Who is the Christ of God Luke 9:18-27

We're here to worship the Lord but together right? It's good to see each one of you and it's good to know of your faithfulness to the house of the Lord and to our Lord and we're glad to see you and we hope that today is a blessed day for you as we worship together our Lord.

I have a couple of announcements and many of them we repeat each Sunday but tonight we have a prayer meeting at six o 'clock and join us there. We had a good group out even last Sunday evening. It's always a good time of fellowship and also those of you who are involved but everyone is welcome to the summer Bible study going through the book of Hebrews and they have that in the fellowship hall each Friday evening at 530 so remember that time and everyone is welcome to that Bible study and then we have the Bible counseling courses continuing on and they meet the next one is August the 26th and they have been meeting on the second and the fourth Saturday of each month so remember that the second and fourth Saturday and the will be the 26th at 11 a .m.

Also just wanted to mention the missionary of the month is Darcy Berglin and I just say a little bit about her. Her parents were missionaries in Indonesia and if you know anything about Indonesia it is about I think they say about 2 ,000 islands.

Darcy was raised there. Darcy was involved with New Tribes Mission and they had spent their, all the missionaries were going into tribes that had usually an unwritten language and there's a book about this thick that they've been trying to put together not just missionaries but anthropologists of every language that's in the world and so they go to an area and translate the language but then after they translate the language then with New Tribes they got involved with now you have to teach the people how to read the language that they have just written down and so that's what all is involved with this.

It's getting more and more with the computers and all this is getting a lot better but I just read one note to you. Darcy is living right now. She was born and raised and spent most of her adult life in Indonesia but she's now living in Sheridan, Wyoming taking care of her adult parents who spent their life in Indonesia but she's also every day working on translation with the team back in Indonesia and so her one girl that she taught and trained back in Indonesia is Oki and she's writing down in our newsletter that she sent this month.

I have been working on getting as much scripture ready to check as possible before my trip to Asia in the Pacific in August so she's going to go over there in August and check with the teams that she's been working with.

Oki, the one who's working in Indonesia, has been drafting the book of Joshua and has gotten nine or more chapters roughly drafted. I have been checking her exegesis which means this is the interpretation correct?

You know Oki says well this is how I think it goes then Darcy then she sends it to Darcy. Darcy goes through it and checks and makes sure it's accurate with the scriptures and then she sends it back and she'll make different changes and they've been going through these drafts and making comprehension checking questions so you see kind of what they're up to.

We got to be close friends with her. I failed to say New Tribes Mission changed their name to Ethnos 360 and we said what in the world what's that mean? You know I mean well all of us are familiar with it.

Well Ethnos means people groups and I've even heard that term now and on secular you'll hear Ethnos on secular and it's people groups and then 360 that's 360 around the world. People groups around the world.

I don't know that I had chosen that name but anyway that's what so when you see Ethnos 360 there's the old New Tribes Mission. Anyway thank the Lord for the individuals that we have a part with supporting and we as you think about Darcy remember her in prayer.

So let's go to prayer. Heavenly Father we come to you this morning we thank you for your many blessings that you give to us. We thank you that you give us the strength to come out to worship you to sing praises to you.

We would pray Heavenly Father when we leave we will say it's been good to be here today and we would thank you for it Lord. Be with pastors he brings your word we pray that you would give him the liberty to speak and say the things you've laid on his heart.

May you apply it to our lives. May we be willing to accept the things that we hear from your scripture as they apply to us Lord. Help us to live godly Lord. We thank you again for the fact that we live in a country where we have liberty to worship you.

We do pray for our leaders and uphold them before you. We would pray Heavenly Father that you would be merciful and even give us godly leaders or people who respect you Lord and we would thank you for that.

Now go before us as we continue on in the service. Be with those who are participating in the music. Bless each one of our hearts. May we be a blessing to you as we lift up our voices to you and we'll thank you and pray in Jesus name.

Amen.

Good morning. Hallelujah. Jesus loves me. He is King and God to me. He is working salvation in the midst of the earth. It is with him we shall spend eternity. Beautiful are your works oh Lord and you care for all of them and let's stand and.

Sing to our Creator our Heavenly Father. Please turn with me to Luke chapter 9.

Verses 18 through 27. Luke chapter 9 verses 18 through 27. And it happened as he was alone praying that his disciples joined him and he asked them saying who do the crowd say that I am? So they answered and said John the Baptist but some say Elijah and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.

He said to them but who do you say I am? Peter answered and said the Christ of God. And he strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one saying the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day.

