Why the Lord, our God, is good,
His mercy is forever sure, His words that open firmly stood,
And ever made to make Him true. That hymn is taken from Psalm
100, which is as old as the Lord himself. The church has been
singing that hymn a long, long time. And that's why we sing
it. And that tune alone, taken from
the doxology, is over 400, 500 years old, the tune alone. Matthew 16. Now read with me verse 13 through 15. Matthew 16, verse 13. 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? They said, Some say that
thou art John the Baptist, some Elias or Elijah, others Jeremiah
or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? The Lord asked them this question.
Not for information. The Lord never asked questions
for information. The Lord knows everything. He
knows, David said, understand that my thoughts are far off. He knows what we're thinking.
Quite often the Lord would expose the thoughts of men who spoke
or just thought something privately, and He shocked them. He never
asked questions for information, but He did it to try men, to
try us, test us. And here He's making His disciples
think and confess. They're going to confess whom
they believe Him to be. Whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? He asks. The Lord used that term,
Son of Man, often. Son of Man. Now, you and I never
use that term because it is a mute point. I am the son of a man. You are the son, the daughter
of a man. You come from a man. But when
he said it, it was a miracle and a wonder and great condescending
mercy and grace that he would be numbered with or reckoned
with the sons of men, sinners, mere mortals. No man was responsible
for his birth. Scripture says he was born of
a woman. God said in Genesis 3, the seed
of woman. Well, a woman doesn't have seed.
Man has the seed. Christ wasn't born of a man.
This is what so many believe yet today that there was some
kind of meeting between Mary and somebody,
because he had to have been born of a man to be a human being.
Not so. That's how he is who he is. That's how
he could do what he did. He said, I'm the son of man,
but I don't have an earthly father. I'm a man. You're looking at
a man, but I'm not a mere man. But who do they say that I, the
Son of Man, am? Now, this is the most important
question we could ever be asked. Our Lord never spoke an idle
word, and He never asked an idle or useless question. If He asked
a question, it was of eternal significance. And there can be
no indifference on our part. If I ask you a question or if
I'm trying to prove you, it matters not whether you answer me or
not. You can take it or leave it,
whatever I say. It doesn't matter. But now, if the Lord asks a question,
you better be able to answer it. And it's not an insignificant
question. And it demands a heartfelt answer. What he's talking about is not
a mere head knowledge, which so many have, but a heart understanding
of who he is. And it reveals the state of our
soul. All right, the disciples in verse
14 said, they answered, some say that thou art John the Baptist,
risen from the dead. John had already been beheaded.
And some said it must be John, risen from the dead. Some, Elias
or Elijah, who was arguably the greatest of all the prophets,
including Moses. And others, Jeremiah or one of
the prophets, Samuel or someone like that, Isaiah. There was
a difference of opinion among the people then, and there's
a difference now. Go with me to John chapter 7,
the Gospel of John chapter 7. Two thousand years later, men
and women are still greatly divided over who Jesus of Nazareth was,
or is, rather. John chapter 7. I told you when
I was in, I think, Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago, I had
long ago quit reading Time magazine and some of these other biased
man-made publications. Anyway, on the cover of it, I
couldn't help but notice there was this picture of who they
supposed to be, Jesus of Nazareth, which, by the way, is a graven
image, which is made up by someone, because there's not one single
physical description of Jesus Christ in this Bible. Not one. And yet they come up
with this, what they think Him to look like. Our Lord said,
don't do that. Do not make any graven image. No picture, no statue, no nothing. They do it anyway. I say, that's
Jesus. I like what one of the old preachers
we know says, he looks more like Wild Bill Hickok to me. And he deserves to be made fun
of, because that's not Jesus Christ. At any rate, on Time
magazine, it showed this picture that they purport to be Jesus,
and a big heading that said, Whom do you say that I am? And I thought, God did that.
Some editor said, let's put something real controversial on the cover
of our magazine this month, and nobody can walk by this without
having some opinion. But God said that long ago, and
this is the question. This is still the question, of
all questions. And there's a difference of opinion
among men and women, not among God's people. But look at John
7, verse 40. It says this, read along with
me. John 7, 40. Many of the people, therefore,
when they heard this saying, said, of the truth, this is the
prophet. Others said, this is the Christ. But some said, shall
Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the scripture said that
Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of
Bethlehem where David was? So there was a division among
the people because of him. And some would have taken him
and no man laid hands on him. And John 8, look across the page
at John chapter 8, verse 23. He said unto them, You are from
beneath. I'm from above. He's telling
us who He is. You're of this world. I am not
of this world. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins. Sin. That's only something that
Ignorant Appalachian Mountain Kentucky preachers talk about
it in sin. Jesus Christ. You'll die in your
sins if you believe not that I am. Notice the word he is in
italics, that means the translators of the King James added that.
