Upon This Rock

Upon-this-Rock

By Pastor Jeff,

Matthew 16:13-19, “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

When you hear the word Rock, what do you think of?

Verse 18 from the amplified says this, “And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros–a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra–a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].”

What in your mind is the most firm, unmovable, undisputable doctrine in the word of God? 1Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

The Revelation of who Jesus is, “God in Flesh!” This doctrine is what separates the nominal church from the church built upon the rock!

So how is this associated with the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven?

Once we understand who Jesus is, we can bind evil Acts 16:18, “And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” What Name?
Is it enough to use the name of Jesus? Acts 19:13-16, “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

It was clear form the beginning of Jesus ministry that he offended the religious of the day and was accused of using the power of the devil to cast out devils…
Matthew 12:28-30, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”

After we bind evil, we have power to let loose the power of God which leads to deliverance from sin, Roman 6:22-23, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The keys we have been given are powerful, but without the knowledge of who Jesus is, they don’t have the eternal effect for it is not built upon the Rock!
John 14:8-14, “Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

We often say when we meet others of different religious beliefs that there is no denying who Jesus Christ is, right! Then why do they fall on men’s traditions in baptizing in the titles “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?” The earliest reliable source of using the Father, Son, and Holy ghost is in the second century; so did they suddenly become smarter that the original Apostles?
Did they get a better understanding of scripture?

No they jumped off the “Rock”!

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My God, My God…

mygod

By Pastor Jeff,

Matthew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

I have heard an explanation for this cry by Jesus that I have to say I have a hard time accepting. The thought that God the Father at the most horrific time would turn His back on the one that will reconcile us with Him I find just wrong.

It is clear in the scriptures that Jesus is God in the flesh, Colossians 2:8-9, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”
The entire Old testament points to a day when God would take upon Himself “Flesh” to redeem us to Himself, Is 9:6, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
I don’t think I can do this message justice by not talking about the oneness of God, because when you try to make Jesus a separate co-equal, co-eternal part of some triune Godhead, you get into trouble. You must understand that the man Jesus, the Son was never co-eternal, He was begotten, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 1:1-3, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”.
When we look at the life of Jesus we find one that shows both His divinity and humanity, Jesus the one who multiplied the fish and loaves declared to His disciples one day that, Matthew 21:18, “Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.” The one who turned water into wine thirsted, John 19:28, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.” The one who created all and knows all had to learn,” Luke 2:52, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”

With the suffering Jesus was going through in His flesh how cannot you want to scream out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Remember at any moment Jesus could of called on 12 legions of angels to end His suffering, Thank God He didn’t! For the very reason that He was sentenced to death was that He didn’t deny being equal with God, Mark 14:61-62, “But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”

So if God did forsake Jesus what part in the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did God separate Himself from the man Jesus Christ? In the Garden? At His trial? At His beating? when He carried the cross? When He was nailed to the cross, when He cried out My God, My God?

My God declares several times that He will never leave us, never forsake us, never fail us, I can’t believe that this does not hold true for His only begotten, in fact scripture bares this out, John 16:32-33, “the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.”

So why did Jesus cry out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Let’s look at Psalms 22:1, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”
Now if you look at the entire 22nd chapter of Psalms you can see that it is describing the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus, 6-8, “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.”
15-16, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.” (What a description of a crucifixion)
18, “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.”
In essence Jesus was giving further evidence that He was indeed to Messiah as He fulfilled the scriptures exactly.

I don’t know about you but I need to know without hesitation that no matter what I’m going through that I have a God that will be there. He will never leave me, never forsake me, and for Jesus Christ on the cross, God was with and in Jesus till the very end!

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What is Truth?

Truth-1

By Pastor Jeff,

As Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate, during questioning Jesus replies with this statement found in John 18:36-38, “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.”

That question, “What is truth?” has echoed throughout the ages and it seems in our day of what you can only call questionable news has us asking this question daily. Even the fact checking sites have also become questionable sources of information as they are overseen by people with bias’s one way or the other. Jesus himself was not sentenced as result of truth but as a way to satisfy the crowds that were demanding it.

Truth should not be determined by what makes people feel good, what the majority decide, by good intentions, or even the fact that it is believed by those expressing it. Galatians 1:6-9, tells us, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” It’s relatively easy to get caught up in lie if you do not adhere to Proverbs 23:23, “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.”

Truth is not subjective, it either is or isn’t the truth and that any attempt to distort, falsely interpret the word of God to make one feel good is a lie. this includes abortion, gay marriage, adultery or even who Jesus is. Jesus makes no qualm about claiming that He was God in the flesh, John 14:5-7, “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” (John 5:58, 1 Timothy 3:16 and so on)

The real question is how much truth can we know? John 16:12-13 gives us the answer, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.” Now this does not mean we will know everything, but if we take the time to read, study, pray, and seek God for answers we will without a doubt get to the truth!

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