Title: THE POWER OF THE KEYS

Focus: Christ-centered faith and living open the door to God’s influence and sway in all of life.

Function: To encourage the people to be part of Christ and his church with a believing heart and a repentant lifestyle.

Text: Matthew 16:13-20

Heidelberg Catechism: Lord’s Day 31

 

INTRODUCTION

            Those of you who have seen the movie “Lord of the Rings” have seen the awesome, imposing, and seemingly impenetrable walls that surround the dark region of Mordor. Mordor is where Sauron, the lord of evil and darkness, exerts his power over the rest of the world. When Sauron opens his gates, his evil powers flood the earth and threaten to overthrow any king or queen or country that opposes his reign. Mordor’s flood gates of evil instill fear and dread in every living creature.

 

            Tolkien’s wild and imaginative  stories about Mordor, the rings, Frodo, hobbits, Gandalf, and numerous intriguing characters invite us (in a round about way) to ponder the Bible’s message of good news in Jesus Christ. So do C.S. Lewis’ stories about Narnia—they invite us to wrestle with and grasp the mystery and coming of the kingdom of heaven taking hold of our rebellious hearts and minds here on earth. These stories reveal a basic, human yearning for harmony and love, for truth and goodness to penetrate all of life. And they underscore our need for a Savior from sin and death—a Savior who can give us eternal peace and life.

 

            This afternoon the Scriptures lead me to tell you about the kingdom of heaven, a rock-solid confession that leads to the formation of the church; and I want to say a few things about the gates of hell. If you have never heard of these things before, you might think that you have entered the twilight zone. But that would be a mistake. All of what I tell you is relevant to life and limb and daily living. In a nutshell, here is what I want to emphasize to you this afternoon: Christ-centered faith and living open the door to God’s influence and sway in all of life.

 

            Listen again to Jesus’ response to Simon: (vs. 17) “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. 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.”  Note that Jesus speaks of the

 

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

 

            The kingdom of heaven refers to the rule of God. Heaven is the realm where God lives, where the angels do God’s bidding, where all things are in perfect submission to the will of our heavenly Father. All creatures in heaven bow down and submit to God’s influence or rule. For God is sovereign Lord over all!

 

            Adam and Eve experienced that influence before sin and death entered the world. They walked with God and they experienced his presence here on earth. The devil however broke God’s dominance in Adam’s and Eve’s life, and thus also in ours—for we shared in Adam’s sin. Although God had warned us about sin and death, he did not abandon us to eternal destruction. God promised a Savior to take our place and to restore his heavenly rule here on earth.

 

            And that’s what God is doing by sending his Son, the Lord Jesus to earth. It’s Jesus’ mission to bring, restore, and apply God’s dominance, authority and influence in all of earthly life. Once that task is fully completed at the end of time when Jesus comes again in all his glory, we can say that heaven and earth are united. Then we do not need any longer to pray “Lord, may your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven,” for then God’s perfect rule shall be fully established and restored here on earth.

 

            Now we can see glimpses of God’s kingdom here on earth: Jesus’ showed the presence of God’s kingdom through signs of healing, for example, by demonstrating power over the laws and forces in nature, including the wind and the waves. We see the signs of God’s rule when people respond in faith to the work of Jesus. Remember the apostle Paul: Before his conversion, Saul was a persecutor of the Christian faith; then Jesus turned him around, and Saul became Paul, an evangelist and preacher. The world has never been the same since then. Throughout the last 20 centuries, Christians have reflected in various degrees the authority and influence of Jesus Christ in their daily living. And thus the kingdom of heaven has come, is coming, and will be fully established when Christ comes again.

 

            In response to Peter’s acclamation that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus tells him that he would give Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

 

            Keys have the power to open and close doors. Keys give us access. The Word of God preached to people with authority and the Word of God applied with integrity in daily life are the keys of God’s kingdom.

 

            Here’s an example of the key of God’s Word proclaimed, giving us access to God’s kingdom or rule: Paul says to the church in Rome, (10:9) “…if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is proclamation of good news. It opens up the sphere of God’s heavenly influence in our lives. Christ-centered faith, then, opens the door of God’s influence in all of life.

 

            Here’s an example of the key of God’s Word applied with integrity: Paul addresses sexual immorality in the church of Corinth, where “a man has his father’s wife.” Paul says to the church: (I Cor. 5:4) “When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.”  

