Difficult Times, Future Glory, Daily Grind...(3)

Terry Roberts

Gospel of Matthew • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

Kingdom of God

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Jesus reveals His glory as the Coming King, but also His giving Himself up as the Lamb of God

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

“To everything there is a season,” the wiseman Solomon said.

In a way, our study in Matthew today will bear that truth out.

You might remember from last week, Peter’s big moment when Jesus notifies Peter that the keys to the kingdom will be in his hands.

But, as we’ll see in a few moments—God’s assignments to his people are in NO way an announcement of perfection in our lives—not this side of glory anyhow.

But you’ll remember that Jesus gave this word to Peter, that he was to be the leader, in so many words. He was to be the pastor of the new church that would begin on the day of Pentecost.

And, hey—that would bring a note of victory and joy… the work of the gospel is going to keep going!

BUT…Today we’ll see that Jesus followed up the plan of building the Kingdom with with news of difficult times ahead. But then we’ll get a sneak peak into the coming Kingdom of God, but.... then… back to the daily grind of living here on imperfect Earth.

And that’s why we’ve titled today’s message, “Difficult Times, Future Glory, Daily Grind.”

Let’s open our Bibles to Matthew 16:20

Difficult Times

Taking up the cross...

Matthew 16:20–28 (CSB)

20 Then he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

Now, why this, seemingly, strange exhortation...

One explanation might be that The Lord knew it was too late for the nation to respond to His offer, and His rejection was drawing near. And perhaps there was no reason for His disciples to be trying to convince a nation that had already turned from Him.

And consider this: Jesus might’ve instructed the disciples to keep quiet about Jesus’ Messiah -ship, to avoid misunderstanding in the throng that followed Him; they would have forcefully made Him king with very little encouragement.

But, see, Jesus came the first time… NOT to be a political leader—he came to die for our sins… His “Kingship” is still to come.

After all, notice what it is that Jesus talks to the disciples about next, in v. 21...

21 From then on Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, [to] be killed, and be raised the third day.

22 Peter took [Jesus] aside and began to rebuke him, “Oh no, Lord! This will never happen to you!”

23 Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. 26 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?

Now, Look: the Christian life is the ONLY life that truly makes sense, and brings an effective sense of fulfillment.

But how easy is it these days to get the average person excited over such modes of living?

Listen to what the great Reform preacher of the 17th century, Matthew Henry, had to say about this life of “denying” ourselves:

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Matthew 16:24–28)

If self-denial be a hard lesson, and against the grain to flesh and blood, it is no more than what our Master learned and practised before us, and for us, both for our redemption and for our instruction; and the servant is not above his lord. Note, All the disciples and followers of Jesus Christ must deny themselves. It is the fundamental law of admission into Christ’s school, and the first and great lesson to be learned in this school, to deny ourselves; it is both the strait gate, and the narrow way; it is necessary in order to our learning all the other good lessons that are there taught. We must deny ourselves absolutely, we must not admire our own shadow, nor gratify our own [sense of ease]; we must not lean to our own understanding, nor seek our own things, nor be our own end.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Now, please understand: we are not saying here that your likelihood for eternity with Christ will call for X amount of crisis that you can “stand firm in...” or how well you walk the straight and narrow… for that is ALL of the grace of God, right?

Now, watch what Jesus says next to the disciples… as a motivation to focus here and now on following Jesus—even through the hard times. Because, after all, the Kingdom is coming to earth some day.

OK, v. 27

27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each according to what he has done. 28 Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Future Glory

Transfiguration

Matthew 17:1–13 (CSB)

1 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.

OK, the connection between the last verse of ch. 16 and this first part of ch. 17 is pretty clear: some of those there with Jesus would “see” the coming kingdom of God before they died. And THAT’S why Matthew brings directly to what happened next.

This is a fulfillment of what Jesus had said in the last verse of ch. 16. The Transfiguration is that picture of the Son of man coming in His kingdom.

