All right, turn to Mark 8, Mark
8. And we're gonna be in verses 27 through
33. And we come here to a portion
of scripture where we're actually meant to stop and consider who
it is that we've been witnessing, who it is that we're talking
about. And we're meant to consider this
Jesus of Nazareth. Is he the one, as our brother
just read, that this is the servant that was chosen of God to be
the Savior, to come and to deliver the people from their sins as
was promised to Eve and Adam in the garden, that this one
should come of the seed of woman, and that he would be the deliverer
that God spoke of in the beginning of the foundations of the earth.
So we're to consider, you know, I've preached about 35 messages
from Mark so far, believe it or not. It just so happens that
this is right in the middle of the book of Mark. Mark is 16
chapters and here's the middle and we've made it halfway through
now and we're to consider who is this Jesus of Nazareth? You know, as we go through this,
when you're here, you're to ask and think, well, am I hearing,
am I seeing what he's doing, how the Lord is using this one,
this Christ, and are we considering this one? Do we know him? Do
we know him? Do we know why he's come? Has
he come for me? Has he come to save me? Think about what we've seen here.
We've seen John the Baptist was raised up to go before this one,
this Jesus of Nazareth, to bring down those high mountains and
to bring up that which is laid low. And he spoke of, he gave
testimony that this is the Christ, the one who was promised of God. We saw in Christ's baptism that,
when he was baptized, the heavens opened and a dove descended,
which was the Spirit of God resting upon him. And the Father spoke
and said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And then immediately he was taken
into the wilderness where he was tempted of the serpent, just
as Adam and Eve were tempted of the serpent. But Christ did
not sin. He didn't sin and break the law
of God. He remained faithful to his Father that we was promised
many things. And we saw when he returned how
he called the 12 and they followed him. We see all the miracles
which he's done up to this point in healing the blind, giving
them sight, and healing the deaf, giving them to hear and and loosing
the tongue and delivering people from demons and raising the dead
we see how he corrected the Pharisees. Naturally, a lot of us hate self-righteous
people. Well, Christ stood up to the
self-righteous, and he showed them how they were despising
others rather than showing them love and rather than understanding
and knowing the truth of God, and he corrected them. And we
were enabled to hear that and to see that. We saw how he fed
thousands and thousands of people more than once, and he did miracles
walking on the water, and he commanded the the wind to cease
and the waves to be calm and they were calm for him. So who
is this man? And what are we learning from
everything he's showing us here? It says in John 20 verse 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. And so here we are, and Christ
is walking with the disciples, and he asks them a question in
what seems like a casual conversation, and he says in verse 27, Whom
do men say that I am? That's what I want to answer
is who is this one and why did he come in the way that he came? Before we answer that for ourselves,
just consider our pursuit of this life's sorrows and all the
cares of this life. You think about how we spend
so much time considering what we're going to do and focused
on this life. And we read in the scriptures
that the fashion of this world is passing away, and yet we spend
so much time focused on this world that's passing away. And
we don't think about eternal things, and we don't think about
what we're hearing and about Christ. But we are to see through
this. He's showing us, the Lord is
showing us our need as sinners that we must be righteous to
stand before holy God, and He's showing to us, I've provided
that salvation in my Son, Jesus Christ. It's not about your doing
and about your religious works and things that we do in the
flesh, it's about Christ, and we have to know Him. Many people
are religious, and especially in this part of the country,
many people are religious, but religion is just a component
of people's lives. For many people, religion is
just some aspect, one factor in their life. But ask, is Christ
just a component of salvation, or is Christ salvation? Is Christ
just a component of our lives, or is He life itself? And so many people that you meet,
they have a good opinion of Christ. Many people think well of Christ
and they have a pretty high opinion of him, and yet so few know him. Just because they have a good
opinion of him doesn't mean that they know him. And many are focused
on knowing doctrine. Many people know a good system
of doctrine and say things that we would agree with, And yet,
knowledge doesn't save either. So having a good opinion of Christ
and thinking well of Him, even thinking that He's the Son of
God, or having knowledge of good doctrine and being able to explain
these things well and teach the truth, doesn't mean that we know
Christ. We'll see that there's a lot
of people that have a high opinion of Christ and know a lot of things. And so we find, though, Christ
says, who do men say that I am? And it's the bride. It's the
bride of Christ that speaks well of her husband. She loves her
husband and she desires to know him and to be with him and to
be in his presence. So she's hungering and thirsting
for his gospel word because that's where she's reminded and brought
near to her Lord and sees what he's done for her to make her
his own bride, to be a spotless bride and to be able to stand
before God who is holy and righteous and just in all his ways, and
we see I'm not holy or just or righteous in any of my ways,
but Christ has made me everything that I need to be, the very righteousness
of God to stand before God, who is righteous and holy. So, whom
do men say that I am? So, it's time for us to pause
and to consider this one and whether we know him. It's a good season for that. It's a word spoken in season.
