Easter! The Proof!

Easter : The Proof of the Power of Jesus             by Captain Kelly Durant

   We have the lights out. Now close your eyes. I want you to imagine yourself in the grave. You are dead. You died Sunday April 16^th of a heart attack. You have left your body but your spirit must report to it’s creator. You realize you are as much alive as you were before, but you have lost that flesh and bone body in the material world. You are on your way through a tunnel where there is light at the other end, and you are realizing you are on your way to be judged. As Heb 9:27

27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.

The question: Do you have the power to bring your self back to life?

The answer of course is, “No!” But just as God spoke and there was light and it is an eternal creation, light now exists because God spoke it into existence, and now eternal life exists for humanity through His resurrected Son Jesus Christ, because God made it exist!

 Luke 24:1-8

24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'"  8 Then they remembered his words.

In this chapter we have a big part of the story of Jesus resurrection. How may of you believe that this God/man came out of the grave as the scripture says?

How many of you believe also that you will be resurrected on the last day when Jesus returns? If you do not accept that there was a miracle of resurrection then you cannot be claiming to be a Christian.

The Resurrection of Jesus is the main thing that separates Him from all the other religions of the world. Buddha did not come out of his grave, nor did Mohamed. Jesus was the Son of God and the miracle of the resurrection is the proof His divinity!

He raised Him self up and He claimed and He will raise us up to be with Him one day. Jesus early in His teachings taught..   Matt 5:36

36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.

How many of you have white hair and you want to just pray and make it black again? Jesus was almost comical here in pointing out how we as humans we are not capable of any thing. We have no control, no mind over matter. And especially we have no control over supernatural things such as raising our selves from the dead and determining where our spirit will go after our death.

Today lets remember; death is a reality on this earth. According to science and the physical world, the death rate statistic so far has been 100% , except for Jesus and a couple of old prophets. You will die on one day God has chosen. 

Do not forget Romans 6:23

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. All humanity is condemned to die.

Remember when you are in front of God, He will judge and condemn you to the eternal prison, the second death, which is a burning lake of fire for the spirits of men who were rebellious and liars. But if when you are in front of God and he opens the book of your life, and He discovers you accepted Jesus His Son, and acceptance does not mean you just go to church and try to be good. Acceptance means you actually loved Him and confessed Him, and you loved those who loved Him and you obey His words, and you loved the unlovely and even ugly people who were lost so you could win their souls to heaven, then Jesus will step up as a defense lawyer on your behalf and say wait Father, do not condemn this one. This soul is mine, I died for Him, and He while he was on the earth heard my words and followed me, I give this one eternal life!

  In the chapter we just read there are 3 main points I want us to take note of.

When Jesus speaks, you had better pay attention and do all of what He says, because anyone who has so much purity and Holiness, so much power and authority over the physical and spiritual world, is one to be feared and one to be obeyed and respected!

Point One: Jesus Himself states He came to fulfill the prophecies which written about Him by Moses, the Prophets, and in the Psalms. There are around 300 prophecies in the Bible predicted over an almost 2,000 year span on the life of Jesus. No other culture, the Chinese, the Hindu Indian, the Greeks or Romans have anything like this. The Yahweh God and prophets of the Hebrews who wrote of His coming are without a doubt, the most the most obvious proof that Jesus was, in fulfilled prophecy, the Son of God.

Point Two: Jesus did a miracle that is not possible by any human, the one of being resurrected and He proved He had a supernatural body. He appeared and disappeared. He could fool them to be someone else and then change into His natural appearance again. The display of the power He had has never been matched. He proved He was supernatural yet also He was flesh and bones.

Point Three: Luke 24:47

47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

He prophesied in Jerusalem and in the book of Acts we see the fulfillment of Christianity beginning there as He stated. But capture the real meaning here, when compared to other verses, such as Mark 16:15

15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

His main emphasis is that it is your and my responsibility to tell others the good news that He is alive and resurrected and that He can forgive your and my sins. You cannot just say thank you to Him for saving me from death and hell, thank you for resurrecting and giving me eternal life, and then not be concerned for your family, friends and neighbors and the lost souls. Jesus came back to life for you but He has no other hands but your hands to show others of His love. He has no other feet but yours to go out to share His love. He only has your mouth to speak of the good news that he is alive and well and that He wants to make you alive and well too! You must tell others or you are failing Him! Easter is the best time too!

