Jesus Focused Faith

Pastor Corey delivers his weekly message titled "Jesus Focused Faith".

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you have your Bibles, Matthew chapter 16, verses 13 through 19. And let's stand together. Matthew 16, verses 19 through 19, 13 through 19, as we read this passage here. Verse 13. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say the Son of Man is? They replied, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Now let me just say this about verse 14 here. You say, Man, how can people say that? People had a lot of crazy views about who Jesus was in biblical times. Some said he had a demon, right? I mean, and some said he was of God. And so you had all these people who were confused about who he was. In verse 15, but what about you? He asked. Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, meaning the rock of the revelation that God has revealed to you, 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. Let's pray. Father, as we look at what a Jesus-focused faith is, help us to understand this, and help us to take our walk with you very personal and very serious. And I prayed in Christ's name. Amen. And amen. So Jesus took his disciples to the Gentile territory in the region of Caesarea Philippi. They were about 120 miles from Jerusalem in the northern part of Palestine. The region was strongly identified with various religions. It had been a center for Baal worship. Also, the Greek god Pan had shrines there, and Herod the Great had built a temple there to honor Augustus Caesar. It was in the midst of this pagan superstition that Peter confessed Jesus as the Son of God. And it was probably within sight of Caesar's temple that Jesus announced a surprise. He would not yet establish his kingdom, but first he would build his church. First, he would build his church. So this is the context that we see this question Jesus asking Peter. Who do people say that I am? And just like in that day today, people have a lot, a lot of thoughts about religion, about God, and about all of those things. As a matter of fact, I think I mentioned it last week, but a very famous actress got on social media last week and declared, she said, You can trust me. She said, There is no hell. Trust me on that. And she kind of smiled and laughed, said, You, I figured it out. You can trust me. And I listened to her and I said, Let me tell you, that is a lie of Satan. You better not trust her. And you better not trust any pastor or preacher either. You better trust the Word of God and what the Bible says. So here's what I want us to see. In a Jesus-focused faith, we see this: that Jesus is the builder, the owner, and the focus of the church. He is the builder, the owner, and the focus of the church. Look at verse 18. It says here in verse 18, Jesus said, and I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church. I will build my church. Folks, let's just get it out in the open if you don't know it already. This church, Jonesville Baptist Church, is not your church. This church, Jonesville Baptist Church, is not my church. I am the shepherd, and I am responsible to the chief shepherd, Jesus Christ. It's his church. He paid for her. It's not your church, and it's not my church. And so therefore, our personal preferences and opinions, though we may have them, really aren't the basis on which a church should be built. Somebody said something to me about a year ago, talking about a certain family that used to come here years ago. And they said that, you know, that they were, that family was still very upset with me. And they said that that the reason was that that family built this church. And that family should be in charge of this church. And that I ran them off. And I corrected that man. I said, nope, they weren't. Nobody has ever run them off. Nobody ever said, you can't come here. All we've ever said is, if you come here, you come here knowing that the church that is here, though God may have used some of our hands and some of our knowledge and some of our ability, he built this church. It belongs to him, and it's not the building, it's the people, it's the ministry, it's what we are. And if you come here with the right attitude and the right spirit, you're welcome to be here. If all you want to do is split and divide, then you're gonna be called out as being in sin, right? And and so the concept that that now I am, so now I've taken over this church. No, I haven't taken over anything, I'm just a pastor. And yes, I'm the lead as God has laid the word of God upon my heart, and I'm the teach. And yes, God uses pastors, but he also uses people. We are the church. Now, here's the thing I want you to notice that while we are talking about this local church here, when he says here, I will build my church, he's not necessarily talking about an individual body of believers. He's talking about the ecclesia, which is the Greek word. It's where we get the word uh uh um uh ecclesiastes from, or um, you know, where um it means assembly. It means the called-out ones, the assembly, the ecclesia. He was talking about the church universal, all of us, we make up the church, right? And so he says here, I will build my church. Listen, if you and I have a Jesus-focused faith, we will realize that