An Astonishing Rescue, a Magnificent Building (Matthew Sermon 77)

Introduction

In one of his most profound and triumphant statements in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said to Simon Peter, in Chapter 16:18, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” It really is an astounding statement because it combines two images that don’t ordinarily go together —that of an astonishing rescue and a magnificent building project. Now for myself, I love to read stories of heroism.  I was reading recently about one of the most incredible rescues that occurred toward the end of World War II January 30th, 1945. 150 rangers specially trained commandos from the United States Army went 30 miles behind the lines enemy lines, in the Philippines, where the Japanese were still fighting for every square inch of territory.  The US High Command was concerned that the Japanese might murder over 500 POWs held at the Cabanatuan POW camp, so they sent 150 rangers, 30 miles behind enemy lines to rescue 511 POWs. It was an incredible achievement. Then to lead them back over those 30 miles of enemy-held territory back to safety, which they did successfully — it was an incredible rescue.

But even this daring rescue, I tell you in all of the daring rescues that there have ever been in history, does not compare with what Jesus Christ is doing every single day in rescuing sinners and bringing them to eternal life, through faith in Christ and using us to do it sending us into enemy territory to bring them back. He says the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than it, more about that later. He sends us into enemy territory, and yet here is this other image, the image of a building on this rock, “I will build my church.” There is erected inside our mind an elaborate glorious structure for worship. Like the Cathedral at Notre Dame, which took 185 years to build from the 12th century to the 14th century. All of those stones were quarried from gypsum right around Paris and built up. And for 185 years, expert craftsman, stone masons and craftsmen, and stain glass carpenters and architects erected this incredible structure which you’ve seen perhaps in photos, if not in person. The Cathedral of Notre Dame is a center of French culture, of French literature, of French history. It’s even the zero-kilometer point of the entire nation, all the miles to Paris, are marked from a stone right in front of the cathedral of Notre Dame.  Certainly, the Cathedral of Notre Dame took exquisite skill to build, a lot of courage, a lot of money, some people died while building it. But I tell you again as glorious and majestic as it is, it doesn’t compare with the Church of Jesus Christ, which is taken far greater courage, far greater skill, far greater investment of all resources that are valuable in the human race. Over 2000 years Jesus has been building his church.

Now I have begun my sermon in a strange way. With two very different images and with a Mother’s Day debut. You have these images coming together in this text of an astonishing military rescue and that of a building rising up to the glory of God. How do they fit together? Imagine, just in your mind’s eye, the most incredible building project in history going on during the midst of the fiercest battle in history. The building materials for the church are over the walls and in enemy territory, and the skilled craftsmen that are going to be building that cathedral to the glory of God have to be commandos with military courage to go into enemy territory, quarry out the living stones, and safely get them to the building site where they are erected to the glory of God. You have a picture then of what Jesus is doing in Matthew 16:18 when He says, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than it.”

Let’s get our bearings here, in some context. Last week we looked for the first time at this section of Scripture. In Mathew 16:13-20, we saw the most important question you’ll ever answer. Remember that Jesus had gone somewhat on retreat with his disciples to Caesarea Philipp. He wanted to spend some time with them, build into them pour into their lives, and so when He came there, he asked them the most important question. He began by getting a sense of a survey of opinions of popular opinions. “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  That’s Jesus, the son of man, and they replied, “Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah or Jeremiah and some, one of the prophets.” “But what about you,” he asked. “Who do you say that I am?” In a world full of opinions and a world full of questions, this one remains the most important question you will ever face as we mentioned last week. Who do you say that Jesus of Nazareth is? As we mentioned last week, the destiny of your soul depends on your heart-filled answer to that question.

Simon Peter gave the correct answer. He said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him, “This wasn’t revealed to you by man but by my Father in Heaven.” The correct answer must be revealed to you by almighty God by the power of a spirit through the ministry of his word. That’s how we discover who Jesus is. That was last week. But Jesus goes on from Peter’s saving confession to make an incredible statement about the church. Look at verses 18 and 19, again, “… 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. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

I. Review:  The Most Important Question You Will Ever Face

The Foundation of the Church Through the Apostles and the Prophets

So, we come to the question of the foundation of the church, on what is it build, and it’s interesting that He begins by changing Peter’s name. Now this had already happened, but he’s reiterating the change that has occurred in Peter’s name. A change of name, I think, gives a sense of ownership and a sense of the transforming power of Christ in the life of an individual. Jesus owns Peter, He rules over him, He has the right to change his name. It’s just like what happened with Abram going over to Abraham, Sarai becoming Sarah, Jacob becoming Israel. The book of Revelation 2: 17 says, “To him who’ll overcomes, I will give a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” If we overcome by faith in Christ, we’re going to get a new name. It’s a sense of ownership and of a transformation of our very natures.  Made like him, we rise. We will become new creations completely, including our resurrection bodies. The change of name, I think in Peter’s case, signifies a divine work of God’s grace in Peter’s heart. He will be a major part of the church, and Christ intends to equip him for it. He’s going to prepare him to be what He wants him to be, for the history of the church.

However, these words have caused major consternation in the history of the church and a great deal of misunderstanding. “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church and I’ll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”  For millennia and a half, the Roman Catholic Church has gone back to this statement by Jesus to the apostle Peter and said that Jesus was investing him papal authority and papal succession. In this moment, He gave him papal authority, the right to rule over all affairs, for the Christian church in Christ’s place. The symbol of the Vatican is the Cross Keys. The keys, they’re going right back to this statement in Matthew 16, a symbol of the Vatican and its authority and powers that Jesus entrusted to Peter, the keys. So, he has papal authority as the Bishop of Rome. Furthermore, there’s also this idea of papal succession. That once Peter died, and went on to his eternal reward, he gave his earthly position to his successor, like a king on his death bed giving it to the Crown Prince. There is this idea of papal succession, so the present Pope has authority over all matters to do with the church in the entire world.  That is Catholic teaching.

