All right, back to Luke chapter
9. We couldn't deal with a more
important subject or text this morning. The Lord asks the question of
questions, the saving question here. Our answer to what our
Lord says here, or asks, could well prove whether we know him
or not. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus the Christ
in God's sin. All right, verse 18. Look at
it, Luke 9, verse 18 again. And it came to pass as he was
alone praying. Every word of God is significant. If we had the understanding,
we could bring out wonderful things from it. If we had the capacity, we could
deal with it, every word, every line, every jot, every tittle,
slowly, carefully. There's no word insignificant,
there's no idle word, as he was alone free. That's remarkable
right there. The Lord was a praying man, prayed
always. Scripture tells us to pray without
ceasing, doesn't it? Our Lord did that, praying always, without ceasing. But think about it now. Why did he need to pray? He's God. Why did he need to
pray? He can do all things. Why did
he need to pray? Prayer is praise. It's thanksgiving. It's ascribing glory to God. It's just repeating what God
has already said. Prayer is asking for things.
looking to God as a dependent creature calling upon the Creator
to provide what's needed. He is the Creator. But now, wait
a minute, he's a man. He's a man and he lived as a
man. He lived by faith. The just shall live by faith.
Christ had to live by faith as a man. He had to call on God,
though he could have met or spoken the Word. He didn't do it for
anything. He could have just spoken the
Word and provided for himself, but he did not. Where'd he get
it? Where'd he get everything he got? Same place where he did
it. Same source. And he had to call
on God to give it. And so he did. It says he was
alone, probably. That's a good lesson for us.
You see all these so-called prayer meetings that are going on in
our day? The Lord really condemns that
in his Sermon on the Mount. He said, Don't be like the hypocrites.
They love to have their picture in the paper, standing on the
street corner on National Day of Prayer. He said, You get in your closet,
because it's only one you desire to look upon you, and it's God.
talking to and want to hear you pray, and it's God. He was alone
praying. But wait a minute now, look at
the next line. His disciples were with him. How can he be
alone and his disciples with him? Oh, that's good right there.
His disciples were with him. Christ said, I'll never leave
no forsaken. They were with him. They were
always with him. That's a picture of God. We're always with him.
We've been with him. from the beginning when he was
alone. John, when there was none but God, I was with him. How? In his heart, his mind,
his purpose, his thoughts. Isn't that glorious? His disciples
were with him. He was alone, but they were with
him. And so then he asked them, all
right? He asked them a question. Say, Whom say the people? that I am." Who in the world out there, who
are they saying that I am? Now, he knew. He knew, he heard, he
observed in all things. Now, God sees. The eyes of the
Lord run to and fro. He sees, he hears, he knew what
they were saying. But he asked this question for
their sake. But notice, he told them, or
asked them, who's the world saying that I am? He didn't ask them first, whom
do you say that I am? He asked them, what is the world
saying about me? Now, there's a reason for that. He's going to cause them to consider
what everybody else is saying. And in light of that, come to their own conclusion.
You see what I'm saying here? It caused them to consider what
was being said by the people all around, as opposed to what
they believe. You with me? Now, this is what
the world is saying. See, when you hear, if you'll
listen to what's going on today, if you'll listen, and I Sometimes
make it a point to turn the TV on. Maybe I'd be better off not
to do it. It just makes me mad, you know,
when I see that you can turn the radio on. I turn the radio
on and listen. It's a vexation, isn't it? But I do because I
want to hear what they're saying. And you know what it causes me
to do? It confirms in my mind and heart
what I know to be so." This is exactly what the Lord is doing.
Now, what are they saying out there? What are they saying about
me? Who are they calling me? And it will confirm your own
belief in Him. Well, they said, verse 19, they answer and say,
well, John the Baptist. Now, John was the greatest man
to ever live. If somebody said to me, you remind
me of John the Baptist, you know what I'd say? What a wonderful thing to say.
Oh, no, I'm not worthy to be. He's a great man. He's the greatest
man born of woman. Now, he's full of the Holy Spirit
from the mother womb. Oh, no. But would that be saying great
things to Christ? Oh, greatest man ever lived.
