Has Christ Been Revealed To Me?

Q: What does the Bible say about the revelation of Christ?

The Bible teaches that Christ reveals Himself to those chosen by the Father, allowing them to see and understand His Word (Matthew 11:25-27). In Matthew 11:25-27, Jesus expresses gratitude to the Father for revealing truths to those considered 'babes' rather than to the 'wise and prudent.' This indicates a divine choice in the revelation of Christ. Understanding this, we see that the ability to grasp the Scriptures and the holiness of Christ comes only when He chooses to reveal Himself to an individual. It is not a matter of intellectual merit but of God's sovereign grace in opening our eyes and hearts to see Him as He truly is.

Q: How do we know if Christ has been revealed to us?

When Christ is revealed, we will see His Word, His holiness, and our need for His mercy (1 Corinthians 1:30). Knowing if Christ has been revealed to us involves several evidences in our lives. Firstly, we begin to see and understand His Word, recognizing it as foundational truth beyond mere opinion. Secondly, we perceive the holiness of God, leading us to a profound respect and fear of Him. Thirdly, a personal acknowledgment of our sinful state emerges — understanding that we are wretched and in need of His saving grace. These elements indicate a true revelation of Christ, confirming that we are drawn to His righteousness and redemption as our sole hope.

Q: Why is understanding Christ's holiness important for Christians?

Understanding Christ's holiness is crucial as it compels reverence and highlights our need for His grace (Isaiah 6:1-5). The holiness of Christ is essential for Christians as it reveals His absolute authority and purity, striking a deep sense of reverence and awe within us. When Isaiah encounters the Lord in His glory, his immediate response is one of awareness of his own sinfulness. This acknowledgment is vital because it shapes our view of God, contrasts our nature as sinners with His perfect holiness, and leads us to recognize our need for His grace. Understanding Christ's holiness places Him in His rightful position as the sovereign Lord and reinforces our dependence on Him for salvation.

Q: How does seeing ourselves as sinners help in knowing Christ?

Recognizing ourselves as sinners is crucial to understanding our need for Christ's redemptive work (Romans 3:23). Seeing ourselves as sinners is a fundamental aspect of knowing Christ. When He is revealed, we will understand our true nature and the gravity of our sin. This self-awareness not only humbles us but also drives us to seek mercy and forgiveness. As David expresses in Psalm 51, the cry for mercy comes from an understanding of our wretched state. Without this recognition, one may assume they need no saving, which distorts the gospel of grace. True revelation of Christ leads us to the point where we see that we need Him to cleanse us and redeem us from our sinfulness.

Matthew 11, and look with me again at verse 25. At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Now let me read that verse again. At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my father, And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son. And he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

I received a wonderful text from a dear sister last Monday. She had a question. And this was her question. How do you know when Christ is revealed to you? If the Spirit of God reveals Christ to a person, how will that person know? How can I know if Christ has been revealed to me? The first thing I responded with was, oh, what a good question. What a question. That's the question I wish every soul on this earth would ask. That is the question that I want to ask. That's the question that I don't ever want to stop asking.

Has Christ been revealed to me? Has Christ been revealed to me? Well, I responded to this dear sister and after I did, I immediately felt that this was something that all of us needed to hear. and needed to see, all of us. So I prepared a message for us tonight titled, Has Christ Been Revealed to Me? Has Christ Been Revealed to Me? How can we know if Christ has been revealed to us? I responded with six or seven evidences or things that will take place when Christ is revealed to a person.

And we're just gonna go through those things for an outline for this message. I'm just gonna go thing to thing. And I would encourage every person here to ask yourself as we go through these things, has Christ been revealed to me? We're gonna go thing to thing, and I really, oldest to the youngest, everybody in between. I wanna encourage all of us, let's ask ourselves, has Christ been revealed to me?

All right, number one, turn with me to Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel 37. Verse 1, it says, The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass by them round about. And behold, there were very many in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry.

