October 2, 2025 • 61 mins
What is a Christian? Pastor Lance shows from Scripture that a believer is someone who loudly and clearly declares Jesus' identity as God and ministry as the Savior of the world.
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Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight and the opportunity you
give us to study Your word. Truly, Lord, it is a great
blessing to be able to examine the text of Scripture and to
realize that You have spoken very clearly, without any
confusion, without any kind of mishaps.
It's all the truth of the livingGod.
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And because of that, Lord, we can take it for what it is at
face value, that it's a holy word of God and therefore it
speaks to every aspect of our lives and it moves us on to
maturity because it does a greatwork in those who believe.
So we're asking that tonight, Lord, as we study it, you do a
great work in all of us that truly we would come to
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understand the beauty of your character and that we would
truly be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ as we understand
what Christianity is all about. So we thank you, Lord, in Jesus
name, Amen. The question is, what is a
Christian? What is a Christian?
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That's the question and the answer has been seen over the
last couple of weeks by looking at the Christian's decision.
That's Luke Chapter 9 verse #23 that is that he decides to
follow Christ, to take up his cross and deny himself.
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And then we saw what a Christianis by looking at the definition
of a Christian. That's Philippians chapter 3
verse #3 that the marked one, the true believer, is one who
worships God in spirit, who glory is only in Christ Jesus,
and takes no confidence in his flesh.
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And then we looked at the Christian and his description.
That was last week, 2nd Corinthians 521, that if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things that passed
away. Behold all things that become
new. So the description of a believer
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is that he is in Christ and Christ is in him.
Tonight we're going to look at the Christian from the
perspective of his declaration. In other words, all true
believers declare the same thing.
That is, they declare the identity of the Messiah and they
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declare the ministry of the Messiah.
In other words, they understand who he is and they understand
what he did. In other words, they make a
declaration without any reservation, without any
hesitation, and without any question.
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And they make that declaration with true conviction, passion,
and resolution. In other words, they know
exactly who Christ is, and they know exactly what Christ came to
do. So Christian is known not just
by his decision, not just by hisdefinition and description, but
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by his declaration. To understand that, turn with me
in your Bible to the Luke's Gospel, the 9th chapter, Luke
Chapter 9, and in the narrative of Luke Chapter 9, Christ is
going to ask a question, and that question centers around his
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identity. And then he's going to give some
instruction, and that instruction centers around his
ministry. Everything about the Christ
focuses in on who he is and whathe did.
And all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who truly and
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genuinely know who he is have the same declaration about his
identity and his ministry. So it's a very familiar
narrative to us, but I think that will it will open your eyes
to many things this evening. In fact, we're going to help you
understand why is it those who are closest to you are the
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furthest from the Kingdom. We're going to help you
understand why your father or your mother, your brother or
your sister, your aunt or your uncle, your son or your daughter
refuse to believe the things that you believe in spite of
overwhelming evidence, in spite of the very clear indicators of
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Scripture. What is it that keeps them from
embracing Christ as their Messiah?
What is it that that keeps them from understanding the things
that you understanding you understand?
What keeps them from grip gripping that the glorious
gospel of Christ that you have completely and totally absorbed
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yourself in. We're going to answer that
question for you this evening. But first Luke Chapter 9 verse
#18 says and it happened that while he was praying alone, the
disciples were with him and he questioned them saying, who do
the people say that I am? They answered and said, John the
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Baptist and others say Elijah, but others, that one of the
prophets of old has risen again.And he said to them, But who do
you say that I am? And Peter answered and said, The
Christ or the Messiah of God? But he warned them and
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instructed them not to tell thisto anyone, saying the Son of Man
must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up.
On the third day. Christ asked the most valuable
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question ever, the most important question that could
ever be asked. Who do you say that I am?
If you answer it correctly, thenyour soul will live in delight.
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If you answer it incorrectly, your soul will be damned
forever. So you must answer the question
correctly because it deals with the identity of who Christ is.
Once you understand who He is, then you can begin to understand
what it is he does or what it isthat he did.
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Now Luke's gospel, it's important to realize where
you're at, what's happening herein the gospel.
Why is the question asked at this time?
Luke is is building toward this crescendo of who is Christ?
What is his identity? Everything about the Gospels
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centers around the identity of Christ.
John's gospel talks to us about his deity, that Jesus is God in
the flesh. Matthew's gospel talks to us
about his royalty, that he's theking of Israel, the king of the
universe, and he has a Kingdom that he presents.
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Mark's gospel talks to us about his humility, that he's a great
and wonderful servant. And then of course, Luke's
gospel talks to us about his humanity, that he's God in human
flesh. And yet all the gospels point to
the identity of Christ. In fact, this is how John sums
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it up in John chapter 20. He says therefore many other
signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples,
which are not written in this book, but these have been
written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
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John says there are so many other miracles that Christ did
that are not recorded here, but these have been recorded, that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and
that believing the fact that he is the Messiah, you will have
life in his name. You see, it's absolutely
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essential that you understand that Jesus is the Messiah.
Can one be saved and not believethat Jesus is the Messiah?
Answer no. John just told you these things
are written that you may believethat Jesus is the Messiah, the
Christ, the Son of God, and thatbelieving that fact, you have
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life in his name. You cannot be a Christian and
not believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
To be a Christian means, I declare the fact that Jesus
Christ is God's Messiah. That's very, very important to
understand that, you see, because he really is truly God's
Messiah. He is not Israel's Messiah, and
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he's not your Messiah, He's God's Messiah.
That's Peter's confession in Luke 9.
You are the Christ of God. You are the anointed of God.
You are the Messiah of God. Simeon says the same thing in
Luke chapter 2. I have seen the Lord's Christ.
I have seen the Lord's Messiah. Same thing Peter says in Acts
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chapter 3 when he says that God announced beforehand by the
mouth of all the prophets, that his, that is God's Christ, God's
Messiah, would suffer and he hasthus fulfilled that.
You see, the Messiah is God's Messiah.
You didn't anoint him, God anointed him.
You didn't appoint him. God appointed him.
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He is God's Messiah. He is God's anointed.
Very important to realize that because you cannot become a
Christian unless you understand who Jesus Christ is.
It's all about his identity. He is the Messiah of God.
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He's God's Messiah. So in the context of Luke
Chapter 9, Christ asks the question, what is the popular
opinion of who I am? Matthew's account says what do
people say or who do people say the Son of Man is?
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Then say that in Luke's Gospel. But in Matthews it does very
important to understanding the question, what is the popular
opinion of who I am? And then he says, But who do you
say that I am? What is the personal opinion?
Because you see, the popular opinion is wrong.
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Well, some say you are Elijah, but no one is saying that you
are the eternal one. Some say you are John the
Baptist, but no one is saying you are Jehovah God.
Some say you are one of the prophets, but no one is saying
that you are the prophet that was prophesied in the book of
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Deuteronomy. Everybody's saying that you're
great, but nobody's saying you're God.
That's the popular opinion. So Christ says, but who do you
say that I am? Because when you stand before
Christ, your parents won't be with you, the crowds won't be
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with you. It'll be you and the Lord, and
you have to give an account for who you say the Son of Man is,
and does that account match withthe Bible says about Jesus
Christ our Lord? Now, this is very important
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because Luke is building toward this question, building toward
this scenario. When Christ asks, who do men say
that I am? This is life's most important
question because you can't ask what must I do to be saved
unless you ask who is the Son ofMan?
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One flow flows out of the other.So Christ asked the question.
But Luke has been building through this because every
chapter leading up to Luke Chapter 9 speaks to us about the
identity of Christ, who He is. That is just so important to
understand. In fact, it says in Luke 1 when
the Angel Gabriel came to Zacharias, he told him in verse
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#17 it is he who will go as a forerunner, speaking to
Zacharias about his son John theBaptist.
He will be the forerunner to theMessiah.
So in chapter 1 of Luke, we havethe announcement about the
forerunner is going to come before the Lord.
And then you have Gabriel's encounter with Mary.
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He tells Mary that you will conceive in your room bear a
son, and you shall name, name him Jesus.
He will be great. He will be called the Son of the
Most High God. So everything is about the
identity of the Messiah. Then Mary writes this song and
Zacharias writes this song underthe inspiration of the Scripture
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to talk to us about the Messiah,his identity and his ministry.
Then you move into Luke chapter 2, and then the angels come to
the shepherds, and they declare very loudly the identity of the
Messiah. For unto you this day in the
city of David has been born a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
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They understand that the Savior's been born.
The Messiah is here. So they go to Mary and they
proclaim the same thing. They declare the same message to
Mary. And then you have the encounter
with Simeon, and Simeon recognizes that this is the
Lord's Messiah. Again, he is identified by
Simeon. And then you come to Anna.
She identifies him by proclaiming to everybody who he
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is the Messiah. And then you come to that
encounter in Luke chapter 2 at the end of Luke the 2nd chapter,
where Christ himself is now 12 years of age.
And it's the only encounter we have of Christ between his birth
and when he's 30, and that is atthe age of 12.
