaches the gospel, we snatch the lost from a burning hell that they would receive if they rejected Christ as their Savior.

The Lord here is commanding us to be an attacking army sent from heaven. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15). The theme song of the church is not “Hold the fort!” but rather, “Onward, Christian soldiers!”

It takes faith to make a church great. Faith is the confidence, the assurance, the belief in God and His power. We can become what God wants us to be. We can do what God would have us to do. When we set out to do what God would have us to do, there will be people at every crossroad on the highway of success who will say, “It can’t be done.” They do not have the faith, and they certainly don’t have the vision. We must not allow them to rob us of our faith and our vision to attack the gates of hell. Great things are possible if we dream great dreams for God.

I like to tell the story of three survivors of a wrecked ship in the Pacific and their spirit. These men landed on a lonely Pacific island. Scouting over the island, they found no other humans there. It was a barren sort of an island just a mile or so in diameter. When Sunday came, the three men met and had church. They discovered they were all Christians. Before they dismissed on Sunday, they set a goal to have four in church the following Sunday. I like that spirit. Great things can and will happen if we will believe.

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19). Greek scholars call this a future paraphrastic construction. It means: Whatever we bind on earth shall have already been bound in heaven! Whatever we loose on earth shall have already been loosed in heaven! Jesus told us to receive our orders from God in heaven. We have the keys of the kingdom, and we can unlock the gates of hell. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter used these keys of the kingdom, and three thousand people were loosed from the gates of hell. In Acts 10, he used these keys again, and the household of Cornelius was converted.

In striking analogies, the New Testament describes the main task of the church. Jesus compared the Christian to light, salt, water, bread, and fire, and He told us that we have the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Now, what can light, salt, water, bread, fire, and keys have in common? Penetration is the one common denominator. Light penetrates darkness, and it disappears. Salt penetrates meat, and it is preserved. Water penetrates the ground, and a harvest springs forth. Bread penetrates the body and gives strength. A key penetrates a lock, and a door is opened. And fire is dependent on penetration for its very survival.

The church of Jesus Christ is God’s penetrating force in our society. As Christians move in society, they are to preach the gospel (Mark 16:15). We are to bring the world to the foot of the cross that men and women might know Christ as Lord and Savior. The church prevails and is invincible when it has this unique relationship to Christ.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Matthew 16:13-25

2. The Church’s Effectual Relationship to Christ

After Peter made his great confession regarding his faith in Jesus, our Lord said: “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18 ESV). This is a beautiful promise that Jesus gave to His church. The thrust of the statement is that the church is invincible because of its dynamic relationship to Jesus Christ.

First, the church is built on Christ. Jesus said, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.” Here we have a play on words. Jesus said, “You are Peter [petros, a small stone]. On this rock [petra, a gigantic boulder, or foundation stone], I will build My church.” The rock on which the church is built is the person of Christ Himself. The church is built on its Founder, the divine Son of God, not on Peter. The apostle himself told us in 1 Peter 2:4–6 that Jesus is the chief cornerstone of the church. The Bible says that no other foundation for the church can be laid except Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11). The hymn writer was correct when he wrote, “The church’s one foundation/Is Jesus Christ her Lord.” You and I are placed in the church as living stones so that we can do spiritual services that are acceptable to God (1 Peter 2:5).

Second, the church is built by Christ. Our Lord said, “On this rock I will build My church,” (italics mine). Not only is the church built on Christ, but the church is built by Christ. Nineteen hundred years ago, Jesus walked the shores of Galilee, the towns and cities of Israel, calling forth fishermen like Peter, James, John, and Andrew. He saved a tax collector named Matthew. He found a zealot named Simon. He discovered a woman at the well and gave her the water of life. Jesus was building His church. Dramatically one day, He turned to His disciples and said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you” (John 15:16).

It is in the providence of God that you are living in this century and that you are a member of your church. This is not by luck, chance, or accident. The same Christ who chose Peter, Andrew, James, and John chose you, saved you, and placed you in His church that you might serve Him.

Since God has placed you in His church, that means at least two things. First, it means God has a place of service for you. You are to love the church and give yourself to it as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. Second, it means that you and I must not reject those that Christ has chosen. We are to love the people of the church.