However, I believe that Jesus is not doing that here, I don’t think that’s what He’s doing with Peter. He’s not entrusting to Peter authority over all spiritual things, so that Peter would rule somewhat like an earthly potentate over the church. There’s a play on words going on here. There are two different Greek words, very similar in meaning. Both of them could be translated “rock”. He says, “You are Petros and on this rock, Petra will build my churches… Changing the terminology slightly to show that there’s not a one-to-one correspondence between Peter and the rock. So, for me, I want to know what is Christ’s church built on? What is the foundation of Christ’s church? Some has said it’s Peter’s confession and, on that rock, the rock of confession, you are the Christ, the Son of Living God, I will build my church. But I don’t think so, although I do think it’s essential that we all make that confession in order to be saved, but I don’t think that’s what He has in mind. I think it says Peter, and the other apostles, were to play a very significant and unique role in the history of the church, a role that we don’t play. What then is the foundation of Christ’s church? Paul the apostle puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 3:11, “No one can lay any foundation other than the one that is already laid and that is Jesus Christ,” so Christ is the foundation of his own church.

But in one sense, there’s another truth to this idea of foundations and that is that none of us has access to Christ, except through the ministry of the apostles, and prophets. We must have the apostles and prophets tell us who Jesus is or we will never know him. Therefore, the apostles play a key role with the prophets in the foundation of Christ’s church. In Ephesians 2:19-20, the Apostle Paul wrote, speaking of God’s household, that it’s built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. How are the apostles and prophets a foundation for God’s eternal temple and how is that not contradictory to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:11, “No one can lay any foundation except Jesus,”?  I think this is it. The fact is that the apostles and prophets testified of Christ for now twenty centuries. They’ve been testifying to us to who Jesus is so that we can put our faith in him, and believe and on that foundation, the apostolic testimony and witness to the risen Christ the whole structure depends.  It depends on the word of God through the apostles and prophets. This is how we know who Jesus is, and no other way. There’s an intimate connection between Jesus Christ and his saving work, and this Bible. The apostles and prophets and their testimony to Christ. We can know a lot of things about God the Creator, by looking at what he has made by looking at creation, by looking at a magnificent sunrise, or a beautiful sunset, by looking at a majestic and powerful mountain, or experiencing a thunder and lightning storm, or feeling a soothing general rain or breeze, or hearing about a hurricane or tornado and its destructive power or watching an eagle soar on a thermal. All of these things give us evidence that there is a God, that He is mighty, that He is loving, that He is powerful, but they tell us nothing directly about Christ. We must have the scripture in order to know him. So, in this sense, “You are Peter, and you are going to testify to me, and on the basis of your testimony and that of the other apostles will the rest of the church be founded.” Therefore, we must know Christ based on the ministry of the apostles, and prophets. the Apostle John put it this way, in 1 John 1:1-3, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at, and our hands have touched, this we proclaim concerning the word of life. The life appeared, we have seen it, and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father, and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.”

Do you see the “we” in rhythm in 1 John 1:1-3?  The “we” is the apostles, I believe. That’s a good interpretation of it because we haven’t seen with our eyes or handled or heard with our ears. We were not eyewitnesses, but they were. “Those things which we saw with our own eyes, which we were eyewitnesses to, this we proclaim concerning the word of life, so that you also can have fellowship with us and go to Heaven.” In that sense, the church is built on the apostles and prophets. Peter put it this way in 2 Peter 1:16, “We did not follow cleverly-invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” Peter was the rock on which the church was built in that he was an apostle, and together with the other apostles, he began on Pentecost preaching that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, and that was the start of it all. On this rock I will build my church.

II. On This Rock I Will Build My Church

Christ is the Builder of the Church

Look at the progress of the church.  He says, “On this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than it.” Let’s begin with Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who builds the church. “On this rock I will build my Church, I will build it.”  Peter did not build the church and neither did Paul or John or any of the apostles. Martin Luther did not build the church and neither did Calvin or Zwingli or any of the Reformers. William Carey did not build the church neither did any of the missionaries, however great their sacrifices might have been. Yes, Jesus used each one of these godly servants to build up his church, but it is Jesus who builds his church and each one of those godly people would have told you the same. “Jesus raised me up, and he used me to build this church, but it was Christ that built it.”

Notice also that sense of a promise, a sense of certainty. “I will build my church.” There’s a sense of absolute confidence in this. I am putting my omnipotence behind this. “All authority in heaven and earth is behind this building project and it cannot fail. I will build my church.”  He never loses focus, never forgets what He’s about, never gets distracted. There are no significant setbacks, everything is on schedule, everything is progressing for 2000 years. Notice also the sense of ownership, “I will build my church.” There is no one here who can make that statement, not about any local church, not any absolute statement about the church. Jesus alone is the ruler of the church, Jesus alone shed his own blood for her, He bought her with his own blood. We are his… “I will build my church”, a sense of possession.

Misconception of Papal Authority in the Church 

That leads us to the question of authority — the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Many again have stumbled over these words, misunderstanding them. As I said, the Catholic Church Roman Catholic church focuses on Peter saying that he is Christ’s vice regent on the earth, able to make absolute statements and the church must obey. Sometimes the interpretation is given that Peter has the keys in terms of who gets in and who doesn’t and from that has come a whole genre jokes about Peters at the pearly gates — ask a series of questions and if you answer the question right, you’ll get in and if you don’t, you won’t. You know what I’m talking about? The whole thing is based on a theological misunderstanding as though Peter has the right to decide who gets in and who doesn’t. He has the keys and if he doesn’t let you in, you don’t get in.  Henry IV, in order to receive forgiveness from his papal magnificence, had to go and spend three days begging in the snow. Kneeling and begging and doing contrition in the snow before the Pope ordained to see him. When Henry was humbled sufficiently, he was brought into the papal court and there the Pope humbled him some more in front of everyone. Finally, he re-established him and took away the excommunication. Pope Gregory VII declared that the Pope has the right to depose kings and emperors, to make laws to require secular rulers to kiss his feet. He said that nobody has the right to judge the pope. Gregory also declared that because of the merits of Saint Peter, every duly elected pope is automatically a saint in their way of understanding. One hundred years later, Pope Innocent III said the authority of the Pope was like the sun, and that of all secular leaders like that of the moon, a reflected authority emanating originally from the pope.

