The Bible Baptist Church, located
at 2015 Beulah Road in Madisonville, Kentucky, would like to invite
you to listen to a message of the sovereign grace of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ by their pastor, David Edmondson. If I was to ask each of you individually
this morning what you thought of some well-known prominent
figure, like the President for example, I bet you'd already
have your mind made up about him. I know that if you asked
me what I thought about President Obama, I wouldn't have to sit
and contemplate my response before I answered. Why? Because I've
already made up my mind about him. Over the last six and a
half years as our president, I've heard him and I've heard
about him. I've considered the things that
he's done. I've observed his track record
on the major issues, political issues anyway, of our day. And
I've made up my mind as to what I think about him. Now, I'm not
here to give you my views on the president and I'm not here
to ask you what you think of the president or anyone else
for that matter. I am asking you though, what do you think
of the most significant man that ever walked the face of this
earth? It's the same question that he himself asked those who
were closest to him when he lived on planet earth and is without
a doubt the most important question that's ever been asked of anyone,
a question that has an eternal life and an eternal death issue. It's found in the gospel of Matthew
chapter 22. If you have your Bibles and are
able to turn there with me, if not, I'll read it to you. Matthew
chapter 22, verse 42, the question. The question, the most important
question you could ever be asked is found here. And it's simple,
a simple question. What think ye of Christ? For over 2000 years, men and
women have been talking about him. They've been thinking about
him. They've heard men preach about
him and some have made their mind up about who he is and some
have not. Most of those that have made
their mind up have been wrong in their evaluation of him, but
there are some that have been right. 2000 years have come since
the Lord Jesus Christ walked on this earth. Yet the question
is still not only prevalent, but it's critical, urgent, and
addressed to each of us today. What think ye of Christ? Was he really the son of God
and God the son? Did he really leave the majesty
and glory of heaven and come to earth to seek and to save
that which was lost? Did Jesus Christ really come
into the world to save sinners? Or is this the biggest conspiracy,
the biggest lie that has ever been told throughout the ages?
Is Jesus Christ the greatest imposter that has ever lived? What do you think? What do you
think? It is of very little importance
in the grand scheme of things what you and I think of the president
or any other prominent figure for that matter. It really doesn't
affect us. But if this book, this Bible
that I'm holding right now is truly the word of God, This man,
Christ Jesus should be of the greatest interest to you and
every living soul residing upon this earth. Why? Because your
opinion of him has life or death consequences. This book declares
very simply and plainly that very thing. John wrote in first
John chapter five, verse 12, he said, he that hath the son
hath life and he that hath not the son hath not life. The question is, what do you
think? One day, you and I are gonna stand before our maker.
We're gonna stand before the Lord God, judge of heaven and
earth, and we're gonna be required to answer that question of all
questions. What do you think of Christ?
The only difference then, friends, the only difference in being
asked then and being asked now is that then, it is too late
for it to matter what you think. for how you lived in this life
will have already answered the question. What will truly answer
the question is whether or not you've lived a life of faith
in Him. That's what really matters. The proof is in the pudding.
If you've trusted in him alone to have put away your sin, and
at the same time provide for you the perfect righteousness
that God requires of you, then you've thought right of him.
But if you haven't, if you haven't put your faith and your trust
in him, if you're not trusting in Christ alone as the substitute
for your sin, your right standing before God, then you have not
thought right of him, and you'll die in your sin. Can it be put
any more blunt than that? Can I state it any simpler? Salvation
is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The question is, what do you
think about that? What do you think about it? What
do you think of him being a poor child in a manger when he should
have been born in the most prestigious palace? What do you think concerning
God, the son leaving all the grander majesty and the glory
of heaven where angels worshiped him continuously in order to
become an infant in a cow stable? What do you think about God becoming
a child and as a child, never disobeying, never disappointing,
never talking back, always in total submission to his parents.
What do you think about that? What do you think about him never
having an evil thought? Especially when my thoughts and
your thoughts are only evil continually, according to Genesis chapter
six, verse five. What do you think? What are your
thoughts on the matter? What are your thoughts about
Jesus of Nazareth who has a child, a boy, and then a man never committed
one sin. He couldn't and be your substitute. He couldn't and die for your
sin. He had to be perfect. What do you think about that?
