The Son Of The Living God - [Matthew 16]

Everything in the Bible is important. Are some things more important than others? Certainly in 1

Corinthians 15, Paul said, I delivered to you of that which is of first importance.

All the Bible is important, but for Paul, the Gospel was the most important. James Montgomery Boyce said this of Matthew 16,

Every chapter of the Bible is important, but you know what they say about all persons being born equal.

Some are equaler than others. So also with the Bible, some chapters are more important than others, though all are important.

Matthew 16 is one of these more important chapters. It is the central or critical chapter in Matthew's account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Take your Bibles and turn to Matthew 16 this morning. We'll be in 1 Corinthians 13 soon enough, but for right now,

Matthew 16. The last several weeks I've been studying this passage, being very encouraged about who

Jesus is, and I figured when I come back, what sermon do you preach?

What's the topic? And so I know the topic today is the greatest topic, not because I'm preaching it, but because of who

Christ Jesus is. I'm always fascinated after I'm gone for so long, I come back and probably some of you have been attending the church for weeks and you don't know who the senior pastor is.

You think, man, the preaching lately has been great, and you expect my preaching to be better since somehow

I'm the senior pastor. It's got to be better than Steve's or better than Harry's, and so how do you do that?

Well, you preach about the most excellent topic, the most excellent person, Jesus Christ, the eternal

Son of God. That's how you do it. A lot of people preach the gospel better than I do, a Puritan said, but no one preaches what?

A better gospel. Pradeep, did you preach while I was gone? Okay, Pradeep included.

Did Scott Brown preach? I'm already in trouble and I've just been back two days. By the way, flying back in two nights ago in the storm,

I thought, maybe this is a sign. Forty -eight degree nights in California, no humidity, no bugs, sleep with the window open, and I flew into the storm.

I thought, maybe the storm in Boston is indicative of the storm that's brewing over BBC building.

I didn't know. Let's hope not. I missed you, by the way.

One of the things about preaching at other churches, I preach at Sacramento and Santa Cruz, I don't know what the people know.

So you're kind of afraid to say certain things, or you have to step on tippy toes, you don't want to step on a landmine.

But here, I know what you've been taught over the last 15 years, and I think we've uncovered every kind of landmine that's there.

I don't know what I could say to offend you. So let's go right into Matthew chapter 16. I don't know how far we'll get.

We might get through the whole chapter, might just get through a little bit. But I want to focus on who Jesus is as Matthew portrays him as king.

Matthew 16, 1. And the Pharisees, notice the definite article there, clumping these two people, these two groups of people, who hate each other but for the sake of a common enemy, join arms.

The Pharisees, the set -apart ones, theologically believing mostly the right thing but not practicing it, and Sadducees came.

Sadducees, no resurrection, no supernatural. These two groups come, approach

Jesus to test him, and they ask him to show them a sign from heaven. So here comes the infantry, this theological group of motley thugs, and they're going to try to test

Jesus. Matthew makes it very clear what their motives are, and they're very bad.

They want to test him. Actually, they don't want to just test him. They want to test him so that he fails, so that he is discredited.

He's taking their power. He's taking their position. He's taking their authority. And so they want to try to test him.

Give us a sign from heaven. Now, you probably haven't read Matthew lately, but if you would have read

Matthew lately, you would have seen that Jesus is already, he's already been healing the sick, casting out demons, calming the storm on the

Sea of Galilee, feeding the 5 ,000, feeding the 4 ,000, raising people from the dead.

No, but we want another sign, and we want that sign. What does your text say? From heaven.

Something spectacular. Sometimes Jews wouldn't say, have God, they'd say heaven. Well, we want something from God out of heaven that's wild and wonderful and spectacular.

It's kind of making bread out of other bread. That won't do. This is the exact language of testing that should recall to your mind where Satan was testing

Jesus out in the wilderness. They want a sign.

On a side note, friends, unbelief is never satisfied. One sign, then the next sign, then the next, but unbelief will never, ever be satisfied.

Now, tradition said that demons could perform miracles on earth, but only

God could perform miracles out of heaven. So maybe that had something to do with it here.

Oh, you know what? You perform miracles through Beelzebub. We've heard that earlier.

But only God can do something out of the sky. And by the way, it should be pretty easy because Elijah made fire come down from heaven.

Samuel made thunder on the Philistines. Moses, well, Mount Sinai, manna, all kinds of things out of heaven.

Joshua even caused the sun and the moon to stand still. Well, not technically Joshua, of course.

