Today for our Bible study I would
invite you and encourage you strongly to turn to Matthew chapter
16. Matthew chapter 16, and I'll
begin reading at verse 21. Now follow along closely. From that time forth began Jesus
to show unto his disciples how that he must Now there's a key
word, must go unto Jerusalem, suffer many things of the elders
and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised again
the third day. Then Peter took him and he began
to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord. This shall
not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter,
Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense unto me. Thou
savorest not the things that be of God, but those things that
be of men. Now we find here in Matthew chapter
16 two very key elements to understanding the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The first one is this, Peter
makes a confession as to who this one this Nazarene is when
our Lord asked him, whom do you say that I am? Peter confessed
and answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God. One of the key elements, maybe
perhaps the most important element of understanding the gospel and
the power and the glory of the gospel is who this man is. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? He's none other than God Almighty. If He's not God our Savior, we
have no salvation. Peter plainly confessed, he says,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. That is, you're
anointed. You're the blessed one. You're
sent as the Messiah of God, anointed as prophet, priest, and king
to secure our salvation. Our Lord answered here when Peter
made that confession. He said, you're a blessed man.
Flesh and blood didn't reveal this to thee, but my Father.
And my friend, I can tell you this morning, if you understand
who Jesus of Nazareth is, yes, he is a real man, but he's not
just a mere man. He is the God-man, the mediator. We believe and preach strongly
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. God was made flesh and dwelt
among us. The apostle said without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. And that's who this man is. It's
who he is that gives power and glory and virtue to what he accomplished. Now the second thing we see in
Matthew 16, not only who Jesus of Nazareth is, this despised
Nazarene. He was hated by the religious
people. They called him all kind of horrible names. Friend of
sinners, gluttonous man, wine-bibber. But my friend, he's the Christ
of God. He is the God-man mediator come
to secure the salvation of God's people. But not only do we see
that He is God Almighty, but we also see revealed here His
priestly work, vital to our salvation. In verse 21, the Lord began to
show unto his disciples how that he must suffer, he must be killed,
he must be raised from the dead. Now these things must, and that's
a key word to understanding the gospel, these things as the Christ
of God, as the priest of God, as our Mediator and Savior, these
things He must do. He must suffer. He must be the
sacrifice for sin, and He must be raised again from the dead.
Now, these things must happen because they were decreed of
God, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God. These things were decreed of
God from all eternity. The Lord Jesus Christ stood as
a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Secondly, these
things must happen because the Old Testament prophets declared
they would happen. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures. Thirdly, these things must happen
because God's justice demands it. How can he be a just God
and a Savior without a suitable, appointed sacrifice for sin? that enable him to be a just
God and Savior, to be just and the justifier of the ungodly. Here's something else. These
things must happen to guarantee and secure our salvation. We read in Galatians 4, in the
fullness of time, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. Now,
let's look for just a moment at these three things that are
mentioned here. He must suffer. Now we know that
he suffered at the hands of men. They mocked him and beat him
and crucified him. But my friend, I hope you see
something more than his suffering by the hands of men. We must
see in the essence and one of the keys to understanding the
gospel is that he suffers under the wrath of God. Under the wrath
of God. wounded for our sin, bruised
for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. He's called the man of sorrows.
As a sinner's substitute, dying in my room and in my stead, he
suffers the wrath of God, the holiness of God poured out upon
him. The Old Testament prophets said,
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see
if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto
me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in his fierce anger. When the Lord Jesus Christ was
made the substitute for the sinner, and the sin of God's people reckoned
and imputed and counted to him, he suffers in our room and in
our stead the holy wrath, the just wrath of God. Peter put
it this way. This one who is sent of God,
the Christ of God, he suffered once for our sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us unto God. You see, this suffering
is necessary. Sin demands a payment. I'm unable
to satisfy that payment. the Lord Jesus Christ as my mediator,
as my surety, as my savior, suffered in my room and in my stead. It
pleased God to bruise him. You see, God planned the cross.
