Matthew 16:20-26

[0:00] In Matthew 16 we'll start reading about verse 20. The Bible says in Matthew 16, starting at verse 20, says, Then charge he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the cross.

[0:16] From that time forth began Jesus to shoe unto his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense unto me, for thou savorsst not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, for whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? We'll stop reading right there. So once again, there in the book of Matthew chapter 16,

[1:26] Jesus has charged his disciples in verse 20 not to tell any man that he is Jesus the cross. Now Christ would have had his own reasons for not wanting them to go out and tell everyone that they ran into that he would not or not to tell everyone that they ran into that he was the cross. That didn't discount the fact that he was the cross and the Son of God, but he charges his disciples not to do that. It says from that time forth began Jesus to shoe unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and raised again the third day. It says from that time Jesus Christ told his disciples, told these men that have been following him around, told these folks that had seen him perform miracles, seen him feed people by the thousands in the scriptures and within the gospels. Jesus has already fed 5,000 people at one time. He's already fed 4,000 people at another time with another food, leftover and baskets for his disciples to gather up. They witnessed all of these miracles. They witnessed these things come to be and Jesus tells them don't tell people that I'm the cross but I have something to tell you. I have got to go up to Jerusalem. I must be handed over into the hands of sinful men. I must be killed but don't you worry the third day I will rise from the dead.

[3:13] The third day I will be resurrected by the power of the Father, by the power of the Holy Ghost and by my own power I will be resurrected to live again. Jesus tells his disciples this very thing and what does Peter do? He says Lord be in fire from thee Lord this thing shall not come unto you it shall not be unto you folks. This was the same Peter that had just admitted that Jesus Christ was indeed the Son of the Living God. He just admitted that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah.

[3:56] He had just told Jesus and witnessed all the disciples who Jesus was. He admitted who he was admitted his belief, admitted everything about him and yet he tells Jesus be in fire from thee.

[4:14] This thing will not come to pass. How doubtful we are ourselves as Christians. We make the confession. We make the confession Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God. We make the confessions Jesus died for my sins. We make the confessions I'm glory bound. We make the confessions all over town all over our places of work in front of our families in front of our friends.

[4:43] We confess Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives but then what do we do? Will act just like Peter does here not long at all after after Jesus or after Peter and confess Jesus Christ as Lord he denies the same. He says be it far from thee. What was this? Peter found it hard to believe. Peter being a Jew he was looking for Messiah. Peter would have been somewhat familiar with the Old Testament scriptures. Peter would have known that God promised him a Messiah. God promised a seed that would crush the head of the serpent way back in Genesis 3 and God had promised him a Messiah over and over in the Old Testament scriptures. Peter would have been familiar with that. He would have known about that and he was looking for a Messiah that would come and set up his kingdom immediately that would come and take out God's promised people God's chosen people the apple of

[5:49] God's eye the Jewish nation that's the Messiah that Peter was looking for but that is not the Messiah that Christ came to be at this point. Christ came not only to save the Jew he came to save the Gentile he came to save any and everyone that would accept the sacrifice that he was about to make for Jew and Gentile alike. That's not what Peter was looking for that's not what any of the other disciples were looking for that's not what any of them were looking for they were looking for something to take place immediately. Cross tells them here he says he says in the scriptures from that time forth that be in Jesus to shoe and his disciples how he must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and cheat priests and scribes and be killed and raised again the third day Peter took him and began to review. Can you imagine taking the Lord Jesus Christ? I don't know if that means he grabbed him by the arm or if it just means he took him off to the side somewhere but either way the scripture says he took him and began to rebuke him he began to rebuke the very one that came to save his soul. We got an entire world full of people now that rebuke in the same thing that rebuke Jesus Christ they rebuke the word they rebuke his blood they rebuke everything about Almighty God rebuke everything about the work of Jesus Christ on

