Good morning, everyone. I'm in
Luke 20, verse 41 this morning. If you have your Bible with you
and you'd like to turn there, I want to speak to you for a
little while on this subject, David's son and Lord. From Luke 20, 41, and he said
unto them, that is the Lord Jesus said to the religious Jews, how say they that Christ is David's
son? And David himself saith in the
book of Psalms, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my
right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David
therefore calleth him Lord. How is he then his son? Now all of the different factions
of the Jewish religion, the Sadducees and the chief priests and scribes
The Pharisees, they had all confronted the Lord with questions, trying
to get him to say something that they could use against him. In
verse 40, it says that because of the wisdom and rebuking nature
of his answers, that they dared not ask him any more questions.
The word derst there, they derst not ask him. It means to be bold,
not to dread or shun through fear, but it's followed by the
word not. because of who he is and what
he said to them, they were no longer bold. And they dreaded
and shunned through fear to ask him any more questions. But then
our Lord asks them a question. And think about this. We know
why they asked what they did. In verse 20, it says that they
wanted to put him out of business. We see that there. They asked
him what they did not to seek truth from God's son. Think about
that. They had God almighty in human
flesh before them. And they didn't seek any truth
from him. They didn't have a legitimate
question for him, but they asked what they did in order to get
rid of him. Why do you think the Lord asked his question of
them? Well, we know that he did always those things that pleased
his father. He did everything and said everything
he did to glorify his father. And what other difference between
their questions and his question and their motives and his? Their questions, when you think
about their questions, what difference did it really make? Somebody,
they said, married seven times, and so whose wife is that gonna
be in heaven? Really, is that the question
you have for God? His question is vital in nature. If you don't know who he is,
you don't have any hope. His question is essential, and
he asks it for the glory of God and for the good of his sheep.
You are eternally lost if you don't know the answer to his
question. And he asks questions. Our Lord always asks questions,
not to get information. He's omniscient. He knows all
things. He asks questions to cause people
to consider the answer. When he said, Adam, where are
you in the garden? It wasn't that he didn't know
where Adam was. It caused Adam to consider, look where I am.
I was in perfect fellowship with God and look at me now. Listen
to what, remember what is written in John 20 and verse 30. Many
other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book. The Lord Jesus Christ said
a lot of things when he was in the flesh on this earth in his
perfect flesh as God, the son of man, as well as the son of
God. When he walked on this earth,
he said a lot of things that aren't recorded in this book.
He did a lot of things that aren't recorded in this book. The next
verse, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you might
have life through his name. The way that our Lord asked this
question is recorded in more detail in Matthew 22, 41. It says this there, while the
Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them saying, what
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Now think about
that. What think ye of Christ? This
gets to the essence of why they asked him all the questions they
did. They asked him what they asked him because they hated
him and wanted to put him out of business. And so he asked
them flat out. It's like, Adam, where are you?
What think ye of Christ? How can God Almighty come down
here in human flesh and you have such contempt? How can the perfect
one, the only one who did nothing ever, only always but good, how
can you utterly have nothing but contempt for him? What think
ye of Christ? It exposed their hearts. But
also, think about this. There are a lot of things that
the Lord could have said after he asked, what think ye of Christ? Instead of saying, whose son
is he? He could have said, what think ye of Christ? What did
he come to do? That's a good question too. What think ye of
Christ? Where did he come from? That'd
been a good question. What think ye of Christ? What
does he preach? What is his message? What is
he saying? All important questions, but
again, we see what we've seen in all of our studies in the
scriptures. Who he is makes what he did what it is. Everybody
believes that a Jesus died on a cross somewhere. The question
is who died on Calvary? Who he is makes where he came
from what it is. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart here and be with him, which is, that's what makes that
better than this. I'm with him there. The gospel message, now Paul
said we preach Christ in him crucified. Who he is makes the
gospel what it is. It's not just the death, burial,
and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That doesn't mean anything unless
you know who is this Jesus called the Christ. Whose son is he? That's the question. And their
answer is instructive. They said he's David's son. That's
factually true. That's historically accurate.
And it also utterly misses the point. The point. And in actuality,
though it is true, it's also a lie. Now how can that be true? How can it be true and a lie,
Chris? Well, if somebody asked you what I preach, And you said,
well, Chris preaches that baptism does not save a person. Is that true? I do preach that. I do believe that, and we proclaim
it. Baptism doesn't save. That's
the ordination of God that pictures how we are saved by Christ who
died and was buried and rose again. And we are raised with
him in newness of life. I do preach that baptism doesn't
say, but is that the truth based on the question? Is that what
I preach? Does that really represent the
message that we preach? Does it answer the question truthfully? No, it does not. And this answer
here that these religious leaders gave, it's revelatory concerning
their hope. They prided themselves on knowing
the scriptures. Not everybody would have said
what they said. They were able to say it because they knew what
the Old Testament said. They knew the scriptures. He's
gonna be of the lineage of David. And that was their pride. You
search the scriptures, the Lord said, and in them you think you
have life. but they are they which testify
of me, and you won't come to me. You know the scriptures,
but you won't come to me, which is the point of the scriptures.
