That's one of my favorite hymns.
Thank you, Matt. I love that song. I've entitled the message for
this evening, The Questioners Questioned. The Questioners Questioned. You know, I think that if I ever
get up to preach and not think that the message I'm bringing
is one of critical importance, I probably ought to quit preaching,
if I can do that. This is not the place for somebody
to come up and just rattle off. But I do believe this message
to be of critical importance. The questioned is now asking the questioners
a question. Now this was taking place three
days before the crucifixion, and the Lord knew that. And the
Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, and the scribes had
all asked him three separate questions. And all of them had
an evil motive in asking these questions. First, the Pharisees
wanted to know if they should pay taxes to a corrupt government. What involvement should Christians
have with the government? And the Lord answered them, render
to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things
that are God's. Now the next question is presented
by the Sadducees. The Sadducees wanted to know
something about the end times, although they didn't really believe
in the end times. They didn't believe there would be a resurrection.
They didn't believe there would be an afterlife. But they brought up this ridiculous
hypothetical situation to the Lord about what's gonna happen
on the resurrection. You remember the story, the seven
men that all had the same wife and they never had any children. Whose wife is she gonna be on
the resurrection? And the Lord said, neither. Neither,
none of them. And then he said, you greatly
err. Did not God He said, you greatly
err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. And then
he said, did God not speak of himself as the God of the living,
the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? He's not the God of the
dead. He's the God of the living. You therefore do greatly err.
And then the third group, the scribes, the lawyers, ask him
a question. What's the greatest commandment
in the law? They wanted to know with an evil motive to try to
see if he would put something against something else and make
something not as important as it should be. The scripture says
they were saying this tempting him. They said, what's the greatest
commandment in the law? And he said to love God with
all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength,
and your neighbor as yourself. That is the summary of all the
law. Upon these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets. Now, all three of these different
groups I love this, they were made to look like idiots. The
way the Lord answered him, they thought that they could entrap
him, and they all look like idiots. And we read in verse 34, and
no man after that dares to ask him any question. Now the questioners are questioned,
and let's go to Matthew's account for just a moment, because Matthew
gives us a detail that Mark doesn't, and I think this is very important.
Matthew chapter 22. Verse 41. Now, this is after he said in
verse 40 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? Now, this is The question, what think ye of Christ? Now they didn't know that he
was the Christ, but he asked them, what do you think of the
Christ? The old Testament Christ, not
what do you think about abortion? Not what do you think about same-sex
marriages. Not what do you think of left-wing
and right-wing politics. Not what do you think about any
of the issues facing our society. Now, you can certainly have opinions
on these things, and strong opinions, and there's nothing wrong with
that. I dare say that we all do have strong opinions with
regard to those things I just mentioned. But this question has infinite importance compared
with these other questions. This is the question. When God
looks into your heart, what does he see? What do you, what do
you right now in your heart, what do you think of Jesus Christ? I didn't ask what you think about
your spiritual state is, whether or not you think you're saved.
That's important, no doubt, but this is more important. I didn't
ask whether you think you're one of the elect, or if Christ
died for you, or if you've been born of the Spirit. As important
as those questions are, this is much more important. What
do you think? of Jesus Christ. When God looks
in your heart right now, and he is, what do you think of Christ? Now, many would not have an opinion
because they've not heard the gospel. And if you said, what
think ye of Christ? Their response would be, well,
who's he? Well, I don't know how else to
say that, but there's a very real sense in which that's an
indictment against me and you. God said, go preach the gospel
to every creature under heaven, every creature. And we are called
upon by the Lord to make the gospel known to everybody we
can. But I know what those people
who've never heard would say once they heard it. They'd say,
I don't believe that. I know what their response would be.
I don't believe that. To others, if you say, what think
ye of Christ? Well, it's a swear word. He's
a word to curse by. He's a word to use to express
your dissatisfaction with something, to express the vileness of your
heart, the way they use his name in a cursing fashion and a swear
word. Some believe him to be important,
an important historical figure, perhaps a prophet, a great moral
teacher. Some believe him to be very important.
They say, I couldn't be saved without him. He's very important. Some would go so far as to say
he's all, but not in all things. Yes, he's on my justification.