If you have not received Jesus today, then now is you chance. If you have believed on Jesus but you have not been telling others about Him, telling them of His forgiveness of sins, then now is your chance. Pray... 

Jesus, Jerusalem, + Via Dolorosa

Jesus, Jerusalem, & The Via Dolorosa                         Capt. Kelly Durant  3-24-13

Luke 19: 38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.

40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

41    nd when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,

2.Today I want you to discover what it implied when Jesus went into Jerusalem. Jerusalem means the City of Peace.  Recall that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, and it was there he made peace for humanity with God through the sacrifice of his own body that was mutilated for you and me! Jesus wept! This place is full of stones!

Jerusalem is the place where he received the most amazingly praised acceptance and at the same time the place where he was so rejected and he was put to death.  What a contrast! I think if he went again to Jerusalem today, he would encounter the same situation. He would be loved and praised by some and rejected and hated by others! Of course, that would be case in any city today!

3.Palm Sunday is celebrated today by about 1 billion Christians no matter the denomination! Just think Jesus, at the height of his popularity is being praised as a King and is coming into Jerusalem on a donkey. How did the Romans ride into any city? With horses, aggression, pride and pompous!

Jesus is coming into Jerusalem on a donkey and today that is the same as a famous man going down the street on a little scooter! Ha! There’s no pride there!

What was his motive for this? To display his gentleness and humility! He always repeatedly taught humility, in his birth and in his death but still today most churches with all their luxury and pride of man still don’t understand this lesson!

Jesus is fulfilling prophecy as we read in

Zech 9:9

9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!

Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and having salvation,

gentle and riding on a donkey

When Jesus goes into Jerusalem, what holiday is it?

4.Take into account that Jesus is going in on the same weekend that the Israelites prepare to remember the Passover. From the time of the plagues of Egypt, the last one was the worst in which the oldest son died of all of the Egyptians. God redeemed the Jews with the blood of the lamb then and at the Jerusalem Passover with Jesus it is God’s lamb’s blood that will save all humanity forever!  

After covering Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem in the East Gate, now I want to take you through the streets of Jerusalem down the via dolorosa, the painful trail Jesus took from inside the city from his condemnation to his death outside.

5-9.There are 14 stations established by tradition and I want you to experience this journey. Many of these sites are real, confirmed by archeologists, but a few have been added in, which you may consider as extra Biblical. One thing is certain, he went down through the valley of the shadow of death in those narrow streets for you and for me. It may have been this road, or it may have been parts of another, but the important fact remains that Jesus did walk this path of suffering.

Try to think of each of these as having a lesson for you. Every action that Jesus did on this road taught us something important in life.

1.     10.Jesus is Condemned to Die.  The first station to appear in the pilgrimage is the court where Jesus was condemned to die by Pontius Pilate. Matthew 27:2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. He was taken to Pilate. It was probably just outside of that place where He was given the 39 lashes. There have been so many Christians, millions even, that have been condemned to die, But we know that even if you or I die for Jesus one day, that He will be with us and receive us with him forever!

2.     11.Jesus is made to Bear His Cross. It is hard to imagine, a person in so much pain carrying a cross, but He did! Jesus even told us to carry our cross. Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Each person in life has some type of a cross to carry. What is your cross?

3.     12.Jesus Falls the First Time. We cannot be sure how many times Jesus fell but it is an important lesson to learn in life that we must get up in life and keep going even when we are in great pain. Proverbs 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

4.     13.Jesus Meets His Mother. Mary must have followed Jesus on His way down the road. We know she stayed with him at the cross too, because of Jesus words, John 19: 25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. This is an example of what real family is! Jesus wants you to be one who is there with one suffering until the very end no matter how much it hurts you in the process.

5.     14.Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross. Luke 23: 26 And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. I find this symbolic in life. You may be carrying your cross, but you may come to a place where you are not able to go on. You become too tired! It is then God will send someone, even someone not of your race as in the case of Jesus, to help you along the way to help you carry your burden.

