Journey Through Matthew: He is The Christ!
Journey Through Matthew • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 3 viewsJesus' affirmation that He is the Christ, the Messiah should serve as affirmation that our salvation is secure in Christ and Christ alone!
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Introduction
Introduction
Good evening and welcome back!
Tonight if you would start turning in your Bibles back to .
Tonight we will be finishing out the chapter covering verses 13-20, looking at the affirmation that He is in fact The Christ!
Which is something that should excite every believer all over the world.
Because if Jesus was not The Christ, or the Savior, the Messiah; all of this would be pointless.
All of Christianity would be pointless.
We would be no more than a social club or another false religion out there.
Which is exactly where churches who once were Christ followers are who have removed Christ for the sake of “fitting in” or for political correctness.
When Christ is removed, Christianity is removed and whatever it is ceases to be Christian.
Some become the “Church of (whoever their leader is).”
Some become the “People’s Church,” meaning that whatever suits the wants and desires of the congregation is what the church becomes.
Some become the “Snowflake Church,” meaning that whichever way the Political Correctness wind blows is the way they go.
Some will even become the “Social Justice” church, meaning that Jesus is replaced by whatever social justice cause they have taken up and they do anything to meet that agenda.
And finally some will even become what I would call the “Do Good” Church. These are the ones who are deceived into thinking that all of their good deeds is what makes them Christian.
And if they do enough Good, then that is all is needed.
People get caught up in that and forget that they must put their faith in Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the One and Only Savior.
And Satan’s hand in this is that he acts as a facilitator.
Pushing people in every direction that leads them away from God and away from Jesus.
And the only effective way to combat this is to do what Paul says in 1 Corinthians. Paul says . . .
22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
1 Corinthians 1:22-
And what he is saying is we tell the whole story about Christ.
We tell of his perfect life.
We tell of his love, his mercy, his grace.
We tell of is sacrifice for all humanity.
And we also tell of his resurrection from the dead.
And not only that but we also tell of the fact that he is coming again in judgement of this world.
And we also tell that Jesus is the ONLY way, the ONLY truth, the ONLY life and no one is going to make it apart from Jesus Christ.
And this is the message that the world doesn’t like.
Because it convicts the world of its sin.
It causes the world to make a choice.
And this whole concept of preaching about the Christ was established in Caesarea Philippi right here in our text for tonight.
So, if you have found in your Bibles, I’d invite you to stand with me as we read.
Matthew writes . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
Matthew 16:
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
What Are They Saying About Me? (Vs 13-15)
What Are They Saying About Me? (Vs 13-15)
So, yet again we see Jesus and the disciples moving about.
They were on the go and they were approaching Caesarea Philippi, Jesus poses a question to them.
And the question is who do the people say the Son of Man is?
And there is actually a lot to this question.
One of the things that is rarely talked about is Caesarea Philippi itself.
It, like most Roman cities of the time was a very pagan city.
However, it actually is more pagan, if that could be so than many others.
In fact, later on the region was renamed Caesarea Paneas after the false god Pan.
And when Herod the Great overtook the city, he actually set up a white marble temple in honor of Pan.
So, it was in itself a very wicked city.
And I bring that up because it actually plays into what Jesus is asking here.
Here they are overlooking this wicked city, full of false gods, and Jesus turns and asks his disciples, who do the people say the Son of Man is?
And notice he is referring to himself as “the Son of Man” or in more familiar terms, “the Son of God.”
So he is already referring to himself as the Messiah, but he is wanting to know #1 if the people are hearing what he is saying.
And, #2 if his disciples are hearing what he is saying.
So, he asks about what the people are saying, what their thoughts are about his identity.
And his disciples tell him . . .
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Matthew 16:1
So, not too bad but the people still don’t get it.
They know that Jesus is important.
They know that Jesus is a representative of God.
But they are equating Jesus with one of the great prophets of times past.
Which, honestly is one thing that people still struggle with today.
One of the greatest scams of Islam is their belief in Jesus as a prophet and not the Messiah.
One of the greatest scams of secular humanism, which is the basis for all atheism and worldliness is the denial of Jesus as THE CHRIST.
Because it is okay to see Jesus as a “great man,” or as a “great prophet,” or a “great religious teacher,” but when we start referring to Jesus as “The Christ,” it crosses that line that we talked about earlier with Paul.
Because when we acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ we are acknowledging, Jesus’ words when he said . . .
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.
And that is the crux of the entire argument.
There is no other way except through Jesus.
Which is why false religions and false churches are very subtle in their beliefs about Jesus.
They will tell you all kinds of things about Jesus, but where it all boils down is whether or not they believe and understand that Jesus is the Christ.
