The Coming of the Son of Man sermon teaches us at the second coming of Jesus Christ, believers past and present will have resurrected bodies like His and reign with Him forever.

Key verses:
Matthew 16:13-28
Matthew 17:1-9
Acts 1:6-11

Take your Bible and join me if you will turn to Matthew chapter 16. We are not going to look at the entire chapter. I want to begin with verse 27, the second to the last verse in the chapter. And then we’ll go back to verse 13 and be looking at verses 13 to 28.

Matthew chapter 16 verse 28 – in this verse Jesus is speaking, He says:

Matthew 16:27: “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.”

That’s an important statement that the Lord makes here. He says, “the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father.” He’ll come with the angels. He’ll come with reward. I want to talk to you this morning about the Son of Man.

The God Man

We are going to get back to verse 13 in just a moment but let me give you a little background. The prophesies of the coming of the Messiah, the Savior, the Christ into the world began in Genesis 3:15 in the Garden of Eden. Those prophecies continued for over 4,000 years. They are precise prophecies. They told the world many things they could know with certainty of the entrance of Christ into the world. What kind of things? Well, here’s is just a partial list, there’s more:

• They knew that Christ would be a son.
• They knew that He would be of the seed of a woman – that was the first promise – and that He would be born of a virgin.
• He would be a descendent of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David. There is a clear line of heritage there.
• He would be born in the little town of Bethlehem.
• He would give His life to redeem the souls of mankind.
• He’d be the Son of God.
• He’d be Emmanuel, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace come in the flesh.

All of these promises were kept. And Jesus Christ, the Savior, came and we celebrated that last month, and we should continue to celebrate. But Jesus Christ is the Son of God and while that’s an undeniable fact, He often referred to himself as the Son of Man. What does that mean? Let me help you. We are going to spend some time explaining this but let me just give you a foundation.

He is the Son of God. He is also the Son of Man. That means He is 100% God, not 50-50: 100% God but also 100% man, a human being. God, the Creator and King of this universe came to this earth in human form with a body like the body you have, that’s why He calls himself the Son of Man. So, He is the Son of God, we’ve talked about that, but I want to focus on the coming of the Son of Man.

That phrase “the Son of Man” is in the Old Testament. And in the Old Testament, it literally means – don’t miss this – a descendent of Adam. Now that makes sense, doesn’t it? Son of Man, a descendent of Adam. Actually [phonetically] “Ad om” or we say, Adam, is a Hebrew word for man. So, Son of Man in the Old Testament literally means Son of Adam or descendent of Adam. Now, all human beings are descendants of Adam and that’s important because God came as a human being so we could relate to Him.

The same English phrase in the New Testament comes from the Greek language, not the Hebrew language as it does in the Old Testament. And it means simply a human being, a son of the human race, which is, in reality, another way of saying a descendant of Adam.

So, Jesus was here on earth and there is no doubt about that. Some people wonder outside of the Bible, is there any proof or evidence that Jesus was here. Let me tell you two things about that. Number one, if there weren’t any other evidence outside the Bible, we could still believe it because the Bible is God’s Word. It is God’s Word given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit written through holy men of God as Peter wrote, “as the Spirit gave them the words.” So, we have the Word of God. If the Bible is the only place where we have evidence that Jesus was here, it would be enough.

There is no historical document on this planet that is even close to being equivalent to the Bible. Nothing compares to it. There are lots of ancient documents no mistake about that. There are millions of ancient documents: ancient scrolls, ancient cuneiform tablets, and other forms of ancient documents, but none compare to the Bible. In what way? In almost any way, none compare to the Bible.

Secular Sources

But, to help you out and to help out those who say, “That’s good for you preacher. But I’m not sure if it’s only in the Bible, I’m not sure I can hold on to it.” Well, let’s look at some secular sources from the first and second centuries that record that a man named Jesus did indeed live on this earth in the land of Israel. And I want you to listen to some of the records. I can only give you small quotes of each one because we would be here for days if we were to read at length these ideas but let’s begin.

