In the Gospel of Matthew chapter
16 verse 13 it reads, 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? Let me ask you a question. Who
do you say that He is, that Jesus of Nazareth is? Whom do you say
that He is? This is the question. This is
the issue. Always has been, always will
be. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Time magazine, several years
ago, had a picture on their cover of Him, of the one who is supposed
to be Jesus. And by the way, there is no physical
description of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, only the one
in the Revelation, chapter 1, which is a picture that is unpaintable,
undescribable, which is imagery, which is symbolic of His glory
and His power. There's no physical description
of Him. There's no painting ever been
painted of Him, no photograph of Him, and all such photos and
paintings are idols, graven images, forbidden of God, condemned by
God. That is not Jesus Christ of Scripture. But on the cover of that Time
magazine, it had this picture of one who was supposed to be
Him with long hair and all. And by the way, Jesus Christ
did not have long hair. It's a shame for a man to have
long hair, Scripture said. And the title underneath that
picture was, Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Now
let me say this, if He is who the Bible says He is, and He
is, If he is who the Bible says he is, this world is in great
trouble. And if not, if he is not who
the Bible says he is, he's the greatest imposter ever lived.
And he's perpetrated the greatest and the longest standing hoax
in the history of mankind. You know that Christ, they were
asking Him questions, all sorts of ridiculous questions they
would ask Him, and He would answer them wisely. And after they all
asked Him their questions, He asked them one question, the
question of questions. He said, What think ye of Christ,
whose Son is He? Whose Son is He? And they say,
Well, He's the Son of David. And He said, Well, why did David
Call him Lord. Why did David say, The Lord said
unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine
enemies thy footstool. If David called him Lord, how
is he David's son? How is he Mary's son when he
is called by God the Father? Whom do you say that Jesus is?
That Jewish man who lived 2,000 years ago in Israel? Let me say
this. What you and I think about him
has no bearing on who he is. What anyone says or thinks about
him has no bearing, no effect, does not change the fact of who
he is. How important is it that we know
who He is? John 17, verse 3, He said, This
is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. That this is what it means
to be saved, to have eternal life, to have spiritual life,
to be a new and living person in Christ, is to know who Jesus
Christ is, to know whom He is. It is that important. Now, you
and I never ask someone, who do you say that I am? That's
a mute point in it, isn't it? He said here, whom do men say
that I the Son of Man am? Do you ever hear a human being
say that? Do you know that I'm the Son
of Man? Of course you are the Son of Man. If you're a son,
you're born of a man. If you're a woman, you're born
of a man, born of a woman. But why did Christ say, whom
do men say that I the Son of Man am? Why did He call Himself
the Son of Man? Because this is He who had no
beginning. This is He who was not born of
man, so to speak. But this is the eternal God,
the Father. who came in the flesh. Yes, it's a great mystery, Paul
said, but it's without controversy. It's without argument, no matter
what anyone says, no matter what Jehovah's Witnesses say or Mormons
say. God was manifest in the flesh.
God was manifest in the flesh. That man who lived on this planet
is not a mere man, he was God. He was God and he still is God. Well, they said, he asked them
that question, who do men say that I the Son of Man am? They
said, some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elias
or Elijah, the others would say you're Jeremiah, one of the prophets.
In other words, they were saying some good things about this Jesus
that said, well, he's John the Baptist, Elijah risen from the
dead, Jeremiah, or maybe Samuel risen from the dead. If you said
that about me, or if you said that about any other man, it
would be a compliment, but not about the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's no compliment. Oh, no. He's far and above, greater
than any of those. He's not just a mere man. Those
were just mere men, and they died. They were born sinners,
and they died sinners. But this is none other than the
Son of the Most High God. God manifests in the flesh. Well,
who do you say that he is? Well, some say he's a great teacher.
Well, so was Mahatma Gandhi, or maybe even Buddha, I guess.
Well, some say he's a great leader. Well, so was Mohammed. He led
many people, didn't he? Able to move thousands. Well,
some say he's a great speaker. Well, so was Adolf Hitler. They
say he's a miracle worker. Well, that's amazing. It's impressive,
yes. Some say he's the greatest man to ever live. That's not
high enough. That's not great enough. Whom do you say that He is? Well,
they said, in verse 15, Our Lord said to them, Whom do you say
that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. And this is recorded in two other
Gospels. In the other Gospel, Peter said,
Thou art the Christ of God. The Christ of God. What does that mean, the Christ?
