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There Is a Reward: Jesus, Judgment, and the Lost Dimensions of the Gospel – Pt 1
“For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done.” (Matthew 16:27) To this point in the gospel of Matthew, we have seen Jesus’s message heighten, his miracles grow more frequent, and the reactions to…
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Life Is Good: Death, Denial, and the Road Back Home to Eden
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it. What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man is going…
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Let Your Desire Lead Your Denial: Following Jesus to the End of the Road
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24) A moment before Jesus spoke these words, Peter was discomfited by his own conflicting priorities. He had given his life to follow Jesus, but now he found himself arguing…
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Get Behind Me, Satan: How the Rebuke of Jesus Sets Us Free
Merry Christmas, all! Thanks for your companionship on the journey this past year. May we know the truth of Emmanuel, God with us, more and more clearly with each passing day! And He gave the disciples orders to tell no one that He was the Messiah. From then on Jesus began to point out to…
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The Place Where Truth Is Found: Binding and Loosing in the Kingdom of God
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19) Since the time of Moses, (the days of Yahweh’s Old Covenant ekklesia), the people of God had possessed both the…
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The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail: The Victory of Christ and the Final Defeat of Death
Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18b (KJV) At the foot of Mount Hermon, in the face of pagan altars and a deep grotto that was thought literally to lead down to Hades, Jesus declared that he would gather a people to…
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I Will Build My Church: Jesus, Ekklesia, and the People of God
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. (Matthew 16:18) From the moment of his advent in public ministry, Jesus proclaimed the impending arrival of the kingdom of God. But it was here, in his…
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The Rock of Revelation: Why Relationship with God Is the Source of All We Know
And Jesus responded, “Simon son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven. (Matthew 16:17) I have to wonder what Peter thought when Jesus spoke these words to him. Throughout their time together Jesus had often spoken of his Father in familiar, intimate…
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Becoming Who We Are: Identity and Transformation in Christ
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.…
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You Are Peter: Names, Saints, and Being Ourselves Forever
Jesus answered and said to 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 also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail…