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The Inescapable Question
Matthew 16:13-19
Skip Heitzig

Matthew 16 (NKJV™)
13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"
14 So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
19 "And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Training of the Twelve, The

How did Jesus personally disciple and train the Apostles? How did He teach the twelve, unlikely men He selected to tell the world of God's good news of salvation? In this series, we study the discipleship methods used by Jesus Christ.

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The Inescapable Question

I think you'll agree that there has never been an individual who has influenced the world as much as Jesus Christ. Our whole method of dating revolves around his birth. We say BC or we say AD, referring to the birth of Christ.

No document is legal. No signed check is legal until it makes reference to that specific point in history, the birth of Christ. Unless you date it, it's not legal.

He influenced men more than any other person or persons put together. Socrates spoke and carried on his philosophic ministry, if you will, for 40 years, Aristotle for 40 years, and Plato for 50 years. Jesus taught for three years. And yet, he influenced the world more than all of these people put together.

It's interesting to think about, but Jesus never painted any picture. And yet some of the greatest paintings of Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael all took their cues from Jesus. Jesus never wrote poetry, yet people like Milton and Dante and thousands of other poets have used Jesus as their subject. Jesus never composed any single song, yet some of the greatest musicians like Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and others, their greatest melodies were concerning Jesus Christ.

Now in this chapter, it kind of comes to a conclusion or a climax with the 12 disciples. Jesus has been training the 12. That's the whole basis of this series of studies. And they have been discovering who they've been hanging out with. Slowly but surely, they're getting more information as to who this man is-- this Jesus really is with them.

And in chapter 16, it is final exam time-- time for a test. Interestingly, the test has only two questions-- sounds like an easy test. Well, it's not.

One of those questions is the ultimate question that every single human being must face, and that is who is Jesus Christ to you. The answer to that question is the hinge of the door of eternity for every person's life. And that question is not just for unbelievers. It's for everybody, including those who profess to know Christ.

For notice in verse 24 or in verse 13, excuse me. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples. Remember this is a question to those who are following Jesus Christ, and that is a question that needs to be settled.

Until that question is settled in your own minds, you will never be settled. But when you finally come to rest with the answer to that question, you will be at rest. I quote the words of AW Tozer who said, we do not preach Christ with a comma after his name as though waiting for something else or Christ with a dash after his name as though leading to something else.

But we preach Christ period. And when you settle that question-- who Jesus is-- you come up with that, period. Jesus has withdrawn from the crowds.

He is with the disciples alone the crowds are not with them he's left them far behind because the crowds have wanted to make Jesus a political deliverer they didn't want freedom from sin. They wanted freedom from political Roman bondage and so he left them behind

the leaders who'd been hassling Jesus lately-- they were convinced that Jesus was no more than a threat to their religion. And so they are always hounding him with questions, trying to trap him. Jesus leaves it all far behind to prepare his Twelve Apostles for what is ahead. This morning, we're going to examine a few things.

First of all, the popular opinion-- who the crowds say Jesus is. And then we're going to look at what Jesus says about himself. And finally, the question is given to us, who do you say that he is? First of all, the popular opinion. In verse 13, it says when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Phillipi-- I'm going to stop there for just a moment.

Jesus and his disciples had been taking a long walk to get to this area-- in fact, a 25-mile walk uphill. You can see how in those days, they didn't need health club memberships. They walked everywhere. They were in great physical shape.

And going from Galilee 700 feet below sea level 25 miles Northeast to the foot of Mount Hermon, which is the high plateau up in the Golan Heights, beautiful refreshing kind of an area especially in the middle of the summer, it's quite cool up there. And Mount Hermon is almost 10,000 feet in elevation.

There at the base of that mountain, they've taken a long walk. Everybody is out of the way, and Jesus poses this question to them. But I don't think that they went to Caesarea Phillipi just because it was a nice place to camp out. I believe that it held some very significant background for the question that Jesus asked.

Caesarea Phillipi was important, first of all, to the Jews because there at Caesarea Phillipi at the base of Mount Hermon is the headwaters of the Jordan River. And to the Jews it's important because the Jordan River is like the main artery of water that gives life to the entire country of Israel. But it was also important not only to the Jews, but to various religions, not only at that time, but in times past. In fact, at one time there were 14 pagan temples at Caesarea Phillipi.

