Let's open our Bibles together
to Acts chapter 17, Acts 17. There is one question, the answer
of which answers all other questions. A very simple question. Is this
Jesus the Christ? If he is the Christ, then all
the other things that men love to debate in religion are silenced. The one question that must be
answered is, is Jesus the Christ? Believers believe that he is. unbelievers do not believe that
he is. Oh, they may say that he is,
but they've changed the definition of the word. You know, you can
take a four or five-year-old child and say, this is a glass
of water, right? Yep, that's a glass of water.
And then I can say, this is a glass of water, right? And a four or
five-year-old child said, no, that's not a glass of water.
No, I said it's a glass of water. And that small child will go
away confused because a man of authority just called a microphone
a glass of water. And they'll go to their parents
and say, mommy, daddy, that was a microphone, wasn't it? But
the pastor called it a glass of water. Does that make it a
glass of water? No, it doesn't. I mean, that's
a simple illustration, but you see what I'm saying. Men will
say that Jesus is the Christ, but if you listen to the definition
that they give, it will leave you with nothing but confusion
about what the Christ really is. I want us to be crystal clear
this morning. In the next few minutes, I want
us to look to scripture and see what the Lord says about who
the Christ is and find ourselves resting all the hope of our salvation
on the Lord Jesus Christ as the Christ. It was the question that
the Pharisees had about the Lord Jesus just before his
crucifixion. It was the one and only question. Turn with me to, hold your finger
there in Acts 17 and turn with me to Mark chapter 14. Mark chapter
14. This was the only thing they
were concerned about. They had brought the Lord Jesus
before the Jewish council. headed by the high priest, the
high court of Israel, the Sanhedrin. And they only had one question.
Look with me at Mark 14 at verse 61. Well, we begin at verse 60. And the high priest stood up
in the midst and asked Jesus saying, answer is thou nothing?
What is it which thou witnessed against thee? But he held his
peace and answered nothing. Again, the high priest asked
him and said unto him, art thou the Christ, the son of the blessed? That's the only thing we want
to know. Do you believe yourself to be the Christ, the son of
God? And Jesus said, I am. And you shall see the Son of
Man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds
of heaven. Then the high priest rent his
clothes and said, what need we have for any further witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What think ye? And they all condemned
him to death because he said, I am the Christ. It's the only question that you
and I need to be concerned with. If the Lord gives us an affirmative answer according
to the definition that the scripture gives us as to who the Christ
is, then we will find ourselves believing on the Lord Jesus Christ
for all our salvation. Go back with me to Acts chapter
17. We saw this last Sunday in verse
three, Paul was opening and alleging, he's in Thessalonica, and he
was opening and alleging that Christ must have suffered and
risen again from the dead and that this Jesus, This Jesus,
whom I preach unto you, is Christ." And some of them believed, and
consorted with Paul and Silas, and of the devout Greeks, a great
multitude, and of the chief women, not a few, but the Jews which
believed not. What did they believe? They believed
that this Jesus was the Christ. What did the Jews believe not?
