Jeff Schreve - The Church and The Gates of Hell
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In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus said, «Upon this rock,» speaking of Himself, «Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell will not prevail against it». Today, I’ll conclude my series called «Foundations» by exploring the power and protection we have through Christ to prevail in this ongoing battle between the church and the gates of hell.
We’re gonna talk today about Christ and His church, the solid rock that stands. Matthew chapter 16, Jesus has taken the disciples about 25 miles to the north for a little R and R. They had been preaching and teaching and working and doing ministry now for about 2 ½ years, and He takes them to a place called Caesarea Philippi. Herod Philip was the ruler there in Caesarea Philippi way up north, and that place was a place of idol worship. It was a place where they worshiped the Baals, and then they came in and worshiped the god Pan, the Greek god Pan, which was the god of nature. And then Herod Philip said, «Well, we wanna worship the emperor». And so he set up this place, and he named it Caesarea Philippi. Philippi after his name, Philip, but Caesarea to honor Caesar.
Now, there was already a place called Caesarea, Caesarea by the sea, and so he had to have another name for it so that you didn’t get confused. There are two Caesareas. So there’s Caesarea by the sea, and if you go to Israel, you’ll find it Caesarea Maritima. It’s by the sea. And then there is way up north Caesarea Philippi. And Jesus takes His disciples way up north for some R and R, and this is a really critical, important time, and there’s an important discussion that He has with them.
Verse 13, «Now, when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, 'Who do people say that the Son of Man is? ' And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.' He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am? ' And Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona,» Simon, son of Jonah, «because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell,» or the gates of Hades, «shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ».
This is a key, key story. It’s found in Matthew. It’s found in Mark. It’s found in Luke. And in this story, Jesus reveals His identity, and He talks about the church. For the very first time, He speaks of the church. This is Matthew chapter 16. First time the word church is ever mentioned in the Bible, and it’s mentioned here in Caesarea Philippi. Now, the question is, «Well, what does God want us to learn from this key passage of scripture? From this important meeting there in an unlikely place, Caesarea Philippi».
Three important truths. Truth number one: all human beings are born spiritually blind. That’s a truth that comes out in this passage. All human beings are born spiritually blind. You say, «Where do you see that»? Well, in the question Jesus asked them. He says to them, «Who did the people…» He’s been ministering now for 2 ½ years. He’s been performing miracle after miracle. He’s been preaching. He’s been teaching. He’s been doing tremendous wonders. «Who do people say the Son of Man is»? Well, the disciples start talking. They say, «Well, some say you’re John the Baptist». Herod, who was Antipas. Herod, the one Jesus called the fox. Herod, who was there in Jerusalem and tried Jesus along with Pilate. Herod said that he thought Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead. He was one who had John the Baptist executed because his wife, Herodias, said, «I want the head of John the Baptist. Give me the head of John the Baptist».
And so he had John the Baptist executed. And he heard about Jesus, and he said, «It’s John. He has risen from the dead». Some say that Jesus was John the Baptist. Ehh, wrong. Then others say, «Well, some say you’re Elijah». Ehh, wrong. «Well, some say you’re Jeremiah». No, thank you for playing. They didn’t get that right. And then the others said, «Well, you’re one of the prophets». No, wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. That’s what people are saying. And they’ve watched Jesus, and they’ve heard Jesus, and they’ve seen the miracles that He’s done, and they all get it wrong on who Jesus is. Man can never understand on his own who Jesus is. It’s impossible to understand. Because every human being born into this world is born spiritually dead, is born spiritually blind, and we’re not gonna be able to figure it out.
Just like a blind person can’t see the light, a spiritually blind person can’t see the light either. There was a lady in our church, she’s in heaven now. Many of you remember her as Stella Merrill. Stella Merrill was blind. And she was such a fun, wonderful lady, and she didn’t let blindness stop her. And she never thought anything about joking, making some jokes about her condition. I remember she told me, one time, she said that she couldn’t sleep. Her husband could see but still was blind. And she couldn’t sleep one night, and so she went and she started doing some chores. And she was ironing, like, at 3 o’clock in the morning. She’s ironing. Well, he wakes up, she’s not there in bed, and so he goes to look for her.