Better one up these guys, Jesus. You need to authenticate yourself. Now remember, signs were to authenticate the message and the messenger.

You say you're the Messiah? Prove it. Give us an attestation of your claim.

They were trying to trick Jesus all the time. Would you pay taxes, Jesus? Whose husband is this, ladies?

And what did Jesus say in Matthew 16, 2? He answered them. Now the rest of verse 2 and the rest of verse 3 are in some good manuscripts, not in some other good manuscripts.

Sometimes people think this is in the text. Sometimes they don't. You probably notice brackets around there in your notes if you have a study

Bible. But let's just read them and see because certainly this is a true statement.

You might just pick it up in verse 4 if you'd like, but I'll go ahead and assume that verses 2 and 3 are in the text.

He answered them. When it is evening, you say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.

You know how to interpret the appearance of the day, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

We have a proverb today. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

Good. Red sky at night, sailors delight. You're really good theologically, full of prowess

Sadducees and Pharisees when it comes to understanding the weather, but you should know theological signs and you don't.

You should be able to discern that I am the Son of God performing miracles in your midst, that those signs should point to my messianic authority, and you can't see it.

You're good at the weather, but you're not good theologically. And you people, it's like going to the

Pope and saying, you might know how to interpret those gray clouds up there, but you don't know your

Bible. Be akin to that. They could not perceive what was happening right in front of them.

D .A. Carson said, listen, the proof that they cannot discern the signs is that they ask for a sign.

Now look back at chapter 9, if you will, 9 .6 of Matthew. Go back just a few chapters.

Matthew 9 .6 it says, and Jesus passed on from there. He saw a man called

Matthew. Let's see, where am I? That's 9 .9, 9 .6. That you may know that the

Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, Matthew 9 .6. He said to the paralytic, rise, pick up your bed and go home.

And he rose and went home. When the crowd saw it, they were afraid and they glorified God. Who had given such authority to men.

I'm performing these miracles before you to show you that I'm the Son of God and you can't see it.

And now you want a sign from heaven? Unbelief is a moral problem. You're never going to get it.

And so what, going back to Matthew chapter 16, what does Jesus do? What's some of the worst things, what's one of the worst things that could ever happen?

He just ignores you. I'd rather be disciplined by the Lord than just being ignored. And it says in verse 4, an evil and adulterous generation.

You are evil, you're adulterous, seeks for a sign. But no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah.

So he left them and departed. There's going to be a sign, the sign of Jonah, I will die,

I will be raised from the dead. Verse 5, isn't this fascinating? When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread.

Mark 8 says they have no more than one loaf in the boat with them. Jesus said to them, watch and beware of the leaven of the

Pharisees and Sadducees. So the disciples are hungry, and now Jesus says something about leaven.

And that's going to click into their mind for them to say, no, we're really hungry, he's talking about real bread.

But notice very clearly, watch, look out, and beware, the leaven are the permeating influence, the corrupting influence of the

Pharisees and Sadducees. Chapter 15, if you go back to chapter 15 at the very beginning, what happens in chapter 15?

Verse 1, Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?

For they do not wash their hands when they eat. And then one of the most devastating verses in all the Bible, you don't want

Jesus to ask you questions like this. Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your traditions?

Jesus has fed the 5 ,000 men, 4 ,000 men, but the Pharisees and scribes and Sadducees interaction is going on, and now he says to the men in the boat, watch out for these kind of people.

They've just come to me to test me, watch out for them. But when he said leaven, all they can think of is bread.

They're thinking about food. Yeast, yeast is used to make bread. What does

Jesus say? What did they say? And they began discussing it among themselves saying, just kind of listen in, we brought no bread.

Did you bring any bread? No, I don't have any. What about you? Got any bread in that sack? No. They're not even thinking about the reference to the

Pharisees and Sadducees. Chapter 14, 5 ,000 men were fed. Chapter 15, 4 ,000 men were fed.

And verse 8, it says, and Jesus, aware of this, said, oh, you don't understand.

No, it's an issue of faith. Faith in Christ's ability to provide bread to meet their needs should have been priority two, priority one.

Listen to what Jesus says about the Pharisees. Oh ye of little faith, oh you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

Faith is the important thing. Jesus is in the boat with you. He can provide everything that you need.

Verse 9, do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves of the 5 ,000? How many baskets you gathered?

And how many baskets you gathered? Are the seven loaves of the 4 ,000? And how many baskets you gathered?

