Who Is This Guy Who Commands Follow Me?

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I have a lot of firecrackers going off around my house, and not small ones, big ones.

I was working in my backyard yesterday, and one exploded, and it caused my heart to beat a little faster.

Well, Independence Day is upon us.

We've got a parade afterwards.

I'm looking forward to that.

It's going to come right down 60th, take a left on Sheridan Road.

I hope you can stay for that afterwards and enjoy that together.

But as you know, Independence Day is a celebration of our country in which we celebrate our independence, the birth of our nation.

And this year, if I did the math right, which is always under suspect, we've been 241 years as a nation.

So if 1776 is the date of our first birthday, we're 241 years in.

We are a nation that we distanced ourselves from a reign of a man named King George III, and that was a bloody mess.

We became a nation at the shedding of blood.

Blood separated us from Great Britain so that we could become our own nation.

And so this morning, in anticipation of July 4th, let's celebrate our freedoms, especially as Christians.

We have the freedom to gather.

Did you know that today, in North Korea, Christians will gather in a latrine so they don't have to suffer for being a follower of Jesus?

We don't fear that.

So we celebrate that.

But today, let's pledge our ultimate allegiance to the greatest of all kings,

who is gathering for himself a whole new people by the blood that he has shed for us.

His name is Jesus, and he is the Christ, the King, the long-anticipated one.

And not only did he die, but he was raised, and he's reigning today, gathering a people for himself.

As we've been working through the Gospel of Matthew, we can't help but ask the question,

Who is this guy, Jesus?

And this morning, we're going to approach Matthew 16, asking the question,

Who is this guy?

And Matthew 16 is going to show us through again and again that this is the Christ.

And so last week, we looked at Peter's confession.

This week, we're going to go all the way back to chapter 16, verse 1,

And we're going to walk through four different little passages in anticipation for next week

when we hear Jesus call us to follow him, to deny ourselves, to take up our crosses,

and to follow him always and in everything.

And so this morning, what I want to help you to see is,

Who is this guy?

He is the Christ.

And what gives him the right to call us, to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him,

what gives him the right is who he is and what he has done.

So this morning, let's look at these four different sections of Matthew 16,

starting with a challenge to the Christ.

Would you open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 16, verses 1 through 4?

Matthew 16:1–4

I'm going to read that.

I'm going to come back, and we'll just kind of walk through it.

So Matthew chapter 16, 1 through 4,

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

Remember, he's speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees.

An adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

So he left them and departed.

Now, as we've been working our way through the Gospel of Matthew,

you may have just noticed that a new group of people has been introduced, the Sadducees.

And a way to remember who the Sadducees are is to remember it this way.

They were sad, you see, because they didn't believe in a resurrection.

The Pharisees did.

So the Pharisees believed in a resurrection.

The Sadducees, who were sad, you see, because they didn't believe in a resurrection,

they were at theological odds.

But not here.

Did you notice?

Jesus, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, came together to test Jesus.

Jesus has this uncanny way of uniting people who are at odds with each other.

They unite in against him, in opposition to him.

We'll see that if you know the Gospel of Luke,

Pilate and Herod become friends at the end of Jesus' life,

because they met each other and got to know another, worked some things out.

Jesus has a way of uniting people for him and against him.

Well, these two groups of people, the Pharisees and Sadducees,

who are normally opposed to each other,

they unite to oppose Jesus.

And they came to test him, to challenge him.

They're asking Jesus to show them a sign from heaven.

And basically what they're saying is, hey, show us proof,

demonstrate that you're legit.

And in verses 2 and 3, Jesus responds by appealing to the weather.

He says, hey, you guys can read the signs in the sky.

You know if it's going to rain.

You know if it's going to be threatening.

Red sky at night or red sky and threatening in the morning.

You know all these things.