Then he said to them all if anyone desires to come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

But what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him the son of man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and in his father's and of the holy angels.

But I tell you truly there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God. This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father we're thankful that to us we have been. You have revealed to us who your son is.

Thank you that it's not a question anymore but that you have shown it to us through Jesus who died on the cross for our sin so that the wrath that's for us has been poured upon him in order that we may live.

We may be forgiven and we may be yours. We pray that you would help us to live according to the Messiah that we follow in Jesus name. We've followed the trajectory of what's been happening up to this point which is that Jesus has been showing his authority and power over all sorts of created things.

And now the question is right in front of us. Who is Jesus? Right. We have seen Jesus authority over the storm diseases thousands of demons and even death. And we've also seen Jesus authority to provide for thousands in the wilderness.

Now Jesus asks his disciples who do you think I am? And of course the Peter's confession answers the question of who is Jesus. Jesus is the Christ of God. He is the Messiah of God. He is the chosen one of God.

In Greek the word for Messiah which is Hebrew is Christ. So we often take it for granted Christ being just closely tied to Jesus. But when we say Jesus Christ, Christ is not his last name. That's his title.

It's Jesus the Messiah. The Messiah in the Old Testament meant the anointed one the chosen one. And this anointed one this language has been used for various kings of Israel. The chosen one because God chose kings of Israel to rule over his own people.

But of course in this context the Messiah is actually the greatest king the greater Davidic king to come to restore Israel for once and for all. Not only restore Israel in the Old Testament when you do get to Isaiah's text you see that his restoration of Israel is more than just one nation.

It's global it's universal. So this is what the title Messiah or Christ signifies. And I mentioned this mainly because we often take it for granted what Christ is. Many people think that it's just the last name but that's not true.

To proclaim Jesus to be Christ is a huge significance. It's not something we can take for granted. Now Peter actually says what many of us and even the readers may have been thinking right. He is Christ of God.

He's the Christ of God. Now although Peter is technically correct Jesus here unpacks the implications of what kind of Messiah he is. And this is important because one can proclaim Jesus to be Christ and still worship the wrong Messiah.

I'll give you a few examples. Mormons have no problem calling Jesus Christ. They will say that they believe in Jesus as the Messiah. Yet they worship a false God because the implication of who their view of Messiah is extremely insufficient.

They believe that both God the Father and God the Son Jesus were created beings. They de God God. Now liberal denominations claim Jesus to be Christ as well. But they have perverted the gospel and who Jesus is so much that it is no longer the same Messiah who saves according to the Bible.

The Jesus that they worship the Jesus the Messiah that they proclaim to worship does not even reflect the same Jesus the Messiah that we worship according to scripture. Now for this reason Jesus tells the disciples to stay silent and he explains what he must go through.

And this is because your view of Jesus affects how you follow Jesus. Your view of Jesus affects how you follow Jesus. I'll give you an example. Carl F. H. Henry. Most of us may not know who that is but he was one of the leading evangelical leaders of the 20th century.

He was highly influential. I'll show you some of his I'll tell you of his some of his accomplishments and what he was known for. He was a classmate of Billy Graham. We all know Billy Graham. He was also the first editor in chief of Christianity today when it was solid right when it was actually producing material against liberal ideologies.

But now it just echoes it. He taught at numerous Christian universities and seminaries and in fact many institutions are named after him. Carl F. H. Henry. He was a huge he had a huge influence over the culture.

If you know of D .A. Carson. D .A. Carson looked up to Carl F. H. Henry and D .A. Carson is the most well-renowned New Testament theologian of our days. And that leads to this interview. D .A. Carson in his younger days interviews Carl F. H. Henry as he is much much older.

And he asked this question. How have you remained humble for decades of such six of doing decades of such successful ministry. He's traveled all over the world. He's held teaching positions and leading positions in different seminaries.

He's written many books. He's someone who's influenced the White House. And the question is how how do you stay so humble. Right. Because of course the temptation temptation is when you become somebody especially in ministry.

It's easy to just let the power go to your head. It's easy to stumble. It's easy to rebel against God. So that Don Carson asked that question to Carl F. H. Henry. And he answers this. In his old age decades of following Christ.

How can anyone be arrogant when he stands beside the cross. How can anyone be arrogant when he stands beside the cross. And that's because Carl F. H. Henry whether you agree with his methods of ministry or not.

Right. And his theology he had the right view of who the Messiah is. His view of Jesus was closely tied to the crucifixion and the resurrection. The humiliating death that he went through to deliver the world.

