Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church
would like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. I'm going to be speaking to you
this morning from Mark chapter 8, and I'd like to begin reading
in verse 27. It says, And Jesus went out in
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, and others, one of the prophets. And he saith
unto them, but whom say ye that I am? Who do you say that I am? That's the title of this message.
Who do you say Christ is? Who do I say Christ is? You know, it does not matter
what other people think. It really doesn't. It does not
matter what parents think, what grandparents think, And I want you to listen to this
statement right here because this is the truth. It does not
matter what my pastor thinks. All that matters is what has
God said? What has God said in his word and with that
being said? With that right there being said,
what has he given me a response to his word? What has he put
in my heart in response to his word? Now, here is the question.
Whom do you say that I am? That's what our Lord asked. Whom
do you say that I am? Who do we say that he is? Who is he? Who is he? This is a great question. Many,
many people have no idea. Many people. Who do we say that
he is? Now, I pray the Lord might apply
this personally. I pray the Lord might apply this
to your heart personally and my heart personally. I pray this
question would go out to you Not just blanketly go out to
everybody. I'm talking about to you and
to me. Directly to my heart. Directly to your heart. One person
at a time. What think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Who do you say He is? Who do you say? Who do I say?
Who do we say that he is? Well, verse 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 and others, one of the prophets. Some thought
that our Lord was John the Baptist reincarnated. And the reason
is because his message was very bold, just like John's. Now, I believe our Lord was as
he said he was. He said, take my yoke upon you,
learn of me, I'm meek and I'm lowly in heart. And you'll find
rest to your souls. I believe our Lord was tender
with people. I believe he was kind. and compassionate,
but his message was very bold, meaning very confident, very
confident. There's only one truth to be
told. This word declares it. If a man
is preaching this word, he's preaching the truth. If he's
not preaching this word, he's not preaching the truth, period.
It does not matter who the man is. It does not matter who the
man is, but our Lord's message was very bold. This is the way
it is. And because of that, many people
thought that he was John the Baptist reincarnated. Some thought
he was Elijah or one of the prophets. And the reason is because of
the miracles. He did. Our Lord performed miracles just
like he gave those other men the ability to do. And in the
minds of men and women, that was a huge compliment. To call
him John the Baptist or one of the apostles, one of the prophets,
that was a huge compliment. If somebody said that about another
man, that would be a huge compliment. Somebody said about another man,
that right there is John the Baptist. That's the modern day
John the Baptist. That's the modern day Elijah. What a compliment. That was no
compliment to our Lord. No compliment at all. It is an
indescribable disgrace to compare his glory to another man. indescribable disgrace. It may have been a compliment
in the eyes of those people. It may be a compliment in the
eyes of men and women today, but it is a crime worthy of eternal
hell. To bring His glory, to bring
the glory of God Almighty Down to a man's level. Absolute crime. It's a crime against his glory. May God keep us. I mean this,
you and me. May God keep us from the abomination
of lessening him. That's all that's taking place
in religion today. That's all that's taking place
in churches today. Men and women are lessening him. It's an abomination in God's
eyes, and he's going to deal with it. Oh, may God keep you
and me from that. Lord, keep us from that. Don't
let us lessen him. Don't let us bring his glory
down. Don't let us lower him in our
own eyes. Please don't let us do that.
