1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,560 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. Have you ever looked back in time and considered 2 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:21,000 how certain defining moments have shaped your life in future? Today, John Metter, lead 3 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,200 pastor of Cross City Church, looks at the importance of defining moments and how we 4 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:34,800 can recognize what God is saying through them. The title of the message today is the most 5 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,560 defining moment in your life and if you have your Bibles, please take them and turn to 6 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:46,040 Matthew chapter 16 beginning in verse 13. Matthew 16 beginning in verse 13. By the way, 7 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:51,440 as you've just heard by our video announcement, we'll be starting a new message series next 8 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:56,320 week called the Origin series. That means that we'll be walking through the book of 9 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:01,280 Genesis from chapter one through chapter 12 over the course of the next number of months. 10 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:07,400 It's a great journey through Genesis one through 12. It deals not only with a God who created 11 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:11,480 heavens and earth and it talks about the creation, but it also answers what I consider the most 12 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:18,320 important questions in life. Questions like who is God and what is truth and who was I 13 00:01:18,320 --> 00:01:25,600 created to be and why am I on the planet? What is my purpose? All those kinds of questions 14 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:30,320 that our culture is missing the answers to badly, but we have answers in the word of 15 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:34,680 God that change everything about how we view life. And so that begins the Origin series 16 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:41,000 next week. So stand together with me if you would as we open up Matthew chapter 16 today. 17 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:47,200 You know, you're going to have a million experiences in life, but only a few defining moments. 18 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:52,980 I call these defining moments God moments because they're unforgettable. You have these 19 00:01:52,980 --> 00:01:58,160 moments and in these moments you find out something about God. You find out something 20 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:04,040 about yourself. Sometimes you learn something about the situation that you're facing, but 21 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:10,040 they're God moments and those God moments define you for the rest of your life. Now 22 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:15,640 my goal today is very simple. I want you to see the spiritual characteristics of a God 23 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:20,480 moment in your life. I want you to be able to recognize when God's speaking to you and 24 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,760 recognize when God's pointing you in some direction or another. I don't want you to 25 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:29,880 confuse that with all the other experiences that you have in life because I want you to 26 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:35,000 see when God is really at work in your life. I think over the last few weeks we've made 27 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:43,040 it very plain that these moments, these defining moments affect the way we practice our faith, 28 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:50,320 the way we see ourselves, our identity, the way we face challenges, the way we know and 29 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:57,280 have assurance that God loves us and forgives us, the way we practice generosity, all kinds 30 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:02,800 of things are affecting us when we have these God moments and it's really important that 31 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:09,120 we have them. But this one is, I think, the most important because this one is a God moment 32 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:15,080 that happened to the apostle Peter and it is the most defining moment that every person 33 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:20,560 should have and must have to truly know God. That's pretty important. 34 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:27,440 So here we are, Matthew chapter 16 beginning in verse 13 with the apostle Peter in a conversation 35 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:32,880 with Jesus. The Bible says, now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, 36 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:38,800 he was asking his disciples, who do people say that the son of man is? And they say, 37 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:45,600 some say John the Baptist and others Elijah, but still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 38 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:54,080 And he said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, you are the Christ, 39 00:03:54,080 --> 00:04:00,040 the son of the living God. And Jesus said to him, blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah because 40 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:06,600 flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven. I also say 41 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:12,880 to you that you are Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hades, 42 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:18,760 the gates of hell will not overpower it. Join me in prayer. Father today, thank you for 43 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:25,400 this account of this moment between Peter and the Lord Jesus and the heavenly father. 