They believed not that this Jesus was the Christ. It was the one
thing, it was the one thing that the Apostle Paul was asserting,
alleging, proving by saying, by laying scripture side by side,
that this Jesus is the Christ. Those who believed that he was
the Christ consorted with Paul and Silas. They threw in their
lot with them. They joined with them in believing
that Jesus was the Christ. Those who believed not rose up
We read on in this chapter and further of a great riot that
breaks out not just here in Thessalonica, but also in Berea and later on
in Athens, everywhere that Paul preached alleging that Jesus
is the Christ. There were, you see, this is
what the whole contention was over. It's what it was all about. It settles all other questions. You remember in John chapter
4, when our Lord was speaking to that woman at the well, and
he told her to go get her husband, and she wanted to debate doctrine
with him, she said, uh, well, you know, our fathers say that
we should, she wanted to divert the attention away from herself
is what she wanted to do and get into a theological debate
with the Lord. And she said, well, you know, our fathers say
that we should worship here. And, and you Jews say that we
should worship in Jerusalem. And, and the Lord said, the day
is coming and now is when the true worshipers shall worship
God in spirit and in truth. And she said, She said, but I
know that when Messiah comes, which is called Christ, he will
tell us all things. So this Samaritan woman who only
had the first five books of the Bible, that's all she had. The
first five books of the Bible, the books of Moses, the Decalogue,
I mean, the first five books. She knew from that scripture
that Christ would come. And when he came, that he would
settle everything, that he would answer all their questions. And
the Lord Jesus, I love what he said unto her, I am that speaketh
unto thee. That's what he said. The scripture
in our King James version of the Bible says, he that speaketh
unto you is he, but the actual language is I am speaketh unto
thee. Oh, and she went back into Sychar
and she said, oh, come meet a man who told me everything I ever
did. Is this not the Christ? Is this not the Christ? I know
I've shared this illustration with you all probably a couple
times, but it was so profound to me that I want to share it
again. Trisha and I were talking to
a Jewish lady some years ago. And she was complaining to us
about her Jewish friends, who she said were hypocrites. She
said, they pretend that they're living by the kosher law, but
I know they're not. She said, nobody can live by
the law. And I said, well, one can. And
she immediately, she said, you're right. You're right. And the difference between you
and me is that you think he's already come and I'm still waiting
on him." Now that was a Jewish lady living in our city just
a few years ago. And I thought, no Jew has any
conception of the Christ, who would be anything other than
completely successful, just like this woman at the well, who only
had the first five books of the Bible. She knew, she said, I
know that when Messiah comes, which is called the Christ, he
will tell us all truth. You see, brethren and friends,
this idea of a Jesus who wants to save but can't get it done
is a Gentile heresy straight out of Greek mythology. You know
where Greek mythology finds its roots? It's ancient man's attempt
to try to reconcile a God who is all-powerful with men who
have the power of choice. And how do we reconcile these
things? And so they created mythologically all these gods who work in constant
conflict with one another and with man, trying to reconcile
how this works out. How can an all-powerful God and
a man who seems to have free agency, how can that be reconciled? And so they came up with these
mythological gods. What I'm saying to you is the
Gentile heresy of a Jesus that's being preached in most churches
who is not perfectly, completely successful in saving all of his
people is nothing more than Greek mythology. Because no Jew who
has any understanding of the Bible would ever have any concept
of the Christ, the Christ, who was not all powerful, who was
not all successful, who would ultimately save all
of Israel. See, if you believe that Jesus
is the Christ, then you bow to him as king. You submit to him
and to his authority. You believe on him and his successful
redemptive work. You know that when this Messiah
comes, he will tell us all things. This was the only question. You
read, we're not going to read all these verses of scripture
in Acts chapter 17, but this was, this is what it all centered
around. Is this Jesus that Paul's preaching
the Christ? Is he? You remember in John chapter
two, when Philip, who the Lord found, the Lord found Philip. And then Philip went and found
his brother Nathanael and said, we have found the Messiah, which
is called Christ. Oh, we didn't find him, he found
us. And Nathanael said, oh, could anything good come out of Jesus
of Nazareth is what he told, is what Philip told him, Jesus
of Nazareth. He said, the Christ had come out of Nazareth, come, And when the Lord saw Nathanael,
he said, an Israelite indeed, in which there is no guile. Lord,
how do you know me? Nathanael, when you were under
the fig tree, I saw you. And he bowed before him and he
said, oh Lord, he confessed him to be the Christ. And our Lord
said, you haven't seen anything yet. Wait, you're gonna see the
angels ascending and descending upon the son of God. Why? Because he's the Christ. This
is the only question that has to be believed, that has to be
answered. And it answers all other questions.
Is this Jesus the Christ? If he is, he's the son of God
and he's the son of man. He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, and He has union with His bride, and we are complete
in Him. If He is the Christ, don't call
this a glass of water. It's not. It's a microphone.
