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[0:00] And the rest of us, please find the gospel according to Matthew. We're in chapter 16 this morning. We'll begin chapter 16. Not entirely sure when we started this.

[0:18] It's coming up on a year, but not quite yet. And we're well over halfway through the book with more to come.

[0:30] So Matthew 16, and let's have a word of prayer together, and then we'll get into the text. Father, thank you for this morning. We're grateful that we can gather together in liberty, that we can meet here.

[0:41] And nobody had to look over their shoulder or look in their rearview mirror to see if anybody's tailing them or to fear any of that this morning. We just got up and made the choice to come to church.

[0:53] And so, Lord, we're grateful that we can do it in this fashion. Thank you that we have these words before us. And I pray that we will understand them clearly, that your spirit would speak this truth into our hearts, help us to rightly divide the word of truth and give us understanding and application.

[1:10] And we're grateful, God. We owe this so much to you for you allowing us to have this holy book in our hands, to read it and to study it and to have access to you by your spirit.

[1:21] So, Lord, help us not to take it for granted. Help us not to just think it's just some book that we grew up with. Help us to really care about it, to realize how precious these words are. Not just to you, but, Lord, make they be that real to us.

[1:34] Just burn that inside of us this morning, we pray. In our Savior's name, for His sake. Amen. All right, Matthew 16, and starting in verse 1 here, the Pharisees also with the Sadducees came.

[1:48] Well, look at that. The Pharisees are bringing back up now. They're bringing somebody they don't even agree with. I don't know if you noticed that or if you ever caught that in your Bible, but the Pharisees believed certain things.

[1:59] The Sadducees, another group or sect of religious Jews, believe their own doctrines. And what do you know? They can unite with one common goal.

[2:10] What would that be? To try to get rid of the Lord Jesus Christ. They won't hold hands on any other issues. They're not going to come together to fight against Rome or to fight against some law or something like that, but they'll fight against the work of God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

[2:30] They're going to tempt Him here. It says in verse number 1, Now there's been plenty of signs already given from Matthew 1 to 15.

[2:46] There's been plenty of miracles, plenty of, there's been a good night. We've read so many of them just in these past two chapters of all these folks being fed, the 5,000 and the 4,000.

[2:58] And this is almost foolish that they're going to come, but notice the wording, it's tempting. They're tempting, desired Him to do something. Show us a sign.

[3:09] The last time somebody's tempting Jesus Christ was back in chapter 4, and it was the devil. It was Satan tempting Him. And what do you know? There's the religious men of Israel showing up doing the work of their father, the devil.

[3:25] And the Pharisees with the Sadducees came, tempting, desired Him that He would show them a sign from heaven. The temptation here, or what they're saying, just really, just wow us, you know, do a little magic trick.

[3:41] If you know somebody who's a quote-unquote magician, or whatever you'd call them, you know, you'd say, hey, show us, do a trick for us. That's what you'd ask them to do.

[3:52] And they'd be like, well, I just happen to have a deck of cards on me. And then off they go with some kind of little sleight of hand, and you're wowed, and you think it's great. And the Pharisees are coming to Christ, having heard all of this.

[4:04] And they've got an ulterior motive, of course. They have already come together and decided that they want to destroy Him. And now they're going to come in front of Him, in front of a crowd, and say, we would see a sign of the Master.

[4:16] Like, if you'll just show us something, then we'll believe. We'll be forced to. Our hands will be tied if you'll just show us a sign. Is that really what they want, is a sign?

[4:28] Well, Christ is not a magician. He's not a clown. He's not there to entertain. And I've already taught you the signs and the things that He's been doing are purposed, their fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures, the prophecies of the Messiah.

[4:45] And let me show you one more that we didn't look at this previous, but go back to Jeremiah chapter 50. I showed you one in Micah, I believe, when He was feeding them, when He fed the 5,000.

[5:01] Come back to Jeremiah 50 and showed you that that's a prophetic or a fulfillment, or partial fulfillment, rather. It's really just evidence that He's the Messiah because God says that in the future that He is going to feed His people in the wilderness.

[5:19] And in the tribulation, we saw it in Revelation 12, that He, in fact, is going to do that during that time of Jacob's trouble. And so I think it was Micah that we went back to and saw that prophecy.

