Welcome to the Hedgemaker broadcast. The prophet Ezekiel prophesied to the nation of Israel many long years ago. He hath not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge, for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. He also said that the Lord sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it. But I found none. Hedgemaker Baptist Ministries, located in beautiful Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is attempting to stand in the gap and make up the hedge in these days of spiritual compromise and theological apostasy. Our biblical and historical Christian heritage challenges us to fill in the gaps left by those who have moved away from their biblical foundations. Listen now as we build up the wall and make up the hedge through sound preaching from God's Holy Word. Mark chapter 8 verses 27 through 30. Mark 8, 27. And Jesus went out and his disciples into the towns of Caesarea Philippi. And by the way, he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Who do men say that I am? And they answered, John the Baptist, but some say Elias, and others one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth, and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ. Which, of course, was the right answer. And he charged them that they should tell no man of him. The Servant's Messiah. The message tonight, the Servant's Messiah. Most men do not object to the idea of a Messiah. That is, a deliverer, or a savior, a provider, and protector who is going to bring about some kind of a utopian society that will provide social justice, plenty for everyone. Everybody likes that. That kind of a messiah. We could call it a messiah mentality. Of course it's the wrong kind of messiah. What men want is a messiah who fits into their wants. Kind of a Santa Claus figure. that helps them with all of their passions and all of their power structures of the world. Men want their bellies full, their bodies clothed and housed, and their urges, passions, desires, whatever, satisfied. That's what they want. They want the good things of this world. And if a Messiah can give these things, everybody's happy. Yay! Clapping. We're excited about that. We'll accept that kind of Messiah. There were many people who followed Jesus because of the miracles that he performed, but not necessarily because of who he was. Jesus is deliberately setting out to make sure that his disciples saw him as the true Messiah, as God's Messiah instead of man's Messiah. And we're using the term Messiah because that's the Old Testament for the term, the title Christ. Christos in Greek and Mashiach in Old Testament Hebrew mean the anointed one. So Jesus had to make sure that these disciples understood that God's way of salvation and the way of utopia, if we can use spiritual utopia, was to have victory over sin and death and hell and then have a life that lasted for eternity. not just for the earthly life of a man, seventy years or so, while a leader is leading, this Messiah-type figure. That's only temporary. You can look at history and see different ones. Didn't the disciples ask Jesus there in the beginning of the book of Acts, will you restore the kingdom to Israel at this time? They were looking for that kind of Messiah. So I'm not sure that they fully caught the proper Messiah thing until after the resurrection. Well, Jesus was facing near the end of his life. I don't know exactly where we are in the years, but we're moving quickly through the life of Christ. The ministry life, you know, three or four years is very short. Three or four years passed by real quickly, even in our own lives. You know, it's amazing that Jesus did all that he did in that short span of time. But, there was much to still teach the disciples at the end of this journey. I would say the disciples were, they learned well, but they're dull of hearing like you and I tend to be. So there's much that they had to learn, and so there was still much for Jesus to teach. In fact, if you outline the life of Christ, many of the chapters in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, fit in the last several months of the life of Christ. So Jesus is trying to get over to his disciples much of this material that they hadn't quite caught. One of them was this concept of being of the Messiah. So it was time for him, Jesus was also laying the groundwork for the New Testament Church which the disciples didn't know about yet and this would be a group of people who would properly confess Jesus to be the Messiah. And so the concept of the Messiah was very important. And this present passage, and it's recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, is one of the most dramatic revelations of who Jesus was. It is also one of the most demanding questions that Jesus... Whom do men say that I am? Who is Jesus? That's a good question. And the answer determines your eternal destiny. That's how important this question was. And there are several responses to this. The proper answer, of course, was the single answer that Peter gave, Thou art Christ. Now, I don't remember this. I'm sure we covered it in the introduction to Mark's Gospel, and I've taught New Testament Survey before, but I forgot this little tidbit. that Mark was a student of Peter. And so what Mark does in his gospel, he includes some of the things that Peter does, but he doesn't include the details of Peter's life. In other words, he's not emphasizing Peter, he's emphasizing Christ. So the importance of the question and its confession is clearly seen by glancing quickly at the points of the passage. Now