Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.  (Matthew 16:13–20, ESV)

The focal point

These verses have caused a lot of tension among the Catholics and Protestants. The Catholics believe that this verse signifies the affirmation of Jesus for the pope and the Catholic structure, Peter being the first of the popes, and through this structure the church expands into the world. Protestants do not believe that this verse separates Peter as a pope-like figure, but instead displays the power of the proclamation of the Gospel as it ushers in the Kingdom of God and conquers the kingdom of this world. So, does this refer to Peter to whom Jesus said, “Feed my sheep” or to the one Peter calls the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls? Or perhaps both?

Whatever conclusion we come to on what Jesus says here must all come together to describe and focus in on that conclusion. The rock, the gates of hell not prevailing against it, the keys of the kingdom, and the binding and loosing all describe and surround one focal point.

After this, Jesus then goes on to speak of his death, his resurrection, and his second coming and the need for us to die to ourselves. These things too are related. And all this is surrounds and centers in on two confessions – Peter’s confession and God the Father’s confession of who Jesus is.

When Peter gives his confession, they are near Mount Herman. Six days later, after Peter gives his famous confession near the foot of Mount Hermon, we are brought to the top of a mountain, where we find once again Peter is with Jesus and we once again hear another confession, this time from God, the Father, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Both confessions speak to who Jesus is as the son of God and the Christ.

When Peter has just declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”, Jesus takes hold of what Peter has said. What Jesus goes on to say next centers on this confession. And so, whatever our understanding of what is being said, the conclusion must center around this proclamation. And as we explore the depths of these description in this series, we will find a glorious and beautiful picture of a Church whose foundation stands on this confession of Peter and the wonderous story of the Gospel breaking through to the world and of conquering love.

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
— 1 John 3:16,17

The Gospel is commanding. It takes dominion in our lives changing our hearts and our minds, conforming us into the image of Christ. We preach the Gospel, because God has ordained the preaching of the Gospel as a means of His grace. And he has established that His Gospel will be preached through those in the church, us. But even though God has ordained this, it is not mechanical. John doesn’t just say, we obey and do what is right. John says that we love. We love to preach the Gospel. And we love others. So where does this love come from?

John lays out the heart of the believer and where our motivation comes from to love the lost– the work of Christ in our own lives – “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” When we get this, when we get the depths of Jesus’ love for us, our hearts will be moved to love others. John demonstrates an integral connection between being loved by God and walking in the truth of the Gospel and the outward expression of the Gospel’s work in loving others. Our motivation for ministry to others comes from the security of the redemption we have in work of Christ.

I like the words of Jeremy Riddle’s song, Sweetly Broken –

At the cross you beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees
And I am
Lost for words so lost in love
I am sweetly broken holy surrender

As we are beckoned to Christ, we are “sweetly broken” and able to walk in “holy surrender”. It is no longer a work. It is trusting in the work of Christ, having faith in His work, laying all that we are down, and allowing His work to change us. In the Gospel, God boldly works in us through sanctification, with all certainty and determination to continue to grow in our hearts love for others. We are God’s handiwork. This is why John states that loving others must happen if we are in the Gospel. He says this because the Gospel is not weak, the work of Jesus is not weak, but certain to work love into our hearts. So, this love that we have growing in our hearts for others is a work of God and not our own. And God is not thwarted . . ..

This fact gives me much encouragement, when I don’t feel capable of evangelizing or loving others or even don’t feel like loving others. God is at work in me and He will accomplish it, because it is about His work, not mine. And even when I have those times, I don’t want to love others, I know He is at work in me.

Here is the deal; we are motivated not through looking at ourselves and working to muster up a love in ourselves. We are motivated, because He first loved us. He loves us! Do you get that? Let me repeat that. He loves us! He loves us so much that He brings us into His love for others. God has chosen the Gospel as the means for this love to be made manifest. And as we come to trust the Gospel, not just that He saves us from God’s wrath, but that God also brings us into His Kingdom and conforms us into the image of Christ; we will discover that love is growing in our hearts. We don’t look to ourselves; we come and look to Christ, believing in His work.

And as we step out in these truths knowing it is not about whether or not we fail, because God’s work does not fail. God has determined to do a good work in us, because He deeply loves us. . .. Paul says that all things are “Yes” in Christ.

