Jesus has global impact David Mulready
Series: Mission Month
Speaker: Steve Jeffrey
Date: 13th May 2012
00:00:00 --> 00:00:08 Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a God who has spoken in the past and that you continue to speak today through the pages of the Bible.
00:00:09 --> 00:00:16 Please strengthen us today by your Holy Spirit and help us to put these words into practice in our own lives.
00:00:16 --> 00:00:19 And we ask it for Jesus' sake. Amen.
00:00:22 --> 00:00:27 Well, advertising is one of Australia's most successful industries.
00:00:27 --> 00:00:41 Just think of the adverts that you come across every day on the television, on the radio, on billboards, newspapers, magazines, the internet.
00:00:43 --> 00:00:55 Companies spend millions of dollars to promote their products and their services in the hope that we will buy them, that we will spend money on these products.
00:00:55 --> 00:01:00 Christians are into advertising as well.
00:01:01 --> 00:01:08 We want to promote Jesus as the only Saviour and Lord at every opportunity.
00:01:09 --> 00:01:21 Our message is about a unique product, not just another option on the supermarket shelf of religions and ideologies.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:37 Your mission month that you're having at this time reminds us that this great task and privilege of proclaiming salvation in Jesus Christ alone
00:01:37 --> 00:01:40 is not just the job of the professionals.
00:01:40 --> 00:01:54 It's not just the job of people like Chris Jones and Steve Jeffrey and Brian Tung and Sam and whoever else is on the staff here at St. Paul's.
00:01:54 --> 00:01:56 It's not just the professionals.
00:01:57 --> 00:02:01 It belongs to every person who claims to be a Christian.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:14 We are involved in ministry and we are to be involved in ministry locally, in outback Australia and overseas.
00:02:14 --> 00:02:18 Isn't it interesting the way that the globe is coming back to South America?
00:02:19 --> 00:02:25 I don't know whether that means God wants to send you all to South America or not, but I'm facing Australia right now.
00:02:25 --> 00:02:27 So we're still there.
00:02:27 --> 00:02:32 So all around the world, that is our privilege.
00:02:33 --> 00:02:43 So let's look at our passage from Matthew's Gospel, page 950, if you like to open the Bible that may be in front of you there,
00:02:43 --> 00:02:55 to see what light God shines on this great task of making the Gospel known, of making Jesus Christ known.
00:02:55 --> 00:03:05 The first thing that we notice as we look at the passage is that Jesus' true identity is recognised.
00:03:07 --> 00:03:09 Advertisers, going back to that idea,
00:03:10 --> 00:03:18 advertisers need to be sure that they have the correct product and that they market it accurately.
00:03:19 --> 00:03:25 I never cease to be amazed at the news reports about surveys that are being held.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:39 You know, I'm 64 and a half and the only time I have ever been asked for an opinion was about whether the police do a good job once when we were living in Western Australia.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:50 Who are all these people whose opinions direct our government and direct our media and all sorts of things?
00:03:50 --> 00:03:55 I don't know who they are, but advertisers, I'm told, conduct surveys.
00:03:55 --> 00:04:04 They might interview 1 people and make amazing statements on the basis of 1 people.
00:04:04 --> 00:04:08 Labour has gone down and the coalition has gone up.
00:04:08 --> 00:04:10 1 people say so.
00:04:10 --> 00:04:11 I don't know whether you were asked.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:19 But anyway, the advertisers need to be sure that they have the correct product and market it accurately.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:26 Well, Jesus was conducting a survey in this passage, wasn't he, in Matthew chapter 16.
00:04:26 --> 00:04:32 And he asked two questions in order to clarify who he was.
00:04:33 --> 00:04:38 The first question is in verse 13, which he was really asking,
00:04:39 --> 00:04:43 what views are held about me in general?
00:04:43 --> 00:04:54 And then in verse 15, who do you disciples, who do you followers say that I am?
00:04:55 --> 00:05:11 And as we look at the answers to these questions, we can note that the, first of all, that there are three suggestions identifying Jesus as a figure from the past rather than seeing him as unique.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:12 Look at verse 14.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:15 The crowd here.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:19 They replied, some say that you are John the Baptist.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:21 Others say Elijah.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:27 And others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:33 These answers contained dangerous half-truths.
