Let's read verses twenty-seven
through twenty-nine. Mark chapter 8, verses 27 through
29. 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. Some say Elijah, 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. Our Lord, if you can picture
this, is walking to a particular place, and as a good shepherd,
I'm sure he was leading. He was walking, and his twelve
disciples beside him and behind him, following along. And they
talked a lot as they walked. He talked. They listen. And he began, picture this scene,
they're walking along together, walking into town, and he says,
Who do men say that I am? And they walk along. It was Peter
or someone spoke up and said, Well, some say you're John the
Baptist, risen from the dead. Somebody else spoke up, Bartholomew
or somebody said, Some say you're Elijah, the reincarnation of
Elijah. And maybe Matthew or somebody
said, well, some say that you're one of the prophets, Samuel or
even Moses or someone like that. Our Lord knows all things. He knows what everyone was saying. He knew what men were calling
him, yet he is talking to his disciples. And this morning,
most who are gathered here are professing believers. All right? So he's talking to us this morning.
And he brings up to his disciples, he causes them to think about
what men are saying about him. You understand? Are you listening
to what men are saying about me? Who do men say that I am? And our Lord causes us and them to
consider and think in their own hearts who he is, as opposed
to what the world is saying. You see? Some would say that we are negative
in our preaching, that we split hairs, that we just are troublers. That's what they said of the
prophets. Where is he that troubleth Israel? That's what they said
about all the prophets, Manspart. You know, they said that about
all of them. They're troublemakers. They don't
go with all of us. That's what the fellow said to
the Apostle Paul. He said, I want to hear what
you have to say. Everywhere this way is spoken
against. Everybody is against what you're
saying, you troubler. But I would rather choose to
think or say that what we're trying to do here, what we're
simply trying to do is to declare the true Christ of Scripture.
as opposed to what men are saying about him. True Christ. And it's saying
many things. Do you know that who a person
thinks Jesus of Nazareth is? Who or whatever a person thinks
Jesus of Nazareth is largely determines whether they're saved
or not. You know that? Oh, yeah. That's what our Lord said. John
17.3. This is eternal life. This is
eternal life. That they might know thee, the
only true God. Now, he said that. He said that,
Polly, because there were many saying a lot of things about
God, but it wasn't true. And so I said, that's the only
true God. Paul said to the Thessalonians
when he wrote them, he said, I thank God that you turn from
your idols to serve the living and the true God. That's salvation. Our Lord said, this is life eternal,
that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
the true Jesus, Paul said there's another one out there, didn't
he? Paul the Apostle wrote to the Galatians and he said they're
preaching another Jesus. He said if he's the right one,
then bear with them. If he's not, then you better
listen to me. Jesus Christ, whom God sent. This is life eternal. Turn with me to John 7. Now, it has been nearly 2,000
years since our Lord was on this planet. There have been a lot
of people, haven't there, who have lived on this earth since
then. A lot of religions have sprung
up, haven't they? Now, you know, the earth is more
widely populated now than ever. I forget how many billion there
are. Four billion now? Something like that? Three or
four billion? And they predict ten or twenty years it'll double
that. Hmm. How many? Six billion. Six billion. And they predict,
really, ten or twenty years that it'll be double that. Lot of people, aren't they? And
as with anything, the more people you get, the more opinions you
got. Until you get the most outlandish
things. More people, more religion than
ever. Right now, there's more religion than ever. There's more
opinions about Jesus of Nazareth than ever. In so-called Christianity
alone, There are three hundred denominations. I have to laugh. What are they denominating? There was just, there wasn't
any back then, was there? There was the way, and everybody
that was against the way. Oh my. What I'm trying to show
you, look at John 7, verse 43. It says there was a division
among the people because of him. That's where the division was,
you see? Even then, when he was on the
earth, everybody was divided over who he was. Who do you think
he is? Well, I think he's this, I think
he's that. Who do you think he is? I think he's this, I think
he's that. Look at chapter 9, John chapter
9, verse 16. You have it? John 9, verse 16. Some of the Pharisees said, this
man's not of God, he doesn't keep the Sabbath. He is the Sabbath. That's why
men don't understand the Sabbath, they don't understand him. He can't be of God, he doesn't
keep the Sabbath. He is the Sabbath. How blind men are, huh? Here,
keep this up. Read on. How can a man that is
a sinner do such miracles? There was a division among them. They were divided over him. Chapter
10. Look at chapter 10 with me. Verse 19. Our Lord, remember,
just talked about the sheep. I'm the good shepherd of the
sheep. I know my sheep. I'm known to them. I lay down
my life for the sheep. The other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring. The Father loved
me. I lay down my life for the sheep.
