 With that said, we're going to be looking today at chapter 8 here in the Gospel of Mark, and I'm going to take verses 22 through verse 26 first, and this actually could be two separate studies I chose to combine them. You'll see why in just a moment, but we'll begin with verse 22. We'll read to verse 26, look at it as thoroughly as we can, then move into verse 27 and conclude at verse 30. So here we go. Chapter 8 beginning at verse 22, reading to verse 26, then he came to Bethsaida and they brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. So he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town, and when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything, and he looked up and said, I see men like trees walking. Then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up, and he was restored and saw everyone clearly. Then he sent him away to his house saying, neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town. And so this is another miracle that is recorded only in the Gospel of Mark. Let me give you a context, develop this and then move into the study. The other miracle only recorded by Mark is found in chapter 7, and we saw that in verses 32 through 37, in that instance Jesus had healed a deaf man who had a speech impediment. So as we will see in a moment, and let me outline this for you briefly, these two miracles have interesting similarities. We'll see that Jesus set the person apart and ministered to that person privately. In both miracles, Jesus laid hands on them and used saliva. And in both miracles, Jesus commanded that no one be told of this work. And so there are similarities that you'll see, and there are other things I'll point out in just a moment. But as we look at this, Jesus is in a place called Bethsaida. It's on the northeastern shore of what is called the Sea of Galilee. Bethsaida was the hometown of Simon and Andrew Philip and possibly Nathaniel. And this is the area that Jesus had fed the 5,000. And that accounts for why people are coming to him, such a great amount. You see, word has spread that Jesus is there, and once again, people begin bringing those to him who are in need. And as we've seen, people have been bringing their friends or family to Jesus, and it's become very common. Many people had come to believe that Jesus had the ability to meet their needs. Now this had happened earlier when Jesus had been in Bethsaida. Mark tells us that when Jesus was in the city, that people immediately responded. In Mark 6, 54 and 55, it says, when they came out of the boat immediately, the people recognized him, ran through the whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard he was. And so that's what's taking place again, the beginning to bring people. In this case, they brought a blind man to him, and they're begging Jesus to touch this man. Now to put that in some kind of context, you need to know that blindness obviously being a terrible thing. But in those days, the blind often became beggars. In many people's minds, blindness was considered a curse, a curse by God. We see that in the Gospel of John, and as you see that a man had was born blind, and a question had been asked concerning that, you see, because they considered blindness to be a curse. In John 9, verses 1 and 2, John writes, as he went along, he saw a man blind from birth, and his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind? And so at that time, they had thought that that must be a curse from God. But in that case, Jesus actually answered the question directly. It's found in John 9, verse 3, where Jesus answered, and this is what he said. He said, neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. And so Jesus made it very clear this is not a result of any sin. It's not a curse from God. In ministry, we see that Jesus healed a number of blind people. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all record times that Jesus healed the blind. You see, in the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah had prophesied that the healing of the blind would be something that was what Messiah would do. It actually would help to establish the credentials of the Messiah. And so in Isaiah, it's pointed out in chapter 61, verses 1 and 2, Luke records in chapter 4, 18 and 19, how Jesus referred to that when he was establishing his own credentials, where he said, the Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And so Jesus was demonstrating his credentials as he healed the blind. And this blind man's friends or his family had brought him to Jesus so that Jesus could heal him. And they're so desperate, notice verse 22, that they begged Jesus to touch him. They begged Jesus to lay hands on him. So Jesus is willingness to do so, communicated his compassion. It's pointing out that God was willing and is willing to reach out and touch men. And Jesus immediately responded, notice verse 23, it says to us that Jesus Christ took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands on him, he asked him if he saw anything. And so Jesus is going to, at this point, do a miracle that is just obviously just incredible. Notice again, once again he brings this person to a place of more privacy. He had done that with the deaf man who had the speech impediment. So when leading him by the hand, he begins a relationship that's going to continue throughout this man's life. And at this point, Jesus does three things. One, he spit on the man's eyes. Now, why would he do that? That's a good question. Why would he use saliva? Well, one practical reason is that the man's eyelids may have been sealed by