Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. For today's message, I want to
begin by reading from the Gospel according to Matthew, and will
be Matthew chapter 22. If you have a Bible handy, I
would encourage you to grab that Bible and open it up to Matthew
chapter 22. Be finding that while I read.
I want to read the first 14 verses of Matthew chapter 22. Matthew
records and says these words. And Jesus answered and spake
unto them again by parables and said, the kingdom of heaven is
likened to a certain king which made a marriage for his son and
sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the
wedding and they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants,
saying, Tell them which are bidden, behold, I have prepared my dinner,
my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready, come
unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and
went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. And
the remnant took his servants, and treated them spitefully,
and slew them. But when the king heard thereof,
he was wroth, and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those
murderers, and burned up their city. Then said he to his servants,
the wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find,
bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into
the highways, and gathered together, all as many as they found, both
bad and good. and the wedding was furnished
with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he
saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he
saith unto him, Friend, how comest thou in hither not having a wedding
garment? And he, that is the man without
the wedding garment, and he was speechless. Then the king said
to his servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away,
and cast him into outer darkness, There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. And listen to these words, verse
14. For many are called, but few are chosen. Now that's Matthew
chapter 22, verses one through 14. And think of these are the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And here we see these
four things that I want to point out. One, here's the first thing
we can gather from this parable of the Lord Jesus Christ. Number
one, the king's son is the preeminent concern of the king. Do you see
it? The kingdom of heaven, verse
two, is likened to a certain king which made a marriage for
his son. Listen to me now. Don't touch
the dial, don't turn it off. Please, listen to me. The most
important thing to God the Father in all of the universe and all
that there is, is his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Second thing
we see here, some who were invited to celebrate the Son, mock the
Son and his ambassadors. You read that in this passage.
Thirdly, we find out according to our Lord's own words here
in this parable, such as this, there's those who even though
invited to celebrate the marriage of the son. They mock the son,
and they mock the son's ambassadors. They mock the king's ambassadors.
According to our Lord Jesus Christ, these will be condemned. But there's a fourth thing here.
Some will celebrate the son of the king. That's right, they'll
celebrate the son of the king, but let us never ever presume,
I read again, verse 11 through 14. And when the king came in
to see the guest, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding
garment. This was to honor the son. And
he saith unto him, friend, how camest thou in hither not having
a wedding garment? And he had nothing he could say.
He was speechless. Then the king said to the servants,
bind him hand and foot and take him away and cast him into outer
darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. Why? Because many are called,
but few are what? Chosen. Chosen by God. Elected by God. Predestinated
by God. Now this, this is profound enough. by itself, such a profound thing
that our Lord taught in a, we might say, simple parable, a
simple human illustration. This is profound enough by itself,
as I said, but take note of the reaction of some people to Christ's
preaching. Now we're going to go on, and
we're going to read, look at it. We'll look now at Matthew
22, verses 15 through 40. Think of it. Some, when our Lord
had said this, when he taught these things, some wanted to
deal with politics. Do you see it? Look at Matthew
22 verse 15. And when the Pharisees. Then
went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle
him in his talk, and sent out unto him their disciples with
the Herodians, saying, Master, we know thou art true, and teach
us the way of God in truth. Neither carest thou for any man,
for thou regardest not the person of men. Do you see their condescending
attitude toward our Lord Jesus Christ? Tell us, therefore, what
thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute
unto Caesar or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness
and said, why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me, do you see
it? Show me the tribute money. They
brought unto him a penny. He saith unto them, whose is
the image and superscription? They said unto him, Caesar's.
Then saith he unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things
that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's. When
they had heard these words, they marveled and left him alone and
went their way. So there's the first group. After
Christ has given this first parable, the king and his son, and this
wedding the king had prepared, already prepared for his son,
and some who were bidden were mocked and made light and even
killed some of the ambassadors. And after this, the Pharisees
came and wanted to try to tangle him up in the talk of politics.
But others, others wanted to deal with prophecy. That's right,
they wanted to deal with prophecy. Look at it, Matthew chapter 22
and verse 23. The same day came to him the
Sadducees, which say 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, that is, no child, left his wife unto
his brother, likewise the second also, and the third unto 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. Jesus answered and said unto
them, you see it? Now listen to what he's saying.
Jesus answered and said unto them, ye do err, not knowing
the scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection
they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels
of God in heaven. But as touching the resurrection
of the dead, have you not read, which was spoken unto you by
God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. And when the multitude heard
this, they were astonished at his doctrine." So you see, two
groups of people. One wanted to deal with politics.
They wanted to entangle him in talk of politics and questions
and answers about politics. The second group comes around
and wants to talk about prophecy, the resurrection, things yet
to come. Notice there was another group still. And we read of these
people in chapter 22, verses 34 to the end of the chapter.
