I'm going to turn in the Bible
today to the book of Matthew, chapter 22. This is an interesting,
interesting chapter in God's Word. There were a group of Pharisees,
Sadducees, and lawyers who came to our Lord and tried to trap
him in his talk, in his preaching. And they began to fire these
questions at him, the Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection. They asked him this. They said,
now, suppose a woman's married and her husband dies. She marries
again and he dies, and she marries again and he dies. In the resurrection,
whose wife will she be? She's had several husbands. Now,
whose wife? Who will have her as a wife in
the resurrection? They didn't believe in the resurrection.
Well, our Lord answered in this fashion. He said, In the resurrection,
they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels.
And then the Pharisees came to him, and they were strict legalists. They wore their phylacteries
long and their borders on their garments broad. They prayed on
the street corner and read the Scripture, and they, like the
Pharisee praying in the temple, claimed to be without sin. And they came to him, and they
said, which is the greatest law? And our Lord answered them. He
said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind,
soul, and strength. That's the first and great commandment.
And the second is likened to it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. And all the law is fulfilled
in this word. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God and thy neighbor as thyself. And then a lawyer came to him,
and he said, is it, is it, Is it right for the people of God
to pay tribute to Caesar? In other words, pay taxes. The
people of Israel were under the heel of the Roman government,
and they were taxing them to death. And he said, is that right?
Israel, they're God's people. They're in the kingdom of God.
Is it right for them to pay taxes to a pagan, heathen dictator,
Caesar? Our Lord said, do you have a
coin? The man handed him a coin. He said, whose inscription is
on that coin? The man said, well, Caesar's.
He said, then you render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,
and to God the things that are God's. And when he put them all
to silence, and it says here in Matthew 22, verse 41, and
when the Pharisees were gathered together, and he had put the
Pharisees and Sadducees and lawyers all to silence, Jesus asked them
the Lord Jesus asked them a question Now you listen Our Lord asked
them saying what think ye of Christ He's not saying now. What do you think of me? He is
the Christ No question about that, but he's asking them. What
do you think you religious man you Pharisees you teachers of
the scripture? Rulers of the Jews Your Old Testament,
the scriptures all prophesy of the coming Christ who's called
the Messiah, who's called the messenger of the covenant, who's
called the redeemer of Israel. What do you think of this Christ
for whom you look? Whose son is he? What think ye
of Christ? Whose son is he?" They quickly
replied, well, he's the son of David, the Christ is the son
of David. Then our Lord said, How then
doth David in spirit call him Lord? If he's David's son, why
did David call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
They couldn't deny that. That was in their scripture.
David said, The Lord, the Father, said to my Lord, my Lord, my
Redeemer, my Christ, my Messiah, my representative, he said to
my Lord, sit thou on my right hand. Now, the Lord Jesus said,
how can he be David's son and be David's Lord? How is the Christ,
the Messiah, David's son and also David's God? And they couldn't
answer him. And from that moment on, they
didn't ask him any more questions. And that, my friend, is the very
heart of the gospel. Can you answer that question? That's the very heart of the
gospel. It's declared throughout the whole Word of God that our
Christ, our Redeemer, our Messiah, is God. And yet, our Christ,
our Redeemer, is a man. He's a man and he's God. He's
the God-man. Someone wrote this, the ancient
of days, the ancient of days whose goings forth have been
of everlasting became an infant of days. He who made woman was
made of a woman and made under his own law. He who made the
son worked as a carpenter by candlelight. He who made the fields of wheat
one day sat down on a well, hungry, while his disciples went to buy
food. He who made the rivers, hanging
upon a cross, a cruel cross, cried, I thirst. He who made
the tree was nailed to it. How can this be? How can he be
David's son according to the flesh and David's God according
to the Spirit? I tell you, he's the only man
who chose his own mother, who set the day and hour and place
of his own birth, who determined the years of his own life and
the time and the place and the hour and the way in which he
would die. raised himself from the grave.