And to him it just could not make sense how one could be even prideful when you stand next to the cross. Really shows that correctly following Christ depends on the correct understanding of Christ. So the main point of today's text is when we follow the suffering Messiah we must completely commit to Christ despite the worldly rejections.

When we follow the suffering Messiah we must completely commit to Christ despite the worldly rejections. First Jesus is the suffering Messiah who delivers his people through his death and resurrection.

Jesus is the suffering Messiah who delivers his people through his death and resurrection. Finally, Jesus and his disciples find themselves away from the crowd. Remember, they were looking to be alone, but they were interrupted by the crowd.

Verse 18, and it happened as he was alone praying that his disciples joined him. Prayer in the gospel according to Luke always precedes important events that are about to unfold. So, for example, Luke 3, verse 21, Jesus was praying right before his baptism, in which the Father and the Holy Spirit confirmed who he is to the whole world publicly.

That's an important event, and that was preceded by him praying. And in Luke 6, 12, right before choosing the twelve apostles, Jesus also prayed. Right before commissioning the apostles who will relay the message of the gospel to the world.

And in one sense, we're all here because of the apostles. The message was transferred from them first. Jesus prayed. And it really shows how Jesus prioritized and focused on God before each major event in his earthly ministry.

This was not just a willy-nilly following the impulse. Now, Jesus poses a question to his disciples that we have been asking for weeks, right? Who do the crowds say that I am? And this question has been the ongoing question really all throughout chapter 9, if not also chapter 8.

And remember in verses 7 through 9, King Herod questioned the same thing. Who is Jesus? Even the palace of Herod has to confront, is confronted with the question, who is Jesus? Knowing what he's doing and what he's preaching, it's inevitable to question who is Jesus.

Now, the disciples do report what they have been hearing from the crowds. John the Baptist, but some say Elijah and others say one of the old prophets who's risen again. Now, this is actually the same response that Herod was pondering upon, right?

Even in the same order, John the Baptist, some say Elijah, maybe one of the old prophets. Of course, Herod, according to the other synoptic gospels, went with John the Baptist. Now, John the Baptist was the prophet who came right before Jesus to announce the coming of Jesus.

And unfortunately, he was executed by Herod. And Elijah was the Old Testament prophet who performed great miracles. And in Malachi 3 and 4, God promised the return of Elijah on the last days. So, Elijah was a figure that they were waiting for.

And also, during the intertestamental period, that's between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament, there was a view that one of the great prophets from the Old Testament would come back.

And the list goes on with the Jeremiah, it could be Isaiah, or even Moses, right? Their view was that before the Messiah comes, something great must happen that cannot be just explained away. Now, any of these prophets returning would have been wonderful and important to Israel.

Yet, none of them reaches the same magnitude as the coming of Jesus. The crowds, in their limited knowledge, regards Jesus respectfully. However, all of their options are far inadequate. So, now Jesus asks the disciples the same question.

But, who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said, the Christ of God. And, Christ here means the Messiah, as I've mentioned, and He's the chosen one of God. And, while we live in a society that automatically ties Jesus' title to Christ, His title, or to His name, even in our post-modern culture, the Christ title is assumed only to Jesus, right?

As we probably have never heard anyone else called Christ. Now, Peter's answer would have been surprising, actually, to the first century Jews. All those prophets that I mentioned, John the Baptist, Elijah, and one of the old prophets, they're revered and highly regarded.

But, the Messiah is on a different playing field. That's a different league. What Peter is proclaiming here is that Jesus is greater than the prophets. All of them mentioned just now. That He is superior.

He is none other than the Messiah, Christ of God. The promised eschatological figure to restore all things. The one whom God is using. He is God's king. The king that God has enthroned. That is something.

The Messiah is the promised Davidic king who restores the broken nation of Israel. Christ was the regal figure prophesied in the Old Testament who will rule with authority and power that has never been seen before.

Christ's rule would make Solomon's reign, which probably was the greatest reign in Israel's history as a nation, like a drop in a bucket. His reign would be geographically and temporally limitless. There's just no end in sight.

That's the Messiah. Peter tells Jesus, you're the Christ of God. What Peter knows is that Jesus is not just another messenger that points to the Messiah. But, He is the Christ Himself. Jesus is not just another signpost pointing to the Messiah.

But, He is the real deal. When any ancient Israelites consider the regal position of the Messiah, the most obvious view would be that the Messiah would come and conquer all things and win. Consider some of the Messianic Psalms.