John the Baptist. Well, some say that he's Elijah. Oh, my. Elijah? He could call
down fire from heaven. He could raise the dead. Elijah?
The greatest prophet ever lived was Elijah. Oh, yeah. God even
acknowledged that. He didn't die. Elijah didn't
die. God brought him up in a whirlwind. Elijah. Some say you're Elijah. that you can just do wondrous
things. Elijah. Look at the next thing. Others
say that he's one of the old prophets. And who are they meant
by that? Old, old prophets. Now, they're really ascribing
greatness to Samuel. That's an old prophet, isn't
he? That's one old one. What about Moses? What a great thing to say. Oh, no. Not at all. You know, and it would have been,
listen, they said he was, some say he was John, back from the
grave. All these fellows were dead, and they said, he's back
from the grave, Elijah, one of the old prophets is risen. It
would have been remarkable, it would have been a miracle, and
you know, many people, if not most, would have believed him. If they thought he was Elijah,
they would have believed him, they would have followed him,
they would have adored him. But number one, it would still just
have made him to be a man. But they would have followed
him. Just a man, a great man, and the men would follow him. But just a man. Men like to follow
men. Look over at John chapter 8 with
me. John chapter 8. I want you to look at that. And
in light of that, in the world, what do you hear today in the
world? What do you hear being said about Jesus? Oh, He's the greatest man to
ever live. Jesus. Oh, Jesus. Isn't Jesus awesome? Isn't He wonderful? Jesus. Jesus. Isn't Jesus? Great. Don't you love Jesus? Jesus is
my pilot, co-pilot. Jesus is my
friend. Jesus, Jesus, isn't he wonderful,
isn't he a great man? Yeah, but I don't call him that. Well, he's this, he's that, he's
a great man, he's powerful, he's influential, able to do great
things, he's a prophet. He's a prophet. When people talk
about the Lord, his manhood mostly, they talk about his power to
do things like Elijah, power to heal, work miracles. And many even say he's a son
of God. Look at John chapter 8. That means a deity. You know,
son of God means a deity. Less than a son is always less
than a father, though, isn't it? There's also a son, but then
there's a father. You know, when there are businesses,
you ever see businesses that says Bill Johnson and Sons? Whose name's on it? Whose name's
above every name? Look at John 8, verse 56. John 8, verses
56 through 59. Your father Abraham, now he's
talking to some religious people, and he says, Your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. The Jews
said unto him, You're not yet fifty years old. Have you seen
Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I am. Then they took up a stone to
bash his brains out. Now, they were rushing to hearing
before this great man, Jesus. Let's go hear Jesus. What a great
man. And he said, I am. No, you're not. Look at John 10, verse 27. He said, Now my sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. I and Father are one." Then they took up stones. And people today say, well, you
know, yes, he's great and he's the son of God, but he never
said he was God. Ask the Jews. They weren't stoning
him because he said he was a son. Right? They weren't stoning him
for good works. That's what he said in one place.
He said, for many works. One time they took up stones
to stone him. And he said, for many good works. Many good works
have I done, for which of these are you stoning me? for a good
workstone, we stone you not, but because you are just a man,
and you're making yourself God. How important is it? And things haven't changed today.
Men haven't changed in their belief of who he is, a healer,
a miracle worker, a great man, a son of God even, yes, but God
Almighty? God manifest in the flesh? Call his name Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God? No, it's Jesus, the Everlasting Father? No, it's the Son of God. One time, well, when we were
building our home, I hired some painting to be done. And a fellow
came in, a painter, and I knew before he came that he was a
Jehovah Witness. And they, you know, they believe
that he's the Son of God. They really know more than you
and I are. They believe Jesus is a son of God. But really, they don't believe
that he is any more a son than you and I are. He was just a
great one, a perfect one. Isn't that right? Isn't that
basically something? All right, well, he was in their
pain, and I said, You are good at preaching. The fellow said,
Yeah, I sure do. I said, I've got a tape here.
My pastor, he's been preaching for 45 years. Really? Yes, forty-five minutes. The
gospel, said, you love the gospel? Yeah, yeah, I sure do. You're
preaching? Yeah. I said, well, listen to
this tape. And I just happened to have.
