AC. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord | Matthew 16:13-16

Intro

Hey y’all,

So question for you,

have you ever looked at something, been somewhere, or talked about something and it creeps you out.

i know we are getting close to halloween, spooky day.

But have you ever been somewhere, and you get creeped out. The hair stands up on the back of your neck. Like you can feel the darkness of something?

Anyone?

Okay, so if you know me and have been around a while or LL, been around us, you know that we used to live in New Orleans.

And I love the city of New Orleans. That place is near and dear to my heart. I am who I am today because of that city.

but what is Nola known for? Food, Mardi Gras, Partying, Bourbon Street. All the touristy stuff.

Know what else? Voodoo.

Who has seen the Princess and the Frog? The Disney animated movie? Great movie, stacked cast. Good plot.

Who is the bad guy? The Dr. Facilier. Witch Doctor. He makes a deal with the voodoo spirit world.

Normal Disney stuff, but living in Nola, i have a different view of some of that.

There is two sorts of voodoo in Nola.

There is the French Quarter, tourist voodoo. buy a fake voodoo doll, haha, good laugh.

But then, there is voodoo. Like real voodoo. Like people worshiping the voodoo spirits, and basically doing witchcraft, black magic. New Orleans is dark city.

i had to take a class call New Orleans Ministry and Mission.

And it was a cool class, most of the class was going around the city and seeing different way people were doing ministry in the city. There was homeless ministry, rehabs, foster care, churches in different places. We got to see a lot of cool ways the Lord was working in the city.

But one of the places our Professor would take us is called the Healing Center. Sounds harmless, but there were no doctors there. It was a voodoo temple. He would take us there and remind us that spiritual warfare is real, that there is a real enemy, and in Nola, this is one of the ways he insnares people.

There were idols there, that we saw people praying to. Gifts being given.

It was a dark place. When ever I think about being creeped out, i think about that.

But that’s the context I want your mind to have tonight, thats the backdrop.

We are continuing our walk through the Apostles Creed tonight, looking at the second line in the creed. “And in Jesus Christ, His Only Son, Our Lord.”

So we are going to look at what that means.

to do that, we are going to have to go to a dark place in the ancient world. we live in a dark world right now.

To confess Christ is to confess light in the darkness

Context

So if you have a bible go ahead and flip over to Matthew 16:13-18. If you need a bible, throw a hand up and we’ll get you one. Who needs one?

Cool Cool.

Matt. 16:13-18. Let’s read this and talk about it.

but before we do that, let’s pray for our time in the word.

pray

Okay, Matt. 16:13-18, lets read this and talk about it.

Matthew 16:13–18 ESV

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?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 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. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Okay, so I said we would need to go to a dark place in the ancient world.

That place is Caesarea Philippi,

The place this conversation takes place in, really makes the conversation have some much more meaning.

So Caesarea Philippi is not far from Galilee, where Jesus grew up. It is in modern day Israel. north east side.

And this was one of the Darkest places in all of the ancient world.

This was a greek and Roman town. And what was there was these temples.

Two temples to be exact, one is a Temple to Pan, the Roman god, Pan. If you’ve seen the Disney movie Hercules, Danny Devito’s character is Pan. Phil. but he is pan, this half man half goat guy.

and then the other is the temple of Zeus.

both of these had wild happenings going on.

Part of the worship to Pan was the sacrifice of goats, and on special holidays, child sacrifice.

And where this temple is built, it is built on this cave that had a river that ran out of it.

So the people there thought it was an entrance to hades. A Hell Gate.

I got to actually go and see this place while i was in Israel.

Look at this.

show picture of the cave and ruins.

So, knowing where this is said, it really adds a different depth to what is being said.

When Jesus told the disciples, hey we are going to Caesarea Philippi, the hair probably stood up on the back of their neck. This was not a place they wanted to go.

This was a dark place.

So in light of that, we need to ask ourselves the same question Jesus asks the disciples.

Who do you say that I am?

So, let’s break this down.

In the second line of the AC it reads, “And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord.”

Thats the answer to the question, who do you say I am?

The Christ, Son of the living God. Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord.

SO what does it mean when we say that.

Christ the Savior and Lord, not or.

Look at the first question Jesus asks,

“Who do people say the Son of Man is?” When they answer them, they say, John the baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, maybe another prophet.

Look what they’re saying.

We still run in to this.