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And he's going to speak. And what Christ says is the most
important statement he ever makes.
What Christ says in Luke chapter2 is the most important
statement that He will ever makeas the Messiah on this planet.
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Remember, He's lost. When He's not lost, His parents
leave Jerusalem without him. They come back to find him.
He's in the temple. He's having this encounter with
the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes.
He's asking them questions. They're asking Him questions.
And they come and find Him and they say, where have you been?
We've been looking all over for you.
And what does Jesus say? Don't you know I must be about
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my Father's business? This is the most important
statement that Christ ever makes, and he does it at age 12.
And the Bible says that Mary is confused, and so is Joseph
because he's making this declaration about his identity.
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I'm not your son, Mary. I'm not Joseph's son.
I am my father's son. I am the Son of God.
He makes it very clear. You see, they know he's virgin
born, they know he's the Son of the Most High.
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They know his whole life of perfection up to this point, but
they are still confused about the identity of the Messiah.
As he says, I must be about my Father's excuse me, business.
That's very important because you see, 151 times Christ refers
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to the God of heaven as his Father 151 times.
That's very, very important. Why?
Because there are 39 books in the Old Testament, and of those
39 books in the Old Testament, there is only two times that the
God of heaven is referred to as Father only twice, but not in a
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personal sense, only in a national sense that He is the
Father nationally over Israel. There are 15 other times in
those 39 books that is referred to as a Father indirectly, but
never would a Jew refer to the God of heaven as his personal
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father. Jesus is the first to do so
because he recognizes and understands that his Father in
heaven He is one with. That's very, very important.
So if you go with me over to John chapter 5, all this is the
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is, is defined for you. Remember in John 5 there at the,
the pool of Bethesda, the House of Mercy.
And at this pool, there's this, there's this belief that if an
Angel comes and, and stirs the water, the very first sick
person in the pool is healed. OK, now I that's not true.
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It's just what they believed. But we know that Jesus is the
ultimate healer. He's called Jehovah Rapha in
Exodus chapter 15, the Lord my healer.
So we know that God's a healer. And there's a man that's been
paralyzed for 38 years, 38 years.
And Christ asked him, do you want to be made well?
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Do you want to be healed well? Of course he does.
He tells them to take up his palate and walk.
The problem is it's on the Sabbath day in the Pharisees,
they go crazy over this. They go bonkers.
Not the fact that the guy's healed, but that he's walking
with his palate on the Sabbath day and they're incensed.
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And so they ask him, who healed you?
He says, Jesus healed me. And so when you pick up the
narrative in verse #17 it says, or Jesus answered them, that is
the Jews. Now in John's gospel, the Jews
are always the leadership of Israel.
They're not the nation itself. The Jews in John's gospel are
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always referred to as the leaders, the Pharisees, the
Sadducees, the scribes. So he says these words.
My Father is working until now, and I myself am working.
Great statement. Now this is what it says.
Verse 18 For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking
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all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking
the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father,
making Himself equal to God. When Jesus says that He is the
Son of God, when Jesus says thatthe God of heaven is my Father,
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He is making Himself equal with God.
And every Jew knew that. That's why they wanted to kill
Him. In fact, if you go over to John
chapter 10 and John 10, it says this in verse #30I and the
Father are one. The Jews picked up stones again
to stone Him. Jesus answered them.
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I showed you many good works from the Father.
For which of them are you stoning me?
The Jews answered him for a goodwork.
We do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you,
being a man, make yourself out to be God.
See, the Jews knew that when Christ claimed that the God of
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heaven was His Father, He was claiming equality with God.
No Jew in the history of Judaismwould ever call the God of
heaven their Father because theyare not equal in nature to God.
But Jesus is. That's very important.
That's why he's called the Son of God.
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In fact, the confession that Peter makes in Matthew's account
of what Luke is talking about, Luke 9, is Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Very, very important to realize
that. Now remember in the Old
Testament there are there there's a phrase sons of God.
In the Old Testament, the sons of God are always angels.
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In the New Testament, the phrasesons of God is Jews also.
That's always referring to believing Jews or believing
Gentiles. But the Son of God is a title
reserved only for the Messiah ofIsrael.
And when it says that Jesus is the Son of God, the word for son
is we OS very important because we OS never refers to the origin
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of an individual. We OS always refers to equality
of nature and position. Jesus is never called the little
born one of God. That would be the word brief OS.
He's never called the little child of God.
That would be Tecnon. But he's called the Son of God.
And the word for Son is we OS, and it never refers to the
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origin of anything. It only refers to equality of
nature. It refers to the position of
privilege. That's very important.
So not only is Jesus called the Son of God, he's also called the
only begotten, right, the monogenes.
But that doesn't mean that he isbegotten of God in terms of
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being born or created. No, He's called the monoganase,
and that is a word that deals with preeminence or the son of
choice. It's like it's like Isaac was
the monoganase. He was the only begotten of
Abraham, but he wasn't the only son of Abraham.
He wasn't even the oldest son ofAbraham.
Ishmael was. But Isaac was the only begotten
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son. He was a son of choice.
He was a son of privilege. He was the select one, the
unique one. That's what monoganase means.
Jesus is always called also called the first born of
creation, the pro total cost. That doesn't mean he was the
first one ever created, because he wasn't.
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He was never created. He's the eternal God, but He is
the prototocost, meaning he is the the of all those ever
created. He is the preeminent. 1
Revelation 1/5 says He is the first born of all those who are
resurrected. That doesn't mean he was the
first one resurrected. It means that of all the people
that will ever be resurrected, He is the preeminent one.
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That's what prototocost means. These are things you need to
know when you talk to Jews or when you talk to Jehovah's
Witnesses, because they can't refute that, they can't defend
that. They don't know what to say when
you begin to talk, to talk to them like that, because they
can't answer those questions. But you see, it all goes to the,
to the, to the grammar that describes the identity of
Christ, that he is the Son of the living God.
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So Christ comes and asks the question, who do men say that I
am? And, and this is so important
because as you go through the, the gospel of Luke, he's always
declaring his identity. In fact, if you, if you go back
to, to Luke chapter 3, in Luke chapter 3, you have the ministry
of John the Baptist and John theBaptist calls him the expected
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one. And that was a title from Psalm
118 and Psalm 40 to talk about the coming Messiah.
And so he identifies him as the expected one.
And his baptism in Luke chapter 3, it says.
And the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a
dove, and a voice came out of heaven.
You are my beloved Son, and you I am well pleased.
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So again, his Father in heaven identifies him as his beloved
Son. As you go on to chapter 4,
listen, even the devil knows theidentity of Jesus.
It says in verse #3 And the devil said to him, since you are
the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.
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So the testimony of the devil affirms the identity of the
Messiah. They truly is the Son of God.
And then you go to verse #34 of chapter 4 and listen to what the
demons say. Let us alone.
What business do we have with each other?
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Jesus of Nazareth, have you cometo destroy us?
I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God.
So again, there's a declaration of the identity of the Messiah
by the devil, by the demons, by John the Baptist, by Mary, by
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Anna, by Simeon, by Zacharias. It just keeps coming over and
over and over again. Even even Peter in Luke chapter
5 says go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.
And then even over in chapter Chapter 7, at the healing of the
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widow's son at Name, they understand that God has visited
his people when the widow's son at Name was resurrected.
And then of course, John the Baptist again calls him the
expected one. All these things are happening
all the while during Jesus's ministry, and yet still people
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don't understand who He is. And the question comes, how do
they not get it? How do not grasp it?
In fact, if you if you go back to Luke chapter chapter 5, the
Pharisees ask this question, whois this man who speaks
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blasphemies, who can forgive sins, but God alone?
And then you come over to chapter Chapter 7 and they asked
the same question again. Who is this man who forgives
sins? And then even the disciples
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chapter 8, who then is this thathe commands even the winds and
the water to obey him? Even Herod in the 9th chapter of
Luke, who is this man about whomI hear such things?
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See, that's the question. That's why Jesus asked, who do
men say that I am? Because all throughout his
ministry people are asking, who is this guy?
Who is this Nazarene? Who is this one claiming to
forgive sins? Who is this one?
Satan knows who he is. The demons know who he is.
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But the people around Israel, they have no idea who Jesus is.
In spite of all the miracles, inspite of all the messages, they
still don't grasp the fact that Jesus is the Son of the living
God. They still don't grasp the
identity of the Messiah. And you cannot be saved unless
you know who he is. You cannot, and that's so
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important. That's why every Christian has
the same declaration. They declare his identity, that
he is a son of the living God, and they declare his ministry
that he came to die for the sinsof man.
They understand that and they declare it loudly without any
reservation. The Old Testament is filled with
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the arrival of the coming Messiah and who he would be.
There was no excuse for Israel to miss it.
You can go all the way back to the prophet Isaiah who says
these words. For a child will be born to us,
a son will be given, and the government will rest on his
shoulders, and his name will be called.
Wonderful counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of
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Peace. This is what his name is called.
Remember, God doesn't have namesplural.
Jesus doesn't have names, plural.