the background of this, Jesus is on his way to Caesarea Philippi, there in verse number 27. He went out and his disciples with him into the towns of Caesarea Philippi. He left that side up and he was traveling toward Caesarea Philippi. As he's traveling along the road, somewhere between the towns, I'm sure the disciples had many discussions on the road. There are many other things John tells us about the life of Christ that are not recorded in the books of the Gospels. So these discussions that they had along the way are probably not all recorded. But somewhere along the way, he asks this supreme question of life, whom do men say that I am? Now the city of Caesarea Philippi has a rich religious history. It was once the center for Baal worship. with at least 14 temples in and around the city, kind of like Babylon. It was believed to have been, within its borders, the cavern in which the Greek god of nature, Pan, P-A-N, was born. In the beginning of its history, the city was so identified with this god that it was named after the god, called Panayon, P-A-N-O-N. P-A-N-I-A-F, that was his first name. And one of the most beautiful structures was the gleaming white marble temple built for the worship of Caesar. The emperors, the rulers, it's really the messiah mentality to some degree. And it seems to be, at least from my observation, an eastern cultural thing to worship a leader. Even a, you know, CEO of, although as Eastern society becomes more westernized, they don't do this so much, but in ancient days, or older days, not so older days, they would honor and bow to a leader. So they did this with Caesar as well. Herod the Great was, of course, connected somewhat with the Jews there over Judea. Now Herod the Great built this temple in honor of Caesar when Caesar bestowed on him another country. So Caesar was the higher authority, Herod the smaller one. Herod was given more territory, and when he was, he built this temple in honor of Caesar. Herod's son was Philip, who adorned the temple with the magnificence for which it was known worldwide. It was also Philip who changed the name of the city from Panias to Caesarea. Caesarea means Caesar's town. And then he added, Philip added his own name. Now we have it called Caesarea Philippa. That's the background of the city. So the city proclaimed far and wide the worship of Caesar and of the gods of one's choice. A lot of choices between gods. They could worship with 14 different temples. All except the worship of the one true and living God. Kind of like Athens we read about this morning in Acts 17. They had all the gods, an idol to all the gods, but not to the living God. They had one to the unknown God, but not to the living God. And so it was against this dramatic yet terrible background that Jesus asked the pointed question, but who do you say that I am? And in Greek, that's emphatic. When they get down to verse 29, they give several answers of what men say that I am. Verse 28, but in verse 29, Jesus pointedly says, but whom do you, and there's an emphasis, you say that I am. So it's pointed at the disciples. The Lord is trying to get the disciples to recognize there's a difference between the confession of men and the confession of a true believer. Who, or what, is the real Messiah? Now, the confession of men, they said three things. That Jesus was John the Baptist. That he was Elias. That's the New Testament spelling for Elijah. or one of the other prophets, like Jeremiah or Isaiah or whatever. Those confessions short-changed Jesus. Most men saw Jesus only as a great man. And I wonder today, even religions, churches that talk about Jesus, do they really see him as thou art the Christ? Or is he just a great man to celebrate his birth? We sing the Christmas carols. You will even hear the Christmas carols in the secular stores. Sometimes they temper those so that they're not as prevalent, but you hear them and it makes me wonder, what does the world think when they read the words or hear the words of the Christmas carols that tell the story of the birth of Christ and who he really is? Is he just a great man? A man who could perform miracles, who could feed 5,000 people at once, who could heal the sick, and be this Messiah-type individual. So, that's what they were thinking about him, and so we ask the same question, who is Jesus today? Now, when they said, we're in Mark chapter 8, verse 28, they said he was John the Baptist, Here they're professing Jesus to have a great spirit of righteousness. John the Baptist, you remember, was a light in a dark world. There were some 400 years between Malachi, the last Old Testament prophet, and John the Baptist, the first New Testament prophet. And the preaching of John the Baptist, besides the fact that he wore the camel's hair and, you know, ate chocolate-covered grasshoppers. Well, I don't know what a chocolate-covered, but anyway. grasshoppers and locusts and whatnot. He was a spirit to promote righteousness. He preached against Herod. He was a prophet for righteousness. In fact, when one of, I think it was Herod, thought that Jesus or that John the Baptist had been resurrected from the dead when he saw the ministry of the Lord Jesus. So, some say that he was John the Baptist, someone who was coming with the spirit of righteousness, a spirit that was willing to be martyred for his faith like John the Baptist was. And some people have that idea of Jesus. Well, he did preach truth and righteousness. And so when many people work their way through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they will preach about