 

            This is the exercise of formal discipline, whereby the Word of God is applied in a person’s life. It closes the sphere of God’s heavenly influence and leaves a person in the darkness and bondage of sin, with the fervent prayer that such action may lead to that person’s repentance. Note from the passage that the Lord Jesus also speaks about

THE ROCK AND THE CHURCH

            Who is Jesus? Some thought: “John the Baptist;” others “Elijah,” or “Jeremiah,” or some other prophet. The people, then, differ in their opinion of Jesus’ identity. In contrast to these muddled opinions, we have this rock-solid summary confession of Peter.

 

            In his preaching, the Lord Jesus would often refer to himself as the “Son of Man”—a term found in the book of Daniel, referring to a person who, at the end of time, would come and serve as Judge and Savior of the world. Jesus also made the claim that he is the Christ—anointed by God’s Spirit and foretold by the prophets to bring salvation to God’s people.

            The hardest thing for people to accept is Jesus’ claim that he is not only human, but also divine. Now all of these factors are in play in this passage and in Simon’s confession.

 

            For example, Jesus begins by asking (vs. 13) “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Jesus concludes this teaching moment (vs. 20) by warning his disciples not to tell anyone (at this time) that “he was the Christ.” But Simon Peter brings out Jesus’ human and divine identity by saying:  (vs. 16) “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

 

            And that is the rock-solid confession that Peter and the disciples and we, today, must take upon our lips. Our heavenly Father reveals the truth of that confession to us. Anyone who takes that confession upon her lips is blessed, as Jesus says to Simon Peter: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” And Jesus uses this rock-solid confession to gather all believers into his body, the church. Listen: (v s.18) “…I tell you that you are Peter (Greek “rock”) and on this rock (not “on you,” but on this rock or rock-solid confession) I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”  Let me ask you, who do you say Jesus is? Have you confessed him as the Christ and the Son of the living God, truly human and truly divine? Remember: Christ-centered faith and Christ-centered living open the door to God’s influence and sway in all of life.

 

THE GATES OF HELL

            Now tell me, where is hell? Where do we find the gates or the powers of hell? Wherever the church is, there you’ll find the powers of hell—fervently at work to discredit the Lord Jesus, to undo the work of Jesus’ Spirit in our lives, and to draw us away from a life of joy and peace into a life of restlessness, sin, and eventually self-destruction and death.

 

            To be sure, by his death and resurrection the Lord Jesus has “de-clawed” the pawns of these powers; Satan can no longer demand a ransom for Jesus’ paid the wages of our sin by his death; Satan can no longer stand before God as a prosecutor charging us with guilt and rebellion against God. For Jesus has made us right with God by taking our guilt upon himself and by paying the price of sin. “There is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” says Scripture (Rom. 8:1).

 

            By his resurrection the Lord Jesus dethroned the rebellious powers of hell. And all who believe in Jesus and respond to him by faith are set free from the tyranny of the devil. Scripture says that Jesus has “disarmed the powers and authorities,” has “made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Col. 2). In fact, God “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13).

 

            Although de-throned, de-clawed, dissed and put in place by Jesus’ death and resurrection, the powers of hell still growl and spew their poison at us; and whenever we show a willingness to listen, they’ll whisper their lies in our ears for us to act upon.

 

            Like a chained dog suffering from rabies and going nuts and biting anyone who comes near it, so Satan, sin and evil (the powers or gates of hell) are still doing their dirty work. Their tyranny is broken. Jesus took care of that. Their ultimate destiny of death in the lake of fire is certain. For Jesus dealt them a death blow on the cross and in the tomb. It’s like this: Our men and women in uniform have broken the back of Saddam and his armies two years ago, but they must still be very much on their guard against the mainly invisible enemy of terrorists and insurrectionists, for they can still cause great harm to our soldiers.

 

            Yes, the powers of hell are always near the church, where God nurtures, gathers, heals, guards, and preserves all those who put their faith in Christ. Therefore, the powers of hell cannot prevail; in the end, they will be judged and put away. We must not underestimate these powers of hell. They are real; but Christ has given us protection. Paul says to the church in Ephesus: (6:10) “…be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

 

            Our strength is in the Lord. He gathers and builds the church. Yielded to him and drawing from him, we receive strength from Jesus to persevere.

           

            Confess him as the Son of the living God. Yield and submit to his heavenly influence or kingdom rule of love and obedience. In that way, you’ll discover that Christ-centered faith and Christ-centered living open the door to God’s sway in all of life.

 

Glory be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.