What Think Ye of Christ?

Q: What does the Bible say about Christ being God and man?

The Bible teaches that Christ is both fully God and fully man, the God-man who reconciles humanity to God. The mystery of Christ's dual nature is crucial for understanding His role as our Savior. Hebrews 1:1-3 reveals that Jesus, the Son of God, is not just an ordinary man but the Creator who upholds all things by His power. This is evident when we see that He is described as the express image of God's person, indicating His divine nature. At the same time, He is born of Mary, a human, affirming His human nature. This mystery is fundamental to the Gospel, as only God incarnate could adequately mediate between God and humanity. As Paul affirms in II Corinthians 5:19, 'God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself.'

Q: How do we know Jesus is the Christ?

Jesus is affirmed as the Christ through prophetic fulfillment and His divine authority. The identity of Jesus as the Christ is supported by numerous Old Testament prophecies that describe the coming Messiah, to which He fulfills. In Matthew 22, Jesus questions the Pharisees about the Messiah's lineage, emphasizing His rightful claim as the Son of David, yet revealing that He is also David's Lord (Matthew 22:41-45). This complexity is vital as it underscores His divine nature and authority. Hebrews 1:2 further illustrates that God has spoken to us through His Son, affirming Jesus’ unique position as the heir of all things and the appointed Savior, which supports His identity as the Christ.

Q: Why is the concept of the Trinity important for Christians?

The Trinity is essential for understanding God's nature and the work of salvation. The doctrine of the Trinity reveals the complexity of God's nature as one Being in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is foundational in understanding the roles of each person in the work of salvation. For instance, God the Father sends the Son into the world (John 3:16), the Son redeems humanity through His sacrifice (Hebrews 1:3), and the Holy Spirit applies this work to believers. The interplay of the Trinity underscores that our salvation is the work of God in totality, affirming that the full essence of God is engaged in our redemption and ongoing relationship with Him.

Q: What does Jesus mean when He says to love God and neighbor?

Loving God and neighbor encapsulates the essence of God's law and genuine faith. In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus succinctly summarizes the law by stating that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves. This command encompasses the heart of biblical ethics and illustrates our relational obligations. Love for God involves a heartfelt devotion and obedience to His will, while love for neighbor implies actions rooted in kindness, respect, and justice. This command reflects the character of God Himself, emphasizing that true faith necessarily produces love and good works, echoing the transformative power of the Gospel.

