Keys to the Kingdom
Matthew 16:13-20 - Victory Fellowship
October 29, 2023 - Rev. Roderick Grabski
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Go nowhere without the keys (man tosses golf bag in pond)
B. Keys to my Denali
C. Promise to Peter - We have the Keys to the Kingdom
1. The Rock of Testimony (our faith is a testimony)
II. RELATING THE TEXT
A. Pivotal passage in N.T.
1. Four turning points
(from here on out things will not be the same in the relationship between Jesus and the disciples)
B. 1st Pivot Point: Jesus is approaching Caesarea-Philippi
1. Heathen Cults (Pan – Baal)
2.''Who does (the World) say that I am?"
3. The Truth: Who do YOU say I am
4. Peter's response
Jesus was standing on a road in an area littered with the
temples of the Syrian gods, a place where the Greek gods
looked down, a place where the most important river in
Judaism sprang to life, a place where the white marble
splendor of the home of Caesar-worship dominated the
landscape. And here, of all places, He stands and asks men
who they believe Him to be. Peter boldly answers that He
is "the Christ, the Son of the living God"
C. 2nd Pivot Point: First use of word "church" in N.T.
1. "called out ones" - ekklesia
2. Church is not what we come to on Sunday am – it is WHO WE CONFESS TO BE
3. John 1:42 - Cephas or "the rock" (cornerstone)
4. THIS is the church Jesus appointed to overcome evil in the world
D. 3rd Pivot Point: Jesus stressed a course of offensive action
1. Disciples should overcome the world with their witness - not be overcome by the world.
2. Crash the gates of Hell! This is the power from Christ.
E. 4th Pivot Point: Jesus now begins to share with the
disciples the impending persecution that is to come.
1. He is ready to move forward
2. Things will never be the same
III. CONCLUSION
A. Crash the many gates we encounter – we will encounter Hells Gates as we seek to live out our faith and witness
-discouragement and despair
-illness and fear
-guilt and shame from past mistakes
-financial trials; spiritual attack
B. We have the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven (how would your future look if you knew you would not lose?)
We do not run from Hells Gates, we break them down in the power of Christ - in our testimony of faith and witness to our Savior. Put on your faith and Crash the Gates of Hell!
PRAYER
SONG: Run Devil, Run
Matthew 16:13-20 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." 15 He *said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."17 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." 20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.