Look up and Live, Part 3, The Keys of the Unstoppable Church

Matthew 16:13-20

Big Idea: Christ’s Church is blessed by God’s revelation, unstoppable even by Hades’ gates, and entrusted with the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

1.      God blesses the Church by revealing Christ’s identity

2.      Hell’s gates can’t stop the Church

3.      Heaven’s door is open to the Church

One of the highlights of this year for our church was the launch of the Chinese Parallel Congregation.

We’ve been thinking about its possibilities for a while, and after much prayer and discussion, we launched it in September.

It’s hard work, not only for the people starting in the service, but also for those who are in the all-together service.

There are people who are stepping up to serve, who haven’t served before.

Though the work is hard, it’s been such a joy to see.

While the Chinese parallel service is great, we don’t want to stop there.

We want to keep growing, as we plant more congregations and as we reach more people.

The work won’t get easier, so why do we do it?

Do we really need to grow more congregations?

Why do we need any more Churches?

What’s the point of having more churches?

That’s a question that we will be exploring today.

If you have your Bible today, please open up with me to Matthew 16:13-20.

We’re going to see three things in today’s message:

1.    God blesses the Church by revealing Christ’s identity

2.    Hell’s gates can’t stop the Church

3.    Heaven’s door is open to the Church

But before we start, let’s pray,

“Father, we thank you for giving us your word, the Bible. By your Holy Spirit, please open up our hearts so that we can joyfully receive it and humbly obey it, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.”

1.   God blesses the Church by revealing Christ’s identity

Jesus and his disciples arrived at Caesarea Philippi.

It’s located about 40 kilometres north of the Sea of Galilee.

It’s a beautiful place, with water coming down from Mount Hermon.

Here’s a photo of it from the last time Jenny and I visited.

When the Greeks arrived, they built a cave there for Pan, the mythical Greek god of the wild.

It was here in Caesarea Philippi, where people came to worship pagan idols, that Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

The disciples gave some positive answers: John the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah.

These are good names to be associated with.

After all, Elijah and Jeremiah were famous prophets, and John the Baptist was the most famous prophet-like teacher around Jesus’ time who died for speaking God’s truth.

But Jesus asked again, v15, “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Verse 16, “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 

In my old church, there was one Sunday when a special guest came to visit.

Being a Chinese congregation, we love taking group photos.

And so, one of the older Christian brothers asked someone to take a photo for the group.

However, someone told this brother, “Brother, the person you gave the camera to is the Archbishop of Sydney”.

The Archbishop was the special guest, but this Christian brother had no idea.

After they realised who he was, everyone wanted to have a photo with the archbishop.

The disciples would’ve known that Jesus was someone special, even someone important.

Otherwise, they would not have left their jobs and their families to follow Jesus.

They might have been like the rest of the people before, seeing Jesus as someone like a prophet from long ago.

However, over time, as they listened to Jesus’ teaching, as they witnessed his miracles, as they shared their lives with Jesus, they realised that he was more.

They realised that he was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

The word “Messiah” means the Anointed One.

Jesus was the one whom God chose to be the King of His Kingdom; he was the One they were waiting for, and he was the Son of the Living God.

Jesus was no ordinary teacher; He was and still is the Son of the Living God.

When Jesus heard it, “Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.”

Simon, son of Jonah, was blessed to have said these words.

He said them not because he figured out who Jesus was all by himself.

Though he had observed Jesus, and he’d heard Jesus,

he couldn’t have arrived at his conclusion about Jesus without God the Father’s help.

Our hearts are so stubborn, so hard, and so blind.

Left to ourselves, we wouldn’t be able to work out who Jesus is, even if we’ve spent three years living with him.

That’s what the disciples did, but even they couldn’t work it out.

And they wouldn’t have worked it out even if they have spent the rest of their lives with Jesus, without God’s help.

Only God the Father can soften our stubborn hearts and reveal Jesus’ identity to us.

That’s why Jesus calls Peter blessed. To be blessed means being happy.

He’s happy because God is happy with him.

Because God is happy with Peter, God reveals Jesus’ identity to Peter.

The same goes with all those who have understood the truth of the identity of Jesus, who understood that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

We’re happy, we’re blessed, because God has chosen to reveal Jesus’ identity to us.

Not everyone understands the identity of Jesus.