But when the Pharisees had heard that he put the Sadducees to
silence, they were gathered together. So here this group of Pharisees
comes again. Then one of them said, there
was a lawyer asking him, saying, tempting him, and saying, Master,
which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him,
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with
all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. Do you see it? 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. So you see these three different
accounts, these three different times when men came or sent others
to ask Christ questions and some wanted to deal with politics,
others wanted to deal with prophecy, others wanted to deal with religion
in general and things concerning the law. They all did, all three
of these groups of people. They all did as many people,
sadly as many people still do today. They ask questions out
of pride, out of ego, and sometimes out of outright rebellion against
God. But think about this. I want
you to take note to Christ's answers to their question. The
question to the first. The answer to the question of
the first group about politics was he simply told them the facts. Look at this coin. Whose image
is on this coin? Caesar's image is on that coin.
So then you give to Caesar what's Caesar's. But then he adds this,
you give to God what is God's. And he silenced these people
in their tracks. Why? Because they were just wanting
to argue about politics. They wanted to entangle him and
trap him in his words. The second group, his answer
to them about prophecy was, you don't understand the scriptures.
Do you see what he's saying? You don't understand the scriptures.
Nor do you understand the power of God. And he gave them an answer. to their question and then passed
right on. Never gave it another thought.
These answers could not have taken more than a few seconds. A few seconds. These answers
he gave to their questions could not have taken but a few seconds.
And then look at his answer again to the third group about that
of religion. He basically then calls their
bluff. Calls their bluff. The two greatest
commandments are these. You love God with everything
you are. and you love your neighbor as yourself." And notice that's
all he had to say about these questions. Now, with all these
questions, here he has three different groups, or at least
Two different groups on three different occasions come to him
and ask him questions, questions about politics, questions about
prophecy, questions about religion, and they did this trying to entangle
Christ in his words. With all these questions, now
I want you to take note. Note that Christ now has a question
of his own determination. Do you see it? Look at verse
41. While the Pharisees were gathered together, this is that
third time, the third time. While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them. Now here is the Son of God. He
has dealt briefly with their political question, just briefly,
told him the facts, moved on. He's dealt with the question
about prophecy, gave him the facts, moved on. He dealt with
questions about religion, gave him the facts, and moved on. But now, Christ, the God of all
glory, God manifest in the flesh, has a question of his own determination.
And look at what he asks. While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them, saying, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Do you see that? That is the
question from Christ. That's my subject. That's my
title for this early morning Sunday message. What think ye
of Christ? You see, that is indeed the question.
That indeed is the question. You see, here is God in the flesh. Here is the creator. He understands
politics. He ordained things to be as they
are. The powers that be are ordained
of God. So here's God in the flesh. Here's
the creator. Here's the master. Here's the
Lord. Here is he who is sovereign over
all people and all things. And now he has a question. Do
you see it? Now he has a question. Now, if
he asks a question, this is vital. It is most vital to men and women's
souls. And his question is this. What
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Do you see it?
Whose son is he? His question wasn't about politics.
His question was not about prophecy. His question was not about religion. His question was not about ecclesiology,
or that is, church doctrine, or that is, how does a local
assembly supposed to conduct themselves? How do we worship?
What do we say? When do we do it? He dealt with
none of that, asked no questions about that. He did not deal with
psychology. He did not deal with the subject
of angels. He did not ask questions about
angels. He did not ask questions about
the cosmos. And as God is my witness, our
society is filled with questions about the cosmos, about the universe.
He did not ask questions about economics. Do you get the picture
here? These three different groups,
or two different groups on three different occasions, I should
rather say, they all came and they came with ulterior motives.
They came trying to somehow prove that he really did not understand
things like they are. They asked him questions. They
asked him a question, remember, about politics. Another asked
him a question about religion. Another asked him a question
about prophecy. And he gave them an answer to
their question and moved right along. Never paid it any more
heed. But then he asks a question. And his question is this. What
think ye of Christ? And that's my question this morning.
What do you think of Jesus Christ? You see, it doesn't matter how
little or how much you understand about politics. It does not matter
how little or how much you understand about prophecy. It does not matter
how much you or little you understand about religion or church doctrine
or psychology or angels or the cosmos or the economics and on
and on and on. Here's the one preeminent, determining,
ultimate question to any and all. Think ye of Christ. You see it? Here is Christ himself,
the Lord of glory. Of course, these men here denied
that he was the Christ. They refused to acknowledge he
was the Christ. They refused to bow down to the
fact that he was the Christ. So they were trying to trip him
up. They didn't like who he was and what he had to say, and when
he had answered their questions and then just brushed them off
to the side, brushed them off to the side, he asked the question,
what think ye of Christ? Again, I say this is the one,
the preeminent, the determining, the ultimate question to any
and all, what think ye of Christ? And note, note this amazing thing,
their answer, Their answer was doctrinally correct. Now let's
look at it again. While the Pharisees, verse 41,
if you're reading along, Matthew 22, verse 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. Now notice. He saith unto them,
now he hath, look at it, how then doth David in spirit call
him Lord, saying, and now he quotes from the very Old Testament
scriptures themselves, 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 I think, This was a actual
prophecy of the Christ of God, given in the Old Testament, hundreds
of years before Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ, actually came
into the world. And King David, God's king over
Israel, said, 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? No man, verse 46, no
man was able to answer him a word, neither does any man from that
day forth ask him any more questions. Why? Because when a man or woman
truly hears these questions, it'll do one of two things. It
will drive you away. and you won't want to discuss
the subject anymore, or God Almighty, by His blessed Holy Spirit, will
so enable you to have an interest in these things that you must
find out the answer to these couple of questions that our
Lord Jesus Christ asks. So again, note, their answer
was doctrinally correct. It's not just about being doctrinally
correct. The problem is it's clear that
their answer was insufficient in spiritual perception. They
didn't get it. They were blind, our Lord said,
leaders of the blind. And it's sad to say that in this
day and age in which we live, we have many blind leaders of
the blind. We have many who claim to be
called of God or sent of God, but they don't ask or deal with
the answers to the central question. What think ye of Christ? I ask
you that. What do you think of Jesus Christ?
