Answering Life's Ultimate Question, Part 1

Today from Chuck Swindoll. Never allow any church to revolve around any one personality, any one voice, any one authority. Christ is head. Every preacher hearing my words right now, let us never forget, we are not the head, we're a servant leader.

We serve the head. Who is Christ? It's his church. Never ever forget that. When you look across the crowded landscape of personalities who speak into religious issues, sometimes we're prone to gravitate toward articulate leaders rather than God himself.

But here's the point. Unraveling the tangled mysteries of life boils down to one very simple question. Who was this man named Jesus? A prophet? A madman?

A good teacher? Or God in flesh? Today on Insight for Living Chuck Swindoll describes how the answer to this singular question will change the course of your life.

Chuck titled today's message, Answering Life's Ultimate Question. Matthew chapter 16 is where we find ourselves in our study of the gospel by Matthew. Right in the center, the core of the 16th chapter, with Peter's greatest moment, at least thus far in his life.

You'll see why I say that. I'll be reading verses 13 through 20 from the New Living Translation, perhaps different from the one you have. This one is a little bit easier to understand for the many who come who may not be familiar with your Bible.

You may have a version that differs, but basically we're reading the same words. Matthew 16 beginning at verse 13. When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is? Well, they replied, Some say John the Baptist. Some say Elijah.

And others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. Then he asked them, But who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Jesus replied, You are blessed. Simon, son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you, you did not learn this from any human being.

Now I say to you that you are Peter, which means rock. And upon this rock, I will build my church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you permit on earth will be forbidden in heaven. And whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. Then he sternly warned the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

With Chuck Swindoll, be sure to download his Searching the Scriptures studies by going to insightworld.org slash studies. And now the message from Chuck that he titled Answering Life's Ultimate Question. Moses didn't have long. He had led the people all the way to the edge of the Promised Land. And there they stood, just about to go in under another leader.

Moses knew he was not the one to lead them in. God had made that clear to him. And so he took the time, though he did so with a sense of urgency, to deliver one message after another that we know today as the book of Deuteronomy.

A big word that means second law. Or a repeating of the law. A rehearsal of the law. The key word in Deuteronomy is remember.

As in Deuteronomy 8-2, you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God led you these 40 years in the wilderness. To humble you. To prove you. To know what was in your heart. Whether you would keep his word or not.

When time is short, there is a passionate sense of urgency. The same is found in the seventh chapter of Acts, where we read the testimony of Stephen, verses 1-53. And in that chapter we read the words of a man who was courageous because those who hated him and planned to kill him were standing in front of him when he delivered his soul. In fact, they interrupted him before he was through and they took up stones and they stoned him to death. The garments of Stephen were placed in the hands of a man named Saul who agreed with their murder but would later have his heart transformed and he would become whom we know today as the apostle Paul. Speaking of him, when he wrote Timothy, his second letter, there's a sense of urgency because Timothy will be receiving Paul's final words. At any moment he would hear the Roman boots above the Mamertine dungeon.

They would come to take him and behead him. So he writes with passion, I fought the good fight, I finished the course, I've kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give, not to me only but to all those who love his appearing. And there is that personal word to Timothy, come before winter. Why would he write that? Because the cold winds of fall were blowing, the leaves were sweeping across the streets of Rome, winter would soon come and Paul was alone in a cold, dark dungeon.

When time is short, there's a sense of urgency that accompanies your words. You can't see it but Matthew 16 is like a massive hinge on a large gate. The book of Matthew pivots at the 16th chapter. Up until that 16th chapter, Jesus is ministering openly, widely, and in various ways. All the while, his disciples are watching, hopefully learning, listening, discovering what he's like, who he is. Because his time is short, the cross looms larger and larger as each day and week will pass. So now he cuts to the chase.

It's time to fish or cut bait. So he puts the question to them that is the crucial question that would prepare them for the days yet to come. Has to do with his identity.

Do you really know who I am? But he doesn't jump into the question. He leads into it very wisely. As you notice in the 13th verse, they came to the region of Caesarea Philippi. Where they were and where they went is about a 25 mile walk. And it's a walk into a bit of anonymity. It's an area where there are fewer Jews.

