and seeking for the help of the
Lord. I design this evening to continue
a series with questions asked in scripture. And you may have
noticed that throughout the chapter that we read, Matthew 16, there
are many questions that are asked and asked of our Lord, but it's
just one. that I desire to bring before
you this evening, and that is the question found in verse 15. Our Lord Jesus asked this of
His disciples, but whom say ye that I am? It is this question,
Matthew 16, verse 15, that we are to consider this evening. We will remember firstly that
it is a question that is asked by Jesus of Nazareth, asked by
him of whom the scribes, the Pharisees, the Jews were saying
that this is Jesus, the son of Joseph, the carpenter's son. It is asked by him that, according
to men, that he was a man that made himself God. They could see his humanity. They could see that there was
nothing different to the outward eye to anyone else. He was a real man. And they could see and they could
testify of that. And we need to remember that
when we have a question asked of him in this way, because it's
coming on the back of what he is actually viewed as, and as
a real man. Also, our question is A follow-up from a previous question
in verse 13. We're told there that this is
when our Lord came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi and he asked
his disciples, and this is the first question he asks of them,
whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, So he wants to know from them
what others are saying of him. And they are able to answer. And they say, some say that thou
art John the Baptist, some Elias, and some Jeremiah, or one of
the prophets. So what they have been hearing,
that men have been saying, is that Jesus of Nazareth effectively
is one that has risen from the dead. One of the previous prophets,
even including John Baptist, who was then now at this time
dead, or had died, that he was appearing as one risen from the
dead. All of the answers that they
give, they're giving this, this idea. All of the miracles the
Lord did, all the things that He did, the general idea and
what people were saying was that for Him to do these things, that
it must be one that had risen from the dead, a good man, a
prophet that had risen from the dead. So having asked that question
and received that answer, our Lord then brings the question
right home to His disciples, to His followers. And He then says to them, But
whom say ye that I am? The very question supposes that
there will be a difference in the answer. The Lord doesn't
say, is that what you believe then? Or do you agree with what
they are saying? But he uses the but, implying
that there will be a contrast, there will be a difference. And, dear friends, there always
will be a difference between what men, in the general word,
the world speak of our Lord, and what God's people speak of
Him. I mean, remember, they were all
seeing the same man, the same Jesus of Nazareth. They all seeing
the same miracles, the same things. but they viewed him in a different
way. And very important to have that
contrast, especially in how we view our Lord Jesus Christ, how
we view Jesus of Nazareth, even today, even amongst those that
would profess to be followers of Jesus, There are those that
have a very different confession than what Peter makes of our
Lord and of the Scriptures, their witness that the Christ should
be. Usually, we find a confession
comes first of a belief and then that is followed up by a following
and a discipleship. In the Gospel according to John
chapter 8, we read that as the Lord was speaking and speaking
of himself and his coming sufferings, that there were those that believed
on him. And in verse 31 we read, Then
said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue
in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free. So in their case, firstly,
there was a believing, a believing on what he was saying of his
coming crucifixion and of His ministry, and of that who He
was, the Son of Man, when ye shall have lifted up the Son
of Man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing
of myself, but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And they believed then, they
believed that Jesus was the Son of God, and that He was the Messiah,
but the Lord then said to them that believed, that there was
to be a continuing in His Word. And then they would be true disciples. Then they would know the truth.
