Matt. 16-18: “when Jesus came into the coasts of Caes-a-re’a
Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I the son
of man am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist: some
Elias: and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He said unto them,
but whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art
the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, blessed are thou, Simon Bar-jo’na; for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my father which is in heaven. And I say also
unto thee, that thou are peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church; and gates of hell shall not prevail against it”.
John 1:19-23: “and this is the record of John, when the Jews sent
priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, who are thou? And he
confessed, and denied not: but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they
asked him, what then? Art thou E-li-as? And he said, I am not. Art thou
prophet? And he answered, No. then said they unto him, who art thou?
That we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou
of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
make straight the way of the LORD, as said the prophet E-sai-as”.
We need to identify the deepest root of failure. The difference
between the poor and the rich sometimes is information; somebody has
information, which the other does not have.
Sometimes, the difference between the great and the small is
knowledge. Somebody has also said nobody has a mountain, the mountain we
all have is ignorance. Many have made many outstanding discoveries, the
telephone – a very important discovery. When the fellow who discovered
it first started playing around with it; they said he was playing with
kiddies toys that he should become a serious person and leave it; but
now we have a telephone. When the boys who built the first aeroplane
started doing it at the back of their garden, people were laughing them
to scorn. When the first fellow to build a motor car was working on it;
people insulted him and asked him to buy a horse which everyone used at
that time but he kept to it.
If I ask some simple questions like who discovered America for
somebody who knows a bit of history, your answer will be Christopher
Columbus, he made a very great discovery. Who discovered River Niger?.
According to our history book, there was a fellow called mongo Park, and
there was a song we sang in those days “------ at the bank of Niger
River-----“. But all these discoveries no matter how important they
are, there is no greater discovery than to yourself.
It is possible to be born again, sanctified, spirit filled, a pastor, much more and still you do not know you are.
That is why this question comes to you today. Who are you? A very
important question; it is like asking for your identity card. Ignorance
about your identity can sometimes put you in hardship. The lesson on
identity is very important; Jacob learnt this secret a long time ago.
