after playing he turned up at the Club House not wearing a tie.
• The doorman who was undoubtedly being a little too zealous stopped him, and pointed out that Club rules required the wearing of a tie, to which Ballesteros replied, “Do you know who I am.” “Yes, sir,” replied the doorman, but you must still wear a tie.
• “Look, Ballesteros replied, I am the world’s number 1 golfer.” The doorman acknowledged that, and responded, “But you must still wear a tie to get in.”
• At this point, the golfer growing evermore frustrated with the doorman declared, “Look, if I wanted to I could buy this clubhouse and the entire club.”
• “In that case”, replied the doorman, “you can afford to buy a tie.”
A question that is often asked about the Lord is; “WHO IS HE?”
Mankind have never been short of opinions when it comes to Jesus Christ.
There has always been a variety of answers as to who people said He was.
• Some said that He was the carpenter’s son
• Some said that He was God in the flesh
• Some said that He was the devil
• Some said that He was an impostor or a deceiver
• Some said that He was one of the prophets
• Mikhail Gorbachev said, the former Soviet Union leader, said, “Jesus was the first socialist, the first to seek a better life for mankind.”
• Napoleon said, “I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.”
• H.G. Wells said, “I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”
• Einstein said, “As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene... No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.”
The Lord Jesus asked this question in another way; “WHOM DO MEN SAY THAT I AM?”
The Lord asked His disciples this question, and their answer is recorded in Matthew 16:14-16. We read, “And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
WHO IS CHRIST?
Peter hit the nail on the head, when he said, “…Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
We know that He is the Son of the living God, and we assume that people have always known that, but that is not so.
Illus: A new Pew Research Center survey of more than 4,700 U.S. adults finds that one-third of Americans say they do not believe in the God of the Bible, but that they do believe there is some other higher power or spiritual force in the universe.
Christianity is on the DECLINE and ATHEISM is on the INCLINE in this great country of ours.
Illus: I can remember growing up we heard about atheism but we personally did not know anyone who was an atheist.
One-third of the Americans in this Pew Research Center said they do not believe in the God of the Bible.
Christianity is on the DECLINE IN AMERICA!!!
Jesus ask us another question in Luke 18:8 asks, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The Bible teaches that when Jesus returns, He will find the majority of the world’s population being unfaithful and disobedient to His teachings.
We assume that everyone knows who the LORD JESUS IS….But this is not the case!!!
It is our Job to tell them.
The Bible tells us we are debtors!!!
Romans 1:14-16 I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
When the Lord Jesus asked WHOM DO MEN SAY THAT IAM at this stage in His life and ministry, He was beginning to make the claim He was the Son of God but everyone was not receiving that claim with joy.
When Christ began to claim that He was the Son of God, we found out that even His friends thought He had lost His mind.
In Mark 3:21, we read, “And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.”
• He claimed to be the WAY to salvation
• He claimed to be the DOOR that men must enter to inherit eternal life
• They considered His teachings to be offensive.
Even today, many religions take offense at the idea that if a person does not repent of their sins and accept the Lord Jesus as their Saviour and Lord, they will go to a devil’s hell.
Illus: Years ago when Larry King was on CNN interviewing Christians you could count on it he would ask them this question…YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN AND YOU BELIEVE IF A PERSON DOES NOT PUT THEIR TRUST THEY WILL DIE AND GO TO HELL…RIGHT?
He asked that question to Dr. Jerry Falwell and Dr. Falwell gave the right answer. Dr. Falwell said, I did not say that…the Lord Jesus said that!!!
The religious crowd do not mind us teaching that Christ is ONE OF THE WAYS to heaven, but if we teach HE IS THE ONLY WAY, it becomes offensive to them.
Did you know that Jesus had four brothers: James, Joseph, Simon and Judas.
But also did you know that even His brothers did not believe in Him.
We read in John 7:5 For neither did his brethren believe in him.
When Jesus began to proclaim who He was, his friends literally thought He was losing His mind, and they came to rescue Him before the crowd stoned him.
Today, let’s look more closely at the RELIGIOUS crowd He had to deal with. THEY DID NOT BELIEVE THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH!!!
We need to consider two things about their argument that is absurd.
First, let’s look at…
I. THE LOGIC OF THEIR ARGUMENT REVEALED
While we, consider the Lord Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, they thought of Him differently.
Look at Mark 3:22, we read, “And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.”
This was a very insulting and serious charge!
WHO IS BEELZEBUB?
• Originally Beelzebub was an idol god of the Philistines.
• The name Beelzebub actually means, “THE GOD OF FLIES.”
• The Jews called Beelzebub the idol of filth or dung.
• Later on the name, Beelzebub, was given to Satan. (Rev. 12:7-9)
It is one thing to say that someone is influenced by Satan, but they did not say that. They went beyond that and said HE WAS THE DEVIL IN FLESH!
• Never has anyone as HOLY as Jesus walked on the face of the earth. NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!
• Yet the most HOLY person to ever walk on this earth was being accused of being SATAN IN THE FLESH!
Illus: As a minister of the gospel I appreciate the respect that is showed to me.
For example, I can not remember the last time I was somewhere and they cursed in my presence.
But listen the Lord Jesus is the most HOLY PERSON to ever walk on this earth and they showed Him no respect!!!
These insulting words had to hurt!
Illus: Someone said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.”
The fellow that said this must have been drunk, because no one in his right mind would say such a thing.
Words can be destructive, and very painful.
Illus: You can slap me and it will only hurt for a minute or so, but you can say unkind things to me and it will hurt me for days!