So the belief came first, and then there was a following. In
this case, the Lord is asking His disciples. They are already
following. They are already hearing His
Word. They are already continuing with
Him. And He asks them. And though the usual case, of
course, is that the Lord creates the believer, and then there
is a following, like the Thessalonians, who the word came, not in word
only, but in demonstration of power, and they became followers,
the apostles said, of the Lord and of us, and That was the effect. It was in Acts 2 as well. They
believed and then they continued in the apostles' doctrine and
in breaking of bread. But it's always good for those
that are professed followers of the Lord to really have a
confession concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. It's vital that
they do. and we'll look at that more in
a moment. There's also, not just with the
word, confessing what we have here before us and what Peter
answers, but there must be more than that. Our Lord said, to
some that believed and called him Lord, he says, he called
me Lord and Master And you say, well, for so I am, but you do
not the things that I say. They were not obedient. And this
is the great thing that so many will, they'd say, oh, we'll believe
in the Lord, we'll become a Christian. But then when they find what
that means, of taking up the cross, leaving sins, changing
their lifestyle, observing the Lord's day, gathering with the
people of God, then they don't want to do that. They want to
have the world and they want to have Christ too. They want
heaven, but this world as well. And if that means leaving and
taking up the cross, then no thank you. We will not walk in
this way. Others are offended when they
are told that actually the Lord came that he might suffer for
sin. And sin is a very hateful and
an evil thing. And that is why the Lord came,
that rather than just pass it by, that he should pay the debt
and suffer and plead and die to put away sin. But as the hymn
writer says, nor are men willing to have the truth told. The sight
is too killing for pride to behold. And so some are very offended
at the very thought that their good works are not good works,
and that they are sinners, and that they are on the high road
to hell, and that unless they do repent and change their life
and change their ways, they shall go to eternal fire. The men are
offended at that, and they don't then want the faith of our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Now, there are many things that
are joined with a profession, It is vital for every true Christian
that he does have a confession, that it is a true confession,
it is a true knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
and that flowing from that will be obedience to the Lord and
walking in His ways, not by constraint, but lovingly and freely. The Lord says, this people have
I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. And so, though our text is not
emphasizing on the following, the walking, the obedience, it
is centering in our profession of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet
bound up with that, we must say wherever there is a true profession
there will be a walk and a life consistent with that. Otherwise
it is just empty words and not really revealed from heaven or
really known in the heart what we are saying. So with those
thoughts I want to confine our word tonight with Three points. Firstly, Peter's true answer. Peter answers our Lord and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And then secondly,
I want to consider the importance of a verbal testimony. A verbal testimony. And then
thirdly, from whence the true answer comes. Our Lord says to
Peter, after he had given that answer, in verse 17, 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. So firstly I want to look at
the answer that Peter gave. We don't read that. Peter hesitated
at all in answering here. He answered and was very clear,
very concise, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. So what was Peter actually saying? Firstly, he says, thou art the
Christ. And in saying that, he was identifying
Jesus of Nazareth with all of the promises of the coming Messiah,
Emmanuel, God with us. He was identifying him with the
first promise given in the Garden of Eden that the seed of the
woman should bruise the serpent's head. He was testifying that
Jesus of Nazareth was that promised seed that was to come. He was
testifying that the Lord Jesus Christ was, as John Baptist had
said, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Going
right back to Abel, or going back to our Lord that slew the
animals and shed blood and clothed Adam and Eve with the skins.
Going back to the first institution of the sacrifices, without the
shedding of blood there is no remission. And how vital it was
that that sacrifice be not as canes, a bloodless sacrifice,
but one that there was shedding of blood. He was identifying
Jesus of Nazareth with those Old Testament times of the sacrificial
lamb, the Passover lamb. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. The lamb slain instead of the
firstborn in Egypt and thereby the children of Israel brought
out of Egypt and save from that slaying of the firstborn that
the Egyptians suffered. He was testifying that this was
whom Moses spake, a prophet, shall the Lord thy God raise
up unto you like unto me, him shall ye hear. Peter was testifying
this, then was that prophet, he was the one that had gone
before. He was the one that Abraham had
seen. Our Lord had said, Abraham saw
my day and rejoiced at it. He was testifying of all of what
the Old Testament Scriptures had said belonged to Emmanuel,
God with us, that this Jesus of Nazareth was He. He was the Christ. Peter, he
says, thou art the Christ, identifying who he was. Sometimes we might be asked this
of men or women, maybe someone in assembly and someone comes
up to us and says, who is that person over there? And we might
give them a name. But then it might be that maybe
they've passed through a certain course, maybe they've written
many books, maybe the person that's asking us who they are
has heard many, many things about that person. But when they are
identified who they are, then all of those things, they meet
on that person, they're identified with that person, and it is in
that sense that Peter is bringing all of what was written. We think of our Lord later when
he rose from the dead and he met with the two on the way to
Emmaus and began at Moses and all the prophets and in all the
scriptures, the things concerning himself, he opened up to them. Their heart burned within them
and they they got to know before they knew who he was they got
to know a reminder really of everything in scripture concerning
Christ concerning the one that should come and so Peter here
is identifying and saying thou Jesus of Nazareth viewed as a
man by others viewed as a Prophet, one that is risen from the dead,
I view thee, I believe that thou art the Christ. There was a second part to what
Peter said, and that was that he testified that he was the
son of the living God. The son of God. Eternal with
the Father, truly God and truly man, God manifest in the flesh. Now I believe Peter was very
clear on this, not just a son by birth, not just a created
son, but God manifest in the flesh, the same as it is spoken
of is the Lord saying, if you have seen me, you've seen my
Father also. I and the Father are one. The Son of God was sent by the
Father and the blessed teaching of the Trinity, Father, Son and
Holy Ghost. And these three are one. And
they are those that bear witness In heaven now, for the Father
sent the Son, and the Son came. In the volume of the book it
is written of me. Behold, I come to do thy will,
O God. There'd be no real meaning in
the idea of Immanuel God with us, and it wouldn't be so that
the sacrifice could be a perfect, sinless sacrifice, and a sacrifice
that is from God himself. You think of Abraham's word to
Isaac when he asked, my father, the fire, the wood, but where
is the lamb for a burnt offering? He said, my son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering. He is the paschal lamb. He is the one figured in all
of those sacrifices. He is that same one with the
Father. When God appeared to Moses in
the bush, then He said, I am that I am. That was His name.
