Matthew 16. It says in verse 13 that our
Lord Jesus Christ came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi. Probably not of any great importance
to most of us, but that was a city, they tell us, that was rebuilt
by Philip. and he called it Caesarea in
honor of Tiberius Caesar. And then he put his own name
on it also to distinguish it from another Caesarea mentioned
in the book of Acts, Caesarea Philippi. And there our Lord
asked his disciples a question. He said to them in verse 13,
whom do men, people of this world, whom do men say that I the Son
of Man am? Why does he call himself the
Son of Man? Well, I can give you several
reasons. One is that he is truly, really and truly a man. in all
points, the scripture says, as we are, bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. He was born of a woman. He was made under the law. He
was really and truly a man, subject to all of the characteristics,
infirmities, and temptations of this flesh. Our Lord was a
man, and so he called himself a son of man, the son of man.
And then secondly, I believe he called himself the son of
man because the first, the very first reference to the Messiah,
the very first biblical reference to the Messiah spoke of him in
this fashion, the seed of woman, born of a woman, made of a woman. In fact, when Eve brought forth
her first son, Cain. She said, I've gotten the man. She thought Cain was that Messiah. God promised that he would bruise
the serpent's head, deliver his people, the seed of woman, son
of man. And when Cain was born, she said,
I've gotten the man from the Lord. It wasn't the man at all. but he would come later. But
also, if you'll take your Bibles and turn to Psalm, the book of
Psalm, chapter 8, in the Old Testament, often the Messiah
was called the Son of Man. In Psalm 8, verse 4, talking
about Christ here, no doubt of that, Psalm 8, verse 4, it says,
What is man that thou art mindful of him and the Son of Man? that thou visitest Him, for thou
hast made Him, the Son of Man, a little lower than the angels,
and have crowned Him with glory and honor. And thou madest Him
to have dominion over the works of thy hands, and thou hast put
all things under His feet." Talking about Christ there. And then
Psalm 80, turn to Psalm 80, verse 17. Here the Messiah is called
the Son of Man. Psalm 80, verse 17, "...let thy
hand be upon the man of thy right hand," only one who sits at his right
hand, the man Christ Jesus, "...upon the Son of Man, whom thou madest
strong for thyself to accomplish thy purpose." Let me turn to
one, Daniel 7. Listen to this. Daniel chapter
7, verse 13. I saw, Daniel said, in the night
visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man. Daniel 7, verse 13, came with
the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of Days, and they
brought him near before me. And there was given him dominion
and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, languages
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion which shall not pass away. His kingdom, that which
shall not be destroyed." No question who that is. That's the Messiah. So he called himself, he said
to his disciples, whom do men, people of the world, say that
I the Son of Man am? He calls himself the Son of Man
thirdly because in appearance, in appearance now, He looked
like a mere man. The pictures are deceiving with
the halos and the distinguishing characteristics that make him
look different from those around him. It's just not true. He hath no form nor comeliness. There's no beauty about him that
we should desire him. But he's despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. And they called him
the carpenter. They called him a winebibber
and a gluttonous man, a friend of sinners. So in appearance,
he was truly the son of man. He looked like any other man. But the question he asked here
in our text, whom do men say that I the Son of Man am. High and low, rich and poor,
learned and unlearned out there, religious and otherwise. What
do they say? What sort of man is he? Who is
he? Well, the answer, verse 14, the
disciples said, well, some say you're John the Baptist. Some say you're Elijah. Some
say you're Jeremiah. Some say you're one of the prophets.
