What Think Ye of Christ?

Q: What does the Bible say about the deity of Christ?

The Bible affirms that Christ is both fully God and fully man, as seen in passages like John 1:14 and Romans 1:3-4. The deity of Christ is a central tenet of the Christian faith, firmly established in Scripture. John 1:14 states that 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,' emphasizing both His divinity and His incarnation. Additionally, Romans 1:3-4 affirms that Jesus, 'was made of the seed of David according to the flesh,' but was also 'declared to be the Son of God with power.' This dual nature – being fully human and fully divine – is essential for our understanding of His role in salvation. Without recognizing His divine nature, we cannot grasp the significance of His atoning work on the cross, as only the God-man could fulfill the righteous requirements of the law and bear the weight of our sins.

Q: How do we know the sovereignty of God is true?

Scripture teaches God's sovereignty through verses like Ephesians 1:11 and Romans 8:28, confirming His control over all events. The sovereignty of God is a foundational doctrine within Reformed theology, underscored by various biblical passages. Ephesians 1:11 declares that God 'works all things according to the counsel of His will,' thereby emphasizing His ultimate authority over creation and history. Romans 8:28 further reinforces this idea, stating, 'And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.' This assurance of God's control not only provides comfort to believers but also emphasizes His active role in orchestrating events for His glory and the good of His people. Recognizing God's sovereignty calls us to respond with worship and trust, knowing that nothing happens outside of His will.

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

Grace is essential for salvation and daily living, as it reminds Christians that salvation is a gift from God, not a result of works. Grace lies at the heart of the gospel and is paramount for every Christian. Ephesians 2:8-9 articulates that 'by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.' This truth reminds believers that they cannot earn their salvation; it is solely a gift from God. Furthermore, grace empowers Christians for daily living. It fosters a heart of gratitude and obedience, prompting them to live in a manner that honors God. Without grace, there would be no redemption, no hope, and no source of strength for the Christian walk. Thus, understanding grace profoundly impacts how believers relate to God and others.

