Turn with me back to Matthew's
Gospel chapter 22. We've already read that portion
of the chapter that concerns us. I want to consider our Lord's
question put forth to these religious folks that try to entrap Him,
catch Him in His words with their frivolous questions. Our Lord
asked the question of all questions, verse 42. Here's the question
of all questions. We can consider any question
more important than this. What think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? As we mentioned in the reading
and we're told in verse 15, the reason for their questions, the
reason they put these to Christ was to entangle Him. They entangled
him. Imagine that. We saw how well
that went. Entangled him, of whom we read
in John chapter 2 that he would not commit himself to men, even
those who professed made a profession only to believe on him. Why? Because he knew all men. He knew what was in man. Therefore, he did not commit
himself unto him. They're going to trap Him. They're
going to entangle Him, catch Him in His words, of whom we
read in Galatians 2 verse 3, in whom that is Christ, in whom
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. They're
going to trap Him. Oh, unlike their questions, which
were really unimportant, the Lord's question is of the greatest
importance. The answer as to who Christ is
has within it the answer to these other questions. For example,
how much importance could you put to this? How important is
the answer to this? To experience the answer to this,
how can a man be just with God? Now religion says it's easy,
the reason being because they've changed God. They've lowered
God's standard, but God never has. God still says it must be
perfect, without blemish, without fault, without spot, to be accepted. How can a man ever be declared
righteous before such a holy God? Robin was telling me she
had lunch with her friend some time ago, and this lady was telling
her about her pastor's message the Sunday before. Just nothing. And Robin asked her, does he
ever answer the question, ever dealt with this question, how
can a man be just with God? Her friends attended this church
for years, for years. She looked at Robin and said,
I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means.
He's never told us. He's never dealt with that. Isn't
that sad? To know who is the Christ is
to have the answer to this other question. That that frightened
Philippian Jeller asked Paul and Silas, brethren, What must
I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? How important is that? In Christ
alone is the cause and the answer to both questions. How can a
man be just with God? Look in Acts, if you will, Acts
chapter 13, or listen as I read. Acts chapter 13, here's the answer. Christ alone is the cause of
us sinners being justified before God. Acts 13 verse 38. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, this man, not one of
many, not even one of two, but this man, the only man, the only
Mediator between God and man this man Christ Jesus This man
is priest unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him through him
Because of him By him all they believe are justified from all
things That's what he said about that poor publican didn't he?
I tell you, the Lord Jesus Christ said, that man, not that self-righteous
Pharisee, not that bragger over there, but this beggar, not the
bragger, but the beggar is going home justified. Going home justified
in the sight of Almighty God, in the court of heaven on the
record of that public and it's stamp, not guilty. not guilty, going home justified
in all by Him, that is Christ, all that believe, are justified
from everything, all things from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. The prophet said that well-known
chapter in Isaiah 53, by his knowledge, Christ said, I know
my sheep, By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many. Why? On what grounds? For he
shall bear their iniquities. Everyone for whose sins he became
a substitute, every one of them, without exception, without exception,
will be justified, have been justified before God Almighty. Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter
3. Listen to this. Romans 3 and
24. Well, we ought to read verse
23 as well. For all have sinned, there's
no exceptions, and come short, infinitely short, of the glory
of God. Is there no hope then? Oh, yes. What's the answer? Being justified
freely, freely. Oh, I like that. justified freely
by His grace, how? Through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. Look across the page. Chapter
5 of Romans, verse 1. Therefore, therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. God's not angry with his
children anymore. God has no reason to be. The wrath of God doesn't abide
on them. Oh no, they're cut now? It's
full of mercy and grace and truth and blessing. Therefore being
justified by faith, we have peace with God. My soul. Peace with God. You mean it's
possible? Is this a reality? Is this too
good to be true? Well, if you look to any other
means or any other way or any other person but Christ, the
answer is yes. It's too good to be true. It
can't happen. But for every sinner that believes
on the Son of God, he can lie down in bed tonight knowing God
Almighty, as our Lord said, is His Father and our Father, and
His God and our God, and we're at peace with Him. He has no
quarrel with us. The wrath of God doesn't abide
on a believer. Thank God, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. Glorious peace. Because as Paul
tells us in Ephesians chapter 2, Christ has made peace. Christ is our peace. Oh, my soul. Then that can't
waver. That can't ever change. That
can't ever shift. There may be stored there no
maybe about it storms of life rage trial after trial Sometimes
like it was in the case of poor Joe one bad report on the heels
of another But what do you joke say that doesn't touch this?
