Who Do You Say?

 

Second Week Advent 2023

Who Do We Say?

 

On this second Sunday of Advent, I want to move our focus from the romanticized, sentimental Christmas scenes depicted on cards and pretty blinking lights adorning homes. Those sanitized scenes are for children. But adults need to see the more complete picture of the Christmas story. Adults know – or we ought to know, as St Paul wrote, that the Lord Jesus Christ, “though He was rich, yet for [our] sake He became poor, so that [we] through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

We ought to know the complete story of the manger, which includes Calvary’s cross. And the empty tomb. And what it all must mean for you and me this Christmas season and around the calendar

 

Here is my text for today: Matthew 16:13-16 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

 

That question Jesus asked His disciples is, I think, one of the most critically important questions He will ever ask anyone: “Who do YOU say that I am?”

MOST people in that first century did not know who Jesus was. And neither in THIS century will most get it right. Who do we say Jesus is?

Now, I am fairly certain that everyone here will answer that question as correctly as did Peter: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

 

In other words, we today know that Jesus is ‘Emmanuel.” He is “God with us.” He IS Jehovah God in the flesh. But I submit to you that it is not enough to correctly answer that question. The critical point to that is this: What will we do with our confession?

If Jesus is just a prophet, or a wise man, or a miracle worker – if that is all He is, then He is unworthy of our worship and of our unswerving obedience.  But if we answer as Peter answered, if we know Jesus to be almighty God incarnate – well, then we all know how we ought to then live. But on this second Sunday of Advent 2023, it is wise for us to ask ourselves, “Do we do as He says?

 

I’m not talking about the occasional sin everyone falls into, but rather what is our LIFESTYLE? Do we seek to live according to His commandments, as clearly delineated in Scripture. Or do we find ourselves fudging throughout our days and nights when temptations challenge us?

 

Is our answer today as Peter’s, “Thou art the Christ”? Is Jesus LORD of my life? And of your life? And if so – what will we do with our confession? What should our lives look like?

Well, certainly, our lives ought to bear obedience to God. We won’t spend any time on this point because EVERY person who calls Jesus their Lord, Master, and King is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And He – the Holy Spirit – will NEVER let a true child of God practice sin without burning their conscience and leading them to repentance.  Here is Galatians 5:17 – “For the desires of the flesh are opposed to the Spirit, and those [desires] of the Spirit are opposed to the flesh. They are in conflict with one another, so that you cannot do what you want.”

And Romans 8:5-8 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, for the carnal mind is hostile toward God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

 

What else should our lives look like if Jesus is our Lord? Well, how about humility – humility before God and before others. And let me quickly add this: The Christian who does not walk in humility is a Christian who is perilously close to falling away from Christ: (Proverbs 16:18) “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall”; (James 4:6) “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble”; (1 Corinthians 10:12)  “Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”

 

One of the marks of humility is evidenced by how quickly we repent before God for our sins and how we avoid making excuses for our sins. Another mark of humility is evidenced by how willing we are to apologize to others when we sin against them. And yet ANOTHER mark of humility is demonstrated by how UNWILLING we are to gossip, to make others look bad while we – consciously or unconsciously – make ourselves look good.

 

Listen to what God tells us about humility through Paul’s pen in his letter to the Christians at Philippi: (Philippians 2:3-8) “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

 

Obedience. Humility – and for the Christian who knows, as Peter confessed, that Jesus is the Christ, the Lord, the Master – our lives should exude confidence. Confidence in what? Well, to finish this sermon in a timely manner, here are only a few things to consider about confidence:

 

First, and in no special order, the Christian has every God-given right to be confident that his or her confessed sins are fully, completely, totally forgiven and erased from our ledger. I’ve spoke of this numerous times in the past several months since the Holy Spirit showed me what the Greek word for ‘forgiveness’ really means. It’s the same Greek word that is also often translated as ‘remission’ of sins – a word meaning not only forgiveness, but also that God considers those sins to have never been committed.

For example, here is Matthew 26:28 – “For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” And Luke 24:46-47 “Then [Jesus] said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

As I have said before, I have never committed cold-blooded premeditated murder. Therefore, it is unthinkable that any human court would punish me for that crime. In an eternally greater sense, God's court – which is eternally more righteous than any human court – it is even more unthinkable that God's court would punish me for sins which He has, by the precious blood of His Son – which He has deemed that I have never committed them.

