The Pastor Preaches; The Sermon Title:
The Lord's Promises to the Church
Matthew 16:13-19
The Church is the glorious idea of our Lord. Born out of His ministry of love for planet earth, Jesus stated that "Upon this rock I will build my Church ..." With this in mind it is equally important to note that Our Lord had a special mission for the Church. The Church is called to occupy -- to fill, to possess, to contend, to fight for, to struggle, to conquer, to penetrate, to get inside, to persevere! So Jesus, the Son of God, nearing the end of His earthly work, raises a two-fold question with his disciples. First, "Who do men say that I am?" Second, "Who do you say that I am?" Positioned on the coast of Caesarea Philippi, the place that is assorted with idol worship, these questions are asked by our Savior. Nestled in the shadows of the remains of dead deities, Jesus stands and takes inventory of the ones He has taught. The revelation of Peter speaks to the involvement of God the Father ... "Flesh and blood did not reveal this unto you, but my Father which is in heaven, Jesus said. Upon this rock I will build my church."
The Church has Jesus' Word of promise for the completion of its work.
I. The First Promise: I will build My Church.
Jesus had not started the Church yet because the plan of redemption had not been completed. He had not gone to Calvary for the atonement of sin and there had been no resurrection. No Easter Sunday morning, so the Church is mentioned in the future tense here. But His promise is good. I will build ... both the Church physical and individual. The Lord promises to build you into a vessel of great honor. For ye are the temple of the Lord!
II. The Second Promise: The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
There are two thoughts moving here. 1 -- that death would not vanquish the Church. That no devise form by the enemy would separate the Church from its mission. Let the devil bring on whatever he feels, the Church will still be standing when the storm is over. Nothing shall be able to derail the Church from the completion of its task. 2 -- That the forces of evil will not be able to stand against the people of God. Gates are defensively designed to keep people or things out of its domain; but Jesus promises that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church. In other words, the Church is moving onward and forward towards the "gates." We are headed for an all out confrontation with the enemy and we have the assurance of our "Commander-in-Chief" that the gates of Hell shall not stand against His Church! The song of our experience is true, satan, we are going to tear your kingdom down!
III. The Third Promise: And I will give you the keys of the kindom of heaven.
Keys refer to the authority, power to do -- power to do what? To open the Kingdom to all groups of people. The Church has been given the honor to invite all to come to the saving power of Jesus. Whoever you are and whatever you have been, the door is open to you. Jesus says to the Church that whatever you bind on earth, I will bind in heaven and whatever you loose on earth, I will loose in heaven. What does it mean? The Jews thought of these terms as permitting and not permitting. So Jesus promises the Church -- what you permit, I will permit, and what you do not permit, I will not. We have the most glorious opportunity today to do Church as our Lord intended the authority to change the world through the gospel message.
Finally, Jesus, after resurrection, made another remarkable promise. After commanding His disciples to go ye and make disciples ... baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Jesus says as His last words to the Church, "and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world."
Overseer Eugene Leonard, Sr.
Senior Pastor &
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