So looking back at Matthew and
all the questions he asked, the Pharisees and the Sadducees that
were here, what they didn't realize is the answer was standing there. That he was the answer. But the
thing is, the only ones that see him will know that. The questions,
what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They answered,
the son of David. And in the flesh, we are exactly
like that. We are just like them. Our minds are so limited on what
we have to understand anything about Christ, anything about
the Gospel. Even if we had the answers to
the questions we think we need to know, we couldn't do anything
with it because we wouldn't understand it. And in ourselves, we know that
we're nothing but completely dead in the flesh. We know that
our minds are a complete vanity, that our hearts are continually
evil. So do we trust what we say and what we ask or what He
says? And I don't know if you all remember,
but John recently asked or made the statement that any question
we want to know is found in the Scriptures, found in the Bible.
and not just the word of God. I mean, not that it's just found
in here, but the living word of God, which is Christ himself.
And I don't mean questions like who has better barbecue, Eastern
or Western, you know, or who's, who's the best basketball player,
Michael Jordan or LeBron James. These are questions of what,
what thinking of Christ. This is the answer to that are
here. And John said that, is that true? Is this just something
we say is just, we just say, Hey, all the questions we have
are found here. But the thing is, most of the time, we don't
even know what question to ask. And when we do, it comes from
the flesh. It comes from a heart that's
complete vanity from self-righteousness. We like things explained to us.
And I remember Mike Walker saying one time, he said, I don't explain
the gospel. I proclaim the gospel. If I don't understand it, I don't
explain it. The one in whom all answers are is who we proclaim,
and that's Christ. What think ye of Christ? And
the words that we, the questions that we have like here, what
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? These are questions
he asked. And the words, what, when, where,
why, how, who? You know, I just did a search,
and they occur thousands of times. Thousands of times. And if you
remember in high school, in college, and even in law enforcement,
we tell people to go through these questions to determine
what the narrative is, to figure things out. This is how we wrap
our brains around things. We're always asking questions,
but when it comes to Christ, Another thing I remember Mike
Walker saying is these things that we try to find out, it's
like we always have sheets that are too short. And most of y'all
know, I know I have a quilt at home that if you pull it up too
far, your feet are cold. If you pull it down to cover
your feet, your head's cold. That's the questions we ask,
the answers we look for. It's never going to satisfy.
So just as in Matthew here, each of these questions are definitively
and eternally and infinitely answered in Christ. And the more
I read, the more I see that everything in the Word is infinite. Everything.
Every word is not that Matthew wrote this or Paul wrote this.
Christ put every word in this Bible on purpose, in the Scripture
on purpose. Every single word. Every word
is written by Him. And it proclaims His glory and
Christ in Him crucified. And these questions that are
in the Bible, like what think ye of Christ, that He asks, it's
what we call rhetorical questions. And we know what a rhetorical
question is because we tend to ask them ourselves to make ourselves
look good. But when Christ asks these things, He knows all things. He knows everything. Christ does
not ask a question because He needs an answer, because He already
knows the answer, because He is the answer. He asked a question
to make a point, to glorify Himself, rather than get an answer. And
if you remember in Peter, well, if you remember Peter being asked
three times by Christ, you remember this. He said, Peter, do you
love me? And the third time, Peter was
grieved. Why? Because we don't want to
answer that question in our flesh. We do not. We know what we think. But the third time, he said,
love us me thou, Peter. And if you remember what Peter
said, he said, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love
you. Jesus knew the answer. He knew. He asked Peter three
times. You remember what he said after that? He said, feed my
sheep. But in the Bible, these questions reveal God's promises
and His covenants. We know He's the Alpha, He's
the Omega, He's the Beginning and the Ending. There's no questions
He does not know. In 2 Corinthians, it says, for
all promises of God are in Him, yea and amen, unto the glory
of God by us. So are all these questions answered
in the Scripture? So we'll look at these and we'll
start out with what? What did He do for us? What happened? What did He do for sinners? And
it's a very simple question. And we think we can answer it,
but do we really understand? So here's what the Scripture
said. It's what He did for us that
every person from whom Jesus Christ died was redeemed and
justified in His blood. That's what He did. In Matthew
1, He said, It says, and she shall bring forth a son, and
he's talking about Mary, and thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. There's no doubts
in this. There's no doubts. Not one single
solitary soul for whom Christ died will be condemned. Every
one of his sheep will be found. And if you look at the Old Testament,
have you ever seen one thing in the Scripture that was ever
foretold that didn't happen? Everything happened exactly the
way He said, and no man could withstand it. So what happened? What did He
do for us? Here's what He did for us. And
this is in Romans 8. We just read this a couple weeks
ago. This is what He did for us. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called. And whom He called, them He also
justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. What shall we say then? That's
the question we ask. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? That's not a question. That's the answer. So what are
we? What am I? What do we think of
ourselves? There's an infinite number of
things of what I think of myself. But by God's grace, I hope what
we think of ourselves is what Paul said when he said, I'm the
least of the apostles. Not meet to be called an apostle.
