Answering Life's Ultimate Question, Part 2

Today on Insight for Living. The cross is looming large. He will come ultimately as a conquering king.

That's yet future. But before there is a crown and the authority of the crown and the establishment of the government over which he will serve as the leader, there must be the cross. The cross precedes the crown. Most of us have friends and colleagues who don't share our Christian convictions. At times, the conversations become awkward when our spiritual differences are magnified by current issues taking the headlines, such as politics or personal views about morality.

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll reminds us it rarely helps to debate the nuances of cultural trends when eternity is at stake. How much better to focus on the crown of Jesus and the cross that precedes it? Chuck titled today's message, Answering Life's Ultimate Question, and we begin with prayer. Thank you, dear Father, for your sovereign care over us, for your delight in your children, and for your faithfulness and goodness to this nation. We read in the Scriptures, if my people who were called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. Heal us, our Father, for we are broken. We need you as never before in our generation.

Have your way, calm our spirits. As we sang earlier, in thee, O Lord, I put my trust. We trust you for the outcome, that you will bring good for your glory. Sometime in mysterious ways, unexpected ways, may our focus be on you as we faithfully do our part to pray and to wait and to trust. These are your gifts, and we release them with joy and generosity through Christ our Savior. Never once said, Amen.

And now the message from Chuck that he titled Answering Life's Ultimate Question. 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 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?

There isn't a quick answer from anyone except one. You got to admire him for this. 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. Anointed. You're the anointed one. 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. He steps into this with a profound statement. Jesus doesn't waste time as he responds, Simon, you are blessed, Son of John.

So he offers this blessing. Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, 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. A profound statement falling from the lips of a man who certainly was not in himself very profound. But God doesn't, 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. 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 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. Three thousand 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 enlarge. We're along the way of its growth.

But look closer. The power of hell will not conquer it and there's another I will. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven. Whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. One man describes this single section as one of the storm centers of New Testament interpretation.

To the initial reader it may seem rather innocuous, but it's anything but. First he mentions keys, which would refer to the authority or the ability to open a door. I will give you the keys that will open and then with that will come the authority of forbidding and permitting. I suggest these are the doors of Christendom and these keys initially promised to Peter. He would use that key given to him to open the door into the hearts of Jews when he preached on the day of Pentecost and to reach the Gentiles when he's in the house of Cornelius, Acts 2, Acts 10. But then we read whatever you forbid or bind, whatever you permit or lose will be bound or loosened.

This is where it gets sticky. The Roman Catholic Church taught for centuries still teaches that the authority rests with the Pope and his prelates. Having the authority to bind or loosen and according to what they state that will be true. But I think a major part of the promises left out and that's the repeated words of heaven. The authority obviously rests in heaven. In fact, if you will allow me to change the tense of the verb from the English to the original meaning, whatever you forbid on earth will have been forgiven in heaven, whatever you permit on earth will have been permitted in heaven.

The apostle merely announces these things as do the other apostles. They have been bound or they will have been loosed according to the power of heaven and it will be the privilege of those who declare it to draw that authority from the one who inhabits heaven. For us, it could best be described as the authority of the scriptures. One can speak affordatively of what is forbidden or what is permitted based on what the scriptures teach. One fine expositor puts it in these words, Christians do not determine what is right or wrong, forgiven or unforgiven. Rather, on the basis of God's own word, they recognize what God has already determined to be right or wrong, forgiven or unforgiven. When they judge on the basis of God's word, they can be certain their judgment corresponds with the judgment of heaven. I think that's put very well.

But what surprises us is this closing statement. Don't tell anybody. You know, we build our theology on one of the spokes of the wheel is evangelism. Get the word out.

Let the world know. But Jesus says with a stern warning, do not tell anyone that I am the Messiah. Give me just 60 seconds to unpack that. The Jews of that day live for the day they will be they would be delivered from the authority of the Roman government. The boot of Rome on the Jew was a galling thing. They knew that when Messiah came, he would come as conquering king, as a military and political leader, to set them free from the authority not only of Rome, but all other authorities. And he would establish his kingdom where he would reign as king over all who called themselves king and Lord above all who named themselves as Lord. But he says, don't tell anybody.

Remember my comment earlier in the message? The cross is looming large. He will come ultimately as a conquering king.

That's yet future. But before there is a crown and the authority of the crown and the establishment of the government over which he will serve as the leader, there must be the cross. The cross precedes the crown. Had people heard in that day that Messiah was here, there would have been mob violence all over the land of Israel and beyond. Messiah is here. He's conquering. It's time to take charge. And there would be chaos everywhere.

Furthermore, they would miss the realization that he first would come as savior from sin before he would come as conquering king over all other authority. So leave this between us, men. It's true. I am the anointed one. That's between us. When it's appropriate, we'll announce all that that will mean. But for right now, there's something heavy on my heart that I want to now communicate. And that's what appears in 21 down through 28. That would be his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. And for that information, Peter would reprimand him and live to regret it. That's enough for now.

