Blessed Art Thou

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus being the Messiah?

The Bible identifies Jesus as the Christ, the promised Messiah who fulfills the Old Testament prophecies. The title 'Christ' means 'the anointed one' or 'Messiah' and signifies Jesus as the Savior whom the Jews awaited. The understanding of His role goes beyond a mere title, as demonstrated in Matthew 16:16, where Peter acknowledges Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God. This declaration aligns with the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah who would save His people, illuminating how Jesus' identity as the Messiah holds great importance in redemptive history.

Q: How do we know Christ's sacrificial death is essential for salvation?

Christ's sacrificial death is essential for salvation, as it made atonement for sin and reconciled sinners to God. Scripture teaches that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22). Christ's blood bears this significance, as He suffered and died to satisfy divine justice and reconcile God's elect to Himself. This is foundational to sovereign grace theology, affirming that Christ’s atoning work is the only means through which sinners can be justified and saved. Therefore, His sacrificial death is not just significant; it is the very basis of salvation for those chosen by God.

Q: Why is believing in Christ crucial for Christians?

Believing in Christ is crucial because it affirms one's status as blessed and favored of God. Belief in Christ signifies acceptance of the grace of God revealed through Him. In the sermon, it is stated that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws them (John 6:44). This illustrates that true faith is a gift from God, indicating one has been chosen and favored by Him. Acceptance of Christ as Lord and Savior is fundamental to salvation, as noted in Romans 10:9, where confessing Jesus as Lord and believing God raised Him from the dead leads to salvation. Hence, belief is an expression of God’s work in the believer’s life.

Q: What does it mean that the church is built upon Christ?

The church is built upon Christ as the foundation, signifying His authority and the core truth of the faith. In the sermon, it is emphasized that Christ is the foundation upon which the church is built, as noted in Matthew 16:18. Unlike Peter, whose name means 'stone,' Christ is the 'rock' or solid foundation of the church. This underscores that the church's existence and strength come from Christ Himself, not from human leaders or traditions. Ephesians 2:20 further elaborates that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ as the cornerstone, ensuring He remains central to its purpose and unity.

Q: How does God's grace operate in revealing Christ to believers?

God's grace reveals Christ to believers, enabling them to confess Him as Lord and Savior. The revelation of Christ to individuals is an act of divine grace, as articulated in the sermon where Peter's confession is highlighted as a result of God’s favor towards him. This aligns with Matthew 16:17, which states that this revelation comes from God alone, not from human understanding. It is crucial for believers to recognize that their understanding of salvation and Christ’s identity is not a product of their own efforts but the result of God's sovereign grace initiating belief and understanding within them.

Now when Simon said, thou art the Christ, that was understood when the Jews certainly knew who is being referred to because all of the Old Testament prophesies of the Christ, the coming Messiah. And the office of Christ is not just a title. You know, people say Jesus Christ and probably have no more thought about it than if it was just his last name. But the office is understood by the work. If I say I'm a mailman, that tells you what I do. I deliver mail. If I don't deliver any mail, then I'm not a mailman. I'm lying if I say that.

When Simon says thou art the Christ, what does that mean? Well, Like I said, everybody in that day knew what that meant. It meant that he was the Messiah, the Savior. They looked to him to save his people, and most Jews in their religion then and after Christ was born, thought of themselves as the exclusive people of God. They misunderstood that the promises are to those who are of the faith of Abraham, not the lineage of Abraham. And Paul preached that very clearly to rebuke that ignorance and to reveal the truth of who are the true Israel of God, the people of God, the elect of God, that were typified by the Jews. But when he said that, you're the Christ, you're the chosen one, you're God's anointed Messiah, the savior of your people. If he doesn't save anybody, then he's not the Christ.

That's what he is. And they had all, of course, like I said, perverted that, just like in our day. What Peter is saying here, in essence, is you're the one that all of the scriptures concern. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. He was a son before he was a child. It's not being repetitive, a child and a son. He was a child born like any other child into this world as far as born of a woman made under the law that he might redeem them that are under the law. But he was the son of God given to his people. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

The government shall be upon his shoulders. We think of the government today. If I say the word government, you probably don't have a good taste in your mouth regarding that word. What government is this talking about? The government of the universe, the government of everything. He governs everything and everybody.

