May it please the Lord to bless
us together as we meditate in his word this evening. Let us
turn to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 22, and we'll read verses
41 and 42. Gospel of Matthew chapter 22,
reading verses 41 and 42. While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them, saying, what
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They said to
him, the son of David. Well, the Lord Jesus, on this
occasion, asked the Pharisees a very important question. What think ye of Christ? And surely tonight there cannot
be a more important question asked to us by the Holy Spirit
as to what we think of Christ. All of us I'm sure realise that
the Lord Jesus Christ as a person did live on this earth 2 000
or so years ago but this really is a very relevant question put
to us personally with regard to our eternal state and condition
what think ye of christ before we just move on just to say that
of course the lord jesus here asked this question to the Pharisees
who were very confident of their religion, very confident of what
they knew and the things of God, and of course because of their
upbringing they were very familiar with the law of God. And so when
the Lord asked them this question, what think ye of Christ, whose
son is he? They said unto him, the son of God, sorry, the son
of David. They were familiar with that
because that is really a quotation from the 110th Psalm. And they
knew therefore that when the Messiah was to come, he would
be as the son of David in that human form. And he said unto
them, how then doth David in spirit call him Lord? saying
the Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand till I
make thine enemies thy footstool. If David then called him Lord
how is he his son? Well what the Lord Jesus was
really telling the Pharisees of his wonderful glorious deity
as the Son of God but also the wonderful truth that he humbled
himself and came into this world as a man, as a human being. Something, of course, which was
so essential, something that was so important for the whole
Church of God. But the Pharisees, of course,
didn't want to understand such a truth as that. And we're then
told, and no man was able to answer him a word, neither does
any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. The reality
was that the Lord Jesus Christ had set before the Pharisees,
those proud religious people, the great and glorious truth
of God, that he, the wonderful eternal son of God, came into
this world to die upon the cross at Calvary as a substitute for
his people, as he took upon him our form, our nature. It was
really spelt out in a few wonderful and simple words, and yet you
see the eyes of the Pharisees were blinded. Well it's a great
blessing for us today if we are blessed with spiritual sight
to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ was and is the Son of
the ever-living God and he rules and reigns today as the second
person in the Trinity seated on the Father's right hand. He is the Eternal God, he always
has been and he always will be. And so may you and I today have
right views of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us not be deceived. You see, Satan is the great deceiver. He always has been and he always
will be as long as the world continues. He tries to deceive
the Church of God. He tries to turn them away. the
great truths and of course what he tries to do is to detract
from the glory of the gracious and blessed Saviour. Well what
a mercy it is then for us today if the Lord Jesus Christ comes
and reveals himself to us as our Saviour. All of us need a
Saviour. Why do we need a Saviour? Because
we've all sinned and disobeyed The Word of God. We've all fallen
short. We've all committed sin. And
we should recognise and know that no sin can enter into glory. If you and I have any sin, we
shall not be found in heaven at last. And so the great, great
and important question is, what do we think of Christ? What do we think today of the
Lord Jesus Christ? You know, it would be good sometimes,
perhaps, if I asked you all the question and you all had a piece
of paper, young and old, and you wrote down your view of what
you think of Christ. Well, perhaps it's not appropriate
now to physically do that. But in your mind, just carefully
think of what you truly think of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
indeed what you know of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because our eternal
state depends upon the right answer. It can't just be a waffle. People perhaps try and pass it
off. People perhaps try and pretend
that they know what the answer is, whereas in reality they do
not. So we should be very thankful
that in the providence and mercy of God we have such a question
put to us in the Word of God. You may remember that in an earlier
chapter the Lord addressed Peter And he asked him, what should
we think of Christ? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the son of the ever-living God. That was a very clear answer,
wasn't it? That was an answer given because Peter, by the grace
of God, had been shown his sinfulness, his weakness, and also the wonderful
love and mercy of the Saviour, and therefore to be able to say,
without any compromise, from his very heart, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the ever-living God. Well, tonight, as we stand
before God, or sit before God, or wherever it is we are before
God, to be able to come and to testify wonderfully because it
is wonderfully it's not because of any great things that we've
done for our wonderful ability or great knowledge of the scriptures
no it's very simply because of the love of the savior not that
we loved god but that he loved us that is the great blessing
that is the great favor And so tonight, what think ye of Christ? How do we answer? Are we able
to declare, yes, he is the son of God. He is the one who has
always reigned. He is the one who is the same
yesterday and today and forever. He was born into this world.