[5:31] It's also in Jeremiah, and just notice it here, in Jeremiah 50, in verse number 19. God's prophetically speaking, saying, I will bring Israel again to His habitation, and He shall feed in Carmel and Bashan, and His soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead.

[5:49] And those days and that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none. The sins of Judah, and they shall be not found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve. So again, God says, I'm going to bring them, and He's going to feed, and He's going to be satisfied, and God promising to nourish and take care of that people.

[6:07] And those, so what I'm saying is, those signs, these things that we're just coming off of in chapters 14 and 15 of Matthew, where He's feeding these masses of people with five loaves and two fishes, or was it seven loaves and a few small fishes in chapter 15?

[6:24] And in these different localities, doing the same thing. It's proof of His, it's authenticating that He, in fact, is the Messiah. Messiah, it's not just a random act of kindness.

[6:35] It's not some random miracle that He just pulled out of His hat and said, here's one. So when somebody says, we want to see a sign, that's not how this works, that's not what He's here for. And if that's the picture you have of Him, because folks kind of, in a random sense, bring their sick to Him, and He heals them all, well, that's more evidence that He's the Messiah, is the healings and getting rid of the effects of the curse.

[6:58] And so, them coming to Him, it's not going to go their way, by any means. He's not here for that. And just like we saw with the woman last week, the Gentile woman that came to Him, He said, I'm not here for you either.

[7:11] And so the Pharisees and Sadducees, tempting, desiring a sign, it's not going to happen. Verse number two, He says, He answered and said unto them, when it is evening, ye say it will be fair weather, for the sky is red.

[7:22] And in the morning, it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and lowering. Oh, ye hypocrites. You can discern the face of the sky, but can you not discern the signs of the times?

[7:35] It's a great question. And it's probably backing up, I've already done this, done this, done this, done this. The fact that you're coming to me, asking me this, do you not get this?

[7:46] What is it that you're fighting against? Why is it that you won't believe on me? Why are you tempting me? Why are you trying to get something out of me that it's not the will of God here?

[7:57] You hypocrites. Wow. Is that kind of his choice words for these people? You hypocrites. Did I...

[8:10] Is that back in the last chapter? Yeah. Chapter 15 of verse 7. Ye hypocrites. In chapter 23, I'm not going to take the time to go through 23, but it is, the whole chapter is laced with him calling them hypocrites, fools, hypocrites, you blind guides, you generation of vipers.

[8:35] How's that? You can't ignore that language. You can't just read past it and pretend, oh, he didn't mean that. Oh, he's nicer than that, really.

[8:45] He said it with a smile. You can't, you can't insert that into the text. You can't think, this is Jesus. I mean, he's fed up with these liars. He's fed up with these dressed in robes and fool out garments and showing themselves to be holy men of God.

[9:01] He just, just very recently, we saw how they accused him and his disciples of violating their traditions. You guys aren't keeping the laws, accusing him of sin. And he can't, that's just, that's Christ.

[9:14] He's so direct. He's so righteous in his words. And he's absolutely right in saying, calling them to their faces hypocrites. Why are they hypocrites here? Because they can see, they can understand and make sense of earthly things.

[9:29] What he's talking about, the illustration he gave is, is looking to the weather and discerning when it's going to be a bad day or a good day. And you can see that, can't you? You can discern earthly things.

[9:41] How is it that you cannot discern the signs of the times? How is it that you can't tell that this is the fulfillment of your scriptures? I am God in the flesh. I am the son of David.

[9:51] How is it that these common people hear me and receive me and you, religious, studied of your word of God, teaching the people, you can't see it. How is it that you're so blind?

[10:03] He calls them blind guides. That was back in chapter 15 in verse 14. And in chapter 23 again, that's where he uses the term blind guides.

[10:15] How is it that you have no spiritual discernment at all? I just say this, be wary of the religious elect or the elite or the ones that dress well and talk well.

[10:27] Beware of them. It could be that they're just as blind. If you've got somebody that will just tell you what the Bible says, then you've got something going on and you can follow that because they're going to point you to the scriptures.

[10:38] But when somebody's trying to make you follow them or become like them or put on this and act that way and do this and do that, they're going the wrong way. And what a shame that they can discern earthly things but have no clue as to what God is doing right in front of their eyes.

