• Matthew 16:13-20 What does it mean to bind and loose?
  

• 1. We bind and loose when we decide who Jesus is?
  
• V13-15
  
• This question right here is the most important question that anyone can ask in their life-
  
• Jesus comes to Peter- and says- what are people saying about me? Who do you say that I am?
  
• Now for many people- this question is not one that they ever answer- or should I say- they answer it without answering it by their choice to ignore who Jesus is-
  
• Now what interesting- is that these people around the region had an opinion of who Jesus was-
  
• John the Baptist? Elijah? Jeremiah? One of the prophets?
  
• And all of these thoughts about who Jesus was were centered around who he wasn’t
  
• All of those mentioned were those who would announce the arrival of messiah
  
• John the Baptist preached repentance and returning to God- he taught baptism. He called out sin
  
• Consider John the baptist- They lived at the same time, related by blood, about the same age, had angel Gabriel announce their births, religious and political leaders didn’t care for them, wanted them dead, people followed both of them,
  
• John the Baptist had a ministry and it was an important one- but it wasn’t he ministry of Jesus
  
• Consider Elijah- prophetic rebuke of Israel for idolatry that was pagan, baal worship, to turn back to God, Prophesying miracles of rain, oil and meal for a starving widow, raising a widows son from the dead, Message of promise to his followers before he departed, and then he left earth by a chariot of fire and did not die
  
• Consider Jeremiah- Jeremiah prophesied God’s judgement on Israel and Judah, He pleaded with Israel to repent, the ‘weeping prophet’, Jeremiah was rejected by his own people- he told his own people that God was going to judge them for their sin and rejecting God, he had words of hope for Israel if they repented, that God would be with them-
  so the people at the time had a working knowledge of these three people-
  
• But here was the issue- they were trying to understand who Jesus was based on THEIR frame of reference instead of considering and listening to who Jesus actually was-
  
• This is human- this is what we do- we take a limited amount of information and make decisions about who we think people are
  
• We do it on Social media, books, TV, movies, sports, we make sweeping statements about people on limited information- we don’t even know them- “I know who Justin Beiber is”
  
• We even do it with people that we somewhat know- we have a short interaction with someone and think that we know them- See at church, read online, You think u know me from the pulpit
  
• It took me 10 years of deep emotional and physical intimacy with my wife and after 10 years I thought I was just starting to get to know her- but someone sends one tweet and you know everything about them
  
• I don’t know nothing about Russel Wilson that the news hasn’t told me- I don’t know what he eats, who his friends were in HS, what he’s afraid of, what makes him happy, what his hobbies are.
  
• But today- still- based on Limited information- people declare who Jesus is-
  
• Good moral teacher, condemner, prophet,
  

2. We bind and loose when we declare Jesus is the Christ

• 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
  
• Simon Peter answers the question with the correct answer- “you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”
  
• What Peter saw- and what he knew to be true is that Jesus was the “Christ” the anointed one, the savior, the messiah, the promised one, the end all be all.
  
• This is the one that John The Baptist, Jeremiah, Elijah, David and all the OT prophets promised
  
• The one- The Savior
  
• This is what Martha declared- John 11:27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
  
• This is what the centurion declared- Matt 27:54 So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!”
  
• This is what they accused him of Matt 26:63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”
  
• This is what Paul preached- Acts 9:20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.
  
• To say that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God is to say’ who he is- to declare who he is
  
• That Jesus is the savior from our sins, that he is the leader of our lives, that he is the current king of our lives and the future king of our heavenly kingdom.
  
• It’s not his name, its his title. Jesus, who is the Christ.
  
• What does it mean to you
  
• Well, first off, if you haven’t you should declare Jesus as Christ over your life. You should submit to his Lordship and follow his ways. You should submit and live for him- receive forgiveness.
  
• This declaration of Peter was monumental- it was the essence and the reason for Christ’s arrival, death, burial and resurrection- to establish kingship over all the earth
  
• 1 Timothy 4:10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
  
• This week- fence bid- met this guy- SGM- Talked for at least ½ hour- so many good stories, share pedigee, where you been. Great conversation- We defend USA- Used to, now has-been
  
• If you’re not in, you’re not in- you used to be, but if you’re not in- you don’t even get in-
  
• Being a Christian- that is to say “Christ-ian” is to be Christ-anointed ian- little one
  
• Basically- A Christian is a little Christ- a little anointed one- and to the Antiochians- who gave them this title- it was to identify them with the party or group they were affiliated with
  
• The Christians did not identify with the groups around them but were identified as a sub group
  
• The early Christians were proud to identify with Christ- First century- Nero Crucified, fed to animals and burned as torches those who called themselves Christians- it came at a cost!
  