[7:29] Calvary's cross they rebuke all the hey they are no different than the Pharisees and the Sadducees that came at the beginning of the chapter demanding a sign these men had heard of the of the miracles performed by Jesus Christ Jesus Christ had cast out demons they accused them of being a demon and sell accused them of casting out demons by using other demons they had witnessed all these miracles heard of the miracles of Jesus yet they commanded more signs and that's crazy but the world is no different now I believe if God would just do this if God would just do that I believe oh God has done everything that God is going to do God has sent the crown jewel of heaven he said the only begotten he sent him down here into a world full of filth into a world full of sin and a world full of sinners who are in love with that filth and that sin he sent him to die in their place on the cross at Calvary there will no other sign be given we either believe what cross did for us or we reject what cross done for us if we believe we are promised a place in heaven a place in glory if we reject we will go to hell period that's the only thing that's all that's out there there are no other deals to be made Jesus Christ is the final word from God Jesus Christ was the final word and is the final word from God God the Father has an issue with mankind that's why

[9:30] Jesus Christ came to reconcile man back under the father he came to bring us back in the fellowship with God to bring us back in a communion with God to make a way that we could do that God created man in the garden so I have communion with him to have fellowship with him so that man could serve him and sin entered in and ruined that that's why reconciliation had to be made because there was no other way how did that reconciliation have to be made a cross for sin had to be paid a cross for sin had to be paid Peter wasn't quite grasping that here and Matthew 16 he didn't understand that cross for sin he didn't understand everything that Jesus was saying but folks listen to me he confessed that Jesus Christ was the Lord you may be sitting here this morning you may say I can't believe I can't understand all of the Bible folks listen to me I've been preaching for years now