In verse 19, there was a division, therefore, again among the Jews. This is just among the Jews,
Stanley. Just among the Jews there, because of what he said.
What did he say? What did he mean by that? Well,
I think he meant this, I think he meant that. What do you think?
I meant that, he meant that. What about now? Now, go back to our text in Mark
8, okay? So, as then, so it is now. There's much division over who
Jesus of Nazareth is and what he said. Well, some say, now
look at what they said about him, all right? Look at what
they said about it. Now, folks, if they said this
about me, if somebody said these things about me, who do you think
he is? Well, I think he's John the Baptist.
Wow. You really think that of me?
I'm flattered. I mean, wow. I know John the Baptist. I wish
I was like him. That would be real honor, wouldn't
it? They said, he's like John the Baptist. He must be John
the Baptist. There was no greater man born of woman than John the
Baptist. Right? He's like John the Baptist. He's like Elijah. Ooh. Wow. Elijah was the greatest prophet.
Old Testament prophet. Some say he's another prophet. Moses, maybe. Can't get any higher
than that. Yes, you can. Oh, yes, you can. They were saying great things,
you see, about him. He's a great man. Are you with me? He's a great
man. Why, he's Elijah. That's not
great enough. You understand? That's an insult. Not great enough. They're still
saying, you know what they're calling him? They're still saying he's just
a man. And I remind you that every time
that the Pharisees came, what did they call him? Either teacher or Jesus. this Jesus. That's how they referred
to him every time. This Jesus. Now people, I'm going to try
to stay contained as I say these things, alright? I'm going to
try to say these things with clarity, with authority, but
with some compassion. Men are saying many good things
about Jesus today, but it's not good enough. It's not great enough. You see, if men are ignorant, number one,
if they're ignorant of the Word of God, which plainly declares
who God is, If you're ignorant of the word of God, you'll be
ignorant of God, right? If preachers were standing up
plainly declaring the word of God, men and women would clearly
see who God is and what he's like, would they not? Again,
I remind you, that's why they have ignored the Old Testament. It's too plain. It's too hard. who God is, right? And men don't
like God like that. So they ignore it altogether. And just a few choice places
in the New Testament. If men are ignorant of the Word
of God, they'll be ignorant of the God of the Bible and ignorant
of the Christ of Scripture. The true Christ. Stay with me. You remember reading that with
me? Psalm 50, verse 21, our Lord said this. Now this is God speaking.
He said this. Listen. Our God said this. And
that whole, that whole chapter is, he said, I'm, the mighty
God has spoken and he's demanding of men. What are you going to
give me? What are you going to do for
me? What have you got that I need? That's what the whole psalm is
about. Are you going to do something for me? Are you going to feed
me? Are you going to bake me a cake?
Are you going to do a work for me? God needs this. God needs
that. The Lord needs your money. All
this crap. That's what the whole psalm is
about. He's telling the earth, what do I need from you? What do you have that I, God,
need? You've got this all wrong. That's what he said. And in verse
21, he said, Thou, now listen to me, this is the indictment
against this generation, now more than ever, because there's
so many ridiculous motions about God Almighty. God says, Thou
falsest. That I, God, was altogether,
that is completely, such a one as yourself. You think, in other
words, that God is like a man, completely. But he says, I'm going to set
things in order before you. God is not like a man. Like I said, I'm going to try
to contain here, because you don't think that about God. But
it's hard, you know? It's hard. Jeremiah, after hearing
the prophets and all that going on in his day, he said, I am
grieved. He said, I am grieved. It just
makes me mad. There's a sign out on 220 right
now, supposed to be a note from God. Come over to my house after
the game. As if God's interested in a Super
Bowl! How ignorant could men and women
be? It wouldn't surprise me if something didn't happen today
at that Super Bowl. It wouldn't shock me a bit. But come over to my house after
the game. Love God. People, this is the most blasphemous
generation in history. And it's not going to last long.
