Matthew 22. I was burdened by
this and I pray that the Lord will bless this. I really do.
I want to begin by asking three questions. Three questions. Here's the first one. Does the direction this nation
is going bother you? Here's the second one. What do
you think about the lack of God in our government? Here's the third one. Do either
one of those two questions matter? Tony's face just got a huge sigh
of relief on it. Last Wednesday Hannah answered
our front door and there was a Jehovah's Witness standing
there. She said he was a sweet older
man. And those first two questions were the questions he asked her. Do those questions matter? When you're going to go talk
to somebody about their eternal destiny, their soul's salvation,
do those questions matter? Brother Tony read a minute ago
where those men, they didn't believe in the resurrection,
and they said, Master, in the resurrection, whose wife shall
this woman be? Seven brothers, they all married
her. Whose wife shall she be? Does that question matter? Are there really going to be
streets of gold and glory? Does that question matter? What are your thoughts on the
rapture? And by the way, that word's not
even in the Bible. It became popular in the 1830s, and it
has different definitions. I looked it up, and it means
different things by different people. It's not even in the
Bible. What do you think about the day
of tribulation, the days of tribulation? Have the days of tribulation
already passed? Are we in them right now or are
they yet to come? Does that question matter? Don't you think we need to be
asking this? Concerning your and my eternal
soul, do these questions matter? There is only one question that
matters. One question. God asked the question. Look here in Matthew 22 at verse
41. While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? One question. What think ye of Christ? What
do you think of Jesus Christ? That poor older man, he asked
Hannah those questions and he asked her if she was worried
about it. You know, the government and all that. You worried about
it? And Hannah said, no, I'm not worried about it. God is
in control. And the man said, God is in control. You're right.
And then they had a minute of conversation about God. And then
he realized, oh, you believe in the Trinity, don't you? You
believe in one God, three persons. Father, Son, and Spirit. That's when he started pushing
his tracks, and he tried to convince her that Jesus Christ is not
God. That was his point. Jesus Christ
is not God. This is what he told her. He
said, you read the Lord's Prayer. You read it very carefully, and
you'll see what I'm talking about. So I did. I did. I opened up to Matthew 6 and
I read it. Let's all turn over to Matthew
6. Matthew 6 verse 9 says, After
this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead
us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. What that man was getting at
was That prayer was prayed by a man. And you know what? He's right. That's the glory of the gospel.
God became a man. God became a man. A man died
for men. A perfect man. A man lived for men. A man prayed on the behalf of men. A man did that. Well, I thought you said he was
God. I did. God became a man. If I get to
see my God one day, you know what I'm going to say? A man. That's hard. You can't get your
mind around that, can you? To say that that proves He's
not God is to say, I have no idea who Christ is, why He came,
what He did, and where He is now. That's what it's saying.
What think ye of Christ? That's the question. He's a man,
but He's not just a man. Turn with me to John chapter
1. John chapter 1 verse 1 says,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And everybody knows I'm about
to go to verse 14. And it says, And 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. God was made flesh, perfect
flesh, and we beheld His glory. Well, which is He? Is He God
or is He man? Yes. He really is God? Yes. He really
is man? Yes. Now, I looked up the Jehovah's
Witness Bible. I was just curious. This whole
thing just... And I'm not just singling out Jehovah's Witnesses.
This is every single religion that's contrary to the truth.
As I read their Bible, I realized this is every error. They all believe the same thing.