That doesn't change this that doesn't affect this. I know that
my Redeemer liveth He's alive. I know that He is. None of this
has changed that. And I still have this good hope
that one day I shall see Him for myself with mine own eyes
and not that of another. And the only true answer to that
other question that we mentioned, what must I do to be saved? There's
only one. There's only one. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's mighty to save. Not Jesus
that only offers to save. That's an imposter. That is our
Lord saying in Matthew 24, is that one he warned them to beware
of. That's another Christ. Don't
go after Him. Don't trust Him. No, not Jesus
who merely offers to save. Or Jesus who tries to save Billy. But Jesus who what? He's mighty
to save. He's mighty to save. I'm looking
at proof of it right now. I'm looking at evidence. And
so are you. We're trophies of His grace,
my soul. Who less than a mighty Savior
could reach down and lift up a depraved sinner like me? Who
could do that? Who else could do that? Who could
make me a new creature other than Jesus Christ the Creator?
Who could set my feet upon a solid rock? Who could put a new song
in my mouth? Who could give me a new hope
through grace? Who but Christ, that is mighty
to save, can keep me from falling? He said, Larry, you're in my
hand. And Larry, know this, nobody,
nobody is going to pluck you out. My father gave you to me. You're mine in election, and
you're mine by redemption, and you'll be mine when I make up
my jewels in heaven. You're mine, and no one will
ever change that. Jesus, who is mighty to save,
he's the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on him, and you will
be saved. Bow down to him, come to him,
cry to him, and he, the Lord Jesus Christ, will save all that
do. to the uttermost. To the uttermost. One old preacher said, yeah,
that's what he does. He saves us from the guttermost
to the uttermost. Is that not what we read in Isaiah
chapter 45? Look unto me. Look unto me. Oh, aren't you glad? Remember when you looked everywhere
else? I mean, you look, it's just natural. Like those belly
aching Israelites at the Red Sea, blaming Moses. Why'd you
bring this out here? We should have known better than
to listen to you. I knew he would come to this
when they saw Pharaoh's armies and chariots and horsemen coming
up behind them in the Red Sea in front of them. And God said,
Moses, tell them this. Tell them to shut up. Tell them to be quiet. Tell them
to stand still. Can you imagine what they thought
when Moses delivered that message? God says, stand still. Are you
kidding me? Stand still? Oh, when God first
begins to convict our heart, our first natural tendency. Gotta
do something. Gotta do something. Get me a
Bible. Get me a Bible. Frank Tate's
message or article in your bulletin this morning. Learn, memorize
some verses so I can act religious. Let me pick up some jargon so
people will be impressed with my religion. Oh, no, no, no,
no. Got to make a decision. Got to
reform. What good's that going to do?
