Sermon Title: Victory In Death
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
“But what about you?” It’s interesting that Jesus directed His question to Simon Peter – in essence, He was saying, “It’s not as important what others are saying about Me than it is what you say about Me.” Here Jesus was making Peter responsible and accountable for his own beliefs. And Peter responded by affirming his faith in Christ: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Then Jesus tells all His disciples how to truly follow Him – by losing their lives through absolute obedience to Him.
“But what about you?” Who do you think Christ was? A good man, a prophet or truly the Messiah, the Son of God and the Savior? Your actions will speak louder than your words – if you truly believe, then you would “deny” yourself and “take up” the “cross” of Christ. In other words, true believers follow Jesus, not just with their words, but also with their actions. Peter truly believed. He followed Jesus, declaring his faith in Christ, and living out that faith through what he did. “But what about you?” Will you be a true follower of Christ in word and deed?
This coming Sunday we will speak more about what it means to be a true follower of Christ and find life in dying to ourselves as we begin a new sermon series entitled, “The Victorious King.” Hope to see you then!
