I Will Let No One Keep Me From Going To My Jerusalem; There I Will Die And Rise Again

"I Will Let No One Keep Me From Going To My Jerusalem; There I Will Die And Rise Again" – Matthew 16:21-27 “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things… Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him… But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” Each of us has our own Jerusalem, and each of us knows what we must go and die to; but it is hard for us to stop being “I,” because we say: I was born this way, I grew up this way, this is how I am. The study teaches that unless the grain of wheat falls and dies it cannot bear fruit, and that we sometimes believe we have already died to much while not seeing how much is left. It walks through Jesus’ coming in meekness, against the warrior Messiah the disciples expected; the moment when Peter, with no ill intent whatsoever, becomes the echo of Satan’s voice, because the enemy does not look for a stranger but for the one who loves us and can make us waver; the necessity of being broken so the hardness gives way and we learn to love; and the call of Luke 9:23 to deny oneself and take up the cross daily. It closes with the warning to let no sweet voice soften the process: the harm is our own, and the flesh decays, but the spirit does not.

I. Each of us has our own Jerusalem.

A. Each of us knows what we must go and die to.

1. We do not like suffering, and we do not like knowing that we must die to something.

2. It is hard to stop being “I”: “I was born this way, I grew up this way; why must I change now?”

3. We would all like to wake up happy, with everything easy, light and smooth. But it is not so.

B. We cannot let anyone keep us from going to our Jerusalem, for there we must die and rise.

1. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit.

2. We think we have reached a level, and do not see all that we still have to die to.

3. Today we are at our best; a week passes, a month passes, and we fall again.

4. When we are truly spiritual, then we will understand where it is necessary for us to go.

II. Jesus came to the earth and went to Jerusalem.

A. He came to deliver us, and for that He was persecuted; so we must die to the old man.

1. He came in the way Israel least expected: quiet, speaking only when He had to speak.

2. In the three years He was to be made manifest, all He begins to receive is persecution.

B. We come into the earth and must find our own Jerusalem.

1. “We do not kill, we do not steal”: but every heart knows what must die in it.

2. Each one knows what is hidden there that troubles him and makes him lukewarm; and God spews out the lukewarm.

3. Sometimes we are not even doing it, but it is in the thought, in the mind, or in the heart.

4. Ephesians 4:22 and Colossians 3:5: put off the old man and mortify what is earthly.

C. The flesh is self-willed and inclines to sin.

1. It is easier to be idle than disciplined, to arrive late than to arrive early.

2. That is what keeps us from praying and what keeps us from reading the Bible.

3. If we do not die to the flesh, no spiritual life will come forth: we live by halves, lukewarm.

III. Let us not flee the process.

A. To the carnal we must say a flat no, as to something we know we do not like.

1. It is not that today I like it a little and tomorrow the “I” comes out because something happened.

2. When we die we will see change in how we speak and even in how we work: well, not by halves.

B. We love to flee the processes.

1. Jesus knew He went to Jerusalem to suffer; we avoid the process because we do not want to suffer.

2. It is the same with children: the moment of discipline is hard, but it must be dealt with.

3. How much more our deepest processes: what binds us, what robs us of peace and of joy.

C. Better to die to the flesh than to die to the Holy Spirit.

1. However much we do, if it is not the mind of the Holy Spirit, our work will be in vain.

2. If we come service after service and nothing cries out “it has changed,” the Spirit is being in vain.

3. What shame to hear: they went to church all their lives and were always exactly the same.

IV. “Get thee behind me, Satan.”

A. Peter did not say it with ill intent: Peter loved Jesus with all his strength.

1. A hard man, a working man, not a man of letters; his heart pounded with the Son of God before him.

2. Satan was behind it, to bring that moment of disturbance.

3. No one could take Jesus’ conviction; but He was human, He heard, and it was hard for Him too.

B. That is the problem of not being spiritual: we set our eyes on what is human, not on what is God’s.

1. On the flesh, on pity; not on justice, not on what ought to be.

2. Those close to us, in their own humanity, say things that tempt us not to enter the process.

3. “Why do you have to change? That is nonsense” — when inside one knows that it must change.

