We are going to look at a couple of verses concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, who He is and our relationship to Him. Lord, we look to You for the anointing. Speak to our hearts.
Chapter 16 of Matthew as you know is a very important chapter because it lays the foundation of who the Lord is and our relationship to Him. We begin in verse 13.
Matthew 16:13-14 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked
His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that You are John the Baptist: some, Elijah; and
others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
Isn’t it strange? They could believe Jesus was John the Baptist or one of the prophets of old, but they couldn’t accept Him as the Messiah.
Matthew 16:15-19 He said unto them, But whom do you say that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living
God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for
flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but My Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build
My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever
you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
This passage of scripture has become so familiar to us that it loses its impact. Nevertheless, it holds the very foundation of Christianity, and also the foundation of our relationship with the Lord God. If you have a relationship with God, this is the foundation of it. He is the Son of God! He is the Christ! Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!
In John 14:8 Philip asked Jesus, “Show us the Father and it will be enough for us.” And Jesus answered, “Philip, have I been with you so long and you yet do not know Me? If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Jesus is not talking about what the Father looks like on the outside because God is not a man. He is Spirit. So what Jesus said also means, “If you say you have not seen the Father, then you haven’t seen Me either. You do not know Me.” Just because you see a person and know him externally doesn’t mean you really know him.
We have here different opinions of who Jesus was. Some say, “Well, He kind of functions and operates like John the Baptist. I say He is John the Baptist.” I remember one time many years ago there were a couple of ladies at our house. The subject came up about what does God look like? One answer that was given by a lady that had been in church all her life said, “God looks like us because it says we were created in His image.” That is kind of what the disciples were talking about here. “He does things like John the Baptist, so I guess He is John the Baptist.” Somebody else had a different opinion, “Nah, you haven’t seen anything. This guy does things like Elijah. He moves beyond John the Baptist. He never raised anybody from the dead. Do you remember how Elijah laid down on that kid and brought him back to the life? This is Elijah for sure. Besides we have the prophecy that Elijah is to return for the day of the Lord.”
And then others said, “He is Jeremiah.” They remembered what God said about Jeremiah in the first chapter of the book of Jeremiah. So they said, “This must be Jeremiah, because it sure fulfills that prophecy.” In truth, Jeremiah was a type of the Christ that was to come. But then Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter spoke up and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You are more than John the Baptist. You are more than Elijah. You’re more than Jeremiah. You’re more than any of the prophets. Thou art the Son of God, the exact replica of the God of heaven and earth that created all things. That is who You are.” Peter had a revelation that went far beyond anything that these others had. God opened up Peter’s awareness to see the Lord Jesus Christ in a way that no one had ever seen Him – Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon. God revealed this to you. Flesh and blood has not revealed it to you.” In other words, “What you say did not come from what you heard from any man. No one on the face of the earth ever revealed this to you. But My Father which is in heaven has revealed it to you and upon this rock I will build My church.”
Peter had the revelation. The rock is the revelation, not Peter. The revelation that Peter had is the rock. God is teaching us something here. You can have many opinions of who you think Jesus is. You can have many opinions of what you think the Scripture says and there are many. One had his opinion and started a religion called the Baptist religion. Another had a different opinion of what the Bible was saying so he started a Methodist religion and on down the line, one after another. People kept popping up, “Well, I’ve got this opinion. I know who Jesus is. This is my opinion and this is what I feel like He is and this is what I feel like He is saying. This is what I feel like the Word is about,” and they start a religion around it.
The truth comes through the channel of revelation: the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, to really know Him. People have a lot of opinions about Him. Jesus Christ was born on this earth in a place called Bethlehem. At the age of 30, He was baptized by John the Baptist, spent 3-1/2 years in ministry and was crucified. That tells you what the people thought of Him. They shouted, “We have no king but Caesar!” They were God’s people waiting for the Messiah, but when He got there they rejected Him. “Crucify Him! Crucify Him! We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15).
I tell you, if just give an inch, your carnal mind will take a mile. Let your carnal mind have the opportunity to make some decisions or to influence you on your opinions and it will lead you astray every time. The one thing about mankind is that mankind likes to be smart, likes to be educated, likes to be well thought of and wants to feel like he is smarter than somebody else, that he knows a little bit more. Satan knows that and he will move on your carnal mind to make you have high opinions of yourself. The next thing you know, you will start having some opinions of the Lord Jesus Christ, what you think He should be and what He is to you. It is amazing how Christians will form an opinion of the Lord to fit their mindset so it gives them a rightful place. It is amazing how the mind works.
