Who do you say I am?: Part 2 (10/03/2024)

Who do you say I am? (Part 2) (Elias - Elijah) “אֵלִיָּה “ 'êlı̂yâh (pronounced "uh-LIE-juh" or "el-i-juh") "Yahweh is my God." Text: ”When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”“ Matthew 16:13-19 NKJV Introduction  Who do people say that I am? Who do you say I am? There is a disconnect between the people opinion of who Jesus Christ is and Who He really is.  Depending on people to define who God is to you is dangerous.  Revelation of Who Jesus Christ is from the Holy Spirit. Revelation of Jesus Holy Bible - It’s no brainier, the way find out who Jesus is through His Word  Spend time consuming the Word of the Lord. Spend time in His presence, and you will know Who He is.  We influenced by what/where/who we spend our time on/with TV networks are entertaining - if I was to spend half what I spend on this, I would have had a library of different versions of the bibles and commentaries and books to know Jesus Christ better.  Social media is entertaining - If I would spend half the time in His presence, I would have been a Spiritual Giant. We stop relying on external sources and influences to tell us who our God is.  Even a Pastor… Paul said we should check what he preaches against the Word: ”These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.“ Acts 17:11 NKJV ”But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.“ Galatians 1:8-9 NKJV Who was Prophet Elijah? Malachi 4:5-6 NLT Elijah was all about turning the hearts.  He was paired with king Ahab Elijah was God best effort to get the Northern kingdom of Israel back to God. 1 Kings 16:30 - 32 NLT Joshua 6:26 NLT Ahab went against the word spoken by Joshua and rebuilt the walls of Jericho  1 Kings 17:1 NLT Elijah did a lot of miracles, signs and wonders like Moses This was to display to Gods people that God is God and turn their hearts back to God.  All 19 kings of the Northern Israel were flawed and always did evil in the sight of the Lord  Elijah Experience with a comfortable place 1 Kings 17:7-9 NLT Elijah’s ministry was active during the period of political unrest  Kings of Israel were terrible  Elijah was discouraged and thought he was the only one but God was busy preparing a lot of prophets  I Kings 19:4 -10NKJV Spoiler alert #1, he never died. Spoiler alert #2, he wasn’t the only one left. The devil always wants to make us feel isolated, alone and discouraged about everything.  God was not found in Earthquake, Wind and Fire but in a still voice of His own Word I Kings 19:18 NKJV Conclusion  Jesus is turning the hearts in a different way than Elijah  His own blood on the cross is what will change the World James 5:17 NKJV What makes Jesus different from any other, is that He’s not just a man, He is God You can give your heart to Him today  Amen