Pastor Babij expounds the theme of spiritual blindness and shows that unlike hypocritical religious and political leaders of Israel, Jesus is concerned about correcting his true disciples’ understanding of who he really is.
When Peter confesses truthfully that Jesus in the Christ, Jesus reveals crucial points about Jesus’ role as Messiah, which depart from his disciples’ expectations – namely that Jesus would suffer, be rejected, be killed and rise again. Peter’s response shows that he still does not have a full understanding of Jesus’ ministry, yet Jesus continues in his work to bring his disciples to a full understanding of the truth.
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alright we are in mark chapter eight so let’s take our Bibles and turn their mark chapter eight mark chapter eight will be looking at verse 27 through 33 let’s pray lord I do thank you this morning for another gracious opportunity to be in your word not everybody has that privilege the Lord let us seize the moment especially because the days are evil and so lord please speak to us from the Word of God this morning you know our deep needs the deep needs of our heart and I pray Lord that you would speak to those and anything else that’s going on in us that we need to understand so we can correctly understand you I pray Lord you would adjust our thinking you would rebuke our sin and that Lord you would establish us some firm ground when it comes to understanding not only who you are but what you came to do and I pray Lord that we would stand that on that biblical foundation every day until the day we die and I pray this in Christ’s name Amen okay this morning we are looking at a message that the Lord communicates to his disciples concerning the necessity of knowing the meaning of Messiah now we have been looking already at some of the marks of spiritual blindness and of course on the antidote so one doesn’t have to remain in a state of dull mindedness concerning spiritual matters today Jesus will continue to teach his disciples by bringing their attention bringing to their attention the spiritual truths that Judaism had buried and pushed aside now just to jog your memory the elders the chief priests and the scribes had spent so much time trying to build the fence around the scriptures so that they would not break the scriptures but that strategy actually moved them farther and farther away from the Word of God which in turn led them into it into sinful hypocrisy and ultimately false worship now back in mark chapter 7 and just turned back there for a moment just to get the background of this Jesus accused these groups of two things in verse number 6 of chapter 7 he accused them of lip service without heart and of course that’s hypocrisy it says in verse 6 of Mark seven and he said to them rightly did Isaiah prophecy of you hypocrites as it is written this people honors me with their lips but their heart is far away from me see their lips give the external impression of devotion but their hearts and lives are a great distance from God and the basic meaning of a hypocrite is something is really someone who answers to a set conversation or an actor on a stage or better put someone who is scripted they have it all written out and so when they say it they say it in the right way we don’t have that privilege in everyday life so then one whose life is a piece of acting without any sincerity behind it just a religious system in which a person is carrying out certain certain external rules and regulation regardless of what his heart is thinking or what his thoughts are as long as he carries out the correct behavior nothing else matters well see this particular principle this type of thinking is because this is the way people learn to relate to God I must relate to God in other words by being good by acting good by doing good things this is the principle actually we all work off of however the principle is worked out religiously in different ways one way and the way the really used here is the legalist the league is the legal asst works out the principle by living their life by a code of conduct or a set of rules in other words in this case the tradition of the elders if they follow it then God will look at them with favor and if they don’t follow it then he won’t look at them with favor so it’s all becomes very external legalism takes account of man’s outward actions but it takes no account at all of his inward actions you may well be meticulous about serving God in outward things but disobeying God in reference to inward things that’s hypocrisy when the inward thoughts and motivations do not match the outward actions and God sees that and calls it hypocrisy now the moment a person’s heart is far away from God it also shows they leave the Word of God in fact look at verse number seven and eight of mark chapter seven see in other words when when this happens there is a failure to see the true source of religious authority which is scripture where it says in other words the second thing that Jesus accuses this group of is worship without the Word of God in verse number 7 it says but in vain do they worship Me teaching as doctrines the precepts of men neglecting the commandment of God you who hold to the dition of men see they were in other words substituting men’s rules for God’s laws in the end they’re not listening to God they are not accepting his word and they are not following his voice see without the Word of God a person will