They really do. It doesn't matter what doctrine
they call themselves. This is what all error believes. In their Bible, John 1.1 says
this. I wrote it down. It says, In
the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, capital
G, and the Word was a God, lowercase g. Isn't that something? Verse 14
says, So the word became flesh and resided among us, and we
had a view of his glory, a glory such as belongs to an only begotten
son from a father, lowercase f. Any father. The glory that,
I love that boy. And he was full of undeserved
kindness and truth. That's what the world says about
him. That's what the world thinks about him. Oh, he's such a sweet
son to God. He's a good boy. Now, let's ask
this question. And I'm starting with me. I could
put Gabe Stoniker right here. Gabe Stoniker, comma, what think
ye of Christ? Does that question matter? God
asked it. God asked that question. Let's
go back over to Matthew 22. Verse 41 says, While the Pharisees
were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think
ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto
him, The son of David. He saith unto them, How then
doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, Thee, Lord, said
unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine
enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord,
how is he his son? And no man was able to answer
him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him
any more questions. How did David call a son way
down the line that he's never known of, never met, never known
anything about, never known what he looked like, never known what
he's going to act like, doesn't know anything about a son way
down the line. How can he call on him and call
him Lord? What think ye of Christ? Well,
he's a son. Whose son is he? Go with me over to Hebrews 1.
Hebrews 1 verse 4 says, being made so much better than
the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they, that's talking about Christ. For unto which of the
angels said the father at any time, thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee, and again I will be to him a father and
he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth in
the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels
of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, who
maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire,
but unto the sun he saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever a scepter of righteousness, is the scepter of thy kingdom. What the Father is saying is,
Thy kingdom come, O God. Verse 9, Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even Thy God,
hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.
And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of
the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thine hands. They
shall perish, but Thou remainest. And they all shall wax old as
doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and
they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy
years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said
he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies
thy footstools. Whose son is he? unto the Son,
the Father, said, Thy throne, O God." Thy throne, O God. Turn with me now over to Genesis
chapter 1. Genesis 1, the heading above
Genesis says, the first book of Moses. Moses wrote it. Moses penned it. And you know what the Lord Jesus
Christ said? He said, Moses wrote of me. Moses wrote of me. Verse 3 says, and God said. God said. In the beginning was the Word
and God said. What do you think? You think that
was Christ? How many people do you think
believe that was Christ? What think ye of Christ? We believe that all things were
made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.
Right? What think ye of Christ? Look at Genesis chapter 3. Verse 14 says, And the Lord God
said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon
thy belly shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days
of thy life. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, and it
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. God told
Satan, The woman's seed is coming to crush your head. Who do you think that's talking
about? That's Christ. Do you think He
really did it? What think ye of Christ? Did
He defeat Satan? Is it really finished? The battle, is it finished? What
think ye of Christ? Go to Genesis 6. Verse 5 says, And God saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that
he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from
the face of the earth, both man and beast and the creeping thing
and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made
them. But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Verse 13 says, And God said unto
Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, For the earth
is filled with violence through them, and behold, I will destroy
them with the earth. Make thee an ark." God told Noah, build an ark. Why did God do that? So we could
decorate our nurseries with it? He said, everything inside that
ark will be saved. Everything that is inside the
ark is going to be saved. Do you think that ark is Christ? Do you think your only hope of
safety is to be in Him? Really? Really? Has God convinced
you of that yet? What think ye of Christ? Is He
your salvation? Look at Numbers 21 with me. Numbers 21 verse 4, And they journeyed from Mount
Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom.
And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the
way. And the people spake against God and against Moses, Wherefore
have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?
For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and our soul
loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of
Israel died. Therefore the people came to
Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the
Lord and against thee, praying to the Lord that he take away
the serpents from us, And Moses prayed for the people. And the
Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon
a pole, and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten
when he looketh upon it shall live. And Moses made a serpent
of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that if a
serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass,
he lived. Those serpents were biting and
killing the people. And God told Moses to make a
brass serpent and put it on a pole and lift it up. Take the exact
thing that's killing the people. Take the very thing that is killing
the people and put it on a pole and lift it up. Those serpents
represented sin. Sin is what's killing you and
me. Our Lord said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Now what think ye
of Christ? Was He made to be the very thing
that is killing you and me? Did He become sin? Was sin put on that cross? my sin. Did he become what I
am? Did Gabe Stoniker hang on that
cross in him? Did he become what I am by nature
so that I might become what he is by nature? What think ye of Christ? What
did Christ do on that cross? Well, He opened the door. He
made it possible, so just walk through. What did He do on that cross?