A number of years ago, when I was an associate pastor at a Calvary Chapel, a fellow associate pastor came to me asking advice on how to deal with a lady in our church. He felt that she was sometimes more critical than she ought to be. As a matter of fact, she had given this fellow associate pastor (and myself) a rather rough time. I said, “Don’t criticize that lady. She is one of the most valuable members in our church.”

Rather astonished, he responded, “Why do you say that she is a most valuable member in the church?”

I smiled and said, “She is teaching us a great lesson. If we can learn to love her, then we can learn to love anybody.”

There is a great story I like to share of C. H. Spurgeon:

One day a visitor approached the great British pastor Charles Hadden Spurgeon. Spurgeon inquired why the visitor had not united with the church. The man responded, “I started to join the church, but I looked around, and I saw a hypocrite. I decided not to join.”

Spurgeon, who had a quick wit, said to the man: “In the first church the leader, Simon Peter, cursed. One apostle, Thomas, doubted the resurrection. The treasurer, Judas Iscariot, betrayed the Lord. The first church was not perfect! Furthermore, I have never seen a church that is perfect. But, sir, if you ever find the perfect church, please do not join, for when you become a member it will no longer be perfect.”

The church is being built by Jesus, and you and I should accept those whom the Lord has placed in His church. After all, the Lord has graciously, and mercifully, accepted us.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Where noted, Scripture taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, ESV © 2016 by Crossway Bibles.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Matthew 16:13-25

A London newspaper offered a prize for the best essay on the subject: “What is wrong with the church?” The prize was won by a minister from Wales. He gave this answer: “What is wrong with the church is our failure to realize and wonder at the beauty, the mystery, the glory, and the greatness of the church.”

The church is God’s one redemptive institution placed on this earth. It was to the church that Jesus gave the Great Commission. It is through the church that Jesus brings the message of salvation to the world. It is for the church that Jesus one day will return.

Never forget that the church with all its faults will stand until Jesus comes again. Jesus promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church. In essence, the church is invincible!

What causes Christ’s church to prevail and even to be invincible? How has the church been able to stand for nearly two thousand years? Why has Satan with all of his schemes failed to defeat the church? Why have humans been unable to destroy the church? What makes the church invincible?

1. The Transformed Nature of Its Membership

Every member of the church is to be a transformed individual. He or she is to be a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus explained this to His disciples as He was with them at Caesarea Philippi.

Our Lord knew that His days in the flesh were numbered, and He knew some would not understand Him. Was there anyone who recognized Him and who would carry on His work after He ascended to heaven? That was the crucial problem. It involved the very survival of the Christian faith.

In a dramatic scene Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Here was a homeless, penniless Galilean carpenter with twelve ordinary men. At that very moment, Jesus’ death was being plotted.

Notice where Jesus chose to ask the question. The area was scattered with temples of the ancient Syrian Baal worship. By Caesarea Philippi there arose a great hill. In it was a deep cavern said to be the birthplace of Pan, the Greek god of nature. In Caesarea Philippi, there was a tremendous temple of white marble built to the Roman godhead of Caesar. Jesus stood at the center of Syrian, Greek, and Roman worship. There, of all places, he asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter clearly stated the deepest conviction of his soul, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” What a statement! Christ means “the anointed one” and refers to the work Jesus came to do as messianic deliverer. “Son of the living God” has reference to the deity of Jesus. Jesus is God incarnate.

Simon Peter said two glorious things about Jesus: as to His work, he said Jesus is the anointed Messiah. As to His person, Peter stated that Jesus is God come in the flesh.

Even so today, that church is invincible where members have confessed their belief in Jesus Christ as the Messiah who is God! This is the essential work of the church. We preach the gospel, “for it is the power of God to salvation for every one who believes” (Romans 1:16).

The single most important prerequisite for being a member of a local New Testament church is the new birth. The invincible church has a regenerated church membership through faith in Jesus Christ.

Rembrandt could take a piece of canvas, dab his paints on it, and create a beautiful painting. We call that art. Shakespeare could write a sonnet or a play on a sheet of paper. We call that genius. John D. Rockefeller could sign his name at the bottom of a check, and it was worth millions of dollars. We call that capital. A skilled workman can take a piece of metal, shape it, twist it, mold it, and it becomes a thing of usefulness and beauty. We call that craftsmanship. But only God in heaven can take a sinner and make a saint! We call that salvation. The prevailing and invincible church has a transformed membership.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.