Confess Christ Clearly! Matthew 16:13-20 September 3, 2017 Pastor Robert Hein Dear Friends in Christ, I was blessed to grow up in a Christian environment in which I was constantly surrounded by the truths of God s saving Word and a clear confession of Christ. Home, church, Sunday School, Christian elementary school were all on the same page. All taught the same simple truths from the Bible as summed up in Luther s Catechism and the Lutheran Confessions. I m sure many of you enjoyed this same spiritual upbringing which speaks of the vital importance of promoting Christian education. It wasn t until I got older that I realized that there were other religious groups out there promoting teachings completely different from what I had learned. Perhaps, it was from a Jehovah Witness who dropped off a pamphlet at my door. Or a coworker who shared different beliefs with me. Or I learned about the teachings of other churches in school or at a Bible study. At first this was a little surprising. I discovered that there are more religious groups with completely different teachings out there than there are varieties of Heinz Ketchup. And I wondered, Why? If there is only one Savior, and one Bible, and one way to heaven, how can there be so many different religions? The answer to that question lies with the devil. He is behind the spread of all false teaching. Satan couldn t prevent God from completing his plan of salvation. He couldn t keep Jesus from saving the world. He couldn t keep the Bible from being written. So the only thing left for the devil to do now is to deceive and distort and divide and delude. Jesus called Satan the father of lies. He doesn t want us to know and believe the simple truths of Scripture. He doesn t want us to confess Christ clearly. No, he wants to corrupt the teachings of the Bible, destroy our hope in Christ, and lead us to believe lies and adopt false teachings instead. Satan was at work distorting the truth back in Jesus day as well. He didn t want people to know the truth about Jesus or comprehend God s gift of salvation. So he
promoted false teaching. In Jesus day the church was led by the Sanhedrin. But these leaders had replaced God s truth with a man-made religion of rules and traditions instead. One group, the Sadducees, did not believe in miracles, angels or the resurrection. They rejected anything having to do with supernatural acts of God. The other group was called the Pharisees. They believed that a right relationship with God and a ticket to heaven was something you earned by your own good works. Therefore they saw no need for a Savior, and they fiercely opposed Jesus. Both of these religious groups were guilty of leading people astray. Now it is important to have a clear confession of Christ. So one day Jesus polled his disciples to learn from them what people were saying about him. Kind of like the man on the street interviews people carry out today. Jesus asked them one vital question, Who do people say the Son of Man is? It s interesting to hear the answers his disciples gave him. Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. All these people considered Jesus to be a prophet, but only a prophet. This is pretty much what Islam teaches about Jesus today. They regard him as a prophet in a long line of many prophets, but that s it. He was just one spokesman in a long line of spokesmen, but nothing more than that. Sadly, all the answers Jesus disciples received from people were flawed and inadequate. So then Jesus asked his disciples, Well, what about you? Who do you say that I am? And that s when the Apostle Peter offered a beautiful confession, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God! Now Peter was known at times to make some rash, impetuous statements. But this time he was right on target. He acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ. Keep in mind that term Christ is more than just a name, it is a title, it designates the holder of a special office. Also keep in mind that the words Christ and Messiah really both mean the same thing: the anointed one! When God designated someone to be the next king of Israel, he sent the prophet Samuel to anoint him with oil. This made it clear that this was the Lord s anointed, this was the one God specifically chose to lead his people.
