October 17, 2021
Evening Service

There was a lot packed into this morning’s message beginning with the question that has eternal consequences.  “Who you we believe Jesus is?”  It is the single most important question that we all will answer one way or another.  Hopefully, we can answer with the boldness of Peter and proclaim; “You are the Christ, the Son of God and my Lord and Savior.”  It is upon that statement of truth that Jesus has built the church that we are all a part of.  It is that truth that each of stand upon as we place our faith, hope and trust in Jesus.  As long as we stand strong upon that foundation, we will be victorious in the end.

  With that truth as the foundation to build upon Jesus began opening up to the disciples of what the future would hold for Him.  He knew where He was headed and now he shared the knowledge of that path with those who He had chosen to follow Him.  This was not a pleasant surprise for them, as Peter tried to protect Jesus from such a fate not knowing what he was doing.  His opposition to the will of God brought on a very strong rebuke from Jesus.  We must understand God’s plan is not always our plan.  He knows the big picture and has a purpose for the things that we experience in this life.  It is up to us to do our best to surrender our will to His and trust Him with whatever our future holds as well.

In a perfect follow up to build upon the foundation of who Jesus is, He now expounds tonight on what His expectations are for those who have accepted His invitation to follow.

   Mat 16:24-26 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  (25)  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  (26)  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

            The picture Jesus uses here of shouldering their cross was one they would have been familiar with.  Crucifixion was a common Roman method of execution where condemned criminals would have to carry their own cross through the street to their execution site.  This had two meanings for the disciples.  First following Jesus was not something that they could do only behind closed doors, but it would be done in public (walk down the street in front of everyone).  Secondly, the condemned criminal carried his cross knowing He was going to his death.  They knew what would happen at the end of the road.  The disciples were being asked to follow Jesus with no regard for where they were going.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that a “call to follow Jesus is a call to come and die.”  How true that is for us as it was for the disciples.  We are called to come and die out to ourselves accepting whatever Jesus has for us even if that includes martyrdom.  This had more of a literal meaning to the disciples than it does for us in this time period of grace.

            To truly follow Jesus, take an extraordinary commitment of pledging all you have, including your very life, to His service.  Jesus told the disciples plainly that if you “desire to save your life you will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”  It we try to save our own physical life from death, pain or discomfort we may risk losing our eternal life.  By sheltering ourselves from the pain God calls us to suffer, we begin to die spiritually instead of growing in the Lord.  Our thoughts and desires turn inward making life all about “me” instead of looking upward and allowing the pain to fulfill God’s purpose.  It is in surrendering our life to Jesus and dying out to the world and self we find true life.  Jesus summarizes it so well as He asks a question in verse 26 (read).  What are we really striving for in this world?  Which of our many worldly accomplishments or earthly riches will we trade for our entrance into heaven?  This shines a spotlight on the importance “The Question” we discussed this morning.  In the end, that is all that matters.

            I believe that is part of the reason we see so much fear from unbelievers during this time of the Pandemic.  This world is all they have.  There is no hope of better or brighter future for them.  This world is their heaven.  It makes sense then for them to be afraid of catching Covid 19 because it could end their time here in what they feel is paradise.  That should help shed a little light on how they are feeling for us and give us an angle of compassion for them that we may not have had.  We as Jesus followers need not fear, because death only promotes us on to something even better than we have now.

            This teaching had to be a “wake-up” call for the disciples and it needs to be for us as well.  Are we busy carrying our cross through the streets?  Are we following without regard to where the road might lead.?  Jesus is not hiding the cost of discipleship from these twelve or from us.  He only asks one thing from us and this is everything we have and are.  Is the prize worth the cost?  Can we place a price upon our soul and where we will spend eternity?  Weigh it in the balance and my scale shows our reward will far outshine the cost we are asked to pay. (Parenting story)

            Jesus now prophesies of the day when everything comes to an end.

 

Mat 16:27-28 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.  (28)  Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

            Jesus gives us a revelation of what will come in our future as well.  He will return in His full glory with the angels to judge all according to their works.  Listen to how the Roman writer describes this event.

 

Rom 14:9-12 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.  (10)  But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  (11)  For it is written: "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL CONFESS TO GOD."  (12)  So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

            Notice first that “EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess that He is Lord.”  All will acknowledge that and be a believer at that point   It is then that we will give account of the answer to “The Question” we discussed this morning.  We each will be held accountable whether we chose to believe and follow or chose to reject or ignore His invitation to us.  We can jump ahead in Matthew a little and get a much clearer vision of this time.

 

Mat 25:31-46 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  (32)  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  (33)  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  (34)  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (35)  for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;  (36)  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'  (37)  "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  (38)  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  (39)  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  (40)  And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'  (41)  "Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: (42) for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; (43)  I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.'  (44)  "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?'  (45)  Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.'  (46)  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

            We know this is how this world will end.  How should we be living our lives preparing for it.

 

Heavenly Father grant us the vision to see the end and give us the courage to live our lives preparing for that moment.