Let's turn to the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Mark and chapter 8. The Gospel of Mark and chapter 8. I didn't give you a page number, did I, last time? Gospel of Mark and chapter 8, and we're reading verse 27. That's where we're having our study this morning. Page 890. And from verse 27, we're just going to look at the Lord asking his disciples whom they think he is. He actually asked two questions. Who do men say that I am? And who do you say that I am? And then we're going to look at Peter's big mistake. So those three things mainly this morning. And our title is, who do you say that I am? Now this is something that the disciples really have to think about. They're in training by the Lord Jesus Christ to take over when he departs and when he goes to be with his father. They must understand who he truly is. And the Lord Jesus Christ knows their minds, he knows their hearts, he knows all things, he is God. And so he knows that they still are holding on to some of the misconceptions that they have been taught by the Pharisees and scribes. He knows this, and he wants to draw this out from them. And he wants to show them that they need to think for themselves. They need to rethink in the light of the scriptures, the truth. And they need to understand him from who he is, what they know of him, what they've seen of him, his teachings, his ministry amongst them, and evaluate that in the light of the Old Testament scriptures, what the scriptures teach of the coming Messiah. They need to understand the truth rather than to still hold on to these misconceptions. They need to jettison them and get rid of them. And we all can hold on to misconceptions about the Lord Jesus Christ, can't we? We can all be guilty of this because we are all the product of our upbringing. We are all the product of what people have told us and what we have been fed. by the media or by people, great thinkers of our times, our teachers at school, by our parents also. Whatever they think, whether good or bad, we take on board and we tend to be a product of that, don't we? In our minds and in our thinkings. We've imbibed these things where we need to start thinking for ourselves. We need to start to evaluate things for ourselves. We need to understand things for ourselves. We need to know the truth and not be satisfied with what other people think is right and other people's opinions, because other people's opinions might be wrong. We want to know the truth, don't we? Well, I was brought up to believe that if you go outside and you're not properly attired, you don't have your scarf on at wintertime and your nice warm coat on at wintertime, you'll catch a cold. That is not true, is it? We know that's not true now. But my parents were convinced of this. If you go out into the cold, you'll catch a cold. No, you won't. Actually, it's more likely if you're in a nice warm place with somebody that has got a cold, that you will catch a cold. Because colds are transmitted through the air or through touch. They're through germs, aren't they? They're not caught by the cold air and the coldness around us. that might lower our response to a cold, but you won't catch a cold by being in the cold. So we have to think, don't we? We have to think and examine things for ourselves. Do we want to know the truth? And do we want to know the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ? Or are we satisfied with our misconceptions that we maybe have made up of ourselves or our misconceptions that we have imbibed from other people? They're prejudices that we have taken on board because we wanted an easy answer to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we don't want to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the scriptures teach us. Or do we want to know the truth? The truth as it's set down in God's word, because that's where we find out about Jesus, don't we? In God's word. We need to search the scriptures. And the Bible tells us, if you seek, you will find. When you search for him with all your heart, without unprejudiced heart, with a heart that wants to know the truth. Well, let's have a look at what the Lord Jesus Christ says to his disciples and how he draws this out of his disciples. Verse 27, he says, firstly, who do men say that I am? Now Jesus said, Jesus and his disciples went out of the town to Caesarea Philippi. And on the road, he asked his disciples saying to them, who do men say that I am? So they answered, John the Baptist, but some say Elijah and others, one of the prophets. Now, there are many different opinions floating around about the Lord Jesus Christ in his day. The disciples, out of respect for their Lord and Master, have only chosen those that are the more respectful ones, the more nice opinions, favorable opinions of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there are others too. We know that, don't we? because the scribes and the Pharisees hated the Lord Jesus Christ. They despised him. They would not accept him as the Messiah. They would not accept him as a prophet of God. They did not want to know him and they were conspiring against him at this time. to seek how they can trip him up, how they can bring him into disrepute in the eyes of his followers and the crowds, how they may even be able to put him to death. That's the sort of things that were going on around them. The disciples knew this. They knew what was going on. They had their ears to the ground, didn't they? They knew the sort of comments that were being made. And of course, the Pharisees and scribes weren't negligent in coming and trying to infect them with their prejudice and their pride. their opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ behind Jesus Christ back. And Jesus Christ knew this. Of course he did. And that's one of the reasons why he's asking the question of them. Do they really know him? Do they really appreciate who he is, what he stands for, what he is about? Do they know