[10:54] He calls them this, verse number four, a wicked and an adulterous generation seeketh after a sign. That's what you are. And he's already called them that earlier.

[11:05] I think it was back in chapter 12. Well, it may have been different company but it was the same rebuke. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and here he says, there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet Jonas and he left them and departed.

[11:19] So no miracle for you. No sign. You asked for one. He just called you names, rebuked you, walked away. Why? He knows their thoughts.

[11:30] He knows their hearts. He knows what they're really after and he's not going to waste any time with them. He's not going to debate with them. He's not going to argue and try to make them see his point. He knows their heart.

[11:41] He knows what's already happened inside. He just, nope, walks away. But before I do, you're a hypocrite and rebukes them publicly and praise the Lord.

[11:52] That'll be, I don't want you to just be a name caller because Jesus Christ was a name caller but I want you to at least see that he was and understand that it's nothing wrong with taking a stand with God and calling a spade a spade when it's right to do so.

[12:07] And the Lord Jesus Christ is your example of that and you can stand on what's true and what everybody says. If they're going to be a hypocrite about it, then don't fellowship with them.

[12:19] Let them know what you think and give them the scripture on it, of course. Don't just call them a name and walk away. But they're a wicked and they're an adulterous generation.

[12:30] What does that mean that they're an adulterous generation? You know what God accused his people of back in the Old Testament? Of adultery. Of seeking after other gods and worshipping other gods and they did it.

[12:44] And when they did it, when they rebuked or refused him and served Balaam, God says, you're committing adultery against me. And how do you think those Pharisees, those Sadducees, those ones that claim to hold the scriptures and read and study the scriptures and teach the scriptures, they're not bowing to an image of Baal, are they?

[13:05] I don't think one of them did that a day in their life. Yet Christ is equating them with those that killed the prophets in the Old Testament and even saying that your fathers did it and you're just like them.

[13:18] And here he calls them an adulterous generation. They're selling themselves out for something else. They're selling themselves, they love the praise of men more than the praise of God. And he calls them out.

[13:29] He knows what's in their heart. Verse number four, they're seeking a sign and they're not going to get one, but they're going to get the sign of the prophet Jonas.

[13:40] They're not going to get the miracle that they're seeking. They're not going to get the, you know, get wowed. But he said, there is a sign that they'll get and the one sign they'll get, it's not one that they're looking for.

[13:51] It's not one that they're going to expect, but it's going to be one, one that they're even going to speak against and deny and try to cover up. It's the sign of the prophet Jonas. And what does that mean?

[14:02] Well, we've read it earlier. I think, come back to chapter 12 and the sign is explained a little better. Matthew chapter 12.

[14:17] And this is a different time and place, but verse 38, then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered him, answered saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee.

[14:35] But he answered and said unto them, an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. What is that sign?

[14:46] There's a colon. He's going to explain it. Verse 40, For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

[14:57] And that was the end of that explanation in chapter 12. Chapter 16, he doesn't give the explanation as Matthew records it. Three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

[15:11] And what do you think that they made of that? You know how when you, even in reading a Bible, you just, you don't understand something, you just kind of keep going.

[15:22] You don't, I mean you might try to sit and stare at it, you might try to read it again, read it again, even look for light somewhere else, but sometimes you're just kind of like, I can't waste all my life on this, I don't know. You just move on.

[15:33] I wonder if they were just like, okay, three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Yeah, so the sign, are we going to get to see a sign?

[15:44] Because whatever you just said, right over their heads. I bet it was. Right over their heads. And so he says it again, the sign of the prophet, Jonas. What sign was he?

[15:57] What sign, what did Jonah do? Oh, he preached to Nineveh, to the Gentiles? What, I wonder if their minds are going elsewhere. What does that even mean? Trying to, I doubt they cared enough to study it out or to go look.

[16:09] But that was the sign. And you know what? Doing these signs in front of them and showing, raising their dead or healing their diseases, touching their eyes, healing. You know, that's a sign of the Messiah, signs of his kingdom and of his power.

[16:25] But you know what? That never does and it would never do for these Pharisees if they would see him, you know, fix a lame man's legs or something right there.

