Matthew 16 verses 21 to 28. This comes just after Peter has confessed that Jesus is the
Christ. So 16 verses 21 to 28.
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 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. Then Jesus told his disciples, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his
soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the son of man is going to come with his
angels in the glory of his father and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the son of
man coming in his kingdom.
Well good morning everyone.
It's good that there's three people awake this morning.
My name's Dave. I've met you before. I'm one of the pastors here and I really hope you can stick around
for lunch after the service. Why don't we pray as we come to God's word. Let's pray.
Father, you have words for us this morning that challenge us deep into our heart, to our very bone.
And so Lord, if you don't help us have humility in hearing your word, there's going to be so many
things that get in the way from hearing you. So I pray for your help for all of us to sit under your
word and so that we might have life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Well, what does it look like to be a disciple of Jesus? What does it look like?
Do you think of it in terms of making Jesus your top priority in life?
Is he to be first on your agenda? Put him first with your time, put him first with your money,
put him first with your abilities, put him first.
Trying to do that, I don't know if you found this, is super hard in a culture that is obsessed
with self. But having Jesus as your top priority, first on your agenda, falls far short of what
Jesus calls you and I to in our passage today. He's not going to settle for being first with
first on your agenda. He wants to set for you a totally new agenda.
I want to do two things today as we try and answer the question,
what does it look like to pledge allegiance to this suffering king? So Peter has confessed him as
the Christ and then he immediately says, here's my plan, I'm going to submit and suffer and die.
What does it look like to belong to this kind of king?
So first, I want to spend some time seeing that his call to deny self and to take up our cross is a call
to come and die.
Die to self-rule.
The second thing I want to do today is to see how this king motivates us.
He doesn't motivate us through compulsion, he motivates us through choice.
So that's where we're going. Let me just say one statement from the outset.
Let's be clear on this. Jesus' words here are not a prerequisite for being a Christian.
You don't have to do this to become a Christian.
That's totally based on confessing Jesus as Lord.
The belief that confesses Jesus as Lord, you're a Christian, you're saved.
What's here is a description of what it means to live the saved life.
It's not how you become saved, it's how you live being saved.
And it's a description for all disciples.
This isn't just for keen beings.
This is discipleship 101.
Okay, so what does it mean to confess allegiance to a king who chooses to suffer
and submit to those who are under his authority?
What does it mean to believe in the son of the living God who chooses to die?
Verse 24.
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
I wonder what you're imagining by that call of deny yourself.
Are you hearing something like, don't be selfish?
Does it mean an attitude of when you're a youth group and not enough pizza has been ordered
and there's one more slice and you are salivating and you're ready to kill,
but you go, oh, you have it.
Is that what he's calling to, self-denial?
Does it mean not living as luxurious a life as you possibly could afford
so that you can give to the church and missions?
Is self-denial not being selfish with your time,
that you are bone-weary after a week of work,
but you choose to do your part in making church happen?
Don't be selfish.
Is that what you're hearing?
And what does take up your cross mean?
Is it about the excruciating experiences of living in a broken world
where someone's cross is that their adult children have turned away from God?
Is that their cross?
Is carrying the cross of cancer or chronic fatigue,
is that your cross to bear?
Is that what it means here?
I think what Jesus is calling us to is even more radical still.
It's more radical than not being selfish.
It's more radical than enduring the painful situations of life.
The word deny can mean renounce.
Adam's introduction about high court's decisions.
I was reminded of that saga, I don't know how long ago,
it was a number of years ago,
where the politicians had dual citizenships
and the high court ruled that you can't stand in office
if you've got allegiance to a foreign power.
And that put all these politicians in a very tricky position.
They had to renounce their allegiance to a foreign power.
Like, imagine if what actually happened was,
I'm going to renounce my Australian citizenship
in any right to be a person in authority.
That just wouldn't happen.
But that kind of idea of renouncing allegiance
is closer to what Jesus is saying here.
Each person's natural-born disposition since sin entered the world
is to think that you and I have a right to rule your life.
That's a delusion because God made us.
Our life is his.
And so Jesus is saying, deny that.
Your allegiance to self-rule.
Deny.
Renounce.
And to take up your cross.
Crucifixion was not only a painful execution,
it was reserved for the worst of criminals.
It was a public shaming.
You were forced to carry the implement
on which you would be condemned by the world.
You were a dead man walking.
As you carry that cross, you are losing your life,
you're losing your reputation, anything in the world.
You are dead to the world.
So if you confess that Jesus really is God's king,
the son of the living God,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a writer during World War II,
put it famously,
when Christ calls a man, when Christ calls a person,
he bids him come and die.
He's not exaggerating.
He's saying, come and die.