But the great truth is that he existed as God from eternity. Again, the mystery of godliness
is very great and our little minds cannot work out, cannot
really imagine how this was the truth, but nonetheless it is
and it's a wonderful mercy when God takes away all our natural
reasoning. We love, don't we, to be able
to reason things out, and to argue them, and to come to a
conclusion which is applicable and in agreement with our natural
understanding. But the blessing is this, when
God comes and gives us faith to believe the truth of God,
and the truth of God is very simply this, the things which
are impossible with man are possible with God. Now that's a good and
safe resting place because what we can do is to rest in the promises
of God, rest in all that he's done, to believe that he is the
saviour of sinners and more importantly he is my saviour. You see it's good to know that
He is the Saviour of sinners. My friends, the great need we
have is to know that He's our Saviour, that He came into this
world to bear your sin and my sin, that it might be washed
and taken away through His sin-atoning death, through His shed blood
upon the cross at Calvary, when the Holy Spirit comes, and opens
our eyes to realize the great truth of scripture and the glory
of redemption, then it is that we become true Christians. And what does that mean? We bow
down and worship God as our Lord and our master. We acknowledge
that he is the only one that can save our soul. He is the
only one who we can commit our soul to. But he is a kind and
gracious and merciful God. He is then the saviour of sinners. Well, tonight, answer this question. What think ye of Christ? Bless
God. If through his grace we can say
he is my savior because he has stood in my place he's carried
my sin he is born the punishment instead that which was due to
me he's born blessed be god and you see with such a realization
What it means is we're blessed with the wonderful gift of eternal
life. And the result is, therefore
we thank and praise our God for all that he has done for us.
And we recognize we're utterly unworthy. Why should the Lord
have looked upon us? Do you say that? Do you say,
why me, oh blessed God? Why such a wretch as me, who
must forever lie in hell, were not salvation free? Such a view promotes the glory
of God. Such a view draws us to the Saviour. Such a view blesses us with unity
and communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a blessing time
it is when the Holy Spirit comes and opens our understanding. You know, John the Baptist explained
something of these things in the first chapter of John, when
he was so privileged to be that one who saw the Savior coming
to him, baptized him, and heard the glorious words of the Father,
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And later on in that chapter,
he tells us, behold, the Lamb of God. This is the Lamb of God
who taketh away the sin of the world. That was a wonderful revelation
to John the Baptist. But my friends, it's a revelation
which is granted to the whole Church of God. So by faith, we
do behold the Son of God, do behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. And I often think we have in
the scriptures a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ as that
Lamb of God. never weary never tire of going
back to the old testament and rejoice as they're spelt out
in those ceremonies the great and wonderful plan of salvation
how helpful it is to our spiritual understanding to understand perhaps
the institution of the passover all those years ago, and that
blessed institution was to be carried out every year. So the
Israelites, the Church of God, should not forget what it set
before them. And what a mercy if the Holy
Spirit opened their eyes to behold the wonder of that occasion. And the wonder of the occasion
really was very simple. There was a lamb. a perfect lamb,
as perfect as they could obtain, representing the Lord Jesus Christ. Taken, slain, the blood taken,
the blood put upon the doorpost and the lintels. The lamb then
roast in the fire. roast in that way indicating
that Lord Jesus Christ was roast in the wrath of God for his people
and then to realize that there was only safety on that great
night to be found in the dwelling having passed under the blood.
My friends today there's only one safe place of safety And
that's to be found under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That means to realise the Lord
Jesus Christ has died upon the cross at Calvary to redeem our
souls. And you see with such a blessed
revelation that must bring us to that true condition of repentance
before a holy God where we come and are truly sorry for our sins
and we bow down and seek for forgiveness. It's not just a
theory, it's a reality. It's a needful reality because
without it, we are eternally lost. But with it, we are eternally
safe because we are then under the blood. You see, it's no wonder,
is it? That the dear Saint of God, the Apostle Peter, of course
was left to the weakness of his own flesh and how we have to
be very aware not to think that we are strong we're not we're
weak we're foolish we're sinful our strength is in what christ
has done and so the apostle peter although he denied his lord those
three times what we read is the lord turned and looked upon peter
Of course, that was a look of love. And that had a great effect upon
Peter. He went out and wept bitterly because of his sin. What a good thing it is, isn't
it, when God brings us to a place of true sorrow for sin, that
we weep before our God for our sins because we've offended God.
