And I want to begin reading in
verse. 34. Matthew 22. Verse 34. But when the Pharisees had heard. That he had put the Sadducees
to silence. They were gathered together.
The Pharisees felt like if the Sadducees can pick on him and
handle him and beat him down and shut him up, then we won't
have to. But he had silenced the Sadducees who had to question
about the resurrection. So then the Pharisees are gathered
together. Then one of them, which was a
lawyer, asked him a question. 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, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it,
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments,
hang all the law and the prophets. 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 called him Lord,
how is he his son? And no man was able to answer
him a word, neither durst any man from that time forth ask
him any more questions. The Lord Jesus could silence
them all and did, who came with their complaints and their questions
and their A trickery to try and confuse him, cause him to contradict
and shame himself. They never could do it. Our subject is found in verse
42 in the form of a question. Christ asked these Pharisees,
what think ye of Christ? Pharisees, you know, were noted
for wanting to argue and split hairs over many issues. Anybody that didn't agree with
them, anybody that didn't bow to them and look up to them,
but they missed the greatest issue, which Christ asked them
point blank. What think ye of Christ? This is a very personal question
to every man, woman, and child. What think ye of Christ? We can find fault with Simon
Peter on several occasions, but he had the right answer to this
question. Christ had asked the disciples, whom do men say that
I am? They said, some say you're John
the Baptist, some say you're Elijah or Jeremiah or one of
the prophets. And Christ said, but whom say
ye that I am? What do you say about it? And
Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. And Jesus said to him, flesh
and blood has not revealed this unto you. You didn't figure this
out on your own. And nobody in this world taught
you this, but my heavenly father revealed this to you. That's
how you know. That's how you know. That's who he is, thou art the
Christ, the son of the living God. This question is, it's very
personal. What do you think about him?
What think ye of Christ? Well, the question is not really
answered. with our lips, it's answered
with our life. If his authority is not acknowledged
in life, you don't think much of him. If his words are not heeded and
his commandments are not obeyed, we don't think much of him. If your proposed plan to go to
heaven is not in accordance with his
word of how he said to get there, you don't think much of him.
So the question keeps coming back from every angle. What think ye of Christ? Is the whole business of life
about you or about him? Is this whole business of religion
about you or about him? What think ye of Christ? I meet a lot of people whose
minds are warped and they hadn't been taught God's word, even
though they've been in church all their life. They're ignorant
and their thinking is wrong. And all they can do is compare
themselves with religious people. Well, I'm as good as he is, or
I'm as good as she is. He did this. She did that. I wouldn't be like that. And so-and-so claims they're
such a good Christian. Oh, wait a minute. It's not,
it's not about all that. There's one question and one
only. What think ye of Christ? That's the issue. Some say, well,
the church is full of hypocrites. That's not the question. Well, that preacher did me wrong.
That's not the question. Those people didn't make me feel
friendly. That's not the question. What think ye of Christ? You don't have to answer for
those hypocrites. You don't have to answer for the preacher, but what think ye of Christ? That's the question. I have seven things that I was
meditating on this, that the Lord gave me to say a few things
about this morning. And, uh, in connection with this
question, what think ye of Christ? And understand we're not just
talking about religious pretense on the outside, but I want to
talk to us this morning about how it is in the secrecy of your
own heart. In other words, the scale of how you value certain
things or people, where does Christ fit in? Is He really worth anything to
you? What do you really think of Him?
That was the question. All right, number one, what think
ye of Christ in His birth? We just came through the Christmas
season. We just came through numerous
news reports about places around the country that didn't want
any mention of Christ. They didn't want any Nativity
scenes, reminding people of his birth. What think ye of Christ
in his birth? I will say, first of all, he
was born according to promise. It was all God's doing. Way back
in the book of Genesis, back in the Garden of Eden, when man
fell, plunged us all into sin and death. We were without any
hope. God made a promise. He told the devil himself, I
will put enmity between you and the woman. You'll bruise the heel of her
seed. In other words, you'll crucify
the sinless one born of a woman without the aid of a man. But
he went on to say, he shall bruise thy head. His dying will be your
destruction. His dying will deliver his people
out of your hands. He'll conquer you. So his birth
was first by promise of God. Man didn't ask for a savior and
still don't. Men didn't want to be holy and
still don't. Men rejected Him when He was
born and still do. But God promised and He came. I don't see how anybody can claim
to know anything about this Bible and not confess and rejoice in
the fact that our God's in control of everything. I mean, if you
ever find anything that's right, He did it. Huh? He did. Then his birth was in purity.
