Who do You Say that I Am — Luke 9

0:00 Heavenly Father, I do thank you so much for this privilege, this honor to open up your word and to study it, to meditate upon it. And Father, I pray that your word would be powerful today. That your Holy Spirit would move. Last Sunday was an amazing experience for many of us here as we saw so many things in your scriptures that came to life. And we thank you for our brother Ray Gonzalez as he had so many different things going on in his life in the week or two prior, as well as this past week.

0:31 Yet he stepped up and just really honored you and glorified you through the presentation of your word. I pray that you would allow me, dear God, to continue in that vein, but it's all because of the power of Your Holy Spirit and Your word. So Lord, help me to present it well. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Well, last Sunday, we were challenged from the Gospel of Luke.

0:56 So if you want to go to the Gospel of Luke chapter nine, and we're going to continue on in our study. This is a section right now where I'd like to start where we left off. And that was this verse you see up on the screen. I'm hoping you can see it. We didn't wanna take down anything here.

1:14 So this verse that Jesus said is a verse, it's a question that I'm hoping that we can all ponder and ponder throughout this coming week too. Jesus said to his followers, but who do you say that I am? And Peter answered and said, the Christ of God. You know, was said, it was spoken over two thousand years ago by Jesus of Nazareth. And the multitude had already, the multitudes had already given their opinion of Jesus.

1:45 It says earlier in the Gospel of Luke chapter nine also, it says that they called him either John the Baptist or Elijah. And in the Gospel of Matthew, they're saying he is Jeremiah or in summary, a prophet of old who had died and now had risen from the dead. The proof of all that is in verses seven, eight, and 19. Now Jesus was giving His disciples the opportunity to personally state their answer. And Peter responded correctly when he said, The Christ of God.

2:25 Well, wasn't done there because God Himself wanted to chime in on this question. And so eight days later, while the disciples, three of them, just Peter, James and John, were up on the mountain with Jesus praying. And then Jesus as we know quite, we're familiar with the process that He basically displayed His glory. His glorified body was revealed, and along with Jesus were Moses and Elijah. Two of the most respected patriarchs of the past in Jewish faith.

3:00 And yet, God wanted to to do something at this moment. He wanted to separate Jesus from Moses and Elijah. It says that Moses and Elijah were discussing things with Jesus and it was, at that part, it was talking about his departure when you read that passage. But he wanted to separate him and so he spoke from the cloud up on the mountain. This is my son, my chosen one.

3:30 He could have stopped there, but he went on and said, listen to him. And we we read in the following passage that they were left alone with Jesus. Well, that's where I wanted to start today because as we continue on from there, this question, who do you say that I am? Is so important. And the response that Peter gave, the correct one, you are the Christ, another gospel says, the son of the living God.

4:02 And then God himself speaking saying, this is my son, my chosen one. Listen to him. So the following five accounts that we're gonna look at in this next 15 verses are how the disciples responded to what they learned from God, from Jesus on that mountain. And as we look at these, we can be in two different camps. We can be like the multitudes.

4:30 Well, where we will remain lost in our sin without a savior because Jesus was just a man. A famous man, a good teacher, like all these former prophets of old, even John the Baptist, but not the savior. Or we can do as as Peter said, you are the Christ. What does that mean? You are the Messiah.

4:54 God himself said, are the chosen one. And all that came about by saying, is the servant. The servant that's spoken about in the Old Testament that will come and fulfill all that was prophesied. And putting your faith and answering that question similar to Peter and to God, allows you then to say, I'm safe from my sin. I have the power of the Holy Spirit living in me, and my life will be changed forever.

5:52 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone and they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen. Verse 37, And it came about on the next day, that when they came down from the mountain, a great multitude met Him. And behold, a man from the multitude shouted out saying, teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only boy. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth. And as it mauls him, it scarcely leaves him.

