Pastor Jeff on the Radio

Guest (Male): You're listening to Pastor Jeff Ministries, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub. On today's program, Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub continues the message Three Critical Confessions from the series Mission Critical, and explains why Jesus called the church unstoppable and why nothing in this world can silence what he's building. Here you'll find bold biblical teaching designed to help you stand firm in your faith and live on purpose.

As we prepare our hearts for Easter, we're focusing on what it means to be made new in Christ and to step boldly into the mission he's given you. To keep growing in that new identity, we invite you to sign up for Pastor Jeff's weekly devotional emails at PastorJeff.com. And now, here's today's message.

Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub: To confession means I'm saying what the word of God says. The most important confession you'll ever make is that Jesus Christ is Lord. Salvation is not just an idea that I think he's God. My parents talked about him being God. I guess I believe that. Confession comes when you say that he's the Lord.

And I have good news for you this morning. God says in John 3:16 that he loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believed in him would not perish but have eternal life. Believe. What does it mean to believe? It means to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart. It means you say, "Lord, I believe that. I believe you are the Lord." That's what it means.

Everywhere that we look in the word, faith is believing and confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord. Notice how Jesus Christ responds to him. Peter tells Jesus he knows who his dad is. He said, "You're the Christ, the Son of the living God." He goes, "I know your dad." Notice how Jesus responds. Jesus says, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, or Simon son of Jonah, or Simon son of John, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my Father who is in heaven."

Jesus says, "I know your dad too. His name's John or Jonah. I know your dad. The only way you know my dad is if my dad revealed to you who he was. The only way you can ever have a relationship with God is if God the Father reveals who the Son is." It's by grace through faith. God's desire is that all people would know his Son. What Jesus is rejoicing over is the fact that Peter heard the Father say, "This is my Son. He's the Son of God. He's God in flesh. He's the Lord." And Peter is the one who speaks it out.

Subsequently, all the other disciples are going to speak out that Jesus Christ is Lord. Church history tells us that all of them but the apostle John went to their death for the Lord, and John was exiled while he wrote the book of Revelation. These guys all believed that he was the Lord. When you believe that Jesus is the Lord, he's the King of kings, he's the Lord of lords, he's the ruler of all and you're submitted to him, your life will change forever.

Do you have that confession of your faith? I have good news for you this morning. It's not about coming to Brave Church. You can come to Brave Church for the rest of your life and still not have a relationship with God. You can join a small group for the rest of your life and still not have a relationship with God. You can do a lot of good things and be philanthropic and not have a relationship with God. Having a relationship with God is understanding that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through him.

Do you believe this? Then speak it. Jesus Christ is my Lord. Most important confession that you'll ever make. Notice what he says then. He goes on to say this, "I also say. Let me tell you something else. I also say that you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it."

Potentially this is the most controversial passage in the entire New Testament. There's about as many understandings of this as there are biblical scholars. People will say things like, "Is he building the church on Peter? Is he saying Peter's got a specific ministry that he's going to use?" Or is it Peter's testimony that Jesus is the Christ that he's going to build the church on? Or is Peter really just a little stone but Jesus is the rock and Jesus is the foundation of the church?

To which I would say, "Yes." They're all true. Because of Peter's confession of faith, God is going to do something special through Peter. We see Acts 1 to 12, Peter is the guy that God is using to build the church. Now I don't believe in apostolic succession. I don't believe Peter was the first pope. But most evangelicals say, "Well that's not true because it's too much like Roman Catholicism." No, it's too much like the Bible not to believe it.

God did something special with Peter. But guess what he used? He used Peter's testimony that Jesus was the Christ. And guess who Jesus built his church upon? Himself, with the apostles and the prophets. They're all true. We argue over which one's right and which pastor should I believe and we miss the whole point of the passage. It's the back half that he's trying to get us to see.

I tell you you're Peter. You're the rock, son of John. Man, you're Rocky Johnson, all right? And upon this rock, I will build my church. As soon as Peter makes a confession that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus begins to tell him about a community that he's going to build, that he's going to give his entire ministry to, called the church. Notice what he says about this church. The gates of Hades will not overpower it.

Here's the second confession every Christian needs to make. Not only is Jesus Christ Lord, but the church is invincible. The church is invincible. The church is unstoppable. The church is uncontrollable. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the head of the church.

I gotta pause here and just tell you this. As your pastor, and I've said this before from this pulpit so this is nothing new, but some of you may need to repent like I have. Because a number of years ago, if you'd met me 15, 16 years ago, I would have told you I love Jesus and I was preaching in stadiums and camps and prisons and everywhere else telling people about Jesus. But deep down in my heart, I had this feeling like I love Jesus and I love the word of God and I love seeing people get saved, but I don't really like the church.

