Join me in Matthew 22. Matthew
22, verse 41. While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Matthew 22, 41. 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, The 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. We're going to turn back to Matthew
22, which I just read. We read earlier from Isaiah 1,
where the Lord says, come now and let us reason together. And oh, how I enjoyed that song
I'll just sing. What a prayer. And my prayer this morning is
that each of us individually will spend time this morning
in the presence of God, as if no one else is there, reasoning
together. Throughout scripture, our Lord
often asks questions, Old and New Testament, And when he asked
these questions, he doesn't ask them for his knowledge. He asked
them that man might receive, might reveal their heart. In verse 42, we are presented
with what I consider the question of questions. What think ye of
Christ? As I stand here this morning,
I ask myself, what think ye of Christ? I ask each of you individually,
what think ye of Christ? Who is Christ to you? Is he a
good man? A martyr? A prophet? An example? Just a babe in a
manger that you pull out once a year. Is he God? Is he Lord? Is he your Lord? Is he precious? What thank you
of Christ. Now at times, particularly when
a question is vast, it helps sometimes to approach the question
asked from the standpoint of a different question, and to
come at it from a different approach. So before we answer too quickly
what think ye of Christ, let's spend some time answering these
two questions. Question one, where are you? Question two, how can a man be
just with God? In answering these two questions,
we might gain some insight on what do I think of Christ. To begin answering the questions,
let's turn over to Genesis 3. I'll come back to Matthew, I
believe, if you want to keep a placeholder. Genesis chapter 3. At the ending of Genesis 3 6. The woman gave also unto her
husband with her and he did eat verse seven and the eyes of them
both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they
sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they
heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the
cool of the day. and Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the
garden. And the Lord God called unto
Adam and said unto him, where art thou? Most everyone in here, probably
everyone in here, has heard this account or read this account.
And if you're like me, You read over the question, where art
thou? Simple question, we just answered
it. Where are you? Hiding amongst
the trees of the garden. Think of where this question
occurs in the scriptures. Think of all that has transpired
before this question was asked. There are a few things that I
remember from my high school English class, very few things. But one thing has struck with
me through the years. Oh, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art
thou Romeo? My teacher did such a good job
when she was going over this play. explaining that Shakespeare
wasn't asking where Romeo was here. If I remember the scene
correctly, he's right outside the balcony. It's right there.
But the question being asked is, Romeo, why are you what you
are? Why are you of the family that
my family is feuding against? Where art thou? Our Lord wasn't
asking, where is your physical being? Where art thou? In the light of Genesis 2.19,
flip over to it. We have recorded and out of the
ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every
fowl of the air and brought them on to Adam to see what he would
call them. And whatsoever Adam called every
living creature that was the name thereof. God brought every beast to Adam. and never once did he say, Adam,
where art thou? Up until Adam sinned, rebelled
and died, he and God walked together in perfect communion. There was
no separation. They were together. They had
communion one with another. But Adam's iniquities separated
him from his God. A man was asked, where art thou?
His answer is the only answer any man in our natural state
can give. In verse 10 of chapter three,
and he, Adam said, I heard thy voice in the garden and I was
afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. Where are you? I was afraid. Never before had
Adam feared being in God's presence, but now sin has entered, and
Adam can know nothing but fear in God's presence. Adam continues,
I was naked. He had no covering for his shame. I hid myself. Adam had lost the
joy of being in God's presence, Life and death, light and darkness
cannot dwell together. The man Adam answered after his
fall. But Paul also answered the question,
where art thou? Turn over to Colossians chapter
three. Colossians chapter three, Paul,
who was in time past known as Saul of Tarsus, was at one time
a self-righteous Pharisee who persecuted the church, but God
had mercy upon him and saved him by his grace. After his conversion,
he writes to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colossae,
and in Colossians 3.3, he says, for ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God. Paul, where are you? I am hid with Christ in God. What about all your good works? What about all the books of the
Bible you've written, Paul? Surely you have some standing
before God that makes you better than just being hid in Christ.
Look at all that you've done. Can't you point to those and
say, I have some merit. I have some rights before God. I have. I deserve a better crown
than you do. Paul, what's your answer to this? My life is here with Christ in
God. Christ alone is all my salvation. That was Paul's only hope. That
was Paul's only answer. Every other answer to the question,
where art thou, is vain and foolish. As foolish as it is, Adam thinking
that he could hide from Almighty God amongst the very trees that
God himself created. They'll do us no good. Did Paul come upon this by his
reasoning, by his searching the scriptures? He was taught of
Gamaliel. He is a very brilliant man in
the scriptures. Did he learned of himself? His
self-teaching made him a self-righteous Pharisee who persecuted the church. One day, God struck him down. Put him in the dust. And revealed
to him he's nothing but a sinner. And Christ is his only means
of salvation. That's our hope. The Lord strike
strike down the pride that rears up in my heart. Keep me in the
dust before my Lord, that he receives all the glory. Where are you? In Adam or in
Christ? For God, that's the only stance
we have. Next question we'll look at is
the one Job and his friends spent much time discussing. How should
man be just with God? Do you know what's being asked?
