Confess, Believe, and Follow Jesus.
Notes
Transcript
Jesus can seem confusing from the outside looking in
Jesus can seem confusing from the outside looking in
For those who are in the world and not following Jesus, they might not know what they believe about Jesus.
So Jesus asked his disciples what those on the outside, not following Jesus say that I am.
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.”
Who do other people say Jesus Christ is?
A good man, a prophet, a good teacher… good things, just not Jesus.
A cuss word because that was the only time I heard about Jesus… they have no clue as to who Jesus really is…
To know Jesus requires a relationship with Jesus. We are believers because we now have a relationship with Jesus, we are now called to be witnesses of Jesus.
Knowing Jesus through relationship will take our knowledge from head to heart so we can be truly transformed by Jesus.
Jesus can only be known through relationship.
Jesus can only be known through relationship.
Matthew 16:15–19 (ESV)
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. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
It was Peter’s confession of the real Jesus being the Christ, the Son of the living God, that caused Jesus to respond in blessing Peter.
Confessing Jesus as Lord is the beginning of that relationship.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
The gateway to God’s blessing is confessing Jesus’ Lordship and with our mouth, we have great power.
Salvation, Forgiveness, Power in our speech…
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
This confession of the Lordship of Jesus gives us power to bind and to loose as the kingdom of heaven is revealed through our confession.
That’s great power… but Jesus had to share the rest of the story which included suffering and pain.
21 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.
Jesus knew what HE had to do and HE was willing to do it but Peter was not willing to accept it.
Peter could not accept that the Messiah would willingly lay down HIS authority and power in this way.
Jesus did mentioned the resurrection but Peter wasn’t willing to go through the suffering and death.
22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “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.”
Jesus went from blessing Peter for his confession to calling Peter satan for being a hindrance and distraction to Jesus.
How often do we have our minds set on man’s ways instead of God’s ways.
Man likes the easy way, the comfortable way, the path of least resistance.
Jesus knew he had to take the difficult path that required the most suffering.
Jesus also knew that this would offer the greatest reward to benefit all humanity.
God’s way is hardly ever the easy way because Jesus said that HIS way would require death and denial from us.
24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Following Jesus will always require a death, denial, and a cross. Even though we give up everything to follow Jesus, it will always worth the resurrection blessing that goes far beyond this life.
Don’t hold on to the wrong things… if it ties us more to the world then to Jesus it’s not worth holding on too.
Busyness and chasing the wrong thing will only distract us and frustrate
Calendar, schedules, commitments,
Even ministries can take us away from spending that time with Jesus.
What give us life, what brings us joy, where do we find our peace and purpose in life?
Only Jesus can do that. Loose your life for Jesus’ sake because there is nothing in this world that can profit a man for eternity.
Confess
Believe
and Follow Jesus