That means He is the long-awaited Messiah, the sent One, the Prophet,
the Priest, that Prophet of whom Moses spake, said, One shall
come mightier than I. The Prophet, capital P. The priest,
the king, the king of kings, in whose hand the hearts of kings
and rulers today and always have been is in his hand. The prince,
the ruler, the Savior, the Lord, the Master, the only mediator
between God and man, the Holy One of Israel, the righteous
servant of God, the Son of the living God, the one and only. This is what Peter said, Thou
art the Son. Not a son, like the Russellites
say, that he's no more than a son of God than you and I are. He's the Son. In Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He's the only begotten,
well-beloved Son of God, the only bodily manifestation or
appearance of God Almighty, yet He is equal with the Father. The Father called Him God. Unto
the Son, he saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever." Listen to
Scripture. This is what God says about Jesus
Christ. In Isaiah 7, verse 14, the Lord
Himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive,
that's Mary, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. What does Immanuel mean? God
with us. God with us. When Thomas found
out who he was, he fell on his knees and said, ìMy Lord and
my God.î And the Lord Jesus Christ did not correct him. Itís idolatry
to worship anyone but God. Well, they worshipped God and
so do I. They worshipped Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 9, verse 6 says, unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given. Yes, the government shall be
upon his shoulder. His name, what are we going to
call him? Jesus? Yes, that's a name. It means he shall save, God shall
save. But there was an Old Testament
man named Jesus. His name was Joshua. Well, Jesus
of Nazareth has a name much higher than that. He shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. And He has all government, all
control, all reign, all rule. Why? Because He is God. John 1 says, In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word, what?
Do you know it? It was God. The Word was God. And verse 14 says, ìThe Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us.î The Word is God. Isaiah 25, listen to this. Over in Isaiah chapter 25, this
is what God says about Jesus Christ, who He is. it shall be
said Isaiah 25 verse 9 says it shall be said in that day that
is speaking of the day when Jesus Christ comes It shall be said
in that day, Lo, this is our God. We have waited for Him.
He will save us. This is the Lord, capital L,
capital O, capital R, capital D. That's Jehovah. It shall be
said, We have waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in
His salvation. This is He. This is of whom the
Scriptures speak. God manifest in the flesh. All
the Jews knew, and when Simon Peter said, Thou art the Christ,
All the Jews knew and expected that God, when the Christ came,
it would be none other than God to end the plague. This Jesus Christ is God Almighty. That's who He is. He reveals
Himself to His people. They all know Him. The Lord Jesus
Christ said to a crowd of people in John chapter 8 that didn't
believe who He was, He says, If you believe not that I am,
You shall die on your sin. If you don't believe I'm God,
then you have no salvation. You're going to die on your sin.
Not just a son of God, the Son of God, but God. Who can forgive
sins but God? That's true. That's true. Who
are we to worship? The Son, the same as we worship
the Father. Why? Because they're the same.
They're one and the same. I don't understand, preacher.
I don't either, but I believe it. Christ said, I am. They said,
Who are you? He said, The same that I said
in the beginning. Who's that? The one whom Moses
heard speak on the mountain and say, I am that I am. That's who
He is. Well, when Simon Peter said that,
Our Lord said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, flesh
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. And so it is with everyone who
knows who he is and believes who he is and bows to him and
confesses that Jesus Christ is God, God Almighty. revealed Him to them. Because
no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any man
the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him."
Who do you say that Jesus Christ is? Who do you say that He is?
Well, He's God. That's who He is. He is who He
is. And He did what He came to do.
And He did it for whom He came to do it for. And when he was
hanging on the cross, he said, it's finished. And now he's seated
at the right hand of the majesty on high, reigning, ruling, controlling
all things, waiting, expecting all things to be accomplished,
to be brought to his feet. And in the end, everything and
everyone, everything and everyone that has breath is going to say
to the glory of God the Father that Jesus Christ is Lord, is
God, is Almighty. What about you? Oh, I pray, I
hope that He will reveal Himself to you because this is life eternal
to know the true God and Jesus Christ. Amen.