Matthew chapter 22. Now the obvious title to the message is, What Think Ye of Christ? But this morning as I was going
back over this, I thought the better title for this morning anyway, this
message is, whose son is the Christ? That's the question. He says, what are your thoughts
on this? Whose son is the Christ? And that really drives at the
heart of salvation. That eunuch said to Philip, I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Whose son is the Christ? You
know, the answer to this says a whole lot about whether God
has saved me or not. Whose son is the Christ? Well,
it starts out here in verse 34. It says the Pharisees get together
again. Our Lord put them to silence.
And so they get together to come up with a new game plan on how
they might trip him up in his message. And one of them, it
says a lawyer. Now this is not a lawyer as we
think of. He was not a civil lawyer, not
someone who practiced law. He's one who studied the law
of Moses. and interpreted the law of Moses. And this lawyer is going to take
a shot at him. It's his turn now. He's going
to take a shot at him. And he's going to take a shot
at him on the grounds of theology. You see, they came at him on
the grounds of church and state. Is it lawful to pay taxes to
Caesar? And he answered that question.
You give to Caesar what's Caesar's and you give to God what's God's.
And he shut them up. And then the Pharisees or the
Sadducees came to him on the grounds of the resurrection and
the foolish questions they ask. This woman married seven men
and at the resurrection, whose wife she gonna be? Well, they
didn't believe in the resurrection. They were just trying to trip
him up. So now they come at him on the
grounds of theology. They think, surely we will find
a chink in the armor here somewhere if we just keep shooting. We'll
find a chink in the armor. There's no chink in his armor.
He's God. Well, this lawyer asked this
question, which is the great commandment in the law? They
considered that there was 613 Commandments. And they professed
to keep them. 613. And he says, which is the
great commandment? Well, I tell you this, with the
Lord Jesus Christ, all of them are great. No commandment that
God ever gave was not a great commandment to Him. When He kept
the Law as our substitute, He kept every commandment. You know,
that one young ruler came to him and said, what commandment
shall I keep that I may inherit eternal life? Because he was looking for one
specific commandment that had eternal life attached to it.
He said, I've done all these other things because the Lord
said, keep the commandments. And he said, well, I've done all this.
He said, which one? All of them. The Lord said, keep
the commandments, that's plural. And he said, which one? I don't
know. The Lord's saying plural, he's saying singular. But the
Lord kept all of them. This is the point, the Lord kept
all the commandments. He believed God perfectly, He
loved God perfectly, He kept all the commandments perfectly.
That is the righteousness of God's people. He is, the Scripture
says, the Lord, our righteousness. His obedience is our righteousness.
So anyway here, the Lord meets this man, this lawyer, on the
grounds that he comes to Him on. And He asks him, which is
the great commandment? And I'm sure there was those
standing there that thought the Sabbath was the greatest, circumcision
was the greatest, you know, they all had their answers for which
one was the greatest. But the Lord gives the answer. to love God. This is where it
starts. If it doesn't start here, you
might as well go home. It's a love God with all your
heart, soul, and mind, and your neighbor as yourself. Now, he
says this is where it starts. It starts with obedience in love. There's only one person that's
ever walked on this earth that will ever walk on this earth,
that loved God with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind, and
he loved his neighbor as himself." And that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
He did. He did. He said, "...on these
hang all the law and the prophets." He said, "...concerning love,"
He said, "...against such there is no law." You go over in Corinthians 13
and read a description of love. Where there is love, where there
is real genuine love. You don't need a bunch of laws,
rules, and regulations, do you? Love motivates you to take care
of one another. Love motivates you to look after
one another. Love motivates you not to do
any harm to your neighbor. Love does that. And that's what he's saying.
