13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"

Transcription

1 1 Matthew (English Standard Version) 13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar- Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

2 2 Two questions today a hard one and an easy one. Why are you here? There could be as many answers to that question as there are people present. Some would say, "I'm here because my parents made me come." Others would say, "I'm here for my children." Still others would say, "I'm here because I have responsibilities." Some are here for the fellowship, others for the worship, others for the teaching. I'm always aware that some are here seeking to hear a word from God. Why are you here? That was the easy question, next the harder one. "Why are WE here?" Those who founded St Lawrence s did so for a reason. There s been a church building on this site for 700 years, and a definite church meeting in this place for at least 600 years. Why? Why are we here? A church whose members can't answer that question is destined to walk along the path of least resistance. It becomes a leaf blown by the wind or a ship tossed by the waves. Without clear direction we will drift and even capsize. Without a clear answer to that question, "Why are WE here?" we will fall prey to whatever force can speak the loudest. Let s look in our rear view mirror and think about our origins. With Peter's profession of faith, Christ established His Church. He said, "you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Jesus said, "I will build MY church." A few moments ago, I said, " Those who founded St Lawrence s did so for a reason." Really, the reason the founders established this church is not as important as the reason "the Founder" established His church. Jesus didn't say that he would establish Peter's Church; He said I will build "my church." As we glance back at our rear view mirror, let's all agree on this one thing: St. Lawrence s Darlaston is Jesus Christ's church it s HIS! That means St. Lawrence s doesn t belong to the Reader, or the Rector, or the Parish Officers or the PCC or the members on the electoral roll. This church belongs to Christ. It is His Church. He bought the church with his precious blood. And He bought each one of us Christians with His precious blood. I ve said this in the past, so I ll just mention it briefly here there is a perfectly good word in NT Greek for servant that word is diakonoj. The word Jesus uses for His disciples is not diakonoj servant but douloj which means slave. A servant is hired, for wages. He or she is his or her own person.

3 3 A slave is owned he or she is the property of their master he or she is bought and paid for. As the hymn says, we are purchased by His precious blood. The Church isn t ours because we ourselves have been purchased or bought we own nothing we are just stewards of God s property, which He has entrusted to us. Next piece: Jesus said, "I will build my Church." Do you ever feel pressure to make St. Lawrence s grow? Jesus makes it clear in this text that He ll build His Church. He ll use His people to do it, but He will do the building, not us. Our part is to follow Him, His guidance, His will. Now the phrase we've been waiting for, the one that comes after Jesus' bold declaration that the Church belongs to Him and He will build it up. He says this, "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." some modern versions say it in different words, that s a literal translation of the original Greek, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (πύλη) (α δης) That s important because it would be easy to misunderstand this scripture as meaning that the forces of hell cannot invade the church as though, in a wicked world, the church was a safe haven from the storms of life and the evils of Satan a fortress that offers sanctuary and protection to its members. But, that would be a misreading of the text. Jesus doesn t say here that the gates of the Church will withstand the assaults of the forces of Hell, as though the Church was under siege. He says the gates of hell will not prevail against US! This is so important! Jesus promises here that hell can't withstand our assault! This text is a call to arms. This text is a clear trumpet sound to charge the gates of Hell. Jesus promises that He will build the church and hell will not be able to withstand the church's force. Have we launched any attacks on hell lately? Michael S. Hamilton, Assistant Professor of History at Seattle Pacific University wrote, "In the 1930's, most missionary agencies emphasized evangelism, church-planting, and discipleship. In 1998, however, four of the five largest overseas ministries specialize in relief, development, and education work. For many of these agencies, evangelism is a secondary concern." If Professor Hamilton is right, the church is drifting from its purpose, the purpose for which it was founded. Please hear me right on this. Feeding the poor, and clothing the naked is important, and Jesus made that clear.

4 4 We should feed the poor, and clothe the naked And yet, if that s all we do, them we re just rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. And we re missing the purpose for which our Founder and Saviour and Lord put us here. Christians and churches, and Christian organisations are rightly working to feed the hungry, heal the sick, and clothe the naked. They are working alongside many other organisations doing the same. BUT If we don't spread the gospel, who will? Among Jesus' last words to His disciples were these, "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8 RSV) Jesus talks about a power that will descend upon his disciples a Holy Ghost power that will empower them to spread the gospel both near and far. Jesus does not give them a command here; he gives a prophecy. He clearly says what will happen when the believers are empowered: they will spread the gospel. Earlier in His ministry, he does give his disciples a command, He said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age..." (Matthew 28:19-20 RSV) We are to "go," we are to Make disciples, we are to "baptize" and we are to "teach." This is our commander-in-chief speaking. He doesn't ask us our opinion about the mission. He doesn t want our advice; He wants our obedience. Why are we here? We are here to proclaim the gospel. The Bible is clear if we are Christians, then we are called to be witnesses to tell others what God has done for us, in our lives. The Bible is also clear that we are not all called to be evangelists, any more than every soldier in an army is one of the front line troops, but to spread the gospel is why we re here. Are we battle ready? Jesus didn t establish a garrison to defend a fortress He established an assault force to storm the strongholds of the enemy. The GATES of hell will not prevail against it! And so today, I believe God would challenge us as a church, and especially those in any position of leadership, to truly seek His face. How is God calling US to fulfil our purpose? What is the role to which He is calling you and the group you lead as part of the Church s purpose?

5 5 Hell has gained a lot of ground out there in the world. You know there s anxiety, and distress, and misery, and there are many, right here in Darlaston, who have not experienced the life-changing power of the supernatural Lord Jesus living within them, guiding and leading them, working in their hearts and in their lives. They haven t experienced that - YET! Let s bow our heads in prayer. Jesus, our beloved Saviour and Lord and Master, we give you thanks and praise because you have promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against us. We, who belong to you, ask you to build us up, to guide and lead and EMPOWER us, YOUR church, to fulfil in this parish, your purpose, to GO and to MAKE DISCIPLES, to BAPTIZE and to TEACH to your glory. AMEN.