Turn with me if you would to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter
1 verse 18 says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in
unrighteousness. Unrighteousness because that
that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath
showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse." What he's saying is, let's just
look around. Just look up. Look out into space. Look at
all these things he's created. We're without excuse. We see
his eternal power and Godhead. And we're without excuse. We
have no reason to bring his glory down. No reason at all. He went on to say here in verse
21, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as
God. They did not believe God was
God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened." And that's what's happened to
men and women. Their foolish heart, our foolish
hearts by nature, are darkened. We have darkened hearts. And
he said in verse 22, professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools. and they changed the glory. of
the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible
man and then they even brought him down further and he said
like to birds and they brought him down further like to four-footed
beast and then brought him down further and creeping things man
just keeps bringing God's glory down lower and lower and lower
this man Jesus Many people love to use his name, put him on signs,
put him on bumper stickers. This man, Jesus, is not just
a man. He is not just a man. Over in
Matthew chapter 12, verse 41 says, the men of Nineveh shall
rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it. because
they repented at the preaching of Jonah. And behold, a greater
than Jonah is here. A greater than Jonah. Verse 42
says, the queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment
with this generation and shall condemn it for she came from
the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon
and behold, A greater than Solomon is here. A greater than Solomon,
those who said that he was John the Baptist or Elijah or one
of the other prophets, they gave him the highest honor that you
could give to a man and they missed it. They missed it. They missed it. Somebody will
say now, wait a minute, now they love Jesus. They were trying
hard. They were trying to honor him.
They loved him. They missed it. They missed it. They missed Christ. They missed Christ. What a horrible thing to have
happen to a person. To miss Christ. Hold your place
if you have a Bible and you're turning with me. Hold your place
here, we're gonna come right back. But our text says, over
in Mark chapter eight, verse 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, and others,
one of the prophets, And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that
I am? And Peter answereth and saith
unto him, Thou art the Christ. That's what Peter said. That
was his answer. Thou art the Christ. Now, we know that Peter
gave the right answer because of Matthew's account of this
same story. Over in Matthew 16, verse 13
says, when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he
asked his disciples saying, whom do men say that I the Son of
Man am? And they said, some say thou
art John the Baptist, some Elias, others Jeremias, or one of the
prophets. He saith unto them, but whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. 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. He said, Simon, you are a blessed
man. Simon Peter, you have had the
truth revealed to you. God has done something for you
that he does for very few men and women. He said flesh and
blood did not reveal this to you. God did. My father did. You did not learn this from a
man and no one does. If God is pleased to open this
sinner's eyes, if God is pleased to open this sinner's eyes, God
is the one who does it. No man, no man. We declare God's
word. We beg for God's spirit. And
if God moves, men will see the truth. They'll see the truth
about Jesus Christ. But God has to do it. God has
taught Simon Peter. He's taught all of his children
the truth of who this man, Jesus Christ, really is. Jesus is the
Christ. Now, let's see what that means.
What does that mean to say he's the Christ? What does that mean? In Matthew chapter one. Now,
the definition of the word Christ is the Messiah, the anointed
one. That's the definition of the
word Christ. Right here in Matthew 1 verse
21 says, And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring
forth a son, And they shall call his name Immanuel Christ. Christ means Immanuel, Immanuel
means Christ, which being interpreted is God with us. Now, has our Lord revealed that
to us, which being interpreted? What does Christ mean? What does
Immanuel mean? God with us. Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 says
a child is going to be born a son is going to be given a man is
going to come forth a man and his name shall be called now
listen to these names of this child who came his name shall
be called wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God. That's his name. Listen to this
one. The Everlasting Father. That's the name of the child
who was born. The Prince of Peace. Well, now wait a minute. Is he
a man? Is he really man? The answer
is one hundred percent. One hundred percent. Man sinned
against God. Man had to die. Man did in order
for God to be just and right and fair. He had to punish a
man. God had to kill a man for the
sin of man. A man had to die. So God became
a man. That's amazing, isn't it? God
became a man. Well, is he really a man? I mean, is he really a man? One hundred percent. One hundred
percent. The eternal one was born. That's a mystery. The complete
one. He's complete. God is complete.
The complete one grew. That's amazing. The all knowing learned. Explain these things to me. I
can't. This is the mystery of godliness. The prince of peace labored, suffered, grieved. He went to war with sin. The
one who will not slumber slept. The one who needs nothing hungered
and thirsted. The sinless one was made to be
sin. Life himself, the one who is
the source of all life, died. He died. And he accomplished
that the only way it was possible. God became a man. Well, then is he really God? If he truly is man, is he truly
God? The answer is 100%. He is the
only God there is no other. Jesus Christ, the only God there
is no other. The whole time that he was a
child, he never stopped being the man. Never. The whole time he was a servant,
He never stopped being the king. The whole time that he was on
trial, he never stopped being the judge. Never. The whole time
that he laid in that grave, he never left the seat of his throne.