• First-century Roman historian Tacitus wrote of superstitious people called Christians who followed one called the Christ. This one suffered under Pontius Pilate.
• Suetonius, the chief secretary under the Roman Emperor Hadrian wrote this, “A man called the Christ lived in Israel during the years” and he gives the years which we would call the first century.
• Flavius Josephus, probably the most quoted historian on this subject, was a Jewish-born man who recorded history in and for the Roman Empire and he wrote this: At this time there was a wise man named Jesus. His conduct was good and was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and from other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who became his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Accordingly, Josephus says, accordingly, perhaps he was the Messiah. You think?
• Julius Africanus quoted historian Thallus in a discussion of the darkness that followed the crucifixion of Christ, that followed as recorded in scripture.
• Pliny the Younger in his work titled simply “Letters” recorded that early Christians worshipped Jesus as God.
• The Babylonian Talmud written in Babylon by Hebrew scholars – a commentary on the scriptures – the Babylonian Talmud confirms Jesus’ crucifixion on the eve of Passover and accuses Christians of encouraging apostasy from Judaism. In other words, recruiting people to leave formal Judaism and follow after this man, Jesus.
• Lucien of Samosata in the second century wrote that Jesus was worshipped by Christians.

Now, folks, these are all writers who are not part of the Bible. As far as I know, none of those quotes came from Christians. They came from historians of that time period. People who lived and wrote about the events of that day, but they all give us strong statements about the reality of Jesus Christ on earth.

Biblical Sources

Now, what about the Bible? We could spend hours and days, weeks, and months talking about the biblical evidence. But let me give you just a few statements from the Bible itself.

Mark 1:1 “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;”

He calls Him the Son of God.

Mark 1:2 “As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”

When he says “written in the prophets” he does not mean in the New Testament because Mark is writing the New Testament. He is talking about in the Old Testament books like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, Malachi, and others.

In John chapter one, John says He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. In chapter 20:30-31, he says:

John 20:30: “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:”

John says that he did not write it all. In the last chapter of this book, he says that he could not write it all.

John 20:31: “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

He says the ones he wrote, the ones written right here, the ones you are reading right here, these are written that you “might believe that Jesus is the Christ.” Listen, “the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Years later, John writes a letter. It is 1 John; the first of three letters John wrote. But it says this:

1 John 1:1: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;”

You know what he is saying? He was here. We heard Him, we saw Him, we touched Him. It wasn’t just a spirit, certainly was not just a legend. He was here. John goes on, he says:

1 John 1:2: “(For the life was manifested [life was made visible], and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)”

1 John 1:3: “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

Those are very, very clear statements. And Mark was there. Mark was most likely a relative of the Apostle Peter. He was there for many of the scenes. I think that is interesting. I read something the other day. I told folks in Sunday School, I heard a fellow teaching a Bible passage on the radio and he was coming out with stuff. I thought, “Where did you get this? It’s not in the Bible. Where does that come from?” And I don’t know what his source was. I don’t know the things he was saying. I know where he didn’t get it, but I don’t know where he got it.

But here, I heard somebody else say, “Well, none of the writers of the gospels were eyewitnesses to Jesus.” I thought, “What an absurd statement.” Mark was right there; he refers to himself in the gospel. There was a young man who was there and that young man he saw was him. He talks about himself in the gospel there. He was there. Again, he was likely a relative, a nephew to Peter.

Then John. John was there and John was the closest of all the disciples to Jesus. John, at the Last Supper, that Passover supper, John laid his head on Jesus’ chest sitting at the table. John was there at the foot of the cross. And Jesus says to John from the foot of the cross, he says [paraphrasing], “John, take care of my mother, Mary. Mary, go live with John.” And you say there are no eyewitnesses?

Matthew. Mathew was a publican, a Roman tax collector, and he was called to follow Jesus and he does and tells his story. How could you say there were no eyewitnesses? Total absurdity.

After He Arose

Jesus Christ came, He was here. He lived and He taught three-and-a-half years. He came here to seek and to save lost mankind who were separated by their own rebellious sins against the Word of God and will of God, and then He was crucified. Paul writes Christ died for our sins according to scriptures and He was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

By the way, something I should have added earlier, the apostles, the men that we call apostles, there are certain qualifications to be one of the apostles. One of the qualifications was that they had to be an eyewitness of the resurrection. They had to have seen the resurrected Christ. Anyone who had not seen the resurrected Christ, maybe a servant of the Lord, but they were not one of the 12 apostles. Where do you get that? Acts chapter one.

