Pastor Josh
Today we're in a teaching series called Circle Makers. Circle Makers and the idea of Circle Makers, we've been talking these last couple of weeks about praying circles around our greatest dreams and our biggest fears. And this whole concept of Circle Makers comes from a story from about 100 years before Jesus was around in ancient Israel. And it was a story of a time where there was a drought in Israel and this man called Honi, the circle maker they called him, he drew a circle in the dust around himself and he said, he prayed a prayer, he said to the Lord, Lord I'm not leaving this circle until you send rain and just spoiler alert, the Lord sent rain and that's kind of how the story went and we've been saying what circles in your life do you need to draw or what areas of breakthrough in your life, do you need to draw some circles around? What are you believing for? What are you hoping for? What do you want to see change in your life? And let me just, we've been through 10 days of prayer and fasting as a church just now. Let me just take a moment to honour everybody who has engaged in that. It's been amazing to see people fasting for the first time, people leaning in in prayer in a different kind of way. Just the testimony from Meg and I, we've been praying and contending, believing for breakthrough in an area of our life the last year. And guess what? In the 10 days of prayer and fasting, God did it. And so we're celebrating. God is making a way. And I know I've heard other testimonies, other stories of what God's been doing. And so here's what I want to do today. I want to talk to us, because some of us, we're still praying and believing for breakthrough. We're still hoping for some things. And I want to talk today from the Word about some things that I felt God show me. And I want to talk about the posture with which we pray. And I want to talk to us about how can we pray from a place of victory instead of a place of defeat. I think when it comes to believing for breakthrough, for some of us in our lives, we find ourselves hoping, believing, contending for some things, but we feel defeated in our posture and the breakthrough comes in a different way. I want to show us that today. And so if you have a Bible, you can turn with me. If not, you're going to find it on the verses on the screen. But we're going to open up Matthew chapter 16 together today. And let me just warn you, we're going to read a lot of Bible in the sermon today. And so you're in church, so I figure we're allowed to do that. But just get ready, take some notes, because I think God wants to speak to us today. Matthew 16, we're going to start from verse 1 to 4. Jesus has an interaction with some of the religious leaders of his time. It says this, The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, when evening comes, you say it will be fair weather for the skies red. And in the morning today, it will be stormy for the skies red and overcast. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. Jesus then left and went away. So we see the religious leaders are asking for a sign. Could I even suggest that they were asking for a breakthrough? And Jesus looks at them because he knows the motivation of their heart. And he said, no sign will be given. And then it's interesting as we continue on at the end of Matthew chapter 16. Jesus is then talking to Peter in verse 19. And he says this, 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. So only 15 verses later, after Jesus has turned to this group of people and said, no sign will be given to you. He turns to Peter and says, I'm giving you all of the authority to pray prayers that loose things in heaven, that then make an impact on earth and bind things on earth so that you bind the enemy here and it cannot make a difference. And so to the one, he says, I'm going to give authority and you're going to operate with all this authority. And to another, no sign will be given. I think we need to know what happened in between. Because I think some of us, we pray these prayers. Sometimes we put ultimatums around God. And we say, well God, I need to see this or dot, dot, dot. I need to see a shift here. I don't know if I can still keep on with your church. I need to see a shift in my finances or maybe tithing isn't all of that. I need to see this happen. Otherwise, I'm not sure. And we reserve ourselves. And so what happened in between to give Peter this authority? There's two verses that I want us to look at in verse 15 and 16. Jesus is talking to Peter and he says, But what about you? He asked. Who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, you are the Messiah, the son of the living God. You are the Messiah, the son of the living God. What shifted? A revelation. Peter's eyes were opened. A fresh revelation occurs in his life. And suddenly authority is extended to Peter that was not extended to others who were wanting to see a sign. Because a revelation happens and suddenly everything changes. So I want to give you the title of my message today. The title of my message that I want to talk about today is A Lesson in Missing the Point. A Lesson in Missing the Point. Let me give some context. What Peter is saying here is so unbelievably radical and outrageous that if he said it around certain groups at the time, he could have been stoned for saying it. It was a crazy thing to say. And here's why. Because what we need to understand about the culture and time that Peter grew up around is that Peter grew up in a context of the culture that was a theocracy. Not a democracy like we live in. It was a