At once, it was the worship of Baal in the Old Testament, the Canaanite god of fertility. They trusted Baal to give sun and to give rain and to produce crops. They worshiped Baal by prostitution. They worshipped Baal by taking their infant, their babies, and sacrificing them alive to the God of Baal so that they would have fertility in their homes and in their fields.

There was the Temple of Baal there. Later on, this town was called Penaeus after the Greek god Pan. And according to Greek mythology, Pan was born in a nearby cave. If you ever go to Israel today, you can still see the alleged cave and some of the niches and worship shrines in that area. Not only that, but it was important to the people of Jesus' day because Herod the Great had built a temple in honor of Caesar Augustus in that area because Caesar was also worshipped as deity.

In fact, Caesar Augustus means "Caesar of the gods," and many of the Romans worshiped him as God. And so it was if Jesus deliberately brought them to the place with this backdrop of importance to the Jews, the backdrop of pagan religions as if to deliberately compare himself to all of the other religions, all of the other deities who went before him because it was a place that had great pagan significance. Now notice He asked His disciples, saying, who do men say that I the son of man am? And they said some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

If anybody else asked that kind of a question, we would say he's arrogant if your friend came to you and said, who do men say that I am you'd say, so what? But it's important that Jesus ask that because the right confession of who Jesus is the hinge of salvation. I remind you of a very familiar passage in Romans which says if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Now when Jesus asked that question, He knew the answer. He knew what people were thinking. He wasn't gaining information from the disciples.

But he asked this question so that the disciples would carefully think of all of the opinions that people held about Jesus, the positive opinions. Remember there was a lot of opinions floating around about Him. Some said he was demon possessed.

But Jesus wanted to get the 12 to think of all of the nice wholesome things that people considered who Jesus was. It was like Jesus was saying let's see what all my work has amounted to thus far, all of my preaching, all of my teaching, all of the miracles that I have done. Let's see the results of it. Who do people say that I the Son of Man am?

Now as you can read in verse 14, the opinions varied. And folks, the opinions of who Jesus is vary today. Jesus is the most controversial person who has ever lived. And though many people did and still do say some very nice things about him, though the people of Jesus' time thought that he was extraordinary, even supernatural, though they ranked Jesus among the spiritual greats of the Old Testament as a man of great power and vision, they were all wrong as to his identity. And Jesus knew they were wrong, but he wants his disciples to think of all of the popular public opinions of who He is.

First of all, notice some say that you're John the Baptist. Where'd they get the idea that Jesus was John the Baptist? From a guy by the name of Herod.

Remember Herod had put John the Baptist to death because of his wife and perhaps his stepdaughter Salome. Herod heard about Jesus, and he was afraid, saying John the Baptist has risen from the dead. That scared him. He thought John's back to haunt me. I put him to death.

And so he spread throughout Israel the rumor that Jesus was the reincarnation of John the Baptist, and people believed it. Interesting people wouldn't believe he was the Messiah or the Son of God, but they would believe that he was John the Baptist. Why?

Well, John the Baptist was one of those fiery, no-nonsense, uncompromising black and white preachers who preached repentance so was Jesus. He was a man of love and compassion, but he got right down to the heart of the matter. Jesus' first message was repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Interesting that was John's first message-- same words, same thing. And perhaps they watched how Jesus handled the leaders of Israel. He even offended them.

And they remember back to John the Baptist. Boy, that guy kind of reminds me of John the Baptist because when the leaders from Jerusalem came to look at John the Baptist, John turned to them and said, listen, leaders, don't start thinking in your minds that we're the sons of Abraham so we're OK because God is able to raise up from these rocks sons of Abraham. But perhaps they thought he was John the Baptist because of what John the Baptist emphasized.

Remember John the Baptist emphasized doing, not just saying. When people were following John the Baptist, John turned to them and said, if you have two cloaks, give one of them to someone who doesn't have one. If you have food, give it away to someone who's hungry.

If you're a tax collector, be fair when you exact taxes from the public. Do what is right. And they looked at Jesus, and Jesus was a good person. He did what was right. He was fiery and uncompromising and good.

And so one of the public opinions about who Jesus was is he was a good man like John the Baptist. Today, people still hold the same opinion about Jesus. Oh, Jesus was a good man.