Who is this one, this Jesus of Nazareth? What I want us to see
primarily in this passage is that knowing Christ is more than
just a decision. Many people have confidence in
their decision. Well, I've decided to follow
Jesus. Or I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Or I made
Jesus Lord and Savior of my life. Won't you do that too? And that's
a work of the flesh. So knowing Christ isn't just
making a decision and speaking of religious things. And knowing
Christ isn't just a mere mental knowledge. of doctrine. We don't
grow in the knowledge of these truths and then that somehow
leads to our salvation. It's not by what we know, but
rather who we know. And so we'll see that knowing
Christ unto salvation is not a work of the flesh, but it's
a work of the Holy Spirit. There must be a new birth, and
that's why we see throughout the scriptures that the flesh
profits nothing. Our title is A Time to Consider. A Time to Consider. And what
I first want us to look at is this false knowledge versus a
saving knowledge. So it's not in what we know,
but it's in who we know. So as I was saying, there's a
lot of people in this world, either professing Christians
or people who say, I'm not a Christian and I don't believe in God. But
many people still have a favorable opinion of Christ. They think
well of Him, even if they don't believe that He's the Son of
God and the Savior of men. And so we shouldn't confuse that,
because a lot of people just say, oh, I believe in Jesus.
I believe that he's the Son of God. And they think that because
they say that, that that means that they're a Christian and
that they're saved by Christ. But that's not what the scriptures
reveal to us. And a lot of people have a knowledge
of doctrine, but that doesn't mean that they're saved. You
can know a lot of things about God and about religion and even
about Christ. and not be saved. Now look at
our text in Mark 8, 27 and 28. Mark 8, 27. Jesus went out and
his disciples into the towns of Caesarea Philippi. And by
the way, he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men
say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist. But some say Elias, or Elijah,
and others, one of the prophets. So you can find many that speak
well of Christ. They say, oh, he's a good man.
He's a great man. They say he's a good philosopher.
And he says many good things for us to hear. Some believe
that he was a prophet. Even in other religions, they
say Christ was a prophet. And some even said he's a prophet
raised again from the dead. And so at this point in the ministry
of Christ, there's many in Israel that spoke well of him. Many
that had a high opinion of Christ, and the only ones who didn't
have a high opinion of Christ were the scribes and the Pharisees,
because they hated him for envy. They were envious that he was
so popular with the people, and they themselves were not. But
most approved of him, and they thought well, and yet very, very
few knew him and were saved by him. Very few knew him and believed
on him as Lord and Savior. And it's like that today, right? There's many that speak well
of Christ. There's a lot of people that go to church services on
Holy Days. You know, they go, they show
up on Easter and Christmas. Some maybe show up a little more
often. Some maybe even go every week, but it doesn't mean that
they're Christians. It doesn't mean, because they're
trusting in their flesh. And then again, there's many
that believe true things. There's many people that excel
in a system of theology, in a system of doctrine, and they have a
very tight system, and they know a lot of things, and they can
articulate them to other people and speak very well, but their
confidence is in their knowledge. Their confidence is, well, I
didn't used to want to read, I hated reading, and all I read
were just comic books or car magazines, but now I read the
Bible, and I never did that, so I must be a Christian, and
I have an interest in those things, and I can talk of those things,
so I must be a Christian now, and so that's their confidence.
