If you would turn with me in
your Bible this morning to Matthew chapter 22, Matthew chapter 22. While you're turning, let me
first tell you that there's nothing that thrills my soul. Nothing
encourages me more in the ministry than to see God give a sinner
an interest in Christ. For God to give a person an interest
in the gospel, well, that's a preacher's fruit. I received correspondence
a little over a week ago from such a person who attends this
church. This lady and her husband have
displayed a great deal of interest in Christ and in his gospel.
And they sent me in this correspondence a daily devotion by Charles Spurgeon
that literally blessed my heart. And it was then that the remark
was made how that that devotion reminded them of my preaching. They went on to say how thankful
they were to get to hear the gospel every week. And they added
that it was something that they knew that they took for granted.
You know what? We all do. We all take it for
granted. I'll tell you from experience
and by frequently talking with other pastors and many times
preachers wonder if any of our listeners really care much about
the things that we study and preach. We shouldn't do that.
I'm talking to myself. We shouldn't do that. That's
something that we need not to concern ourselves with. And the
reason is this, we're called to preach and we're called to
trust God to bless the glorious gospel that we do preach. It's
his business and his business alone, whether or not to give
or withhold the blessing of the gospel and to give the increase.
That's God's business. That's what the Apostle Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 3, verse six, he wrote, I have planted,
Apollos has watered, but God gave the increase. You see, the
increase is God's business, it's not mine. Whether the one that
hears me is moved or not, or whether interested or uninterested
in what I preach, I am to plant and to water, nothing else. I don't have the ability to give
the increase, but God does, and only God can, and I'm called
to prepare and preach. You know, Paul also said in 1
Corinthians 9, verse 16, he said, of those whom he's called to
preach, to preach the gospel and nothing else. Paul wrote,
for though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of for
necessity. is laid upon me, yea, woe is
unto me if I preach not the gospel." Now today, we got a lot of preachers
preaching a lot of things, but not many are preaching the gospel. And we also know that neither
is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but
God that giveth the increase is absolutely everything, and
He's the one to whom we should be eternally grateful. Salvation's
of the Lord. It's God that saves sinners.
We're just instruments. Preachers are just instruments,
just voices crying in the wilderness to believe on the name of the
Lord. However, every now and then, God puts it on a saved
sinner's heart to tell the preacher that Christ and the gospel means
something to them and how thankful they are to hear through our
preaching. The daily devotion that was sent
to me was on a subject that I mentioned from this pulpit very often.
I suppose that if the gospel could be condensed down to one
question for the sinner to consider, this would be it. What think
ye of Christ? That's the issue. That's the
issue. The answer is a matter of eternal
life and death. Now here in Matthew chapter 22
and verse 15, we read, then went the Pharisees and took counsel. Now look at this, how they might
entangle him, that being the Lord Jesus in his talk. From
the time that the Lord Jesus began preaching until they hung
him on Calvary's cross, this was their intention. This was
the intention of the scribes and the Pharisees, the religious
leaders of that day. They desired that they might
entangle the Lord, that they might trap the Lord in the things
that he preached. And verse 16 says, and they sent
out unto him their disciples. They weren't Christ's disciples.
with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true and
teach us the way of God and truth. Neither carest thou for any man,
for thou regardest not the person of men. Oh, they said some good
things, didn't they? The Lord wasn't a bit impressed
nor puffed up over what they said. Tell us, therefore, what
thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute
unto Caesar or not? Now, over the years, I've been
asked a lot of questions very often. What do you think about
this? And what do you think about that? Do you believe that? Do
you believe this? Now here, these men asked the
Lord this question, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or
not? And as you know, the Jews were
the chosen people of God at this time in history, and they're
under now, are under Roman rule and authority. And what they
were asking was this. If we are the chosen people of
God, and we are, why do we, or why should we give tribute? Why
should we pay taxes to Caesar? What do you think about that?
Now look at verse 18. But Jesus perceived their wickedness
and said, why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? You see, our Lord
wasn't at all fooled or deceived by these wicked men. Not in the
least, he saw through their deception. He knew that they were tempting
him and that they were endeavoring to entangle him in his talk. In verse 19, the Lord answered,
show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
And he saith unto them, whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's.
Then said he unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things
which are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's. Verse
22, when they had heard these words, they marveled and they
left him and went their way. Now with our Lord's answer, the
Lord left these folks speechless for a little while anyway. But
these kind of people never really ever go away. Look at verse 23. The same day came to him the
Sadducee. would say that there is no resurrection,
and ask him, saying, Master, Moses said, if a man die having
no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed
unto his brother. Now there were with us seven
brethren, and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased
and having no issue, left his wife unto his brother. And likewise,
the second also, and the third, and to the seventh. And last
of all, the woman died also. Therefore, in the resurrection,
whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her,
they were all her husbands." Now, I won't go into great detail
here of the Lord's response, but in verse 29, we see that
Jesus answered and said unto them, you do err, not knowing
the scriptures, nor the power of God. You see, that's the problem. That's the problem. People don't
know the Bible and people don't know God. Now there are some
things, many things for that matter, that we're just not meant
to know. Gene and I talked about this
not long ago. There are many things that we
just need to leave alone. We weren't meant to know them.