Psalm 2, 7 -8. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, you are my son. Today I begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possessions. The Messiah will have all.

God will make sure of it. And also, Psalm 110. The Lord says to my Lord, the Lord, Yahweh, says to the Lord, Messiah, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Messiah will reign with the divine authority by sitting on the right hand of God.

The right hand, the seat of authority. And there will be no enemy going against this Messiah. So, those kind of Psalms are in the ancient Jews' minds. And especially Peter's mind, because he knows. And you may think Peter's right answer would initiate a public proclamation of Jesus' true identity.

Now we don't have to hide it anymore. Okay, go out again, you twelve. Here's the Messiah. He has come. However, Jesus charges them to do the opposite. And he strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one.

Right?

Now, why does Jesus command silence? Really, the following verse tells us, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised the third day.

The reason for the silence is because Jesus will not rule the world as how most would have expected in the first century, Judaism. He is not overthrowing Rome. He is not kicking out the Sanhedrin, the religious leaders.

His most crucial act as king is, in fact, not to conquer, but to be conquered. His most crucial act as the regal king of God is to suffer and to die for the very people he came to save. And in fact, that is how these people will be delivered.

And in his first coming, the conquest and victory will not be through powerful armies and advanced weaponry. That's what they're expecting. But through his suffering and death, he will be rejected and killed by the very people he came to save.

But, he actually says he will not stay dead. That would be just losing, because he will be resurrected on the third day. Jesus' suffering and death are prerequisites to his global reign. Hence, the early proclamation of Jesus' identity would actually have led many to misunderstand who he is.

That's why Jesus charges them, do not tell anyone. After all, even the disciples, despite hearing from Jesus that he needs to die and rise on the third day, and this will not be the first time, they'll hear it multiple times.

Yet, when it comes to Jesus' crucifixion, they would all misunderstand and run away and hide in fear. Now, while the Old Testament hints at the suffering and death of the Messiah, such as Psalm 22, which was read today by Jim, the New Testament authors make it clear that it is precisely through Jesus' suffering that he rules.

The New Testament makes it clear, it reveals further on that Jesus' rule has to be tied with Jesus' passion, his suffering, his death, and resurrection. What this means is the path to Jesus' victory is through the cross, there is no other way.

For example, in Revelation 5 -6, in the heavenly vision of the Apostle John, one of the elders proclaims, the one who is worthy to open the scroll is the Lion of Judah. As the Apostle John is crying and weeping because they don't think there's anyone who is worthy to open the scroll, the scroll of salvation and judgment, the scroll that will resolve the history, God's history.

And one of the elders says, do not weep, the Lion of Judah is worthy. And when the Apostle John looks to the throne to look at the Lion, what does he see? He sees a slain lamb. He hears about the Lion of Judah who has conquered so that he's worthy to open the seal, so that the world's history may come to a resolution according to God's intended end in salvation and also judgment.

When the Apostle John looks at the throne, there's a slain lamb. How can this be? Jesus conquers as the Lion of Judah precisely because he died as the sacrificial lamb. Jesus overcomes his enemies precisely by dying at their hands.

Jesus wins precisely by hanging on the cross in all humility. By taking on the sins of the world upon himself, Jesus freely redeemed, purchased and delivered sinners from their death and sin and their death.

By experiencing God's wrath on our behalf, he made it possible for God to freely and justly justify sinners. It is impossible to justly justify sinners without Christ. It's impossible for sinners to be righteously forgiven without Christ taking on the punishment on our behalf.

And only through the death of this Messiah, God delivered his people from their sin once and for all. There was no other way. That was the prerequisite. Through his wounds, we are restored. Through his rejection, we are received by God.

And any other view of this Messiah, any view of this Messiah separated from his suffering is the wrong Messiah. If your Jesus at the core of his ministry is not the crucified Messiah, then it's an inadequate view of the Messiah.

And as Jesus has charged, that type of Messiah is not worth proclaiming. It's better to be silent. But as Christians, we worship the crucified Messiah. The conquering Lion because he's also the slain lamb.

The victor who has died for his people that he redeemed. Jesus shows us, tells us what kind of Messiah he is. And until that full picture is there, any other glimpse of that, any other picture of the Messiah without the cross is not the true Messiah.

Now, what is the appropriate response of this suffering Messiah's disciples? So, what's the appropriate response by the followers of this suffering Messiah? The disciples of the suffering Messiah must deny themselves and completely commit to him despite whatever hardship it entails.