 

Which leads to the next point about which we ought to have utter confidence: Death results in the IMMEDIATE transport into the presence of our Messiah. The Christian has every God-given right to be confident that when we take our last breath on earth, our very next breath will be in the presence of our glorious King and Savior. That certainly was St Paul’s confidence. Listen to what he wrote to the Christians at Corinth: 

 

(2 Corinthians 4:16-5:8) “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.

 

Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord — for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”

The idea of a purgatory was as foreign to the apostles as darkness is from light.

 

About what else ought the Christian be confident? Well, what about God's love? I am talking here of a passionate love. And all-embracing, warm, ardent, zealous, and jealous love of God toward us.

 

We MUST be alert to and constantly aware of the ongoing, relentless Satanic whispers to the contrary. Do not be deceived. We know of Satan’s attempt to discourage Jesus, to seduce Him into wondering about God's love for Him. Remember the wilderness tests?  What did Satan ask Jesus again and again? “IF YOU ARE the Son of God . . ..”  And remember also Satan’s voice through the mob at the foot of the cross: (Matthew 27:43) “He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

 

Do not be surprised, therefore, that Satan will use the same tactics with you and me to dilute our confidence in God's devoted love for you and me. Satan will drop the thoughts into our minds such as, “Why are you so ill? Why are you in such pain? Why are you so lonely? Why are you . .  . why are you . . .  why are you?”

 

Listen! As I have so often reminded all of us: The Father loves YOU and me with the same – the SAME – passionate love with which He loves Jesus. How can the Father love you or me any more than that? Remember what the Lord prayed during what we call His High Priestly prayer: (John 17:22-23)  “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

 

Of what else can we be confident? That God has PRIVILEGED us to be co-laborers with Him in the eternal salvation of souls. He tells us through St Peter’s pen: (1 Peter 2:9) “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

 

Has He called YOU out of spiritual darkness?  If He has, you have the inexpressible privilege to be used by almighty God to plant spiritual seed, or water that seed, so that He may bring forth a harvest of souls for His kingdom.

 

And do not let the thought linger for a moment in your mind that discourages you from sharing with others what God has done for you. Remember His promise to us through Isaiah: (Isaiah 55:10-11)  - “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; ¹¹ So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

 

In what else ought the faithful follower of Christ have confidence – perhaps ESPECIALLY during this Christmas season? We ought to have confidence that God has never and will never leave us.

 

One of the worst most blasphemous, demonic-inspired songs I have ever heard sung in church is the song, “You gotta walk that Lonesome Valley by yourself.”

That some pastors and music directors even consider that song for congregational singing displays a total ignorance of God’s promises in Christ.

Jesus Himself said He will never leave us. Never. Under any circumstances. How do we let the devil lie to us and cause us to doubt that divine promise. He is with us always; In our pain, in our loneliness, in our sorrows – even during Christmastime.

 

Yes, it would be very nice to FEEL His presence with us, especially during those sad times. But what Jesus said to Thomas is applicable to us as well when we do not feel His presence: (John 20:29) “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

 

Which leads us to the final confidence I want to draw attention to on this second Sunday of Advent – the final confidence only for the sake of finishing this sermon on time. And that final confidence is this:

We are almost home. That is our confidence, our expectant hope – especially at our ages; We’re almost home. Hang in there. Persevere. Jesus WILL return for his own.

Obedience. Humility. Confidence in the complete forgiveness of our sins. Confidence in our IMMEDIATE entry upon death into the presence of our Lord. Confidence in the truth of God's passionate love for us. Confidence that God WILL use what little we have to offer Him in our attempts to win others for Christ, leading us to always being ready to give a reason to everyone who asks us about our faith – yet to do so with gentleness and humility. And confidence that Jesus never leaves us alone, and confidence that He WILL return for us.

Jesus asked His disciples – and He asks us the same question: Who do you say that I am?

 

If we play games with His question as the Pharisees and Scribes played games with His question of them about John the Baptizer, then we truly are of all men and women most miserable – because we have no reason to hope, no reason to serve, no reason to await His return.  But if we answer His question as Peter answered – Jesus is Christ, He is my Lord, He is my Savior, then we have every reason to hope and serve and anxiously await His return.

 

This Christmas, and around the calendar, we have the inconceivable privilege to tell others who Jesus is to us. And in telling them – who knows what the Holy Spirit will do with our words AND with our obedient and humble lives.