The Lord also silenced these Sadducees for we read in verse
34. But when the Pharisees had heard
that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered
together. And then one of them, which was
a lawyer. Now this is not a lawyer like
we think of today. This was a expert in the law
of Moses. And he was their spokesman. He
was the hotshot among the group. And he asked the Lord a question.
Notice there in verse 35, tempting him and saying, master, which
is the great commandment in the law? In verse 37, Jesus said
unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart
and with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the first and
great commandment. And the second is likened to
it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets. And again, that shut them up
for a while. Now watch this, verse 41. While
the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, verse 42, saying,
what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Now, when the
Lord asks a question, we need to give it serious attention.
It's a matter of life and death. This is the question of all questions. And this is what it all comes
down to. What do you think of Jesus Christ? Not what you think
of Catholicism, not what you think of the Baptist and the
Methodist, not what you think of Islamist. We all have our
opinion on those things. Not what day you think the Sabbath
is on. There's a lot of people that
are at odds with one another because some say you worship
on the Sabbath on a Saturday and some on the Sunday. What
day do we worship on, Saturday or Sunday? And immediately I
think of the Samaritan woman at the well, whom the Lord said,
you know not what you worship, much less when you should. So many times I've been asked
things like, what do you think about the rapture? Or what do
you think about Armageddon? That's a popular subject today.
What do you think about the tribulation? What do you think about the thousand
year reign? Are you a pre-millennialist or
are you a post-millennialist? Well, I can't even hardly say
the word. Jack Sinks used to tell folks that asked him that,
he said, all I know that I am a pre and a post sinner and saved
by the grace of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that. I
know that. Men and women have often asked
me, what do you think about these things? Well, to be honest with
you, I don't. I really don't. I don't think about it. I don't
think about whether I'm a pre or a post-millennialist. All
that really matters. Now hear me on this. All that
really matters is what do you think of Christ? That's a personal
question for each of us to answer. What do you think of Christ? As far as your salvation goes,
it matters what you think. It doesn't matter what I think. It doesn't matter what your parents
think. It doesn't matter what your children think. It doesn't
matter what your husband think. It doesn't matter what your wife
thinks. It doesn't matter what your preacher thinks. What do
you think? All that matters in your salvation
is what you think. What think ye of Christ? It matters what you think, but
your thinking must be in line with what God says in this word.
What do you think? What are your thoughts concerning
Jesus Christ? You know, it's not what we think
about the decisions that we've made. It's not what we think
about the experiences that we've had. It's not what we think about
the religious duties that we perform. It's not what we think
about how faithful we are to attend church. It's not what
you think about how often you pray, how often you fast, or
how often you type. It's not what you think about
how often you read the Bible. These men, these Pharisees that
asked our Lord these questions and that he asked this question
to, well, they fasted twice a week, if not more. And they gave tithes
on all that they had. He didn't ask them about that.
Well, they would have loved for him to have asked them that.
They knew the law of God forwards and backwards. but that's not
the eternal issue. What is, you may ask? It's what
think you of Christ? What do you think of Jesus Christ?
So that's my question to you this morning. What do you think
of Christ? Men and women today don't think
that God can save a sinner apart from them lending him a hand.
That's why they teach and preach that a sinner must give Jesus
their heart. Won't you give Jesus your heart?
Won't you make Jesus your Lord? Won't you let Jesus have his
way in your life? Let go and let God. But those
things have nothing to do with your salvation. Salvation is
determined on what you think of Jesus Christ. Not what you
think of walking an aisle. Not what you think about making
the decision. Not what you think about making Jesus Lord. Not
what you think about water baptism. Not what you think about church
membership. Not what you think about the
church creed. Not what you think about the
Baptist confession of faith. You know, out of curiosity this
week, I looked up online the 1689 Baptist confession of faith
and read some of it. Didn't read all of it, but read
a great deal of it. And I'm telling you that if a
man preached what was written in that 1689 Baptist confession
today in most Baptist churches, he'd be kicked to the curb on
their backsides. But the real issue between a
thrice holy God and a depraved, sinful man and woman is what
do you think of Jesus Christ? Acts 17, 31 says that God hath
appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom He hath ordained. You know who that man is? The
believer's assurance is found in that God raised Him, Jesus
Christ, from the dead. What do you think of Him? Well,
what did God think of him? Well, God said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. What do you think of that? That's
what God thought of him. What did the devils think of
him? They cried, thou art the Christ, the son of God. If they
knew that he was the Christ, that didn't save them. Just knowing
that he's the Christ is not enough, friends. Is he your savior? Is he your Lord? Did he put away
your sin? That's the question. What do
you think of Christ? What did Peter think of Christ?
