Matthew 16:15-16..Working

Matthew 16:15-16..Working

16:15 “But what about you?”(Plural.  Not just Peter, but all the disciples. Expresses how faith is a personal decision) he asked. “Who do you say I am?”(Displays a self-declaration of deity, since “I Am” was a title used only by God.-{cf. Ex. 3:14) Jesus wants to know if their views differ from the worlds view) 16  Simon Peter answered, (Classic Peter, impulsively responding on behalf of all the disciples.) “You are the Christ, (5547-Grk-Anointed/Chosen One”, Heb.-Messiah. Savior of the world.) the Son of the living God” (Unlike the dead pagan idols of wood & stone, Jesus is the divine and immortal God! Peter’ declaration was correct, yet incomplete, for moments later we find him rebuking Jesus.-(16:22)

Extended Sermon Notes

“Teaches how faith in Jesus is a personal decision and not one based on our parents belief, grandmothers belief, families belief” ⇒ Many try get to heaven by riding on the coattails of their parents faith. You have to own it and make it yours, and yours alone. When you get to heaven and Jesus asks you this question. He’s not asking you about your parents faith.  He’s not asking you about your friends faith. He’s asking you about who you say He is. Your parents can’t answer that question for you, Your church can’t answer that question for you. Your youth pastor answer that question for you.  As it’s been said “God has no grandkids, He just has kids.”  You might have a father or mother who’s a faithful believer. But that does not automatically make you a child of God. You might come from a long religious heritage, growing up in the Church, but that does not make you a believer. When you stand before the Lord you can’t say “My mama knew you, My daddy knew you, My grandma knew you. But have you personally known Him!

“Teaches the need to go beyond just slogans and words, to a faith that is trusting and believing in Jesus from the heart.” ⇒ When most people are asked do they believe in Jesus. They’ll respond sure I believe in Jesus, my whole family believes in Jesus. But what they’re really saying is I believe in the fact that there was a man Jesus Christ. The degree and quality of their faith is the same as if you were to ask them; Do you believe there was a man named George Washington? They’ll say “Yes I do”. Do you believe there was a man named Abraham Lincoln? They’ll say “Yes I do”. Do you believe there was a person named Jesus? They’ll say “Yes I do”. When what they’re really doing is only agreeing to a set of facts, which is not New Testament faith or belief. There’s a big difference in Intellectually affirming and agreeing to the truthfulness of a fact, to placing your trust and faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. It makes all the difference in the world. Or they’ll come to Jesus as a outward process through a revival meeting, church invitation, the Sinner’s prayer.

“Calls for a confession of Christ that is reflective of the faith we profess and the way we live.”⇒ Are you living as those who have truly been transformed by the good news of Christ and the Gospel, or are you just giving Jesus the head nod and going about our lives.

“Teaches how confessing Christ is not just a one-time decision but a decision that is lived out day to day and moment to moment.”⇒ Who is Jesus now, who is Jesus in this challenge, who is Jesus in this situation……..(To be Continued)

“Even today, confessing Jesus as a historical, biblical figure. Someone’s whose name we could come up with in a trivia contest, who we can talk about in a debate is not enough to Save you.We must know Him personally as Lord & Savior.” ⇒ Most people can give a mental assent of Jesus as the long-awaited King from the line of David, who was born of a virgin. That Jesus died on the cross for sinners and rose again.  While it doesn’t grip their hearts or stir their emotions. For example, someone might mentally assent to the idea that Jesus is the Son of God, but when they are sick, they might not believe that they are healed by Jesus’ strip. Someone can mentally assent that Jesus worked many miracles, and not believe Jesus can heal their marriage or get them out of debt. Many people can intellectually agree with something but never commit to it. If you randomly asked people on the street if it is important to eat healthy and exercise, most of them would probably say that it is. They agree with this intellectually without ever committing to it or putting into practice. Whereas Saving faith is a believing response to Jesus to who He is and what He’s done. True faith goes beyond just believing in your mind; it should manifest in your actions, your character, and the way you treat others. Genuine faith leads to transformation, while mental assent often remains superficial, lacking the power to bring about real change in our lives. True faith, involves trust and action. mental assent, is simply agreeing with something in your mind without letting it affect your heart or actions. A genuine Saving relationship with Jesus should lead to positive changes in your life. Have you ever heard someone say I believe in God but they can’t share about their relationship with Jesus? This can be the difference between mental assent and relationship. Mental assent means intellectually accepting the Word of God as true – admiring it and agreeing with it-but not allowing it to have an impact on you, so that it doesn’t do any good in your life. In essence, mental assent agrees with God but does not believe in God. It is the same as acknowledging His existence but not giving Him access to your heart and life. …..  (Note: Intellectual assent is an important part of faith, but faith is much more than knowing facts. Faith does not mean that you suspend your intellect completely. Such a suspension of the intellect is not faith! Rather, faith is committing yourself to something that you believe to be true. Real faith believes what the Word says even though your eyes and your feelings tell you something different.)