6:31 And I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they could not. Verse 41, And Jesus answered and said, O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here. And while he was still approaching, the demon dashed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

6:58 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, Jesus said to His disciples, Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. But they did not understand this statement and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement. And an argument arose among them as to which of them might be the greatest. But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by his side and said to him, whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

7:46 For He who is least among you, this is the one who is great. So as we look at the 15 verses here, I'm gonna break it down into five sections. So in chapter nine verses thirty five and thirty six, the first section, silent or spoken. 37 to 43 a, pray for God's power, not yours. 43 b through 45, let these words sink into your ears.

8:14 And next to last one, whoever receives this child receives me. And the final portion, do not hinder him who is for you. Let's take a look at the first section, verses thirty five and thirty six. And a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my son, my chosen one. Listen to him.

8:39 And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone, and they kept silent and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen. What an amazing moment. God the Father spoke from heaven about His Son again. He had done the same thing when John the Baptist baptized Jesus. In Luke chapter three verse 22, which I'm sure you studied a long time ago, God declared, Thou art my beloved son, in thee I am well pleased.

9:17 Back then, God separated Jesus from all the others who had been baptized by John. And again, God was separating Jesus, but this time from two of the most famous men in the scriptures, Moses and Elijah. Jesus was not just a man. Jesus was God's son. And he deserved and still deserves full attention and obedience.

9:42 His words are never to be ignored. But how did the disciples, these three chosen disciples, Peter, James and John, how did they respond to God's command? They kept silent. Was it due to awe, or was it because they didn't know what to say? May we not may we not keep silent, but rather proclaim Jesus as the Son of God, just like God said Himself, his chosen one.

10:13 Excuse me. We proclaim God as... Excuse me. May we proclaim Jesus as God the Son, the chosen one. May we truly listen to Him, so that His words would speak through us.

10:58 And why couldn't the disciples cast out this particular demon? Starting at verse 37, and it came about on the next day when they came down from the mountain, a great multitude met him. And behold a man from the multitude shouted out saying, teacher, I beg you to look at my son for he is my only boy. And behold a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth. And as it mauls him, it scarcely leaves him.

11:27 And I begged your disciples to cast it out and they could not. And Jesus answered and said, O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here. And while he was still approaching, the demon dashed the boy to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father.

11:52 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. In verse 51, which is just one more verse after I stop, we read this. When the days were approaching for his ascension, Jesus resolutely set his face to go to Jerusalem. Isn't it interesting that the discussion that Jesus had with Moses and Elijah was about his ascension, I'm sorry, his departure, sorry, his departure. And we read in verse 51, the days were approaching for his ascension.

12:24 You ever think about that? Most of us focus on the fact that he was gonna go to the cross, right? His suffering. But instead, both of these topics, departure and ascension were after that was over. When it was finished, to quote Jesus himself.

12:43 He was diligently traveling to Jerusalem to finish a mission he'd received from God. This was a topic of that conversation with Moses and Elijah, and now according to verse 51, his ascension was also similarly on his divine mind. He couldn't wait to accomplish the task God had sent him to do and return home to be with his heavenly father. I I look around at a few folks that might be college students or have moved on to lives away from family. And you know exactly what I'm talking about when you're like, I'm going home.

13:25 I'm going home. And that anticipation, that joy, that excitement, and also, I'm gonna get some things done to make that happen. Well, Jesus had a lot of things to get done, but that anticipation is evident here. And yet, what had just occurred was not we're heading on to Jerusalem, but instead another demon. Demons popped up all over the place.

13:47 I'm sure you've seen them throughout your study in the Gospel of Luke. And another one pops up into his life. Now we may say, well Jesus, according to scripture, never has interruptions. These are opportunities to show his power. But as Ray pointed out last week, he'd shown his power enough, don't you think?

14:05 He cast out demons, he healed people, he fed 5,000 plus plus plus. Did another demon have to show up? Well the answer to that might be that what had occurred earlier. His frustration over the delay was magnified because his disciples weren't doing their job. His goal was to get to Jerusalem.