their Lord and master? Who do men say that I am? Well, the Lord, the disciples, except one of them, had the greatest respect for the Lord Jesus Christ. They knew who he was, but they are going to tell the Lord Jesus Christ the most favorable opinions that are out there, aren't they? Out of respect for the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of them, some people are saying, you're John the Baptist. You're that one chosen by God to come into the world, to be that one who would prepare the way of the Lord, prepare the way for the Messiah, because they don't believe he's the Messiah, but to prepare the way for the Messiah. So you are a reincarnation of John the Baptist, one who will carry on that work of John the Baptist. But some say, Elijah, you are that great prophet, a reincarnation, or like that great prophet, Elijah, another Elijah, a great prophet of God to come to turn his nation back to himself, to turn the nation away from wickedness and from sin, to back to the true religion and the true way of God, as Elijah did in his day. some people's opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ, not God himself, not the one chosen, the chosen one, not the true prophet of God. I'm not saying that Elijah wasn't the true prophet of God, but that one who is the word and not just one who will bring us a word from God, not him. but a prophet, a great prophet, but just a prophet. And others, what do others say? Well, others say, one of the prophets. You don't actually reach that height of Elijah. You're just a prophet of God. You're one who brings us the word of God and teach us the word of God and seeks to bring us back to the ways of God. That's man's opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's man's warped opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ, because none of these things are true of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not John the Baptist. He's not the one sent to prepare the way for the Messiah. He is the Messiah. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the one sent by God. He is the chosen one. God from heaven has said, this is my son, hear him. The son of God, God himself. In their midst, the great Emmanuel, God with them. John the Baptist preparing the way for the one who is to come. He is the one who has come. He is not Elijah. He's not a great prophet. He is the great prophet. He is the word of God. He is the one that comes to teach us the way of God, the true way of God. And we must hear him. And to not hear him is not to hear the word of God. He's not a mere prophet, but he is the saviour of the world. The only saviour there is. And without him, there is no salvation. And through him is the only way of salvation. All these opinions are wrong, aren't they? And what opinions go round about the Lord Jesus Christ today? Every opinion under the sun, don't they? Every single one about the Lord Jesus Christ, because everybody in our day believes that they have a right to have an opinion about Jesus. and their own opinion about Jesus. Everybody thinks it's their own right to make up anything about Jesus that they want. And that's the truth. That's the truth in their own minds. That's the true Jesus. That's what Jesus was about. Oh, he was a big fool. He came into the world and he made a terrible mistake. He opposed the leaders of his day instead of getting on with them. He made enemies for himself. It was his fault that he went to the cross. What a fool Jesus Christ was. That's one opinion that people have of the Lord Jesus Christ today. Another opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ is a charlatan. He's a liar. a liar, leading people astray. If you follow the Lord Jesus Christ, he is an extremist, one who will lead you into extremes of hatred towards other people, back into the dark days where people don't think for themselves. Now the pen of the Lord Jesus Christ is that he's full of love. Another extreme, isn't it? Total other extreme. Full of love. Just love. Nothing but love. He will forgive you anything. He will look over anything that you have done. He doesn't care about your sins. He just wants to show you love. Like a great big father Christmas. He doesn't care about how good or bad you've been in the year. You'd always get a present from him, won't you? Always. That is the opinion that some people have of Jesus, the Son of God, the great and mighty God, the judge of all the world, the King of kings and Lord of lords. But that's their opinion. That's what they want. That's what they think. They don't think beyond that. They don't say to themselves, but is that the truth? Is that really Jesus, the Jesus that came into this world, the Jesus of history, the Jesus that has been confirmed by history as coming and dying on that cross of Calvary. They don't want to know, so they don't search the scriptures. They don't look into the word of God. You know, Jesus Christ's life is well attested, better attested than almost any other person. You look back at the biographies of men, and most of them are written many years after they lived. Four biographies, contemporaries of the Lord Jesus Christ, four biographies, all about Jesus and about his life. If you want to know Jesus, look at the Gospels. Look at them, friends. And then from there, look at the Old Testament and what the Old Testament says of the coming Messiah. Do they compare? Do they confirm one another? Do you want to know the truth? Then search for it and search for it with all your heart and you will find the truth. But if you want to sit back in your prejudice, and if you want to sit back in your misconceptions about the Lord Jesus Christ, and have your own opinion of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you'll never know the truth. Will you, friends? You will never know the real Jesus. You'll only be the figment of your imagination or worse, the figment of somebody else's imagination that you have taken on and you have