The disciples of the suffering Messiah must deny themselves and completely commit to him despite whatever hardship it entails. Now, after describing the nature of his Messiahship, Jesus explains the nature of his disciples.

If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Verse 23 gives us a concise summary of what Christian discipleship looks like. What it looks like to be a Christian follower, right?

First, he must deny himself. Self-denial is not just the recognition, but a deep conviction that you are not enough. Now, all over, I mean, all over our culture we hear, you're enough. You're enough.

You're sufficient. You're adequate. Trust your heart. Follow your heart. That couldn't be further from the truth, right? The first step to following Jesus is self-denial. It's knowing that you cannot save yourself.

You're not enough, right? Self-denial means that you're utterly inadequate. You're extremely incapable of delivering yourself. And this also applies to your plan as well. Even after you believe, right?

Oh, I can't save myself. Only Jesus can save me. Your whole life has to be about, you know what? My plan is not adequate. My will is not good enough, right? Your plan of salvation and sanctification, they fail.

You can't do it on your own. You must depend on God's plan of salvation and even sanctification through Jesus. That's the point. That's self-denial. Seth, the second requirement is to take his cross daily.

Taking up one's cross happened right before any crucifixion. In fact, Rome delighted in humiliating their criminals to the utmost extent, right? They publicly made their criminals carry their own cross.

And this would display what will happen to anyone who defy the Roman authority, right? Anyone who sees the person carrying his cross, that would be a huge reminder. This will happen to you too. Don't even think about it.

It was a picture of the ultimate submission and humility. And what Jesus is saying here is that those who follow this humble suffering Messiah must expect to live the same way as their Messiah. This is the fruit of the self-denial life.

The true disciple must give up her independence, her self-reliance, her self-sufficiency, and submit humbly to God and His plan. The third requirement is to follow Him. This is a call to completely commit to Jesus.

After completely denying oneself, now you commit. There is a direction to all the suffering, right? It is not just suffering for its own sake, as some Catholic monks have chosen to do in history and even now, right?

Oh, just isolate yourself and then live eating really, really, really boring bland food for the rest of your life, secluded in the wilderness somewhere, in the forest, up in the mountains. No, the suffering here actually has a purpose.

The suffering is in order to follow Jesus. It is to walk with Him. By suffering, you commune with Him. You are with Him because you're reflecting what kind of Messiah you serve, right? Despite all the rejections you may incur by following Jesus, that suffering has an intended purpose.

Now, verses 24 to 27 explain the implications of verse 23. These verses actually all revolve around Christ. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

These are the consequences of obeying or ignoring the command to deny oneself to follow Christ. The irony is that if you desire to control your own life because you did not deny yourself, if you grip tightly to your own life because you do not trust Christ, you will lose your life.

That one life that you tried your hardest to keep, you'll lose that. That's the irony here. Christ will not save you because you rejected Him to save, right? You rejected Him so that you could save yourself.

And what Christ is saying, that's not sufficient. That's not adequate. However, if you deny yourself for Christ's sake, right? Again, it's for Christ's sake. If you drop everything only to hold on to Christ, your life will be saved.

It is all about one's relation to Christ, how he responds faithfully to Christ. And verse 25 asks a rhetorical question illustrating the implication of responding through Christ's invitation. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and is himself destroyed or lost, right?

This is a rhetorical question because obviously Jesus is not asking for the answer. What profit is there, right? This is not a question asking for answer. It's to show that there is no profit in gaining the whole world, everything in the created realm.

If you gain the whole thing, there's no profit if you lose your life. You've lost your life if you did not trust Christ. You've lost your life if you hold on to it or try to control it. It completely ends one's ability to enjoy the world.

That's the irony. You tried your best to get all the things that are enjoyable, but you lose the most important thing in your life. And what this shows is that there's a risk to not responding to Jesus.

Jesus' invitation is not an optional question on the test where you don't lose points if you leave it blank, right? It's the whole test. It's your whole class. Everything depends on how you respond to Christ.

Your whole life depends on how you respond to Christ. That's it. And if you respond wrongly, if you respond without faith, then you lose it all. You gave up the eternal life of joy and peace for a temporary taste of comfort.

Nothing and no one in the whole world can offer you the eternal life of joy and peace that Christ freely offers you at the cost of his life. Now, verses 26 to 27 show the eschatological results of how one responds to Christ now.

For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory and in his father's and the holy angels. Verse 26 actually shows us the judgment day, right?

