Luke 22, 66. And as soon as it was day, the
elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes
came together and led him into their council, saying, Art thou
the Christ? Tell us. And he said unto them,
If I tell you, you will not believe. And if I also ask you, you will
not answer me, nor let me go. Hereafter shall the Son of Man
sit on the right hand of the power of God. Then said they
all, are you then the Son of God? And he said unto them, you
say that I am. And they said, what need we any
further witness? For we ourselves have heard of
his own mouth. now i wanted to take one more
look at this last part of chapter twenty two because the title
of the message is the question this question here is the question
if you look in verse sixty eight he said if i also ask you what
was he going to ask them do you think? to let him go? that's
not it he said you're not going to let me go that's not what
he was going to ask them I think we can answer that from the scriptures.
Because this question kind of goes both ways. It can be asked
by the Savior, or it can be asked of the Savior. But essentially,
it's the same. And it's the question because
the problem with man, the problem with this world, if somebody
asked you, what is this world's problem? Look at this world.
What's the problem with this world? There's a lot of ways
you could answer that. But do you remember how they used to
give you multiple possible answers and you had to give the one that
was most correct? There's a lot of right answers
to that question, ways you could answer it, but the most correct
one is this, they don't know who God is. They don't know God. There's no fear of God before
their eyes, because they don't know God. So this is a good question. Are you Him? Is it you? Who is He? Are you the Son of
God? Of course, they asked the question
because they wanted to kill him. You see that? When he said, you
say that I am, and in other, I think it's in Matthew, Matthew's
account of this, where he just said I am. And of course, the
story told from the different perspectives of the ones who
wrote these books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is preserved
at different perspective. It doesn't mean that he said
it differently. He may have said that at a different time. They
were questioning him over and over again. And he said, I am. And they said, well, that's what
they wanted to hear, wasn't it? That's what they wanted to hear
so that they could murder him. They could accuse him of blasphemy. And so they did. But here's his question to sinners
is this. He said, if I asked you, you're
not gonna answer me. You're not gonna know who I am.
You're still not gonna know. You're not gonna believe. And
you're not gonna let me go. Here's his question to sinner.
Do you believe on the son of God? You see how it's the same
question? Are you the son of God? Do you
believe on the son of God? The question is, who's God and
who's not? Neither of these questions have
to be asked in these exact same words. But the essence of the
question is the same, and I want to show you that from the scripture.
Think about this. Now you know the Lord asked this exact question,
do you believe on the Son of God? He asked that question in
John 9.35. And listen to what it says there. Jesus heard that they had cast
him out. This is that blind man that was blind from his birth.
And the disciples asked, who sinned, him or his parents, that
he was blind from his birth? And the Lord said, it's not about
who sinned and who didn't sin. If we always received the consequences
of our sin, there wouldn't be blind people, there'd be hell
people, nothing but. He said the reason he was born
blind is so the glory of God can be seen here today. And he
opened his eyes, he spat on the ground and made clay and put
it on his eyes. And he watched and came seeing. And of course
the so-called church, the religious leaders of the day, began to
ask him, they said, we know this man's a sinner. What do you say
about him? They asked him all these different questions. And
they didn't like his answers. And so they cast him out. But
when Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when he had
found him, we just need to be found by him, don't we? And he
said unto him, do you believe on the Son of God? That's the
question. They asked all kinds, religious
people asked him all kinds of questions. The Lord gets right
to the point. Do you believe on the Son of
God? And do you remember what the
blind man said next? And is not this the question
of our text? He answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I
might believe on him? You reckon he suspected that
maybe he was talking to him? But he didn't know, he couldn't
answer the questions that religion asked him, and so he said, who
is he, Lord, who is he? We're still asking that. Is this
the son of God that I preach in this place today? Is this
him? You can't get any more to the
point than this in either case, can you? The Lord got right to
the point and so did this man by the Lord's grace. By the way,
if this is the question, if this is the question, Who is he? Are you the son of God? If that's
the question, then if a sermon is preached in the name of God,
if somebody comes and says they're speaking for God, and that question's
not answered, who is God's son? And the Lord's question has got
to be answered too, doesn't it? Got to be answered if it's the
question now. Do you believe on him? If that's
not answered this morning, then we're wasting our time. That's
the question. But here's what I mean when I
say that the exact words are not necessary. And you'll find
this all through the scripture. You'll find examples of this
that I won't quote today. Listen, the essence of the question
is what's important, what's vital even. And here's the same question
asked in completely different words. Look at Matthew 16 with
me, if you would. Turn to Matthew chapter 16, verse
13. Matthew 16, 13, 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? Now that's not the
question. It's a good question because
the Lord asked it. It's not the question though,
who people say. And the Lord asked that question
in order to ask this next one, which is the question. He's making
a distinction here, isn't he? The Lord is making a separation.