He only has one name, and it manifests itself in different
attributes. It manifests itself in a
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multitude of character references, but it doesn't have
names. His name will be called
Wonderful. His name will be called
Counselor. His name will be called the
Mighty God, the El Gabor. So the son given is God El
Gabor. He's also the Father of eternity
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or the Everlasting Father, or the originator of eternity.
To be the father of something would mean to be the originator
of something. And so he's called the Father of
eternity. He is the originator of
eternity. The only one who can be the
originator of eternity is somebody who is eternal.
So he is the eternal God. He is the El Gabor.
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He is the Son that's given. So it's unmistakable in the Old
Testament. In fact, it says over in Isaiah
44 verse #6 these words, Isaiah 44 verse #6 thus says the Lord.
Thus says Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the
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Lord of hosts, or Jehovah Sabiath.
Wait a minute, you have two Jehovahs.
How can you have two Jehovahs? There's only one, unless the 2
are one. That's very important because he
says, look, thus says Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his
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Redeemer, Jehovah of armies. I am the 1st and I am the last,
and there is no God beside me. So there's only one God, but he
manifests himself as Redeemer, the Lord of hosts.
He manifests himself as the Kingof Israel because that's who
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Jehovah is. That's very important.
And so it's unmistakable that there is a Redeemer.
That Redeemer is the first and the last.
That Redeemer is God in the flesh.
Same thing is true over in Zechariah chapter 12, when God
says I will pour out on the House of David and on the
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heavens of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, so
that they will look on me whom they have pierced.
That's a great question. How do you look upon a God who
is a spirit who has been pierced?
Because every Jew knows that Godis a spirit and Jehovah God is
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speaking. So he says, I will pour out on
the House of David the spirit ofgrace and suffocation, and they
will look on me. This is Jehovah speaking whom
they have pierced. So you ask a Jew, when was the
God of heaven pierced? That's a great question.
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How will they answer that? It says, and they will mourn for
him. Well, who's the hymn?
I thought it was, You're going to mourn for me, the one who was
pierced, but you're going to mourn for him.
Who is the Him? It's the Messiah, the Messiah of
Israel. You will mourn for him as one
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mourns for an only son, and theywill weep bitterly over him.
You see, the triune nature of God is explicitly identified all
throughout the Old Testament. In fact, it says down in chapter
13 verse #7 Awake, O sword against my shepherd.
Why? Because the shepherds of Israel
led the nation into Pagan idolatry.
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They LED them away from the Lord.
So God says, I'm going to send my shepherd.
And so he says, awake, O sword against my shepherd and against
the man. Now the phrase the man is not an
ordinary man. He is a supernatural man.
He is a unique kind of man. It says my associate in Hebrew.
It means my equal awake, O swordagainst my shepherd, the man who
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is my equal. Well, who was that?
That's the Messiah. And it says this declares the
Lord of hosts strike the shepherd, that the sheep may
scattered. It speaks of the death of the
shepherd, the death of the man, the death who was one who was
equal with the God, who was speaking Jehovah himself.
So all throughout the Old Testament, everything pointed to
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the identity of the coming Redeemer, the Messiah of Israel.
So you come to the New Testamentand you read through, for
instance, the Gospel of Luke, and everybody in the chapters
are pointing towards the identity of this Messiah who is
the Redeemer, the Son of God, the Holy One of Israel, the Most
High God. And that's the same guy spoken
of in the Old Testament. But the question still arises,
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who is this man? Why don't they get it?
Why don't they understand it? Why can't they digest it?
Why can't they wrap their arms around it?
How do they miss it? How do your friends miss it?
How does your family miss it? When you explain it to him so
clearly and you know who Jesus is, How come they don't grasp
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the identity of the Messiah? So Christ asked the question,
who do men say that I am? And there's a responding by
saying, look, you're not normal,you're abnormal.
Why? Because you're like one of the
prophets who has risen from the dead.
That's what it says in Luke 9. Remember, Elijah's dead,
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Jeremiah's dead. John the Baptist is dead.
You're Elijah, you're John the Baptist, you're Jeremiah, or
you're one of the prophets who've died and you've risen
again because what you're doing is not normal.
You're raising people from the dead.
You're causing the blind to see.The lame can walk.
(36:38):
You're causing food to be multiplied.
You're feeding thousands upon thousands of people.
Everything you do is miraculous.It's amazing.
So you must be supernatural. But no one's saying you're the
Messiah of Israel. No one is saying you're the God
of Israel. No one is saying that you're the
Son of God. Why not?
(37:03):
How come they're not saying that?
Well, the answer lies in the 12th chapter of John's Gospel.
So turn to John chapter 12 and you will know the answer as to
why those children of yours who were raised in a Christian home
(37:25):
don't embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
You want to know why the neighbor that you've been
witnessing to for years and years and years doesn't become a
Christian? You you want to know why you
have witnessed to your parents for years and they have yet to
embrace Christ as their Messiah.How could that possibly be?
(37:48):
When you explain to them over and over again the overwhelming
evidence that Jesus is exactly who he says He is in the
Scriptures and you read it in the Gospels, but yet they still
still do not believe. How does that possibly happen?
(38:08):
When you come to John chapter 12, you're on Tuesday of Passion
week. In John chapter 12, earlier on
Monday, he arrives into Jerusalem on the backside of a
donkey. That's called the triumphal
entry. If you've been with us for a
long time, you know it's on Monday, not Sunday.
(38:28):
It's very important to realize what the text says.
It's on Monday. He rides into Jerusalem on the
backside of the donkey, and theypraise him as the son of David.
They praise him as the king of Israel.
Hosanna save now they're all ecstatic and excited about Jesus
(38:49):
coming into Jerusalem. That's earlier in chapter 12.
But then as you read on and Christ begins to foretell His
death, because you see, not onlyis His identity important, but
His ministry is important. Why?
Because His ministry flows from His identity.
Only one person can die for yoursins.
(39:12):
I can die. I can shed My blood, but My
blood does nothing for you. My blood is only good for me.
My blood is no good for you. But when Jesus dies and sheds
his blood, He provides forgiveness for all those who
believe in him. That's very important to
understand that. And so it says in verse #34 John
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12. The crowd answered him.
We have heard out of the law that the Christ, the Messiah is
to remain forever. The Messiah is going to live
forever. Why?
Isaiah 96? He's the everlasting Father.
He is the originator of eternity.
He is eternal. All throughout the Old
Testament, it points to the eternality of the Messiah.
(40:01):
So they say to Jesus, we have heard that the Messiah is going
to live forever. You're talking to us about
dying. You're saying that you're the
Messiah. But how can that possibly be?
You're going to die or the Messiah is not going to die.
He's going to live forever. How can you say the Son of Man
(40:22):
must be lifted up? How can you say that Now?
That's important because the phrase Son of Man used 80 plus
times by Jesus to define who he is because it would reference
Daniel 713 and 14 and every Jew knows about the vision that
(40:47):
Daniel had of the coming Messiahin the flesh one like a son of
man descending from heaven. So Jesus would always use the
phrase the Son of man to identify with Daniel 7 because
he really is a son of man descending from heaven.
That's who he is. And so now they come back to
(41:09):
them and say, wait a minute, theSon of Man is the Messiah, and
he's supposed to live forever. But you're telling us that
you're the Son of Man and you'regoing to be lifted up, you're
going to die, you're going to becrucified.
So here comes the question. Who is this Son of Man?
(41:33):
Same question. It's the same question over and
over and over again all throughout the Gospels.
Who is Jesus? That's why Christ asked the
question. Who do men say that I am?
It is the most important question ever asked and ever
answered. Answered correctly, it delights
your soul. Answered incorrectly, it dams
(41:55):
your soul. It is life's most important
question, and they're still asking it three days before they
crucify Him. Who is this Son of man?
They still don't get it. They still don't know who He is.
So read on. So Jesus said to them for a
(42:17):
little while longer, the light is among you.
Walk while you have the light sothat darkness will not overtake
you. He walks in the darkness, does
not know where He goes. While you have the light,
believe in the light so that youmay become sons of the lights.
(42:42):
Christ says that he's the light of the world in John chapter 1.
He's the light that enlightens every man in the world.
So Christ says, while the light is among you for a little while
longer, three more days, believethe light why you can, because
(43:05):
there's coming today where the light will no longer shine, and
you'll be in darkness. So believe in the light, because
the Son of Man is the light of the world.
And so it says in verse #36 the latter portion.
These things Jesus spoke and he went away and hid himself from
(43:31):
them. That's a very dangerous place to
be when Jesus, the light of the world, hides himself from you.
Why would he do that redone? But though he had performed so
many signs before them, yet theywere not believing in Him.
(43:59):
He had done everything for threeyears.
There is no doubt who he is, butthey're still asking the same
question, who is the Son of man?And so while he did all these
things in front of him and then they still were not believing in
him. This was to fulfill the word of
(44:24):
Isaiah the prophet, which he spoke.
Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm
of the Lord been revealed? For this reason they could not
believe. Notice they would not believe.