“Who you say Jesus is will be the most important question you will ever be asked. Because the answer you give will determine the course of your life and the eternal destiny of your soul.” ⇒ This is the  most vital and most crucial question you’ll ever be asked in life. No other question will have such personal implications for a person than this question. It is more important than “What are you going to be when you grow up”. More important than “Who will you marry”. More important than “What University will you attend”. More important than “Will you accept the nomination for public office”. We have all been asked similar questions sometime in our lives. But in our scripture text here Jesus asks us an even more important question in which nobody can afford to get wrong. We can make all kinds of sloppy mistakes with our lives. We can make bad decisions. We can make a fool of ourselves a thousand different ways. But there’s one place we can’t afford to be wrong and that’s the identity of Jesus of Nazareth. It’s a question that sooner or later all of us will have to answer for ourselves “Who do you say that Jesus is”? For the Architect He’s the chief cornerstone. For the astronomer He’s the bright morning star. For the baker He’s the bread that came down from heaven. For the banker He’s the hidden treasure. For the biologist He’s the Life. For the stonemason He’s the sure foundation. For the carpenter He’s the creator of the world. For the doctor He’s the great physician. For the educator He’s the great teacher. For the farmer He’s the Lord of the harvest. For the geologist He’s the Rock of Ages. For the horticulturist He’s the true vine. For the judge He’s the righteous judge. For the juror He’s the true witness. For the jeweler He’s the pearl of great price, For the editor He’s the good tidings of great joy. For the eye doctor He’s the light of the eyes. For the philosopher He’s the wisdom of God. For the sinner He’s the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. For the Christian He’s Lord & Savior of All!

“Confessing faith in Jesus does not mean you come to it suddenly. It doesn’t mean you have to be a bible scholar. Or have to explain theology and doctrine. It doesn’t mean you have no doubts. It doesn’t mean you have all your questions answered. It doesn’t mean you do things perfectly. But what It does mean is that you come with what little faith you have and place it in Jesus as Lord & Savior however weak and faltering it may be.” ⇒ We have to assume that Peter’s faith wasn’t perfect when he said this. He probably had little sense of the magnitude of what he was actually confessing. We know this due to the fact that just a short time from now we will find Peter renouncing knowing the Lord three times at His trial. Even going back to his regular fishing business after the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection. In fact one can argue that the rest of Peter’s life would be one of learning what the words he spoke at this moment actually meant. Confessing faith in Jesus doesn’t mean that you need to sort everything out in your life first before you come to Him. (You confess faith in Jesus so that He will begin a work in you in which He will sort out everything in your life.) To confess Jesus doesn’t mean need a lot of information to put your faith in Jesus To confess Christ doesn’t mean you’ll live a life perfectly submitted to Him at all times. (No Christian is perfect all the time) But what it does mean is that you put your faith In Jesus based on two basic facts. One: You need to see yourself as a lost and hopeless sinner who can’t Save themselves. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”-(Rom. 3:23) “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”-(Rom. 5:8) Two:  You need to see Jesus as Lord & God. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”-(John 1:1-3)“Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”-(John 20:28) “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”-(Eph. 2:6-7) Maybe your at this same place. You confessed Jesus as Lord & Savior, but there’s so many things you still struggle with. But we take comfort in knowing just as the Lord would work in Peter’s life in becoming a bold preacher of the Gospel and leader in the church. The Lord is at work in our lives as well. Like Peter we will one day come to understand that transforming grace is not an event, it’s a life long process.