15:22 He gave them all authority to do it. And they've already come back and reported in how it went. That was verse 10. And here we are now in the upper forties in the verses. And Jesus is frustrated.

15:38 Could he be frustrated with me? Could he be frustrated with you? Has he given you authority? Well, let's see. Matthew chapter 28 verses nineteen and twenty, two of the most famous verses in the world.

15:54 Go ye into all the world. And he says, making disciples and teaching them and baptizing them. And how is he finished? For all authority has been given to me. All authority.

16:14 And so Jesus proved later on as we would finish up this study that he fulfilled everything he was supposed to do and then he passes on to us. We are post crucifixion. We are post ascension, departure. We are post resurrection, right? And thereby the Holy Spirit is now ours.

16:38 He abides in us and we have a mission. Where that mission is in Jerusalem, your hometown, Judea, your culture, your own language, your own people, group. Maybe he's calling you into an area that some people don't like to go, Samaria or the other most parts of the world. It doesn't matter where, it's are we doing our job? Are we fulfilling our mission?

17:05 Well, the disciples weren't. But the question still comes, why? If they were given authority to cast out all demons earlier, why? And we have no evidence that it didn't happen until now, why? Well, we get that actually in another gospel.

17:24 In the gospel of Mark chapter nine verse 29, it says, Jesus said to them, this kind cannot come out by anything but prayer. Some manuscripts also add in fasting. So wow, what happened? Probably, again, I have no proof of this, but the evidence that we see here is they did what most believers do. It's like, God, thank you so much for saving me.

17:53 And now I'm gonna rely upon my own personality, my own skills, my own experiences, and even corporately. This is a church that's been around for fifty years. Could we rely upon our past successes for Christ? Yeah. You know, I rejoice when I see VBS continuing on.

18:18 I rejoice with you. I rejoice for you. And I rejoice for all the kids out there and their families who are gonna come. Because you're recognizing it doesn't matter what's happened in the past. These are new children.

18:35 These are new families and they need to hear the truth. So let's not do like the disciples probably did and rest on our own laurels, our own experiences, and instead pray. And I love the fact that Monday it was praying and fast, alright? Not everybody can do that due to some of their physical limitations, but we can all pray. We can all spend time in the word of God too, and study and encourage these folks that are beyond the front lines, especially I want to point out Andy Hilton's got the message, right?

19:10 You got the message. So please be lifting up Andy. So, we find out. They forgot to pray. They rested on their own strength.

19:47 Starting in the end of that verse, chapter nine verse 43, it says, but while everyone was marveling, everyone included the disciples by the way, everyone was marveling at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, let these words sink into your ears for the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. But they did not understand this statement and it was concealed from them so that they might not perceive it and they were afraid to ask him about this statement. Jesus knew how his mission was to be accomplished, he knew what was before him, he had to suffer and die. And he brought everybody that was listening back to this moment. Yes, the demon was cast out.

20:32 Yes, God's power was displayed through him. But the ultimate goal, his ultimate mission was to go to Jerusalem, to suffer and die, to fulfill the scriptures. He would die at the hands of man that he himself created to pay the penalty that God had instituted. God declared, the penalty for sin is death. And it had to be a perfect sacrifice.

20:55 The death of a perfect sacrifice was the only way that sin's penalty would be paid for. He needed the disciples to understand his mission so that they could fulfill theirs. Folks, we are we are here in a week before probably the most powerful week of a of this calendar, if I could use a church calendar. And it's not Christmas and Easter. It's where the whole church gathers together for proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

21:28 The reason he came. What a wonderful thing. But they needed to do their job, so he could do his. Not that he was limited, okay, I don't wanna diminish what God can do, right? But that's what he did.

21:40 So he commanded them, let these words sink into your ears. I don't know if any of you parents have ever used that, I don't think I ever have. Look at Heidi, she's like, okay. Anyway, but that's that's a powerful statement. And he's aiming, right, at the disciples.