For 40 days after Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus stood – and this is Acts chapter one – and He talked to His disciples. Let’s pick up where Luke tells the story:

Acts 1:6: “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”

You see, He was the Messiah, He was the Son of David, descendent of David, and they knew the prophecy that He would sit on the Throne of David as King in Jerusalem.

So, they are under Roman domination. Israel had not been a free country and had always been under the domination of some other country, some other empire for centuries. And they believed that when the Messiah came, He would drive out the Romans. He would get rid of the oppressors as it were, and He would restore the kingdom of Israel. So, that’s what they are asking Him. You know what? One day He will do that.

If you were listening carefully to the solo we had a little bit ago, it told you some of that story. But the fact of the matter is they are asking Him, “wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” Alright, you’re here, you’ve been here for 33 years, and you were crucified, you’ve risen again, it’s been 40 days since the resurrection, what’s going to happen next? Is it now? Is it now that you are going to restore again the kingdom to Israel? Logical question. Listen to Jesus’ answer:

Acts 1:7: “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

What is a witness? Somebody who tells what they’ve seen and what they know, they witnessed what they saw – eyewitnesses. “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea [the area surrounding Jerusalem], and in Samaria [the next region over], and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Acts 1:9: “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”

“He was taken up” – what does that mean? It means He started rising up into the air and a cloud received him out of their sight. Where did He go? He went up into a cloud.

I said this before if you want to do a fun study, get yourself a Bible concordance. What is a Bible concordance? It is a book that tells you every word of the Bible and tells you every place that word is found in the Bible. Where do I get one of those? Well, you can get them at a lot of places, but you can get one online for free, that’s a pretty good deal. Okay? Look up Strong’s – S-T-R-O-N-G-‘-S, Strong’s Concordance online. You Google that and it will come up in many places and you can buy it, but if you look, you can get it for free. Now, I don’t get any commission on that free one that you get, okay, or if you buy one either for that matter. I’m just telling you this to help you out. Now, you can do that, or you can buy the book. I have the book and keep it and it’s about that thick [several inches] and it’s a wonderful resource.

But you get yourself a concordance and you look up the word “clouds” and study the word “clouds” all throughout the Bible. You want to have a fun study, that’s it. See all the things God has done with clouds. It is pretty amazing, pretty impressive.

And so, they are standing there watching Jesus. They’ve answered a question, He’s answered it. Now they see Him ascending up into the air and He ascends into the clouds and they don’t see Him anymore.

This Same Jesus

Luke goes on:

Acts 1:10: “And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;”

They are standing there. I imagine and you’re not going to like what you are about to see, but I think it will help emphasize the point. I imagine this is what it looked like [looking up with gaping mouth] – just standing there with their eyes and their mouths wide open and looking up. I mean how could they believe what they just saw? But they saw it.

Acts 1:10: “And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;”

Two men are there who weren’t there before. They just appeared. Who were these two men? Well, Luke doesn’t say, he just says, “two men stood by them in white apparel.” We’ve got some pretty good clues. If you go back to the day of the resurrection, you find there were two men in white apparel at the tomb. If you read all four gospel narratives, you’ll find that they are called angels. So, who are these two men in white apparel? Angels. Which angels? I don’t know which angels.

The Bible tells us that there is an innumerable company of angels. What does that mean? It means that there are more than you can count. And we only know the names of about four of them. So, are they some of the ones we know? Maybe this was Gabriel or Michael, I don’t know. We’re told only four names and that’s it. But there’s an innumerable company of angels. What’s the rest of them? I have no idea, God knows. He didn’t think it was important to tell us.

But two men stand in white apparel. Evidentially, angels which also spoke, which said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?” – with your eyes and your mouth wide open – I added in that part.

Acts 1:11: “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

“This same Jesus” – don’t miss that phrase. “This same Jesus” not another one, not one similar to Him, not an imitator.

I heard an ad on the radio the other day. There’s coming up a concert in Fort Lauderdale of a famous singer. The only problem is that the famous singer died decades ago. So, how are they going to do that? Well, these days they do that kind of thing with video, and I’ve even seen them do it with a hologram. But in this case, they have somebody else who is doing all the singing. Why did I bring that up? To say that is not the original.

When the angels say, “this same Jesus” they say this is the original. This is it. “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,” – they just saw that – “shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” What are they saying? The way you saw Him go, that’s the way He is going to come. That’s pretty easy to understand, isn’t it? And the scripture reiterates in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 that He is going to come with clouds, Revelation chapter one.