It's not going to last much longer. Don't take my word for it. God
says so. He'll make a short work. Men say God is like a man. He
makes his plans, you know, and they fail, and he tries other
things and they fail. That's what they say. They give
a big word to it, don't they? Dispensationalism. That means
God tried something, it didn't work. Tried something else, it
didn't work. God tried the law, it didn't work. God tried this,
it didn't work. Oh, try the gospel. It doesn't
much work. God tries, he can't do anything
unless men cooperate with him. Now, I'm like that. You know
what? I can't do anything unless you cooperate with me. You're
like that. You know what? If I get in your
way, Brother Henry, you can't accomplish what you set out to
do. God is not like that. And a human
being can say, here is a hand. Preachers go even much further
than that and say he doesn't even have hands. And then they say God's done
all he can do. In other words, his hands are tight. If he does
have them, they're tight. He's sitting up there, he's done
all he can do, and he's a helpless bystander. But that's me. I can't
control anybody or anything. I stand by and I watch fate and
things happen. I can't control anything, even
a common cold. My wife's had a cold for a week
or so. And I don't want to get that
cold. We haven't kissed in a week. I don't want that cold. Folks,
if I'm going to get it, I'm going to get it. No matter what I do,
man can't stop becoming cold. Our Lord raises the dead. Goodness gracious, He creates
life. He spends coals just to show
you can't stop a cold. I'm just one germ. He's done all
he can do. Now it's up to you. He's standing
by, hoping everything turns out all right. Oh, man. A great God. Well, they say good
things about Him. They say great things about God,
don't they? Try to say great things. God
controls the weather, you know. But not man. He can't control
man. Or Satan. Man's... They say it about God. They say
he's God. Yes, but Satan's a God too. Right? God voted for you. The devil
voted against you. You've got equal vote. In other
words, he's just a God. Right? He's not the God. God over and over in the Scripture
says it. I am God. There is none else. Huh? How many times does he say
that? How many times do I say it? There's none else. He even
said there's not even a little g. G-O-D. Little g-o-d. There's not even a little one
with me. There's not even a little Prince out there reigning in
a little kingdom somewhere that, I'd like to say. There's not
even a little God with me anywhere. I am it. I reign and rule among
the arteries of heaven, among the habits of the earth. I am God. There's none else.
But men say, you know, God, this, and Satan, and boy, here's the
big God. And we name our churches after
him. free will. Not God's will be done, man's
will will be done. Am I stating the case too? Am
I exaggerating the case here? Not nearly enough. But whom say ye that he is? Now we're talking to the disciples,
okay? It's what the world say. Jesus, you know, if you're ignorant
of the Word, you're ignorant of God. If you're ignorant of
God, you're ignorant of Christ. Because Christ is God. Jesus
of Nazareth, who is He? He's God. If you're ignorant
of the Word, if you're ignorant of God, you're ignorant of who
Jesus, who this One that came is. Right? Oh, yeah. All right, now let's talk to
the disciples. All right? We're walking along here through
the Word here. Who do you say that he is? I'm son of man. Here's Jesus
of Nazareth, alright? Here's a man that walked this
planet. Jesus of Nazareth. Who do you say, Betty Hodges?
Who do you say that he is? Who do you say, Charles Hudson?
Who do you say that he is? Juanita, who do you say? that he is. Just a man? Hmm? I tell you what, we can't
say great enough things about him. That's the reason I tell
you, that's the reason I shout a lot. Brother David Fletcher,
his little granddaughter said to him one time, Granddaddy,
why do you holler all the time? I don't know where, you know,
why preachers start doing that, except maybe when God told Isaiah,
get up into the rooftop. Say it. At the top of your voice.
