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Luke 9:18-17 "Who Do You Say I Am?" · Clifford Baptist

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  Speaker A: Welcome to the Oct. 11 sermon from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Today's scripture is Luke, chapter 9, verses 18 through 27. And the sermon is entitled who do youo say I Am? Delivered today by Pastor Jeffrey Campbell.
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  Speaker B: I'm thankful that we get together under God's direction today, looking to Jesus as the Bible says, the author and finisher of our faith. Grab your Bibles. Go to Luke chapter number nine today. Luke, chapter number nine. This is a chapter of change of direction. As we have began working through chapter number nine, we see a turn that has taken place. And we are on the heels of maybe the greatest miracle in number that Jesus has performed the feeding of 5,000 plus. As we talked about the addition of women and children there, that is a remarkable miracle. But Jesus is going to pose a question because he wants to know who's getting it. Is it sinking down? It's just not about the wonderful things or the wonderful miracles. Remember, he is writing to Theophilus this book to make sure that Theophilus knows exactly who Jesus is. Now, remember, he started back with Elizabeth and Zacharias, and he moved to Mary and Joseph trying to show who Jesus truly was. Remember, he worked and showed who Jesus was in the temple at 12 years old, learning and reasoning with those who were teaching in the temple. We understand that Luke highlights John the Baptist as he prepares the way of the Lord and as he baptizes Jesus. He highlights where Jesus showed up in the synagogue. And we understand that Luke's goal with this book is to show Theophilus Jesus is Lord. We have seen where he has moved to the miracles of curing lepers and disease and sick and casting out demons. He's talked about the good soil that the sea needs in order to grow and that they can too, trust him through the storms of life. And yet today we pose a question we seen a couple weeks ago where Herod posed that question, who is this Jesus? And maybe there's someone here this morning that that's wrestling with that question themselves, trying to figure out, who is this Jesus? Well, today, as we open chapter number nine and continue on in this chapter, the answer to the question, my prayer is it will drive you to the cross of Jesus. In order to understand and answer the question, who do you say I am? There are areas about Jesus that you must look to and that you must have an answer for. Now, you know, throughout your Bible, especially the New Testament, the religious leaders of Jesus Day wrestle with that same question, who is this Jesus? And they could not grasp it. Today, we look at the cross, we look at his sacrifice. We look at. We look at his death, and we look at his resurrection to show us who truly Jesus is. If someone were to ask you today, who is Jesus? How would you answer that question? Amen. We start there with our Lord and Savior. That's what we're gonna look out. Who is Jesus to you? Luke, chapter number nine. Starting with verse number 18, verses 18 through 20. And it came to pass as he was alone, praying, his disciples were with him. And he asked them, saying, whom? Say the people that I am? They answering, said John the Baptist. But some say Elias, and others say that one of the old prophets is risen again. And he said unto them, but whom say ye that I am? And Peter answering, said the Christ of God. Point number one. Today, as we ponder the question, who do you say that I am? Point number one, you must acknowledge Christ. When you answer that question, you must acknowledge Christ. We have identified this as a crucial point in Jesus ministry, but notice how verse number 18 opens up in your Bible. Verse number 18 opens up that Jesus is alone. What? Praying. He is praying. And I want you to see this. At every mark, and especially the major marks of Jesus Christ ministry, He is found buried in prayer, seeking his Father's will in Luke chapter number three. At his baptism, Jesus was found praying in Luke chapter number five. He withdraws to pray in Luke chapter number six, verse number 12, before choosing the 12 that would follow him. He is praying. And now when we. When people are trying to figure out, who is this Jesus, what is Jesus doing praying? He's seeking his Father's will. When we see these major steps in ministry, Jesus is falling down before his Father, the decisions, the teachings. He needs direction from God the Father to continue on what God has called him to do. And church. You and I need that same direction. There are times, not just in major times, I will challenge you. Every day of your life should be a day spent in prayer, seeking God's will, God's direction for your life. And when we understand that, we are acknowledging who he truly is. As Jesus finishes praying, he poses the first of two initial questions for the disciples. The first question is this. Who do the crowds say that I am? Who are they saying that I am? Remember, the disciples have gone out. They are healing. They have been given the power to do all of these things. And they are reporting back to Jesus. And Jesus just simply says, what are they saying? Who do they say that I am? And that report comes back, John the Baptist or some are Calling you Elijah. Some believe that you are a prophet that has been resurrected. But do you see the confusion in all of that? No one really knows exactly who Jesus is. They have a wild guess. They've looked at scripture. They can kind of see that he resembles some of the great men of faith, but they can't put their finger on who this Jesus truly is. And so they are taking wild guesses how. It's safe to say today that even in our community, even in our town, there would be people that answer that question of who Jesus is. They would answer that very differently. But remember, many have witnessed the crowd of 5,000 plus eating off of a few loaves and a few fish. And they still don't quite know who this Jesus is. What is the answer today? Today, there will be many that tell you that Jesus was a good man. There could be many that tell you that Jesus was a good moral teacher, an ethical leader. He took care of the poor and needy. Other religions point to Jesus as a prophet and even a highly respected prophet, but they fall short in identifying him as God, as the Son of God, as the Messiah. And even in your life, if you're sitting here this morning saying Jesus was a good person, he was a good example.
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  Speaker A: He.
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  Speaker B: He's somebody I need to imitate, you've fallen short. You haven't quite gotten to where you need to. You must proclaim and you must see Jesus as Lord. Until you see Jesus as Lord, you cannot answer that question of who do you say, who do you say that I am? Well, that first question falls short of identifying who Jesus truly is. But notice that then he turns to the disciples and in verse number 20, he says this. But whom say ye that I am? Who do you say that I am? That's a big change there. It's not what are they saying about me? It's what are you saying about me? Who do you say that I am? Out of all the disciples, guess who steps to the mic? None other than Peter. I'll say this, Peter gets a lot of negativity, but we could use some more Peters in the religion today. I want you to know that Peter steps to the mic. And probably the greatest answer that anyone could give, Peter is commended in these moments, and he says this. The Christ of God. Now, I want you to know I could spend the rest of the 20 minutes talking about what that means, and I'm not going to do that. But what Peter was doing with that answer is he was looking back. He was looking back and saying, this is the man that the Old Testament said would come. This is the Messiah that is promised through the Old Testament. Jesus Christ, you are the Messiah. That's what he's saying. But he's also looking forward in saying this as the Messiah, as the Son of God, as the Christ of God, I will follow you with my life. When we make decisions for Jesus, we must realize who he truly is and who we are truly following. Confusion happens when we don't see Jesus for who he truly is. And as he asked his disciples, I'm thankful to see that Peter steps up. And as he identifies him as the Anointed One in the Greek, the Hebrew equivalent to the Messiah, he identifies him as the Promised One God. Old Testament prophecies point to this moment in chapter nine that we're reading about today, that he would come and that he would be made known as the Son of God. But Peter's confession also comes from God's own work in his life. Let me ask you this. What is your answer? What is your answer to who is Jesus? We can't reduce him to a good teacher. We can't reduce him to someone who did great things. We can't reduce him to our helper when trouble comes up. We can't reduce him to an example that we should follow. And we cannot reduce him to our ticket to heaven. If Jesus is just the ticket to heaven, you've missed the purpose of who Jesus truly is. Jesus wants a relationship with you every day of your life while you live on this earth. He is the promised One. Many people say one thing, but they resist letting Jesus live their life. When we identify Jesus as Lord, here's what Peter does. You are the Christ of God, and I'm going to live my life following you. We cannot identify Jesus as our Savior and then live our lives how we want to today. Who do you say that I am? You must acknowledge that he is Lord over all. And your life must be devoted to telling that truth. Point number two. Look at verses 21 through 23. And he straightly charged them and commanded them to tell no man that thing saying, the Son of man must suffer many things, be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain and be raised by the third day. Verse 23. And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. In order to answer the question, who do you say that I am? The second point today is you must assure your faith. It's one thing to identify who Jesus is, but you Must confess your faith. Assure your faith in who he is. Peter answered and assured correctly. But why does Jesus in verse number 21 say this? Don't tell anyone you know you've answered correctly. But don't you dare tell anyone what or who I am. Now I think personal. Personally that he told them that he was going to have to suffer and the disciples couldn't endanger that mission. Remember, he's not a military or political leader. But he didn't want his mission to become endangered. There was still work to do. And if the disciples went and proclaimed this very openly and very publicly, that mission would come under question. So Jesus says, now's not the time. Have you ever had to hold onto some information that you really wanted to tell before? Don't tell a kid, right? But there's some of you I can't tell either, right? Cause you'd be itching to tell what's going on. Well, Jesus says this. You have answered correctly. You know the answer, Peter, but now's not the time. Hold tight to that. There's coming a day where you're going to have to profess. Look at verse number 22. He says this saying, the Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain and be raised. The third day, Jesus gives them an overview of very quickly what's going to happen in his life. Now. This is the first time that he's telling them, hey, something's going to happen to me. And in verse number 22, he says this. I'm going to suffer. I'm going to be rejected. I'm going to be slain, but I'm going to rise again. On the third day, Matthew records Peter's response to this. Do you know what that says? You know what Jesus tells him? Get thee behind me, Satan. At one moment he answered rightly. And then he tried to say, no, no, Jesus, you can't do that. And Jesus says, yes, get thee behind me, Satan. This is what God wants for my life. This