The Church Jesus Builds

In your Bible, if you would join me in Matthew 16, and we're going to read verse 13 down to verse 20, Matthew 16, verse 13 down to verse number 20. When we come to this portion of Scripture, Jesus is now just months away from his own crucifixion on the cross. He would take death that we might have life.

He was born to die. The Bible says in Matthew 16, verse 13, when Jesus came to the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jonah, or Son of Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven, then charged to his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. Father, your word before us is our wisdom, it is our understanding, it is our light, and so we come to it and we pray that your Holy Spirit would allow your word to bring forth the fruit of humility and repentance and faith and salvation and those that are lost in sanctification to those that are saved. Glorify Christ through this service and help me proclaim all and only what you desire, for we ask this in Jesus' name and for his glory alone. And all God's people said, Amen.

You may be seated today. For the past couple Sundays we've been discussing the importance of the church. We live in a day that has minimized the church, has downplayed the importance of the church, and I can tell you one that has maximized the importance of the church, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know that Jesus could make the church any of a bigger deal than he does in the Bible. Name another organization or entity Jesus said I've come to build. He never said I came to build the hospitals. He didn't say I came even to build families, but he did say I came to build the church.

I've come to do that. All those other things are good things, but it is the church that Jesus gave his life in to come to build. Jesus claims to be the owner of the church.

He said, I will build my church. At the bottom of the church the title that is inscribed is the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is his church. The church is important because also the price Jesus paid for it. Acts 20 verse 28, it tells us that the church of God is what Jesus paid the price of his own blood to purchase.

It says he purchased it with his own blood. In Ephesians 5 25 when it's given the example of how husbands are to love their wives and treat them, he says, husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. He died for his bride. So the question is how can you say you love Christ and not love what he would die for? How could a person say that they have Christ's first place in their life and the church is not a priority?

How can you say Christ is in your life and you're comfortable being out of the body of Christ? The Bible is clear that those who can effectively be separated from the body of Christ and they can stay out of church would evidence that they're not a true believer. First John 2 19 says they went out from us, us the church, us the body of believers. They went out from us that they, but they were not of us for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out.

Why? That they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. Their ability to leave the church, to stop being a part of the body of Christ, evidence that they did not contain or possess salvation. The New Testament was written through the churches. Revelation, Jesus resurrected and he's standing in the middle of the churches of Revelation 2 and 3, the seven churches that he wrote seven letters to in Asia Minor. The New Testament calls the church the body of Christ.

It's called the pillar and ground of the truth. The church is also called the bride of Christ and it is through the church that he carries out the great commission of seeing people saved, baptized, and discipled. We've been seeing an explosion of people coming to Christ. Last Sunday four souls called out to Christ for salvation and just incredible work of God. There was one man who was in foundations last week and he trusted in Christ Monday.

He was so compelled to give his life to Christ and nobody was even with him. We had people saved nearly every day of this week. Even yesterday a young man in his twenties called out to Christ who's sitting with us this morning in the service. Aren't you thankful that Jesus Christ is alive and bringing salvation? Amen. We had four souls baptized last week.

I think four or five the week before. We have three getting baptized today. The church is marching on and I can tell you I believe the time on earth is winding down. What if this is the last year before Christ returns?

If his return is very near I believe he's going to bring in a harvest of souls. And so the church is the vehicle through which God is carrying out this great commission. No wonder God says in Hebrews 10 25 he says do not forsake assembling together.

I mean we need each other. In the last hour I was sitting down at a table with some folks and two of them were new believers and we were going through some different discipleship material and just in tears all of them saying how difficult life has been, different tragedies they've gone through and how much just being together it means and having a body where they can come and minister one to another. Friend one of the most important ways to invest your life is to invest it in the church. To go from being casual to being committed to not being a spectator but being a participant. You know when you go to a game or an event you're a spectator you like to watch that but the Bible calls us not to be spectators not to come and sit and just observe but to participate. And the way you participate is ministering one to another, ministering to the body of Christ, giving, serving, loving people, caring for one another. Last week I challenged you to ask yourself this question what kind of church would Lighthouse be if every church member were just like me? If everybody ministered to Lighthouse the way you ministered what kind of church would this be?