Behold your God! It can't be shouted loud enough
or strong enough. If you were up here, Steve, you'd
be doing the same thing. Guarantee it. If it got a hold of you,
there's no way to say it, other than to shout it. Whom do we say that he is? Peter. Now, Peter is going to speak
on behalf of all believers. Peter is Little Rock. The Lord
named Peter. Simon was his name. Just old
Simon. There was a bunch of Simons everywhere.
Simple Simon. But the Lord changed his name
to Peter, which means Little Rock, not Big Rock. Not Big Rock. That's one Big
Rock. Little Rock. And the church is
not built on Peter. Again, that's what those ignorant
fellows have done, is taken Peter and made a rock out of him. Well, it's what Peter said. And
our Lord said, you're Peter, I'm going to name you Little
Rock, Little Stone. Christ is the great stumbling
stone and rock of a fence, is he not, upon which the church
is built? It's Peter's confession of who Christ was. Well, Peter
speaks on behalf of all of us, and he says in verse 29, Peter
answered, and this is one time Peter spoke up that he should
have. This may be one of the only times
that Peter spoke up, opened his big mouth, and what he said was
right. And if we do the same, If we
say the same thing, this will be one of the few times that
what we say is absolutely right. He said, Peter said, on behalf
of all of us, thou art, no doubt about it, not you will be, thou
art the Christ. Thou art the Christ. Peter spoke
on behalf of all believers. Thou art the Christ." Who do
you say that I am? Not a one of them said, well,
you're Jesus. They all said, you're the Christ. All right, now, let me ask you
something here. Who is the Christ? What does
that mean? What does that mean? What does
Christ mean? That's the title of this message,
The Christ. Stay with me. Are you ready for
this? This is wonderful. If the Lord,
if, if the Lord had blessed us. The Christ. That's what this
whole book's about. That's what the whole ball of
dirt's about. That's what salvation's all about. That's why we're living. That's why we're breathing. That's
why we're here this morning. It's all about the Christ. Christ
is all, and in all. Are you with me? I wish some
other man better than myself were standing here right now,
going to tell this. Now, back then, when Peter said
this, back then, when Peter said the cross, it doesn't mean much
now to men, because they use this word as a curse word, just
like they do God's name. You know what? That's how perverted
this world is. They use the only thing that
will keep our soul out of hell as a common byword and a curse
word. Well, back then, when Peter said
this, Jews were looking for the Christ. Jews knew who the Christ
was. All Jews, everybody, even Gentiles,
the world over knew when you said the Christ. They knew who
you were talking about. They knew what you were talking
about. All they had, Vicki, was Isaiah
and Jeremiah and all that that talked about this one who's coming
and a fire going to burn before him. Not some sweet man with
love and this and that. I mean a tempestuous thing around
about him. Fuller's soul, refiner's fire. God manifests in the flesh, Emmanuel,
the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,
the government upon his shoulder, rulers from the—everybody knew
it when you said, the Christ, who it is, who he's talking about.
Not some pitiful, poor, helpless attempter, but the mighty God
that hath spoken, hath come down, the Christ. And from Genesis to Malachi,
the Christ is prophesied, typified, declared, described in great
detail. The Christ. I was going to have
you turn, but I'm not. I don't want to lose you here. Do you remember my preacher preaching
from Genesis 3.15? Genesis 3, the woman's seed.
This is the first time that God Almighty prophesied of the Christ. Just as soon as man fell, our
God is the one who told about the Christ. And in Genesis 3.15,
He said the Christ, the woman's seed, is who He was called. The woman's seed. The word Christ is a New Testament
Greek word. Messiah was the Old Testament
Hebrew word. But the Messiah was typified
and told, it started by the woman's seed. Our gods are one that said
the woman's seed. And what did he say about the
Christ, the Messiah? He said, and his word was to
Satan himself. Listen to this. His words were
to Satan, the prince of the power of the air, the dark, and the... Speed is going to bruise your
head. Now the word bruised there is
crushed to smithereens. It means like a serpent. You
ever stepped on the head of a serpent? What'll it do to it? Well, Satan's
alive and well on planet earth. He ain't got an ounce of power. Our Lord's got his foot on his
head. Huh? I like to watch that guy on I must contain myself in this
world. And I sure don't want to look
like one of these Pentecostal preachers. I like to watch the animal planet.