Shouldn't have been added. If you believe not that I am.
That's the name of God. He said, You shall die on your
sins. They said, verse 25, unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus
saith unto them, Even that I said unto you from the beginning.
What? What did you say? Who are you? In another place, John 9, they
said, If you be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you,
you will believe as I said unto you. My sheep here, my boy. You believe not, because you're
not my sheep. Well, who are you? The same I
said from the beginning. Who? The same One who spoke to
Moses 3,500 years before them. John 17. Go over there. I do
want you to see this. John 17. Which most in here can
quote this verse. John 17. the Lord praying to
his Father. Do you want to know what eternal
life is? Do you want to know what it means
to be born again, born of God by the way? Who first spoke of
being born again? Jesus Christ. Read on with me. John 17. These words spake Jesus
and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has
come. glorify thy son, that thy son
also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as, what does it say, except him? No sir. That he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal. This is what it means, our Lord
said, to be saved, to be born of God. That they might know
Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent. So go back with me to our text
in Matthew 16. To be born of God, to be chosen
of God, To be loved by God, accepted by God, to live eternally someday
with God is to know God, the true God, and Jesus Christ whom
He sent, to have Him revealed. And here's what the Lord said.
He said, No man knoweth the Father, but the Son. Neither knoweth
any man the Son, but the Father. 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." You can't just figure out
God. It has to be revealed. Christ said that. I didn't say
that. Jesus Christ said that. All right, look at this in verse
14 now. When he said, Whom do men say
that I, the Son of Man, am? They said unto him, Some say
you're John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah, or even
one of the prophets like Moses, or one of the greatest of men. Now, if you would call any mortal
man by the name of John the Baptist, it would be very flattering to
that man. Our Lord said of John the Baptist, The Lord Jesus Christ
said there's never been a man born of woman greater than John
the Baptist. That's what he said. None greater.
That would be flattering to me or you, wouldn't it, if someone...
but not to this man. There is a greater. If you called me Elijah, if you
called a preacher Elijah, the prophet Elijah, oh my! What a
compliment that would be to most, not to Jesus Christ. That's calling him a mere mortal
man when he is infinitely more than that. Men say today things
like this that appear to be complimentary, flattering to him. They say things
like, well, he's a good man. One time a young A religious
fellow came up to him and said, good master, and the Lord stopped
him right there. And he said, why do you call
me good? He said, there's none good but God. There's none perfectly
holy and righteous and good in thought, in word, in motive,
in deed, in tongue. Not one single human being. Only God is good. And we say
that about people. He's a good man. We speak amiss. He said, good master. There's
nothing good but God, Christ said. They call him a good man.
They call him a great teacher. A great teacher. A wise man. Well, you know, have you ever
read anything by Mahatma Gandhi, the Hindu Indian teacher? Well, you know, he actually said
some good things. You can find some bits of wisdom and this
and that and the other. These people are good teachers. That's no compliment to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Solomon. As I said, Solomon wrote
3,000 Proverbs. We have 800 or 900 of them, and
men don't bother to look at them. Full of infinite wisdom. Any
one of which is able to save your eternal soul. And I said this before, if there's
any merit to, any truth to, any modern saying that has any validity
to it at all, any integrity or truth about it at all, it came
from this book. Because Christ said, I'm the
truth. That's what Jesus Christ said.
Words of wisdom. He is wisdom. Solomon, who wrote
so many, Jesus Christ taught Solomon everything. A greater than Solomon is here. Some will say he's a great speaker.