Here's what Paul said he was. I was before, a blasphemer, a
persecutor, and injurious. So what happened if that's what
Paul was? but I obtained mercy. That's what God did for us. And
the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love,
which is in Christ Jesus, and this is what we are. And this
is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. That's what we are. And that is every sinner that's
found in Christ. John also recently said in a
sermon, and it kind of made me think of this, he said, when
we do ask a question, it's the wrong one. And I remember him
making a statement saying, the question I ask myself, I still
do, am I willing to be elect? Am I? John said, that's the wrong
question. The right question is, am I a
sinner? And he said, Spurgeon once said,
and I've read this before, he said, in one of his sermons,
that a sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Spirit has made him
so. Because you don't know you're a sinner until Christ reveals
that. But everybody's a sinner, right? I mean, everybody you
ask, are you a sinner? Yeah, but this sinner is an eternity-bound
sinner. That before Christ, that you
confess yourself to themselves, and nothing but yourself sinned.
God alone does that. So what shall we say? Is that
not another question we ask? What shall we say? Is this not
continually on our mind? The truth is I'm scared to know
what I would say. Scared to death of it. Scared
to death to know what I think and how I might answer. What does Christ say? What shall
we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? Is this what I do in the flesh? Absolutely. What does Christ
say in Christ? He says, God forbid. So if you could turn to 1 Corinthians
15 to see what we are. What am I? What is a sinner? And in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse
10, what am I? But by the grace of God I am
what I am. And His grace which He has bestowed
upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than
they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me.
So is it by the grace of God that I am a sinner? Absolutely. By the grace of God, I am what
I am, the chief of sinners. And this is what keeps us going
to his feet to find rest as beggars for grace and mercy. So what
am I? In Ephesians 1 6, it says to
the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us
accepted in the beloved. That's what we are. Holy and
without blame, that's what we are in Christ, not ourselves. So the next question is when?
And this is another question that we're very curious about.
I remember thinking, you know, when is a sinner saved? When
was I saved? When were his people saved? If
I'm not, if I'm not saved yet, when will I be saved? I remember
thinking that. But what does Christ say? Our
definition of when and his are two completely different things.
In John 17, he says, Father, I will that they may also, whom
thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold
my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before
the foundation of the world. Absolutely sovereign. We weren't
even there. Weren't even there. We have absolutely
nothing to do with it. Absolutely sovereign act. That's
when a sinner's saved. before the foundation of the
world. There's no way we could have anything to do with it.
And Ephesians says, according as he has chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. So we were holy and without blame
before him in love, before the foundation of the world. That's
not a when, I understand. But that's what Christ says when.
who was verily foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you. And that's what
our life is, that his salvation is made manifest. But what about
today? We talk about when. In 2 Corinthians,
for he said, I have heard thee, when in a time accepted. And in the day of salvation have
I succored thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
And that's today. And tomorrow it'll be today.
And the next day it'll be now. But it's all in his time, the
when. According to his will, in Habakkuk
he says, for the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at
the end of it shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry, wait
for it, because it will surely come. It will not tarry." And
you see, God is never in a hurry and He never tarries. He is always
exactly where and when He is supposed to be according to His
will. But again, when is not in a time the way we think. In
Galatians 1, Paul says, but when it pleased
God. That's when, when it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him among
the heathen and immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood. That's
when on Christ's terms. Is that the answer we look for
when we ask? No. But that's the answer. That's the only answer that will
give us any comfort. But also, and this is the one
I cannot understand, in Romans 5, he says, for when we were
yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
But he commended his love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners, he died for us. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled by God, by the death of his sons, much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. So when is
that? When we were without strength,
when we were sinners, when we were enemies. That's when he
saved us. That's not the answer we would look for. And so it
pleased God to do this in his appointed time. I can't understand
it. So how do we see this? The only
way we see this is when we see by faith all that God demands
of me is found in His Son. That's the only time. So how
did it happen? How are we saved? How are we
convinced of sin? I can't even begin to understand
that. It's like the song, I know not how God's wondrous grace
to me he hath made known, nor how unworthy Christ in love redeemed
me for his own. I know not how the Spirit moves,
and even if I did know, I wouldn't understand it. But here's what I do know. Here's
how that I do know. And it's this simple. And this
is one of the first scriptures I ever learned. For by grace are ye saved. It's
that simple. That's how. For by grace are
ye saved, through faith, in that not of yourselves, this is a
gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. His sovereign
mercy, his glory, that's how we're saved. I don't know how
the spirit moved. I couldn't even begin to entertain
that in my brain. In Philippians, I know back when
we were doing the reading last week, we were talking about another
thing Paul said, how he does it. He apprehends us. He said,
that which I am apprehended of Christ, he is able to subdue
all things unto himself. That's how he does it. And if
you listen to the words subdued and apprehended, these are a
act of resistance on our part, yet that's what he does. That's
how he does it. He subdues us. And the longer
I'm around, the more I'm convinced. That work is the greatest miracle. If we see any miracle on the
face of this earth, that's the greatest. This is the same miracle that
he says Lazarus come forth. How does he save us? With his
sovereign mercy and grace. And if you remember, John made
the statement talking when Moses asked to see God's glory, God
showed him, he said, you've seen my mercy, you've seen my glory.