44 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:30,360 Father, my prayer today is what I've stated that each of us will know how to recognize 45 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:35,640 those spiritual moments where you're talking to us and we would respond well to it. And 46 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:39,700 Lord, we ask that you do that for each one of us individually by the power of your Holy 47 00:04:39,700 --> 00:04:48,720 Spirit. In Jesus name we pray. And everybody said, amen. Please be seated. 48 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:54,200 Now this is an often talked about text. Sometimes people read this passage and they want to 49 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:59,880 focus on the victorious church because it is an encouraging thing to know that the gates 50 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:05,080 of hell will not prevail against the church. And then sometimes people want to focus on 51 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:10,200 the leadership role of the apostle Peter from that moment forward. Who would he be to the 52 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:15,720 historical church? And I can spend hours with you talking about those two subjects when 53 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:21,760 it comes to this passage, but not today. And here's why, because the most important part 54 00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:28,160 of this passage, the primary meaning of what we've just read is that Peter has a moment 55 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:34,520 with God that changes his life forever. And this is the defining moment for his life and 56 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:41,360 his faith and everything he does from that point forward. It's a really important text, 57 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:47,120 but it's a pre-church text. The church has not been formed yet. In fact, this is the 58 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,880 first time Jesus mentions the word church in the Bible. The first time it's found in 59 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:57,680 the Bible. And of course, church means to call out ones. And that's who Peter is going 60 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:01,840 to be. God is going to call him out of the world and calling out from everyone else. 61 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:06,400 He's going to call every disciple out from the world and form the church after he gives 62 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:12,760 the Holy spirit to them. But what's happening here is pre-church. This text is about how 63 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:20,480 God reveals himself to people. This text is about how God shows you who he is. I can't 64 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:24,960 think of anything more important than that in my whole life than to know who God really, 65 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:30,180 really is. It also demonstrates how Peter and the disciples of Jesus, after having walked 66 00:06:30,180 --> 00:06:35,580 alongside him for three years, next to him for three years, sometimes behind him for 67 00:06:35,580 --> 00:06:40,840 three years, a few times in front of him for three years, still don't know him well enough. 68 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:47,000 They know all about Jesus. They can describe him in a hundred different ways, but they 69 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:53,480 have yet to have that moment where Jesus reveals himself fully. They have yet to have that 70 00:06:53,480 --> 00:07:02,440 moment where they fully realize who he is and are able to embrace him forever. And that 71 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:08,000 moment changes their lives from that day onward. By the way, your life will change when you 72 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:12,720 have this moment with God as well. It'll be personal. It'll be real. It'll be powerful. 73 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:18,120 It'll be transformational, but it'll be something that God reveals to you that helps you know 74 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:24,520 something about him that is different from where you can learn anything else about Jesus. 75 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,920 It'll change your life. So let's look at these characteristics that happen in the life of 76 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:34,520 Peter and how they can happen in your life. First of all, it's a personal moment, a personal 77 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:41,760 moment. Look at the questions that we opened up this text with in verse 13. Jesus was asking 78 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:48,160 his disciples, this group, this small group of disciples, who do people say that the Son 79 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:54,440 of Man is? Now in the timeline of Jesus' earthly ministry, this is towards the end. In fact, 80 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,960 he's on his way to the cross and they know all the great things that Jesus has done. 81 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:04,560 They know him as a miracle worker. They know him as a teacher, as an amazing leader and 82 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:09,560 as a mentor, but they don't know him well enough yet. They're not ready to lay down 83 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:15,720 their lives for him yet because they don't see him exactly as who he is. He's setting 84 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:20,600 them up for what he's about to show them. And so they know a great deal about Jesus, 85 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,880 just like many of you in this room know a great deal about Jesus. You've read books 86 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:31,400 about Jesus, heard messages about Jesus. You've read passages of scripture about Jesus. You 87 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:37,000 have all kinds of ideas about Jesus, but you must have this understanding about Jesus that 88 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:43,960 Peter is about to have. So first the question is general. Jesus is asking the question. 