I'm reading from the Gospel of
Mark, chapter 8. Mark, chapter 8, verse 27. The Lord Jesus Christ and His
disciples were walking to Caesarea Philippi, and it says, On the
way He asked His disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that
I am? Whom do men say that I am? Now, this question he asked his
disciples is the question of questions, one which we need
to ask ourselves, one which all men need to consider. Who do
you say that Jesus of Nazareth really is? Who do you say that
that one named Jesus of the town of Nazareth nearly 2,000 years
ago, who do you say that he is? Well, whatever a person thinks
of Jesus of Nazareth largely determines if they are saved
or not. That's what Christ said in John
17, verse 3. He said, This is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom he sent. The only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. Now, it has been nearly 2,000
years since Jesus Christ walked this planet, and so very many
people and religions have sprung up. And now, more than ever,
since the world's population is greater than ever, there are
more people and more religions than ever, more opinions about
Jesus of Nazareth. I believe there are as many as
300 denominations in so-called Christianity alone, 300 denominations. So apparently there are divisions
now concerning what men think of Jesus of Nazareth, 300 at
least of what men, their opinions of who this was. In John chapter
7, it is written concerning our Lord that there was a division
among all men concerning Him. It says the same thing in John
chapter 9. There was a division over Him.
And in John 10, the same thing. There was a division over him
of what he said and who he was. So there's much division over
who Jesus of Nazareth really is and what he said. Well, here
in Mark 8, verse 28, the disciples began to answer the Lord and
say unto him. They answered when he asked them,
Who do men say that I am? They answered and said, John
the Baptist. Somebody said, it may have been
Peter or Bartholomew, spoke up and said, John the Baptist. Some
say that you are John the Baptist, risen from the dead. Someone
else said, Elijah or Elias, Elijah. Some people are calling you Elijah,
reincarnation of the great prophet Elijah. Someone else said, Some
are saying you're one of the prophets, such as Samuel or Moses
or some great person like that. So they were saying great things
about Jesus of Nazareth. The general population, the people
throughout the world, were saying great things about Jesus of Nazareth,
calling him John the Baptist. risen from the dead, or Elijah,
the great prophet Elijah, or even greater than that, Moses
or someone like that. So they were saying great things
about Jesus of Nazareth, but listen to me people, they weren't
great enough. The things they were saying about
Jesus of Nazareth were not great enough. What they were saying,
now they called him John, Elijah, one of the prophets. What they
were saying is, he's a great man, but he's just a man. He's another great man in history. Another powerful, great personage
in history. A great man. They were saying
great things about him, that he's a great man, along with
other great men in history. Now, that's not great enough.
What they were saying about him then was not great enough, nor
is it great enough now. Because most today are saying
not much more than that, that he's just a man. In Psalm 50, It is written that the Lord God
himself speaks. It says in verse 1, The mighty
God hath spoken. And in verse 21, I read, God
says this, in verse 21, These things hast thou done, and I
kept silence. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether
such a one as thyself. End of quote. God says, you thought
I was just like you are, a man. You see, men think about God
and about Jesus of Nazareth. Men think God is like a man. They think that God makes his
plans and they may fail due to circumstances. That he tries
and he can't do anything unless other people cooperate. That's
what we do, isn't it? Isn't that what human beings
do? We make our plans and they fail, so we have alternate plans
and contingency plans. Isn't that what we do? Not God.
Not God. He says in Isaiah, I have purposed
it, I'll do it. He said, none can stay my hand
or say unto me, what doest thou? None. He said, I've spoken it,
I'll bring it to pass. Well, men, they try, and they
can't do things unless other people cooperate. Not God. That's
not the God of the Bible. It may be a God that men have
made up. God says this in Isaiah 43, verse
13. He says, I am he, there's none
that can deliver out of my hand. I will work, and who shall let
it? Or that is, who shall prevent me from working? What shall stop
me if I purpose it? Well, men do all that they can
do, and then it's up to others to finish the work. Not God. Acts 15, 18 says, No, unto God
are all his works from the beginning. In Isaiah chapter 46, I believe
it is, yeah, he says, I declare the end from the beginning, from
ancient times, things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel
shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. That's the God of the Bible.