[10:33] I've been saved for several years I don't understand everything in the scripture I don't understand everything about Jesus Christ I don't understand everything about glory I don't understand everything about salvation but I know enough to know that when God called my name and God showed me my simple condition that he was able to save me and praise God that's precisely what he did but to this day I still don't know everything about scripture and you know what I won't know everything about scripture if I knew everything about this Bible I would be God and I can promise you I'm nowhere near that Peter didn't quite get a good grip on things and we might look down our nose at Peter because of that and we're in no different shape but what did Jesus say get thee behind me Satan get thee behind me Satan referring was he referring to Peter or Satan or was he talking to Satan himself folks this wasn't the only time Jesus's life is ever tempted and he was being tempted by a man named or by Satan through a man named Peter one of his very own disciples folks when Jesus at the very beginning of the gospel when Jesus gets led away into the wilderness of the holy ghost and then Satan begins to tend we read of only three temptations in all of the folks that is not the only three times that Jesus Christ was tempted in his life here I'm persuaded that Jesus Christ from the time of his adolescence until the very time that he died he was tempted of Satan he was tempted of demons I'm not talking about temptation as far as the sin I'm saying he was tried of Satan he was tried of demons but he overcame every temptation every trial and everything else that came his way why was that because he came to be the emblem is sacrifice of Almighty God that was the only way John could have said behold the Lamb of God which taken away the sin of the world Jesus Christ was that land and Jesus Christ is that land he was the land that was to be he was to be offered one time and one time only but Jesus he says get thee behind me Satan get thee behind me Satan he's being tempted be tempted with why if you look over into what's commonly referred to as the original three temptations yeah in the wilderness what was one of the things what was the last thing Jesus was tempted with says he took him up Satan took him up and said all this can be yours show them the kingdoms of the world said all this can be yours if you bow down and worship me all this can be yours if you bow down and worship what was he tempted Jesus with hopes over to better temptation for you and for me too not the power of the world but gaining the power of the world without bearing the cross that's what Satan was saying to him then and that's what was being said right here by Peter it was the same temptation coming two times by two uh in two different ways one directly by Satan and the other by Satan through Peter but either way hey Peter was tempting or Satan was tempting Jesus crashed through Peter by offering the same thing by saying be it far from the this thing should not come under you hey you're Messiah you are king you are Lord you are God you shouldn't have to suffer these things he was saying hey you can have all these things you can have your way have it however you want and not go to Calvary that's what Satan said that's what Peter was saying that's why Jesus you'd say get thee behind me Satan he came to do one thing Roger's title this morning I preached on it just a week or two ago he came to seek and save those who are lost he came not to call the righteous but he came to call sinners to repentance hey if we're righteous in our own works if we have the attitude that we've not done anything to be forgiven though if we have the attitude that Almighty God can possibly forgive our sin because we've gone too far if we had the attitude of any of these things that is a profitable attitude that is pride coming in the back door it's demons whispering in our ear it is all these things but my God said I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance that's precisely why he came and he gave his blood that the way could be made see before the blood of Jesus was shed we could have screamed repentance all day and we could have repented all day folks it wouldn't have meant a hill of beans before the blood of Jesus Christ was shed though we couldn't have repented of our sins completely God would roll those sins back for just a little while but the next year the within the next year until the next day of atonement those sins would still be there Jesus blood has the power to wash and clean all sins all time forever hey man hey don't just move them back yeah you don't just move them back they are clean I understand I understand when we say my sins are covered by the blood I understand that and I say it too I understand I'm covered by the blood of Jesus yeah but folks it goes deeper than that it's washed away to say my sins is covered by the blood means my sins are still with me hey now listen I'm still a simple person I'm still a human being and I still commit sin on a daily basis but I don't go out looking for sin and I don't go out wallowing in my sin hey we all sin we have flesh that causes us to sin we all have evil foes preachers teachers and deacons all alive play members all alive lost people same people all alive we all have sin in our lives the only difference between one sinner and another is one is forgiven of God because they accepted the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made and the other is still at odds with God the other is still God God's anger and God's fury abiding upon them because they have not accepted them good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ that's the only differences between sinners you got safe centers and you got lost centers I'm glad to say I'm one of them safe sinners praise God amen the things I'm sorry get through behind me Satan the art and offense but again was he talking to Peter no Satan was the offense Satan was the offense now some people will say some people say Peter was going to be a self-righteous he says that he took the Lord and he began to review folks Peter was one of the most unself-righteous people in all scripture now listen he ran his mouth he ran his mouth and he let his mouth go in gear for his brain really engaged a lot of times I understand that but as far as being self-righteous hey when Jesus

[18:27] Christ came to call Peter when Jesus Christ got on the boat with Peter and he spoke to the cross then he said show off a little bit go out into the deep let down your neck for a drop what did Peter say after he pulled in all these fish out of the net what did Peter he said depart from me for I'm a sinful man oh look hey Peter knew what kind of shape he was in Peter knew he was a sinful man if there was a man in scripture that was not self-righteous it was Peter so don't go saying he was self-righteous yeah because he wasn't Peter knew what kind of man he was he knew he was a sinner but here Peter or Jesus tells Peter says thou art an offense unto me for thou severs not the things that be of God but those that be of man is rebuking Satan and rebuking Peter all at the same time you're you savers the things not the things that be of God but rather those that be men what did men want we just got through talking about a little while ago they wanted deliverance right then and there but they wanted deliverance from the Roman government from the Roman government that had been oppressing them for hundreds of years that's what they were looking for at the time they weren't looking for the eternal deliverance they weren't looking for eternal salvation that only

[19:55] God offers they were looking for something more immediate folks if we get that mindset about us it'll be that much more difficult to reach us with the gospel when we look at our current situations it's that much more difficult to rely upon the gospel and rely upon the promises of God you take a thief on the cross next to Jesus Christ when he was hanging up on the cross he had a malefactor hanging on either side of him one of them ran along Jesus Christ and the other said we know that come into that kingdom they remember me and Jesus Christ said today that shall be with me in paradise one of those men looked at his current situation and rejected Jesus Christ the other hanging there on the cross bleeding just like Jesus he was in a miserable state but he could look past that and look to the one that could do something about it and I promise you