All right, let's open our Bibles
to Matthew 22, Matthew chapter 22. Now tonight, if you want
to study what the subject on which I'll be speaking tonight,
it's Ephesians 1. That's what we're going to deal
with, I hope, the whole chapter tonight. No, we won't be until
midnight tonight, no. But I hope to cover much of that
chapter, Ephesians 1. All right, Matthew 22, verse
15. Then went the Pharisees and took
counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. Look at that
a moment. Then went the Pharisees, now
these are religious men, they're rulers of the synagogue and teachers
of religion, theological professors, religious folks by profession,
and they took counsel, they how they might entangle Christ in
his talk. And that seems to be characteristic
of so many religious people. They want to argue. They want
to entangle somebody in their talk. They want to catch them
somewhere where they are not knowledgeable. They want to argue.
They want to debate. Is that not true? They want to
differ. They take the word of God and
just rail on one another and argue and debate and all these
sort of things, you know. Instead of coming to the scriptures
and searching them and seeking to find the truth as it is in
Christ Jesus, to find the truth, to find. Our Lord said to these
men, he said, you search the scriptures, you do. You search the scriptures, in
them you think you have life. You think life's in a Life's
in a doctrine. Life's in a position. But he
said, they are they which testify of me. And you won't come to
me that you might have life. You won't come to me. So they
go and try to entangle him in his talk. And verse 16, so they
sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, their students
with the Herodians. And they said, We know you're
true, and we know you teach the way of God in truth, and we know
you don't care for any man. That is what men think. You regard
not the person of men, or the position, or the influence, or
the power, or the wealth. That doesn't appeal to you. You're
not impressed by what people have and are. Tell us, therefore,
what do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute
to Caesar or not? Now, you know what they're doing.
They're trying to trap him. They're going to see what he
says. Is it lawful? We're in the kingdom of God.
God's our king. Caesar's the king over this province. Is it lawful for us to pay tribute
to him? So Jesus perceived their wickedness and said, why test
ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me your tribute money. And
they brought him a penny. And he said, whose image and
superscriptions on this penny? They said Caesar's. He said,
well, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God
the things that are God's. That's Sabbath. Whatever belongs to Caesar, render
him to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, to God the things
that are God's. Well, that put them, they went
their way. In verse 23, the same day came to him the Sadducees.
Now, these fellows claimed there was no resurrection. The Sadducees
did not believe in the resurrection. So they came to him, and they
said, Master, I ask you a question. And you know why they're asking
it, to entangle him. They're not asking for information. They're
not asking to be taught. You ever have people ask you
a question like this? They don't ask you to learn, they ask you
So you can say what you say so they can attack it. And that's
what they were doing here. They were asking him this question
so they could pounce on him. And this was a question, I won't
read it all, but they said, here's a woman who has a husband, and
he dies. And she marries his brother to
raise up seed to her, his dead brother, and he dies. And she
marries another and he dies. And she went on and she married
Down here it says verse 28, verse 27, and last of all, the woman
died. She married seven of them. Therefore, verse 28, they said,
now, in the resurrection, whose wife is she going to be? They
all had her. Well, you know, we have that
same problem, too. Everybody's talking about, I'm
going to meet my husband in heaven, I'll meet my wife in heaven.
What about you folks who've had two wives, two husbands? Who
are you going to meet? See, that's what they presented
to him. This woman had seven husbands.
And Jesus answered and said to them, now verse 29, here's the
major problem of the whole religious world. You do err. You err. You go the wrong direction for
two reasons. You don't know the scriptures
and you don't know the power of God. Those are the two things.
The scriptures. What sayeth the scriptures? The
scriptures are the only rule of faith and practice. And you
don't know the scriptures. I'm not talking about the scriptures
as a whole. I'm not talking about a few pet
phrases and pet verses. You know, everybody's got a few
verses they've memorized, John 3, 16, Psalm 100, Psalm 23. But we don't know the scriptures
as a whole. The scriptures stand to fall
together. No scripture is any private interpretation. You can't take Acts 2, 38 out
of the Bible here and nail it on the wall and build a denomination
on it, that's foolishness. The scriptures interpret the
scriptures. The scriptures are interpreted
in the light of scriptures. From Genesis 1 to Revelation
22, the scriptures present Christ, his person and his saving work.
That's what the scriptures are together. There's one book. And
he said you don't know the scriptures. It's like a little bird standing