They think that because now they have an interest in religious
things, that's their salvation. But the question is, Do you know
Christ? Do you know Christ? Are you just
a religious convert or do you know Jesus Christ? The scriptures
declare to us that we are dead in trespasses and sins. That
means none of us is doing anything to arouse ourselves and to make
ourselves true living souls in the Lord Jesus Christ. We may
be able to make ourselves religious, because there's a lot of religious
people that are dead, and aren't in Christ. So we can do that
in the flesh, but that doesn't mean that we are saved by the
Lord Jesus Christ. Christ himself teaches in John
chapter 3. John 3, go over there in verse
5. He teaches us that we must have
a spiritual birth. So it's not going to be according
to the flesh. It's got to be a spiritual birth.
And Jesus said in John 3 verse 5, He answered, he was talking
to a man named Nicodemus, a teacher of the Jews, and he said, verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of
the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
spirit is spirit. So salvation is a spiritual work. And he said, marvel not that
I said unto thee, ye must be born again. So he's saying, Those
who have life in me, those who have eternal life and whose sins
have been put away, it's not going to be according to the
flesh. It's not going to be something that your flesh is able to do.
It must be a spiritual The Lord has to do something for the sinner. Now, there's many that say, well,
I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's many that teach and
say, you've got to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
And they make it a decision. And when they do that, they're
putting it in your hands. They're giving it to your flesh
to do something. They're saying, you've got to
accept him. He's done all he can do for you. But now he can't
do it anymore. It's got to be you to fire up
the engines of faith, I believing on him, and then you can call
yourself a Christian, then you'll be saved. But Christ said in
John 3, 3, look at that verse, Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. So, in other words, what
he's teaching us is, if you're dead in trespasses and sins,
which all of us are by nature, how can you accept Christ? How can you, who are nothing
but flesh, make Christ Lord and Savior of your life? You can't. You've got to be born again by
God before you even see the value of Christ, before you even know
what a sinner you are and understand your need of Him that you can
do nothing. God must give you life first and make you aware
of what a sinner you are, that you can't do anything. and that
he is everything, that he himself is salvation, because he says
in verse 6, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the spirit is spirit. So if all your hope in
Christ is built on your flesh, then it falls short, because
that which is of the flesh is flesh, and it's got to be a spiritual
birth in him. So once the Spirit gives life,
he gives that faith. So those that are his children,
they believe him. They didn't make a decision to
follow Christ. They didn't make a decision that,
oh, you know what, I'm going to be a Christian now, or I'm
going to accept Christ. That's not how it is. We hear
what Christ has done, and we believe. He's the Savior, and
that's the work of the Spirit in us, revealing to us that Christ
is the one sent of God to put away the sin of His people, and
He did it. And I believe He did it for me.
And that's all. You either believe Him, or you
don't believe Him. It's the work of the Spirit.
Then there's others that They deny that. Oh, you can't accept
Christ. You can't make Christ Lord and
Savior. He is the Lord and Savior. You can't make him that. You've
got to understand that God has an elect people, and you've got
to understand that Christ only died for his people, and they
teach many truths. They teach things that are true,
but they have no life of Christ in them themselves. Their confidence
and their trust is, I grew to know these things. I came through
study and through listening carefully, I came to know these truths,
and now I know them, so now I call myself a Christian. I've spent
some time in them, and so now I believe that I'm a Christian,
and those that believe like them, they call themselves brethren. And yet, people like that, you
ever notice that? People who really attach salvation
to their knowledge, many of them get to the point where they're
cutting off other men that are very similar to them, but because
they don't believe a certain doctrine. It goes down to that
saying like, Everybody in the world is lost except for you
and me, and I ain't so sure about you either. And that's how people
are. They get to this focus that unless
you say exactly what I say and how I say it, I don't even know
if you're a Christian. And it all comes down to knowledge.
They're trusting in what they know, not who they know. They see no grace and no love
and no mercy in Christ, and they don't need it because they themselves
got themselves saved by their own knowledge and their study.