remain dead and blind without the Word of God a disciple of Jesus will not progress or grow in truth they must have the Word of God now the last time our text in the Gospel of Mark we saw the progressive restoration of the sight of the blind man the half-hearted blind man perceive people as trees moving about as it says in mark chapter 8 verse 24 I see men for I see them like trees walking about the man was not really that real actually the man was not yet seen clearly but had a dull perception of people moving about his vision was blurred and at that particular point his healing was incomplete he was gradually being healed but given hope his sight was returning he had a partial understanding but he needed the full understanding and of course in mark chapter 8 verse 25 Jesus touched him a second time in the healing and what happens the second time well he looked intently his eyes were open in verse 25 he’s restored his sight is restored completely and then it says and he began to see everything clearly so see the the problem with the Pharisees and inherit the religious body and the political body is not that they refused to see they do the real problem is that they cannot see because they’re out right hard-hearted they’re stubborn they’re blind and they’re caught in unbelief and of course we know from Scripture they’re dead spiritually so for Jesus disciples the reason why they cannot see because the disciples are real believers is that they lack understanding just like all of us we don’t get all our understanding about God and about theology all at once we wouldn’t really be able to handle it all at once it’s like God’s always building a picture in our mind about what he’s doing and we begin to build on that knowledge it’s the same with his disciples in the in the New Testament it’s the same with us today see the healing of the blind man before the eyes of his disciples also shows the gradual healing of the disciples partial spiritual blindness the disciples still see Jesus vaguely yet there was an atmosphere of hope presented to them showing them they can be spiritually healed but gradually and with some difficulty but it will come as long as they remain willing followers of Jesus Christ cannot do it alone so however dull and blind they may be and however dull and blind we may be spiritually if we continue to follow Jesus along the way there will be multiplied by God the meager resources for our understanding God will bring us to the place that we understand in other words Jesus immediate disciples cannot gain full sight until they are given more knowledge of Jesus person and his mission the disciples saw dimly in a glass with the dust of additional ways overlaying that glass their understanding of Jesus was warped it was warped by the current religious thought and the political atmosphere so what does Jesus do in this context today Jesus begins to correct their understanding of him he wants to move them out of where they’re from and the reason why is because the scribes and Pharisees has had actually removed the authority of the word of God out from it to something else in fact it says in Scripture they invalidated the Word of God and so what happens is when someone invalidates the Word of God then it’s no longer able to change someone if is now available to them or if it’s distorted by someone so the true true religion can never be the product of man’s mind true religion should not be mistaken for mayor outward observance and religious acts the real deception is making the man-made rules or the outward appearance of doing something right as if it is teaching that comes from God that’s where the deception comes in so we will see that Jesus disciples lacked true understanding when it came to seeing their own dhol mindedness their heart heart and their misconception of Jesus that Jesus is because he is a good teacher he’s patient with his disciples he’s patient with his dull disciples and he doesn’t give up on them and so the reason why he doesn’t is because no person sees all of God’s truth all at once and the reason for that is spiritual growth is gradual so you have to stick at it you have to stay at it you have to persevere in it and the reason why we don’t get it all at once is because the discoveries of the riches of Christ are inexhaustible mechanic and we can’t exhaust theology we can’t exhaust what we need to know about who God is alright so at that particular point we’re going to look at our texts beginning in chapter 8 verse number 27 onward now it says this in verse 27 Jesus went out along with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi and on his way he questioned his disciples let me just stop right there so Jesus what he wants to do is correct his disciples view of who he really is and so Jesus takes his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi now sesame of Philip I was outside of Galilee it was not in the territory of King Herod it was actually in the territory of Philip and it was here that Philip built a temple to the Godhead of Caesar the Roman Emperor the ruler of the world who was regarded as a god so the two names are brought together in our text Caesar and Phillip which we get Syria Philip I meaning that Philip had donated or given something over to Caesar as a gift now along the way Jesus poses a question to his disciples now remember disciples when I’m talking about disciples I’m talking about followers of Jesus I’m talking about serious followers of