Morning Message Text: Mark 8: 27-38
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Jesus Predicts His Death
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.
32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.
36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?
37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?
38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
Morning Message:
Today’s scripture readings can be very powerful for our lives if we allow them to be. One of the problems that I believe hampers most of us in our understanding of passages such as psalm 116 is that we fail to personalize it. We read it in the context of it happening to someone else. It is written that way, by someone, out of their own experience, but God’s word is meant for us, and we need to assimilate it to our own lives. Simply put, insert yourself into God’s word. Try this with me. “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.” Do you love the Lord? Have you ever cried out for mercy? Have you received answers to prayer? You spoke to God, he heard you, you know that because you saw an answer. Our response to answered prayer should be like the psalmist. Once we experience answered prayer, we should trust God and call upon him forever. This is important. Why do we stop turning to God with everything that happens in our lives?
Come on now, we are not finished learning from this Psalm. Listen: “The cords of death entangled me; the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Lord, save me!’” What? You have never had this experience. Let me ask you this. Are you saved? Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior? If you answered yes, you have had this experience, you just never realized how desperate your situation was. Until we come to Jesus this is what our future is, this is how dire our situation is. Without Jesus the grave is something to fear. Without Jesus there is nothing but eternal death, but as soon as we call upon the name of Jesus and ask to be saved; we are. Come on church, we should shout this Psalm and make it our own. Come on church, you are not to Presbyterian for this, “For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” Amen! Hallelujah! Do you understand how to make this your own?
You aren’t tired yet are you? We have a ways to go before we rest. This is Evangelism Sunday, and I want to share with you something that I found a couple weeks ago. It is a devotion, maybe more of an illustration, and I find it very preachable. Listen: Some years ago, I discovered that participating in religion or having information about Jesus is not the same as knowing Jesus personally. It was at that time it seemed something was missing down deep in my soul. The solution was in meeting and trusting a person who revealed himself to me in HIS DECLARATION I affectionately call John 3:16. Listen, and maybe hear this verse deeply for the first time. For God – The Greatest Lover; There is no love apart from God’s love, He is the creator of love. So Loved – The Greatest Degree; A tiny little word like so makes all the difference. When God so loved it meant a love that surpassed anything known to mankind. The World – The Greatest Company; God loved the world past, present and future. Everyone who ever was and anyone who ever would be. That He Gave – The Greatest Act; God to whom all things belong gave something to all mankind. His Only Begotten Son – The Greatest Gift; God didn’t just give us something that he had laying around, he gave the very life of His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. That Whoever – The Greatest Opportunity; anyone and everyone. Believes – The Greatest Simplicity; all you must do is believe; how simple is that? In Him – The Greatest Attraction; you can’t just believe in anyone, you must believe in the one and only Son. Should Not Perish – The Greatest Promise, would escape death. But – The Greatest Difference; instead of death, life. Have Everlasting Life – The Greatest Certainty, The Greatest Possession; what could be more valuable? What could be more reassuring than to know that you have eternal life? This is God’s promise, God’s declaration to mankind.
In our reading from the Gospel of Mark Peter makes a declaration. He proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of the world. Peter was willing to declare the easy part, but he was not ready for the sacrifice. Jesus makes it very clear that the work of salvation would have a price, a very steep price. God the Son came to this earth to die for our sins. He truly gave without hesitation for the creation that he loved. Jesus makes another declaration, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” It’s a choice that everyone who ever lives must make for themselves. You can’t have both. Eternal life through Jesus is free, but you must choose. One of my favorite scriptures in all of God’s word, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or, what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” It should be an easy choice, but the world is so enticing. We find that we want eternal life, but the cross gets so heavy and there are things in this world that could make carrying it so much easier. Tell me friends: What in this temporal world is worth the eternal value of your soul in heaven with God for eternity? God made His Declaration and gave you a way back to him. Jesus did all the work on the cross to make your way clear and declared, “I am the way, you must follow me.” There is one more declaration that must be made by you. You must say it and mean it, I declare that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, and I choose my eternal soul over this world. Can you say it and mean it?
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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