We certainly had our plate full. But I need to ask you the crucial question. You can't hide behind anyone when this question is asked. Who do you say he is? Not y'all, but you. Each one of you. Are you ready to claim that he is, in fact, Messiah?

The one who did in fact come and in fact died, paying the complete penalty for the sins of the world, including yours. You're willing to submit to his will in ways to kneel at the cross and say, I invite you now to become my personal Lord and Savior. That's the answer. Now, whether it's your answer or not, only you can say. Bow with me, will you please? It's soul searching time.

Just close your eyes. When you draw your last breath, as you will. When you step all alone into eternity, as you will.

With no one there to answer for you. Your Creator and Maker will be listening for one statement. I am here covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, the one who died for me, rose again for me, and paid the complete penalty for all my sins.

I'm here under his blood. All who make that statement are ushered in, all who cannot face a horrible eternity. And there is no purgatory. There is no second chance.

There is no option later on. And after death, there's no room for any answer but the one you gave during your life. Trust him now. Believe in Christ now.

Now. We would love to help you in your journey from earth to heaven by assisting in your growth and being a part of your life as we can be as a church and as friends. But it all begins with your decision for Christ.

Just as eating from the table and drinking from the cup. It's open to all who are believers, regardless of your church affiliation or any church affiliation. If you know the Lord Jesus, you have a place at this table.

Just so you're walking in the light, as he is in the light. You come with clean hands, clean heart as a child of God. Please eat the bread. Remember his body given for you. Remember and respect his blood poured out for you.

Worship him. But if not, if that isn't you, please let the elements pass. Simply pass the plate until you are ready to trust in Christ. How good it would be today to have many, many, many come for the first time. As believers in Christ and partakers of the meal, today's the day.

Now's the time. Make this time very meaningful, our Father, as we bow before you. Remove from us all the preoccupation of the afternoon, all the things before us this week. May we be, as Wesley wrote, lost in wonder, love and praise. As we turn our hearts to the living Christ who loved us and gave himself for us. May our time around the table be as meaningful as it must have been to those early disciples who had their last meal with their Lord. Bless this bread and this cup with the glory of Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen. You're listening to Insight for Living. What followed Chuck Swindoll's message was a special time around the Lord's table, observing communion with other believers. He titled today's 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 our time is up today, let me point you to one of the most helpful resources offered by Insight for Living. As you've grown to appreciate and even rely on the clear and practical Bible teaching on this program, you'll be glad to learn Chuck has condensed his life's work into a study Bible. It's written in the refreshing style Chuck is known for and laid out in a format that's easy to navigate as well. Someone left a note on our website recently and they confessed that their copy of this study Bible is well worn. And this person added, I want to thank God for your wisdom, clarity and simpleness in writing. Well, the Swindoll Study Bible represents decades of personal study by Chuck, preparing for sermons and writing books.

And it belongs in your personal collection of study tools. To discover the different options available to you and to purchase a copy of the Swindoll Study Bible, go to insight.org slash offer. You can also call us if you're listening in the U.S.

Dial 1-800-772-8888. And then let me take a moment to thank those who've given generously to Insight for Living in recent days. Perhaps you have no idea the impact of your generosity, but we do. A day never passes without hearing from someone whose life has been touched because of the Bible teaching they received through Insight for Living. And those sacred moments are made possible through the voluntary gifts of people like you.

Thank you so much. To give a donation today, call us if you're listening in the U.S. Dial 1-800-772-8888 or give online at insight.org. Travelers who want to take a tour to Israel have lots of choices, but few measure up to the thoughtful journey prepared by Insight for Living Ministries. With a proper mix of historical information and biblical context, we provide ample opportunities to pause and let the wonder in.

Our goal is to create special moments when you deepen your love for the Bible and draw closer to your Lord. Experience an unforgettable 12-day tour to Israel with Chuck Swindoll and Insight for Living Ministries, March 6-17, 2022. To help you grasp the significance of each site, you'll be accompanied by hand-picked Israeli guides. And we choose the best, along with seminary-trained pastors and professors to enhance your spiritual journey. No organization I know of offers this level of exceptional, in-depth instruction and personal care for Holy Land travelers.

To learn more, call 1-888-447-0444. Just imagine walking along sacred sites and watching the Bible come to life. Make your reservation by calling 1-888-447-0444 or go to insight.org slash events. Insight for Living Ministries Tour to Israel is paid for and made possible by only those who choose to attend. Tomorrow, Chuck Swindoll presents what he calls Three Nevers We Must Never Forget, right here on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Answering Life's Ultimate Question, was copyrighted in 2016 and 2021, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. The implication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.