I'm so thankful we had I think a record number of pre-registered kids there was 175 kids already pre-registered for BBS starting tonight and there's always more that ends up coming than that and so praise God for such a huge turnout already we're praying for a great week and and but you know there's there's like 130 adults that are serving in that ministry just to pull off a vacation Bible school and praise God for those who are willing to participate amen. And many of you have you give and you you pray and you do a lot of different ways to help minister to the body of Christ and I can tell you that is a that is one of the most valuable things you can do with your life is to invest your life into what Jesus gave his life for. And if Jesus died for the church shouldn't I at least be there?

Shouldn't I at least make it a priority of my life and to give my life's time and energy and and focus to these things? Now Jesus said here in Matthew 16 he said I will build my church. Today I want to look at the details of the Lord's words here in Matthew 16 where he describes the foundation the victory and the authority of the church and the first is the foundation of the church. Now if you if you are a person that's been a part of construction you understand the importance of the foundations. Anybody in here ever been part of building a foundation before or in that construction arena?

Okay so we got quite a few hands and if you've done that you know that there's nothing more important to the home than the foundation because if you have a beautiful edifice but the foundation is not good it will fall apart. That's why Jesus said build on the rock and not on sand because the foundation will make it the difference whether it lasts or not. So Jesus says here the first thing he talks about when he brings up the church which Matthew 16 18 is the first time church is mentioned in the Bible and it's a New Testament reality and it's the body of believers. It's not a building it's the saved who assemble together and he says here I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it and he says I will build my church upon this rock. Now the question comes what is the rock or the foundation that the church will be built upon?

Now there are three main views as to what the rock is referring to. The first view is what the Catholics teach that the rock is Peter. According to Roman Catholic literature quote this passage proves that Peter was the first pope. The pope they say is crowned with a triple crown as king of heaven of earth and of hell.

He wields the two swords the spiritual and the temporal. The Catholic Church goes on to teach that our Lord conferred on Saint Peter the first place of honor and jurisdiction in the government of his whole church and that same authority has always resided in the popes the bishops of Rome and as being the successors of Saint Peter consequently the true followers of Christ and all Christians both among the clergy and lady they say must be in communion with the sea of Rome or the seat of Rome where Peter rules in the person of his successor Jesus Christ. They see Peter and those popes as being literally the Christ on earth instead of Christ physically being here. So the question is is the church built on Peter? Do you see apostolic succession in the Bible where there was a pope to follow a pope? Where in the New Testament does it talk about popes? Where was Peter elevated to this place by the New Testament church?

And the answer to all of that is you don't. You see no apostolic succession mentioned anywhere in the New Testament. No popes, nothing. The early church didn't elevate the apostles to a place where they called them Holy Father. That is a blasphemous statement by the way. There is only one Holy Father and he's the Holy Father of the Bible and the Bible says they didn't elevate them but they elevated their doctrine. They continued not in elevating the apostles but they elevated the apostles doctrine in Acts 2 42. In fact in Acts 3 12 when Peter performed a miracle in the temple he quickly warned them not to give him credit. He says in Acts 3 12 when Peter saw it he answered unto the people ye men of Israel why marvel you at this? Or why look you so earnestly on us as though by our own power or holiness we made this man to walk whole?

We aren't the ones that are special here Christ is. Also if Peter was the foundation of the church the first pope why just two chapters later the disciples asked the question who among them is the greatest? They would have clearly known that hey Peter is the pope but they didn't.

That was never established by Jesus. Peter was an apostle but he never recognizes himself as ranking over the apostles anywhere. In fact in 1 Peter 5 when he's talking to other pastors who he refers to as elders he says in 1 Peter 5 1 the elders which are among you I exhort who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. He identifies himself as just one of the other pastors or elders. He doesn't lift himself up and say I'm the holy father that you all should be giving reverence to. Peter saw himself alongside the other pastors not their superiors. Also if Peter is the foundation of the church he already messes up 4 verses later. I mean just right after this Jesus rebukes him in verse 23 and says get behind me Satan. It's the strongest rebuke in the New Testament by Christ and it's given to Peter.

That's not a very good foundation to build on is it? The night before Christ's death he was instructed to pray but instead Peter fell asleep. Peter then goes on to boast that he would never deny Christ only to deny knowing Jesus and he denies him 3 times.

He tries to kill a soldier in the garden. In Galatians 1 Peter is rebuked by Paul because Peter allowed the Jews to peer pressure him from sitting with Gentiles. Also instead of being exalted through the New Testament Peter actually fades off the scene after Acts chapter 12. Peter is not the premier apostle of the New Testament Paul is.