Looking back at God's faithful provision, five breads, 5 ,000 men. Seven breads, 4 ,000 men.

They've got one loaf of bread now and there's 12 men. Do the math. Insufficient faith.

How is it, verse 11, that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven or the corrupting influence of the

Pharisees and the Sadducees. He's talking about false teaching. Don't you understand what

I'm talking about? They're trying to test me. They don't believe who I am. I've shown them who I am.

Watch out for what they say. Which leads us into the great passage where I wanted to come to today. The confession.

The confession found in Matthew 16, 13 and following. I hope you underline this in your

Bible because this is right at the center of everything. Now, before I get into this passage,

I have to say this. Tomes. Volumes. You know, soon there's going to be no books.

People aren't going to know what a book is or a volume. It's going to be just like data. How many gigabytes and everything. So many books have been written on topics that are in this passage.

Gates of Hell, what's that? Was Peter the first Pope? What about that? What about binding and loosing?

What about that? Those are good and we'll talk about those in just a second. But the spotlight is on who

Jesus is. Who do you say that I am? It's not on what is the binding and loosing, what is all this other stuff.

Focus on Jesus. That's where the passage is directing you. And if you're off over here trying to spend all your time figuring out if Peter was the first Pope or not,

I'm going to try to redirect you back over here. Who do you say that Jesus is? And this is not just for these people, but it's for you.

I see your faces and most of your faces I know well. And I assume and trust that you believe that Jesus is your risen substitute.

That you are in fact born again. But this is the eternal question. And everything about this demands an answer.

Do you believe that Jesus was the eternal God? I could ask it a little more convictingly and say,

And does your life show it? Who do you think Jesus is?

And you know what I love about this passage? So politically incorrect. All this kind of pablum that comes out.

Jesus was a nice teacher. He was kind. He was one way to God. He was this, that and the other.

It's all just pushed off the table. It's like Jesus comes in and there's a table with all kinds of great

China sitting there. All lined up. Perfect Thanksgiving dinner. And every piece of China on that table represents a different way to God.

And a different way to understand God. And a different way to please God. And Jesus just comes in and just rips that thing off.

There's one God. And only one. The eternal Son, Christ Jesus.

So let's focus on the main point. Verse 13. Now when

Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples, Who do people say that the

Son of Man is? Caesarea is on the beach. Caesarea Philippi is more inland.

Close to the foot of Mount Hermon. 9 ,200 feet up, Mount Hermon. And its base is this place called

Caesarea Philippi. Probably 20 miles north of Galilee.

Who's been to Caesarea Philippi before? You won't forget it if you've ever been. A few people have.

Fascinating in its beauty. A place of false worship. The god Pan. Very interestingly,

Augustus I was there. Gave it to Herod. And when Herod died, it went to the tetrarch of Philip.

And he calls it Caesarea Philippi. Why? For two reasons. It's not

Caesarea by the beach. And it's got my name in it. Caesarea Philippi. Two good reasons to call it Caesarea Philippi.

Who, back to the text, do people say that the Son of Man is? This is like walking with your group of disciples to the

LDS temple in Salt Lake. And with the backdrop of this big, huge, huge facility in Salt Lake City, the

Mormon temple, tabernacle, whatever they call it, you ask your men the question.

It's like taking people to the Vatican. I've stood in St. Peter's Square. Now here's time for Bible study in front of the

Vatican. What about the Son of Man?

Who is that? Son of Man, a great designation for Jesus, found in Daniel chapter 7.

Jesus likes to ask questions when He's going to have an intense teaching time. And they said, verse 14, some say

John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. So far, nothing negative.

Nothing like He's a kook. So far, so good. And others, Jeremiah. Seems like the disciples are concentrating on people that have said good things.

Who do people say that I am? They're not saying, well, the Pharisees think you're demon -possessed. And then lastly, are one of the prophets.

Now every one of those isn't hostile, but every one is inadequate. Every one falls short.

He's not just a good teacher. He's not just a religious leader. He's not just one way to heaven. It's good, but it's not good enough.

Now why would they say John the Baptist? Chapter 14.

Look back at chapter 14. Maybe this is John the Baptist risen from the dead. Remember chapter 14, verses 1 and 2 of Matthew?

At that time Herod the Tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus. He said to his servants, this is

John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him. That will make sense about these attesting signs and miracles because it's really

John the Baptist. Who is Jesus? He's John the Baptist incarnate. He's come back. A messenger greater.

