I'm reading to you this morning
from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, and I begin reading with
verse 13. 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? Whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? Now, who do you say? You who
listen this morning, who do you say that Jesus is? That one named Jesus of Nazareth
that lived on this earth 2,000 years ago. Now, this is certainly
a relevant question in light of all the controversial books
and movies out today. In fact, this is the issue. This has always been the issue,
the question of all questions. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Now,
if He is who the Bible says He is, then this world is in a great
deal of trouble. If not, he is the greatest imposter
to ever live. And it's been the longest running
hoax in the history of mankind. That's how important it is. Who
do you say that Jesus is? That Jewish man who lived 2,000
years ago in Israel. Now, before I continue, let me
say this from the outset, that what you And I think about Jesus
of Nazareth. What you and I think about Him,
whom we say that He is, has no bearing whatsoever 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. But it's important, it's a revelation
of what we believe or who we are really, what we say about
Him. Now, the Lord Jesus asked the
disciples, whom do men say that I am? You and I do not need to
ask anyone that question about ourselves. We don't ever go up
to folks and say, what are men saying about me? Who do they
say that I am? That's of no importance. It's
of no importance at all. It does not matter. It's a mute
point, actually. It's very easy to know who someone
is. But he said, he asked, who do
men say that I am? What are men saying about me,
who I am? He didn't ask this out of concern. He didn't ask this because he
didn't know the answer. But he was demanding an answer
from his disciples, causing them to examine themselves and what
they thought about him, whom they said that he was. Well,
in verse 14 they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist,
some Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. Now, if he were John the Baptist
resurrected from the dead, that would be amazing, wouldn't it?
That would be truly amazing, impressive. But what would that
mean to us? What good would that do us if
John the Baptist were to have risen from the dead? Nothing. It would mean nothing to us.
It would be simply amazing. Or Elijah. Elijah the Tishbite
who went to heaven in a chariot of fire, a whirlwind. Amazing,
glorious exodus from this earth. Yet, if He reappeared, if this
was the reappearance of Elijah, what good would that do any of
us? Or Jeremiah, or perhaps Isaiah, Samuel, or one of the prophets,
even Moses. It would have absolutely no effect
on us right now, 2,000 years later. Well, whom do men say
Jesus is now? What they say about him now,
what they said about him then, what they say about him now,
is of no value to us. They say, and they said then,
and they say now, he's a great teacher. Well, there have been
many great teachers. They say he's a great leader.
He was and he is a great leader. Well, so have been many men throughout
history. So what's so different about
him? They said he was a great speaker. Well, Adolf Hitler was
a powerful speaker and swayed the masses. A miracle worker. Amazing, impressive. Greatest
man to ever live. But what bearing does that have
on you and me now? 2,000 years later. Well, the
Lord asks the disciples, verse 15, He saith unto them, But whom
say ye that I am?" Now listen, folks. What they said about the
Lord Jesus Christ, if they said that about us, it would be saying something great about
us. It would be a compliment. To
call me or someone, John the Baptist, another Elijah, Another
great prophet would be quite a compliment. It would be a promotion
for me, but not for Jesus Christ. To say that He was just a man
was a demotion for Him. To say something derogatory about
Him. For whom say ye that I am? The
Lord asked His disciples. And Simon Peter, He spoke up
for once. He spoke up when He should have.