Now, again, here we see in Romans 1.19, we see that there's many
that know that there's a God. It says in Romans 1.19, because
that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God
hath showed it unto them. So all men and women know that
there's a God. And even James said, you believe
that there is a God, you do well, but even the devils believe and
they tremble. That doesn't mean that we're saved because we know
and believe that there's a God. That doesn't save anyone. And
then we know that there are many that are religious. Christ was
speaking to the Pharisees in John 5, 39 and 40, and he said,
search the scriptures, because these were religious people,
search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life, and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not
come unto me that ye might have eternal life, or everlasting
life. And what he's saying is, you're
religious, but you don't know me. And so we see that you can
be religious and still not know the Lord Jesus Christ, or be
saved. And then we see that there's
many that had a high opinion of Christ, and yet that didn't
mean that they were saved. When he was speaking to Nicodemus,
Christ said in John 3, 2, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and he
said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come
from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except
God be with him. And yet, that man was still dead
in his trespasses and sins and didn't know Christ. He didn't
understand that Christ is the Savior, that he is the righteousness
of the believer. Knowledge of God, whether it's
not knowing a lot of good things about him or having a high opinion
of Christ, that doesn't save anyone. It's got to be a new
birth. Look over in Galatians 1.15.
Galatians 1.15 and verse 16. Here, what Paul is saying is
that Christ must be revealed to the sinner. It's a spiritual
work. The flesh can't do this. He's
got to be revealed to the sinner. Galatians 1.15. The Apostle Paul
says, So the gifts that the Lord gives us, they may differ, but
all are going to be separated unto Christ. They're going to
be called of Christ. and Christ is going to be revealed
to them, that He is the Savior, and that He is the only one that
can save them. The Spirit is going to reveal
that to His children. Then in Colossians 2, turn over
to Colossians. Colossians 2.13, we see that
it's the Holy Spirit that gives life. If we're dead in trespasses
and sins, we've got to be given life, spiritual life, and that's
gonna be a work done by the Holy Spirit. Colossians 2.13. And
you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he quickened, hath he made alive, together with
him, with Christ. So there you see, this is a work
of the Spirit that gives life. Look at Colossians 1, Colossians
1 verse 27. We see that Christ himself is
our life. Look at verse 27 there, to whom
God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this
mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory. So Christ must be formed in us. Christ is revealed to us. It's
by Christ. It's his seed that gives us life
in him. This is his work in us that gives
us life. And then in John 16, verses 12
through 14, we find that it's the Holy Spirit that convicts
us and teaches us. He's leading us to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's going to bring us to Christ
to stay upon Him. So Christ isn't just a piece
of our salvation. Christ is salvation. He becomes
all to the believer. Christ said in verse 12, I have
yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
How be it when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever
he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things
to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall
receive of mine and shall show it unto you. So the Spirit is
going to continue to teach us of Christ. We're going to see
that Christ is all. He's everything that we need
to stand before God. Then in John 6, look over in
John 6, we see that the Spirit is drawing us to Christ. According
to the Father's will, He's drawing us to Christ. He says in John
6, 44 and 45, No man can come to me except the Father which
hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of
the Father cometh unto me. So that he's making us willing,
like it says in Psalm 110, verse 3, Thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power. So he's the one doing all this
work in the sinner. He's working in his people to
bring them to that point where they see and know they're made
alive by the Spirit, that they need Christ and Christ alone
is the one to save. And they may become fearful and
afraid and doubt and look at all the works that they've done
their whole life and say, these were all garbage and these are
all worthless. They've done nothing for me.
But that's the Spirit that works that in you, that shows you that
all your works have done nothing for you, that Christ and Christ
alone is the salvation God's provided, that we are cleansed
and made holy and righteous by His blood. his work in us. Alright, so the Lord's people,
they're given a saving knowledge of Christ through the Spirit.
I want you to turn over to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5, because we're
going to see here that this isn't a flesh work, this is a work
of the Spirit. So 2 Corinthians 5 and go to
verse 14. Paul, this is what he's talking
about, he says, verse 14, for the love of Christ constraineth
us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're
all dead. He's saying our flesh doesn't
do anything that profits us. We were all dead in trespasses
and sins and couldn't save ourselves. 2 Corinthians 5 15 and that he
died for all that they which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves But unto him which died for them and rose
again. So in other words, we're not our own We're not just doing
the things that the flesh loves to do and pursue, but we're looking
to Christ and Lord What would you have me to do? How would
you have me to serve you and to serve your people? So this
is the will of God which gives us life in Christ. He turns us
from living in the flesh, according to the flesh, doing what the
flesh does and loves, and he turns us to Christ, and out of
desire to serve Him, and to live in Him, being pleasing to Him. Verse 16, Wherefore henceforth
know we no man after the flesh. In other words, we're not looking
at people according to the flesh. Well, what can I get from them?