on a telephone Well, he's standing on the wire, he's supported by
the wire, he's held up by the wire, but he doesn't have any
understanding at all of the message going through that wire. It's
not a thing. He doesn't know the message.
He doesn't know what's being said over that wire. And that's
where so many folks are. They stand on the Word of God,
they're supported by the Word of God, they take their position
on the Word of God, and really don't know the message that goes
through this wire. The Old Testament says someone's
coming, someone's coming. The Christ, the Messiah is coming,
he's the seed of woman, he's the seed of Abraham, he's the
son of He's a son of David, he's a priest like Melchizedek, he's
a prophet like Moses, he's a king like David, he's a Passover lamb,
he's a bison serpent lifted up, he's a kinsman redeemer, he's
the rock smitten, he's the priest in the old tabernacle, he's the
mercy seed, he's the whole thing. That message is Christ. But they pick out this, that,
and the other, and Christ said in verse 30, He said, verse 29,
you don't know the scriptures, and you don't know the power
of God, the power of God. You know, a man can learn a few
math problems, that doesn't make him a mathematician. And a man
can pick up a few dates, 1492 and 1765 and 1865, that doesn't
make him a historian. And a man can pick up a few verses
of Scripture, and that doesn't make him a theologian. It's a matter of study of the
Word of God, to show thyself approved unto God of workmen
that need not to be ashamed. It's sitting at the feet of Christ.
It's finding a teacher who knows something about the Scriptures,
and spending a lifetime, a lifetime, finding out what this book is
saying, the Scriptures. Men don't know the Scriptures.
And another thing, we don't know the power of God. This generation
has an impotent God. They've got a God who preaches
to you, talking like this about God. God wants to do this. God
doesn't want to do anything he doesn't do. That's ridiculous. Now, I want
to do some things I can't do. I make plans I can't carry out.
You do too, because of my impotence. I don't have the power. I don't
have the power, and you don't either. But God is almighty,
is he not? All-powerful. He never purposes
anything. He said, I've spoken it, can
I not do it? I've purposed it, I'll bring
it to pass. Our God's in the heavens. They
asked David, they said, where's your God? He said, he's in the
heavens. They said, what's he like? Well, he does whatever
he pleases. In heaven, in the earth, in the
seas, in all deep places, that's God. Let God be God, that's all
I'm asking. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Not a sparrow falls to the ground
without the Heavenly Father. He numbers the hairs of your
head. He declares the end from the beginning. He said, my arm's
not short that I can't save. I hear preachers say, God wants
to save you. If he did, he would. If he did, he would. God has
a wonderful plan for your life, and you won't let him work it
out. That's ridiculous. If God's God, what are we talking
about? We're talking about someone who
created something, went out and left it, and hope it turns out
all right? Everything that takes place in this world, in this
nation, in this church, in your life, in your home, is ordered
of God. steps of a righteous man are
ordered by God. That's right. God, his directive
will or his permissive will, but it's all his will. He doeth
according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of this earth. And none can stay his hand, and
none can say unto him, what are you doing? Hath not the potter
power over the clay? God said to Jeremiah, he said,
you come down here to the potter's house and let me teach you something.
And Jeremiah went down to the potter's house and he saw the
potter take up the clay in a lump, you know, and mix it with the
water, whatever you do, and put it on that spinner, you know,
and started spinning around. He shaped it and formed it, and
he made the vessel according to his will. Now he said, Jeremiah,
he said, I'm the potter, you're the clay. And if God wills out
of the same lump, out of the same lump of clay, to make one
vessel under honor and another vessel under dishonor, to make
a Moses to honor his grace and a Pharaoh to fulfill his purpose,
who are you to question it? I tell you the reason people
don't worship today, they're preaching to God that's not worthy
of worship. I wouldn't worship an impotent
God. Why should I? He can't do anything unless I
let Him. Why should I worship Him? Let Him worship me. He's
waiting around on me to do something so His will will be accomplished.
I couldn't worship an impotent God. How could He save me? God said, God's going to send
you to hell because you won't let Him save you. Well, if I
won't let him save me, let him try to send me to hell, I won't
let him do that either. I mean, if I'm in charge, see what I'm
talking about? Don't know the power of God,
the power of God. That's where worship begins,
acknowledging the power of God and our dependence All things,
he created all things, and it says all things are held together
by him, by his power, by his might, by his will. Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Moses found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Well, they kept asking these
questions. Finally, he put them to silence. He said, well, verse
30, in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in
marriage. There's not going to be any marriage relationships
