OPEN: The warship had just returned from a tour oversees and the young ensign shown himself to be responsible and efficient. Because of that he was given the opportunity to take command of the ship as it made its out to sea again.
As the ship was to pull away from the dock, the ensign gave a series of crisp commands, and before long he had the decks buzzing with men. The ship left port and began steaming out of the channel. The ensign’s efficiency had been remarkable.
In fact, the deckhands began to proudly acknowledge that he had set a new record for getting a destroyer under way. The ensign glowed with pride and was not all that surprised when another seaman approached him with a message from the captain.
He read the following message:
“My personal congratulations upon completing this exercise according to the book and with amazing speed. In you haste, however, you have overlooked one of the unwritten rules of seafaring – make sure the captain is on board before leaving the dock.”
APPLY: Had that ensign meant to leave the captain at the dock?…. No!
He had been so preoccupied with his own agenda, and what had to be done, that he just didn’t give the captain a second thought.
(PAUSE)
The story told in Matthew 16 tells of a time toward the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. His last journey to Jerusalem is at hand, and he will soon face the horrors of the cross. Over the past 3 1/2 years, His disciples they have observed Jesus as He
... taught and preached
... healed the lame the sick and the blind
... cast out demons
... and raised the dead
But – in spite of all this – the disciples weren’t quite sure WHO this Jesus was.
They knew He was a great teacher, a healer, a prophet equal to any in the Old Testament… but they had never really talked about who Jesus was before this.
So when Jesus asked His disciples to tell him who OTHER people said He was, I think He was giving them a chance to safely air their own opinions.
So, when they admitted that others had said that Jesus might be
· John the Baptist
· Or Elijah
· Or Jeremiah or one of the prophets
… I believe that even they had thought that at one time or another.
So Jesus gives them this chance… but then, He brings it home by asking: “Who do YOU say that I am?”
I can imagine things getting very quiet. Kind of like in a classroom where no one knows the answer to the question and everyone is afraid the teacher will call on them.
But, as always, Peter abhorred a vacuum. He raises his hand and spouts off the first thing that comes to him mind: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”
THAT WAS THE RIGHT ANSWER.
That was the answer Jesus was looking for.
And Jesus drives that fact home by patting Peter on the back saying: “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven”. Matthew 16:17
Six days later, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up on a mountain that’s now called that we now refer to as the Mt. of Transfiguration. Because, it was on this mountain that Jesus “was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” Matthew 17:2
They saw other wondrous things that day, but then a cloud settled down on the mountain top and “…a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’” Matthew 17:5
If there was any question of who Jesus was before this, it was now long gone. All doubt had been removed. On the mountain of transfiguration - and earlier when Jesus asked His disciples to tell Him who they thought He was - the main lesson was this:
This is the Son of God…
This is the Captain of your ship
Do not leave Him behind!
I. How could anyone possibly leave Jesus behind?
Well, since the “good confession” (Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God) is essentially a theological statement, the most obvious way to “leave Him behind” would be to be wrong about what we believe about Jesus.
This confession that Peter made in Matthew 16:16 is basically THE statement of our faith. In fact it is so central to our faith, that when we baptize people into Christ, we ask them to repeat that “good” confession.
Repeat it with me now:
I believe (I believe) Jesus is the Christ (Jesus is the Christ) the Son of the living God (the Son of the living God).
There is no mistaking the importance and the meaning of that confession.
ILLUS: Charles Colson said that after he made his conversion to Christianity he discovered that one major U.S. daily newspaper, as a matter of policy, would not print the two words Jesus and Christ together; for the editor said - when combined - that “represented an editorial judgment.”
And that newspaper was right! To say Jesus Christ is to acknowledge, even tacitly, that Jesus was who He said He was. He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
In case there was any question about what the good confession meant, Peter put it to rest when he preached: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
In other words, there is NO assurance of salvation to anyone who doesn’t accept that. Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God.
Now, that doesn’t mean that haven’t been people who’ve claimed to be Christians who have denied the essential truth of that confession. Over 40 years ago Redbook magazine (August, 1961) did a survey of those in Bible Seminaries, and they found that (at that time)
56 percent rejected the virgin birth of Jesus Christ
71 percent rejected the idea of there being a life after death.
54 percent rejected the bodily resurrection of Jesus.
And 98 percent rejected the doctrine that Jesus Christ would physically return to earth.
Theologically - these folks had left Jesus wayyyy behind.
So, it is possible to leave Jesus at the dock because of bad theology…
II. But it’s possible to be theologically correct about who Jesus is, and still leave Him behind.
Jesus said "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…” Matthew 7:21
In other words: You can have your doctrine down pat and still leave Jesus behind.
But, how’s that possible???
Well, Peter did it.