It's on His shoulders, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God. His people are going to call Him the Son. They're going to call Him the Mighty God. Isn't that what Doubting Thomas called Him? My Lord and my God, my God, the Everlasting Father. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Again, identifying himself. That's the gospel, Christ identifying himself.

The prince, the prince of peace. Not peace on this earth. We just read where he said, I didn't come to send peace, but a sword when it comes to earthly fellowship with the world or any kind of real communion with the world, but he's the Prince of Peace in the sense that he made peace between God and the sinner by the blood of his cross. He made reconciliation by the blood of his cross. He made atonement, atonement, so that the sinner that God loved from eternity is at one with God, who by nature are the children of wrath, but God, in his mercy, sent his son to redeem us.

In verse 17 in our text, and Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou. He didn't say good for you. He said, blessed are you. And let's not miss this by the Lord's grace. He didn't say, you're going to be blessed for saying that. He said, you're saying that because you're blessed. This confession shows that you're favored of God, that God has done for you what you couldn't do for yourself. He revealed Me unto you.

What did He say in John chapter 6? No man can come unto Me, and that's the be-all end-all, to come unto Him. except the Father which hath sent me take you from where you are and bring you to me." He doesn't bring you to the doctrines of grace. He brings you to me. And let me make this clear.

I'm not renouncing or denouncing or saying anything bad about the doctrines of grace. The truth concerning Christ is critical. But the truth concerning Christ does not consist in coming up with things that are true about him. The truth of Christ consists in who he is as he's revealed himself in this word, and then we just write him down. We just write him down. We see something about him, who he is, and we just write him down.

It doesn't start with the doctrine. You reach the doctrine through the person, not the person through the doctrine. Took me years to understand that. Took me years to understand that. You're not gonna come to the doctrines of grace and be saved, you're gonna come to Christ. Charles Spurgeon said, there are a lot of true, wonderful, good doctrines, and none of them can save you. Not a one of them can save you.

The world says, believe, and God will bless you. Christ said, you believe. Therefore, God blessed you. You believe because God has blessed you. Again, who's God and who's not? Whose will is it? All who confess the Lord Jesus Christ, all who know Him as Simon identified Him here and believe on Him and love Him, do so because they are highly favored of God. Blessed are you, blessed of God are you, if you can confess the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.

God in His eternal mercy and grace revealed His Son You that's that was Paul's Testimony listen to it and turn with me to Galatians 113 I haven't had you turn this morning much because of time, but let's look at this together Galatians 113 This is what the Lord is telling Simon in our text. You're confessing who I am. You're saying something completely different than what everybody else is saying. They're saying one of these. You're saying the Christ, the Son, the one and only begotten Son of God, well-beloved of his Father.

Galatians 1.13, for you have heard of my conduct in times past, in the Jews religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God.

The Jews religion hates the church, the true church of God. And so does all religion that trusts in their own works, that believe that they're justified by their own works. It's not just another road to the same place. They hate, they persecute because they despise the church of God and wasted it.

And he said, I was in on that at one time. I profited in the Jews religion above many men equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. God had to save him from the tradition of the fathers. The Catholic church still talks about the tradition of the fathers. We believe, you know, here's what the fathers had to say. Paul said, God saved me from my tradition of the fathers.

And how did he do it? Oh, oh my, look at it. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, that's when he did it, and called me by his grace, here's what he did, here's how he saved him, to reveal his son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen immediately.

I conferred not with flesh and blood, I didn't care what the fathers had to say about it anymore. I didn't refer and say, what's going on here? This is what I've always known and loved and taught and believed. None of that meant anything to him anymore. I conferred not with flesh and blood. I didn't worry about the doctrines anymore. I know who he is now.

He's revealed his son in here. And all fleshly religion is excluded. It's dumb that I may win Christ and be found in him. He's revealed in me and I'm found in him. What does flesh and blood have to do with it? What does Reverend so-and-so, what they said, what they come up with at the Council of Dort have to do with it? We're not conferring with flesh and blood anymore. By God's grace, we know his son. And we see that the scriptures are a hymn book, H-I-M. And everything that God has revealed concerns His Son and who He is, and what He did for me.