Paul is the focus at Acts 13 and the rest of Acts chapter 28 and then it wasn't Peter that wrote 13 books of the New Testament it was Paul. And so it wasn't Peter that the church is built upon. Matthew Henry concludes nothing can be more wrong than to suppose that Christ meant the person of Peter being the rock. Without doubt Christ himself is the rock the tried foundation of the church and woe to him that attempts to lay any other.

Now though I do not believe Peter is the primary foundation I do believe he is a central foundational stone as I will explain in just a moment. Now the rock the second view that has arisen especially during the time of the Reformation in the 16th century was that the rock refers to Peter's confession of faith in Christ. When Jesus says who do men say that I the Son of Man am and they said some say Elias or John the Baptist Jeremiah one of the prophets they all got it wrong and Jesus says to them but who do you say that I am?

That's the most important question for your eternity what you believe about Jesus Christ. And Peter said thou art the Christ you are the anointed one of God you are the Savior and he says you are the son of the living God you are in other words God son God in flesh Emmanuel God with us. And in response to that Jesus said blessed are you Simon bar Jonah flesh and blood didn't reveal that my father revealed that to you and he says upon this rock I will build my church and so the Reformation Martin Luther and those who came with him during the time of the Reformation they believe that this rock is referring to the confession that Peter made the confession that Christ is the son of the living God. Now that is a solid position based on the text as the church is built upon the gospel as well Romans 10 9 tells us that when you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord or the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God raised you from the dead you shall be saved. So confessing that brings you into the body of Christ brings you into the family of God so you could say that the gospel of Christ the confession that Jesus is Lord is a foundation of the church.

A third position and this is what many hold to as well and what I believe is that the rock refers to Jesus Christ. He says to him in Matthew 16 verse 18 I say unto thee that thou art Peter. Now I'm going to use some technicality as we break down some of these verses because out of the Bible there probably isn't more contention surrounding any portions of scripture than Matthew 16 18 through 20.

There is more contention on these because the Catholics differ from what we believe pertaining to these passages. So he says thou art Peter. He uses the Greek phrase you are Petros. Petros is a Greek word that means a stone.

Vines expository dictionary of the New Testament states Petros is a detached stone or boulder or a stone that might be thrown easily. In a play on words Jesus says thou art Petros but upon this Petra I will build my church. He transitions from Petros to Petra the word rock and rock refers to a massive rock a large expanse bedrock or an outcropping of a rock and so it's important to understand in the Greek there are two different words here and Jesus is actually using a pun here. Now where the question I would ask is this where else is Petra used in the New Testament? Where else is Petra used in the New Testament?

And that's the word for rock here. On you it says thou art Petros Peter and upon this rock or this Petra I will build my church. Matthew 7 24 Jesus uses the word and it says therefore whosoever heareth these things of mine and doeth them I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a Petra upon a rock foundation and the rain descended the floods came and the winds blew in it and beat upon the house and it fell not for it was founded upon a Petra upon a rock foundation. So Jesus uses the word Petra as being a foundational stone and he's actually calling his word the Petra there. Petra is also used in Matthew 27 verse 60 when it talks about Jesus where he was laid when he was crucified and he died they laid him in a tomb it says in Matthew 26 27 verse 60 which he had hewn out of the Petra or rock.

So it's talking about like a side of a mountain like this massive side of a mountain they carved this out of so Petra is like a large stone like a mountain type stone or a large foundational stone. Paul also used Petra specifically of Christ who was actually the one who went before the nation of Israel in the wilderness. Do you remember in the Old Testament it says that there was a fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day that led the Jews of those 40 years. The question is who was that pillar of fire and cloud and and who was that in the wilderness leading them.

Well the Bible gives us the answer. First Corinthians 10 for it says and did drink all that same spiritual drink they drank of the spiritual Petra or rock that followed them and that rock was Christ. So Paul calls Jesus the Petra the rock that was following the Jewish people. Petra is also used of Christ by Peter himself in 1 Peter 2 8 and he referring to Christ here says and a stone of stumbling and a rock or Petra of offense even unto them that stumble at his word being disobedient. So who is the Petra? Well Paul and Peter refer to Christ as the Petra. Nowhere in the Bible does it call Peter the Petra except if you were to say that's what Jesus is referring to here. Vines says Petra is used in Matthew 16 18 metaphorically of Christ and the testimony concerning him.

