Focus 2024 - Part 3 - Who are you living for?

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 21st 2024  by Colin. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here. ( Sorry there is no sermon recording for this message)

WHO ARE YOU LIVING FOR – Part 3

Matt 16:13 - When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

Jesus asked His disciples who they thought He was. This is the greatest question you can be asked, and your answer will determine your future. This answer can only come by revelation.

1.  The Greatest Question and the Greatest Confession

Matt16:17 - 17 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.

At the end of time ( Rev20:7-10) we see the destiny of Satan and all who follow him.

Rev20:7-10 - 7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

V11. When Jesus came on the Earth there was no place for Him to be born. But at the end of time, we are told that Earth and sky will flee from His presence and both the great and small will stand before Him.

Revelation 20:11 - Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.

Today in our courts evil people can get away with murder but NOT on that Day. We are all guilty. Only those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will be thrown in the lake of fire. But those who have put their trust in Jesus will have their names written in the Lambs Book of Life! We cannot guarantee the number of days we live therefore today is the day of salvation!

2.  The Greatest Example

Jesus was the greatest example that ever lived! Heaven is an amazing place and that is what He left to come to Earth to identify with us. He came poor, homeless and then served and suffered a cruel death. At the CROSS he defeated Satan.

Heb 2:14-15 tells us how he defeated Satan

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Col2:14 tells us that He cancelled our debts and our sins were paid for.

 14 having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

2 Cor 5:21 His good deeds have been credited to us. His righteousness has been given to us.

God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

3.  The Greatest Commitment

Jesus asks each of us to make a choice. 

Matt 16:24 - Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 

Luke 14:25-26 - 25 Large crowds were travelling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.

Jesus is not impressed with the crowds. He turns to them and challenges them to become His disciples. This is outworked in practical ways. The following must be worked out in practical ways.

Deny: refuse to associate with. Deny is to disassociate with our needs, wants desires and selfishness.

Jim Elliot: He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

What are we willing to give up for the sake of the gospel? To see the great salvation of many will require a great commitment on our part.

4.  The Greatest Community – The church

Jesus came for His church, His bride. He died for His church.

Matt16:18 - 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. 

One day everything will fade but the Church of Jesus will go on forever. It is a privilege to be a part of the church.

Every community has a code of conduct. Heb 10:25 – Let us not give up the habit of meeting together. We are here to be the Light of the World.

5.  The Greatest Return

Matt 16:27 Jesus will come back to reward each one according to what they have done. We live with this hope!

 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.

Matt 24:30-31 He will come with power and glory to gather His elect.

30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.[d] 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

1Thes 4:16-18 The dead in Christ will rise first. We will be with the Lord forever.

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Rom 8:18 -  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Rev 22:12 God is coming with His reward.

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.

What is my answer to the greatest question?

What is our response in the face of suffering? Can we look to Jesus and say His grace is sufficient? Am I putting Christ first and do I value the church?

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.   

Focus 2024 - Part 1 - Who are you living for?

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on January 7th 2024  by Colin. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here.

Who are you living for?

When we meet someone after introducing ourselves, what is the first question we ask them?

It is, “What do you do?”. Instead try asking them, “What are you living for? Ask the same question to yourself, what am I living for?

Some live for money, some live to retire and have a relaxed life and some live for fame want their name to be up in the lights. Today, it is not about lights, but it is about likes and followers.

Some live for approval, some for comfort, some for travel and holidays and some for food. What am I living for? We may say, I’m living for Jesus and maybe you are.

In the movie, “The Pirates of the Caribbean”, Jack Sparrow has a compass which points to Black Pearl. What is our compass pointing to? Sometimes, our compass can get demagnetized. If that is true, this new year, we must get our compass re-magnetized. We must truly live for Jesus.

Recently when we were clearing stuff at our home, we found a pile of journals. I encourage you to maintain a journal, take down notes and write down what God speaks to you.

This morning, let us see how we can re-magnetize so that we point to Jesus. Today, we are alive not because of different kinds of diet and exercise, but because it is Jesus who kept us alive. Let us look at,

Matthew 16:13-28 to find out the true purpose of our lives.

Matthew 16:13-14 - 13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Even though the disciples saw Jesus doing amazing things, they still had a faulty understanding.

Caesarea is a place which is centre for Roman and Greek idolatry. A huge temple was built for Emperor Augustus. Amid idolatry and false Gods, Jesus asked this question. Who do people say I am?

People said that Jesus was John, the Baptist, Elijah, and Jeremiah.

Matthew 16:15-16 - 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

When Jesus asked the disciples who they thought Jesus was, Simon Peter answered, “Christ, the Son of the Living God”. Some people think Christ is the surname. Christ means Messiah or The Anointed One.

John 5:17-18 - 17 In his defence Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Several times, Jesus claimed equality with God. Jesus, Son of the Living God, is the greatest confession of the Church. To align our compass, this is the first thing. Jesus is the Messiah, Savior, the Anointed One.

John 20:28 - 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

John 6:68 - 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 

We are a bunch of people who come together not to hear a motivational talk, but to declare, confess and agree that Jesus is the Son of God.

1 Tim 3:15 - 15 If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. 

God’s household is the Church. In the world today, there is confusion about God. Even the most intelligent people may not understand the spiritual truth. A high IQ does not necessarily translate to a high SQ (Spiritual Quotient).

1 Tim 3:16 - 16 Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit,[d] was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

Appeared in the flesh – born in the human body, vindicated by the Spirit – filled with Spirit, seen by angels at the time of resurrection.

Gospel needs to be proclaimed to every people group. Only then the end will come.

How did Simon come to know who Jesus was?

Matthew 16:17 - 17 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.

The truth was revealed to Simon by the Father in Heaven. The great confession comes with revelation but not with the human eye. The supernatural revelation comes as we read God’s word. Scriptures are essential.

Luke 24:27 -  27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus explained many things about himself from the scriptures.

John Calvin says, “If the Church doesn’t have sound doctrine, exposition of scripture, Church discipline, baptisms, Lord’s table, then it is not a Church.

Matt 16:18 -  18 And I tell you that you are Peter,[b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 

God has to touch a person’s heart so that they see who Jesus is. We are in darkness till Jesus opens our eyes. Many people get confused with the above verse. They think the Church will be built on Peter. The truth is the name Peter comes from Petrus, which means Stone. But the verse talks about a Rock. The rock is very huge.

Matt 7:24 - 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

A house can be built on a very huge rock. So, Jesus said that he would build his church on the truth that Jesus is the son of God. One of the principles of studying God's word is to interpret the scripture, by comparing it to another scripture.

What are we living for?

This is seen in the next few verses.

Matt 16:24 - 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.

I encourage you to read this verse and meditate upon it in the coming week.

Let us establish this –

1.      Jesus says, I will build my Church.

2.      The Church is built on the revelation of who Jesus is – The Son of the Living God.

3.      We can only get this revelation by supernatural touch from God himself.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.