That's what he always did. When he hung on the very cross,
He made a difference, didn't he? Between the one that hung
on his left hand and the one that hung on his right hand.
There was a division among the people, it says in the book of
Acts, because of him. There always is. There will be
this morning. Unless God saves every one of
us, and that'd be fine, wouldn't it? He can do that. But here's the question now,
and they said, some say you're John the Baptist. And some say
Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets, and he
saith unto them, but whom say ye that I am? You see why he
asked the first question? It led up to the question, didn't
it? Who do you say I am? That's what matters. It doesn't
matter what religion is saying about him. It doesn't matter
what Dr. So-and-so, no matter how correct he was, says about
him. Do you believe on the Son of God? We can argue all day about whether
God loves everybody or not. There wouldn't be much use in
arguing it because the scripture clearly reveals that he doesn't.
He doesn't love everybody. Jacob have I loved and Esau have
I hated. Is that clear enough? Argument
over. But what you need to know is does he love me? Does God love me? How can he
love a rich like me? I want to find out about that.
Don't you? Whom do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, isn't
that the same? Who do you say I am? The essence
of the question is, who are you? Who am I or who are you? Whether he's asking it, he's
saying, who do you think I, who am I? Do you believe on the son
of God? If we're asking it, we're saying,
who are you? It's the same thing. It has to do with who he is.
That's the gospel. This world's problem and your
problem by nature is you don't know who God is. Is he him? Is this him? Do you believe on
him? Thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona. Flesh and blood didn't
reveal that to you, not yours or anybody else's. You didn't
figure that out on your own. But my father, which is in, you're
blessed. Not good for you. Not, boy, you
made a decision for Jesus. No, you're blessed of God or
you wouldn't be able to say that. My father, which is in heaven,
revealed that to you. He's gonna get the glory now
if you're gonna be saved. Now we know it's the same question
because of the answer. The same question is, are you
the son of God? Whatever the motive that they
asked it, it's the same question. Let's ask it in the words of
our text, in the words of the enemies of our Lord in Luke 22,
and answer it with Simon's words in Matthew 16. And let's see
if it's the same question. Are you then the son of God?
And here's Simon's answer. to the Lord's question. Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Does that answer
their question? And that's the question. And you see, whether it's asked
by our Lord to us, do you believe on the Son of God? Or by us to
him, are you the Son of God? The answer is essentially the
same. What was the Lord asking those
two blind men in Matthew 9, 27? Listen to it. And when Jesus
departed, thence two blind men followed him, crying and saying,
Thou son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was coming
to the house, the blind men came to him and Jesus saith unto them,
Believe ye that I am able to do this. What's he asking them? Who do you think I am? Do you
know who I am? Believe ye that I am able to
give you sight? And they said unto him, yea,
Lord, yea, Lord, not just yea, yea, Lord. They knew who he was. And so they knew he can do whatever
he wants. That's what Job learned on the
ash heap. Thou can't do everything, and nobody can stop you. Look
it up. That's what he learned. God took
everything away from Job and put him on the, even his health
and put him on an ash heap, scraping his balls to teach him, thou
can't do everything and nobody can stop you. Is he the son of
God? Do you believe on the son of
God? The point of the question clearly
is, who is this Christ? Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?
Now, preachers that I know that preach the truth, I know some
preachers that preach the gospel. There's not that many of them,
relatively speaking. In this world, they preach the gospel
of Christ, the word of God, as it is revealed in his word. I've
heard many of them say that the gospel consists of four questions.