He was a great speaker. They said that back then. No
man spoke like this man. No one spoke like this man. A
speaker? This is the one before the world
began, the one who spoke everything into existence. With the mere
word of his mouth said, let there be light. And there was light. A great speaker. That's no compliment
to him. A great leader. He's a great
leader, they said. So was Mohammed. Millions still
follow his leadership. But this is the one who has every
person in his hand. Not just the leader. He's the
sovereign controller. In fact, the Scripture says the
King's heart, our president, whoever, whatever, leader of
any nation, whoever is elected, whatever they do, the Scripture
says the King's heart, mind you, is in the hands of the Lord,
this Lord, Jesus Christ. Like the rivers of water, I'm
still quoting, like the rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever
he will. Leader? He manipulates everything. They even call Him Lord. It's
just what they live. Our Lord said their heart is
fired from believing Him. I'll give you an example. Some
of you sat in a so-called church over here on Main Street. Southern
Baptists that claim to believe the Bible, claim to believe God,
claim to believe Jesus and so on and so forth. You sat right
there. On their sign, it reads this
way. It's a double-sided sign. On one side, it says, Jesus is
Lord. Now, Lord means absolute sovereign,
one who reigns and rules and controls all. That's what Lord
means, OK? One who absolutely has absolute
power over all. You read it with me and John
said it. On the other side of their sign, it says this, I quote,
let Jesus in. Now, which is it? Is he Lord? Or is he not? Does he do as he will, the scripture
says, with whom he will? The Lord who worketh all things
after the counsel of His will, and none can stay His hand, or
say unto Him, You can't do that. Isaiah 45. Or can't He get in
your heart? He can't get in unless you puny
little man will let Him do something. Which is it? Can't be both. But
I'm going to tell you what Jesus Christ said. He said, All power
is given unto thee in heaven and earth. And He said no one
can get in unless I say so. This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's not the one dependent on man. He's not the one that man
must let be God. We're the ones He must let do
things. We're the ones. You say, then,
if God's sovereign, who can resist His will? And we're a bunch of
puppets and all that? Let me go on, okay? If you're
a child of God, born of God, you do not think of Jesus as
merely Jesus. Nor will you call Him such anymore
after He reveals Himself to you. You'll call Him Lord. You will
not compare Him to any other ever again. You will not compare
Him to a mere mortal man. You will never, ever look at
a picture of Him without disgust. This personal question posed
to his disciples, true disciples. These were men who knew him.
Why did they know him? He came and picked them out and
chose them. He said, You did not choose me,
I chose you. That's what he said. To reveal
himself to them. In verse 15, he said unto them,
Whom say ye that I am? To his disciples. And this is
a question every person in here needs to know, to hear and be
able to answer to each of us. Who do I believe that he is?
Who do ye say that I am? Simon Peter. This is one time
he spoke up. Peter liked to talk. I do too,
and I'm ashamed of it. We all speak out of turn, don't
we? Speak when we ought to be listening. Peter spoke up and
said, verse 16, his heart couldn't, it couldn't contain himself.
Out of the abundance of the heart, he said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Simon Peter. The Lord said, Simon
bar Jonah. That's son of Jonah. An ordinary man named Jonah. Simon Peter, a few years before
this, he was a fisherman. He grew up a fisherman. His father
was a fisherman. Fishing was his life. Fishing
was what he lived for. Those boats, those nets were
everything to him. They were his life. He didn't
care one thing about this Jewish rabbi that everyone was talking
about, this Jesus of Nazareth. He didn't care. He wasn't listening
to him. He was fishing. He was out there in his boat
one day. He and his brother Andrew. And he that died in that boat
one day, had not Jesus Christ came to him personally, chosen
him, and revealed himself to him. Peter wasn't looking. Peter
didn't care. He didn't care who Jesus Christ
was. Neither did I. What about you all, those of
you who know him? But the Lord, the Lord Jesus
Christ, in mercy and grace, yes, loved. He loved Peter long before
Peter ever loved him, or Peter wouldn't have loved him. And
he came to where he was in that boat one day, and there were
hundreds of boats out in that cove, out in that Galilean Sea,
and the Lord could have chosen any of them. And he chose that
boat and another one down the way, James and John, and said,
follow me. And buddy, they dropped everything.
They dropped those boats, those nets. They left their father
and they followed him like sheep. And he began to open to their
understanding of who he was. And everybody everywhere said,
He's this, He's that, He's this. And the Lord showed them who
He was. He came walking one time on the water. He didn't do this
for everybody. His disciples were in a boat,
fishing, no, traveling. And He came walking on the water.
Now, how many people really believe that? And I'm not out here to
prove that. I don't have to. But He came
walking on the water to His disciples. We know He did that. We believe
He did that. Why? He said, I'm from above.