6.     15.Veronica Wipes Jesus’ Face. This part we do not find in scripture but she symbolizes one of the women who cared for Jesus and tried to help him in his time of crisis. Everyone should do ministry. Luke 23:27 And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. This is what we must practice, supporting one another with compassion by doing something to alleviate the pain. What would wiping his face do anyway? At least a little bit of something helps and they did what they were able to do to encourage Him.

7.     16.Jesus Falls the Second Time. Considering all the torture Jesus had been through, it is amazing and miraculous he could walk up the hill to his final destination. We need a repeat of this lesson to get up and keep going.

8.     17.Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem. What does Jesus say to them? Another prophecy that was fulfilled. Luke 23: 28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. 29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.31 For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?

I think it is absolutely amazing that despite his pain, Jesus was able to remind people of the impending judgment. We too must always warn others of God’s final judgment.

9.     18.Jesus Falls the Third Time. Again he did not give up, He went all the way. In order for us as humans to get the point, we often need to hear about it 3 times. Remember the cock crew 3 times, and Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep 3 times. Many lessons in life you may have to learn 3 times. Pray, oh Lord, help me to learn what I need with only one lesson!

10.                   19.Jesus is Stripped. Matt 27: 35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. This part to me symbolizes the greed and insensitiveness of the world. I think if I would have seen Jesus in that horrible bloody condition I would not be in the mood to gamble and see if I could win a nice piece of cloth. But I have even been to funerals where I have seen people only interested in what they can get from the dead person. You and I are appalled, and obviously God punishes those who care not for others but only for material things. The lesson is our material goods in the end are worthless and others are going to get them cold-heartedly.

11.                  20.Jesus is nailed to the Cross. This must have provoked more pain that what you or I can imagine! How symbolic that it is usually people’s hands and feet that move to do sin. Psalm 9:16 The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Proverbs 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. But listen to the prophecy of Jesus Psalm 22:16

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. And the victory is Psalm 47:3

He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet. The subjugation of His hands and feet proves God gets the victory over sin!

12.                  21Jesus Dies on the Cross. This was unlike any other death before! Remember there was an earthquake, there was darkness, there were some people resurrected and it was a frightful moment for all! Matthew 27: 54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. It was at that moment everyone there believed on Him. His death atoned for our sins! Forever we all are changed to have eternal by his sacrifice!

13.22Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross. This took place at Golgotha. I am glad I did not have that job!   Imagine how hard that was! But often you and me are the ones that have to clean up the mess and take care of things after the tragedy. Have you ever had to deal with death and sadness? 

14. 23.Jesus is laid in the Tomb. Imagine how hard that must have been for those few that did that, to wrap his body and then lay it in the tomb. I think there would have been a lot of discouragement. You would have thought how incredible all the miracles, but now it is all over. How terribly sad!

The tomb is a reminder that even when you think something is finished, it is never really finished! It is a reminder that there is hope when we see no hope.

Now consider this: Some traditions include the

24.Resurrection of Jesus as the 15th station. Now this makes sense! This should not be forgotten! It is not just that Jesus was laid in the tomb and that is the end of the story but that He rose out of the tomb that matters!

We have a lot of work to do today! We must tell others of Jesus! Jesus authority that was bought by His suffering, death, and resurrection but by and large He is still ignored and disrespected! Idolatry still exists. When you and I walk through the shopping malls today we see all the rude people running around as if they were drunk and hypnotized by materialism. People worship the trends, clothes, and electronics made by human hands. Jeremiah 1:16

And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

This lesson for you and I is that God gets the praise and final victory despite the appearance of a sad ending! The worship of Jesus and the praise of Him as it happened in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and as it continues to happen all around the world is an unstoppable phenomenon! The first disciples were willing to preach and die for Him because His resurrection was without a doubt real and He was the authentic Son of God who now He has all power over death, hell, and forgiveness to grant life eternal in heaven!

Will you worship Him in respect and fear of His power today? I fear for all the ones who rejected Him then and for the ones who reject Him now! 

Who Do You Carry? Who Carries You?