I've heard this many times over the years, and it's so good,
I wanted to mention it this morning in regard to our text. If you're
gonna preach the gospel, you've got to ask and answer these four
questions. Who is Christ? Who is he? That's what, he asked it over
and over, didn't he? He said, the one that David was talking
about, David's son, the Christ, whose son is he? Isn't that the
same question? Whose son is he? Well, he's the
son of David. Then how did David call him Lord?
If he's David's son, how then is he David's Lord? That's a
good question. Who is this one that we're talking
about? That's the question. Asked in
several different ways by the Lord and by others to him. Who Christ is, who is Christ,
what did he do? Why did he do it? And where is
he right now? Have you ever heard that before?
I bet some of you have. Where is he now? I've heard one
question added to that. What did he accomplish when he
came? Did he accomplish what he came to do? But I believe
that's contained in the second question because the second question
is not what did he come to do? It's what did he do? Whatever
he came to do, that's what he did. Because of the first question. Who he is? If he's who he said
he is, then whatever he came to do, he did it. He said, I've
purposed it, shall I not do it? None can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? Religion's full of this God that
can't do what he wants to do. They asked David, they said,
look, we've got all these different gods that do this and that, and
the other, where's your God? And David said, my God's in the
heavens. How would David, how would you describe God if you
were gonna, just in a sentence? Here's how David did. He hath
done whatsoever he hath pleased. Whoever's doing that, whoever
actually does have a free will, he's God. Do you believe I'm able to do
this? Now, it's true that those four
questions are vital to the gospel, and I don't know what you'd add
to them. I don't know what question you would add to that. But what
I want us to see is that all of this is really one question.
It really is one question. Are you the son of God? Do you
believe on the son of God? And here's why I say that. What
Christ did is because of who he is, and it tells you who he
is. He said, the works that I do,
they witness of me, they tell you who I am. Isn't that the
truth? So the second question, what
did he do? It goes right back to the first one, doesn't it?
It's who he is. You have to know the answer if
you're gonna answer that second question, what did he do? You
have to know the answer to the first question. Who is he? He's God. That's why he does
as he pleases. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Nebuchadnezzar learned
who he was, didn't he? None can stay his hand or say
unto him, what are you doing? Now, We just called him the Christ,
what Christ did. We mentioned in those questions,
we call him Christ. Do you know what that word means?
Have you ever looked up the word Christ? What does that mean?
It's not his last name. You might could look at it that
way because it is one of his names. It's one of his titles.
It's not Jesus Christ. That's not his first name and
last name. It's a title. It's who he is. The Christ, we believe and are
sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living God, to
whom shall we go? Why don't you leave him? Why
don't you leave the God? Because of who he is. Isn't that
what Simon said? It means anointed, anointed,
the anointed one. Now listen to this scripture.
Turn over here with me if you would, Acts 10 34. Let's look
at this together. Acts 10 34. Then Peter opened his mouth and
said of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons,
but in every nation, he that feareth him and worketh righteousness
is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto
the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is
Lord of all. That word, I say, you know, which
was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee
after the baptism which John preached. How God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth. That's the root word for Christ. Krios. It's Christos when it's
talking about his title, who he is. And here, I believe it's
Krios anointed him. It's the root word for Christos. Anointed Jesus of Nazareth with
the Holy Ghost and with power. The Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit
of God, it says, was upon him without measure, as a man, without
measure. So he's anointed with the Spirit
of God and with power. And when you see the word power
regarding Christ, you have to think of it in two ways. Ability,
are you powerful enough to get that done? Do you believe I'm
able to do this? But also authority, the word means authority. Does
he have the right? Can he forgive sin? If I forgive
your sins, there are people that do that. You wanna get your sins
forgiven? There's somebody that'll do that