He says, love is the greatest commandment, to love God with
all your heart and your mind and your soul, with every fiber
of your existence, you love God. And you love your neighbor just
like you love yourself. And then Jesus, the Lord Jesus
asked them a question. Now, this is the question of
questions. This is it, right here. Well,
this is what the old timers would say, this is where the rubber
meets the road, right here. You know, they just wanted to know
if it's right to pay taxes or not. They wanted to know about
the resurrection. Here's where salvation is. Right
here's where salvation is. What? Thank you of Christ, whose
Son is He. Men want to know about everything
but Christ. This is why there's no real rest
or joy or peace. They're looking for answers in
every area, about every subject, except, who is this man? Who is the Messiah? What think ye of the Lord Jesus
Christ? Whose son is he? Let's answer
this question. Whose son is he? They said he's
the son of David. Well, they got the lineage right,
but it doesn't stop there. Listen, if all He is, is the
Son of David, He can't do me any good at all. If He's not God, this is what
He's impressing upon them. The Christ, which means the Anointed
One, which means He's the Messiah. Who is he? Whose son is he? Aren't
you glad that God has made that known to you? Because they gave
the answer and he said, well, if he's his son, then why does
he call him Lord in spirit? And they couldn't answer. And
they walked away. They didn't ask him any more
questions. They didn't say, Lord, Explain this to me. What do you
mean? Tell me what you're saying. They
just, in their arrogance, in their pride, in their self-righteousness,
they just walked away and left Him alone. Aren't you glad God
hasn't left you alone? There are some people in here
who know who the Christ is. He's the Son of God. He is God
manifested in the flesh. That man that walked the streets
of Galilee, that Nazarene is none other and nothing short
of being God Almighty who created the heavens and the earth. He
came into this world and took upon Him flesh. God
did that. God did that. And he's saying
here, what do you think of the Christ, whose Son is He? And
he's speaking here of His deity. Of His deity. All they saw was
a man standing in front of them. And they saw no more than that.
And listen, all they expected was just a man. except for those
whom God saved. He said, Abraham saw My day and
was glad. Abraham knew that Jehovah was
the Christ. He knew that Jehovah was the
Savior. He knew that. David, Abraham,
Isaac, and David, and all those Old Testament saints, they looked
to the Lord Jesus Christ. They looked to Him as Jehovah.
That means Savior. The self-existing One is our
Savior. He's our Savior. So our Lord
is pressing upon these religious people His deity. Let me ask
you this. Is the deity of Christ important? Is it important? If we take away the deity of
the Lord Jesus Christ, we have no gospel to preach. I have no
good news for you. Because no one short of being
God can save me. No one, short of being God, can
save you from your sins. Can't do it. It's not possible. If we take away Christ, we have
no gospel to preach, we have no good news to tell. The good
news starts with Immanuel, God with us. It shall be called Immanuel. Call His name Immanuel, which
means God with us. God tabernacled among us. God
has dwelt among us in the person of His Son. It is the foundation
on which we stand. That's what Paul was saying this
morning in 1 Corinthians. There is no other foundation
that can be laid other than Jesus Christ, His person and His work.
Who He is, what He did, who He did it for, and where He is now.
That's the gospel. When our Lord said to the demons
to come out of a man. You know why they came out? Because
God commanded them to come out. That was God speaking. They said
this, listen, and we can learn something here. You can learn
something from a demon. We know who you are, the Holy
One of Israel. They spoke and they said, we
know who you are. You are the Holy One. You are
God. You are the God of Israel. We know you. All of our hope
is built on the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. It starts
there. It starts there. Paul said this
in 2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded
that he's able to keep that which I have committed unto him against
that day. Paul, why are you persuaded of
this? Why are you persuaded that he is able to keep that which
you have committed to him? Why are you persuaded of that? Because I'm persuaded that he
is God Almighty and God can keep me. God can keep, nobody else
can keep me. It is because He's God that He's
able to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by Him. He is the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son, the Messiah, the Christ. Christ is not His last name.
You know, it's Jesus Christ. Jesus, that's His name of humiliation. That's His identification with
us. Christ is His office. It's not His last name, it's
His office. He's the anointed Savior. That's who He is. He's
the Messiah. Now, was it necessary for Christ,
for God, to come into this world? If we are to be saved, it is.
