One Foundation: The Church will stand forever

Matthew 16:13–20 ¹³When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴They said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵He said to them, “But you, who do you say that I am?”

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it. ¹⁹I 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.” ²⁰Then he commanded the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever.” (Revelation 1:5–7) Amen.

God promised Abraham that he would not destroy Sodom if he found ten righteous people there. He did not find them. Sodom was destroyed. Do we ever wonder if God would be able to find ten righteous people here in America, the new Sodom?

It is clear that we are no longer living in a Christian country. Christianity is dying here, and dying rapidly. God promises that the Christian faith can never pass away from the world, but it can be rejected by people and nations. People cannot remove Christ from the universe, but they can remove Christ from themselves. A nation cannot chase the Church from the face of the earth, but it can chase Christ from its borders.

There has been a quick and steady decline in the number of Christians in America the past few decades. Now that decline is being accelerated with the coronavirus. Christian research organization Barna Group says it is likely that one in five U.S. churches will shut their doors for good because of an absence of worshipers and offerings.

This shouldn’t surprise us. We have seen churches in Racine close or combine. Smaller country churches or once large urban churches are closing their doors because of a lack of members. One of our Synod officials speaks about how very soon we won’t have a lack of pastors because we will be closing so many churches in the WELS in the next two decades.

When we apply this to our discussions of merging Epiphany and New Hope, it is important to remember that we aren’t discussing merging to survive. We want to thrive! We are not about protecting our fiefdom of Epiphany or the fiefdom of New Hope. It is about proclaiming Christ’s Kingdom! It isn’t about preserving ministry. It is about providing more ministries!

We want to go on the offensive. Nothing is ever won by only ever playing defense. That’s why we’ve lost so much ground in the Christian Church in America. We’ve played defense. Trying to protect and preserve. But Jesus tells us today that we are to go on the offensive. Church memberships may shrink and churches may close their doors, but the Christian Church will never die out. It can never be defeated. The Scriptures promise that the Church will stand forever. Nothing can keep our Redeemer from upholding his promised salvation. Neither false expectations nor the gates of hell, neither an Egyptian army nor a flowing river, not even the great tribulation of the end times will keep our God from preserving his Church.

So go on the offensive. Take back the ground we’ve lost. Claim more territory for Christ’s Kingdom. Win more souls for Christ.

In Matthew 16 Jesus is with his disciples in the northeastern area of Israel. Caesarea Philippi stood only twenty-five miles from the religious communities of Galilee. But the city’s religious practices were vastly different from those of the nearby Jewish towns. It was a city dominated by immoral activities and pagan worship.

At the base of the cliff near the city there was a huge cave. The pagans believed it was a gate to the underworld – to Hades. This is where their gods lived during the winter and returned to earth each spring. When Jesus brought his disciples to the area, they must have been shocked. Caesarea Philippi was like a red-light district in their world and devout Jews would have avoided any contact with the despicable acts committed there.

It was a city of people eagerly knocking on the doors of hell.

Standing in the shadow of the pagan temples of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter boldly replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The disciples were probably stirred by the contrast between Jesus, the true and living God, and the false hopes of the pagans who trusted in “dead” gods.

Jesus continued, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not overpower it.”

I remember being taught that this is a defensive text where the Church will stand strong against the forces of Satan attacking us as Christians. It wasn’t until I stood at the mouth of that exact cave in Caesarea Philippi ten years ago that I finally got it!

How wrong I was! The gates of the Christian Church are not being attacked. The Church is attacking the gates of hell! Christian soldiers are advancing against the forces of Satan. We are given keys as our weapons: “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.” We can either call people to repentance by binding their sins to them or we can free captives from their sins by forgiving them.

Gates were defensive structures in the ancient world. By saying that the gates of hell would not overcome, Jesus suggested that those gates were going to be attacked.

The image here is not of God’s city being attacked and repelling the attackers but the city of the devil being attacked by the warriors of God. The city is this world, claimed by the prince of this world, the devil, after the Fall. The prince of this world even had the audacity to try to defeat the King of creation with desert temptations. But Jesus would not be overcome.