Hey? And anybody with any sense at
all can listen to people talk about... You see, they've redefined
the term Christ. We found him. Christ is the threat to all human
authority. That's why men won't bow to him
as Christ, because if he is the Christ, then he reigns sovereign
over all the affairs of men and angels, if he is the Christ. And Herod knew that. When the
wise men came from the east, they came through Jerusalem,
where Herod was, and they asked the king, they said, where is
the king of the Jews, the Christ? We've seen his star. And Herod got his Jewish scholars
together. They said, where's Christ to
be? And he said, to be in Bethlehem. And so they said, well, he's
in Bethlehem. And so they went to Bethlehem. And Herod said, come and tell
me when you find him, because I want to worship him too. And
Herod had no intention of worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. And when
he found out that the wise men went back another way, He sent
his Roman soldiers to Bethlehem and he killed every child in
and around that city, two years old and younger. Why? Because he was so threatened
by this Jesus who the wise men were claiming was the Christ. Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. If Jesus is the Christ, then
He reigns. He reigns as King of kings and
Lord of lords. And what do men by nature say?
We'll not have that man reign over us. We have no king other... Look, you have your Bibles open
to Acts chapter 17. Look at verse 7. After a riot
had broken out and The Jews for envy, you see that in verse five,
but the Jews which believed not moved with envy. What were they
envious of? Well, they were envious of the
same thing that those, in John chapter 11, I know I'm getting
ahead of myself here. Oh, I'm just thinking about so
many things. John chapter 11, when the Lord
had raised Lazarus from the dead and some of the people that actually
observed Lazarus coming forth out of the tomb, went back to
Jerusalem and told the Pharisees and they got the council together.
They got the, and they said, what are we going to do? If we
allow this, if we allow this man to go, everyone will believe
on him and we will lose both our place and our nation. We're
going to lose our power and we're going to lose our people. If
we allow this man to go, that's what they were envious of. Nothing's
changed. If Jesus is the Christ, then
we lose all our power, and we lose all our possession, we lose
all our people, and he becomes all. If he's the Christ. But that was the question. Are
you the Christ? I am. Why don't you tell us plainly,
they ask him one time. I've told you. But you would not believe because
you're not of my sheep. And then he went on to say, I
and the father are one. And they took up stones to stone
him. And he said, why do you stone
me? For the good works that I've done? They said, no, not for
your good works, but because you being a man have made yourself
to be God by claiming to be the Christ. Is this Jesus the Christ? That's the only question. That's the one question that
keeps coming up over and over and over again. Paul is alleging
and proving from scripture that this Jesus from Nazareth is Christ. And some believed, and some believed
not for envy, for envy. They tried to snuff out the message
that this Jesus was the Christ. And these Jews hated the Romans. They hated their occupation.
They hated their power. They would never, ever, under
any circumstances, confess allegiance to Caesar. And yet look right
here. Look at verse seven. Whom Jason hath received. Now
they've arrested Jason. who was the head of the synagogue
in Thessalonica because he had taken Paul in. Jason became one
of the believers. He believed that this Jesus is
the Christ. He believed that. And so, They
couldn't get to Paul, so Jason, whom he had, Jason had received
Paul, and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying
that there is another king, one Jesus. Now, these are the Jews
saying to the authorities, this Paul is preaching a Jesus who
is a threat to Caesar. And the same thing happened when Pilate brought the Lord Jesus
before the Jews after he had scourged him and said, behold
the man, behold the man, look at there. Now, shall I? Shall I deliver unto you Barabbas?