I grant you that, but he's not on my sanctification. There's
some things I need to do to cooperate in that. He's all, but not in
all things. Now, let me borrow the words
of the Apostle Paul to give what I think and what I believe many
of you think of Christ. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
three. Verse nine, lie not one to another,
seeing that you've put off the old man with his deeds. Now I realize we ought not ever
tell a lie, but I think that what he's referring to more than
anything else is don't try to present yourself before the Lord's
people as something you're not. Don't try to pretend to be something
to exalt yourself and glorify your own flesh and make yourself
seem to be extra spiritual. Lie not one to another, seeing
that you put off the old man with his deeds and put on the
new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of
him that created him." Now, here's what that knowledge is. If God's
done something for you, if he's renewed you in knowledge, here
is what that is. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, There's no national racial distinctions, circumcision,
nor uncircumcision. There's no religious ceremonial
distinctions. There's no barbarian, Scythian
bond, nor free. There are no social distinctions,
but Christ is all. Now, when God looks into my heart,
and it's only by His grace, He sees one who really believes
this. Christ is all. And notice how it says He is
all and in all. The way that language sounds,
it's like He's all and He's in everybody. But you know, this
word in is also translated even. He is all, even in all. What does that mean? This is
what I think, and I'm borrowing the words of Paul, and I believe
them and you believe them just as much as Paul did. Christ is
all. Now, what does that mean? Well, number one, Jesus Christ
is all that God is. You believe that? Colossians
2, 9 says in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Jesus Christ is all in God's
purpose. In that same passage of scripture
in Colossians chapter 1, we read, all things, now that covers everything,
all things were made by Him and for Him. And He is before all
things. Whatever it is, He's before it.
And by him all things consist. Jesus Christ is all in God's
purpose. The kingdom of heaven is like
unto a mighty king that made a marriage feast for his son. Jesus Christ is everything, is
all in this book. He's the only subject. Do you
believe that? He's the only subject. He said,
you search the scriptures in them, you think you have eternal
life, and they are they, every single scripture, they are they,
which testify of me. Every verse of scripture testifies
of him. Now, he is all in salvation,
and I think that's what Paul primarily meant. Christ is all,
even in all. He's all in my salvation. Now,
what all does that mean, that Jesus Christ is all in my salvation?
It means, first of all, this. The only reason I'm elected is
because Christ is all. Why me? You know I ask that all
the time. I'm amazed that God has given
his grace to me. I'm amazed that he's revealed
to me and passed by so many other people. Why me? Because Christ
is all. He's all in my justification.
I'm justified by His righteousness, and He's the one who justified
me. He's all in my justification. Didn't have anything to do with
me. He justified me. He's all in my redemption. He
is the one who paid for my sins, and He did that without me asking
Him to. When He had by Himself, oh, I love that, when He by Himself,
no contribution from me, It wasn't an offer to me when he had by
himself purged our sins. He sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high. He is all in my regeneration.
He said, because I live, you shall live also. You see, he
is all in my regeneration. You know, he's all. in my faith. He is the object of my faith.
I don't have faith in my faith. I don't have faith in myself.
My faith is in Him. He's all in my repentance. I
repent. I repent of anything that's contrary
to Him being all, in all things. That's the gate by which everything
we hear must go through, that Christ is all. And He's all. I love thinking about this. He's
all in my personal subjective experience. Now what do you mean
by that? Here's my experience, Christ
is all. And every, you think, like every time, every time I
try to confess my sins, and I do it every day, Every time I confess
my sins, I always feel like there's an element of insincerity there,
that I'm not serious enough, that I'm not sorry enough. As
far as that goes, every time I am sorry for my sin, it's when
I get caught, it's when I get exposed, it's when I get humiliated. Oh, I'm sorry then, but if I'm
not caught, nobody ever finds out about it, I forget it quick
enough. I mean, my sorrow is, I looked at his sorrow. I look
to his faith. I look to his love. I look to
his confession. He said, I'll confess my iniquities.
He's the only one who ever really did it. When you and I do it,
I'm afraid there's too much of us going through the motions
in it. In my personal subjective experience, here it is, Christ
is all. Now that is who he is and that
is what he is to everybody who believes him. What think ye of
Christ? He is all. He's all in my past. He's all in my present. And he's
all in my future. He's all that I have. I mean
that. He's all I have. I don't have
anything to bring into God's presence other than Him. And
I can't even bring Him into God's presence. He's got to bring me
into God's presence. He's all I have. And He's all
I want. I don't want anything else. He's
all I need. Jesus Christ is all. What think ye of Christ? Well,
here's what I think. He's all. And this is the testimony
of every single believer. He is all. Now, let's go back
to our text in Mark chapter 12. Matthew gives that detail that
Mark doesn't. But in Matthew's account, it
says, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Well, they all
knew he was the son of David. They didn't know Jesus Christ
was the son of David, but they knew the Christ from the Old
Testament scriptures are the son of David. You read the Psalms. I don't want to take the time
to read it, but read Psalm 72. It was right in the back before
the service. The Psalm of David's son, and everything that is said
regarding to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is prophesied to be the
son of David. You know what Matthew 1.1 says? The generations of Jesus Christ,
the son of David. Very first verse in the New Testament
speaks of Christ being the son of David. When Paul defines the
gospel in Romans chapter one, he calls Christ made of the seed
of David, according to the flesh, declared to be the son of God
with power by the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead.