Here the distinction is between Petra concerning the Lord himself and Petros the apostle is clear. Now it's also important to know the Old Testament affirms Christ as being the rock. Isaiah 28 16 says therefore thus saith the Lord God behold I lay in Zion a foundation for a foundation a stone a tried stone a precious cornerstone a sure foundation he that believeth shall not make haste.

Here it's talking about Jesus because when you when Isaiah 28 16 is quoted in the New Testament it always refers to Christ. The Bible affirms this in Matthew 21 verse 42 the stone which the builders rejected Jesus said the same became the head of the corner. Peter affirms this in Acts 4 verse 10 he says to the Jewish people in that day the Jewish Sanhedrin and actually who's bringing him before them they're trying to keep Peter from preaching. In Acts 4 10 it says be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified whom God raised from the dead even by him that this man stand here before you whole this is the stone which was said it not of you builders which has become the head of the corner. And then he goes on to say neither is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved. Paul again affirms this in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 11 he says for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is who?

Jesus Christ. So if you were to compare scripture with scripture what's known as analogia scriptura you have to compare scripture with scripture you find that throughout the Bible it never says Peter is the foundation but it does say Jesus Christ is the foundation. So Jesus is the foundation of the church he is a chief cornerstone but I also would say this it is true that the apostles were the first layers of stones which were built the church was built upon. There is a very true and real sense that Peter and the apostles are foundational stones. Listen to Ephesians 2 verse 20 it says and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Now again if you've ever been part of laying a foundation for any type of building I've done this sometimes years years ago people I work with you don't you first have a footer put into the ground but then you lay foundational stones or we see blocks today like square blocks and so when you lay a foundation you always start on the corners and the most time is spent making sure that those corners are set right so if you ever come to a foundation you'll see sometimes they have this corner laid this corner and maybe it's attached to the rest of the house and you'll see that get finished and sometimes they'll let that set up but then those get set and then they run a string from the first layer of the cornerstone here to that stone and then they begin to lay the rest of the stones. Now the house the weight of the house is specifically and most importantly balanced based upon those corners if you were to say hey we don't have any access to the crawl space you could actually cut out a center area of your foundation. I'm not telling you to go home and do that all right so don't go home and say hey preacher said I could do this I want to see what's under there so you know there should be an access anyway and if there's not you call somebody who knows construction but you can cut that out but nobody ever cuts out the cornerstone they don't start cutting out the corners that would cause great problems and so what you have is the picture of Jesus is the chief cornerstone he's the primary foundation but then you have all the other stones in the first stone laid really was was Peter and the apostles and so that's what Ephesians 2 20 saying it says they're built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone Peter was a foundational stone he preached on the day of Pentecost 3,000 were saved he preached in Acts 10 in the home of the Gentiles and the Gentiles many of them came to Christ he was foundational there also if you read Revelation 21 verse 14 it talks about the wall of the New Jerusalem had 12 foundations and the names of the apostles are in those foundational stones so they are part of the foundation but the primary foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ scripture refers to the apostles and prophets as stones in the same way you can think about it like this Jesus said I am the light of the world later he said that in John 9 5 later he says in Matthew 5 14 he says you are the light of the world now what's he saying Jesus is the primary premier light of the world but when you receive Christ you become lights of the world right but you're not creating the light and you're not the primary light it's not light built on you the light is Christ in the same way when you come to Christ you become part of the foundation because the foundation himself is now in you just as the light of Christ is in you you know Jesus calls pastors pastors and shepherds but he calls himself the chief shepherd and so that same kind of idea Jesus is the premier one he is the the the foundation of the church now first Peter chapter 2 verse 4 through 8 says this to whom coming as unto living stones disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and precious he says you also are as live lively stones are built up a spiritual house and later in verse 6 he says but the chief cornerstone he talks about is Christ so what you find is your living stones as Jesus builds his church you are necessary and an important part of that building process your other stones that Jesus Christ is laying in building his church that's why when you give your life to Christ you're part of what God is doing you enter into that work of God but he is the main foundation upon which you are being built upon so if you were to take the New Testament and understand this the way I would summarize it is this the rock foundation of the church is Christ who is the chief cornerstone the first layer of stones are the apostles and prophets and every believer who proclaims the gospel are foundational stones to the church secondly we see not only the foundation of the church but the victory of the church look what he says here in verse