Renounce self in this world and give yourself to me.
I think we see the problem in Peter's reaction
in verses 21 to 23 that we saw last week.
He just confessed Jesus to be the Christ.
They've been waiting generations for this guy,
for this Messiah.
He's just been told he's going to have this position
of influence in the kingdom.
He knows that God has promised this king he's going to rule
over everyone forever, bringing blessing.
And after hearing Jesus' pathway to glory of suffering,
he takes him aside and tells him off.
Why?
Well, Jesus tells us,
you are not setting your mind on the things of God,
but on the things of man.
Peter's devotion to this world's idea of life
and success and victory and glory
was blinding him to true greatness,
to where life could actually be found.
Jesus is challenging us to see a very deep view of sin
where it's allegiance to self is the problem
and allegiance to this world.
He isn't simply calling us to give up vaping
or gambling or drinking or sexual immorality.
Some of those things are very hard to be free from.
But he's saying something so much more radical.
He's saying,
give up allegiance to self
in all areas of life.
Your devotion to the things that this world can offer
that you're clinging to as if you must have them to have life.
Because that self-rule
and that idolatry of the heart
is offensive to God.
It is why he came to die.
So to deny self
and to take up our cross
is a call.
Come and die.
Die to self, die to the world.
That's discipleship 101.
Again, it's not for keen beings.
That's what it means to follow Jesus.
So the second thing I want to do
is notice how this Christ motivates us.
It's not through compulsion.
It's through choice.
I think we see in these verses
he gives us freedom to obey.
Notice in verse 24
that you and I are the ones
who are doing the actions of these verbs.
He doesn't crush self.
He says,
you must choose to deny self.
He doesn't place the cross on us.
He says,
take it up willingly.
He doesn't compel obedience through fear.
He invites us,
follow me,
imitate me.
It's choice.
And then he gives us
wonderful reasons
to win over our heart
so that we do this willingly.
Verse 25,
four.
For whoever would save his life
will lose it.
But whoever loses his life
for my sake
will find it.
He's warning.
Death and judgment is coming.
You will lose it in the end.
But if you choose to give it up
for my sake,
then you will find your life.
Notice that you don't save your life.
He does the saving.
You find it.
You find your life.
What is Jesus appealing to?
You want to find life,
don't you?
Don't you want life?
This is the most selfish thing
you could do.
Renounce self
and give your life to Jesus.
That is the most
selfish thing you can do
is give up self
and hand it over to Jesus.
That's what he's appealing to.
You want life, don't you?
Here's where you find it.
And he doesn't stop there.
He convinces us
why this is the case.
Verse 26.
For what will it profit a man
if he gains the whole world
and forfeits his soul?
Or what shall a man give
in return for his soul?
Take a good look
at what this man-centered world
that killed Christ
wants nothing to do with him
is offering you.
Take a good look
even if you had it all.
What will it profit a person?
Now, to be clear here,
soul is the same word
as life
in the previous verse.
It's not necessarily
talking about
the immaterial
part of you.
It's saying
your life,
your person.
So put all the comfort
and health,
people's praise
and popularity,
being lovely
and lovable,
being important
and powerful
and successful,
all the world's riches,
no pleasure denied.
Put it all
on one side
of the ledger
and you've got
all it costs you
is yourself.
Jesus is saying
just have a think about it.
You are being ripped off, man.
It is a scam.
It doesn't feel like a scam
because the whole world
is willingly
buying into it.
So if the man-centered world
is a rip-off,
we're given the true perspective
in verse 27.
For the Son of Man
is going to come
with his angels
in the glory
of his Father
and then he will repay
each person
according to what he has done.
If you weigh up
the value
of following
Christ's life
of suffering
only in terms
of this life,
even Paul says,
I can't remember
where it is,
but where to be pitied.
That's not
the reference point.
That's not
the right time frame
to work it out.
Like,
a soccer illustration
just came to my mind.
The other week,
we were winning 3-1
at halftime,
but then we lost
6-1 at the end.
If halftime
is not the reference point,
you need the right
reference point
to work out
what's actually going on.
If we keep this
eternal perspective
that Christ
is going to return,
not to suffer again,
but as judge,
to repay,
that's our reference point.
Now,
I'm expecting
that that verse,
that idea of repayment
is probably putting
dread
in some people's
minds right now.
according to what
I have done.
Oh,
if that's causing
you dread right now,
can I just
urge you to
find your assurance
of salvation
not in verse 27,
but in verse 21.
that he must
go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things
and be killed
and on a third day
be raised.
That's where your
assurance is,
verse 21.
Verse 27
is meant to be
an encouragement
to his people.
It will be worth it
in the end.