89 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:50,080 It's a big question. Who do people say that I am? Now there's a huge question that you 90 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:55,000 need to ask yourself as well. And the answer in general ways. Some say John the Baptist 91 00:08:55,000 --> 00:09:00,160 and some say Elijah. Some say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. So they're answering 92 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:05,240 with a variety of questions and people do have various views of Jesus, don't they? If 93 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:09,400 we were to go out on a street today somewhere in a crowded place, say a park, and I were 94 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:14,600 to hold up a microphone to a random group of a hundred people and say to them, who do 95 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:20,320 you say Jesus is? I would get 100 different answers. Wouldn't you agree with that? I mean, 96 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,660 some would say something about his teacher. He's a moral leader. He's a great example. 97 00:09:24,660 --> 00:09:29,480 He's compassionate. He's loving. And all of us have these different ideas about Jesus. 98 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:33,160 The crazy thing is I could stand at the back of a church building after church one day 99 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:38,640 with a microphone and ask the same question and still get a variety of answers about who 100 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:45,640 Jesus Christ is. But what Jesus wants Peter to know is something that is far more clear 101 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,840 than all these other things. And of course the point of the text is Jesus is not John 102 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:56,560 the Baptist and Jesus is not Elijah and Jesus is not just another one of the prophets. He's 103 00:09:56,560 --> 00:10:02,080 something far, far more. He answers, he asks a very general question, then he moves to 104 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:07,240 a very specific question. I put both of them on the screen because I want you to see how 105 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:12,320 these questions contrast with each other. He says, first of all, who do people say that 106 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:19,320 the son of man is? And they answer with that general answer. And then he gets more personal. 107 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:26,520 He says, but who do you say that I am? The you is emphatic in the original language, 108 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:31,920 meaning that Jesus is zeroing in on these disciples, basically saying it doesn't matter 109 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:37,480 what everybody else says. Who do you guys think he is? Now you is plural, so he's asking 110 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:42,840 his whole group of disciples, who do you say that I am? But notice that he's moving from 111 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:48,680 the crowd to the small group and when Peter answers as an individual, Peter's taking it 112 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:54,080 personal so Jesus is always moving in that direction and that's what's happening right 113 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:59,320 there. By the way, I love how God always moves from the crowd moment to the small group moment 114 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:05,120 to the personal moment. And he does that because he's a personal God. He doesn't just relate 115 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:10,920 to you as a member of the crowd or as a member of the population on the planet. He relates 116 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:16,720 to you as an individual. One of my favorite scenes in scripture is where Jesus feeds the 117 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:22,240 multitudes and at the feeding of the multitudes, you know, he breaks the bread and passes it 118 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:29,240 and the fish and passes it. Five loaves, two fish feed 5,000 men along with a host of women 119 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:33,720 and children and it's really amazing and at the end of this feeding of the multitudes, 120 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:39,400 they gather up what's left and there are 12 baskets of food and Jesus gives each of the 121 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:44,960 12 disciples a basket of food and tells them to go down to the boat and get in the boat 122 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:50,560 and cross the Sea of Galilee. And then the storm begins to blow and there they are in 123 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:56,320 the boat terrified but with the evidence of a supernatural God in their hands, he multiplied 124 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,760 this bread and yet they're still worried for their lives and that's when Jesus comes walking 125 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:05,880 on the water past the boat. Remember this story, are you with me there? I want you to 126 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:12,880 notice that Jesus shows the crowd something about himself and then he shows the small 127 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:17,520 group something about himself in that boat. And it's Peter again that stands up and says, 128 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:22,800 Lord, if that's you, bid me come to you. Ask me to walk on the water towards you. So Jesus 129 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:28,160 gives him a one word command, you know what it is? Come. And Peter hops out of the boat 130 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:33,440 and starts walking on the water. Pretty amazing until he sinks, right? One of those amazing 131 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:40,440 moments. But from the crowd to the small group to the individual, that's what he's doing 132 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:46,800 here. That's what God's always about. And you know why he's doing that? Because you 133 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:53,800 can't just know him from the crowd. How do you can't fully know him just in the small 134 00:12:53,800 --> 00:13:01,840 group? You have to fully know him when it's a one on one. You have to know him personally. 