00:05:33 --> 00:05:43 For Jesus did have some qualities in common with these great people from God's servants from the past.
00:05:44 --> 00:05:48 But Jesus transcends all of them.
00:05:49 --> 00:05:55 He is unique and not simply to be identified as somebody from the past.
00:05:55 --> 00:06:01 And then we notice that Peter's answer was spot on.
00:06:01 --> 00:06:05 Peter answered on behalf of the disciples in verse 16.
00:06:07 --> 00:06:12 You are the Christ, the son of the living God.
00:06:12 --> 00:06:16 Now do you notice what Jesus says about his answer?
00:06:17 --> 00:06:18 In verse 17.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:22 He says, Peter, you didn't work this out for yourselves, for yourself.
00:06:24 --> 00:06:27 God has revealed this to you.
00:06:27 --> 00:06:31 He has opened your eyes to see who I am.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:33 God has opened your eyes to see who I am.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:48 And then we notice in verses 18 and 19 that the faith that was expressed by Peter was the rock, the foundation upon which Jesus would build his church.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:56 And in which Peter would have a unique part to play in the early critical years.
00:06:57 --> 00:06:59 And I tell you that you are Peter.
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 And on this rock I will build my church.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:06 This rock, this statement of faith that you've made.
00:07:08 --> 00:07:11 And the gates of Hades or the gates of hell will not overcome it.
00:07:12 --> 00:07:14 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
00:07:15 --> 00:07:17 Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.
00:07:17 --> 00:07:21 And whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:31 There are many different sorts of Jesus who are proclaimed in the world today.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:47 These people who proclaim a different Jesus either discard the Bible's account of the true Jesus or they misinterpret what they read.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:51 To tell others about the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:07:51 --> 00:07:52 To tell others about the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:07:52 --> 00:07:54 We need to know who he is.
00:07:55 --> 00:07:57 We need to be certain of our product.
00:07:57 --> 00:08:01 We need to know who he is.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:03 We need to know who he is.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:03 We need to know who he is.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:04 We need to know who he is.
00:08:04 --> 00:08:07 Whom God has made known.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:10 Now this doesn't come by osmosis.
00:08:11 --> 00:08:16 It comes by regularly, prayerfully reading the Bible.
00:08:16 --> 00:08:26 And it sometimes comes from somebody else telling us, telling us the news.
00:08:26 --> 00:08:31 I was 17 when I had been hearing.
00:08:31 --> 00:08:33 I'd been going to Sunday school.
00:08:33 --> 00:08:35 I'd been going to Christian youth camps.
00:08:35 --> 00:08:43 But it wasn't until I was 17 when somebody preached about Jesus in such a way that God opened my eyes.
00:08:43 --> 00:08:49 To understand who Jesus was and what he had done for me.
00:08:49 --> 00:08:55 It took somebody else to share the truth about Jesus.
00:08:57 --> 00:09:01 Exactly the task that all Christians have.
00:09:02 --> 00:09:06 And so Jesus' true identity is recognised.
00:09:06 --> 00:09:19 The second thing that we notice here in verses 21 to 23 is that Jesus' death and resurrection are absolutely central to biblical Christianity.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:28 There's confusion today about Jesus' purpose in coming to earth.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:32 Some see him as a good moral teacher.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:37 Some see him as a champion for the poor and the disadvantaged.
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 Some see him as a great healer.
00:09:43 --> 00:09:50 Jesus was in no doubt as to why he came and the purpose for his life.
00:09:51 --> 00:09:56 It's partly spelled out for us in verses 21 and 22.
00:09:56 --> 00:10:02 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem
00:10:02 --> 00:10:08 and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law.
00:10:08 --> 00:10:14 And that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:21 Never, Lord, he said.
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 This shall never happen to you.
00:10:25 --> 00:10:31 Jesus came to die for our sins.
00:10:32 --> 00:10:38 He came to die on the cross and pay the punishment that our sins deserve.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 That we might be forgiven by God.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:48 That we might become God's friends and enjoy him forever.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:53 Peter didn't understand this at first.