Let me tell you something, all of this pomp and arrogance does not come rightly from Matthew 16. It doesn’t come from the keys, it doesn’t come from the binding and loosing.   I know in the Greek; Peter does receive something directly. It is second person singular, “I’ll give to you Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” That is true, but he also links the keys to the binding and loosing. Look at verse 19, “Whatever you bind on earth will bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Binding and loosing, is a term used by rabbis, to make spiritual pronouncements and decisions like binding someone’s lifestyle or someone’s practices or someone’s behavior or binding the church, concerning doctrine. It implies the power to govern spiritually to make decisions.  I believe this is what He gave to Peter, but we should not understand that Heaven was following Peter’s leadership, as though Heaven didn’t know what to do. “Tell us, Peter… What to do. The angels are wondering. We’re kind of in a mish-mash up here, let us know what to do.” It’s not like that at all, there’s perfect clarity in heaven. Heaven knows exactly what to do. The cloud is here on Earth, is it not? Even Peter sometimes got into the cloud, not dealing properly with Gentile converts and needed to be rebuked by the Apostle Paul, in Galatians 2.

So, it’s not like heaven needs Peter’s help in figuring out what to do. In Matthew 6:10 in the Lord’s prayer, “May your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So, Heaven takes the lead. Actually, I think the problem is a translation one. I think that the translation would be better this way, “Whatever you bind on earth will be having already been bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth will be having already been loosed in heaven.” That’s the way it is and that’s an accurate translation. Therefore, what is Peter’s role of announcing what’s been bound and loosed in heaven? We have the role and the responsibility of saying what heaven decides in matters, not doing it ourselves. And the binding and loosing is based on the Scripture. It’s based on how God has revealed his truth, this is what binds us, this is what loses us, the scripture, and the binding and loosing He has given to all of his disciples.

Turn over a few chapters to Matthew Chapter 18: 15- 20. There it’s dealing with sin between brothers and sisters in Christ. As we have encounters with one another, we have issues from time to time. Look at verse 15 and following, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. I tell you the truth, whatever you, plural, bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you, plural, loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in Heaven. For where two or three come together in my name there am I with them.” Here in this passage, the binding and loosing is given to the disciples, it’s given to the church and in this case, it has to do with church discipline. Notice in the hierarchy, the final court of appeals isn’t Peter, it’s the church. This authority of the church concerning binding and loosing, concerning sin and doctrine, this authority stands over every individual believer in Christ no matter how powerful they are in their secular responsibility. For example, it stands over a President of the United States. If the President of United States is a member of a church and commits adultery, the church has the responsibility to deal with it as they would anyone else. There’s no difference. Doesn’t matter what their position, doesn’t matter if they’re a king, an emperor. It doesn’t matter who they are, if they have sin, the church has a responsibility of dealing with the sin in the same way they would with anyone else.

But the church does not have the right to dictate secular policy to the President, and that’s where the papal authority made its mistake, it got involved in secular affairs. The power of the church in the statement by Christ to Peter, and it’s still in place, concerns spiritual ministry, strategy for missions, doctrinal statements and the issue of church discipline. The binding and loosing I think is especially connected to the issue of the forgiveness of sins.  The issue of the forgiveness of sins. Jesus, the day He was raised from the dead, appears to his disciples in John chapter 20 and, “He shows them his hands and his sides, and he breathes on them and says, receive the Holy Spirit, if you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Again, we are not in the place of God. We don’t sit on the throne and judge, that’s not it. We are given the responsibility and the great privilege to announce based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, based on the Word of God, somebody’s spiritual situation before God, based on that.

Let’s say you’re doing some workplace evangelism. You’ve got a co-worker who’s an atheist. You share the gospel with that co-worker, they don’t change at all.  They might even mock a little bit. You get done with the encounter. I think it’s your responsibility to tell him the truth. “I want you to know that based on your rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you are still in your sins, and you’re not ready to die.” That may be uncomfortable, but I think it’s our responsibility. “You’re still bound by your sins. Jesus can release you; he can set you free. Every chain can be broken. Simply trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins, and you’ll have eternal life. But if you don’t, you’re still bound by your sins and in that you will die, you’ll die in your sins and you’ll be condemned to hell if you don’t repent.”  You must tell them the truth; they are still bound by their sin. Conversely, you share the gospel with someone, and they’re moved. They’re asking questions. You answer their questions. They’re moved some more. After a while you start to know the spirit of God is present in that encounter. They want to accept Christ. What do I do? Act 16 says that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.” You tell them that, and they say, “Lord Jesus, save me from my sins.” I think you have a responsibility to tell them that based on their confession of faith in Christ, that their sins are forgiven. Now we can be tricked. We can be fooled, and our approval of their faith doesn’t mean much on Judgment Day, but I think as we share the Gospel with people, we have the responsibility to tell them, in Christ, their sins are loosed, and they can be forgiven. That’s the binding and loosing.