135 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:07,440 Now some people have trouble believing that, but if they read the Bible, they would find 136 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:12,680 from Genesis to Revelation, God's a personal God who has conversations with people one 137 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:19,560 on one. And he actually arranges these conversations in very unusual places and very unusual way. 138 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:24,880 Go to Genesis chapter three, where Adam and Eve have sinned and God comes and finds them 139 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:29,600 in the garden of Eden. And he says, where are you? And he begins to interact with them 140 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:35,600 and talk to them. He covers their nakedness with the skin of an innocent animal. And they 141 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:41,040 began to walk together again. Or read the life of Abraham where God told him to get 142 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:45,880 up and leave where he was for his whole life. They go to a place he would later reveal to 143 00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:53,000 him. That takes faith. That's not for Jacob who rustled with the angel, but met God or 144 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:57,840 Joseph. The Bible says about Joseph, the Lord was with him even in the darkest of times 145 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:02,800 in prison, but God would reveal himself to Joseph over and over sometimes through interpreting 146 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:09,840 dreams and sometimes just with his presence or Moses. God spoke with Moses and the man 147 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:15,040 would speak with his friend. The Bible says, and God interacted with him. David who loved 148 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:20,320 the presence of the Lord and interacted with him, the prophets who heard from God and spoke 149 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:25,600 powerfully all the way through the Bible. God is a personal God. And I want you to get 150 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:31,440 this in your mind because if you don't think this is true, then you may not realize that 151 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:40,080 he wants a personal moment with you. But who am I? Well, you're part of his creation. That's 152 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:47,400 who you are. But who am I? Well, you're someone that he wants to reveal himself to because 153 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:54,160 he's a personal God. Consider this, that all these names I've named in the Old Testament, 154 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,800 he knows them, he knows where they are, he knows what they need, but he really wants 155 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:07,080 them to know him. That he wants you to know him. Recently, I came across a great video 156 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:13,040 and I enjoyed watching technology kind of unfold as we look at a person on the planet 157 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:18,200 and then zoom out before zooming back in. I want to show you that video today. I want 158 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:23,160 you to think about the reality of who God is. And this is really where we all began, 159 00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:29,480 where this lady is, this close up view, where it's just us. But then we began to realize 160 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:36,200 how small we are and how big our world is. The first is because we see all the people 161 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:42,280 around us from all over our city or our state or our country. But then one day we look up 162 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:50,600 and realize, wow, there's a whole other world. We can't even fathom. After a while, we might 163 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:57,080 begin to realize just how big our world is and how small our planet is. And if the Earth 164 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:02,440 that we felt was so big at first is actually very, very small in the light of our solar 165 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:10,880 system. And if we keep looking after a while, we'll realize how small our solar system is 166 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:18,840 and what a big universe it is that we're in. And hopefully it'll dawn on us how big God 167 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:28,080 is who created all of this. He's huge and he holds all this together. He's the only 168 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:39,880 one who can. He created it. God is incredible and big. But then we think this, we think, 169 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:48,640 well, he's big. His creation is massive, but I'm small and I'm insignificant and I'm 170 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:54,800 invisible to this God. In fact, some of us stop right there, but we'd be wrong because 171 00:16:54,800 --> 00:16:59,520 someday it may dawn on us that he's so great that he can see us at the same time he can 172 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:08,640 see his whole creation. And it's not the rest of creation he's focused on. It's us. No, 173 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:19,520 it's me. It's you. He's focused on speaking to you, leading you, loving you. He knows 174 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:28,360 you, but he wants you to know him. I wonder, when does God really zoom in on people like 175 00:17:28,360 --> 00:17:34,680 that? He absolutely does. How many of you have experienced that where you realize this 176 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:40,000 massive huge awesome God knows who you are, where you are, and has spoken to you? Would 177 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:46,880 you raise your hand? Man, I think the evidence speaks for itself. This incredible God knows 178 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:53,760 us and wants us to know him personally. It's such a big deal. Our creator, the God of the 179 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:58,880 universe wants us to know him in a personal way. And that's what's happening, it says 180 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:04,880 the reaphilipi. That's what's happening to Peter and the rest of the disciples. Who do 181 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:11,760 you say that I am? And of course, Peter being Peter opens his mouth before any of the other 182 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:17,040 disciples and he says what the rest of the disciples have been discussing among themselves. 