Well, he turns on the light in the kitchen, and there she is ironing. He’s like, «What are you doing ironing in the dark»? She said, «Well, I always iron in the dark. I’m blind. I don’t think to turn on the light because it doesn’t come on for me». And, you know, with a blind person, you turn on the light, it’s still dark. And spiritually, every single person is blind. Jesus told Nicodemus, «Unless a man is born again, he cannot see». «He cannot see». And so man, with all that he can do to try and figure out who Jesus is, cannot figure it out. The religious leaders, this shows you how bad we are as human beings trying to figure things out on our own. The religious leader of Jesus’s day, when they saw Jesus do miracles and they heard His sermons, you know what they came up with? They said that «This man cast out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons».
Oh, that’s what you came up with, Jewish religious leaders? You examined the life of Jesus and you say He’s Beelzebul, the prince of the demons? I mean, you couldn’t miss it by more. You are 180 degrees off of who Jesus is. Man can never understand on his own who Jesus is. Man must have illumination from God. So Jesus, «Who do the people say the Son of Man is»? And they give the wrong answer. They’re just tellin' Him what the people said. The people got it wrong. Verse 15, «And He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am? '» This is very personal, and this is very pointed. And Peter, speaking up, said, «'Thou art the Christ. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus said, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona.'» «Bar» means son. Simon, son of Jonah.
«Because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven». Flesh and blood didn’t reveal that to Peter. Flesh and blood cannot reveal that to Peter. Why? Because Peter is just like everybody else. He’s spiritually blind. And when the Lord comes and illuminates, then we can see. And the Lord illuminated the eyes of Peter spiritually so he could see, and that’s how he made the declaration, «You are the Christ». Man must have illumination from God in order to see, in order to make a decision. You’ve heard me say before, and it’s not original with me. I heard it from Adrian Rogers, but it’s so true. I can preach truth, but only the Holy Spirit can impart truth. Because unless the Holy Spirit illuminates your mind and your heart and opens your eyes to spiritual truth, you won’t see it, and you’ll be like Nicodemus.
And Jesus said, «You must be born again». «Born again? Can a man enter into his mother’s womb a second time and be born? How does that work»? He missed it by a mile. He didn’t understand what Jesus was saying. Why? Because his eyes were not open to the truth. We need illumination from God. And here’s how it works: when you hear from the Lord, when you hear preaching, and if me or someone else preaches truth and the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth and your eyes are open to truth, then you have a decision to make. What are you going to do with that truth? Are you going to respond to that, or are you going to reject that? All humans are born spiritually blind, and we need God to illuminate our eyes and the eyes of our hearts.
Second truth: Jesus is building His church. Now, Peter, I mean, this was a home run shot. «Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven. You gave the right answer, Peter. Now, it wasn’t out of your own heart. It’s God that illuminated your eyes so that you could give the right answer». But the Lord blessed him. And then He says, «And I say to you», verse 18, «that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hell shall not overpower it». «Will not prevail against it». Now, many people look at Matthew 16:18 and they say, «Well,» you know, «the Lord said that He was gonna build His church on Peter». «You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church».
And we have a denomination that says, «Well,» you know, «Peter’s the first Pope and the Lord’s building on Peter, and they’re all, the next Popes are all in succession of the line of Peter». That’s not what He’s saying. Now, I want you to see Matthew 16:18, and I have two Greek words here for you to look at. Jesus said, «And I also say to you that you are Peter,» petrol in the Greek, «and upon this rock,» Petra, «I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it». It’s a different word. It’s not the same word. The name «Peter» means rock, but Peter, petrol, means a piece of a rock. It’s like a hand-size rock. This is a rock. We could say this is a petrol. It is. It’s a piece of a rock.