Once again, just like we're not looking for where you are physically. Do you know what it means to
be just? Just means to be right, to be
held blameless. That's the easy part. Who defines
just? Who defines what is right? See, it makes a difference. It
makes a difference on who says what is right. It makes a difference
on the relationship you have with the person who says what
is right. For my children, I declare that
they are just when they address their elder as Mr. or Miss, and
they respond to a question by an elder with a yes or no ma'am
or sir. That's my law to them. It applies
to them. It doesn't apply to your children. You make your own rules for your
own children. I can't do that for you. But
my children live under that law. To be right, to be just in my
eyes, they must respond correctly. So who defines what is just when
a man seeks to be just with God? As so often in the scripture,
the answer is in the question. God defines what is right, what
is just. And what is it that God defines
as being just or right? Listen to Deuteronomy 32, four. God is the rock, his work perfect,
for all his ways are judgment, a God of truth, and without iniquity,
just and right is he. God is the definition of just. How should man be just with God? He must be of the same nature
and character as God himself. God is holy. If man will be just
with God, he must be holy. We just looked at what man is,
what we are in Adam. Our nature is corrupt, unholy. The very opposite of God. God is eternal. Man is temporal. God is spirit. Man is dust. How shall man be just with God? He has to be just like him. Turn over to Jeremiah 13. Jeremiah chapter 13. Adam took action after his fall. And made himself. Sewed himself
together some fig leaves to try to cover his shame and his nakedness.
Did that make him holy? Did that give him the same character
as God? Of course not. We, by our natures,
do the same thing today as our father did. We try by our works,
by our longing, by our doing or not doing, we try to make
ourselves holy. Is it possible? Can a man take
action? Can he change his walk? Can he
change his way of life? Can he live the clean life and
thereby become holy? Jeremiah 13, verse 23. Can the Ethiopian change his
skin or the leopard his spots? If it were possible for the Ethiopian
to change his skin, for the leopard to change his spots, then may
ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil. We don't have the
power. We don't even have the desire,
truth be told, to change our natures, to want to be holy in
Adam. Every man born of Adam's sin
is a dead rebel in the sight of God. We've broken God's law. We are unjust. How then can a man become just? For us to become just, something
has to change. One of two things has to be changed. You either change the definition
of just or you change the nature of the man. Can the definition of just change? Only if God changes. And there are many today preaching
God changes. believing God changes, hoping
God changes, because that's their hope of eternal salvation, is
that when they get there, they've done good enough and God's gonna
change his mind that you don't have to be quite as just and
holy as God is. You did your best, I'm going
to let you in. But if God changes, where is
my hope? For I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. God changes, I'm
consumed. No, for me to be just in God's
sight, I must be changed. I have to have a new nature put
within me. How can I have that new nature?
because we have a just God and a savior. This same God who cannot change
himself. Is able to take dead, lost, unholy
sinners. And make them the righteousness
of God. He gives to us a new nature. Sounds like a simple task. God,
who spoke the worlds into being. Just by word of his power. Can
simply speak to my heart and say. Your sins are gone. Yes. But there's more to it than
that. God can only act according to
his nature. When Moses went to Mount Sinai
in Exodus 24, six and seven, the Lord passed by before him
and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy
for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. That
is good news. And that will by no means clear
the guilty visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children
and upon the children's children unto the third and fourth generation. I'm guilty. And he will by no means clear
the guilty. I'm in trouble. Sin must be paid
for. And there is a price. When Adam
sinned, he died and death passed upon all men. The soul that sinneth,
it shall die. My sin cannot simply vanish. It must be paid for. And I have
absolutely nothing with which to pay for it. God alone has
the ability to pay for my debt. In the fullness of time, he robed
himself in the likeness of sinful flesh. He came to be the savior
of sinful men. He kept the law. He honored the
father. And at the time appointed, he
went to his cross. It was there our Lord was made
sin. Father took our sin, put it on
his son. He bore my burden. He suffered
the penalty that was due me. I should have been on that cross.
I should have been separated from God. That is all that I
deserve of myself. but the just and holy son of
God became sin to redeem this worthless son of Adam. And he accomplished what he came
to do. He rose again from the grave. He took his life again
by his own power to prove that the sin debt was paid and that
God is satisfied with his son's work. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
16. Matthew 16, I've presented three
questions for our consideration. One, thank you of Christ. Where
art thou? How should man be just with God? Matthew 16, verse 13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, whom do
men say that I, the son of man am? And they said, some say that
thou art John the Baptist, Some Elias and others, Jeremiah or
one of the prophets. He sayeth unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? These men could answer and tell
what other men said about Christ, who they thought that he was. We can look at our neighbor that
our children, our wife, our husband, our friends, and our family,
and we can assume to tell what they think of Christ. But none
of that matters to my eternal well-being. The question, the question of questions, what
think I? of Christ? Has to be answered by me. I can't
answer for you. You can't answer for me. My question. What think I of Christ? He's my Lord. I worship him. I adore you. He is worthy of
all honor. praise, and power. I can't express
what I think of him. He's my king. He's my brother. He's my friend. He's my redeemer,
my savior, my hope, my righteousness. He is all and in all to me. Without him, I have nothing.
I can do nothing. Without Him, I am separated from
God. Without Him, I am worthy of only
one thing, eternal damnation and separation from the Father. If you ask me what of Jesus I
think, though still my best thoughts are very poor, I say that He
is my meat, my drink, my life, my strength, and my story. He
is my shepherd, my husband, my friend. He is my savior from
sin and its sting. He is my hope from beginning
to end. He's my portion, he's my Lord,
and he's my King. Where are you? In Adam? In Adam all die. Oh, how I hope
and pray that you can say with those Corinthians. My life is
here with Christ. In God. How should man be just
with God? By being. Holy as God is holy. And where do we find that? Our
Lord was made sin upon that cross. He took what I am. He became
it. He died for it. He rose again
and he sanctified me. He justified me. He gave me what
he is, his righteousness. That's how I stand holy before
God. Not in this sinful flesh. We see things Well, we see them
not as God sees them. Our eyes are hit with sin. Everything we touch, everything
we do has sin. But God sees me as he sees his
son. And he loves me because he sees
his son. He accepts me because he sees
his son. I'm the righteousness of God.
because Christ liveth in me. I pray that's been a blessing.
I think we'll dismiss in a word of prayer.