21:54 So, we look at how the disciples had responded. It says they didn't understand the statement. It was concealed from them, so they might not perceive it. It reminds me of the soil, the first soil of the sower. You know, sea lands on the road and the birds come and take it away.

22:18 It's like, some people, for some reason, it just bounces right off. There will be children here this week, that'll happen. And they'll probably be the ones who are like, Lord, could you never mind. You don't want to even pray that. Instead you want pray for every soul.

22:33 Every soul, every type of soil. And yet there are situations like this. And where they didn't understand it, it was concealed for them, but here's the part we can do something about, right? They were afraid to ask. They were afraid to ask.

22:51 Of anyone, of anyone that I'm sure you would say, I have some questions about what's in the Bible Lord, but I guess I have to wait till I get to heaven to ask you this one. Because everybody here on earth haven't had a good answer yet, right? But if you had someone standing in front of you who was the son of God, the chosen one, and you didn't understand something about what he said, would it be smart to ask him? And yet, what inhibits us? Well, in the book of James, James by the way, was Jesus' half brother, he grew up with him.

23:22 And he writes this after the resurrection in chapter one verses five and the beginning of six. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting. That is a such an encouragement, isn't it? Isn't it?

23:45 That not only can we ask, but there's no reproach. Now maybe you, somewhere in your background had a teacher that kinda deal to you because you asked a question. That that I shudder when I hear about that. Well, asked this teacher a question and made feel stupid. Instead of honoring the question with a good answer.

24:09 Or even honoring the question and saying, you know what, I don't know. I will research it and get back to you. Talk about being humble before your students or your children or your friends, and saying, I'll get back to you. So what can we do when we're faced with a situation we don't understand? We can focus on God's wisdom.

24:56 But have you ever thought about the word our or my? It's a possession word, isn't it? This is our church. This is my bicycle. Alright?

25:08 So we use it all the time. But can we ever say, this is our ministry? Whose is it really? It started with Jesus, it still is. We get to participate.

25:24 And so we never want to make our agenda above his. Again, is not I had to preface that but this is not any accusation, this is just a reminder. I find this very much involved with the work that I get to do now and to take away that, well this is our school, no, it's God's school. And this these are our facilities. No, these are God's facilities.

25:47 What are we? We're stewards. We have this little window of time here on this planet to steward what God has entrusted to us. We don't take possession. And if you have ever had something in your hand and all of a sudden it's gone, you realize it was never really yours to control, and it hurts a little bit more when God's gotta pry those fingers apart to take it away.

26:16 It hurts a lot more. But if you say, well, that was actually never mine, Lord, that's yours, and I trust that if you want me to have that or something similar to it, you'll provide it again. And if not, I trust that you know I didn't need it. So may these words sink into our ears and maybe we be working for His kingdom that it would come quickly. Whoever receives this child receives me.

26:39 Verse 46, an argument arose among them to which of them might be the greatest. But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by his side and said to them, whoever receives this child in my name receives Me. And whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least, least among you, this is the one who is great. This section, as we talked about, is so appropriate today, isn't it?

27:05 Tomorrow, starting VBS, we are going to be dealing with a lot of the least of these. Little ones, some of them will be crying, some of them wish they weren't there, some will be running all over the place, out of control it seems. We'll have parents that maybe just wanna hang around and hover. All these things are part of the ministry, aren't they? And they're all opportunities.

27:29 But these are all the least among you. And what did Jesus say? Though they who are the least are actually the greatest. May we faithfully pray for and serve these children and parents who we get to meet next week. They're the ones that God brings for us.

27:47 If I could use it, they're the chosen ones for us to minister to as a corporate body. And when we look at them, we need to do what Jesus did. When you minister, when you serve, when you show love and care and compassion to this child or this parent, you're doing it to me. We also see that in Matthew chapter 25, right? It's amazing opportunity.