Now, other people said that he was Elijah. Malachi 4 says, Behold, I am going to send you

Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. Malachi is written.

Elijah is already dead. God says through Malachi that Elijah is going to come.

Maybe this is God sending Elijah before the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is coming. Jesus could be

Elijah. What about Jeremiah? Well, Jeremiah was a preacher of repentance and judgment.

Jeremiah was rejected by the leaders. Jesus preaches judgment. Jesus preaches repentance. The nation didn't like him.

Maybe he's Jeremiah. Interestingly, in Maccabees, a historical book that's not biblical, it says regarding Jeremiah in the future, a man who loves the brethren and prays much for the people in the holy city,

Jeremiah the prophet, somehow he's going to come back. Or one of the prophets.

Look at your text. One of the prophets. Just maybe a general category. He's kind of a good teacher. And Jesus said in verse 15,

You know the passage. But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied,

You are the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Son of the living God.

Now we look over here and we see Jesus asking Peter, but Peter's the spokesman. I almost said spokesperson.

He's the spokesperson. He's the spokesman. And he says, You are the

Christ, the Son of the living God. He couldn't have said anything greater.

He's not saying there's God the Father, and you're the Son, and you're less. He's saying you are

Yahweh. You are the Son of the living God. And if you take a look at the text, four times this definite article is used.

I could translate it this way. You are the Christ, the Son of the

God, the living One. Not a God, not a Son, but the

God. You are God. The highest thing he could say about Jesus, he just said, the

Son of the living God. Verse 17,

And Jesus answered him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar -Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

Peter, just moments ago with the other men, were fairly dim -witted in their view of Jesus and Messiah.

They knew early on that Jesus was the Messiah, but they were trying to catch up to what they knew intellectually.

And now here Jesus asks the question, Who do you say that I am? And Peter nails it. And here's my question to you.

How does anyone ever come to faith in Christ Jesus and understand that Jesus is in fact

God? And the answer is found in verse 17. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

How does anybody ever understand? And the answer is what? No one ever does unless God reveals it to him.

People say, Well, I don't like this kind of view that God's in charge and man doesn't have a free will.

And I like the view that when man does something, then God responds. And if you let

Jesus into your heart, then God will come in. But Jesus isn't really going to be some kind of rude person.

He's a gentleman. And if you do this, then God does that. Can I just say very calmly and collectively, hopefully,

Man is depraved. Man is dead in sin. Man can't understand anything because his heart is darkened, his mind is futile.

The fall has affected our brains. We have a mental problem, an emotional problem, a physical problem, a spiritual problem.

We have fallen and we can't get up. But when God, the great God, who by His own sovereign initiative, by His own distinguishing grace, puts out the scepter towards you and says,

Approach, you become alive and respond to God. How did Peter figure it out?

Because God let him figure it out. God revealed it to him. This was not Peter saying, You know,

I'm going to take a comparative religions class. And at the end of the day, I'll make my choice. I always chuckle when people do that.

They go, Well, my kids, you know, I won't push anything on them. I'll let them take a comparative religion class and let them choose what they want to believe in college.

I'll tell you what they're going to choose in college. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Or if you're not a legalist, forget the rock and roll part.

That's what they'll choose. They'll choose their sin because they love their sin and their hearts are darkened and they don't like the light.

And God in His justice could say, It's just that's the way it is. You all fell on Adam and Adam's sin is credited to your account and I just wipe my hands of the whole thing.

Angels fell and I just go, You know what? Forget it. They're just done. No plan B, no salvation.

But aren't you glad? And that's why we sing songs today. That's why I have Scripture reading about it today. That's why we pray about it today and preach about it today.

That even though sin is great and black and dark and ugly, God by His own initiative saves sinners just like us.

He's the one that starts. He is the one that causes salvation. He is the one that initiates salvation.

The text is super clear. Even the Arminians in the congregation today must say the only reason

Peter figured out is because God let his mind know. That's the only way. By the way, if you have friends and relatives, maybe you have a kid or grandma, maybe it's your husband, and they need to be saved, how are they saved?

By the sovereign grace of God. And He opens minds. Just like Lydia's heart,

He opens Lydia's heart. That's why at the end of the day when you pray, you pray right along with this, don't you?

God, reveal Your Son to my son. Reveal Your Son to my mom.

Reveal Your Son to my wife. Reveal Your Son to my spouse. Reveal Your Son.

You pray just like this because you know salvation is of the Lord. But we're saved by grace, not by works.