(44:45):
Now they cannot believe. Their willful rejection of the
Messiah led to their judicial rejection by the Messiah because
they willfully rejected him as Son of God, Son of Man, Son of
(45:06):
David, Messiah of Israel, God's Messiah because they willfully
rejected Him. Now they are judicially in a
state of rejection forever, for God has turned out the lights on
them because they would not believe.
(45:28):
Now they cannot believe. That's what Jesus says.
So redone for Isaiah said again,he has blinded their eyes, that
he has hardened their hearts that they would not see with
their eyes and perceive with their heart and be converted and
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I heal them. These things Isaiah said because
he saw his glory and he spoke ofHim.
Nevertheless, many even of the rulers believed in him, but big
but because the Pharisees, they were not confessing him for fear
(46:14):
that they would be put out of the synagogue.
So here comes the answer as to why the people you witness to,
family, friends, relatives do not believe next verse for they
loved the approval of men ratherthan the approval of God.
(46:42):
That's why your friends and family do not believe they love
the approval of man more than they love the approval of God.
Put it this way, the affirmationof a false system is more
(47:09):
valuable to them than the transformation by a true Savior.
The affirmation of a false system is more valuable to them
than the transformation by a true Savior.
(47:36):
They love the approval of men. They love the recognition that
they receive. They love to be accepted by men.
See, unbelievers love the the the praise of man.
Unbelievers love the acceptance by man.
The unbelievers love the approval of man.
(47:58):
They love the affirmation of man.
They love the recognition of man.
They love that. That's the characteristic of the
unbeliever. The believer doesn't care about
that. He just cares about being
approved by God, pleasing God. Let me illustrate this for you
further. Turn to John Chapter 9.
(48:18):
Go back a couple of pages, John Chapter 9.
In John Chapter 9, you have a man who's been blind from birth,
who is healed by the Lord, who can now see.
The problem is Jesus healed themon the Sabbath.
(48:44):
Again, the Jews. The religious establishment is
furious, Instead of praising Godthat a man who's been blind from
birth can now see, they're angryat the fact that this man was
healed on the Sabbath, and they want to know who did this.
(49:04):
So explain to them who did this.And so it says in verse #18 The
Jews then did not believe it, for believe it of him that he
had been blind and had to receive sight, until they called
the parents of the very one who had received his sight and
(49:27):
questioned him, saying, Is this your son who you say was born
blind? Then how does he now see?
Verse 20? His parents answered them and
said We know that this is our son and we know that our son was
(49:48):
born blind. We know that for certain.
But how he now sees we do not know or who opened his eyes we
do not know. Ask him, he is of age, he will
speak for himself. These are the guys parents and
(50:08):
your parents love you. They want to protect you.
They want, they want to make sure they speak for you.
And so the Jews say this is yourson.
Was he born blind? Yes, he was.
So now how can he see? We don't know.
Ask him. Why would they say that?
(50:30):
We don't. His parents said this because
they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed
that if anyone confessed him to be Christ, the Messiah, he was
to be put out of the synagogue. For this reason, his parents
said he is of age. Ask him.
(50:56):
The approval or the affirmation of a fault system was more
important to them than the transformation by a true Savior.
That is the only biblical reasongiven as to why people do not
(51:19):
believe. They would not believe.
So now they cannot believe. Very important.
And because they cannot believe there's been a judicial
rejection and they didn't have belief in the very beginning.
Why is because they did not wantto receive any kind of rejection
(51:42):
from their friends or from theirrelatives or from those who are
higher up. They loved the approval of the
world. They love the approval of man.
They love the recognition they received from man.
They don't want to give that up.So therefore they will not
capitulate to the Christ. Matthew's account says these
(52:10):
words. Who do you say that I am?
Peter says, Thou art the Christ,the Son of the living God.
Now listen carefully. Jesus says, Blessed are you,
Simon Barjona, you are blessed. Why?
(52:34):
Because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my
Father who is in heaven revealedthis to you.
Monumental statement. You cannot convince somebody
(52:56):
that Jesus is the Son of the living God.
No matter how hard you try, no matter how great your argument
know how well versed you are in Scripture, you cannot convince
them. Peter made the great confession,
this great declaration about theidentity of Christ.
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
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And the only way he could do that was not because somebody in
human flesh convinced him that Jesus was the Son of God.
Jesus made that statement. Flesh and blood did not reveal
this to you. Nobody of a human nature
revealed this to you, Peter. But my Father, who is in heaven,
he revealed it to you. Wow.
(53:41):
Nobody can confess Christ as Lord unless the Father reveals
Christ as Lord to them. The Father must do that.
If someone does not believe in the deity of Christ, you're not
going to convince them that Christ is God in the flesh.
(54:02):
You can't. God has to work in their heart.
God has to reveal it to them. That's why salvation is the work
of God and not a work of man. Yes, we preach the gospel and
yes, God uses His word in the lives of people to open their
hearts. But God does all that.
We do not. We are vessels, we are
(54:23):
spokespeople, we are preachers of the good news, but does not
depend upon me in order for you to be saved.
That's God's work, and only God can reveal to you his identity.
(54:45):
Life's most important question, Who do men say that I am without
the Christ? It's none of the living God.
Note this Matthew Chapter 11 verse 25.
At that time Jesus said, I praise you Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the
(55:06):
wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants, to
babes. Yes Father, for this way was
well pleasing in your sight. Why did God reveal Himself to
some and not to all? Because this was His good
pleasure. That's why.
(55:28):
Verse 27. All things have been handed over
to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father,
nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to
whom the Son wills to reveal him.
Wow, what a statement. The only people who come to know
(55:51):
Christ are the ones to whom God reveals himself to them.
That's it. But the question still remains,
who do you say that I am? Why?
Because look, He goes right in to verse 28.
(56:12):
From divine election to human volition.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you a rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will
find a rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
(56:35):
burden is light. God gives an invitation to all
come, come to me all year that our labor, labor and are heavy
laden. I'll give you rest, but you
can't come or you won't come unless the Father has revealed
(56:55):
himself to you. So therefore the Christian's
declaration is this. Jesus Christ is God's Messiah.
He is the Son of the living God.Every believer declares that
(57:15):
loudly and clearly, without reservation, because they know.
And not only that, they also declare the ministry of the
Messiah. For back in Luke Chapter 9,
Jesus says this. He warned them and instructed
(57:38):
them not to tell this to anyone.Why?
Why not tell everybody that Jesus is the Messiah, the
Messiah of God? He says.
Don't tell him that. Why?
Because they have a misconstruedidea of who the Messiah is.
Instead, tell him this. The Son of Man must suffer many
(58:00):
things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.
Every believer declares the centrality of the cross.
They'll speak first of all aboutthe necessity of the cross.
He must suffer. Then they'll talk about the
(58:21):
certainty of the cross, because it is going to happen.
Then they talk about the brutality of the cross, because
He will be scourged, He will be mocked, He will be beaten, He
will be killed, and then they always talk about the victory of
the cross. He will rise again on the third
(58:46):
day. The identity and ministry of the
Son of God is a declaration thatevery believer makes without
reservation, without hesitation,and without question.
Why? Because it is their absolute
(59:06):
conviction of who Jesus is. And that conviction becomes
their confession and declaration.
And that's why they proclaim it loudly.
That's the gospel. That's the message that we have.
And every believer declares thatnot only does he make a decision
(59:28):
to follow Christ, not only does he defy is he defined by those
who worship God in spirit, thosewho take no confidence in the
flesh and glory only in Christ Jesus.
And not only they described as being in Christ and Christ being
in them, but they make this declaration publicly and loudly
(59:51):
that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and He is the
only one who could die for your sins.
He did it at Calvary and he roseagain the third day because he's
the victorious warrior over sin,death and Satan.
On top of that, he's coming again.
(01:00:13):
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today,
and we thank you for the opportunity you give us to study
Your word. Pray, Lord, that we would all
understand the Great Declarationof Peter and the Apostles and
come to realize who You are and what You've done, and that we
live in the light of Your glorious Kingdom.
(01:00:34):
And our prayer, Father, is that we would truly honor You as you
live each day. Thank you for your word.
Thank you for its clarity. Thank you that when we read it,
we can understand it because we're children of the living
God. You've opened their hearts.
You've helped us to see who you are.
We grasp your identity. And our prayer, Father, is for
(01:00:55):
those close to us, our family, our friends, our work
associates, our teammates, our classmates that as we speak
forth the gospel, they would come to understand who you are
and what you did for the glory of your Kingdom in Jesus name,
(01:01:20):
Amen.
Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight and the opportunity you
give us to study Your word. Truly, Lord, it is a great
blessing to be able to examine the text of Scripture and to
realize that You have spoken very clearly, without any
confusion, without any kind of mishaps.
It's all the truth of the livingGod.
(00:21):
And because of that, Lord, we can take it for what it is at
face value, that it's a holy word of God and therefore it
speaks to every aspect of our lives and it moves us on to
maturity because it does a greatwork in those who believe.