Verse 18, And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom. And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

That's not, the Lord hasn't relinquished the keys of death and hell as it's revealed he has those keys in the book of Revelation. That's not talking about that. What he's saying when he's saying I'm giving you the keys, the preaching of the gospel and the result of that preaching will determine, he's using his people to preach that gospel. And that gospel of who Christ is, that's the key, that's the key. That's the key, he's the key. That's what he just got through saying, who am I?

That's the rock upon which he builds his church. Himself, who he is, the two words Peter and rock are not the same word in the text. The Catholic Church has that all wrong. They say you are Peter a rock and upon this rock will I build my church. I guess they didn't bother looking at the Greek because he deliberately used a different word when he said I build my church on this rock. Not on this stone that can be held in the hand. That's what the word Peter means a stone a rock that you can hold in your hand. The word rock in the text here is a cliff. It's like a rock ground, it's a foundation.

Simon is just held in the Lord's hand to use, to break the rebellious soul of man and cause him to see the Lord Jesus and reveal himself to them. but he, Christ himself, is the foundation on which his church is built. I'm glad that God's church is not built on a man, aren't you? Simon was impetuous and fickle and cowardly in himself. He wouldn't confess Christ when he was betrayed because he was too cowardly to do it. And then the Lord gave him strength and he said, you've killed the son of God, you killed the prince of life. But there's no stability.

Salmon's not a foundation upon which to build and why did the Lord use deliberately a different word? A cliff or a ledge of rock ground that is made of rock. The Lord Jesus is the rock of ages. Moses, when the Lord revealed his glory to him, hit him in the cleft of the rock. That wasn't Simon Peter. He's the rock of ages and the church is built on him.

And this knowledge, this confession, which is a result of God's revealing grace, flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you. My father revealed it to you. Peter knew what Christ was saying here. Listen, turn with me to 1 Peter 2. You tell me if Simon was confused about that. When we read this passage of scripture, tell me what rock Simon thought the church was built on.

2 Peter 2.5. 1 Peter, I'm sorry, I said 2 Peter, I'm messing you up, messing myself up. 1 Peter 2, 5, you also, let's go back up to verse 2, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby if you have so tasted that the Lord is gracious. What's the Word reveal? When the sincere milk of the Word is taken in, what's going to be the result? You're going to taste who He is. You're going to find out who He is. You're going to learn something about His grace. You see that?

To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. And you also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious. But unto them which be disobedient, stone which the builders disallow, the same is made the head of the corner." Who did Simon think the stone that the church was built on was? The Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul, look at 1 Corinthians 3.11 with me. Paul preached this same gospel.

1 Corinthians 3.11. The apostles knew what our Lord said there. And Simon and Paul, the apostles, taught this in due time. 1 Corinthians 3, 11.

Again, let's go back to verse 9, where we are laborers together with God, for you are God's husbandry, you are God's building. According to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon, for other foundation can no man lay.

And that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. The Lord's church is built on the foundation of his son. And the disciples and the apostles had no illusions about that. Well, the Lord just dealt with who he is, didn't he? Very clearly. And in the next few verses, he's going to talk about what he did. Look at verse 21 in our text. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be grazed again the third day.

Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense unto me. Does that sound like the rock that the Lord built the church on? For thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Now the Lord is not consigning Peter to hell here. He's teaching him something, a very hard lesson and a very vital lesson. And so he does so in a strong way. Peter's worried about his feelings. We don't want you to go. It's not about what you want, Peter. And if you knew why he's going, you'd want him to go. You'd want him to go. He still didn't understand.

Do we, do we understand what God, who God is and what he did and what he's doing? Are we in on that? He must do this. He said, I must. What compelled the son of God to go to Calvary? Well, his word, he's got to be true to his word. He has spoken it. He said, shall I not also do it? his promise to save his people from their sins, the covenant of grace, he must. He must. God's not obligated to save anybody unless he obligates himself to save somebody, and then he's obligated. I must go. He must suffer and be killed. And think about what Simon's saying. He didn't understand, I'm sure, impact of what he said. Oh no, you can't do that. What, Simon? He can't save us? He can't redeem us?