[16:35] You know what? That would never get away or reduce their guilt before God that would never wash away their sin. Seeing a sign does not negate personal sin.

[16:49] And so for Christ just to show them a sign, it's not going to fix anything and the problem that they had in their heart. And they weren't going to believe. And today what's sad is there's denominations and churches around this area, they're all around the world, that are seeking signs.

[17:05] They're preaching signs. They're teaching that the Holy Ghost is in this place and he'll come forward, you know, first Sunday of the month we're going to have a healing service.

[17:16] And they proclaim their apostles and they call themselves by these names and they claim that they can heal. I mean, you know about this charismatic movement of the last couple decades and it may have fizzled out somewhat today, but I think it's done damage and I think that it still exists and it's done damage to the church, getting them confused about truth and about the working of God and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

[17:41] And because all that confusion's here, folks are still today claiming to heal people, looking for signs, coming to a service for some movement of God by His Spirit. And you know what happens?

[17:53] Nothing. And worse than that, nothing happens to their sin. They don't come and get their sin problem taken care of. They don't hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ, which by the way I'm trying to get at is that's the sign of the prophet Jonas.

[18:07] The death and burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's the sign that this generation needs to see. That's what they need as a Savior. They'll need a miracle worker.

[18:19] They need something done to their heart. Some of them received Him gladly and heard Him gladly and followed Him and said, Thou art the Christ. But others of them had nothing for Him.

[18:29] And so what sign did they need? They needed the one of the prophet Jonas. The evil and adulterous generation need to have something done about their sin. And that sin was taken care of at Calvary.

[18:41] And so there's something underlying in that that is with that sign of the prophet Jonas. Other than that, even if the devil does deceive somebody today and heal somebody and give some man power, it's satanic.

[18:57] And if that takes place, you know what? The sin remains. That's the trouble. The sin remains. They felt something in their body and now they're going to go down the road the rest of their life saying, I felt it.

[19:09] I'm good. God is real. The Holy Ghost touched me. And they've never come to Calvary. They've never bowed the knee to Jesus Christ and received forgiveness of sins.

[19:20] All they have is a feeling and a memory. And you don't want to die with a memory. You don't want to die holding on to a feeling. You want to die having your sins forgiven, trusting Jesus Christ.

[19:32] That's what these Pharisees and these Sadducees needed. Verse number five says, When the disciples would come to the other side, they'd forgotten to take bread. Man.

[19:43] I was one of them. That's me. I forget stuff all the time. I can relate. I do it all the time. I forgot my wallet. Forgot my keys.

[19:55] Forgot this. Forgot that. The disciples, just like us men, you know the disciples were men. They forgot to take bread. If there was women there, they'd have had about 16 bags packed and they'd have had all kinds of food and snacks and drinks.

[20:08] You know that. And it would have been great. They'd had a feast. They probably would have stopped for a snack on the way. But not the disciples. They get to the other side and they've forgotten to take bread.

[20:20] What are we going to do? Verse number six, Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And the reason among themselves is because we've taken no bread.

[20:33] That's why I just said that. And you know what? Christ is not thinking about bread. He just had it out with the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And if you read it in Mark, they're on a boat now and they're traveling to the other side and verse number five says they were coming to the other side.

[20:49] They forgot. And so in Mark, he gives you this, that this is taking place on the boat, this conversation. They get on the boat, realize, oh, we forgot food. And Christ isn't even hearing it.

[21:00] He's not even thinking about it. He's thinking about what just took place with those Sadducees and those Pharisees. And he turns to his disciples and he's like, hey, you better watch out for those guys. And they don't get it because of the wording.

[21:14] Leaven. Because of the leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, they reason among themselves saying, they're having this conversation. What does that mean? Once again, it is because we have taken no bread.

[21:24] Verse eight, which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, oh, ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves because we have brought no bread? Hello. Again. This is three chapters in a row.

[21:36] Same thing. I mean, does he have to smack them across their face to get them to wake up and think, ye of little faith, again, the same wording. Now, if you've been with us in Sunday school for the last couple weeks, you'd get this.

[21:50] You'd know why we're saying these things because again, they didn't take bread. They're worried about bread. They can't feed them. I just did it there. How many? 5,000 besides? Like 20 grand maybe? And then another 15,000 to 20,000 people?