So we're asking that tonight, Lord, as we study it, you do a
great work in all of us that truly we would come to
(00:41):
understand the beauty of your character and that we would
truly be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ as we understand
what Christianity is all about. So we thank you, Lord, in Jesus
name, Amen. The question is, what is a
Christian? What is a Christian?
(01:04):
That's the question and the answer has been seen over the
last couple of weeks by looking at the Christian's decision.
That's Luke Chapter 9 verse #23 that is that he decides to
follow Christ, to take up his cross and deny himself.
(01:25):
And then we saw what a Christianis by looking at the definition
of a Christian. That's Philippians chapter 3
verse #3 that the marked one, the true believer, is one who
worships God in spirit, who glory is only in Christ Jesus,
and takes no confidence in his flesh.
(01:49):
And then we looked at the Christian and his description.
That was last week, 2nd Corinthians 521, that if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things that passed
away. Behold all things that become
new. So the description of a believer
(02:10):
is that he is in Christ and Christ is in him.
Tonight we're going to look at the Christian from the
perspective of his declaration. In other words, all true
believers declare the same thing.
That is, they declare the identity of the Messiah and they
(02:34):
declare the ministry of the Messiah.
In other words, they understand who he is and they understand
what he did. In other words, they make a
declaration without any reservation, without any
hesitation, and without any question.
(02:57):
And they make that declaration with true conviction, passion,
and resolution. In other words, they know
exactly who Christ is, and they know exactly what Christ came to
do. So Christian is known not just
by his decision, not just by hisdefinition and description, but
(03:20):
by his declaration. To understand that, turn with me
in your Bible to the Luke's Gospel, the 9th chapter, Luke
Chapter 9, and in the narrative of Luke Chapter 9, Christ is
going to ask a question, and that question centers around his
(03:42):
identity. And then he's going to give some
instruction, and that instruction centers around his
ministry. Everything about the Christ
focuses in on who he is and whathe did.
And all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who truly and
(04:03):
genuinely know who he is have the same declaration about his
identity and his ministry. So it's a very familiar
narrative to us, but I think that will it will open your eyes
to many things this evening. In fact, we're going to help you
understand why is it those who are closest to you are the
(04:27):
furthest from the Kingdom. We're going to help you
understand why your father or your mother, your brother or
your sister, your aunt or your uncle, your son or your daughter
refuse to believe the things that you believe in spite of
overwhelming evidence, in spite of the very clear indicators of
(04:51):
Scripture. What is it that keeps them from
embracing Christ as their Messiah?
What is it that that keeps them from understanding the things
that you understanding you understand?
What keeps them from grip gripping that the glorious
gospel of Christ that you have completely and totally absorbed
(05:16):
yourself in. We're going to answer that
question for you this evening. But first Luke Chapter 9 verse
#18 says and it happened that while he was praying alone, the
disciples were with him and he questioned them saying, who do
the people say that I am? They answered and said, John the
(05:38):
Baptist and others say Elijah, but others, that one of the
prophets of old has risen again.And he said to them, But who do
you say that I am? And Peter answered and said, The
Christ or the Messiah of God? But he warned them and
(06:03):
instructed them not to tell thisto anyone, saying the Son of Man
must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up.
On the third day. Christ asked the most valuable
(06:30):
question ever, the most important question that could
ever be asked. Who do you say that I am?
If you answer it correctly, thenyour soul will live in delight.
(06:52):
If you answer it incorrectly, your soul will be damned
forever. So you must answer the question
correctly because it deals with the identity of who Christ is.
Once you understand who He is, then you can begin to understand
what it is he does or what it isthat he did.
(07:19):
Now Luke's gospel, it's important to realize where
you're at, what's happening herein the gospel.
Why is the question asked at this time?
Luke is is building toward this crescendo of who is Christ?
What is his identity? Everything about the Gospels
(07:43):
centers around the identity of Christ.
John's gospel talks to us about his deity, that Jesus is God in
the flesh. Matthew's gospel talks to us
about his royalty, that he's theking of Israel, the king of the
universe, and he has a Kingdom that he presents.
(08:04):
Mark's gospel talks to us about his humility, that he's a great
and wonderful servant. And then of course, Luke's
gospel talks to us about his humanity, that he's God in human
flesh. And yet all the gospels point to
the identity of Christ. In fact, this is how John sums
(08:25):
it up in John chapter 20. He says therefore many other
signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples,
which are not written in this book, but these have been
written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.
(08:46):
John says there are so many other miracles that Christ did
that are not recorded here, but these have been recorded, that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, and
that believing the fact that he is the Messiah, you will have
life in his name. You see, it's absolutely
(09:09):
essential that you understand that Jesus is the Messiah.
Can one be saved and not believethat Jesus is the Messiah?
Answer no. John just told you these things
are written that you may believethat Jesus is the Messiah, the
Christ, the Son of God, and thatbelieving that fact, you have
(09:32):
life in his name. You cannot be a Christian and
not believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
To be a Christian means, I declare the fact that Jesus
Christ is God's Messiah. That's very, very important to
understand that, you see, because he really is truly God's
Messiah. He is not Israel's Messiah, and
(09:54):
he's not your Messiah, He's God's Messiah.
That's Peter's confession in Luke 9.
You are the Christ of God. You are the anointed of God.
You are the Messiah of God. Simeon says the same thing in
Luke chapter 2. I have seen the Lord's Christ.
I have seen the Lord's Messiah. Same thing Peter says in Acts
(10:20):
chapter 3 when he says that God announced beforehand by the
mouth of all the prophets, that his, that is God's Christ, God's
Messiah, would suffer and he hasthus fulfilled that.
You see, the Messiah is God's Messiah.
You didn't anoint him, God anointed him.
You didn't appoint him. God appointed him.
(10:43):
He is God's Messiah. He is God's anointed.
Very important to realize that because you cannot become a
Christian unless you understand who Jesus Christ is.
It's all about his identity. He is the Messiah of God.
(11:05):
He's God's Messiah. So in the context of Luke
Chapter 9, Christ asks the question, what is the popular
opinion of who I am? Matthew's account says what do
people say or who do people say the Son of Man is?
(11:26):
Then say that in Luke's Gospel. But in Matthews it does very
important to understanding the question, what is the popular
opinion of who I am? And then he says, But who do you
say that I am? What is the personal opinion?
Because you see, the popular opinion is wrong.
(11:47):
Well, some say you are Elijah, but no one is saying that you
are the eternal one. Some say you are John the
Baptist, but no one is saying you are Jehovah God.
Some say you are one of the prophets, but no one is saying
that you are the prophet that was prophesied in the book of
(12:08):
Deuteronomy. Everybody's saying that you're
great, but nobody's saying you're God.
That's the popular opinion. So Christ says, but who do you
say that I am? Because when you stand before
Christ, your parents won't be with you, the crowds won't be
(12:29):
with you. It'll be you and the Lord, and
you have to give an account for who you say the Son of Man is,
and does that account match withthe Bible says about Jesus
Christ our Lord? Now, this is very important
(12:50):
because Luke is building toward this question, building toward
this scenario. When Christ asks, who do men say
that I am? This is life's most important
question because you can't ask what must I do to be saved
unless you ask who is the Son ofMan?
(13:14):
One flow flows out of the other.So Christ asked the question.
But Luke has been building through this because every
chapter leading up to Luke Chapter 9 speaks to us about the
identity of Christ, who He is. That is just so important to
understand. In fact, it says in Luke 1 when
the Angel Gabriel came to Zacharias, he told him in verse
(13:37):
#17 it is he who will go as a forerunner, speaking to
Zacharias about his son John theBaptist.
He will be the forerunner to theMessiah.
So in chapter 1 of Luke, we havethe announcement about the
forerunner is going to come before the Lord.
And then you have Gabriel's encounter with Mary.
(13:59):
He tells Mary that you will conceive in your room bear a
son, and you shall name, name him Jesus.
He will be great. He will be called the Son of the
Most High God. So everything is about the
identity of the Messiah. Then Mary writes this song and
Zacharias writes this song underthe inspiration of the Scripture
(14:20):
to talk to us about the Messiah,his identity and his ministry.
Then you move into Luke chapter 2, and then the angels come to
the shepherds, and they declare very loudly the identity of the
Messiah. For unto you this day in the
city of David has been born a Savior who is Christ the Lord.
(14:41):
They understand that the Savior's been born.
The Messiah is here. So they go to Mary and they
proclaim the same thing. They declare the same message to
Mary. And then you have the encounter
with Simeon, and Simeon recognizes that this is the
Lord's Messiah. Again, he is identified by
Simeon. And then you come to Anna.
She identifies him by proclaiming to everybody who he
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is the Messiah. And then you come to that
encounter in Luke chapter 2 at the end of Luke the 2nd chapter,
where Christ himself is now 12 years of age.
And it's the only encounter we have of Christ between his birth
and when he's 30, and that is atthe age of 12.
(15:29):
And he's going to speak. And what Christ says is the most
important statement he ever makes.
What Christ says in Luke chapter2 is the most important
statement that He will ever makeas the Messiah on this planet.