And so what happens here in the passage? Peter says you, emphatically in the text, are the

Son of God. Now he says something else, and we should touch on it because it's fascinating.

It's biblical. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock

I will build my church, and the gates of hell or Hades shall not prevail against it. What does

Jesus build His church on? There are three main options, and all of them have some good to them.

The first option is Peter is the rock. Take a look at the text again. I tell you, you are

Peter, and on this rock, referring to Peter, I will build my church. That is option one. Obviously, the apostles are at the foundation of the church.

Some people say, well, you know what? This is Rome's view. This is Peter's, the first pope's view. I can't do this one.

Well, if you say Peter is the rock, you don't have to say that Peter was the first pope. You can say, along with D .A.

Carson and William Hendrickson, this is Peter is the rock. There has a lot of...

There's a lot of good reasons to believe it could be. A more popular view, though, is Peter's confession is the rock.

Take a look at the text again. You are Peter, and on this rock, this rock of confession found in verse 16, that you are the

Christ, the Son of the living God. Actually, early Catholic fathers thought this was the right view.

On this confession, on Peter's confession, you are the Christ, the Son of the living

God. That's the rock that the church is built on. Everybody has to believe that to even be in the church.

Chrysostom said, on this rock, that is, on the faith of his confession. He did not say upon Peter, for it was not upon a man, but upon his faith.

Lots of church fathers believe that. Or the last one that is very tempting to believe.

What's the last one? That Christ is the rock. On this rock.

See the text again? On this rock, I will build my church.

How do we solve this problem? How do we solve the problem? Is it Peter the rock?

Is his confession the rock? Or is Jesus the rock? Here's how I would say we should solve the problem.

Jesus is talking to Peter and the men. How did Peter later talk about Jesus? In other words, how would

Peter understand what God is saying? And let's turn our Bibles to 1 Peter 2, verses 4 and following.

And I would like to say to you that even though I go back and forth, pros and cons of all views, this one might be the right one because of this exact reason, that Peter understands

Jesus to be the rock. Certainly the Old Testament view that God is a rock.

He's stable. He's sure. There's stability with God. God the rock of Israel.

Certainly that is a concept that the Jews would be familiar with and we should be as well.

He's alone the strength of his people. He's our fortress in time of need. But how would

Jesus' words be understood by Peter? Take a look at verse 4 of 1

Peter 2. The third view is Jesus is the rock.

As you come to him, verse 4 of chapter 2 of 1 Peter, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious.

You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it stands in Scripture, Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

So the honor is for you who believe. But for those who do not believe, the stone that has the builders rejected has become the cornerstone and a stone of stumbling, verse 8, and a rock of offense.

And they stumbled because they disobeyed the word and they were destined to do it. So Peter, certainly at least here in 1

Peter chapter 2, understands Jesus as the rock, Jesus as the stone. James Boyce said,

Clearly Peter seems to have understood that the church was to be built on Jesus and nowhere claims or even suggested could be otherwise.

He would be the last of all people to suggest that he was the foundation. Then it goes on.

Let's go back to Matthew chapter 16. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This is a fascinating passage.

And even between the NAS and ESV and how to translate this, we want to make sure we understand the big picture that Jesus is going to build the church.

But why does it say in Matthew 16, 18, And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The gates of death is the real translation. So, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Option one is gates of hell, it's almost like this marauding, intruder, aggressive, offensive thing that's going after the church and it's not going to work.

That's kind of the first option and that's what ESV has with the gates of hell. Some attacking army.

But another option is, you could translate it this way, The gates of death shall not prevail against it. What do you mean the gates of death?

Gates, I mean, I could understand if it said, The sword of hell, the demons of hell, the offensive power of hell is not going to crush the church.

I believe that, don't you? But here it's the gates. What kind of offense is a gate?

It's not an offense, is it? It's a what? It's defensive. The gates of death won't prevail against it.

Now for the Jew, passing through hell's gate was a common way to refer to death. What am

I going to do? I'm going to have to go through death's gate. And by the way, what does a gate do?

Well, it keeps people from going in, but it also keeps people from going out.

I can hear the rain, can't you? All the mass persecutions that kill people, all regular death, normal death, natural death, death itself can't stop the church.

The place of the dead, Hades, won't stop the church. The church is never going to die.

I don't take this as some kind of hell and Satan and the demons are after the church, although it's true.

This passage is talking about, you know what? The worst enemy that we have, that's even a greater enemy than Satan, is what?