00:10:53 --> 00:10:57 And he was actually rebuked by the Lord.
00:10:59 --> 00:11:01 Jesus turned and said to Peter,
00:11:02 --> 00:11:04 Get behind me, Satan.
00:11:06 --> 00:11:09 You are a stumbling block to me.
00:11:10 --> 00:11:12 You do not have in mind the things of God,
00:11:13 --> 00:11:16 but the things of men.
00:11:16 --> 00:11:25 You see, the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus is absolutely central to true Christianity.
00:11:26 --> 00:11:36 Any presentation of Christianity which fails to centre on this historical event is a fake
00:11:36 --> 00:11:40 and needs to be recognised as such.
00:11:41 --> 00:11:43 To tell others about Jesus,
00:11:44 --> 00:11:46 we need to know the truth.
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 I wonder what you are doing at the moment
00:11:51 --> 00:11:57 to be better equipped in knowing God's truth
00:11:57 --> 00:12:03 so that you can better live it out and better share it with others.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:08 Perhaps there's a course that you could be doing
00:12:08 --> 00:12:11 that maybe this church offers right now.
00:12:12 --> 00:12:15 Perhaps there's a Christian book that you could be reading
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 or that somebody else,
00:12:17 --> 00:12:19 you might give to somebody else
00:12:19 --> 00:12:24 to help them be better acquainted with God's truth.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:28 Being part of a regular Bible study group.
00:12:28 --> 00:12:30 Regularly being here
00:12:30 --> 00:12:33 or whatever church it might be that you regularly go to.
00:12:34 --> 00:12:37 Regularly sitting under the teaching
00:12:37 --> 00:12:40 of able Bible teachers
00:12:40 --> 00:12:43 as we've already heard from folk this morning
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 that you have here at St Paul's.
00:12:47 --> 00:12:49 Jesus' death and resurrection
00:12:49 --> 00:12:52 are absolutely central to biblical Christianity
00:12:52 --> 00:12:57 and we need to know the truth ourselves.
00:12:58 --> 00:13:01 The third thing that we notice from this passage
00:13:01 --> 00:13:05 is that Jesus calls for total commitment.
00:13:05 --> 00:13:07 Total commitment.
00:13:09 --> 00:13:13 Companies which spend millions of dollars on advertising
00:13:13 --> 00:13:16 don't do this half-heartedly.
00:13:17 --> 00:13:20 Can you imagine in a boardroom
00:13:20 --> 00:13:24 with a board sitting around a nice large table
00:13:24 --> 00:13:28 saying, well, what will we do with all these millions?
00:13:28 --> 00:13:29 Let's throw a bit at advertising.
00:13:31 --> 00:13:33 Every dollar is accounted for.
00:13:33 --> 00:13:36 Every dollar is spent
00:13:36 --> 00:13:38 in the hope,
00:13:39 --> 00:13:39 in the plan,
00:13:39 --> 00:13:40 with the strategy
00:13:40 --> 00:13:43 that it will achieve something
00:13:43 --> 00:13:45 in selling the product
00:13:45 --> 00:13:47 or selling the service.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:50 They don't spend
00:13:50 --> 00:13:52 these sorts of amounts of money
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 half-heartedly.
00:13:54 --> 00:13:57 They invest time,
00:13:58 --> 00:13:58 energy
00:13:58 --> 00:14:00 and lots of money.
00:14:01 --> 00:14:02 They're accountable to their shareholders.
00:14:04 --> 00:14:05 They're totally committed
00:14:05 --> 00:14:06 to selling their product
00:14:06 --> 00:14:08 and making a profit.
00:14:10 --> 00:14:13 A Ford car salesman
00:14:13 --> 00:14:16 who drives a Holden
00:14:16 --> 00:14:19 is not totally committed.
00:14:22 --> 00:14:23 Becoming a Christian
00:14:23 --> 00:14:26 is actually a death sentence.
00:14:27 --> 00:14:29 That's what Jesus says.
00:14:29 --> 00:14:31 Death to self.