is the Father's will. This objection and lack of understanding, we see that Peter's heart is for Jesus. He wants to follow him. And the thought of him being killed and suffering and rejected gets Peter upset. But what we see is for the first time about the cross. Suffering and rejection and dying will come to Jesus. The disciples will have to be assured of their faith and reassured that this is God's plan for my life. Jesus knew it, but here he is assuring them and reassuring him. This is the plan that God has for me. You must understand this. You and I today, as disciples, as followers of Jesus, we must understand the cross that the perfect son of God took. That horrible penalty of sin. He went through death. He was resurrected on the third day. Are we certain? Are we convinced? Are we. Do we have no doubt that Jesus Christ is the risen son of God? That wasn't very convincing. If we're convinced and convicted, then we live for him and the way we live for him. Look at verse number 23. Here's what Jesus says. If you say that, look at verse number 23. Then here's what your life must do. And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up this cross daily and follow me. It's one thing to publicly acknowledge with your mouth who Jesus is. It's a whole different ball game to submit your life to who Jesus is. And what Jesus is calling these disciples to. Is your life better? Say who I am more than your mouth say who I am. How does your life tell the story of Jesus? That's the question today, right? How do our lives tell that story? Well, we are told here that we are to deny ourself. What does that mean? That means that we must take our desires and put them in the backseat. When it comes to following Jesus. That's hard. I don't know about you. That's a daily fight for me. Flesh versus the spirit. It's a daily fight. And so when we deny ourself, we're saying, okay, God, this is what I really want. But I'm putting that in the back seat and I'm going to follow your will for my life. You to deny yourself. What does it mean to take up your cross? It's the life that Jesus calls you to. You have to bear it in order to take up your cross. You're going to have to lose something in order to gain Jesus. But what the disciples knew, when you take up your cross, here's what that means. There's no coming back. When someone took up their cross in the day of Jesus, they did not come back because they were going to die. To take up your cross means to putting the life that you desire, letting that die and you living for Jesus. Take up your cross. And then Jesus simply says this, follow me. Pursue me with all that you are. This doesn't mean that you can't go and have a secular job or you can't go do fun things. Listen, the most fun I've ever had in my 44 years of life has been following Jesus. But you and I must deny ourselves, take up the cross and be obedient and follow Jesus teaching, his leading, the ministry he has for us. We must become followers of Jesus Christ, not just in word, but in action. Jesus is telling his disciples, I'm going to die, and you're going to have to stop serving yourself. You're going to have to follow me with your life. It's not what happened a long time ago, one time, or at baptism. If Jesus Christ is your Lord, every day becomes a moment that you deny yourself. You take up your cross and you follow Jesus. In order to answer the question, who do you say that I am? You must be certain about your own faith. And today. Today there could be some Christians even in this room say, I'm not really sure if I want to do that. That's too much to bear. That's too much to ask. That's too much to do for Jesus. Jesus says, you can't follow if you don't deny yourself. Take up your cross, then follow me. We must assure our faith. The third point comes from verses 24 through 27. Look there with me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. But whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantage if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in his own glory and in his Father's and of the holy angels. But I tell you of a truth. There be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of God. The third thing today is that you must not be ashamed. To answer the question, who do you say that I am? You can't be ashamed of who Jesus is. We acknowledge and confess that he's sent by God, that he is the Messiah. We understand that we must look at the cross. And as we look at the cross, we must deny ourselves and take up our own cross. But in this moment, there's a great exchange that must take place. Jesus says this. If you desire to save your life, what does it mean to save your life? Jesus says that if you want to save your life, by not denying yourself, if you want to go and live your own way and follow your own path and save your life, Jesus says this, you're going to lose your life. You're going to lose your life. You're going to be eternally separated from me. You can go live how you want to, but if you don't deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me, you're going to lose your life. Then he goes on to say this. But if you lose your life, for Jesus sake, if you lay that life down for Jesus, then your life, then you will experience true life according to his purpose and his grace and his mercy. What is the advantage if you gain what the world offers and you lose your soul? Today, at the end of verse number 25, do you see those two words, cast away? Jesus says this. What is