for you. You can go and go check it out. They don't have the right
to do that because they're not the one you sinned against. If
Tommy owes Bob money, I can't forgive that debt. Bob would be real mad if I did,
and rightly so. I don't have the right. He anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost and with power who went about doing good
It's good news. It's the gospel He is the he
is the good And Healing all that were oppressed of the devil for
God was with him. That's that Holy Spirit with
the Holy Spirit in other words, he's Approved of God. That's the way it was described
it a man approved of God among you With the given the authority
made Lord over all. God made him Lord, that's what
they preach. So think about this, it says he is anointed, and that
is the root word, as I said, for Christ, and then the next
thing Simon said was what he did. You see that there? Anointed with the Holy Ghost
and with power, who went about doing If you wanna know what he went
about doing, find out who he is. He's the Christ of God. He has power. He said, as the
father gives life to whom he will, even so, he has authorized
the son to give life to whomsoever he will. Who he is and what he did are
inseparable They both really amount to who he is. He's the
Christ. What does that mean? Anointed
for what purpose? If you're given power or authority,
either one, it's for a purpose. It's that something needed to
be done, right? If you're given the ability or
the authority to do something, if you don't do that, then it's
really not true ability. if you're anointed with power
the only reason that would happen is if there's something that
needed to be done well listen to our lord himself talk about
that in john seventeen one these words speak jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said father the hour is come glorify
thy son that thy son also may glorify thee the hour of god's
greatest glory in all of his persons is come Thou has given
him power over all flesh that You're not given power so that
people can just look at you and say okay look how powerful he
is that He should give eternal life To as many as thou has given
of Father gave him to the son, and
the son gave him life. That's salvation. And it's who
he is. He is the Christ. Anointed with power, that he
should give eternal life to as many, and this is life eternal,
that they might know thee. That they might know who God
is. What's the world's problem? What's your problem? What's my
problem by nature? We got to know who God is. This
is eternal life, that they might know thee, the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. That word and there often
is translated even. And that would fit, wouldn't it?
That they might know thee, the only true God, even Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. Who is he? God in human flesh,
the Christ, the son of the living God. What did he do? He gave
eternal life to all that the father gave him. Why did he do
it? That's one of our questions,
isn't it? Why did he do that? Listen to the next word that
he spoke to his father in that great prayer. In John 17, or
did I have you turn there? I don't know if I did, but listen
to it. In John 17 four, here's the next words. I have glorified
thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do, and now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self,
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. See that in verse one, too, don't
we? The hours come. Glorify, glorify. The Father and the Son are gonna
be glorified. And there's a twofold reason
that he did what he did. He declared that there, that's
clear, to glorify the Father. He obeyed the Father unto death,
even the death of the cross. I must do the works of him that
sent me. He did always those things that
please who? The Father. That's what he did
and why did he do it? To please the Father. You know, that's really the only
reason to do anything. Think about it. Children obey
your parents and the Lord, why? Because it's right. Who said
so? The father. The father. The glory of God in all of his
persons, but also as he went to the cross and all of the words
of John 17 have to be understood now as him speaking as high priest. He's going to Calvary, now he
said the hour has come, the hour of his crucifixion, the hour
of his sacrifice, the hour when it would be finished, the work
of salvation was about to be finished, this is the hour. They
tried to kill him many times before and it says he passed
right through the mystery because his hour had not yet come, but
now it has. And so here's the high priest,
now what did the high priest do in the Old Testament? Before
he went into that most holy place once a year, not without blood,
and splashed the blood on the mercy seat, what did he do? First,
he took a censer and he put incense in it, and the smoke, the sweet-smelling
savor of God's incense now was taken in there with him.