Jesus I’m talking about people who are learner’s they want to learn these are not people dig it anymore these are people who want to learn these are his real disciples before he goes on this walk with his disciples he sends the blind man back home now remember the blind man now has twenty-twenty spiritual very 2020 vision physical vision and he so thank you very much for that Lord I have the vision and notice what it says in verse 26 and he sent him to his home saying do not even enter the village so after he healed the blind man he says no don’t go into the village in other words don’t come with us now why would the Lord say that to him well it’s it’s quite obvious once we look at the text that Jesus wants no distractions while he is with his disciples time is getting short he needs to teach his disciples everything they need to know and so the question he is about to ask them is far too important to compete with distractions and of course the blind man being healed would have been a great distraction and so he sends them back back to his home and he takes the disciples with him to the village of Syria Philip I and then notice in verse 27 because now there’s a Q&A going on with Jesus and disciples a question and answer and notice what he says in the end of verse 27 of chapter 8 he says who do people say that I am and of course Jesus is asking quite literally whom do they say me to be of course Jesus is not asking for information he wants his disciples to state the incorrect opinions of who he is and compared them with their own conviction of who he is so this is kind of a prerequisite question and so what’s the answer to the question and in verse number 28 the disciples begin to give the scuttlebutt about who people were saying or what people were saying about Jesus and what were they saying verse 28 and they told him saying some are saying you’re John the Baptist of course King Herod remember he clamped on to that one and he said he thought John the Baptist had come back from the dead to haunt him all right so but that was in the atmosphere of the day and then another group said no Europe he’s Elijah all right and remember Elijah was prophesied to come back before Messiah would come so that was in the thought of the people of the day and then of course others said in verse 28 one of the prophets and why do they say that because an Old Testament prophet was a person who received a fresh message from God and then delivered that message to the people and of course Jesus message was definitely fresh and it was a message that had a thori that caught the people’s attention and so they were saying that he must be one of the prophets come back now what the Pharisees and the Jewish leadership and King Herod and the general pop population are saying about Jesus were all wrong yes they are all noticing that Jesus is definitely special he’s different he’s unique he bears a strong resemblance to the holy men of old however they all missed the bullseye the Messianic ideas which in the minds of the people when Jesus came were violent nationalistic destructive and vengeful in other words they are all incorrect but all of them had tinges of truth now they have concluded like The Naturalist and the modernist and the postmodernist of our time that Jesus was just a good man just a good moral teacher just a profit now these are often repeated mess misrepresentations of Christ in our own day and the point being this that if you get Jesus wrong you get it all wrong if you get Jesus wrong to get it wrong so what does Jesus doing here he doesn’t want his disciples to get him wrong one when one has a false perception of Jesus it just shows how very very blind they are how dead they are to spiritual realities see Jesus cannot be dismissed as a good moral teacher like Buddha and Confucius Jesus does not allow this option or any other option so that’s what’s going on there and so that’s the answer to the question they say these things and then the second question comes up in verse number 29 and notice what it says and he continued by questioning them his disciples but who do you say that I am this is where he’s getting where the rubber meets the road because it really doesn’t matter what anybody else is saying about Who I am if you are my followers if you are my disciples if you believe in who I am who do you say that I am so see do you see what Jesus is doing here he is going from the general old to the specific he’s his question is now very very personal this question is addressed to his own 12 disciples he is saying on your part over against all the other opinions of who I am who do you say I am that’s the real question that’s the question for you and I to Jesus wants a confession of the lips but there’s only one correct answer there’s only one correct answer and it must also be accompanied by a conviction of the heart he’s not just asking for externals here he’s asking for heart conviction one can say true words without the conviction of the heart lip confession must accompany conduct deeds and a continual desire to follow Jesus Christ if you remained wrong about who Jesus really is you’re still in unbelief even if you had good intentions many people with good intentions could be wrong if they’re not adjusted by what is the standard and the standard here is the word of God in other words if somebody doesn’t believe who Jesus really is about what the Bible says about them they are still in their sins they are still under