Before the judgment throne of Jesus, those who have rejected Jesus and his words will also be rejected by Jesus in front of the whole heavenly realm. It tells us a lot about what kind of Messiah this is.

This Messiah will also be the judge, right? That is a powerful position. He's more than just an agent who's being used by God for deliverance. He's also the one that every one of us will have to come face to face.

Now, verse 27 shows us the opposite. But I tell you truly there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God. And this is for those who deny themselves and follow Christ.

Now, kingdom of God here does not mean the full consummation of the kingdom, as in when Jesus comes back and restores all things, new heaven and new earth. But rather, the kingdom of God is the inauguration of his kingdom when Christ died and rose from the dead.

It's post-death and resurrection kingdom. So after Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, we have to actually consider the reality of the world actually shifted dramatically. Sin and death could no longer hold a human being down.

All throughout history, there have been a few resurrections in the Old Testament, right? Through Elijah, through Elisha. But all throughout history, those people, they arose to die again. It's that death just temporarily let it go through the power of God, but the death grabbed them back.

Then comes Jesus, and he proclaims he's here to be killed, but rise on the third day. But notice that he's not dying again. Jesus is resurrected to live forever, and that really is the sample taste of the kingdom of God.

For once in history, post-Genesis 3, there is a human being who's also God, whom death has no control over, whom the touch of death is just insignificant. That's the coming of the kingdom of God. So what it's saying also is that there's this glimmer of hope shining through the dark clouds, right?

For the first time in human history, man can experience God's salvation and his power in their lives, right? So in Christ, by believing in the crucified and resurrected Christ, people can start to resist sin.

Instead of becoming more and irritable as people get older, people of Christ can become more and more like Christ. They're actually going against the decay of moral decay. They can be kinder, they can be more patient, more compassionate.

That's what it means to bear fruit. And you'll notice that when you do talk to people who have been a believer for over 50 years, there are a lot of them here actually at Faith Bible Church. Go talk to them after.

They're not crotchety, right? They're not irritable. They're not complaining. They're not murmuring, right? They're different. They're different from just any old people. That's because they've experienced the kingdom of God.

God has given them the power to resist sin, right? When I visit hospitals because of surgeries, right, and medical emergency, the nurses and doctors are amazed by, you know, Richard, Victor. How friendly they are.

How kind they are. How non-entitled they are, right? They even tell me, right, because they find out, oh, you're the pastor. That's the taste of the kingdom of God. And that came after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And what Jesus is saying is that those who respond to him now are not just blindly following him until the judgment day. Rather, they will taste the glimpse of heaven on earth when they feel the shackles of sin crack open.

They will experience the power of salvation now. There's evidence for that. Now, how we respond to Christ now determines the destination of our lives. Ultimately, people who choose the world, the comfort, the pleasures of the world, by rejecting Christ will one day have to face the one whom they rejected.

And they will have to answer for all that they have done, manipulations, violence, and even cruel acts in order to gain the world, in order to take the world, conquer the world. And the sheer pride to reject Christ, his free offer of salvation, takes a lot of pride to tell the only one who can save, oh, I don't need him.

I can do it myself. You don't have to be a ruler to be prideful like that. Someone who owns nothing can say the same thing to Christ. I don't need you. I'm just good enough. And that's a scary thing. And the list will be colorful from Roman emperors to U .S. presidents and unknown people, unknown peasants from the Middle Ages to unknown citizens of the United States.

And Christ warns his disciples that gaining the world at the cost of losing Christ is the most foolish trade one can make. And for those who forfeit Christ for the sake of the world will have a smoky exit interview.

And for Christians. However, when we experience rejection and suffering for choosing Christ, we must remember this is the par for the course. It's actually almost a reminder of what kind of Messiah we are serving.

In fact, it is extraordinary that we live in a nation that does not physically persecute us for following Christ. We're not there yet.

Right.

But when we do face rejections and mockery for our faith, we must ask ourselves, how can we as followers of Christ expect a better treatment from the world that crucified my Messiah? How can we as followers of Christ, the suffering Messiah, expect to avoid his path?

One theologian said this. God has one son who hasn't sinned. God has no son who hasn't suffered. It's just a par for the course. That's what it means to follow the suffering Messiah. And what this means is we need to be cautious of pastors who guarantee better lives now.

Bigger bank account now. Better cars now. More worldly influences now. And it also means we need to be careful of how we encourage people who are suffering. If someone is mourning the loss of their job that they might have loved and had for decades, we have no right to promise them there's a better job coming.