Someone might say, “Can you be sure that the Lord Jesus had reference to His coming Transfiguration?” Well, Simon Peter was one of the apostles who was present at the Transfiguration, and in his second epistle he wrote of that experience:

2 Peter 1:16-18 “16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!” 18 We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.”

This is most likely what Christ meant when He said there were some standing there would not taste death before the Son of Man showed up to revive His kingdom....

OK, so, I think we all know that Peter could be a pretty impulsive guy… Here he is at his best...

4 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good for us to be here. If you want, I will set up three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

OK, let’s see what happens next...

5 While he [Peter] was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown and were terrified.

From this passage I kind of get the idea that when God the Father spoke up, it came across to the disciples as almost a rebuke, like, “HEY—this is my Son here. Close your mouth and listen to him!!!!”

7 Jesus came up, touched them, and said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up they saw no one except Jesus alone.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”

10 So the disciples asked him, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

11 “Elijah is coming and will restore everything,” he replied. 12 “But I tell you: Elijah has already come, and they didn’t recognize him. On the contrary, they did whatever they pleased to him. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”

13 Then the disciples understood that he had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

Daily Grind

Challenging Ministry, Death, and Taxes

So, after such an awe-inspiring vision like the disciples had just seen on the mountain, they might’ve had hopes and aspirations of glorious stuff now. Like God’s Kingdom was coming… NOW!

No more hard times,

the church would be full every week,

gas prices would go back down to a buck a gallon,

and egg nog would be in the stores— ALL YEAR LONG.

But, uh, here’s what happens next, in v. 14.

Matthew 17:14–27 (CSB)

14 When they reached the crowd, a man approached and knelt down before him. 15 “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn’t heal him.”

17 Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and from that moment the boy was healed.

19 Then the disciples approached Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

20 “Because of your little faith,” he told them. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

22 As they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed.

24 When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax approached Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” 25 “Yes,” he said.

When he went into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tariffs or taxes? From their sons or from strangers?”

26 “From strangers,” he said.

“Then the sons are free,” Jesus told him. 27 “But, so we won’t offend them, go to the sea, cast in a fishhook, and take the first fish that you catch. When you open its mouth you’ll find a coin. Take it and give it to them for me and you.”

Conclusion

So, remember how we started out discussing the fact that we are to lay down our lives, pick up the cross and follow Christ..

If we focus on that the wrong way, we’ll cheat ourselves out of a meaningful, fulfilling way.

Here’s what we kind of, privately think… laying down our lives (our personal agenda, self-oriented plans, greedy ways, etc) will do: will cause us to never be happy, fulfilled.

BUT… when we realize that God’s call to pick up the cross is all about living for a purpose, a cause, a PERSON in a way that brings a sense of fulfillment in a way that nothing else can.

As I wrote this conclusion Friday afternoon, in a Starbucks in Spokane, at first, I was kind of distracted.

My coffee was kind of weak

I couldn’ get my chair in a comfortable situation

I was frustrated with the software I was using.

And, suddenly, right there, right then, in my uncomfortable chair, with my weak coffe, it hit me: I was all about me!

But I’ve been called, you’ve been called, to bigger things than good coffee, comfortable seating, and smooth software.

You and I have been called to help change the world—OFTEN, one person at a time.

But sometimes part of the process in being able to do that is to have experienced some difficulty, some hardship, loss of our own. It’s what gives us experience in being humans who need Christ.

Let me share a quote from contemporary author Anne Lamott. It might at first seem to be only about loosing a loved one, but it applies in a much broader sense as well.

ANNE LAMOTT...You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp...

So, you see, not having everything done the way we like, is part of our calling.

God has called me, He’s called you, to go into all the world and live out the most important truth there is: Jesus is Lord and savior...

In short: making a DIFFERENCE...

And, so, maybe we’re going to spend some time on this Earth, going through the “Daily Grind.”

When I had that experience in the Starbucks, I had this epiphany: when I’m tempted to be dissatisfied with stuff in life, or when I start wondering what the people around me think about me, then the Holy Spirit, can challenge me and ask this question in my heart: WHAT AM I HERE FOR?