But I notice these opinions of men about Christ. I notice something
about them. Number one, they can't agree
on who He is. They can't agree. Their answers
are all different. Some say this. Some say that. Others say this. But error is
always multiple choice, diverse, where Christ is concerned. Men
cannot agree who He is. But I tell you this, every believer
agrees on who He is. The world out there calls Him
this, that, and the other. But believers call Him the Christ,
the Son of God. They all agree. But those who
do not know Him, they can't agree. And secondly, all of their answers
are contrary to the truth, who He really is. Oh, some of them
even brag on Him. Some of them even say, like Nicodemus,
He's sent from God. Some of them call Him a good
master, a good teacher, like the rich young ruler. But they
never say, He's God. No matter what they say, their
answers are all Diverse and different. They don't agree. They can't
agree. But they never call Him who He is. Like Thomas, my Lord
and my God. Or the Father who said, Thy throne,
O God, is forever. So whatever men say, they never
tell the truth. They never say, He's God. He's God. the mighty God, the
everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. But there is something
else about their answers. Whom do men say that I, who do
they say that I, the Son of Man am? Well, they all disagree as
to who you are, but none of them really know who you are. And
all of their answers are wrong. He's not John the Baptist. risen
from the grave. He's not Elijah. The Bible says
before the Messiah comes, Elijah will come. Well, he's not Elijah.
He's not Jeremiah. He's not one of the prophets. He's not just a good man. Rich
young ruler came to him and said, good master. He said, now why'd
you call me good? There's none good. There's no
human being on this earth that's good. Only God is good. So if He's just the Son of Man,
He's not good. He's not good. He's not one of
the prophets. He's God. He's who He is. He's not who
we think He is. He's not who we say He is. He's
God. He's who He is. And if we do
not know any more of Christ than the world out there knows, we
don't know Him. If we do not know any more of
Christ than what the religious world in which we live, this
religious world, if we do not know any more than
they know, we do not know Him. They don't even call Him Lord,
they call Him Jesus. The irritating thing is to hear
men who claim to be sent of God talking about Jesus said this,
and Jesus said that, and Jesus said something else. He said,
you call me Lord, and you say, well, so I am. He's Lord. He's
the Lord Jesus. He's the Master. You call me
Lord, you call me Master, and I am. But you listen to the talk,
it's Jesus. If we don't know any more of
the Son of Man than the world knows, or the religious world,
we don't know Him at all. If we know no more of Christ
than we have found in our own heads and in our own wisdom,
we do not know Him. He is, listen, He's God who became a man. He's not just a man, He's God
who became a man. He's not a man who is God. He's
God who became a man. God took on Himself the likeness
of sinful flesh. God. And we'll believe on Him
as such or we won't believe at all. We'll receive Him as such
or we won't receive Him. We'll bow to Him as Lord. We're
not going to accept Him as our personal Savior. We're going
to bow to Him as our Lord and Master. And whatever He has for
us, He's still God. He's still Lord. Who does as
He will, when He will, with whom He will, who worketh all things
after the counsel of His own will. Whom do men say that I
the Son of Man am? Well, they can't make up their
minds. They say this, that, and the other. But none of them say
you're God. None of them. And so their answers are all
wrong. Well, you know, he didn't comment on the answers. Verse
15. Without comment, without taking
any notice of what men said about him or thought about him, it
really doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter. Whom
do men say that I the Son of Man am? Well, disciples say they
say all these things. He ignored it. It doesn't matter. This is what matters. Listen. But whom do you say? Whom do you say that I am? What
do you leave out? Son of man. They know he's more than a mere
man. They know he's more than just
a son of man. His bodily appearance did not
offend them. They know whom He is. They had
left all to follow Him and sit at His feet. So He didn't say
unto them, whom do you say that I, the Son of Man, am? He said,
whom do you say that I am? You whom I have chosen, whom
do you say that I am? You whom I have called, follow
Me. Whom do you say that I am? You
whom I taught, whom do you say that I am? Not just whom do you believe,
whom do you say that I am? Believe it, yes, but confess
it, yes. Whom do you say? A man can talk about believing
something. We used to have a saying when
I was young, guess you still have it, put your money where
your mouth is. In other words, you say this, that and the other,
you claim this, that and the other, what do you do? What do
you say? You believe, what do you say?
