I'm asking you to turn in your
Bibles this morning to the book of Matthew. We're going to look
at Matthew 22, verse 41 and 42. The title of this message is
a question, What think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? Now, while the Pharisees were
gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of
Christ, whose son is he. Now the purpose of this gathering
was this. The Pharisees and the Sadducees
and some of the religious leaders had plotted and planned to attack
the master with difficult and perplexing questions. What they
were trying to do was entangle him, the scripture says, in his
talk and discredit him before the people. This was their purpose.
They got off to the side and they plotted and planned a way
that they could entangle him in his talk and discredit him
with the multitude. And so one of the Pharisees asked
him this question. He said, Master, is it lawful
to pay tribute to Caesar? Is it lawful for an Israelite
to pay tribute or taxes to a Roman governor? And the Lord Jesus
Christ knew their wickedness. He knew their thoughts. And he
replied, show me your money. And so a man took out a coin
and handed it to him. And when he looked at the coin,
the master said, whose image is on this coin? Whose inscription
is on this coin? And the man replied, well, Caesar's
image is on that coin. Then Christ said, you render
to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things
that are God's. Well, he put them to silence.
And when the Sadducees heard that he had put the Pharisees
to silence, Then they had a question for him. Now the Sadducees did
not believe in a resurrection. They did not believe that there
would be a resurrection of the dead. So one of them came to
the Lord Jesus Christ, and this was his question. He said, Master,
suppose that a woman is married, and her husband dies, and she
marries another man, and he dies, and in turn she marries seven
men, and all of them die. Now in the resurrection, Who's
going to be her husband? And the Lord Jesus Christ looked
at him and he said, You err, not knowing the scriptures nor
the power of God. In the resurrection they neither
marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven. And then there was another Pharisee
king. This man was a lawyer. And he came to the master, and
he asked this question. He said, Master, which is the
greatest commandment in the law? Taking the whole law, now there
were the ten commandments, and then someone said these old Pharisees
had 365 commandments. They had one for every day of
the year. And this man is asking this question. He's saying, of
all the laws and commandments, which is the greatest? And the
Lord Jesus Christ replied, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment,
and the second is likened to it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. On these two commandments hang
all the law and the prophets. And so he put to silence the
scribes and the Pharisees and the lawyers. There's nothing
wrong with discussing and studying questions of this nature. I'm
not discouraging the asking of questions about what shall be
in the resurrection or should we pay tribute or taxes or which
is the greatest law, not at all. There's nothing wrong with examining
and discussing and studying questions of this nature. But this is what's
wrong with it, and that is if these issues and these questions
become of greater importance to us than the supreme question. Now, if we can study these things
in a humble fashion and in an earnest way, fine, and seek the
answer to them, and even believe God when we do not find the answer. But many times these questions,
foolish questions, can be the tools of Satan to sidetrack us
from the vital and important issues of our relationship with
God. The Lord knew their wickedness. He knew their thoughts. He knew
these men were sidetracked with their traditions and religions
and debates and arguments and customs and all of these things.
And so when they had finished asking all of these questions,
and he knew they were not asking for information. He knew they
were asking to entangle him and discredit him and to argue. And so the master, before they
left, he said, after all this debate and argument and discussion
was finished, our Lord said, I have a question for you. Now,
this is the important question. He asked them this question.
He said, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Now, my friends,
this is the important question. This is the vital question. This
is the foundation. This is the heart of faith and
the heart of our relationship with God. What's going to happen
in the future? The coming of Christ, the millennium, the tribulation,
all of these things, are not vital to your well-being. They're
not really important to your well-being. But what you think
of Christ, now that's the important question. And this is what our
Lord is saying to them. After you ask all of these questions,
the most important question of all is this. What think ye of
Christ? This is the issue. This is the
question. This is the foundation of true
religion. What do you think of the Lord
Jesus Christ? And that's my question to you
this morning. While I was in a Bible conference recently,
a friend of mine, a man a little older than I am, asked me if
I remembered reading about Kaiser Bill, who was the Kaiser of Germany
back in World War I, of World War I fame. And I told him, yes,
I had read about him. He said, you know, several years
ago, I met the man who was his private secretary. His name was
Otto something. And he was the private secretary
to Kaiser Bill of Germany during World War I. And Kaiser Bill
was a man who read the scriptures quite a bit. And the man who
was his private secretary said Kaiser Bill was reading the Bible
one day sitting in his library at his desk. And he said he raised
his head up from the Bible and he said, Otto, Jesus Christ said,
if you believe not that I am he, you shall die and you And
if you die in your sins, you cannot come where I am. Otto,
that's the most terrifying and disturbing and frightening statement
I've ever read. If you believe not that I am
He, you shall die in your sins. That's a frightening, disturbing
statement. The importance of that question
is staggering, isn't it? Who then is Jesus Christ? And
what think ye of Jesus Christ? And who is Jesus Christ to you? Paul gives the answer. He gives
us two answers that I want us to look at this morning. The
first one is found in Colossians 3.11. In Colossians 3.11, the
Apostle Paul says this, Christ, Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is all and in all. What think ye of Christ? He is
all and in all. There was a time, my friend,
when the world did not exist. There was no world here. There
was no earth here. There were no people on this
earth. There were no trees and mountains and deserts and valleys
and streams and rivers and oceans and stars and sun and moon. These planets were not here.