For if they did, they would be filled with God’s happiness for them.

That’s the mark of someone who knew Jesus’ identity – they are blessed by God, they are happy.

God is happy to reveal Jesus’ identity to them.

Tim Worton was a manager of large stadiums and arenas.

He enjoyed listening to music.

One of his favourite musicians was Neal Morse, who, after becoming a Christian, decided to leave his band and write his own solo music.

Neal Morse wrote Christian lyrics, and Tim heard it, but it just didn’t click.

To him, they were just lyrics to music.

However, one day, he discovered that he had a strong urge to attend church the next day.

He went to his local Anglican church at Menai, and at the age of 62, became a Christian that year.

Now, he’s studying at Moore College.

Tim heard Christian music, and he probably would’ve heard the gospel message before as well, but it wasn’t until he went to his local church that God revealed Jesus’ identity to Tim.

In the Church, as he listened to God’s word explained, Tim gave his life to Jesus Christ.

That is, in the Church, Tim was blessed by God the Father, for God the Father had revealed the truth of Jesus to Tim.

How would you answer Jesus’ question in verse 15, ‘“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”’.

You can say what our world thinks about Jesus.

You can even say what I’ve been saying about Jesus.

But have you accepted that truth for yourself?

In your heart of hearts, do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God? Has God blessed you by revealing to you who Jesus is?

2.   Hell’s gates can’t stop the Church

Jesus said that Peter was blessed because God had revealed Jesus’ identity to him.

And now, Jesus tells Peter that Peter will have a new identity.

Peter’s name was originally Simon, Jonah’s son.

But now, his new name is Peter, which means the rock.

Listen to what Jesus says about Peter V18, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.”

Peter now has a new identity.

He is Simon “the Rock” Jonah’s son, not to be confused with Dwayne the Rock Johnson, the Hollywood actor.

Jesus said that Simon is now named Peter, the Rock, and on this rock Jesus will build his church.

For many centuries, the Roman Catholic Church used this verse to establish its authority.

They claim that since they are the church founded by the Apostle Peter, and since Jesus says that Peter is the Rock on which he builds His church, they are the true Church.

However, while Peter was certainly an important apostle and helped establish different churches, Peter himself was not the key to how Jesus built his church.

If Jesus did mean that Peter is the rock on which he builds the church, he could’ve said, “You are Peter, and upon you, I will build my church”.

For those of us who want more details, the Greek words Jesus used for the name “Peter” (Petros) and the “rock” (Petra) are similar in sound but are distinct words.

So what did Jesus mean when he said that on this rock, he will build his church?

It comes back to what Peter had said earlier on.

Jesus has just said that God has revealed this truth to Peter: Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

This truth about Jesus is what Jesus will use to build his church.

What God the Father has revealed to Peter about Jesus is the foundation of Jesus’ Church.

It’s a little bit like this. Here is a photo of the memorial plaque on the east side of our Church, marking when the Church was built.

Here’s a clearer photo of a plaque marking the 100th anniversary of the Church building.

These are great plaques to have at Church.

However, from a structural point of view, these plaques don’t add a lot to the structure of the Church building.

If you take these plaques away, the building will still stand.

However, if you take the foundation stone away, the whole Church building would collapse.

Peter’s new identity of being “The Rock” is more like a memorial plaque.

It’s an important reminder of what God has revealed to Peter about Jesus.

But Peter’s new identity is not the foundation stone.

It’s God’s revelation to Peter about Jesus’ identity that is the foundation of the Church.

Indeed, Jesus himself is the Church’s foundation.

1 Cor 3:11, “For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ.”

Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, is the foundation of the Church.

Where there is a gathering that confesses that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, there you will find the Church.

Even if you have the most beautiful cathedral in the world, filled with the most beautiful paintings and chants, if they don’t confess Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, you will not find the Church there.

Jesus builds his people, his church, on the truth of his identity, as revealed by God the Father.

Jesus’ Church is the gathering of people who believe and confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

But what’s so special about them?

What makes them any different from the thousands of religions in the world that believe and confess other things?

Jesus said, on this rock (that is on the truth of his identity), I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

Hades is a Greek word that describes the realm of the dead.

In Greek thought, after you die, you go to Hades.

Throughout history, in various cultures, we see similar concepts of places of the dead.

In our Chinese Bible, we see the word 陰間.