Isaiah 714, behold, a virgin shall conceive. Isaiah the prophet
wrote those words more than 700 years before he was born. A virgin
shall conceive. Who ever heard of any such? Nobody had heard of it till God
said it. Nobody imagined it. till God said it and a lot didn't
believe it when he said it. A virgin shall conceive. He will not be born a sinner
like every other child that's ever been born. He will not have the polluted
blood of Adam flowing in his veins. And then his birth we know was
in poverty. Joseph and Mary lived among the
poor people of the despised little village of Nazareth. Nobody important,
nobody prestigious ever came from Nazareth. That's where God's
son was brought up in the poverty of Nazareth around Joseph's carpenter
shop. Do you believe all this about
his birth? Is it true? Is there any value in believing
that it's just like the Bible says it is? Absolutely. It's fearful. How many people
ride around us today will say, well, I don't know so much about
all that. I don't really think it's all
that important. I don't know that it's all that
accurately. Are all that important? Well,
God's children do. We believe it. I've read a little
bit of the filthy garbage of God haters who deny all this. And one even said that Mary hung
around the camp of the Roman soldiers and she, she got in
trouble and that must be how all this really came about. No,
God tells us how it came about. And what do we believe about
it? We believe exactly what the Bible says about it. Anytime
you're dealing with people that will not let this Bible be the
authority, you might as well go the other direction in a hurry.
You're not going to get to first base with people that don't believe
this is God's word and it's true and it's inspired and it's holy
and it's inerrant. God who cannot lie told us exactly
how it happened. What think ye of Christ in his
birth? I think it's just like God said
it was. The second thing, what think
ye of Christ in his life? Is it really possible that anybody
could live in this world absolutely sinless? Did he not do anything wrong? Was he right in everything he
did? He was right in everything he
did and every word he spake. Was there never a sinful thought
entered his mind? There was never a sinful thought
entered his mind. Was his motive always and absolutely
pure? Was he never prejudiced or self-promoting
in any way? Never. Hebrews 7, 26, he was holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners. He wasn't like you. He wasn't
like me. God said, he's my beloved son
in whom I am well pleased. And anything short of perfection,
God wouldn't have been well pleased. And Christ himself testified
in John 8 29. I do always those things that
please him. Is this really true? It really
is. It really is. The Bible says
it is. His life was perfect. pure without sin. But what about your heart feeling?
Can you believe it's really true of him? What think ye of Christ
in his life? Was he really like that? Really
sinless? He really was. He really was. All right, the third thing, what
think ye of Christ? In his death, he was numbered with transgressors. He was arrested, tried, charged,
and condemned. He was crucified with criminals
as a criminal between two thieves. But is that really who he was?
Was he just one of them? No, he was falsely accused, falsely
judged by men. He was not misjudged by his father. Well, then why did God let it
happen? He was charged with our sin. He was found guilty in our
stead. and he suffered in our place.
And he died, Peter said, the just for the unjust. He laid down his life in obedience
to the father. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross, Paul said. He was not the helpless
victim of wicked men. He was the Divinely appointed,
appropriated sacrifice of a holy God. He was doing for us what we could
not do for ourselves. We owed to him a debt we could
not pay. He paid for us a debt he did
not owe. That's what God's word teaches.