[21:01] I promise you whatever's going on in your life anything going on in your life anything that's happened to you or is currently happening you are not having as bad of a day as that thief was you're you're you're not having as bad of a life as that man there hanging on the cross and the only hope that he had hanging on the cross right next to him you are not having as bad of a day as that fella but he could look past that he could see past it he could see past the blood he could see past the stripes he could see past the face that had been beaten beyond all recognition but that man could look past all of that and he could see hope he could see hope some hey he had to have heard about this Jesus somehow some some way he had to have heard that who was hanging on the cross next to him the one believed the other did not and all the promise to get to paradise was only made to the one that believed only made to him verse 24 that Jesus said unto his disciples if any man will come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me if any come unto me now listen the disciples did not come unto Jesus

[22:26] Jesus called every one of them that's right he hand picked those men the cross that Jesus bore is not the cross that you and I bear it is not he was the only one can bear that cross he's the only one can bear the sin of the world he's the only one that can bear that burden but he did it voluntarily that's the main gist of that whole thing when Jesus says if any man come after me let him take up his let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me folks when we take up a cross it is it is a voluntary thing it's not something that God necessarily gives us we come across as christian i'm talking about as christian lost people you can't take up a cross if you're here among us there's no cross for you to take up the only cross you can pay attention to it's a it's the cross that Jesus Christ hung on died on bled on for your sin but for christians for christians to take up a cross says let him take up his cross and follow Jesus folks that cross is something that we voluntarily do and if we're true blue christians we'll take up that cross and your cross is going to be different from mine and might be different from yours now listen this doesn't necessarily include sickness death heartache that's not what i'm talking about when i say cross i'm talking about christian service i'm talking about doing what god says to do hey these commandments jesus christ said himself if you love me keep my commandments if you love me do what i asked you to do if you love me you'll do what i have said these are things that we voluntarily do if the cross of jesus christ was taken up voluntarily and he voluntarily went up that hill laid out his hands put his feet together let him nail him there hey he'd be the very creator of that wood the very creator of the ore that made the nest the creator of the people that did the nailing and he would do that for us who are we to deny taking up a cross and following jesus and the cross is laid down there we should be willing to take up we should be willing to take up for whosoever will save his life shall lose it and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it folks now once again the christians we've not yet suffered under blood in this country in this country we have worldwide that's a different story but in this country you didn't come yet it's home's way it's here it just ain't made its ugly face real right known just yet but it's here it's a save his life shall lose it jesus in other words if the time comes and we compromise we compromise the gospel we compromise our belief we compromise our walk with jesus cross we compromise any of these things he that shall save his life shall lose it he that shall save his life shall lose it folks what does that mean now in the physical sense in the physical sense in other words we might get some gain down here remember what we're talking about here we're talking about satan tempting jesus with it with gaining with gaining glory and gaining all these things without bearing the cross we're still on the same subject matter when jesus says he that shall save his life shall lose it but he that shall lose it from my sake shall gain shall live shall have life so he that shall save his life shall lose it in other words when these trials come when it comes time to bear that cross when it comes time to take that burden on our shoulders when it comes time to do these things if we do not do those things if we don't bear those hey jesus said playing this day here in the scriptures let him deny himself let him take up his cross and follow me if we claim the name of jesus cross and we never take up a cross we have no right to claim the name of jesus cross for we cannot be born again it's an impossibility the way i'm reading scripture yeah we will bear we will carry our crosses so if we compromise we go back and we get soft jesus knew jesus knew long before the world was founded what was going to happen to him and jesus volunteered for it you read john's account over in revelation he said search me there's none about jesus john cry john wet because of it say there's none there's none that are worthy to open the seals to open those scrolls to open these things and what the elder tell john why do you say that john he said hey don't cry you don't need to weave there's one that's been found worthy there's one that's the lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world he has been found worthy to lose the seals thereof he is the only one that was worthy to lose those seals he was the only one worthy to be the sacrifice that god required for the remission of your sin and mine period so whosoever will save his life should lose it who shall lose his life for my sake what is losing in your life sounds to me like denying yourself yeah it's precisely what it sounds like and you read just before this jesus was told about denying yourself if we lose our life we have to deny ourselves wasn't me to deny yourself once again people say peter was acting self-righteous in this he wasn't he wasn't peter was using what little bit of knowledge he had and i'm sure what he had gathered from some of the other disciples and what jesus had said and he was putting two and two together the problem is