Matthew
The Upside-Down Kingdom
Peter and the other disciples who were with Jesus at Caesarea Philippi
Had their thinking turned upside-down
They received the revelation that Jesus was the Son of the Living God
They went on to do good works by binding and losing evil
And good in earth and heaven
They took the keys of heaven and opened and closed doors
And like Jesus, it cost them their lives
Though their bodies were destroyed, their souls were saved
According to the scriptures
The corruptible body will be given an incorruptible body
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.
The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 1 Corinthians 15:42
It is important that we see Jesus said
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Matthew 16:21
We will see Jesus from this time forward explaining the things to come
Because the script is not the way we would have written it
The death of Jesus and resurrection is the foundation of our hope
The Upside-Down Kingdom
This trip to Caesarea Philippi is really cool.
Peter understands who Jesus is.
Jesus is more than a man
but the Son of the Living God.
What a blessing from Heaven.
Jesus says some incredible things about Peter and the Church.
The power of death and the grave, Hades, are defeatable.
The keys to heaven are being put into
the believers’ hands to unlock things that
hold back the blessings of heaven….
The power to change the things on earth.
WOW!!! What a pep rally.
Let’s go say to that mountain be moved.
But not so fast…
Jesus is about to drop a bomb on the party,
the celebration is over.
It is like knowing Jesus is the Son
of the living God is not important.
Jesus says in verse 20…
Then he warned his disciples not
to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
Isn’t this the most important thing…
Telling people Jesus is the Messiah?
Jesus flips the scrip,
He turns the picture upside-down.
Instead of life, He talks about death.
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders,
chief priests and teachers of the law,
and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Matthew 16:21
Peter still pumped up from the rally
tells Jesus no way are you going to die.
We have the keys to heaven
and Hades is no longer a threat…
We can overcome it.
Jesus said Peter you are getting in my way.
You lost the mind of God
and now have the mind of man controlled by Satan.
Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
Matthew 16:23
Jesus had just said…
I am going to Jerusalem.
My enemies are going to kill me and in 3 days I will rise to life.
And in verse 24 Jesus says…
Now follow Me and take up your cross.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Matthew 16:24
Jesus made it clear He is not going to Jerusalem
to overtake the city, but to bind the bad and release the good…
To set up government that will give us
better jobs, homes, food, transportation,
all the things our bodies enjoy.
Jesus turned the focus on our “Soul”.
What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 16:26
Jesus than spoke of a time to come.
A time after we have had time to live our lives.
When He comes back…
He will be coming to reward each person
according to what he has done.
For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
Matthew 16:27
What Jesus did on the cross never minimized our works.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:8-10
You and I are saved to do good works.
To do the work He had planned to get done long ago.
We need to realize that even with the revelation
of who Jesus is…
We, like Peter, have a problem seeing the whole picture.
We often don’t see our role of taking up
our cross and following Him…
The personal sacrifice and death that
must take place in us to follow Him.
When we become more concerned
with the needs of our bodies…
We lose sight of the most important thing, our soul.
Hades, or the grave, will hold our bodies
not in a preservative that our soul
and spirit will enter back into.
Our bodies will rot, the worms will eat our flesh.
Hades will overcome our bodies.
But Jesus says…
What can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Our works will be judged
because God is on the reward system.
What you do matters to God
and should matter to you.
In the final day, two things will happen…
The first, is a separation of those
who have their name written in Heaven
and those who do not.
Then both groups will be judged
according to what they had done.
Those whose names who are written in Heaven
will find their place in the New Heaven
and New Earth according to what they have done.
It would seem the same is true for
those who are cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 20:12-15…
I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15 If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 22:12-13…
"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me,
and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End.
Peter and the other disciples who were
with Jesus at Caesarea Philippi
had their thinking turned upside-down.
They received the revelation
that Jesus was the Son of the Living God.
They went on to do good works by binding
and losing evil and good in earth and heaven.
They took the keys of heaven and opened and closed doors.
And like Jesus, it cost them their lives.
Though their bodies were destroyed,
their souls were saved.
According to the scriptures…
The corruptible body will be given an incorruptible body.
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead.
The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable
1 Corinthians 15:42
It is important that we see Jesus said…
From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders,
chief priests and teachers of the law,
and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Matthew 16:21
We will see Jesus from this time forward
explaining the things to come because…
The script is not the way we would have written it.
The death of Jesus and resurrection
is the foundation of our hope.
Scripture Reading
Matthew 16:13-28 NIV
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"
23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."
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