Jesus can't get in your door? Ask the disciples about that.
They were in a room one day, and the door was shut, and He
came walking in. Aren't you glad? He came walking
on that water one day, and they thought it was the Spirit. He
said, no, there's nothing and no one but Me. Whatever it is, it is I, Christ
said. Whatever happens, whoever it
is, I am God. And he came walking, and they
said, and Peter said, Lord, is it you? It is I. A good man comes
along. And he did. Not very far. Men
can't walk on water. But he fell down and was going
down and going under, and he cried, Lord, save me. And the
Lord reached down. and pulled him up out of there,
and he got in the boat with the rest of the disciples, and it
said that whole raging Galilean sea sat down at his feet like
a farm pond. It says every one of those men
hit their knees in that boat and said, of a truth, thou art
the Son of God. He doesn't do that for everybody. Simon Peter, Barjona. And Peter knows who he is. They say this, they say this.
Who do you say? The Christ. The Son of the Living
God. From his heart of hearts, emphatically,
with no doubt, he didn't say, I believe. I think, no. I know
who you are. And I wouldn't have known if
you hadn't helped me. I'd be like everybody else. You'd
still be down there thinking He wants in your heart, though,
wouldn't you, John? Many say many things today. Many say that He's the Christ. Many say that He's Lord. Many
say He's the Son of God. In fact, this is what another
woman said to my wife one time when they were talking. She said,
and she recognizes a huge difference between the God that we believe,
that the Scriptures proclaim, and the God that men believe
in. Huge difference. Their God is not God. He wants
to be, can't be, unless you let Him be God. That's no God at
all, isn't it? Buddy, if God's a mere bystander
in the affairs of men, we're in a heap of trouble. I'm going
to get in a cave somewhere. But if he reigns and rules, and
I'm one of his, and my children and everything about me is under
his divine control, I can go to sleep at night. I don't have
to worry about terrorists. God's in control. And I don't
say that with my lips. But many say he's the Son of
God when they don't know what that means. In 1 John 4 it says,
try the spirits if any man doesn't believe that Jesus Christ has
come in the flesh. What does that mean? What does
it mean that He is the Christ? What does it mean that He's the
Son of God? What does it really mean that
He is the Christ? Well, number one, it means that
there's not another. There's only one. Thou art the
Christ. The Jews of old knew. Scriptures
proclaimed it. And all the Old Testament Scriptures
proclaim that the Christ who was coming, the Messiah, the
one sent by God, that He would be God. God, manifest in the flesh. Isaiah
25, verse 9 says, it will be said of that day when He comes,
the Christ, this is our God. We've waited on Him. He'll save us. Men sure don't believe that he's
God. The Mormons don't believe he's God. They hate that. Jehovah
Witnesses, Russellites they should be called, don't believe he's
God. They hate that. They believe he's a created being
just like you and me. That's Antichrist. That is the
spirit of Antichrist, which John said there are many. Be Christ
means this, according to Scripture. The Christ is known as that prophet,
the prophet, priest, and king. The prophet. The woman at the
well said, when the prophet has come, when the Christ has come,
he'll tell us all things. We won't need anybody else to
tell us any more things. Christ said, I am. There are no more prophets. He's
the prophet. He's told us all we need to know.
That's all we need to know. priest, the great high priest
of whom this Bible speaks so very much. A priest. We need a priest. We need someone
to go to God for us, to pray to God, to speak to God for us.
God will not speak to us personally, but through a mediator. That's
what this Bible preaches. That's an intercessor, one to
go between a holy God and sinful man. Who is that? It's not some
pope in Rome. That man's an imposter. It's
not some priest behind a screen. He's a wicked fellow, and you're
feeding his lusts if you confess to him. But it's Jesus Christ. Scripture says there's one mediator
between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Not a woman. It's
not Mary. You don't pray to her. It's the
man, Christ Jesus. The priest. The only one that
can put away our sin when we confess the king. He's the king
of kings. I quoted that verse. King's heart. He's the king of king. They do
his business. Lord of lords. Covenant head. I can go on and on with that.
All right. What is the son of God, man?