secretion. I don't know how many of you were raised in a way as I was, but I can tell you this, when I was a little boy, there were times that my mom would look at me and she'd see that my eyes needed a little cleaning up. And she would put saliva on a napkin and she would rub my eyes with it. Now, I was too young to be grossed out. I am now, just to remember that. But my mom would do that or she would moisten her fingertips and she would just rub my eyes like that. She used to say to get the sleep out of them. And so, in some ways, I look at that with wonder. But in other ways, I understand how that would happen. And Jesus would do that. And it's very possible that the secretion that person may have had on eye problems and to moisten so he could separate the eyelids. That's one commentator pointed that out. I thought I would repeat that. It's a practical reason. But there's another reason. And at that time, saliva was considered to be medicinal. And that would have communicated to the man that healing is about to take place, again, because saliva was considered to be medicinal. And this isn't the only time that Jesus used this method to bring healing. In John 9, once again, he used saliva to communicate that he was going to heal a blind man. John 9, verses 4 through 7, this is what John writes. Jesus is speaking. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I'm in the world, I am the light of the world. Now, after saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, put it on the man's eyes. Go, he told him. Wash in the foolish slalom. This word means sent. So the man went and washed and came home seen. So the action made the blind man aware that Jesus is about to heal him. A second thing is, in verse 23, is that he laid hands on him. So the lane on the hands represents a point of contact between God and man. And in this case, it represented the healing of blindness that is about to occur. And then there's a third thing. Notice he says, do you see anything? Now, this question is intended to provoke a response from the blind man. And so the blind man says, no, how can I? You just spit in my face. No, he didn't say that. Sorry. Verse 24, he says, he looked up and he said, I see men like trees walking. Now, he's in a private location. So who are the men that he sees walking? Obviously, they would be Jesus's men. But his answer reflects that his vision is badly out of focus. It also discloses that he had, at one time, been able to see. Those who had been born blind would not necessarily be able to say, I see men like trees. And so it discloses that this man had gotten blind over time, probably in stages. In response to his answer, Jesus laid hands on him a second time. And again, that's a unique aspect of this miracle because it comes in stages. And this is the only place in scripture that this occurs. Notice verse 25, he put his hands on his eyes again, made him look up. He was restored and saw everyone clearly. There isn't a reason given as to why the healing is gradual. One explanation is that this is an example of a different kind of miracle. It would make it clear that God works differently in different circumstances. Another may be that the man's eyesight returned as his faith was gradually growing stronger. He may not have actually believed his eyesight could be restored, but he opens his eyes, he sees men like trees, and it may have been a stimulation to his faith to trust. He actually began to believe that he would be restored. Does God still heal? Yes, of course he does. No scripture that I'm familiar with declares that he doesn't. Could God still heal in a gradual sense? Why couldn't he if he did it in the past? Why can't he do it now? I was speaking in between services to someone who came up to me and said, I wanted to tell you something. I want you to know that I have had a slow deterioration of my memory to the point that I couldn't even really use my phone and things like that. It was starting to get that bad. And they told me that at the end of services when I've said, you know, we're just going to pray and see what the Lord you've got. And you know, those of you who are part of this church, I'm no healer, but God is, and let's pray for healing. And then that person approached me and said, I want you to know I hadn't raised my hand because I hadn't really thought that that would happen. But I did. And she said, I raised my hand and I asked God, please heal my memory. And she said, you know what God has been doing that my memory is coming back slowly, but surely right now. It's what we're talking about. It isn't an instantaneous, but it is a gradual. And that happened then. It happens to this day. God is a healing God. Always know that and always believe that God is a healing God and God can do that. And Jesus Christ did that. And so it's a picture of a gradual healing because the Lord does things in stages sometimes. And that may be very well. One of the ways to apply that. And then there is an application that has a spiritual sense. And it could be a picture of the way that we as believers grow spiritually. When when when something is first revealed to us by the Lord, our spiritual side is not yet developed to fully understand. But over time, the Lord will will touch our spiritual eyes again, you'll see. And and and things become more clear. Like John 13, seven, where it reads that Jesus said, you do not realize now what I'm doing, but later you will understand. There are things that the Lord will do in our lives that we may not understand the moment that's taking place. But over time, we begin to see. So you did