I mean, I'd just been listening to it. That's the reason it's
fresh on my mind. 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, without controversy,
great is the mystery of Godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. I said, listen to this. and stuck
it in there, and he started, and I went off somewhere to another
room to do some work, and I heard it playing, and the picture was
mad. It's a mystery, but it's a fact. Jesus Christ is God. And if you
don't believe He's God, well, you know, it played for about
ten, fifteen minutes, and all of a sudden, I heard it cut off. Why? Why do men protest that? Huh? Why would a man get mad
at that? Huh? How'd a man get mad? No, he's
not God. Why would they get mad at that? And you know, others, now listen
to me very carefully. Now, like I said, now this is
one of the, this is the question of questions. Don't deny it as vehemently,
but what they're saying, what they're preaching, is just as
much denies who he is and what he did. You know that? Most deny that he's absolutely
sovereign. When they say he's done and he
did all he could do, it really is left up to you. Sovereign
God, sovereign ruler, controller, sovereign Savior. that he does
as he will, don't they? They say it's if you will. Most deny that he worked with
all things according to his unchangeable will, which will and purpose
was made before the world began. No, they deny that. No. God had planned, but. And when men say God wants, God
tries, they're denying. Men vehemently deny that. And
to deny that God works all things after his own will, which will
he purposed before the world began, is to deny God, is to
deny Christ. To deny that Christ did what
he came to do, that just made an attempt, is to deny who he
is and what he did. Look at verse 20. He's asking us to. Now, this is what they're saying
about it. And it's so subtle, people, it's so subtle. That's
why they gave three different descriptions of it. Some say
you're John, some say, that's great, isn't it? Elijah, oh,
wow, that's even great. Moses, whew, just getting better
and better. He's a great man, or a good man.
Oh, he's a great man. Oh, he's awesome. God? No, not God. But who can say anything that
I am? You see what I'm saying? Listen
to all that you're hearing out there with a discerning ear. Try the Spirit. Whom do men say that I am? I am. The Lord said it didn't
stand. Who do the men say that I am? Who do they say is God? Well, look at the disciples.
Now, I want you to notice now, and listen very carefully, what
the disciples answered here. This is in Luke chapter 9, isn't
it? This is at the first of their conversion, you know, and the
Lord just called them, just And what they say, what Peter answers
up, it's absolutely true, it's an absolute necessity. But we're
going to read in a little while, later on, what Thomas says in
these. All right, now look at it. In
verse 20, whom do men say that I am, who you say that I am?
Peter answering. And we'll not talk about Peter
too much, but just to say this. spoke up real quick at first,
and later on he hesitated to say anything. But Peter answered
anyway. Peter answered and said, I like
this, a four-word confession. And this is the gospel of the
four-word confession. You are, he said, the Christ. of God. That's who you are. You're the Christ of God. That's right. That's right. The. There's only one. There's only one. The. Only one. Christ. What does Christ mean? Men have lost sight. You know,
men use that name just as much as they do Jesus, and they don't
know what it means either. Men use the term Lord with their
lips, and their hearts are far from knowing what Lord means.
They say he's Lord, but to say, Make him Lord, they must not
know what Lord means. Right? You don't make Lord. You don't make Lords. You don't
make Lords. Lord will make you. You don't
let God do the letting. Jesus, Savior? I don't know what it means. Christ?
What does Christ mean? What does Christ mean? Many things. Christ means the just one. The Christ, the, John, the just
one, the only just one. There's not a just man on earth
but just one. The Christ, there's only one
just man. To say the Christ means that you're the only man who
ever lived is without sin, righteous. That means everybody else, including
me, is unrighteous, sinful. only one, the Christ. Christ means Redeemer, the Redeemer,
the Redeemer, the Savior, the one who's come, sent from God
to do the saving. Now if you say you're the Redeemer,
ask those children. You remember that definition?