he was coming up with three when he put two and two together he wasn't quite getting it jesus is explaining it more clearly to him now more clearly he that shall lose his life for my sake not for your sake and not for handpatch from the world and not for congratulations and not for not for mama saying i'm so proud of you and for daddy saying i'm so proud of you not so your grandparents will get off of your back for uh for not going to church and not being safe not for those things hey that's not a cause of Christ but when we deny ourselves when we lose our life for his sake when we lose ourselves for his sake we gain life we gain life and life more abundantly we gain life eternally we gain gain life in glory with almighty god amen hallelujah amen for what does a man profit if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul but what shall a man give in exchange for his soul folks that couples with the previous two verses we're still on the same subject matter what shall the prophet of man what shall the prophet if he gains the whole world jesus could have looked at himself when he said that because he was taken up in a high place by satan himself said i'll give you all these kingdoms people say satan had no right to do that hey the bible calls him the prince of this world it says that he's the ruler of this world it says all these things all these all these evil kingdoms i know that god created the world i know that he created every stone and everything else of these kingdoms were created with but both this world is ruled by satan man it doesn't mean god's not still got control of it but it is rule folks if that wasn't the case we wouldn't be reading about all this human trafficking we wouldn't read about murder we wouldn't read about rape we wouldn't read about molestation we wouldn't read about any of these things if that was not the case and people will say why does god allow such things to happen such things to go on folks god created a perfect world man is the one that ruined it man let his own decisions come before what god had told him sin crept in and the world has been ruined ever since don't blame god when it's our fault bible says being unceasing god is not mocked while someone reminds so is therefore shall he also read yeah folks that's some true words it don't matter if you're lost or if you're saved those are true words for lost people and true words for saved people what shall the prophet of man be gained the whole world loses his own soul what would he give an exchange for everything everything you read over in the gospel of luke everybody probably familiar with it the story about lazarus and a rich man the rich man fared sumptuously he lived large probably had a great great big old house yeah lazarus laid out of his gate yeah sore wanting nothing more crumbs it fell from the rich man's table the dogs coming lick this sore dogs were the only ones that could give that give lazarus any comfort yeah he got more comfort from from a beast than he did from a fellow human being but when all come down the wire that rich man says he lifted his eyes and he'll he lifted his eyes and hell what shall the man proper what shall a prophet of man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul that man lost his soul he lost his own life hey the bible says that lazarus died and the angels carried him away under abraham's bosom all we read about that rich man is that he died and he lifted his eyes in hell nothing about angels nothing about goodness nothing about a second chance or a third chance nothing along those lines when we die we're either carried under god or we will get find ourselves in hell there is no in between there is no purgatory there is no second chances after death we make the decision right now what shall the prophet of man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul it won't profit him nothing oh man because eternity lasts a lot longer in this temporal life that we're in what is it profit he should gain the whole world loses his own soul what shall the man give exchange for soul what do you think that rich man again yeah folks that that parable was spoken two thousand years ago by jesus now i don't know exactly when this happened but i doubt jesus would have spoke a parable have a referring to people and situations that the people wouldn't have been familiar with so i'm guessing about two thousand years ago that rich man opened his eyes in hell and he's still there today two thousand years later he's still in that place of torment he's still begging for the same drop of water he might still be begging for uh for uh to be to be allowed that his brother's not come there he's reading the scriptures in that account he says hey send send uh send lazarus send him let him witness let him witness to my brothers i got brothers up there on this don't let him come to this place don't let him come to this place of torment don't let them come here that that rich man was making that plea then those brothers have already stepped into eternity sin stand but nevertheless that man two thousand years ago looked at his eyes in hell and he is still there it has profited him nothing he may have had a fancy house he may have even had a chariot he may have had he may have had donkeys and camels and horses he may have had all these things says that that he lived in ferrets sumptuously sumptuously the folks that gained him nothing in the side of eternity they gained him nothing and as far as eternity went eternity's a long time to be wrong folks it is a long time to be wrong christ has given us opportunity these Pharisees and Sadducees they came to Jesus after witnessing or after hearing about the miracles after witnessing some of them they came to Jesus wanting another sign we're not quite convinced yet folks let me tell you something this bible is the word of God and Jesus Christ is the word of God in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and they dwelt among us all that can be found right there in John chapter one the word became flesh and dwelt among us this word is truth this word precept upon precept and line upon line is true it will be fulfilled there is coming a day of reckoning for the world for all of those that have rejected the gospel all of those that have rejected God and rejected the blood of Jesus