183 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:23,000 He opens his mouth with a personal answer and he says, you are the Christ, the son of 184 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:28,880 the living God. I mean, this is massive. This is a huge statement. This is the statement 185 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:35,440 that Peter makes that says, I know who you are. It's what I call Peter's confession of 186 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:43,200 faith. It's the moment of realizing that Jesus is fully everything he says he was and knowing 187 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:47,600 it so confidently, he was ready to say it out loud and not just thinking in his mind. 188 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:54,160 It's a big confession and it has so much meaning behind it because Peter was searching for 189 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:59,680 the things that Jesus brought. His confession means that in you, Jesus, all the prophecies 190 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:05,320 of the Messiah have been fulfilled. And in you, Jesus, all the sacrifices of the old 191 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:13,160 Testament system find completion. And in you, all the hopes of God fearing people are fulfilled. 192 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:18,520 And in you, all the promises of scripture will come to pass or have come to pass in 193 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:23,600 you. And in you, the full expression of the heavenly father has come to pass that we can 194 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:31,000 see you. And in you, Jesus, God has become flesh and we are face to face. And in you, 195 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:36,520 we find our salvation and forgiveness and life. Peter's basically saying our search 196 00:19:36,520 --> 00:19:44,600 is over. The answer to everything is you, Jesus. That's what's happening. That's the 197 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:49,520 personal moment that he has. And perhaps he expresses that for all the other disciples 198 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:55,880 at that moment, but it's really, really Peter who gets that. Jesus later on makes a statement. 199 00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:04,720 He says, this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ 200 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:12,120 whom you have sent. And Peter has his moment right here in this text. I've been around 201 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:17,520 a while in ministry and every defining moment that I've had in life has been personal and 202 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:23,600 individual and intimate. And when I hear stories of people that have encounters with God, they 203 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:29,360 are the same. You have to be alone with God for a while to have some of these experiences. 204 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:34,680 Don't be afraid to be alone with God because he will reveal things to you that will surprise 205 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:40,520 you about himself. But God will help you have these defining moments. I've had defining 206 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:46,440 moments with God in a crowd where he singled me out and a moment that I felt no one else 207 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:51,760 saw or was aware of or even in the room, but God and myself or reading the Bible. And all 208 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:56,640 of a sudden something jumps off the page and I see God getting all personal with me and 209 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:02,880 directing me and speaking to me. This is how God consistently reveals himself and his will 210 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:07,840 go for our lives. And I have to ask you a question at this point, has this happened 211 00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:14,600 to you where God became personal and real and face to face with you where, where you 212 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:19,120 realized something was going on. There wasn't just information in your head and that God 213 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:25,900 was showing you something about himself. It will be a personal moment. But in this text, 214 00:21:25,900 --> 00:21:34,360 you also learn it's a revelation moment. Verse 17 after Peter makes this huge confession 215 00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:41,200 of faith, Jesus said to him, blessed are you Simon Barjona because flesh and blood did 216 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:46,140 not reveal this to you. But my father who is in heaven, this is where Jesus pauses and 217 00:21:46,140 --> 00:21:52,320 explains to Peter exactly what happened. I explained it to him, not in a condescending 218 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:57,360 way, not in the belittling way, but he wants it to be crystal clear for all those disciples 219 00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:02,760 there at that moment. He wants it to be crystal clear for us right here and now. This moment 220 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:07,680 is not about information. It's about revelation. This is where God shows you something that's 221 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:12,440 been revealed that you've never seen before, never known before, maybe hidden from you 222 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:17,920 before because you weren't ready and you weren't looking, but this is a moment where God reveals 223 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:24,960 himself. A revelation moment where God breaks through his mind and heart and spirit. But 224 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:29,600 even more than that, it tells us that Peter didn't learn this in a synagogue or from a 225 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:34,460 common conversation. The church hadn't been established yet. He didn't hear it in church. 