Who Do You Carry?                                                                   by Captain   Kelly Durant  3-17-13

1. Mark 2:1  And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.

2. There is the anecdote of one young man carrying another boy on his back as they walk down the road. And a friend beside them asked the one who was carrying the boy, “isn’t that he heavy?  Don’t you get tired?” His reply was, “He ‘aint heavy, he’s my brother”. When you love someone, when they are family, you really don’t feel the weight of carrying them. It all is in the good attitude of doing good to others, you don’t feel it.

3. Last week we had an amazing time learning from the sessions of Pastor Mike Slater. He wrote a very good and interesting book, as you can see here, called the Stretcher; Beginning healing and hope to a broken & hurting world. Why a stretcher? We read it in the verses of today. There was a man who could not walk so in order for him to beg, they would carry him out on his stretcher every day. In the verses it mentioned he had 4 friends, verse 3.

The friends that have got your back, the friends that take you get help, the ones that carry you, these are the ones doing a stretcher ministry. Being on a Stretcher is a reality for a many people and some of you here may feel paralyzed from all your personal difficult situations!

4. The big day came when Jesus was in town that his friends took him to where Jesus was preaching in a small house and they let him down on a stretcher through the roof so he could get to Jesus. There must have been 4 men or more helping lower him down inside through the hole. Imagine all the work they did, carrying him up to the roof, then they were all digging a hole in the roof. Then they had to work together to lower him inside without dropping him.

All of us are going to have pain in life, all of us get laid up at some time or another to the point we need help. I want you to close your eyes and imagine that right now you are on a stretcher. You are at a point you can do nothing on your own. Someone(s) has to carry you to and from your house. Someone is going to do many errands for you, taking you here and there, preparing your food, etc. Open your eyes, who do you see there? How many are there? One? Two? Or Four?

5. Do you even see 2 or 3 people? If you do you are very blessed! Many people in the world don’t even have one person to help them when they are down and out! This is the issue I want to address today, who can carry you? Who has been there for you in the past? And right now?

Let’s go back to the healing to the cripple man, Jesus told him he was made whole due to his faith. When you want something from God, a healing or a help, you have to do the unconventional, you must be radical and humble and accept help, and you must have the conviction God will do it. Making a hole in a roof was creating damage that they would have to fix later. But one thing is real, you and I need others in our times of crisis to do what no one else will do.

6. Let’s look at the issue of getting help; most people are not even willing to be helped! Do you know of people right now that symbolically are on a stretcher and yet they will not tell anyone? You may ask people: How are you? I’m alright? How are you?  I’m fine. You and I often may have a health issue, a kid in trouble, a bill to pay but to save face each one says they are alright!? This is wrong and no opening of roofs and getting healed will get done this way. This is pride and God cannot work through those unwilling to be humbled.

It’s like a kid that Pastor Slater told a story about that he saw drowning at the beach. He just happened to see the kid was fighting for his life in the water, but he did not cry out for help! He went and saved him and pulled him to the beach. Recovering on the beach he asked the young man, why didn’t you cry out, help me, I’m drowning? The guy mumbled that he was too embarrassed in front of his friends to look weak like he was drowning!? He almost died and would have died and yet he had no intention of trying to get help! This example is reality.

7. So what gets in our way of being able to help one another? Why are you silent? I know some of you here have a lot of heavy issues in your personal life but you suffer in silence. Why? Is it fear? It is the fear of being honest, the fear of rejection or non-acceptance, or the foolishness of pride, or is it the guilt of faithlessness. God put us in a Christian family for a purpose, to love one another and to share each other’s burdens.

Here is an idea of how you can overcome these things that prevent you from connecting to get help. Right now get out some paper and write down 3 of each of the following, one in each column.  Friends & Issues (Name and their need)    How Can I build trust?  This means, how can you help another who see needs help?

8. Now here is a more difficult one. Write down… My Issues     How can I build trust?   This means you being able to being humble and you trust your needs with another person so they can help you. This takes faith and humility!

Think of it this way: The Lord wants to do a work in your life and in others but you have got to identify the issues and see what is up to the Lord and see what is up to you. Some people let issues go on year after year, some people even die young because of no resolving issues!

9. Each problem has main issues and secondary issues. For example in what we read today, the main issue is the man is crippled, he cannot walk. Can you or I fix that? No! But what was secondary was how to get him to Jesus. The secondary issue was, who would carry him and lift him on the roof, who would cut the hole, and who would lower him inside? In other words, God will do his part but He expects us to do our part. You cannot just pray, you must act as well!