the righteousness of Jesus, how to live right. And that's the way they present the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, he did do that. He did preach how to live right. Think, for instance, of the Beatitudes. Those are some lessons about how to live right. And the common people would see some similarities between John the Baptist and Jesus. Both of them were doing some unique great work of God. Both were divinely chosen and gifted by God. Both of them proclaimed the kingdom of God. John said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus said the same thing, and they're preparing men for that coming kingdom. So there's some similarity between the ministry of John the Baptist and of Jesus. Let's take our Bibles and go to Malachi chapter 4. There's a prophecy at the end of the book of Malachi relating to John the Baptist. So maybe we ought to go to Isaiah 40 first of all. Let's do that. Let's go to Isaiah 40 first of all. And verse 3, here's where Isaiah prophesies the first coming of John the Baptist, who is called the voice in the wilderness. Now he's not listed, he's not named as John the Baptist, but we have the New Testament corollary in Matthew 3.3 that points this to John the Baptist. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Now let's go to Malachi chapter 4 and verse 5. Malachi prophesies, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." Now this is a prophecy about the coming of Elijah the prophet, but when John the Baptist came, he came in the spirit and the power of Elijah. So some people would say, I was going to look at this passage of scripture, it's not in our text this evening, I didn't get a chance to look at where that actually is. I think it might be Matthew 11, where the Lord is asking the question about that, or the disciples are asking the question about, is John the Baptist Elijah? And at one point, one of the Gospels, Jesus answers and says that he was with the condition if you receive it. And another place I believe he says no, he wasn't. And that's an interesting study. Not a contradiction in the Bible. The contradiction is right here between the two ears. We don't understand the answer that Jesus gave there. And whether or not Elijah or John the Baptist will come against, we have the prophecy in the book of Revelation of the two witnesses. And, you know, we're kind of at a loss to know exactly who those two witnesses are. you have probably three, the three major choices, John the Baptist, Elijah, or Moses. But that's three, that's not two. So, kind of have to wait and see when that chapter in history happens to find out exactly who those two witnesses will be. Or will they be just two brand new witnesses who simply come in the spirit and power of Elijah or in the prophecy ministry of a Moses or something. Will God send John the Baptist back, or Elijah back, or Moses back? I don't know. We do have the transfiguration. That's coming up in our study of Mark, of Elijah and Moses popping up at the transfiguration. But anyway, we have this prophecy. So, the Jews would know this prophecy, and they would say, oh, well, here's a man who is preaching like Elijah did, and of course, John the Baptist preaching in such a powerful way, and so that the Lord was John the Baptist, come back to life. And then the next response was, some say that he was Elijah, or Elias, the New Testament spelling there. Elias, or the Old Testament Elijah, was probably the greatest prophet and teacher of all time. Now, Elijah was not a writing prophet, but he was a mighty prophet He performed many miracles when Elisha came along. He asked for the spirit of Elijah and he asked for a double portion and so we discover that Elisha has the spirit of Elijah as well and he performs twice as many miracles. Elijah, of course, was predicted to be this forerunner of Christ, and so that's the question, you know, was John the Baptist, was he the fulfillment of Elijah? Well, interesting today, the Jewish people today expect Elijah to return, probably based on this prophecy here in Malachi chapter 4. So, at the celebration of the Passover, They always leave a chair vacant for Elijah to occupy. Interesting. And Elijah, of course, was used by God to miraculously feed the widow woman and her son there in 1 Kings 17. And the Lord, of course, doing like Elijah, performing miracles, feeding 5,000 all at once. So, well, he must be Elijah. And then a third answer was... So he's the greatest prophet. So a lot of people think, well, Jesus is a great prophet and a great teacher. He taught a lot of profound things and so he's a great teacher. And then some said that he was one of the prophets. Now this could be Isaiah or Jeremiah or anyone else. And so the Lord coming either in the spirit of those prophets or being somehow resurrected to life again They probably wouldn't believe that as much as one who would come in the spirit and the power of Elijah. But all of these confessions, who was Jesus, John the Baptist, Elijah, or some great prophet, fall short of who Jesus really was. He was a great prophet. He was a great teacher. He did come with a spirit of righteousness and preaching righteousness. And he was, of course, a great prophet sent for that particular day, like Jeremiah was sent as a prophet for his day, or Isaiah for his day. So he was all that, but that's far short. And I wonder how many folks really think just that, that Jesus was some great person, prophet, teacher, whatever, even a messiah, they can use that term, but they're really false confessions. when they fall that short of who Jesus