But then he says, if you look at verse 4,

no, excuse me, at the end of verse 3,

but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

Hey, you guys can read the weather just fine,

but you cannot understand the signs of the times,

namely that the age of the Messiah has come,

that the kingdom of heaven has drawn near in me.

You can't see it.

Jesus goes on to say that their demand for a sign

is just evidence that they're part of this evil

and adulterous generation.

They were asking for a sign,

and even if Jesus did give them a sign,

they would not have believed.

They didn't believe.

But Jesus doesn't leave them empty-handed.

If you look at verse 4, he says,

an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign,

but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.

This is the second time Jesus has referenced the sign of Jonah.

He talked about it earlier in Matthew chapter 12.

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

And if you remember Jonah, Jonah was a prophet on the run.

He gets swallowed by a whale, is in the whale for three days,

and he gets spit out by the whale, not in chunks.

And he wasn't dead.

He was alive.

He was in the belly of a whale for three days,

and he came out alive.

And so what Jesus is talking about in Matthew 12,

and here is, do you know what the sign of Jonah is?

That Jesus won't, it's not a belly of a whale,

the belly, the heart of the earth for three days,

and he spends three days in the earth in a tomb,

and he comes out alive.

The sign of Jonah is pointing to the resurrection of Jesus.

And so what Jesus is saying, these Pharisees and Sadducees,

is that, hey, you want a sign?

I'll give you a sign.

It's the sign of Jonah,

and we know that he's talking about his resurrection.

They don't know.

It's veiled to them.

But what he veils here is going to be unveiled in verse 21.

We'll wait on that.

Now let me ask you a question.

Have you ever asked this question,

or has someone come up to you asking a question like this?

You know what?

I would believe in Jesus if only God would give me a sign that it's true.

Someone comes up, you know what?

I have a hard time with this Christianity thing,

but if God gave me a sign, I would believe it.

Do you know how you answer that question?

God has given you a sign.

It's the sign of Jonah.

It's the resurrection of Jesus.

It either happened or it didn't.

One of the central claims of Christianity is that

Jesus is the Christ who was crucified on a Roman cross,

and three days later he was raised bodily from the dead,

and that he's reigning right now and will one day come back.

Now if the resurrection of Jesus didn't happen,

Christianity is a waste of your time.

But if the resurrection of Jesus did happen,

that points that Jesus is who we claim to be,

the Christ, the Son of the living God,

fully God, fully man, one mediator between God and man,

and that the death he died on the cross isn't just a historical event.

It actually accomplished something.

It accomplished a salvation, the salvation for sinners.

So did you come in looking for a sign this morning to believe?

A sign has been given.

All people.

Jesus died on a cross, and he was raised from the dead.

Who is this guy that responds to a challenge like that?

He's the Christ.

Let's look at the next section.

Jesus, the Christ, cautions his disciples.

Look at verses 5 through 12.

When the disciples reached the other side,

they had forgotten to bring any bread.

Oh, no.

Jesus said to them,

Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

And they began discussing it among themselves,

saying, We brought no bread.

But Jesus, aware of this, said,

Oh, you of little faith,

why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

Do you not yet perceive?

Do you not remember the five loaves for the 5,000

and how many baskets you gathered?

Or the seven loaves for the 4,000

and how many baskets you gathered?

How is it that you fail to understand

that I do not speak about bread?

Beware of the leaven

of these Pharisees and Sadducees.

Then they understood that he did not tell them

to beware of the leaven of bread,

but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

So here's what's going on.

After being tested in Magadan,

Jesus gets into a boat with the disciples

and they start to cross the Sea of Galilee again.

They're going to be heading north.

They're going to end up in Caesarea Philippi.

But when they reach the other side,

the disciples realize,

Oh, we do not have any bread.

There wasn't a panera there.

What are they going to do?

Jesus takes the opportunity

to kind of pull on the bread theme

and he says,

Watch and beware of the leaven

of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Leaven was used to bake bread.

The disciples take what Jesus says very literally.

We brought no bread.