Not a big fan of the church. The same people sitting in the same seats week after week doing absolutely nothing. Just complaining about their pastor. I love Jesus, but I don't love the church. That would have been my heart. I didn't go around talking like that out loud, but if you were close enough to me to press me on it, I would have told you the reasons I didn't.

As I began to pray and read through the scriptures, God showed me, "Jeff, I died for the church. I rose for the church. I'm building my church, and I'm coming back for the church." You can either sit around and complain about the church or you can get involved in the church. I repented and came out to Denver and planted a church.

Let me tell you why this is important. You can't love Jesus and hate the church. Jesus said, "I will build whose church?" My church. Whose church is it? Jesus's church. Now I know how we talk in circles like I go to Pastor Jeff's church or I go to Pastor Joe's church. We're bringing clarity. But let me just ask you this question. This is not rhetorical. Whose church is Brave Church?

Jesus. It is. It's not my church. It's not the elders' church. It's not the pastors' church. It's not the staff's church. It's not your church. It's the Lord's church. Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Some of us need to repent. Some of us think that the church is the pastor and when we leave a church we talk bad about that pastor. And we talk bad about that denomination. Or we talk bad about that group of people. Don't ever do that, and if you have, repent of it. Where you need to, make amends for it.

I'm telling you on the authority of God's word, you'll be free from that. Brave Church is not the church. We are a local assembly of the church. We are one of many churches around the world. Does God love this church? Yes, he died for it. He purchased this church with his own blood. He rose from the dead. He wants you to love his church.

And he wants us to know this morning the church is invincible. The church is unstoppable. He says this, "I will build my church." Have you ever noticed sometimes you're in a church and it's like one of the churches in the book of Revelation where you walk in and there's like 30 people and it feels dead and the boiling pot of coffee is the most alive thing in the church? Afterwards you meet one of the saints that goes there and no, the Lord's still here. This guy gets it. Or the Lord's still here, she still gets it.

The church isn't going away. The church isn't dying. The church will be here when Jesus Christ returns for his church. Jesus promised he would build his church and what else? The gates of Hades will not overpower it. Then there's all this debate, is that offensive or defensive? Because gates are defensive positioning and overpowering's offensive. Who cares?

Here's what it means. The church is taking the kingdom out into the world and it's unstoppable. The gates of hell can't stop what the church is doing. And even when the devil is being offensive in his means of getting to us, he can't stop what we do. If the devil, death, and hell can't stop what we do, who can stop us?

If God is for us, who can be against us? That means there ain't no government, no politician, no teacher, no school, nothing in the world that can stop the church of Jesus Christ. Amen. And that needs to be our confession. That's always been my confession since repenting and believing that, but I tell you the last year and a half, that confession's just gotten much stronger.

Nothing can stop the church. Nothing will silence the church. What's the church? The church is the true people of God, people who are born again. The true people of God united together spiritually as Christ's body. The true people of God united together spiritually as Christ's body who gather for the purpose of advancing his kingdom.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Jeff Schwarzentraub with Pastor Jeff Ministries. Today's message Three Critical Confessions is explaining why Jesus called the church unstoppable and why nothing in this world can silence what he's building. We'll return to Pastor Jeff shortly. But first, this month, Pastor Jeff wants to help you rediscover what it means to be made new in Christ. Not just forgiven, but transformed and sent on mission.

To help you do that, we'd love to send you his booklet Made New: Discovering Your New Identity, New Focus, and New Mission. It's our thanks for your gift of support today to help share biblical teaching with more people through programs like this one. This timely resource shows you how your new life in Christ reshapes your identity, clarifies your focus, and gives you a mission that matters for eternity. Request your copy today when you give at PastorJeff.com. Now for the conclusion of today's message.

Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub: Nothing can stop the church. Nothing will silence the church. What's the church? The church is the true people of God, people who are born again. The true people of God united together spiritually as Christ's body. The true people of God united together spiritually as Christ's body who gather for the purpose of advancing his kingdom.

Brave Church does not exist for Brave Church. We're not trying to grow Brave Church so we have a bigger church. We're trying to advance the kingdom of God and to the extent that we grow, it's so that more people experience salvation and more people experience freedom and more people experience hope and more people are unleashed to take the kingdom out to the world. That's what it means.

God loves his church and the church is unstoppable. Even when we have leadership in the church that says, "Oh, we'll just listen to whatever you say in the world, we'll stop it," you still can't stop the church. Jesus Christ is doing something in and through the church and it's the only vehicle he promises to bless. It doesn't mean that God won't bless you if you work for a parachurch ministry or won't bless you if you're out preaching. He blesses all true works of him.

But the group that he's looking to assemble and put together is the body of Christ. With all your strengths and all your weaknesses, Jesus Christ wants you to be part of the visible representation of the body of Christ and you can't experience the fullness of Christ without it. God can't get done all his work without you all working together and being who God wants you to be.