How can they help me in life? What can I do that's going to
earn me favors in return with them and have this reciprocation
of the flesh? You see, we don't know people.
We don't look at people after the flesh. Oh, this is a rich
one. Let me preach the gospel so they can give money to the
church. But I don't care what these poor people I know aren't
going to be able to do anything or give anything. I don't care
whether they know Christ. He's going to turn us from that.
Because whether we have 80 people in here that don't give a dime,
but they know Christ and they love Christ, that'll be sufficient.
We'll be thankful for that. And we don't want just wealthy
people in here who hate Christ and have no peace and just want
things done. the way they want them done and
only give money so they could have their name put on a plaque
somewhere and be celebrated. That's not what our interest
is. The Lord can provide and He can give according as He wills. So, we don't know men after the
flesh. Yea, though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more." In other
words, note that very carefully. What he's saying is, previously,
when we looked at Christ, all we saw, whether we hated him
or whether we claimed to believe him, it was all works of this
flesh. It was all according to what
we knew and did in religion according to the flesh. And Paul's saying,
we don't know Christ after the flesh anymore. We're not interested
in what the flesh can do. We're interested in what the
Spirit has worked in us so that now by the Spirit we know and
worship and serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it's by the Spirit
that we're going to know, I'm a sinner, and there's nothing
I can do that pleases God. He's not interested in my works
of the flesh. It's a spiritual work. He's looking to what Christ
has done for the sinner. If Christ put away your sins,
your sins are put away. And He's going to draw you to
Himself. And the reason why I say this, look at verse 17. 2 Corinthians
5.17, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. Because it's a spiritual work.
That's why Paul said in Romans 8.8, They that are in the flesh
cannot please God. It's not a flesh work. It's a
spiritual work that he does in the sinner. And so we see that's
not by the flesh and we also see that salvation is something,
it's not something that's acquired through doctrine. It's not a
higher learning. We're not more intelligent than
other people. It's not about what we know and
how well we can say these things. There's many people that love
the Lord Jesus Christ that probably can't describe it very well to
other people, but they know, I'm a sinner, and there's nothing
I can do that pleases God. All I know is that Christ shed
his blood to put away my sins, and that's sufficient for me,
and that's enough for me, and I trust him, and I believe him.
And he'll teach you, and he'll show you, and reveal more and
more of these things to you, but it's not about how much knowledge
you have. That's just Gnosticism. trusting
in your knowledge, that I have some secret knowledge of God
and you don't, and he's revealed it to me and you don't know it.
The thing is he reveals Christ to us. He reveals Christ and
our need of Christ to us and that he's sufficient to do that
work. deny the new birth, then we're
denying that new nature that he gives us, we're denying that
we're made righteous by him, we're denying that he, that God
must impart that righteousness of Christ to us, we're denying
that we are made partakers of the divine nature, and we're
denying regeneration. We're denying that it's a work
of the Spirit giving us life in him. So faith isn't based
on knowledge, but our knowledge that we have is based on the
faith which he's worked in us. As it says in Hebrews 11 3, through
faith we understand. Through faith we understand.
And it was Henry Mahan that used to say, you don't get to Christ
by doctrine, you get to doctrine by Christ. You get to knowing
You know what the truth is knowing Christ, and Christ reveals these
truths to us, and then we understand. There's nothing wrong with TULIP.