Who do you say? Declare, make known before God
and men. Who do you say? Whom do you say that? I am. I
never see that I am, that I don't think back to when Moses asked
God his name. God told Moses, go down into
Egypt and deliver my people. And Moses, faced with that awesome
task, a man, a shepherd, 80 years old, That day God called him to go
down to Egypt and lead the people out, 80 years old, white hair and beard, been in
the wilderness keeping sheep for 40 years. And God said, go
down there and lead 3 million people out of slavery. Go down
there and face the pharaohs and all their armies and all their
dignitaries and all their power and their wealth and tell them,
let my people go. And Moses said, well, Lord, when
I go down there and I tell them that, and they say, who is the
Lord? What am I going to tell them?
What am I going to tell them? What shall I say? God said, you
tell them I am. I am. I am almighty. I am all powerful. I am God. None else. I am the truth. I
am the life. I am the brightness of glory.
I am. I am. You name it, I am. Holy. Just. Righteous. I am. That's what Christ asked these
men. He's not just asking them who
this man is. These folks out there in the
world saw a man. They said, we know who he is.
We know he's mama and daddy. He came from Nazareth. Can anything
good come out of Nazareth? Christ didn't ask them who that
was. He said, whom do you say that I am? Whom say ye that I am? I am. Well, verse 16, Peter answered
him, he usually did. He was the spokesman for the
group. But He gave the answer. He spoke
out of His heart. He spoke for all of them. And
the answer is unanimous. He answered and said, Thou art
the Christ. The Christ. The Messiah. The Redeemer. The Seated Woman. The priest forever after the
daughter of Melchizedek, the Passover, the Rock of Ages, the
Bright and Morning Star, the Rose of Shechem, City of Refuge,
Thou art the Christ, the Kinsman, Redeemer, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of Man, O living God. It was unanimous. Outside the
circle of believers, outside this little group of called,
chosen, taught, blessed men, they had a lot to say about this
man Jesus of Nashville. He's Jeremiah, John the Baptist,
one of the prophets, this, that, Carpenter. But in this inner
circle, there's a unanimous confession. Thou art the Christ. Unwavering. unanimous, without disagreement,
the heart to Christ, the Son of the living God. To all believers,
He is one, Christ, the Son of the living God. People talk about
the divisions in the church. There's divisions in religion,
but none in the church. Not in the church of the firstborn,
not in the church which he purchased with his own blood, not in the
church he said he would build on this rock. There are no divisions
in that church. If I should address every believer
in all the world without doubt, they would all agree, he's the
Christ. the Son of the Living God. Turn
to John 6 and listen to the reply that the Apostle Peter gave over
here, speaking for all the disciples. In John 6, verse 66, it says
in John 6, 66, from that time many of his disciples, his followers,
went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto
the twelve, would you also go away? Simon Peter answered again,
he said, Lord. He didn't call him Jesus, he
called him Lord. In a title of respect and reverence,
worship. Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and assure that Thou art that Christ, the
Son of the living God. I speak for all of us. We're
in total agreement, unanimous. Divisions in religion, yes. Not in the church. Not in the
kingdom. Not in the covenant. Not in the
body of Christ. No divisions. He is the Christ. The Son of the Living God. You
see, that answer is not only unanimous, but it has to do with
vital things. It has to do with vital things.
It has to do with His person. He's the Son of the Living God.
He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. I and my Father
are one. He's the Son of God as no other
man is the Son of God. He's the only begotten Son of
God, the well-beloved Son of God, the dear, the Son of His
love, His kingdom of His dear Son. I am my Father, one. Thy throne, O God, is forever.
It has to do with His person. Secondly, it has to do with His
office. He's the Christ. You see, the Father appointed
the Son to be the surety of His people. He appointed the Son
to be the justifier of His people. He appointed the Son to be the
federal head of His covenant people. He appointed the Son
to be the representative, the second Adam, the Lord from heaven,
who would come to the earth on one mission, to save the lost,
to redeem His sheep, to redeem His people. I've come that you
might have life. That's why I've come. I've come
to do my will. The Father's will, not my will,
the will of Him that sent me. The Christ. The Christ. The surety. The federal head. The guarantor. The representative.