Now he's not the Messiah. He's not the Son of God. He's not God incarnate, but he certainly was a good man. Many people hold the same opinion. Then they said some say that you're Elijah.

Now remember, this is a conversation that's probably just off the cuff, but one of the opinions as to the identity of Jesus is that he was Elijah. Now you think where on earth did people get the idea that Jesus could be Elijah? He's been dead 900 years at this point. Well, remember there's been a strange prediction in the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, which says before the coming of the Messiah, Elijah will come on the scene and introduce the Messiah.

If you've ever been to a Passover feast, Jews to this day still expect Elijah. Every Passover feast, they have a chair-- an empty chair at a table. They even have a place setting in case Elijah would come because they leave the door open. And who knows but some Passover, Elijah might just tramps through the door and sit down at your table. And if Elijah comes, we know that the Messiah is not very far off.

Now when you think of Elijah, what comes to your mind? What comes to my mind is that showdown that he had on Mount Carmel with all of the prophets of Baal. He called fire down from heaven and consumed all of the idolatry.

Elijah was a guy you don't want to mess with. You want to make sure you're on his good side, not is bad side because he can call fire down from heaven. And as they saw Jesus upholding the standard of the law of God, defending the glory of God, they thought back to Elijah.

And they thought maybe this is Elijah who is going to bring in the Messiah. Surely, the Messiah must not be far away. But I believe that some of the people thought he was Elijah because of the miracles. He fed 5,000. He fed 4,000.

He walked on water. He healed people. He raised people from the dead. Interestingly, Elijah more than any other person in the Old Testament, was God's instrument of miraculous power.

Elijah raised the dead. There was a miraculous provision of food with this man. And so they were willing in Jesus' day to admit Jesus is a prophet, like Elijah.

And it is also interesting that people today will admit that. Yes, I believe Jesus is a prophet, a good person, a prophet in the lineup of many prophets like Moses and Elijah and Confucius and Buddha and Krishna and all the rest. But certainly not the Son of God, the Savior of all mankind, certainly not the Messiah.

Then it says others thought it was Jeremiah. I don't know where they got that idea except there was a story that the Jews used to tell each other. It's not in the Bible-- they just kind of made it up-- that said before the Messiah comes, Jeremiah will appear and restore the Ark to the temple and restore true worship in the temple, which will have been destroyed at that time. Now why did they think Jesus was Elijah? Probably because they saw the compassion of Jesus.

You remember Jeremiah? He was called the weeping prophet. Although he was bold and uncompromising, he wept over the sins of his people. He had compassion on people.

He wrote an entire book called Lamentations where he poetically writes as he weeps over the people who have sinned, and Jesus had such compassion and love for the crowds. They thought it reminds us of Jeremiah.

And again, it's interesting that many people will have the same opinion of Jesus today. He's a good person. He's even a prophet.

And no one can doubt the compassion and love that this man had, but he's not the Son of God, the Messiah, God incarnate. He's all of these other things. He's good. He's a prophet, but he's not who he said he is.

The opinions during Jesus' day, as you can see, varied. These were just a smidgen of them. They have many more opinions of who he was-- all of them buried. And notice all of them were contradictory, because you can't be John the Baptist and at the same time be Elijah and at the same time be Jeremiah.

And notice that all of the opinions were wrong. Jesus wasn't John the Baptist. Jesus wasn't Elijah.

Jesus wasn't Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He made claims far above the claims that these men made. It's interesting, and it seems to just be a pattern that those who have the least information about a subject are often the most opinionated about that subject.

Have you noticed that when it comes to spiritual truth, people hold definite dogmatic opinions, but they have no information? They've heard a smidgen here, and they've heard a rumor there. And they start creating a dogmatic theology. They have no information on the subject. Well, to me, God is.

Well, if you ever read the Bible, you will know. And I kind of picture Jesus as well. Have you ever read about the life of Jesus? Well, no.

Well, how can you have such strong opinions when you lack so much information? And these people have definite strong opinions. Folks, that's the reason why you shouldn't put too much stock in public opinion.

Remember one time it was public opinion that the Earth was flat. So don't hold too much stock and validity just because the crowds say it and because it's public opinion. Public opinion is simply private opinion that, because it makes a lot of noise, gets attention. And people will start buying into it.

Now many people since the day of Christ have said very nice things about him. And you'll notice that all of the things they've said about Jesus were nice. They were complimentary.