Apparently the disciples thought

that Jesus was referring to some kind of bread

that they had gotten

from the Pharisee and Sadducee bakery

that they had forgotten.

In verse 8, Jesus says,

Oh, you little faith,

why are you discussing among yourselves

that you have no bread?

And he goes on in verses 9 and 10

to ask some rhetorical questions

and they are to make a point.

And it's basically saying this,

If we were talking about bread guys

and you guys forgot bread,

do you guys not remember

that I fed 5,000, fed 4,000 just guys?

I mean, if you add it all up together,

we're talking about 20,000 people

that I multiplied bread for.

If we were lacking bread guys,

I could make it happen.

But we're not talking about bread.

He says,

Beware of the leaven

of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

And in verse 12,

the lights go on for the disciples

and they realize that the leaven

is a reference to teaching.

Jesus is warning them,

cautioning them

about the teaching

of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

And that makes us ask the question,

Well, what was so wrong

with the teaching

of the Pharisees and Sadducees?

Well, if you were to flip your Bible

forward to Matthew chapter 23,

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

you would see Jesus pronouncing

woes upon the Pharisee.

Woe is you.

He decries the Pharisees

for shutting the kingdom of heaven

in people's faces,

for misleading the people,

for neglecting the weightier matters

of the law,

for ignoring the sinful desires

of the heart,

for emphasizing outward appearance,

self-righteousness,

for saying the very opposite

of what they were doing.

They were being hypocrites.

They were tying heavy burdens

and laying them on people's shoulders

without lifting a finger to help.

And it's all communicated

through their teaching and lives.

They were teaching a religious system

that cultivated self-righteousness.

It cultivated a reliance on yourself

to make you acceptable in God's sight.

And not only did it just blow

people's brains up with pride,

it also isolated

and was hurtful

to those who were harassed

and helpless on the fringes

of the culture.

But most of all,

their teaching

rejected Jesus.

They denied that Jesus

was the Christ.

And if you can recall,

they would even attribute

his miracles

to Satan.

So it's with good reason

that Jesus warns

his disciples

against the misleading teachings

of the Pharisees

and of the Sadducees.

their teaching

is shutting the kingdom of heaven

in people's faces.

It was a false hope.

It was a false gospel.

The good news

they were proclaiming

wasn't centered on Jesus.

So they were promoting

what's called

a gospel of works.

That you earn

your salvation.

So Jesus here

warns his disciples

against a false teaching

of the Pharisees

and Sadducees.

And I just want to take

a moment

to caution you

about a different kind

of leaven

that is in our culture.

A different kind

of teaching

that you do not

want to consume.

It's called

the prosperity gospel.

It also goes

by the name

health and wealth gospel.

It also goes

by name it

and claim it.

And what

this teaching

promotes

is that

it's God's

will for believers

to be physically

healthy,

materially wealthy,

and personally happy

this side

of heaven.

And you

must be

healthy,

wealthy,

and happy.

this teaching

kind of

moves along

the lines of

encouraging believers

to demand

God

to bless

them.

This teaching

teaches that

you give

in order

to get

a return.

they teach

that

Jesus'

death

on the cross,

his atonement,

was done

in order

that you

could be

healthy,

wealthy,

and happy

today.

It's

your right.

It's

part of

what Jesus

did for you

now.

And here's

what the,

what this

does.

this teaching

makes Jesus'

death and

resurrection,

it becomes

a motivation

and a

justifying

of greed

and self-occupation

in the church.

And it's

the complete

opposite of

what the gospel

is meant to do.

It's to

free us

from greed

and make us

generous.

It is to

liberate us

from the

worship of

ourselves

so that we

can worship

the one

true living

God.

The prosperity

gospel will

say things

like this,

what has

God done

for me

lately?

It

essentially

makes God

into a

divine sugar

daddy.

it contradicts

and undermines

the gospel

of grace.