Now, you know John 3:16, let’s say it together, everybody here knows it:

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:16 is another fun Bible study sometime. You think studying the Bible is fun? Oh, it is so much fun. I’m telling you, if you want to have a good time, study your Bible. Look up all the 3:16s in the Bible. I’ll tell you ahead of time, not every book of the Bible has a 3:16. So, there’s aren’t 66 of them. And a couple of the 3:16s you may say, “Well, that was okay, but I didn’t get as much out of that as I did the others.” That’s okay. You are going to find again and again that 3:16s are outstanding. Now, we could say a lot about that. Just take my word for it right now.

So, you know John 3:16, we just said it. Listen to 1 Timothy 3:16:

1 Timothy 3:16: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

“And without controversy” – no debate about it – “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness.” Listen, “God was manifest in the flesh” – God was made visible in the flesh; God came here in human form. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles – that’s the world that is not Jewish – “preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” Wow, what a statement. Who did that? God. God did that.

I was sharing in the Sunday School, it amazes me that there are people who say they read the Bible and I’m sure they do and say they study the Bible and I’m sure they do to some extent at least, who say that Jesus never claimed to be God. The Bible never says Jesus is God. Really? What Bible are you reading? Listen again, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh” – that only happened one time, folks. It is what we call the incarnation, what we celebrated last month. It is the coming of Jesus Christ into this world. “God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

And the angels said, “this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner.”

Who Do They Say I Am?

Now, with that background, look with me at Matthew 16:13. Jesus is going to ask here a question. He is asking His disciples, but it is a question for all people. Take a look at it:

Matthew 16:13: “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?”

Notice how he words this question. He says, “Whom do men say” – mankind in general. When you’re out talking to people and people in general, who do they say that I, the Son of Man, I am a human being, a descendent of Adam, who do they say I am? What’s their answer?

Matthew 16:14: “And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.”

Well, He said, in general who do men say that I am? And they say some say. What do some say? I was telling folks in Sunday School, Bob Puffer, many of you know him. He has been here many times he and his wife, Darlene. He did a song on this verse, “Who Do Men Say That I Am?” He did a great song.

And they say, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist” – some did. King Herod thought Jesus was John the Baptist come back from the dead. Now, that shows you how little King Herod knew. Why do you say that? Because John and Jesus were there at the same time. They were cousins. John was just six months older than Jesus. Herod was worried about this because he had John executed. And he thought John had come back when he heard about Jesus doing miracles because he thought John had come back to haunt him. But, had he checked, he would have found out that no, here was John, here was Jesus. As a matter of fact, John baptized Jesus so they are there at the same time, so how could Jesus be John the Baptist. It doesn’t make sense.

“Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias” or Elijah the prophet. Now, that makes a little bit more sense because, in the book of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, there is a prophecy that Elijah will come again. So, that’s who some say you are, you are Elijah. Jesus isn’t Elijah.

And others say Jeremiah. You must be Jeremiah come back. But there is no prophecy that Jeremiah will come again. Some say you are Elijah or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. It must be one of the prophets come back. These miracles that you are doing, these things that you are teaching, the power with which you speak, you’ve got to be one of the prophets come back. Jesus doesn’t take time to address that. He just asked them the next level of question, verse 15:

Matthew 16:15: “He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?”

He asks who do most people say? And they gave their answers but now he says, who do you say that I am? You know that is such an important question that we all need to answer: Who do you say Jesus Christ is? Who is He to you? Who do you say that I am?

And Simon Peter steps up and answers. If you’ll read your New Testament, read the gospels you are going to find there are 12 apostles but the one who talks more than the other 11 together is Peter. He does more talking than anybody. I think there are a lot of reasons for that but it’s just a fact. So, Peter speaks up. Verse 16:

Matthew 16:15: “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Watch what he says, “Thou art the Christ” – the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Sent One, the Savior, that’s you. “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Now let me point out something to you very quickly, the end of verse thirteen, Jesus says, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” He is referring to himself as a human, the descendent of Adam. But Peter says you are the Son of the living God. Is that a contradiction? Absolutely not. No contradiction whatsoever. You see, what I told you earlier, He is 100% God and 100% man at the same time.