in heaven. That won't be a son and daughter,
mama and daddy relationship in heaven, that's the family of
God. All believers in the family of
God, like the angels in heaven, but as touching the resurrection. Have you not read that which
was spoken unto you by God, saying, I'm the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac, the God of Jacob? God's not the God of the dead. The dead do not praise God, he's
the God of the living. They heard that, they were astonished.
They were astonished. And religious people, they hear
that, they're astonished, because it's been so long since they've
heard it. And then another group came to
him, the Pharisees heard he put the Sadducees to silence, so
they came, and one of them said to him, who was a lawyer, he
asked him a question, again testing him for argument, debate, not
seeking truth. He said, Master, which is the
greatest commandment of the law? I know what this fellow said.
Is it the greatest sin to steal or to commit adultery? Is it
the greatest sin to commit adultery or to murder? Is it the greatest
sin to murder or to lie? Is it the greatest sin to lie
or to worship a false god? Which is the greatest law? Where
does this thing point up? Where does it come to the the
thing where this is the mortal sin. We have that mortal sin
and venial sins, and how many different sins are there? I don't
know, but some are worse than others, you know. Listen, my
friends, sin is sin. Sin is sin. And the greatest sin is self-righteousness. I'd rather stand before God charged
with murder than self-righteousness. I really Because God will save
a murderer. God won't save a man trusting
his own works and his own religion and his own righteousness. Unbelief
is the granddaddy of all sin. Unbelief is the fountain of iniquity. Unbelief. Don't look down at
that fellow in the prison who murdered his friend, now serving
a life sentence, and say, he's worse than I am. Do you believe
God? Well, no, I don't. Well, you're worse than he is.
God may visit him with great Unbelief is the greatest sin.
And this guy says, what's the greatest sin? Jesus said, thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, thy soul, thy
mind. That's the first and great commandment,
your relationship with God. A reverence for God, a love for
God, an awe, a fear of God. Let God be God. Don't challenge
his right to be God. Bow before God, love Him, love
Him as He is. Not just for His benefits, because
when the benefits are gone, you quit loving Him. That's not love.
If some woman here is married to a man, as long as he's got
a good job and he can buy her a dress and furnish her the best
and furnish her a good car and he loses his job and becomes
broke and they have to move to the country and do without, she
leaves him. That's not love. Love God in
the sunshine and the rain. for who he is, what he is. Love God at all times, love God. Whether I'm rejoicing or weeping,
love God. That doesn't change who God is,
doesn't change his love for me, doesn't change his care for me.
Love him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Love
God. And second commandment is likened
to it, verse 39, love your neighbor as yourself. Love others, look not on your
own things, but the things of others. And I tell you, he said,
on these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets.
Hang the whole thing, I tell you. Your relationship with God and
your relationship with others, and that right relationship with
him will make this right. That right relationship with
him will make this relationship. If you love God, you'll love
me. That's right. If I love God,
if I honor God, if I estole and praise and reverence the living
God, then I'll be right toward you. That's right. Well, while
the Pharisees were gathered together, verse 41, Jesus asked them the
question. Oh, here it is. Then he said, while they were
gathered together, he said to them, What think ye of Christ? See that verse 42? What think
ye of Christ? What do you think of Christ?
That's what I would like to present to the whole religious world
this morning. The churches meeting together
who are talking about the resurrection and the family circle, will the
circle be unbroken, and the millennium, of all these other subjects.
Now, I'd like to get the whole world together, and while you're
debating and arguing and questioning, I'd like you to answer this question.
This is what our Lord presented to these Pharisees. What think
ye of Christ? Now, he wasn't asking, what do
you think of me? I know he is Jesus, the Christ, but that's
not what he's asking them, is it? He says, what do you think
of the Christ? The Christ. You see, the Christ
is an office. Jesus is his name. He's the Lord
Jesus who is the Christ. So he's asking these men, now
what do you think of the Christ? Well, they knew what he was talking
about, they knew who he was talking about. He's talking about the
Christ who's promised through the old Old Testament. The Christ,
the Messiah. The one whom God's talking about
when he said through Moses, I'll raise up a prophet, that prophet,
him you shall hear. There's a prophet coming. There's
a priest coming, not like Abram, but after the order of Melchizedek.
There's a king coming. King of kings and Lord of lords.
Someone's coming. The whole Old Testament promises,
prophesies, pictures, and is a pattern of that one who's to
come who's called the Christ. He's called the Messiah. The
woman at the well, you remember when Christ told her you know