number 18 the last part of it he says in the gates of hell shall not prevail against it the gates of hell shall not prevail against it what did Jesus mean by this phrase I don't want to be confusing and I think I pray that I can make this clear because I need to get a little bit technical in some of these words because words matter because truth is based on words and so what does this phrase gates of hell mean very important and there's a lot to it so let me break this down the word the phrase gates of hell could be also translated as gates of Hades Hades is a Greek word that is transliterated into the English as Hades so Hades literally means not seen or unseen now hell is the eternal abode of lost souls where they will go into a place of real eternal punishment forever Hades in the Bible is known as the place of the departed dead in the Old Testament both believers and unbelievers went to Hades Hades is also parallel to what's known as the Hebrew word sheol raise your hand if you're familiar with the fruit word sheol okay a lot of you are so the word sheol is the Hebrew word for for Hades which would be the Greek word so so this is the idea now the Greek word for hell is Gehenna Gehenna or the what was known as the valley of Hinnom and it's the place of eternal fiery punishment of lost souls and it is always translated as hell in the New Testament now sometimes Hades is translated in the King James Bible as hell and sometimes it's translated as Hades I wish it was translated as Hades every time the New King James captures that and I'll explain about that in just a moment and so it is it is an unusual word because when you study Hades in the Old Testament both believers and unbelievers went to sheol or Hades but something happens in the New Testament because Hades becomes a place where only unbelievers become part of that place so why why the change and let me explain why this changed when Jesus Christ died the Bible tells us and before he removed those people that were in that compartment of Hades or sheol and Abraham's bosom we see these two compartments in Luke 16 verse 22 and 3 it says in Luke 16 22 Jesus talks about two men who die and it says in and it came to pass that the beggar died and he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom that's the compartment of Hades or sheol that was known as paradise remember when Jesus told the man on the cross he said today you'll be with me in paradise so so this is this is that compartment and then it says and the rich man also died and was buried and in hell he lift up his eyes being in torments and see if Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom or in his that dwelling place there so somehow the people in hell the suffering portion of Hades could see the people there and Abraham was in some way able to communicate back now when Jesus died the Bible speaks about Jesus leading captivity captive Psalm 68 18 says that talking of Jesus and we know this is talking of Jesus because the New Testament affirms that Psalm 68 18 says thou hast ascended on high thou hast led captivity captive thou hast received gifts for men yea the rebellious also for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them now Ephesians 4 goes on and quotes this as well and expounds on it listen to what Ephesians 4 8 says says wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men and notice verse 9 now he that ascended what is it that he also descended when okay you guys are allowed to respond this is this is where the church is able to speak at the preacher you can talk back all right so before he ascended up into heaven he first descended into the lower parts of where so where is Sheol or Hades it's in the earth it's in the earth this compartment is there so we find that Jesus descended first there and this place this compartment that he was in he went down when he died and for those three days people say what did Jesus do for the three days that he was dead he went down and he proclaimed victory to the Saints in the Paradise part and when he ascended he took them out of that into the very presence of God there is no longer believers down in Sheol or Hades that is only a compartment now for the unbeliever that's why the transition happens when you get into the New Testament Hades is a temporary place it's like a holding cell for the unbeliever it's a punishing holding cell and for the believer it was a place where they were held there because the sacrifice of Christ had not yet fully happened until Christ came that is why in the New Testament Hades transitions from being a place where both saved and lost go to where only the lost go listen to what Revelation 20 verse 14 says and death and hell that says we're cast into the lake of fire this is the second death I don't want to offend any of my KJV only brothers and I love the King James Bible obviously we preach from that but I prefer the New King James and the translation of the word hell because it shows the difference accurately listen to what Revelation 20 says in the New King James then death and Hades not death and hell but death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death people go to hell forever Hades gives up the dead which were in them and Hades is cast this temporary holding place is then cast into the eternal place of fiery judgment a difference of those words is also seen in places like Psalm 16 10 this is talking of Christ it says for thou will not leave my soul in hell neither will thyself thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption that verse has caused some people in the charismatic realm to believe and teach falsely that when Jesus died he went to hell and suffer for three days the better rendering is Psalm 16 10 as the New King James says for you will not leave my soul in Sheol that's the Hebrew word being used nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption he didn't go to a place of judgment he went to the compartment of Abraham's bosom or paradise does that make sense that's why it's important to know these differences again you can you can read your Bible obviously but it's you