He doesn't ask people to cooperate, and people can't thwart his plan,
his purpose. Well, say the same thing about
Jesus of Nazareth, that he wants to, he tried, he can't unless
men let him. He wants to save you, and if
you won't let him save you, he can't save you. preacher conducting one of these
so-called revival meetings years ago. And he was going around
the little community there, door to door, talking to people, trying
to get them to come to his little revival. And he went to the door
of an old farmer named Johnson. Let's call him Mr. Johnson. He
went to his door and said, Farmer Johnson, my name is so-and-so. I'm conducting a revival meeting
in town, and I'd like to invite you to come down, to come to
the meeting." And the farmer said, No, I don't want to. And
the young preacher was taken back, and he said, Well, but
Farmer Johnson, you need to come hear the preaching, because if
you don't hear it and accept Jesus, you'll, you need to accept
Jesus, Farmer Johnson. And he said, No, I don't want
to. And the young preacher was even further taken aback. And he said, what do you mean?
Well, Farmer Johnson, if you don't accept Jesus as your personal
Savior, then when you die, he'll send you to hell. And Farmer
Johnson said, nope. I won't let him do that either.
He said, if he tries to save me, I won't let him. If he tries
to damn me, I won't let him do that either. Makes sense, doesn't
it, people? If Jesus can't save, lest men
let him, and if he tries to damn them, they won't let him do that
either. Well, that's not the Christ of
Scripture. That's not the Jesus of Nazareth
of Scripture who said in John 17, All power is given unto me
over all flesh. That's what the Scripture says.
All power is given unto me. that he should give eternal life
to as many as God gave him. Colossians says that he's the
head of all principalities and powers, even over the rulers
of the darkness of this world. Well, whom do men say that I
am? Well, he's a good man. That's
not good enough. He's a great man. That's not
great enough. He's the God-man. That's what Isaiah wrote. A child
is born, a son is given, whose name should be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father." Take that
and chew on it, Russell Ites. He is the God who created the
woman who held him in his arms. Well, our Lord asked his disciples,
he said, Well, who do you say that I am? In verse 29, he said,
Whom say ye that I am? Now, his disciples all confess
the same thing. Well, what Peter said here represents
all true believers. Peter said, on behalf of all
believers, Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the
Christ. Well, very briefly, let me tell
you what Peter meant. When Peter said the Christ, when
Peter back then confessed that Jesus of Nazareth, that man,
was the Christ, every Jew on the planet back then was looking
for the Christ. And every Jew on the planet knew
that the Christ was none other than God Almighty manifest in
the flesh. Every single Jew knew it was
God come down to earth as the Christ. That's what Isaiah 25,
9 says. This is our God. We've waited
on him. He'll save us. The Christ was
going to be God to manifest in the flesh, the Holy One of Israel,
because only God can save. God, our Savior. That's what
his name means. Well, every Jew knew that the
Christ was God, and it meant so much more back then for a
man to say that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ than it does now,
because men merely use that name to cuss with, saying, O Christ. And men confess all the time,
Jesus Christ this and Jesus Christ that. Well, true believers know
he's the Christ. What does that mean? Well, the
Christ had three offices in the scripture, the Christ. Only the
Christ bore all three of these offices, prophet, priest, and
king. Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 18
of that prophet, the prophet of God, the only one who would
actually speak the very word of God. Not what was repeated to him,
but he himself is the word of God Almighty. Deuteronomy 18,
15 and verse 18, in his mouth is everything God said. Well,
Christ came and he said that. In John chapter 3 and chapter
4, he said, the words I speak unto you, they're the words of
the Father. He's the prophet, that prophet
to end all prophets. There are no more prophets today.
I don't care what these pinhead preachers say. They're not prophets.
Christ said all that needs to be said anymore. I don't care
what Joseph Smith or Mary Baker Eddy or Charles Russell said.
They are false prophets. Jesus Christ ended all prophets.
To Him get all the prophets witness. He's the priest. This is the
other office which only the Christ has. He's the priest, the great
high priest, the priest to end all priesthood, the only one
whom God listens to, the only one who can take the sacrifice,
the blood before the Lord, the only one whom God will speak
to men through, the one mediator between God and man, the man.
Jesus the Christ, and he is the king, prophet, priest, and king. Yes, he is the king of kings
and Lord of lords. The only high potentate, Paul
wrote to young Timothy. There are no more priests and
there are no more prophets. Jesus of Nazareth is all of that
fulfilled in himself. And he's the king of king, the
king of the universe. Do you know him? I hope so. Until next Sunday, good day.