III. The Gates of Hades Will Not Prevail Against It

The Gates of Hades: Jesus is Stronger

But then Jesus makes this incredible statement, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than it.” Now what does this mean? The gates of Hades? In Greek mythology, Hades was both the name of the King of the Dead and his dark realm where he reigned, the underworld realm where the dead went.  Hades was used either for the king or for his dark kingdom.  It was similar to the Hebrew concept of sheol, the grave. The dark kingdom of Hades in Greek mythology was across the river Styx and had powerful gates guarded by a three-headed dog named Cerberus, a vicious, vicious dog and there was no getting past the gates of Hades. However, in Greek mythology from time to time, famous Greek heroes would be able to pass through the gates on certain missions to be able to show their skill or their strength thereby. For example, Hercules.  One of his errands was to go down and actually capture Cerberus, the three-headed dog which he does by his supernatural God-given, in that mythology, strength. He’s able to grab this three-headed dog and carry it up. King Hades wants his dog back and he eventually gets his dog back. But so, the story goes, it takes incredible strength.

Then there’s another story of a sweet singer named Orpheus who I believe on his wedding day, lost his bride because she stepped on a poisonous snake. She was carried down to the realm of the underworld and Orpheus wants his bride back and so he… Through the sweetness of his song is able to charm King Hades and he allows Orpheus to bring Eurydice, his wife, back up through the tunnel, through the gates and back to the realm of the living, except on one condition. That is, he cannot turn around and look at her as they are departing. So, he’s traveling up as he goes, he’s not hearing anything behind him. Very concerned about this, right as he’s approaching the gates of Hades, he turns around… She’s there and then suddenly there is King Hades as well who takes her back down, and Orpheus spends the rest of his life singing sad songs.

How does Christ use this term, then, the “gates of Hades”? I think it represents death, and the one who holds the power of death, the devil, it says in Hebrews 2:14-15, “Since the children [that’s us] have flesh and blood, He, Christ too, shared in their humanity. So that by his death, He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who, all their lives, were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Christ is mightier than Hercules. He rescues all of his people from the kingdom, and He destroys the kingdom itself.  Christ is more skillful than Orpheus; He can look at us as much as He wants, his bride, and nobody’s going to suddenly pop up and take us back to the realm of the dead.

Christ is the hero that rescues us from the gates of Hades. I’s so beautiful, because it says in Revelation 1:18, Jesus’ speaking, “I am the living one. I was dead and behold, I’m alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Jesus holds the keys. And this is the one that speaks and says, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prove strong within it.” How?  I think in two senses, in the present age, and in the future, the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than the church. Notice He doesn’t say, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than me.”  That’s not what he says. He says, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than the church.” He’s going to send the church on an assault mission and the gates of Hades don’t stand a chance. That’s the picture here. Now, in the present age, the gates of Hades, I think represent Satan’s power of death that Satan holds captives in that power. That fear of death, they’re captives. For most of military history, the safest place you could be would be inside a fortress, a walled fortress, like a walled city, or a castle or stronghold of some sort. That’s where you wanted to be, until gunpowder blew that apart.  But that’s where you wanted to be. The weakest defense are the gates, so that’s where special military engineering went. They were designed to be gates of death really, where they’d let you in and then some portcullis would come down and arrows would rain down. It was diabolical and powerful. If you can take the gates, you can take the whole city, so the gates represent the whole walled fortress I believe of Satan’s dark power of sin and death.

Jesus says, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than it.” What’s the issue here? It’s a battle of power. You’ve got one captain, Jesus. You’ve got another captain, Satan. They are not equal in power, not even close. Jesus sends his church and they’re going to win.  Satan is not equal power to Jesus, but Jesus said in Luke 11:21-22, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe but when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted, and he divides up the spoils.” Satan is the strong man, Jesus is the one stronger and he strips Satan’s powerful gates away, and he plunders Satan’s dark kingdom.  Each one of us who sit here today, each one of us who believes in Christ today were rescued from the dominion of darkness. Colossians 1 says we were transferred over into the kingdom of the Son that God loves, we were rescued from Satan’s dark dominion.

Christians are the Building Blocks of the Church

Furthermore, we have become building materials. Remember I told you there’s two images here. There’s the image of a commando-raid rescue and then there’s the image of a building. “I will build my church on this foundation,” He says, “On this rock.” Solomon’s temple was built by stones that were dressed by Hiram, King of Tyre, floated down and then traveled inland, dressed off-site and then so no iron tool was heard on the work site there. Notre Dame was made, as I mentioned, from gypsum stones quarried from around Paris. It was very expensive to transfer them, so it was right nearby. St Peter’s Basilica in Rome was built in1499 out of marble from a specific quarry that Michelangelo later used to make the Pieta and other sculptures that were there.  What did Christ use to build his church? He built the church out of us. We are the living stones in 1 Peter 2, “As you come to him, the living stone rejected by man, but chosen by God and precious to him. You also like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” We’re living stones set in the walls of this beautiful spiritual house. That’s what we are. We are both commandos going over the wall, through the wall, through the gates to go get the living stones and we are also the living stones in the wall. We’re both. We are given, therefore, a mission and the only way, friends, that we are going to accomplish our mission is to have unshakable confidence in Jesus Christ that we will be victorious.

The early opposition of the Jewish leaders couldn’t stop the church. The persecution of the Roman emperors couldn’t stop the church. Neither could the barbarian hordes that swept across. Neither could the Dark Ages. Neither could the Viking depredations stop the church. Neither could the Counter-Reformation stop the church. Neither could the Age of Enlightenment, or German higher criticism or the theory of evolution or two world wars, or the Cold War or communism stop the church, and neither will the self-indulgent materialism in which the United States of America leads the way, stop the church. None of those things can stop the building of the church. All of them have been satanic threats, but Jesus has overcome every single one of them by his sovereign power.