[36:24] Christ that day of judgment is coming and it will be a day that you cannot escape from there has been a way of escape through Jesus Christ that has been made now but when that day comes there will be no escape the bible says they'll go up into the mountains in the hills and beg from the rocks to fall on them it says that they'll seek death and death will flee from them they'll be in such miserable condition they will try to die they're gonna try folks i'm convinced because of that scripture and revelation i'm convinced there will be people trying to kill themselves and they can't do it it says death will flee from them folks if you say my god wouldn't do that you're not serving the same god that i am right you're not serving the god of the bible my bible says when Jesus Christ comes back he does judge and make war yeah he said i came not to bring peace but a sword he said i know he said i've come there's gonna be division take place division with them families division and friends there's gonna be division why is that jesus christ is that dividing line i can talk about god all day long out on the street corner and not many people are gonna get offended if that's all i say is god but when i mentioned the name of jesus christ that's when offense begins to take place that's when people start to get their toes stepped on hey the bible said god sent him something hold inside i lay a rock of a fence a stumbling stone that rock was jesus christ and he is a rock of a fan oh yeah and some man will fall on it and it'll hurt him and he'll crush him when it happens those weren't the ones to worry about though that was me and it it'll land on some of them no grind them to powder that's the bible that's what the bible says those that fall upon it they'll be hurt folks this word hurts when you find out that you are center and you can't you can't be saved till you realize that but when you find out that you are center that god looks at you and disgust and filth and he knows your wickedness and he knows your sin he knows every black crevice that's within your heart he knows what you've done whether your friends know it whether your spouses know it whether your parents know it or anyone else god knows what we have done when we find out that and he shines the light of the gospel into your heart and it exposes that are you gonna run to that light or are you gonna play from the light Jesus said again in

[39:16] John chapter three this is the condemnation that men love darkness more than light because the light exposes their deeds what shall a prophet man or what does a man profit if he should gain the whole world and lose his own souls right what shall a man give in exchange for his soul but we can give nothing right now we can give nothing but you can't give your life you can't give your heart i don't care how many times you've heard it preached you can't give your heart to jesus christ and be saved if you give anything to god to be saved it is no longer of grace you've had to give something up my god saves me by grace according to the scripture he saves me by grace i can't and i understand people mean well by they say i gave my heart and life to god so many years ago and that's all great and fine and well but we gave nothing for salvation christ is salvation is not the act of giving it's the act of receiving something from god receiving jesus christ receiving the gift of salvation we give nothing to receive that gift the only thing we can do is be sinners and everybody in here is that and that's what has been done to erase that from us yeah to wash us clean what should a prophet we gain the whole world and lose our own soul absolutely nothing