“Well, wait, I thought all men are sinners.” That’s why the virgin birth was a necessity so that He did not inherit the sin nature which is passed down through the father. There was no human father, again, what we celebrated last month. So, Peter says, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

And I heard a fellow speak down in Boca Raton a few years ago and he said, “Boy, Peter got it wrong, and Jesus rebuked him for it.” Really? Really? If I told you who this man was it would blow you away, it really would. You probably wouldn’t know his name but if I told you what his position is, you’d say wow. No wonder we’re in trouble in this country.

Alright, I’ll tell you. He is the head of the Department of Bible at one of the biggest and oldest seminaries in the United States. Here’s what he said, “When Peter said, ‘Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus said, ‘You’ve got it wrong’ He rebuked him. That’s when He said, ‘Get thee behind me, Satan.’” Now, He does say that later on but that’s not when He said it. So, what did Jesus say when Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Here’s what He said, verse 17:

Matthew 16:17: “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

“Simon Barjona” – what does that tell you? His father’s name was Barjona – that’s real simple, isn’t it? “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee” – what is He saying? Blessed are you, Peter, you didn’t get that from the other disciples. You didn’t get that from some Bible teacher on the radio or on the Internet. Where did he get it? Look at 17 again:

Matthew 16:17: “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

Who told Peter that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God? God did. That’s why Peter wrote later, and we referred to this earlier, Peter writes that the prophecy of old time is of no private interpretation but holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Who told Peter He was the Son of the Living God? God did.

Upon This Rock

Verse 18, Jesus goes on talking to Peter:

Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock” – stop right there. Some people have taken this verse and said, “See, Peter is the foundation of the church.” That is not what Jesus said. He is saying your name is Peter, Petros, that means a stone, a rock. But then He uses a different word and says upon this rock, not Peter, not a stone, but a [huge] rock.

I used to have a little tiny piece of the Rock of Gibraltar. I could tell you how I got it, but I won’t. But I had a tiny piece of it. The Rock of Gibraltar is huge. Maybe some of you have seen it, I’ve not seen it but maybe some of you have. It’s world-famous and has been for centuries.

That’s the kind of thing He is talking about. Peter you’re a little stone. On this rock, I’m going to build my church. You know what is interesting about that? Throughout the Old and New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the chief cornerstone of the house. He’s not saying Peter I’m going to build the church on you, you’re a little stone. But I’m the rock that is the foundation of the church. That is what He’s saying. Look again at verse 18:

Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Let me ask you a couple of questions really quickly. Raise your hand if you know what a gate is. I was hoping for every hand I really was. I’m a little disappointed in that. Alright, let’s go a step farther. Raise your hand if you own a gate. Okay, a few of you do. Okay, I don’t know if you are telling me the truth or not because I really thought everybody knew what a gate was. Alright, let me ask you a third question. Have you ever seen a gate attack anybody? Raise your hand. I haven’t. I have never seen a gate attack anybody. Why? Gates are not made to attack; gates are made to what? To defend or protect. Gates aren’t made to go out and get you, they are made to keep you from coming in.

So, notice what Jesus said:

Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

So, it is not saying Hell is going out to attack the church, it’s saying the church is going to go forth and Hell won’t be able to stand up to it. That’s what it’s saying. Why? Because it is founded on the Rock. The hymn writer writes “Rock of ages cleft for me let me hide myself in thee.” What rock is he talking about? He’s talking about Jesus. Another hymn says, “This rock is Jesus, yes, he’s the one.” And that’s exactly what he is saying.

So, in verse 19, Jesus says still talking to Peter:

“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven” – see, this is where you get the idea of Peter standing at the golden gate and he lets everybody in. It’s not what Jesus is saying either. Well, you’ve got to read the rest of the verse.

Matthew 16:19: “And 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.”

So, Peter gets to decide who goes to Heaven? No. It’s not up to him. Who decides who goes to Heaven or not? You do! You do. You are either going to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved or reject Him and be lost. It’s your decision. Peter’s not going to decide that for you, he can’t.

So, what does He mean here? It’s very simple. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. I know some very sincere well-meaning people, so I’m not making fun of them, but they go around the country all the time and [shouting] I’m binding this and I’m loosing this! Well, that’s not what He’s saying here either. No. No?

