IF / THEN (3)

Matthew 4: Peter leaves his nets and immediately follows Jesus

Matthew 16:16–26 NLT see also: Mark 8:27–38, Luke 9:18–26

…Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it…”

From then on Jesus began to tell his disciples …that he would suffer many terrible things…He would be killed, but on the third day he would be raised from the dead. But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. “Heaven forbid, Lord,” he said. “This will never happen to you!”

Jesus turned to Peter and said, “Get away from me, Satan! …You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”

If I give up my life?!?! I did that 12 chapters ago! OR DID HE?

Yes. He gave up part of His life to follow Jesus.

Then he walked a little further and realized he had more ‘life’ still hanging on.

Giving up your life isn’t a once and for all grand gesture. It is a repeated commitment. It’s a do over, and over and over.

His Life…

He went to uncomfortable places to reach people.

He went where God sent him, willing to be misunderstood.

He used his gifting to help, heal, and lead people to God.

He showed grace to comfort the disturbed.

He voiced truth to disturb the comfortable.

He focused his life on making disciples.

He gave up his life for the building of the Church.

SIGNS OF ‘MY SELF’

- I want comfort. - I want security. - I want respect.

- I want applause. - I want guarantees. - I want sympathy.

- I want latitude - I want to be noticed. - I want to be understood.

These are antithetical to the cross -carrying life.

SELF CARE??? NO

I WANT TO LOSE MY SELF AND SAVE MY SOUL

Great! I HAVE TO GIVE UP MY LIFE OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER? NO! YOU GET TO!

AND YOU GET TO EXPERIENCE HIS LIFE OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER!

1 Peter 1:3–9 NIV

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Peter was martyred in Rome about 66 AD, during the persecution under Emperor Nero. Peter was crucified, upside down at his request, since he did not feel he was worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.

THIS IS NOT THE DEATH OF A MAN WITH REGRETS ABOUT HIS LIFE. HE WOULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!