God presided over the cross. And God participated in the affliction
of his dear son. My friend, it wasn't the work
that men did that day at Calvary. It's what God was doing that
day. He suffers like no other under
the weight and wrath of Almighty God against the sin of God's
people laid upon him. And this sin and this suffering
brought death. He must suffer, and then it says
here, he must be killed. And my friend, Sin is an awful,
awful offense against the Holy God. And when the Lord Jesus
Christ suffers in the sinner's room instead, sin demands death. The wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth must die. As the sin offering, as the sacrifice,
as the Lamb of God, He died. The sinners substitute. Thirdly,
we see this. He must He not only must suffer
the hands of a holy God, suffering the wrath of God. Secondly, he
must die. Sin demands death. And he died
in our room and in our stead as our substitute. That is for
his people, his sheep, his church. He died, shed his blood to secure
the salvation of his church. And thirdly, must be raised again. Must be raised again. Now, just suppose that the Lord
Jesus did come forth from the grave the third day, must be
raised again the third day. What are the implications there? They're tremendous. If the Lord
Jesus Christ be not raised from the dead, he's an imposter. We
have no salvation, and we better start looking for a savior. If he be not raised from the
dead, Paul put it this way, our faith is vain, our preaching
is vain, and we're yet in our sins. If he be not raised again
in glorious power, when he by himself purged our sin, he sat
down at the right hand of God. Victorious, having accomplished
and secured the salvation of God's people, having finished
the work that God gave him, he must be raised again from the
dead. The apostle put it this way in
Romans 4. He was delivered for our offenses, raised again for
our justification. If he's not raised up victorious,
enthroned at God's right hand, ever living to make intercession
for us. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him, saying He ever liveth to make
intercession for us. Hebrews 7, 25. You see, the necessity
of His suffering, the necessity of His death, and the necessity
of His resurrection. You read throughout the book
of Acts, This message of the resurrection is found in every
sermon that's preached, beginning with Peter at Pentecost. All
the sermons that Paul preached, they emphasize over and over
the necessity of his resurrection. It declares who he is, to be
actual and real and true. It declares that what he did
satisfied God and is accepted of God. Now, let's read on in
the text here. You see what he's saying here?
He began to show unto them. I'm trying to show unto you this
morning. Then Peter, we read in Matthew 16, 22, then Peter
took him and began to rebuke him. Peter didn't understand.
He didn't fully know at this time all that the Lord had been
teaching. And Peter took him, and imagine, rebuked the Lord,
saying unto the Lord Jesus, Spare yourself, don't be it far from
thee. And what he's saying is, God
forbid, don't die, don't go to Jerusalem, don't suffer. You
see what he's saying here? Peter didn't understand, and
then he began to rebuke the Lord. Spare yourself from this death
and this suffering. Our Lord plainly said, it must
be. But Peter, in his foolishness, said, this shall not be. Now listen to what the Lord says
here carefully. This is one of the strongest
rebukes of a disciple we find in scripture. But he turned,
the Lord Jesus turned to Peter and said, Peter, you get out
of my way. Get behind me. And that means
get out of my way. And he called him here Satan.
Get behind me, Satan. What he's saying here, you're
an adversary. If you think the necessity of
my death, the necessity of my suffering, the necessity of my
resurrection is not absolute and certain, you just get out
of my way. You're a stumbling block. You're
an adversary. You're an enemy to Christ crucified. You're an offense to me. For
thou sabrest not. Now, listen carefully. Thou sabrest
not the things that be of God. Did you hear that? You see, these
sufferings and his death and his resurrection, these things
are ordained of God. They must be. They must be. Peter, what he's saying is this.
Peter, you're taking up Satan's cause, the adversary, the enemy's
cause to dismiss the necessity of his sacrifice is to be an adversary of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Get out of my way, he said. You
offend me. The preaching of the cross to those who are perishing
is foolishness. Here's what he's saying. Peter,
you regard and mind not and do not think upon the things as
the purpose and glory of God. You only have in view that which
is natural and fleshly, not spiritual. Our Lord came not to spare himself,
but to spend himself as the sacrifice for sin. Now we read several
places in 1 John chapter 4, hearing his love, not that we loved God,
but that he loved us, and sent his son, sent his son to be the
sacrifice for sin. He was manifested to take away
our sin, and in him is no sin. You see what he's saying here?
Peter, you're thinking, your thinking's wrong. You're not
thinking upon the things that are of God. You're just thinking
about yourself. You're thinking fleshly. You
don't see the necessity of my death. Now, in closing, let me
give you this scripture found in John chapter 10. He must die
as our substitute. In John chapter 10. Now, look
what it says here. And keep in mind that the death
of Christ was not an accident. He was the appointed victim,
the appointed sacrifice of a holy God. Not a helpless victim of
godless men, but the appointed sacrifice of a holy God. Now,
John chapter 10, verse 14, he said, I'm the good shepherd.
I know my sheep. I'm known of mine. As a father
knoweth me, even so know I the father. I lay down my life for
the sheep. You see, no one took his life.
He's gonna say that in just a minute. Other sheep I have. which are
not of this fold, them also I must bring. They shall hear my voice. They shall be one fold and one
shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my
life, that I might take it again. No man takes it from me. I lay
it down to myself. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. Now I pray that
you would take this verse and think about the necessity of
his suffering, his death, and his resurrection.