Are you confident in that? Are you willing to risk it to do some evangelism? Are you willing to risk it, to go over the walls, and rescue some people who are perishing? Are you willing to do that? That is the present triumph of the church over the gates of Hades. What about the future triumph of the church? Our biggest test is yet to come. Someday it is appointed to every one of us to die, every one of us will die. Right before Jesus died, He said, “Father into your hands I commit my Spirit”, so you will do as well,” and will Hades, those dark gates, be strong enough to keep your body in the grave? Can the grave hold you back when Christ summons you forth and gives you a resurrection body? Does the grave have the power to say, “No,” to Jesus in that matter? I tell you it does not.

“I will build my church out of people who will have… resurrection bodies and the gates of Hades cannot hold them back,” and glory to God for it. In John 11: 25-26, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will live even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Also in 1 Corinthians 15, “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead, the body that is sown is perishable, it is raised, imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body but is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there will be a spiritual body.” And “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true, death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” When Jesus raises you from the dead and you pass through the gates of Hades and you see them as nothing and the grave cannot hold you back, you will sing a triumph song and say, “Where O death, is your victory?”

IV. Application

What application can we take from this magnificent passage? First of all, I want to speak to those of you that are here today, maybe your guests, family members, and maybe you’ve never trusted in Christ. I was speaking to you earlier. When I was saying that Jesus has the power to break the chains of sin. He has the power to forgive all of your sins, all you have to do is call on his name. He doesn’t want your good works; He wants your faith. He wants you to just simply trust in him, turn away from sin. Turn away from wickedness, repent and turn to Christ, and He will welcome you. He will forgive you. On the basis of that I, and any Christian here, has the authority to tell you, “Your sins will be forgiven if you simply trust in Christ.” If you’ve already made that commitment, can I urge you to be courageous for Christ? Don’t waste encounters with non-Christians, not talking to them about Jesus. See yourself as a courageous warrior involved in a very powerful battle. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. There are spiritually flaming arrows flying everywhere, bullets going everywhere, it’s on. It’s a tough battle, but this is what God has called us to do.

Our theme verse for the entire year, in Luke 19:10, Jesus said, “The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.” Are you seeking, and are you an instrument in God’s hand to the saving of the lost? Are you involved? This week speak to someone about Christ, invite them to church, talk to somebody at the workplace, bring these issues home to bear. They’re not thinking properly, they don’t see time properly, they don’t see sin properly, they’re not ready for judgment day. Please tell them the truth. If they repent, tell them the good news that their sins are forgiven. If you’ve already repented and trusted in Christ, can I tell you the good news, your sins are forgiven. We walk around defeated all the time forgetting that Jesus’ blood is ample provision for our guilt and that we are forgiven people.

Shake off your chains and get up and get involved in what Jesus is doing in the world. Follow him. He’s a courageous captain. He said, “Nothing’s going to stop the building of my church.” Can I also urge you to respect the authority of the church? The Church has the right to send out from its midst unrepentant sinners. Matthew 18 says, “We have that authority and that responsibility. Respect that authority.” God also raises up leaders, elders who have the power and the authority to preach and to teach and to rightly divide the word of truth. I believe in congregational polity. The Church has the right to remove them from their position if they’re found to be inaccurate and wrong in their ministry, but I believe that God raises up spiritual leaders and it’s for the church to follow that leadership.

Respect the authority of the church. Finally, don’t fear death and Hades. Their days are numbered. Jesus is going to throw death and Hades into the lake of fire, it says in Revelation 20, and there’ll be no more death. No more Hades. Death and Hades are temporary, but your life in Christ is not.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

In one of His most profound and triumphant statements in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus said to Simon Peter:

Matthew 16:18 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.

It is astounding because it combines two images that ordinarily don’t go together:  an astonishing rescue and a magnificent building project

Perhaps the Most Daring Rescue of World War II:  Cabanatuan POW Camp

On January 30, 1945, under the cover of darkness, the 150 Rangers, a specially trained commando unit in the US Army, infiltrated 30 miles behind enemy lines in the Philippine Islands and with the help of courageous Filipino resistance fighters, mounted a dangerous assault on the Cabanatuan POW camp. The raid to save these 511 POWs would turn out to be the most daring rescue mission of World War II.

But even this daring rescue cannot compare with the rescue of sinners from hell by Christ though the courageous evangelistic mission of His church…He rescues sinners from Satan’s dreadful death camp, prepares us and equips us like Commandos, then sends us back into Satan’s death camp to rescue others

Just as astonishing is the fact that the most amazing rescue in history is also the most incredible building project in history

Greater than the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, that took almost two hundred years to build, from 1163 to 1345

For almost two hundred years, skilled craftsmen chiseled stone, made flying buttresses, crafted stained glass, and made sculptures for the glory of God

The Cathedral of Notre Dame is at the center of French culture, of French literature, of French history, even of French geography:  the “zero kilometer point” of every distance marker on French roads (i.e. 175 km to Paris, etc.) is a stone set in front of the Cathedral…

Certainly the Cathedral of Notre Dame is an amazing church building, graceful, elegant, and magnificently constructed through blood, sweat, toil, hardship, skill and extravagant expense over 185 years

But Christ has been building His church for two thousand years… with far greater grace, elegance, skill, strength and beauty… and with a far higher cost in blood, sweat, toil, hardship

Now, I have just begun this sermon with two seemingly conflicting images:  a daring wartime rescue and a majestic place of worship

Putting the two images together, imagine the greatest construction project in history going on during the most intense battle in history… with the workers and craftsmen scaling high fortress walls and leaping into enemy territory to get the building materials, quarry them, shape them for the cathedral walls the whole time bombs are blowing up around them, and machine gun bullets are whistling around their heads, and fellow warrior/builders are getting hit and dying

This is all included in this one statement by Christ:

“I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than it.”

I. Review: The Most Important Question You Will Ever Face

Matthew 16:13-15  When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”  ¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  ¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

A. A World Full of Questions

B. A World Full of Opinions

C. The Most Important Question You Will Ever Answer

WHO IS JESUS OF NAZARETH??!!