So here when Peter confessed Jesus to be the anointed one, the Christ, he was asserting that Jesus was the promised Savior, the one God foretold throughout the Old Testament would come to conquer the devil and redeem his people from their sins. Jesus wasn t merely one messenger in a long line of messengers then. No, he was the prophet. He was the living Word of God, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. The writer to the Hebrews emphasized Jesus superiority over all the other prophets when he wrote, In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God s glory and the exact representation of his being. Hebrews 1:1-3 Wow! That s quite a declaration, and that is the very declaration Peter was making here when he called Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God. As the Christ, the Messiah, Jesus was also a priest. Priests offered sacrifices for the sins of the people. They sacrificed innocent lambs in place of guilty sinners. But all those sacrifices were merely pictures and previews of the perfect sacrifice Jesus would offer on the cross to pay for our sins. In other words, Jesus didn t merely talk about God s plan of salvation. He made it come true. He was the living fulfillment of God s plan. Yes, Jesus is the innocent Lamb of God who took the place of guilty sinners like you and me so that we might be set free from curse of our sins and the punishment of hell. And in confessing Jesus to be the Anointed One, Peter was also proclaiming him to be our King, the one who would come to conquer our enemy the devil and set his people free from Satan s deadly clutches. All of that is tied up in Peter s clear confession, You are the Christ, the son of the living God! Peter s confession was beautiful and so accurate that Jesus commended him for it. He said, Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you, that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Matthew 16:17-18 Now this is where the Roman Catholic Church asserts that Jesus made Peter the first Pope, and the infallible head of his church. But this is a false teaching. Jesus did not build his church on a person, especially a weak flawed human being like Peter. No, Jesus built his church on the solid rock confession God revealed to Peter, namely, that Jesus was Christ, the Son of God, and the Savior of the world. To emphasize this point, notice the little play on words Jesus used here. Peter s name comes from a Greek word Petros which means little stone. But Jesus said he would build his church on another Greek word Petra which means solid rock foundation. In other words, Jesus said, Peter you are a little stone, but I will build my church on the solid rock confession you offered, namely that I am the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is the clear confession upon which the Christian church is built to this day. And any other confession built, upon any other foundation, is based upon a false teaching, and it will certainly crumble. I know it can be very confusing out there with all these different religions all claiming to be right, all claiming to proclaim the truth. So how can you know what is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong? You need to ask each religious group three vital questions: #1) What is your authority? #2) What is your view of Jesus? And #3) What is the way to heaven? Let s start with that first question What is your authority? Different religions offer different answers to that question. Some regard the Koran or the Book of Mormon to be their authority. Others follow the teachings of the Pope and church councils. Others have their own sources they consider to be sacred. Some would even consider human reason or scientific theories to their final authority. But all those sources are built upon the wrong foundation to start with. The only solid foundation for our church, the only reliable basis for truth is found in God s holy Word the Bible. The Bible therefore must be the absolute authority for everything we teach and for everything we confess concerning Christ. So if the Pope or any other religious leader teaches one thing, and the Bible teaches another, you know who to follow.
The Apostle Paul made this clear in his letter to Timothy when he wrote, From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed, and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 Yes, the Bible is the only authority we recognize in our church. Every true teaching, every clear confession of Christ must be based upon this solid rock foundation. And following any other source of doctrine is like building your house on quicksand. The second question we must ask is a church s view of Christ. If they assert that Jesus is just a good man or merely a good teacher, or a good example, that is a false confession, and an insult to Jesus true identify. The solid truth upon which God s church is built is the same clear confession Peter offered 2,000 years. Jesus is our Savior. Jesus is our substitute. Jesus is our Lord, true God, from all eternity. The third question we must ask concerning a church is the way to heaven. The Bible teaches, It is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 The Bible gives 100% of the credit for getting to heaven to Christ, and 0% of the credit to our human efforts. Any religion that changes those percentages, even in the slightest, is teaching false doctrine. They are changing God s gift of grace into something you must earn and work for. This false teaching is something Satan promotes to detract from Christ, and to lead us to focus on ourselves instead. But whenever you take your eyes off of Jesus, and his atoning sacrifice, and focus on yourself instead, it will always lead either to sinful pride or to uncertainty. Remember, a clear confession of Christ gives Jesus all the glory, and relies soley upon his redemptive work as our substitute to get us safely home to heaven. A clear confession of Christ is something not only to cherish for ourselves, but also to share with others. Jesus said to Peter, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Keys open doors. Keys grant us access. What is it that locks the door to heaven? What blocks the way? What separates us from a right relationship with God? It s our sins, isn t it? But Jesus came to take away our sins. By his atoning sacrifice on the cross he has removed our dreadful separation from God and opened the door to heaven. This is the heart and soul of the Gospel. When Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven, he was entrusting Peter and every Christian with a life giving message, The blood of Jesus, God s son, purifies you from all sin. 1 John 1:7 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Acts 16:31 You and I can share that message of peace and forgiveness with others, and when we do so, Jesus says he backs us up. It is as valid and certain as if Christ, our dear Lord, said it himself. Remember that when you bring your children to be baptized. That s not just a pastor washing away your child s sins. Christ is washing away their sins, through his chosen representative. And when the pastor offers you the Lord s Supper, and promises you peace and forgiveness and new life, Christ backs up those words with action. But it is not just pastors who can speak with divine authority. Jesus gave the ministry of the keys to every Christian. Every Christian has the special power and right to forgive sins by preaching the Gospel, and to warn people living in impenitence that their sins are not forgiven, by preaching the law. And when we faithfully proclaim God s truth, Christ backs us up. Therefore we can always share God s Word with joy and with confidence! The Bible is filled with warnings against false prophets. Peter, James, and John, even Jesus himself, continually urge us to hold on to the truth and to reject every sort of false teaching. The best way to do that is to keep growing in our faith by regularly reading and studying God s Word, at home, and together with our fellow Christians. Make this your passion and priority, for then you will always have a precious Gospel message to cherish yourself, and a clear confession of Christ to share with others. Amen.