it this way so that this would happen in order that this would happen. Now I see the stages of how you have worked in my life. So I get saved. I go in the military. I come out. My parents aren't aren't growing in the Lord. I had led them to faith, but they weren't growing in the Lord. I began his Bible study in in Norwalk in 1973. My brother gets saved in 1974. He lives in Ontario. So I start driving from Norwalk where I live to Ontario to teach my brother a Bible study. I do that out of love for my brother because he needs to grow in the things of the Lord. I had prayed, Father, put me to sleep to my desires. You know, I want to get married, but I don't want to make a poor choice. Lord, would you help me by putting me to sleep to my desires? And and Lord, then revealed to me the one that you would have me to be married to. So I had prayed that I'm teaching a Bible study. My brother invites a co-worker. This co-worker is named Marie. She comes to the Bible study, gets saved, we get married. Marie comes from Chino. For me, the wages of sin is Chino. And so why would I come here? Because I'm from LA County. LA County is who I am and all of that. Why would I come to San Bernardino County is the way that I think. But out of the spirits leading, I come here, I meet her. We get married, we come back, we plan a church. It gradually shows us when I'm doing now, you don't understand, but you will later. And if we will follow the Lord step by step, the steps of a righteous man or ordained of God, he brings you to what he wants you to know and where he wants you to be because if I'd have been in my own fleshly will, I'd have married somebody else and moved to San Luis Obispo because that's what I wanted to do. But God said, no, you've got to sweat a little bit more. I'm bringing you to stinky town Chino and that is history. What has the Lord taught you through stages? How has he opened your eyes in stages? Because there is a spiritual application. You may not have been raised in a Christian home, but the Lord orchestrated it in such a way that you met a Christian. The Christians shared their faith with you. You became curious and you gave your heart to Christ. And then your eyes are open slowly to more and more of what he has for you. And so Jesus could say that to us, you don't realize now what I'm doing, but later you will understand. So the Lord does miracles in different ways. And sometimes he uses stages to do that so that we don't put him in a miracle box and say he has to do things always exactly the same. There's one thing we know for sure though, and that is this, that Jesus never leaves you without finishing his work. In Philippians 1 verse 6, he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. And he gave this man his sight. When I was a young student at Biola in Lamerada, Bible College in Lamerada, we had chapel. And one day the blind student union put on the chapel for us. And so we came in to a very darkened chapel because all of the windows had been covered. And when we were all seated, the doors were closed and now we're in darkness. And it's kind of an odd feeling for us to go to chapel to be seated in the dark and all. And I remember just sitting there in the bleachers that was in the gymnasium and sitting in the bleachers and the doors are closed, it's now dark. And then a voice comes over the loudspeaker and you hear the voice of the president of the blind students union there at Biola. And he gave his name by name of so-and-so and I am the president of the blind students union here at Biola. And you may be wondering what's going on because you were seated in darkness. And it may be disturbing you a bit as you're seated in darkness because you're not used to the dark. He says, but I'm blind. And this is my world that you are now experiencing with me. I can't see and neither can you. But you may be feeling pity for me because I can't see. But let me tell you something. It is I who feel pity for you because I have never seen anything in my life. But the first thing I shall ever see will be the face of Jesus Christ. And I'll never forget that. The first thing I shall ever see is the face of Jesus Christ. This blind man obviously being able to describe men in trees and to say they're like this tells us that he had gradually lost his sight. But now Jesus makes him look at him. And it says in verse 25, he put his hands on his eyes again, made him look up and he was restored and saw everyone clearly. And that's what the Lord does. He helps us to see clearly. Then verse 26, he sent him away to his house, saying, neither go into the town nor tell anyone in the town. Once again, Jesus says, go home and says, don't tell anyone of what happened. Well, in this case, it reveals that Bethsaida is going to come into God's judgment. You see, though Jesus did many works in this place, the people had been hardened against him. Luke chapter 10, verses 13 and 14 reads, woe unto you, court scene. Woe to you, Bethsaida, for if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. Jesus had performed so many works that Jesus is now moving away from the Bethsaida area and it's really a way of expressing the judgment that will come upon them. And this marks a turning point in Jesus's ministry because he's now going to concentrate on mentoring his disciples, preparing them for his soon death. You see, in verse 27, it says, Jesus and his disciples went out of the towns of 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, others, one of the prophets. And he said to them, but who do you say that I am? And Peter answered and said to him, you are the