SERMON:Luke 9:18-26

Reading: 

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. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; 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. And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow 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 advantaged, 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.

Ashamed of Jesus?

Beloved of the Lord......We do not know the future God has in store for us, nor do we know our earthly manner of death.  While God does grant the glorious death of martyrdom to some, He allows many more to pass away in less trying ways.  Nevertheless since we do not know our manner of death, but we do know the our enemies will daily tempt us to deny Christ, Jesus sincerely warns us, "Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of Him shall the Son of Man be ashamed."  Not all who begin as Christians on earth remain faithful.  Some die in unbelief and are forever damned.  Some cast themselves away.  Jesus doesn't want this to happen to you dear believer, thus He warns you, edifies you, and gives you words of grace for strength, so you will be ready for death and die in the faith when it comes.  In today's lesson we must thus learn, we are not to hold more dear our earthly life as opposed to our eternal life in heaven which was purchased by God's own beloved Son.  IF the day then comes where the devil or this world threaten to take away our life,  unless we deny Christ, may God help us to hold faithful and fast to the end, confessing His name.  For "this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."   "They that endure to the end shall be saved." 

I.  Do not deny Christ, but confess Him by word and deed.  The importance of confessing Christ in this world and not denying Him, is impressed upon us by Christ Himself in this lesson.  "Jesus was alone praying".  The twelve were there, but Jesus at first was apart, alone in prayer.  We are not told His words, but given His following conversation with the disciples, He may have been praying they would rightly confess His saving name among men to the glory of God the Father.  In our prayers, when we pray alone as Jesus did, let us also pray the Holy Spirit will help us to confess the saving name of Christ in both word and deed, all our days of our life. Even if our adversaries throw us in jail or with violence take our life, may God help us to hold faithful and true, for  Jesus promises, "ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."  "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." 

        After prayer Christ now begins a conversation with His twelve disciples saying, "Whom say people that I am?"  By this question and the following, Jesus will contrast the great difference between the opinion of the world concerning Christ, and the knowledge, faith, and confession of God's believing children.  "But whom say ye that I am?"  That is the question we concern ourselves with today, for we will either spend eternity in heaven by a true confession, or we will spend eternity in hell for our denial.  Do we confess Christ or deny Him?  Does the world even know we are Christians, or have we denied Him before the world?  Keep in mind it easy to confess Christ now, for there is little persecution.  While there is open persecution in Iran, certain Muslim countries, and also China, that is not happening here yet.  But what if it did?  If they threatened to torture or kill you for being a Christian, what would you do?  Would you confess Christ and endure faithful to the end?  Would you value your life on earth more than your eternal life in heaven?  And let us also beware of pride and self-confidence.  Remember eleven disciples forsook Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Pray for strength dear believer, "for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

        When times were easy in today's lesson, Peter confessed Christ before Christ and His disciples.  That is no different from us confessing Christ to our fellow Christians here in church. That's not so hard.  There is little threat.  Yet God is pleased with our confession, as Jesus was when Peter confessed Jesus was, "The Christ of God."  The name Christ means Anointed, and Jesus was God's Anointed, anointed by the Spirit to be the Savior of the world.  John 3:34 says the Father, "giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him" namely Christ.  ALL of the Holy Spirit was there in that body of Christ, as well as ALL of God the Father, yet the heaven of heavens cannot contain Christ, neither the Father nor the Spirit.  Yet Colossians 2:9 is still true, "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ."  By faith we put off the sins of our flesh by repentance, and we also strive by faith to do better. With our mouth we confess before the world Christ is the only way to heaven, and with our body we keep His commandments as good and obedient children of God.  Romans 12 therefore says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

        After Peter's confession now Jesus "straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected….and be slain…and be raised the third day."  They were to "tell no man", because the people in His day had overall a false understanding of the Messiah.  The general hope of the people was that the Messiah would restore the old glory of David's kingdom.  The Jews wanted heaven on earth. Even the twelve at this point held certain errors concerning Christ.  They expected a certain glory for Christ on earth, and they wanted glory for themselves.  For example, later in this same chapter James and John wanted the Lord to rain fire down from heaven upon the Samaritans for not receiving Christ.  Likewise in a parallel Gospel of today's lesson, when Jesus told His disciples how He would later go to Jerusalem and be killed by the chief priests, this idea of suffering chaffed Peter so, that Peter literally took Jesus aside from the other disciples, and rebuked Christ saying, "Lord this shall not be unto thee".  This is where Christ likewise rebuked Peter with a holy and righteous wrath saying to Peter, "Get thee hence from Me Satan!!! Thou art an offence unto Me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."