There was a time when these things were not here. If Jesus Christ
is all, where was he then? Well, the Scripture tells us
in John 17, 5, the Master himself in his prayer to the Father said,
glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I
had with thee before the world was. Where was Christ? He was with the Father before
the world was. And then there was a time when
this world was created, when the dry land appeared, and the
dry land was separated from the water. And the trees appeared,
and the mountains, and all of these things as we know them
now, yet without sin. There was a time when the world
was made, when the world was created, when everything came
into being, when man was created in the likeness and image of
God. If Jesus Christ is all, where was he then? Well, the
Bible tells us, in the beginning was the Word, the Word is Jesus
Christ, the Word was made flesh. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by Him. And without him was not anything
made that was made. All things were made for him,
by him, and for his glory. There was a time when sin came
into this world, when this world of God's was invaded by sin,
by rebellion, when darkness and death and disease came upon this
earth, when man, God's great creation, fell in rebellion against
the Holy God. when he came to know shame and
fear and hate and all of these marks of sin. And it was a terrible
time of darkness and death upon this earth when the whole creation
was plunged into sin and became subject to vanity, not willingly,
but by reason of him who subjected the same in hope. Even the animals
suffered because of Adam's sin. Even the creation has suffered
because of Adam's fall, the blight, the plague, the pestilence. Death. Everything dies now because Adam
fell. If Christ is all, where was he
then? Well, the scripture tells us
in that moment of darkness, God Almighty came and announced the
light of the world, the woman's seed. Genesis 3.50. In that day
of death, God Almighty came and announced the life, Jesus Christ,
I am the life, the woman's seed. In that day of sin, God Almighty
announced the Savior from sin. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
No man cometh to the Father but by me. In that day of the devil's
lies, when they took over the earth, God announced the truth. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. The woman's seed shall bruise the serpent's head. That
was the good news in that hour of darkness. That was the good
news in that time of death and disease and the fall. Christ,
the announcement of his coming, the prophecy and promise of his
coming was the only bright spot in that day of wrath, in that
day of sin. If Christ is all, where was he?
He was the announcement of God, a Messiah, a Savior shall come.
And then the earth went on for 4,000 years, and we come to a
time when darkness and error in religion and superstition
just reigned. There was a church, but it was
a den of thieves. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, my
house shall be called a house of prayer, but you've made it
a den of thieves. And even the table of the Lord
had become a snare, and the ceremonies a stumbling block. And here and
there, there was one looking for the consolation of Israel.
Here and there, there was one who was looking for the promise
of the Messiah. Here and there, there was one who knew that God
would send a Redeemer. Well, if Jesus Christ is all,
where was he then? Where was Christ? Well, in the
fullness of time, when those years had gone by. And when we
come to the place where religion is as corrupt as it's ever been
and superstition reigned as never before, and the temple and the
synagogue were nothing in the world but dens of thieves and
robbers and traitors, and God Almighty in the fullness of time
sent his Son into this world, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were born under the law that we might
receive the adoption of sons. And he was tested and tried in
all points as we are, yet without sin. And then he went to that
cross of Calvary and died for our sins and redeemed us and
was buried and rose again and ascended back to the Heavenly
Father. Christ is all in redemption. And then there will come a day
when this world shall be no more. The Almighty God said he had
never destroyed this world again by flood. He put a bow in the
sky. And he said to Noah, that's my covenant. I never will destroy
the world by flood again, but I will destroy the world. I'll
destroy it by fire. There's coming a time when the
heavens and the earth shall melt with a fervent heat and shall
pass away. There's a day coming when men
shall rise from the tomb and they shall stand before God and
the books will be opened. There's a coming a time when
hell shall give up the dead which are in it and death and the grave
shall give up the dead which are in them and the sea shall
give up the dead which are in them. And they'll all stand before
God at that great judgment, that great white throne judgment.