the condemnation of their sins and they are still under the wrath of God so what’s the answer to this question and of course Peter being the spokesman for the disciples answers that question in verse 29 and he says this Peter dancers said now art the christ of the homeless Galilean carpenter as the Messiah of course the Greek way of saying Messiah is the Christ Christ means Messiah The Anointed One from the Old Testament the Son of God so it is Peter’s answers correct yes as answers correct now the Gospel of Matthew adds to this a bit because Matthew says it like this you are the Christ the Son of the Living God and jesus answered him and said to Peter blessed are You Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my father in heaven now Matthew adds that for this reason because the source of all truth is heaven the word of God comes down to us from heaven and is written by holy men of God picked by God so the truth comes out of the word of God out of the words in the Word of God so this truth about who Jesus is could never come from religious systems that are apostate and pull it the political realm it must come from a divine source and the divine source is God in fact the word Christ is not a name it is a title Jesus is the one and the only one who received the sacred anointing by God for the great office of Messiah who of course was promised in the Old Testament so see the question is is this your confession is this your conviction of your confession Jesus cannot be ignored anymore Jesus is cannot no longer be just an addition to what you are already believing some falsely think that Jesus can be venerated alongside of Mary his mother and the Saints as if they are equals there is no one like Jesus Christ he cannot be compared to anyone in fact the tragedy is that so many who acknowledge the beauty of his character the wonderful example of his life and the marvelous wisdom of his teaching have no concept of who he really is you can appreciate all those things and write upon all those things and yet get it wrong see thinking of him Jesus only as the carpenter of Nazareth or the man from Galilee or to view him as some great religious teacher or moral leader is not enough no person can receive the salvation that comes through Christ without recognizing him as the eternal son of God the very promised Messiah all right Peter had the right answer you may be able to give the right answer to but here’s the warning Jesus gives in verse number 30 chapter 8 notice the warning now this is right after Peters pronouncement he warned them to tell no one about him why does he say that well you know why he says that well first he says it because they really didn’t know what Messiahship really meant Jesus is going to tell them and secondly he says that to them because they didn’t understand the real mission of the Messiah and that was very necessary to continue to go grow in in Christ’s likeness and growing their knowledge of what God has done so what does Jesus do he must read his disciples steer them away from the tradition of the elders and what they said steer them away from the political atmosphere what was stirring there and then he must teach them the real meaning of Messiahship and so Jesus what he does is he gives them a real whammy one they never accept something they never expected before and what does he give them well he gives them the first pronouncement of the Passion of Jesus and this was only given and could only have been given after the disciples confession of the fullness of what Christ meant it doesn’t mean they fully understand Jesus mission look in other words of Jesus Christ or Messiah would have a servant like mission see they need to understand Jesus redemptive work that Jesus does this by an extended course of instruction on the suffering and the passion of Messiah look at verse number 31 and 32 notice what it says and he began to teach them wait a minute these guys been with them for two years he’s been teaching them all along they still have not understood this yet of course it wasn’t time yet remember spiritual growth is gradual and spiritual growth is actually adjusted by more teaching so it says in verse 31 and he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again and then in verse 32 and he was stating this matter plainly it says in the Word of God remember Jesus was speaking in parables he was speaking in a veiled manner but now on the very matter of his mission he speaks downright plainly and they still don’t get it so how thick could we be when it comes to spiritual things I think that we’re pretty thick yeah thank the Lord we have the Spirit of God that leads us into truth and enables us and helps us but he doesn’t do it apart from the Word of God if you if you shove the Word of God aside the Spirit of God is is not going to be able to teach you the truth because it comes from the Bible he’s going to lead us into the truth that has already been written in Scripture so this is a very very important Greek term that I don’t want you to miss in mark chapter 31 he says this he says that the Son of man must actually this word must is a word that is a impersonal verb that it means that it’s it is necessary that it has to happen you have to understand this it was necessary for them to understand what Messiahship was because Jesus had to fulfill all that the Scriptures told about him so it’s at this very crucial moment after Peters pronouncement that Jesus is the Messiah at that