And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, prophesy upon these bones and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Verse five says, thus saith the Lord God. When Christ is revealed, number one, we will hear the word of the Lord. We will hear His Word. We will see His Word. False religion is completely full of man's Word. Totally blind to God's Word. Completely cut off from God's Word.

False religion is full of man's opinion, man's tradition, and all of it is wrong because man is wrong. There is a way that seems right to a man in his own eyes, but the end of it is always destruction. Always. Because the ways and the words and the opinions and the thoughts of man, they are a lie. They are a lie. Let God be true and every man a liar. Let God be true and every man a liar.

When Christ is revealed, first thing, all of the sudden, we will see his word. We will see his word. We will see what he is saying in his word. Man's words will go out the window. We will say, well, I was told this as a child, and I was told that, and that'll all go out the window. And God's word will reign. It will reign. We will bow to it. God said it, there it is. We will bow to it. We will see Christ's word, and we will see Christ in his word. we will see that every word of his is concerning him. It's concerning him. And I'm gonna give us an example of this here in just a moment. But let me just say, if we look at this word, I really wanna reach somebody tonight.

If we look at this word, and if we say, I can't see any of this. I just don't understand any of this. Let me go buy a new translation. Maybe a new translation will help me. I don't get it. I open the pages. I don't understand this. Here's what it means. Christ has not yet been revealed. This is what it means. Let's take note of it. Let's be aware of it. Christ has not yet been revealed.

When Christ is revealed, this Word is unlocked. We see that Christ is the key to the Word. We see Christ is the door to the Word. When Christ is revealed, number one, we see His Word. We see His Word. Just before our Lord ascended, it says that He opened His disciples' understanding that they might understand the Scripture. And they saw Christ in it. They saw Christ. They said, wait a minute. He said all of this. And all of this was speaking of him, the prophets. They wrote about him. They saw his word. All right.

Number two, turn with me to Isaiah six. Isaiah chapter 6, verse 1 says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord." I saw the Lord. Sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the Pharisees. The seraphims, each one had six wings, with twain he covered his face, with twain he covered his feet, with twain he did fly, and one cried unto another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. Number two, when Christ is revealed, We will see His holiness. We will see His justice. We will see God Almighty seated on a throne high and lifted up. High and lifted up. We will see sovereign power and authority and it will strike fear in us. It'll strike fear and reverence. Holy fear and holy reverence. Reverence.

It absolutely amazes me the way that men and women think of the dreadful, fearful Lord and King Jesus Christ. It amazes me how they speak of him and blaspheme him and they make toys out of him and they make stickers out of him and they make t-shirts out of him. Making merchandise of men's souls by making merchandise out of him. If he is so low in our eyes that he's just a mockery to us, he's just a byword, just Jesus, then Christ has not been revealed.

Let's put it on the table. Christ has not been revealed. And this is just me personally. I'm just speaking for myself on this. But I am personally not fond of merely saying his name is Jesus. And I'm not fond of hearing his name as just Jesus. And here's the reason why.

His days of walking down here in the dust as our substitute the substitute for wretched, sinful people. Those days are finished. Those days are finished. The days of Him humbling Himself so low that He would allow men to spit in His face, those days are finished. The angel said, call His name Jesus because there will be a point in time when he will humble himself so low that he will allow men to do that to him for the substitution and salvation of his people. But those days are over. Those days are over. He is not just Jesus anymore. He never was just Jesus. God was manifest in the flesh. Emmanuel came down. His name is Jehovah. His name is I am. Someone will say, No, that's the name of God, the father. Well, there you go. All right, there you go. To anyone who has that response, Christ has not yet been revealed. Philip said, show us the Father. And Christ said, have I been so long time with you, Philip, and yet hast thou not known me? Have I not been revealed to you yet?