Here’s what He’s saying, what you do now here in this world has eternal results. That’s what He’s saying. Whatever you do gets set here in this life, it stays with you forever. Whatever you let go in this life, you let it go forever. That’s what He’s saying. It’s very clear in the context.

Teaching the Disciples

Verse 20:

Matthew 16:20: “Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.”

Now, why would He do that? Well, He had His reasons for doing that but let me just make it simple to you. Jesus came into this world to be the Savior. He’s testified to them. He’s talking to them at a point where things are really going to start changing as far as who the world sees him is, the religious leaders of the day, the whole situation of His being on earth is about to change. He’s not changing, the world is changing. So, He says the time will come for you to tell them, not right now.

Matthew 16:21: “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”

I’m not picking on anybody, raise your hand if that verse is too hard to understand. I’m serious. Either it’s not or you don’t want people to know you don’t get it. But it really isn’t. So, Jesus started at that time to teach the disciples. What did he teach them? He’s going to Jerusalem, He’s going to suffer many things of the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, He’s going to be killed, and He’s going to rise again the third day. He started teaching them that.

Do you know they did not understand that all? They didn’t. When it happened and He told them it was going to happen, it caught them by surprise. Let’s not be too hard on them. I’m going to help you understand this because some of you have not had this experience. Many of you have, I suppose most of you have. You have a loved one and they have been told that they’re terminally ill. So, you know the day of their death is coming. You know it’s coming but when it happens, you’re not ready. You’re not ready. But you knew it was coming. Yeah, you did. But you’re still not ready. Does that make sense to you? Yeah, it makes sense to me because I’ve been there.

That’s very much as the disciples were. They were told but when it happened, they weren’t ready, and that’s part of our human nature. So, let’s not be too hard on them. Because if you or I had been in their situation I doubt we would have done much better than they did. So, then, verse 22:

Matthew 16:22: “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.”

“But he [Jesus] turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan” – not like the head of the Bible Department at one of the largest seminaries in the United States said, when Peter said, “Thou are the Christ; the Son of the living God.” – get thee behind me. No!

After some time had passed, and after Jesus began to teach them how He was going to be arrested and tried and beaten and mistreated and crucified and rise again – that’s when Peter rebukes him and says no that shan’t happen to you. Shan’t is an old English word. That shan’t happen to you. But Jesus says then, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” It had nothing to do with “Thou are the Christ; the Son of the living God.” But if you were sitting as many young people were listening to the man who is the head of one of the biggest seminaries in America and he told you that, you’d believe it, wouldn’t you? Sure, sure you would. Verse 23 again:

Matthew 16:23: “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.”

You are trying to stop me from going to the cross, Peter. That’s not God’s plan, that’s not God’s purpose and you don’t understand, you need to step out of the way. You didn’t get that idea from God. Where did he get that? Well, He said so.

Matthew 16:24: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Matthew 16:25: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

So, Jesus calls people to believe in Him and to follow Him. He calls them to forsake the selfish desire and recognize that He paid for their sins at the cross. He’s saying don’t hang on to the things this world can offer you at the cost of losing what God has for you in eternity.

Bob Jones, Sr., put it this way, he says, “He is a fool that sacrifices on the altar of the immediate what he can have for the eternal.” Don’t waste now what you can have forever. Whatsoever is bound on earth is bound in Heaven, whatsoever is loosed on earth is loosed in Heaven.

Matthew 16:26: “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

And the answer is there is nothing you can exchange for your soul. “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.”

That takes us back to where we started, verse 27, Jesus said, “For the Son of man” – this one, the one you are looking at, standing right here in front of you. As He talks to the disciples. He’s talking about himself, “For the Son of man shall come” – coming. He’s standing right there talking to them, but He says I’m going to be coming. He told them already He’s going to be crucified, He’s going to be buried, He’s going to rise again, He’s going away but He’s going to come back.

“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels” – you want to picture that? Read Revelation chapter 19. You’ll get a picture of it.

Matthew 16:27: “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.”

Now, what He is talking about in verse 27 is again described in Revelation 19. Notice what He says next in the final verse of this chapter.

Christ’s Return

Matthew 16:28: “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

Jesus, when He said those words: Some of you standing right here looking at me right now when I come in my kingdom, some of you aren’t going to die before you see that. That’s interesting because Jesus was crucified, buried, rose again, 40 days later – we talked about it in Acts chapter one.