(15:51):
Remember, He's lost. When He's not lost, His parents
leave Jerusalem without him. They come back to find him.
He's in the temple. He's having this encounter with
the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes.
He's asking them questions. They're asking Him questions.
And they come and find Him and they say, where have you been?
We've been looking all over for you.
And what does Jesus say? Don't you know I must be about
(16:14):
my Father's business? This is the most important
statement that Christ ever makes, and he does it at age 12.
And the Bible says that Mary is confused, and so is Joseph
because he's making this declaration about his identity.
(16:37):
I'm not your son, Mary. I'm not Joseph's son.
I am my father's son. I am the Son of God.
He makes it very clear. You see, they know he's virgin
born, they know he's the Son of the Most High.
(16:59):
They know his whole life of perfection up to this point, but
they are still confused about the identity of the Messiah.
As he says, I must be about my Father's excuse me, business.
That's very important because you see, 151 times Christ refers
(17:23):
to the God of heaven as his Father 151 times.
That's very, very important. Why?
Because there are 39 books in the Old Testament, and of those
39 books in the Old Testament, there is only two times that the
God of heaven is referred to as Father only twice, but not in a
(17:49):
personal sense, only in a national sense that He is the
Father nationally over Israel. There are 15 other times in
those 39 books that is referred to as a Father indirectly, but
never would a Jew refer to the God of heaven as his personal
(18:13):
father. Jesus is the first to do so
because he recognizes and understands that his Father in
heaven He is one with. That's very, very important.
So if you go with me over to John chapter 5, all this is the
(18:36):
is, is defined for you. Remember in John 5 there at the,
the pool of Bethesda, the House of Mercy.
And at this pool, there's this, there's this belief that if an
Angel comes and, and stirs the water, the very first sick
person in the pool is healed. OK, now I that's not true.
(18:57):
It's just what they believed. But we know that Jesus is the
ultimate healer. He's called Jehovah Rapha in
Exodus chapter 15, the Lord my healer.
So we know that God's a healer. And there's a man that's been
paralyzed for 38 years, 38 years.
And Christ asked him, do you want to be made well?
(19:20):
Do you want to be healed well? Of course he does.
He tells them to take up his palate and walk.
The problem is it's on the Sabbath day in the Pharisees,
they go crazy over this. They go bonkers.
Not the fact that the guy's healed, but that he's walking
with his palate on the Sabbath day and they're incensed.
(19:41):
And so they ask him, who healed you?
He says, Jesus healed me. And so when you pick up the
narrative in verse #17 it says, or Jesus answered them, that is
the Jews. Now in John's gospel, the Jews
are always the leadership of Israel.
They're not the nation itself. The Jews in John's gospel are
(20:04):
always referred to as the leaders, the Pharisees, the
Sadducees, the scribes. So he says these words.
My Father is working until now, and I myself am working.
Great statement. Now this is what it says.
Verse 18 For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking
(20:26):
all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking
the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father,
making Himself equal to God. When Jesus says that He is the
Son of God, when Jesus says thatthe God of heaven is my Father,
(20:50):
He is making Himself equal with God.
And every Jew knew that. That's why they wanted to kill
Him. In fact, if you go over to John
chapter 10 and John 10, it says this in verse #30I and the
Father are one. The Jews picked up stones again
to stone Him. Jesus answered them.
(21:10):
I showed you many good works from the Father.
For which of them are you stoning me?
The Jews answered him for a goodwork.
We do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you,
being a man, make yourself out to be God.
See, the Jews knew that when Christ claimed that the God of
(21:33):
heaven was His Father, He was claiming equality with God.
No Jew in the history of Judaismwould ever call the God of
heaven their Father because theyare not equal in nature to God.
But Jesus is. That's very important.
That's why he's called the Son of God.
(21:55):
In fact, the confession that Peter makes in Matthew's account
of what Luke is talking about, Luke 9, is Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Very, very important to realize
that. Now remember in the Old
Testament there are there there's a phrase sons of God.
In the Old Testament, the sons of God are always angels.
(22:18):
In the New Testament, the phrasesons of God is Jews also.
That's always referring to believing Jews or believing
Gentiles. But the Son of God is a title
reserved only for the Messiah ofIsrael.
And when it says that Jesus is the Son of God, the word for son
is we OS very important because we OS never refers to the origin
(22:43):
of an individual. We OS always refers to equality
of nature and position. Jesus is never called the little
born one of God. That would be the word brief OS.
He's never called the little child of God.
That would be Tecnon. But he's called the Son of God.
And the word for Son is we OS, and it never refers to the
(23:07):
origin of anything. It only refers to equality of
nature. It refers to the position of
privilege. That's very important.
So not only is Jesus called the Son of God, he's also called the
only begotten, right, the monogenes.
But that doesn't mean that he isbegotten of God in terms of
(23:32):
being born or created. No, He's called the monoganase,
and that is a word that deals with preeminence or the son of
choice. It's like it's like Isaac was
the monoganase. He was the only begotten of
Abraham, but he wasn't the only son of Abraham.
He wasn't even the oldest son ofAbraham.
Ishmael was. But Isaac was the only begotten
(23:54):
son. He was a son of choice.
He was a son of privilege. He was the select one, the
unique one. That's what monoganase means.
Jesus is always called also called the first born of
creation, the pro total cost. That doesn't mean he was the
first one ever created, because he wasn't.
(24:15):
He was never created. He's the eternal God, but He is
the prototocost, meaning he is the the of all those ever
created. He is the preeminent. 1
Revelation 1/5 says He is the first born of all those who are
resurrected. That doesn't mean he was the
first one resurrected. It means that of all the people
that will ever be resurrected, He is the preeminent one.
(24:37):
That's what prototocost means. These are things you need to
know when you talk to Jews or when you talk to Jehovah's
Witnesses, because they can't refute that, they can't defend
that. They don't know what to say when
you begin to talk, to talk to them like that, because they
can't answer those questions. But you see, it all goes to the,
to the, to the grammar that describes the identity of
Christ, that he is the Son of the living God.
(25:04):
So Christ comes and asks the question, who do men say that I
am? And, and this is so important
because as you go through the, the gospel of Luke, he's always
declaring his identity. In fact, if you, if you go back
to, to Luke chapter 3, in Luke chapter 3, you have the ministry
of John the Baptist and John theBaptist calls him the expected
(25:25):
one. And that was a title from Psalm
118 and Psalm 40 to talk about the coming Messiah.
And so he identifies him as the expected one.
And his baptism in Luke chapter 3, it says.
And the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a
dove, and a voice came out of heaven.
You are my beloved Son, and you I am well pleased.
(25:48):
So again, his Father in heaven identifies him as his beloved
Son. As you go on to chapter 4,
listen, even the devil knows theidentity of Jesus.
It says in verse #3 And the devil said to him, since you are
the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.
(26:11):
So the testimony of the devil affirms the identity of the
Messiah. They truly is the Son of God.
And then you go to verse #34 of chapter 4 and listen to what the
demons say. Let us alone.
What business do we have with each other?
(26:34):
Jesus of Nazareth, have you cometo destroy us?
I know who you are. You are the Holy One of God.
So again, there's a declaration of the identity of the Messiah
by the devil, by the demons, by John the Baptist, by Mary, by
(26:55):
Anna, by Simeon, by Zacharias. It just keeps coming over and
over and over again. Even even Peter in Luke chapter
5 says go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.
And then even over in chapter Chapter 7, at the healing of the
(27:17):
widow's son at Name, they understand that God has visited
his people when the widow's son at Name was resurrected.
And then of course, John the Baptist again calls him the
expected one. All these things are happening
all the while during Jesus's ministry, and yet still people
(27:38):
don't understand who He is. And the question comes, how do
they not get it? How do not grasp it?
In fact, if you if you go back to Luke chapter chapter 5, the
Pharisees ask this question, whois this man who speaks
(28:00):
blasphemies, who can forgive sins, but God alone?
And then you come over to chapter Chapter 7 and they asked
the same question again. Who is this man who forgives
sins? And then even the disciples
(28:23):
chapter 8, who then is this thathe commands even the winds and
the water to obey him? Even Herod in the 9th chapter of
Luke, who is this man about whomI hear such things?
(28:47):
See, that's the question. That's why Jesus asked, who do
men say that I am? Because all throughout his
ministry people are asking, who is this guy?
Who is this Nazarene? Who is this one claiming to
forgive sins? Who is this one?
Satan knows who he is. The demons know who he is.
(29:08):
But the people around Israel, they have no idea who Jesus is.
In spite of all the miracles, inspite of all the messages, they
still don't grasp the fact that Jesus is the Son of the living
God. They still don't grasp the
identity of the Messiah. And you cannot be saved unless
you know who he is. You cannot, and that's so
(29:33):
important. That's why every Christian has
the same declaration. They declare his identity, that
he is a son of the living God, and they declare his ministry
that he came to die for the sinsof man.
They understand that and they declare it loudly without any
reservation. The Old Testament is filled with
(29:54):
the arrival of the coming Messiah and who he would be.
There was no excuse for Israel to miss it.