And that's what this prayer is in John 17. It's the high priest
interceding. on behalf of his people. How
many times does he say in that prayer, those that you gave me,
here's what I want for them. Don't take them out of the world
yet, but deliver them from the evil. Keep them, keep them. And
father, I will that they be with me. Those that you give me, I
want them with me forever. That's the incense. By which the high priest entered
into that most holy place And he's entering in there now in
reality not the one made with hands, but into the very presence
of God not with the blood of Bulls and goats, but with his
own precious blood And everyone knows now that high priest can't
go in there without blood He can't go he enters in there once
a year not without blood look up those three words in your
concordance not without It will take you right to the high priest. And this is what Paul wrote about
now in Hebrews 9, 11, where I just quoted, but Christ being come
in high priest of good things to come by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands. That is to say not
of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood, he entered in once. into the holy place
having obtained eternal redemption for sounds like he got it done
doesn't it doesn't sound like anything's up in the air he obtained whoever he entered
into that holy place for whoever he represented and shed his blood
and when he's praying this prayer he said i'm not praying for the
world i'm praying for those you gave me who do you think he went
to the cross for then If the incense is not burning
for the world, then the blood's not for the world. He said, I lay down my life for
my sheep. Oh, well, I've got a problem
with that. Well, the problem is you don't know who he is and
what you do know about him. You know enough about him to
hate him and that's your problem. It's not that God didn't choose
you. Your problem is you hate God. If you got a problem with
it, come back. Said come take the water of life
freely That's what's happening now in
John 17 He's obtaining eternal redemption for those that the
father gave him Every one of them. He said those that you
give me I will lose nothing But we'll raise it up again at the
last day and And as he said there, yes, the father is glorified
and he's glorified in all of his glorious attributes. The
Lord Jesus Christ is glorified in his perfect obedience unto
the father, in the efficacy of his precious blood. We're going
to sing of the lamb, worthy is the lamb that was slain because
he redeemed us to God. He's glorified in his infinite
love for his sheep. Greater love hath no man than
this. He laid down his life in all
of his attributes also as God, but there's another outcome here
that answers the question, why did he do this? Why did he do
what he did? And it's in the same chapter, the same prayer.
Of course it is. This is his intercessory prayer
for his sheep. Listen to John 17 24 father. I will that they also whom thou
has given me be with me where I am That they may behold my
glory It's for his glory and our eternal
good and those are inseparable Which thou has given me for thou
lovest me before the foundation of the world and listen if you
keep asking why if you keep asking why Why'd I do it? Well, for the glory of the father
and so that his people, those that the father gave him, would
be with him forever. I'm glad I get in on that, don't
you? I'm glad that what glorifies God is saving sinners. That's
what glorifies him. But if you keep asking, why did
he die for me? Well, so that he would be, I
would be with him forever. Well, why did he want me with
him forever? You keep asking why you come to this, verse 22,
and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they
may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that
they may be perfect in one and that the world may know that
thou hast sent me and hast loved them. Why did he do it? For God so loved that he gave his only begotten
son. He loved the world. And if you read the Bible, instead
of taking scripture out of context, you'll learn that the world is
his garden. And there are weeds in his garden,
but he don't love the weeds. He don't even take credit for
planting them, although he's the first cause of everything.
He says Satan planted them, the tares. The field is the world. And listen to what he said now.
Has loved them as thou hast loved me. That's love now. That's love. The father so loved
that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends. Why did he do it? It goes right
back to who he is, isn't it? It's not just that he did it
because he loved, it's he did it because he is love. He is love. Where is he now? And what does
that got to do with who he is? Well, you know, Paul said Christ
is all and in all. That's what he is. He's everything
and in everything. Of him and through him and to
him are all things. That's who he is. He's the author
and the finisher of my faith, our faith. The one thing in me
that connects me to the Savior The one thing in me that can
be said to save me. Isn't that what he said now?
I know a lot of theologians that would argue, well, faith doesn't
really save. Our Lord said, thy faith has saved thee. Who are
you gonna believe? Can faith save? It depends on
where you got it. He's the author and the finisher
of our faith. That's who he is. If you have
any, All that's true, then where is
he now there could only be one place if he's God now If he is who he is there's only
one place he can be on the throne That's what God he does whatever
he pleases he's in the heavens John said I looked and There
was a throne, and there was somebody sitting on it. Isn't that what
John said in Revelation? I saw a throne, and somebody
was sitting on it. And you know what? It wasn't
you. I'm glad. And it wasn't me. You better
be glad. And here's what he said about
him. He looked like a lamb as it had been slain. Oh, my. Where else do you think
he is? We just really need to know who
he is, don't we? We just need to know, are you
the son of God? If he's God, he's on the throne.