28:15 And we also know that there's no greater joy in heaven than that of a soul coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. So may the Lord reap a harvest of precious souls this week through the ministry of VBS. It was mentioned already, so I won't speak much more on this, but I would strongly encourage you to pick up one of these blue pieces of paper. I've got them up here on the table, and Andy said there's some also available. And Laura said, there's some actually in booklet form.

28:45 Alright? So please read this. This is the testimony of a man who was praised at his memorial service. One person said, I don't ever think I heard him say anything negative about someone. That alone is notable.

29:02 But the fact that one grandchild, one child, one son in love, if I could use that term, after another popped up from his seat or her seat, went up to the mic, dealt with the emotions, and started talking about how grandpa or dad ministered to them. Well, this is a story of how he came to Christ. And it's very specifically spelled out on the six things that he had lived for prior to learning about Jesus Christ. And so you see the before, and then you see the after. And it's only on one piece of paper, you can read it in ten minutes or less if you study it, maybe it'll change your life.

29:48 Again, I told Laura that I'd like to do this. She gave me permission, but it was testified that even in his last week, he was still influential in proclaiming the gospel to people who were working, serving there at the hospital, at the clinic that he was staying. And his last words were, How great thou art. Just an amazing testimony. I was telling Don, the main thing I remember about him was the way he said Nebuchadnezzar.

30:17 I just love Nebuchadnezzar. You know, I just love the way he said that when he was preaching up here in the Old Testament. So, but there was something else that actually is also very timely. Three daughters. You folks probably know, well I know you know Laura.

30:33 Her sister Dottie and the other sister named Amy. Amy used to attend here. Amy used to attend here. She was always needing lots of help physically. So she had a disability.

30:44 And at times, people would say, well there's the least of these. And most people, when it comes down to the least of these is, I want to be where they're not. But this chapel welcomed Amy. And it was, I remember her well, especially during the breaking of bread. She had a little purse that she always carried with her.

31:04 And I don't know how much she got out it, but it didn't matter, right? She was there. She was there. And she was there because Sam and Dee took care of her. And the testimony, the testimony about his unconditional love for Amy.

31:24 Wow. Powerful. And yet he was influencing so many people. May we live that way. So do not hinder him.

32:03 This final passage blesses my heart deeply. Having served overseas in an international ministry for quite a while now, I've learned that my views going over there have changed immensely. I had an American centric world view. And it affected even my biblical world view. I am not here to put down The United States Of America.

32:32 It is still the number one country in the world where everyone wants to be here and we are seeing example and the examples of that every day at our borders. And where I come from over there, that is the gold, that's the promised land. That is the promised land. And even to get a visa to come here is so difficult, let alone become a US citizen. So please don't take what I'm saying here as anything negative against USA.

33:02 My point was, I had this kind of world view. I only knew what was here. It reminded me when I was in Mexico on a short term mission trip, and we were trying to teach the boys and girls in kindergarten about God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, etc. John three sixteen. And they could not grasp the whole world.

33:24 We showed them a globe, and they said, okay, yeah, we see that. And I go, well you live right here on this little area in Mexico. It didn't matter. Of course, they're kindergarteners in the first place, so that's not real fair. But they said, no, no, no, you don't understand.

33:39 My world is from that path over there to that fence over there. Are we like that? Are we like those little Mexican kindergartners that say, my world is right here. You go outside of that and you're gonna be like John. Hey, they're not doing it the way we're doing it, so I try to stop them.

34:02 Do we ever get tempted to say, well they're not doing it like we're doing so it's got to be, dare I say the word, wrong? Now there was a very comical moment of this in my first year in The Philippines. There was a lady there who did eventually. She served there for decades and she said I'm gonna be buried here. Okay, and she was.

34:25 But she said Todd, just because it's different does not mean it's wrong. Just because it's different does not mean it's wrong. And I said, I agree to you except for your traffic. That's wrong. Alright.