This is the Passover and the tradition was that the Romans
would release a prisoner on Passover. Should I release unto you Barabbas
or this Jesus, whom you call the Christ, the
King of the Jews? Oh, crucify him, crucify him. We have no King but Caesar. You
see, here's the truth. You put a freewheeler, you take
a freewheeler with a Muslim and an atheist in this room under
the sound of the gospel, and they will find something in common
against this gospel. They do not believe that Jesus
is the Christ. They want to debate all of the
things, but all other questions are settled on the issue of whether
or not Jesus is the Christ. These Jews took allegiance with
Caesar. They were so threatened by and
so afraid of this Jesus being the Christ. The Christ. The only thing that mattered
to the disciples was that Jesus was the Christ. The Christ. The Christ. Not a fake Christ. The Christ. The water of life. Ah, whom do men say that I am?
Well, some say that thou art John the Baptist or Elijah or
one of the apostles, but whom do you say that I am? And what
did Peter say? Thou art the Christ, the Son
of God. Settled. It's the only thing
that matters. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona.
Flesh and blood did not give this unto you, but my Father
which is in heaven enabled you to make that confession. First
John. If a man confesses that here's
how we test, try the spirits to see whether they be of God,
1 John 4. For many false prophets will
come into the world, but here's how we test them. Any man that
confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.
And any man that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is not of God. You see, it's the only question. It is the one question, do you
believe that Jesus is the Christ? This Jesus, the one and only
Christ. And our Lord warned us one time,
he said, he said, many false prophets are going to come and
some are going to say the Christ is in the desert, go get him,
go follow him. And some are going to say he's
in a secret place, but believe them not. Now, what is that a
symbol of? What is the desert? It's a place
of hard living. It's a place where you just scrape
by to stay alive. And some are going to say, you
know, if you make enough sacrifices in your life, that's where Christ
is. He's out there in the desert.
And if you pay your dues and really work hard, you can find
the Christ. And some will say, no, no, he's
in a secret place. What is that all about? Higher
knowledge. That's all it is, just higher
knowledge. Oh no, you've got to read these theologians and
you've got to go to these schools and you've got to have these
degrees in order to come to a knowledge of Christ. And our Lord said,
these are false prophets. Don't believe that he's out in
the desert. Don't believe that he's in a secret place. I am the Christ and I'm right
here among you. Do you believe on me? It settles
everything else. Everything else is settled by
that. You see, unbelievers like to
debate the cause of evil in the world. And they like to question
whether or not whether or not a loving God could allow such
evil to take place. But that's not even a question
for the child of God who believes that Jesus is the Christ. If he's the Christ, then what
Isaiah said in Isaiah 45 verses six and seven is true. I am the
Lord and there is none else. I form the light, I create darkness,
I make peace, I create evil, I the Lord do all these things. If Jesus is the Christ, then
he must be the first cause of all things. He must be the one that creates
light and darkness, good and evil. He's the first cause of
everything if he's the Christ. So that question about the origin
of evil and the cause of pain and suffering in this world is
just done away with if Jesus is the Christ. He's the first
cause of all things. If he's the Christ, he's the
son of God. Men love to debate whether or
not man has a free will. If Jesus is the Christ, then
he has power over man's will. And if he doesn't make us willing
in the day of his power, we won't be willing to come. We're dependent
upon Jesus as the Christ. to give us a new heart and to
make us willing. This matter of free will is not
even a question if Jesus is the Christ. If he's the Christ, then
I'm dependent upon him to give me a believing heart, to give
me faith and make me willing. Men love the debate, election. predestination and the believer
says, Oh no, Jesus is the Christ. He's eternal. And everything
he does is eternal. He's the Christ. He has the sovereign
right to have mercy upon whom he will have mercy. He's the
Christ. He's the successful sovereign savior of sinners. He's my only
substitute before God. He's the Christ. This is the
question. You read your Bibles and you
will find this to be the piercing, deciding, dividing question that
comes up over and over and over again. Is Jesus the Christ? Is He? He's sovereign. He's eternal. He's immutable. He's never changed his mind about
anything. He's never learned anything. He's never, he never
needed anything. He never had a new thought. He
is the glorious, self-sufficient, self-existent, I am. He's the Christ. And like the woman at the well,
when he comes, He'll tell us all things. Whatever he tells
us will be true. And like my Jewish friend, when he comes, he's going to
keep the law and he's going to present himself
on behalf of his people and all Israel shall be saved. Men love to debate whether or
not sanctification is progressive. I read a man who claims to preach
the gospel who made this statement. He said, he was talking about
the thief on the cross and he was using the story of the thief
on the cross as proof of progressive sanctification. And he said,
he said he didn't have an opportunity to get better and better in his
holiness, because he died that very day, but he would have,
had he lived. My goodness, men will grab for
anything. You talk about resting the scriptures. If Jesus is the Christ, then
he's all my holiness before God. He must be. That's what sanctification
means. It means to be made holy. He
hath sanctified them which believe. I've read and listened to men
who want to debate whether or not justification is eternal.