Jesus is a great teacher. Jesus was a great moral philosopher. Jesus was a good person.

Have you ever heard that? Jesus was just a man, Jesus was just a good teacher. Jesus was everything but, Savior of the world.

Think about it, all of these things would have been good things to be.

The people seemed to not mind Jesus, he was a good guy. These are not bad guys.

But Jesus didn’t want that answer, that wasn’t what he was looking for.

So when they say that, Jesus asks the more pointed question.

Who do you say I am? and Peter says, “you are the Christ, Son of the Living God.”

So here is the divergence.

There are two paths here.

On one hand we have the first answer. Jesus is a good man, Jesus is Elijah, Jesus is a great teacher, Jesus is a moral person.

on the other, Jesus is Savior and Lord.

People, the world, the outside of the church community may say Jesus is a good Idea.

But in the church, he is Savior and Lord.

You have to have both of those things, because here is the reality in the church.

We really want Jesus as Savior. We love Jesus as savior. But we struggle with the Lord part.

So growing up, before I discovered how much fun guitar is, I always wanted to be a drummer. It just looks cool, you get to beat the fool out of something and call it music.

Where are my drummers at? Drew, anyone else play drums or any sort of percussion instrument?

Playing drums is hard right? I know that if I get behind the set, i can barely do anything of meaning, but i can smack the drums, but I can’t play the drums, theres a difference right?

Smacking drums is easy, any of us can pick up a drums stick and hit a drum.

but playing it is way different.

That’s why the AC reads, Christ and Lord.

It is super easy for Jesus to be Savior.

We don’t have a problem with Jesus being savior.

But for Jesus to be Lord, we are really starting to step on toes.

It’s hard for Jesus to be Lord.

Because it takes control over our lives away from us.

If we say Jesus is Lord, then in turn we are saying, and we are not. We are not Lord.

So those are the two paths we can take.

Paradigm Shift

And here is what I want you to think about if Jesus is Lord, if Jesus is who he says He is then we cannot be indifferent to His claims.

They have to impact us.

So how should our lives look if Jesus is Lord, not just savior?

If we are confessing that Jesus is Lord, then what does our lives look like?

Here is what I want you to see.

If Jesus is Lord, our lives are not our own. Your life is not your own.

Every thing we do needs to be geared for the sake of the Gospel.

So think about where you are at right now, who are the people you are around? If Jesus is Lord, then you are a messenger of the Lord.

Who are you around that you know needs the Gospel? Who are you around that you know that if they die, they are going to bust hell wide open?

That is your missions field.

Everyone look down really quick, see your feet? Where ever they are, that’s where your missions field is.

Individually, if Jesus is Lord then our lives are not our own.

But even in Church life. As the church whole. If jesus is Lord, then what we do in here needs to translate to out there.

When we confess Jesus is Lord together, we are confessing that Jesus is the one who is going to build His church.

Look at verse 18 Mat:16:18

Matthew 16:18 ESV

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Jesus tells peter he is going to build his church and not even the powers of Hell can stop it. He said that at the Hell Gate, knowing that He is the one in control of all things.

If jesus is Lord, then we are not.

P2Christ

So here is what I want you to do right now.

Answer the question that Jesus asks the disciples.

“Who do you say Jesus is?”

Is he Lord?

The Gospel is this, Christ came in the flesh and died on the cross as payment for sin. We all have a sin problem that only Christ can save us from. That is what Savior means, we are being saved from sin.

As a result, He becomes Lord. You have to have both. He can’t only save you and leave you, he saves you and guides you to be more like Him.

So this is what I want to do, and this is going to feel weird. But I want us to say the apostles creed together. I said it over you last week, but I want us to say it together. But i want you to think, can you honestly confess these things? I know we haven’t gone all the way through it and you may not understand every little detail, but if Jesus is Lord, then you can confess these things honestly,

so if Jesus is Lord, then say it with me. If you can’t honestly confess these things, then don’t. I want you to answer the question. Who do you say Jesus is. If you can’t ask yourself why.

So lets stand, and confess this together.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,       creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,       who was conceived by the Holy Spirit       and born of the virgin Mary.       He suffered under Pontius Pilate,       was crucified, died, and was buried;       he descended to hell.       The third day he rose again from the dead.       He ascended to heaven       and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.       From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,       the holy catholic* church,       the communion of saints,       the forgiveness of sins,       the resurrection of the body,       and the life everlasting. Amen.

Y’all pray with me.