So there will be less who know him or know about him. It's an area where there are gods. The gods of idolaters. Some of them massive gods standing there at Caesarea Philippi.

Huge cave that's still there when you visit the site. But he's away from the crowds. There's a bit of privacy. There's some quiet.

And it's time to look directly into the faces of his 12 and ask the question, who do people say that the Son of Man is? What's the word on the street? What do you hear when I'm at a distance or when I'm not around? What are they saying about me? Well, they mentioned the baptizer. Some think you're the one who baptized. Some say you're Elijah. Others say Jeremiah, one of the prophets. We read, and then he asked them. I smiled because I have spent a number of my earlier years in a classroom trying to put my head behind the head of the one in front of me, knowing the teacher was about to ask a very direct question where I would need to give an answer.

I would hopefully get out of sight. But nobody could hide today. Who do you say that I am? You can't see it in our English translation. It's plural. So, y'all. All y'all.

Who do y'all say I am? There's a pause here that I think we need to recognize. It's in between the verses.

When you read your Bible, let your imagination take flight. There isn't a quick answer from anyone except one. You've got to admire him for this. I do because often when he opened his mouth, he was preparing it for his foot. But in this case, we have something different. Peter, Peter really gets it right. Peter says, you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. At this moment, I wish all of you could read it as it was originally written by Matthew.

It's beautiful. Matthew renders the word Messiah Christos, which is a Greek word for obviously Christ, meaning anointed. Messiah is a Hebrew word meaning the same thing. You're anointed. You're the anointed one. You're the one God anointed, that is, you are the Son of the God, the Living One. I like that part too. It's called in the Greek, restrictive, attributive. Doesn't that change your life to know that? It's just meaningful to you.

If you could understand it, you'd appreciate. The adjective is always emphasized. The Living One. I am the vine, the true one. I love those little innuendos on occasion, those little moments in syntactical delight as you read through it.

Here's one of those. You are the anointed one, the Son of God, the Living One. Not like these other gods around us. Not like that massive god standing there, that idol.

No, no, no. The one true God. The creator God. He's the one who anointed you. You're the one. You're the promised Messiah. Nice answer, Peter. I admire him, first of all, because he risked.

Nobody else said anything. He's willing to get out there on the limb. And he does it with such accuracy.

His words are way above his fisherman's pay grade. He steps into this with a profound statement. The most profound of Peter's life thus far. You're the one. You're the one we've all heard about since we were little boys at the synagogue. You're the one we have witnessed over these months of walking with you, clearly. You're the anointed one. You are he.

You're him. Jesus doesn't waste time as he responds, Simon, you are blessed, Son of John. So he offers this blessing. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. Bar means son.

Jonah is the name of his father. Because flesh and blood did not reveal this. You didn't learn this from your mother and dad.

You didn't learn it from a friend on the street. God gave you this. It came as a revelation to you from heaven. From this father you just identified as the living God. The one who anointed me revealed this to you. I again have to control my imagination or I'll take you into all kinds of tributaries that would get us off the subject. But please, for a moment, put yourself in Simon's sandals. How's he feeling right now?

Not bad, huh? It's like a teacher in a classroom saying to you, that is the best answer I've ever heard. Now I never heard words like that but maybe you heard words like that. That is the finest answer I could have heard.

That's it. By the way, God has a way of reducing the size of one's head because it isn't too many breaths from here that Peter is rebuking Jesus for talking about going to a cross and dying. We'll get that next time. And Jesus looks at this same man and has to say to him, you get behind me, Satan. So life is that yo-yo. We're up and down, being fickle and hot and cold. We sometimes get it right and we sometimes miss it by miles.

Here he gets it right. God gave you that realization. Just to pause and add this, I don't want to get spooky about it but I will say that there are times you'll need just the right answer and God will give it to you. Just the right answer needed and won't you know, out of your mouth comes the answer for which God gets all the credit.

This is one of those moments. A profound statement falling from the lips of a man who certainly was not in himself very profound. But the Lord doesn't finish with that. He goes on to a name. Look for yourself. Now I say to you, now I say to you, that you are Peter.

Stay with me here. Petros. P-E-T-R-O-S. Petros. It means rock. Not a massive rock the size of this room, but a stone. Not necessarily a tiny stone, but not a massive rock. Your name will be rock and upon this petra, P-E-T-R-A, feminine, same root but now a different ending and this means massive rock.