This is the power of the Gospel as it sanctifies our hearts and conforms us into the image of Christ. The more we see the magnificence and grandeur of what Christ has done for us and grow in our understanding of the Gospel in our own lives, the more passion we will have as God takes us into His story and uses us to reach out to others and bring them into this love.

For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm. – Psalm 33:4-9

For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, – 2 Peter 3:5

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. – Hebrews 11:3

Here is what is significant. God the heavens and earth with His spoken word. God did this for a reason. The artist, the God who could have created the universe by any means, chose purposely and deliberately to use the spoken word. And even though the world sees this as foolish, by faith we know this to be true, because the word of the Lord is upright. God made this choice to create the worlds by His word, because He was going to use the same means to create something more significant and more difficult with the spoken word – new life. It is the foolishness of the preaching of the word that God uses to bring a dead man’s soul to life. And this word, this gospel, has power. This is why we preach the Gospel. Because the word of the Lord has power and will not return to Him void. When God says, “Let there be light”. There is light.

There is another significance to this. Christ is the Word. And just as all created things were made through him and are sustained by Him. So, it is the same with this new life.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. – Romans 10:14-17

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. – 1 Corinthians 1:21

“Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him.”
-Mark 2:15

You read what he taught, and He did not say easy things. He spoke the truth. But Jesus didn’t preach at people, He preached with people. Jesus spoke the truth with tax collectors and sinners. Even when it came to the Pharisees you see him coming to them and preaching with them, confronting them where they are at. Cutting to the heart of issues. Healing on the Sabbath, turning over tables, allowing them to ask him questions. Jesus engaged people.

–Hebrews 12:1,2

How often do I not really get to know someone, because I think I already know. We assume someone is angry, sad, needy, weird, depressed, antisocial, or whatever. I assume the socially awkward person will be a burden, or perhaps, I assume I will be the burden to someone and don’t reach out. I think I assume a lot, when perhaps I should be learning to love others and making an effort to get to know them, getting in the mud and living life with them. Listening and loving more than coming to conclusions. And when I speak; speaking the truth in love, not assumptions.

“Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”
–Proverbs 16:24

True revival is a sovereign act of God in which He moves and acts in the hearts of His people to renew them and bring them closer to Himself. The work of the Holy Spirit is intensified in the lives of believers, both individually and corporately. It is God initiated and God controlled. It is not brought about by man or his desires or works. It is God moving as He pleases.

In 1734, God brought about a revival under the preaching of a man named, Jonathan Edwards, a man of sound doctrine and whose preaching focused on the glory of God and not man. Lives were changed and many came to know Christ. Those in the church became passionate about God. Their praising became intense. Their emotions were intense, and they freely expressed these emotions in church. They hungered for God and desired to live lives to His honor. The community was changed. And the Gospel was preached everywhere. This was called the Great Awakening.

Yet there were some who were opposed to this in the church. They said an act of God would not make people so emotional. To this Jonathan Edwards wrote Religious Affections to explain the difference between true and false revival, and to show that it is right to have emotions in a true revival.

There were other revivals in America in 1727, 1798, 1857, and 1905. After 1800, though a false revival began to be forming. Many began to believe that revival could come about at any time; you just had to have the right “formula”. These preachers believed that if they could bring about the emotional intensity that was marked in the Great Awakening and the other revivals and mass decisions for Christ, that surely this was revival. This came to be known as New School or New Measures. Preachers sought to bring about revival through methodology and techniques that would incite the emotions and “convince men to make a decision for Christ”. They would have a “revival meeting” or a “tent meetings”, in which they would prey on the emotions of men. Charles Finney was one of the leaders in this movement. There came to be an orientation toward the person instead of God. Whereas Jonathan Edwards preached about the character and glory of God and sound doctrine, this new methodology focused on convincing man to make a decision and to have an emotional experience. And so many “mass decisions” were made. Yet the community was not affected, it was still as worldly as before and many who made “decisions” turned away from Christ, very few changed their lives, and very few had any discipleship. Evangelism came to mean decisions and numbers, rather than an act of God in some one’s life, where they accept Him as Lord and Savior in a radical way.

And so today, some continue to try to convince men to come to Christ by focusing on man rather than proclaiming God. And now we are in a state of decline where it is hard to tell the difference between a believer and a non-believer. In doing this we have become friends with the world, something the Bible says ought not to be done.

