November 20, 2011
Morning Worship
Text: Matthew 16:13-20
Subject: Who Jesus Is
Title: Jesus in You; The Search for the Biblical Jesus
Our Wednesday night bible study sparked some discussion about the bible and how it came into being and why there are some books that are not included in our bible that are included in others or books that claim Divine authorship that are not included. Here are the qualifications for a book to be included in the New Testament: 1) Written by an apostle or someone who had close association with an apostle. 2) It was widely accepted by the church at large. 3) It was consistent with the rest of scripture. 4) There was evidence of change in those who read the book as witnessed by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Now, there are many who claim that other books should be included but that the church denied them because they contained additional information about Jesus that would call the rest of scripture into question. That is exactly why those books aren’t included. Let me read a few verses from the “Infancy Gospel of Thomas” and you can judge for yourself if you think this book belongs in the bible.
1. I Thomas, an Israelite, write you this account, that all the brethren from among the heathen may know the miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ in His infancy, which He did after His birth in our country. The beginning of it is as follows:--
2. This child Jesus, when five years old, was playing in the ford of a mountain stream; and He collected the flowing waters into pools, and made them clear immediately, and by a word alone He made them obey Him. Having made some soft clay, He fashioned out of it twelve sparrows. And it was the Sabbath when He did these things. There were also many other children playing with Him. A certain Jew, seeing what Jesus was doing, playing on the Sabbath, went off immediately, and said to his father Joseph: Behold, thy son is at the stream, and has taken clay, and made of it twelve birds, and has profaned the Sabbath. Joseph, coming to the place and seeing, cried out to Him, saying: Wherefore doest thou on the Sabbath what it is not lawful to do? Jesus clapped His hands, and cried out to the sparrows, and said to them: Off you go! The sparrows flew, and went off crying. The Jews seeing this were amazed, and went away and reported to their chief men what they had seen Jesus doing.
3. The son of Annas the scribe was standing there with Joseph; and he took a willow branch, and let out the waters which Jesus bad collected. Jesus, seeing what was done, was angry, and said to him: O wicked, impious, and foolish! what harm did the pools and the waters do to thee? Behold, even now thou shalt be dried up like a tree, and thou shalt not bring forth either leaves, or root, or fruit. Soon that boy was quite dried up. Jesus departed, and went to Joseph’s house. But the parents of the boy that had been dried up took him up, bewailing his youth, and brought him to Joseph, and reproached him because, said they, thou hast such a child doing such things.
4. After that He was again passing through the village; A boy ran up against Him, and struck His shoulder. Jesus was angry, and said to him: Thou shalt not go back the way thou camest. And immediately he fell down dead. And some who saw what had taken place, said: Whence was this child begotten, that every word of his is certainly accomplished? The parents of the dead boy went away to Joseph, and blamed him, saying: Since thou hast such a child, it is impossible for thee to live with us in the village; or else teach him to bless, and not to curse: for he is killing our children.
OK, so what problems do we see with this passage? First, Jesus never worked any miracles until the Holy Spirit had come upon Him at His baptism in the Jordan River. Second, Jesus never came to take away life – He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly… Third we never see anywhere that Jesus worked any kind of miracle to satisfy Himself…
Now this book is obviously not Holy Spirit inspired. But like many of the other books that claimed Holy Ghost authorship, the content is so different than that of our bible that we know that they can’t be true. What we do see, however, is a compilation of books that paint Jesus in the light that the author sees Him.
And that leads us to our passage today. Jesus asks, “Who do people say that I am?”
What I want to ask you today is this, “Who is the Jesus that lives in you?” Is He the Jesus of the bible or the Jesus of your imagination?
Read Matthew 16:13-20.
I believe this is God’s word…
I believe it all…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
I appropriate it to my life…
We want to search for the biblical Jesus today.
I. WHO DO PEOPLE SAY THAT JESUS IS?… the question: 13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” To begin with we have to look at what the masses had seen in the context of Jesus’ ministry up to this point. He taught in parables, He preached the kingdom, healed the sick, had compassion on the masses, cast out demons, turned water into wine, walked on water, raised the dead, fed 5,000 and then 4,000, had forgiven sins, and had given His apostles and then 70 others the authority to do the same. And the question is, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Everybody had an opinion of who Jesus was. The response of the people went like this, 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Why these people? John the Baptist… the preaching ministry of Jesus… Elijah… The miracles worked by the great prophet… Jeremiah… The compassion that he had for the people much like Jeremiah had for Israel. Or one of the prophets… They knew that he wasn’t just an ordinary man. They just couldn’t put a finger on who Jesus really was. That is the same as “religious” people of today’s world. According to Wikipedia here are some of the answers. In Islam, Jesus is known as Isa and is one of God’s highest-ranked and most-beloved prophets, specifically sent to guide the Children of Israel. Unlike Christian writings, the Qur’an does not describe Jesus as the son of God, but as one of five major human messengers (out of many prophets) sent by God throughout history to guide mankind. Judaism rejects the idea of Jesus being God, or a person of a Trinity, or a mediator to God. Judaism also holds that Jesus is not the Messiah, arguing that he had not fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah. According to Jewish tradition, there were no more prophets after Malachi, who lived centuries before Jesus and delivered his prophesies about 420 BC/BCE. The Bahá’í Faith consider Jesus to be a manifestation of God, who are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization. Hindus believe that Jesus is an incarnation of Vishnu and is one of many thousands of expressions of God in the world. Most people in the world today believe that Jesus is a historical figure in world history. They just don’t really know what to do with Him.