What thank ye of Christ? Is He our substitute? That means change places. When God killed Christ, did God
kill me? I died, I'm crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Not I,
it's Christ in me. I died in Him and He lives in
me. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 5. Verse 21, For he hath made him
to be sin for us, this one who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. What think ye of Christ? When I think of God's judgment
and God's wrath, for the sins I have committed. Lord calls
me to think on Christ, my substitute. We're not going to turn, but
Exodus, God said, kill a lamb and put that blood on the doorpost.
And when I see that blood, I'm going to pass over you. What
think ye of Christ? Is he your redeemer? Is He the one that paid your
price? Paid it in full? That rock that was smitten and
outflowed living water, what think ye of Christ? And I'm reading these notes here,
but I'm praying that the Lord will let me enter into it as
I say it. What think ye of Christ? Does He satisfy my soul? Is my soul refreshed and quenched
through Jesus Christ? Is He all I need? Is this just a job? Am I seeking something else?
The world wants wisdom. The believer says, Christ is
my wisdom. The world, they're trying so
hard to be righteous. They're trying so hard to earn
heaven. They're under so much bondage.
The believer says, Christ is my righteousness. What think
ye of Christ? Christ is my holiness. Christ
is my hope of eternity. Christ is all. My all is a person. A person. My answer to everything
is a person. What think ye of a person? Now
we started this with three questions. I want to end this with three
more. And these questions are straight to me. We're going to
read them in here. Three more. As we read these,
I want to ask all of us to really think. Three questions. Really enter in and answer these
three questions in our hearts. Let's all go to John 21. Verse 1 says, After these things
Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias,
and on this wise showed he himself. There were together Simon Peter
and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee,
the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon
Peter saith unto them, I am going fishing. They say unto him, We
all go with thee. They went forth and entered into
a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. But
when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but
the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto
them, Children, have you any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the
net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find. They cast therefore, and now
they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved said unto Peter,
It's the Lord. That's got to be the Lord. Now,
when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's
coat unto him, for he was naked, and he cast himself into the
sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship, for they
were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits, dragging
the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come
to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon,
and bread. Jesus said unto them, Bring up
the fish which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew
the net to land, full of great fishes, and hundred and fifty
and three, and for all there were so many, yet was not the
net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and
dine, and none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou?
knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh
bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third
time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that
he was risen from the dead. So when they had dined, Jesus
saith to Simon Peter." Here's the first question. Simon, son
of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? What our Lord asked
him was, What think ye of Christ? Do you love me? Do I love him? I think about, there's a song
in a Gatsby's hymnal that says, do I love the Lord or no? Do
I love him? Do I love him? Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
He saith to him again. He asked him a second question.
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Do you love me? Do you love me? What think ye
of Christ? Do I love Him? Well, yeah, I
go to a church that preaches the truth. They all love the
Lord down there. Well, what think ye of Christ? Me. Is this gospel a personal gospel
to me? Is this my gospel? What think
ye? Verse 17, he saith unto him the
third time, the third question, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? Me. What am I here for? What am I here for? Am I here
for heaven? Who doesn't want to go to heaven? Who wouldn't want to see streets
made out of gold? Paradise, he called it. What am I here for? Am I here
for things, or do I love Him? He is heaven. He is heaven. I've been over to England twice,
and I've seen the Royal Crown Jewels, that big scepter, the
Star of Africa diamond, you know, a huge thing. I thought, what
if they set up a display right in front of the Renaissance Center,
right over there, and we all walked out, and there they were,
right there. You could walk right up to them and touch them. None
of us would be going, is this real asphalt? They paved all
these in rocks and tar. Nobody would be doing that. He is all my heart's desire. Do I love Him? Do I want Him? Is He my inheritance? Is He the
pearl of great price to me? I hope so. I hope so. Because
all who desire Him, get Him. All who desire Him, get Him. What think ye of Christ? I pray
the Lord would give us all a heart to say, Christ is all. Christ
is all. He's the first. He's the last. He's everything in between. He's
all my hope. He's all my salvation. He's all
my desire. Christ is all. All right, let's
stand together.