And He answered, verse 16, and said, Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. Peter spoke. And what Peter said,
Peter's confession of faith, public profession
or confession is what all true believers say about Jesus of
Nazareth, what they say about Him. Peter said, Thou art the
Christ. Now, the Christ, the Christ,
Christ means the sent one, the Messiah, the prophesied one,
the prophet. All Jews knew that the Christ
who was to come was prophet, priest, and king, prince, ruler,
savior. All Jews believe, all who said
they were looking for the Christ, all believe from Scripture that
the Christ was none other than, would be none other than God
manifest in the flesh. That's right. Let me read to
you from Isaiah 25, verse 9. It shall be said, now here's
a prophecy of the Christ. Isaiah 25, 9, It shall be said
in that day, Lo, this is our God. We have waited for Him,
and He will save us. This is the Lord. Capital L,
capital O, capital R, capital D. That means Jehovah, the Lord. We have waited for Him. We will
be glad and rejoice in His salvation." They said, this is God. We have waited for Him. This
is our God. And is that not what Thomas said
that day after beholding the scars of Christ resurrected from
the grave? My Lord and my God. The Christ. Peter said, on behalf of all
believers, he said, Thou art The. That is, the one and only. There is no other. Christ, the
prophesied one, the Messiah, the sent one of God. There is
only one. There never has been another. Buddha is not one. Mohammed is not one. Krishna
is not one. Gandhi is not one. No. The Christ. The one and only. Christ said,
I am the way. And not many ways. Billy Graham
said there is other ways. That's right. Christ said, I
am the way, the truth, meaning everything, every other religion,
everything else is a lie. Christ said, I am the truth,
I am the life. He that hath not Christ hath
not life. He is dead in trespasses and
sin. The way, the truth, the life.
Every Jew believed that the Christ would be God in human form. And He came, Jesus of Nazareth. And the prophecy in Isaiah chapter
9 says this, Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The government, that is a male
child, is given. The government shall be upon
his shoulder. His name, that is the reign and
rules upon him, his name shall be called. This one born in Bethlehem. Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father. Jesus Christ is none other than.
God Almighty in human flesh. Is that what you say? Folks,
there's a whole denomination of persons that call themselves
believers. I mean, they call themselves
Christian. They go by the name of Jehovah's Witnesses. Their
followers are of a man named Charles Russell who began that
false religion, and they go door to door, and they flat reject,
they completely reject that Jesus Christ is God Almighty. The Mormons
do too. The Mormons do too. They reject
that Jesus Christ is God, saying things like, well, He never said
He was God. He never said it to them, but
He says it to all His people. And he said in John 8, 24, if
you believe not that I am, you'll die in your sins. That is, that
He is God Almighty, whom the men say that I am. Thou art the
Christ. When Peter said that, he's saying
you're none other than God in the flesh. And Peter said, Thou
art the Christ. And I read to you from Isaiah
25, 9, and it says, This is our God. We have waited for Him.
He will save us. And a multitude more of people
who do not believe that Jesus Christ came to save his people
and do not believe that he saved them when he came. They believe
he tried to. Southern Baptists, Pentecostals,
Methodists, Presbyterians believe he made salvation possible. Put down a down payment on salvation. You pay the rest by your faith
or whatever. Oh, no, no, no. to say that He
is the Christ, to believe that His name truly is Jesus, He will
save. He will save us from our sin. We will be glad and rejoice in
His salvation. God our Savior. He didn't come
to try to save. He came to save. And when He
hung on that cross, He said, It is finished. It is finished. He prayed in that prayer to His
Father in John 17, Oh, that Thou hast given me,
I have lost nothing." He will say. He hath to say. He will
say. His people. And it says there, He is the
Lord. That is Jehovah. I am a Jehovah's Witness, a true
one. I say Jesus Christ is Jehovah. And Peter went on to say, Thou
art the Son of God. What does that mean, the Son
of God? Well, it doesn't make Him less than God. It's just
a way of telling us that He is the offspring of God. God, whose
Spirit yet took upon flesh. Christ is the expressed image
of God. God does have an image, and that
image was Jesus Christ who walked this earth. But He is not less
than, but rather equal to the Father. Because I and the Father
are one, Christ said. What do you say about Jesus?
Just a man? Then you don't know Him. Is He the Christ, none other
than God Almighty in the flesh, your only hope, your Savior?
Then blessed art thou that flesh and blood didn't reveal that
to you, but the Father which is in heaven. May He do so this
very day. Amen.