Gods Campaign of Sabotage.

S U N D AY S E R V I C E | J U LY 2 2 , 2 0 1 2

Matthew 16: 13-20

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" 14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the

Matthew 16: 13-20

prophets." 15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not

Matthew 16: 13-20

revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of

Matthew 16: 13-20

heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Matthew 16: 18

All I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
See also: 1 Peter 2: 4-6, Matthew 21: 42, Psalm 118 & Isaiah 28: 16

Christianity is the story of how the rightful King has landed, you might say, in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in His great campaign of sabotage.
- C.S. Lewis

What would it look like if this God was fully in charge?

- N.T. Wright at Asbury

Kingdom 49x Church 2x Kingdom 14x Church 43x

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Jesus in Matthews Gospel Apostle Pauls Letters

Matthew 16: 19 (The Amplified Bible Version)

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.

Jewish Encyclopedia

Binding & Loosing is a Rabbinical term for Forbidding & Permitting.

Jewish Encyclopedia

The power of binding and loosing was always claimed by the Pharisees. ... [They] became the administrators of all public affairs so as to be empowered to banish and readmit whom they pleased, as well as to loose and to bind...

Pharisees Binding & Loosing versus Apostles Binding & Loosing

Case & Point:

The issue of circumcision with early gentile believers.

Acts 15: 23-29

23With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia (Ci lee cee ah): Greetings. 24We have heard that some went out from us without our

Acts 15: 23-29

authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul 26men who have risked their lives for

Acts 15: 23-29

the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the

Acts 15: 23-29

following requirements: 29You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

 ...ritual cleansing was not only to create boundaries with Gentiles, but also with the poor. The religious elite had created a system of moral respectability that only the wealthy could ever hope to maintain. Only the rich had the time and money to
- Tim Chester, Meal with Jesus A

do all the required ritual cleansing. You cant be ritually clean in a slum... The teachers of the law created a system that allowed them to feel superior, and then lifted not one finger to help others.

- Tim Chester, Meal with Jesus A

Aptitude
(Pharisee)

vs.

Attitude
(Humility & Repentance)

God was establishing a kingdom, not as a place like Israel, but as his rule over a particular set of people. And this kingdom was for people who were repentant, poor in spirit, and humble like children.
- Jonathan Leeman, Church Membership

Matthew 9: 16-17

16 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will

Matthew 9: 16-17

burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.

Matthew 9: 9-13

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. 10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house,

Matthew 9: 9-13

many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" 12 On hearing this, Jesus

Matthew 9: 9-13

said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."