point Jesus begins to teach them what it really meant to be Messiah this is what i mean by whammy because disciples along with the religious leader is the chief priests and the scribes and the scribes were the experts in rabbinical tradition and the Old Testament missed the most crucial component found in Scripture of Bal Messiah and what what is that component that the Messiah would suffer and die how could you miss that if you’re supposed to be teaching the Word of God how could you miss that well they did and if you missed that you missed the mission of Jesus Christ if you missed that you miss everything if you don’t understand that you can’t even be saved you can’t even have a relationship with God so notice again in verse 31 of more chapter 8 it says what must happen to the Messiah what it must happen to Jesus well the first thing in verse 31 you must suffer many things that’s the gospel right well what’s the scripture that tells us of that in the Old Testament now you could either listen or turn to these passages but in Isaiah chapter 50 and verse number 6 it says this I gave my back to those who strike me and my cheeks to those who pluck out my beard I did not cover my face from humiliation and spitting in other words this is a prophecy of Jesus that he was going to suffer as a suffering Messiah as a suffering servant before God and then Isaiah 52 Isaiah 52 and 53 tells us a lot of information about what happened with Jesus actually verse chapter 50 on the verse number chapter 53 and four tells us some of the things that Jesus would suffer just like in Isaiah 52 verse 14 just as many were astonished at you my people so his appearance was more marred than any man and his form more than any of the sons of men so Jesus would become the Abed Yahveh and that would be simply translated the servant of the Lord wait a minute we don’t have the picture of a messiah of a king being a servant that doesn’t make sense a king has servants the king is not the servant no that’s what you missed that this king called Jesus Christ is first a servant he has come not to be served but to serve that’s what they missed and that becomes the important thing that we cannot miss that he must suffer many things and then notice a second thing in mark chapter 8 and verse number 31 he must be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes in other words Jesus must be rejected by the full ruling religious body of Israel the Messiah will be treated as an unworthy servant by the religious leadership and it says in Isaiah 53 seven he was oppressed and he was afflicted before his Shearer’s as a sheep goes to the slaughter that’s how Jesus was and so he was definitely rejected and then another thing in I was in marked a 31 he must be killed alright he must be killed by the religious and political systems of his day he also must be killed according to Scripture he must die as the Lamb of God he must be a sacrifice in accord with the Old Testament sacrifices the sacrifice which means substitution Redemption by the blood of God’s Son and the cleansing of the soul from guilt in other words the Messiah the servant of the Lord will be killed like a common criminal they’ll be killed like a common criminal and of course where do we find that we find it again in Isaiah the prophet Isaiah chapter 53 verse number 10 where the Bible says but the Lord was pleased to crush him putting him to grief if he would render himself as a guilt offering and of course a guilt offering had to be killed and then in verse 11 of Isaiah 53 as a result of the anguish of his soul he will see it and be satisfied by his knowledge the righteous one the servant will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities remember the Old Testament sacrifice they had a bear the iniquities of the sins of the priests and other people and then of course in Isaiah 53 verse 12 it says because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors yet he himself bore the sins of many and intercede for the transgressors or for the sinners so in other words the punishment for sin before Almighty God was death and if Jesus was to save his people it would be necessary for him to make full payment for their sin it would be necessary for that to happen so the bloody sacrifice of Jesus that is the crucifixion as the Lamb of God led to the slaughter was still hidden from people from Peter and the reason why it was still hidden from peter is because he’s still thinking of the Messiah by his power that the kingdom of God would break through any minute on the human scene and take over that’s how Peter was still thinking and Jesus was connecting Messiahship with suffering and death and the idea of a messiah suffering and dying staggered the disciples it shook them to say we didn’t get that from the Old Testament and the reason why they didn’t get it is because they weren’t being taught it by the religious leadership because they had invalidated the Word of God but there’s something else it says about something that must happen to Jesus and this is the most shocking all of it in verse verse number 31 and he must after three days rise again the Messiah will do something quite unexpected and yes impossible and never heard of he will defeat the greatest enemy of humanity death and he will rise from the dead and then of course we know from the Word of God that he will defeat death he will defeat Satan and then he will ultimately ascend into heaven we’re in heaven he is interceding