advantage if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? That doesn't mean to be put to the side or to be put off on the island, like the movie, like Tom Hanks. It's a reference to hell. If you gain the whole world, and when you stand before God one day he says, depart from me because I know you not. And you're cast away into the lake of fire. Is that worth gaining the whole world? Jesus says this. If you're ashamed of Jesus in your lifetime, Jesus is going to be ashamed of you when you stand before him in judgment. Listen, Church, I don't know how to say this any clearer. You and I have an appointment before the Lord one day that you will have to give an account for your life. Nothing else. You won't have to account for me or the church or your husband or your. You're going to have to account for your life. And as you stand before God, I would hate to tell the Lord Jesus, I've traded the whole world, and in these moments I can't experience your love. The great exchange doesn't involve money. The greatest exchange in the world involves your soul. And there are good people exchanging their souls for the pleasures of the world. And Jesus says, in that day, when you stand before me, you will be cast away. These are hard words, Church. These are words that should make us ponder who is Jesus. But I don't want to keep the answer to that to myself. Because there's a lot of people in this world that need to know who Jesus is. And that doesn't happen because not everybody's going to come to a church service. Not everybody's going to open their Bible and figure it out themselves. No, good Christian people need to go and tell who Jesus truly is today. Clifford Baptist Church. Do you know the answer to the question, who do you say that I am? If you're sitting here today, and maybe you've been in church for a while, but you can't answer that Question. Look, don't get scared. Run to God's word. Learn the answer to the question. Experience Jesus for yourself. And then once you experience Jesus, you want everybody to know who he is. Today, church. As we think of our lives in a moment of invitation, we're far from perfect. But we've got to be careful because we can't pick which part of Jesus we like. We can't say, oh, God, we like you to do miracles and we want to follow you on the good days. No. Jesus says, every day. Every day, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me every day, not just on the days that you want to. Are we willing to lose our life for Jesus sake? What does that mean? We must answer that question. And here's how I call my church family to answer the question. Don't answer it with your words. Answer it with your life. Your life will tell the story if Jesus is Savior or not. Philippians, chapter 2, verses 10 and 11 says this. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth. And every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. But listen. Listen how verse number 12 ends. Work out your own salvation today. I'm not telling you how to live. I'm just telling you this. If Jesus is our Savior, we must be living for him outside these doors. And it's up to everyone in this room to work out what that looks like in your life. Today. As we work it out, Jesus simply asks, who do you say that I am? Praise God. Today there are many of you that can say, jesus is my Lord. That I'm going to not only say that with my mouth, but I'm going to say that with my life. But maybe there's somebody here today that, as we have seen, that Jesus is going to take a trajectory that's going to take him to a cross. That cross is the payment for sin, for your sin and for my sin. That trajectory is going to take him to a tomb, a borrowed tomb, where he's going to be laid as 100% a dead man on the third day. The greatest miracle in all the world. Faith hinges on the empty tomb. An empty grave, a resurrected Savior and church we serve a living Savior. I can get excited about a football game, but I better get excited about that. Who do you today? Who do you say that he is? If he's your Lord, you will live for him. You will follow him with your life. Let's pray. Father. God, in these moments of invitation, Lord we feel your presence in this room. We know you're here. God, I pray that you are searching every heart represented in this room today. Lord, you know if they are lukewarm. You know if we are on fire. Lord, my prayer on this rainy Sunday morning is that there would be no lukewarm Christians in the room. God, that you will open our eyes to what it means to belong to Jesus. Lord, teach us to deny ourselves. Teach us what it means to take up the cross and to follow. Lord, today maybe there's someone that just needs to kneel at an altar and say, lord, help me to see who you truly are. Take over my life. I'm denying myself my will today. God, I pray they'll come surrender today. But Lord, maybe, just maybe, there's somebody that needs to surrender a life just like Peter and identify Jesus as their Lord. Lord, if there's somebody in the room that's never submitted to that, never named Jesus as their savior. God. God, I pray that you will speak to that heart. That you will lead that soul today to name your name above any name, above every name. God. May our lives tell the story of who Jesus is. Lead us. We pray in Jesus name. Thank you. Amen. Clifford Baptist Church invites you to join us for worship every Sunday morning at 11am for more information about our church, please call our church office at 434-946-0555.