In Egyptian mythology, the word Duat is used.

While every culture will have a different description of death, every culture in every place agrees that one day, we will go to the place of the dead.

One day, we will die.

Jesus says that he will build a people, his Church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

How does a gate overpower anything? When we think of overpowering someone with a weapon, we usually think of a sword or a gun.

We think of an offensive weapon.

But the gate is used for defence; it keeps the enemy away.

If anything, a gate prevents a group from being overpowered, rather than overpowering someone else.

In what way do the gates of Hades try to overpower the Church?

Besides keeping enemies out, gates can also keep them in.

For example, to keep prisoners inside a prison, tall gates with barbed wire are built. They are designed to prevent the prisoners from escaping.

That’s what the gates of Hades do.

The Bible tells us that we are sinners, we have committed sins against God, and we deserve to go to the place of the dead.

We belong to the prison of death; we belong in Hades.

Humanity has tried to escape death for as long as we can remember.

Many cultures have stories about how people have searched for medicine that will give immortality, but they have all failed.

The gates of Hades are too high for us to climb over and too strong for us to break through.

However, God, in His kindness and mercy, sent His One and Only Son into our world, a world that’s destined for death, in order to save us from death.

Jesus, the Son of the Living God, came to die on the cross, to pay for the death sentence that we deserved.

But more than that, He rose from the dead to show that He has smashed through the gates of Hades.

The gates of Hades have no power over Him.

The gates of Hades could not keep Him in.

Jesus has overpowered death, and now, He builds a church that will not be overpowered by death either.

That doesn’t mean that we won’t die.

Many Christians have died for their trust in Jesus.

But death won’t have the final say.

Christians who have confessed that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, will rise one day from the dead, just as Jesus Himself has done.

And notice that Jesus didn’t say He built individuals whom the gates of Hades couldn’t overcome.

Jesus builds a Church, a gathering, a communion, that the gates of Hades cannot overcome.

Friends, this is what you have come to today.

Today, you have come into the Church, the one Jesus built, the one community that the gates of Hades cannot overcome.

The gates of Hades will try to overcome us.

The world, the flesh, and the devil will throw all kinds of troubles and doubt at the Church to bring the Church down.

And the Church will suffer; we will experience loss, we will pay a high cost, we will be tested.

One day, the tests may be so severe that we won’t be able to gather at Church.

One day, the tests might be so severe that we might lose our lives.

But we will not be overcome if we are the Church that Jesus built.

If the last words on our mouths are ‘Jesus is Lord’, then we have overcome.

In June this year, a suicide bomber went into a Sunday Church service in an Orthodox Church in Damascus and killed at least 30 people and injured 54 others.

It would’ve been a horrible experience, and it struck a chord of fear in many Christians in the city.

However, after a while, they realised they had grown stronger than they were before and they continued to declare their faith.

Even in the face of death and tragedy, the Church would not be overcome.

The gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Do you see the Church in the same way Jesus does?

Don’t be a fool who sees the church as the way the world sees it.

See the Church, the people sitting around you, as Jesus himself sees it.

This is the Church that Jesus himself has built; this is His Church, a Church that the gates of Hades can’t overcome.

Angels long to catch a glimpse of what happens when people gather in Jesus’ name every Sunday at Church.

Do you share their longing for what happens at Church?

3. Heaven’s door is open to the Church

Jesus Christ has overcome death, and he takes the Church he’s built, smashes open the gates of Hades, to the very doors of heaven.

And there, he gives them the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Verse 19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

Jesus gives the keys of the Kingdom of heaven to Peter and to everyone who confesses that Jesus is the Messiah.

You probably heard the saying,  With great power comes great responsibility.”

The same thing can be said of keys: with a set of keys comes great responsibility.

If you are holding the key to the house, you’re responsible for getting in and possibly out of the house.

If you’re a bank manager and you’ve got the key to a safe, then you’re responsible for making sure that only the right people can access the safe.

Jesus tells Peter that he will give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

What are the keys to the Kingdom of heaven?

It’s the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

The Swiss Reformer theologian Zwingli puts it like this, “The keys are nothing else than this: the preaching of the pure, unfalsified Word of the gospel. Whoever believes this [gospel] will be free of his sins and be saved. Whoever does not believe this will be damned”.

How are the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven opened?