was. What this says is that he was only a great man of righteousness, so he leaves us with a great example to follow, and that's it. We have other great people in history that give us great examples, right? You can probably think of some folks. Just think of your own life. Who are people in your life that you try to emulate? People that have sort of mentored you, or maybe they haven't properly done that, but they've been your heroes. And you say, well, I like things about that person. They're great people. Or this, that, or the other thing. We understand the order we get. They're not perfect. Jesus, of course, was perfect. But he's much, much more than a great example and a great teacher. There's a lot of things that we've been watching, and even in the Gospel of Mark here, how Jesus said things in so few words and yet so full of content. You know, it takes me 45 minutes to say everything I have to say in a message. I don't cut it down unless I'm made to, like at the nursing home or in the chapel at college or whatever it was, or a banquet or something. Try to give a little short sermonette, I call them. Anyway, he said a lot of things in so few words. A great teacher. Yes, he was that. but he was much more than that. He revealed many important things to us about God and about religion. Well, yes, he did do that, but much more than that. There's a lot of people who have contributed to religious insight. I read commentaries of men of God who have gone ahead of me, and wow, I didn't see that before. But they're not messiahs. So, you know, if you relegate Christ to just a great example, you know, how great of an example does he have to be short of being the true Messiah? He's still short. So, all these things about Jesus shortchange him and really make him just a man. If you go back a chapter or two, to Mark chapter 6, Mark 6 and verse 3, is not this the carpenter, and the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and of Judah, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. They didn't think much of Jesus. He's just another man. A great man, but just another man. John chapter 1 tells us that he was in the world, and the world was made by him, but the world knew him not. He claimed, of course, in the Gospel of John, I and the Father are one. They didn't recognize that. And so there's a lot of claims. Let's move on here. That is the, let's call it a limited confession of the Lord Jesus. He's a great teacher, great man, great example. It's a limited confession. He's John the Baptist, he's Elias, he's one of the prophets. And then Jesus turned to the disciples, there in verse 29, and He saith unto them, and it's pointed, But whom say ye that I am? What about you disciples? That's where Jesus was going with it. He wanted them to know who He really was. And Peter gave the right answer. Peter answered, and saith unto him, Now, let's go back. That's a short answer. Mark usually has the shorter version of things. Let's go back to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16. And there's another phrase that Matthew tacks on to this that Peter said. Matthew 16, 16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Peter's answer was the correct and the only answer. Thou art the Christ. The Christ, of course, is the Greek word Christos, meaning Messiah. This is the Old Testament Messiac, Messiah, anointed one. And you can't really use that word without saying that Christ is Christ. Thou art the Christ. But notice in Matthew, he adds the phrase, Thou art the Son of God. When we find in the New Testament the phrase, the Son of, It means that that person is identified with a certain characteristic, like the son of consolation. That person is identified with consolation. So he's the son of God, meaning he is God. And like John records, I and the Father are one. If you're going to make the proper confession about the Lord Jesus Christ, you must believe in the deity of Christ. Anyone who denies the deity of Christ, no matter what else they think about Jesus, is not of God. That's how important this confession is. Like he says in 1 John chapter 2, Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is anti-Christ, that denieth the Father and the Son, and whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. And then in 1 John 4, verse 3, every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. So you must make this confession in order to be right. Anything else is a limited confession. And in so doing it is really a false confession because it's not telling us who Jesus really is. He is God. I and the Father are one. And then he says, He is the son of the living God. That kind of takes me back to what Paul did there in Athens in Acts 17. We looked at it a little bit in Sunday school, I guess it was, this morning. The living God is the God that you don't know. All the other gods, in the background here with Caesarea Philippi, all those gods are false, dead gods. They're silver and gold and wood and stone. And they're dead. They're not living. But the one God, and the only God, who is the living God, is the God of the Bible. And that's Jesus Christ, who's come in the flesh. The Word was made flesh. This is Dr. Lee Hennise, and we want to thank you for listening to the Hedgemaker broadcast today. Most of our broadcasts are portions of a sermon that I have preached to the church. Hedgemaker Baptist Ministries is the preaching, teaching, and writing ministry for myself. You can visit us on the web at hedgemaker.org. And let's be encouraged to stand in the gap and make up the hedge until Jesus comes again.