They’re standing and as He is speaking to them, He ascends into Heaven, and He’s gone. And then those two angels standing there say that you are going to see Him the same way you saw Him go – same one in bodily form. Not a spiritual return, a literal bodily return of Jesus Christ. He’s going to come.

Jesus said to these men who were standing there listening, some of you are going to live and you won’t die until you see that. How is that? Because you think of those 12 apostles. And Judas would have been there at this point, well, he hanged himself. Of the rest of the apostles, 10 of them were martyred, they were killed and that leaves only one, that was John. They tried to execute John, they boiled him alive, and he survived it. Then they exiled him on an island prison called Patmos out there in the Mediterranean. And there, at more than 90 years of age, John died. Jesus hadn’t come yet.

Well, how could He tell them that they are not going to die until they see Him coming into His kingdom? Folks, we don’t have time to tell you all this but if you want the answer read the next chapter, Matthew 17. Read Matthew 17 and it is there. The answer is in Matthew 17, and I’ll help you with it. Verses one through nine, Matthew 17:1-9 will give you the answer to what He is saying. But, let me take you to something else. Look at verse 28 again:

Matthew 16:28: “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

Jesus, standing there talking to them telling them you are not going to die until you see me coming the way you see me now in human form, 100% God, 100% man. You are not going to die until you see that. He meant Peter, James, and John. How do you know that? Matthew 17:1-9, that’s how you know that. That’s who He was talking to.

But many times, in prophecy, you have a dual fulfillment. What does that mean? You have a short-range fulfillment, and you have a long-range fulfillment. That happens often with the Old Testament prophecies, and it happens here. Stay with me. The short-range fulfillment of that is in the next chapter, Matthew 17:1-9, with Peter, James, and John.

Here’s the long-range fulfillment, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Paul writes this:

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren” – it’s long after the crucifixion, resurrection, ascension back into Heaven. Many years have gone by when Paul writes this letter to the church of Thessalonica.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren” – he’s saying that he does not want them to be without knowledge “concerning them which are asleep”. Asleep is Paul’s euphemism for those who have died – don’t be ignorant, without knowledge, concerning them which have died.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,” for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and we do, don’t we? Them also, which sleep in Jesus, those who have died with faith believing in Jesus – wait for it:

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep” for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them also who are asleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. What’s going to happen? The Son of Man is going to come, and He is going to bring with Him those who died with faith in Jesus.

That loved one that you lost and you’re grieving because you don’t see them anymore. You’d love to talk to them or pick up the phone and call them or just see them again. And you miss them. And as time goes by it gets a little easier but you are never to the point where you forget them. You’re never at the point where you don’t kind of wish to have a little more time with them.

Those who die with faith in Jesus, He’s going to bring with Him. Paul goes on, “for the Lord himself” – what did those two angels say when Jesus went up to Heaven to the apostles? This same Jesus will come again in like manner you saw Him go. He is coming the same way.

Listen to Paul;

1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”

What did we sing a while ago? “Listen to the Trumpet”, the trump of God. “And the dead in Christ shall rise first.” Now, what does that mean? We are already told they are going to come with Him. What’s coming with Him? When that person dies their spirit leaves their body and goes out into eternity. Those who have been saved, who have been born again go into the presence of God. Those who are not saved go to the place we call Hell. Oh, preacher, you don’t believe that? Yes, I do. Why would you believe that terrible thing? Because the Bible says so.

1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”

Those bodies that we buried shall rise again. Those spirits of our loved ones who’ve gone on will be reunited and they will be resurrected just like Jesus was resurrected when He came out of that tomb on that first Easter Sunday morning.

Well, preacher, what about somebody who has been cremated? Doesn’t matter. What do you mean it doesn’t matter? How’s their body going to resurrect? Well, let me ask you this. If someone was buried – let’s say they died in the Old West days, and they got buried out on the wagon trail somewhere and they didn’t have any way to embalm them or anything, how much of that body do you think is left? Not much. But could God resurrect that? What about somebody who was buried at sea and the fishes took care of it?

Look, the Bible teaches us that God made the first man out of the dust of the earth. If He can make a man from the dust of the earth, He can resurrect a man out of ashes or any dirt or anything else. It’s not a problem for the Creator and King of the universe. Don’t you worry about it.