What if someone were to say you remind me of Jeremiah? Boy, when I see your life, I think of Elijah or John the Baptist, that'd be a compliment to you, but not to Jesus. And although many people since that time have had high opinions and have said nice things, they have fallen short as to who Jesus really is. Let me give you a few of them. Napoleon said, Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself have founded great empires, but Jesus alone founded his empire upon love. I know men, and Jesus Christ was more than a man.

Josephus who was a Pharisee and later on a historian, said, there was at this time a man named Jesus. He was a wise man if it's lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works. Later on, a guy by the name of Straus, German rationalist, said Jesus is the highest model of religion-- nice thing to say. Renan, the great French atheist, said Jesus is the greatest among the sons of men.

Now people today will go so far as to say he's a superstar like the film Jesus Christ Superstar, yet although these things sound complimentary, they all fall short as to who Jesus really is. Well, how do you solve the problem? Ask Jesus who He is. We have the claims and the popular opinion of the crowds.

Well, Jesus who are you? And that's the important question. That's the important issue. Who do men say that I am? Well, let's look at who Jesus says He is.

Remember Jesus made some astonishing claims, unique claims that no one ever made. He set himself apart from everyone else simply by the claims that he made. I find it interesting that people when you mention Jesus and you try to discuss him will get so angry.

I don't want to talk about religion, especially Jesus. Yet they don't get angry when you mention Buddha, Mohammed, meditation of any kind. They don't get angry, but when you mention Jesus, they get upset. You know why? Because Jesus made claims that no one else made.

Jesus dared to say I am the only way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father unless it comes through me. That's quite a claim. I am the Resurrection and the life.

If any man believes in me, though he dies, he will live. Philip came to Jesus and said, Jesus, just show us the Father, and we'll be happy. Jesus said, Philip, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

One night, Jesus was at a banquet, and all of the religious elite were around watching Jesus. And as they were eating at the table, a prostitute came in. And the people knew she was a prostitute, and the prostitute went over to Jesus and started crying, on his feet and wiping his feet with her hair. And the people were murmuring to themselves, if this guy were really a prophet or a messiah, he would know who this woman is.

And then Jesus said something that blew their minds. He said, woman, your sins are forgiven you. And, of course, what was their reaction? No one can forgive sins but God only. Right, you're getting the point.

If you were to read some of the scriptures, especially in the Gospel of John, Jesus made this claim crystal clear. Listen to this-- for this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus-- this is John 5. I'll read it to you-- and they sought to kill him because he had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered, my father has been working until now, and I have been working. He put himself on a par with God's activity.

Therefore, the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath, but he said that God was his father making himself equal with God. He didn't say, I am a son of God. I am the unique son of God, making himself equal with God.

In John chapter 10, it says the Jews surrounded him and said to him, how long do you keep us in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. And Jesus answered, I told you, and you do not believe I and the Father are one. And the Jews took up stones to stone him. And Jesus answered, many good works I've shown you from my Father.

For which of these works do you stone me? And the Jews answered saying, for a good work, we don't stone you but for blasphemy and because you being a man make yourself God. They definitely understood who Jesus claimed to be. And it wasn't just a prophet and just a good guy and just a compassionate, loving person of ancient history.

And then the real peak is found in John 8. Jesus goes up to the Jews, and he says, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it. And he was glad. And the Jew said to him, you're not yet 50 years old, and you've seen Abraham? And Jesus said to them, most assuredly, I say to you before Abraham was, I am.

And they took up stones to throw at him because stoning was the punishment for blasphemy. That's why. They just didn't feel like getting in a rock fight that day. The fact that they picked up stones-- it was a commandment when somebody blasphemed.

Jesus always put himself on the level of being equal with God. And he stood before the Sanhedrin, and the high priest pointed his little mealy finger at him and said, are you the Son of God, which is equal in their eyes with the Father, as you just heard. And Jesus said, I am.

The high priest tore his robe, and it was forbidden for a high priest to tear his robe unless someone made equality with God, the issue of blasphemy, and he tore his robe. Not only that, but Jesus himself accepted worship. After his Resurrection, Thomas knelt down and said, my Lord and my God. It was appropriate. Jesus accepted it.