I'm going to be speaking to you
today from the book of Matthew. Now, I'd like very much for you
to open your Bibles to chapter 22 of Matthew's Gospel, and let
me speak to you on this subject. What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? What think ye
of Christ? Here in verse 15 of Matthew 22,
listen to the Word of God. Then went the Pharisees. Now,
these Pharisees were the religious teachers, rulers, and they took counsel how they
might entangle Jesus in His talk. These religious leaders, teachers,
preachers, took counsel together how they might trap or entangle
or confuse the things that Christ was preaching and saying. Now,
this seems to be characteristic of religious people, not only
in that day, but today. Religious people love to argue
religion. They love to debate. They love
to differ on spiritual matters. Instead of searching the Scriptures,
and finding out what God has to say Himself. Why? What He
has to say on a particular subject. They interject their own thoughts,
and this is what I think, or this is what I believe, or this
is what my church believes. And they interject these thoughts
and their own ways, and God clearly says, my thoughts are not your
thoughts, and my ways are not your ways. And He tells us to
repent and turn from our thoughts, and turn from our ways, submit
ourselves to His Word. And He plainly says in Isaiah
chapter 8, if they speak not according to the Scriptures,
it's because there's no light in them. But is that not true?
People argue and debate and they seem to like to have it that
way, differ on spiritual matters. For example, the football coach
of the University of Colorado a team which won the national
championship just two years ago, was speaking at a gathering not
so awful long ago, and he made this statement. He is a professing
Christian, professing believer, but he made this statement. He
said, homosexuality is an abomination to God, and it is an evil practice. Well, 30 years ago, That statement
would have not created any problem or stir whatsoever, but he's
in deep trouble. He's been called before the university
president. He's been ridiculed in the newspaper. He's been accused of hate, of
prejudice, been threatened with the loss of his job. And he's
one of the most successful football coaches, college coaches in America. And he simply made this statement,
homosexuality is an abomination to God. And people are railing
on him from every direction. And I ask this question, I say,
people like to debate and argue and differ on matters, spiritual
matters, and what God has to say and what the Bible teaches.
How many of you know what the Bible does say about homosexuality? Have you ever taken the time
to read it? This man said, homosexuality is an abomination to God. Well,
is it? What does God say? You're not
going to get the answer to that by looking at the moon or by
going to some scientific textbook. What you're going to have to
do is go to the Word of God. What does God say about homosexuality? Let God speak for Himself. Was
the man telling the truth? Well, here it is in Leviticus
chapter 20. Leviticus 20 verse 13. Listen. If a man lie with a man as he
lieth with a woman, Is that clear? You understand what he said?
If a man lies with a man as he lies with a woman, both of them
have committed an abomination. Is that the word he used? That's
the word God uses, an abomination. They shall surely be put to death.
That's the law of Moses. Their blood shall be upon them. But preacher, that's the Old
Testament. Right it is. The New Testament is a fulfillment
of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is the New
Testament concealed. The New Testament's the Old Testament
revealed. But let's turn and see what the
New Testament says. What does God say in the New
Testament? Romans chapter 1, verse 26 and
27. For this cause God gave them
up. For this cause. For what cause?
God gave some people up. gave them up, reprobated them
to vile, evil affections. What had they done? Listen. For
even their women did change the natural use into that which is
against nature. And likewise the men, leaving
the natural use of a woman, burned in their lust one toward another,
Men with men working that which is shameful, evil, and receiving
in themselves the consequences of their evil, judgment, disease,
which is fitting. That's what God's Word says.
Now, I ask you, where's the ground for debate? The man said, Homosexuality
is an abomination to God. And that's what God said. The
man only quoted what God said. Now, if you want to disagree
with what God says, fine. But that's what God says. That's
what the same Bible says. The Lord is my shepherd, and
God is love, and Jesus died for sinners said this. It's the same
Bible. And the most dishonest thing
you can do is take part of it and reject the rest of it. and
take part of it, and argue against the rest of it. So I ask you,
where's room for argument? There is none. Where's the ground
for debate? God's Word plainly declares what
the man said. Homosexuality is an abomination. And Almighty God gave men and
women over to a reprobate mind, and they suffered the consequences
I made when I was preaching in Australia just a year and a half
ago. I was speaking in a university town, and a group of college
students was there, and I dealt with this. And I told them that