theocracy, meaning that the laws and the rules that governed the society were led by the religious texts and the religious leaders. And the whole of society was set up around one idea. The Messiah is coming. It was set up, the Messiah is coming, he's coming. And so we need to prepare and we're going to have all these rules and we're under this covenant, but there's a new covenant coming. we've got to prepare everything as if the Messiah is coming. And we even see that when Peter and Jesus are having this conversation, it's been about 700 years since Isaiah has written down the prophetic statements about the Messiah that would come. The context, the society has been waiting for at least 700 years. Generational impatience or patience, depending on how you read the text. And they've been waiting. You imagine something was written down here in the 1300s. And we built a whole society around this thing is coming. And so the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the religious leaders, have positioned their whole lives around something that was about to come. And when it stood in front of them, they couldn't see it. When he was stood in front of them, they couldn't. So all they do is instead of connecting with the Messiah, they ask for a sign. And family, I've grown up in church, been a church kid, pastoring now for a long time. Do you know what I've seen a lot of? I've seen a lot of people missing the point. We want the breakthrough. We want the sign, but we do not position our lives as if the Savior's arrived. We don't change our mindsets. So often there's a lack of revelation that He's here. And what happens then is, like, I can get on board with a Savior, but do I want a Lord? I can get on board with the idea that He's... I'll give you just a little story around this. It was 2013. I moved to Southeast Asia to help plant a church. And it was one of the more unusual. I've been through to a few launch services for churches. This was one of the more unusual ones I've been a part of. It was amazing. Very interesting. We hired out, the pastor said, we're going to hire out a 1,000-seater theater to launch our church. I said, hey, let's go. I'm ready. He said, one just thing you need to know about the theater, in Southeast Asia, it's what they would call a ladyboy theater, is the language they would use. And what that means is it's not just people, men, who would dress up as women. They would dress up very extravagantly with feathers about three foot above their head and put on a show. And so at this launch service, we have 900 people show up to the launch service. Incredible. And the front two rows, 50 men come because they had a show later that day. So they need to get change ready. So they have, like the people, Shane, the people in the third row couldn't see anything because these feathers were high. And a lot of these people have never been to a church before. So they think they're coming to a show. And so people are like selling popcorn outside. And so I'm leading worship on my bass guitar. Come on, somebody, bassist leading worship. And so, you know, it's good when the bassist is trying to sing at the same time. So I'm like leading worship. I got the gents down here doing their thing. They're all very excited. I've got half of the people eating popcorn because they think they're here for a show. It's okay, I guess, you know. And so it was very interesting. Very interesting service. And then what was amazing, the pastor at the end, he gives an opportunity to respond to the gospel. He preaches about Jesus. Preaches about the forgiveness of sin. And guess what happens? We have 100 people respond to the gospel on launch Sunday. Amazing. It was phenomenal. We were like, here we go. Revival time. Come on, somebody. Very excited. So we say, hey, if you want to come and connect to Jesus, why don't you come down? We're going to pray for you. So we start having conversations through translators. And we're saying, what is it that you're responding to today? And so people are saying, this is amazing. A God who forgives. And we're like, we know. It's awesome, eh? It's so great. And he said, you know, now we've got the God who forgives us. And I've go this God of my ancestors who takes care of my ancestors. And I've got this God who provides for my family. And I've got this God. And we're like, no, no, no, no. You've missed a lot. I missed the point. He'm not just the God who saves. He's also the one that, he's Messiah. He's the one that we need to orientate our whole life around. And we hear it in that context. And we think, ah, they were slightly off there. And yet, if I think about people I've journeyed with over time, how different is it to my boss is the God of my money? That I've got someone else over here, my boyfriend or girlfriend, who's the God of my emotions? I think sometimes we can surrender and idolize areas of our life. And we've missed the point. The whole point is that the Messiah, the one who was and is and is to come, the one who hovered over the waters, the Spirit of God, He's here. And yet, we missed it. Much like the... We're talking about prayer today. I haven't even talked about prayer yet. So let me try and get into it. Because I know some of you are believing for breakthrough today. And so how do we see breakthrough in this context? I want to say this. The pathway to your breakthrough is a revelation of the Messiah. That's the start point. If you, and I felt this really heavy as I was preparing it, that some of us, we want the sign. we want we need the breakthrough we've been showing up and and and we haven't postured