can trust every word in it but it's important I think to read other translations to study original words to come to these clear understandings because false teachings can sometimes arise because of it now the phrase gates of hell or Hades you need to understand was a Jewish phrase referring to the place of where the dead go it was used in the Old Testament referred to that place where you die and go Job 17 16 it says this they shall go down to the bars of the pit when our rest together is in the dust again the New King James says will they go down to the gates of Sheol it's it's it's the word is not you can call it the pit is fine but it's it's the place of Sheol Isaiah 38 verse 10 says I said in the cutting off of my days I shall go to the gates of the grave the gates in the Hebrew word is Sheol so I could give you passage after passage but just understand this the Jews when they talked about the gates of Hades or the gates of Sheol it was referring to the place of death it was a place of death Frederick Bruner says the gates of Hades was the ancients way of saying the place of or power of death it was the fear of many and the ancient world that the human soul that passed through the doors of death could never return that once you went there you're you're in prison there and you could never be removed from that place but Jesus promises as Bruner says that his community the ultimate power the power to come back through the doors of death that's what he's saying here and what you find in Revelation 1 18 because you need to hear this friends if Jesus did not rise there is no hope your loved one dies and it is goodbye it's forever goodbye it's forever gone the only way that Hades and Sheol could ever we could ever see our loved ones come back is if Christ went there and brought them out of that place and what you find in Revelation 1 18 Jesus comes on the scene after his resurrection he says this I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I'm alive forevermore and by the way I have the keys of Hades or hell he's used here but it's the word Hades and death he holds the keys in other words death no longer has the power over you because Jesus has the power over death so when you die it doesn't finish you Jesus has defeated death and it's it's essential to understand this the only way Jesus could defeat death is by himself dying he had to go to death on death's turf that's why Hebrews 2 14 says for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil I know the the the pain we go through I just talking to somebody in the class last hour and just they said it was so hard when my loved one died and they were sharing with me some of the pains of that and and and friends if it wasn't for Christ and he did not have to do it the if there's anyone that we should grab onto and say praise God for Christ it should be when suffering hits because he's the only one that can sedate it if you kill God in Christ you have nothing what does the atheist have when his grandma dies what does the atheist have when his beloved spouse dies there's nothing you're gonna go drink yourself into oblivion you have no sedation but when you know that my loved one is alive still there in Christ there with the Lord what what incredible and that's not that's not a gas that's not like oh I hope that's the truth and so the Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 1 10 but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who hath abolished death and has brought life into mortality to light through the gospel you know the gospel sets the captives of death free I know people that are daily afraid of death they talk about their I'm always afraid that I always afraid to die if you're saved you don't have to be afraid to die he delivers you from that fear you know I've been around death a lot of my life and it's it's always a hard thing and but I can tell you the peace of God that rests upon the saints of God I think about Julie precious lady in our church who went home to be the Lord just a couple months ago and she was just so peaceful and she was like I'm ready so ready on and on I've seen people just come to the end and it's just an amazing thing it's amazing thing to stand there on the precipice knowing that the moment that I close my eyes in death I will open them in the glories of heaven think about that I just you just need to know this when the worst thing happens to your loved one the best thing will then happen to them because of Jesus if it wasn't for Jesus it would be the worst thing forever because of Jesus when the worst thing happens immediately the best thing happens to them so there are times in life we don't know why I remember when my brother-in-law Chad died and he left behind a little four-month-old baby and a two-year-old baby and and he had a church plant and he was one of my best friends in life and it was just so heartbreaking there you know so you see so God you're gonna take home this pastor that just started a church up in Greenville Ohio you're gonna let this guy die and leave behind his wife with it with a little two little boys I mean how is that fitting your plan how does that work itself out right I mean that seems crazy that's that's so heartbreaking but by God's grace that church went on those two young boys have come to know Christ and one of them feel called now to preach the gospel I don't understand all God's plans I would have wanted to write it a different way but I think in a thousand years from now we're gonna look back and say the way that God was working was so transcendent beyond anything I could ever ask or think I I just never would have seen that I mean think about Peter when Jesus says I'm going to be crucified and die Peter says no way Lord that cannot let me rewrite your plan and if Peter had his way we go to hell right I I Jesus died to bring salvation and and I have prayed before this prayer I said God if more people could be saved through my death and through my life then take me but he's kept me around so far so I don't know maybe there'll be a time when he finds me more valuable to die and maybe the gospel goes out