There's a guy on there who plays with snakes, and he's not an
Eastern Kentuckian. He's not a primitive Baptist
preacher. He's just a snake handler. Have
you seen him in all that? How do you control a snake? What has a man got to do? There's
only one way to control a snake. A snake can't do anything if
you do this one thing. Grab him by the head. The woman's seed, this is an
absolute facts which our God said of the seed. Not an attempt. Not a can-do-all-you-can-do.
He shall bruise his head. Our Christ has hold at the sheriff. He can't do a dang thing. Let me just go ahead and say
a damn. That's plain language isn't it?
He can't do a damn thing. He can't damn anyone or do anything. The woman's saved. Not us, but him. He's got the Christ. Who do you say that I am? Well,
you're the only one that can defeat my archenemy. You're the
Christ. I know much more. You're the
Christ. Well, people, these preachers
say, people resist the devil. I know the scripture says that.
How? In the faith, looking to the Christ. That's how you resist
the devil. Martin Luther tried, didn't he?
He threw things at him. You remember the story, don't
you? And so he sat down and wrote that very hymn, Never Greater
Been Penned. Did we in our own strength conspire? Our striving would be losing.
We're not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing.
Do you ask who that may be? Oh, Christ! Christ! Christ! Jesus! It is He! He must win the battles. Lord
Sabbath is His name. From age to age the same. He
must win the battle. One little word, and we'll fail
the enemy. What did he say? Get behind that. Our Lord, when he was going to
the cross, he said, Now is the prince of the power of the air
cast out. He's Christ. Our enemy is people
who don't fear the devil, fear God. Turn over to John chapter
3 with me, would you? Very quickly, John chapter 3.
And Moses, I was going to have you turn to Deuteronomy 18. Moses,
who was a prophet, Moses was a great prophet. Moses said,
Now God's going to raise up a prophet like me, a man, a leader of the
people, but oh, much greater than me. He said, God's going
to put his very words in his mouth. He's going to be that
prophet. To him, all the people will come
to. He's going to be that prophet.
Here's the things about, here's three offices that only the Christ
holds, okay? This is what I'm going to talk
about now for a few minutes. The Christ, in scripture, is called
prophet, priest, and king. All right, Moses said he's that
prophet. In other words, God's going to speak through him the
very word of God, and they won't need any more prophets from there
on. He's it. That's what Paul wrote. God used
to speak, but now in these last days has spoken unto us by his
Son. The woman at the well said, When
Messiah has come, when the Christ has come, he'll tell us the whole
thing. Christ said, She ran home, brought John, and
said, Come see a man. Yes, a man, but is he not the
Christ? Prophet. Christ is that prophet. And he says here in John 3, I've
turned there myself, John 3. Listen to John the Baptist speak
of the prophet. John 3 verses, look at verse
28. John said, you yourselves bear
witness that I said, I am not the Christ, I am sent before
him. You see, a true witness of the Christ, a true Christ-sent
man and Christ-like man will do everything in his power to
keep men from looking to him. And every message that he preaches
will tell them, don't look to me, I am not the Christ. Right there is the Christ. Every
single message that John preached was part of them. I've told you
before and I'll tell you again, I'm not the Christ, I'm just
a man. There's the Christ. Behold, the
Christ. Read on. Look at verses 30 and
31. He said, He must increase, I
must decrease. What does that tell you about
preachers today, people? Huh? Let me tell you all you need
to know about preachers. Find the one who's decreasing, and before your eyes Christ is
increasing. If there's a man out there where
more people are thinking about Christ and him, then that's God's
man. If there's a man out there everybody
wants to kill, not follow, kill, cut his head off. There's God's man, and the Christ
he's preaching is God's Christ. Right? He must increase. These preachers are getting bigger
and louder and prouder, aren't they? Their names are being spread
all over the earth. What does that tell you? He must increase. Verse 31, "...he
that cometh from above is above all." Look down at verse 34,
this is it, "...he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. God giveth not the Spirit by
measure unto him." He's the anointed. Do you know
what Christ means? Do you know what Messiah means? Anointed. I saw one of these
local yokels stand up the other day and say, I am anointed. Do you understand the gravity
of that? Our Lord stood up one day in the temple, and he said,
The Spirit of God is upon me, for he hath anointed me. How could a man say something
like that? Well, our Lord said they would.