I want to show you today the glories of that person and the
glorious imperative truth throughout the scripture of how that person
can be the son of David and yet David's Lord. That's what our
Lord asked the Pharisees, what think ye of Christ? Whose son
is he? Boy, they quickly said, he's
the son of David. Well, now tell me, how did David in spirit call
him Lord, saying, thee, Lord, said to my Lord, sit thou on
my right hand? I ask you, how can he be David's
son and David's Lord, God? Well, I want to show you through
the scriptures how this truth is taught all the way through
the Word of God, that God came to this earth in human form in
the form of a servant, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and
lived on this earth and died on this earth to redeem a people,
was buried and rose again, and went back to the throne. In Isaiah
7, 14, now take these scriptures down if you'd like to, or if
you'd rather just listen and not write, then you send for
the tape and you can take your time replaying. write down while
the tape's playing. Isaiah 7, 14. The Lord himself
shall give you a sign. This will be the sign. A virgin
shall conceive and bear a son. And thou shalt call his name,
the name of this son, born of a woman, born of a virgin, call
his name Immanuel. What's that mean? God with us. That's what the angel said to
Mary. She said, I can't have a child. I don't know a man.
He said, that holy thing conceived in your womb by the Holy Spirit
shall be called the Son of God. A man, but the Son of God. David's
son, yet David's Lord. Look at Isaiah 9, verse 6. Listen
to this. Unto us a child is born. That's
a simple matter. There are thousands of them born
every day. Under us, a child is born. But
watch the next line. Under us, a son is given, one
who already lived, one whose goings forth are from everlasting,
the ancient of days. A child is born, but inhabiting
the body of that child is a son, the son of God, and the government
shall be on his shoulders. And His name, His name, His name,
His name shall be called, listen, the name of this child shall
be called Wonderful, Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. No human being fits
that description, only one, David's son. David's Lord, the Christ. Jeremiah 23, verse 5. Listen
to this. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet,
he said, Behold, the days come. The days will come, saith the
Lord, that I'll raise up unto David from the loins of David,
from the family of David. I'll raise up a righteous branch.
There'll be a branch from the old family tree of David. Son of David. And in the days
of that man, Judah shall be saved. And this is his name whereby
he shall be called. This branch of David, this son
of David, this seed of David, this man from the lorns of David
that I raise up, the days are coming. Call his name, the Lord
our righteousness. Now, you can't call no man Lord. One is your Lord. Call no man
Father. One is your Father. And this man that God says, I'll
raise up from the seat of David, is the Lord, our righteousness.
Listen to Malachi 3.1. This is all the way through the
Scripture. You see, this is why it's amazing that these men couldn't
answer Him. These were scholars, theologians.
rulers of the Jews, teachers of the scripture. And our Lord
said, what think ye of the Christ? Whose son is he? They quickly
answered, the son of David, root of Jesse, tribe of Judah. He
said, well, why did David call him Lord? How can it be David's
son be David's Lord? They were a dumb family. And
from then on, they didn't ask him a thing. They didn't have
enough information to ask a question. Malachi 3.1, Behold, saith the
Lord of hosts, I'll send my messenger, that's John the Baptist, he'll
prepare the way before me, listen, and the Lord whom you seek, the
Lord of whom all the prophets have written, the Lord of whom
all the patterns speak, And the Lord whom you seek, the Messiah
whom you seek, shall suddenly come to his temple." Think of
all the times that our Lord came to that temple, and they didn't
know Him. He spoke one day in the synagogue
at Nazareth, and they rose up in anger and would have killed
Him. And He came to the temple countless times, countless times.
He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the
world knew Him not. He came unto His own. He came
to His own temple, to His own people. They received Him not. Didn't know Him, didn't receive
Him. Son of David, Son of God. David's Son, David's Lord. John
1, verse 1, listen. You know, you could quote this,
As well as I can. In the beginning was the Word. That's God. The Word was with
God and the Word was God. And all things were made by Him.
