no pain no gain Matt 16
“No Pain no Gain”
Matthew 16:13-27
Intro
· Sadly many people have fallen prey to the lure of the fast dollar and have been swindled out of countless millions
· PPT- show copy of my most recent email- I get these weekly
· I laugh when I hear & see the adds that promise weight loss or big muscles without the hard work of exercise-
· PPT – note an example add online
· I am sure we have all heard the expression- No pain- no gain
· You can’t get around it!
· Beware of the concept of an easy ride- have you fallen prey to it?
· It is not only prevalent in the physical realm- it is also in the spiritual
· There is at best a half hearted investment in spiritual life & the kingdom of God & are then surprised at little fruit in our life & in our church
· What is your philosophy of life? “Gain without pain”? Or “No Pain No gain”?
· What was Jesus’ approach to this topic?
· Read Matt 16:13-27
I The Context
· The passage we read is quite pivotal in the book of Matthew
· Jesus has taken His disciples into the very north of the country just below the foot of Mount Hermon
· They are at a place called Caesarea Philippi – a site of the shrine to the Greek and Roman god Pan. I believe there were idols to other gods as well
· It is here that Matthew first records three critical truths about Jesus Christ
o His Person
o His Passion
o His Pattern
· His person v 13-20: who do men say that I am? Who do you say that I am?
o This is the moment of truth, the HS reveals to them that He is the Christ- the Messiah
o We are not able to grasp the immensity of the moment
o Israel has lived in suspense for centuries
o When will the Messiah come to set us free from our oppressors?
o This is it- here He is! We will reign with Him
o All our troubles are over
o Maybe we could compare it to many believers expectation of the coming of Christ for His church at the rapture- generations of believers had hoped it would be in their time
o If it were to happen now- we would be close to the feeling of exaltation that the disciples had
o Jesus is the Christ- the hoped for Messiah!
· His Passion v 21-23: I will be killed & rise from the dead
o This is unthinkable!
o It is worse than working all your life, sacrificing & saving , only to reach retirement & the funds collapse and you are broke- this is worse
o Our kingdom is not now? The enemy will win? This is unthinkable!
o Peter rebukes Jesus & Jesus sets him straight
o Peter – you are thinking about what suits man not God
o Man wants the easy way, God’s way is tough
o This is a broken sinful world
o There must be pain to gain
o The road to salvation is only found through the cross
· His Pattern v 24-27
o Then Jesus lays it on the line
o As it is for Jesus so must it be for His followers
o To come after Him you must:
§ Deny yourself- to refuse to give thought to yourself
§ Take up your cross
§ Follow Him
o He then gives three reasons why
§ V 25 – for- save it lose it- lose it save it
§ V 26 – gain world- lose soul
§ V 27 – Jesus will return and reward us for anything we think we have lost
II Application
· Let’s take the rest of our time and unpack this
· What does it mean to you and me today?
· You see we have the same problem that Peter had in v23
· We look at things from man’s perspective not from God’s
· We do not want the hard way- the pain
· We want the easy road
· Let’s look at, at least two aspects
1. Salvation
· To come after Christ means a whole lot more than just ‘asking Jesus into your heart”
· As a matter of fact- that is in many ways an unbiblical concept
· Jesus says- to come after Him requires denial of self, a cross of suffering, and obedience to His Lordship
· Wait I thought salvation was free? This seems to make it sound like it will cost me
· It is free- but it is not cheap
· The accomplishment of salvation cost Jesus everything
· Forgiveness is clearly a gift and cannot be earned- do not misunderstand me-
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB95
· Yet on the other hand Jesus makes it clear that to come to Him- means that you deny yourself- you turn from your sin
· We either deny ourselves- or we deny Jesus
· This is offensive to our human nature
· Let me ask you, what kind of salvation have you ‘bought into?’
· It is not possible to come to Jesus as Saviour and not have a concept of guilt for sin and a desire to forsake it
· Jesus made it very clear
· This is what He meant in v 26
· Life is either about me- now & I lose my soul or it is about Him
· Which is it for you?
· I am worried about some of you here- you come out- but there is no evidence of life, there is no agony over your sin that grieves a holy God and caused Him to send His Son
· No pain- no gain …………………………………………….
2. Service
· Jesus made it clear here to His disciples that to follow Jesus meant a live of sacrifice and suffering
· He said- they would be rewarded for it
· The disciples paid dearly for their obedience-almost all were martyred
· What of us?
· In essence before the Lord rebuked him Peter said “ Not thy will but my will be done”
· Jesus made it clear to Peter & so too to us- to follow Christ- will cost
· Some of you know this and your commitment runs deep
· My intent is to encourage you
· For others- it needs to deep & I trust you will hear the Lord this morning
o New Building
§ We have an auditorium to finish
§ What do you want it to be, an entertainment centre or a place where people will meet Jesus Christ and then be transformed into faithful disciples?
§ We will easily be able to add 200 or more people
§ You think that will not cost you? Not talking about money – time & sweat
§ Who will reach them? Who will teach them? Who will be there when they are struggling with life?
§ If we do not have enough men & women and youth willing to step up to the plate and help lead small groups now it will not happen then!
§ If we do nothing now – we are saying – all we really want is an entertainment centre
§ We want to gain w/o pain
§ It will not happen- it is like the weight loss plan that offers amazing results w/o effort
o Growth now
§ We need men & women & that includes the youth – who are willing to commit to grow spiritually now- so they can lead in the near future
§ What will you choose to do
§ If you will not commit to the time weekly – to be fed & grow in a small group- you will not suddenly be able to lead one when the time come
o Next week
§ The bottom line
§ Come next week with an open heart
§ Pray & seek God’s face
§ Next week you will see options for service, options for small groups
§ The spiritual principle is no pain- no gain
§ Do not think you can get around it
Ill of Anthony Norris Groves
Anthony Norris Groves (February 1, 1795 – May 20, 1853), has been described as the "father of faith missions". He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, now the capital of Iraq, and later in southern India. His ideas influenced a circle of friends who became leaders in the Brethren or Plymouth Brethren. Among these were J. N. Darby, J. V. Parnell, (Lord Congleton), and George Müller, who had married Groves's sister Mary.
In 1829 Groves and his wife Mary set out for Baghdad, together with their two young sons, Henry and Frank, and accompanied by several Christian friends……………………….in March 1831 Baghdad entered upon a year of intense misery, with civil war, plague, floods and famine, in which Groves suffered the death of his wife and a recently born baby daughter.
pg 421,422, 424, 429