Many false prophets will come in my name, saying, I'm the Christ. They're saying Jesus is the Christ,
but what they're saying is that they are. I'm anointed. Who do you say that I am? You're
the Christ. The. Singular, right? One and only. You're the only
one anointed. Only one anointed. Prophet. Priest. You know, what he says
is the very word of God. What we say, we just get it from
him. Right? We're just repeating. He's that
prophet. He's the priest. I was going
to have you turn there. I wish we had the faculties to
do this. Paul did it one time. He preached
for about eight hours, and the people couldn't get enough. And
this is what he was preaching. He preached about the priest. He went over to Exodus 28. With
that story of where God Almighty told Moses, he said, You bring
Aaron in here. I love that story. Don't you,
Deborah? Bring Aaron in here. What are we going to do? Just
one man. Just Aaron. Just one man. We're going to take all the names
of God's people and write it on a stone and put it on his
chest, and he's going to go away where God is. And he's going
to offer one sacrifice with all the names of God's people. Aaron
alone, Aaron alone, is going to bear the iniquity of all of
God's people. Put a man on his head, put a
rod on his back, put an arrow on his shoulders. One man, are
you with me? Somebody. One man, but half-priest,
is going to go in alone where God is. It's all on his shoulders. Are we going to live or die? Who determines it? The high priest. Who is this? Go in some pitiful pinhead little
man with a perverse lifestyle in private and confess your sins
to a strange man. That ain't no priest. That's a devil. Who do you say that I am? He's
the priest. Every other one is an imposter
antichrist. Could you say this without getting
excited? Huh? Could you? What? We'll lift the roof off
this place. There ain't no priest of Jesus
Christ. Don't confess you. No man can
do anything for anybody but the one. Who do you say that I am?
You're my Christ. You're the Christ. You're the
one I confess all things to. And I don't even have to do that.
You know it before I say it. And not only can you hear them,
you put them away. Why would you go and confess
your sins to a man that's got more sins than you do? Huh? Why would you? Do you know that
they, we got a call this week, and a reporter in Massachusetts
called me and said, are you Father Paul Mahan? I said, oh no. No. I didn't hear him the first
time. That's the good thing about being
hard of hearing. Then he said, did you hear what he called you?
Father. No, I didn't hear that. I had
a question, but I'd have heard it. So are you Father Paul Mayhem? No, he's not. Did you used to
work in Massachusetts, such a place as Diocese in Massachusetts?
No, I did not. So we're looking for why? Because
he's got 12 felony counts against him. What'd he do? He'd been molesting children. Got my name. His name's Paul
Mahan. I said, buddy, you better get
your mind straight. I ain't him. Do you know what
you could do to me if you get the wrong person here? Come to
find out this fellow is living in the state of Virginia somewhere. Well, don't worry about that,
because I asked him. He said it's not going to be national
news or anything, but big deal. Let him drag my name through
the mud. Big deal. That religion and those men that
are in it are absolute perverts. This is not an isolated case,
people. This has been going on for years. They dug up bones
of aborted babies under these so-called temples and Catholic
monasteries and all that, and it's full of homosexuality. Oh
yeah, you get an unregenerate man and make him bow celibacy? I'm telling you the truth. Father,
forgive me, bless me, I have sinned." You know, it's not a laughing matter.