He never committed to sin. When you consider that everything
that we ever do or will do is full of sin. That is an amazing
thought. He's the only one qualified to
be my substitute, my one mediator between God and man. What do
you think of him? What do you think of him as a
teacher? What do you think of him as a preacher? Oh, as I read
through the pages of scripture, especially the gospels, and I
hear the words of the Lord Jesus, I think, oh my, here's a preacher
from heaven. I'd love to have it five minutes
on a mountainside. the mountainside at the feet
of Christ listening to his words of life eternal flow from his
gentle lips oh that would uh i'd rather have that than listen
to a lifetime of all the so-called wise men in this world I drive
out on the countryside and I see the lilies in the field, and
I cannot help but to think of his words, his preaching. He
said, they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet Solomon
and all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. God's gonna
take care of his people. Sinners who trust in him hear
him say, if my father so clothed the grass of the field which
is today and tomorrow's cast into the oven, shall he not much
more clothe you? What do you think, dear listener?
What do you think of him who freely does these things for
us? What do you think of him as a physician? Oh, he's the
greatest physician that's ever lived. And no physician has the
success rate of healing greater than this great physician, the
Lord Jesus Christ. No case. No case, no disease
has ever been brought to him that he could not cure. He had
but to speak the word and disease fled before him. Here comes a
man through the crowd. Can you see him there? Oh, I've
seen him so many times in my mind's eye. I walk before the
Lord Jesus Christ. He fell before the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's covered with leprosy. And
he cries, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And the
Lord Jesus, without any hesitation, said, I will. I will, says the
great physician, and immediately the leprosy is gone. Incurable
is not a word that can be found in God's vocabulary. No, sir. He can cure them all. Why, He can cure the greatest
disease of all, sin, sin. What do you think of Christ as
a comforter? Can you see Him there in Bethany,
binding up the hearts of the broken sisters who just lost
their brother? Why, He's the husband to the
widow and He's the father to the fatherless. Those who are
weary and heavy laden may find a resting place upon the breast
where John laid his head. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He never varies. He never fails. He never dies. His sympathy is ever fresh. His
love is always free. And thinking upon these things,
Will you not tell me what you think of him? Let's go to the
ones that despised him and persecuted him and cursed him and slew him. Let's ask him why they hated
him. The scriptures say they hated
him without a cause. Was there a reason to hate him?
Let's call upon the Pharisees. Oh, they had a great interest
in him, didn't they? They were always there, every
story. It seems like they were just
there, ready to accuse him. Pharisees tell us what you have
against the son of God. What do you think of Jesus Christ?
Do you, do you hear what they say? They say, this man receiveth
sinners. What an argument to bring against
him. Why? That's the very thing that makes
the chosen sinner loving. That's the glory of the gospel
right there. He received sinners. If he hadn't,
what would have become of you and I? If he hadn't, what would
become of us? Have you nothing more to bring
against him than this? He receives sinners. Why, that's
one of the greatest compliments that you could ever be paid him.
Oh, self-righteous one, you who saw him hanging on that cursed
tree, what else do you have to say? Well, they said when they
saw him hanging on the cross, he saved others, himself he cannot
save. Again, what an assessment. Your assessment is correct. And
so he did save others, but he could not save himself and save
us too. So let me make sure that I fully
understand you, Mr. Pharisee. He laid down his own
life so that those who were dead and trespasses and sin might
live. That's the greatest news I've
ever heard. Christ saved others. He died for others. He was a
ransom for many. So it's quite true. What do you
think of him? He saved others himself. He cannot say that's the best
news friends at this center ever heard, but see, they didn't mean
it that way. No, they didn't. They hated him.
They said, he thinks he's God. Look at him now. Let's summon
pilot. You know, pallet is the one that
the Christ accusers brought before him to judge him. Let's, let's
get pilot into the witness box here. Pallet. This man was brought
before you and you examined him and you talked with him face
to face. What do you think of him? What
do you think of Jesus Christ? Pallet says, I find no fault
in him. Pallet stood there in the midst
of that Jewish mob, and here comes a servant, a man, out of
the crowd, elbowing his way through the crowd in haste, and he rushes
up to Pallet and quickly holds out his hand to give him a note.