When did justification take place? And they, and they love to debate
these things. And they want to say, well, justification didn't
take place until the cross. And some of them will say, oh
no, justification doesn't take place until you believe. If Jesus is the Christ, then
everything that he's done is eternal. And justification must
be eternal. We were justified, that means
to have a right standing before God in the law. We were justified in the lamb
that was slain before the foundation of the world. In time, that justification
took place in the death of Christ on the cross. And in experience,
it took place through my faith, but justified is eternal. You can't deny if Jesus is the
Christ, if he's the Christ. You see, that's what John was
saying. When he opened his gospel account and said, in the beginning
was the word and the word was with God and the word was God
and all things were made by him and not anything that was made
was made without him. He's the Christ. Are you saying
that you're God? He took up stones to stone him
because he, no, you being a man and making yourself out to be
God, you can't be the Christ. Men love to debate baptism. If
Jesus is the Christ, then his death, burial, and resurrection
is the only means of my salvation. And I've got to be made one with
him. And that's all my baptism is. Baptism is for believers who
are confessing that the death, burial, and resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ is the only hope of my standing before God.
Why? Because he is the Christ. He
is the Christ. I must have union with Him. He
must stand in my stead. He must, God must make Him to
be for me all of my wisdom and all of my righteousness and all
of my sanctification and all of my redemption. He is the Christ. This is the question Paul was
asserting and proving from scripture that this Jesus is the Christ. The one that all the way back
in the garden was illustrated when God slew a lamb in order
to cover the nakedness of Adam and was declared in promise when
God said the seed of the woman would crush the head of the seed
of the serpent, and that's exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
at Calvary's Cross. Do you believe that He is the
Christ? He's come in the flesh. He is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. He cannot fail nor be discouraged. He must bring forth judgment
unto truth. As God, he must accomplish his
purpose, which is the saving of his people. God has made him
to be both Lord and Christ. He reigns sovereign. The only, question. Is this Jesus the Christ? And the unbeliever doesn't believe
he is because they would have to bow to him. They would have to surrender
all to him. They would have to trust him
for their salvation. They would have to acknowledge
that he's God and also he's man. in his human nature is one with
his church. He's the head of the body. To
admit that Jesus is the Christ is for my finger to admit that
my head has total control over everything my finger does. He's the root to the tree. Cut a tree down and it's dead.
It's dependent upon those roots, isn't it? When Christ was made
flesh, He dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as the only
begotten of the Father. He's the God-man. He is the Christ. I've got to be found in Him.
He's the seed to the fruit. The Lord said, I shall see his
seed and prolong his days, Isaiah 53. Oh, everything he did, we did. Everything he is, we are. If
he's the Christ, it's the only question that has
to be asked and answered properly. All these other questions that
men love to debate in religion are just smokescreens. That's
all they are. They're a way for them to avoid
that one confrontational question. Is this Jesus the Christ? Is he? Our merciful Heavenly Father,
bless Your Word with faith and cause us to believe that the
Lord Jesus is the Christ. Cause us to depend upon Him,
to believe on Him, to rest all the hope of our salvation in
Him. For it's in His name we pray. Amen. Number 19 in the spiral hymnal. Let's stand together. Number
19. so