• 1 John 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
  
• So for you here today- does that identity mean anything to you? Does it mean something to you that you are a Christian? I know we say it a lot because I want it to mean something when you confess it- (talking to guy this week- got married- became a muslim- just had to say No God but allah and that mohammed was a profit- told me he didn’t believe it- just did it for a passport)
  
• Pretty crazy- but there’s tons of people like that in the modern day church-
  
• If I say this- I get this- until its time to forgive, or be committed or live out the Scriptures-
  
• Confess Jesus as the Christ- live like its true- submit to his lordship and his kingdom
  

We bind and loose when we build the Church on Jesus Christ

• 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
  
• Now there has been much discussion about this term “on this rock” throughout antiquity to the meaning of this statement-
  
• One camp says this refers directly to Peter as the Rock that Jesus would build his Church on- These types typically are from the Catholic camp as a means of supporting papal succession
  
• The Other camp- which is the biblical truth- is that the Rock by which Jesus is referring is the Rock of the Confession of Jesus as the Christ- and on that Truth is what the Church will be built
  
• Its impossible to believe that Peter was the rock by which Jesus would build his church when Immediately after Christs ascension- Peter goes and preaches Christ in Acts 2 and doesn’t preach himself. Acts 2:22-24 Speaking of Jesus
  
• Jesus used one form of the word “rock” (petra) for the rock on which he would build his church, and another (petros) for Peter. According to George Abbott-Smith’s Greek lexicon, “petra” means “a mass of … rock,” distinct from “petros” meaning “a detached stone or boulder.”
  
• The Rock on which the Church is built is the firm rock confession of Jesus is the Christ
  
• It’s central to what we do and what we believe as a church
  
• 1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
  
• Eph 2:19-22 READ
  
• One- Fellow citizens with the saints and members- we are a group v19
  
• Two- Jesus is the cornerstone on which all of what we do is build v 20
  
• Three- we grow into a holy temple in the Lord v21
  
• Four- We are being built as a dwelling place of God in the spirit v22
  
• I’m constantly coming back to this because I think it’s the ethos of many-
  
• You are not a Christian for your benefit- its for the benefit of God
  
• Yes- we gain and we gather and we get- its just part of the deal- but it’s always been for HIM
  
• Here’s the truth- the Church is built on Jesus is the Christ- you are being built into the Church for him- The Bible was written by the church and for the church and we’re to build the church on this confession- so therefore how should you live? How should you view the church?
  
• Jesus didn’t say- and on this rock I will build a following of disconnected individuals who do whatever they want and just say they believe in me
  
• Church- ekklessia- a religious congregation- and this Chruch- the Church that Jesus built the gates of Hell will not come against it because you can’t bring down the truth of who Jesus is!
  

We bind and loose when we disdain what God disdains and loosing when we approve what God approves

• 19 And 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.”
  
• Binding and loosing is originally a Jewish Mishnaic phrase In usage, to bind and to loose simply means to forbid by an indisputable authority and to permit by an indisputable authority
  
• What that means is that if something was bound- it was indisputable- could not be broken, if it was loosed- it was permitted- by indisputable authority
  
• If you can’t do something- there’s no way you can do something- if you can- there’s nothing that can stop you from doing it.
  
• Isaiah 22:22 The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So he shall open, and no one shall shut; And he shall shut, and no one shall open.
  
• Revelation 3:77 ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:
  
• Revelation 1:18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
  
• Jesus is the rock- He is the Christ- the pathway and the doorway to heaven through him alone
  
• Jesus Gives Peter these keys and says- ‘this is the key- the entrance into my kingdom- that I am Savior and Lord- you will open the kingdom to people through this message and you will exclude people from the kingdom by this message- this is the key”
  
• So go and bind and loose by preaching the message of the Christ
  
• If you bind them from the kingdom by denial- they are bound- and if you loose them into the kingdom by acceptance- they are accepted-
  
• Peter walked this out in Acts 2 when he preached and welcomed the gentiles into the kingdom
  
• This authority- given by Jesus was a cosmic authority given by Jesus as a key into the kingdom
  
• Not to be taken lightly- this idea of binding and loosing is seen in Matt 18 in Church discipline
  
• Matt 18:15-20
  
• Explains how Church discipline works- This scripture is not about having church- its about being the church and exerting discipline within the church
  
• And then he says- 18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
  
• Whatever you allow in the church will be allowed in heaven and whatever you disallow will not be allowed in heaven- whoever is allowed in the church is allowed in heaven, but whoever is not allowed in the church is not allowed in heaven
  
• 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
  
• Jesus is there in the midst of Church discipline- very important stuff
  
• God approves of the Gospel message of setting people free from the law of sin and death
  
• We preach that to usher in the kingdom- we welcome people into the kingdom and exclude those who deny it- we bind and loose and hold the keys to the kingdom of heaven
  

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