From the desk of Pastor Ben

The Principle of Self-denial – Part 1

Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”     (Matthew 16:24)

To the apostles, Jesus words “come after Me” reminded them of when they had left all to travel with Him. To unbelievers who heard Him, the words referred to initially coming to Him for salvation. And to believers, including the apostles, the reminder was for a life of daily obedience to Christ.

Any person not willing to “deny himself” cannot be Jesus’ disciple. “Deny” means to completely disown or utterly separate yourself from someone. Christians must have that kind of denial toward themselves. They must utterly disown and refuse to acknowledge their old, sinful selves and refuse any companionship with the former self.

Jesus is not referring to the believer’s identity as a distinct individual and unique child of God (Luke 10:20). Rather, here He refers to the natural, sinful, rebellious, unredeemed self that characterizes every sinner and can temporarily even re-assert control over a believer. It has often been called the flesh, “the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit” (Ephesians 4:22). To exercise self-denial here is to confess with Paul, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Romans 7:18). Such a confession results in a genuine belief that you have nothing in your humanness (flesh) to commend you to God, no merit to offer apart from trust in the saving work of Christ.

Ask Yourself:
How convinced have you become that “nothing good” comes out of following your basic desires, that if there is to be any holiness coming forth from your life, it will be only by the grace and empowerment of the Lord Jesus? What has happened lately to remind you of this reality?

From the desk of Pastor Ben
Lessons From Peter’s Rebuke And Christ’s Reply

“You are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
                                (Matthew 16:23b)

With this statement Jesus gives the reason Peter became an agent of Satan: he was reasoning from his sinful, finite mind, trusting in his own perspective rather than God’s. When believers focus solely on themselves and their worries, they become easy victims for Satan’s traps and can also ensnare others. Thus, James writes in (1:2-4, 12), “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

From Peter’s rebuke and the Lord’s reply, we can learn two vital lessons. First, God’s plan of redemption doesn’t correspond to humanity’s. People insist on their own kind of Messiah and on coming to God on their own terms. But human’s propensity to sin never leads to saving faith. To reject the cross is to reject Christ, no matter how much people might profess Him and praise Him.

Second, there is pain in the divine refining process. Christ calls His disciples to share His suffering and cross. He encourages them to deny themselves and take up their crosses as they follow Him (Matthew 16:24). To produce spiritual gold from believers, God must first burn off their sinful dross. Through the prophet He declares, “I will . . .refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them” (Zechariah 13:9a).

Ask Yourself:
Where in your own life do you have the hardest time determining the difference between God’s interests and your own? When you’re really not sure whether you’re thinking clearly about a matter, how do you go about determining the truth of a situation, decision, or action?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Christ Protests to Peter – Part 2

He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!
You are a stumbling block to Me.”     (Matthew 16:23a)

With Peter here taking the side of Satan in opposition to God’s plan of salvation, the apostle at that moment became “a stumbling block” to the Lord Jesus. “Stumbling block” is from the Greek skandalon (which yields our word scandal), originally denoting an animal trap and its bait. The word later came to refer to the luring of a person into captivity or destruction. Peter had become Satan’s instrument to trap Jesus on His way to the cross.

The temptation to avoid crucifixion was a real one to Jesus, because He knew how agonizing it would be to bear all the consequences of sin and be for a time separated from the Father. That’s why He prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me” (Luke 22:42).

The enemy knew the way to the crucifixion was the way to his defeat. So, he opposed the cross with all his strength. Because they are the spiritual children of Satan (John 8:44), unbelievers consider the cross of Christ to be foolish and a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 1:18, 23). The devil knows that Calvary is the place of sinners’ deliverance from his dominion, the only path from his kingdom of darkness to God’s kingdom of light. After Jesus’ death, Satan wanted Him to stay in the grave; but death could not hold Him (Psalm 16:10). In the same way, death and Satan will ultimately have no power over Christ’s church (Matthew 16:18), which is the redeemed fellowship of all who put their trust in Him.

Ask Yourself:
Is there anything in your lifestyle, your opinions, your advice, or your counsel that causes others to hold back their own spiritual enthusiasm? How could you become a more effective encourager, serving as an inspiring example of someone who is serious about conforming to Christ?

From the desk of Pastor Ben

Christ Protests To Peter – Part 1

He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a
stumbling block to Me.”             (Matthew 16:23a)

Jesus’ words here undoubtedly were a stinging, devastating reply that shook Peter to the core. Before he could declare any further objections to God’s plan, his Lord abruptly cut off Peter’s words and accused him of being Satan’s mouthpiece. This would have shaken Peter because superficially his statement meant well — he could not bear the idea of his Friend and Master suffering and dying. In addition, he and the other apostles had become completely dependent on Jesus for everything — instruction, food, even tax money.