Death. And not even death can stop the church. That's what he's talking about. Nothing can overthrow the church.

Now I'm not saying every parachurch ministry is bad or wrong. Hear me clearly. But there's a reason why

I love the church. Why? Because Christ loved the church. Oh, you know,

I've been burned by people. I don't want to be involved in the church. Well, this is the only thing that Jesus said will be blessed like it is, the church, because it's his bride and it's never going to be stopped.

Death can't even kill the church. Indestructibility of the church. Nothing can overcome it.

And, by the way, history has proven these words to be true. The Muslims can't stop the church.

A president can't stop the church. Iran can't stop the church.

What can stop the church? Actually, when you persecute the church, it grows. Look at history.

What can kill the church? You've got Jesus, this carpenter and Galilee and 12 men, and then now you look at the world.

Nothing can stop the church. That's why when I say, well, do I want to be involved in parachurch or church?

Super easy for me. Parachurch or church. Now, if the church would do her job, then we wouldn't need parachurch.

And not all parachurch is bad. Seminaries are good. Most of the cemeteries are good. Some seminaries need to be turned into cemeteries.

And, by the grace of God, some seminaries that were cemeteries are now living and active. Southern seminary.

Jesus is going to promise, listen, you understand who I am because my

Father revealed it to you. And even though we're going to the other side of the

Sea of Galilee, kind of off by ourselves, and then over here by this worship center, and you can just imagine probably the throngs of people worshiping

Pan over there, and here's this large group and here's this little man, do you know what? I'm God and I build my church and nothing's going to stop it.

So I'm trying to encourage the men. To me that's encouraging, to be part of a church.

Recognizing that Jesus is Messiah and Redeemer and Creator. Verse 19 says of Matthew 16,

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.

Whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. What does that mean?

Well, two main options. Option one is Peter and his successors, i .e.

the popes, have authority to exclude people from salvation or include people in salvation.

Well, that's not it. Option two, that leaders in the church and people who aren't leaders can announce forgiveness of sins to people who repent and trust in Christ Jesus.

Is it in fact true? If someone comes to you, they're an unbeliever, they're a pagan, you've known them their whole life and they say,

I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you say to them, based on your profession of faith, you are a

Christian and your sins are all forgiven if in fact you're a Christian. Completely forgiven. The answer is yes.

Heidelberg Catechism said, How is the kingdom of heaven opened and shut? By the preaching of the gospel. Answer, by proclaiming and openly witnessing according to the command of Christ.

To believers, one and all, that whenever they receive the promise of the gospel by a true faith, all of their sins are really forgiven them of God for the sake of Christ's merits.

Peter, I'm dead and gone and the Spirit comes to you and indwells you and you tell people, if you believe on the

Lord Jesus Christ, all your sins are forgiven. You have that authority. That authority still exists today.

If you don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning and you turn from your sins by repentance and put your true faith in Christ, the risen

Savior, who is our representative and substitute, you will have all your sins forgiven.

Verse 20, Then he charged strictly the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. I used to read that,

I think. All this build -up, now don't tell anybody. But that was back then.

All the political things going on, they're trying to take him by king, and make him king by force, and it's going to mess up the

Galilean ministry, and back to Jerusalem. But here's one thing I do know for certain. That isn't the case anymore.

Your charge is not to take this verse and say, well, the Bible says he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that Jesus was the

Christ. That's my motto. That's the great decommission. It was at a time,

Jesus is on His path, setting His face towards Jerusalem, and all the things had to happen the right way. So He said, you know what, we're not going to create this hysteria now.

Don't tell anyone. But now, we are to tell people, we are to proclaim the Gospel.

And if I ask you the question, aren't there five people in your life? Isn't there five people in your life who you say, they need to get saved, and I need to pray for them, and I need to preach to them.

Five people. Relatives, neighbors, there's five.

I'll never forget the time my brother told me the story. He got saved and became a pastor, and then he met this man, and he could not believe, this other man, that my brother was saved and was a pastor.

And he said, in high school, I was told by my youth leader, this other man said, to pray for the person that you'd least expect to get saved, because they were so sinful and debauched.

So this man said, Pat, I began to pray for you. And now, ten years later, fifteen years later, you're preaching the

Gospel of free grace. We're to tell everyone. No reason to preserve the secret.

Well, there's a response to all this. I don't know how much time we have, but let's just keep going.

Matthew 16, 21, From that time, all the ministry now changes.

From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day, be raised.

