Book: Luke
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Luke 9:19                        Who Am I?
I. The opinions that people had concerning Jesus.
        A. John the baptist.
        B. Elijah.
        C. One of the old prophets had risen again.
                1. What these opinions showed.
                        a. That there was something special and unique
                           about Jesus.
                        b. He was no ordinary man.
                        c. They classified Him as one of the prophets of
                           God.
                        b. John was a prophet, Elijah was a prophet, they
                           thought that Jesus must be a prophet also.
                2. The works that He did forced them to believe that He
                   was somehow related to the supernatural.
                        a. Nicodemus said, "We know that you are a teacher
                           come God, for no man can do these miracles that
                           you do except
                           God be with him."
                        b. Other Pharisee's however accused Him of being
                           in league with Beelzebub the prince of devils.
                        
        D. The opinions that people have today.
                1. He was a master teacher.
                2. He was a great philosopher.
                3. He was a good man.
                4. Men today seek to remove Him from the category of
                   supernatural.
                        a. They seek to dismiss His miracles as quite
                           natural events but only thought to be miracles
                           because of the superstition of the people.
                        b. When He told the disciples to cast the nets on
                           the other side of the ship, He could see the
                           fish in the water because He was on higher
                           ground and could observe what the disciples
                           could not see being on the water.
                        c. When He raised the daughter of Jarius from the
                           dead, she really was not dead, but only in a
                           coma, and Jesus recognized that fact.
        E. The inconsistency of this position without the admission that
           He was the Son of God.
                1. He was all these things, a master teacher, a great
                   philosopher, a good man, but much more, He was the Son
                   of God.
                2. If you are not willing to acknowledge the last, then
                   you cannot believe the first.
                        a. He claimed to be the only begotten Son of God.
                           "For God so loved the world, that He gave His
                           only begotten Son."
                        b. He claimed that He was sent by His Father God
                           into the world. "For God sent not His Son into
                           the world to condemn the world, but that the
                           world through Him might be saved.
                        c. He claimed to be a full representation of God.
                          "He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father."
                        d. He claimed equality with God. "I and the Father
                           are One."
                        e. He claimed to be the only way to the Father. "I
                           am the way, the truth and the life, no man
                           cometh to the Father but by Me."
                        f. He claimed that if you lived and believed in
                           Him, you would never die. "He that liveth and
                           believeth in Me, shall never die."
                3. If these statements are not true, then He is either a
                   colossal liar, or He was mentally deranged. If He were
                   not Messiah, the Son of God,
                        a. He was not a master teacher, but a master
                           deceiver.
                        b. He was not a great philosopher, but a great
                           liar.
                        c. He was not a good man, but an evil man, a fraud
                        d. Are you willing to say that Jesus is a
                           deceiver, a liar, a deceiver and a fraud?
                        e. This is exactly what you are saying if you do
                           not believe that He is the Son of God.
II. The promises of the Messiah.
        A. When Peter answered the question of Jesus, "Who do you say that
           I am?" with the words, "You are the Christ of God." the word
           Christ is the anglicized form of the Greek word Christos which
           is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Messiach. The word in
           Hebrew means anointing. It was in reference to the anointing of
           the king with oil to inaugurate his reign. Thus it is
           acknowledging that Jesus is the Messiah is to acknowledge Him
           as King.
                1. You remember how David was anointed with oil by Samuel,
                   to signify that God had now chosen him to reign over
                   Israel.
                2. Concerning king Saul we read,
1SA 10:1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured [it] upon his head,
                  and kissed him, and said, [Is it] not because the LORD
                  hath anointed thee [to be] captain over his
                  inheritance?
                3. The Messiah was the anointed one, that is the One that
                   God had anointed to be king over the earth.
                4. The Messiah was to establish the kingdom of God upon
                   the earth. It was to be a kingdom of righteous, joy,
                   and peace.
                5. The Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem of a virgin, He
                   would be despised and rejected by men. He would be meek
                   and lowly, making His entry on a donkey. He would be
                   betrayed by a friend for thirty pieces of silver,
                   beaten, buffeted and spit upon. He would be crucified
                   between two thieves, but buried in a rich man's tomb.
                6. The prophecies of the Messiah seemed to be totally
                   contradictory
                        a. There were many that told of His glorious reign
                           and the splendor of His kingdom.
                        b. There were others that spoke of His being
                           despised and rejected and slain.
                7. When Peter said, "You are the Messiah of God." He and
                   the other disciples were thinking about the power and
                   glory in which the Messiah would reign.
                        a. Jesus began to tell them about being rejected
                           of the elders and be slain, but rising the
                           third day.
                        b. Peter who had become the spokesman for the
                           group began to rebuke Jesus for talking like
                           that.
                8. At the revelation of His being the Messiah, Jesus spoke
                   of four main things.
                        a. His being rejected.
                        b. His being crucified.
                        c. His rising again from the dead.
                        d. His coming again in glory with the holy angels.
                           vs26
III. What difference does it make of what I think of Jesus? Who I say He
     is?
        A. The difference between life and death.
                1. He that believeth on the Son hath life, he that
                   believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath
                   of God abideth upon Him.
                2. This is reference to spiritual life, which is to live
                   in fellowship with God, and comes by being born again.
                   Having a spiritual birth.
                        a. The Bible teaches that man's spirit is dead
                              because of his trespasses and sins.
                        b. The Bible teaches that God is a Spirit, and
                           they that worship Him must worship Him in
                           spirit and in truth.
                        c. You cannot really know God, or worship Him in
                           truth until you have been born of the Spirit.
                        d. You are born again by believing that Jesus is
                           the Messiah, and that His death was God's
                           sacrifice for your sins.
        B. The difference between losing your life or saving it. Jesus is
           talking of your eternal destiny which is to be saved in heaven,
           or lost in hell.
                1. I know that hell is a four letter word, that those who
                   are always using four letter words would like to see
                   banned.
                2. They don't want to be reminded of their destiny.
                3. Scoff at the idea, deny it's existence, you do not
                   change the facts nor the scripture.
                4. You say that you do not believe in a God that would
                   send a man to hell.
                        a. God does not send men there, they go there by
                           their own choice.
                        b. God did everything to keep men from going
                           there, even to sending His own Son to die for
                           man's sin so that he would not be forced to
                           send men there.
                        c. To go there you must trample under foot the Son
                           of God. He sort of lies at the gate to hinder
                           your entering and you must trample Him under
                           your foot, and count the blood that He shed for
                           your sins an unholy thing, and do despite to
                           His Spirit of grace, who daily is speaking to
                           your heart encouraging you to a better way of
                           life, urging you to receive Jesus as your
                           Messiah and Lord.
                        d. You can be lost if you want to, it is not easy,
                           it takes a lot of determination on your part,
                           you must be stubborn and resistant all the way.
                5. Not one man in hell today can say, "Why did God send me
                   here?" They are all there by their choice to live in
                   sin and reject Jesus as Messiah, the One who died to
                   save them from their sins.
        C. There is more than just believing that Jesus is the Messiah,
           there is the accepting of Him personally as your Messiah or
           King.

Surrendering your life to be ruled by Him.