D. The Only Right Answer Must Be Revealed by God

Vs. 15-17 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”  ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  ¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

E. Simon Peter’s Saving Confession…Revealed by God the Father

II. On This Rock I Will Build My Church

Vs. 18-19  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.  ¹⁹ 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.”

A. The Foundation of the Church:  On Which Rock Does Christ Build?

1. Jesus changes Peter’s name

a. Very significant!!  A sense of ownership by Christ and a change of identity

i) Like Abram becoming Abraham

ii) Like Sarai becoming Sarah

iii) Like Jacob becoming Israel

iv) Like the reward given to those who overcome

Revelation 2:17  To him who overcomes, I will give …a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

b. The change of name signifies a divine work of God’s grace in Peter’s heart… he will be a major part of the church;  Christ intends to equip him for it

2. These words have caused much consternation and misunderstanding in church history

a. Papal Authority:  For a millennia and a half, the Roman Catholic church has taught that Peter was the rock on which the whole church was built… they claimed that he was the first pope, to whom Christ here gives the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven… Vatican Seal:  crossed keys

b. Papal Succession They also teach that Peter bestowed this authority on a successor, who then did the same (papal succession) right up to the present pope

3. However, Jesus actually makes a play on words here

a. You are Peter (petros) and on this rock (petra) I will build my church

b. The Greek grammar makes a distinction between the two… there is not a one to one identity of Peter and the foundation of the church

4. What then is the foundation of Christ’s church?  One scripture tells us directly a simple fact:

1 Corinthians 3:11   no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ Himself is the only true foundation of the church

But in one sense there is another truth about the foundation we need to know

5. The APOSTLES’ TESTIMONY TO CHRIST IS THE FOUNDATION

Ephesians 2:19-20  God’s household,  ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

a. How are the apostles and prophets the foundation for God’s eternal temple?

b. Well, “apostles and prophets” I think represent the Scripture in its TESTIMONY to Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world

c. There is an INTIMATE connection between Christ and the written word

i) We would know NOTHING about Jesus apart from the Bible

ii) We could know something of God the Creator by looking at Creation

·      Magnificent sunrise

·      Plentiful harvest

·      Soothing spring shower

·      Soaring eagle

·      Majestic mountain

·      Flashing, crashing thunderstorm….

EVIDENCE OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD AND OF HIS NATURE

iii) BUT Knowing Christ the Redeemer must be revealed directly to us by the Scripture

iv) The apostles were eyewitnesses of Christ’s person, life, ministry, death, and resurrection

v) They were humanly speaking the foundation of the Church in that all others that followed them depended on their testimony

vi) Their LASTING witness to Christ is found in the New Testament, the apostolic witness to Christ

1 John 1:1-3  That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched– this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us.

2 Peter 1:16  We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

Peter was the ROCK on which the church was built in that he was an apostle… and, together with the other apostles, he began on Pentecost by preaching Christ crucified and risen

B. The Progress of the Church:  Christ’s Unstoppable Building Project

“On this rock, I will build my church, and the Gates of Hades will not prove stronger than it.”

1. It is JESUS CHRIST who builds the church… “I will build my church”

a. Peter did not build the church;  neither did Paul or John or any of the apostles

b. Martin Luther did not build the church;  neither did John Calvin, or John Knox or Ulrich Zwingli or any of the reformers

c. William Carey did not build the church;  neither did Adoniram Judson, Hudson Taylor, Jim Elliot or any great missionary

d. YES Jesus has used each of these godly servants to build the church… men and women around the world are gladly colaborers with Christ in this building project

e. BUT it is Christ’s building project from beginning to end

f. He is the architect who came up with the blueprint;  He is the contractor who energetically erects the structure;  He is the finish carpenter who makes it spectacularly beautiful

2. Note the promise:  I WILL  build my Church

a. He will never lose focus, never forget what He’s about;  never grow weary or run out of resources to finish this magnificent building job

b. Jesus has been perfectly, completely totally focused and consumed on building His church hour after hour, day after day, year after year, century after century for almost two thousand years

3. Note the ownership:  “I will build MY Church”

a. He owns it for He died for it

b. It is HIS by right, purchased by blood

C. The Authority of the Church:  The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven

1. Many have stumbled over these words, misunderstanding them

a. The Roman Catholic church focuses on Peter, claiming he is the first Pope, Christ’s vicar and vice-regent on earth… they say this is the nature of the KEYS he gave Peter

b. Sometimes the interpretation is given that Peter decides who gets into heaven and who does not

c. From this has come all the jokes about this or that category of person dying and standing in front of Peter at the pearly gates and Peter asking them questions so they can enter heaven

d. From this also medieval popes claimed absolute authority to rule over Europe

Pope Gregory VII reigned from 1073 to 1085.  He excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV.  In order to receive forgiveness from the Pope and to have the excommunication removed, Emperor Henry had to spend three days repenting in front of the castle where the Pope was staying.  It was bitter cold (January 1077).  Henry spent most of his time kneeling in the ice and snow, weeping and pleading for forgiveness.  When Gregory finally allowed Henry to come into the castle, the Pope publicly humiliated the Emperor.

            Pope Gregory VII declared that the Pope has the right to depose kings and emperors, to make laws, and to require secular rulers to kiss his feet.  He said that nobody has the right to judge the Pope.  Gregory also declared that because of the merits of Saint Peter, every duly elected Pope is a saint.

