Matthew 16-18 - Take Up Your Cross

The Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus

Mat 16:4 LSB - [4] "An evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away.

Mat 16:6 LSB - [6] And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ

Mat 16:15 LSB - [15] He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

Mat 16:16 LSB - [16] And Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

Mat 16:21 LSB - [21] From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.

Take Up Your Cross-

Mat 16:24-25 LSB - [24] Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. [25] "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Mat 16:27 LSB - [27] "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EACH ONE ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.

Psa 62:12 LSB - [12] And that to You, O Lord, belongs lovingkindness, For You repay a man according to his work.

Mat 16:28 LSB - [28] "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken by Henry Francis Lyte

https://share.google/HY5z5fnuKKrJUrfS4

1. Jesus, I my cross have taken,

All to leave and follow thee;

Destitute, despis'd, forsaken,

Thou from hence my all shalt be.

Perish, ev'ry fond ambition,

All I've sought, and hop'd, and known;

Yet how rich is my condition;

God and Heav'n are still my own!

2. Let the world despise and leave me;

They have left my Savior, too;

Human hearts and looks deceive me;

Thou art not, like them, untrue;

And while thou shalt smile upon me,

God of wisdom, love, and might,

Foes may hate, and friends may shun me;

Show thy face, and all is bright!

3. Go then, earthly fame and treasure!

Come, disaster, scorn, and pain!

In thy service, pain is pleasure;

With thy favor, loss is gain.

I have called thee Abba, Father;

I have stayed my heart on thee;

Storms may howl, and clouds may gather;

All must work for good to me.

4. Haste then on from grace to glory,

Arm'd by faith, and wing'd by pray'r;

Heav'n's eternal day before thee;

God's own hand shall guide me there.

Soon shall close thy earthly mission;

Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;

Hope soon change to glad fruition,

Faith to sight, and pray'r to praise.

The Transfiguration

Mat 17:1-3 LSB - [1] And six days later Jesus brought with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. [2] And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. [3] And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.

Jesus Casts Out a Demon

Mat 17:20 LSB - [20] And He said to them, "Because of your little faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

The Temple Tax

Lord, it is good for us to be by Arthur Penrhyn Stanley

1 Lord, it is good for us to be

High on the mountain here with Thee;

Where stand revealed to mortal gaze

Those glorious saints of other days;

Who once received on Horeb's height

The eternal laws of truth and right;

Or caught the still small whisper, higher

Than storm, than earthquake, or than fire.

2 Lord, it is good for us to be

Entranced, enwrapt, alone with Thee;

And watch Thy glistering raiment glow

Whiter than Hermon's whitest snow,

The human lineaments that shine

Irradiant with a light divine:

Till we too change from grace to grace,

Gazing on that transfigured face.

3 Lord, it is good for us to be

Here on the holy mount with Thee;

When darkling in the depths of night,

When dazzled with excess of light,

We bow before the heavenly voice

That bids bewildered souls rejoice,

Though love wax cold, and faith be dim,

"This is My Son; O hear ye Him!"

Amen.

Who Is Greatest in Heaven?

Mat 18:3-4 LSB - [3] and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. [4] "Whoever therefore will humble himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Stumbling Blocks

Mat 18:10 LSB - [10] "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Mat 18:12-13 LSB - [12] "What do you think? If any man has one hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? [13] "And if it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.

I will sing the wondrous story
Author: Francis H. Rowley (1886)

1 I will sing the wondrous story

Of the Christ who died for me.

How He left His home in glory

For the cross of Calvary.

I was lost, but Jesus found me,

Found the sheep that went astray,

Threw His loving arms around me,

Drew me back into His way.

2 I was bruised, but Jesus healed me;

Faint was I from many a fall;

Sight was gone, and fears possessed me,

But He freed me from them all.

Days of darkness still come o'er me,

Sorrow's paths I often tread,

But the Savior still is with me;

By His hand I'm safely led.

3 He will keep me till the river

Rolls its waters at my feet;

Then He'll bear me safely over,

Where the loved ones I shall meet.

Yes, I'll sing the wondrous story

Of the Christ who died for me,

Sing it with the saints in glory,

Gathered by the crystal sea.

If Your Brother Sins

Mat 18:19-20 LSB - [19] "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. [20] "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

Forgiveness

Mat 18:33 LSB - [33] 'Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?'

Mat 18:35 LSB - [35] "My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your hearts."