Speaker: Rev. Mikha Sanda Toding
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 16:21-28
16:21 From that time Jesus began to show to 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 the third day.
16:22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"
16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
16:25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
16:27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
16:28 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
When we suffer in following God, let us remember that Jesus also suffered a lot. There are three conditions in following God to the New Jerusalem [Verse 24] as follows:
God blesses us.
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 16:21-28
16:21 From that time Jesus began to show to 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 the third day.
16:22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"
16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
16:25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
16:27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
16:28 "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
When we suffer in following God, let us remember that Jesus also suffered a lot. There are three conditions in following God to the New Jerusalem [Verse 24] as follows:
- We must deny ourselves.
It means we humble ourselves, doing God's will even though it is against our will.
Matthew 26:39
26:39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."
Mark 10:38-39
10:38 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
10:39 They said to Him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized;
Drinking the cup means stopping sinning and returning to God or repentance.
1 Peter 4:1, 3
4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
4:3 For we have spentenough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles--when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.
Especially repenting from the sin of dog and sow or eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage.
Ezekiel 16:49-50
16:49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
16:50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.
Do not make the sin as a pride. It makes us far from God.
We must humble ourselves and do God's will. It starts from repenting or being died from sin and we enter in the true water baptism. It is like Jesus' is being baptized.
Matthew 3:13-17
3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
3:14 And John tried toprevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"
3:15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be sonow, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."Then he allowed Him.
3:16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
3:17 And suddenly a voice camefrom heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
We are saved from death and the wrath of God.
Revelation 15:1-2
15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.
15:2 And I saw somethinglike a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark andover the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. - We must take up the cross.
It means we have the obedient, faithful, responsible life in the things as follows:- The ministry.
Philippians 2:8, 12
2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point ofdeath, even the death of the cross.
2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
We minister to God with fear.
Hebrews 12:18-21, 28
12:18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest,
12:19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard itbegged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
12:20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: "And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stonedor shot with an arrow."
12:21 And so terrifying was the sight thatMoses said, "I am exceedingly afraidand trembling."
12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. - The marriage.
1 Corinthians 7:3-4
7:3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.
7:4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does.And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
Being obedient, faithful, and responsible in doing the main duty in marriage.
The duty of the husbands is loving the wives as their own bodies. The husbands do not do bitterly towards the wives.
Ephesians 5:25, 28
5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
5:28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.
The husbands make decision according to the Word of God.
1 Peter 3:7
3:7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with themwith understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as beingheirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
The duty of the wives is obeying the husbands, and not commanding or being against the husbands.
Ephesians 5:22
5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
The wives become helper through praying.
Genesis 2:18
2:18 And the LordGod said, "It isnot good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
The duty of children is respecting and helping their parents.
Ephesians 6:1-3
6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
6:2 "Honor your father and mother,"which is the first commandment with promise:
6:3 "that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." - The teaching.
Exodus 12:34
12:34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, having their kneading bowls bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.
We are obedient, faithful, and responsible in teaching. Do not mix the true teaching Word with the false one, but we hold fast the true teaching Word.
Philippians 2:16
2:16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
Matthew 11:29-30
11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
11:30 For My yoke iseasy and My burden is light."
Then, our life becomes easy and light because God carries our burden.
- The ministry.
- We must follow God.
John 12:26
12:26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him MyFather will honor.
It refers to the following to Jesus as the Head and we are the Body that cannot be separated. We must follow God as the Head through ministry and worship prayer anytime, anywhere, and in any situation.
Romans 8:35-36
8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shalltribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
8:36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long;We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."
2 Timothy 4:6-7
4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
We follow Jesus to the end line until we die or Jesus comes a second time.
2 Timothy 4:8
4:8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
The result is we receive the crown of righteousness, the crown of happiness that cannot be affected by anything.
Matthew 17:4
17:4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
Revelation 2:10
2:10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw someof you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Until we receive the crown of life. There is guarantee to live in the world until the eternal life.
1 Peter 5:3-4
5:3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
5:4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
We are glorified when Jesus comes a second time and we receive the crown of glory.
Revelation 3:21
3:21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Until we enter the New Jerusalem and we sit together with Him on the throne of heaven.
Ezekiel 1:28
1:28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so wasthe appearance of the brightness all around it. This wasthe appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it,I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.
God blesses us.