Luke 9: 18-27

(Luke 9: 18-27) And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am?  They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again.  He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing;  Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.  For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?  For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.  But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

We need to think about why Jesus came to the north, the opposite direction of Jerusalem. To the south is the Dead Sea, to the Judean region, and to the north is the Sea of Galilee, centered on the Sea of Galilee. There is a place in the Bible called Caesarea and Philippi. Caesarea is a city located on the central beach, where the Roman governor's residence was located. Historically, many buildings were built and disappeared. Related to Philippi Philippi is the first European city in Macedonia (northern Greece). It is the first major city from Asia to Europe, where Paul went and founded a church.

However, Philippi Caesarea is an area that has nothing to do with them. It is located at the foot of Mount Hermon, the northernmost part of Israel. When Jesus was born, the son of King Herod the king of Israel had several sons, one of whom was Herod Philip. He built a city there, imitating Caesar, the title of the Roman emperor, and called it Caesarea. He put in his name and named it Caesarea Philippi. The name Philip is also the name of the father of the great Alexander the Great.

The title of the emperor in this city means that this Caesarea Philippi was a city with an incredibly grand appearance, and there was also a temple for the emperor. However, Jesus and his disciples came to the city of the Roman Emperor. Jesus and his disciples, the majority of the people of Galilee, must have been very shabby and terrible, not at all suited to this gorgeous and magnificent city.

Jesus deliberately came with his disciples to this emperor's city, a city of great glory in Rome. Above all, it was intended to train the disciples before directing the cross. Jesus asked, "Who do people call the Son of Man?" The disciples said, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and some are one of Jeremiah and the prophets."

Here, what people have mentioned in common is the prophet of God. So people knew Jesus as a prophet. In the meantime, looking at what Jesus did and what he taught, they thought that it must have been from God. Although they thought Jesus was a prophet, they did not think he was the Messiah.

But Jesus' intention is concerned with what the disciples think. "Who do you say I am?" At that time, Rome fought a conquest war under the banner of Pax Roma. It is to achieve peace by conquering other countries by force. So, what Rome sought at the time was a strong force. In such a place, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you think I am?" About Jesus' question『 Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  』

This is a great word of faith. It is God who made this known. However, this belief is not directly related to salvation. This is because Jesus tells Peter that he is Satan in chapter 16. Although Jesus said, `` I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 』

Peter became Satan. Luke 22:28-32『Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. 』

Before saying this, the disciples argued, "Who is big?" Jesus says, "The man who serves is great." The struggle for "Who is big" begins with Rebekah's womb. In the midst of this, two peoples are fighting. God said to Rebekah, "The great will serve the small." This is the kingdom of God on earth. The Lord said that he entrusts the kingdom of God to the disciples who have always had all the tests together. But they were not ready. Especially to Peter, Jesus is called Simon, the former name. It means that Satan will cause him to fall. But Jesus is asking Peter to "turn around and strengthen the brothers."

Peter, like Jesus, walked on the water. The disciples were watching. Peter knew that if he looked only at the Lord, he would become like the Lord. However, another discovery is that this body cannot see the Lord to the end. The moment you look at the breeze, your body is drowning in water.At one point, the body is "falling in faith." Three years later, Jesus said to Peter again, "Satan demanded you to crush you." Just as Satan did to Job, he does so to Peter. Jesus asked Peter, "Who do you think I am? "Then Peter replied『Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.』

It seems to respond without doubt. Nevertheless, he denied Jesus. It was Peter who was running away from the cross. The flesh is the flesh, and the spirit is the spirit. The physical things never change.

Jesus told His disciples that they must suffer and be killed by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be raised on the third day. But Peter said, "This will never reach you." Jesus has said many times that he will die and resurrect in three days, but the disciples not only listened carefully, but they said that Jesus should not die like Peter did. Jesus told Peter that you are Satan because he thinks of man's work, not of God's work.

God's work is to believe in the one whom God sent (Christ). Peter confessed to Jesus, "You are the Son of God." To believe in Christ means to be associated with Christ. To be united with Christ is to follow everything Jesus said. Jesus talked about following Jesus:.『If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 』

The Bible says in Romans (5:14).『Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 』All spirits followed Adam to this world. Everyone came after Adam as a sinful spirit in the kingdom of God, not in the sin of this world. So all the spirits who followed Adam became human by wearing the body of dust. The spirits are all dead in the soil. Adam is a model of the coming. It is Jesus Christ who comes. Likewise, the spirit in all human beings cannot survive unless they follow Jesus Christ. Only when the spirit is raised, the spirit can return to the kingdom of God. The Bible says in John (6:63).『 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 』

Jacob dreamed as he slept with a pillow on Bethel, and the heavens opened and there were ladders, and he saw the angels of heaven rise and fall. When Jesus called Nathaniel, he said, "You will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." When Jesus came from this world, he came in the flesh, but when he ascended to heaven, he ascended to the spirit body. Likewise, those who follow Jesus are saved only by doing the same. The physical body (old man) must die to ascend to the spirit body.『If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 』 This means that the body of the flesh (old man) dies.

The Bible says in Romans (6: 6).『 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 』 If you do not die with Jesus, you are not following Jesus. If the physical things do not die, they will live according to their ideas. If you follow Jesus and the body dies, you are born again into the body of the spirit and receive eternal life. The Bible says in Ephesians (2:6).『 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 』

The Bible says in Colossians (3:3).『For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 』,『For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.』 His life in the front means the soul. The life behind is a spirit. If the soul lives, the spirit dies; if the soul is lost, the spirit comes to life. If you lose souls (deny yourself) according to Jesus Christ, the Spirit comes to life. The self formed by human being is the soul originated from the body. This soul is called the physical mind, the old man. There is greed in it. The desire to be like God is hiding like a snake. To follow Jesus is the death of this old man of greed. Baptism means dying.

The Bible says in Romans (6: 3). 『Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 』

Jesus said. "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." his works is whether they died with Jesus or not. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians (5:10).『 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 』 The word good and evil is good for believing in God's Word and bad for not believing. The word of God is that all the iniquity of the dead with Jesus Christ is gone, and they become righteous. But it is evil to not believe this. While people say that they believe in Jesus, they think that they must repent of their sins daily and be forgiven by the blood of Jesus. Those who think so do not die with Jesus. They live out the law, saying that they are out of law. So the legal ones are those who have not died with Jesus.

The Bible says in Matthew (10: 32-33).『 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.  But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 』

To believe in Jesus means to believe what Jesus has accomplished. The Bible says in Romans (10:4)『 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. 』The end of the law (the law of God's wrath) means that Jesus completed the law. That is, the promise was fulfilled. For example, paying tithing in the Old Testament is to believe that Christ will come and promises will come. But Jesus came and fulfilled his promise. Nevertheless, talking about tithing today is like not believing in what Jesus Christ has accomplished. For tithing is the law.

God sent Jesus into the world to redeem for "the dead with Jesus." Those who are in Christ are redeemed. For the dead with Jesus enter into Christ. You say that you are saved by receiving Jesus without dying with Jesus, but you must be the one who Jesus knows. The only thing Jesus knows is the one who died with Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to the dead with Jesus. So Jesus is the temple. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians (6:19).『 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 』