This really is
the path
to true glory.
it's saying,
make no mistake,
this Christ
who submitted
to sinful men,
this Christ
who became weak
and who was rejected
and humiliated
and defeated,
this guy owns
angels.
Do not
miss the
glory of this guy.
He owns them.
like,
no one
shares the glory
of God,
but this son
does.
You want,
whatever glory
he is offering you,
you want it.
With this kind
of eternal
perspective,
it gives us
resolve,
it gives us
joy and hope
in the present,
I think.
Because what loss
have you really
suffered if in the
end,
if the most
important people,
the closest people
to you even,
reject you,
but in the end,
the one who made
you and owns
the angels
welcomes you.
what injustice
have you really
suffered if you
forego vengeance
for the king
to avenge you
in the end
or to die
for their sin
and pay for it?
What pleasure
have you really
missed out on
if at his
right hand
are pleasures
forevermore?
What pleasure
have you,
come on,
forevermore?
what sacrifice
have you really
made in his
service if he
shares all the
joy and blessing
of his kingdom
with you,
knowing the
father?
There's a
mystery,
I can't even
remember who
it is,
but David
Livingston,
maybe?
He said,
I never made
a sacrifice.
Because his
point was,
what Christ
gave him
totally outweighed
anything he
lost.
And he did
lose a lot.
This eternal
perspective can
count all
things as
lost compared
to the
surpassing
worth of
knowing Christ
my Lord.
We just need
the right
reference point.
He's going
to come.
Imagine that.
You won't
have to listen
to me anymore.
We're going
to be before
him.
That day
is coming.
We need
the right
reference point.
And it's
so hard to
keep this
eternal
perspective,
isn't it?
I think it
would have
been sufficient
for Christ
to give us
his word
and his
promises,
and we
should trust
him in
that.
But he
even adds,
verse 28,
a guarantee,
a foretaste
of the glory
to come.
Truly I
say to
you,
there are
some standing
here who
will not
taste death
until they
see the
Son of Man
coming in
his kingdom.
This is
like the
promise to
Simeon in
Luke's gospel
that he's
not going
to experience
death until
he sees
the promised
Messiah and
he gets to
hold the
newborn in
his hands.
So what
did some
of these
apostles get
to see
before they
experienced
death?
Was it
the very
next verse?
Is that
six days
later,
Jesus took
Peter and
James and
John up
a mountain
and they
saw Jesus
transfigured?
And what
they saw
just blinded
them.
Everything
in earth
just looks
dim and
pathetic
compared to
what they
saw.
Is that
what it's
referring to?
Well,
maybe it's
referring to
all the
apostles except
Judas,
who saw
Christ
risen,
him coming
in his
rule,
who
received
his
spirit
to empower
them on
his mission
to build
the church.
is it
his reign
that came
with his
resurrection?
I think it
depends on
what coming
in his
kingdom
means.
And kingdom
is about
Christ
exercising
his rule.
So I
think the
promise
is likely
referring to
every way
that the
risen Christ
is exercising
his rule.
And I
think the
transfiguration
is just a
little
foretaste,
a little
window into
heaven of
who he
is right
now.
He is at
the Father's
hand.
With the
eyes of
faith for us
today, if we
take the
apostles'
word for
what they
saw,
especially
that he
is risen,
that he
is God's
king,
this
testimony
that they
gladly laid
down their
lives for,
with the
eyes of
faith, we
can see
him reigning
now.
If you
try and
see Christ
reigning
only in the
good things
of life,
so all
the pleasures
and health
and
all the
relationships,
if you
try and
see Jesus
reigning in
only the
good things
but not
the bad
things,
the sin
and sickness
and shame
and death,
because of a
warped idea
of what Christ
came to
remove in
this life,
he came to
remove,
remember that
self-rule,
that's what he
came to
remove.
All those
things are
going to be
removed later,
but we've
got to get
his mission
right,
we've got to
think of it
right,
because if we
have a warped
view of his
mission,
we will
struggle to
see his
glory,
like,
is following
Christ,
is he really
that glorious?
If there's so
much hardship
and things
not going
well.
But if we
see this
suffering in
our risen
Christ,
if we
understand his
mission is
to deliver
people from
the hell-bent
allegiance to
self in this
world, then
I think we
can see
tastes of
his power
at work
in the
transformed
lives of
his people,
who people
compelled by
his love
actually answer
the call to
come and die
to self and
live for him.
We can see
his power
at work,
his kingdom
is coming,
we can see
it in this
room.
We can see
him reigning
now because
when people
who once
boasted in
their
accomplishments,
they now
boast in
their weakness
and they say
that anything
they can do
is Christ
through them.
What is
that change?
That's the
kingdom
coming.