not what, and so forth. She said, well, we know the Messiah
is coming. Now, here was a woman, a Samaritan,
a daughter of Abraham, married five times, no spiritual relationship with God,
but she knew the Messiah was coming. And that's what he's
asking them. He's asking these Pharisees,
what do you think of the Messiah? What do you think of the Christ?
Whose son is he? Whose son is he? Now listen,
they answered him. The son of David. The son of
David. Well, is that right? Yes, that's
right. They answered correctly. He is the son of David. Turn
to Matthew 1. Matthew chapter 1, just a moment.
The Christ promise, the Christ picture, the Christ prophesied
is indeed the Son of David. Matthew 1, you have Joseph's
genealogy here in Matthew 1. It says in verse 1, the book
of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of
Abraham. Yes, the Christ is the Son of
David. He's made of the seed of David,
according to the flesh. The Christ will be a seed of
Abraham. The Christ will be from the root
of Jesse. The Christ will be the son of
David. But, is that all he is? Now look at the next verse, Matthew
22. Go back to my text. Christ said,
what think ye of the Christ? Whose son is he? They say, oh,
he's the son of David. He'll be the heir to the Jewish
throne. He'll be the seed of Abraham. He'll come through the
house and lineage of David. In Matthew 1, you have Joseph's
genealogy. In Luke, you have Mary's genealogy,
because they don't trace a woman's genealogy. They trace it through
Joseph's father-in-law, who was the daddy of Mary. But you have that
on back, that to David. Mary's house and lineage came
from a different son of David, and Joseph's house and lineage
came from another son of David, but they came from David. So
they said the Messiah will be the son of David. Then the Lord
presented a problem. Then he said in verse 43, How
then doth David in spirit call him Lord? If he's the son of David, and
he came from the loins of David, And that's all he is. He's a
Jew, he's Abraham's seed, he's the son of David. If that's all
that Christ is, that's all he's going to be. Why did David call
him Lord? Listen. Psalm 110, David said,
verse 44, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
till I make thine enemies thy footstool. Now, if David called
him Lord, how is he his son? That's a good question, isn't
it? And I'll tell you this, if he's only David's son, and what's
David doing calling him Lord? I don't mean to oversimplify
this thing, the mysteries of God and the mysteries of the
Word of God, but I'm telling you this, when you settle that
question, when you can sensibly, intelligently, spiritually, personally,
in your heart, answer that I'll tell you, you've resolved most
of the mysteries of the word of God. Here's this Christ who's
coming. And Jesus Christ did come. And
he's the seed of David. He's the son of David. And yet
that's not all he is. He's the son of God. He's the
son of God. And that's what these men didn't
know. He's man. Turn with me to Romans 1 and
listen to this. This is where the whole thing
is settled. Who is Christ? And when you determine
who he is, you can see that it gives efficacy to what he did.
In Romans 1, verse 1, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be
an apostle, separated to the gospel of God, which he promised
the four vice-prophets in the Holy Scriptures. That's what
I'm telling you, he promised the Christ. It's concerning his
son. Jesus Christ, our Lord, who was
made of the seed of David, according to the flesh. That's what these
fellas said, wasn't it? He said, who is the Christ? What
do you think of the Christ? They said, he's a Jew. He's the
son of David. He's Abraham's seed. That's right.
But that's not all of it. Verse 4. And he's declared to
be the Son of God with unlimited power. He's declared. See, he wasn't made God. He was made in the seat of David.
Isaiah said, Unto us a child is born, made, a body thou hast
prepared me. But the Son is given. And the
Messiah, the Christ, is the seed of David. He's born under the
law, to fulfill the law. He's born under the moral law,
the Levitical law, the Moses law, the ceremonial law, circumcision,
the Sabbath day, all. He was born made of a woman,
made under all of those responsibilities and laws, made a man. But a man's
not all he is, or he couldn't keep that law. A man's not all
he is, he couldn't fulfill that law. No man's ever fulfilled
it. Unto us a child is born, but unto us a son is given. The
son wasn't born, he was given. And that one born of Mary, the
angel said to Joseph, Mary's going to have a son. And she knows not a man, he's
born of a virgin. If he hadn't been born of a virgin,
he'd have been born of Adam. He'd have had Adam's You see, Adam was the only man
God ever created. He even took the woman out of
the man. Adam's the federal head of the
whole human race. And when Adam begat a son, when
Eve conceived and bore a son, that son was just like his daddy.
Flesh, sin, spiritually dead. So if Mary comes along and she's
impregnated by a man, then there's going to be born nothing but
a man. And that man is going to be nothing but a man, and
he's going to have sin and death in him. But Mary, God gave her,
the Holy Ghost came on her, the Spirit of God came upon her,
and that one shapen and conceived in her womb is the Son of God. Fully manned, completely manned,
son of David. She was a daughter of David.
Her husband Joseph was a son of David, too. And this miraculous
holy thing born of her is the son of David. That's what these
