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The Question That Changes Everything · In the Stillness Podcast

• 0:00
  Hey y'all, this is friendly. Welcome back to another episode.
• 0:04
  Hope y'all are having a wonderful Saturday.
• 0:07
  I'm super pumped for this one. I think it's a really special
• 0:11
  one because I know some passages and episodes, they might
• 0:16
  resonate more for one person more than the other just based
• 0:19
  on where you are in life. But I think that this one
• 0:22
  confronts each person with a very, very important question
• 0:27
  that we all have to answer, whether we realize it or not.
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  So let's get right into it together.
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  We'll be in Matthew chapter 16, verses 13 through 20.
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  This is the passage that says Peter says Jesus is the Messiah.
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  When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
• 0:48
  disciples, who did people say the Son of Man is?
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  They replied, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and
• 0:57
  still others Jeremiah are one of the prophets.
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  But what about you, He asked. Who do you say I am?
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  Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the
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  living God. Jesus replied, Blessed are you,
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  Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh
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  and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
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  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will
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  build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
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  I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven.
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  Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever
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  you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
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  Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was
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  the Messiah. OK, so like I try to do in other
• 1:47
  episodes, I want to give a little background that will help
• 1:51
  this moment stick more. So Jesus and the disciples there
• 1:55
  in this city near the Sea of Galilee and this area, it is
• 1:59
  very heavily influenced by the Greek and Roman culture around
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  it. So this means there were a lot
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  of temples, idol worshipping and people just going for all the
• 2:11
  false gods, lots of worldly ideals all around them.
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  And so right before this passage, what I touched on
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  yesterday, but Jesus warns his disciples very sternly.
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  He tells them be on your guard, be careful.
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  Do not let the surrounding people or, or the religious
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  groups like the Pharisees and Sadducees with their little
• 2:32
  faith influence your great faith.
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  And so in other words, don't compromise what you know to be
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  true. And so this is the setting where
• 2:42
  Jesus is asking Peter this question.
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  So this is a question that changes everything.
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  Jesus first asks who people say he is and we hear them say a lot
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  of different opinions. They say John the Baptist,
• 2:57
  Elijah, Jeremiah, other prophets.
• 3:00
  But Jesus makes this personal. What about you?
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  Who do you say I am? And y'all?
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  This is the most important question question that you will
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  ever answer. Think about the biggest decision
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  that you've ever made in your life so far.
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  So for some, depending on your age for school, maybe it's a
• 3:19
  career, maybe it is a spouse, a relationship.
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  And as important as those decisions have been, this
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  question, it does not even belong on the same playing
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  field. There's no competition because
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  this one, it determines everything.
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  It determines how you live, who you live for, what you truly
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  value on a day-to-day, and ultimately where you spend
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  eternity. So I just want to say Jesus,
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  he's not asking your parents. He's not asking your sister or
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  your brother or your best friend.
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  It is your life. It's your eternity and fate.
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  It's your choice. And for so long, honestly, I
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  lived under my parents faith. Like I received Jesus into my
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  heart, but I was not living with a personal relationship with
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  him. And so I just want to bring this
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  reflection point to y'all that it is your choice and it is so,
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  so important. So next we go into Peter,
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  Peter's bold confession. So Peter answers clearly and he
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  answers confidently. He's not hesitant, he's not
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  wavering, He's not partly in. He says you are the Christ, the
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  Son of the living God. And Peter's not calling Jesus
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  just a good teacher or a good prophet.
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  He is claiming him as the promised Messiah.
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  And we see Jesus praise him for this.
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  He blesses him and he entrusts him with leadership in the early
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  church. And there's a verse, Luke 1610,
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  that says whoever is faithful and very little is also faithful
• 5:03
  in much. And so Peter, he was faithful in
• 5:06
  declaring who Jesus was. So he was trusted with more.
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  And here is a very powerful thing, as Peter is declaring his
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  true identity of Jesus, who he is, Jesus then flips it back on
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  Peter and gives him his own identity.
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  And next we'll move into purpose in Christ.
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  So I just want to pause for a second here because this next
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  part is, I think, something we can hear a lot.