If he saves us by his grace and his mercy, then we've seen his
glory. I think if we see, if we witness
any other miracle, they would pale in comparison to the salvation
of a dead sinner. So how does he do it though? Through the preaching of the
gospel. In Romans 10.13, it says, For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? Through the preaching of the gospel. And here's what
Paul said, For the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness. but unto us which is saved is
the power of God. For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." And that's
how he does it. When somebody asks you how he
saves you, is that what we say? In the flesh? If you go ask somebody
how God saves you, that's not what they're going to say. This
is what the scripture says how he does it. By the grace of God,
by his sovereign mercy. So where does he do it? If salvation was before the foundation
of the world, where did he save us? Where does he save sinners? Where will he save sinners? Nobody
knows this. Nobody. But where he says sinners is
what we just read. It's where the gospel is preached. In Matthew 18, it says, for where
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them. And where is this? And you know, we look on our
bulletins, and on the front it says, a lighthouse in a dark
place. That's where. And that where has nothing to
do with this building. As long as the gospel is being preached
here, that's where that will be. If you could turn to John chapter
4 to look at the where. So where will we be? Where will
the sinner be when Christ saves him? Where will that happen?
And in John 4, you recall the story of the Samaritan woman
who was at the well, and Christ deals with her, and she says,
come see a man that told me all things that ever I did. Is not
this the Christ? But where does this happen? And
if you look, starting in verse 5. Then cometh he to a city of
Samaria which is called Sychar, which is absolutely nowhere.
Nowhere. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria,
which is called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob
gave to his son Joseph." And in verse 6 it says, now Jacob's
well was there. That's where. This isn't a physical
well. This is the well of Jacob. This is the well that Christ
talks about, that whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give
him out of this well shall never thirst. It's a well of water
springing up unto everlasting life. This is the well of Jacob.
And we talk about Jacob. And you know, John mentions Jacob
means deceiver, supplanter, and liar. And everywhere a sinner
is saved, it'll be at Jacob's well, because that's Christ.
It has nothing to do with a place. It's a person. So turn one more time. Where
will this be in Christ, though? Where will this be? Turn to Psalm
85. And again, this is how Christ
answers the question, where? Not how we answer it. But it's
the only answer that will give us assurance. In Psalm 85, And it's this simple in verse
10. Where mercy and truth are met together. Where righteousness
and peace have kissed each other. That's where salvation happens. And
that is a person. That is the cross. Not a physical
cross, that's the cross of Christ and Him crucified. And all these where's are not
a place but a person. And that brings us to another
question, to the why. And the why is probably the worst
one. It's probably the best one. Why
is the question that we will torture our soul with in the
flesh? But when we look to Christ, it's
one that probably the only thing that keeps us going, probably
the only source of hope we have when we rest in Him. Why would
God save me? How many times, if you have been
saved, have you asked that? If I knew, my mind couldn't wrap
itself around it. Why would God save anybody? You
know, I think about the song that Charles Wesley wrote, and
can it be, and can it be that I should gain an interest in
the Savior's blood? Died he for me? Who caused his pain for me? Who him did death pursue? He
pursued death. Why? And Charles Wesley answers
that. And the answer is amazing love. And can it be that thou, my God,
just die for me? And we're to say this in the
scriptures, and we don't even have to turn to this scripture.
And it's probably one of the most abused scriptures that there
is. But it's absolutely true. And that's John 3, 16. We know
it. Every professing Christian knows
this. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him
should not perish but have everlasting life. That's amazing love. What does that mean? What is
the world? Whoever God says it is. He is absolutely sovereign in
salvation. God defines the world, not us. And if he loved Jacob and hated
Esau, then the world he loved is the world of sinners. He is Jacob's will, and whoever
believes in him shall believe, because they did before the foundation
of the world. Yet we still have a nature of
unbelief in us. We are reminded constantly. We
remember what Paul said in Romans. That which I do, I allow not.