What think ye of Christ? in his death. You reckon it happened
just like that? It most certainly did. Just like
that. Number four, what think ye of
Christ in his resurrection? Oh, we're getting on touchy ground
now. Did he really rise from the dead? Well, unbelievers, And mockers
and scoffers are still concocting stories and tales and ideas. Some of them in the name of archeology,
they're scratching around over there in the dirt, expecting
to find, they say, some bones, bones of Jesus. Well, they're
a bunch of liars and they know it. We know it. The evidence
is overwhelming. The tomb is empty. He is risen. As he said, the Psalm has said that the heavens declare the
glory of God. You ever read that Psalm 19.
Do you ever think about that? Well, now what does it mean?
The heavens declare the glory of God. That includes the moon and the stars
by night. and the bright sunshine by day. All this declares the glory of
God, not only in his being, but in his resurrection. After that
first dark night and the sun rose in the morning,
that in itself was a prediction, a projection And they promise
that 4,000 years from now, the son of God will plunge into the
dark night of sin's wages for his people. But he'll come forth
as the sunrise. God Almighty has been preaching
the resurrection every morning in the history of the world. And Malachi said it, the son,
S-U-N, of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings. And that he did. And I'm glad
I got in on the healing. He said in Revelation 1.18, Christ
did. I am he that liveth and was dead. Oh yeah. I've been there. I've
been to the graveyard. I was dead. And behold, I'm alive
forevermore. Amen. Christ said, amen to himself. I guess that's all right. Behold,
I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. He's alive. What think ye of
Christ? in his resurrection. The songwriter
said, you asking me how I know he lives? He lives within my
heart. Do you know he's alive today? Do you think, as was suggested
by his enemies, that his disciples might have stole his body away
and hid it somewhere and it's still there in the ground somewhere? Or do you believe what the Bible
says? What think ye of Christ in his resurrection? Number five, what think ye of
Christ in his ascension? Now this is getting on out there. Is Acts 1.9 just a little too
much? Isn't this taking it a bit far? Here's what it said. And when
he had spoken these things, while they beheld, his disciples standing
there looking at him, while they beheld, he was taken up and a
cloud received him out of their sight. Have you ever seen anything like
that? I sure haven't. Then why do we believe this? Why do we have no trouble believing
this? Why is it we can't disbelieve this? It's because we're believers. And we never made ourselves believers.
God did it. God did it. The Bible teaches
Hebrews 9, 24, that he ascended, he entered into heaven itself,
Now to appear in the presence of God for us. We are represented
in the very presence of God. Represented in our Redeemer,
Christ our Lord, our Savior. Now, if you're afraid to appear
in the presence of God, you don't think much of Christ. I don't know if I'll repeat that
or not. If you're afraid to appear In
the presence of God, of course you are in the rottenness of
this flesh. But you're not going to appear
before him in the rottenness of this flesh. I've already appeared in the
presence of God in him, and I'll never appear in the presence
of God outside of him. You say, well, I'm still afraid
I'm going to have to pay for my sins someday, then you don't
think much of Christ. The Bible says he did that. He paid for mine. This is so simple. It's as simple as believing,
but it's as difficult as believing too. I don't have to pay. He paid. If I buy you a meal and go ahead
and pay for it, you're not going to go up there and whine and
beg to pay too. No, you'll just say thank you
to me. It's paid. For God's children, it's paid. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, shall
not, but is passed from death unto life. John 5, 24. Romans
8, 1. There is therefore now, right
now, no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. What think ye of Christ? It's
a most serious question. What do you think of who he is?
What do you think of what he's done? What was it worth? Is it a value enough that you
should embrace him? Is He your answer? He's my answer. And without Him, I'm hopeless.
I have no answer. Songwriter said, He is all my
hope and peace. He is all my righteousness. That's what I think of Him. What
think ye of Christ in His ascension? Oh yeah, them boys were standing
there. They wouldn't have lied about it. He was taken up out
of their sight. And number six, what think ye
of Christ in his promise to come again? That same passage, Acts 1.10,
and while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also
said, ye man of Galilee, Why stand you gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven."