Without Him was not anything made that was made. That's talking
about our Lord, our Redeemer. Now down in verse 14. And that
Word, which was with God and was God, and by whom all things
were made, that Word was made flesh. and dwelt among us, and
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth." David's son, flesh, David's God. One day our Lord asked His disciples,
listen to this, this is Matthew 16. One day our Lord asked His
disciples, He said, whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Out there in the world, as you're
moving around in the marketplaces and down at the seashore fishing,
my fame has spread throughout the area. Whom do men say that
I, the Son of Man, am? Well, Lord, some of them say
you're John the Baptist. They think John the Baptist has
come back from the dead. Some of them say you're Elijah
the prophet. You remember Malachi says, before that great and terrible
day of the Lord, I'll send Elijah. They said, they think you're
that Elijah. And some of them think you're
one of the prophets. But he said to his disciples, whom do you
say that I, the son of man, am? What think ye of Christ? Whom
do you say that I am? And Peter answered, listen, Peter
replied, thou art the Christ. Thou art the Christ. Whom do
you say that I, the Son of Man, am? You're the Christ, the Son
of God. We believe and assure that Thou
art the Christ, the Son of God. There it is, Peter said, Son
of Man, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, David's son. Son
of God, David's Lord, and the Christ, God's anointed. That's
who he is. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord, King, Jesus, our priest, sacrifice, and King. Lord Jesus Christ and Redeemer. Let's go back to the scriptures
now again. What think ye of Christ? How can he be David's son and
be David's Lord? When Peter preached at Pentecost,
Acts 2, verse 36, He stood before all of these people of Israel
from all the nations, and he said, ye men of Israel, hear
my words. Ye men of Israel, now hear my
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man, a man, Jesus of Nazareth. We
know who he is. He's from Nazareth. He's the
carpenter. He's the son of Mary. That's
what you've said all these years, a man. But a man approved of
God. Among you, as you also know with
miracles and wonders and signs, one of your own said, Nicodemus
said, no man could do these miracles except God be with him. A man
approved of God among you, as you know with miracles and wonders
and signs, God delivered him into your hands. And you with
wicked hands have crucified him. You with wicked hands have crucified
and slain. Therefore, ye men of Israel,
Let all the house of Israel know that God hath made that same
Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." That man, son of David, is the
Lord, the Son of God, and he's the Christ. Now, Israel had three
offices, main offices. They had a prophet, sin of God,
a priest, sin of God, and a king. Moses was a prophet. Aaron was
a priest. David was a king, just as a picture. Prophet, priest, and king. All
the prophets, God spake to our fathers by the prophets. The
priest offered sacrifices and things pertaining to God for
the people. The king ruled over them. No man ever held those
three offices. A man was a prophet, but he wasn't
a priest or a king. A man was a king, but he wasn't
a prophet or a priest. One man held all those offices.
Jesus Christ, Jesus the Son of God, the seed of David, is our
prophet. That prophet talked about in
Deuteronomy. He's our priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek, and he's our king. He's our king
of kings and Lord of lords. You see what Scripture's saying?
Can you answer that question? What think ye of Christ? How
can he be David's son and be David's Lord? In the book of
Romans, the apostle Paul, and I call Romans the gospel. If
you want to get acquainted with the gospel of God, read the book
of Romans. Justification by faith. The gospel
of God. All right. In the book of Romans,
Paul opens the book. with this glorious foundational
truth, the heart of the gospel, that Jesus the Christ is David's
son and David's Lord. I want to show you this. So would
you open your Bible to the book of Romans and look at verse 1. Romans 1, verse 1. Paul, that's
the writer, a servant, a bond slave of Jesus Christ, called
to be an apostle. called of God to be an apostle,
separated to the gospel of God, which is no new gospel. It's
the gospel, the ancient gospel, prophesied by our fathers, given
to us in the Old Testament Scriptures concerning His Son. See verse
3, I'm separated to the gospel of God concerning His Son, who
was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared
to be the Son of God by the Spirit of holiness. That's the way Paul
starts the book of Romans. Jesus the Christ is made of the
seed of David according to the flesh. That's how he was born
into this world, through the house and lineage of David. Mary,
his mother, who bore him, was in line for the throne of David.