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  I've said it in my other podcasts.
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  We find our purpose in Christ. Yes and Amen.
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  But it sounds familiar. It can sound cliche when you
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  hear it a lot. And so that's why I want to
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  unpack this. And it really does matter.
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  Jesus calls Peter a rock. A rock is a foundation.
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  It's sturdy. And all followers of Jesus,
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  we're joined by faith on that same rock, which is Christ
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  himself. And so this mean means that your
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  purpose and your identity, it's not dependent on what your job
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  is, how much money you make, or what season of life you find
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  yourself in. You could be working a corporate
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  9:00 to 5:00 or raising kids in a family.
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  You could be waiting on tables at a restaurant or maybe even
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  trying to figure things out like I am.
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  I feel you. But your purpose, it is the same
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  as the church. It's to serve the living God in
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  everything you do. And this purpose, it can't be
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  changed or shaken or defeated. It can't be defeated by death
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  because the ending and the victory has already been
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  determined and accomplished by Jesus.
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  So Jesus, he also talks about giving Peter the keys of the
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  Kingdom of heaven. And there's some theological
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  controversy and debates around what this actually means, But I
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  believe that the bottom line is pretty simple.
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  When you accept Jesus and you declare him as Messiah and Son
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  of God, you unlock the door to heaven.
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  You're allowed right in. And once you're welcomed inside,
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  you're then trusted to help others learn how to get into.
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  So you're passing on the keys. So at the end of the passage,
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  this was a part that I first read and kind of had some
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  questions, But Jesus tells the disciples not to tell people
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  yet. But The thing is, that's because
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  they had not yet seen Jesus in all of his glory.
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  They didn't fully understand the cross.
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  It hadn't happened yet, the resurrection or the Great
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  Commission. They were not appointed yet, but
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  we do. We have the full story, guys.
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  It's written down clear as day. And we have been handed our
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  mission statement in charge. So with this privilege and with
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  this knowledge, we must share Jesus.
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  So I just want to ask you, are you helping build the church on
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  the rock? Are you passing along the keys
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  to others? And just a side note, from my
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  own experience, I remember a season where frankly, I felt
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  numb, Like I kind of lost a spark and the sense of urgency
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  to share the gospel. And truthfully, I had to plead
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  with God to thaw out my cold heart, to give me that burning
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  desire again, to care so deeply about other people's eternity
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  and to care enough to ask people in my day-to-day.
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  Like ask the coffee shop worker, do you have a faith?
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  Do you even know who Jesus is? Because I believe when you truly
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  understand what God saved you from, He saved us from death
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  forever eternal, the gates of Hades hell, you then you begin
• 9:00
  to fully appreciate what he's brought you into an evangelism,
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  that fancy term, it changes because you're less afraid of
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  what people think and your fear for God and your passion for his
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  name that surpasses it and it becomes greater.
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  So some questions I'm going to leave you with before I go into
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  prayer. Who do you say Jesus is truly?
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  If you say Jesus is Lord, is he fully enthroned in your heart?
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  Is that reflected in how you live?
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  Does your life look different than the outside world around
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  you? And are you helping build the
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  church and pass the keys? So, dear Lord, we thank you for
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  revealing yourself to us so clearly.
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  You're not just a teacher or some great prophet.
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  You are the living Son of God. Would you search our hearts,
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  God? Would you show us where we might
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  be a little divided or maybe we're even serving idols that
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  are competing for your attention?
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  Would you aid us in boldly proclaiming who You are, and not
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  just with words, but how we live our lives, how we live
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  differently? Would you stir up a passion for
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  your name in our hearts? God, such a deep desire and
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  longing to build your church and to obediently pass along the
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  keys that you have given us. Lord, we want you to reign in
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  our hearts now and forevermore. We love you so much.
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  Jesus. Thank you for the sacrifice that
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  you you gave for us so that we could be one with you and the
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  Father. We ask this all in your precious
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  name, Jesus. Amen.
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  OK, well have a great rest of y'all's weekend and looking
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  forward to the next episode. Bye, guys.