From the desk of Pastor Toby Powers
Truth Baptist Church
Bremen, GA
Who Is Jesus?
Matthew 16:13-17
Intro: In putting the question about himself, our Lord made a distinction between two classes of persons, who are named as “men,” and as his disciples. He enquired, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” These “men” formed their judgment of Christ according to flesh and blood: they went upon the ground of carnal reasoning; or else they followed current opinion. They went upon natural, and not upon spiritual, grounds; they discerned nothing of spiritual things: their judgment was that of flesh and blood. What conclusion did they arrive at while guided by flesh and blood? The conclusions were diverse: “Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.” Error is multiform; truth is one. A thousand lies will live together, and tolerate each other. A thousand false gods will stand together; but if the ark of the true God enters Dagon’s temple, Dagon must come down on his face and be dashed to pieces. Jehovah is God alone, and will not accept a rival. Truth is of necessity intolerant of error. Holiness cannot endure sin, righteousness cannot bear injustice, and truth cannot consort with error. “What concord hath Christ with Belial?” Man thinks so little of Christ, but his disciples think so much of him!
The results today of the judgments of men about Christ are very many; but they agree in this, that they contradict the one and only truth. Today some say as they did then, “He is a good man,” others say, “Nay; but he deceiveth the people.” Some say that he is divine, though not actually God; others that he has become God, though he was not always so; and a third company think him a divine man. Some agree that his teachings were admirable for the occasions on which he delivered them, but that they are somewhat stale or outdated in this advanced age; while others ridicule his teachings as altogether impracticable. The doctrines of flesh and blood concerning Jesus are very various. Some say:
1. He is a luxury and not a necessity. It would be nice to be spiritual, but wed don’t have to. It would be nice to have power with God, but it is not a necessity. It would be nice to have a Christian family, but it is a luxury that I don’t have time for now. When those children are in jail, you walk down the hospital hallway with your unmarried teenage daughter about to give birth, when you uncover drugs in your boys pockets, or when you watch those kids marry outside the will of God, it will be too late to recover all those years you thought Christ was a luxury!
2. God is but a spare tire. Only used in case of emergencies. This kind of belief is like the spare tire- the worst one on the car. Put on and off at will. Space Saver. If this is all you have, you better get it changed fast; it won’t go far!
3. God is a disaster relief program. When their wife leaves them, they want to get to God then! When their house burns, when they’re laid off on the job, when there is sickness in the family, when tragedy strikes… that’s when they believe they should turn to God, but serving God is much more than turning to him when you have no other option! Job offered sacrifice and praise while the sun was shining and when he was in the storm!
4. Smiling Santa Claus who understands sin without concern. God does not overlook our sins. He does not reward us with a basket of toys in spite of misbehavior! God does judge sin! He judged sin ultimately in his own Son, and if you will not accept that sacrifice, there is no hope for you escape the wrath of God!
Conclusion: On Mars Hill there was a statue erected to the unknown God; Paul declared him unto the people. If he were to show himself to you today, would you recognize Jesus? Do you really know him? Would you like to see him clearer? Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you!