[22:03] And it's just us? And you're still without faith, worried about not bringing bread? Do you not get that I can handle this? Do you not yet understand? Verse nine, neither remember the five loaves of the 5,000 and how many baskets he took up?

[22:18] Neither the seven loaves of the 4,000 and how many baskets he took up? You've got to know that he's frustrated with his 12 and that he's frustrated that they're so, just like the Pharisees, discerning the signs of time, earthly things and can't transcend above that and to see spiritual things and to walk in the will of God, worrying about, oh, I forgot bread today.

[22:43] When he's saying, do you not remember? I can handle all of that. Just forget about all that stuff. Verse 11, how is it that you did not understand that I speak it not to you concerning bread that you should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

[22:56] Then understood they how he made them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

[23:07] So when Christ used the word leaven, he's referring to their doctrine and it's a good, it's an illustrative statement, an analogy of how just that little bit of leaven, what he says, leavens the whole lump.

[23:20] How a little bit of false doctrine throws your whole mindset and teaching and understanding of truth way off. And just to back up to where we were with this thought of signs and healings, if I have the wrong perception of the ministry of the Holy Ghost today, then I'm going to see things way off.

[23:38] I'm going to be looking for him and looking for his working and looking for a sign and for a movement and because I can read about some things in the Bible of signs and wonders, then I'm going to be looking for those things. If I don't have my doctrine right about those issues, I'll be off base today.

[23:53] I'll be trying to do some of that myself today. I'll be smacking you on the forehead when you're walking out the door saying, be healed, trying it. Didn't work. I'll try it the next week.

[24:04] Pray a little harder and smack you a little harder. I'm not going to do that stuff. Thank the Lord. I don't need to worry about that. Well, let's just look at something while we're here. John chapter 16.

[24:15] John 16. And this is just a, we'll just take a quick one here.

[24:35] It's not something I'm planning on running the references on and studying out. But the ministry of the Holy Ghost, while we're on it, to whom it may concern, he that hath ears to hear, verse number seven.

[24:46] Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he has come, he will heal you.

[24:59] When he has come, he will give you power to heal people. No, when he's come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin because they believe not on me.

[25:10] Of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see me no more. Of judgment because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth.

[25:24] He will not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. Notice verse 14. He shall glorify me. You know, one of the biggest problems I have with this movement and charismatic and Pentecostalism and all this Holy Ghost talk is they, in their ministry, what they claim is the ministry of the Holy Ghost, he's glorifying himself.

[25:54] They're always talking about him. The Holy Spirit said this, the Holy Ghost gave me a word, the Holy Ghost will do this and will do that. And the Bible, Christ said when he comes, his ministry is going to be glorifying me.

[26:07] And so if a man's filled with God's spirit, he's not going to speak and emphasize the spirit, but rather the son. That's Bible. That's good teaching. And that's a good way to discern between 11 of the charismatics and the Pentecostals and whoever else you got today.

[26:26] It's because they've got something wrong and they're glorifying the Holy Ghost. They're speaking about him more than they are the son of God. And sure, they can slip in something. They can even talk about the blood of Christ.

[26:37] But you watch what they emphasize. You watch what comes out of their mouth over and over again in their services. It's an emphasis on the third person of the Godhead and not the second.

[26:49] And Christ said when he comes, the word of God said he comes, he's going to glorify me. All right, so moving on. Back to Matthew chapter 16. Let's try to get somewhere here. Here he's warning them about the leaven or the doctrine in verse 12 of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

[27:09] Obviously, it's false doctrine or false teaching. A little bit ago, they had just tried to come before him with their traditions back in chapter 15, verse 2, saying, why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?

[27:25] And we studied that out. That's their teaching. That's, they've, let me find that verse here. It's in this passage. Where does it say they teach?

[27:37] Oh, verse 9. Chapter 15, verse 9. It says, in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

[27:52] What do they do? They teach the commandments of men is what they do. And not the commandment of God. They, they make in verse 6 the commandment of God of none effect.

[28:03] They ignore it. They cast it aside to teach their teachings. And boy, you can, you can pick any religion, just pick one out of the hat and study it out and you're going to find it's loaded with commandments of men.