Whose son is he? Who is he? What did he come to
do? What is his person? What are
his attributes? What are his characteristics?
What defines him as who he is? Religion in our day deals with
everything. Again, politics, prophecy, religion,
church doctrine, psychology, angels, the cosmos, economics,
and on and on and on and on. But nobody wants to take time
to deal with who is Jesus Christ? What do you think of Christ?
Did you get that last question? If David then call him Lord,
Lord, how is he his son? Now, I want to say something
here. And I pray God that he give you,
by his spirit, the desire to listen to what I'm about to say.
We used to sing a song years ago, years ago, the title of
that song, and in that song were these words, Jesus saves, Jesus
saves. I'm here to tell you that that's
not so, because there are many Jesuses. Jesus Christ himself,
himself said that there shall come some and preach a false
Christ, a false spirit, and a false gospel. You see, it's not Jesus
that saves, it's the Lord Jesus that saves. Listen to what the
Apostle Paul actually wrote. I know this is a familiar passage
to many who are in religion today. And this passage reads this way.
In Romans chapter 10, it says these words. For the scripture
saith, whosoever believeth on him, Whosoever believeth on him
shall not be ashamed. It says, for there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But that's the point. It's not just calling upon a
Jesus or some Jesus or any Jesus. It is calling upon the Lord Jesus. And this is what the Apostle
Paul said just previously to this. He says these words. But
what is it? That is, what is the word of
faith? Verse eight. But what is it? The word is nigh
thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of
faith which we preach. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth, The Lord Jesus. Do you see that? The Lord Jesus. And shall believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart men believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him, that is, the Lord Jesus shall not be ashamed. Ashamed of what? Ashamed of his
Lord. that he is sovereign, that he is majestic, that he is immutable,
that he is God manifest in the flesh. For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And then look at this.
How then shall they call on him in 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? And how shall they
preach except they be sent? You see, a true God-sent preacher
preaches Jesus Christ the Lord. All other subjects fall under
the auspice of this great question. What think ye of Christ? Listen to what else the Apostle
Paul wrote. It's in his letter to the church at Philippi. In
Philippians chapter two, and think about this, listen to these
words. Philippians chapter two, speaking to God's people about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse five, Philippians two.
Let this man be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who
being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death. But look at what kind of death
it was. And became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven,
things in earth, and things under the earth. And look at it, here
it is. Look at it, Philippians chapter
two. and verse 11, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Do you see that? Now, hear me now. The question is not, will you
bow to Jesus Christ as Lord? Everyone who's hearing me, and
even those who never hear me, all men and women, young and
old, all men and women, will bow to Jesus Christ the Lord. The question is this, will God
now, in time, in your life, bow you down to the Lordship of Jesus
Christ in mercy and compassion and grace? Or will God at the
end bow you before Jesus Christ in judgment and condemnation
and ruin? That is the question. You will
bow to Jesus Christ as Lord. You will one day confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. My desire,
my prayer is, my prayer to God is that he may bow you down today. Salvation without question is
of the Lord. Salvation is a work of God. You see, is the person of God's
Christ the ultimate question to me? That's the question. There's a question. Is the person
of God's Christ the ultimate question to me? Is the person
of God's Christ the ultimate question to you? The Apostle
Paul makes it clear in Romans chapter five. Listen to what
he says. Romans chapter five, verse six. For when we were yet
without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. This is who the Lord is. He died
for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die. Yet peradventure for a good man,
some would even dare to die. Ah, but God commendeth his love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life. Do you see what he's saying?
Those for whom Christ died will be saved. That's what he just
said. Look at it, and not only so, not only this, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. What think ye of Christ? That's
the question. What think ye of Christ? I ask you to tune in,
12 o'clock on Sundays, and you can hear a portion of one of
our Lord's Day Sunday morning messages. I do encourage you
to listen at 12 noon.