The King of creation attacks the fortress of the prince of this world. Jesus enters the very domain of death and the devil. He enters the battle by taking on human flesh and blood. The devil snickers and the demons roar as Jesus is nailed to the cross. But it is with blood and wood that Jesus defeats the devil. He frees souls from death by his glorious resurrection from the grave. He removes the power of sin by taking sin’s sting upon himself. He releases the devil’s foothold on this earth by being struck by the serpent’s fangs in his feet.

The Church of Christ does not wait inside a fortress repelling attacks. We are those who march forward against the gates of hell with the good news of the cross. The cross is a battering ram against sin, death, and the devil. It is the light for those captive to darkness. It is freedom for a world marked and claimed by the enemy but retaken by God in Christ. We learned from Revelation 7 that nothing can harm us for we have received the seal of baptism on our foreheads. We have been marked and claimed by Christ (Revelation 7:1-2).

The Christian Church is not weak and vulnerable, just waiting to be attacked on all sides. Instead, Christ’s words transform fearful and reluctant disciples into Christ’s soldiers.

Jesus presented a clear challenge with his words at Caesarea Philippi: He didn’t want his followers hiding from evil. He wanted them to storm the gates of hell.

So, how are you doing with your attacks against evil? Are you on the offensive or the defensive? Jesus’ followers cannot successfully confront evil when we are embarrassed about our faith.

After Jesus spoke to his disciples about storming the gates of hell, he also gave them a word of caution: “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory” (Luke 9:26). Jesus knew that his followers would face ridicule and anger as they tried to confront evil. And his words come as a sharp challenge – no matter how fierce the resistance, His followers should never hide their faith in God.

In a city filled with false idols, Jesus asked his followers to commit to the one true God. While false gods promised prosperity and happiness, they would ultimately fail to deliver. Jesus didn’t promise an easy life, but he delivered on the promise of salvation – the only kind of prosperity that really matters.

Today, Christians must heed the words of our Lord, especially when we are tempted to hide our faith because of embarrassment or fear. Our world is filled with those who have “gained the world” but lost their souls (Luke 9:25). If we hide our faith, they may never find the salvation they need. Then we have let Satan win.

Standing as they were at a literal “Gate of Hades,” the disciples may have been overwhelmed by Jesus’ challenge. But Jesus assured them that his Church would be built on him as the Church’s One Foundations.

We, too, are living in both a godless society where there are no moral absolutes and a polytheistic society that will allow for any type of god … except for the Triune God. We are living in a confusing and illogical society. A society that embraces racial diversity – until a police officer shoots a man of a different skin color. A society that embraces sexual equality – until they realize they don’t know how many sexes there are anymore. A society that embraces tolerance for everyone and everything – until a Christian is labeled for being “intolerant” when he speaks about sin or the Savior.

Unfortunately, many of us have cowered under the confusing and mixed-up message that society portrays. We don’t want to be judged in the court of public opinion. We don’t want to be vilified in social media. We don’t want to offend anyone, so we accept the sin that is all around us, even within our own homes, rather than confronting it. We are afraid to go on the offensive.

Or we just try to avoid the sinful culture altogether. We hide in our churches, schools, and homes, and shut the door on the evil that influences our culture. We are hunkered down on the defensive.

But Jesus challenged his followers to be on the offense — to proclaim the truth without shame.

Our schools and churches should become staging areas rather than fortresses – places that equip God’s people to confront a sinful world instead of hiding from it. Jesus knows that the pagan world will resist, but he challenges us to go there anyway, and to build his Church in those very places that are most morally decayed.

The enemies of the cross – at Caesarea Philippi, at Golgotha, in foreign countries or here in Racine, all believe they will be successful in knocking down the castle of Christianity. They rejoice when another church closes. But they will ultimately discover that the Christian Church never closes. It never shirks. It never shrinks. That’s because the one foundation of the Church is Jesus Christ.

The Church of Christ will stand forever.

The gates of hell will not.

One of the great lines in the movie “The Princess Bride” is when Miracle Max says to Inigo and Fezzik, “Have fun storming the castle.” Storming Satan’s castle may not seem like much fun – not with all the mistreatments, persecutions, imprisonments, and deaths. But winning is always fun. And Christ has already assured us of the victory. The devil is defeated. Death is dead. Sin has been struck down. The gates of hell will not overcome.

Go on the offensive. Have fun storming the gates of hell. Amen.

“Now to him who is able to strengthen you— according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ ... to God, who alone is wise, be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen.” (Romans 16:25a, 27) Amen.