Look at Isaiah 9. Verse 6, it says, For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father. Who should be called that? This child. The Everlasting Father. The Prince of Peace. Who should be called that? The Child. Call the Child the Prince of Peace. And call Him the Father. And call Him God. Because that's who He is. That's who He is. When Christ is revealed, we will see Him high and lifted up as the holy, almighty, eternal God that He is. He is not a co-pilot. He's not, you know, a co-worker. He's God. He's God. All right, number three.

Look back at Isaiah 6. Verse 1, it says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Verse 5, then said I, woe is me. For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." When Christ is revealed, we will see ourselves as the sinners that we are.

David said in Psalm 51, have mercy upon me, oh God. You know what's missing in religion today? The crying out for mercy. The begging of mercy. And it's because men and women do not see themselves as being the sinners that they are. David said, I need for you to blot out my transgressions. I need for you to wash me throughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Every person who has Christ revealed to him or her will say that. I need you to wash me. I do. I need you to cleanse me with what? Your blood. your soul-cleansing blood, for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin as ever before me.

Against thee, the only, have I sinned, and whatever you choose to do with me, you're just and right in doing it." Because I see myself. I see myself. When Christ is revealed, a sinner will get a very good look at his or her own sin. If I do not see myself as being that bad of a person, Christ has not yet been revealed. The Apostle Paul said, Oh, wretched man that I am. The chief sinner. The chief sinner. Number four.

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 26, it says, For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom. When Christ is revealed to us, it is made known to us, and we become convinced of the fact that Christ is all we need to know. All we need to know. Christ is all that we need to have revealed to us. When Christ is revealed to a sinner, that sinner sees Christ as being all the sinner needs. All I need to know. Paul said that I might know him. That I might know him. If I believe that my salvation and my eternity hinges on my knowledge of millennialism, or dispensationalism, or Zionism, or eschatology, or ecclesiology, or any other ism, or any other ology, Christ has not yet been revealed to me. When Christ is revealed, Christ is all. Christ becomes all. He literally becomes all. Christ is all we will know. Christ is all we will want to know.

Look at chapter 2, verse 2. Paul said, I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Back in chapter 1, verse 23, Paul said, We preach Christ crucified, that's it. Number five, look right here at verse 30, chapter one, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, it says, but of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness.

When Christ is revealed, We see His righteousness. We see His righteousness. A light bulb comes on. A light bulb comes on. We see His righteousness. Romans 10 says men and women are naturally going about trying to establish their own righteousness. And that's what people are doing. That's what they're doing. trying to establish their own goodness before God and their own worthiness before God.

But it says they're doing it so ignorantly, not realizing that there's none good but God. There's none righteous but God. If I believe that I can establish a goodness without and a holiness within by my flesh, Christ has not yet been revealed. He's not yet been revealed. Number six, verse 30.

But of him are you in Christ Jesus who of God is made unto us. Wisdom and righteousness and sanctification. Christ is holy goodness for us. The only holy goodness we have. for sinners like us. Christ is holy purity for us. But what about righteousness? But what about sanctification? This is the will of the Father, even your sanctification. That's right. And that's why he provided Christ. Because Christ is holy purity for us. Hold your place right here in 1 Corinthians 1. I told you I was going to give you an example of what it was to see Christ in the Word.

Turn back about three pages to Romans 12. I guess you don't really need to hold your place too badly. It's only three pages. Romans 12, when Hannah and I were in Danville two Sundays ago, a brother read scripture that morning, and he read Romans 12, verses 9 to 21.

And as soon as he started reading, my mind silently said, I just acknowledged to myself, this is all good, holy, true, profitable advice for us. But that's Christ. This is speaking of Christ. This brother began reading in verse 9, look at verse 9, Romans 12, 9. Let love be without dissimilation. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. That's Christ. Verse 10, be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love in honor, preferring one another. That's Christ.

You say, well, Gabe, you don't want to strive to do that? Oh, yes, I want to strive to do that. But that's Christ. He's the only one who actually did it. Actually did it. Verse 11, not slothful in business. Know ye not that I must be about my father's business? Father, I finished the work you gave me to do. Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.