Which means to say I'm a Christian but I'm not part of a local church is to say I'm not the fullness of what God wants me to be. Period. The church is what God promises to bless. The church is what Jesus Christ is building. When you hear people talk negative about the church, your conviction should be, "No, no, I'm not listening to that. The church of Jesus Christ is invincible." It's unstoppable. There ain't nothing that's going to keep it from being controlled. Amen.

You think about this. We love reading stories in the book of Acts with guys that stood up and even when they were beaten, they were going back saying, "Oh, worthy are we to be beaten for the name of Christ." How awesome is that? We're like, "That's pretty cool." But that's why we're gathered here today because of a group of people that weren't afraid to give their lives for the church so that you and I could know who Christ is today.

Isn't that awesome? Jesus Christ is Lord. The church is invincible. We're known as the household of God. We're known as a reflection of his love. We're known as the kingdom embassy on the earth. That's the church. You should love Jesus. You should love your church. If you don't love your church, go find a church you love and love that church. If you say, "I can never find one that I love," that's on you.

We're part of the body. We're called to love one another and be the visible representation of God's love on this planet. Notice what else he says. He says in verse 19, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." Again, another super controversial passage. What does it mean to bind and to loose?

Let me give you a third conviction. If our first conviction is that Jesus Christ is Lord and the second is that the church is invincible, let me give you the third. The kingdom is comprehensive. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is comprehensive. If the church is the people of God united spiritually as Christ's body who gather to advance the kingdom, then what's the kingdom?

The kingdom is the visible manifestation of God's comprehensive rule in all areas of life. I've been heavily persuaded by Dr. Tony Evans's Kingdom Agenda and this is how he would describe it. It's the visible manifestation of God's comprehensive rule in all areas of life. Meaning as a husband and a father and a pastor, I am manifesting the kingdom to what God wants to get done.

It's so important that we do that because so often in the church we think the gospel is the end when the gospel is just the beginning. The gospel is the beginning of the kingdom. Jesus went out and proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom. I did a study on the gospels last year fresh again, like "Lord, teach me more about what you did." Jesus went out and proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom.

He gave his disciples the authority to go out and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. But you know what's just as prevalent as the proclaiming of the gospel of the kingdom when you study the ministry of Jesus and his apostles? Healing and casting out demons. Because God doesn't just want to save you, he wants to cleanse you, he wants to heal you, he wants to free you up for his glory.

That's why there's a lot of Christians that are saved, they know the Lord, but they've never truly been healed from emotional or physical wounds. They've never truly been set free from some of the baggage they had in their past. Friends, I'm here to tell you, God wants you to experience the fullness of who he is through his Holy Spirit. He wants you to be freed up not just so you can be saved, but you can be the fullness of what you are as a saved human being.

So out in the world, you're bringing kingdom influence everywhere you go. Jesus wants you to live that way. Some of us confess the wrong things. We confess what the devil's telling us and we'll say things like, "Yeah, I'm always going to struggle with that. Yeah, my marriage is always going to be like that. Yeah, my relationships are always going to be like that. Yeah, my money situation is always going to be like that."

When you start confessing what the devil's telling us, you're going to live like that. But when you start confessing your true identity, "I am chosen, I am holy, I am righteous, I am good, God loves me with an unconditional love and if God is for me, who can be against me?" He's proud of me, and in spite of my sin he loves me and nothing will ever change that.

I start confessing things that way, and I confess, "Lord, I want the fullness of your kingdom in my life and I want to be filled with your spirit in a way that you can use me beyond anything I could ask or think." Guess what he does? He shows up in power and presence and peace and purpose and purity and joy and all those things that we're desiring. However much you have of Jesus right now, there's more to experience.

That's the visible manifestation of the kingdom. It's when people meet you that they realize this is different. They're not just talking about God, they're experiencing God. And that's what God wants for all of us. It's his authority. Jesus said all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me, therefore go. He delegated his authority to the apostles. He's delegated his authority to every single believer in his church.

He's structured authority so that there's authority that can be used and we can bind and loose. That means we can permit things or we can prohibit things. We can allow things or forbid things. We can withhold the kingdom or we can extend the kingdom. It means I can offer the kingdom of God to anybody free of charge because of the authority that Jesus has given to me. He saved me, so I'm telling you he can save you too.

We can share the gospel. I can also say if you're living in consistent, habitual sin, you won't experience the fullness of God. He's not going to extend his freedom in your life while you're living in a habitual pattern of sin. But you don't have to stay there. God wants to free you. I view myself as an expectant evangelical. Meaning I don't just want to see people freed, I want to see bondages broken.