but I belong to him right you belong to him and and and we can trust our life to him and the joy is we can sing the victory song of Paul in 1st Corinthians 15 he says oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory the sting of death is sin but the strength be the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God through which give us us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ what this means friend when he says the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church is this Satan sought to use the fear of death to keep the church from preaching he used the threat of death to keep the church from advancing the gospel in Revelation 2 verse 8 Jesus says Satan will cast some of you into prison he said you'll be cast into prison you'll be tried he said but be faithful unto death and I'll give you a crown of life in Revelation 2 10 die well in other words Jesus said Satan tried to use this fear of death they persecuted the early church people were boiled in oil strung up by their fingers they were they were killed fed the lions crucified just the suffering that Christians have gone through through the years is unbelievable in acts for they were beaten told not to preach they just kept preaching in acts 5 they were beaten and it says they were rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ and they cease not to teach him to preach Jesus this goes on in acts 7 Stephen is is is stoned to death acts 8 Saul begins to persecute the church and what you find is and in acts 8 they were scattered everywhere being persecuted but they went everywhere preaching the gospel and so what you find is the gates of hell could not prevail against them in other words the church wins Christ is victorious the church will not die now it's important to also understand maybe the context of this when Jesus was saying this he was at a location known as Mount Hermon Mount Hermon was in Caesarea Philippi which was was north in Israel is where Dan is to like from Dan to Beersheba Dan's up north it's where Jeroboam had the false altar up there built they also so up there it was known as Panias by the by the Greeks they renamed it in 20 BC to be Caesarea and then after Caesar Augustus and then they heard Philippi took over that region and named it Caesarea Philippi in honor of himself and Caesar they like to name stuff after themselves and so but that that area was a place of great pagan worship it's interesting because the god Pan was worshiped there actually Peter Pan is actually built off of this myth but that that false god Pan and he was half goat half man and he was like the god of the forest it was a perverse god a sexual deity it was a very very wicked wicked and lewd thing actually it's interesting Miriam Webster's dictionary the word panic comes from this pan god and so people there was like panicking it was like crazy when I was there in 2011 they had they didn't have burial places for people but they had burial places and tombs for goats because they worship them it was crazy crazy thing but at the foot of that mountain there's an opening like a cave and it's a large opening and don't google it now but you can look that up and there's there's a pool of water under there that comes out and they called that place it's interesting they called that place the gates to the underworld they believe that was the place where the Nephilim would come and ascend and descend from the earth and and some crazy things but they believe that was the very gates of the underworld sometimes referred to even as the gates of hell so here's Jan Jesus standing talking about the church for the first time he says I will build my church and he's up on that rock and he says in the gates of hell will not prevail against my church what's interesting most Jews would not come close to that area because it was so wicked Jesus Christ steps right on that place fearless and declares victory over his church aren't you thankful Jesus victors over death amen they cannot hold him that is the picture and so Charles Spurgeon says you can never kill the church until you kill Christ and then lastly and finally we see the authority of the church and I'm gonna go quick here because our time is there so the foundation the victory and then the authority look at verse 19 and he says and I will give you the keys of the kingdom and whatever you buy in on earth will be bound in heaven whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven anybody ever tell you know when you get to heaven you know maybe Peter will open the golden gates for you you ever pearly gates Peter the pearly gate they get that from this passage so Peter is not at the pearly gates he's not going to be opening the doors for you Christ is the one that opens the doors but what does this mean well keys are a symbol of authority and if you if you work for a company and they give you keys to the building you have access to the building to let people in but you also could lock the doors to keep people out and here Jesus is talking to Peter and he says that I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom I'm giving you authority here and and and what you find is Peter became the one who was given the delegated authority by God not Peter's authority but delegated to him by Christ to open the gospel to the Jews in Acts 2 and then later to the Samaritans in Acts 8 and to the Gentiles in Acts 10 he became the one who opened the gospel kingdom to them and it came through the preaching of the word of God the Bible says God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to save them to believe and so God has chosen that method now he says whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven whatever you lose on earth shall be loose in heaven what does this mean this binding and loosing well this was a very familiar Jewish phrase the rabbi spoke of binding and loosing which literally meant forbidding something or allowing something permitting something though Jesus is talking to Peter here he says the exact same thing to the other disciples in Matthew 18 verse 18 he says whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven whatever you lose on earth shall be loose in heaven he says that to all of them in Matthew 18 18 now this authority you need to understand is given to the apostles who become the authors of the New Testament they would declare in other words what is bound or forbidden and what is loosed or what is permitted to be done the authority of what they said listen did not determine what heaven would allow or forbid it was just telling you what heaven already allowed or forbid dr kenneth woose helps us with the greek verbs in matthew 16 verse 19 and who expound on them he says whatever you you could read matthew 16 19 in other words this way whatever you bind on earth or forbid to be done shall have already been bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth or permit to be done shall have already been loosed in heaven and and again i'm a i love the king james but the new american has a more clear aspect of this in matthew 16 19 listen to how the new american says it i will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven they they clarify that greek verb so that you understand a more accurate understanding so the church carries out the will of god god doesn't obey the church or the decisions of man rather man obeys the decisions of god and so the church is given the keys of the kingdom the authority to declare what is forbidden and what is allowed that authority stands strictly on the word of god that is why friends first timothy 315 says this paul says if i tarry long that you might know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of god which is the church of the living god what's he called the church the pillar and ground of the truth it doesn't say any other entity is that you're not the pillar of ground of the truth by yourself as an individual i'm not it's when we stand on the word of god the bible is the foundation stone of our truth so people have said you christians say jesus is the only way that's not true and we say yes it is because heaven has already determined it and when you and i share the gospel as i do and i go through the gospel with someone and if they say yes i believe that jesus christ died on the cross was buried and rose again i believe i have sinned and i repent of my sins and i surrender my life to jesus and i say is that what you want to do yes i want to receive christ and i had a man i've been praying for for months last sunday night went through the gospel and he got down with a group of us men and he called out to christ gave his life to jesus his mom's an atheist his mom's his dad's an atheist mom and agnostic but he has been shown the truth of god and he's trusted in christ and he was so filled with joy i met with him later in the week just so excited for what god's done in his life and i based on the word of god can look at him and say your sins have been forgiven you have been loosed from your sins i don't have the authority on my own to say that but the i know what the bible says and based on the bible heaven has loosed you from your sins you're a child of god now if at the same time he said i reject christ i i don't want to believe in christ which he did for months i have the authority to look at him and as i did and said listen because you've rejected christ you are still bound in your sin you are under the judgment of god if you die you would be separated from god forever that is true we have the authority to say that because that's what god's word is saying right does that make sense so the authority is delegated based upon the word of god when you declare the word of god you are declaring the vine truth where on earth do you get that from do you see the importance of the church you're not going to go to walmart and get a pack of truth this morning you know you're not going to go to crowder and get a loaf of truth you're going to you're going to come to the word of god and the churches that are holding the word of god and elevating that so the foundation of the church i'm going to ask you are you going to be a part of the church are you going to invest your life in the church ask yourself the question what kind of church would lighthouse be if every church member were just like me if jesus christ gave his life for the church shouldn't we be investing our life into it it's one thing to be a spectator to something it's one thing to sit and watch and be like oh i enjoyed that or oh i enjoyed that god says you got to get in the game right roll up the sleeves and i'm so thankful for a church of people that are willing to serve and give and and invest their time and energy and resources we could never do vbs we could never minister to people we could never care for those that are suffering and hurting like we do without the ministry of the body of christ and so today it's so important for you to understand you have one life to live pour it into that which matters for eternity the gates of hell don't beat us jesus christ has victored over death and his victory has become ours you literally get a walk around with the authority of god's word in your heart and and you can share the gospel which can literally make an eternal difference in the life of somebody what a incredible privilege that is you can leave here today and bring some gospel tracts grab some of those and say man i want to tell somebody about crisis week invite somebody you know just a few weeks ago one of these were sitting at the base on somebody's desk they saw it they came to church nobody told them about they just saw this card oh i'm gonna go check that church out they brought somebody last sunday a couple weeks ago who last sunday that individual who worked at the base also gave their life to christ just by someone leaving a card there only heaven knows who decided to pick that up and maybe they said god speak to somebody's heart and they prayed about that but i'm telling you god will use your life to make eternal differences in people's life time is running out this world's not going to go on forever we're not promised tomorrow but we are promised eternity and let's be busy about what god's busy about amen