Another of the most classic examples of this is Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. He asked the disciples to follow him there back to Judea where the chief priests wanted to kill him. Then in front of the tomb he told Martha & Mary and all of them there to roll away the stone. The main issue was Lazarus’ death, you and I could do nothing about that, but the secondary issue was to get the tomb open for the miracle to happen, and that was something your average strong person was able to do. God wants us to show our faith and do our part.

John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

10. How can we apply all of this that we are learning today? Think of it this way. A certain couple here may have an issue, let’s take for example an issue of marriage problems. It may be something that not everyone should know, but the few who know are the stretcher bearers. The main issue that you cannot fix is the disagreements, the separation in the spirit that they have. It is God’s work to bring restoration and healing. The Holy Spirit can heal not just physically but relationally as well, but God does expect us to do our part to help.

So what could you or I do? How do we help with the secondary part? You could put them on your prayer list! Always, prayer comes first. Then one of you could write them a postcard and tell them that you are praying for them and deliver it to them. And to make a better difference, a few of you might offer to take their kids out for an ice cream cone at McDonald’s so the couple would have some alone time to talk about the issues they have been avoiding.

11. The idea is God will follow through on His part but He seems to always want to see you and I doing our part. Almost always our part implies other people, other stretcher bearers, being involved like a team to work with God to make it happen. God is relational; He wants not just the defenseless needy person involved, but also another group of people helping as well in the ministry part. With God it is either: get healed and ministered to, or you get out and minister!

Why are there so many examples of this pattern in the New Testament with Jesus? I think it is because God wants to help everyone get rid of their pride, and their fears of thinking about what others think, that stubborn self confidence that we can do it alone.  Faith to receive implies being humble and willing to be bold to trust God. Faith, humbleness, holiness, God wants you to work on gaining these attributes or you are worthless being faithless, & proud.

12. Here is the issue when you are needy, are you going to humble yourself and ask God and someone else to help you? Are you going to also ask God for the miracle and then do what you need to do to get yourself in a position so that He can do the work?

Also think about this; I know your culture and it is the same with all others that when you do a favor, then you expect the other person to pay you back one day when you need it, right? It is the law of ‘you reap what you sew’ and “do unto others’.

13. We are all Christian brothers and sister but obviously some are closer than others. This give and take may work sometimes, but not always and you should just help and give without expectations since all we do is for the Lord anyway. But there is the reality of, who can you count on?

Have you invested in a friend or a relative lately that will be there for you and you there for them? Have you gone to the hospital some nights with them? Hopefully, they too will visit you when you have to be in the hospital or in your bed, as well!

14. Don’t expect certain people to just automatically be there because you think it is their job to be there. Each of you (and I am included) needs to be cultivating friendships and if you give love and service to others, it will come back to you. Many times it might be some brother or sister that you least expect that has the most time to help you. Why was Jesus close to the family of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus? You do recall how Mary listened and Martha served. These are people who opened their homes to Him. In one of the few times in the Bible where we see that Jesus wept, it was for Lazarus. They gave love and they got love back!

We need close friendships and family that are going to be there when we need them. We need people who are close to us who will carry us, and pray for us. You need to be a person of action as well serving others in all ways possible.

15. Remember Proverbs 18:24 A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

So today, for prayer, for carrying you when you are on a stretcher, are you doing it for others now? We will start a stretcher ministry here. Our prayers will no longer be just prayers but motives to get us involved in your life so we can support you. Exciting right?  Let’s pray…

The Church: Attack or Retreat?

The Church: Attack or Retreat?  Lessons from the Past            Kelly Durant 3-3-13

Matthew 16:18 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.   2. Many times we have heard jokes about St. Peter being at the gate of heaven asking questions of those that arrive in order to be allowed into heaven. The premise of these jokes is that Peter decides who gets in and who doesn’t because he holds the keys to heaven and hell. This is a false idea that has been coined for a long time.  All we need to do is look at Revelation to know that it is Jesus who holds the keys of heaven and hell. Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. He also says he gives eternal life in John 10:28.