what's going on today is the consequence of men with men and
women with women working that which is an abomination and shameful
to God. And he says, and they receive
in their bodies the consequences of their error which is fitting,
and the judgment is upon them. Now, that's just one example.
That's what I'm saying is that back in the Scripture I'm reading,
Matthew 22, our Lord preached. And here these religious folks
gathered about wanting to contradict Him. They wanted to entangle
Him. They wanted to trap Him in His
talk. Well, I won't be entangled, and He wouldn't either. And we
don't need to be trapped. If we'll stay on the main line
and preach what God says. That's all you have to do is
declare what God says. So these fellas gathered around.
The Pharisees wouldn't submit to his word. And they took counsel
together to contradict him and entangle him. And one of them
came to him in verse 17. You have it there, Matthew 22,
verse 17. And one of them came to him and
said, Is it lawful? Now, he's not sincere, but he's
trying to start an argument. He said, Is it lawful to pay
taxes to Caesar? What's he asking? He's a Jew.
He's a Pharisee. What he's saying is, we're the
people of God. We're the kingdom of God. Why
should we pay taxes to the Roman government, a pagan, heathen
government? Should God's people pay taxes
to evil people? And our Lord answered him. He
said, give me a coin. The man reached in his pocket
and got a coin and handed it to the Lord and he held it up.
He said, whose inscription? is on this coin." And the man
said, well, Caesar's inscriptions on that coin. He said, well,
you render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God
the things that are God. Our realm is not politics. Our
realm is the Word of God, and we preach God's Word. And then
another man, another group came to him. Verse 24, look at it
there. They were the Sadducees. These were men who were religious
leaders and teachers, but they did not believe in the resurrection.
So they came to the Lord to try to contradict Him, and they posed
a problem. One of them said, well, suppose
a woman is married to a man and he dies, and she marries another
man and he dies, and she's married seven times to seven different
men. Legally, all of them are dead. Now, in the resurrection, in
the last times, whose husband, who will be your husband, whose
wife shall she be?" And our Lord answered them. There's an answer
for people who really want to know it. Our Lord answered them.
He said, you are in error because you do not know the Word of God
nor the power of God. And that's the greatest problem
with religious people today. They do not know the Word of
God. A man will study. It's like television is a scientific,
complicated work, and it takes years to perfect for a man to
get good at what he's doing in this type of business. Medicine,
the law, all these things take years, and men will give years
to study before they'll become authorities. But you know, the
average person will just learn one verse description and become
an authority on God's Word. He won't study it. He won't spend
years and years and years searching into the mysteries of the kingdom
of God and the glory of God and the power of God and all of these
things that take years. The mysteries of God are greater
mysteries than computers and television and medicine and science. And that's what he told them.
He said, you're in error because you don't know the Bible, and
you don't know the power of God. He said, in the resurrection,
they don't marry or are given in marriage. There's no family
circles in heaven. We sang that song, Will the Circle
Be Unbroken. There are no families in heaven.
There's one family, the people of God. Whereas the angels, you
don't marry and give. I'm not going to heaven to meet
my mother or my brother or my wife or my son or daughter. We're not going to have these
little family circles living in communes all over heaven.
It's God's family. It's the body of Christ. It's
the people of God. And they're all loved the same.
And then another one came to him, verse 36, to trap him and
entangle him. He was a lawyer, a religious
lawyer. And he asked, Now, Master, which
is the greatest law? Or which law is most important?
And our Lord answered him. He said, Now, the greatest law
is this. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength. And the second
is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. On these two hang all the law and the prophets.
You don't have to get out ten commandments and read them. Just
read these two. Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and
strength. You won't take His name in vain. You won't set up
idols. You won't have another God before
Him. If you love your neighbor as yourself, you won't steal
from Him. You won't lie on Him. You won't covet what He has.
You won't kill Him. You won't commit adultery with
His wife. You won't do these things if you love your neighbor
as yourself, you see? So the whole law is on these
two. Well, He put them to silence, and none of them were able to
answer Him. So he then asked them a question. They were put
to silence, and while they stood around, he asked them a question.
They wanted to argue politics, they wanted to argue prophecy,
they wanted to argue law. Is that not today? But our Lord
put to them the question of questions. The whole of Scriptures, the