And I know Satan, just like those questions a while ago, Satan
is a master at turning our attention away from the issue at hand,
from that important thing. And here we've got the judgment
divided into half a dozen different judgments. They've got the general
judgment and the judgment for believers and the judgment for
sinners and the judgment for the nations and the judgment
for somebody else. And if you're not careful, you'll
get all balled up in studying these different judgments and
forget that we all must stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
It doesn't matter who you are, where you are, what color you
are, what race you are, what denomination, you're going to
come to the judgment. Now, if Jesus Christ is all,
where will he be then? Where will Christ be? He's all?
What think ye of Christ? He's all. Where will he be then?
Listen to John 5, 22. judgeth no man, but he hath committed
all judgment to the Son." The Lamb is the Lion. The Lamb is
the Judge. We shall all stand before Christ. Well, one day there's going to
be a new heaven and a new earth. Sin shall be done away with.
Death and hell shall be cast into the lake of fire. That's
what Scripture says. Satan shall be no more. No more
trial, temptation, testing, no more sin, sorrow. No more death,
no more judgment. There will be a new heaven and
a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, the righteousness
and holiness of God. Nothing shall enter in that worketh
or maketh a lie. If Christ is all, where will
he be then? Well, Philippians chapter 2,
verse 7, 8, and 9 tells us, Wherefore God hath highly exalted him,
and given him a name which is above every name. that at the
name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven, in earth, and
under the earth, and every tongue shall declare that he is Lord
to the glory of God the Father. Christ is all. What think ye
of Christ? This is the question. This is
the issue. This is the heart of religion.
This is the foundation of redemption. What think ye? It's not what
did your daddy think of Christ or what does your mother think
of Christ? It's what do you think of Christ? It's not what does
your denominational leaders think of Christ or what does your representative
think of Christ? It's what do you think of Christ
and Paul answered for himself and You're the he's the only
one that can answer for himself and you're the only one that
can answer for yourself What think ye of Christ whose son
is he? What is Christ to you? Preacher
he's all and in all from eternity past to eternity future. He's
Alpha and Omega He's the beginning and the end All right. Here's
the second answer that Paul gives us found in Colossians chapter
3 Verse 4 if you care to turn he said Christ is our life Christ
is our life. He does not merely say now. I'm
not I'm not splitting hairs here I'm not entering into controversy
here. I'm bringing something, I'm bringing
a point that is very, very important. It does not say that Christ is
a way of life. It says Christ is our life. Christ
is not a way of life. He is our life. What think ye
of Christ? He is our life. When Christ,
who is our life, shall appear, Then shall we appear with him
in glory. He is our life. Now what do I mean by that? Four
things. First of all, he is the life of our spiritual existence. Christ is the life of our spiritual
existence. He said to Mary and Martha, I
am the resurrection and the life. Martha said, well, I know our
brother will rise again. Mary said, I know our brother
will rise again in the resurrection. Christ said, I am the resurrection.
I am the life. He that believeth on me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. I am life. In 1 John 5, 11, and
12, listen to this. This is the record. God hath
given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath
the Son of God hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Christ is the life of our spiritual
existence. By nature, we're dead in sin.
By nature we have no spiritual life. By nature we have no spiritual
life at all, but in Christ we are made spiritually alive. You
who were dead, hath he quickened. We are crucified with Christ,
buried with Christ, and risen with Christ, and seated with
Christ, who is our life. Listen to this, by nature we
are without God. In Christ we know God and are
united with God. The Lord Jesus Christ said, this
is life eternal that they might know God, be one with God. Adam knew his wife. Isaac knew
Rebecca. Christ said, I know you. There's
an intimate, personal, vital, living union. The two become
one. In Christ, we know God. We are one with God. And then,
by nature, we're children of wrath. In Christ, we're children
of God. And by nature, we're under the
curse of the law. In Christ, we are accepted. Listen
to these illustrations he uses. He said, I am the head, you're
the body. That's one person. Without the head, there's no
life. You can sever an arm, you can sever a leg, you can sever
different parts, but you can't sever the head. And the body
lives. Christ is the head. He is the
life. He is the barn, we're the branches. The branch cannot survive
alone. The vine can survive without
the branch, but the branch can't survive without the vine, because
that's where the life is. He says, I am the bridegroom,
and you're the bride. Listen to this verse in Ephesians
1, 10. In the fullness of time, God will gather together in one
all things in Christ. So he is the life of our spiritual
existence. Christ is the life. What they
give Christ? He's my spiritual life. Without
Him, I'm dead. Without Him, I'm like a branch
severed from a vine, withered and dying and fit for the burning.