Paul said in 2 Timothy 2 chapter 8, remember that Jesus Christ
of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my
gospel. Now, not many believed this during his days on the earth,
did they? But some did. Some did. Remember those two
blind men? Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on us. What about that Syrophoenician
woman? Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. What about Bartimaeus, blind
Bartimaeus? Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. Now, let me tell you how I can
tell if you and I believe He's the son of David. We'll ask for
mercy. That's what we'll do. If we know
who he is, if we know he's the son of David, there's one thing
we're seeking from him, mercy. We know that our sin is all our
fault and that if he doesn't do something for us, we'll be
sent to hell. And the one thing we need from
him is mercy. Everybody who knows he's the
son of David has the same cry. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. Now, whoso believeth that Jesus
is the Christ, and that's the Son of David, is born of God. And everyone that knew Christ
from the Old Testament scriptures knew He would be the Son of David,
but they didn't understand that this IS the Son of David, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David. Now, back to our text
in Mark chapter 12. Verse 35, and Jesus answered
and said, while they taught in the temple, how say the scribes
that Christ is the son of David? And they would say that, these
scribes. They'd say, the Christ that's coming is the son of David.
He's going to sit upon the Davidic throne. He's going to sit on
the throne of David, ruling and reigning. And they thought it
was an earthly kingdom. They thought when the Christ
comes, he's going to restore the kingdom to Israel. And we're
going to once again be the top dogs. We're going to be brought
out from under Roman rule. And we're going to be the rulers.
We're going to be the rich and famous. We're going to be the
powerful class when the Christ comes. They had no idea. Not even a clue as to what it
meant for him to be the son of David. Now look what the Lord
says. I'll say the Christ that I'll
say the scribes that Christ is the son of David for David himself
said. And I love the way he says this
by the Holy ghost. Now remember everything in scripture
is by the Holy ghost. David said it. David believed
it, but David said it by the Holy Ghost. This was inspired
by God the Holy Spirit. For David himself said by the
Holy Ghost, the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right
hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. This is a quotation from Psalm
1101. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand. Oh, don't you love thinking of
the father saying this to the son? Sit thou at my right hand,
the place of honor, the place of favor, the place of glory. Sit thou at my right hand until
I make thy foes thy footstool. Peter used this scripture on
the day of Pentecost, for David has not ascended into the heavens,
but he saith himself, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at
my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The writer
to the Hebrews said in Hebrews 1.13, to which of the angels
said he at any time, sit thou at my right hand till I make
thy foes thy footstool. Think of all these references
to Christ sitting down when he had by himself purged our sins. He what? Sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high. But this man, after he offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down, sat down, having finished
his work, not pacing back and forth, not worried about what's
going to take place. seated at the Father's right
hand, having accomplished salvation for all of his people. Now, the Lord the Father said
to my Lord, David said, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one of whom
Thomas said, my Lord and my God, the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord.
I love saying that Jesus is Lord. He's Lord. I would love to be
privileged to say to everybody in the world, Jesus is Lord. He's your Lord. Somebody says,
no, he's not. Yeah, he is. Yeah, he is. You
might not know it, but Jesus is your Lord because he is Lord.
He's Lord of the dead. He's Lord of those who are dead
in sins. And he's Lord of the living. He is Lord. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Now here's a frightening proposition, somebody being the enemy of Jesus
Christ. And all natural men are the enemy of Jesus Christ. But
Paul even spoke of those who are enemies of the cross in Philippians
chapter two. What worse could be said about
anybody than that? Enemies of the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But he said, sit down in my right
hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Now, what do you think
of Christ? Whose son is he? Why, he's the
son of David. You answered correctly, but you don't know that I'm the
son of David. That is the big difference. The Christ is the
son of David. Now here's the question. If he's
the son of David, how could he be David's Lord? Do you know
the answer to that question? You know, if you do, in your
heart, you've understood the gospel. If he's David's son, how could
he be David's Lord? Well, in Revelation 22, 16, he
says, I am the root and the offspring of David. David came out of me
as an act of my will. I'm the root of David. And I'm
the offspring of David. I am the one who made David.
I'm the one who created David. I'm the one who saved David.