We have,

G1 and

Caitlin Rye

have come

from Nepal

and they've

been staying

with us

for some

time and

it's been

really sweet

to get to

know them.

And some

of our

conversations

have gone

along the

lines of

Christianity

and of the

church in

Nepal and the

influence of

American

Christianity on

the church

of Nepal.

And one of

the things

that American

Christianity is

exporting very

well to a

place like

Nepal is the

prosperity gospel.

We have

teachers flying

in on private

jets into

Kathmandu who

then teach the

prosperity gospel,

collect a big

sum of money,

and then they're

out two days

later.

The prosperity

gospel comes in

on the internet

and on TVs and

it becomes what

Christians there

see and think to

be normal

Christianity.

It's 11 that

hurts.

It's a false

teaching that

gives a false

hope.

It's confusing,

it's not true,

it's distracting,

it's unhealthy,

it undermines the

church in its

witness.

I want to

encourage you to

pursue something.

There is a

website, it's

called the

gospelcoalition.org

and it is a

treasure trove of

information.

If you have

questions about the

prosperity gospel,

this leaven that

you need to be

aware of, go, go

to the

gospelcoalition.org,

type in prosperity

gospel into the

search bar and

you will find some

very helpful

resources, not only

to help you

understand it, but

to help recognize

it.

We live in a

culture in which

the prosperity

gospel has great

influence and we

must be aware of

it and we must

steer clear of it

and we must tell

our friends and

family, don't

consume that, you

spit it out because

it's not good for

you.

Who is this

guy?

Who is this

guy, Jesus, who

tells his

disciples, beware

of the leaven of

the Pharisees?

He's the Christ and

he's very concerned

about what his

people take in as

what is true.

Teaching matters.

What you believe

matters.

Moving on, we

move from this

caution by the

Christ to Peter's

confession of the

Christ and we

looked at that this

last week so I'm

just going to be very

brief here.

In verses 13

through 20, Jesus

and his disciples

are in Caesarea

Philippi.

It's a city named

after Caesar and

Jesus in verse 14

asks his disciples

who do people say

that the Son of Man

is and his

disciples respond

by saying something

to think Santa.

Well, they think

that you're a

prophet of some

sort.

And then in

verse 15, Jesus

asks, but who do

you say that I am?

And in verse 16,

Simon Peter says,

you are the

Christ, the

Son of the

Living God.

And what Peter is

saying there is,

you are the

long-awaited

Messiah.

Messiah.

You are the

King, the

one who would

sit on David's

throne, who would

establish a new

kingdom that will

reign forever.

You're that

anointed one.

Jesus goes on to

pronounce blessing.

Blessed are you,

Simon Barjona.

Why?

For flesh and blood

has not revealed this

to you, but my

Father who is in

heaven.

And he can't miss

the irony here

because those

heart-of-heart

Pharisees and

Sadducees, when

they ask for a

sign, they are

given no sign.

Jesus is like, no

sign for you, except

the sign of Jonah.

But here, Peter is

given a revelation

from heaven, from

my Father who is in

heaven, that leaves

no question to the

true identity of

Jesus.

Why would God

reveal Jesus the

Christ to Peter and

his disciples, but

not to the Pharisees

and Sadducees?

Would you flip back

to Matthew chapter

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

11?

Verses 25 and 26,

Jesus is speaking to

his Father.

He says, I thank

you, Father, Lord of

heaven and earth, that

you've hidden these

things from the wise

and understanding and

revealed them to

little children, those

of humble heart.

And then in verse

26, yes, Father, for

such was your gracious

will.

Why would he reveal the

Christ to Peter and

his disciples?

It was according to his

gracious will.

But Jesus doesn't stop

here.

He goes on to remind

Simon of the name he

gave them when they

first met, Peter,

Petros.

And that on this

Petra, this rock, Jesus

is going to build his

church.

And Jesus is going to

entrust him with some

keys.

Keys of the kingdom.