226 00:22:34,460 --> 00:22:42,080 No rabbi or prophet taught him that. This is the father revealed and the word reveal 227 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:48,600 again means to remove the veil. It's where God reveals a thing to us not known before. 228 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:56,720 All of a sudden, Peter gets it. Now I've got my own theory about Jesus' response to Peter 229 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:02,120 when Peter comes up with this huge confession, thou art the Christ, the son of the living 230 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:08,680 God. I mean, it's like a slam dunk in terms of knowing who Christ is. It's huge, but I 231 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:15,720 can imagine what Jesus must have been doing when Peter said this. Now Peter's one of my 232 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,180 favorite characters of the scripture, probably because Peter messes up more than anybody 233 00:23:20,180 --> 00:23:24,000 else in the Bible. How many of you have seen that and noticed that? It's the first one 234 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:28,880 to talk. Sometimes he puts his foot in his mouth. I say sometimes he puts both feet in 235 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:34,240 his mouth. If I were to talk to you about how I believe Jesus probably speculatively 236 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:39,780 interacted with Peter, I would say sometimes Jesus probably as patient and long-suffering 237 00:23:39,780 --> 00:23:44,840 as he was probably rolled his eyes a few times with what Peter said and did. How many of 238 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,040 you think that might be true? I mean, it's not a vote or anything like that, but there 239 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:52,640 are a few times where Jesus might have tried to pull some of his own hair out because he 240 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,840 was frustrated with Peter. I think it's a demonstration of God's patience that he left 241 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:06,560 Peter on the planet that long. I think this is the moment where Jesus smiled and said 242 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:14,240 he gets it. He understands who I am. He's seen all these miracles. He's heard all this 243 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:20,320 teaching. He's watched me as I have done ministry, but I think he gets it, Father. Thank you, 244 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:28,040 Father, for opening his eyes and letting him see who I really am. Jesus was smiling, I 245 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:33,680 believe, at that moment. It's this kind of moment that precedes our salvation. It's not 246 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:39,080 only the mental awareness of who Christ is, because this moment is so much more personal 247 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:44,340 than just a bunch of information in our minds. It's so intimate, so clear, so undeniable. 248 00:24:44,340 --> 00:24:50,520 It's also the heart awareness. It's this kind of moment that lets people lay down their 249 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:55,800 lives for Christ. If you've ever wondered why someone is willing to die for Christ, 250 00:24:55,800 --> 00:25:00,480 this is why, because they've seen who Christ really is that he's worth living for, he's 251 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:07,600 worth dying for, because they've seen him. They know who he is. It's a moment that brings 252 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:14,280 incredible revelation to our lives. The apostle John has had this moment. Here's how he words 253 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:19,600 it in 1 John 1. What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with 254 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:24,380 our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word of life, 255 00:25:24,380 --> 00:25:29,920 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testified to you the eternal life which 256 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:34,840 was with the Father and was manifested to us. John's saying the same thing. God revealed 257 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:40,760 all these things to me. What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that 258 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:45,360 you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with 259 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:53,100 his Son Jesus Christ. That's what John says about the same kind of encounter that he had. 260 00:25:53,100 --> 00:26:00,000 Even Mr. Doubter, Thomas, has this moment as well. Thomas is not a willful doubter. He's 261 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:04,600 just a guy that doesn't have enough evidence. Like a lot of us, we're looking for more evidence. 262 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:10,740 We want to know is God real? Is Jesus real? He didn't see Jesus in his resurrection body 263 00:26:10,740 --> 00:26:16,280 as early as the other disciples. He said, unless I see those wounds in his side, in 264 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:21,100 his hands, I won't believe. Eight days later, Jesus shows up in the meeting room and shows 265 00:26:21,100 --> 00:26:25,960 all these things to Thomas. You know what Thomas did at that moment? The Bible says 266 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:32,480 in John chapter 20 verse 28, Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God, his confession 267 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:39,040 of faith. Very similar to what Peter said in Matthew chapter 16. If you're a doubter 268 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:43,400 out there today, let me just tell you, God will give you the evidence you need to no 269 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:49,480 longer be a doubter. Amen. That you can believe him. I've been in ministry for 40 years as 270 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:54,660 I've said, and I've seen this happen over and