for his disciples and he is waiting for the day that he will come back again see that’s what’s going on right now so that even the program of God has not done but here he must rise again that the body of Messiah could not lay in the grave and rot it must rise from the grave and just as the Old Testament says death did not mark the end of Jesus Christ on the third day he did rise from the grave as Psalm 16 verse 10 tells us for you will not up you will not abandon my soul to Sheol nor will you allow your to undergo decay it already said in the Old Testament that the Messiah would not rot in the grave but actually rise from the grave in fact this remains the confession of the church the Apostle Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians he says for I delivered to you as the first of first importance what I also received from God and what was that that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried and he was raised on the third day how according to the scriptures according to the Old Testament there was no New Testament yet so it was all done based on the Old Testament which was kept from them because the leaders religious leadership pushed it it’s pushed it aside so the person and mission of Messiah must match the Old Testament scripture which it does and so this is the great truth this is the great necessity that the disciples needed to know to be able to continue to follow him and then finally to continue to minister on his behalf so what’s the reaction of Peter well look at chapter 8 look at verse number 32 here’s the reaction of Peter in the middle of the verse and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him now could you imagine that Peter the student pulls Jesus the teacher aside and gives Jesus a well-meaning strong urging that the path of suffering would not have to happen to him and that was he was just giving out what everybody was thinking that doesn’t have to happen but how does Jesus respond to him in verse number 33 you know Jesus does he calls Peter Satan so he does it says verse 33 but turning around and seeing his disciples he rebuked Peter and says get behind me Satan why does he do that well if you remember after Jesus commissioning Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness and the bottom line of Satan’s temptation was to get Jesus to take the easy road and bypass the cross remember what happened Jesus took Jesus up to the pinnacle right and its antigen or he showed him the kingdoms of the world and he says these kingdoms could be yours just bow down and worship Me so see Satan’s proposition was in Matthew for God has turned all these kingdoms over to him and he is willing to turn them over to Jesus if Jesus will place himself under Satan just one little act of worship that’s all I’m asking for just worship me and I will give all these things without suffering and without pain without crucifixion just a little worship and it’s all yours Jesus remember that temptation well God’s will according to the Old Testament was that Jesus would achieve the kingdom’s through God’s ordained method and what was that method through a long bitter road of suffering and finally his death on the cross and then resurrection see Satan chose to put his poisonous fangs into Peters mind and to produce this a false understanding of Jesus and his mission and that is what his job is today too if he can keep you away from the Word of God if he can keep you from not understanding who Jesus is and what he’s actually done and how a person could be made right with God based on the death and the suffering and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus because he was the lamb of God who took away the sins of the world if Satan could keep you from that then he’s done his job and that’s what he’s doing and so in other words the Lord doesn’t want us to be in a place where we don’t understand the most significant thing about his message Peter was making himself a tool of Satan by being swayed to look at things from the vantage point of the world and the vantage point of his flesh in the vantage point yes even if Satan and just remember this the tempter sometimes speaks to us in a voice of a well-meaning friend but does not have the truth to guide you in the right way but look what Jesus says again to Peter in front of his disciples in verse 33 but turning around and seeing his disciples he rebuked Peter and said get behind me Satan and then he says this for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests but man’s see you see we must take this to heart that there are basically two ways of looking at things you can look at things from God’s perspective or you can look at things from man’s perspective or the world’s perspective see we we therefore need to make sure that our good intentions our words and our actions agree with God and not the enemies and the only way we’re going to have that adjusted is by knowing the Word of God just for example what do you think about what one thinks about God matters at death people can go through their old life and have their own philosophy their own opinions their own conclusions about God and about religion and about spiritual things and and they can die and they what happens at death she that the question about Jesus Christ will be the most important issue there when one dies most have not considered that the fact of death is supremely a supremely spiritual no greater issue than that what do you think about God