If we are to be saved. It's absolutely necessary. necessary. The salvation that
you and I stand in need of could not be accomplished by a mere
man. It can only be accomplished by
the God-man. The God-man. It is the deity of the Lord Jesus
Christ that gives merit to his obedience. He said to that young
ruler, when he came to him, he said, good master. He said, why
are you calling me good? There's none good but God. And
what He's saying to this young man is, if all you see standing
in front of you is a good man, you've missed it. He said, because
there's none good but God. Now, if I'm good, if I'm good,
I'm God. That's what He's saying to that
young man. If I'm good, I'm God. That's what He's saying. And
that's why I say it's His deity that gives merit to all His work. And then it's His Deity upon
which, His Deity, listen, His Deity was the altar. It was the
altar. You remember the altar of wood
and it was overlaid with gold? His Deity is the altar on which
He offered Himself up as a sacrifice. People make so much of that wood,
you know, that cross was nailed to, that cross. Listen, the altar
here, that wood, or the altar that he was offered up on is
his deity. It's his deity. God. God. Listen to these scriptures. In John 1, it says, "...the Word
was with God, and the Word was God." And in verse 14 of John
1, it says, "...and the Word was made flesh." You see, it
says, "...the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." He said, "...a body hast thou
prepared me." a body hast thou created for me." It's written in Colossians 1,
15 and 18. It says, "...he that is the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the image of the invisible God." He is the exact expression
of God. He's God. "...and for by Him
were all things created, and He is before all things." That's
His eternality. Jesus Christ is before all creation. And by Him all things are held
together that consist. It is written in Hebrews 1.8,
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever. This is God calling God, God. He says, I can't understand
that. Well, get in line. You and I cannot comprehend God. That's like Martin Luther when
he was thinking of Christ dying on the cross and crying out,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He says, God forsaking
God? Who can comprehend that? God
forsaking God? Can't comprehend that. And our
Lord declared His deity to those Pharisees. He said, Before Abraham
was, He didn't say, before Abraham was, I was. No, he says, I am. He identifies himself as the
I am. I am that I am. Remember when
God spoke to Moses, I am that I am? And he's telling those
Pharisees, he said, before Abraham was, I am. I am the I am. And then he says in another place
in John 10, I and my father are one, putting himself on equal
footing with God Almighty. And then Christ has all the divine
attributes ascribed to Him. He has eternality ascribed to
Him. Listen, in Revelation 1.8, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the ending. It all starts with me and it
all ends with me. His immutability is set forth
in the Scripture. In Hebrews chapter 1, In verses
11 and 12, they shall perish. Talking about the earth and all
the things of this earth. 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. Hebrews 13.8, Jesus Christ, the
same yesterday, He's the same back in eternity, He's the same
today, and He's the same tomorrow, and He's the same forever. There's
only one person who can ever claim no change. God said, I
am the Lord, I change not. He's the only one. Jesus Christ
is impressing upon them and us this morning, that He is the
mighty God." Our Savior is God. And then omnipresence
is described to Him. In John 3.13, listen to this,
"'And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down
from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven.'" He's
laying claims to being in heaven, the Son of Man, being in heaven
at the same time He's on earth. You know when you read through
the Gospels how He knew their thoughts and how He knew what
was going on before they ever showed up. He says, let me tell
you what you're thinking. How many times does that show
up in the Gospels? He tells them what they're thinking.
He knows the intents of the heart. That's because He's God. And
then omnipotence is ascribed to Him. In Hebrews 1.3 it says,
"...who being the brightness of His glory, and the expressed
image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His
power, the power of His word, the Lord Jesus Christ, when He had purged our sins."
Speaking of the same person. This One who upholds all things
by the word of His power. The universe stays in check by
the word of His power. and the nations of this earth
stay in check by the word of His power." And it's this same
person that it is written of when He had by Himself, with
no help, purged our sins. Now I'm going to tell you something. If God has purged you of your
sins, He's going to save you. He's going to save you. If He's
put away my sins, if He's purged me of them, He's going to save
me. There's nothing to condemn me.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.
He took my condemnation. He took it. "...when He had by Himself purged
our sins, sat down..." That's victory right there. No priest,
and you know, listen, the high priest, and in that tabernacle,
there was not a chair for any of those priests to sit down
because their work was never finished. And there was not a
chair provided for them to sit down. But when Jesus Christ,
but right before giving up the ghost, he said, it's finished. And then what did he do next?
They buried him, he rose again, what'd he do? He sat down. He
sat down. On the right hand of God, He
sat down on the throne. He finished the work of redemption. He sat down on the right hand
of the Majesty on high. And you know what He's doing
there right now? He's ruling all things and He's making intercession
for transgressors. That's what He's doing. He said
in Matthew 28.18, "...all power is given to Me in heaven and
earth." I and my will is not a challenge to the power of Jesus
Christ. It's not, am I going to let Him
save me or not? My power, my will does not put
Him in check. My will does not put in check
the will of God. You wouldn't let that happen
to you. I know you wouldn't. I wouldn't. Well, God's on a
much greater level. He said, my will will be done.
God said, my will, my purpose will be done. I will do all my
pleasure. And you know what Samuel said
to Israel, and it applies to the true Israel of God, and that's
every believer? It is pleased God to make you
his people. And hell can't stop it. Satan cannot stop God. He said, the gates of hell shall
not prevail against you. He's talking to Peter about preaching
the gospel. The gates of hell will not keep
the gospel out. If God has determined, if it's
His will to send the gospel to China, it's going to China. It
doesn't matter if it's going to China or North Korea. In fact, it does, because when
we get the downloads for the month, Guess where some of the
messages I preach from this pulpit go to China and North Korea. There's, I think it was a couple
of downloads in North Korea, listening to the message coming
from this pulpit. God said, the gates of hell not going to prevail.