I am the God of Abraham. the God of Isaac, the God of
Jacob. And our Lord said, the God is
not the God of the dead, but of the living, proving their
resurrection, but proving also that he was set forth in Hebrews,
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. The coming of the just one. Stephen speaks of him. the true
eternal Son of God. This was one of the important
issues of the formation of the Gospel Standard Churches. And
with Mr. Philpott ably defending the eternal
Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ, not created, not just like us,
but sinless, but truly God, and truly man. If you've seen me,
you've seen my father also. And we read in John, this is
the true God and eternal life in 1 John 5 at the end of that
chapter. There are those, especially like
the Christadelphians or Jehovah's Witnesses, that deny the eternal
Sonship of our Lord Jesus Christ. We view that as a heresy, as
a vital error, and a denial of the Lord Jesus Christ as to who
He is. The testimony of Peter here is
very clear that I'm the Christ, the Son of the Living God. But also, He adds this, that
he is the son of the living God. And of course, the children of
Israel over many years had worshipped idols. They'd gone and worshipped
idols. There was the great test where
Elijah had brought their Baal worship to test to see whether
the God that answered by fire would answer by fire and testify
and show that he was the true and living God. And those idol
worshippers so blindly believing that their God could do things,
and yet wasn't a living God at all. And yet Elijah so proved
that their God from heaven could send fire from heaven not just
to consume the wood, but also the sacrifice and the stones
and even the water that was round about the trench. And so we have the Lord Jesus
Christ as the true sacrifice, the true living God that was
to offer it, that was to endure the wrath of God upon himself
for instead of his people and a God that lived, and was to
live again after he laid down his life. And a mystery great
is the mystery of godliness. God manifest in the flesh. And
all the talks I've had with the Jehovah's Witnesses is because
they were trying to reason, to reason through these things in
a natural way. But if we compare the many, scriptures,
the different scriptures there are, concerning the words of
our Lord Himself. It is a mystery as the inspired
Word of God declares it is. And who is that man that will
say, I will not believe something unless I fully understand it,
be able to explain it, and won't accept a mystery, even though
God declares it is a mystery. It is that faith which believes
in and which receives in, though it may not be able to understand
it. We have many, many things in
our lives that are like that. Many people drive cars and they
wouldn't have a clue how that car worked or the engine worked
in it at all. Many people use computers, but
they wouldn't have a clue how the computer worked. or how it
was brought about. And if you started to explain
it, then they'd say, well, that's impossible. That could never
be. And yet it is. I often think
of that with the internal combustion engine. If you were to describe
how that worked, how a car works, and someone said, I've got this
idea. and it's going to be this piston that's moving up and down
in a cylinder and it will turn a crank and what we'll do, we'll
bring it up to the top first and we'll make this valve open
and as it goes down it will suck in some air and then we'll close
the valve and then we'll bring it up to the top and compress
that air and we'll shoot some fuel into it and we'll put a
spark in it and explode it and as it explodes the piston will
go down to the bottom and then it will turn and go back up and
another valve will open and it will push out all of the gases
and all of the things that are the unclean things and then that
valve will close and the first valve will open again and then
it will suck in some fresh air and fuel mixture and it's going
to do that 5,000 times a minute, or 12,000 times a minute. So fast it's going to do it.
And you say, you're mad. It'll never do that. You can
never make a car drive and go like that. But we use it all
the time. And it does work. And it has
worked for years. And to people to have explained
to them some things. we would say impossible. But
when it comes to the things of God, it is by faith and it is
by revelation. And that is what is the second
or the third point I want to speak of. But secondly, the importance
of a verbal testimony. But we are going to speak in
the third place of the a vital need of revelation, which is
spoken of here, not learned by books, not understood as schoolboys
learn their task, but revealed. But in the second place, I want
to look at the importance of verbal testimony. It's very clear in the context
because When our Lord first asked the disciples, whom do men say
that I the Son of Man am, it is very clear that people had
been saying things. They hadn't just been thinking
them, and the disciples were mind readers. They had been saying
things openly. The disciples had heard it, and
they were able to relay, relay to the Lord what they had heard.