Without Christ, I'm like a bride without a bridegroom. I have
no husband. I have no name. Without Christ,
I'm like a body without a head. I have no existence, no life.
Christ is my life. Oh, I hope you get that. This
is not just an issue to be argued. This is the very vital part of
redemption. Christ is our life. And then
Christ is the life of our sanctification. And we hear a lot of discussion
about sanctification, a lot of preaching, arguing about sanctification,
and a lot of talk about the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and living
above sin, and the eradication of the old nature, and all these
things. Sanctification, plainly considered, involves two things.
Holiness and righteousness must be considered two ways, legally
and experientially. That's on two ways you can consider
holiness and righteousness. Legally before God, experientially
before God. Legally before God, before the
law, we're sinners. What the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world become guilty, guilty, guilty. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. All we like sheep have gone
astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. Legally, before God's law and before God legally, Judicially,
with sinners, criminals, worthy of death. Now, that law, God's
law, will not be compromised. I don't care how you try to whittle
it down, it remains the same. It will never be compromised.
God's holiness and righteousness will never be compromised. God
requires legally, judicially, perfection. And anyone who doesn't
come up to it, who comes short of God's glory, shall be judged
and damned. Well, what we couldn't do, what
the law could not do because of the weakness of the flesh,
what we couldn't do, God sent his son in the likeness of sinful
flesh and condemned sin in the flesh. In other words, Jesus
Christ came down here to this earth and worked out for me a
perfect righteousness before the law. And as my representative,
as my federal head, he represented me and he did what I couldn't
do. He honored that law, obeyed that law, kept that law, and
imputed to me, charged to my account, reckoned me of perfect
righteousness, of perfect holiness. So legally, judicially, before
God, because of Christ, I'm perfect. Perfect. All right. The other
way that holiness and righteousness must be considered is experientially. My own nature in person, my conduct
before God, my love for God. Now listen to me. By nature,
we love sin. By nature, we love darkness.
By nature, we hate holiness. God says, your thoughts are not
my thoughts, your ways are not my ways. You will not come to
me that you might have life. Men need a new nature. They need
a new heart. They need to be made new creatures
in Christ Jesus. That's the reason our Lord said
you must be born again. We've got to experience the righteousness
of God. Not only must we have legally
and judicially before God an imputed righteousness, But if
we're born again and redeemed by God and called by His Spirit
experientially, we have imparted to us the nature of Christ. The love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. If any man have not the Spirit of God, he's none
of his. He that loveth not knoweth not God. By this shall all men
know you are my disciples, if you love one another. This is
experientially. And this fruit of the Spirit
grows. It develops. Babes in Christ are not expected
to have the fruit of the Spirit to the degree that mature men
in Christ have. We grow in grace and in the knowledge
of Christ, but in the seed, in the bud, that fruit is there. They are new creatures in Christ.
A man who does not love our Lord Jesus Christ, well, he's not
sanctified, he's not holy, he's not made righteous, he's not
redeemed. A man who does not love his neighbor, he's not redeemed.
But now watch this, the third thing. Christ is the life of
these Christian graces. Without me, he said, you can
do nothing. Write that on the wall somewhere and read it every
day. Without me, you can do nothing.
Suppose a man does have faith. It's the gift of God. That's
right. It's the gift of God. It's given
unto you not only to suffer for Christ, but to believe on him.
Hope. Well, our hope is in Christ.
Love. The love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts for the Holy Spirit. A forgiving spirit. We forgive
as we have been forgiven. Humility, let this mind be in
you which was also in Christ. Prayer, whatsoever you ask in
my name, it shall be done. So these Christian graces which
we experience in the new birth, in the new nature, Christ is
the life of those. Christ is the life of those.
We deserve no credit at all. Who maketh thee to differ? What
do you have that you did not receive? If you received it,
why do you boast as if you did not? We can take no credit for
any gifts or talent or ability or grace that we have. It's a
gift of God, not of words. Last of all, Christ is the life
of glory. He shall raise us from the dead.
The day cometh when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son
of God and live. His appearance shall be the signal
for our glorification. We shall see him and be like
him. We're not going to be like him
until we see him as he is. And then he shall be our eternal
glory. To the thief, he said, today you shall be with me. To
the disciples, he said, I go to prepare a place for you that
where I am, there you may be. And Paul said, I have a desire
to depart and be with mother, no sir, with Christ. I have a
desire to depart and get my reward, no sir, to be with Christ, which
is far better. What think ye of Christ? Well,
I'd like to reply with Paul this morning, Christ is all and in
all, and Christ is my life.