II. WHO DO YOU SAY THAT JESUS IS? 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ…” Here is the difference between Peter’s answer and the other answers from the people of the time. Peter said, 1) Jesus is the Christ… Christos (khris-tos’)
1. (literally) Anointed
2. (transliterated) "Christ"
3. (properly) the Messiah, the Anointed One of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
4. (by function) the (kinsman) Redeemer, the Saviour
5. (by identity) Jesus, Yeshua,
2) Jesus is the Son of the Living God… This is where we run into problems with other world religions and even some so called “Christian” theologians. For Peter (a Jew) to say that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of the Living God, is to equate Jesus with God. The son had the authority, the son had the privileges, and the son had the rights of the father. If the eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God is, in truth, the natural father of the son Jesus Christ, then the Son must also be eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. Now natural knowledge would have told Peter otherwise, in which case Jesus is reduced to a holy man or a prophet or one of many expressions of God to the world, but not God. 17 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. Look at Peter’s confession from his second letter, 16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice, which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. In Peter’s mind (as well as in his spirit) Jesus was 1) everything that His earthly ministry proclaimed He was. 2) Jesus is everything that has been revealed to us by the Father. 3) Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophetic scriptures. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the revelation of God. He is the Messiah. He is the Savior. He is the deliverer. He is the provider. He has authority over demons. He still walks on water, feeds the multitudes, has compassion, He still heals, He still opens the eyes of the blind, He still opens deaf ears, makes the lame walk, straightens out withered arms, bowed backs and deceived minds. He still saves, loves and cares for all His people. He still is the peace that passes all understanding. He is still the judge. He still baptizes with the Holy Spirit…
III. WHO IS THE JESUS THAT LIVES IN YOU? 17 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. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock (Peter’s confession) I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. First of all, let me say this, “If you have not repented of your sins and confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior, everything else that I have spoken about today is irrelevant. Romans 8:9, But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. Romans 10:9-10, 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Let me run a bit of logic by you this morning. The bible tells us that God is love, right? It also tells us that His word is truth… 1 John 1:6, If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. Now 1 John 2:15, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Finally, turn over to 1 Corinthians 13. 1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. You can experience the supernatural, but if the Love of God is not dwelling in your heart, you have nothing. Let’s take the next step. You know that you are born again – that the Spirit of God dwells in you through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So who is the Jesus who is living inside of you? If the Jesus who dwells in you by “faith” is not the same Jesus who sets captives free, delivers from oppression, heals, casts out demons, brings peace and provides for every need, but only a Jesus who keeps you until you make it to heaven, then you’ve got the wrong Jesus. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” They keys to the kingdom is the knowledge and understanding of everything that Jesus is in believers. It is understanding our purpose. It is understanding that it is His power that is at work within us. It is understanding the abundantly life that Jesus came to give. It is the understanding that He expects us to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. It is knowing the He wants us to do the things that He has done and even more. It is the confidence that he has given us authority to trample on scorpions and serpents and to overcome all the power of the enemy. It is the ability to walk by faith and not by sight… Hebrews 11:6, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Look at the last verse. 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. This verse is not a commandment for believers today. Just wanted to make sure everyone understood that. He wants the whole world to know now.
Who is the Jesus that is living in you? I guess a better question to ask is this, “Is the Jesus you confess the same as the Jesus your lives proclaim?” Is He a religious Jesus or a relational Jesus. Is He a subdued martyr waiting for the tiem to return to earth or is He still the head over the body that is doing His work. Is he still on the cross, still in the grave, or raised from the dead, defeating sin and death and showing power in the earth today?
If your Jesus is just the Jesus who died for your sins and has provided you a way to heaven – if He is that and that alone – then He is not the Jesus of the bible.
John 14:12-14, 12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
1 John 5:14-15, 14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Mark 11:24, Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Hebrews 11:1,6, 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
2 Corinthians 5:7, For we walk by faith, not by sight.
John 10:10, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
James 1:5-7, 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord…
The best way to remove doubt from your mind when you stand on God’s promises is to replace doubt with God’s word. Spend time reading and memorizing the word, allowing the Holy Spirit to bring it up to you when you need it.
Psalm 119:11, Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
So is your Jesus the Jesus of the word or of the world?