And what Jesus is

referring to is the

truth of the gospel.

The truth of who he is

and the truth of what he

would do.

And so when the gospel

is proclaimed, it will

either be humbly

received or it will be

pridefully rejected.

What that means is this.

Those who humbly embrace

Jesus as the Messiah,

the gospel keys open up

the kingdom to them.

But to those who

pridefully reject Jesus

as the Messiah, the gospel

keys shut them out of the

kingdom.

What I particularly love

about what Jesus is

saying here is found

in this promise.

I will build my church

and the gates of hell

shall not prevail against

it.

This is a promise that

Jesus is making.

You know what he's

saying?

Even death cannot

overcome my church,

my people that I've

purchased with my blood.

He's saying that the

church will never end.

Now if you think about

the founders of our

nation, George Washington,

Thomas Jefferson, John

Adams, guys like that.

Can you think of anywhere

where they would say

something to the extent

of, I promise to the

American people and I

ensure with my power that

America, the United States

of America will go on

forever and ever and ever

and the gates of hell will

not overcome that nation.

Nowhere.

Our founding fathers are

unable to make that kind

of promise.

But the founder of our

faith, Jesus Christ, not

only made that promise, he

is able to ensure that

promise because he's the

Christ.

He died and was raised.

Our resilience as a church

is linked to his resilience

as a risen king.

It's an amazing promise.

And so he's building his

church today.

He's building his church

here in Kenosha, in

Kathmandu, Nepal,

Guadalajara, Mexico,

Pyongyang, North Korea,

Moscow, Russia,

Tehran, Iran, and even in

Washington, D.C.

He's building his church.

And he will continue to

build it until he returns.

Who is this guy?

He's the Christ, the son of

the living God.

And he makes promises that

no one else can make.

And he keeps them.

Now, would you look at

verses 21 through 23?

Because the Christ makes a

very important clarification

at this point.

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.

And Peter took him aside and

began to rebuke him, saying,

Far be it from you, Lord.

This shall never happen to you.

But he, Jesus, 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.

We just looked at a passage

where Peter confesses that

Jesus is the Christ, and it's a

revelation from the Father.

And now, Peter gets rebuked for

representing satanic activity.

We are left saying, the disciples, at

the end of verse 20, they buy in.

They believe he's the Christ.

They're on board.

His true identity's been revealed.

They've got his identity right.

They know who he is.

But they've got a major

misunderstanding.

And the major misunderstanding is

how he's going to establish

his kingdom.

And Jesus knows this about his

disciples.

He knows that they think that,

that they think the Messiah will

come in power and glory to set up

his kingdom.

And it's true.

When Jesus comes back a second time,

he's going to come in power and glory

and to establish his kingdom

forever.

forever.

But what Jesus is doing here is

preparing his disciples to understand

the work the Messiah has right now.

He's going to have to go to Jerusalem,

and he's going to have to suffer,

and he's going to have to die,

and he's going to have to be raised

from the dead.

Now, this would have been a foreign

concept to Peter and his guys.

This is the first reference Jesus makes

to his coming death and resurrection.

There's three others to come.

And it's all in preparing his disciples

for why he is going to,

what's going to happen in Jerusalem.

What I want you to notice in verse 21

is that word must.

From that time,

Jesus began to show his disciples

that he must go to Jerusalem,

suffer, be killed,

and on the third day, be raised.

Think about it as a divine must.

It's got to happen.

Jesus must go to Jerusalem

because it's part of his father's plan

to rescue a people from every nation

and tribe around the world.

It's got to happen.

This plan of God for the Messiah

to go to Jerusalem,

to suffer, to be crucified,

that's not plan B.

That's the only plan.

It's not like when Adam and Eve fell,

God said, oh no,

we got to go to plan B.

Before the foundation of the world,

God the Father had set in place

a plan to save a people

through the death of the Messiah.

There's only one way for Jesus

to fulfill the God,

the Father's plan.