Christ had spoken similar words to the devil himself after the wilderness temptations (Matthew 4:10). Even though Satan departed at that time, Luke says it was “until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). So, Satan looked for other opportunities to tempt Jesus and now placed into Peter’s mind the same ideas he had tempted the Lord with: the plan of redemption is too hard; support me and realize my way is superior to God’s.

The same disciple who had just acknowledged Jesus to be the Christ and God’s Son, now contradicted Him. God had revealed the greatest of all confessions to Peter, but now Satan was the one “inspiring” him. If Peter could engage in such a drastic turnaround, so can anyone who believes. When we as Christians follow our own wisdom instead of the Holy Spirit’s, we can find ourselves unwittingly siding with the devil rather than remaining firmly at our Lord’s side.

Ask Yourself:
Have you ever experienced a time when you were sincerely seeking the Lord one minute, then chasing an impure desire or indulgence the next? What does your potential for this kind of about-face reveal about where your righteousness comes from? It’s all God, isn’t it?

From the desk of Pastor Ben
Peter’s Presumption

Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”         (Matthew 16:22)

We can be quick to rebuke Peter for such an arrogant presumption against the Lord. But we should be candid to recognize that we have contradicted Christ numerous times, as when we complain about our sufferings and trials. It’s easy to accept God’s blessings, but not His testings; the prosperity and health He brings, but not the hardship and sickness. Like Peter, we easily rejoice at God’s pleasant news, but we often second-guess God’s wisdom in the difficult news.

Peter’s presumptuous words may have derived from a self-important attitude and awareness that he was the leader of the apostles. Jesus had just commended him for his great confession and imparted key words about the church. This apparently gave Peter the brashness to speak out now, typical of his self-confident personality. Surely his love for and dependence on the Savior made any prospect of Jesus’ death a fearful thing for Peter. Whatever the case, the apostle’s sinful pride placed his human understanding above God’s.

In this context, the expression translated “God forbid it” is in the most negative connotation. So, when Peter used it with “Lord” the words resonate with hypocrisy because the apostle was placing himself above the Master. To further compound the sinfulness of his statements, Peter totally contradicted what Christ had just declared as being necessary when he said, “This shall never happen to You.” Because the elements of God’s plan of redemption were humanly unthinkable to him, Peter outspokenly rejected them. Sometimes the best of human “wisdom” is sadly antagonistic to God’s.

Peter’s Presumption
What have you been saying “never” to as you look down the road? What are you refusing to do, refusing to accept, refusing to forgive, refusing to endure patiently? What is the source of your “never,” and what have you learned from the ones you’ve spoken in the past?

From the desk of Pastor Ben
The Plan of God: Phases 2-4
“. . .and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”         (Matthew 16:21b)

The remaining three phases of God’s redemptive plan were all clear, distinct, and essential. The 2nd phase was that His Son, Jesus Christ, would “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes.” Those religious leaders consisted of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. Their political power, joined to their rejection of Jesus, would cause Him much pain at their hands.
The 3rd phase in God’s plan was that Jesus “be killed.” In this context, the Greek word translated “killed” denotes murder; thus what happened to Jesus goes beyond a legal execution. He was not even legally found guilty of wrongdoing but rather sentenced to death on false and vindictive charges from the Jewish leaders. But this was all according to the Father’s sovereign plan (Acts 2:22-23).
The 4th and climactic phase was that Jesus would be “raised up on the third day.” It is likely, however, that because of their distress regarding the first 3 phases, the apostles didn’t really hear this final one at all. But this was the great truth of victory over sin and death that made the other phases bearable and conquered those seeming defeats (1 Corinthians 15: 13-14, 20-22, 26, 50-57). This was the final phase of triumph and glory that all believers should constantly remember and rejoice in.

Ask Yourself:
What was Jesus trying to communicate to His disciples by letting them in on the culmination of the Father’s plan, the reality of resurrection? How deeply are you encouraged by knowing that this final hope and joy is attached to every problem and difficulty you face?

From the desk of Pastor Ben
The Plan of God: Phase 1
“He must go to Jerusalem.”         (Matthew 16:21a)
After a stay in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus and the apostles headed toward Jerusalem. His men feared that death by stoning at the Jews’ hands awaited both Jesus and them in the city (John 11:16). The legalistic, unbiblical Judaism that flourished there hated Jesus because He exposed its sinfulness and rejected its man-centered traditions (see Matthew 15:3-9). But the Jews would not have to seek out His arrest because Christ would willingly present Himself to them. “I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:17-18; 19:11).
The Jews alternately lost and re-captured Jerusalem, but they always identified it as the city of God (Psalm 137:5-6). But by Jesus’ day it was hardly living up to that title. During the first Passover of His ministry, He had to drive the money changers and merchants out of the temple (John 2:13-16). At the second Passover, the Jewish leaders tried to kill Him for violating Sabbath traditions (5:16-18). Jesus deliberately stayed away from the third Passover; and later at the Feast of Booths the Jews again attempted to apprehend Him (7:1-19, 44-45).
Had Jesus not finally gone to Jerusalem, He could not have redeemed His own from sin, no matter what else happened. Christ had to become the Passover Lamb, offering Himself “once for all” (Hebrews 7:27; Luke 13:33).

