The 5th Sunday After Trinity

SERMON

In Nomine Jesu!

Text: Luke 9:18-26

And it happened, as He (Jesus) was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God." And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day." Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels."

In Christ Jesus, the Father’s one appointed Savior Who is the way, the truth, and the life, dear fellow redeemed:

"A move towards apostasy" was the headline of Michael McManus’ column last week in the Mankato Free Press. McManus was reporting on the just concluded meetings of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. In those meetings the General Assembly forsook biblical morality by endorsing a proposal to permit the ordination of practicing homosexuals into the pastoral ministry. The assembly then failed to pass a petition reaffirming the biblical teaching that Jesus alone is the means by which mankind is saved. Instead they passed a compromise proposal stating that, "for us (Christians) the assurance of salvation is found only in confessing Christ and trusting him alone." This left open the door for universalism—the teaching that salvation can be achieved by worshipping others gods and practicing other religions. The problem facing the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. and others as well today can be summarized by the attitude expressed by a Presbyterian staff member of the World Parliament of Religions and quoted by Mr. McManus, "What’s the big deal about Jesus?"

Questions concerning Jesus have arisen since He walked on this earth. Orthodox Christianity teaches that the Bible is indeed God’s inspired Word and true in all its parts. It upholds the faith of Peter, who in our text confessed that JESUS IS THE CHRIST SENT BY GOD!

I.

Let us, dear friends, proclaim Him the world’s one and only Savior! The conversation between Jesus and His disciples recorded in our text took place near the end of His second year of ministry. Jesus’ popularity had already begun to wane, for He had pointedly refused to become a "bread" king for the people. People were still interested in Him, however, and talking about Him. Jesus, Who was now focused on teaching His circle of chosen disciples the truths of His Father’s kingdom, asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” Embodied in that question is the most fundamental of all religious truths—the nature of the person of Jesus. Who was He? Was He merely a man as the crowds suggested, for some maintained that He was “John the Baptist” while others proposed that He was one of the “old prophets” risen from the dead, or was He much more than a mere man? Peter ends all speculation, when he in response to Jesus’ question and under the Spirit’s influence confessed that Jesus was “The Christ of God!” Jesus was and is “the Christ of God”—that is, the one appointed and anointed by God the Father to be the Savior of the world. From the time that sin entered the world and so devastated our human lives, our heavenly Father had compassion on us in our suffering and promised to send a Savior, His very own Son to deliver us from sin and from shame, from guilt and from death. He alone is the source of salvation for any and all people! This is clearly what the Bible teaches, and we need not apologize for it!

It may seem surprising then for us to hear our blessed Savior warn and command His disciples to tell “no one” at that time of this truth. After all, should He not have wanted all men everywhere to hear and to know the truth concerning Himself and the salvation He had come to win? All in good time, my dear friends! At the time of this conversation, the most difficult part of Jesus’ work of redemption lay in the future. He told His disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” This was a truth that even Jesus’ disciples were unprepared to hear and understand. Peter’s response to Jesus’ words, recorded in Matthew 16, brought him a swift rebuke, for he suggested that such things should never occur to Jesus! Yet, while most people dreamed of a glorious Christ, Who would rule this present world with them by His side, Jesus understood that the Christ must follow the path of a servant to win the souls of mankind. He would, as Isaiah had prophesied, be “wounded for our transgressions,…(and) bruised for our iniquities…” (53:5). He “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross” (Philippians 2:8), so that He might thereby pay the penalty for our sins and redeem our souls from death! Therefore Paul tells us that God “has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

My dear friends, ought we do less than God our heavenly Father? Ought we not also exalt our Savior Jesus as the Christ sent by God? Of course we can and should, for as the apostles Peter and John so boldly confessed before the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved!” (Acts 4:12)

Therefore, when individuals such as the one quoted by Mr. McManus ask, "What’s the big deal about Jesus," let us be prepared to answer, "The big deal is that He is the only means by which any man, woman, or children in this world can be saved." Jesus Himself said it so succinctly, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Consequently, no matter what others may think or say—JESUS IS THE CHRIST SENT BY GOD! Let us proclaim Him the world’s one and only Savior!

II.

Secondly, let us daily take up our crosses and follow Him! The salvation that Jesus has won for us is free. It is a gift of God’s grace alone, received by faith alone. However, as Jesus points out, there is a cost to discipleship. Jesus tells us in Matthew 10, “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved….If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household” (Verses 22,25). When we proclaim Jesus as the world’s one and only Savior, we will be hated by our world. We will be accused of religious bigotry. We will be viewed as narrow minded and intolerant. Should we live in a country without the religious freedoms of our own, we might well find ourselves arrested, imprisoned, or even killed.

"Now, Pastor Nolting," you might ask, "Are you not exaggerating just a bit?" Not at all! Anyone who has taken a university course in religion or philosophy will know exactly what I am talking about. The thought that the teachings of the Bible are true and binding upon our hearts is ridiculed, if not vehemently denied. To insist that Jesus is the one and only Savior of the world in a university setting is anathema. Outside the university setting and within society in general, there is tremendous pressure to be politically correct, which excludes any claim that Jesus is the world’s only Savior. Do you remember the letters to the editor some months ago when a Christian legislator in St. Paul objected to the visit of the Dalai Lama? He was condemned soundly in letter after letter, for expressing views that were simply in accordance with biblical teaching. In nations beyond our borders—nations like the Sudan in Africa, or Indonesia in Southeast Asia Christians are being slaughtered for their faith’s sake. Brethren, there is a cost to genuine discipleship—a cost we must be willing to pay.

Listen to Jesus’ words, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.” Jesus urges us to take up our crosses every day and follow Him. What does that involve? Jesus reveals what he means by taking up our crosses each day, when He says we are to deny ourselves, we are to lose our lives for His sake, and we are not to be ashamed of Him and His words.

My dear friends, we live in a world in which people are very self-indulgent. They spend great amounts of time, money, and effort to reach out for and to serve what has become a great emotional idol—the goal of personal happiness. The thought of self-denial contradicts the spirit of our age. Let no one doubt that we can be an are influenced by this cultural phenomena. We do things and buy things to make us feel good, to bring us personal happiness, and hopefully to bring us a sense of fulfillment. The truth of the matter, however, is that material possessions in and of themselves seldom bring us any of those things. Jesus says we are to deny ourselves—to subject our thoughts, our wants, and our desires to the will of our Savior God, and He promises to fill our lives with His distinct blessings. The priorities of the child of God—the disciple of Jesus Christ, are to be completely different from those of the people of this world. While the people of this world strive after things and make the possession of things their highest priority, the child of God is to make faithfulness to and the service of his blessed Savior the highest priority in life. After all, what good does it do anyone to gain earthly riches only to lose his immortal soul? Let us, therefore, examine our lives. If we are really no different in our attitudes from our unbelieving neighbors, may God lead us to repentance and renewed faith in and love for Jesus. Let it never be said of us that we are ashamed of our Savior and that we fail to confess in by our words and actions. Rather, let us daily take up our crosses and follow Him. He promises to be with us as we faithfully strive to follow Him, and we can rest assured that He will then confess us before His Father in heaven on that last and great day of judgment.

My dear friends, JESUS IS THE CHRIST SENT BY GOD! Let us proclaim Him the world’s one and only Savior! Let us daily take up our crosses and follow Him! Amen.

—Pastor Paul D. Nolting