I got hurt. What does it mean when he's called
the Son of God, to really confess that he is the Son of God? Well, it's not that he is less
than God. It's not that he had a beginning
and never had a beginning until he was born on this earth. That's
not so. Isaiah 9, 6 says, And to us,
a child is born. There was a baby born in Bethlehem
2,014 years ago. A woman gave birth to a baby,
a child. But Isaiah 9, 6 says, but the
Son is given. The Son, the Eternal One, dwelled
with the Father, Proverbs 8, in the beginning. Daily His delight. who had no beginning or end of
days, one like unto Melchizedek. He dwelt with the Father. The
Son was given, Isaiah 9.6. Thou shalt call His name Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. That baby
whom Mary held in her arms was her Father. Say, I don't believe
that. Then He hasn't revealed Himself
to you. That baby that was born of that
woman was actually the one who created her. The earth on which she walked. That's what Peter is saying.
You're the son of God. That means the offspring of God. That's what son is. I am a son
of three sons and a daughter. We were all born of this one.
What it means is that Christ is the only bodily appearance
of God. And the scripture says that.
In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. He was a man. Why? There's not enough time. Why did he become a man? Not
to show us how to live. but to do something for men and
women and young people, to live as a man according to God's holy
law, and be their substitute, their sin offering, to bear their
penalty, their judgment, their death, and give them eternal
life through His work, His person. Oh, my! But he was a man, yes,
but he didn't have a beginning. He's God, but yet he took a body. Scripture says that. A body has
self-prepared me. A body has self-prepared me.
A dwelling place. And He dwelled among us. Great
is the mystery of Godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God. If you ask the average person,
they'll say He's the Son of God. But what they mean by that is
He's less than God. When the Scripture says, He thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. And He said, if you've seen
Me, you've seen the Father. And no man comes unto the Father
but by name. And men and women don't like
that. Don't like that. God's people do. And read this
with me and I'll close. Jesus answered and said unto
Simon, verse 17, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. If you know and believe what
all he said about himself from your heart. Oh, the Father hath
chosen you so blessed. Verse 18, I've got to say this
because this is so misused. I say unto thee, thou art Peter.
Rock. The Lord renamed Simon. Cephas. Rock. Little rock. Little stone. And he says, upon this rock I
will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the
keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind
on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven." This is where Catholicism got
what they believed and twisted and corrupted and had turned
it into popery. They claimed that Peter was the
first Pope. and that he is the successor
of Christ and every other pope that is elected. And I'll tell you right there, not
of God, this man wasn't elected. But they claim they're all the
successor of Christ, they're the head of the church, and they
have infallible powers, and whatever they say is the word of God,
and whoever they forgive sin. That's anti-Christ. He's the
Christ. Then what's he saying to Peter?
Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's
his rock-solid confession of faith. Peter said, Thou art the
Christ, and to say that is to say with Isaiah what God said,
Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, a chief cornerstone, elect and
precious. Jesus Christ, no other foundation
can any man lay than that which is laid. Jesus Christ. That rock is Christ, isn't he
saying? That rock upon which the church
and upon which the whole universe stands is Jesus Christ. And when
Peter said, Thou art the Christ, our Lord said, upon that rock. He didn't say you. He didn't
say, Peter, you're the rock and I'm going to build the whole
church on you. I'm thankful it doesn't stand on Peter. Just
a little while later, the Lord called him Satan. The next chapter. And then Peter denied the Lord.
It's not built on Peter. It's not built on the Pope. That
man's an imposter. It's built on Jesus Christ. All
my salvation, all of our hope, the whole universe, the whole
shooting match depends on one person. And buddy, it's in good
hands. Jesus Christ. And he said, the
gates of hell won't prevail. My church will be built on these.
He said, if the Lord doesn't build the church, they labor
in vain at building. He said, I'll build my church.
Upon this rock-solid confession of faith, whoever believes me,
the gates of hell will prevail against them." Satan desires
you, Peter, that I pray for you. You will fall if I don't pray
for you. I'm the priest. What about the keys of the kingdom
of heaven? That's the gospel. That's the Word of God. The Lord
gave the apostles the Word, and the Word that they preached Unlocks
prison doors. Loosens shackles and chains.
Unwraps grave clothes. And sets people free. Loosens
them. The Word of God. And then he
told them. Notice what he said. He said,
Don't tell any man. Don't tell. I'll tell them when
it's time. He chooses. Whom say ye that he is? Oh, I
believe and am sure that he is the Christ, the Son of the living
God. Oh, my. Do you? All right. John, you'll
come and lead us in a closing hymn, please.