Who Will Follow? Luke 9:18-36 Sunday, February 19, 2017 Luke 9:18 22 (NKJV) 18 And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, Who do the crowds say that I am? 19 So they answered and said, John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again. 20 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said, The Christ of God. 21 And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Matthew 16:13 23 (NKJV) 13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? 14 So they said, Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 15 He said to them, But who do you say that I am? 16 Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar- Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:18 23 (NKJV) 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. 22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You! 23 But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. Boy, how quickly Peter moved from Blessed are you, Simon to Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense. I am so glad that this account of Peter is recorded for us. We too, can move right out of being heavenly minded one minute to leaning on our own understanding the next. Take this moment for example. Right now we are all focused on God s Word, the Bible. We want to know what it says. We want to seek to apply it to our lives. But in just a little while we will be dismissed. Will we keep that focus on the way home? Will we maintain that focus driving down Florida Avenue? Page 1 of 5
It takes but a moment to move from Blessed to Offense. We must STRIVE to maintain Blessed. One thing that poor Peter didn t have at that time, which the true Christian has today, is the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. That didn t happen for Peter until 50 days after the death of Jesus on the cross. It happened on the Day of Pentecost. Yet we struggle, nonetheless, with the very same dilemma. Maintaining Blessed. No wonder Paul wrote that we are to be filled, with the Spirit (Eph 5:18); Be filled with the fruits of righteousness (Phil 1:11); AND - Be filled with the knowledge of His will (Col. 1:9). Moving on in the narrative Jesus asked, who do men, who does the crowd, the masses say that I am? Isn t it interesting all the offbeat answers? If you took that question to the streets, like a Jesse Watters today, you would hear all kinds of stuff that would make you choke as though you had a fur ball. But the real question is - Who do you say that Jesus is? How many of you would echo Peter s response ~ You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.? Then hear again the response of Jesus to Peter, because it belongs to you as well. ~ Blessed are you, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. There is a series of questions then that we must answer. We answer these not with words alone but with word and deed! What are you going to do with that blessing? Why has God revealed this to you? Will you share this revelation from the Father with others? Will you follow Jesus? Picking our text back up Luke 9:23 26 (NKJV) 23 Then He said to them all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, Page 2 of 5
and is himself destroyed or lost? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father s, and of the holy angels. We are talking about following Jesus here being a disciple the definition, if you will, of being a true Christian.. At this point I want to share with you just a portion of a teaching, or the giving of instruction to the disciples by Jesus on this subject Matthew 10:27 39 (NKJV) 27 Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. 34 Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law ; 36 and a man s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. In reading more content from those narratives you would have seen that some of those Wanna-be disciples had all kinds of reasons for putting off following Jesus. How many young people in church today want to put off following Jesus until they get older? How many older persons in church today put off being a radical follower of Christ and now think they don't have the skills or energy? However, the true disciples moved ahead without hesitation. From what I ve heard from pastors ministering in the Bible Belt - that is the South Central to the South Eastern portion of the United States from Texas to Tennessee - it is very hard to prompt people to become avid followers of Jesus; true disciples. Now I ve never ministered in the Bible Belt. I ve never lived in the Bible Belt. I live in the Tortilla Belt. My friends tell me that the Bible Belters have grown up in such a religious culture back there that they almost think they were born a Christian and are heavenly bound. To them, being a Christian is just as American as apple pie and the Pledge of Allegiance. Page 3 of 5
I can tell you, however, that motivating Church people to become Radical Christians ANYWHERE is impossible. You see, the true motivation comes from the Spirit of God. And if people refuse to hear it from Him, they are not going to hear it from me! Jesus goes on to say Luke 9:27 36 (NKJV) 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God. 28 Now it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. 30 And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. 33 Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah not knowing what he said. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son. Hear Him! 36 When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen. Once again Peter gets a smack down, because he opened his mouth and rattled out loud (I like this part) not knowing what he said! Boy! Have you ever wished you would have thought just a second before you opened your mouth and rattled on? I sure have. There were some in the early church who thought that Jesus would return before John passed away. John did see the Kingdom of God before he tasted death, and you can read all about it in the book of Revelation. Stephen (deacon of the first church in Jerusalem) - who was not a part of this narrative - saw the Kingdom of Heaven moments before his martyrdom. Acts 7:54 58 (NKJV) 54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God! 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of Page 4 of 5
the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. Let s get back to our text One last question for the day: How many of you would like to see Jesus in all of His radiant glory? Ok, good! But let me tell you that it s not going to happen until you follow Jesus in the manner that He Himself described. Back up to Luke 9:23 26 (NKJV) 23 Then He said to them all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. Here s how Paul described such a life Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) 20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. That, my friend, describes a disciple, a true Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. That describes those WHO WILL FOLLOW Page 5 of 5