If he's our mediator, then where is he? Is he that? There's one
God and one mediator between God and sinners. the man Christ
Jesus. Then where is he? Romans 8 34,
who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. And you
notice how he worded that? Who is gonna condemn? Who's gonna
lay anything to my charge? Who can accuse me of sin? It
is Christ. The way he answered that was
by saying who he is. That's because he is the answer. Yea, rather that is risen again,
it is Christ that died and rose again, who is even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Is he your
mediator? Is he the one that stands between
you? Is he your access to God? Is he the one that offered his
precious blood for you? Is he your high priest? then where else would he be?
He's at the right hand of God. The right hand signifies what?
Power. He's the power of God. He answered this question in
our text and showed there, by the way, that it's the same question
that they asked him in different words. Listen to verse, back
in our text, verse 67. Are you the Christ? Tell us. Look at it with me again. Turn
back over there if you're not there. Verse 67, because this is key,
I believe, to our text. Luke 22, 67. Are you the Christ? Tell us.
And he said unto them, if I tell you, you will not believe. And
if I also ask you, you will not answer me, nor let me go. Hereafter shall
the Son of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God. You see how his answer, it's
what we've been talking about. He answered their question about
who he is by telling them where he is. They didn't see him there
right then, but he said hereafter you will. That's where he is
now. That's one of our questions.
And it's told in answer to the question. Who are you? You're gonna see me sitting on
the right hand of the power of God. Does that answer the question? So where he is now? Right back
to the first question. It's really just one, isn't it? If he is who he is, then of course
he did what he did. God don't try. He don't try. His name is Jesus, for he shall. He shall. And I want you to think
about that with me for a second. This is what we've been talking
about. God could have said, the angel, you know, he could have
said, name him something that means he's gonna do all that
he can. I'm sure there's a word that means that, that you're
gonna do your best. Guarantee you there's a word
in the in the Greek that means that I could have named him that
why not Because that's not who he is
That's not who he is And listen to this verse now
listen to it with me Matthew 121 and she shall bring forth
a son and Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save
his people from their sins." I never saw this before, but
this is important. The angel didn't say his name
is Jesus to name him Jesus because the word means he shall
save his people from their sins. That's not why. Jesus doesn't
mean that and I always thought it did I thought the reason he's
saying name him Jesus because Jesus means he shall save his
people from their sins that'd be a great meaning but that's
not what it means listen to me now the angel said name him Jesus
for that reason because he's going to save his people from
their sins because the name Jesus means Jehovah is salvation Naming that because of who he
is what he's gonna do is because of who he is So this is the question is he
Jesus of Nazareth the Son of God and you do you believe on
him? Do you know that he is in other
words? Do you know him as he is for
who he is and Well, I can answer the first part. In fact, that's
what God's Word has answered for us this morning. He's all
and in all. He's God. He's the Savior. He's the light of the world.
He's the door. He's the power of God and the salvation. He's
the Christ. He's anointed with power for
this reason, that He should give eternal life to everyone the
Father gave Him. But the answer to the second
part Do you believe he is who he is? That's between you and
God. I can't answer that for you. Faith, I'll tell you this though
about faith. Faith is not believing that everything's
gonna be all right. That's what passes for faith
in most people's minds. You just gotta have enough faith
that everything's gonna be all right. What if it's not all right? You
still believe God? Is he still God? What about when he takes everything
he gave, can you still bless his name? That's faith. It's
not believing everything's gonna be all right. It's believing
him and that he is worthy of your worship and adoration, whether
everything is all right or not all right. Faith is not believing that God
will do what you want him to do. I just want this so bad if I
just pray enough and believe enough God will do it name it
and claim it that's not faith Faith is believe in God will
do what he said he did It's just believe in God Faith is not taking the first
step and God meeting you the rest of the way Faith is not believing in God
The devil believes in God better than you do. Faith is simply believing God. And let me add this because,
and I'll tell you why, it's believing God concerning his son. And you
know why it's important to say it that way? Because everything
God said concerns his son. Abraham believed God And it was
counted to him for righteousness If God if God's Son says you're
a dog and it wouldn't be right for me to do anything for you