A hundred years later, Pope Innocent III said the authority of the pope was like the sun and that of kings was like the moon… all the light of the moon comes from the sun, so also all the authority of kings is derived from that of the Pope

All of this pomp and arrogance came from a misunderstanding of this one statement in Matthew 16

2. Now, that Christ DID give keys TO PETER is clear from the Greek… the personal pronoun is singular:  I will give TO YOU (Peter)

3. BUT He also linked the KEYS to the power to “bind and loose”

Vs. 19  whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

a. Binding and loosing is a term used by rabbis of the right to make authoritative pronouncements… like binding someone’s lifestyle, someone’s practices, someone’s behavior…

b. It implies power to govern, to make decisions… and this IS what Christ gave to Peter

c. BUT we should not understand that heaven was following Peter’s lead, waiting with baited breath for Peter’s rules and regulation… heaven doesn’t follow, heaven leads

Matthew 6:10  your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

d. NO…the Greek implies more a matter of communication on EARTH the will of HEAVEN

“Whatever you bind on earth will be, having been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth will be, having been loosed in heaven.”

Heaven does the binding and loosing, heaven RULES, and godly leaders communicate heaven’s will to earth

AND the binding and loosing is based on God’s revealed truth, His word… the Bible

4. AND the power of BINDING and LOOSING He gave to all His disciples

a. In Matthew 18, in dealing with the issue of a sinning brother, the church had the power to discipline an unrepentant church member

Matthew 18:15-20  “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.  ¹⁶ But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’  ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.  ¹⁸ “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  ¹⁹ “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.  ²⁰ For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

b. There the “binding and loosing” has to do with the power of the church to keep itself pure, to evict from fellowship someone out who won’t repent of his/her sin

c. This authority stands over even the mightiest ruler on earth if he is a sinning church member

d. Let’s say the President of the United States is a member of a church and commits adultery… his local church has the responsibility to try to bring him to repentance… if he fails to repent, the church as the right and responsibility to discipline him, evicting him from church membership

e. BUT the church does not have the right to dictate policy to the President

f. This is the power of the church in this statement by Christ to Peter… and it is still in place concerning spiritual leaders making spiritual decisions;  and it clearly extends to every Christian in the matter of dealing with sin

5. And the BINDING and LOOSING is most clearly connected with forgiveness of sins… which power the church still has as much as it ever had

John 20:23  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

a. This does not mean the church is now in the place of God

b. Rather it means that the church has the right to declare a person forgiven or not forgiven

Illus.  If you are talking with someone at work who claims to be an atheist, it is your right and responsibility to tell them that they are still in their sins, in danger of eternal judgment

If however a person hears you share the gospel and is visibly moved;  they begin to cry and say “All my life I’ve been looking for Christ, and I didn’t know it… I’ve been trying to earn forgiveness, and now just by believing in Christ I can be forgiven of all my sins.”  They pray and ask Christ to save them from sin… they then look to you.  You have the authority to tell them, based on their confession of Christ, that their sins are forgiven

6. In the end, the church has the right to make spiritual judgments and decisions relevant to the advance of the Kingdom, and to proclaim in Jesus’ name the full forgiveness of sins

7. In this way, Christ advances His kingdom;  in this way, Christ build His church… by giving the church the power to make important spiritual decisions and declaring forgiveness of sins based on the gospel message

III. The Gates of Hades Will Not Prevail Against It

A. What are ‘The Gates of Hades’?

1. In Greek mythology, Hades was both the name of the King of the dead AND the realm of the dead, the underworld, the place where dead people go after life;  similar to the Hebrew concept of Sheol

2. The Dark Kingdom of Hades was across the River Styx and had powerful gates guarded by a vicious  three-headed dog, Cerberus

3. In Greek mythology, famous Greek heroes would sometimes venture down into the underworld to rescue a loved one from Hades or to perform some great feat to prove strength

a. Hercules was sent to bring the vicious three-headed dog Cerberus up from the gates of Hades… he used his supernatural strength to do it

b. Orpheus was the most beautiful singer in the world;  his beloved wife Eurydice died suddenly by stepping on a poisonous snake, Orpheus used his incredible singing ability to persuade Hades, King of Death, to release her;  he did on condition that he not look back at her until he had lead her through the gates;  at the last moment, Orpheus looked back to confirm she was there, and Hades instantly appeared and took her back down to his dark kingdom until Orpheus should join them later when he died

4. As Christ used the term, “Gates of Hades,” I think it represents DEATH, and Satan as the King of Death, who holds the power of death

Hebrews 2:14-15  Since the children have flesh and blood, [Christ] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death– that is, the devil–  ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Thus Christ is mightier than Hercules, for he rescues a great multitude from the realm of death, AND destroys the King of Death, Satan, and His entire realm

Revelation 1:18  I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Christ is more skillful than Orpheus, for he actually succeeds in leading his wife finally from the realm of the dead to live with Him forever

BUT NOTE:  Here Christ does not say the Gates of Hades will not prove stronger than Christ

NO… I will build my Church and the Gates of Hades will not prove stronger than IT… the CHURCH is going to defeat the Gates of Hades

But HOW??  Two ways… Past/Present Triumph in Missions advance;  Future Triumph in Resurrection

B. The Past/Present Triumph of the Church:  Irresistible Attack on Satan’s Kingdom

1. The Gates of Hades represents Satan’s power of sin and death

a. For most of human history, the strongest defense against a military attack was a stronghold… like a fortress or a castle or a walled city

b. The strength of the walls was a measure of the strength of the city

c. The Gates were the weakest point in the defenses, therefore, they were designed with special attention

d. Medieval castle gates were massive, and ingeniously designed to be death traps for the attackers… the attackers would be lured into a courtyard, a stone pocket of death, a portcullis would crash down and arrows would shower down raining down death on the invaders

e. It took all the strength an invader had to be able to crash through those gates

f. The Gates of Hades stand for Satan’s power over sin and death

2. Within Satan’s dark kingdom are souls languishing under the power of sin and death

3. The Church is sent on a powerful rescue mission, led by Christ, our omnipotent Captain

4. The expression “will not prevail” against it refers to the strength of Satan’s Kingdom of death… this is an issue of POWER… who has more POWER

Luke 11:21-22  “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.  ²² But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.