4. One must be spiritual to know when to speak and when not to speak.

V. They expected a different Messiah.

A. They expected a warrior Messiah to free them from Rome and restore David’s throne.

1. Jesus came with no shining robe and no great weapons.

2. He came with something greater: love, peace, goodness, hope, godliness.

B. The same happens to us when something bad happens.

1. “If God has come through for me, why not now? Why have You not answered me yet?”

2. Some hearts turn rebellious, because it was not how God chose to deal with them.

3. Inside, things are felt for which we have no words, and the mind doubts and the faith falls.

4. We must keep growing in faith, because we do fall in faith.

C. We must understand the trajectory of our life and why things happen to us.

1. That is why we are urged to pray: the mind is centered for at least one moment in the day.

2. It is easier to skip it and go on as if all were well, with the storm coming up behind.

3. Insisting on being carnal, we crack, break to pieces inside, and live troubled.

VI. The breaking.

A. To love as the Lord commands takes effort; and to break the hardness we must be broken.

1. Otherwise pride rises and we say: I know how to handle any situation.

2. That is why God seeks to break us, and we must be willing: let us not flee it.

B. Jesus lifted His head and resolved firmly to go to Jerusalem.

1. He knew everything He would suffer for us on that road.

2. Imagine carrying in one body the sins of all humanity.

3. The persecution and death were not the great thing: the great thing was to rise glorious, not defeated.

C. For some it is good to hide and flee; but neither will they have a resurrection.

1. “Better I go on like this; everything looks fine and no one has noticed.”

2. No one else cares; but the pastor does care, and God does care.

3. In spiritual things one cannot pretend, like drying one’s tears and pretending not to have wept.

4. We hide behind excuses: it was his fault, my husband’s, my parents’.

VII. The enemy does not look for a stranger.

A. Our own take us aside and tell us we do not have to die.

1. “You are not doing so badly; take it easy, stay as you are.”

2. Then we let ourselves be used by Satan, instead of being a good instrument.

3. We are cowards about telling the truth, afraid of what they will think of us.

B. The enemy seeks the closest, because it is easier for him.

1. It is the people we love and respect who can make us waver.

2. We must become spiritual, so as neither to play Peter’s part nor fall before the Peters beside us.

3. The harm is our own: it is I who want to be right with God.

4. We must not let ourselves be hidden by those who love us.

C. Jesus was not looking at Peter, but at Satan behind Peter.

1. Peter was the echo of the voice of the one who did not want Jesus to go to the cross.

2. What better for Satan if Jesus had not died? He would have held us all captive.

3. Peter was with Jesus, and even so Satan slipped in: we must seek God every day.

VIII. Let nothing and no one keep us from what we must live.

A. Sentiment wants to bind us.

1. “I who try to do right, and look what is happening to me”: we play the victim.

2. We like someone to pat our hand and tell us it was not such a big deal.

3. That little voice soothes what we truly must change, and we go on the same.

B. The devil’s plan of using Peter’s sentiment failed.

1. Nothing and no one should win us but the Father: He knows where He is taking us.

2. The devil does not come as the monster he is: he comes with sweet words, with pity.

3. If we stumble over a man, let us look at what is behind and say: get thee behind me, Satan.

4. This fight is not against man: the devil does not seek the ungodly; he comes to drag us out of here.

IX. Take up your cross and follow Me (Luke 9:23).

A. “Let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”

1. To take the cross is to be ready for reproach, for suffering, perhaps for martyrdom, for His sake.

2. Today no one persecutes or jails us: for us it is to die to sin, to self, and to the world.

3. To deny oneself is to yield to His control, so the world has no right in our life.

4. “I am fine as I am, this is how I am and this is how they put up with me”: that is said to men, not to God.

B. We must go to Jerusalem, where God will not leave us alone.

1. The process is not to be borne alone; and if God sees willingness, it is far easier.

2. The more we live for the flesh, the more the process is delayed and the more it piles up.

3. The flesh decays, but the spirit does not: we grow old and our strength runs out.

4. And the more the years pass, the tighter we cling to self: we must be very meek and humble.

C. The brave have their reward.

1. In the Spirit there is consolation; in the flesh, spite, rebellion, and speaking against God.

2. In defending our own wrong with excuses, what we do is make God look bad.

3. All that seems so violent is the love of God: He does not want us in an eternal flame.

4. Let us stop guarding ourselves so much and do the Lord’s will: let us go to our Jerusalem.