00:14:32 --> 00:14:36 Let me read from verse 24 to 26 again.
00:14:36 --> 00:14:38 Then Jesus said to his disciples,
00:14:38 --> 00:14:40 If anyone would come after me,
00:14:40 --> 00:14:42 he must deny himself
00:14:42 --> 00:14:44 and take up his cross
00:14:44 --> 00:14:46 and follow me.
00:14:46 --> 00:14:49 For whoever wants to save his life
00:14:49 --> 00:14:50 will lose it.
00:14:50 --> 00:14:53 But whoever loses his life for me
00:14:53 --> 00:14:54 will find it.
00:14:55 --> 00:14:56 What good will it be for a man
00:14:56 --> 00:14:58 if he gains the whole world
00:14:58 --> 00:15:01 yet forfeits his soul?
00:15:02 --> 00:15:03 Or what can a man give
00:15:03 --> 00:15:07 in exchange for his soul?
00:15:09 --> 00:15:11 Death to self.
00:15:12 --> 00:15:14 Death to my ambitions.
00:15:16 --> 00:15:17 My goals in life.
00:15:18 --> 00:15:19 My happiness.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:22 My financial security.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:23 My popularity.
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 Christianity is not about me.
00:15:30 --> 00:15:32 It's about Jesus
00:15:32 --> 00:15:34 and his plans.
00:15:35 --> 00:15:36 His interests.
00:15:37 --> 00:15:39 His global mission.
00:15:43 --> 00:15:46 We, like the company
00:15:46 --> 00:15:48 that spends money on advertising,
00:15:48 --> 00:15:50 we will be held accountable.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:52 We're not held accountable
00:15:52 --> 00:15:53 to the shareholders.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:55 We're held accountable
00:15:55 --> 00:15:58 to the God and Father
00:15:58 --> 00:16:00 of our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:16:00 --> 00:16:03 We will be held accountable
00:16:03 --> 00:16:04 for our service
00:16:04 --> 00:16:05 for the Lord
00:16:05 --> 00:16:07 and what we hold back
00:16:07 --> 00:16:09 and how we compromise.
00:16:11 --> 00:16:13 Verse 27,
00:16:13 --> 00:16:14 For the Son of Man
00:16:14 --> 00:16:15 is going to come
00:16:15 --> 00:16:17 in his Father's glory
00:16:17 --> 00:16:18 with his angels
00:16:18 --> 00:16:20 and then he will reward
00:16:20 --> 00:16:21 each person
00:16:21 --> 00:16:23 according to what he has done.
00:16:23 --> 00:16:27 to tell others
00:16:27 --> 00:16:27 about Jesus.
00:16:28 --> 00:16:29 We need to be
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 uncompromising
00:16:31 --> 00:16:33 in our own faith.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:35 The way we live it out
00:16:35 --> 00:16:38 and the commitment
00:16:38 --> 00:16:40 that we call others to.
00:16:40 --> 00:16:41 We're not calling others
00:16:41 --> 00:16:43 to an easy road.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:47 To a half-hearted allegiance.
00:16:47 --> 00:16:50 We're calling others
00:16:50 --> 00:16:52 to a total commitment
00:16:52 --> 00:16:54 to Jesus Christ.
00:16:56 --> 00:16:58 So let me ask you this morning,
00:16:59 --> 00:17:00 are we serious
00:17:00 --> 00:17:02 about being Christians?
00:17:04 --> 00:17:05 Are we serious
00:17:05 --> 00:17:08 about making Jesus Christ known?
00:17:08 --> 00:17:10 And what evidence
00:17:10 --> 00:17:11 is there
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 for our opinion
00:17:14 --> 00:17:17 of the answer
00:17:17 --> 00:17:18 to this question?
00:17:19 --> 00:17:20 How would other people
00:17:20 --> 00:17:21 regard your answer
00:17:21 --> 00:17:24 about yourself?
00:17:25 --> 00:17:27 Are we distinctive Christians
00:17:27 --> 00:17:29 or are we,
00:17:29 --> 00:17:31 as Richard Cochan says
00:17:31 --> 00:17:32 in his wonderful little book,
00:17:33 --> 00:17:34 A Few Good Men,
00:17:34 --> 00:17:37 are we suffering
00:17:37 --> 00:17:40 from a chameleon syndrome?