Pallet tears it open, reads it. And it's a note from his wife,
and it says, have thou nothing to do with this just man, this
just man, for I have suffered many things to stay in a dream
because of him. You want to know what his enemies
thought of him? You want to know what a heathen thought of Christ? Here it is. I find no fault in
him. How about the wife of a heathen? She said, have no part in the
conviction of this just man. Okay, well, let's bring in Judas
here, while he'll make us a good witness against him, for he's
the very one that betrayed him. Come, tell us, Judas, what do
you think of Christ? You knew your master well. You
sold him for 30 pieces of silver. You betrayed him with a kiss.
Obviously, you can give us great insight onto the kind of man
this was. What do you think of him? Oh,
I'm telling you, I've pictured this in my mind. I can see Judas
as he comes into the presence of the chief priest. I can hear
the money ring as he throws it upon the table in the temple,
and I can hear the words that come forth from his mouth as
the tears flow down his face. I have betrayed innocent blood. Here's the man who betrayed the
Lord Jesus. And this is what he thinks of
me. I have betrayed innocent blood. He's innocent. He's innocent. And I betrayed him. Oh, my friends. God has made every man who ever
had anything to do with the death of his son to be put on record
as to what they thought of the innocent son of God. But what
about that centurion who was present at the Lord's execution?
He had charge of the Roman soldiers and he told them, he was the
one that told them to make him carry the cross, make Christ,
make that man whom we're gonna crucify there carry that cross.
He'd given the orders for the nails to be driven into the Lord's
hands and into his feet and the spear into his side. Mr. Centurion, you had charge over
his executioners. You saw his death was carried
out. You saw him die. You heard him
speak while he was upon the cross. Tell us what think ye of Christ? What do you have to say about
him? Truly, this was the Son of God. That's what he had to
say. This was the Son of God. We might
ask the thief upon the cross what he thought of Jesus Christ.
At first he railed him just as the other thief did, but God
gave him a change of heart. And he said, this man hath done
nothing amiss. Let's call upon Christ's friends.
What do they have to say? What do they think? John the
Baptist, the prince of preachers said, behold, the lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world. This was what John
the Baptist thought of him. John said, I bear record that
he's the son of God. In John chapter one, verse 34. Peter, tell us what you think
of Christ. Stand in this witness box and
testify of Him. You denied Him once. You cursed
Him. You said you didn't know Him. What do you think of Him? What think you of Christ? And
I can just hear Peter say, you know, the Lord Himself asked
me that one day. He asked me and the others, who
do men say that I am? And we begin to answer one after
another and said, well, some say you're John the Baptist reincarnated,
and others say that you're Jeremiah, Isaiah, Elijah, one of the prophets.
And he looked right at me and he said, who do you say that
I am? Now, I don't know how I knew,
Peter said, I just did. And I said, thou art the Christ,
the son of the living God. And then he told me how I knew,
he said, You're a blessed man, Peter, for flesh and blood didn't
reveal this to you, but my Father, which is in heaven. And such
was Peter's testimony on that day of Pentecost, when he stood
and preached, and he declared these words, this Jesus, whom
you've taken and crucified with your wicked hands, God hath made
that same Jesus both Lord and Christ. He's God of heaven and
Savior of men. You look into John's gospel and
you'll find what he thought of Christ. While the first words
that he penned in John chapter one, verse one is in the beginning
was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Jesus Christ is God. That's what John the Baptist
thought of him. Oh, bring in old doubting Thomas. Let's ask
him what he thinks that doubting disciple. He simply said, my
Lord and my God. Oh, friends, we could go on and
on. We could ask all those in the
scripture that providentially crossed his path, that all say
Jesus of Nazareth, why he hath done all things well. But there
is yet another witness, the greatest witness of all. When our Lord
was baptized by John in the river, Jordan, a voice from heaven said,
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. My, that's
what God thinks of him. God's well pleased with his son.
At the mount when Christ was transfigured in all his glory,
God made the same claim. He said, this is my beloved son,
in whom I'm well pleased, hear ye him. You better listen to
him. From him flows the words of eternal
life. God the Father thinks well of
his son, and if God is well pleased with him, should we not be? What
do you think of Christ? What do you think of Christ?