Christ. And he strictly warned them that they should tell no one about him. And so Jesus is now concentrating more on declaring to and revealing to his disciples who he is and what his mission is. And Jesus is leaving the area of Bethsaida now and it's going up into the area of Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi is around 25 miles northeast of the Sea of Galilee. It's on the southwest base of Mount Hermon. We've been to Caesarea Philippi many times. Every time we go to Israel, we go to that region. We go to a particular place and I've taught there many times. It is the location of one of the largest streams that feed the Jordan River. This place was called Panias after the Greek god of shepherds and nature, Pan. And there's a grotto there where sacrifices of animals to Pan were made. I believe we have pictures. I don't know if they're shown, but there's a grotto there and there's water that comes out of this grotto and it empties into a kind of a basin that they've built and it goes on down to the Jordan River. It's one of the three main sources of the Jordan River. This particular grotto was called by a name that you have heard before, the Gates of Hale. And it was thought to be bottomless. Animal sacrifices were made there and the water was often red with blood and the water would pour out and the people would see this. Now if you're in this general area, throughout the area are scattered 14 temples that were dedicated to Baal, the god of Syria. Baal was a pagan god of fertility, floods of nature in general. There were also various other things like a great white marble temple built by Herod the Great in honor of Caesar. Herod's son Philip II changed the name Panias to Caesarea to honor Augustus Caesar. It became known as Caesarea Philippi. That means Caesar's town, Philippi speaks of Philip. Now during the time of Jesus, Caesarea Philippi became a resort built around a stream. And it's somewhere in this area that Jesus is now seated with his 12 apostles. He's in a place with 14 temples dedicated to Baal, Herod's temple, and the Gates of Hale. The entire area that he's in screams paganism. It screams nature worship. It screams sensuality because of Herod and Herod had taken his brother Philip's wife. It screams sensuality and it screams the worship of man. It screams it all. Now the modern American might think all of this is simply superstitious. How many people actually believe in such a nonsense in our scientific day? Obviously, these things are still with us. They're just not identified in the way that we identify things today. Nature worship still exists in the save the planet movement, in the global warming movement, in the ecology movement. We called it Mother Earth. That ancient paganism is still here today. Oh, the earth is getting too hot. We're all going to roast you within six years now. But when I was in college, it wasn't too hot. It was too cold. We're going to have a new ice age. So things changed in the last many years. But we still have that. We still have nature worship. There are still people who refer to the earth as Mother Earth and we still try to save this planet. How about sexual license? Sexual license will soon be on display at Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is what is called a Bacchanalian festival. Bacchus was the god of wine. And they're going to have sexual immorality and they do it in the name of Lent. And so we still have sexual promiscuity. It's become so common that people don't even blink at it anymore. So yeah, we still have these things. They haven't changed that much. As for man worship, well, awards show still attract worshipers to the red carpet. And people actually think that these celebrities can actually think and they do have, well, they call them idols. They do have people follow after them and think what they say is important. Some of them do. Neil Young seems to think he's pretty important. Now I'm going to blast out some ancient history to you, Neil Young. Some of you know who he is. Take my music off to Spotify. And then he gets joined by that other young woman, Joni Mitchell. They're ancient people, ancient. And so what happens is they believe that their opinions matter. And in reality to some they do. Because if there are people saying, you know, people like Madonna and others, oh, take your music off Spotify. You tell an old man, you use the word Spotify and an old man like me says, what's that? But you tell a 30-year-old Neil Young and they say, who's that? And then you tell a guy about 50 years old Neil Young and they say, is he still alive? But these people think what they say, and I don't want to demean them as human beings, of course, but they think what they say matters to people and perhaps it does to some. And that just tells me that there is still a sense of man-worship. We just don't call it that. So we have nature-worship, we have sexual-worship, and we have man-worship. It's still there in different forms. So there is Jesus. And he's speaking to his men. As he's there, he's preparing them for an announcement that he's going to make concerning his death. And so as he's doing so, he asks the most important question that can be asked. Now why would he ask this question, who do men say that I am? Why would he ask that question? Well, he does it to reveal to them that people do not understand who he is. You see, up until his time, his men had seen him perform amazing works. They've seen the paralyzed walk. They've seen lepers cleansed. They've seen the dead raised, the death to hear. He walked on water. He multiplied fish and lobes. He