The whole time. Somebody will say, I know, somebody
will say, I don't believe that. I don't believe that. He can't
be both. Well, then we've missed Christ.
If that's what we say, then we've missed Christ. We've missed Christ. That's what it means to say thou
art the Christ. That's what it means. Man thinks
he sees God. And man thinks he sees Jesus. But I tell you who man has missed.
He's missed the Christ. He's missed the Christ. There
is no salvation for a soul who misses Christ. No salvation. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. Lord
means the definition of that word means supreme in authority. It means the controller. It means
the sovereign. That's what the name Lord means.
The sovereign. It means the ruler. It means
God. That's what it means. It's the
name of his deity. Jesus means Savior. Savior. It means he is the one
who has the right to redeem his people. He is the only one who
is able to redeem his people. It's the name of his humanity.
Christ means he's the union of both. That's what it means. He is where God and man meet. He is where righteousness and
peace kiss each other. That's what it means to say He's
the Christ. He's the Christ. How can a sinner
be just with God? How? The answer is only in Christ. Only in Him. I could never die
for your sins. The reason is because I have
my own sins to deal with. I can't pay for my own sins,
much less yours. He was sinless. Absolutely sinless. So he was the only man eligible. to take the sin of another and
lay it on himself and pay for those sins that were laid on
him. He was the only man who could
wipe the slate clean of another. The only man. Back in our text
he's going to tell us how he did it. Back over in Mark chapter
8 verse 27 says, And 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 and others one
of the prophets. 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 man of him. And he began to teach them that
the son of man must suffer many things. The son of man, the man,
the actual man, Jesus Christ, the man, must suffer many things
and be rejected of the elders and of the chief priest and of
the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again."
That's what he told them. He told them as God's Redeemer
what he was going to accomplish for the sins of his people. He told them exactly what he
was going to accomplish for fallen man. And that's us, fallen man,
fallen into sin. He chose some out of this sinful
race to have mercy on. And this is how he's going to
do it. The perfect man is going to give his life a ransom for
many. That's what he said. Verse 32.
And he spake that saying openly and Peter took him and began
to rebuke him. But when he had turned about
and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter saying, get
thee behind me, Satan. The adversary was causing Peter
to rebuke him. The adversary was trying to put
a stop to this. His death on the cross is the
payment for sin. His death on the cross will lead
captivity captive, set his people free. And so he said, get thee
behind me, Satan, for thou savorest not the things that be of God,
but the things that be of man. A man is doing this, but God
is doing this. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. And our adversary tried as hard
as he could to stop it, but it could not be stopped. That is the glory of the gospel.
That is the good news of the gospel. He could not be stopped. Christ accomplished the salvation
of his people. As a man, he laid down his own
life. And as God, he raised himself
from the grave. That's amazing, isn't it? He
was the judge that required the sacrifice. He was the priest
that offered the sacrifice. And he was the sacrifice himself. That's what it means to say,
thou art the Christ. It means Christ is all. Christ is all of it. That's what
it means. He is all. Now, let me ask you
this question. Do you believe this? Do you believe
what God has to say about the Christ? Seeing what God has to
say about this man, Jesus, the Christ, do you believe in your
heart that he is indeed the Christ? Do you believe that? If you do,
let me read this to you from 1 John chapter 5. 1 John 5 verse
1 says, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of
God. Whoever God has caused to believe
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the true God. Verse 20 says, We know that the
Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may
know Him that is true. We are in Him that is true, even
in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. Jesus Christ is the eternal God. Jesus Christ is eternal life. Now, we know what they say, don't
we? They say everything under the
sun, but it doesn't matter. What do you say? What do I say? May God cause both of us to say,
thou art the Christ. Till next week, may the Lord
bless his word to our hearts. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.