Like Gibraltar. Like the Areopagus when you go to Athens and you climb up that massive deposit of granite and you stand where Paul once stood and delivered his message that's given to us in Act 17 which speaks to the Athenian eggheads who have gathered to listen to this seed picker that they picked up on the street who talked of the identity of the unknown God wound up on Mars Hill. Massive rock. You go there, always, always take time to climb up that rock. On this rock I will build my church. What does that mean? Well some are quick to jump from rock to rock and think it's Peter.

On you. But he's changed from Petros, which is the name he gave him, to Petra. I want to suggest this rock-like declaration, this rock-like revelation, this truth, this profession of faith. That will be the foundation of my church that I will build. Look at the verse again. Now I'll say to you that you are Petros. And upon this Petra I will build my church. Five words that you can preach an entire sermon on. Observe that it's in the future.

I will. It's not yet started. When we move ahead in time and we get to the day of Pentecost where the Spirit of God comes and ignites the lives of those in the upper room, Peter among them, the church begins. They flood into the streets. Peter delivers his message.

3,000 believe. And the church has taken its first breath from the crib. It's begun.

But at this point it's still future. I will build and please observe it's his church. Never ever forget that. Never allow any church to revolve around any one personality, any one voice, any one authority. Christ is head. Every preacher hearing my words right now, let us never forget we are not the head. We're a servant leader. We serve the head who is Christ. It's his church. I will build my church and look at this double promise. Not only I will build my church, the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I love that part.

Don't you? It'll never stop in its growth. It'll never be interrupted because of the power of the evil one. No adversary will ever interrupt what I am building. And I'm still building.

It's going on right now. If you love music, it's like a large crescendo mark in the score that gets larger and larger. The day of Pentecost, starting it and then it begins to grow and build and expand and large. We're along the way of its growth. Imagine what it was like for Peter to receive this mantle, the rock.

He was the fickle one, and yet God entrusted Peter with a key role in growing his church. You're listening to Insight for Living, and we're midway through a message from Chuck Swindoll. He titled his presentation, Answering Life's Ultimate Question.

To discover what resources we have available for you on today's topic, please visit us online at insightworld.org. And then just before we move ahead, let me remind you that we've hand-selected one of Chuck's hallmark books to complement your study in the book of Matthew. Today I'm directing your attention to The Grace Awakening. If you've begun to question whether or not you're qualified to serve God in any capacity, this book will restore your outlook. If Peter can be redeemed, so can you and I. In The Grace Awakening, Chuck assures us that none of us can attain God's standard of perfection, and we need to stop trying.

Our only hope is found in submitting to the gift of God's amazing grace. Chuck will help you understand how to rest in God's gift to you in his hallmark classic called The Grace Awakening. Purchase a copy right now by calling us. If you're listening in the United States, dial 1-800-772-8888 or go to insight.org slash offer. And as we close, let me say a special word of thanks to our monthly companions who understand the importance of their monthly gift.

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Our phone number again, 1-800-772-8888. Or you can also give a contribution by signing up online. Just go to insight.org slash monthly companion. And to give a one-time donation, please visit insight.org. In March 2022, Insight for Living Ministries is hosting an unforgettable journey to Israel. Carefully plan to deepen your understanding of the Bible and draw you closer to God.

Chuck Swindoll. For thousands of years, no place has been more meaningful to God's children than the land of Israel. The rugged landscape reminds us to find refuge in God alone. The fertile valleys invite us to follow our shepherd. Jerusalem's position at the very center of the world announces the good news of Christ to every nation. And now you can see Israel with Chuck Swindoll and Insight for Living Ministries March 6 through 17, 2022. Every time I visited the Holy Land, I returned home with a refreshed heart for God and a renewed vision for the world.

Really, I mean it every time. And so I want you to have the same life-changing experience. To learn more, go to insight.org slash events.

Or call this number 1-888-447-0444. Insight for Living Ministries Tour to Israel is paid for and made possible by only those who choose to attend. Join us when Chuck Swindoll continues his message about answering life's ultimate question. Thursday on Insight for Living. .