could have disobeyed his laws because we've just done that
which is so wrong and yet you see Peter therefore was able
to behold that great and glorious timely crucifixion he was able
to behold the Lamb of God that taken away the sin of the world
he was able to behold the Lamb of God that took away his sin
And that's why he's able to write those beautiful words in his
epistle that we're not redeemed corruptible things as silver
and gold from our vain conversation received by tradition from our
fathers, but with a precious blood of Christ. You see how wonderful it was
to Peter. It was precious to him. It was invaluable to him. And
what a mercy for us tonight, if when we're asked a question
like this, what think ye of Christ? We say, his invaluable blood,
which is atoned for my sin. So that through that wonderful
sacrifice for sin, I can rejoice in what Jesus has done for me. as he bore the punishment instead. What think ye of Christ? And of course, as the Holy Spirit
leads us into all truth as it is in Jesus, we observe him as
that one who has ascended up on high. There he is tonight. There he is at all times, interceding
for us on the Father's right hand. in glory as our great and
wonderful High Priest. We are sinners of the earth who
cannot approach unto our Father, but through the intercession
of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how necessary and
important it is we come to our Father in heaven, which we can
through our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and come pleading
his merits and we are accepted in the beloved. Well, what a
high priest we have. And again, looking through the
Old Testament, we see there the wonderful position of the high
priest that God ordained, starting with Aaron, that priesthood which
ran through his line and continued until the time of Christ. There
was that glorious person that was set before us as the Lord
Jesus Christ. And of course, there was the
annual occasion of atonement when the high priest went in
to the holy place, the holy of holies, where was the mercy seat
overshadowed by the cherubims. And there was the law of God
under that mercy seat. And there, by the grace of God,
every year the high priest went into the Holy of Holies there
to seek for the forgiveness of sins of the people. But one important
thing, not without blood. Not without blood. We should
remember that. As we come to God in prayer,
our pleasure accepted through the wonderful sacrifice, the
shed blood of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he
is indeed our wonderful high priest. He is, of course, our
substitute. He stood in our place. He's taken
our place. We could never justify ourselves,
could we? We're sinners of the earth. the blessed saviour stood
in our place as our wonderful, wonderful substitute. We could
say indeed he is our redeemer, the one who's redeemed our soul.
So I go through these simple points, let us always bear in
mind that the answer to this question, what think ye of Christ,
What do we think of Christ? Do we see him, by faith, standing
in our place? Standing in our place. My friends,
we might say, well, why did Christ choose us? Because he loved us. Something that you and I cannot
fathom. But yet, through the great mercy of God, He chose
a people. You have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring
forth fruit and that your fruit should remain. It is all of grace. Grace is the unmerited favor
of God. And what a blessing for us today,
as we're asked this question, what think ye of Christ? We're
able to say by the grace of God, I am what I am, a sinner saved by
grace. A sinner saved by grace. And
when the Holy Spirit shows us this great truth, then you see
those lines of the hymn of John Newton become very real and perhaps
very precious to us. Like the word of John Newton,
amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me i
once was lost but now i'm found his grace has set me free oh
it shows to us the glory of the gospel and you know the glory
of the gospel comes to us it's a wonderful thing when The truth
of God is applied and we perhaps trace out that account in the
Song of Solomon, when the Bride of Christ, indeed, which represents
the Church of God, there she was, she was lukewarm in her
attitude and couldn't be bothered to get up from her bed because
she was very comfortable when the Lord came and knocked at
the door. And then of course, when she
thought she would get up, she did. the Lord had withdrawn himself. I'll be very aware the Lord comes
in his time not in our time and we should be diligent to be found
waiting and watching for him and to enjoy then his visits
and not put our own self first. Well you know she then came to
her senses she then got up and she went to find her beloved
but he had withdrawn himself. Yes, he withdrawn himself. Thankfully,
she was not content with that. And she tried to find the Lord.