TULIP's great. It teaches us our total depravity,
unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace,
and perseverance of the saints. TULIP is good, but that knowledge
of TULIP doesn't save us. It's Christ that saves, and we
don't want to miss that or forget that. So that faith that we have
even isn't a work of the flesh. It's obtained, as Peter wrote,
to those brethren in 2 Peter 1.1, to those who have obtained
like precious faith, because it's given to us by the Spirit. So as we grow in knowledge based
upon this faith and the life that He's given to us, we're
going to grow in love to Him. As He said, we've been looking
at Philippians 1.9, in this I pray that your love may abound yet
more and more in knowledge and in all judgment. So saving knowledge
is in what we know, but who we know. Our Savior said in John
17 3, this is life eternal that they might know thee, the only
true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Alright, so having
life by the Spirit, we're going to confess Christ. We're going
to confess that he is the one that has given us life and worked
the salvation in us. And it says in Mark 8, 29 and
30, And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter
answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. And he charged
them that they should tell No, ma'am. And so, when you consider
all the people, they had high opinions of Christ, but they
didn't believe that he was the Christ. And this is the Spirit
revealing this to Peter, because in the Jews' mind, when Christ
came, he would conquer their enemies. They'd have their foot
on the necks of their enemies, and that he would establish the
kingdom of Christ, and they would it would conquer the whole world
and the Jews would be exalted and lifted up above all their
enemies and rule over their enemies. But here he is, here's Christ
who's poor, People have a high opinion of him, but the religious
leaders, they don't believe in Christ, and yet Peter is brought
to say, even though I don't see you as the exalted king like
I thought, yet I know that you are the Christ. I know that based
on everything I'm seeing here, that I know this because the
Spirit revealed it to him. Because a lot of people saw those
things and didn't know he was the Christ, and yet he did, and
he confessed, you are the Christ. Alright, that brings us to the
next point that Christ must suffer. He must suffer. And the reason
why Christ must suffer is because He must fulfill all the requirements
of the covenant of grace for us. Because we can't fulfill
anything and be pleasing ourselves to God by our works Christ must
do it. And he took that on. He willingly
took that on to be surety for his people, to do all the work
necessary. Look at verses 31 and 32 in our
text. Mark 8, 31. And Christ began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of
the elders and of the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and
after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly."
So think about what they're hearing now. They've just confessed.
You're the Christ. We know that you're the Christ.
And now he begins to speak about suffering and being rejected
and being put to death. So Peter's thinking, I don't
know what's coming out of your mouth right now. We just said
that you're the Christ and we're going to stand with you. We're
not going to let these elders take you and harm you. So Peter begins to rebuke him,
but the reality is Christ must suffer. He had to die. And this he did willingly. Now in Proverbs 16.6 it says,
by mercy and truth iniquity is purged. So, the Lord is going
to forgive us. He's going to show us mercy according
to truth. And it's not just going to be
a whimsical thing. It's going to be just, and it's
going to be true. And it also says in Proverbs 17, 15, He that
justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even
they both are abomination to the Lord. So, you can be sure
that God has sent his son to justify, to work that justification
for his people. They're going to know the truth.
They're going to be delivered in truth. And it's Christ who
is the substitute of his people. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3.18,
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit. So that by Christ's death, that's
how sinners are reconciled to God. If Christ didn't die, we
could not be reconciled to God. We'd still be bearing our own
sin, and we would have to pay the penalty for that sin. We've
earned those wages, but Christ took that upon himself as the
surety of his people. So Peter Here's him talking like
this, and Peter begins to rebuke him. And it shows us just how
weak we are in the flesh. It's a good thing that this salvation
doesn't depend on us, because you see that there's the Spirit
that reveals Christ to us, but there's still the flesh. There's
light, which is given to us by the Spirit, but there's still
darkness. There's an understanding that
he gives to us by the Spirit, but there's still foolishness
in this flesh. you know the spirit gives us
faith but there's still such unbelief and we don't understand
the truth so it's got to be that Christ delivers us from this
flesh and he says you know he meant it I'm sure for love But
it wasn't right what he was saying. Verse 33 says, Mark 8, 33, But
when Christ had turned about and looked on his disciples,
he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou
savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that
be of men. So Peter didn't even yet understand
that Christ must die. Christ knew, and Christ did. He was going to that cross to
lay down His life, to purge His people of their sins and bring
His sheep into that fold of His. This was purpose, first of all,
from all eternity. It says in Acts 2.23, Him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. And then we see that Christ,
so it was purpose to be done, so you could be sure Christ was
going to that cross, nothing stopping him. And then we see
that he fulfilled all the covenant engagements for us. This was
shown to us even in the Old Testament scriptures. When you look at
Judah in Genesis 43, Judah said, when speaking of Benjamin, he
said, let me take Benjamin down to Egypt because We've got to
get food, otherwise we're going to die. We're all going to perish.