The Lord has taught us something: to not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think (Romans 12:3). Learn how to get a revelation and learn how to be led by that revelation and not by your carnal mind. That is very difficult. The educational system we have today leads people to believe in themselves, to believe in mental ability. There are no schools that teach a person how to receive a revelation from the Lord and to find the truth. They are not out there. Even the Bible colleges and seminaries cannot do that. Everything is on a mental level. You see how the enemy works. “You have a right to your opinion. So have an opinion.” I was reading a book and the author was talking about all the different heresies and heretics. He said, “God gave you a mind. Use it!” Well, that is exactly what the devil wants you to think, too. Jesus is Lord and if we are going to really know that, we have to know it by revelation.
Now let’s go to Acts chapter 2. This is the beginning of what we call the “Church Age.” It is not the beginning of the Church. The beginning of the Church of the Lord began in Genesis when God called Abraham. Chapter 11 of Genesis is the satanic kingdom of Babylon and the false always comes before the true. So the satanic kingdom of Babylon began in Chapter 11 of Genesis and the very next chapter, Chapter 12, God calls Abraham out and that is the beginning of a whole new race of people and the beginning of God’s Kingdom.
Now in Acts chapter 2 Peter, the same Peter who had the revelation of Jesus Christ and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” in Matthew chapter 16, is standing in charge on the Day of Pentecost. He stands up with boldness and says, “These men are not drunk as you suppose; it is only the third hour of the day.” Then Peter continues in verse 36.
Acts 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
People tend to only think of Jesus after the flesh; that is, the man Jesus the Nazarene. So, did God make a mistake having Jesus come forth in the flesh? No, He did not make a mistake, but here is the thing: God always covers the truth up so that the truth is hard to find. He always does that and unless you have revelation, you will not find it. There is that field out there that has a treasure in it with everybody walking by it all the time. No one ever sees that treasure in the field. Right out there in plain sight! Finally, one man comes along and he sees it. “Oh! Look at that treasure!” He gives all that he has to get that field with the treasure (Matthew 13:44). When you get the revelation and really see the Lord Jesus Christ, who He is and the treasure of His Kingdom, you will lay down your life and everything you have to know Him.
But it is covered up. Jesus was walking around in a fleshly body doing a lot of great things. You say, “Well, He healed that person.” He healed a multitude, cleansed lepers, and raised the dead; so they ought to know Him, right? No, they get caught up in the miraculous. Peter did not see anything miraculous in order to come up with that revelation: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. It was revealed to him.
“Well, Jesus, just don’t look like I think a Son of God should look.” That is exactly what Isaiah said in Chapter 53:2: He has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. God puts the Son of God in a fleshly body and there is just not much that will appeal to you. So people have a lot of opinions of who this man is, but they do not find the Lord. He is inside. That is basically the way Christianity today is. They see the outward manifestation of Jesus Christ as He was 2000 years ago, and they will not turn it loose. They have it fixed in their minds; that is Jesus. Well, He was. Now He is Spirit. He is the Lord! It is easy for a Christian to just see Him as the Nazarene and they love to talk about Him in that way. But without the revelation Peter had they cannot submit to His Lordship. How do you be submissive to something that came to an end 2000 years ago? The Lord that was in Him, the divine nature that still lives was in Him, but they didn’t have a revelation of Him. “Oh, we can still picture Him as He was then.” You do not get the true picture until you understand what Peter said. “This Jesus that you crucified, God has made both Lord and Christ.”
And let me tell you something else. Jesus came forth spiritually and filled the disciples on the Day of Pentecost. The crowd thought they were just drunk (Acts 2:15). All they could see was the flesh of those disciples. They could not see the Lord in them. Again, they were blinded by the flesh. Do you want to see the Lord? You will have to see Him in the true people of God. You will have to see Him by revelation. God is still up to His old tricks of being within human bodies, covered up. If you are going to see Him, it is going to be by revelation. That is the way it is. He is coming forth in people (Thessalonians 1:10).
Copyright © 2009 by Henry DuBose