You can go all the way back to the prophet Isaiah who says
these words. For a child will be born to us,
a son will be given, and the government will rest on his
shoulders, and his name will be called.
Wonderful counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of
(30:17):
Peace. This is what his name is called.
Remember, God doesn't have namesplural.
Jesus doesn't have names, plural.
He only has one name, and it manifests itself in different
attributes. It manifests itself in a
(30:39):
multitude of character references, but it doesn't have
names. His name will be called
Wonderful. His name will be called
Counselor. His name will be called the
Mighty God, the El Gabor. So the son given is God El
Gabor. He's also the Father of eternity
(31:00):
or the Everlasting Father, or the originator of eternity.
To be the father of something would mean to be the originator
of something. And so he's called the Father of
eternity. He is the originator of
eternity. The only one who can be the
originator of eternity is somebody who is eternal.
So he is the eternal God. He is the El Gabor.
(31:20):
He is the Son that's given. So it's unmistakable in the Old
Testament. In fact, it says over in Isaiah
44 verse #6 these words, Isaiah 44 verse #6 thus says the Lord.
Thus says Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the
(31:43):
Lord of hosts, or Jehovah Sabiath.
Wait a minute, you have two Jehovahs.
How can you have two Jehovahs? There's only one, unless the 2
are one. That's very important because he
says, look, thus says Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his
(32:07):
Redeemer, Jehovah of armies. I am the 1st and I am the last,
and there is no God beside me. So there's only one God, but he
manifests himself as Redeemer, the Lord of hosts.
He manifests himself as the Kingof Israel because that's who
(32:27):
Jehovah is. That's very important.
And so it's unmistakable that there is a Redeemer.
That Redeemer is the first and the last.
That Redeemer is God in the flesh.
Same thing is true over in Zechariah chapter 12, when God
says I will pour out on the House of David and on the
(32:50):
heavens of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, so
that they will look on me whom they have pierced.
That's a great question. How do you look upon a God who
is a spirit who has been pierced?
Because every Jew knows that Godis a spirit and Jehovah God is
(33:11):
speaking. So he says, I will pour out on
the House of David the spirit ofgrace and suffocation, and they
will look on me. This is Jehovah speaking whom
they have pierced. So you ask a Jew, when was the
God of heaven pierced? That's a great question.
(33:32):
How will they answer that? It says, and they will mourn for
him. Well, who's the hymn?
I thought it was, You're going to mourn for me, the one who was
pierced, but you're going to mourn for him.
Who is the Him? It's the Messiah, the Messiah of
Israel. You will mourn for him as one
(33:52):
mourns for an only son, and theywill weep bitterly over him.
You see, the triune nature of God is explicitly identified all
throughout the Old Testament. In fact, it says down in chapter
13 verse #7 Awake, O sword against my shepherd.
Why? Because the shepherds of Israel
led the nation into Pagan idolatry.
(34:14):
They LED them away from the Lord.
So God says, I'm going to send my shepherd.
And so he says, awake, O sword against my shepherd and against
the man. Now the phrase the man is not an
ordinary man. He is a supernatural man.
He is a unique kind of man. It says my associate in Hebrew.
It means my equal awake, O swordagainst my shepherd, the man who
(34:39):
is my equal. Well, who was that?
That's the Messiah. And it says this declares the
Lord of hosts strike the shepherd, that the sheep may
scattered. It speaks of the death of the
shepherd, the death of the man, the death who was one who was
equal with the God, who was speaking Jehovah himself.
So all throughout the Old Testament, everything pointed to
(35:01):
the identity of the coming Redeemer, the Messiah of Israel.
So you come to the New Testamentand you read through, for
instance, the Gospel of Luke, and everybody in the chapters
are pointing towards the identity of this Messiah who is
the Redeemer, the Son of God, the Holy One of Israel, the Most
High God. And that's the same guy spoken
of in the Old Testament. But the question still arises,
(35:25):
who is this man? Why don't they get it?
Why don't they understand it? Why can't they digest it?
Why can't they wrap their arms around it?
How do they miss it? How do your friends miss it?
How does your family miss it? When you explain it to him so
clearly and you know who Jesus is, How come they don't grasp
(35:52):
the identity of the Messiah? So Christ asked the question,
who do men say that I am? And there's a responding by
saying, look, you're not normal,you're abnormal.
Why? Because you're like one of the
prophets who has risen from the dead.
That's what it says in Luke 9. Remember, Elijah's dead,
(36:17):
Jeremiah's dead. John the Baptist is dead.
You're Elijah, you're John the Baptist, you're Jeremiah, or
you're one of the prophets who've died and you've risen
again because what you're doing is not normal.
You're raising people from the dead.
You're causing the blind to see.The lame can walk.
(36:38):
You're causing food to be multiplied.
You're feeding thousands upon thousands of people.
Everything you do is miraculous.It's amazing.
So you must be supernatural. But no one's saying you're the
Messiah of Israel. No one is saying you're the God
of Israel. No one is saying that you're the
Son of God. Why not?
(37:03):
How come they're not saying that?
Well, the answer lies in the 12th chapter of John's Gospel.
So turn to John chapter 12 and you will know the answer as to
why those children of yours who were raised in a Christian home
(37:25):
don't embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
You want to know why the neighbor that you've been
witnessing to for years and years and years doesn't become a
Christian? You you want to know why you
have witnessed to your parents for years and they have yet to
embrace Christ as their Messiah.How could that possibly be?
(37:48):
When you explain to them over and over again the overwhelming
evidence that Jesus is exactly who he says He is in the
Scriptures and you read it in the Gospels, but yet they still
still do not believe. How does that possibly happen?
(38:08):
When you come to John chapter 12, you're on Tuesday of Passion
week. In John chapter 12, earlier on
Monday, he arrives into Jerusalem on the backside of a
donkey. That's called the triumphal
entry. If you've been with us for a
long time, you know it's on Monday, not Sunday.
(38:28):
It's very important to realize what the text says.
It's on Monday. He rides into Jerusalem on the
backside of the donkey, and theypraise him as the son of David.
They praise him as the king of Israel.
Hosanna save now they're all ecstatic and excited about Jesus
(38:49):
coming into Jerusalem. That's earlier in chapter 12.
But then as you read on and Christ begins to foretell His
death, because you see, not onlyis His identity important, but
His ministry is important. Why?
Because His ministry flows from His identity.
Only one person can die for yoursins.
(39:12):
I can die. I can shed My blood, but My
blood does nothing for you. My blood is only good for me.
My blood is no good for you. But when Jesus dies and sheds
his blood, He provides forgiveness for all those who
believe in him. That's very important to
understand that. And so it says in verse #34 John
(39:37):
12. The crowd answered him.
We have heard out of the law that the Christ, the Messiah is
to remain forever. The Messiah is going to live
forever. Why?
Isaiah 96? He's the everlasting Father.
He is the originator of eternity.
He is eternal. All throughout the Old
Testament, it points to the eternality of the Messiah.
(40:01):
So they say to Jesus, we have heard that the Messiah is going
to live forever. You're talking to us about
dying. You're saying that you're the
Messiah. But how can that possibly be?
You're going to die or the Messiah is not going to die.
He's going to live forever. How can you say the Son of Man
(40:22):
must be lifted up? How can you say that Now?
That's important because the phrase Son of Man used 80 plus
times by Jesus to define who he is because it would reference
Daniel 713 and 14 and every Jew knows about the vision that
(40:47):
Daniel had of the coming Messiahin the flesh one like a son of
man descending from heaven. So Jesus would always use the
phrase the Son of man to identify with Daniel 7 because
he really is a son of man descending from heaven.
That's who he is. And so now they come back to
(41:09):
them and say, wait a minute, theSon of Man is the Messiah, and
he's supposed to live forever. But you're telling us that
you're the Son of Man and you'regoing to be lifted up, you're
going to die, you're going to becrucified.
So here comes the question. Who is this Son of Man?
(41:33):
Same question. It's the same question over and
over and over again all throughout the Gospels.
Who is Jesus? That's why Christ asked the
question. Who do men say that I am?
It is the most important question ever asked and ever
answered. Answered correctly, it delights
your soul. Answered incorrectly, it dams
(41:55):
your soul. It is life's most important
question, and they're still asking it three days before they
crucify Him. Who is this Son of man?
They still don't get it. They still don't know who He is.
So read on. So Jesus said to them for a
(42:17):
little while longer, the light is among you.
Walk while you have the light sothat darkness will not overtake
you. He walks in the darkness, does
not know where He goes. While you have the light,
believe in the light so that youmay become sons of the lights.
(42:42):
Christ says that he's the light of the world in John chapter 1.
He's the light that enlightens every man in the world.
So Christ says, while the light is among you for a little while
longer, three more days, believethe light why you can, because
(43:05):
there's coming today where the light will no longer shine, and
you'll be in darkness. So believe in the light, because
the Son of Man is the light of the world.
And so it says in verse #36 the latter portion.
These things Jesus spoke and he went away and hid himself from
(43:31):
them. That's a very dangerous place to
be when Jesus, the light of the world, hides himself from you.