She went about the town to find where he was and couldn't find
him. She asked the watchman, the preachers, where he was. They couldn't tell him either,
tell her either. And then you see the Church of
God The daughters of Jerusalem, they asked her this important
question, what is thy beloved more than another beloved? We could say, what think ye of
Christ? What is Jesus more than anybody
else? What does he mean to you and
me more than anybody else? Well, in the fifth chapter of
Song of Solomon, you can read the gracious answer. that she
was able to give. And it was an answer that demonstrated
very clearly that she did love the Lord Jesus Christ and she
did want him and she did desire to have union and fellowship
with him. And she comes down towards the
end of that fifth chapter and she says, this is my friend. It's a lovely statement to think
that you and I are blessed to have such a friend. Why should we have a friend like
that? Why should Jesus be our friend? We often turn our back upon him,
but you see it's a love of God, which is that which has brought
us to that recognition that here we have our friend, a friend
who sticketh closer than a brother, a great and glorious saviour. And then, of course, she goes
on and she's able to say, this is my beloved and this is my
friend. And what was he to her? the cheapest
among 10,000, and the altogether lovely, where it would be a wonderful
blessing, if by the grace of God, as this question is posed
to us, what think ye of Christ? We are able to say, he is the
altogether lovely one. He is to me the cheapest among
10,000. Well, what a blessing and what
a favor that'll be. And then you see as you and I
travel on through this life, realize that we have in the Lord
Jesus Christ, the heavenly shepherd, one who looks after us, one who
guides us, one who leads us, doesn't leave us to our own devices,
Doesn't say, well, you better get on with it. You better find
a way. No, he takes us by the hand and he leads us on. David knew the blessing of it.
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want faith in God,
confidence in God. And what a blessing it is, therefore,
if you and I are able to come tonight, what, thinking of Christ? to be able to say, well, this
great and glorious savior is my shepherd. Yes, he's watched
over me. He's delivered me from numerous
dangerous situations. And he's perhaps he's even left
the 99 sheep and gone after me because I wandered off. He found me. He carried me back
because of my weakness and foolishness and brought me to the flock. Yes, the Lord is my shepherd. He's our leader. He's our guide. And the shepherd, of course,
brings his sheep to places where they can spiritually feed. What a mercy if the Lord brings
you and me to places where we can spiritually feed. And of
course the Lord Jesus himself tells us about this when he wrote
to the, or when he spoke rather, and we can read it in the sixth
chapter of John. The Lord tells him, except ye
become as little children, and except ye eat the flesh and drink
the blood, the Son of God, there is no life in you. It's a very solemn statement. What think ye of Christ? Well,
is Christ to you and me spiritual food? Do we love to meditate
upon his sin-atoning death? Do we heed that gracious word,
remember me? Do we remember him? And the cost
of our salvation What a mercy it is then to have this recognition
that we have such a great and glorious and compassionate Saviour. He doesn't deal with us as our
sins deserve. He doesn't shut the door and
say, enough of you. The door of his mercy stands
open all day and night to the poor and the needy that knock
by the way. What a mercy that is. We can
come to our Saviour at any time. What think ye of Christ? He is
my God, the one I love to come to, the one I love to pray to,
the one who has never turned me away. Well, this evening,
what think ye of Christ? Well, may we all be able to trace
that. And if we can't, do be honest before God. Don't pretend
to be a Christian when you're not. If you do not have the evidences
that you are a child of God, plead for his mercy. Come to him exactly as you are.
We're thankful we have a God who is a... Passionate God, and
the Lord who tells us, Seek and ye shall find, nor can it shall
be opened unto you. These are great and glorious
promises which God has left on record for our encouragement. And so may we be blessed with
faith to come to the Saviour in a time when he may be found. You and I are on praying ground,
aren't we? We don't know how much longer we will be on praying
ground, but bless God for it and pray to him. May he bless
us with that prevailing prayer. The Lord tells us, or the Apostle
tells us, the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth
much. Pray for the effectual fervent
prayer and it's not be satisfied with just a mere form of words
because we need to be able to answer this question rightly. What think ye of Christ? To be
able to come and confess he is the one in whom is all my hope. all my hope for time and for
eternity. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. May that be our answer to God,
because if it is, then it will be well with our soul. Amen.