What do you believe about Jesus Christ? Does it matter what you believe about Him? Many people tell us that if you believe a certain way you are intolerant. Others say it does not matter what you believe as long as you believe. Instead of seeking man’s opinion I want to look at what Jesus had to say about this subject.
In Matthew 16 we find Jesus words on this important question.
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?’’ So they
said, "Some say John the Baptist,some Elijah,
and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’’ He
said to them, "But who do you say that I am?’’
And 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. "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 against it. "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.’’ (Mt. 16:13-19 NKJV)
In this text Jesus was nearing the cross. He had spent almost three years with His disciples teaching and modeling ministry. He knew he was about to die and leave this world. However, He wanted to be sure that His disciples had understood the vital lessons He had taught. Among the lessons he shared was the truth of His identity. He could not expect His disciples to be effective spiritual leaders if they did not discern His true identity. Within this context he asked them “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (vs. 13 NIV) Jesus began with an easy question and moved to the difficult question. After questioning the disciples about people’s beliefs he moved to question them about their beliefs. He said “But what about you…who do you say I am?” (vs. 15 NIV) The answer to this question mattered to Jesus. There are some facts that are not a matter of life or death. If you do not know the names of the Presidents you can survive. If you cannot explain the chemical make up of water you can survive. If you cannot explain the inner workings of a computer you can survive. However, from this pasage we learn that it is essential that you understand the identity of Jesus.
Look at our text. In this text we discover it is important what you believe about Jesus. I want to share three important truths from the text.
I. The first truth is that it is possible to be close but wrong about Jesus.
-If you are playing golf and the ball stops one inch from the cup, does that count?
-If a wide receiver drops the ball in the end zone does that count as a touchdown?
-If a boy stops a kiss one inch from his girls face, does that count as a kiss?
Even so, being close in your opinion of Jesus does not count.
Ill- Karl Barth, a famous theologian, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland, where he lectured. A tourist to the city climbed on and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other. "Are you new to the city?" Barth inquired. "Yes," said the tourist. "Is there anything you would particularly like to see in this city?" asked Barth. "Yes; he said, "I’d love to meet the famous theologian Karl Barth. Do you know him?" Barth replied, "Well, as a matter of fact, I do. I give him a shave every morning." The tourist got off the streetcar quite delighted. He went back to his hotel saying to himself, "I met Karl Barth’s barber today." That tourist missed the point!
(Contributed to Sermon Central by: Jeff Hughes)
In this text we discover that people are sometimes close but wrong about Jesus. The people in Jesus’ day had a number of worthy opinions of Him. They compared Him to John the Baptist, Elijah, or Jeremiah. They were sincere but sincerely wrong. A common saying illustrates this point. “Close does not count except in horse shoes and hand grenades.” In playing a game of horse shoes you get points if you are close to the pin. If you are near a hand grenade when it explodes it will kill you. Close counts in some disciplines but it does not count in your opinion of Jesus.
Ill- Understanding Jesus identity is a growth process but it is essential to discipleship. A Sunday School teacher was attempting to teach her young students the true meaning of Easter. "Why do we celebrate Easter?" she asked. When the children replied ’because of the Easter bunny,’ Easter eggs, candy, spring, etc., she said, "No, those are Easter traditions and symbols, but what is the REASON why we celebrate Easter? What happened at the very first Easter?" A little girl raised her hand and said, "Easter celebrates Jesus coming out of the tomb." "Yes!" said the teacher, excited and relieved that finally the correct answer had surfaced. Encouraged, she prompted, "Jesus arose from the tomb, and what does He do for us?" The youngster replied, "He looks to see if he can see his shadow, and if He can, he goes back in for another six weeks."
(Contributed to Sermon Central by: Abraham Shanklin, Jr.
In discussing the Pharisees Jesus explained that they were close but far away. `These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. (Mt. 15:8 NKJV)
In another passage Jesus describes the closeness of a religious leader.
Then one of the scribes came, and having
heard them reasoning together, perceiving that
He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is
the first commandment of all?’’ Jesus answered
him, "The first of all the commandments is: Hear,
O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. `And
you shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’ This is the first
commandment. "And the second, like it, is this:
`You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There
is no other commandment greater than these.’’ So
the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You
have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and
there is no other but He. "And to love Him with
all the heart, with all the understanding, with
all the soul, and with all the strength, and
to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than
all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.’’
When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God.’’ And after that no one dared question Him. (Mk. 12:28-34 NKJV) This religious leader knew the commandments. He knew the word. He was close. However, Jesus said “You are not far from the kingdom.”
II. A second truth we discover in this text is that there is a right and wrong answer about Jesus.
Sometimes people get into discussions about Jesus identity. The early church struggled with the issue of heresy on many occasions. Even in our day we struggle with this issue. It is an inescapable teaching of the evangelical church that Jesus is God in the flesh. However, some groups deny this teaching. For instance, we find an example of this in the Watchtower translation of the Jehovah’s witnesses. They translate John 1:1 “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” (Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1961) Notice the “a” and notice the little “g” in God. This translation takes away the divinity of Jesus. According to Mt. 16:13-19 (based on Jesus words) there is a right and wrong answer as to Jesus identity.