Peter gave this great confession about who Jesus was “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”, Jesus pats him on the back and says “blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah…”
And then Jesus informs His disciples of what is about to happen at Jerusalem
“Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Matthew 16:21
Then Peter… this great statesman for Christ…
this theologian who’s just declared that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God”…
this Peter “took (Jesus) aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’ Matthew 16:22
And then Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” Matthew 16:23
WHOA!
In a New York Minute, Peter went from “blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah” to “Get thee behind me Satan”
What happened?
Well, what happened was that Peter had his theology right, but he wasn’t prepared to put his theology into practice.
Peter was willing to say the right thing – that Jesus was the Son of God - but he wasn’t willing to follow thru and let Jesus BE the Son of God in his life. He wasn’t willing to let Jesus be Jesus, and as a result he would have ended up standing in Jesus’ way.
The good confession – Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God – means nothing if we’re not willing to ACT upon what we say.
That confession is the foundation of our faith
What do you do with a foundation? Well, you build on it.
Paul writes in I Corinthians 3:11-15:
“… no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.
If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”
Jesus is our foundation.
That means we need to build on Him
That means we need to DO something to further His kingdom.
ILLUS: Don Allison (one of our Elders) recently told me about the time he was a member at the Treaty Church of Christ. He was fairly faithful in attending, gave his tithe every week, greeted people and prayed… but then one day he got a visit from the preacher.
The preacher sat down with Don, talked with him a little while and then said:
“Don are you going to wither on the vine?”
“What do you mean by that?” Don asked.
“You’re not doing anything. You’re just coming and sitting in church. When are you going to DO something with your faith? When are you going to step up to the plate SERVE Jesus?”
Another way of asking that would have been
“When are you going to start building on the foundation of Jesus?”
(pause)
Now, going to church is important. In fact, if you weren’t faith in coming to church, I’d have no one to preach to.
And praying is important. Praying is what we do because we’re God’s people.
And tithing is important. If you and I don’t give our tithes, it’s going to be hard to keep the doors open, and pay the staff.
But building on the foundation of Jesus means doing more than that. It means being able to step back and say: “You know, I personally helped build the Kingdom. I helped put it together.”
ILLUS: Let me explain what I mean by that. Let’s say, I bring a builder over to my house and have him build a shed out back. The foundation has been laid, and he starts to work.
Whenever he’s there… I’m there
Whenever he wants to talk… I talk to him
When he gets done… I pay him
Did I help build the shed?
No.
I was there as it was being done… but I didn’t really help do it. I didn’t help build on the foundation.
Now, I’m not particularly skilled at building things. But, while I was out there talking to the builder, I could have asked if he needed a tool, or some hardware, or help in carrying some of the wood. I could have told him that, when he left for the night, I’d be willing to put up the shelves inside. Every little bit I could have done would have lightened the load of his work and made it go quicker and smoother.
When the shed was finished, THEN I could have said, I’d helped build on the foundation, rather than sheepishly said, no, I just sat back and watched.
Saying: Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God means more than having the right theology
It means “doing something.”
It means building on the foundation of what I SAY I believe about Jesus.
And it also means that this isn’t so much an obligation, as an opportunity.
It’s privilege not a punishment.
I get to help Jesus build His kingdom because I really believe that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and He wants to entrust me with a part in His plan.
So… saying Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God is part theological belief.
And it’s part physical involvement – acting upon what we say we believe.
III. But it’s one more thing… it is part Spiritual reality
When Peter declared “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” Jesus patted him on the back and said: "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, BUT BY MY FATHER IN HEAVEN.” Matthew 16:17
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:3 “… no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.”
Hmmm.
What’s that mean?
It means that I can SAY I believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God
And I can DO all kinds of good things for the church because I believe that.
But that statement of faith and that act of faith receives it’s power and energy from the presence of God’s Spirit in my life.
In Acts 2:38 Peter tells the crowd what they needed to do to be accepted by God:
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
In other words… if you want to be saved…
* you must believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God, and that means:
· Repenting of your sins
· And being baptized into Christ
BUT ONCE you’ve done that - once you’ve believed and then done something about that belief - THEN God will give you His Spirit
It’s God’s Spirit dwelling within you that will give your faith and actions power
ILLUS: A preacher by the name of Henry Drummond once observed:
“if you put a piece of iron in the presence of an electrified field, that piece of iron itself will become electrified. And in the presence of that electrical field, it is changed into a magnet. As long as it remains in contact with that field of power, it will continue to attract other pieces to itself.
By the power of the Spirit in our lives, we are changed, and electrified and now have the power to put our faith into action in our own lives, and in the lives of others.
OTHER SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
There Be Monsters; Mark 4:35-4:41
Don’t Leave Jesus Behind; Matthew 16:13-16:23
What Would You Have Me Do For You? Matthew 20:29-20:34
How Shall You Escape Hell? Matthew 23:15-23:33
If you’d like to HEAR any of these sermons, go to www.churchchrist.net