whole of the Scriptures is summed up in this one question. He looked
at them, and he said, think ye of the Christ, whose Son is He?"
What do you think of the Christ? Now, they knew of whom He spoke,
the Christ, the Messiah. You see, all through the Old
Testament Scriptures, from the writing of Moses all the way
to the writing of Malachi, even to the coming of John the Baptist,
the last of the Old Testament prophets, to Him, to the Messiah,
to the Christ, gave all the prophets witness. They wrote about the
Christ. They talked about the Christ.
They prophesied of the Christ. The Christ was promised the seed
of woman, the seed of Abraham, the root of Jesse, the son of
David, the prophet like Moses, the one who would redeem Israel.
The whole Old Testament says someone's coming. Someone's coming. The Lord our righteousness, the
Lord our King, the Lord our Emancipator, the Lord our Redeemer. This is
what our Lord has asked the Christ now, the Christ. What do you
think of the Christ of whom Moses wrote and David wrote? What do
you think of this Christ, this Messiah? You see, they knew who
he was talking about because when John the Baptist came, they
said, are you the Christ? Are you the Christ? And the woman
at the well said, we know the Messiah's coming who will tell
us all things. In fact, when John the Baptist
was put in prison, he sent two of his disciples to Jesus And
he said, are you the Christ? Are you the one that should come
or do we look for another? Remember? Well, they answered
him. Our Lord said to these Pharisees
and Sadducees, what think ye of the Christ? Whose son is he? And they answered truthfully.
They replied in the next verse, he's the son of David. Now that's
so. He's the root of Jesse. He's
the son of David. But then look at verse 43. Then
our Lord asked them, Then why did David call him Lord, my Lord? David said, The Lord said to
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies
thy footstool. Now if he's David's son, how
can he be David's Lord and God? and they didn't answer him a
word. You're right. He is the son of
David. But if he's only the son of David, how can he be David's
Lord? For example, Mary, the one who
gave birth to Jesus of Nazareth, her song of praise in the book
of Luke concerning the birth of Christ, you know what she
said? She said, My soul doth rejoice in God my Savior. talking about this Son who was
coming. Now, how is He Mary's Son and
Mary's God? How can Jesus be Mary's Son and
Mary's Savior? And that's what our Lord's asking
these men. What think ye of Christ? Whose
Son is He? They said He's the Son of David.
Well, why did David call Him Lord? the Lord said unto my Lord,
sit thou on thy right, on my right hand. And I'm asking you,
what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Put aside all
the arguments and debates and differences and dogmas and all
these other things. You say he's the son of David,
but he's the son of God, too. Well, he's the son of Mary, he's
the son of God, too. But he's the son of man, he's
the son of God, too. He's the God-man. He's God incarnate
in human flesh. You see, the knowledge of this
mystery, who is Christ? Who is Christ? The knowledge
of this mystery will open the way to understand all the mysteries
of godliness. Do you know that the incarnation
is called a mystery of godliness? I Timothy 3, 16, great is the
mystery of godliness, without controversy. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in human flesh. And that's what our Lord was
saying to these Pharisees. He said to them, how can he be
David's son and be David's Lord? How can he be David's son and
be David's Lord? I'll tell you how. God is manifest
in human flesh. Isaiah 9, 6 says this, unto us
a child is born, Under us, a son is given. A child is born, a
son is given? Yes, a child is born to a woman
called Mary, son of David, root of Jesse, seed of Abraham, a
Jew, salvations of the Jews. A child is born, but a son is
given. That Son of God came and took
up His abode in that body of that child. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in human flesh. seen of the angels, justified
in the Spirit, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, received up into glory. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. You see, II Corinthians 5, 19
says, God was in Christ. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to Himself. So the question comes to you,
and the question comes to me, as our Lord put the question
to these men. He settled all of their other
questions, contradictions, and differences, and debates about
these other things, but He came to the question of questions,
the one of most importance, what think ye of the Christ? You see,
God hath appointed a day in which He's going to judge the world
by that man, Christ Jesus. And he has given evidence and
proof to all men in that he raised him from the dead. What think
ye of Christ?" Now, if you'll study the first chapter of Hebrews,
I want you to turn over there just briefly. We have a few minutes. Turn to the first chapter of
Hebrews, and you'll find a clear description of the Christ. Jesus
of Nazareth is no ordinary man. Jesus of Nazareth is just not
some ordinary religious Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth is not just
a reformer or an example for you to follow. Jesus Christ is