Like Prudential Insurance, «Get a piece of the rock,» right here. And Jesus isn’t building on this. He’s building on the Petra. I got a picture of a Petra. It’s the rock of Gibraltar in the southern tip of Spain or toward the southern tip of Spain. That thing is huge. It’s 1,400 feet, almost. Thirteen hundred and ninety-eight feet tall. And it’s just massive. It’s one single limestone rock. That’s a Petra. This isn’t a Petra. This is a petrol. The Lord isn’t building on Peter. He’s building on Himself. See, the church is not built on a good man. It’s built on the God-man. And that’s a good thing. It’s not built on a man because a man, we talk about, «My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’s blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid rock I stand».
Peter is not a solid rock. I mean, we’re gonna read in this same chapter, we know it’s not Peter that He’s talkin' about, 'cause in this same chapter, when the Lord starts sayin' that He’s gonna go to the cross and He’s gonna die and He’s gonna be raised on the third day, Peter says, «God forbid it, Lord, that this would ever happen to you». And Jesus said, «Get behind me, Satan! You’re not setting your sights on God’s interest, but man’s». I mean, «Blessed are you, Simon Barjona». And then just a few verses, «Get behind me, Satan»! Man, that’s a big rebuke when the Lord Jesus Christ calls you Satan. And now he’s like, «Oh man, I really didn’t… okay, I shouldn’t have said that». I mean, that’s big-time. Peter messed up a lot. It’s just gonna be six months when Jesus goes to the cross, and we know about Peter, when he denied three times that he even knew the Lord.
The church is not built on Peter. The church is built on the Lord Jesus Christ. «You are the Son of God,» he says. The Son of the living God. Now, some people will say, «Well,» you know, «he never said He was God. He’s the Son of God». He’s the Son of God and God the Son. The Jews understood that if you called yourself the Son of God, we’re not talking about a son of God. We’re talking about the Son of God, the only begotten Son. You’re talking about God. And that’s why you will see in the Bible the Lord Jesus Christ receiving worship. And He says, «Upon this rock,» speaking of Himself. That’s important about the rock. Why? Because the rock illustration and analogy was used for God in the Old Testament.
Look at some of these verses in Psalm 18. Psalm 18, verse 2 says this: «The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold». Psalm 18:31. «For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God»? Psalm 18:46. «The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation». And then the Lord asked this question in Isaiah 44, verse 8: «Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none». He’s the rock. You know what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10? He’s talking about the children of Israel going through the wilderness, and they ate the same spiritual food, the manna, and they drank the same spiritual drink that came from the rocks. It says 'cause the rock followed them, and the rock was Christ. He is the solid rock. He is the Petra that the Lord said, «Upon this rock I will build My church». And he says that the church will never be overcome.
That’s the third truth. We’re spiritually blind, all of us, when we come into this world. And Jesus is building His church, and the church will never be overcome. «Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it». «The gates of hell shall not prevail against it». Now, the King James, and many of us who grew up, you know, some time ago, we’ve heard «the gates of hell shall not prevail against it» because that’s what was preached for so long. It was the King James Version. Now, other versions have come out, and it doesn’t say «the gates of hell». It says «the gates of Hades». And you say, «What’s the difference there»?
Well, the gates of Hades, gates has to do with authority. Because in the Old Testament, when you would conduct business, you would go to the city gates. The gates were their symbol of power and a symbol of authority. And so when the Lord says that «the gates of Hades,» or the gates of hell, «shall not prevail against the church,» you can rest assured that the gates of Hades and hell are comin' up against the church, but they’re not gonna overpower it. It’s impossible for them to do that because the church is built on the Lord Jesus Christ. What’s the difference between Hades and hell? They’re similar. Very similar. You know, Hades was… it’s the place of the dead. It’s the underground. It’s also called Sheol, some people say. Sheol is a big, big place where all the dead are in Sheol before the Lord died on the cross and rose again from the dead.