Those three words in that verse, Acts 110, those three words,
in like manner. You'll see him come in like manner,
just like you've seen him go up, you'll see him come in like
manner. Those three words, unmistakably
speak of the bodily return of the Lord Jesus Christ to this
earth. Now there are some references
to his coming again that refer to Pentecost. There are some
that refer to judgment on Jerusalem and Israel in 70 AD. But this verse Acts 1 and 10. He's coming in like manner. Just like you men saw him ascend
bodily into heaven in like manner. He's coming back. Do you believe
that? What do you, what do you think
about that? Are you like the scoffers that
Peter talked about saying, well, well, where is the promise of
his coming? We don't see any evidence. All
things remain as they've been from the beginning of the world.
Well, they don't see any evidence. They don't believe. Men without God-given faith don't
believe anything God says. But God-given faith has eyes
to see and ears to hear. and a heart to believe, and most
of all, to live in that seeing and believing. You can believe a lie naturally, and we do. We catch ourselves
having believed something that we find out later was wrong,
but you can't believe God naturally. It's not by effort. You can believe in him, but you
can't believe him. Big difference. Is he really coming again? What
think ye of Christ in his promise to come again? Well, the seventh thing, and
this is the one we need desperately to consider in addition to the
other six. And I won't be long. I could
be long. You need to be long thinking about it. What think ye of Christ in your own life, in your everyday
life? I think most of us here would
consent to and say yes to the first six. What do you think
of Christ in His birth? It's just like the Bible says. What think ye of Christ in His
life? Just what the Bible says. What
about His death and resurrection? What about His ascension and
His promise to come again? Oh yes, it's just like the Bible
says. Now, what think ye of Christ
in your life day by day? Does he have any say at all? I know he does sovereignly and
we talk about that a lot, but in your consideration, in your
mind and heart, does he have any say in what you do and don't
do? Does he have any say in where
you go? and don't go. Does he have any say in how you
live or don't live? What think ye of Christ? Does
it matter at all about him? Does he have any say in what
you think about everything and everybody? Does he have any say in how you
spend your money? or don't spend it. Does he have any say in how you
treat people? What think ye of Christ? Is he anybody at all? Does what he said about his church
have any bearing on how you feel about it? When he said, seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and he'll take care of everything
else. Does that mean anything at all to you? What think ye
of Christ? Does he really know enough to
be able to tell you anything about how to live? What do you think of him? Could
he really handle things for you? Could he really help you in your
life? Oh, we believe he calmed the stormy sea. Sure he did. The Bible says he
did. But how'd that happen? Was he, was he just, was he just
lucky enough to say, peace be still at the exact moment that
mother nature decided to go the other way? No, that wasn't it
at all. He caused it. He calmed it. He really is everything the Bible
says he is. He really does everything the
Bible says he does. But what is he to you? What think
ye of Christ? Let me say this in closing. And
this is, this is, uh, the importance of what we've been talking about. I believe that every storm you'll
face in 2016 is already determined, decreed by sovereign God. And I thank
God that we don't know what these storms are. We'd all go crazy
if we knew. But Christ our Redeemer knows. And the storms are coming. The
big question is how will I face them? Are there really my storms that
me and him, neither one can't handle? Or are they really his storms
that he sent for my benefit? They're his storms. And as his child, I'll just feel
a little, a little wind on the outskirts of the storm. I won't
suffer the real blunt of it because I'm really hidden in him. I won't feel what the devil would
like to do to me. I'll only feel what he's permitted
to do. I won't feel what he has power
to do. I'm no match for him. I only feel what my Lord permits
him to do. So this is the biggest question
of 2016 for your heart and mine, and it ought to live all year
in our hearts. What think ye of Christ? It's not who's going to be elected
president. If the Lord don't come, somebody's
going to be elected in November. We may be sick about it. We're already sick of it. Somebody's
going to be elected if the Lord don't come. That's not the big
question. The big question is not what
will the terrorist do next? And they're going to do all the
damage they can do. Count on it. That's not the big question. The big question is not, will
I survive physically? Will I live through this year?
That's not such a big question. Will I survive financially? All
those are pretty good questions, I guess, but they're not the
question. Here's the question. The question
for you. What think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Thank you. Let's stand together.