over, where God reveals himself to people 271 00:26:54,660 --> 00:26:59,760 who want to know him. Sometimes those who are stubborn about it, God will reveal himself 272 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:05,560 to them. I frequently hear how he gets close to them and they're close to him. He becomes 273 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:11,880 intimate and personal and manifests himself in very real ways. And they go on in life, 274 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:17,000 never again doubting their salvation, never again doubting their identity in Christ. And 275 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:21,500 here's what I want to say to you today. I want to say to you, if you want to know him, 276 00:27:21,500 --> 00:27:31,800 he will reveal himself to you. I believe that with all my heart. But if you look at the 277 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:37,320 rest of the verse, there's a piece that I haven't covered yet. It's just three words, 278 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:44,960 but man, they're important. It's what I call a transformational moment. In verse 17, those 279 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:54,040 first three words are these words, blessed are you. Now this is Jesus, who is Christ, 280 00:27:54,040 --> 00:28:01,040 the son of the living God, pronouncing this upon Peter. And this is an incredible statement. 281 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:08,040 It's a blessing bestowed. It's a gift given by the only one able to give it. And that's 282 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:13,360 Jesus. Now notice that this is a present tense statement. This does not say blessed will 283 00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:19,480 you be one day. It's present tense. You are now and will be blessed. It's an immediate 284 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:25,360 possession. I'm giving you something as a gift. This is God's pouring of grace and favor 285 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:31,440 and blessing into the life of Peter. And at this moment where God declares his favor and 286 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:39,000 grace on Peter is not a church moment. It's not a reward moment for anything Peter has 287 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:46,040 done. It's a moment of awareness and faith where Peter has stood up and said, you're 288 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:52,040 the Christ, the son of the living God. Blessed are you. Simon Barjona immediately follows 289 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:59,240 in that conversation. That's pretty powerful because it's this realization of who Jesus 290 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:04,160 is and this confession that is the moment of salvation and the entrance into eternal 291 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:11,280 life for Peter and us, all of us. The word blessed means possessing God's favor being 292 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:15,680 marked by his fullness. It's the gift of eternal life and forgiveness and favor that comes 293 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:21,960 from acknowledging Christ as Lord. I love Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. I share it all the time. 294 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:25,840 He says, for my grace you have been saved through faith and that's not of yourselves. 295 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:35,120 And then most of us know the next line. It is a gift from God and not a result of works. 296 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:39,640 That's really important for you today because most of us think we have to do something or 297 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:45,160 several somethings in order to get God's favor or God's grace or be blessed. But really God 298 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:52,840 gives this on the basis of recognizing who Jesus is. It's really, really a big deal. 299 00:29:52,840 --> 00:30:00,200 And Peter later on explained this in 2 Peter chapter 1. Let me read a verse or two to you 300 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:06,120 of this. He says, grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus 301 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:12,840 our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us or given us everything pertaining 302 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:16,960 to life and godliness. That's everything. Everything you could ever need or have, he's 303 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:22,320 given it to you at that moment. Through the true knowledge of him who called us by his 304 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:28,240 own glory and excellence. I believe that's Peter's commentary on Matthew chapter 16. 305 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:33,400 I gained the true knowledge of who Jesus is and I had from that moment on everything pertaining 306 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:38,840 to life and godliness. Now that does not say that Peter has arrived yet. In Matthew 16 307 00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:44,480 he's not arrived. He believes and he's confessed his faith and certainly he's saved in the 308 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:49,200 sense of forgiveness of sin and he'll walk with Jesus later on being full of the Holy 309 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:56,440 Spirit. But he's not arrived. He's not perfect. The reason I know that is because I keep reading 310 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:04,440 my Bible. Even though God's going to use Peter in a significant way, that big confession 311 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:10,200 is where we started off, that Peter is going to do some things that don't make it out of 312 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:16,820 sense. Six verses later he rebukes Jesus for saying he's going to the cross and Jesus says 313 00:31:16,820 --> 00:31:25,520 get thee behind me Satan. Kind of uncomfortable isn't it? A few chapters later he denies Jesus 314 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:30,560 three times and then still later in John 21 he decides to go back to fishing for fish 315 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:34,800 instead