II.  Christ first suffered for us.  Here then we hit upon the crux of the matter, the cross of Christ's kingdom.  If you and I were to be delivered from eternal punishment for our sins, Christ would have to carry our cross and pay our price.  That is why you and I dear Christian, should be able to look at all that Jesus suffered on the cross, in a different light.  When the soldiers beat Christ with their fists, whipped Him so that His back was torn to shreds, or when the put a crown of thorns upon Him and mocked Him, that truth deeply hurts us, for faith alone says "This is what I deserve and Jesus is enduring this for me."  Likewise the cross, the nails, the blood dropping to the ground, the gasping for air, the thirst for relieve, the torments of hell, life seeping away from His sacred veins……it is all too much for us, yet we all speak of this cross too lightly.  We view if from a distance and we don't take it to heart.  Yet Jesus took it all to heart, for even as He suffered under the heat of God's wrath, He did it all "for the joy that was set before Him".  The prize at the end which Jesus desired, was forgiveness for all sinners, forgiveness for you and me.  Love, grace, and mercy for you dear sinners, is what kept Jesus on the cross.  And after the price was paid, Jesus really died.  His warm body became cold and lifeless, but He rose again on the third day.  Faith alone knows, all this Jesus did, "that I may be His own, and live under Him in His Kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness."

       

III.  Take up your cross daily and "Follow Me."  Thus, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross DAILY, and follow Me."  This cross in the narrow sense is this world's hatred and persecution of us, even to the death.  But our cross in the broad sense is every affliction or chastisement God Himself gives.  When we suffer sickness of body, depression of soul, loss of earthly goods or loved ones, misery of various types, these are God-given crosses for the benefit of our faith.  "For Whom the Lord loves He chastens" and "we shall through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."  But let us also remember not all we suffer on earth is a cross.  Sometimes we simply suffer as a consequence to our sin.  We reap what we so.  Luther said, "Suffering makes no martyr, but suffering for a right cause does."   While our flesh will never accept suffering, and the old Adam within will always whine and complain like a child, the new man within us knows, faith knows, "This is only for my good, and God will be glorified through such, therefore "Lord thy will be done".  Through it all then we remember Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."  To deny ourselves then and take up our cross means we are to be willing every day to suffer the loss of any of God's blessings, including our health or wealth, honor among men, even the loss of spouse or children if God so requires.  For it is by such crosses that the Lord is leading us to the greatest trial of our entire life, the loss of our own life in the end, whenever that may be.  This is why Jesus said, "Whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it."  If our earthly life is more important to us than our heavenly life, we will deny Christ and lose heaven.  But if our life in heaven is more important to us that our life on earth, we will confess Christ to the end (by God's grace), and though our earthly life ends, our heavenly life begins. 

        Sad to say, if God required our earthly life right now by persecution, few if any of us would probably be ready, though God alone knows.  But the point is we must be ready if He so calls us, and we must better learn, "Into Thy hands I commend my Spirit."  Whatever chastisements or crosses God therefore now gives you believer, accept it cheerfully with a willing heart, as Jesus did for you.  God's not going to destroy your faith by it, but through it He will preserve and keep your faith unto eternal life.  Of what treasure is your physical life on earth which lasts but for a moment, compared to the everlasting treasure in heaven above?  Even now the angels are singing in that "city of God", and your fellow saints who have already triumphed, await your triumph over death into life everlasting.  Jesus Himself desires this for you with all His heart. Therefore in this world, do not be ashamed of Jesus, "For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed".  Rather "hold that fast which thou hast that no man take thy crown."  Whatever and whenever God grants and gives you your death, He will likewise grant and give you the faith to triumph to the end and persevere. Therefore in whatever way He calls you, cheerfully say, "Lord thy will be done" and "To God alone be glory."  "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."  May God grant it so for each and every one of us - for to God alone be glory.  Amen.