The doors of the Kingdom of Heaven are open to those who have put their trust in Jesus, the King of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The keys to the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven is the Gospel of Jesus.

Did you get that? Jesus has given us the keys to his house!

He’s given us access to the eternal home of God himself.

And his Gospel is the key.

And with this key comes great responsibility: “whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”

It’s wonderful that we have the gospel of Jesus; it’s wonderful that he’s given us the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

But the gospel was never given to be kept to ourselves.

The gospel was given to us to share.

Just as Jesus sent someone to tell you the gospel, to give you the keys to the Kingdom, he’s also sent us to tell others, so that they can have the keys to the kingdom.

Those who have heard the gospel from us and received it joyfully will be forgiven by God himself.

Their sins would be paid for by Jesus and their burden lifted, or loosed.

However, those who heard the gospel from us and rejected it will remain unforgiven by God.

They would still be carrying the burden of their sin.

They would still be bound.

This Gospel that Peter and all Christians are commanded to tell will determine the eternal destiny of all men and all women.

It’s through our telling, our preaching, our proclamation of the gospel that people are either freed from death or bound to death.

This doesn’t mean that we, in and of ourselves, have the authority to tell people whether they are entering through the doors of heaven or are still trapped by the gates of hell.

However, we can say that according to the gospel of Jesus, you are either freed from sin or still bound in sin, depending on whether you have received him as the Messiah, the Son of God.

Friends, as people who hold the keys of the kingdom of heaven, our Church has the responsibility of bringing the gospel to all those around us. There are thousands of people around here in Kogarah, as well as the many people in your circles, who have not heard about the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

No one has told them that there’s a way to smash through the gates of Hades.

No one has told them that Jesus has died to save them from eternal death.

And for those who heard it once, but have not become convinced yet, they need to hear it again.

Who will go? Will I go? Will you go?

Last week, I was coming back to Kogarah by train and saw two people handing out leaflets.

Ok, I thought, what are they promoting this time?

I went and got one and saw that it was for the LIFE Course!

They were people from a local Church handing out leaflets to invite people to hear about the Gospel!

It was hard work. I’m sure they had many rejections.

But just as I was about to go, I saw a young lady spending quite a bit of time with one of the people handing out the leaflets.

I pray that this young lady will come to know the Lord Jesus!

Over the past few weeks, our Church has been teaching the gospel in the LIFE Course and Christianity Explored.

It’s been a wonderfully engaging time as people hear the gospel and ask great questions about it.

We’re planning to do more next year.

Would you join us as we hold out the key to the kingdom of heaven, as we hold out the gospel of our Lord Jesus to them?

The next event to invite people to would be the Women’s event on 22/11.

Sisters, invite your friends to go.

 Brothers, tell your wives, or sisters, or daughters to go.

They will hear about the good news of Jesus at the event. Don’t miss out!

Why do we need to grow any more churches? Why do we need any more churches?

We need to grow more churches because it’s through the Church that Jesus shows us the way to the kingdom of heaven.

It’s through the Church that Jesus tells us what it is to remain bound to hell or to be freed for heaven.

Jesus built the Church as a gathering that even the gates of Hades can’t overcome.

He’s built the church, and he’ll take the church through the gates of hell to the very doors of heaven.

And he’s given us, those who confess that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.

We want to see more churches, and we want to see churches grow because that’s what Jesus wants to see.

I long to see what Jesus longs for, don’t you?

Christ’s Church is blessed by God’s revelation, unstoppable even by Hades’ gates, and entrusted with the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Here are three questions for us to think about this week:

1.    Why is it dangerous to look down on the Church?

2.    How does Christ see His Church?

3.    Is there anyone you’re stopping from entering the kingdom of heaven?

Christ’s Church is blessed by God’s revelation, unstoppable even by Hades’ gates, and entrusted with the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Let’s pray, “Long my imprisoned spirit layFast bound in sin and nature’s night;Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;My chains fell off, my heart was free,I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Lord Jesus, thank you for coming to set us free from the dungeon of sin and to bring us into your eternal home. Lord Jesus, you are the Messiah, the Chosen One, the Son of the Living God. Save us, Lord, for there are many of our friends and our families who are still bound to the dungeon of sin. You have given us the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Don’t let us delay in bringing your freedom to those chained to sin. Amen.”