This is serious business. Who do you say that I am? You're
the Christ. You're the priest. You're the
only one. You're the only one. And when
men say these things, it's anti-Christ. You're the Christ, and I'll say
the best for last. Prophet, priest, king. I bet you wish you were standing
up here now. Now, 30, 40 minutes later, I'm
glad I'm here. I get to declare this. Look at
Psalm 2 with Menachem. Psalm 2, okay? Psalm 2, my favorite
psalm. Psalm 2, prophet, priest, and
king. Who do you say that I am? I'll
tell you who you are, Peter said. You're our king. You're the Christ. You're our king. The world say
we have no king but Caesar. Believers say we have no king
but Christ. You're the king, God's king.
Look at Psalm 2, and it says here, In verse 6, I have set
my king upon my holy hill of Zion. You see, that's the church. They are the ones who declare
him king. I will declare the decree the
Lord has set unto me. This is Christ speaking. Thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee. He's the king. Ask of me, I'll give thee the
heathen. Verse 9, he'll break them with
a rod of iron, bash them in pieces. A different Jesus, isn't it?
Verse 10, Be wise now, O you kings, little K. Serve the Lord
with fear and rejoice with trembling. There is no king but God's Son.
You better kiss him, kiss his feet. Blessed are all they that
put their trust in him. Why did Peter know this and believe
this? Here is this man, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth. Just a man. Ordinary looking man. There was
nothing special about him, his face, his hair, his clothes. Just a man. Right? Everybody else there was just
a carpenter. Yeah, he was a carpenter. Here's
this man walking along. There's old Peter out in his
boats, probably cussing God, wasn't he, Kelly? I guarantee
you, he didn't catch any fish that day, I guarantee you, he
cussed God. That's what men do. If they do
something to praise themselves, if they can't, they cuss God.
Well, old Peter's cussing God. Here came this man, Jesus of
Nazareth. Peter, Simon, come on. He got out of the boat and started
calling him. King called him. The king called him. See, when kings, where the word
of a king is, there's power. That's what the psalm says. Where
the word of a king is, there's power. I believe it's David that
wrote that. David knew what he was talking
about. And David said, whatever I say, I'm the king, greatest
king on earth at that time. And David could speak one word.
Kill. Promote. Justify. Perish. And it was done. The word of a king. This is the
king come calling. Peter? How did Peter know this
was the prophet and the priest and the king? Our Lord said it
to him. Blessed are you, Simon. You're
just a man, Simon Bar-Jonah, son of a man named Jonah. You're
no different than anybody else. If you didn't figure this out,
you weren't even looking for me, Peter. You didn't choose
me, Peter, did you? Oh, no, Peter, no, no, no. The
King can come. My Heavenly Father has revealed
this unto you. Blessed are you. And blessed
are all they that know who he is. Who do you say that I am?
Who do you say that Christ is? If you know him as a true prophet,
true priest, and true king, the Christ, you're blessed above
several billion people on this planet, among and above. You really are. Amen. Maybe one of these days I'll
preach that like it ought to be preached. Number 141, let's
sing this in closing. 141. I think I'll give that a shot
down in Florida, Nancy, what do you say? I'd like to have
one more shot, one more shot. Maybe somebody in there hasn't
heard it before. See him, the glorious sight.
Stand with me. Look, you say, the sight is glorious. All right. Look, he takes the sight, his
glorious speed, a man of sorrows now. From the fight return victorious,
every knee to him shall bow. From him, from him, comes the
thunder, he the cloud. And the Savior angels crowned
with praise, the trophy Jesus brings. In the spirit of power
and glory, Father God of heavenly grace, crown Him, crown Him,
crown the King of kings. Sin is in derision, found him
locked in dust, the Savior's claim. Saints and angels cry
around him, all his hearts praise his name. Found him, found him,
spread abroad the wicked's name. Hark, there's bursts of acclamation! Hark, good Lord, triumph at thorn! Jesus takes the highest praise! Oh, what joy this heart that
holds! Round Him, round Him, King of
kings and Lord of lords! You listen.