imbibed and you have settled with rather than knowing the truth. Who do men say that I am? The Lord Jesus Christ asked first. Secondly, he turns to his disciples and says to them, But who do you say that I am? Who do you say that I am? This is a question that the Lord Jesus Christ is asking all of us. here this morning, who do you say that the Lord Jesus Christ is? Now, this is challenging the disciples to think for themselves, isn't it? He's saying, right, what people say is one thing, but have you taken on their thoughts and their opinions? Are you guilty of thinking their way rather than thinking for yourself? and wanting to know the truth and understanding the truth. So it's a question that is to get to the very heart of what they believe and what they understand. But who do you say that I am? What do you believe? What is truly in your mind and your heart about me? And Peter's reply is a very good reply, isn't it? Peter says in verse 29, you are the Christ. You see the disciples, all but one of them, Judas, of course, the disciples were following the Lord Jesus Christ because they truly did believe that he was the Christ. All the other opinions that people had didn't matter to them, they believed that he was the Christ. Now, what does that mean? Well, the Christ is that one in the Old Testament, the Messiah, who is promised to come and to set his people free, to set his people free from sin, to set his people free from the condemnation of God, to be the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of the world. That means the only one who can take away sin, who can take away our sin in this world is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God. He is the one who will be sacrificed. He is that one that we read of in Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is all about Jesus. How he is despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Why? Because people didn't want to know him. People didn't want to know the forgiveness of sin through him. They despised him and they despised his message. When he says, you have to repent or you will surely perish. They didn't want to know that. They wanted to know somebody would say, no, you could be good enough for God. Just work away. Just strive away and you will be good enough for God. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He knew the grief of men. He knew what it was to be a man. He was born as a man. He knew all the temptations and all the terrible things that were happening in the world. And as God, he knew men's minds and men's hearts. He knew the degradation and sin and depravity of men. He was acquainted with grief and he knew as God, the terrible conclusion of that. He knew that if men did not have a savior, If men did not believe in him and come to salvation in him, they would perish in their sin and go to a lost eternity in hell. He knew that even as he walked the earth amongst men, amongst men, men, dead men walking. That's what they were all around him, lost souls. He knew that. It's Jesus. That's Jesus, the Christ, the one that speaks up in the Old Testament, who would take away the sin, who for our sins would be punished. By his stripes, we are healed. Through his sacrifice, through all that he suffered on the cross of Calvary, we are healed from our sins. Peter knew that. Peter had come to Jesus in prayer and put his trust in Jesus as the Messiah, as the Savior, his Savior, and had found forgiveness for his sin through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. He is the Christ, the anointed one, the only one that God has sent, the only way that God would accept for our salvation, the source of life, the source of eternity, the source of heaven, him, that's the Christ, the one who has come to make a kingdom, the king to bring in the kingdom of God to man. This is the Christ, the only way of peace with God the Father, the only way for peace within ourselves. He made this wonderful profession of faith before the Lord Jesus Christ, in spite of what men think of the Lord Jesus Christ, in spite of all the hostility from the people around him, in spite of the lowly opinion that people had of his saviour and of his Lord. He made this wonderful profession, this true profession of who Jesus is. Who do you say that Jesus is? Who is Jesus to you this morning? Is he the Christ? Is he the one, that anointed one? sent by God for you, for your salvation? Is he the only one who can give you that salvation, who can bestow salvation upon you? Is he the one? Is he the Christ to you, who has come into this world to take away the sin of the world, the only one that can take your sin away, and cleanse you and make you clean before his father, free from any guilt, free from any sin? Or are you still trusting in yourselves, friends, in your good works, on being here today, on being born into a Christian family? Whatever else you're trusting in, are you trusting in him, the Christ? Is he the Christ to you? Is he the one whom you need for life, life eternal? Or are you hoping for some other way of gaining life eternal? In him was life, life friends. He is the only way of that life. Eternal life is only found in him. You believe, don't you, friends, those wonderful words of God, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes upon him should not perish, but have everlasting life. But is he that one to you? Is he? Do you have eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ this day? If Jesus Christ were to ask you this morning, but who do you say that I am? What would be your reply to him? Lastly, let's look at Peter's big mistake. We've looked at his great confession of faith, but he made one big error, didn't he? Verse 31, it says here, And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when he had turned around and looked at his disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, get behind me, Satan, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. What's going on here? Peter