I never grow tired of that. I never grow tired of telling
that, because it's out of the mouths of babes. one of the lady's
children. She asked the children, four
and five and six years old, what does Redeemer mean? What was Redeemer? One of them
said, one who redeems. That's right. When you say he's
the Redeemer, what do you mean by that? He's the Redeemer. He does the redeeming. I don't
let him. He does it. He doesn't try to do it, he does
it! You see that? You're the Christ! You came from
God to redeem, and Betty, that's what you did. When you say, He's
the Christ, that's what you're saying. He's the Christ, the
just one, only one, just one. He's the Redeemer. He came to
redeem, and bless your heart, that's just what this one did. Redeemed his people. When you
say Christ, you're saying the Mediator. There's only one Mediator, the
Mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus, only one. One Mediator, one umpire, one
daysman, one who can put his hand on God and his hand on me
and bring us together. One, just one. I can't get to
God. There's a vast gap between us.
But there's one, the Christ, sent from God, with his still
seated on the throne, his right hand, but reaching down to me. The Christ. The only mediator. The only one that can bring us
to God. The only one. The Christ of God. When you're saying Christ, you're
saying Advocate. Oh, don't you love this name? I love the name Jesus. People
do not, please, please do not think for a moment that the name
Jesus is not sweet to the believer. It's just that it's been used
so wholesalely. In other words, in such a wholesale
fashion, in such a flippant, careless, familiar, irreverent,
disrespectful, it doesn't mean what it says. People just, it's
just a common byword, catchphrase, Jesus. I just hate the sound
of it for that reason. But listen, Jesus is a precious
name. It means Savior. And we love that name. You know,
it means Savior, but Christ encompasses even more. That's why we call
him Christ. Because when we say Christ, we're
saying what he is. and who he is and what he did.
Say, and more, you say. We use all his names, don't we?
I have three names. It goes, you know, the more used
to be years ago. Well, in Bible times, men didn't
have surnames. Was that the word? Surname, which
is the first and which is the last name? Anyway, men didn't
have two names. They were called the son of so-and-so.
Bar Simon was his name, Simon. Bar Jonah had his son of Selma. If I'd have lived back then,
I'd have been called Paul Bar Henry. I wouldn't have had a
mayhem. But as time went on and men began
to multiply, which Simon are you talking about? There's a
hundred and four in this county alone. Well, it's Simon Jonah. Oh, I see. Well, then it's time
to multiply and so forth. What Stan Anderson are you talking
about? What Hodges are you talking about? There's 485 in Franklin County
alone. We're talking about Betty. We're talking about three
names, you see. What Jesus are you talking about?
The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ, you see,
we use all his name to distinguish who he is. When you say Christ,
you're talking about the advocate. And there's just one. Advocate, lawyer, there ain't
no such thing today. You know what, really? They're
all on the tape. I really, to be a lawyer, you'd
have to be, to take that oath. To take that oath, to defend
it, absolutely. I say the same thing about preachers,
don't I? So go ahead and quote me on that. There are liars.
I say in my house, all lawyers are liars. All preachers are
liars. Yes, they are. We've got an advocate now. He's
a lawyer. He's a lawyer. He wrote it. He
knows it. He's just. He demands absolute
justice, this advocate. Yes, he does. He's never let
one guilty person go scot-free. Not one. But, now, wait a minute.
This is a mystery. He won't take any case but absolutely
guilty. Now, explain that. Explain that
and you can explain the gospel. How he can be just and yet justify
the guilty. What kind of lawyer is he? He's
the Christ. And he himself switches places. That's the next thing. Substitute.
When you say the Christ, you're talking about the substitute
for sinners. De-substitute. Well, you're the
Christ of God. You're the substitute. You're
the one that came down here to take my place. to take my place. I'm guilty. You're righteous.
He became guilty. I became righteous. That's substitution. You got what I get coming to
me. I get what you get coming to me. You're the Christ. You're
the one I've been looking for. Substitution. Righteousness.
We go on and on and on. Christ is made unto us. I could have quoted it, but not
until I knew Christ. He's made unto us wisdom. Righteousness,
thought I had some of that too. When I knew Him, realized I didn't
have any. He's made it unto me. Sanctification,
thought I had a lot of that. And redemption, on and on. You're,
why you're, who do you say that I am? When you say Christ, next time,
think about what you're saying. You're the Christ. Christ, our
God. And look at this. I want you
to turn to Isaiah 25, real fast. Isaiah 25. Isaiah chapter 25. Well, yeah, turn to Isaiah 25. I also want you to turn to John
chapter 20, and then we'll quit with these two verses of Scripture.