All through God's word, he's saying, come to Christ from start
to finish, and you won't come to me that you might have life.
The point is, who is this standing in front of you? That's what
he's asking them. Simon Peter got it right. because
God Almighty had revealed to him who this was. You remember
when the Lord, he asked his disciples, whom do men say that I, the son
of man am? And they lied to you, some say
you're Elijah, some say you're one of the other prophets. And
then the Lord said, but who do you say I am? Who do you say
I am? And Simon said, we believe and
are sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. Now,
how was Simon able to answer the question that way? And these
religious leaders now who knew the scriptures way better than
Simon, he was just an old fisherman. And they said, well, he's David's
son. Why was Simon so smart? Our Lord answered that question
in the context. He said, flesh and blood didn't reveal this
to you, Simon, but my father, which is in heaven. We don't
know anything about Christ unless it's revealed by God. Now listen, thou art the Christ,
this is everything. Again, he told Martha, he said,
I am the resurrection. She said, I believe that Lazarus
will rise again in the resurrection. Christ said, I am the resurrection. Don't look to an event, look
to the person. That's the point of our text. I remember in my
religious past, you know, the pat answer to the question, what
is the gospel? Everybody, you know, it was sort
of kind of like a catechism that was, you're in the, so-called
church that I was in at that time, which wasn't a church.
But the pat answer to that, what is the gospel is, I believe in
the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That was the
pat answer. But that's not good enough. That's
not good enough. The question is, who is he? Who
is Jesus? Who is it that died? Who is it
that buried? Who is it that rose? Whose son is he? John said in
John 1 14 the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld
his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full
of grace and truth religion calls him the son of mary at christmas
one of my favorite christmas songs you know it says we give
him lord the babe the son of mary and i like the song but
i have to change that part God rhymes with Laud better than
Mary does, but they sing the son of Mary anyway. No, he's,
let's give him Laud, let's praise him because he's the son of God.
That's who he is. Did you know that our Lord Jesus
Christ never called Mary his mother? You ever wonder why he
called her woman in the scriptures? It wasn't out of disrespect.
He loved his mother. He made sure from the very cross
that she was taken care of by his apostle John. But he was
just being truthful. Others said to him once, your
mother and your brethren are wanting to talk to you. He was
inside someone's house teaching. And somebody came in and said,
your mother and your brother are wanting to talk to you. And
he said, who is my mother? Who are my brethren? And he beckoned
his hand to those that were sitting there hearing the gospel. And
he said, these are my mother and my brethren. This is my family,
those that love the gospel, that hear The Word of God, the Word
of Christ. Do you know why it's that way,
why he never called her mother? Religion loves to exalt Mary.
Man's religion loves to exalt the saints and Mary and men and
women and even people that walk the earth now, they're called
father. Do you know that the Lord said in the scripture, don't
ever call any man father? Not in a religious sense, not
in the matter of worship. Religion exalts Mary in spite
of the scriptures, but there's only one worthy to be exalted.
Whose son is he? If you ever find out, you'll
glorify him as God. And if you don't, you'll perish. This is why John said in 1 John
4 too, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is of God. Jesus, God's anointed, the word
Christ means the anointed of God. And everybody that believes
that that Jesus of Nazareth, that despised one, that one that
hung on that cross, if you can look to Calvary and see him beaten
and abused and bloody and to all the world a failure and say,
that's my God, that's my king, then you have everlasting life. If Jesus is the Christ, if he's
who he said he was, God's son, then whatever he came to do is
done. This is the implication of this
now. God's son can't fail. The scriptures are clear on that.
If that's who he is, then whatever he came to do, he did it. Listen
to Isaiah 42, one, behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect,
in whom my soul delighteth. This is the father speaking of
the son. I have put my spirit upon him and he shall bring forth
judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he have set judgment in the earth. And the owls shall
wait for his law. He came to save his people from
their sins. And you know what he said when
he had done that? He said, it's done. It's finished. He accomplished
what he came to do. He said, of all that the father
has given me, I shall lose nothing. He did not fail. He cannot fail
because of who he is. He's lost none of those that
the father gave. He's the one that said, I've spoken it. I
will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it. I will also
do it. His hand is not shortened and
it cannot save. Nebuchadnezzar said he does as
he pleases in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and nobody can stop him or even question him. What did he come to this earth
to do? And more importantly, who is it that came? He came
to save his people. If he's who he said he is, then
that's exactly what he did. That's why this question is so
vital. He said the son of man hath power on earth to forgive
sins. You know why the son of man has that power? Because he's
not just the son of man, he's the son of God. He's not just
David's son, he's also David's Lord. The son of Almighty God,
the only one against whom sin is can forgive it. Think about
that. How can anybody forgive sin?