has made this wonderful confession of faith, but now he's questioning the Lord Jesus Christ. He's rebuking the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that he is down on the Lord Jesus Christ and really laying out the law to the Lord Jesus Christ, rebuking him in this way, but he's taken the Lord Jesus Christ aside and he's saying, look, you really shouldn't be saying these things. It's not good that you say these things in public. Say it to us, maybe. Say it to us when we're on our own, but don't say it in public. Why is Peter doing this? Why? Why does he think he has the right to do it? He's speaking to his Lord and to his master. Why does he feel that he has the right to do this? What is he doing out of good intentions? He feels that it will put people off following the Lord Jesus Christ if they hear the truth, if they hear that Jesus Christ is coming to this world to die on that cross of Calvary, to take the sin and punishment of those who would believe upon him, to be taken by cruel hands and crucified in that way. it would put people off. Because you see, people are following him because of what the Pharisees have said and taught about the coming Messiah. They're following him because they want the kingdom. They want a Messiah who is going to reinstate Israel as the kingdom of God on earth. And that's never going to be. It's never going to be. Israel has forsaken their God. And Israel was never the true kingdom of God. The true kingdom of God are his truly born again people. And it's always been throughout all the ages. All those who have believed upon either the coming Messiah or the Messiah who has come are his people and none others. But they are believing that when the Messiah comes, he will come, he will get rid of the Roman occupying people, soldiers. He will set up the kingdom again. They will be special in God's eyes. They will be favored by God. They will see the great miracles of God in their presence again, totally discounting what the Lord Jesus Christ has been doing in their midst. No, he will do this. He will be a king on earth for them. and give them great blessings once again. And to be truthful, Peter and the disciples still had this way of thinking, don't they? Look what the Lord Jesus Christ says to him, get behind me Satan, for you are not mindful of the things of God, what are you mindful of? But the things of men, you see? Still, he knows Jesus is the Christ, But on top of that, he still has these misconceptions. He is still thinking in the way of men and not thinking spiritually and in the way of God. Good intentions. Oh, he wants people to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, but it was for bad ends, not in the right way. and not for the right reasons. It's a saying, isn't there? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. It's true. Good intentions of people. Oh, they have the best of intentions. When they tell people not to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ and about being a savior, oh, you'll frighten people away. Oh, don't talk about Adam and Eve. The people don't need to know about Adam and Eve. Don't talk about Adam and Eve. They'll frighten people away. God is the creator. Don't talk about God being the creator. You'll frighten people away. Don't ever talk about hell, because you know what you'll do, don't you? You'll frighten people away. Don't tell them the truth, you see, because you'll frighten people away. Just of intentions. But what are you doing? You're paving hell with all these souls who will never come to the truth through you. Will they? Because Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. And nobody comes to the Father but by Him. They need to know that He is the only way. They need to know that they are sinners, that they are lost, that they are under the judgment of God. They need to know that that's why they feel so wretched within their hearts. That's why their conscience plagues them. They need to have the answers to their sin and know how they can have peace with God again, don't they? It's the way of Satan. It's not the way of God to tell them that they can be good enough. They can get by. Oh, there's a trap door to heaven. People can fall through that if they're religious enough and good enough for God. No, you're paving hell with all these lost souls who are on their way to hell. because they do not know the truth. He is the way. They must walk through him, by him, and come by him, or they're lost. They have no hope. They will never get to heaven. They can be baptized. They can have the best of intentions in themselves. like baptized, you know, give themselves, dedicate themselves to God, but God doesn't ask that. Doesn't ask that, does he? He says, repent. Repent of your sins. Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. And if you won't do that, friends, no matter whether you're baptized, no matter whether you become a church member, no matter whether you say your prayers, no matter whether you read your Bible, no matter what you do, friends, whether you try and live a good life, a life after Jesus Christ, a life of sacrifice, it doesn't matter what you do because you haven't done the one thing that's needful. You haven't believed upon him. and trusted in him and come through him the way, the truth. You haven't believed in his words. You haven't believed in his teaching. You haven't believed that he is the word of God. And you haven't found life. And the only one that can give you life, eternal life, because he is God. He can bestow that. that only He can bestow that, and only He can give it through His death on the cross of Calvary for you. So what is it, friends? Is it Jesus this morning that you want? The real Jesus? The way? The truth? The life? Is it, friends? Or are you going to settle for other opinions, man's opinions, Satan's opinions of the Lord Jesus Christ and perish? Because there is no other way. There is only Jesus, the Christ. What would it be?