34:37 She didn't argue. Anyway, could my view or your view of ministry or missions be limited? Could we possibly be like John? And said they're not doing it our way, they're not with us. Should I stop them?

34:57 Or not support them? If I could use a different terminology. Well, I learned a lot. I learned that people get on the mission field in a lot of different ways. They come from a lot of different directions and they have a lot of different beliefs.

35:10 But where the commonality was? Jesus Christ, son of God, the chosen one. The gospel going forth to all the children that are coming to our school. And the parents who don't know Christ, They get to hear the gospel. It's an amazing experience, amazing opportunity.

35:31 But I also learned that God uses denominations. Non denominations. He uses clergy, oh boy, and laity. He uses mission organizations, sending churches, even service organizations like CMML, who which are so important to send out missionaries representing the brethren. Yes, there, if you read the CMML prayer handbook, you'll find some would say, also commissioned by and then they have a ministry like Ethnos three sixty or Send International or something like that.

36:10 But they're saying, this church, this assembly is commending these people to go do what they're doing and they're also maybe going through someone else besides MSC or CMML. But all I can tell you is the only people that are pretty much praying for and supporting those MSC and CMML missionaries. The majority by far are from the assemblies. I'm overwhelmed how God can take all this variety and bring about such a beautiful ministry around the world to present and proclaim the gospel. Now John and the other disciples were going to learn a similar lesson.

37:11 Second example, a Roman centurion. Woah, scary people, right? By the name of Cornelius. God speaks to him in a vision. He shares with some people.

37:23 He says, go talk to this guy. That's what God told me to do. And that guy says, oh, I'm not supposed... I can eat anything, Lord? But I've never eaten anything unclean.

37:33 And yet God said, these guys are coming. You need to go with them. We have Acts chapter 10. And all of a sudden, the entire Gentile world is open for business to receive the gospel. That's all history.

37:48 That's all history. The church of Jesus Christ is growing and is impacting the world in the most powerful way because people are not afraid of other people. They're joining together. I encourage all of us here to check it every once in a while, if I could use that term. Check your heart.

38:09 Check your mind. Are you looking at someone a little differently just because they're different? And that different for you means, I don't wanna be around them. I don't wanna do things with them, and I don't wanna minister to them. I'm gonna give you a last example.

38:24 There are more assemblies within a half hour. I'll just go, it's Manila traffic, alright? If it would be here, it be a half hour. If it would Manila traffic, okay, within an hour, than there are in the whole state of Ohio. There are three, two church plants right now going on from a church smaller than ours, who are dirt poor.

38:46 The average income probably of the people that attend our church, I'll just put it this way, when it comes down to new school supplies, they're always in need. Always in need. So we try to grab those again thrown away at Faith Academy. We say, here you go. And they cherish that.

39:04 They appreciate that at the start of their school year. Anyway, two church plants. Started with just bible studies in a village. One takes about a half hour walking through mud if it's rainy season to get there. And a third one is actually an opportunity still waiting in an island about three hours south of where our church is located because it was a property given to CMML or CMPI over there.

39:31 The property is given and it has a school on it, has a birthing clinic on it, it has a resort like where you could have a wedding there. And all this is potential. And they have someone that's ready to go in there and lead a ministry from there. I'm just encouraging us all. Sometimes those things are out there and you see them, but maybe it's because well, we can't do that.

40:31 To remember that the least of these, well, they're actually the greatest in the kingdom of God. And lastly, that we can work together to further God's kingdom with people from every tribe, every tongue, every nation, and even maybe every non or denomination. Anyway, you know what I mean. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, what a privilege it is to be able to read your word, to study your word.

40:59 And and I do pray that your Holy Spirit spoke today. I know you surely spoke to me. And I pray, Lord, that we would sincerely respond for you, Lord Jesus, are the chosen one. God's precious son sent to Earth to die on a cross to save us from our sins. Thank you that you've done that for us for us.

41:26 May we share that good news with others With by your power, not by ours, but by your power. Help us to be faithful. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.