All right, Isaiah 25. Isaiah chapter 25. You see, the Jews, listen carefully,
the Jews back then, if you were to say a man was the Christ,
the Jews really had no concept of a trinity. They had no concept of a trinity.
When they are talking about the Spirit, When they're talking
about Christ, when they're talking about Jehovah, they're talking
about the same person. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God. The
Lord our God is one God. The just one, the holy one, whatever. They were talking about, they
had no real concept of the Trinity. Christ has made that clear because
he became a man. We see that. And he spoke of
it. The distinct persons of the Godhead. So what I'm saying is,
back then, for a Jew to say that a man was Christ, For someone to say that a man
was Christ, he, in effect, is saying, You're God. That's who
you are. You're God. Come down to earth. Look here
at Luke. This is what he said. Chapter
25, verse 9. Look at it. It shall be said in that day,
Lo, this is our what? God. We've waited for him. They're
talking about the Christ. This isn't a prophecy of the
Christ that was to come. And when he comes, they're going
to say, this is our God, we've waited for him, he'll save us.
Who is it? This is the Lord. This is Jehovah, capital Elohim. We've waited for him. He's here
now. God has come to earth. He kept
telling them that. God, I'm going to come down.
I'm the shepherd. God kept saying. I'll gather
my sheep. Who? God. Christ. Same person. So for them to say, You're the
Christ, is to say, You're God. But they said it now, over in
John 20, like I said, later on, after they were with him three
and a half years. You know, saying they kind of
lost sight of familiarity sometimes brings contempt, doesn't it? They were asking him, well, show
us a sign. Remember Philip? Show us the
Father. Thomas, I don't know the way, they kind of lost sight
of who he was. Well, after he rose from the
grave, look at John 20, verse 28. Here is what Thomas came
to the conclusion. Look at what Thomas calls him.
I must answer and said unto him, My Lord and my God. And he didn't correct him. One time he said, You call me
Lord and you say well, for so I am. Don't a man say that I
am?" Well, he charged them, he charged them in our text, to
tell no man. Why? He said, don't go tell anybody.
Why? Because he said, the last verse
of our text, he said, the Son of Man must suffer many things.
He must be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes,
and slain and be raised the third day. If even if they had said,
he's the Christ, then he would have had a following. The people
would have followed him. We've been waiting on him. It's Christ,
Messiah. Some thought, maybe this is the
Christ. King, king of the Jews, come to establish. They didn't
have a good concept of that either, kingdom of God. They thought
he was going to set up an earthly kingdom, just like now. People
believe in a little further view, but they think he's going to
set up an earthly kingdom. No. Christ said, my king, let's come
out of this world. The Son of Man, the Son of God, the Christ,
the Messiah, came to do, well, two things. He came to live,
why? To try to get people to believe
him, to try to establish a following? No, to establish righteousness
as a man for some that God had given him before the world began. To be an absolute righteousness
substitute for them. and be able to charge that to
bear account. Perfect righteousness as a man. To weave a garment without seam
to robe them in. With his own hands he worked
and brought out this robe, a perfect robe, so he could cover all his
people. That would be a big robe, wouldn't
it? That would be the best robe to cover all, and he did just
that. But secondly, he came, he said, I must be rejected. Not accepted, rejected. Why? Because Isaiah said so,
about the Christ. He'll be despised and rejected
of men. And he came to be rejected and
suffer and die. Die. That's why he came, to die. Blood. It's called sin. It's an awful death. And then, no,
you know, he doesn't say, after then he sends his Holy Spirit
to round them up. And the way he does that, you
see the preaching of the gospel? Go in all the world, now, he
said. There he said, don't tell anybody.
Didn't he? Don't tell anybody. Because I got to die. But then
after he rose and he went back to the throne, he sends his disciples
and they go all over the world. Tell them. Go tell everybody. What? That he's the Lord. Number one. Jesus. The only Savior. Christ. Go tell them. Shout it from the
rooftop. Tell them. All right Joe what
number you got picked at? 127. 127. uh... Uh huh. Okay. uh... All right.