fellows said. But that's not all he is. And
their thoughts about him were wrong. He's only a man. He'd go sit on a Jewish throne
and reign over a Jewish kingdom. Nonsense. He's the son of God. And that's the reason our Lord
said here, if he's just David's son, why did David call him Lord? and verse 46, and they weren't
able to answer him a word. They couldn't deal with that. And neither does any man from
that day ask him any more questions, because there's no sense in going
to any other questions, so that one's settled. Who is Christ? What think you of Christ? There's
no other question to be asked, until that matter is settled.
Now for a moment, and Jesus Christ is God. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In
the beginning was the Word, the Word was made flesh. The Word
was with God, and he dwelt among us. The Word was God, and we
beheld his glory. He said, I and my Father are
one. The disciples said, well, show us the Father. He said,
he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. God was in Christ
reconciling the world to himself. The Father said to the Son, Thy
throne, O God, is forever. No man has seen God in any time. The Only Begotten hath declared
Him and revealed Him. This, what think ye of Christ?
What think ye of Christ? Well, He's a man. He's the Son
of David. He's the seed of David. He's
the promised Messiah. He's the promised Christ. He's
that prophet, that priest, that king, but He's God Almighty. in human flesh. You know, it's
not how much blood was shed to redeem us. How could the blood
of one man redeem so many? Who he is! That's what gives
efficacy to what he's done. How could one man, living on
this earth in the flesh, tempted, tried, tested in all points as
we are, how could his obedience, his obedience, just one man's
obedience, be sufficient for so many? It's who He is. That's what Paul said. Who can
condemn me? It's Christ that died. It's the
Christ that died. That's what makes the whole thing
efficacious and sufficient and complete because of who He is. Turn to Psalm 110. Let's see
what David's saying here. This is the psalm our Lord refers
to. Psalm 110. I'll just give you
this briefly. In Psalm 110, listen, the Lord
said to my Lord, who is the Lord? This is the Father. Now, brethren,
don't deny the Trinity because you can't understand it. Don't
deny the Trinity. There's Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
The Lord our God is one God. But the Scripture says there
are three that by record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the
Holy Spirit. And these three are one. But the Lord, that's
the Father, said to my Lord, my Lord, David said. The Father
said to my Lord, my Lord, my representative, my prophet, priest,
and king, sit on my right hand. Now, none of those priests who
represented God in the Old Testament in things pertaining to God,
represented the people, none of them ever sat down. Because
their work was never through. Their work was typical. Their
work was a picture. Their work was never finished.
The Father said to the Son, the God-man, our representative,
sit down. You finished the work. Now sit
down in victory. Sit down in rest. And sit at
my right hand. That's the place of love and
honor and power. Sit not only in my presence,
but at my right hand. Isn't that something? The Old
Testament priests, they came into the Holy of Holies with
blood and incense and offered the sacrifice and slipped back
out once a year. But our representative, our great
high priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is he? The Father said, come
into my presence and sit down at my right hand. Listen, how
long? Until I make your enemies your
footstool. And the last enemy that will
be destroyed is death. Everything contrary to Christ,
in competition with Christ, everything opposing Christ, everything that's
not of Christ and his perfect holiness and love will be destroyed. You sit here. I'm going to wind
this thing up, God said. And you sit there at my right
hand until. I make all your enemies your
foes too, destroy them all. And then shall the kingdom be
delivered up to the Father, that God may be all." That's right. But this thing is put in the
hands of the Christ, the God-man. It's put in his hands as a surety
from before the foundation of the world. And it's all on schedule,
and it's on schedule today. That's right. Then he goes on,
he says, the Lord, verse 2, shall send the rod of his strength
out of Zion. Who's Zion? That's the church.
What's the rod of his power and the rod of his strength? Moses,
what's that in your hand? It's a rod. Use it, Moses. Use it. Strike a sea and divide
it. Strike a river and turn it into
blood. Lift it to the heavens and bring the plagues. Use it,
Moses. What's the rod of God's power
out of Zion, out of the church? It's his gospel. It's the gospel
of his grace, the gospel of his Son, the gospel of his love,
the gospel of his blood. That's the rod of the strength
of Christ out of the church. Listen. And you rule in the midst
of your enemies. Christ reigns. The Lord reigneth.
He rules. He's not a poor, feeble, fallible,
pitiful thing that folks make him out to be, Christ reigns
in the midst of his enemies. He quickens whom he will. And listen to verse 3, and your
people, he's speaking, the Lord said to my Lord, your people,
and he has a people, and he said, all that my Father giveth me
will come to He said, you've given me authority over all flesh