When a person in the Old Testament died, they went to Sheol. Sheol has two compartments to it. You have paradise, which is the place of the righteous dead, and you have Hades, which is the place of the unrighteous dead. And it pictures the kingdom of the devil, and it pictures death. And so those two things are very critical. And I think what the Lord is saying here is, number one, the power of death can’t stop the church. The power of death is not gonna stop the church. And Jesus is speaking in Matthew chapter 16. He’s speaking about His own death. He told the disciples in verse 21, «From that time Jesus Christ began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day».
He’s talking about His death. But the death of the Lord Jesus Christ doesn’t stop the church. Why? Because when He died, He said, «It is finished». And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and His death coupled with His resurrection broke the back of the enemy. And so we know that death doesn’t stop the church. The Lord said, «Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up». Death can’t stop it, and the power of the devil can’t stop it. So both those things are in line here because the devil is associated with Hades, and the devil is associated with hell. And the Lord is saying all the powers of death and all the powers of hell can’t stop the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, the devil wants to stop the church. The devil tries to stop the church. You read the book of Acts, and you see how the devil comes up against the church with persecution. We read in Acts chapter 7, you know, the gospel went out to Jerusalem and then all Judea and then Samaria and to the remotest parts of the earth, and we read that in the book of Acts. And in Acts chapter 7, it’s kind of the conclusion of the gospel spreading into Jerusalem. It’s the death of Stephen. And the Bible says that there was one there, Saul of Tarsus, and he was the one that kept the coats when they were stoning Stephen. Stephen, that great preacher for the Lord. And they were stoning him, and Saul was there, and he was all glad that they were stoning Stephen.
«Yeah, throw another rock at him. Shut him up». And then it goes on to say in Acts chapter 8 that Saul was out to destroy, he was ravaging the church. And he was going from house to house and dragging people out of the house to put them into prison. He was «breathing out,» Acts chapter 9, verse 1, «threats and murders against the disciples of the Lord». There was great persecution in Acts chapter 8 against the church, and one of the principal persons that the devil was using to persecute the church was Saul of Tarsus. But then we read in Acts chapter 9: as he’s on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians, he meets the Lord. And then he falls on his face before the Lord, and he says, «Who are you, Lord»? And He said, «I am Jesus, whom you’re persecuting».
And Saul, the blasphemer, the persecutor, the violent aggressor, becomes Paul, the greatest disciple that the world had ever seen. And the devil was using Saul of Tarsus, and God says, «No more». And God appeared to Saul of Tarsus. The Lord Jesus appeared to him and opened his eyes to truth, and Saul of Tarsus responded to the light, and Saul of Tarsus’s life was changed. That is why Paul refers to himself as the chief of sinners. Because he tried to destroy the church. He was being used of the devil, and he didn’t even know it, to try and destroy the church. But listen: Death can’t destroy the church, and all the powers of hell can’t destroy the church. Nothing can destroy the church of the living God. The Lord is King, and the Lord is victorious. And, «Upon this rock,» He said, «I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it».
Well, then He says one other thing. It’s kind of interesting. I mean, it’s exciting in verse 18. Wow, that’s awesome. And then He says, «And I give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven». And people are sayin', «What exactly is that? I guess Peter is the guy. He’s at the gate». That’s why we have all these jokes about Peter. «I met Peter at the pearly gates 'cause he’s the guy with the key to get in». Peter is not the only one with the keys to the kingdom. Peter was the one who unlocked the door to heaven, so to speak. It had already been unlocked because it says, «Whatever you bind on earth,» literally, «shall already have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall already have been loosed in heaven».
But Peter was the one who preached on the day of Pentecost, and 3,000 Jews were saved. And Peter was the one who was there when and the revival was culminated through Philip’s preaching, but then Peter came and the Holy Spirit fell on the Samaritans. And Peter was the one who was there with Cornelius in Acts chapter 10, and the gospel went to the Gentiles. It was Peter who was initiating the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Lord allowed Peter to do that. But it’s not just Peter. It’s all of us who know Jesus who are part of the blood-bought church. We have the keys of the kingdom, and we have the authority and we have the privilege and we have the responsibility of letting people know about an open door in heaven. You have been given the greatest message of all. I have been given the greatest message of all. What are we doing with the greatest message ever told?