5. Christ has so much more power than Satan that He can send US, His church against Satan and Satan’s gates will crumble

6. The rescue has been accomplished for centuries and Satan can’t stop it

Colossians 1:13-14  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,  ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

7. Furthermore, the “building materials” for Christ’s magnificent building project, the church, are “living stones”

a. Solomon’s temple was built with fine stone and marble quarried off site and dressed by Hiram, King of Tyre’s workmen

b. Notre Dame was made from gypsum, quarried from site immediately around Paris

c. St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome made from marble stones, polished shiny and brilliant at great cost in 1499

d. Christ builds his building from “living stones” quarried from Satan’s kingdom

1 Peter 2:4-5  As you come to him, the living Stone– rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him–  ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

What an amazing image!!  We are living stones in the wall of the magnificent temple

We are warriors going over the Gates of Hades to quarry new living stones through missions and evangelism

We are all of this, and formerly we ourselves we rescued from Satan’s dark realm of sin and death… we were quarried from Satan’s kingdom and rescued to adorn Christ’s temple forever

See, then, the irresistible progress of Christ’s magnificent building project, for twenty centuries:

§  The early opposition of the Jewish leaders couldn’t stop it

§  The bloody persecution of the Roman Empire couldn’t stop it

§  The onslaught of the barbarian tribes that conquered Rome couldn’t stop it

§  The ensuing Dark Ages couldn’t stop it

§  The devastation of the Muslim onslaught couldn’t stop it

§  The violent attacks of the Vikings couldn’t stop it

§  The decay of theology and holiness under the Roman Catholic papacy couldn’t stop it

§  The persecution of the gospel by the Spanish Inquisition couldn’t stop it

§  The philosophical attack of the enlightenment couldn’t stop it

§  The evils of theological liberalism wrought by German Higher Criticism couldn’t stop it

§  The theory of evolution couldn’t stop it

§  The devastation of two world wars couldn’t stop it

§  The opposition of tribal chieftains in animistic cultures in the jungles of Africa, South America and Irian Jaya couldn’t stop it

§  The terrors of the atomic age couldn’t stop it

§  The Iron Curtain of communism couldn’t stop it

§  And the materialism and pleasure-seeking of the decaying West, with the USA leading the way can’t stop it either

Satan’s Dark Empire has been fighting Christ in all these arenas for two millennia now, and still the church keeps sending in commandoes, scaling the Dark Walls of Hades and rescuing Christ’s people

Vs. 18  I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

C. The Future Triumph of the Church:  Irresistible Conquest of the Grave

1. A second possible meaning has to do with the future of the church… the fact that death cannot stop the church either

2. Hades is most naturally understood as the abode of the dead

3. Greeks believed everyone who died went down to Hades, got into a boat manned by a dark boatman named Charon, paid him his fare, and were shuttled across the river Styx, through the gates and either into Tartarus to suffer or Elysium to celebrate

4. From that place none could escape… death conquered all, the grave suffered no defeats, only one dark victory after another

5. This was all merely mythology… but that no one returned from the paths of the grave was clear to all

6. BUT Jesus declares that the building of His church would in NO WAY be hindered by death

a. Death would claim each Christian that ever lived

b. It would seem like the greatest tragedy as great heroes of the faith die…

i) BUT Israel didn’t collapse when Moses died

ii) The Advance of the church didn’t halt when the Apostles died

iii)  The Reformation didn’t end when Martin Luther died

iv) Reformation theology didn’t disappear when John Calvin died

v) The modern missions movement didn’t fold when William Carey died

c. DEATH cannot stop the building of Christ’s church

d. Each and every one of the living stones Christ rescues from Satan’s kingdom and sets in the wall of His temple will live forever

e. And their bodies will RISE from the GRAVE…

John 5:28-29  “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice  ²⁹ and come out– those who have done good will rise to live

John 11:25-26  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  ²⁶ and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44  So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable;  ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;  ⁴⁴ it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

1 Corinthians 15:54-55  When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  ⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

In this glorious way, Jesus will build a church that not even death can defeat

Death has mocked every other emperor that has ever lived

Alexander died at the height of his power, at age 32

Roman emperors hired a slave to walk behind their chariot as the crowd in Rome cheered them wildly and whispered constantly into their ears that Hades will soon have all their glory

But Jesus will rescue every single one of his precious people from the grave

Vs. 18  I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

IV. Application

A. Come to Christ!!

1. Make Peter’s confession:  “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”

2. Allow Christ to rescue you from slavery to sin and fear of death

3. Allow His blood to free you from condemnation for your sins

B. Be a Warrior for Christ… “Go Over the Walls of Hades”

1. Year’s key verse:  The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost

2. Nothing can stop us if we’ll only trust Christ enough to be courageous

3. Vault the walls of Satan’s dark kingdom

4. Speak up for Christ at your workplace, in your neighborhood

5. Invite a neighbor over for dinner and get to know them… look for an opportunity to talk to them about Christ

C. Proclaim in Christ’s Name the Forgiveness of Sins…and REST IN IT YOURSELF!!!

John 20:21-23  Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  ²³ If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

D. Respect the Authority of the Church

1. The church has real spiritual authority given to it by Christ

2. There are still God-ordained leaders who make key decisions for the life and health and ministry of the church

3. The church has the authority and responsibility to maintain the purity of the church through church discipline

4. Satan is constantly duping us to rebel against God-ordained authority

5. Respect and honor the authority of the church

E. Don’t Fear Death and Hades

1. Jesus has the keys, He’s in charge!!

Revelation 1:18  I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

2. Someday both will be thrown in the Lake of fire

Revelation 20:14  Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.