Why would he do that redone? But though he had performed so
many signs before them, yet theywere not believing in Him.
(43:59):
He had done everything for threeyears.
There is no doubt who he is, butthey're still asking the same
question, who is the Son of man?And so while he did all these
things in front of him and then they still were not believing in
him. This was to fulfill the word of
(44:24):
Isaiah the prophet, which he spoke.
Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm
of the Lord been revealed? For this reason they could not
believe. Notice they would not believe.
(44:45):
Now they cannot believe. Their willful rejection of the
Messiah led to their judicial rejection by the Messiah because
they willfully rejected him as Son of God, Son of Man, Son of
(45:06):
David, Messiah of Israel, God's Messiah because they willfully
rejected Him. Now they are judicially in a
state of rejection forever, for God has turned out the lights on
them because they would not believe.
(45:28):
Now they cannot believe. That's what Jesus says.
So redone for Isaiah said again,he has blinded their eyes, that
he has hardened their hearts that they would not see with
their eyes and perceive with their heart and be converted and
(45:49):
I heal them. These things Isaiah said because
he saw his glory and he spoke ofHim.
Nevertheless, many even of the rulers believed in him, but big
but because the Pharisees, they were not confessing him for fear
(46:14):
that they would be put out of the synagogue.
So here comes the answer as to why the people you witness to,
family, friends, relatives do not believe next verse for they
loved the approval of men ratherthan the approval of God.
(46:42):
That's why your friends and family do not believe they love
the approval of man more than they love the approval of God.
Put it this way, the affirmationof a false system is more
(47:09):
valuable to them than the transformation by a true Savior.
The affirmation of a false system is more valuable to them
than the transformation by a true Savior.
(47:36):
They love the approval of men. They love the recognition that
they receive. They love to be accepted by men.
See, unbelievers love the the the praise of man.
Unbelievers love the acceptance by man.
The unbelievers love the approval of man.
(47:58):
They love the affirmation of man.
They love the recognition of man.
They love that. That's the characteristic of the
unbeliever. The believer doesn't care about
that. He just cares about being
approved by God, pleasing God. Let me illustrate this for you
further. Turn to John Chapter 9.
(48:18):
Go back a couple of pages, John Chapter 9.
In John Chapter 9, you have a man who's been blind from birth,
who is healed by the Lord, who can now see.
The problem is Jesus healed themon the Sabbath.
(48:44):
Again, the Jews. The religious establishment is
furious, Instead of praising Godthat a man who's been blind from
birth can now see, they're angryat the fact that this man was
healed on the Sabbath, and they want to know who did this.
(49:04):
So explain to them who did this.And so it says in verse #18 The
Jews then did not believe it, for believe it of him that he
had been blind and had to receive sight, until they called
the parents of the very one who had received his sight and
(49:27):
questioned him, saying, Is this your son who you say was born
blind? Then how does he now see?
Verse 20? His parents answered them and
said We know that this is our son and we know that our son was
(49:48):
born blind. We know that for certain.
But how he now sees we do not know or who opened his eyes we
do not know. Ask him, he is of age, he will
speak for himself. These are the guys parents and
(50:08):
your parents love you. They want to protect you.
They want, they want to make sure they speak for you.
And so the Jews say this is yourson.
Was he born blind? Yes, he was.
So now how can he see? We don't know.
Ask him. Why would they say that?
(50:30):
We don't. His parents said this because
they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already agreed
that if anyone confessed him to be Christ, the Messiah, he was
to be put out of the synagogue. For this reason, his parents
said he is of age. Ask him.
(50:56):
The approval or the affirmation of a fault system was more
important to them than the transformation by a true Savior.
That is the only biblical reasongiven as to why people do not
(51:19):
believe. They would not believe.
So now they cannot believe. Very important.
And because they cannot believe there's been a judicial
rejection and they didn't have belief in the very beginning.
Why is because they did not wantto receive any kind of rejection
(51:42):
from their friends or from theirrelatives or from those who are
higher up. They loved the approval of the
world. They love the approval of man.
They love the recognition they received from man.
They don't want to give that up.So therefore they will not
capitulate to the Christ. Matthew's account says these
(52:10):
words. Who do you say that I am?
Peter says, Thou art the Christ,the Son of the living God.
Now listen carefully. Jesus says, Blessed are you,
Simon Barjona, you are blessed. Why?
(52:34):
Because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my
Father who is in heaven revealedthis to you.
Monumental statement. You cannot convince somebody
(52:56):
that Jesus is the Son of the living God.
No matter how hard you try, no matter how great your argument
know how well versed you are in Scripture, you cannot convince
them. Peter made the great confession,
this great declaration about theidentity of Christ.
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
(53:17):
And the only way he could do that was not because somebody in
human flesh convinced him that Jesus was the Son of God.
Jesus made that statement. Flesh and blood did not reveal
this to you. Nobody of a human nature
revealed this to you, Peter. But my Father, who is in heaven,
he revealed it to you. Wow.
(53:41):
Nobody can confess Christ as Lord unless the Father reveals
Christ as Lord to them. The Father must do that.
If someone does not believe in the deity of Christ, you're not
going to convince them that Christ is God in the flesh.
(54:02):
You can't. God has to work in their heart.
God has to reveal it to them. That's why salvation is the work
of God and not a work of man. Yes, we preach the gospel and
yes, God uses His word in the lives of people to open their
hearts. But God does all that.
We do not. We are vessels, we are
(54:23):
spokespeople, we are preachers of the good news, but does not
depend upon me in order for you to be saved.
That's God's work, and only God can reveal to you his identity.
(54:45):
Life's most important question, Who do men say that I am without
the Christ? It's none of the living God.
Note this Matthew Chapter 11 verse 25.
At that time Jesus said, I praise you Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the
(55:06):
wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants, to
babes. Yes Father, for this way was
well pleasing in your sight. Why did God reveal Himself to
some and not to all? Because this was His good
pleasure. That's why.
(55:28):
Verse 27. All things have been handed over
to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father,
nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to
whom the Son wills to reveal him.
Wow, what a statement. The only people who come to know
(55:51):
Christ are the ones to whom God reveals himself to them.
That's it. But the question still remains,
who do you say that I am? Why?
Because look, He goes right in to verse 28.
(56:12):
From divine election to human volition.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you a rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will
find a rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my
(56:35):
burden is light. God gives an invitation to all
come, come to me all year that our labor, labor and are heavy
laden. I'll give you rest, but you
can't come or you won't come unless the Father has revealed
(56:55):
himself to you. So therefore the Christian's
declaration is this. Jesus Christ is God's Messiah.
He is the Son of the living God.Every believer declares that
(57:15):
loudly and clearly, without reservation, because they know.
And not only that, they also declare the ministry of the
Messiah. For back in Luke Chapter 9,
Jesus says this. He warned them and instructed
(57:38):
them not to tell this to anyone.Why?
Why not tell everybody that Jesus is the Messiah, the
Messiah of God? He says.
Don't tell him that. Why?
Because they have a misconstruedidea of who the Messiah is.
Instead, tell him this. The Son of Man must suffer many
(58:00):
things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.
Every believer declares the centrality of the cross.
They'll speak first of all aboutthe necessity of the cross.
He must suffer. Then they'll talk about the
(58:21):
certainty of the cross, because it is going to happen.
Then they talk about the brutality of the cross, because
He will be scourged, He will be mocked, He will be beaten, He
will be killed, and then they always talk about the victory of
the cross. He will rise again on the third
(58:46):
day. The identity and ministry of the
Son of God is a declaration thatevery believer makes without
reservation, without hesitation,and without question.
Why? Because it is their absolute
(59:06):
conviction of who Jesus is. And that conviction becomes
their confession and declaration.
And that's why they proclaim it loudly.
That's the gospel. That's the message that we have.
And every believer declares thatnot only does he make a decision
(59:28):
to follow Christ, not only does he defy is he defined by those
who worship God in spirit, thosewho take no confidence in the
flesh and glory only in Christ Jesus.
And not only they described as being in Christ and Christ being
in them, but they make this declaration publicly and loudly
(59:51):
that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and He is the
only one who could die for your sins.
He did it at Calvary and he roseagain the third day because he's
the victorious warrior over sin,death and Satan.
On top of that, he's coming again.
(01:00:13):
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today,
and we thank you for the opportunity you give us to study
Your word. Pray, Lord, that we would all
understand the Great Declarationof Peter and the Apostles and
come to realize who You are and what You've done, and that we
live in the light of Your glorious Kingdom.
(01:00:34):
And our prayer, Father, is that we would truly honor You as you
live each day. Thank you for your word.
Thank you for its clarity. Thank you that when we read it,
we can understand it because we're children of the living
God. You've opened their hearts.
You've helped us to see who you are.
We grasp your identity. And our prayer, Father, is for
(01:00:55):
those close to us, our family, our friends, our work
associates, our teammates, our classmates that as we speak
forth the gospel, they would come to understand who you are
and what you did for the glory of your Kingdom in Jesus name,
(01:01:20):
Amen.
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