had just healed a blind man. Chapter 8 verse 1 tells us multitudes are still coming to him and it seems that his popularity is strong and growing. As far as his men can see, his popularity is greater than ever. They see the multitudes, but Jesus sees multitudes who don't know who he is. Jesus needed to show the disciples that great numbers did not mean great followers. Great numbers doesn't necessarily mean that there are genuine believers. In the book of Ezekiel in chapter 33 verses 30 through 33 paraphrase, the Lord God is speaking to the prophet. Not a man, he says, people are coming to you. He says, to hear you there, they're standing next to the walls. They're speaking amongst themselves. Come and hear the man of God as he speaks. He says, and so they come and they're seated before you. And as they're seated before you, they're listening to you. They're saying of you. He's like, he's got things to say. He says, but in reality, you are to them, you're like somebody who's got a pleasant singing voice who can play well on an instrument that they're listening to you, son of man. They're listening to you. You're entertaining to them and they're inviting friends and people are crowding. They're hearing what you say. He said, and they sit before you as if they're my people. And then God says, but they are not my people. They are not my people. Why? Because they hear and they do not obey. Just because churches can be filled with people doesn't mean that the people in the church are followers. And you have to be careful. And Jesus is telling his men, just because there are multitudes following me. They're following me for various reasons. For some, some of them are just bad reasons recently in the feeding of the 5,000. Some had followed him all the way to Capernaum and looked for him. And then Jesus confronted them in John 626. Most assuredly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. You are not spiritually hungry. You are physically hungry. And you think that I can give you healthcare and free meals. You're not looking, you're not looking for a savior. You're looking for a sugar daddy. Is that where it's still used? Who's your daddy? I don't know. So what it is, it's a challenge. It's a challenge to continue following him. It's a challenge because just because they come in and they appear to come in droves, which they do, it doesn't mean every one of them are following me. You see, when they're challenged to fully commit themselves, they turned away. They walked away. And as men need to know that as far as the multitudes are concerned, he didn't matter. Jesus just didn't matter. So to awaken this understanding in them, he asks a question. Verse 27, who do men say that I am? In the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew adds, who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? What are the people saying about me? Who do they think that I am? Now, obviously, Jesus already knew what was being said, but he wanted them to share. So they do. Verse 28, they answered, John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets. So their answer reveals that they have heard what people are saying of him. These rumors have been circulating, and his men would have heard them. In Luke 9, verses 7 and 8, it reads, now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on and he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. Now, Herod had come to think that Jesus was John the Baptist, raised from the dead. In Mark 6, 14, it says, King Herod heard of him, for his name had become well known, and he said, John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are working to him. Well, the apostles had heard this rumor, they're sharing this with Jesus. So some said, John the Baptist. Why John the Baptist? Well, John had a ministry of preaching repentance. Perhaps like Herod, they believed him to be John resurrected. Jesus preached repentance, so did John. But John was actually sent before Messiah. He was not Messiah. So some think that you're John the Baptist. Others said Elijah. Theologians refer to Elijah as the prince of the prophets. When you read of him in 1st and 2nd Kings, it's Elijah that called Israel to make a decision for God. Jesus did the same thing. Elijah worked miracles. You see miracles recorded in 1st and 2nd Kings. And as you read those books, you see that he had multiplied a widow's flour and oil that he might feed her, and he had raised her dead child to life. And that's something Christ has done. He had multiplied the fish and loaves twice. He raised the dead. So they're saying perhaps this one is Elijah. God had promised to send Elijah before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. So some thought that Jesus was Elijah. Now Matthew includes Jeremiah. Some say Jeremiah. Jeremiah traditionally is referred to as the weeping prophet. This may be in light of his compassionate love and concern for Israel. Well Jesus wept and so did Jeremiah. And so they're seeing these things about him. So some say Jeremiah. Well Jeremiah spoke words of judgment that was to come upon the nation. In Jeremiah chapter 7 verses 3 through 8, the prophet said, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says, reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, this is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. And if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place in the land I gave your ancestors forever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. Well that's similar to what Jesus said when he overturned the money changers' tables. He did so twice. He did it in