the church is for Jesus. He's the builder, and he says, Here, I will build my church. He's the owner, he paid for it with his blood, it was his idea, he created her, and he is the focus of the church. Jesus said, if I am lifted up, he's talking about himself, he said, I will draw all men unto myself. That's why when you come to church, you should always hear, no matter if it's a message for Christians to build up and to uh to uh disciple and to strengthen and stuff like that. If it's a message on marriage, you should always hear that Christ is at the center of it all. And it should always point to the cross. It's always about Jesus. You know, I heard somebody say this about Billy Graham that, well, you know, he's not the deepest preacher in the world. He just preaches a simple message because he always talks about the cross. It's the cross and the resurrection, and I'm like, it's because that's what it's all about. That's where it starts. It's at the cross. It's what he did on the cross for you and me. He's the builder, he's the owner, and he is the focus of the church. And that's the word rock here is amazing, where he says, Upon this rock I will build my church. See, these Jewish men that he was talking to, they were steeped in Old Testament scripture, and they recognized the rock as a symbol of God. The Bible says, He is the rock, his work is perfect in Deuteronomy 32.4, talking about God. The Lord is my rock and my fortress, Psalm 18.2. For who is God save the Lord? Or who is a rock save our God? Psalm 18, 31. Notice where he uses two terms. He says, You are Peter, and upon this rock. The word Peter literally means uh a stone. It's the word uh petros. I will build my church. Jesus had given Simon the new name of Peter, which means a stone or a pebble. The Aramaic form is Cephas, which also means a stone. Everyone who believes in Jesus Christ and confesses him as the Son of God and Savior of the world is a living stone. 1 Peter 2, 5. And so he says here, I will build my church upon the petra, the large rock, the boulder, the revelation that God revealed to you, Peter, who I am. So here's what I want you to keep in mind: a Jesus-focused faith understands that he is the builder, the owner, and the focus of the church. Now listen, who is the church? Is the church a building? No, absolutely not. This building, God forbid, something could happen to it. I don't know. I don't believe in superstition or anything like that. But boy, I don't like to use a certain word. If this place were somehow, unfortunately, too, I'll say it, burn down. I don't like to use that word burn down. It just, I'm not superstitious, but I just don't like to say it. Um and churches have burned down. Guess what? If the building burns down, does Jonesville Baptist still, is Jonesville Baptist still a church? Yes, she is, because we are the church, the people. We're a living organism. Now we meet in this building. This building has been built and dedicated to God for the purpose of worship and and teaching and growing and on and on and on, and it's a dedicated place, but we are the church, the ecclesia of the called-out ones, the ones who have been saved and born again. And Jesus is our rock, he's our fortress, he is the builder, and he is the owner, and so he has the rights to his church. And he has a right to demand of you and me. To lead us, to call us out, and to say, you are part of a family, you are part of a living family called the church. Just as much as your your physical family's important to you, and you gather together, you know. I preached a series a few years ago about the uh about the uh the dining room table. I don't even remember what the series was called. Can anybody remember? Yeah, what is it? The table? I think it was something good. And we talked about the importance of families being together, and we challenged everybody to try to eat together at least once a week. And you used to have that time as a family where you got together, and in most families growing up, it was probably every day. For a long, long time, and we don't have that anymore because we we uh we gather around a TV and we watch what's going on on TV and so forth and so on. But just like a family would get together and spend time together and need that family time, you and I need our time together as a church and as a body. So always keep this in mind. He is the builder, he is the owner, and he is the focus of the church. He should always be our focus. That's why we preach him. It's always about him. Number two, the kitchen table, right? Kitchen table. So I can I can receive text up here. Don't bombard me, please, while I'm preaching. But they just texted me. Uh so Jesus focused faith, number two, his church is victorious, alive, and free. So number one, he is the the builder, the owner, and the focus. Well, there's something else you got to realize. His church is victorious, alive, and free. And I've used the phrase the gates of Hades. Now, some of you, your translations may say the gates of hell. Now, the word hell is not the proper translation. It's Hades. Hades in the Old Testament was the abode of the dead. If you study in um, let's see, I think it's in Luke chapter, um, let me see where it's at. Luke chapter, I've got it written down somewhere