And that is why we have to be very, very careful because there is a lot of deception out there in the world.
Remember what John said . . . .
1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognise the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
Don’t just take people at face value.
Test the spirits, to see if the Spirit is there.
If not, then leave.
You don’t want no part of that mess.
So, Jesus gauges their responses about the people, now he wants to know something else . . .
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
The Christ! (Vs 16-17)
The Christ! (Vs 16-17)
Which in itself is a very valid question.
Because what point is it for them to be following Jesus if they don’t believe he is the Christ?
It is sort of a waste of time.
So, he poses the question to the, who do you say I am?
And for all the times Peter stuck his foot in his mouth, this was definitely not one of them.
And it is also a glimpse into the future and to just who this man called Peter is.
And he is the first to speak up . . .
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
One of the most important statements Peter ever made.
Because it affirmed what Peter really believed in his heart.
Even though he would fail Christ.
Even though he would fall and run away.
Deep down in his soul he knew the truth.
And every time he would mess up, that truth would eat at him until he repented.
And that is the way life is.
We make mistakes.
We mess up.
We fall down.
But every time the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, comes back to us.
And every time we can place our faith in that and the forgiving and reconciling power of Jesus Christ.
And that is what brings us hope.
Hope in everlasting life.
But it has to be engrained in our soul.
We have to believe it with everything we are.
And tonight, I ask you that same question, who do you say the Son of Man is?
Think about it.
And you can answer any way you want.
But what you say doesn’t matter.
What do you believe?
Peter believed and Jesus tells him . . . .
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.
And that is the key.
Why do you believe what you believe?
Is it because some man or woman somewhere told you?
That’s not going to to cut it.
It has to be because the Spirit has revealed the truth about Jesus, the truth about God to you.
And you have chosen to believe and accept what the Spirit has taught you.
So, #1 do you really believe?
Even when life get hard?
And #2, why do you believe?
Is it because the Spirit has revealed it to you?
If so, then you are well on your way!
If not, we will work on it!
The Rock (Vs 18-20)
The Rock (Vs 18-20)
And now, we come to what could arguably be one of the most argued points in all Scripture.
One of the main dividing points between Catholics and Protestants.
Jesus tells Peter . . .
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Matthew 16:18
And we know the debate.
The Catholics feel that Jesus established Peter as the first “Pope” and that all authority over all things, including Scripture was granted to Peter and by succession every Pope since then.
However, the Protestants (us) disagree in that when Jesus said on this rock, he is talking about Himself.
Jesus is the Rock and the church is built on Christ, not Peter or any other man or woman for that matter.
Without Christ there is no church.
Without Christ there is no salvation.
What is going on here with Peter is simply Jesus affirming Peter’s role and praising him for his solid dedication to Jesus.
His name is actually Simon, but early on Jesus told him he would be “Cephas” or “Peter” which does come from “Petros” that means “stone,” but Jesus never established that Peter was the one who the church would be built on.
Peter and the other disciples had a great responsibility in spreading the Gospel and adding to the foundation, the actual Rock, which was Christ.
But they only built on top of what Christ had already established.
And we, by the way have the same responsibility.
However the most important part of this conversation is Jesus’ affirmation that the gates of Hades (Hell) will not overcome it.
Meaning that the true Church and the Rock the Church is built on is stronger than any force in the universe and there is nothing out there than could overcome it.
And by extension, if we are in Christ, we may get knocked down, but there is nothing in the universe that can completely overcome us, unless we allow it.
And Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that . . .
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16:
Which is the authority to advance the Church.
And also the responsibility to lead the people to the gates of the Kingdom to which they have the keys to.
And those keys are not ideas, thoughts, and doctrines.
They keys to heaven is the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.
And the binding and loosing here is really referring to freeing people from the bondage of sin by the presentation of the Gospel.
And Peter was not the only one with this responsibility and this gift.
We all have it.
And we are all expected to use it.
Altar Call
Altar Call
But do we?
Do we use the gifts and the responsibility that Jesus has given us?
We hold the keys to heaven. Do we help others get to the gate?
Do we show others how to be loosed from the bondage of sin?
Or, are we satisfied just knowing that we are saved?
That we have entrance?
Jesus didn’t call us to accept Him and go and sit down.
Jesus called us to go and make disciples.
To share the Gospel with the world around us.
Are we doing that tonight ?
Who do we say Jesus is?
Do we affirm that He is the Christ?
Is he OUR Christ?
If the Spirit is convicting you over any of these questions, I would encourage you to come to this altar and pray about it tonight.
The altar is open and available, what will you do with it?