If you don't read anything, the rest of the book of Matthew, that's Matthew encapsulated, chapter 17 through 28.

There, right there, is the summary statement. Jesus is the Messiah. And so he begins to tell them,

Your view of the Messiah as this glorified king who's going to take over and smash the Romans isn't right.

There's going to be a glory to the king, Jesus, but it's going to be later. But in the meantime, in my first coming, there's going to be suffering, death, and then resurrection.

So he began to teach them that. It's a great teachable moment. Look at the text. He must suffer many things.

Why must? Because it's God -ordained, divinely ordained. The covenant of redemption,

God said, Son, I want you to go die for this church, the elect. And the son said, I will gladly do it.

Powered by the Spirit of God. You've got to do it. Sent for a reason. He's rejected, killed, and three days, he rises from the dead.

Verse 22. Oh, man. I almost wish the chapter ended here. Peter took

Him aside, began to worship Him, saying,

Blessed be the Lord. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. Began to rebuke

Him. Far be it from you, Lord, this shall never happen to you. God forbid. Jesus, the

Son of the living God, is not going to have to suffer and be killed and be raised from the dead.

Far be it from you. Mark says that Jesus took aside and began to rebuke

Him. The same word used when you silence a demon. And now what does

Jesus say? Chapter 16, verse 23. But He turned and said to Peter, I always think of the

King James, Get thee behind Me, Satan. Get behind Me? When does

He ever talk like this to people? Does He talk to the Pharisees like this? Well, maybe.

But to Peter, a follower of Jesus? Get behind Me, Satan. You are a hindrance to Me for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

Flashback. Early in Matthew. Jesus, You want all the glory? You can have all the nations.

Just go for it. Bow down. Do this little test. Glory before suffering,

Satan said in the wilderness. And now, just like Satan says, except through Peter, Peter is saying,

You know what? Glory first. Forget the suffering. Avoid the path of suffering.

That's what Peter is advising. And one commentator said, Peter went from an

A student to the dunce cap in no time at all. Glory without suffering is

Satan's M .O. Warren Wiersbe said, God's M .O.

is suffering transformed into glory. Remember, Jesus said to Peter, to Satan, Be gone,

Satan. As I travel around and watch and see things, there's a new kind of Christianity out there today.

It's called Christianity without the cross. And it can be translated into Joe Osteen.

Have it all now. Prosperity now. No suffering now. We've just learned from 1

Peter 1 -5 that it is God's will for you to suffer. Then glory.

There's a new Christianity these days without the cross, without substitution and atonement. And without that, it's worthless.

There's no Christianity without a penalty, sacrifice, substitute.

G .C. Ryle said, On matters of church government and the form of worship, men may differ from us and yet reach heaven in safety.

On the matter of Christ atoning death as the way of peace, truth is the only one.

If we're wrong here, we're ruined forever. Error on many points is only a skin disease. Error about Christ's death is a disease of the heart.

Here let us take our stand. Let nothing move us from this ground. The sum of all our hopes must be that Christ has died for us.

1 Thessalonians 5. Give up that doctrine and we have no solid hope at all. That's why when the world is going crazy and everything in you wants to respond with petitions and drives and protests and all these other things.

I got an email this week and said, No Compromise Radio needs to start this kind of protest against all these big governments and against the people who are after Chick -fil -A and all this other stuff.

That's what they're all wanting us to do. But I'm going to pass and continue to proclaim that Christ has died for sinners and was raised from the dead.

And there's a cost to follow Christ. Chapter 16, verse 24. The stakes are high.

Blood, sweat and tears, Churchill said, but that's just for men. Then Jesus told His disciples,

If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow

Me. Let him deny himself? Remember the old campaign, just say no?

Just say no. How about just say no to yourself? That's what Jesus is saying.

Say no to yourself. And it is within our warp and woof to affirm ourselves, to like ourselves, to love ourselves, to feel good about ourselves, to esteem ourselves, concentrate on my own interests.

Jesus said, deny yourselves. Contrary to self -fulfillment. Contrary to self -centeredness.

Surrender yourself for all that He has done for you. He goes on to say, pick up your cross.

Cross -bearing. By the way, cross -bearing is not your irritating spouse. It's just my cross to bear.

If I were ever to do a radio show called Pet Peeves, that would probably be on the pet peeve. It's my cross to bear.

Flashback 2 ,000 years ago, a cross meant what? Death penalty.

Death penalty. Deny yourself. To what degree?

How far? Is there a limit? I'll tell you how far. Dead.