He said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Well,
who do you say that Christ is? Now I want you to turn with me
to first Corinthians chapter 16. I ran across this verse a
few weeks back. I've been wanting to preach on
it for a while. And this just went hand in hand with what we're
talking about this morning. 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verse
22. I'll give you a moment to get
there. Here, the apostle Paul is writing
to the church at Corinth, a church that had a lot of problems, I
might add. But he says here in chapter 16, verse 22, the first
letter to the church at Corinth, if any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha." Now, anathema means
accursed, and maranatha means the Lord is coming. If any man
or woman loved not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed when
Jesus comes. That's what it means. What is
love? What is it to love Christ? I
want to give you a brief outline that Brother Mahan gave me in
a letter one time. I was going through some of those
letters not long ago, and I ran across this and jotted this brief
outline down. But it was concerning love. And
Brother Mahan asked, are there different kinds of love? It got
me to thinking, you know, the answer's no. There's not different
kinds of love, no more than there are different kinds of hate.
There are different degrees of hate. Some hate a little, some
hate a lot. But hate is hate. There are no
different kinds. Varying in degree, I admit, but
love is love. So what is love? Well, this was
the first thing on the outline. Love is a principle of the heart. That it is. that it is. Love
dictates action. Love produces action. Action itself is not love, but
love motivates action. One may do something kind for
someone out of love, and another may perform that same action
out of self gain. Love is a principle of the heart.
Out of love for another, one out of a love for self. Sin,
like love, is a principle. What do I mean by that? Well,
sin dictates an action. Sin reveals itself by action.
And you've heard me and others often say, we're not sinners
because we sin. We sin because we're sinners.
There are results of sin. There are effects of sin. There are deeds of sin. But sin's a principle of the
heart. The heart of a fallen man and woman is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. It's motivated by the principle
of sin. The heart of a redeemed man and
woman is one that is motivated by a principle because of the
love of God instilled in their heart by and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Well, out of the heart proceeds
all these horrific things. But the Lord looked down from
heaven upon the hearts of men and women. And what did he see?
That their hearts were only evil and only evil continually. Secondly,
love has to do with the person. I used to say all the time, I
love peanut butter. I do like it awful lot. You might
even say, I love chocolate. I've heard some of you say that.
Others might say, well, I love peanut butter and chocolate together.
but we don't really love it. We like it. We like it a lot,
but it doesn't have a part in our heart. You see what I'm saying?
It has a part in our belly, but not in our heart. And folks often
mistake lust for love. They often mistake infatuation
for love, passion for love. Infatuation is an intense, but
short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something. That's
what passion is. Passion is a strong outburst
of emotion. Emotion often derives from circumstances,
mood, and relationship with others. But love is a principle of the
heart for a person. People talk about love at first
sight. Well, I know what they mean by that, but personally,
I don't think it's possible. I don't think it's possible,
love at first sight. You know, when I first saw my
wife, I thought she was beautiful. I want to clarify, I still do.
But I didn't love her the first time I saw her. I didn't even
know her. How can you love somebody that
you don't know? Now, after 39 years of marriage,
I know her, and after all these years together, I love her. But
you can't love someone you don't know. Lust is not love. Infatuation is not love. Passion
and uncontrolled emotion, that's not love. Men and women supposedly
fall in love, they get married, and then within six months, they're
divorced. Happens all the time. That's
not love. It may have been lust. It may
have been infatuation and passion. How do I know this? Because love
never fails. True love never fails. Love suffers
long in its kind. Love bears and believes all things. Love hopeth all things. Love
endures all things. You know, I never saw my parents
outwardly affectionate toward one another. I kind of believe
that that was just the way it was with that generation. I never
saw them outwardly affectionate toward one another when I was
growing up, but that didn't mean they didn't love one another.
When my dad was dying of cancer, my mother had a stroke while
taking care of him. And being the only child, I did
my best to take care of both of them. I moved in with them
for several months. And they were both down for the
count. And when they were, it became very obvious to me that
they loved one another greatly. Each of them cared only about
how the other one was doing. My dad's dying of cancer. He's
concerned about my mom who's had a stroke. All she can think
about is my dad. You see, love is a principle
of the heart. Love has to do with person. When
my dad died, my mother never was the same. I mean, after 60
years of being together, five years later, she had a heart
attack, but you know, I tell folks that she died of a broken
heart. Love is not always being happy. Love's working things out. Love
is working through things because love bears all things and love's
not easily provoked. Love's not puffed up. Love's
not proud. Love doesn't vaunt itself. It's
not rash. Love doesn't make much of small
things. I heard someone recently say
that they love their home. No, no, we don't love things. We like them. We enjoy them. We're comfortable with them.