Now that I have said this, I do believe that some who preach in revival do sincerely desire to obey God. And I would fight side by side with them. And they are truly my brothers and joy. God is bigger than our foolishness. And I do believe that God does work at these “revival meetings”. I also believe that there are some who truly follow sound doctrine and focus on God and not men, yet I would not call this “revival” but merely witnessing. And so you ask if “revivals” are ok. Well, if they are witnessing and discipling and preaching sound doctrine with a focus on the glory of God, then, yes, they are ok, yet this is actually merely witnessing as God has called us to witness. But if they compromise the character of God as many of these “revivals” do, than it is very evil. We are not God and should not presume to be.

P.S.
Yes, like Paul. We plead with men and strive that they might know Christ, but we plead as ambassadors of a King, not as ones who move the King or gives way to men.

Also, about the Holy Spirit. Much of it is focused on emotionalism rather than maturity. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are real and true and good, but it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit that makes one mature. The gifts will pass away, but love will always remain. It is a matter of people focusing on the wrong thing.

This parable gives me much hope for the hard hearted and those who seem to be distracted by this world. It gives me a confidence to preach the Gospel. The reason I have hope is that there is good soil. Soil is made good by being worked on by the Farmer. The soil is broken of its hardness, the rocky ground is cleared, and the weeds are taken out. It gives me hope because God can take a hard, rocky, weedy heart and prepare it for the Gospel. And when the soil is good, the Gospel will bear fruit. The scripture says that He can take a heart of stone and make it flesh. God’s work on a man’s heart is effective. And so I do not lose hope in preaching the Gospel, for I know that it has the power to penetrate men’s hearts.

These angels knew the reality of the situation, if they did not get Lot and his family out, they would die, and responded accordingly. O God, help me to have a sense of the true reality of the situation and the urgency of the gospel.

“Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is the Great Commission, the dear words Jesus left with us before He ascended. Wow, you can hear these words reaching from the moment that they were spoken to the end of the age. It is for me to live and to lay my life down for. I don’t want to be at fault in taking His words and running with them in vain. I have often made it my goal in evangelism to bring “converts” to “assent” to the Gospel. But in truth, I only reduced the Gospel and the calling of Christ.
Jesus said, “make disciples”. And in these words, He made the Gospel something very personal. We cannot “make disciples” and not be involved in people’s lives. It requires that we pour out our lives for others. This is not merely getting someone to “assent” to the Gospel, for a “decision” does not save you. It is bringing someone to live (to obey) the Gospel that saves. The Gospel is something that is very hands on and intimate. Our attitude is to be as Christ’s who came and became flesh and was involved in our lives. Paul in his ministry proclaimed the Gospel in this manner. He preached the Gospel and poured his life into those who came to faith in Jesus Christ. And when he taught, he did not reduce the gospel, but taught “them to observe all that” Jesus commanded. We see this throughout Acts and in the Epistles, the pouring out of their lives to carefully nurture the gospel in the lives of those with whom they witnessed to.

I am not saying that we wait for an opportune time to preach the Gospel. We are to make the most of every opportunity. In Proverbs, “Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks”. We must preach the Gospel. We are the fragrance of Christ, everywhere. And there is grace for those moments when the encounter with a person is short. However, we do not want to run in vain. We want to walk with them to make sure that their election and salvation is sure. And we want to walk with them as they grow in the faith.

I believe that if our pursuit is to obey Christ in making disciples unto salvation and not just merely speaking the Gospel, we will not run in vain, even when our encounter with a person is short, for Jesus said, “behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I wrote this in my journal right before you asked me to pray for you last night:

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” – John 15

This gives us a glimpse into the heart and life of Jesus and how he treated those around Him. They must have been shown much love by Jesus, because they showed much love for one another. Christ loved personally those around Him.

Abba, put this heart in me, allow me to faithfully and fully invest in the lives around me. Let me hold nothing back nor hold on to things that are fleeting, but abandon my life to give. Reveal to me your love. Let me come close to the love of Jesus, in a real and personal and intimate way.”

I need prayer for the same thing, to be able to come face to face with the reality of Jesus’s love, to experience His tenderness and strength of love, the lion and the lamb. I need to know a love bigger than my own.

Pray fervently for both of us,
Your brother