Death. God sees fit to kill you.

Not minor discomforts. Not people saying things about you.

What a horrible thing it was to be crucified. God said, they were to go to Jerusalem like a procession of condemned criminals with halters around their necks.

And by the way, tradition tells us that John died of extreme old age at Ephesus.

Peter was crucified upside down. Andrew died on a cross. In a

Grecian colony, James, the younger brother of the Savior, thrown off the pinnacle of the temple, then beaten to death with a club.

Bartholomew skinned alive. James, the elder son of Zebedee, his head chopped off.

Thomas, the doubter, was run through. His body with a lance in East Indies.

Philip was hanged against a pillar. Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows. Simon died on a cross in Persia.

And I see in council, 4th century AD, 318 delegates getting together a council on what we believe.

Fewer than 12 had not lost an eye or a hand or did not limp on a leg, lame by torture for their

Christian faith. 306 delegates denied themselves, picked up their cross, and what does

Jesus finally say? Follow Him. If you really believe that Jesus Christ is

Lord, by the grace of God, extended to you, you'll deny yourself, pick up your cross, and then follow

Jesus. I like to say to people often, do you believe Jesus enough to follow

Him? Because if you don't, that's not real belief. Anybody can believe something, but can you believe

Him enough to follow Him? Come after me, technically to be my disciple.

Then verse 25, it says, For whoever would save his life will lose it. What a paradox.

But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What a great promise.

We need that promise of God and His goodness and His grace because you can't purchase salvation. Verse 26,

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? What shall a man give in return for his soul?

Answer, nothing. You can't pay for your salvation. Material wealth in the present doesn't do you any good when you lose everything in the future.

Take all the world's goods and put it on this side of the scale and then put one single solitary soul, your soul, right here.

And the weight goes towards the soul, the eternal, everlasting soul. For the

Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father and then He will repay each person according to what

He has done. Wow. Serious consequences. Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the

Son of Man coming in His kingdom. This summer

I visited a lot of churches and a lot of the churches were spectacular music, peppy, uppy, felt needy.

And I walk out of there thinking, I want to hear about Jesus. I want to hear about the

Lord of glory. I want to hear about the Messiah who is going to come back. I want to hear about God incarnate who because He loves sinners like me will come and die for me.

That's what I want to hear about. I want to hear about Christ and Him crucified. I know too much about myself.

I know too much about other people. I want to learn about Jesus. So then I thought to myself, if it's good for me,

I know it's good for others to show you and to proclaim to you Matthew 16 so you can see

Jesus in all His glory. When I'm preaching, I don't think of other things, but even when

I'm listening to preaching, I forgot that my back's killing me. I forgot that this weather here in New England is just atrocious.

No, all the cares of the world because as Grandma Evie used to say, when you gaze on the

Lord and glance at your problems, everything is right with your soul. And when your focus is on all your problems and you just look at God once in a while, you've got problems.

Say, well, I've got problems. So back up in your diagnosis. If you've got problems, and I mean spiritual problems, then you say, you know, most likely it's because I've been focused on myself too much and not focused on the

Lord. All these problems and tyranny of the urgent and things that are actually real, financial problems and physical problems and ailments and situations and family relationships and all that stuff, those are all real.

But if you don't look at them through the lens of the greatness of God, you are going to be in trouble.

So what's the best thing to do? Here's bad advice for you. Learn to live with it. Or, what's even better, is to say,

God loves repentance. Lord, forgive me for focusing on myself. Forgive me for not giving

Your Son all the glory and having Him preeminent in my life. Help me to just study the Gospels like a maniac so I can keep thinking about who

Jesus is. Thank You for the Spirit of God who can help me with these things.

And thank You that when You start a work, You're faithful to complete that work. And so, Lord, complete that work in me.

I want to be known for a person who tells people about Christ Jesus the Lord, in the pulpit and out of the pulpit.

And help me see everything in my world through the lens of, Jesus is the Messiah. And then it will be well with your soul.

Let's pray. Thank You, Father, for our time today in Your Word. And I just pray for this dear church,

Bethlehem Bible Church, that she would, with one unified voice, extol Christ Jesus, her

Head, her King, her Groom. And that, Father, we wouldn't be known for a church that knows much, and we acknowledge that we know it because You've revealed it, but then proclaims the truth.

Father, help us in this season with all kinds of issues, with the war possibilities in Iran and Israel, the election coming up.

Help us to rest at night, knowing that we have been loved by the Messiah of the universe,