Well, I refer back to my text in Matthew chapter 22. What does
Christ declare concerning himself? Look at it again, if you turn
there. In verse 41, he says, while the
Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, what
think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Notice the second
part of our Lord's question. What think ye of Christ, and
whose son is he?" That's very important. Whose son is Jesus
Christ? And notice their answer. They
say unto him, the son of David. The Pharisees, without any hesitation,
answer correctly. He was the son of David after
the flesh. The Messiah would be of the seed
and family of David. Now hear me, I say this all the
time, to know Jesus Christ in a saving way is to know much
more than just some things about him, just some true facts about
him, much more than that. It's to know him in a way that
only God can reveal him to you. And that's what our Lord is saying
here to these self-righteous Pharisees who profess the Messiah
to be the son of David. In order to be redeemed and saved
from your sin, you must know Christ to be much more than David's
son. And we see that in what our Lord
asked them next. He said unto them, how then does
David in spirit call him Lord saying the Lord said unto my
Lord, sit down on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy
footstool. If David then call him Lord,
how is he his son? My sinner Jesus Christ is Lord. David called him Lord. Now here's
the most amazing thing. God called him Lord. That's right. God said Lord. You see that David said the Lord
said unto my Lord. Sit thou on my right hand, till
I make thine enemies thy footstool. Who's sitting on the right hand
of God in all power, majesty, and glory? God is. The Lord Jesus Christ is. He's God. Sitting next to God
the Father on His throne in all power is God the Son. Now, dear
sinner, Jesus Christ is God, and the only way that a sinner
can be saved is to know that God died for their sin. God's
blood was shed for the sins of his people. Jesus Christ is God. You want to know how great your
sin is? It took God's blood to cleanse
it. It took God's blood to do away with it. God's blood had
to be shed. No wonder Paul wrote in a Romans
8 and asked the question, who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? Who's going to bring a charge
against the Lord Jesus Christ and condemn him? He's the one
that died. It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that is risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Where is he? He's at the
right hand of God. Well, Ephesians chapter 1 the
Apostle Paul writes in verse 17 that the God of your our Lord
Jesus Christ the father of glory may he give unto you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him that the
eyes of your understanding might be enlightened and that ye might
know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according
to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ. when he raised him from the dead
and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above
all principality and power and might and dominion and every
name that is named that not only in this world but also in that
which is to come and he's put all things under his feet and
gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which
is his body, the fullness of him that dwelleth all in all. Now, may I ask you one more time? What do you think of Jesus Christ? Do you see whose son he is? Do you, what do you think of
him? Do you see that he is God? Do you see that he is the only
one who can put away your sin and reconcile you unto a holy
God? What you think of him, what you
think of him will determine your eternity. To ask you what you
think of him is the same thing as asking you what you think
of God. What do you think of God? What
do you think of the God of this Bible? Who is he? What is he? He's holy. What did he do for
sinners? He became what they were, yet
without sin, that he might die for the ungodly who were without
strength, without life. What do you think of him? What
do you think of this beloved son of God who loved you and
gave himself for you? What do you think about where
he is? Why God raised him from the dead and set him at his own
right hand and the heavenly places far above all principality, power,
might, and dominion. He's put all things under His
feet. Jesus Christ is God. He's in control. He saves sinners. He doesn't try to save, He saves
them. What do you think of Him? What
do you think of Him? That's the question. You have
been listening to a message by David Edmondson, the pastor of
Bible Baptist Church in Madisonville, Kentucky. If you would like a
copy of this message, or to hear other messages of God's free,
sovereign grace in Christ, you can write to our mailing address
at P.O. Box 652 Madisonville, Kentucky
42431. or log on to our website at FreeGraceRadio.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, we meet at 2015 Beulah Road, Madisonville, Kentucky,
and our service times are Sunday morning Bible study at 10 o'clock
a.m., worship services begin at 11 o'clock a.m., Wednesday
evening services at 7 o'clock p.m. Please tune in again next
Sunday morning at 10 o'clock AM for another message of God's
free and sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.