What I would that I don't. But what I hate, I do. For the
good that I would not, I do it. But the evil which I would not,
that I do. Why do we live in this state? Why are we like that? And in
the flesh, it's basically the question of the clay saying to
the potter, why hast thou made me thus? And the answer is unbelief. In sin, that's why we live in
this state. Why can't I do good? Why is evil
always present with me? Why do I do what I hate? How
many times have we asked ourselves that? I mean, just like Paul,
you can torture yourself. Why can't I believe? Why am I
in my unbelief? Why can't I look, trust, rest,
obey God all the time? There are millions of reasons,
infinite number of reasons for that, but the answer is sin.
But again, we ask, this is the wrong question. The question
we should ask here, the why, is why should I not trust God?
Not why don't I? Why should I not? The truth is all doubt, all unbelief
is senseless, shameful, unreasonable, but unnecessary. There are a million reasons we
don't, but name one reason we should. But here's our answer. Here is
the answer to why that ended all otherwise. If you would turn
to Matthew 27. And remember, God, this is the
why that gives us hope and assurance. And we know this. We read it
not long ago. Matthew 27, verse 46. And about the ninth hour, Jesus
cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. That is to say, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? That is the only why that matters.
The only why. God forsook God. God asked God
why he was forsaken. But God knows all things. This wasn't a question that I
even understand. It was a question raised to leave
no doubt that Christ was forsaken in our place. It's the only why that matters.
It ends every other why we have. It puts them away. And I can't
even begin to understand the conversation that was going on,
the mindset that was going on here. We can't understand those
things. Because He knows all things. We just heard Peter say,
Lord, you know all things. But here, Christ was forsaken
and became our surety. He said, this is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased. So how do we know this? How do
we know this ended? Because right after speaking
this, it's recorded in John in Christ's last recorded words,
when Jesus therefore received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and he
gave up the ghost. It ended every while we've ever
had. Christ was made sin for us in
our place that we might be made all things to Him. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption, but it's assurance, faith, love,
belief, obedience, everything is in Christ. It is finished,
there's no more wise. But it is the only answer that
satisfies or give us assurance or contentment. So the last question is who? And when I think of this, the
first thing I think of is Paul. And we know this as well. It's
a very common verse that's read, for the witch calls, and this
is in 2 Timothy, for the witch calls, I also suffered these
things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. And all our hope, all our assurance
is not in the what's and the where's and the when's and the
why, but knowing Christ, knowing the whom. And when believers look by faith
to Christ alone, we have all the answers. We know what Paul
meant. If you look back when he said,
nevertheless, I'm not ashamed for I know whom. Paul said, I determinedly know
nothing but Christ and Him crucified. The rest of it does not matter. And when we know this, our soul
will cry out and rejoice. And this isn't a question. In
Micah, he says, who is a God like unto thee? That's not a
question. That pardons our iniquity and
passes by the transgressions of the remnant He retaineth not
his anger forever, because he delights in mercy." And you see,
here Paul described every sinner's greatest trouble, the war we
have in ourselves, knowing that evil was always present with
us. And when Paul was saying, what I can, I don't. What I don't
wish I did, I do. He didn't ask who, what, when,
where, why. You remember what. What Paul said, he said, who
shall deliver me from the body of this dead? Who shall change
our body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body?
And all the questions that we had that have any bearing on
our soul are found in the who, in Christ, in the living word. When John said that all our questions
can be found here, he was exactly right. So what did he do? What are believers? Accepted
in the beloved. Delivered for our offenses. When? At His appointed time. When we
were sinners. When we were without strength
and we hated Him. When we were enemies. How? By His sovereign
grace and mercy. His glory. Why? Because He loved
us. Amazing love. And where will
it be? At the well of Jacob. where mercy
and truth meet. And in all these questions, the
what's, when's, where's, how's, and why's are found in Christ
alone, the only one with whom we have to do. It's like Paul
said, that I may know him and be found in him. And this is
what the who, that is the answer to that. And this is one of my
favorite verses. because it seems like it's always
relevant. He said, for I am the Lord, I
change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. And I hope and pray that he keeps
us, that he keeps our eyes and heart on him. I know as soon
as I walk out of here, my mind will go right back to asking
these questions that mean absolutely nothing. But I hope I never get tired
of coming back to this place and hearing the same answer to
the question over and over and over and finding that he is the
only answer, the one answer, that will ever satisfy and be
enough for the many questions we have. And like he says, I know that
my flesh and my heart faileth, but he, the who, is the strength
of my heart and my portion forever. All right.