Phillip Bowen: I wanted to personally thank you for walking with In Touch Ministries this year. Early in my Christian walk, I was shaped by Dr. Stanley’s teaching. I’m sure many of you remember the first time you heard Dr. Stanley when the Holy Spirit spoke directly to a need in your heart. Maybe you were hurting, maybe you were searching, but in that moment, God used His Word to bring hope, peace, or direction.
Today someone else is hearing for the first time, and God is using that moment to speak life, just like He did with you. Dr. Stanley was fond of saying, “The best is yet to come,” and as we look towards the future, we believe that promise still holds true. God is still speaking, people are still listening, and together we’ll keep sharing His truth quickly, clearly, and irresistibly.
We’re humbled to continue Dr. Stanley’s work and blessed to have you with us. Thank you for making In Touch Ministries possible. male announcer: “In Touch,” the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Next on “In Touch,” “Understanding Who Jesus Is.” Dr.
Stanley: If someone should ask you, “Who is this Jesus?” how would you answer that question? Could you give them a clear, solid, biblical answer who Jesus is? Or would you find yourself sort of stumbling around, saying, “Well, uh, He was, uh, let’s see, I think He was born back yonder.” In other words, could you give them a good answer or could you not? Do you have the kind of relationship with Jesus that, when–if somebody asked that question, you’d have no problem answering that question: What He’s done in your own life, what the Bible says about Him.
And “Who is Jesus?” is a question that Jesus said to His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” Now, I want you to turn to the 16th chapter of Matthew, and I want us to look at this question, and I want us to look at this answer, and I want you to think about in your own heart this morning, if somebody asked you, “Who is Jesus?” how would you answer that question? So in the 16th chapter of Matthew beginning in verse 13: “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, ‘Who do people say that I, the
Son of Man, am?’ And they said to Him, ‘Some say that You’re John the Baptist. And others, Elijah, but still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ And Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'” Now He wasn’t asking them that question for information.
He was asking them that question because He wanted to be sure they understood. Because the truth is, it’s one of the most important questions anybody will ever have to answer in life. Who is this Jesus? Is He who He says He is? What does the Bible say about Him? “Jesus said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
‘” He said, “Peter, you didn’t just figure this out. God the Father revealed to you who I am.” So, when I think about that question, I think about this question: what difference does it make? What difference does it make who Jesus is? Does it make any difference? And the answer is yes, it does, it makes a lot of difference.
When you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, it molds your character. You cannot be the same once having received and accepted Jesus Christ for who He is. Your very character is changed because of the impact that Jesus Christ has in a person’s life. The second thing is that it impacts your beliefs. It doesn’t just impact your belief about Him, it impacts your belief about everything.
When Jesus Christ becomes your Savior and your Lord, you see things differently. You make different judgments. Your life has a different air about it. There’s a different sense of assurance in your life. And the third thing is this, it influences your lifestyle. This is why the Bible says: “If any man be in Christ,” that is, if you know Jesus Christ, “that person is a new creature, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
” That is, it impacts your lifestyle and influences your lifestyle. Things are not the same. And not only that, it’ll determine your eternal destiny. This is why knowing who Jesus is, is so ultimately very, very important. Your eternal destiny, where you’re gonna live for all eternity is determined by your understanding and your personal relationship to Jesus Christ, and that is an inescapable truth.
You cannot escape it. “It is appointed unto man once to die.” Then what? “After this, the judgment.” Who’s at the judgment? The Lord Jesus Christ. And so when you think about is it important? It’s very, very important because it affects every aspect of your life: your character, your beliefs, your lifestyle, but most of all, your eternal destiny.
When you know who Jesus is and you receive Him as your personal Savior, those four things are absolute. So if that’s all you knew, that would be enough to tell somebody how to be saved and why they should be saved and who the Lord Jesus Christ is, at least for a good start. So, since these things are true and people begin to understand it, and you understand that, I want you to think about in the scriptures as you look in the Gospels especially and ask the question, “Who is this Jesus?” Oftentimes people get saved, they get baptized, and they
think, “Well, that’s it.” That’s not it. That’s the beginning of understanding who Jesus is, and I can remember when I was saved, I was only 12 years of age and the pastor asked me to give testimony to the people what Jesus had done for me. That was a good question, but for a 12-year-old, asking me what Jesus had done for me, I remember saying, “I don’t know all He’s done for me, but I know He saved me this morning.