I want to see emotions healed. I want to see habitual sin habits stop. I want to see relationships reconciled and I want to see freedom experienced. Because when you experience the freedom of Christ with all the joy and hope, it's amazing. I always think about our church because of the way we're named. I want this place to be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

That's who we are. That's how people should see us. Not because we speak it, but because we own it. We're living with freedom, we're living with hope, we're living with joy and we know that has nothing to do with me, that has everything to do with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He's my confession. The church is invincible. The kingdom's comprehensive. It means everywhere you go God wants to use you.

I think it's important that we say those things out loud today. Can we out loud and loudly say these three confessions? I'll say it then you repeat it. Jesus is Lord. The church is invincible. The kingdom is comprehensive. It's awesome. Can we give God praise for who he is?

Today I want to share a couple things and for those of you that are visiting, tune in, listen, but I think from time to time it's important that I share some things as a pastor for what God's doing. Because if we really believe those three confessions, we need to be aware of how God's moving us and what he's doing. You need to understand at Brave we're not a motorboat, we're more of a sailboat.

We like to put up our sail and tell God, "You blow on us through your Holy Spirit. You take this course wherever you want, in the timing you want, in the way you want versus telling God this is my desire, you gotta bless this." It's a much better way to live. I think it's special because there's very few times that you get to see something from the beginning. We're about ready to launch a new season in the history of our church.

You're going to get to see it and experience it from the beginning. When my wife and I moved out here, I remember being in Peoria, Illinois and we were at a church service there and they probably had about 400 people at the time. They had screens up in this hotel room and we were standing there worshiping and had goosebumps thinking, "Hey, one day we're going to be at a place somewhere out in Denver. We don't know anybody there yet and we're going to have screens and we're going to sing worship and we're going to preach and people are going to come somehow."

And God's blessed it. But at the time I was just believing everything by faith. Everything that I'm about to tell you I'm believing by faith. Some of the things are closer to being realized than others. A couple things I'm going to tell you it's more of this is just my heart and I have no idea if this is ever going to come to pass. But I just want to tell you about some things that God's doing at Brave Church that are so special.

And the first one is this. It's prayer. It's prayer ministry. Every first Tuesday I believe is the most important meeting of the month. I say it because I believe it. Having been to Brooklyn Tabernacle out in Brooklyn, New York and been very persuaded by their ministry to watch 3,000 people gather every single Tuesday night and pray in a way that's fervent. I remember what it was like when we started our prayer meetings here.

We have churches coming every single week from different locations throughout our city and around the state that want to see how we pray because they want to do it in their church. How cool is that? We're spurring on prayer in other churches. For those of you who've never been to a first Tuesday, I know what you're thinking. "I went to a prayer meeting once, everybody pulled out yellow tablets and they said, 'Do you have any prayer requests?' and they wrote them down."

After about an hour of this boredom, somebody said, "Well, we're running out of time. I guess somebody should pray." And they prayed and I thought, "I'm never going back to that." That's not a prayer meeting. That's a talk meeting. We pray. Come listen to the Lord. Come let him guide us in what we're doing. Come tell the Lord that we're needy and that he's worthy and that we're dependent upon him. Let's call out to him.

Prayer ministry is the primary ministry of everything good that happens at Brave and that will never ever change. Because that's what God wants for us. On Tuesday night I encourage you to come out, especially this week because of all the things that we're launching. Come pray, come seek the Lord. The things that he's doing are not things we told God we need him to do, they're things God's been directing us for a season and for a long time to do.

God's doing a great thing. I also just want to thank God for what he's shown us. We've changed our elder and leadership structure over the last year. We've gone from having three elders to now having 13 with more coming. Just so you know, in Westminster, you will have your own elders in Westminster. There's no doubt about it. We're vetting them right now. God's doing some incredible things. We have great men up there that are doing that.

And it's just been healthy. It's the best plurality we've ever had. But we have shepherding elders who are praying for and pastoring and protecting our flock and providing for them. We have stewarding elders that have been working with me in all the finances and are praying their socks off and saying, "Here's what we can and can't do."

Then you met my friend Cal who's a pastor, who's a supervising elder over me saying, "Hey Jeff, here's how you can seek the Lord better and here's how you can expand vision." Because we have people in different categories, it's just the greatest health I've experienced in our leadership culture since we started and there's more room for people to join. It's exciting.

Guest (Male): Thanks for listening today. That was Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub with the message Three Critical Confessions from the series Mission Critical, explaining why Jesus called the church unstoppable and why nothing in this world can silence what he's building. Before you head out, just a quick reminder. When you give today to help more people hear bold biblical teaching, we'll send you Made New: Discovering Your New Identity, New Focus, and New Mission as our thanks.

It's a timely resource designed to help prepare your heart for Easter by reminding you that new life in Christ brings a new identity, a new focus, and a new purpose. Your support helps others discover that same transformation. Request your copy today at PastorJeff.com and be sure to join us next time for more teaching from Pastor Jeff.