and positioned our life as if he's the messiah but we've heard enough messages and preachers and and we sing enough songs to believe for breakthrough and so we say where's my breakthrough and and let me just take us back to a verse I read earlier Matthew 16 verse 4 sometimes when I read this Jesus, I say, hey, is this the one that I follow? Matthew 16, 4 says this, a wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it. Welcome to church, by the way, everybody. I just want us to see that Jesus has a different priority idea to us. He prioritizes your heart, Not your emotions. He prioritizes intimacy with you, not your comfort. He wants to comfort you. Don't get me wrong. The Holy Spirit comes as a comforter. But if there is a trade-off between the things of this world and the things of the kingdom, no contest. Because there is an authority that God wants to give us in prayer today, I believe. And how are we going to receive it? I say it this way, a revelation of Messiah will extend the lengths of your authority in prayer. A revelation, why? What is it about this Messiah? And as I was praying over this word and as I was chewing on it, I think the thing that was stirring in my heart was that sometimes we can, you know, we do this church thing. Maybe you regularly attend church, you've attended church before. And we do this church thing and then someone offends me and then this person does this. And we play the church game and we've totally missed the point. Why am I here, everybody? Why am I here? It's because I've had a revelation of the Messiah. I love you all. I think you're fantastic. But I don't come here primarily to come and serve you. That's a secondary thing. I come primarily to serve Jesus. Why? Let me even, can I get in your business for a second? Thank you, it's Carl's fault. If you said no, blame him. For some of us, we, some of us, maybe we don't want to serve in church and we think, oh, I don't want to use my time here and I get tired here. Do you know what I think that is? No revelation. 10% of my money? Are you kidding me? No revelation. When I have a revelation, it's all his. When I have revelation, when I see Jesus, again, let's just imagine, Jesus walks in the room today. He's here, Lion of Judah. walking through all authority, all power, all dominion. And then I come with my, yeah, Jesus, it's just 30 minutes earlier for church. And I just, I think it's a lack of revelation. Now listen to me, I want you to be healthy and I don't want you to overread what I'm saying. There are times and seasons where you need to rest and be renewed and be restored. And if you're in our church, you'll know that's how we lead. But I've just got to tell you today a revelation of Jesus. See, here's the thing. Some of us, we've had a revelation of Jesus. We've had a revelation that he's the Messiah. But what's happened is the storms of life have come into your world. You've had relationship fracture. You've had challenges. And what's happened is you've taken your eyes off of the Messiah and you've put them onto the things of this world. And when I'm looking at Jesus, the book of Revelation chapter one says his eyes are burning like fire. When I look into his eyes, everything else feels like it's in order. But when I'm looking at the things around me, man, life can feel overwhelming in a hurry. But when I see him, and it's like Peter said, he said, you're the Messiah. I see you. The Pharisees and Sadducees didn't see you, but I see you. And then Jesus says, and to you, I will give authority. See, the breakthrough you need to see is probably not in another wellness program. It's in locking eyes with the lion. It's experiencing the breakthrough that comes from revelation of who Jesus is. Not just who you want him to be, but who he is. And then you are going to experience something of breakthrough. What is the promise of this Messiah? As I say, when Peter shares this revelation that Jesus is the Messiah, he shares it with so much context that we don't have because we are not living in the time that he lived. So much richness that we miss out on just now. And so what I want to show you is just some places in the Bible and some of the promises about the Messiah that was to come from the Old Testament to help you to understand that when Peter says this, man, it meant something big. I want to give you like six or seven different promises about the Messiah. So you all ready for a Bible study? I want to show you six or seven different things to show you that when Peter was saying you're the Messiah, this is what he was saying. What was the promise of the Messiah? The first thing we see, the Messiah was one who defeats evil. He was going to be one who defeats evil. Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 says, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed, the seed of the woman, Eve being Jesus. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his head. What was being said here, he was talking to the snake in the Garden of Eden, and he said that Jesus would come and crush the head of the enemy because he was going to defeat the evil one. We see this promise reiterated in the book of Revelation where the snake, it says the old serpent was crushed. So the promise of the Messiah, when Peter is saying to Jesus, you're the Messiah, he was saying, you're the one who's going to defeat evil. The promise of the Messiah in your life is the evil that you've experienced or that has happened to you, Jesus, if you're in his presence and you surrender to him, evil is defeated. That's the promise of Messiah. The second one I want to show you is that we have a promise of a better hope. The Messiah was a promise of a better hope. Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 says, For to us a child is born and to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. When Peter saw Jesus, he said, that's the Prince of Peace. Why do I need anxiety when the Messiah's here? Why do I need to be afraid when the Messiah's here? Do I think my life is going to spin out of control if the Messiah's here? No. He's got it. He's got it. When he said Messiah, he was saying that he would be a spirit anointed ruler, a spirit anointed ruler. See this in Isaiah chapter 11 verse 1 to 5. It says a shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse. Jesse was King David's father and so he was saying from his line there will be one from whose roots a branch will bear fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest on him. The spirit of wisdom and of understanding. The spirit of counsel and of might. The spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord. It continues. But he's saying this ruler is going to be one who rules as a spirit anointed ruler that when we can trust his rulership. The fourth one I want to show you is that the Messiah, the promise of the Messiah is it would be good news to the poor. Good news to the poor. Isaiah 61 verse 1 to 3 says the spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me and Jesus reads this scripture of himself, referring to himself in the gospels. It says, The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour, and day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair, they will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. That's the promise, friends, that when the Messiah comes, this is what you will experience in your life as well. The next one I want to show you that when Peter's saying you're the Messiah, what's he saying? He said, you will be the suffering king. Had all this context from the Old Testament in Isaiah 53 verse 1 to 7. It says, who has believed our message and to who is the arm of the Lord being revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot and like a root out of dry ground. It's talking about Jesus here. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. Nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind. A man of suffering and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised. And we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering. Yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, our sin, everything that we've done. The punishment that brought us peace was on him. And by his wounds, we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us turn to our own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted. Yet he did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before its shearers is silent. So he did not open his mouth. When Peter was saying you're the Messiah. He's saying when I suffer. I'm going to have one who understands. I'm going to have one who. The suffering king. A man of sorrows, but he understood because he had to go to the cross so that we could be free. Let me give you two more. A new covenant. When the Messiah was prophesied, a new covenant was coming. A new promise of how God's relationship with man would be governed. It says this in Jeremiah 31. It says, If the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant, a new promise with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. Let me give you one final one. One who reigns forever. The Messiah, when he arrived, would be one who reigns forever. It says this in the book of Daniel, chapter 7, verse 13 and 14. In my vision at night, I looked and there before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. he approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence he was given authority glory and sovereign power all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him his dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed so when Peter is saying you are the Messiah he was saying all of those promises that we've known about for 700 years about this Messiah, all of them are true in you, the person of Jesus. And so a question must be asked. If I know the Messiah is here, is there any reason for me to be concerned about my future? If every promise of the Messiah is here now, do I need to demand a sign from God? Or can I say, Lord, I know you're going to take care of me. I know the promise is true. And I need to position my heart, position my life as if Messiah has come. I need to change my thinking, change my mindset. So why? Because the sovereign Lord is here and he's going to take care of me. I was even reflecting as I was thinking about this. You know, we've had things in our life, moments over the years we've been married. And you look over the future and it seems uncertain. But then you come back. And you look at him. And you consider him. You say, is he not going to take care of us? He's brought me this far. Is he going to leave me now? And so when I pray, I pray as if the Messiah is here. I pray as if I have the authority of one who walks in the shadow of the Messiah. And now I can be confident. Now I can be bold in my prayers. If I pray prayers based around my limited view of what I can see, man, I'm not going to go very far. But when I pray prayers after looking at the Messiah, my prayer life is so much more expansive. My authority is extended. I was thinking about these verses in Matthew chapter 6. Jesus is talking about worry. He says this, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you'll wear. Is