You've gotta be the one that was sinned against. If you owe
somebody some money, and I say to the person you owe, they're
forgiven, or I say to you, you're forgiven. I'm out of line. Only
the one you owe it to can forgive you. That's why the Lord Jesus
Christ can say, I forgive your sins, because he's the one we
sinned against. He's God Almighty. And also,
he can say that on the basis of his shed precious blood that
puts away sin, that washes sinners from sin. If he's God, he must
be able to do what he does in a righteous way. God is righteous
and holy and just and can never be anything but. So his precious
blood must be worth enough to ransom the souls of all of his
elect from their bondage to God's law, from the righteous condemnation
of God upon their souls. Is his blood worth that much?
You answer another question for me and I'll answer that one for
you. Is his blood enough to wash you from your sins in the sight
of God? Answer this question for me and I'll answer that one
for you. Whose son is he? Whose son is he? If he's the
son of God, then yes. His precious sin-cleansing blood
is the one offering for sin that God, he sanctified forever. He perfected forever those that
he sanctified. with that precious blood. Now,
he must be able to represent his people perfectly. He must
be perfectly holy, righteous, and glorify God perfectly also. Honor his father perfectly as
the representative of his people. Not only does his offering, his
sacrifice, his blood have to be enough, but his righteousness
has to be sufficient. There can't be one chink in the
armor. Can he do that? Can he live for me? Can he do
always those things who please the Father? I don't know. Whose
son is he? God himself called him God. In Hebrews 1.8, unto the son
he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter
of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. And that's why,
because of who he is. And you're gonna tell me that
he died to save everybody, but he couldn't get it done? You
don't know whose son he is if you say that. You're gonna tell
me he wants to do something, but a sinful wretched worm won't
let him? That a worm of the dust can thwart
the will of him who made all things, rules all things, and
does as he pleases? Hmm, let me ask you again if
you think like that. Whose son is he? Whose son is
he? All false religion, all heresy
and every idol can be destroyed by a revelation from God concerning
this one question, whose son are we talking about? He who said to Thomas, he that
hath seen me hath seen the father, asks every sinner this morning,
What think ye of Christ? From his word, he asks that question. Does he try or does he do? What
think ye of Christ? Did he save everyone he shed
his precious blood for? Or did he try and fail? What
think ye of Christ? May the words of John be our
testimony this morning. Listen, 1 John 5 20. And we know
that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding.
Now listen, we know this. The Son of God is come and hath
given us, he didn't give us a chance. He gave us an understanding that
we may know him that is true. The Lord Jesus cried out in John
17, this is life eternal that they may know thee, the only
true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. He gave us an
understanding that we might know him. not some doctrinal facts,
but that we may know Him that is true. And we are in Him that
is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God
and eternal life. That's salvation, to know Him,
who He is, what He did, why He did it, and where He is right
now. And to know this, whatever He came to do, He did it. He
accomplished it. He saved His people. Listen to
me now. The Lord Jesus asked him this
question after they were done asking him a bunch of stuff,
to let them know who they were dealing with, and to let us know
this morning who we're dealing with. You and I are gonna have
to do business with God's son, not sweet little Jesus of religion
who's off in a corner waiting on sinners to do something for
him. This is God's only begotten, well-beloved, holy, omnipotent,
sovereign son. He said, I have power on earth
to forgive whoever sins I want to forgive. He does as he pleases,
when he pleases, with whom he pleases, and he accomplished
salvation when he died on Calvary. He said it's finished. He didn't
say it's available. He could have said that. He could
have said, I've done all I can do, and now it's up to you. But
he didn't. He said, it's finished. Salvation is finished. He asks you this morning, like
he did the blind man in John 9, do you believe on the Son
of God? He asks us like he did Simon
and the disciples in Matthew 16, where we quoted a while ago,
whom do you say that I am? He asks us in the words of our
text, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And may our
answer by his grace from our hearts in faith and full assurance
that only he can give be, we believe and we are sure that
thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. And may we
say with that blind man in John nine, Lord, I believe, I believe. And he worshiped him and may
we also. May we with that leper in Matthew eight come to him
worshiping him as he did also and say, Lord, if you will. He knew who he was, didn't he?
He said, if you want to, you can make me clean. Whenever a sinner has ever come
to the Lord Jesus Christ that way, you know what he says? I
will be thou clean. And we are. No sinner has ever
been saved by their free will. And it's not gonna happen. Sinners
are saved by his will. If you will, you can. Come to
him, believing that Christ is your only righteousness before
God. and that he is the only sin offering that can wash your
sins away. Come to him knowing who he is,
knowing the answer to this question by his grace. You're not going
to know unless he reveals it to you. Our Lord Jesus said,
Lord, when at Lazarus's tomb, he said, our father, I thank
you that you've hid these things from the wise and the prudent.
and reveal them unto babes. When the disciples asked him,
why do you speak to them in parables, he said, because it is given
unto you to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, and to
them it is not given. May we, by his grace, come to
him knowing who he is and say, Lord, you can make me clean,
you can save me, have mercy. God be merciful to me, the sinner. May he, by his grace, make it
so, amen.