It's to go and suffer

and be crucified.

So Jesus is to go to Jerusalem.

Could you imagine if you're the disciples

hearing that for the first time?

Okay guys,

you guys are right,

I'm the Messiah.

I got to go to Jerusalem now.

They might be thinking,

oh yeah, let's go buddy.

Let's go.

Messiah,

take over David's throne.

Let's rock this place.

Let's rock this place.

And then he starts to say things like this.

I got to go to Jerusalem

and suffer many things

from the elders,

chief priests,

and scribes.

The elders and chief priests,

and scribes,

it was a body of leaders

called the Sanhedrin

in Jerusalem

that would make decisions

for the Jewish people

at the time.

So they hear that,

and maybe they're thinking like this,

okay, okay,

the Christ goes to Jerusalem

to take David's throne.

There's probably going to be

some fighting

and some suffering going on there.

Okay, I got it,

I got it.

We can deal with that.

And then when Jesus starts telling them

that he's going to be killed,

Jesus,

wait a second here,

because I thought

that you're going to establish

your kingdom

on Peter,

the rock,

and death is not going

to prevail against it.

What are you talking about?

You're going to die now.

In chapter 20,

verse 19,

Jesus reveals then

the kind of death

he's going to die.

It's by crucifixion.

And if you're familiar

with the way

the Jewish mind

thought about crucifixion,

to be killed on a tree

was cursing.

It was scandalous.

So not only is the Messiah

going to die,

he's going to die

in a really ugly,

gross,

disgusting kind of way.

And not just that,

three days later

he's going to be raised

from the dead.

Now I'm guessing

at this point

the disciples

when they're hearing

Jesus talk about that,

they're kind of stuck

on the Messiah dying.

So like,

what,

raised from the dead

three days later?

I'm still stuck on you

dying,

Jesus the Christ.

But after the resurrection

when the disciples

would recall these words,

they will reknow

that these were prophetic.

The Messiah had to die.

He must go to Jerusalem.

He must suffer.

He must be crucified.

He must be raised again

because God's plan

of salvation

required it.

Jesus was obeying

his father.

He's adjusting

his disciples' thinking.

God's great plan

for the ages,

the salvation

for the nations

would focus

on the Jewish Messiah

who would be crucified

and raised.

in verse 22,

look at Peter's reaction.

And Peter took him aside

and began to rebuke him.

It's not like Peter

is saying,

please,

would you mind

clarifying for this,

Jesus?

I think I misunderstood you.

What he does is

he takes him aside

so it's just

Peter and Jesus

and Peter's saying,

oh Lord,

may it never be.

This is never going to happen.

Nope,

not going to happen.

In Greek,

it's a double negative.

It goes,

never,

no,

ever,

never.

Emphatic.

This isn't going to happen,

buddy.

And what Peter's doing there,

he's elevating himself

above the Christ.

He's saying,

hey,

I got this thing right.

You got it wrong.

Sorry,

Jesus,

this isn't going to happen.

Messiah,

you're mistaken.

In verse 23,

look how Jesus responds.

Jesus turns.

It's just Jesus and Peter

and Jesus turns to Peter

and says,

get behind me,

Satan.

Why would Jesus

use that kind of language

with Peter

who has just confessed

that he's the Christ?

Why so harsh?

Do you remember Satan's tactic

back in Matthew chapter 4

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

when he tempted Jesus?

Satan offered Jesus

the kingdoms of the nations.

If only he would just bow

and worship him,

Satan.

And what Satan was offering

Jesus at that moment

was you can have

all the kingdoms of the world

without having to suffer,

without having to be crucified,

just bow before me,

skip all the suffering,

Jesus,

and you can have

all the nations.

Peter has no idea

what he's doing,

what he's saying.

He's got the things

of man on his mind,

not the things of God.

Jesus knows exactly

what's going on here.

And so what Jesus says

is get behind me, Satan.

Do you know what's

at stake here?