And so our Lord then is asking them, well, now it's your turn.
You say, and I will listen. Men have been saying, and you've
been listening and telling me, and now do it the other way around.
You say, and I will listen. And how vital that that is. I mean, Paul writes to the Romans
in chapter 10 and verse 10. It's a good way of remembering
that, Romans 10, verse 10. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. We're not to be secret
Christians. We're not to be those who do
not give witness. It is those that actually speak
and set forth What they believe and what they say is very, very
important. If we go back into Matthew and
back to chapter 10, and then we have in verse 32, Whosoever
therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also
before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny
me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is
in heaven. And our Lord is really emphasising
the vital necessity of confession, of speaking, of testifying of
what we believe. When Philip was sent to the eunuch
in the wilderness in Acts 8, the Lord already gave him his
text because the eunuch was reading in Isaiah 53, and he began at
the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. Again, the suffering
Savior, the one that had been set forth in Isaiah 53, that
it bore the sin of his people. This is what he was reading. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter, and like a lamb done before his shearers, so opened
he not his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment
was taken away, and who shall declare his generation, for his
life is taken from the earth? And the eunuch, he answers Philip,
he says, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this, of
himself or some other man? And it is upon this that Philip
opens his mouth and he preaches Jesus to him from that scripture. Well, they came then to water
and Philip desires to be baptized. Sorry, the eunuch desired to
be baptized. And Philip had a question for
him, too. If thou believest with all thine
heart thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It is almost the identical
answer that Peter is giving to the Lord. Peter says, Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. And what does then the eunuch
say? The eunuch testifies, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. So we have the same testimony. And upon that profession, he
was baptized. It is a vital thing that we actually
speak what we believe. When we think of some examples
from the Old Testament, you think of when King Saul died, and we're
told that he fell on his sword, he committed suicide, and David
at Ziklag had an Amalekite come to him and say that he found
him and Saul asked him to kill him, and he killed him. And the
Amalekite had his crown in his hand to testify that he at least
had been with him, at least seen him. But I'm sure David, he didn't
really believe the Amalekite. But he said to him, Of course,
the Amalekite thought he was going to get a reward from David.
But David said to him, he said, was thou not afraid to put forth
thine hand and to kill the Lord's anointed? And he commanded his
men that they kill him. And he said to him when he was
dying, he said, thy mouth has testified against thee, saying,
I have slain the Lord's anointed. And so though David didn't really
believe that he'd done it, yet upon what his profession, he
took him at his word, and he was slain for that. And it is a most solemn thing
to utter words, whether it be vows, promises, whatever we utter
with the mouth, They are very conscious things. You may be
troubled many times. Some of you may be very troubled
over thoughts and things that go on in your mind. Your prayer
may often be, Lord, keep the lid on. Stop me from giving utterance
to these things. Let me not speak these things.
Let them not come out of my lips to let them go forth. The devil
will say, you're a real hypocrite. You should speak what you're
thinking, speak your mind. But those that know the plague
and evil of their heart, and know the worth of what it is
to speak, then they be very careful that they pray the Lord would
keep the door of their lips. They would not utter anything
foolishly before the Lord. Of course, we think of dear Peter,
Three times he denied his Lord and Master, but our Lord had
prayed for him and his faithful. Not this same Peter that is given
this profession, he denied him. It's Satan's temptations, and
even before a maid, the Lord graciously prayed for him, and
afterwards he asked him those three times, lovest thou me?