Oh, no, no, no. I don't need reformation. I need regeneration. Aren't you
so thankful? that God Almighty would not let
you go. Look unto me. I looked here,
I looked at altars, I looked at preachers, I looked here and
I looked there. Listen to everybody except God. And God said, Larry,
listen. Shut up! Be quiet! Stand still! Behold the salvation of the Lord! When He brought me to that place
where He forced me, and I don't have a problem with that, do
you? I'm glad His grace is irresistible. I'm glad it's all-powerful. I'm
glad it's reigning grace. What else could save me? And
oh, what a view! What a sight! When He opened my blinded eye,
and whispered in my ear, Larry, look unto me. Look unto me and
be ye saved. And I did. And I was. Look unto me and be ye saved
because I am God and there is none else. Don't look at the
church or the priest or the preacher. Look unto me. And be ye saved
with an everlasting salvation, with an eternal salvation, with
a perfect salvation. In Isaiah 45 verse 17, but Israel,
this is God speaking, he says, but Israel, God's Israel. He's not talking about those
Jews. He's talking about His true Israel, Jew and Gentile,
His called ones, His chosen, His saved. But Israel shall be
saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed
nor confounded, world without end. Oh, I like that. That's
exactly what Paul said in Romans 11, didn't he? So then all Israel,
Paul said, shall be saved. All God's people, Jew, Gentile,
black, white, all God's elect, all those for whom Jesus Christ
died shall be saved. What a degrading, dishonoring
thought of God Almighty that He would punish anyone for the
sins that Jesus Christ was punished for. My, so what a awful thought
of the just and holy God. It's never gonna happen. Christ
was made sin for his people that we be made the righteousness
of God in him. I like the old hymn that says,
with his holy garments on, I'm as holy as God's own son. How about that? How about that? What did the prodigal's father
say? Bring forth the best robe. What
are you going to do with it? Going to put it on that son that
stayed home? No, we're going to put it on
this filthy prodigal. We're going to cover that stench
from the whole pen. Cover him up. Put my robe on
him. The best robe. The robe of perfect righteousness
before the throne of God. What think ye of Christ? It's a personal question, isn't
it? Nobody else can answer it for you. What do you think of
Christ? Much like in Matthew chapter
16, remember that? When our Lord asked His disciples,
whom do people say that I, the Son of Man, am? Matthew 16 and
13. And they said, some say thou
art John the Baptist. Some Elias and others Jeremiah's
or one of the prophets you're you're one of the prophets then
then verse 15 he said unto them But whom say ye that I am Who am I to you? Oh, there's
there's the issue Every so often I have questions asked, sometimes
by phone call or by email. A lady, oh, some months ago,
sent me several emails one night. It was on a Saturday. I was preparing,
praying. And I thought, man, what does
she want to hear? First, she wanted, which confession
of faith does your church use? I said, the Bible, the Word of
God. Oh, well, she responded, that's
good, that's well and good, but I mean, what, the Philadelphia
Confession of Faith, blah, blah, blah. No, no, no. The Word of
God. That's all. The other not long
ago sent me a text, an email, wanted to know, what is your
church's view on eschatology? Ooh, that's a big word. Last
things, that's all it means. The doctrine of last things.
Are y'all post-millennial or pre-millennial or all-millennial?"
And I said, this is it. I answered, I said, this is it.
We believe when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we
shall see Him as He is. Anybody wants any more than that,
can't help you. Can't help you. Do you believe
in the gifts I've been asked? Can we come there and and glory
in the flesh. No sir, you cannot. Do you believe
in the gifts? I said yes. Thanks be unto God
for his unspeakable gift. Sometimes I want to ask these
folks, what do you want? What do you want? What are you
looking for? Why does those things even matter? Why would you even ask those
things if I tell you as much as God gives me the ability,
To do so, I'm determined to preach nothing, to know nothing, to
hear nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And you want
to talk about eschatology? You want to talk about prophecy?
You want to talk about the mark of the beast? My soul, something's
desperately wrong there. Is it not anything better than
this? Peter's answer to our Lord's
question, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Oh, our Lord pronounces a blessing
on that, doesn't he? Listen to what our Lord said
to Peter when he told him that. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah,
son of Jonah, a nobody, a fisherman. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona,
for flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee. But my
father, my father passed by all the smileys, all the know-it-alls,
those that consider themselves already righteous. They don't
need a physician. Oh, but Peter, my father has
done something for you. Miraculous and wondrous and marvelous. He's revealed to you who I am. Blessed art thou. I'm certain
of this. I'm certain of this. I can never
make too much of Jesus Christ. Don't have to worry about that
happening to a child. That'll never happen. I can never
think too highly of Him. It can happen. Oh no, it runs,
sad to say, in the other direction. I don't thank highly enough.
I'm not thankful enough. I'm not appreciative enough. In Isaiah 55, the Lord speaks
and says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways, saith the Lord. And how much these words
apply to God's estimation of His Son. For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your
thoughts, and my ways higher than your ways." God says, Behold Him. Behold Him. What's God's will? Behold My Son. Oh, what a day
that was on the banks of Jordan when Jesus of Nazareth came down.