00:17:41 --> 00:17:42 You know,
00:17:42 --> 00:17:42 a chameleon is
00:17:42 --> 00:17:45 often an animal,
00:17:45 --> 00:17:46 a lizard or something
00:17:46 --> 00:17:47 that takes on
00:17:47 --> 00:17:49 the colours
00:17:49 --> 00:17:52 and the design
00:17:52 --> 00:17:53 and the atmosphere
00:17:53 --> 00:17:55 where it is
00:17:55 --> 00:17:57 so that predators
00:17:57 --> 00:17:58 won't be able to get it.
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 Are we guilty
00:18:01 --> 00:18:03 of suffering
00:18:03 --> 00:18:04 from such peer
00:18:04 --> 00:18:05 group pressure
00:18:05 --> 00:18:08 that we become
00:18:08 --> 00:18:09 like a chameleon
00:18:09 --> 00:18:11 and no longer
00:18:11 --> 00:18:12 be distinctive
00:18:12 --> 00:18:14 as a Christian?
00:18:15 --> 00:18:16 There's a danger.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:20 Well,
00:18:20 --> 00:18:21 we've seen today
00:18:21 --> 00:18:23 that what we believe
00:18:23 --> 00:18:25 about Jesus
00:18:25 --> 00:18:26 matters.
00:18:27 --> 00:18:29 How we live
00:18:29 --> 00:18:30 matters.
00:18:30 --> 00:18:30 matters.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:33 How we represent
00:18:33 --> 00:18:34 him
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 matters.
00:18:37 --> 00:18:38 And how we
00:18:38 --> 00:18:39 proclaim him
00:18:39 --> 00:18:41 matters.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:43 May God help
00:18:43 --> 00:18:44 each of us
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 to encourage
00:18:46 --> 00:18:46 one another,
00:18:47 --> 00:18:48 to pray for each
00:18:48 --> 00:18:49 other
00:18:49 --> 00:18:50 and to be
00:18:50 --> 00:18:51 serious
00:18:51 --> 00:18:53 about serving
00:18:53 --> 00:18:55 and proclaiming
00:18:55 --> 00:18:56 salvation
00:18:56 --> 00:18:57 in the Lord
00:18:57 --> 00:18:58 Jesus Christ.
00:18:58 --> 00:18:58 Christ.
00:18:59 --> 00:19:00 Let's pray.
00:19:02 --> 00:19:02 Our Heavenly
00:19:02 --> 00:19:03 Father,
00:19:03 --> 00:19:04 we thank you
00:19:04 --> 00:19:05 for this wonderful
00:19:05 --> 00:19:06 passage from the
00:19:06 --> 00:19:07 Gospel of Matthew
00:19:07 --> 00:19:09 and we pray
00:19:09 --> 00:19:10 that you might
00:19:10 --> 00:19:10 help us
00:19:10 --> 00:19:11 this week
00:19:11 --> 00:19:13 to be
00:19:13 --> 00:19:14 distinctive
00:19:14 --> 00:19:15 Christians
00:19:15 --> 00:19:18 and
00:19:18 --> 00:19:19 to represent
00:19:19 --> 00:19:19 you
00:19:19 --> 00:19:20 faithfully
00:19:20 --> 00:19:23 and to
00:19:23 --> 00:19:24 continue
00:19:24 --> 00:19:26 to learn
00:19:26 --> 00:19:27 your truth,
00:19:27 --> 00:19:28 to listen
00:19:28 --> 00:19:29 to your
00:19:29 --> 00:19:29 voice
00:19:29 --> 00:19:31 so that we
00:19:31 --> 00:19:32 might proclaim
00:19:32 --> 00:19:33 your truth
00:19:33 --> 00:19:34 accurately
00:19:34 --> 00:19:36 and we ask
00:19:36 --> 00:19:36 it for Jesus'
00:19:37 --> 00:19:37 sake.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:38 Amen.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:38 Amen.