The verse of today is quite a loaded verse. I could focus in on Peter, or I could focus in on the rock, or what is the church. Or I could highlight how heaven prevails against hell or I could focus in on the gates of hell. Let’s focus first on the gates of hell but just to clear a few things up, Jesus is the rock (the cornerstone as described in Romans 9:31-33) and it is Jesus who has the keys to heaven and hell, not Peter. Keys to the kingdom implies some authority but not totally.

3. In verse 19 Jesus gave to Peter authority to bring into God’s kingdom souls, to preach and win converts forever, but he was not given authority over who governs the eternal death in hell of souls, or who has eternal life. Peter is not heaven and hell’s gate keeper, Jesus is!

 Matt 16:19 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.

4. Peter, and every Christian, has some measure of control over their future in heaven, so that if you bind your sins and live holy on earth, you retain that eternally in heaven. Or if loose and free yourself from sins, when you die, you keep that state of freedom forever. Your role in helping another do the same is your part of bringing on the kingdom of heaven.  Basically it is Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Peter’s nickname was Petras; he was as stubborn as a rock at times but also a good student. He had just affirmed that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus with a play of words then makes it clear that God’s people would have a rock foundation for the church, and symbolically Jesus was referred to Himself. Jesus is the rock, the cornerstone. Peter is a rock, but not “the” rock.

5. Jesus example of how the church should be governed was of one in that is in action, one that goes on the attack. In other words hell would be shaking in their boots from all the souls being won for God because of the blitz tactics of the disciples travelling from town to town preaching the “good news” and then escaping on to preach some more somewhere else.

The idea that Jesus had was that hell would be shaking scared of the Christians message being preached in the world to the lost souls who would gladly trade God’s kingdom over the gates of hell but instead today we have many churches shaking scared feeling they are under attack.  They have their doors closed tight not letting in any new members for fear that Satan is going to corrupt them! Christians afraid of the world are happy just to be inside their comfortable rooms on Sunday but the church is not intended to be a barricade of defense; the church must be a front line of offensive in the battle front! Peter won 5,000 not in a building but in the city!

6. Now I want to bring in some geographical information to supplement the historical cultural context of this profound statement from our Lord Jesus that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” To understand this better, return to verse 13 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?

7. Where was Jesus preaching? At Caesarea Philippi. When we were in the area of Caesarea Philippi in Israel we went just a couple of miles outside the city to an area called the Grotto of Pan. It is an opening to a cave that had the official name of “The Gates of Hell.”  Beginning in the 3rd century B.C., human sacrifices, in particular young virgins, were cast into the cave as offerings to the god Greek god Pan.  The victims were thrown into the cave and they would fall into a drop off inside where they would die crashing on the rocks below inside and then their blood would flow out in the river stream in front. Horrible the practices of these people, right?

This large cave that was the center of pagan worship in the region and Pan, the half-man half-goat god of fright and he was honored in this Satanic manner. He was often depicted playing the flute.  In English we get the "panic" from pan, and of course taking the life of innocents does invoke fear and panic. This town just down the road was known as Panias in antiquity but the name changed in the Arabic language to its modern day name of Banias.

8. Now that I described the area for you, and the customary horrible practices of the people of that region, do you see why Jesus chose the words “Gates of Hell?” He may have been preaching to his disciples very close to that cave, just right outside the city even speaking at the very moment they were practicing their horrific satanic rituals.

The gates of hell are open wide as Jesus stated before, yet narrow is the path that leads to eternal life. If we do not take seriously the destruction of people’s bodies and souls from the erroneous things they worship, then we will never appreciate what salvation, and eternal life, truly means. Jesus gave his disciples, and that applies to all his followers, authority to “storm the forts of darkness and bring them down.” (as we sing in the Salvation Army)

9. It is our task as Christians to expose the evil in the community and those who bring the gates of hell to us and our children! Those who steal and commit fraud, that do  crime in gangs, those who practice witchcraft, or sell drugs, or porn, or pimping prostitutes, these followers of Satan should be angry at us because we are exposing them and preaching Jesus converting the souls of their victims! We must keep on with our prayer marches and evangelism, it is our job! We must keep the attack up! The gates of hell should be trembling!

