St Matthew, Chapter 16, verse: 21, The Future of the Church: The Foretelling

Our paragraph topic is:  (Passion and resurrection foretold) Part 1.   

And so it was that the church was established in Christ Jesus.  And Simon Peter became the first member of the church here on earth.  For it was in him and through him and of him that the word was spread throughout the earth by the will of Christ Jesus and the love of God the Father.  Two thousand years the church has withstood the wars and deaths and crimes and evil in the world and still stands today.  It has been battered and beaten and torn from within and still survives as Christ willed it during his here mission on earth.  

And now the final days were approaching.  Christ continually spoke to his disciples about his mission and his purpose.  He told them of the future.  He described to them what was coming.  He gave them the vision of what was to happen to him and how it would all end.  Yet they did not understand.  They did not know.  They did not fully comprehend that these things must take place to save mankind.  The disciples only saw the material.  They only lived in the flesh and not in the spirit.  For the time was approaching when the sacrifice must be given that man would be saved.  So Christ taught them of the things to come.   From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and Scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and on the third day rise again.

This was the future of one so meek and mild.  This was the future of one so loving and understanding.  This was the future of one so forgiving and one so passionate about what must be done for mankind.  Death was waiting.  Torture and pain were at his doorstep.  Humiliation and dishonor, hatred and abuse, bloodshed and mutilation of such kind that no man could endure.  Yet knowing all this he willingly submitted.  Christ was the only begotten son of God, first, before all things were created.  He knew not pain.  He knew not suffering.  He knew not death.  And yet he gave up his heavenly crown, his kingly position, his place on the throne at the right hand of his father to become man that all mankind would not be condemned to death.

This was his mission.  This was his passion.  This was his purpose in becoming man and taking on human form.  God, the ultimate judge, pronounced that if Adam eat of the forbidden fruit that he would surely die.  That was the judgement.  That was the decision made by Adam.  And death came forth to rule over mankind until the judgement could be satisfied, placated, annulled.  And it could only be satisfied with the blood from one so pure and without sin.  And so Christ entered into his mission knowing the consequences of what was to take place. 

He gave of his life so willingly because the price had to be paid that man could have life and have life eternally.   So those who seek, those who desire, those who want to know, can find eternal life in Christ.  For through him and in him and with him comes forth spiritual life in man.  And those who do not seek, those who do not know, those who do not desire are of death and have not life eternal.  Come!  Follow the path set before you.  Seek the knowledge that brings eternal life and know the truth of who you are in Christ.  The spirit awaits your coming.    

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!

St Matthew, Chapter 16, verse: 20, The Rock: The admonition.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter's confession) Part 8.   

Through the revelation of the Holy Spirit from God, Simon Peter became the first member of the church here on earth.  Christ gave him the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Christ gave him the authority to close or open doors here on earth that would be closed or opened in heaven.  And he, with the other disciples, would become witnesses to the Son of the Living God.  However, that time had not come and the sacrifice had not been given.  So their ministry had not begun until the time was fulfilled.

They heard the truth.  They now knew without a doubt that Christ was the Messiah.  There was no turning back.  Fear was at their door.  Death was following in their footsteps close behind.  And the time was almost at hand when the mission of Christ would be fulfilled here on earth.  But the time for the disciples was just beginning.  Their time would start at the sacrifice.  Their ministry would be anointed at the Pentacost.  Their voices would be heard after the ascension.  But not today.  Not tomorrow.  Not until after the sacrifice.  So Christ warned them not to speak.  Christ admonished them not to reveal.  Christ protected them against the evil that wanted to kill them before their ministry would begin, but not today.  Then he strictly charged his disciples to tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.,

Evil was upon them and scandal wanted them to talk.  For they held a great secret that the people should know.  But the time had not been fulfilled for the truth to be revealed.  So they were admonished to keep silent.  How often we are filled with the spirit of the truth and want to tell the world.  We are evangelist.  We are compelled to speak to everyone that we meet.  We are driven to convert all.  We are youth in our wisdom of the love of God and unknowing of the trickery of evil.  For evil would have us turn souls away from Christ rather than bring them to him.  Evil would have us fill our brothers with hatred rather than love.  Evil would have us be examples that would keep people in the world rather than bring them from it.  We know not the trickery of evil.

As I look around the world that I live in, I am conscious of one thing, there is evil in the world.  One might make the reasoning that there is good and evil in man thereby excusing the fact that evil exists in the world.  I recently watched a program on national TV where a well known journalist completed a documentary on finding the truths of the Bible.  The documentary took a look at the origins of sin in mankind and acknowledged that Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan.  Yet from that point Satan and his evil was not mentioned again in the documentary, as if to say he does not exist.  

We live in a world influenced by evil and the results of what evil brings.  All the sins of mankind come from and originate from the evil of Satan and his agents, whose sole purpose is to influence mankind against the commandments of God.  Our heavenly father says to us, do these things and you will avoid the wiles of Satan.  And yet our society is filled with all manner of influences that we accept as commonplace, influences that originate from Satan and are against the will of God. 

We are on the battlefield and yet we are asleep.  Guard what you see and guard what you hear that your heart may be protected against the influences of evil.  Desire to seek the truth of who you are and your heart will be opened to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  God's love will come and protect you, guide you, feed you, and give to you the wisdom to see and know the truth of who you are in Christ.   Follow the path!

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!

St Matthew, Chapter 16, verse: 19, The Rock: The Keys to the Kingodm of Heaven.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter's confession) Part 7.

And so the church was established on this earth.  His time was coming to an end.  His mission was being completed and his final sacrifice was about to be made.  Christ was the lamb, the perfect offering, the pure gift to amend the judgement made against man for his sins.  Death would be overcome and new life given to those who believed.  And the gates of hell would be opened to all those who waited so long for this time to come.  Now the final chapter must be written and it would be finished.  