It's not going to keep the gospel out. The earth is the Lord's,
a fulness thereof, and they who dwell therein. It doesn't belong
to anyone else. Let's be thankful. Let's be thankful
and very humble that God has kept the gospel here. Because He can send it somewhere
else. He can take it away from here and send it somewhere else. Now, let's get on the manhood
of Christ for a few minutes here. Whose son is the Christ? Son
of God. Now, they did give the correct
answer when they said the son of David. He was put in the lineage
of David because God had made that promise. But the manhood of Christ, he's
God, yes. And He's a very real man. Someone
said, I think it was Scott Rich, that He's God as if He were not
man, or if He were not man, He's a man as if He were not God.
He is God, He is man in every way. He's God in every way, He's
a man in every way. When He said to love God with
all your heart, soul, and mind, He did. With His heart, soul,
and mind, He's a man. He's a man, except He knew no
sin. Perfect man. Now, was it necessary for God
to become a man? Was that really necessary? If
He's God, can He not just save us? No. No. God cannot dishonor His own law.
Actually, the law and justice would be totally meaningless.
You and I both, we hate an unjust system, don't we? We hate an
unjust system. When you go to law, then it's
prejudiced. It's respect of persons. We hate
that and we're sinful. We're a bunch of sinful creatures.
We hate it. God cannot be God and be unjust. He can't do it. God has to be
a just God. Now for God to be a just God,
satisfaction, For the sins that He forgives of sinners has got
to be rendered, it's got to be made. God cannot just forgive
me. God must be satisfied, His justice
must be satisfied toward me. For the soul that sinneth shall
surely die. That's what the Bible says, so
it has to be done. Now, without Christ, We can't answer that question.
How can God be a just God and a Savior? Apart from Christ,
that can't happen. That cannot happen. But in Christ,
in Christ, God can save me, God can forgive me, God can cleanse
me, God can justify me. That means clear me of all charges. Because He died in my place. Jesus Christ is my substitute. He's not... Listen, Jesus Christ
is not a substitute. He's the substitute. For a multitude
of sinners the Father gave to Him. Listen, nobody wants Christ
by nature. Nobody wants God by nature. I
tell you what, people don't want to be safe from their sins by
nature. They want to be safe from going to hell. You got enough
sins coming out of the rain, you want that. but to be saved from your sins,
to be saved from what I am. You know, true repentance goes
from, Lord, forgive me for what I've done to, Lord, forgive me
for what I am. It's the root of everything I
do. And that's why Christ was made
to be sin, because that's what I am. That's how much of a substitute
He is. He took my place. And God took out His wrath on
that man. And taking out His wrath on that
man, God took out His wrath on me. I died in Christ. I've already died. He tasted
death. He tasted death. He tasted my
death. You believe the gospel, He tasted
your death. And He took it away. Death has
no more sting now, does it? Death, where's your sting? Huh? Grave, where's your victory?
That grave opens its mouth. We take the casket to the grave,
and there's a gaping hole in the ground, and we put the body
down in there. We cover it back up. But I tell
you what. I'm coming back out of there.
I'm coming back out of that grave. That's just a resting place for
my body until the Lord brings it up and out of there. A new
body. A new body. Yes, the manhood of Christ was
absolutely necessary. Without it, God can't save me. Listen, Jesus Christ as a man
only cannot save me. As God only, He can't save me.
As the God-man, I have everything I need to stand in His presence.
I have it all in Christ. I have it all. It says in Hebrews 1.9, But we
see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death. It says in verse 14, For as much
as the children were partakers of flesh and blood, He took part
of the same. He became bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh. Everything that was against me, he put it
away. And now God can be God. God can be a just God and a savior
and save a wretch like me. That's good news. That's good
news. It's not good news. Somebody
tells me that Jesus wants to save me if I let him. That's not good news. You know
what's good news? Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. That's good news. That He conquers
me. He conquers my will. He conquers
my flesh. He conquers me. And He brings
me to His feet. He grants to me faith and repentance.
Because if He didn't, I wouldn't come and nobody else would either.
Because He said, You will not come to me that you might have
life. You won't do it. You won't do it. If I stand here and preach the
gospel and I leave the final results into your hands, you're
going to hell. And so am I. But if we leave
the results from beginning to end in the hands of God, there's
some sinners going to be saved. He's going to save some sinners.
Christ died for sinners and sinners are going to be saved. Well, I'm going to leave it right
there. I'm just going to, you know, somebody said one time
that said, what do you think about a man preaching a long
sermon? He said, well, I don't mind as long as he knows when
he's done. I know when I'm done. All right.