in my notes. Luke chapter something. Let me just put it to you that way, okay? I know it's in Luke somewhere. Um, about the um about the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man died, the Bible says. And he woke up in torment. Lazarus, the poor man, he died and he was carried by the angels of God to Abraham's bosom. And the rich man was begging Father Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth, back to the living on the earth, to go tell his brothers about what was really going on down here. And he said, if Lazarus could dip his finger in water and just drop a drop of water upon my tongue, you know, it'll bring satisfaction to me. He he thought so. And Abraham said, that's impossible because between where you are and where Lazarus is, there is a great gulf fixed. So many theologians believe over the years as they've studied this that basically Hades was where Old Testament people, people before the covenant, died. When they died, they went to a place called Hades. Okay? Just think of it as a big old circle. And on one side was torments, Gehenna, where the rich man went, what we would consider hell. On the other side was paradise, where Abraham's bosom was at. And in the middle was a great gulf fixed. And you know the Bible says that when Jesus rose from the dead, there was a great earthquake, right? I mean, when he died, there was a great earthquake, correct? And what else does the Bible say happen after that great earthquake? The what? The veil was torn, but there was something else that happened. Most people miss it, don't even know, they don't even realize it's found in Matthew. The dead came out of the graves and they walked the earth for a little while. What in the world was that all about? The Bible says that Jesus descended, and in the apostles' creed, as a Catholic, I used to recite the Apostles' Creed, it says Jesus descended into hell. Literally, he went into Hades, and he set the captives free. And I truly believe that those who came up out of the graves after after Jesus died, when Jesus descended, were the Old Testament saints. And now we know when a person dies, they don't go to Abraham's bosom. The Bible says in the New Testament to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And we know we're there immediately. So the reason I'm going into all this is to help you understand this word Hades. It was the abode of the dead. And look at what it says here. He says here, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Hades is simply the realm of the dead. It holds the spirits of the unsaved dead and releases them at the resurrection. Revelation 20, 13. According to Jesus, Hades is down, Matthew 11, 23. And it is a prison to which he holds the keys, Revelation 1.18. It was Luke chapter 16, verses 19 through 31 is what I was looking for a little while ago. So gates represent in the Bible authority and power. The city gate was to a Jew what city hall is to people in the Western world. Important business was transacted at the city gate. Deuteronomy 16, 17, Ruth chapter 4, verse 11. The gates of Hades then would symbolize the organized power of death and Satan. So by this death and resurrection, by his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ would conquer death so that death would not be able to hold any of his people. Christ would storm the gates, deliver the captives. This declaration certainly is verified by 1 Corinthians 15, 15, and Hebrews 2, 14 through 15. Look at what Hebrews 2, 14 through 15 says. I got it through verse 18, but look at what it says here. Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity, so that by his death he might look break the power of 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. Verse 16. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. So that whole passage talks about people who once were spiritual slaves and they have been set free. So the point here when he says the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. So his church, a Jesus-focused faith, tells us this: that his church is victorious, alive, and free. Folks, listen, we have got to quit acting like we're dead in our sins. We really do. We have to quit allowing our culture to dictate our spiritual temperature. We have to quit allowing our circumstances to tell us how we ought to feel every day. We are the church. We belong to the living God. He sent his son to die for us, to set us free, so that we can be victorious. And he who joins himself to Jesus joins himself to victory. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was a sinner. Now I'm a saint, not because I do good deeds, but because Jesus cleansed me from the inside out. And now the good works follow. And I can be victorious over my depression. I can be victorious over my own fears. And I'm alive and free because Jesus declares that he will build his church and the authorities of death, the gates of Hades, will not prevail against that. And I'm telling you, rather than entering his gates with thanksgiving in our hearts, sometimes we enter the gates of death with fear and trembling in a negative way. Now, look, I'm not downing you. You are an encouragement to me. So, so many of you. You fight the good fight on a daily basis, and it takes a toll on you. And it takes a toll on me. And sometimes we get down, and sometimes we get discouraged, and sometimes, you know, it's hard to find joy and true happiness. I get that. But ultimately, for those of us who are Christians, we rise above all those things because we know that we are more than conquerors through him who loved us and gave himself for us. For we are convinced that neither life nor death, nor principalities, nor powers, nor anything created shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So a Jesus-focused faith understands that when Jesus builds his church, we are the church, Christians are his church, that the authority of death, hell, and the grave will not prevail against a Christian. And a Christian will be a victorious person on the inside, an alive person and free. Now, Paul, it's Matthew writing here, but Paul spent a lot of his time in jail. You said I thought you would be free. Well, the Bible says, he who the Son sets free is free indeed. Paul was free from sin. And though his body was locked up in a jail cell because of his Christianity, he was a free man in his spirit. And circumstances come to chain us and to keep us from being what God wants us to be. So his church is victorious, alive, and free. That's a Jesus-focused faith. Do you know that we have brothers and sisters around the world who are literally facing death every Sunday when they go to church? They're literally every day facing the authorities who want to destroy their lives. We have it really easy here in America. And so we've got to declare this as Jesus said, you know, Peter, upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I'm an overcomer in Jesus Christ. One last thing. Jesus-focused faith, this, number three, is a personal, individually owned commitment to Jesus Christ. A Jesus-focused faith is very personal. It is a personal, individually owned commitment to Jesus Christ. Verses 13 through 16, I'll just, when Jesus said, who do people say the Son of Man is? And then he said in verse 14, some say this, some say that. Verse 15. But what about you? Gosh, that that statement right there just burns in my heart. What about you? What about you, Corey? And I was 17 and I was faced with the truth of God, and I started going to church that actually preached the truth, and I would go home and was be like totally confused as to what I heard because I had very limited understanding spiritually. My eyes were blinded, spiritual eyes were blinded by the God of this age. But as the word of God was being spoken to me, my heart began to see things that I could never understand before. And I remember Jesus speaking to me through his word, and I can remember this. What about you? What are you gonna do with me? What are you gonna do with the truth that you've heard? What about you, Peter? He says. Very, very personal. Not what about them? What is your family gonna think? No, no, Jesus said to him, but what about you? Who do you say that I am? Who am I to you? That is very personal. And listen, individually own. Simon Peter answered in verse 16, you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. That wasn't just mental ascent. That was he meant it with all of his heart. Now, that's where I come in and say, individually own. One of the sad things that I see today that's going on with maybe the in my age group of people who have adult children who were raised in the church. I think sometimes those kids went along trying to live their spiritual life on the coattails of their parents' faith and walk with Christ. And yes, some of them may have received Christ or said they received Christ and followed him and gotten baptized. But now that they're young adults, they're not involved in a local church, they perhaps don't even pray or don't even read their Bible. They probably, some of them don't even have a Christian ethic like you would want them to have or would hope that they would have. And you wonder as a parent, what did I do wrong? Why? Why is this happening to my kids? I mean, if I can't even reach my kids, how am I gonna reach other people? Well, here's the thing. See, your kids are just like every other child that ever lives. They have to decide on their own. They have to personalize it. It's gotta be what they want. It's gotta be them. Meaning, the point that I'm making is this is that every human being is gonna have to stand before God, and they're gonna have to give an account for what they did with Jesus. Everyone on their own. She kept me in check, Lord. So by virtue of that, I get some points from her, right? No, that's not gonna happen. Jesus said, Who do people say the Son of Man is? He asked the question, who do they? And then they gave an answer. Oh, some say you're, you know, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, still others Jeremiah, one of the prophets, I believe you're reincarnated, you believe you, you know, I don't think you're the Messiah. And then that's where Jesus came and said, okay, I'm not worried about what people say. Now I want to ask you, Peter, who do you say that I am? You see, now listen, keep this in mind. After this, Jesus was arrested and he was going to trial. What did Peter do? He denied him three times, he cursed, he said, I don't know that man. Jesus died on the cross. Peter wasn't near the cross, John was. All the other disciples, they were scared, they hightailed it. The women, the Marys, all of them were right there. Jesus rose from the dead. Peter was back out fishing. Peter appeared. I mean, Jesus appeared to Peter on a beach. Peter was in the boat. He jumped out of that boat, tunic and all, meaning heavy clothing, when he saw Jesus, and he went to him. Jesus had wept, I mean, Peter had wept bitterly and repented. And then when he saw Jesus, Jesus asked Peter, Peter, do you love me? Oh yes, I love you, Lord. Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. Peter three times. Peter, do you love me? Many believe that that was kind of like Jesus saying to Peter, You denied me three times. I've forgiven you. All three times. And he said, Feed my sheep. Here was Peter, whom this passage in Matthew 16 is one of the most profound passages of scripture. And you know, uh, it reveals the revelation of God and how God was going to work in people's hearts to bring them to salvation. And then Peter denied Christ. Now, Christ is reminding him to feed my sheep. And then Jesus ascended into heaven, and then on the day of Pentecost, Peter, the one who denied him, but the very one who declared him also, spoke that day. The church was born. Thousands were saved. 3,000 men were saved at that one moment. Thousands gave their heart to Christ on that day, and God used him. The reason I'm going and talking about all of this is that you can see throughout Peter's life and throughout his walk how he had a personal, individually owned commitment to Jesus Christ. You can't live this life and say, well, I go to Jonesville Baptist Church and my pastor is that crazy Cajun, Corey J. Haremy, and because of that I'm going to go to heaven. Absolutely not. Let me tell you something. You are not going to go to heaven based on that. You will only go to heaven if you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, given him your heart, and you have responded to the question: Who do you say that I am? That's what matters. That's a Jesus-focused faith. It's personal, it's individually owned. Meaning you have to do business with God his way. It's amazing to me the people that I hear, you know, I'll talk to them. Well, brother, you you where you stand with God? Preacher, me and God, we we good. Okay, you are. Well, tell me about it. Wow, I I pray to him all the time. Yeah, a lot of people pray to him. Um, have you ever given your life to Christ? Well, you know, I don't believe you have to go to church to be a Christian. I said, I didn't talk to you about going to church. I'm asking you, have you given your life to Christ? Well, I don't believe so. I believe if you just do good things, well, sir, that's not going to be enough. That's just not going to cut it. And then he, and then what they typically tell me is something like this look, when I get upstairs, I'm gonna have, I'm gonna have a talk with the man upstairs. He's not like some mafia boss smoking a cigar upstairs. Gosh, that irritates me when I hear the man upstairs. No. You're not gonna negotiate with him. You're gonna be before the creator of the world. You don't have a say at that point. It's too late. What are you gonna do with him now? That's what matters. Peter, upon this rock, I will build my church, my people. And the gates of Hades will not overcome it. What about you? Who do you say that I am? Anybody listening to me, watching on live stream, this applies to you. To any of our children who used to come to our church and who were raised here and you're not serving God. Who do you say Jesus is? What about you? You're not gonna be able to negotiate through it. Come back to the faith of your fathers and your mother. Come back to your church family. And be a part of a community of believers who are living victorious, free, and obediently for Him. That's where you'll find true peace in your heart and life. Would you stand with me, everybody? Let's pray together. Father, I didn't see this message going in the direction that um that it that it came out. But that's the mystery of preaching and how you use a man of clay, an earthen vessel, in spite of himself, and you speak to us in a divine way because your word is proclaimed. So I pray for our dear family, our church right here today, Father. Um, we would embrace our Christ-focused faith. We would walk out of these doors today into the mission field of life, being the salt and light for this earth. And when people see good works in us, we won't pat ourselves on the back, but we'll reflect that and point it to Jesus. Help us, Father, to be your church. Help us to have a passion for the things that you had a passion for. And certainly with the strong language that was used here, strong and effective language, that upon the rock of this revelation and upon your faith, you will build your church. The gates of Hades will not prevail against her. Help us as your church to realize that. We will walk you through it, help you to understand what it means. And when we get our baptistry fixed, which is soon, we're going to baptize you. You let God lead you and direct you in this this morning. But above all else, make sure you walk out of here today with a Jesus focused faith. And I prayed in Jesus' name. Amen.