Ask Yourself:
Imagine the courage required of Christ not to go into hiding but rather to walk headlong into the boiling heat of danger, knowing full well what awaited Him. What is He calling you to boldly wade into at this time in your life — or else you will miss His plan for you for this time in your life?

From the desk of Pastor Ben
The Plan of God: Four Necessities
“From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”     (Matthew 16:21)
Jesus now “began to show His disciples” deeper and more challenging truths about His divine plan and earthly work. He had alluded to these truths before, but now He would present them more clearly and in greater detail. Previously, our Lord had mentioned His death with words like this: “The Son of Man would be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40). He told the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). After that time, Jesus would continue to teach about his burial (12:7) and predict that He would rise from the grave after suffering at His enemies’ hands (17:9, 12, 22-23).
The Father’s plan for the Son was not one of human devotion to a great cause, but a divine imperative and absolute necessity. It rang forth from eternity as an essential, unalterable arrangement god set in motion before the foundation of the world.
Four things necessitated this plan. First, was human sin, for which Christ had to give His life to pay the penalty for sinners, as “a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Second, was God’s requirement that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22). Third, was God’s decree of His sovereign foreknowledge (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4-5). Finally, there was the prophetic promise that Messiah must die Psalms 16; 22; Isaiah 53). People can believe this redemptive plan or they can reject it — but they can never alter it.

Ask Yourself:
Be careful not to let the familiarity of God’s plan grow old on your ears, sounding a hollow tone that diminishes its magnificence. Whenever you have that kind of reaction, what does it reveal about where your heart is? What seems more glorious and exciting to you right now?

From the desk of Pastor Ben
The Church Is a Spiritual Reality
Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.                                     (Matthew 16:20)
At first glance it seems strange to conclude from this sentence that the church is a spiritual reality. But this warning, taken with the context of the preceding verses and the political-religious mindset of the times, reminds the apostles that Christ’s church is a spiritual entity, not a political force. Like most Jews, the Twelve had expected Messiah to enter the scene as a political and military leader who would free them from Rome. They looked for a conquering king, not a savior who would redeem them from sin. The Jews’ expectations were so skewed and self-centered that to tell them at this time that Jesus was the Messiah would be to throw pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6).
Jesus later told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36). Even though God has ordained human government (Romans 13:1-7; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13), the state should not be an instrument of the church any more than the church should be an instrument of the state.
Like the kingdom of God, the church is temporarily concerned with this world, but its ultimate nature and priorities are spiritual and eternal. True members of the church are “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men” (Romans 14:17b-18).

Ask Yourself:
It takes work to stay reminded that this earth is temporary, merely serving God’s purposes for a time. How do you maintain this perspective amid the problems, issues, and pressures upon you? How do you keep worldly concerns from clouding eternity in your mind and heart?

From the desk of Pastor Ben
The Authority of The Church
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”         (Matthew 16:19)

Here Jesus tells Peter and his colleagues, and by extension the entire church, that they had (and have) authority to declare what is divinely forbidden or permitted on earth. Later on, in His instruction on church discipline to all His followers, our Lord would teach that a sinning member, unrepentant after several stages of counseling, must be treated as an unbeliever (Matthew 18:15-18; John 20:23). Therefore, a properly constituted body of believers has a duty to tell an unrepentant member that he or she is disobeying God’s Word and must not have fellowship in the church.
The source of such authority resides not in church members themselves, any more than did the apostles’ authority reside only in their exalted position. With authority believers can declare what is acceptable to God or forbidden by Him because they possess His Word. They don’t have to determine what is right or wrong, but based on Scripture they simply recognize and teach what God has already determined. Because they have God’s Word on “everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3), Christians can be sure their assessment of important spiritual matters corresponds with that of heaven. With this kind of authority on their side, they can even discern a person’s spiritual condition by comparing that life to the Word of God.

Ask Yourself:
Certainly we know of ways people (and churches) can abuse our high-ground claims of biblical authority, but in truth we are much more likely to fear exercising its demands, not calling ourselves and others to live under its protective truths. How have you seen this happen?