Lovest thou me? And he was able again to speak
this and to testify of his love to the Lord. But we should be
very careful what we say. But if we have a faith, if we
have a belief, if we trust that we are the people of God, then
firstly, we should confess it before the Church of God, we
should make profession there and speak to them of our belief
and be baptised. We should also be unashamed of
the Lord before men. We read of those in Christ's
day that did believe on Him, but because of the fear of man,
then they would not confess Him. It was very told in John 9, the
man that had been born blind, that if any man was to confess
that Jesus was the Christ, he'd be cast out of the temple. And so many, they would not do
it. But it's set before us here. It's so vital that the Lord will
draw out from us. deny the Lord, then He also will
deny us. The fear of man bringeth a snare,
and many of God's children have laboured and cried to the Lord
for grace, for help, for strength, to overcome the fear of man and
to be able to speak. And under the blessing of the
Lord, sometimes after one has laboured for many weeks, many
months, and the fear of man has prevented them, Yet the Lord
has so blessed them and enabled them to speak, and they've known
that the Lord has given them that help, and given them that
strength, and made them not ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
so may we be helped in that. Whoever we're speaking to, whatever
situation we're in, that we be not ashamed of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that we're able to clearly testify who He is, and what He
is to us as well, and where our hope is in Him. Lord, to them, Lord, lastly,
and from whence the true answer comes. After Peter had made profession,
then our Lord said to him that he was blessed in that Jesus
answered, in verse 17, 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. She's saying, Peter, you have
not just come at this from learning at the feet of man, but God has
revealed it to you. need these things revealed to
you. And every one of God's children
need those things to be revealed to them. And in the verse that
follows, a verse so abused by those that believe that the Pope
is the follower of Peter. The Lord is not saying that Peter
is the rock. His name means rock. But the
Lord is speaking of himself. The one who Peter has confessed,
and the one who he has declared, is the Christ. Upon this rock,
upon Christ, the rock of ages, I will build my church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto
thee, Peter, well, firstly our Lord, but then Peter, or thee,
Church, those that have had this revelation, those that Christ
has been revealed to them, it is the Church of God that He
has given them. Again, we deny the infallibility
of the Church or the Church of Rome, but there is one true Church
throughout all of the earth, and the Lord gives that authority
to the ministers, to the elders of the Church of God. Each is
an independent local church, one that is a representative
of that true church of God. And as they are true custodians
of the holy infallible word of God, and judge according to that
word, then they are those that in Christ's dead, they govern
the church as under Christ, here below. He that heareth you, or
he that receiveth you, receiveth me. And he that receiveth me,
receiveth my Father that sent me. So Peter, of course, was,
and the apostles, greatly used, appointed by God to go forth
with the power of the Holy Spirit, not without the Spirit, and preach
the gospel to every creature. But the very fact that it is
to be revealed puts Peter's testimony as to be on a much higher plane
than just a literal ascent. We might think in our day, well
we've got the Bible, many of us and children have been brought
up under the sound of the truth and we can learn this, we know,
from the Scriptures that the Lord Jesus is the Christ, and
we believe that, we could say that we believe that, but the Lord is saying a true
belief is something more than just a naked assent of the Word
of God. It is a belief in their testimony
as we've had it set before us this evening. It is, and there
are some of those that word, as in a way of heresy, completely
deny what we believe the word of God clearly sets forth concerning
our Lord. But for saving faith, it must
be revealed from heaven, and it is joined with obedience,
it is joined with faith, to not only call the Lord, Lord, but
to do the things that he says. and to be a true follower of
Him. And it is vital that we really
view the miraculous work, the powerful work of God. You know,
Paul says to the Ephesians that it is the same power that raised
up Christ from the dead that made them a believer. And when
our Lord Matthew 11 and 27, he says that all things are delivered. Well, if you go back to verse
25, at that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight All things
are delivered unto me of my Father, and no man knoweth the Son but
the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. And again he's
speaking of this mystery and of a revelation of the Lord. There are many things that we
can just say that we know and say that we understand, but when
really put to end, then we may question, do we really know it
at all? When the Apostle Paul was writing
to the Corinthians in his first epistle in chapter 12, he says, I give you to understand that
no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed,
and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy
Ghost. No wonder the Apostles had to
tarry at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on
high. When the Lord appeared to the
woman at the well of Samaria, did two things. One, he told
her very clearly that he was the Christ, but the other thing,
he wrought in her life so that he told her the things, all what
she'd done. And she says to the Samaritans,
come see a man that told me all things that ever I did is not
this the Christ. And the Lord used that to show
her that he truly was the Christ. If we have such a revelation
to us, it will profoundly affect our life, it will profoundly
affect how we view the Lord, how we speak His name, how we
go amongst His people, whether we make a profession of faith
or not, it will profoundly affect all that we do. And we may say,
be the difference between heaven and hell, between eternal life,
eternal damnation, between being one of His people and not being
one of His people. How vital that we have a reveal
of Christ and testify of Him. There are those that will say,
oh, I'm a Christian, but they'll never speak of Him. They'll never
make profession in the Church of God. They weren't in their
workplace. They weren't in their college.
They're silent. And yet they deceive themselves,
saying, well, we do believe, really. We believe in our homes. We believe in our hearts. That's
not the profession of the scriptures at all. Our Lord says very clearly
that there is to be a testimony, a saying, so that others know. Would our neighbours know? Would
those we work with know that we believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God? May the Lord grant us that same
profession, the same answer that Simon Peter was able to answer
our Lord. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the Living God. And what a question for us then.
But whom say ye that I am? May the Lord bless the Word. Amen.