The second Adam. The man from heaven. God in human
flesh. The true Messiah. And it has
to do with something else. It has to do with His person. Son of the Living God. It has
to do with His office, the Christ, and it has to do with what you
say. Whom do you? I'm talking about
you. Whom do you say? That I am. You believe in God, believe in
me. And I answer. As if He directed
this here in 1997, October the 19th, to you and me. I know what
they're saying out there, and I'm embarrassed by what they're
saying about Him. And I pity them. But whom do you say that I am? The heart of Christ. That's what I say. How about
you? The Son of the Living God. And
this answer is permanent. It's final. It's changeless.
It's as changeless as the throne of God. This is where I began
my journey. 47 years ago, I believed that
I was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That's where
I started this journey. That's when I entered the Kingdom
of God. That's when God gave light to my dark soul, understanding
to my confused mind, freedom from my captivity, light for
my blinded eyes. I believe that thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. That's where I started this journey. And one day, as Mike was singing
about it, That's where I'm going to begin my eternal journey,
saying the same thing. Unto Him, unto Him who loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood, to Him be the glory and the praise,
both now and forevermore. That's where I begin the journey,
and I'll enter heaven on the same note. We grow in the extent
of that knowledge, but not in the truth of it. It's either
true or it's not true. If you don't know it now, you
never knew it. If you don't believe He's the Son of God, the Christ
now, you never did believe it. If you don't bow and worship
Him, now you'll never bow and worship Him. We grow in the extent
of that knowledge, and we grow in the depth of that conviction
of His glory, but not in the truth of it. We grow in assurance
from faith to faith, from one degree of faith to another, but
never in the fact of it. Whom I believe and what I believe,
if I believe, unchangeable. That's right, unchangeable. Say, people come into the church
and then they find out who Christ is. Oh no, they don't either.
They know who He is before they come into the church. They come
into the body of Christ and then somehow or other they find out
who He is. No, no, no, no. That's where you come in. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart God raised Him
from the dead as our Justifier, that's when you're saved. And
that never changes. You grow in the knowledge of
it. You grow in the confidence of it. You grow in the assurance
of it. And you grow in the depth of
conviction of who He is. Now, whom do you say that I am? I am the Christ, the Son of the
Living. Now, what's the result? This
knowledge has special blessing. And the Lord Jesus answered and
said to him, Blessed art thou Whee! How you're blessed. Highly
favored. Blessed art thou. Listen. He puts Peter in mind of his
natural state. He reminds Peter who he is. Simon Bar-Jonah. Simon, son of
your daddy. Simon, son of a natural man.
Simon, born in sin. Simon, son of Jonah. That's who
you are. By birth, by nature, and by choice
and practice. Just a fleshly man. Let me tell
you something about this, Simon bar Jonah. You didn't learn that
by flesh and blood. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. You were born of a human father
named Jonah. And he had his nature, and his
flesh, and his evil, and his sin. And you don't graduate,
well you don't move one step, you don't evolve one step above
the grave. You're still in the grave of
sin by nature. And human nature and human minds
and human hearts and human wills and human wisdom did not teach
you who I am. Who did? My Father, which is
in heaven. My Father taught you. My Father
taught you. Turn to John chapter 6. This
is a revelation. This is a revelation. If you
and I know who Christ is, the Father taught us. According to
His will, His purpose, by His grace, He sent His Spirit and
gave us eyes to see who Christ is A heart to understand. The Son of God had given us an
understanding. In John 6, verse 42. Listen now, John 6, verse 41.