And he said to Jacob, his dad, he said, I will be surety for
him. I'm going to bring him back to
you. And if I don't bring him back to you, let me bear the
blame forever. And that's what Christ did for
us. Christ is saying to the Father,
I'll bring the children back. I'm going to do everything necessary
to bring them back and present them to you holy and perfect. And then we see that Christ did
it willingly. He said, no man taketh my life from me, but I
lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. The scriptures show us that this
death was all according to the scriptures. It says in Acts 13.29,
when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took
him down from the tree and laid him in a supplicar. so that Christ
did all that work for us while we were yet enemies. He doesn't
need anything from the flesh, anything for you to be saved. He's not looking for anything
to the flesh. We're declaring what Christ has done in laying
down His own life. When He went to that cross, we
read in the Psalms, I'll just read this one. When he went to
the cross, the sins of the people flooded in upon his soul, upon
himself. He says in Psalm 69, verses 1
through 7, Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my
soul. I sink in deep mire, where there
is no standing. I am come into deep waters, where
the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying, my throat
is dried. my eyes fell while I wait for
my God. They that hate me without a cause
are more than the hairs of mine head. They that would destroy
me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty. Then I restored that
which I took not away." See, when all our sins, the sins of
people, came flooding in upon Him, He was restoring. He was He was purging us of our
sins, putting those sins away, making payment for those sins
so that we might be righteous before God, having no sin, no
spot, no blemish. He did all that so that by His
death He put those sins away, and thereby He restored righteousness
to us who were lost and buried in sin and in death and iniquity. He did that work, and that's
why He says, I restored that. which I took not away. I paid
the price for my people. I put away, I paid that eternal
death and the death of myself that they might stand before
God perfect and righteous and holy. And he said in Psalm 69
verse 5, O God thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not
hid from thee. That's how much he took them
upon him. Let not them that wait on thee,
O Lord, God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not those that
seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel, because
for thy sake I have borne reproach. Shame hath covered my face. And
he's saying, help me, Lord. Uphold me, keep me, that I may
be faithful in finishing this work perfectly because we're
hoping in Him. We're giving that life to hope
in Him. And he promises us, all you who
look to Christ and cease from your labors and your works to
try and make yourself good and holy and righteous. He's saying,
you who look to me, You will not be ashamed. You won't be
confounded. You won't be confused when you
stand before me in the day of judgment. You shall be righteous. You shall be declared righteous
because what Christ has done. It's a sufficient work. He worked
that. He obtained eternal redemption
for all his people. And that's why it says in Isaiah
53 11, He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. So he
did that and he's satisfied. He obtained that salvation for
his people. So you hope in him. You don't
need to fear or be afraid or say, well, I better keep doing
as much work as I can to get myself saved and make sure I'm
righteous before God. No. Christ did all the work. And he says in Romans 3, 24 and
25, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation,
That means a forgiveness through faith in his blood to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. So that's why Christ said in
that chapter, when he was speaking to Nicodemus, he said, as Moses
lifted up the serpent, when the people were sinning and rebelling
against God, he sent fiery serpents to come and bite them. And they
were venomous snakes so that they would die. So he had Moses
make a serpent and he lifted it up on a pole so that it was
lifted up high so that when they were bitten, And they were bitten,
just as all of us are bitten with sin and iniquity. When they
looked to that serpent, they were healed. And Christ said,
I must be lifted up on that cross, just like that serpent was lifted
up, so that when the people look to me, they shall be healed. They shall be made whole, and
I will deliver them. And that's when he said, 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. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved." So he did that work. That's why he came. So
you who are sinners and have no hope to save yourselves, look
to the Son, Jesus Christ. So justice is now satisfied and
all the works are done in him. And so that now Through this
gospel, which you're hearing now, the Lord bids you look to
Christ. Why should you perish in your
sins? Why should you die in your sins? Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe Him. Rest in Him. And He works that
belief in you. If He's given you that faith,
you will believe on Him and trust Him and seek Him and desire Him
and hunger and thirst more and more for His righteousness. I'll
close with this. from Isaiah 45 verses 20 through
25. Our Lord says, Assemble yourselves,
and come. Draw near together, ye that are
escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that set
up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a God that cannot
save. Tell ye, and bring them near.
Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? And there is no God beside me,
a just God and a Savior, there is none beside me. Look unto
me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God,
and there is none else. I swore him by myself, the word
has gone out of my mouth, in righteousness, and shall not
return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall
swear. Surely shall one say, in the
Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall men
come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall
glory." And that's Christ, brethren. What think ye of Christ? Has
he given you faith? Do you see that you're a sinner,
but that God has provided his son as the means of forgiveness,
that he is the one who put away the sin of his people? Has he
given you that hope and that faith in him? Then look to him
and trust him and rest in him. and beg the Lord to continue
to reveal Him to you, because if you believe Him, that's not
a work of the flesh, that's a work of the Spirit, because only the
Spirit can give us life in Christ. All right, I pray the Lord will
teach each one of His children to see Him and to know Him and
to delight in Him as our God delights in His Son and has provided
Him for this salvation. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord,
Father, Lord, teach us that we ourselves are sinners, unable
to save ourselves, Lord, unable to do a good work in this flesh.
But Lord, show us that in us is no good thing, but that by
your Son, Jesus Christ, you have worked righteousness for your
people. Lord, give us, give these sinners here, myself included,
Lord, that faith and that hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. enable
us, Lord, to look to Him and to trust Him alone for righteousness. Lord, that You would keep our
hearts, that You would bring us to Yourself and grow us in
this knowledge and in the faith and the hope which You work in
each of Your saints. Lord, we know that this is a
spiritual work and a work that You must do. Lord, continue to
show us our need of Christ and to show us that He is sufficient
to save to the uttermost and let us not depart from Him. Let
this work in us not be a work of the flesh, but of your spirit.
And Lord, we do pray for our brethren that are suffering,
that are sorrowing for loved ones lost. Lord, we are thankful
though. We're thankful especially that
you revealed yourself to Kathy and that she's with you now.
We're thankful for that. Please fill our brother, Darwin,
with that hope and that comforting thought that she is with you
even now. And Lord, continue to work that
patience in our brother, that he would continue to labor among
your people, Lord, joyfully and willingly. For Lord, your people,
we need you, Lord. We need your servants and your
people to go forth and preach this gospel, to feed your sheep
and call them out of darkness. Lord, we're thankful for the
outpouring of love that you showed to Darwin and to his children
and the grandchildren being there. We're thankful for that, Lord.
It's such a sweet thing when you show your servants the love
that your people have for them and how thankful they are for
that labor of Darwin and Kathy that they have labored among
the people. Lord, for those of us that are
sick and not well, we pray that you would heal us and keep us
well. And we pray, Lord, that you'd
continue to teach us now even this day. We pray this in Jesus'
name, our Lord and Savior. Amen. Our closing hymn is going to
be number 56 from your hardback. Number 56, I am his and he is
mine. God with everlasting love, let
my praise and love do know. Spirit breathing from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so. all divine. In a love which cannot
cease, I am His and He is mine. In a love which cannot cease,
I am His and He is mine. Heaven above is softer blue, this sweeter green. Something lives in every hue
priceless eyes have never seen. Birds with bladders, songs o'erflow,
flowers with deeper beauty shine. Since I know, as now I know,
I am His and He is mine. Since I know, as now I know,
I am His and He is mine. That was for a while the Lord. Cannot now disturb my rest. rest. Oh, to life forever near. Doubt and care and self-resign. While he whispers in I am His and He is mine. While He whispers in my ear,
I am His and He is mine. His forever, only His, Who the
Lord and me shall find. Christ can fill the loving heart
Heaven and earth may fade and flee Firstborn light in gloom
decline But while God and I shall be I am His and He is mine Thank you.