And he said, John, baptize me. Baptize me. It becomes us to
fulfill, not to set aside, to fulfill all righteousness. Baptize me, John. Oh, my soul. And he does so. And Christ comes
up out of that watery grave. And at that moment, the heavens,
the clouds part. a dove descends, lands on Christ
and at the same time God Almighty speaks as He never spoke concerning
anyone else and never will. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. Behold Him. Behold Him. That
time afterwards on the Mount of Transfiguration Our Lord was
speaking to Moses and Elijah concerning his decease that he
should accomplish at Jerusalem. And while he did so, James and
John and Peter were sleeping. They were asleep. Just fell asleep. And when they woke up and saw
Moses and Elijah Peter, he said, I think Luke's account tells
us he didn't realize what he was saying, but he said, Lord,
Lord, he's got caught off guard. Ever happen to you? And he just
stuck his foot in his mouth. He said, Lord, this is a good
try to pretend you know that he hadn't been sleeping but oh
this is good this is great that we're here let's make three tabernacles
one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah and God said
no it's not going to happen you don't need three tabernacles
not when you have my son Now when you have the eternal everlasting
God who was made flesh and tabernacled amongst you, you don't need nothing
else. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Here be Him. Behold Him. Behold the Lamb of God. God commands
our attention be directed toward His Son. This religious world
reminds me of the time one summer that I worked on the boardwalk
just a few days after I graduated high school. Some of my friends
had been going up there for the summer for several years, and
they said, Larry, you need to come with us. You'll have the
time of your life. Come up and get a job on the boardwalk. Wildwood,
New Jersey, oh, you'll have a time. I like the start of the day. When I got there, all the so-called
good jobs were gone. So I got a job in this arcade. It was open on both ends, just
different jobs. And I ran this little stand,
people throwing darts at balloons. If you bust 4,000 of them, you
get a paper, you get an ink pen or something. But we all, people
were walking by, and we're all trying to get their attention.
Hey, come over here. Come over here. Don't walk by,
give it a try. Hey, come over here. That's what
the religious world does today though. Hey, come in here. We got anything you want. If
we don't have what you want, we'll get it for you. Come on
in here just like carnival barkers. Oh, let's discuss prophecy. Let's
talk about the last days. Don't walk by, come in here,
come in here. And God says, no, no, no, no,
no. Look to my son. Behold my son. Don't ever take your eyes off
of my son because in him I am well pleased. Look where God
himself looks. Listen to what we read in Isaiah,
I think it's, let's see, chapter 42. Behold this is God speaking
Isaiah 42 and 1 Behold my servant Whom I uphold mine elect and
whom my soul delighteth I have put my spirit upon him and he
shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles He shall not cry
nor lift up nor cause his voice to be heard in the street A bruised
reed shall he not break and the smoking flax shall he not quince
He shall bring forth judgment unto truth Don't you like this? Behold Him. Behold Him to whom
we've committed everything. Behold Him whom we trust. Behold Him who we believe shall
bring us to glory and present us with our thought before the
throne of God. Behold Him. He shall not fail. Man, I like that, don't you? that holds my soul in his mighty
hands, he shall not fail. He who trod the winepress alone
shall not fail. He who has made sin for me shall
not fail. He in whose hands God committed
the care and the salvation of every one of his elect, and Christ
agreed to that, to be their surety before the world ever was. He
promises that he will bring us back to the Father's house and
present us before him and say, Father, I and all the children
that you gave me, he shall not fail. Behold him. Behold him. I believe that Jesus
Christ is that one who shall save his people from their sins. That's why he told Mary, the
angel, call his name Jesus, he shall be great. And then afterwards
he told Joseph, call his name Jesus, for he shall save. He
shall save his people from their sins. That's why we're giving
him that name. It means the salvation of the
Lord. There's no middle ground. There's
no in-between. He either did, either saved His
people, either put away their sins, either brought in an everlasting
righteousness, or He didn't. In Hebrews 1 and 3 we read, when
He had by Himself purged our sins. Oh, behold Him. What do you think of Him? Isn't
He something? Isn't He something? The hymn
writer said, when I think that God, His Son not sparing, sent
Him to die, I scarce can take it in, that on the cross my burden
gladly bearing, He bled and He died to take away my sin. I can't hardly get a hold of
that. I can't hardly take it in. Oh, behold Him! I think,
I believe that if this sinner is accepted by God, it will be
in him alone, the Lord Jesus Christ. I probably told you this
story. Years ago, I met Lindsey Campbell
and some other folks. I was waiting to meet him, rather,
before he arrived at the Danville Country Club. It was a private
club. You had to be a member to get in there. I wasn't a member.