I'm the one who ordained David and I purpose to come through
his seed. I am the root and the offspring
of David. Now I know how he's David's Lord
and David's son, because he's God the son. That's how he's
David's Lord. And David's son, he's God, the
son. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. I love that scripture. Whoso
confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is antichrist. That's strong language, isn't
it? Now, when we can make that confession, he was before he
came. We speak of his eternal sonship,
his eternal deity. He came in the flesh, God was
manifest in the flesh, and he did what he came to do. He came
to save his people from their sins, and that's exactly what
he did. Now, here's a phrase that I've
always wondered about, and I think I understand it now. Verse 37,
David therefore himself called him Lord, and whence is he his
son? Well, they couldn't answer that. They couldn't answer that. They had no idea. They were clueless. But look at this last phrase,
and the common people heard him gladly. They rejoiced in what
they were hearing, the common people. Now, who are these common
people? If you would ask the average
person, are you a common person? Yeah, I'm just an ordinary Joe.
I'm just, you know, just an ordinary Joe. I'm a common person. There's nothing really special
about me. I don't have any riches or power or fame. I'm just a
common working class fellow. I'm a common person. Now, is
that the type of person that heard the Lord Jesus gladly?
Just your average Joe? No. The common person hates the
Lord Jesus Christ just like everybody else, if that's what you mean
by common. But you know, the scripture does speak of the common
faith. And the scripture does speak
of the common salvation. That which all of God's people
have in common. The common people. Now, the common
people, In this chapter, we have four different types of people
who are not common people. It's very important. We've got
the Pharisees, we've got the Sadducees, we've got the Herodians,
and we've got the scribes and lawyers. Now, these are the four
people that are spoken of that are questioning the Lord Jesus
Christ, all four of these people. And this is very important. Anybody
that's not one of those is a common person. Now, why do you say that? Well, what about the Pharisees? You know what the word Pharisee
means? Separated one. The Pharisee believed that there
was something he did that separated him from other people. Remember
the Pharisee in the temple? God, I thank thee that I'm not
as other men are. A Pharisee is someone who thinks
there's something he does that separates him from lost humanity. You know all you gotta do is
believe in universal redemption, and you're a Pharisee. You think
something you do separates you from everybody else. Well, what
about the Sadducee? You know what the word Sadducee
means? Righteous one. Righteous one. No common person believes themselves
to be a righteous one. They believe that Christ Jesus
is their only righteousness before God. Well, what about the Herodians? Well, the Herodians were a group
that really wanted Herod in power. They wanted him in power, they
were behind Herod, and they were religious, but they were called
Herodians, and they wanted to put Herod in power and give him
more power, really to try to get away from Caesar having their
thumb on him. It was more of a localized thing.
They thought we can be benefited if we can have Herod controlling
instead of Caesar controlling Herod. But do you know what the
word Herod means? Outward appearance. And there's something to that,
outward appearance. You know what? Common people
could care less about outward appearance as far as this appears. I don't care if it appears right,
is it right? I don't, I'm not, now I want
you to like me and all that kind of stuff, but you feel the same
way I do. If God's pleased with me, do
you care what I think? You don't. You could care less
if God's pleased. And we don't care about outward
appearance. That's false religion. Always concerned about how things
look on the, oh, I'm protecting my testimony and all the kind
of foolishness that comes out of false religion. Who are the common people? They're
not concerned about outward appearance. And you know who the scribes
and the lawyers were? They were the experts on the scripture.
They could tell you what it meant. They were the interpreters of
the scripture. You know, the common people know that they're
totally dependent upon God for revelation. They know they can't
understand one scripture unless God is pleased to reveal it to
them. Now, who are these common people
that heard him gladly? Here's four marks of them. They
know that if they're saved, it's because God did something for
them. God made the difference. He made them to difference. A
common person is someone who knows the only righteousness
they have is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The common person
is just not concerned about outward. They know that the gospel, they
want a new heart. And the common person knows he's
totally dependent upon revelation. Now, every one of these common
people, what did they do? They heard him gladly. They loved everything he said,
and I have to say this, they loved the way he stunked the
Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Rhodians, the scribes, and the
lawyers. Common people really don't like
folks like that. Now, they want the Lord to save
them, I'm not saying this from a wrong attitude. I'll be thankful because every
one of us, by nature, are Pharisees. Every one of us, by nature, are
Sadducees. Every one of us, by nature, are
Herodians. Every one of us, by nature, are scribes and lawyers. So I'm not saying this, but maybe
that's why, you know, people you don't like, generally, are
people just like you are. That's where they get to you.
You know, I mean, somebody that's, well, we want the Lord to save
these people, but we love it when the Lord stumps them the
way he does. But I want to be of this number of these common
people who hear him gladly. What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Let's pray. Lord, by thy grace and by thy
grace alone, we believe that thy son is all. That's what we think of him.
Lord, we know that you know that he is all. And by your grace,
we confess what you confess with regard to your son. We do so
with fear and trembling. But Lord, we believe he is all,
even in all. Now bless this message for your
glory and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.