We see
him reigning
now when
people who
just dive
headlong
into the
sinful pleasures
of this
world just
go,
I want to
cut off
my hand,
I want to
pluck out
my eye
because I
found something
better and
more joyful
and this is
getting in the
way of that.
What is
that change?
It's the
kingdom
coming.
It's
Christ
ruling the
heart.
Christ.
I think
we see
his kingdom
reigning
in people
when people
who once
were bitter
and demanding
justice from
those who
wronged them
now devote
themselves to
reconciliation
and they
want to
give mercy.
Not just
have to,
they want
to because
they've
received so
much mercy
themselves.
What is
that change?
it's the
love of
Christ
compelling
a person.
It's
ruling the
heart.
When people
once clinging
to house
and family
and land
as their
life,
give it
up.
Hold it
loosely.
Use it
all for
his sake
and for
the gospel.
We can
see him
reigning.
When people
who once
counted
greatness
as rising
above others
now see
greatness
as having
faith like
a child
and being
the servant
of all
others,
that's
greatness
to serve.
What is
that change?
It's
Christ reigning
over the
hearts of
people.
When people
who once
faced their
death as
losing their
whole life
can now
face the
loss of
all things
and all
they're getting
in return
is Christ
and they
count it
I'm
gaining.
That's
him
reigning
now.
The
kingdom
is coming.
So this
call to
follow
Christ's
path to
glory,
it must
sound
incomprehensible
to our
culture at
the moment
where pain
is to be
avoided at
all costs
and you
depend on
people's
affirmation of
my thinking
and feelings
and choices.
This just
must be,
it must seem
the opposite
to life.
love.
But if you
confess this
suffering
Christ,
what
ought to
compel you
to have
allegiance to
him and
renounce
self isn't
to try and
pay him
back for
his death
for you,
it's not
to try and
pay him
back,
it's not
to try and
shore up
your
salvation,
it's rock
solid,
you can't
shore up
your
salvation.
It's
the love
of Christ,
a crucified
Christ that
compels us.
I think we
grow in our
love for
what he has
done for us
when we
acknowledge the
fact that we
are in love
with self.
I am in
love with
this world
and he
still chose
to die
to free me
from that,
to actually
give me
life.
What compels
us is
his love
for us,
to make
it a
choice to
deny self
and take
up cross
and follow
him.
I think
the last
stanza of
one of
William
Cowper's
poems,
now this
guy,
he wrestled
with deep
bouts of
depression
his whole
life.
Talk about
weakness,
severe
depression.
most of
his life
and yet
he produced
some of
the most
powerful
poems
of
Christian
literature.
I think
this last
stanza
sums it
up.
To see
the law
by Christ
fulfilled
and hear
his
pardoning
voice
changes
a slave
into a
child
and
duty
into
choice.
If we
believe
he is
glorious
not just
because
he's not
suffering
anymore
but
precisely
because
he chose
to suffer,
if he's
glorious
because he
laid down
his life,
we'll want
to imitate
him because
we believe
it's
glorious.
We will
count it
such a
high honour
to join
him on
his
mission.
Doing
our part
to get
the word
out about
this
crucified
Christ
and living
a cross
shaped
life so
that people
can see
the hope
that we
have.
So his
mission,
it wasn't
to die
for a
superficial
level
of sin
to change
behaviours
so that
he might
become
first on
our
agenda.
He doesn't
want to
be first
on our
agenda.
His
mission
was to
die for
our allegiance
to self
in this
world so
that he
sets us
a totally
new
agenda.
He gives
us the
promise,
whoever
loses
their life
for my
sake
will find
it.
So I'll
leave that
challenge
with you.
Why don't
we pray?
Let's pray.
Lord,
even as
I preach
these words,
I know
how much
my own
heart is
still,
well,
I know
a little
bit of
how much
my own
heart
still
revolves
around
self
and
looks at
life in
worldly
terms.
And so
I thank
you for
moving
towards us
and laying
down your
life to
free us
from the
love of
self so
that we
might know
the depths
of your
love for
us.
Lord,
I pray
that you
would help
us as
your people
to have
an eternal
perspective.
Help us
to count
it a joy
to share
your cross,
not in
saving
ourselves,
but sharing
it in
showing
people
that life
isn't found
in self
and the
world,
but is
found in
you.
So
Lord,
convince
our
hearts.
I know
that my
words
have no
power,
but your
words have
all the
power.
So convince
us.
And Lord,
if there's
anyone who
isn't sure
where they
stand with
you,
I pray
that you
would call
them,
call them
to yourself
to come
and die
and be
raised to
a life
that you've
never known,
full of
glory.
In Jesus'
name,
Amen.