He was still confused, wasn't he? And what was he confused about? Again, he was thinking in terms of the things that be of men, just like the world. Who do they say that I am? Some man that came back. Simon, you're not any smarter than they are. Flesh and blood revealed to you who I am and now did not reveal to you who I am. Let me correct that real quick. I'm getting C now, but I hope I can.

The Lord will overcome it for me. Flesh and blood didn't reveal that the father, the God did in his mercy. In his great mercy and his great love wherewith he loved us. He revealed who Christ is and now he's teaching him concerning what he's what he did. what he accomplished when he did it. Christ must shed his own blood, and without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins.

And he's teaching Simon that in a little bit of a harsh way here. Get thee behind me, Satan. What are any of us apart from God's grace but devils? The Lord said that Judas was a devil from the beginning. Simon just sounded like the devil, and Satan spoke through Simon. He wasn't just rebuking Simon, he's rebuking Satan. We're all Satan's puppets apart from God's grace, and what comes out of our mouth will be satanic.

False religion, anti-Christ religion is not just a little bit, you know, confused. It's satanic. It's anti-Christ. That's why we hurt so much for those that we love that are caught up in it. And Peter's rebuke here is a lot bigger than Peter. It represents all false ideas about Christ and his work. We can't let that happen. We love you. You're the son of God. You can't do that. It's prophesied from the beginning that he would do that.

Any notion of Christ and his work that does not include his sacrificial, effectual, sin-atoning death on behalf of his people is satanic. It's antichrist. This is the only way that God can show mercy to whom he will show mercy. Through the blood of his son, how can God be just and justify sinners?

He must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. You know, Simon was taught this. The Lord was teaching him here. You know, I think he got the message. People say, I think God's trying to tell me something. No, you're trying to tell you something. When God is telling you something, you're going to get it. You're gonna get it. Simon got it.

1 Peter 3, 18, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. He knew what Christ was doing then, didn't he? He knew what he did. He knew what he accomplished. He brought us to God by that blood. He justified us before God. He made atonement with that blood. It wasn't his best effort. It was everything. It was salvation. It was the very glory of God revealed to sinners. Thou savourest the things. You look up that word savourest, it has to do with your opinions. Well, I respect your opinion. Don't respect my opinions. My opinions have nothing to do with it. Simon's opinion was that Christ ought not to go to the cross. How could you have a worse opinion than that? Your opinions don't have any...

We don't tell forth our opinions. We don't interpret the Word of God in the sense that it's written in a foreign language. We're just telling what God said in plain, simple language that we can understand, that God has given us. Did not Christ just say, I must, I must? And Simon says, no, let's not ever be in that place. May the Lord not ever put us in that place. If he does, it'll be for the reason he did, Simon, if we're his, to teach us.

Will we rebuke the master? You know, I've heard preachers rebuke the Son of God from the pulpit. Have you ever heard anybody say faith does not save? You just rebuked the Son of God because He said your faith saved you. Instead of rebuking Him, let's find out what He said. Where does faith come from? That faith saves sinners. The faith that He gives, it's the fruit of His Spirit. He's the author and the finisher of faith, and by that means He saves sinners.

Let's not rebuke Him from the pulpit. Let's not say in the pulpit that there's no such thing as unconditional love, when God said, I will love them freely. I don't respect people's opinions. And you shouldn't either, maybe on something earthly. Well, I believe Christ died for everybody. It wouldn't be fair for him to die for some and not others.

So that's your opinion, is it? He said, I lay down my life for my sheep and they shall never perish. Will you rebuke the son of God? Will you contradict the son of God in the plain language that he spoke to sinners? You see, if he died as much for those who were already in hell when he died, as he did for those whom he loved and chose from the beginning, then his death didn't accomplish anything. Thou savourest not the things that be of God. But why is that? Why is their opinion anti-God? Because they love men so much. You're savoring the things that be of men. You're worried about your free will and not His glory.