Joseph, her husband, who was not the father of Christ. He
was conceived by the Holy Spirit. But Joseph also was in the line
of Christ, in the line of David. So he's made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. He's David's son. He's the heir
to the throne of Israel. But he's declared, he's made
the seed of David by birth, but he's declared to be the son of
God according to the spirit of holiness. David's son, David's
God, our Christ. Now, one other scripture. Over
in 1 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16, here the Apostle Paul says,
without controversy, there's no debate on this matter, there's
no argument on this issue, without controversy, great is this mystery. of godliness. It's a mystery
that has to be revealed, has to be taught us by the Holy Spirit,
because eye hath not seen and ear hath not heard, neither hath
it entered the heart of man the things God through Christ has
prepared for them that love him, but he's revealed them unto us
by his Spirit. And so Paul says without controversy,
great is this mystery of godliness. Listen, God was manifest in the
flesh. Almighty God was made a man. God took on himself human flesh. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus our Lord who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God yet made himself of no reputation and
took upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh and was made
for a while in the form of a servant, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." That's a mystery. God was manifested
in human flesh. Listen. Justified in the Spirit. What does that word justified
mean? Vindicated. Vindicated. What he claimed was true. He
proved it by his words. He proved it by his works. He
proved it by his resurrection. Vindicated in the Spirit. scene
of the angels. Angels do not pay a whole lot
of attention to what we do, but everything Christ did, the angels
were involved. When his birth was announced
to Joseph and Mary, the angels came and announced it. When he
was born in Bethlehem, the angels, a host, a heavenly host, appeared
to the shepherds and said, in the city of David a Savior. When
our Lord was tempted in the garden, or rather on the mountain by
Satan, the angels ministered to Him. When He wept and prayed
in the garden of Gethsemane, the angels ministered to Him.
When the women came to the tomb on that Sunday morning, expecting
to anoint a dead body, the stone was rolled away from the Tomb
and two angels sat on the stone and they said to the women. Why
are you seeking the living among the dead? He's not here. He's
risen the angels announced his resurrection and Then when the
disciples stood out there that 50 days later and watched the
Lord Jesus ascend back to heaven the angels Appeared to them and
said he'll be back You men of Galilee. Why do you stand gazing
up into heaven this same Jesus? which is taken up from you shall
so come in like man. Man as you've seen him go. Gray
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
vindicated in the spirit, seen of the angels, ministered to
by the angels, preached to the Gentiles. This is our message. Believed on in the world and
received up into glory. Oh, there's so many scriptures
that tell us who he is. God was in Christ. reconciling
the world to himself. The disciples said to him, when
they show us the Father, he said, he that has seen me has seen
the Father. How sayest thou, show us the
Father? He said in John 10, I and my
Father one. Under the sun, God says, let
the holy angels of God worship him. Under the sun, he said,
thy throne, O God, is forever. Paul said there's one God and
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And Paul in the book of Hebrews
said this, listen, God who at sundry times and in different
manners spake to our fathers by the prophets, he hath in these
last days spoken to us by his Son, the God-man. by his Son, whom he hath appointed
heir over all things, by whom he made the worlds, who is the
brightness of his glory, who is the exact image of his person,
who upholdeth all things by the word of his power, who by himself
purged our sins, who is sat down at the right hand of God. That's
what I think of Christ. What think ye of Christ? David's Son and David's God. The Lord Jesus Christ. King, priest, prophet. All things to the believer. Our
mediator. All right, if you want this message,
what I think of Christ, write for it. Send two dollars, we'll
mail you this tape with another message on the other side. Till
next week, God bless you.