would you understand Jesus who Jesus is and what he has done that’s going to be the most important issue and do you have a relationship with him are you truly forgiven as you have your sins really been washed away and are you one of his disciples that he’s going to take and welcome into his kingdom that’s the most important thing for any one of us to understand because jesus said this himself that there’s only two ways you can die and there are only two ways there is no third way that you either will die die in the Lord and of course that says it quite clearly because Jesus says in John chapter 8 therefore I in your sins or I say to you that you will die in your sins for unless you believe that i am he you will die in your sins that’s when the words of Jesus see so that’s the most important matter for all of us for all humanity no matter where or when a person lives what about Jesus Christ because Moses and Abraham and Noah and all the Old Testament Saints could not have entered into the kingdom of God if it wasn’t for what Jesus Christ did on the cross in the past and now that we’re on the other side of the cross we cannot enter into the kingdom of God unless we believe in what Jesus Christ has done on the cross and how he accomplished his mission so would you say this morning that you are a person who is deeply and seriously concerned with the things of God or are you a person who has little or no concern for the things of God see what you think about Jesus and his mission as Messiah is vital to understanding true salvation that Jesus Christ is indeed the true Messiah that he lived the perfect life that we could not live he died to pay the penalty for our sins which we could have not paid for ourselves and he rose from the grave to break the power of Satan and death which we could have never accomplished see all those all those who take Jesus Christ as their own Lord and personal Savior find the forgiveness of sins they find peace with God and they find assurance of eternal life because of what he has done that’s what they find and they not only find it but they continue in it the rest of their lives so now’s a good time if you have never repented of your sin and received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior now’s a good time to admit that you’ve been all wrong about Jesus and that the Lord’s correcting your understanding and now you know you need to come and believe in him and repent of your sins and trust to measure Lord and Savior today is also a good time to recommit yourself as a believer and your family to serve the Lord wholeheartedly to serve the Lord as a follower of Jesus Christ that there’s nothing that’s going to prevent you from following Christ there’s nothing that’s going to stop you from following the Lord and that you endeavor to be a sober minded serious disciple of Jesus Christ and our willing and desirous to take that message and to tell it to your friend that doesn’t know it and to your neighbor who doesn’t know it and to your family member who doesn’t know it and believe me if they don’t know it the world’s not going to give it to them politics is not going to give it to them their own flesh they’re not going to get it from there and Satan definitely is going to keep them from that knowledge you are the one who must take the light of the gospel to your friends and enlighten them give them the knowledge that they’ll never achieve anywhere else and give them the Word of God give them your testimony tell them what God’s done for you and show them the gospel and teach them the gospel until they believe the gospel and our saved an hour following Christ let’s pray that you and I would be those kind of messengers to be able to see that happen and believe me if you don’t know Christ today today’s the day to come don’t put it off you’re not guaranteed tomorrow you’re not guaranteed anything you’re not guaranteed the next minute so what you believe about Jesus Christ and where you stand with Jesus Christ is vitally important for you and for the whole world let’s pray lord I do thank you this morning for your word I thank you Lord that contained in it is the very truth that we all need to understand your work who you are and Lord we know from this passage that you are concerned about your disciples on what they understand about you and I pray Lord Jesus that it would not be true of us that we don’t understand but it would be true of us that we do and I ask you Lord Jesus as we do that we would become faithful disciples of you who’s able and willing to take the message of the gospel to those who have never heard it and Lord bless us with a continued desire to grow and knowledge wisdom of Jesus Christ and Lord even this morning as we we think about the Lord’s table that we’re going to partake of in a few minutes that this lord’s table is just for your disciples just for those who understand just for those who are anticipating your return and the work that you’ve done already in their behalf so I pray Lord you would bless our time as we gathered around the Lord’s table lord help us to see our own sin and confess it Lord enable us to continue to desire to grow and lord I pray that we would even leave rejoicing that the truth came to us through even though all the obstacles that could have prevented us it came to us that’s only your grace Lord and thank you for that and so bless our time now as we think about and partake of the Lord’s table and I prayed this in your name amen