We're thankful that we have them, but we don't love them. We use
things, but we love people. You know, I have an acquaintance.
known him pretty much all my life since we were young boys.
And he's always telling me how much he loves me. He does that
to everyone. I love you, man. I love you,
brother. But he's nothing but a user. He uses people to get
what he wants and get what he needs. And I'm telling you, that's
not love. He doesn't love me. He doesn't
love others. He loves himself. Thirdly, The
third thing Brother Mahan jotted down was that love has to do
with ourselves and association. Love has something to do with
ourselves and our association with others. Now let me try to
show you that from the word of God. The scripture says, thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself. Paul said, so ought men to love
their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. No man ever hated his own flesh,
but nourish and cherish it even as the Lord the church. Ephesians
chapter five. Let me try to illustrate it further.
Not too long ago, I got a paper cut on my finger. Little paper
cut. Didn't think much about it. Went
on about my business. And later that night, that thing
woke me up. It was hurting so bad. And I
got up and put a little Mia Sporn on it and Band-Aid on it. But
I didn't cut the finger off. You see, I love that finger.
That's my finger. That finger means a lot to me.
I use that finger a lot. That's how I got cut in the first
place. Well, let me bring that home to you a little bit. Why
is it then when a member of Christ, part of his body hurts us that
we want to cut them off? Why is that? We are members of
His, Christ's body. We are flesh of His flesh and
bone of His bones. You're my brothers and sisters. You know, I was raised an only
child. I was adopted, as you know. Turned out later that I
have two half-brothers that I didn't meet until later in life. But
I've got more brothers and sisters than most anybody I know. And
you're them. You're my brothers, my sisters,
my family. We're members of the same body,
that being the body of Christ. And that brings me to the fourth
thing. You see, love has to do with approval. Our text says,
if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. You see, Christ is worthy to
be loved. Christ is worthy to be adored.
Christ is worthy to be worshiped. And if a man or a woman loves
and approves of light, they'll love Christ. Why? Because Christ
is the light. If a man or a woman loves and
approves of truth, they'll love Christ. Why? Because Christ is
true. If a man or a woman loves and
approves of God's way, they'll love Christ. Why? Because Christ
is the way. And if a man or a woman loves
and approves of eternal life, they'll love Christ. Why? Because
Christ is life eternal. No man comes to the Father, but
by Him. Christ is the only way, the only
truth, the only life that enables us to come to God, the Father. Fifthly, love has to do with
gratitude. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. I think about that every day.
I didn't deserve to have grace and mercy shown to me. I sure
hadn't done anything that would merit it or earn it. Thank you,
Lord, for keeping me. You know, other than the grace
of saving us, what a mercy it is that God keeps us. We're prone
to wander. We're prone to leave the God
that we love. Like a sheep gone astray, prone
to wander. Don't know what's best for. Always
sticking our nose into danger. Oh, thank you, Lord, for making
me holy. One who's unholy, one who is
ungodly. He made me holy. Thank you, Lord,
for making me and giving me your righteousness. Thank you, Lord,
for making me accepted. Jesus Christ must be the object
of our love. Why? Because if any man or woman
loved not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed. Let them be accursed when he
comes again. So do you see why the question
of all questions is what think ye of Christ? I'm out of time,
but I had five things more I wanted to give you in detail, but I'll
just give them to you without any explanation. They really
speak for themselves. You know, there are thousands
of things that loving Christ will do for us, but I want to
just give you five quickly. Loving Christ will make God's
Word precious to you. It's your will. This book is
precious to me. I've come to see that it's the
most precious possession that I have. Secondly, loving Christ
will endear His people to you. You know that you've passed from
death to life. How? By your love for your brothers
and sisters. Thirdly, loving Christ will cause
you to imitate Him. I want to be like Him. I'm going
to fall short all the days of my life, but I do want to be
like Him. Fourthly, loving Christ will make you faithful to Him.
Sure will. And loving Christ makes His service
a pleasure to you. Isn't it a pleasure to serve
the Lord? Isn't it a pleasure to come and gather in His name
and hear His word preached and worship Him? Oh, when you see
and understand what He's done for you, isn't it a pleasure?
Loving Christ is what makes us accepted when He comes, not cursed
when He does. May God enable you to love Him
for God's glory, for your good, and for Christ's sake. Amen.