The salvation of mankind.

If Jesus took Peter's advice,

we would still be in our sins.

The Messiah had to suffer

and die.

He goes on to say

you are a hindrance to me.

It's that word skandalon

in Greek.

It's the trigger of a trap.

It's the bait

that when taken

snaps a trap shut.

And so Jesus is saying,

Peter, get behind me.

You are, Satan, get behind me.

You are tempting me

into a trap

that will undermine

God's plan of salvation

for all the sinners

of the world.

You are not setting your mind

on the things of God,

but on the things of man.

You don't have

a heavenly perspective.

You don't know

what's going on here, Peter.

I do.

I'm the Messiah.

I'm your master.

Get behind me.

Follow me.

Let me do

what I have come to do,

and that is to die,

to go to Jerusalem,

to suffer,

to die,

and to be raised.

What a rebuke.

Jesus is saying,

you're not going to

distract me

from what I must do

for the glory of God

and the good of all people.

We do this still today.

We set our minds

on the things of man.

Instead of embracing

what God deems

most important,

His glory,

made known

through the gospel

to all sinners

in all nations,

we have a tendency

to embrace

what the world

deems most important.

When Jesus says,

you're not setting

your mind

on the things of God,

what Jesus is saying

is you don't have

God's agenda

first and foremost

in your mind

and heart.

God's agenda,

His plan,

His purposes,

His priorities

are all revealed

in this

all-authoritative book.

He's made

His will known.

And all of these words

point somehow,

some way

to Jesus,

the Christ,

through whom God

offers salvation

to all people.

man's agenda,

purpose,

plan,

and priorities

tend to originate

in man

or Satan

and they usually

are denying

of God

or ignoring

of God.

They tend

to be God-less

and what we need

to be aware of

is that we will

inadvertently

adopt

the culture

mindset

around us

and think

the way

that the world

thinks.

It's that classic

frog in the kettle

illustration.

The danger is

oftentimes

we pull in

man thinking,

we absorb it.

It's not a conscious

decisions we make.

That's why

it's so dangerous.

we will set

our minds

on the things

of man

instead of the

things of God

without even

realizing it.

So you know

what that means

for us?

We've got to be

crystal clear

on God's

agenda.

His glory

revealed

in the salvation

for sinners

in Christ alone.

That's his agenda.

that's his agenda

among the nations.

Now,

in order

for us

to be on

God's agenda,

let your eyes

fall on

verse 24.

If anyone

would come

after me,

if anyone

would live

for what I

live for,

if anyone

would want

to be

following

after me

in pursuit

of God's

glory,

if anyone

would come

after me,

let him

deny himself,

take up

his cross,

and follow

me.

In order

to live

for God

in his glory,

we have

got to

die to

ourselves

and follow

Jesus.

God's

to live

to live

in the

world.

This

morning,

we've

looked at

the challenge

to the

Christ,

and he

gave the

sign of

Jonah.

We

looked at

his caution

to the

leaven

of the

Pharisees,

got to

watch out

for the

prosperity

gospel.

The

Christ

was confessed

by Peter.

He's

going to

build his

church,

and Jesus

clarifies

that he,

the Christ,

didn't come

to set up

a kingdom

by political

power or

military might,

but by

suffering,

crucifixion,

and resurrection.

Next week,

we're going to

look at the

costly call.

Let's pray.

God in

heaven,

great

triune

God,

you are

glorious in

all that

you are,

and your

plan of

salvation

that focuses

on Jesus,

it is

absolutely

worth dying

for.

God,

I do pray

that you

would help

us,

your people,

understand

and live

for the

things of

God,

not the

things of

man.

God,

I do pray

on this

Independence

Day weekend

that we

would rejoice

in being

citizens of

this country,

but we

would rejoice

more

in being

citizens of

heaven

with a

risen king

who's going

to come

back

and we

will see

face to

face.

It's in his

name we

pray,

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.