[28:16] Loaded with it. And not the word of God. Beware of it. Beware of the doctrine. You let a little bit in, it'll have an effect. It'll make, it'll show up.

[28:28] And it won't show up when you're mixing it up with your hands. It'll show up down the road after it's put in the oven. And it's obvious then. And the day will declare it.

[28:38] So, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and I'm not going to go through and run the references on that either. Maybe someday we'll catch up with that. But they have their own different teachings.

[28:49] We can pull that out of here in Matthew and the book of Acts as well. Some of their own idiosyncrasies that they teach of their own way. But the Jews are familiar with this thought of leaven and they're told at Passover to have unleavened bread and so forth.

[29:04] And it's something that's not allowed. And so, he's talking about false doctrine and false teaching. And how important is it? These two groups are destroying and they're damning souls of Israel, misguiding them, leading them away from the truth.

[29:21] And they should be embracing the Messiah, the Christ. They should embrace him. If they would have embraced him and worshipped him and submitted to John's baptism from the beginning, this thing would have been turning out a whole lot differently.

[29:37] Without a doubt. But they fought against it and they sought to get rid of him. So, let's move on. Verse 13. When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, so this is one of the northernmost cities in Palestine, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?

[30:00] Isn't that an interesting question that Christ asks about himself? I mean, I don't do this and maybe you do or maybe you don't. It's almost, I don't want to blame Christ here.

[30:10] This is almost like a sign today of insecurity. Like, what do people say about me? But he's not asking it in that way. He's asking it in a different light. The answer is in verse 14.

[30:21] They said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist. And we saw this back with Herod when he had John, he said he's risen from the dead and we ran a few references back there seeing that different people around different localities, they all had a similar statement about who is this man?

[30:38] What is going on here in Israel? The word is just rumbling across the land, the evidence, the healing, the signs, the disciples, the teachings. What is going on and who is this? And some say thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

[30:55] Now, you've got to recognize that their answer indicates something about Jesus Christ, his character. You study the Bible, you know the phrase birds of a feather flock together.

[31:07] This flock is some Bible preaching men. If you look at these men, John the Baptist, that man was no sissy. I mean, rough and tough, a little rough around the edges, too much so for the city folk when he came out of the wilderness preaching, girded the way he was girded and the diet that he had.

[31:30] And no doubt he wasn't clean-shaven and sweet and friendly. But he came preaching and calling them, said, you generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

[31:43] Some of the language that he preached to the men that came to his baptism. Jeremiah's preached to a king of Israel who was too much of a sissy to do what was right and he'd say, Jeremiah, come in here and don't tell them what we talked about but tell me what God says, tell me what I should do.

[32:03] And he says, exactly what you should do, this is what God's going to do and if you don't follow this, then you're going to be taken captive. Your children, Zedekiah ended up having his son's eyes plucked out in front of his face before he ended up dying himself and the king threw him in the dungeon and back and forth he went through those messes.

[32:22] Jeremiah, Elias, I mean, these are all guys that preached to powerful men to their face, told them the truth of God, didn't back down and sugarcoat it, just preached and that's what they said about Jesus Christ when they heard of him and his preaching and of his coming and what he was like and so just let that, I don't want to say they were mean men, I don't think they were mean but they weren't soft by any means.

[32:51] They were not soft men and Christ even described that earlier in Matthew as we studied about John the Baptist. He wasn't arrayed in soft raiment and he wasn't a reed shaken in the wind and so these are guys that preached of wickedness and pronounced the word of God and righteousness and judgment and that's the kind of, that's what they associated with him, with his preaching and that's not the feminine Jesus that's typically displayed today or pronounced.

[33:21] I mean, sadly, men today are too feminine so that's why they make Jesus feminine like they are probably because they don't want to make themselves look worse, I don't know. But he was direct and probably too direct for some people today.

[33:34] He spoke the truth and pointed the finger, called them what they were and gave them the truth. So praise the Lord for that and that's a great example and if you get in the Bible that's, this answer indicates some of the manhood that Jesus Christ displayed.

[33:52] made. Let's move off of that though. Verse 15 said, He saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? Whom say ye?

[34:03] That's what they're saying but what about you, the disciples? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now this confession is not in line with today's gospel of Romans 10, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead.