We've seen who he is and he told Simon what he did, what he came for, what he accomplished. Now what does that have to do with you? Verse 24, then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Let's not just say that he's God and I'm not. Let's act like it. Let's act like it. Let's deny ourselves, deny my will, deny my way, deny my works as he did, as Paul did in Philippians 3. Again, we refer to that often because it's what happens when God saves a sinner.

What does all that what he did have to do with you? you're gonna bow to Him and renounce yourself. Romans chapter 10, they have a form of godliness, but they deny His authority. They deny His godhood. When they knew God, they glorified Him, not His God.

But now, if you take up your cross, if you own the fact that he's the despised one, the rejected one, and yet acknowledge that his cross is all of my hope, it's all of my salvation. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul. You think about the health and wealth and prosperity religion and how they say, oh, the Lord wants you to have, you know, a fine home and a vacation home and wants you to drive a Cadillac and he wants you to be blessed, blessed, blessed. Would you like to hear one of them preach on that? Whosoever findeth his life shall lose it. What has a man profited if he gained the whole world and loses his own soul? There's nothing wrong with Cadillacs and fine homes. But is that what God's will is for sinners? Really? Is that what salvation is about? Is that what the blessing of God is?

Those things are going to burn up and you with them. unless we lose ourselves, unless we renounce ourselves. People take up crosses to identify with His ignominy, that would identify Him and the world's hatred of Him. But also, there's one purpose for a cross, and that's to die on it. I must die to self and be made alive unto God. And that happens by the blood of His Why did Christ die?

He said, if I be lifted up, John 12, 32, I will draw all unto me. All of them, all of them. You know, he said in John six, no man's, nobody's coming to me. You can't come to me. You don't have the will. He told the Jews, you will not come to me. You search the scriptures. You think you have eternal life because you know the scriptures, but they testify of me and you will not come to me. And in John six, he said, you can't do it. You're just like everybody else. You're not going to be able to come to him. Except the father, which has sent me draw you. And how does God draw?

He lifted up his son from the earth, between heaven and hell on a cross. And all of God's glory is revealed in that cross. God's justice, his inflexible justice, where sin is found, where the substitute bears our sin, God's wrath must be poured out on his head. God's love is seen. God's sole love that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life. His free grace is revealed.

When Christ did that, he's showing that everything we do or don't do accomplishes nothing. It's counterproductive. What we do and don't do, all of it's sin. He had to send his son to do the only thing. that could ever save us. He's lifted up, and by that cross, by the power of that blood, through the preaching of the gospel, he'll take a sinner from where he is in his self-righteousness, in his self-justification, in his insistence upon his free will and that everything's up to him, and he'll bring you to the feet of his son. and can cause you to confess, Lord, it's up to you. If you will, you can save me. May God do that in our midst.

How many years are we going to be on this earth? And what's going to happen? You know what matters? Whoever God has caused you to love in this world, if everything else goes bad, if he'll save them, if he'll save them, if he'll have mercy on them, would you rather live a prosperous life or see those that you love saved by the mercy and grace and precious blood of God?

God, give us a prosperous life. But whatever you do in that regard, have mercy on our loved ones. Save our children and our grandchildren. Save those that we care about in this world. You've caused, for your purposes and reason, you've caused our hearts to be for them. So cause us to lift up our souls in prayer for them. and have mercy on us in these remaining days. Increase our faith, increase our love for you and for one another. Don't let us, don't let this world, because of our weakness and foolishness, take away our hearts. from you, your worship, your service, your glory in this world.

Blessed Art Thou

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Jesus being the Messiah?

How do we know Christ's sacrificial death is essential for salvation?

Why is believing in Christ crucial for Christians?

What does it mean that the church is built upon Christ?

How does God's grace operate in revealing Christ to believers?

Sermon Transcript

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Blessed Art Thou

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Jesus being the Messiah?

How do we know Christ's sacrificial death is essential for salvation?

Why is believing in Christ crucial for Christians?

What does it mean that the church is built upon Christ?

How does God's grace operate in revealing Christ to believers?

Sermon Transcript

About Chris Cunningham

Comments

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