There were so many unkind things said to Him.
• In John 10:20 we read, “And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?”
• In John 8:48 we read, “Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?”
• In Luke 7:34, we read, “The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!”
The reason they attacked Him verbally was because they knew they could not attack Him on His message.
If a person can’t attack the message, then they attack the messenger.
For example, they could not discredit him. HOW CAN YOU DISCREDIT SOMEONE AND MAKE THEM LOOK BAD WHEN THEY WERE GOING AROUND…
• He was healing the sick
• He was opening the eyes of the blind
• He was causing the deaf to hear
• He was raising the dead
• He was casting out devils
All the supernatural things He was doing supported who He claimed to be…THE SON OF GOD!!!
The religionists in the past knew how to attack anyone who did not fall into their camp.
• Their argument was that He was the devil incarnate.
• But their argument does not hold up.
We have looked at THE LOGIC OF THEIR ARGUMENT REVEALVED.
Let’s also consider-
II. THE LOGIC OF THEIR ARGUMENT REBUKED
The religious crowd of that day was trying to DESTROY HIS CLAIM THAT HE WAS THE SON OF GOD by claiming He was Satan incarnate.
The Lord did not allow them to attack His deity without REBUKING THEM.
He asked them in verse 23, “How can Satan cast out Satan?”
This is a good LOGICAL question. If they claim He is the devil, why would He cast out devils?
Illus: If He is Satan and He is casting out devils, how can He advance HIS wickedness that way?
He would be taking one step forward and one step backward, and getting nowhere.
Look at Verses 23-27, we read, “And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.”
Jesus proves their accusation against Him is illogical.
The Lord REACTS to these charges made against Him in several ways, such as:
A nation, a city, a family, or a church cannot survive if there is division within. A house divided against itself cannot stand.
Look what the Lord said in Mark 3:24-26, we read, “And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.”
The Lord’s second argument is-
2. SATAN HAS BEEN DEFEATED
Look at verse 27, we read, “No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.”
The Lord is using a parable here to make His point. That is, just as an invader enters a strong man's house, binds him, and then spoils his goods, so Jesus has now invaded Satan's domain and kingdom of evil.
Through the ages SOME HAVE BELIEVED THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD…but I need to ask you WHO DO YOU SAY JESUS IS?
Peter said THY ART THE CHRIST….
Jesus wanted people to know WHO HE WAS!!!
Illus: In 1955 To 1958 CBS-TV had a American game show called the $64,000 Question.
• The Contestants answered general knowledge questions, earning money which doubled as the questions became more difficult.
• The final question had a top prize of $64,000
This is the sixty four thousand dollar question…WHOM DO YOU YE SAY THAT I AM?
Peter got that question right when He said, THOU ART THE CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD!!!
Where you are going to spend eternity in heaven or hell depend on you getting the right answer to this question.
WHAT KIND OF QUESTION WAS THIS THAT THE LORD JESUS ASKED..,
I. It Was A Pertinent Question.
This question comes in two parts –
• “What do others think,…
• “What do you say?”
When Jesus said WHOM DO MEN SAY THAT I AM THIS WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION THAT MANKIND WILL EVER BE ASKED.
Where we are going to spend eternity in HEAVEN OR HELL depends on whether we get it right or wrong.
I want you to get it right, let’s go further in answering this question.
IT WAS A PERTINENT QUESTION but also it was a
II. It Was A Personal Question
“But whom say ye that I am?”
You see it doesn’t really matter what others say, at the end of the day it is what YOU believe personally that makes the difference.
We are so used to palming off the difficult questions of life to others.
We must answer for ourselves:
“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Rom 14:12)
Each disciple had his own thoughts.
I can almost imagine them, glancing at each other wondering who will speak first.
You know it’s a funny thing in a group like that, when a searching question is asked, for no one wants to answer.
Why?
Because everyone fears they might be wrong of being rejected or disrespected by their peer group.
Peter lays his reputation on the line and speaks up and says, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
You know it took immense courage to say that.
They knew what OTHERS had to say about Him being a devil and etc.
But Peter had the courage to speak out and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Illus: To the Jews, to call someone a "son" of something was to say he is identified with that thing or person.
For example, Barnabas was named the "Son of Consolation."
Why?
Because he was that kind of man - an encouraging, consoling fellow.
• His nickname meant that he was the very epitome of consolation.
• He was the expression of it.
To the Jews, the use of the term, Son of God, or Son of the Living God, meant, "This one is God."
And for any Jew to say that of someone was a man that took great nerve.
Illus: I feel sorry for the way Peter is often portrayed today as the buffoon of this group – you know, “Open mouth, and insert foot.”
Yes, sometimes He spoke out of turn and said some foolish things, but leaders take risks, and what he was saying here was risky, it could have seriously backfired!
But when that response came it proved that this question…
III. It Was a Powerful Question.
A. Jesus response to Peter’s answer was, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”
You see this question was revelatory, in so far as it exposed true belief and expressed true blessing.
It said something about the Sovereignty of God, as well as the responsibility of man.
You see man, as we have discussed already, is personally accountable to God, each must answer for himself.
“Whom do YE say that I am?”
Eternity hinges on your answer to that question.
Pilate did not realise what a profound question he posed that crowd in Jerusalem when he asked, “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?”
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH HIM?
• Accept Him!
• Reject HIM!
He is the DOOR TO HEAVEN and He wants you to come to Him today!!!
Conclusion:
I. THE LOGIC OF THEIR ARGUMENT REVEALED
II. THE LOGICE OF THEIR ARGUMENT REBUKED