You say truth Lord truth That's what that woman said wasn't it
truth if you put me in hell you'd be doing the right thing You
believe God And I'll tell you what else believing
him caused her to do. She wouldn't let go, would she? If he's who he says he is, and
he is, then I've got to have him. I can't let go until he
blesses me. All that God has said concerns
his son, from Genesis to Revelation. And so it's believing God concerning
his son. Even the law, the moral law,
was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. Faith has one object, and without
faith in him, it's impossible to please God. Now here's what's
at stake and what it all hinges upon. in John 8, 24, I said therefore
unto you, he's talking to the religious Jews. In our day, that
would be the Catholics and the Methodists and everybody, all
the religious people that everybody looks up to and says, oh, look
how holy they are. He said, I said therefore unto
you that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not
that I am, you shall die in your sins. And this Christ I'm preaching
to you this morning, there's hardly anybody that believes
on him, is there? You know anybody that believes that he's God,
that he actually does what he wants to do? That if he put you
in hell, he'd be doing the right thing? Do you believe he's the only
free will in the universe? Most people don't believe on
him. They love Jesus, but it's another Jesus. If you believe not that I am,
you shall die in your sins. And they said unto him, who are
you? That's our question, who are you? And Jesus said unto them, even
the same that I said unto you from the beginning. From the beginning, he's been
telling us who he is. And here's what's at stake now.
If you believe not, you'll die in your sins, which means you
die forever. And you don't know what death
is until you die forever, until you die spiritually. Here's the other side of that,
though. If you believe not, you shall die in your sins. But listen
to this, John 11, 25, Jesus said unto Martha, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die Believest thou this Do you believe and
remember what this? conversation started with I am
I Am he just said to the Jews if you believe not that I am
it's all about who he is I Am the resurrection Martha I am
the life I Do you believe that? You believe that and whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Do you believe that?
She saith unto him yea Lord Listen to her answer. I Believe that
thou art the Christ The Son of God we should come
into the world We see Martha in the scriptures,
not in that good of a light, several times, don't we? A couple
of times, anyway. And she's rebuked by the Lord.
But I'll tell you this, you go back to the beginning of John
chapter 11, and it says, now Jesus loved Mary and Martha and
Lazarus. I know Martha was all right.
She was all right. She just needed to learn some
things, just like we do. Just like we do. Do you believe
on the Son of God? John 9 35 when Jesus heard that
they had cast him out and when he had found him he said unto
him do you believe on the son of God and he answered and said
who is he Lord that I might believe on him and Jesus said unto him
thou has both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee
for you to believe on the son of God he must open your blind
eyes and tell you who he is that's what he did for this blind
man That's exactly what he did. He opened his blind eyes, and
he told him who he is. And here's the result. He said,
Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him. Is that what you're doing
this morning? I believe. How does God open
blind eyes, and how does he tell me who he is? Will he do that
for me? Faith cometh by hearing, Romans
10 17, and hearing by the word of God. Luke 10 42, one thing is needful
and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken
away from her. One thing is needful and Mary
hath chosen it. What's Mary, where are you Mary,
where are you? She's had a sister called Mary
which also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word If he's gonna
open your blind eyes and tell you who he is, this is how he's
going to do it By the preaching of Christ in him crucified I'm
not saying that this is the only thing necessary because I'm a
preacher I'm a preacher Because this is
the only thing necessary And I can't get this verse out
of my heart so I want to quote it to you second peter 119 we
have also a more sure word of prophecy We have a gospel We
have a word to preach unto you whereunto you do well that you
take heed Take heed, take heed, take heed, keep hearing it. How
long? As unto a light that shineth in a dark place. It's got to be vital to you,
isn't it? It's got to be, Lord, your word is more to me than
my necessary food, Job said. Only he can make that so. And
listen, how many times are you going to hear? Are you tired
of hearing it, Chris? I'm going to keep listening until
the day dawn and the day star arise in your
hearts. I want to know him, don't you?
Well, don't you know him, Chris? Yeah, Paul did too. I believe
I do. Paul knew him when he said that
I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Thank God. Cause the day to dawn in our
hearts and may the day star, the Lord Jesus Christ, arise
there by his power, by his grace. Amen, let's pray.