God for you to worship and adore and love and believe and trust
and rest in for all things. In Hebrews chapter 1, turn over
there just by three verses, Hebrews 1 verse 1, God, God Almighty,
who at sundry times and in different manners spake to our fathers
in the past by the prophets. Now He spoke to them in different
manners, that is, by dreams, by visions. He spoke to them
by angels and the person of angels. He spoke to them in different
ways at different times. And He spoke to them concerning
redemption. how he would redeem and save
a people for his name's sake. He spoke to them of the coming
of the Messiah, the coming of the Christ. He spoke to them
on this subject. He says in verse 2, And this
God, who spoke to our fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken to us by his Son, by his Son. There are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. The Father,
the Word, and the Spirit. And God has spoken to us by His
Word, His Son. And that's the first thing He
says about the Christ. He's the Son of God. I'm a Father
of one. That's what He said. I'm a Father
of one. And then second, look at what
He says in the next line. He says, God has spoken to us
by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things. Now, what
is an heir? An heir is one who receives and
owns all that's left in the will. If I had one son, and I had great
possessions, I die, he's the heir. I leave everything to him.
That means I don't own anything. I'm gone. He owns everything.
Well, the father loveth the son, John said in chapter 3, and hath
given all things into his hand. He's the heir of God. Everything
that Almighty God has, owns, is, is vested in Christ Jesus. That's what it says. He's the
heir of all things. Thirdly, verse 2, by whom God
made the worlds. Jesus is the Christ, but He's
also the Creator. Is this too much for you? It's
so. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God, And by Him was all things
made, without Him was nothing made that was made. He created
all things, for by Him were all things created that are in heaven,
that are on earth, visible, invisible. All things were created by Him
and for Him. He's the Creator, this Jesus
of Nazareth, who died on the cross, who was buried in Rosagad.
That's what He's, He's God's Son, He's God's heir, by whom
God made the worlds. Look at the next line. He's the
brightness of God's glory. Where is God's glory really seen?
Where can you behold the greater glory of God, the chief glory
of God? I'll tell you, in the face of Christ Jesus. The scripture
says, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has
shined in our hearts that we might see the glory of God. Where? In the face of Christ
Jesus. The glory of His grace, of His
love, of His justice, of His holiness, of his wisdom, of his
power, it's all in Christ. The brightness of God's glory.
That's Christ, Jesus. And then it says in the next
place, he's express or exact image of God's person. Jesus
of Nazareth is the exact image of God's person. Somebody said,
show us the Father. The disciples did. He said, he
that has seen me has seen the Father. He said, I and my Father
are one. Would you know God? Would you
worship God? Look to Christ. And the next
line says, And he upholds all things by the word of his power.
By him all things were created. By him all things are held together.
In him we live and move and have our being. By him all things
consist. Jesus of Nazareth. I've heard preachers preach about
Jesus, but they always preach some fellow that you're supposed
to feel sorry for and do something for and help him out. He's so
helpless. No, no, he's King of kings and Lord of lords. He is
Lord. They have this sign, Jesus is
Lord. That's what he is, Lord, King, Sovereign, Ruler, Almighty. By himself, he purged our sins. He purged or paid for our sins,
put them away. That's what purge means. He purged
our sins, past, present, and future, all of them. He purged
them by Himself, by the sacrifice of Himself. He purged our sins
by Himself, by the sacrifice of Himself, and without any aid
or help. And what's the last thing? And
He sat down on the right hand of God, the hand of power. He
sat down. His work was finished. He's not
pacing the floor up there. Everything's on schedule. He
sat down. No high priest ever sat down
but Christ. He sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high, and he's the only mediator between God
and men. If you want this message, it's
on a cassette tape, and one I'll be bringing next week on the
same tape. Write for it. Send $2. We'll
mail it to you. Until next week, may God bless
you, everyone.

What Think Ye of Christ?

What does the Bible say about Christ being God and man?

How do we know Jesus is the Christ?

Why is the concept of the Trinity important for Christians?

What does Jesus mean when He says to love God and neighbor?

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About Henry Mahan

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What Think Ye of Christ?

What does the Bible say about Christ being God and man?

How do we know Jesus is the Christ?

Why is the concept of the Trinity important for Christians?

What does Jesus mean when He says to love God and neighbor?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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