the beginning of his ministry and he did it at the end of his ministry. And in Jeremiah chapter 7 verse 11, the question is asked, has this house which is called by my name become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. John 2.16 says that he said to those who sold doves, take these things away, do not make my father's house a house of merchandise. Some say John, some say Elijah, some say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. The prophets were those who spoke for God. At the very least, he's anointed to speak God's words to us. And then he asks the most important question, verse 29, he said to them, but who do you say that I am? I know that you know what others are saying, but now I need to ask you, what do you think about me? You've seen multitudes come to receive from me and you've seen the impact I've had upon them. They've come for themselves. Some of them have brought friends. Some even removed a roof to get to me and you saw that. In Mark 6.55, the people ran through the whole surrounding region began to carry about on beds. Those who were sick to wherever they heard he was, you've seen this. You know, you see the multitude, you hear what they say of me, but are they right? Am I a prophet only? You see, there are a lot of people who can repeat things that they've heard about Jesus Christ. They'll say things of him. I've been around in the Lord for a long enough time to tell you that I've read comments by Buddhists who will say he was a great teacher, the wisest teacher. Hindus say the same. I have quotes for Hindus, gurus who have said Jesus Christ was a great philosopher and a great thinker, a great moral teacher. The Muslims refer to him as the prophet, a great prophet. Is that all he is? Is Jesus Christ just a prophet? There are people who know things of him who can repeat things about him who will say things like this. They'll say the Sermon on the Mount is the greatest, most beautiful sermon that has ever been recorded in human history. And not Christians who are saying that. I've read that statement by those who don't believe in Christ, but they'll say the Sermon on the Mount is a beautiful, thoughtful, thought-provoking message that man should live by. Who do men say that I am? A prophet, a teacher, a good man, a miracle worker. Those things are all important. If you would have asked me, and I think the same could be true with many of you here, if you were to ask me who is Jesus Christ, I could have answered you even scripturally solid and supported answers. I could have. Who is Jesus Christ? I'm a 20-year-old druggy, I'm a 20-year-old hippie, an alcoholic, and you asked me, who is Jesus Christ? I will answer you. I know the answer. I gave it. He's the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Son of God. How did I know that? Because I'd been raised in the Catholic Church. I went to Catechism. I'd received the sacraments up to that point, up to confirmation. I could speak of those things. I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ's only begotten Son, born of a virgin, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, because I memorized the Apostles' Creed when I was 12. I could tell you, you see that at the right hand of the Father, from thence you shall come to judge the living and the dead. I could tell you that. I can tell you those things as a non-believer. I could tell you those things when I was loaded. I could tell you those things because they were in me. And I could give biblical answers. He died on the cross. He was buried. Three days later, he rose from the dead. Four days later, he ascended into heaven. He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell those who believed in him. And I could tell you that he's going to come. I could tell you all those things because I was taught all those things. And I did that just like many of you. Just like many of you were able to do it. Just like many of you may, maybe even now, someone watching, you can do that. You learn that. I learned that, but I only went to church twice a year. Christmas and Easter. They used to call us once a year Catholics because I would go for Christmas. I would go for Easter, go to weddings, and go to funerals at the Catholic Church. If you had asked me, I would have told you Jesus Christ is the Son of God, second person of the Most Holy Trinity. I would have told you that because in my head, I believed that in my heart, I denied it. The most important question is not a question that you answer with a yes-no. The most important question is answered by a life changed, that Jesus Christ is not just a person that I read about in this book, but he is the Savior who has saved my soul. That's the answer. That's the greatest question, and that's the answer. We're aware. We're aware of what others say of you, but we know who you are. We haven't reduced you to simply being a prophet as great as that is. You are more than a prophet. You are the Christ. You are Mashiach, the anointed one. We know. We have come to finally realize who you are. Earlier in their time with Christ, they had seen Him bring calm to a stormy sea. Mark 4.41, they feared exceedingly and said to one another, Who can this be? That even the wind and the sea obey Him. But now Peter confidently expresses what the others have come to believe. You are the one prophesied by the prophets. You are the one that we have long expected. Hebrews 1 verses 1 and 2 says it like this, In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom also He made the universe. We know who you are. You are the Christ. Matthew 16, 16 adds, the Son