Evil did not like what was happening.  Evil wanted to stop the process, to stop the establishment of the church, to prevent it from being established.  But Christ spoke and his will was done.  The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  Try as they might evil had no say.  Yet evil still wants to prevail and so the powers of heaven were given to Peter as the symbol of the church.  The powers to maintain the church and assure that it would stand throughout all time.  And Christ said to him: "And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

And so it was and is still today.  The church has the keys of the kingdom of heaven as given it by Christ.  To bind on earth is also set in heaven and to loose on earth is the rule in heaven.  The keys of heaven were given to open doors and the keys to lock them and keep them shut.  To the church was given this power.  What is the church, who is the church?  Is it the physical building that we inhabit today?  Is this the church?  Or are the people the church?  Do the people have this power to bind and to loose if they are the church?

The soul of mankind is at stake here today.  Evil wants to possess mankind that it may rule over him to perform evil in the world.  For evil exists to influence man to do evil in the world.  Evil doers are the handy work of evil for they perform all sorts of evil in the world.  But without the evildoer evil does not have a slave to perform its will.  So it is, that man is possessed of evil and commits murders and other crimes.  We have only to witness the evil that is performed on the innocent today.  Justice is mine says the Lord and the scales of justice will be balanced. 

We are the church, not the buildings and structures that we worship in.  Christ has given us the choice to close the doors to evil or to open them.  The decision is ours individually and collectively.  And so is the justice or injustice that comes with our decisions.  Close the doors to evil or open them.  Close the doors of heaven or open them to your hearts.  That is the power which is given us, the church.  The gates of hell shall not prevail against our decision once it is made.  

We live in a world possessed of evil.  We are on the battlefield everyday for the possession of our souls and yet we are asleep on the battlefield.  We live without awareness.  We eat, sleep, play, work, dream, desire, worship, toil, cry, moan, bleed, and die, dimly aware of the battle that we are engaged in.  And yet when evil raises it's ugly head our lives are shattered to pieces trying to make sense of why evil prevailed.  We are aliens in an unknown world and do not realize that we belong to Christ and not to this world.  Our home is in heaven and not on this earth.  Our joy and our happiness and our peace cannot be found on this rock but only with Christ.  And for those who choose to loose evil, their place is in hell with evil.  It often amazes me to see how we cling to this physical body, fearing death, and yet desire to go to heaven, unable to let go of the physical and accept the spiritual.  Come, you have the keys of the kingdom of heaven.  Open the door of your heart and let it in.  The Holy Spirit awaits your call, your request, your plea.  Follow the path and experience the treasure of your heart.

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!

St. Matthew, Chapter 16, verse: 18, The Rock: The Church.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter's confession) Part 6.   

And to Simon was given the truth from heaven.  For not by his own understanding did he come to know the truth.  By the revelation of God the Father himself, did Simon come to know, did Simon come to speak, did Simon come to believe with certainty that Jesus was the Christ, Son of the Living God.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that mankind would be saved from destruction and damnation.  For Christ came to redeem man from the sin of Adam and to do something more.  He came to establish his kingdom here on earth, on this rock.

The disciples did not know.  They followed Jesus because they felt that there was something different about him.  They followed him because they saw the miracles that he performed.  They followed him because they believed that they would be a part of something greater than themselves and their own accomplishments.  They followed him because they saw for themselves what the crowds felt as he preached and taught a new way of life, different from that which was taught by the Pharisees and the Saducees.  They followed and the crowds followed because Christ was the light of the world.  But there was more. 

This was not just a one time thing; Christ came, he overcame, and he left.  Christ came to do more than just preach and teach.  He came to train and to establish.  He came to build and to create.  He came to dominate that no one and nothing would destroy what he was creating and building, the church.  And so he spoke, that his church would be created.  He commanded that it would be done.  He willed that the evil of hell would not overcome what he was creating.  And so it was and is today.   "And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

And so it began some two thousand years ago that Christ established his church here on this rock.  Nowhere else did he come except to this rock the earth to build his church that would last down through the ages and for eternity.  He will come again to judge, to separate the goats and the sheep, the wheat from the tare, the good from the evil.  Only the father knows the date and the time.  Only the father will be the judge.  Only the father will call an end to all things as we know it.  We all have heard the predictions.  We all have been warned as to the final outcome.  Are we prepared to meet our maker?  Are we ready to meet death, right now?

The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church.  The gates of hell shall not overcome the power of what Christ began.  The gates of hell shall not destroy what Christ created for you and for me.  He gave us a place to grow.  He gave us a place to thrive.  He gave us fertile soil to be nurtured in, a place to be fruitful.  He gave us the seed that is planted within us.  He gave us new life that we may live.  He gives us joy, the knowledge that he is with us.  He gives us protection from the dangers of the world and the evil that awaits us.  He gives us love that guides us and fills us with the knowledge that he is the one sent down from heaven by our Father and our God.  We have a living God who is alive and not dead.  We have a living God that will come to our aid if we open our hearts to him.  We have a living God in the church that is with us, in the church that is in us, in the church that is a part of us.   

Come!  Open your hearts to the love of Christ and accept the church that you are a part of.  Receive the Holy Spirit that you may know the truth of who you are in Christ.  I have and I know who I am in Christ.  I see me everyday in him.  I know me everyday in him.  And the Holy Spirit abides with me.  Follow the path set before you and you too will know the truth of who you are.

Read the sign of the times!  Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ.  Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself.  Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding.  Read it for knowledge.  Read it for faith.  Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ.  The Holy Spirit awaits you.  Christ seeks to know you.  Open the door and let him in!