Ill- C.S. Lewis in "Mere Christianity" said about Jesus, “A man who was 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 a man who says he is a poached egg—or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by: Jason Duncan)
Ill- Sometimes people are offended when we speak of such absolute truth. On July 06, 2000, Hugh Downs, the guest host on the Larry King Live Show, lead a round table discussion on the questions, "Who is Jesus? And why is there such a fascination with that question now?" Among his guests was Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Dean of Oxford L’chaim Society. During the discussion, Boteach said, "Jesus was a great teacher, a very ethical, moral, human being -- perhaps in our opinion, not a prophet, but certainly a phenomenal teacher and Christianity is a great world religion . . .and while I agree he is a great light, once we say he is the only light, this is what leads to all kinds of spiritual racism and a division between Jews and Christians." (SOURCE: Fresh Illustrations, www.freshministry.org/illustrations…Contributed to Sermon Central by: James Wilson)
Simon Peter gave a right answer concerning Jesus identity. He said “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (vs. 16 NIV) Jesus was pleased with Peter’s response. He passed the test. Peter’s confession revealed several things for which Jesus was looking.
1. His confession revealed that he believed
Jesus was the only way to God. The word Christ
refers to the Messiah. Throughout the Bible the
Messiah is referred to as the one who would
deliver men from their sins and bring them access
to God.
2. His confession revealed that he believed
Jesus was God. Those are bed-rocks of the
Christian faith. Jesus is the only means of
access to God. Jesus is the only begotten Son
of God. He is totally God. He is the right
answer to the divine quiz. There is no other
answer.
III. A third truth we discover in this passage is that your beliefs will empower you. After Peter’s confession Jesus had affirming words for 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
against it. "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.’’ (Mt. 16:17-
19 NKJV)
Jesus words empowered Peter! What do I mean by empower?
A. When you are empowered you receive a new confidence. Jesus words reflect the impact Jesus would have on Peter. “You are Peter, a stone; and upon this rock I will build my church; and all the powers of hell shall not prevail against it.” (vs. 18 TLB) Jesus gave Peter a new confidence and courage. Peter was not perfect. He would have additional struggles but Jesus gave him a new confidence. He found deep and abiding convictions that would make him a rock in the early church. God given convictions are vital to your faith.
Ill- Several years ago the United States Supreme Court passed down a ruling that will help you understand the importance of convictions. They explained the difference between a conviction and a preference, according to the U.S. Supreme Court: A preference is a very strong belief, held with great strength. You can give your entire life in a full-time way to the service of the preference, and can also give your entire material wealth in the name of the belief. You can also energetically proselytize others to your preference. You can also want to teach this belief to your children, and the Supreme Court may still rule that it is a preference. A preference is a strong belief, but a belief that you will change under the right circumstances. Circumstances such as: 1) peer pressure; if your beliefs are such that other people stand with you before you will stand, your beliefs are preferences, not convictions, 2) family pressure, 3) lawsuits, 4) jail, 5) threat of death; would you die for your beliefs? A conviction is a belief that you will not change. Why? A man believes that his God requires it of him. Preferences aren’t protected by the constitution. Convictions are. A conviction is not something that you discover; it is something that you purpose in your heart (cf. Daniel 1, 2-3). Convictions on the inside will always show up on the outside, in a person’s lifestyle. To violate a conviction would be a sin. (David C. Gibbs, Jr., Christian Law Association, P.O. Box 30290, Cleveland, Ohio 44130.…Contributed to Sermon Central by: Donnie Martin)
Ill- Many people are like five year old Johnny. Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother made supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn’t want to go in alone. "It’s dark in there and I’m scared." She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, "It’s OK--Jesus will be in there with you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: "Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?" (Charles Allen, Victory in the Valleys….Contributed to Sermon Central by: Tony Klinedinst)
B. When you are empowered you will walk with new authority.
THE FIRST AND LAST
He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the End!
He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the universe and
The Manager of all times.
He always was, He always is, and He always will be...
Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings Peace!
The world can’t understand him,
The armies can’t defeat Him,
The schools can’t explain Him, and
The leaders can’t ignore Him.
Herod couldn’t kill Him,
The Pharisees couldn’t confuse Him, and
The people couldn’t hold Him!
Nero couldn’t crush Him,
Hitler couldn’t silence Him,
The New Age can’t replace Him, and
Talk show hosts can’t explain Him away!
He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.
He is goodness, kindness, gentleness, and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.
His ways are right,
His word is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and
His mind is on me.
He is my Redeemer,
He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and
He is my peace!
He is my Joy,
He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and
He rules my life!
I serve Him because His bond is love,
His burden is light, and
His goal for me is abundant life.
I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise,
The power of the powerful,
The ancient of days, the ruler of rulers,
The leader of leaders, the overseer of the overcomers, and
The sovereign Lord of all that was and is and is to come.
And if that seems impressive to you, try this for size.
His goal is a relationship with ME!
He will never leave me,
Never forsake me,
Never mislead me,
Never forget me,
Never overlook me, and
Never cancel my appointment in His appointment book!
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I confess failure, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am blind, He leads me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face Death, He carries me Home!
He is everything for everybody, everywhere,
Every time, and every way.
He is God, He is faithful.
I am His, and He is mine!
My Father in heaven can whip the father of this world.
So, if you’re wondering why I feel so secure, understand this...
He said it and that settles it.
God is in control, I am on His side, and
That means all is well with my soul.
SOURCE: www.bible.org/docs/pastor/bits/bits-110.htm…Contributed by: SermonCentral PRO )