But if someone had invited you as their guest, then you could. So I was waiting for Lindsey
to show up, and I noticed this guy just kept kind of eyeballing
me. Then he came over and said, do
I know you? I said, no, you don't know me.
He said, who are you? And I told him. He said, you
a member here? I said, no, I'm not a member. He said, you're not
supposed to be here if you're not a member. About that time,
Lindsey walked in. I said, I'm with him. He said,
oh, yeah, OK. No problem. We know Lindsey.
Oh, yeah, Lindsey's been a member here for a long time. If you're
with him, it's OK. When God Almighty ushers all
mankind before the throne of His pure and holy justice, and
the books are opened, and death and hell are given up to dead
that are in them, and everyone whose name is not written in
the last book of life are being cast into the lake of fire forever
and forever, and forever. Someone should ask me, why are
you here? Do you expect to hear Him say,
enter in? Why? And I'll point to Jesus
Christ and say, because I'm with Him. I'm with Him. I'm accepted and beloved. I'm with Him. And that gives
me a blessed, blessed good hope. What think ye of Christ? I believe
that Jesus Christ is the only way to God. I'm the way, the
truth, and the light. I'm the door. By me, if any man
enter in, he shall be saved. And I believe that Jesus Christ
will bring me to the Father's house. Let not your heart be
troubled. You believe in God? Believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions. If it wasn't so, if it's not true, I wouldn't be
telling you this. I'm not lying to you. I go to
prepare a place for you. Oh, what do you think of Christ?
Let me wrap this up. Let me answer for you as well.
It's your testimony. As a believer, you'll tell me
Christ is precious. Christ is salvation. Christ is
the one thing needful. Christ, Larry, Christ is all.
Christ is all. Christ is our great God and Savior,
our Creator, our Provider, our Sustainer. Christ is the God-Man,
the Mediator, the Representative, our Substitute, Savior, Redeemer.
He's our Advocate in Heaven. Larry, Jesus Christ to me is
the fairest among ten thousand. He's the lily of the valley.
He's perfect. He's altogether lovely. He's
our bread and our water, our shield and defense, our refuge,
our high tower. He's our light and our salvation. He's all our wisdom and righteousness
and redemption, all hope, all peace, all our joy, all we need. He's all we want. Christ is all. Christ is heaven to our soul.
And when we've entered into that place called heaven, we'll discover
that heaven is Christ, is Christ. There's a hymn in our hymn book,
one of the many that William Cooper wrote. Page 222. There is a fountain. I may have shared this with you
before, but William Cooper, a time in his life he was suffering
from deep, deep depression. He even tried to kill himself.
So he was put into an asylum. And while he was there, a relative,
a cousin, visited him. And this man was a believer.
And he tried to help Cooper, William Cooper, and told him
about the Lord Jesus Christ and His power to save. And while
he was talking to him, Cooper said afterwards, he just burst
into tears, and he said, this is the first, first ray of light
I've seen. And after the man left, Cooper
opened his Bible. He thought just at random. But
in the providence of God, he opened it to Romans 3, verse
25, whom, that is Christ, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood. And that account. of Christ's
redeeming work, God used and touched Calvert Cooper's heart.
Later he testified, There shone upon me the full beams of the
sufficiency of the atonement that Christ has made, my pardon
in his blood, the fullness and completeness of my justification,
and in a moment I believed. I believed. And he wrote this
hymn. He based it upon Zechariah 13
verse 1. In that day there shall be a fountain open, a fountain
opened up for sin and uncleanness. There is a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Emmanuel's vein, and
sinners plunged beneath that blood lose all their guilty stains. There is sense by faith I saw
the strength thy flowing wounds supplied. Redeeming love has
been my thing and shall be till I die. I like the last verse
especially. Dear dying lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church
of God be saved. The sin no more. Thank God for that fountain.
God bless you.