Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 2041
Delivered on Lord’s Day Morning, August 26, 1888
“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say that You are John the Baptist: some, Elijah. And others, Jeremiah, or one of the Prophets. He said unto them, But whom do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you but My Father which is in Heaven.” Matthew 16:13-17.
THIS is one of the earliest places in the New Testament in which we find any mention of the Church. Jesus says, in verse eighteen, “I will build My Church.” It is very significant that our Lord should connect with the Church the right idea of Himself. In our text we have the test question which must be put to everyone who is to be admitted into the assembly of the Lord—“Whom do you say that I am?” The first question to be put to one who would join the Church is, “What do you think of Jesus?” You cannot be right in the rest unless you think rightly of Him.
If you do not begin aright with Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, you will not go on aright, and your joining of any visible Church will be a mistake which will be injurious both to yourself and the Church. Beloved, let it be with you first, Christ, then the Church. There is a certain style of preaching in which the Church is the leading idea— meaning, to a great extent, by “the Church,” the priest, as the dispenser of ordinances and the voice of God. But as for us, our chief word is not “Church,” but “Christ,” and not even the Church of Christ, but Christ as very God of very God—the Son of the Highest.
First Christ, the Root, then the Church, the outgrowth. First Christ, the Builder, then the Church, which is His building. The most important question is not, “To which part of the Church do you belong?” but, “Do you belong to Christ, who is the Son of the living God?” This must be decided by that other question, “Whom do you say that I am?” If you know Christ, if you rest in Christ, if Christ is to you “the Way, the Truth and the Life”—above all, if Christ is “formed in you the hope of glory”—your connection with the true Church, the Church of God’s election and redemption, is clear and certain.
In putting the question about Himself, our Lord made a distinction between two classes of persons, who are named as “men,” and as His disciples. He enquired, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” These “men” formed their judgment of Christ according to flesh and blood—they went upon the ground of carnal reasoning. Or else they followed current opinion. They went upon natural and not upon spiritual, grounds. They discerned nothing of spiritual things— their judgment was that of flesh and blood. What conclusion did they arrive at while guided by flesh and blood?
The conclusions were varied—“Some say that You are John the Baptist—some, Elijah. And others, Jeremiah, or one of the Prophets.” Error is multiform. Truth is one. A thousand lies will live together and tolerate each other, especially at this time, when errorists are all crying out, “Cast in your lot with us. Let us all have one purse.” A thousand false gods will stand together in the Pantheon. But if the ark of the true God enters Dagon’s temple, Dagon must come down on his face and be dashed to pieces. Jehovah is God, alone, and will not allow a rival. Truth is of necessity intolerant of error. Do not misunderstand me—I believe in the fullest religious liberty and that conscience owes allegiance to none but God—but I speak of principles—holiness cannot endure sin, righteousness cannot bear injustice and truth cannot consort with error. “What concord has Christ with Belial?”
The results today of the judgments of men about Christ are very many. But they agree in this—they contradict the one and only Truth. Today, some say, “He is a good man,” others say, “No. But He deceives the people.” Some say that He is Divine, though not actually God. Others that He has become God, though He was not always so. And a third company think Him a Divine man. Some agree that His teachings were admirable for the occasions on which He delivered them but that they are somewhat stale in this advanced age. Others ridicule His teachings as altogether impracticable. The doctrines of flesh and blood concerning Jesus are very various.
They were also contradictory. For, if Jesus were John the Baptist, He could not be Jeremiah. Certain spirits contradicted all the opinions which are registered in our text, for they called Him master of the house Beelzebub. The Apostles quoted to their Lord the best things that had been said of Him—they hardly liked to foul their mouths with the baser titles. Flesh and blood make many guesses but they settle upon no one—the enemies of the Lord are at war with each other. In this case, as in others, the false witnesses did not agree.