10. The way this spiritual war works is that either the good is on the attack and winning, or the evil is carrying out the attacks and defeating the good. One is on the offensive, and the other is on the defensive. It is our job to be on the offensive. Sadly, we have seen this country fall into a state of remission; Christians are being corralled into their churches and told to practice their own faith privately without bothering anyone else. Christians as well are made fun of by the media as ignorant radicals! The lies, deceptions, and attacks on Christians are at an all-time high by the liberal press, the liberal colleges, and the liberal government.  

I do not want us to ever be guilty of hiding our faith, of knowing to do good but then be sinning by not doing it! More than ever we must be prepared with an answer to reply to whoever attacks us over our faith.

11. Jesus knew that no one could win a defensive war! When the Jews mixed with the Romans in pre Jesus time in Israel, they later started taking over to the point that the Jews responded defensively too late. They could not do an offensive attack so they closed their selves in in Jerusalem and they barely survived for 2 years until finally the Romans broke in and killed most of them and destroyed the Great Temple that Herod built. Solomon’s temple was destroyed several centuries earlier and now a second time they lose their magnificent temple.

12. Do you recall how Jesus said that no one stone would be left? Matthew 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. That prophecy happened in 70 AD. That was when all of Jerusalem was burned to the ground by the Romans and the Jews in Israel were scattered all over every continent. This was the great diaspora or the dispersing of the Jews throughout all the continents. Only loose stones are there today.

13.But a few Jews and their families escaped in the region and they fled to a high plateau fortress constructed by Herod called Masada and barricaded their selves inside. This was easy to do because there was only one way up and that was by a winding stairway about 20 stories high. How many of you know this story as told by Josephus the historian?

14. Then what happened? Again the Roman pride could not permit any one to rebel and get away with it so Flavius Silva marched from Rome with a regiment of men they and camped out for 3 years at the bottom of the cliff while his army built a ramp and a tower in order to invade the city in 70 AD. The people survived on pigeons and stored grains but when they knew the Romans would come they took a drastic decision the night before the invasion was sure to happen.

The Jewish people had no escape and rather than allowing the children to be slaves, see the women be raped and killed, and the men die by the Roman swords, they all took an oath, as an act of heroism to kill their own selves! There was a mass suicide of 960 people.

15. This tragedy in history in 73 AD proves a point, that if the enemy can surround you and you cannot fight back, then you might end up with no options like the ones in Masada. This is a sad lesson in history and we, as a Christian church, must keep the offensive going. We need leaders, men and women with conviction to always be ready to defend our faith in Jesus.

The Salvation Army started out as a movement taking the church preaching and literature to the streets seeking to save men’s souls. The offensive method worked! The movement preaching near the bars and brothels grew so fast that it is amazing to consider TSA can be found in most all US cities and in most major cities around the world only 150 years later.

16. The challenge today for each of us is how attacking are you? Do others who are unjust and sinful feel intimidated when you are around? Do others know you will speak up and attack the modern day gates of hell?  It takes conviction and courage, but when we are reminded of all of satan’s works, how horribly he loves to destroy lives, then you get the conviction to preach His love and salvation like never before.

When a person visits a SA rehab or shelter, as many of you have, you get reminded of how sin destroys people’s lives, you see 30 year olds appear as 60, you see how people lose all to an addiction, a vice, or a sin. That may not be the case for everyone as some people are victims of circumstances beyond their control but to see others suffering does make you wake up. You can see where satan has attacked and won a victory. It makes you sad, mad, and convicted.

17. And in India and many other countries the child sex slave trade is alive and real for millions, so the destruction of innocent people in reality continues, but just in a different way from how the Greeks and Romans did it. The SA is active there helping many to escape.

Are you going to stand up for your faith no matter what? If you look closely at the lives of the faithless you will see they always leave behind a trail of pain and destruction. Our mission is to save others from their own destructive selves and from others who like satan, try to control and manipulate and own souls for their own selfish gain. We free people to live heavenly lives.

Come now and pray for someone you know is oppressed. Pray to become solid like the rock. Pray to go on the attack and never get yourself on the defensive. The more holiness you have the more power from God. When someone makes fun of your Christian faith and attacks you, do what Jesus did to the hypocrites, he attacked them back! Our faith is worth defending! When you compare our church with so many others like I have seen lately, we live a very blessed life!