“Jesus having claimed to be God your left with only three options. Either He’s a Lunatic, a Liar, or the Lord. There’s no other option open, you have to pick one or the other.” ⇒ Here’s what C.S. Lewis said in his book “Mere Christianity” about the identity of Jesus. “I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus, which is: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” C.S. Lewis goes on and says; “This is one thing we must not say.” “A man who is merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with the man who says he’s a poached egg or else he would be the devil of hell.” You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God or else a Madman or something worse.” “You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.” The first option, Jesus is a Lunatic: Lunatics don’t heal sick people and cast out demonic demons. Lunatics don’t speak the way Jesus spoke, think the way He thought. Lunatics don’t say the most pro­found and wisest words ever recorded. Lunatics who are out of their mind could not be right about so many other things. Lunatics don’t have followers who are willing die for someone they think is crazy and off their rocker. Lunatics aren’t marked by kindness and mercy and compassion. The second option Jesus is a Liar: Liars don’t teach ethical truths or live morally upright lives. Liars don’t suffer and die, especially death on a cross for what they know is a lie. Very rarely will someone keep up a lie if they knew it was going to get them in trouble, let alone get them killed. Liars don’t expose hypocrisy and false error by their teachings. Liars don’t say seek truth in the scriptures. Liars don’t live poor and humble lives, they lie and cheat to get power, riches, and fame. Liars don’t die, be buried, and come out of the grave. So really there’s only one option left and that is Jesus is who He claimed to be; God!

More Notes & Applications

Calls for a faith that will stand up for Christ regardless of public opinion.

Teaches if you don’t get Jesus right you get nothing right.  Understanding and accepting Jesus Christ as the central figure in one’s life is considered the foundation for living a morally good and spiritually fulfilling life. If you don’t have this core belief correct, then other aspects of your life, regardless of how well you seem to be doing, are ultimately not aligned with true meaning or purpose.  A proper understanding of Jesus leads to a life aligned with Christian values like love, compassion, forgiveness, and service to others.    

Teaches how we should be able to go to our closest friends for support and the honest truth of what others think of us.

Teaches how Jesus demands exclusive rights, It’s either Him or nothing.

Notice how Jesus didn’t say “What to you think of my teachings”? This would have been a great question. but it wouldn’t have demanded a deeper personal response. Most people who don’t believe in Jesus, still love His teachings. Jesus didn’t say “What do think about my miracles”? That too would have been a good question. But it wouldn’t have demanded a deeper personal response. Most people who hear of Jesus’ miracles can take them or leave them. Jesus didn’t say “What do you think about my commands”? That also would be a great question, but  it wouldn’t have demanded a deeper personal response. Most people admire Jesus’ commands but because they don’t accept His authority, they pick the ones they like, and disregard the rest. Jesus made the question of who He was absolutely central to His miracles, and to His teaching, and to His commands, and to everything that He did and said on this earth. As someone once said, you can remove Mohammed from his teaching and you would still have the basic tenants of Islam. You can remove Confucius from his principles and you would still have Confucianism. You can remove the Buddha from his instructions and you will still have Buddhism. You can remove almost every great philosopher in history from his or her philosophic principles and you would still leave their philosophic system intact. But if you remove Christ from Christianity, you will no longer have Christianity; because Jesus made His own identity the central theme of all that He taught and did and commanded.

When it comes to confessing Jesus as Lord & Savior we may not have all the evidence that Peter and the disciples had to go on. Peter had traveled with Jesus. Peter had witnessed Jesus’ miracles. Peter had inherited Jesus’ teachings. But what we do have is the bible that provides all the truth necessary in making this same declaration. If we would examine the scriptures with an open mind and a seeking heart God will convict us as well. Also note; When the bible calls for knowing Jesus it’s always by way of personal discovery. It’s never passed on by the reports of other people.

WHAT CONFESSING JESUS AS CHRIST AND GOD MEANS 

• It means confessing Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior

• It means giving up any hope of Saving yourself to trusting Jesus to Save you

• It means confessing Jesus’ divine power & authority over your life

• It means confessing Jesus’ sinless nature and character, having lived a perfect life

• It means giving all worship, devotion, and glory to Jesus

• It means confessing Jesus openly and publicly before others

• It means a committed to follow Christ

• It means you serve Jesus as King who rules over your life

• It means fully submitting and obeying Christ

• It means you follow and obey Jesus’ teachings

• It means giving up your right to run your own life to letting Jesus rule it

• It means following Jesus no matter the hardships or sacrifices