Let's be frank, folks. If Jesus Christ is not God, He deserves an Academy Award. He claimed many times equality with the Father that he could forgive sins, that he created the world, that final judgment will rest with him. Who do men say that I am? Before you finally answer who Jesus is to you, listen to what he says he is, God incarnate, the Messiah, the Son of God who submitted himself to the will of the Father to pay for your sins and mine.

If you think about it real logically, there are only two options to Jesus' claims. Jesus made all of these claims. They were either right or wrong.

Those are the only options left to us. Either Jesus was who he said he was, or he was not. Now follow closely with me. Let us suppose Jesus was wrong, then you have two alternatives.

Number one, Jesus made these claims, and he was wrong. And when he said them, he knew he was wrong. What does that make him? A liar.

For someone to make all of these claims yet know all the time that he's making them that he is not God, that he is not the Messiah, that he is not the only way the truth, the light makes him a liar because he told people to live honest lives at all costs. And it also makes him a fool because it was those claims that drove him to the cross. Let's suppose for a minute that he made those claims, and he was wrong.

But he didn't know that he was wrong. He really believed he was God. He really went around believing he was God in human flesh and he was telling people that. That makes him nuts.

If he wasn't God and yet he told people he was God and he believed he was, that makes a person crazy. And he would join the ranks of the 1,100 messiahs who today say they are the Messiah. Let's say, I stood up one Sunday morning. And after prayer, I said, now, I personally am the only way, the truth, and the life. I'm the Resurrection and the life.

If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. What would you do? Well, you should walk out on me if I ever said that. You'd have a right to do that. In mass, you should flee because that's being a false prophet.

Now if I made those claims but I really believed that because I'm a megalomaniac, that's a mega delusion. I have delusions of grandeur, and I need to be locked up. The claims of Jesus are so potent you can't ignore them, folks.

And for someone to make them if Jesus made those claims and he was wrong for whatever reason, that doesn't make him a good teacher, a prophet, a nice person. It makes him a liar, or it makes him a lunatic. And that's what CS Lewis said. This is what he said.

Now, by the way, CS Lewis was the great Cambridge professor and at one time, a very devoted atheist. And he said, I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him, which is I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher. But I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things that Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with a man who says he's a poached egg, or else he would be the devil of hell.

You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God or else a madman or something far worse. Now you have one final alternative. Either he was right or wrong.

If he was wrong, he knew he was wrong, and he was a liar. Or he didn't know he was wrong, and he was nuts. The other alternative is he was right. And if he was right and he claimed to be God in human flesh, He claimed to be the savior of all mankind, the clincher of all humans thirst.

If he is right, then you must accept or reject his claims, and that means Jesus is not just a prophet or a nice guy but the Lord God in human flesh. And you must either accept him or reject him, and your eternal destiny will depend on that point. That's what you're left with.

Again, CS Lewis said you can shut him up for a fool. You can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us, and he did not intend to.

Now when the disciples told Jesus all of the public opinion, they knew that was inadequate. Jesus knew that was inadequate. And so he focuses the conversation from them to you.

He gets real personal here. See, it's easy to say, well, people talk about this and this. And Jesus turns to them and look what he says, verse 15.

But he said to them, who do you say that I am? I bet there was a moment of silence at that point because now they're on trial. It is the inescapable question, and Jesus demands a verdict. Who do you personally say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you Simon Bard Jonah. We might say in modern vernacular, right on, man. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you-- you didn't get this from public opinion-- but my father who is in heaven. And I also say that you are Peter. And on this rock the confession of Jesus Christ, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Peter's confession was contradictory to the public opinion. Everybody said he was Elijah.

He's John the Baptist. I say you're the Messiah, contradictory to public opinion. Dwight L. Moody once said, those Christians who moved the world are those who refuse to let the world move them. And Peter was moving the world because he refused to listen to the public opinion.

One thing is for sure, folks. You'll never know who Jesus is by listening to the public poll. And you know some people get all of their spiritual information that way, don't they? They listen to what others say, and they form their opinion based on what they hear rather than on what they have found out themselves.

There's another thing for sure. The evidence for who Jesus is so overwhelming, and his claims are so astonishing. You cannot just dismiss them and say, I don't know because you've heard them now. And you must either claim to them, like many of you have, or reject them.

He is who he said he is, or he is not just a good person. He's a lunatic or a liar. That's a question that is inescapable for us, and it is not important this morning who your aunt and or who your dad or who your kids or who your friends say Jesus is. The question to your heart is, who do you say Jesus is? And there's a lot of people who will reject Jesus, not for any other reason than, well, I know if I accept Jesus, my lifestyle will change.