not life more than food? And the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life? And so this morning, church, I just want to encourage us to reflect on how you pray. Because how you pray tells me what you believe about who God is. The posture by which you pray will tell me what you think about who God is. Do we pray from the posture that the Messiah is here? I think we would have a lot less anxiety if we had a revelation of the Messiah. That we lived with. Not just one that I understood a few years ago. Not just one that I've been told about. But in my heart, if I was there and I saw him. And I was at peace. I think we'd have less anxiety about our future. Less worry about our future when the Messiah's here. Because the Messiah, when I see him. Man, I'm confident. When I see what he's done for me. I'm confident because he has given me authority. I want to finish with a final thought. And it's a thought that took hold of me as I was preparing the message today. It's a question for you. Do you want the work of his hands more than the look in his eyes? As I was saying, I was thinking about Revelation chapter 1. And we see this description of Jesus, how he is now, the resurrected Christ. And we see that his eyes are burning with fire. And I think when I look into his eyes, I see, wow, he's so big, so powerful, so authoritative. But if I'm looking at my circumstances, I just need a sign. And God is coming to bring breakthrough, but it's by giving you authority. You authority to pray. You authority to speak over situations and see them change. And how's that coming? It's coming when your eyes are open to the Messiah. And you see him. And so here's what I want to do for us today, church. I want to call us back to Jesus. I want to call us back to the Messiah. not to look over Him, not to just go after the sign, but to see Jesus. I don't want us to be distracted by the other things. Even as we come and we serve in church, I don't want us to miss that this is all about Jesus. We're here today on our second birthday in the South, and we're here, why? Because I've had a revelation. The Messiah's here. I don't want to miss Him. I don't want to miss out on what He's doing. I want to see Jesus. And when I see Him and I position my whole life around Him, something shifts. Something shifts in me where I have a boldness and a courage to go after the things in life. I want for some of you this year, I think some of you this year, God's calling you into starting business, into new jobs, maybe into consistency, maybe double down on the things He's called for you. maybe there's going to be breakthrough in an area of relationship. He's leading you into some things this year. How's it going to come? When I see Jesus. When I fix my eyes on Him. When I'm not distracted by the things of this world. When I'm not just after breakthrough. What is the breakthrough I need? My breakthrough that I need most is I need to see Him. Not be distracted, but see Jesus. And I want to invite you in. Maybe you're a guest here today. And listen, I know, full on message. But I think for every one of us today, God's inviting us into a space to say, will you trust? I think here's what he would say to us today. I think Jesus is asking us the same question that he asked Simon Peter, Matthew 16, 15. Said this, but what about you? Who do you say I am? As we approach Him, you're believing for breakthrough. Who do you say He is? What about you? Who do you say He is? Who is Jesus to you? Is He the Sunday experience? Or is He what you're waking up thinking about? Are you drawn to Him? Who is He to you? Are you excited about being with him? Because if not, I want to pray that you'd have revelation of the Messiah today. And listen, this is for, I think this is for Christians, leaders. You've been in church your whole life. This is your first Sunday. Whoever you are, I want to pray and I'm going to pray just now. But I'm going to pray for anyone today who would say, I've been after the sign, not the Messiah. And today, I want the Messiah. I want my eyes fixed on Him. I want a fresh excitement and love to fill my heart for Jesus. And so this is for any of you, any of you who call yourself a Christian, I want to pray. And if you say, I've been just after the sign and I've been missing the point, I want to lead us back to the point today. Let me pray for us. Here's what I want to do with every eye closed. If you're here, you're a Christian, maybe you read the Bible every day, maybe you listen to the worship music, but you've been focused on the wrong things. You've been missing the Messiah. And today you say, I want my gaze to be on Jesus, for Him to fill my heart again. Then I'm going to ask you to do something bold. If you want to experience him afresh, I want to invite you in this moment to stand up. Say, I want Jesus. I want the Messiah. I want to lay aside the other things, the things of this world. I just want him. This is for anyone who's a Christian. You've been following Jesus, but you've been missing the point. And today you're coming back to him. I think as others, you say, I've been missing the point and I want more of Jesus. You just stand in this moment. Lord Jesus, I pray for every person in this moment saying, man, I just want more of you, Lord. I want more of your love. I want to delight in you afresh. Lord, I pray you would fill hearts in this moment. Lord that we would see you that we'd have a revelation of you that we wouldn't miss the point but our hearts would be set on fire with a love for you we love you Jesus Lord fill us fill us with revelation of who you are.