That's Christ. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer. That's Christ. Distributing to the necessity of the saints, given to hospitality. That's Christ. This is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless them which persecute you. Bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that do weep. Be of the same mind, one toward another. Mind not how I think. Condescend to men of low estate.

That is the Lord. We can see the cross of Christ in every word in the scripture. That's what he did. He joined himself to us. He made himself to be one with us, to redeem us from what we were. That's Christ. Flip back over to 1 Corinthians 1. I'm almost finished here. That, what we just read, that's the very last thing that verse 30 right here says. This is number seven, verse 30.

But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. To have Christ revealed is to have redemption revealed. If we ever truly see Christ, we will see that the work of salvation is finished.

If we're going around trying to figure out what must I do? What must I do? Christ has not yet been revealed. The work is finished. We are totally complete in him. How do you know? Seems now I see him dying on that tree. From the cross, he cried, it is finished. When Christ is revealed, men and women see that. They believe that.

Is salvation finished? Yeah, who finished it? Christ did. Is God the Father satisfied? Absolutely. I believe Christ has been revealed to you. When Christ is revealed, rest is revealed. Peace is revealed. The glory of God's goodness and mercy and grace is revealed. All of it is revealed in Christ. Verse 31 says that according as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord.

Now, let me leave us with this. Let me leave us with this along with all of those things being true results and evidences of having Christ revealed to us. Let me bring all of that down to this. Let me leave us with the heart of the matter concerning Christ being revealed to one of his own. Go with me to first Peter one. I'll close with this first Peter one. Has Christ been revealed to me? If he has, this will be the heart issue of the whole matter.

1 Peter 1 verse 8 says, Whom, having not seen, you love. Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love. Whom having not seen with physical eyes, only with the eyes of faith, given to us through his word, seeing him as he has declared himself to be, you love. And here's the key to that. Okay, here is the key to that.

You say, well, everybody loves Jesus. Who doesn't love Jesus? I mean, who doesn't love Jesus? Here's the key to that. Everybody loves the Jesus they have made up in their minds. Everybody loves the Jesus that they want to love. who says the things that they think He said and does the things that they think He did and did them because of the reason they think He did them. Everybody loves that Jesus.

I'm talking about the one who declared Himself in the pages of His Word that our eyes have been opened to see. Him. You love Him. Not the Jesus who loves everybody and died for everybody and is trying to save people if saved. Him. Whom having not seen him, you love him. You love him. Paul said, I count everything else in my life and in my religion to be dung. I just want him. Paul, are you talking about the one who knocked you off your horse and blinded you? Yep. I want him.

David said, one have I desired, that will I seek after. There's only one thing that I want to seek after, that I may dwell in his house to behold his beauty. David said in another place, for one day in his courts is better than a thousand. I love that. I always want to say a thousand what, David? Name anything. Thousand anything.

He is all. He is everything. He is the pearl of great price. It's not heaven. It's Him. It's Him. He is my one thing needful. I love Him. I'm telling you. You talking about the one of election and predestination and particular redemption? Yes. I love Him. I need Him. I glorify Him. I bow before Him. And by His grace, I give Him the glory for the fact that I do all those things. It's all about Him. Lord, reveal that to me. May I never stop begging the Lord to reveal that to me. Lord, reveal that to all of us, for Christ's sake. Amen.

Has Christ Been Revealed To Me?

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the revelation of Christ?

How do we know if Christ has been revealed to us?

Why is understanding Christ's holiness important for Christians?

How does seeing ourselves as sinners help in knowing Christ?

Sermon Transcript

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Has Christ Been Revealed To Me?

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the revelation of Christ?

How do we know if Christ has been revealed to us?

Why is understanding Christ's holiness important for Christians?

How does seeing ourselves as sinners help in knowing Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Gabe Stalnaker

Comments

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