1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”

[The next verse begins], “Then we which are alive and remain”:

Matthew 16:28: “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

We who are alive and remain; those of us who are alive when this happens shall be caught up together with them in the air. “Caught up together” – the word “caught up” is in English, but in Latin, it is the word “raptura”, that is where we get our English word “rapture”. That’s what it’s talking about.

Those of us who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the air, and meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. What happens? Jesus is going to come. He is going to bring with Him the spirits of those who have died in faith with Him and resurrect their bodies. They will have a resurrection body like unto His resurrection body.

What’s that going to be like? Come tonight and I’ll tell you. I’m not kidding folks, that’s what we’re going to talk about tonight. They have a new resurrection body like Jesus’ resurrected body. Their spirits are reunited with their body. They are alive again with flesh and bones. They are alive again.

And those of us who are living get caught up bodily into the air with the Lord, and we will always be with the Lord, and we will be with our loved ones, and that goes on forever.

1 Thessalonians 4:13: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”

1 Thessalonians 4:14: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”

1 Thessalonians 4:17: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 4:18: “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Are You Ready?

That’s why that was written that we might have faith and comfort for eternity and faith concerning our loved ones who have gone ahead. We are talking about the personal bodily return of Jesus Christ. We are talking about the resurrection.

The church I used to go to used to sing a song, a huge congregation that sounded like one huge choir. I won’t try to sing it for you. I wouldn’t sound like a big choir if I wanted to, but they did. I’ll tell you what they sang, they sang, “Behold he comes, and every eye shall see him. Friend, will you be ready when Jesus comes?”

You and I one day will leave this world through the door of death, or we’ll be translated out of this world when Jesus comes. None of us knows exactly when we are leaving this world. The most important, most urgent thing we must do is to be ready. Christ died for our sins, was buried, he rose again the third day and He calls upon you and me to forsake our sins and trust Him to forgive us and to save our souls, and to give us a home forever in Heaven.

So, have you trusted Him? Many of you could say, “Yes, I have.” Thank God for that. Many of you like myself, if I had to I could tell you a time, I could take you to the place where the Lord saved me. What if you haven’t? Will you trust Him now? There’s no better time than right now.

If you have trusted Him, will you right now, right where you sit pray for someone that you know who needs to trust the Lord, who needs to be saved. I pray daily for specific individuals to be saved. Bring up their name before the throne of God right now. Don’t wait till later, do it now. Pray for their soul, pray for them to be saved.

Has the Lord spoken to you about another spiritual need in your life, something going on in your life? God is wanting to do business with you and He’s waiting for you to do business with Him. What about this first Sunday of the New Year? What better time to do exactly what God has been talking to you about, calling you to a decision?

2 Corinthians 6:2 “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”

The time to make the decision is now.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for blessing us. Thank you, Lord, for each and every soul here today. Thank you for your Word so clear and plain. It is my earnest prayer that each one of us would take personal inventory this first Sunday of the year of our spiritual life and condition. Lord, I suspect most people here present today and those who are listening have already trusted you as their Savior and I pray that they would trust you for the days to come. Lord, as they trusted you as Savior, we know they have a home in Heaven forever.

Lord, I pray, there may be one or more than one who hears us now or who hears us later who doesn’t know you as Savior and for those souls, that soul, I pray that they would open their heart and would pray to you and say, “Lord, I believe. I believe that you paid for my sins on the cross. I believe that you’re alive today. I trust you to forgive my sins. I trust you to save me. I trust you to give me everlasting life. Thank you, Lord Jesus.”

You can pray that prayer. Whether you did or you didn’t, you can still trust the Lord Jesus to save you, to forgive you of your sins, and to give you a home in Heaven. The Bible says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Call on Him and ask Him to save you. He will do it. You trust Him.

God’s spoken to you about another matter. Are you ready for the Lord to return? No, I’ve got a few things I need to straighten out in my life. Well, isn’t it time to do that? Are you ready?

Heads are bowed, eyes are closed, we are going to sing the song of invitation. I’m going to leave the platform and stand out front. There’s a spiritual need in your life, you need prayer, you need counsel, I want you to meet me there. Let the Lord have His will and His way in your life. If you are not saved or are not sure about it, you come. You are saved and you are sure about it, but you’ve got a need in your life, you come. Father, bless and move in this invitation time we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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