of fishing for men. Jesus is going to continue to walk with him and continue 316 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:39,060 to forgive him and later on fill him with the Holy Spirit. But this is not a moment 317 00:31:39,060 --> 00:31:43,720 of arrival but it is a moment of salvation where he begins the journey and Jesus will 318 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:53,960 walk with him all of the way. It's big. But here's the thing that you need to carry away. 319 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:59,280 This big confession, you are the Christ, the son of the living God, it's where we stand 320 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:05,200 as a foundation of faith and foundation for the church. This confession of Christ is what 321 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:12,200 makes a true Christian stand apart from every other religious movement on the planet. Think 322 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:18,520 about it. Every departure from the faith, every false religion, every cult is built 323 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:25,200 on an erroneous view of Jesus because Jesus is not just an angel the way some say, not 324 00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:30,240 just a teacher the way others say, not just a moral example as still others say. He's 325 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:35,920 not just a miracle worker, he's the Christ, the son of the living God. He's God in the 326 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:44,240 flesh. He's savior and Lord or he's not at all. He's all or nothing to you. And the truth 327 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:50,520 is the whole church of Jesus Christ is built on this confession of faith that this is who 328 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:58,240 Jesus is. Paul said in Romans chapter 10 verse nine, but if you confess with your mouth, 329 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:04,120 Jesus said, Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you 330 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:14,800 will be saved. I want to end with two questions today. First, has he shown you this? And secondly, 331 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:23,200 have you confessed this as truth? How did he show you this? And have you confessed this 332 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:28,120 as truth? I can't think of a more important moment for you in your life than right here 333 00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:35,040 right now, because if this passage is true and it is, then really eternity stands in 334 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:43,340 the, in the gap there. It stands to be gained or not. Watch you come to the place of confessing 335 00:33:43,340 --> 00:33:49,880 Jesus said, Lord, you're the Christ, the son of the living God. The scripture says in Romans 336 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:55,680 10, you'll be saved when you confess with your mouth, believe in your heart. That's 337 00:33:55,680 --> 00:34:01,720 when Christ opens the windows of revelation and lets you know him personally. As I've 338 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:11,120 said today, if you want to know him, he wants to reveal himself to you. Personally, I want 339 00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:16,760 you to bow your heads today across the room, close your eyes for a moment. I prayed a prayer 340 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,440 earlier in the service and that prayer was that we could be free from the distractions 341 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:30,720 in our minds and willing to zero in on a moment with, with God. And I pray that that prayer 342 00:34:30,720 --> 00:34:35,680 has been answered for you. I pray that you would be willing to do that. I pray that you 343 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:41,040 would want to do that. We'd love to talk to you about that. I'm going to pray a prayer 344 00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:46,920 in just a moment after asking you to stand in just a moment. And while it'd be our closing 345 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:53,240 prayer, it's also a very important prayer for you to pray. Should you want to know him 346 00:34:53,240 --> 00:34:56,720 and then I'm going to ask you to do this. I'm going to ask you to go to the decision 347 00:34:56,720 --> 00:35:02,600 stations that we have that are set up to have these kinds of conversations, conversations 348 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:11,800 about has this ever happened to me? And if I want to make this decision, have this moment, 349 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,520 can I get somebody to help me with that? And the answer to both of those is yes, we can 350 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:23,160 help you with those. Just a few moments as I pray, you'll have that opportunity. I want 351 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:38,240 you to stand with me at this moment. Father in Jesus name, I'm so thankful for the privilege 352 00:35:38,240 --> 00:35:48,240 of having the opportunity to open the word and see how you became so personal, so real 353 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:53,560 to Peter. Father, my prayer today is that you will become personal to each of us in 354 00:35:53,560 --> 00:36:01,080 the room, that there would not be one man or woman or child who would walk away believing 355 00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:06,000 that you're impersonal, that you don't want to know them, that there's no way that they 356 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:11,040 can have a relationship with you. Father, I pray that you would dispel all of that and 357 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:18,520 help them to know you have come near and you are there and you do care and love them. And 358 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:23,280 father, my prayer today is that they would come to know you as Lord and savior. Father, 359 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:29,920 help them to have the boldness and the courage to make this decision, the step of faith. 360 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:44,920 And I thank you father for this opportunity today. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.