Get Behind Me Satan
Out of all of the disciples, I think I like Peter the best. He reminds me a lot of myself. Peter always had good intentions, but his mouth was always getting him in trouble with Jesus. I am the same way. I speak before I think and end up sticking my foot in my mouth. Jesus warns us that what comes out of our mouths or what we speak can be very harmful and evil. Have you ever spoken badly of someone just because they spoke badly of you? Have you ever told a little white lie to make yourself look better? Have you ever said you would do something knowing that you wouldn’t? What we say will either uplift others or it will tear them down. Have you ever repeated gossip or started a rumor? I have seen careers destroyed and even churches fold because of unfounded rumors and gossip. All of this comes from Satan. We need to stop and tell Satan to get behind us.
Please stand as we read our scripture for today.
Mark 8:31-38
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.
32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels."
(NIV)
(Prayer)
Peter didn’t see the big picture. When Jesus was telling His disciples about what must happen, Peter only heard that Jesus was to be killed. He didn’t want his Master, his best friend to leave him. Peter didn’t realize that if Jesus didn’t do this, then any of them or us could never enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Jesus knew from where Peter received his thoughts and why Peter rebuked Him. Satan had given Peter these thoughts, because Satan knew that he was domed if Jesus died on that cross.
Today Satan knows that he is domed, but he wants to take as many people with him as he can. So Satan is using every tactic that he can to mislead us. We need to learn to say "Get behind me Satan."
A woman went to her pastor for marriage counseling. The pastor asked why she wanted to divorce her husband. She told him that she was tired of being married and wanted out. The pastor asked her if her husband was having an affair. The woman said "no." The pastor then asked her if her husband was beating her. The woman replied "no." The pastor told the woman that if she really wanted out of the marriage, then get a divorce.
Someone should have told that pastor that he sounded like Satan and to get behind me.
Many of our Christian denominations are being influence by Satan. There are denominations that are blessing homosexual marriages. There are denominations that are ordaining homosexuals as pastors. There are denominations that are trying to ordain transvestites. God’s word is very clear concerning how He views these matters. We must start kicking Satan out of our churches.
There was a young Christian girl that went off to college. She had never used drugs, never drank alcohol or never had sex. She was a perfect daughter for some lucky parents. When she arrived at college, she continued to attend church and started to hang out with Christian friends. One night her Christian friend invited her to a party. When she arrived, she saw people smoking pot, others drinking beer and still others engaged in sexual immorality. She began to rebuke her friends for their non-Christian behavior. Her friends came back with the rebuttal, "aren’t you a Christian and have been saved by grace?" She said "yes." Her friends then said "you have been saved by grace and are no longer under the law, so you can do anything you want." The young girl agreed.
Someone should have told those college kids that they sounded like Satan. Satan even uses parts of scriptures to lead Christians astray. Yes, we have been saved by grace and are no longer under the law, but we are told we are to live righteous lives, meaning we are no longer to live in sin, because our old flesh was crucified with Christ on the Cross and we were born anew in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Learn to say "get behind me Satan."
In verse 34 Jesus says "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
What does Jesus mean by this? In Rome a prisoner carried his own cross to the place of execution, signifying submission to Rome’s power. Jesus used the image of carrying our cross to illustrate the ultimate submission required for us to follow Him. Jesus isn’t against us enjoying life nor is He saying that we have to suffer pain to follow Him. He is just asking for total submission.
Today we are hearing more and more about tolerance toward other religions and perverse lifestyles. Jesus was not tolerant to other religions. He even told the Pharisees that their father was Satan. Today the Southern Baptists are being condemned by many in the press, for making the comment that Mohammed was from Satan. Isn’t this basically the same thing that Christ said to the Pharisees? The only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ. There is no man or prophet that can save us from eternal hell. By taking up our Cross-, we are to preach the Gospel to all the nations, I repeat "ALL" the nations.
We are being told that we must be tolerant toward other sexual lifestyles. Was God tolerant when He destroyed Sodom? Is God tolerant when He says that homosexuality is an abomination and a sin. Why should we just sit back and let society teach our children that homosexuality is normal and acceptable? We must take up our Cross and stand up for the truth of the Gospel. One of my favorite Bible verses is this:
Matt 18:6
6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
(NIV)
We must protect our children at all cost and not allow anyone to cause them to sin.
Jesus also says in:
Mark 8:35-37
35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
(NIV)
We should be willing to lose our life for the sake of the gospel, not because our lives are useless but because nothing -- not even life itself -- can compare to what we gain with Christ. Jesus wants us to stop trying to control our own destiny and to let Him direct us. Christ knows better than we do what we really need and how we should be living our lives. Christ asks us to lose our self-centered determination to be in charge. If you needed a heart transplant, whom would you want to do the operation, a plumber or a heart surgeon? That may sound like a dumb question, but we make the same choice everyday. Who do you want to control your life, you or your Creator? Who is better qualified? Of course Christ is. So why do we insist on controlling our own lives? In our schools we teach our children that they must be successful at any cost. As parents we want our children to become doctors and lawyers so that they will make much money. What good is it if a man makes all the money in the world, but never has time to accept Jesus Christ as his Savior, because he was too busy making money? Aren’t our souls worth more than all the money in the world? All the money in the world will not buy a single drop of water in hell.
Mark 8:38
38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels."
(NIV)
Many people never accept Christ as their Savior because they are embarrass and worry that their friends will make fun of them. Many people never set foot in a church because they feel that the church members will make fun of them or not talk to them. Many Christians never witness to anyone because they are afraid that someone might make fun of them. Don’t be ashamed of Jesus, be proud that you know Him and tell everyone you meet about Him. As a Christian you know that you have a home in heaven because Jesus suffer and died on that old Cross. You know one day Christ will come back for you. Are you so selfish that you don’t want to share salvation with anyone else? Go out today and look around at all the people that could be saved if someone would just tell them how. Are you waiting for the preacher or someone else to do it? What if no one else does it, but you had a chance to do it, but didn’t? If you accidentally kill someone with your car, could you live with that? Well, if you don’t tell people about the saving grace of Christ, then you are sending them to hell for eternality. Can you live with that?
If you are here today and you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, He is calling you now. Don’t be ashamed of Jesus. He loves you and cares for you more than anyone in your life. There is no greater love than the love of Jesus Christ, because He laid down His life so that you could have eternal life with Him in Heaven. Come now and pray with the pastor and let him lead you to Christ. Don’t be ashamed or embarrass. Every Christian here has made the walk down an isle to give their life to Christ. So come now.