that I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
me. Your people, they'll be willing. They'll be willing to what? Willing
to come to Christ? Willing to believe on Christ?
Willing to bow to Christ? Willing to submit to Him? I don't
know why we kept putting pressure on people, shoving tracts under
their noses and cards into their hands and dragging them down
the aisle and getting them to raise their hand and all these
things. I don't know why folks keep doing that. Because God's
people are going to be willing. They're going to be willing.
They're going to be willing to bow, they're willing to confess,
willing to follow Christ, willing to believe. Willing! God doesn't
save a man against his will, he makes him willing. He gives
him a will. He takes that old stony heart
out and gives him a heart of flesh. And he'll be willing,
listen, in the day of thy power. Not in the day when some fancy
Hollywood motivated psychologist calling himself a preacher comes
and sweeps into town and gets all the young people converted
and all the other people down the aisle. That's not in the
day of God's power. The gospel is the power of God
and salvation. And he said to the Thessalonians,
Paul said, I know your election because our gospel came to you
in power. And I tell you, men will sit
and listen to the gospel, listen to you read the word, listen
to you preach, and they won't hear, and they won't see, and
they won't believe until God gives them eyes to see, and ears
to hear, and a heart to believe. And when he does, in the day
of his power, in the day of his visitation, In the day when his
Holy Spirit comes in conviction and conversion, when the Holy
Spirit comes to a man, he'll be willing. He'll be willing. In the beauty of holiness, and
it won't be his own holiness, it'll be the holiness of Christ.
He'll be accepting the beloved. It'll be the righteousness of
Christ. From the womb of the morning, thou hast to do with
thy youth. And the Lord has sworn, and he'll
not repent. He said, I'm God, I change not.
Therefore your sons of Jacob are not concerned." He said in
Romans 11, 29, the gifts and calling of God are without repentance,
without change. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his Son. Whom he predestinated,
he called. And whom he called, he justified.
And whom he justified, he glorified. Our Lord reigns. It's good news. It's good news of grace, free
grace, sufficient grace, eternal grace, sovereign grace. Come,
all things are ready. You willing? Thy people shall
be willing. Verse 5, listen. Verse 4, the
Lord has sworn and will not repent, you're a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. Wish I had time to deal with
Melchizedek. That's Christ. He appeared to
Abraham. He was not a real good type of
Christ, but Melchizedek is, because he is Christ. All right, verse
5. The Lord at thy right hand shall
strike through kings in the day of his wrath. What did they say
in Psalms 2? The kings of this earth and the
mighty men and the great men gathered together and said, let's
cast his bands asunder. Let's throw off his rule. And God says, he that sitteth
in the heavens shall laugh. all the days coming that kings
in the day of his wrath will be destroyed. And he shall judge
among the heathen, he'll fill the place with dead bodies, he'll
wound the heads of many, and then he'll drink of the brook
and the way." Here's the victor. He's been to battle. He's set
free the captive. He's set free the prisoner. He's
given sight to the blind. He's brought good news to the
poor. He's defeated their enemies. He's conquered. He's done all
that the Father sent him to do. And now after the battle is over,
he'll drink of the brook. He comes along through the meadow. There's a brook flowing there
from a spring. And he kneels down and he drinks
the water, the refreshing water. He's done what he came to do.
Conquered his enemies, rescued his people, saved his own, delivered
them, and he'll drink of the brook and the way. Content. Content. Can you see the contentment
of our Lord? Can you see the satisfaction
of our Lord? There'll be no tears in heaven.
There'll be no regrets. There'll be no mourning. Therefore
shall he lift up the head. His and ours. What think ye of Christ? The
Christ. Whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man am? Well, some say you're John the Baptist. Whom do you
say that I am? Peter said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. He said, Flesh and blood didn't
reveal that to you, but my Father. That's the issue. What think
ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? If that can
be settled, yes, He's Son of Man, He's the Son of God. The
God-man, my representative, my righteousness, my redeemer, my
atonement, my hope, my life, my mediator, my intercessor,
everything is Christ. One mediator between God and
man, that's Christ. But in order to be that and to
do what that requires, he's got to be both God and man. That's
right. All right. Mike, come and lead
us in the closing hymn.

What Think Ye of Christ?

What does the Bible say about the deity of Christ?

How do we know the sovereignty of God is true?

Why is the concept of grace important for Christians?

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What Think Ye of Christ?

What does the Bible say about the deity of Christ?

How do we know the sovereignty of God is true?

Why is the concept of grace important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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