For

Being with Jesus

WHO IS HE?

REV DR NG SWEE MING | 25 SEPT 2016

What is THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION in Life ?

What is THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION in Life ?

new WWJD Sermon Series …i. BEING with JESUS : Who… ?

ii. BEING with JESUS : What… ?

iii. WWJD with Worries

iv. WWJD with Children & Families

v. WWJD with Corruption

new WWJD Sermon Series …

2016 Theme Verse

Mark 3:14b-15 “…that they might

BE WITH HIM and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority

to drive out demons.”

Intro: BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?

Matt 16:13-2013 When Jesus came to the region of

Caesarea Philippi, …

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?

Location of Caesarea Philippi

About 27 mls2 days walkingUphill ..

Caesarea Philippi ….• Elevated plain 1150 ft,

foot of Mt Hermon… highest mountain in Israel…

• Gentile territory…• Pagan stronghold … Balinas - Baal worship Paneas – ‘god’ Pan…

Banias – in Arabic Emperor worship

• Source of River Jordan

PAN – Gkgod of the forest, shepherds, hunters, fertility etc

AugusteumTemple

Court of Pan & Nymphs

Caesarea Philippi

AugusteumTemple

Court of Pan & Nymphs

Caesarea Philippi

AugusteumTemple

Court of Pan & Nymphs

Caesarea Philippi

Caesarea Philippi

Temple of Zeus

Caesarea Philippi

Court of Nemesis

(Goddess of Revenge)

Caesarea Philippi

Temple of the Dancing Goats

Tomb of the Sacred Goats

Caesarea Philippi

AugusteumTemple

CAVE OF PAN

Court of Pan & Nymphs

Temple of Zeus

Court of Nemesis

Sacred Goats

Dancing Goats

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?Q: WHY did Jesus take his disciples for a

retreat way up north ? Pagan country … Idolatrous …. “Sin city”

NB. Jewish rabbi looked down on Jews going to Caesarea Philippi

Last 6-7 mths of His earthly ministry, last lap …. After this one more stop … Then long trip down south …

to Jerusalem … to Calvary

Cave of Pan

Source of River Jordan

Present Day - Caesarea Philippi

Cave of Pan ? Birthplace … ? Gateway …

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?Q: WHY did Jesus take his disciples for a

retreat way up north ?Possible Reasons : Time alone with them ….

No crowd … Literally staring at …

the ‘gates to hell’ … Awesome back-drop to ask

‘the question’Next stop - Transfiguration ….

‘Mt Hermon’

Matt 16:1313 When Jesus came to

the region of Caesarea Philippi,

he asked his disciples,

"Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?Q: v13 “… he (Jesus) asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is ? " Jesus referring to Himself as the…

‘Son of Man’‘Son of Man’ : a Messianic title

Ref Psa 80:17 ; Dan 7:13Refers to His full humanity…

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?14 They replied, "Some say …John the Baptist (Ref Matt 14:2)

Matt 14:1-2 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard

the reports about Jesus, and he said to his attendants,

"This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous

powers are at work in him."

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?14 They replied, "Some say John the

Baptist; others say … Elijah (Ref Mal 4:5-6)

Malachi 4:5-6a "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; …

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?14 They replied, "Some say John the

Baptist; others say … Elijah (Ref Mal 4:5-6)

Angel to Zechariah in Luke 1:17 “… he (John) will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous —to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others,

Jeremiah (Ref Apocrypha –2 Maccabees 2)

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?14 They replied, "Some say John the

Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or …

One of the Prophets (Ref Deut 18:15-19)

Deut 18:15 The Lord your God will raise up for

you a prophet like me (Moses) from among your own brothers.

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?14 They replied, "Some say John the

Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

Special & great honor …

but TODAY …Q: "Who do people say

the Son of Man is ?"

PROPHETS :Special …

God’s Servants

Interviewing Jews in Israel: Who is Jesus to you?

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?but TODAY "Who do people say Jesus is ?" The JEWS, His very own people !!John 1:11-12

“He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?Jews - great prophet & teacher but not God.Muslim - just a prophet, not crucified on a

cross, will return but not God.Hindu - just one of millions of gods.Buddhism : Jesus reached ‘Enlightenment’…Atheist – don’t believe in any godAgnostic – don’t know if any god exists or

notSociety - great teacher, good man, not God

Matt 16:15

15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?Matt 16:15 "But what about you?" he (Jesus) asked. "Who do you say I am?" Culmination 3 years of teaching,

discipling & ministry together …Direct question …No chance to hide…Moment of truth …

Matt 16:16? After a pause, silence …

? Looking around …

16 Simon Peter answered,

"You are the Christ,

the Son of the living God."

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?V16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the

Christ, the Son of the living God." What was Peter declaring ?“Jesus you are …‘Christos’ ‘Messiah’, ‘Anointed one’ … Jews - long awaited deliverer …

*Jesus – Yeshua : ‘God saves’

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?

V16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." “Jesus you are …‘Son of the Living God’

- God Himself…- a God who is Living…

because He is God …- He has the right to be LORD

Matt 16:17

17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?

V16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

IMPACTEDTRANSFORMED

KNOWING OBEYING

TODAY :Jesus is still asking the same QUESTION“Who do you say that I am ?”What’s your answer ?It’s the most important question in life

For it determines :How we live our life TODAYWhere we will spent ETERNITY

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?

Good moral

teacher …

What do you all think about JESUS ?

Good man, great teaching..but nothing to do with us..

Great stories,

miracles…

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Jesus: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.

Is Jesus Christ a Lunatic, Liar, Legend or Lord?

He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.

Is Jesus Christ a Lunatic, Liar, Legend or Lord?

You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord & God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Is Jesus Christ a Lunatic, Liar, Legend or Lord?

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?Q: “Who is Jesus Christ to you today” ?Saviour ?Lord ?Because if He is Saviour …

and He is Lord …BEING WITH JESUS makes sense …He did all to save us …We need to know Him …

to obey & serve …

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?“Schizophrenia”

Greek roots words …schizo - splitPhrene – mind

Q: Are we ‘schizophrenic Christians’ ? ‘JESUS as SAVIOUR’but ‘JESUS as LORD’ ??

Quote:

He is not LORD at all

unless

He is LORD of ALL

Matt 16:1818 And I tell you that you are Peter (petros, a small

rock) , and on this rock (petra, a large rock foundation)I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

Matt 16:1919 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;

"keys" - authority and stewardship Peter "opened the door of faith" to … to the Jews (Acts 2) the Samaritans (Acts 8) and the Gentiles (Acts 10)

Matt 16:1919 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven;

whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.“

NB: The church does not tell heaven what to do, but obeys on earth what heaven commands the church to do!

"Whatsoever you forbid on earth must be what is already forbidden in heaven, and whatsoever you permit on earth must be what is already permitted in heaven“.

Matt 16:20

20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

I am going to work among the poor like her,

do charity work, but without the Jesus

baggage….

"Go and work 20 years or a lifetime among the poorest of the poor. Then come back and tell me how you did it. I know that the only way I have been able to do it is because of Jesus."

What then is ….

The Most Important Question In Life …

Who Is Jesus ?

Who Is Jesus To Me ?

Who Is Jesus To Me TODAY ?

Conclusion:

BEING with JESUS : Who is He ?

The Christian life ….is not about being moral & doing good…is all about our RELATIONSHIP with Jesus

living in the Son and Him living in and through us.

So BEING WITH JESUS makes perfect sense…Jesus …

is our SAVIOURis our LORD & MASTERwill be our JUDGE

Conclusion:B

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