of the living God. You are the Son of the God who is. You are the Son of the God who is alive in comparison to lifeless idols, idols carved by man's hands and feet they have but they cannot walk, arms they have but they cannot reach out, mouths they have but they cannot speak, eyes they have but they cannot see, ears they have but they cannot hear. And those who make them are like them. You are the Son of the living God. Psalm 42 verse 2, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? In 1 Thessalonians 1-9, they themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God. So Matthew gives us more insight into what Jesus' response to this confession of faith is because in Matthew 16 verse 17, Jesus replied, blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man but by my Father in heaven. No one comes to the knowledge of God through intellect or human effort alone. No one can take credit for that insight. We arrive at this knowledge because God reveals himself to us and if he were not to reveal himself to us, we would not believe. We could not find him. Jeremiah 31 3 says, the Lord appeared to us in the past saying, I've loved you with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with loving kindness. In John 6.44, no man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day. I've heard people say, you know, I was drinking, I was doing drugs, I was promiscuous, he's doing all of that. Then I found Jesus. No, wait a minute. He wasn't lost. He found you. When you got to the end, he was there waiting. That's how he worked. He loves you. He loves you. And you got to the end of yourself and when you got to the end of yourself, you discovered him. He loved you. He drew you with loving kindness. His Father's spirit convicted you. You heard a message somewhere. You know there's a God. You hear the name Christ and your heart leaps with recognition and you say it's just not, it's not only my upbringing, it's not just my socioeconomic status, it's not my educational status alone, it's not my ethnicity, it's not any of those things alone. Those things contribute to the misery of my life or the recognition of who I am as a person but they don't make me a person who follows God. What makes me a person who follows God is the Holy Spirit convicted me through the word of God saying, you're a sinner but I love you and I sent my son to die in a cross for you. Come to me and you can have everlasting life. That's how it works. So I come to Christ just as I am. I confess my sin. I say, God be merciful to me. I'm a sinner. Forgive me. I need you. And Jesus said, you didn't come to him on your own. The Father who sent me has drawn you to him. You didn't discover this by yourself. My Father has revealed this to you. And after that, he lets them know, verse 30, that they should say nothing. He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about him. Now, shortly before he had told the blind man not to share what had happened with anybody but now he tells his men not to speak a word of what they're learning of him. Why? Because the situation has not yet been accomplished. He is going to go to Jerusalem. He's going to yield up his life. And the apostles don't have the complete message yet. They need to be taught as to what this means. There's still work to be done. It would be premature for them to speak of this. And we're going to see that he's going to begin to teach them of what was yet to come. It's going to be difficult for them to grasp that he needs them to understand. I will be betrayed into the hands of a sinful man. They're going to crucify me. I'm going to die. Not you, Lord. No. You walk on water. You multiply fish and loaves. You cleanse lepers. You make the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, the demon possessed. I saw you. When you cast out those demons, the legion from that man, and I've never seen you lose an argument with any scribe, any rabbi, any Pharisee. Every time you open your mouth, they have to close theirs. Let this be far from you, Lord, that this should be done unto you. No. You are. We just told you who you are. You are the Christ. You are the son of the living God. No man can oppose you. I've never seen you afraid of anything. You tell storms, shut up, and they shut up. You raise the dead to life. You guys don't understand yet. You don't understand, because the lion is a lamb. And he's going to lay his life down. And you're going to wonder, only one of you is even going to remain with me at the end. John, the rest will flee. And in your midst right now. And you don't even know it. You have Judas. No. You don't understand. So I don't want you speaking about this yet. You have much to learn. I've got much to teach you, because things are going to get even worse than you can imagine before they get better. I will die. I will be buried. That's on Friday. But Sunday comes. But Sunday comes. You'll learn that. You'll see that. I have much to tell you, he said in John 16, 12. But you cannot bear to hear it. But you will. And in closing, there are things the Lord teaches you slowly. Sometimes you're not yet ready and not able to bear it. But you will. Why? Because he supplies the strength and ability to put it all together. But then you say, oh, all things work together for the good of those who love God. To those who are the called, according to his purpose, all along you are doing something I just couldn't see. But now I see. And I believe in even more than I ever did. For God, if there's one thing I know about you, you are good. And you love me. Father, we just asked that we would come to that.