The Jews, these religious fellows who said he's all this, that,
and the other. They murmured at him because
he said, I'm the bread which came down from heaven. And they
said, is not this Jesus? This is Jesus. Not Lord, not
God, not Christ. Jesus, Son of Joseph, whose Father
and Mother we know. How is it then, he saith, I came
down from heaven? And Jesus answered them and said
to them, murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, believe
on me, know who I am, except the Father which sent me draw
him. And I'll raise him up at the last day. It's written in
the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man,
therefore, that hath heard and learned of the Father, you come
to me." That's what Christ is saying. Simon, son of Jonah, flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. Not by the will of man or the
will of the flesh. A man didn't teach you. your
sins and your need of Christ, and who Christ is, and the Redeemer,
my Father. My Father sanctified you and
set you apart, made you His own, chose you, and revealed to you
who I am. And you're blessed. You're blessed. David wrote in Psalm 65, listen
to him here, Psalm 65, verse 4, Blessed is the man whom God
chooses and causes to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts, and we shall be satisfied with the goodness of
thy house, even of thy holy temple. My friends, like Simon, son of Jonah, You
and I, sons of whomever our fathers were, we've been blessed, blessed
above all people. The Heavenly Father has by His
Spirit and by His Word revealed to us who Christ is, the Lamb
of God, the Great High Priest, the Redeemer of sinners. And I say unto you, look at the
next verse, and I say unto you, Verse 18, I say unto you, that
your Peter, your rock, your stone, he's called Peter now, not Simon
anymore, but Peter. A rock, a little stone. Because
of his firmness, solidarity, laid on the foundation, the rock
Christ. Peter. Oh, he had his ups and
downs. Yes, he did. And we're a lot
like him. A whole lot like him. But he never moved from believing
who Christ is. He never moved. He's a rock. He never moved. At the end there,
before our Lord went back to glory, he sat Peter down all
by himself. He said, Peter, do you love me? And listen to what he said. Peter
said, Lord, you're God. And you know all things. You're
omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. You know all things
because of who you are. Way back yonder, he said, I know
who you are. You're the Christ, the Son of the living God. And
before Christ went back to glory, Peter said, you know everything.
You're God. You know I love you. And that's why Christ called
him a rock. And that's what you are. You're a rock. If you know
who he is. If God has revealed to you and
me who Christ is, You have your ups and downs and your fallings
in and fallings out and all this, that and the other. You're human
beings. But that relationship between
you and Him will never change. I guarantee you. You don't unknow Him. You don't
unlove Him. He's who He is and you know who
He is and that doesn't change. Peter got scared one day, there's
a bunch of folks going to crucify Christ, and he thought they'd
crucify Him too, and he said, I don't know Him. I know who He is, but I don't
know Him. He knew who He was. Never changes. Man's saved, saved. Man's enlightened,
is enlightened. A man is illuminated, is illuminated.
A woman who's come to know who Christ is, will always know who
Christ is. That's right. That's right, you're a stone.
And upon this rock, not upon Peter. Christ did build His church
on Peter. He built His church on this rock
that they know who He is, who's in His church. That's the rock. You see what I'm saying? This
is the foundation on which I build my church myself. Who I am. What
I came to do. Who I am. What I came to do. Why I did it, and where I am
now. That's the foundation on which
he built the church. What Peter said. This rock, I'll
build my church. And the gates of hell will never
prevail against it. Never change it. You see, there
are a lot of churches by that name. Chapels, churches, tabernacles,
wherever they are. Assemblies. But this church,
the church of the firstborn, the church whose name is written
in heaven, the church which is his bride, the church which he
purchased with his own blood, that church is without a lost
person, unsaved person or hypocrite. That is a sanctified, redeemed,
born again, regenerated church who built on this knowledge and
confession, thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. That
doesn't change. It's a perfect church. It's without
blemish or spot or stain or wrinkle. Perfect. Everyone who's in it
is in the body of Christ and that church will be with him
in glory. And the gates of hell, Satan, who is that? That's hell,
that's death, that's sin, that's persecutors, that's Satan, that's
whomever. Nothing can separate me from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. Turn to Romans 8 and let's read
that, and we'll close with that. You're Peter, you're a rock,
and you're built on a rock, the rock Christ Jesus. And persecution
and everything else will rise against you, but it won't prevail.
Romans 8, 38, I'm persuaded. That neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. That's it. What a rest! What
a peace! What a gospel! What a joy! What foolishness to look in any
other direction. What an impossibility to be saved
any other way. Impossibility. God's way. Well, flesh and blood doesn't
reveal it. But my Father which is in heaven.
So we'll preach it, declare this message and leave it right there. trusting He'll reveal it.