And I want to go on sinning and do my own thing. Well, your blood be on your own head then. The gospel has been given to you-- many of you for a long time. And if you do not follow Jesus Christ then, as it says in the scripture, your blood be upon your own head. That's your choice.

But it is an inescapable question, who do you say he is to you personally today? Is he just a good prophet? Option isn't open to you.

Oh, a compassionate man in the lineup of many other people in history. That option isn't even open to you because no one made the claims Jesus made. Or is he your Lord? And it's impossible to be neutral.

And some of you have been trying to be neutral. Well, someday, I think I'll become a Christian, and I'm not against Christianity. I go to church.

My wife drags me. I'll go. Jesus said, whoever is not for me is against me. Some people, I'm not against Jesus.

Well, Jesus said, if you're not following after him and for him, you are against him. He drew the line for you. Either you help him gather Jesus said or you scatter abroad, and Peter made that discovery personally. Say, Skip, what's the big deal? Why do you make such a big deal about who Jesus is personally to us?

For this reason, listen very carefully-- it says in the same gospel of John that I was quoting to you before. These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And that by believing, you may have life in His name. You see, a decision as to who Jesus really is determines your eternal destiny.

Napoleon later on in his life admitted by saying, if Socrates would enter the room, we would rise and do him honor. But if Christ came into the room, we should fall down on our knees. And we should worship him. Have you done that?

I heard about a man in England who was having trouble hearing. He had a hearing aid, but he couldn't hear very well out of one ear. So he went in to see the doctor, and the doctor reached in and took the hearing aid out of his ear. And his hearing improved immediately because he'd been wearing the hearing aid in the wrong ear for over 20 years.

Now that's a drag to find out that you were wrong after 20 years. You know what? Some of you are listening to the wrong voice, and you've been listening to the voice of the crowds for a long time. Even the religious crowds hide the glory of Jesus, oftentimes.

God wants to take that thing out of your ear and open up your ears and let you hear who he really is, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. I urge you, if you haven't done it already, to begin where Peter began. Where did he begin? He began with Jesus Christ? He began by meeting Jesus Christ, and then he discovered more and more about him.

Remember when Jesus called Peter and the disciples, he said follow me. All right. They grew to a place where they completely understood what was happening.

You don't have to know everything to become a Christian. You simply have to say, Jesus, I'm following you take my life, and he'll reveal the rest to you, Heavenly Father, we come and we at that issue of Jesus would be settled in our hearts for good. We would come to face to face, and we would admit honestly our relationship with him, that we wouldn't hide under a mask any longer.

Additional Messages in this Series

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2/25/1990
completed
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Jesus Picks His Team
Luke 6:12-16
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3/4/1990
completed
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Compassion for the Crowd
Matthew 9
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3/11/1990
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Mission Impossible
Matthew 10:1-15
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3/18/1990
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Dark Days for Disciples
Matthew 10:16-26
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3/25/1990
completed
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Lessons From a Free Lunch
John 6:1-15
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4/1/1990
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Sailing Lessons for Storm-Goers
Matthew 14:22-33
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4/8/1990
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Disciples, Dropouts and Double-Crossers
John 6:60-71
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4/15/1990
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Hearts Ablaze
Luke 24:13-35
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4/22/1990
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A Collision With Tradition
Matthew 15:1-9
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5/6/1990
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Finders Weepers, Losers Keepers
Matthew 16:21-28
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5/27/1990
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Forgiving From The Heart
Matthew 18:21-35
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6/3/1990
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When God Washed Feet
John 13:1-17
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6/10/1990
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The Cure For Heart Trouble
John 14:1-6
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6/17/1990
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God's Portrait of a Man
Genesis 18; Ephesians 5-6
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6/24/1990
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Daring To Make A Difference
Nehemiah 1-2
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7/8/1990
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Greater Works Than These
John 14:12-17
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7/15/1990
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Another Helper
John 14-16
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7/22/1990
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The Fruitful Life of The Believer
John 15:1-11
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7/29/1990
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The Downward Steps of a Disciple
Mark 14
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8/5/1990
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The Restoration of a Failure
John 21
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There are 20 additional messages in this series.
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