[34:25] This confession is a Jewish confession of their Messiah. Look at John chapter 1. Remember, and don't think I'm trying to twist something around or this, there's no death yet and it's not revealed to them yet.

[34:40] They don't understand Christ is going to go to the cross and then go to the grave. That's not even in their mind. What they do understand is that he is the one that should come. And heal our nation and fix our problems and take us and give us this land again and rule over us in righteousness.

[35:00] The kingdom of heaven is at hand and he's the king. And so Peter declares that. Thou art the Christ. The word Christ means the anointed one. It's the same word. In Hebrew, it comes out as Messiah.

[35:12] From Greek, it comes out as Christ. It's the same exact word meaning the anointed one. And so that's what that means. I keep saying the word Messiah because it's the Hebrew designation for him.

[35:24] But in the New Testament, it's always Christ. That's all you'll ever see is Christ. Thou art the Christ. Thou art the Christ. The Son of the living God. John chapter 1. Notice how these men referred to him.

[35:37] Look at verse number 42 42 or 41. It says, He first findeth his own brother.

[35:49] This is Andrew and Peter here. He first findeth his own brother Simon and saith unto him, We have found the Messiahs, which is being interpreted, the Christ. The Christ.

[36:00] We found him. A little bit later, he speaks to Nathanael. In verse number 49, Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God. Thou art the King of Israel.

[36:13] They're addressing him as the Christ and as the King. Look at chapter 4. He goes to this woman of Samaria at the well.

[36:24] And verse number 40, she goes and gets more people. They come out to hear him. In verse 40, So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them, but he abode there two days.

[36:36] And many more believed because of his own word and said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.

[36:48] Now don't get sidetracked when you see the word Savior. That means deliverer. That they don't believe he's going to die on the cross for their sins. They can't believe that. It's not been revealed to them.

[36:59] So when they say he's the Savior of the world, they're saying he's the deliverer. He's the one. He's the Messiah. He's the Christ. He's the King. That's the one. We believe it now. And that statement, you'll see that go all the way up in Acts chapter 8 with the eunuch.

[37:13] Look at Acts chapter 8. Let's just see it quick and we'll have to get done here. Acts chapter 8. Philip shows this eunuch some Old Testament scriptures.

[37:25] He's reading the Old Testament about this. He's not sure what he's reading. Matter of fact, he's not sure is he reading about the Messiah or is he reading this about Isaiah?

[37:38] About him being led as a lamb to the slaughter and so forth. Verse 35, Philip opened his mouth and began the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went their way, they came to a certain water and the eunuch said, See, here is water.

[37:52] What doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip answered, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Now, isn't that a little weird to you that when you read that reference and we typically, most time folks are taught, Oh, he's believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel of salvation.

[38:15] You kind of can read that into that. But isn't that statement in line with these other statements back in his early ministry? That thou art the Messiah. I believe you are the King of Israel. I believe he's the Christ.

[38:25] He's the Son of God. That's all the same confession. And it's all connected to this Israeli setup, this Jewish kingdom setup that's even being offered early through the book of Acts.

[38:37] And these are these, Philip's one of his apostles. It's about to change in Acts chapter 9. It's about to turn sideways when God gives light to Saul and then goes and teaches him his gospel.

[38:49] Paul identifies in Galatians chapter 1 that God revealed to me the gospel of Jesus Christ. And this could connect back into this special revelation that Peter has back in Matthew 16.

[39:03] And maybe Lord willing, we'll pick it up there next week with that. Maybe contrasting those two thoughts and helping you to see the difference there. But we're running out of time today, so we're going to have to stop here. And let's just be dismissed with prayer.

[39:16] Father, thank you for the study a little bit here today. I pray that it would be helpful that we'd care about doctrine the way you care about doctrine, even that little bit of leaven. Lord, may we guard ourselves, guard our children, guard our homes and our families from false doctrine.

[39:32] Lord, help us to stand on the word of God and truth and not be ashamed of it. We thank you for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who that sign that he did give for his death, burial, resurrection, how he paid for our sins on the cross at Calvary.

[39:45]  Lord, we're forever indebted to you. Thank you, Lord, for this time. Please bless the hour that follows. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.