[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Let me read the Bible with you, Matthew chapter 22.
[0:15] Lord willing, we'll finish Matthew chapter 22 this morning. The Bible says in Matthew 22, 41, While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ?
[0:28] What do you all think of the Christ? Whose son is he? That's the key question. Whose son is he? They say unto him, Well, he's the son of David.
[0:39] He said unto them, Well, how then does David in spirit call him Lord? Saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
[0:52] If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word. Neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
[1:04] So the most important question ever, what do you think of the Christ? And this morning you're here at our church, you're visiting or you're a member of the church. But the most important question isn't, Are you a part of Vision?
[1:16] It's what do you think of the Christ? What do you think of Jesus Christ? Are you a born again believer? Take your Bibles if you would and turn with me to Matthew chapter 22. I do love him and I'm excited I get to serve him.
[1:30] I'm excited you get to be here today. I want you to consider with me what a wonderful person. I want you to consider with me who he is. What do you think of Jesus Christ?
[1:41] What do you think of Jesus Christ? So go with me if you would to chapter 22 and verse 41. Matthew chapter 22 and verse 41. And we see the question that was asked.
[1:55] While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Say, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? And they say unto him, well, he's the son of David.
[2:06] Everybody knows that. There have been three questions that they've used in an attempt to cause Jesus to stumble. The Pharisees and the Herodians showed up in Matthew chapter 22.
[2:19] And they brought with them a legal, political question about paying taxes. There were two groups asking the same question. The Pharisees, the religious people who would be against, who would be for paying the tax to the temple but not for paying the tax to the government.
[2:35] There are the Herodians who would have been for paying the tax to the government. And so where's Jesus going to do? And how's he going to answer that? But they thought he'd get him in trouble. But he answered with great wisdom.
[2:46] He said, we will do right as citizens and we'll also always obey God. You give to God what's God and you give to the government what's the government's. The next group that showed up was a group of Sadducees.
[2:58] And the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. They just came to ask a doctrinal question and a way to try to cause him to stumble again.
[3:10] The political guys, they didn't work out. So now they come with a doctrinal question and they literally come trying to laugh at him. Their question is a tongue-in-cheek question. They said, hey, here's a woman who had seven husbands.
[3:23] She was married to one guy. He died. She married his brother. He died. She married his brother. He died. All seven of them. And they get to heaven. I'd like to know who she's married to.
[3:34] They're making fun of him. And Jesus said, boy, you guys are just really messed up. You don't understand the Bible. You don't understand God. He said, God's the God of the living. And then they came with a theological question.
[3:46] They had all these rules and they categorized them. Everybody knew all the rules and everybody had their own little system. And they said, well, Jesus, what's the most important commandment? What's the big commandment?
[3:57] And Jesus answered them the question they knew, the right answer. You must love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your body, all your mind, everything. You love him. And that will affect the way you treat others.
[4:08] Earlier in the Bible, in the book of Matthew, Jesus had asked his disciples a question. Because this story today is about him asking a question. He's already asked a question very similar to this.
[4:20] Go with me, if you would, to Matthew 16, 13. Make sure you got your Bible open there. Because this is the question. But this was the question to people who liked him. This is the question to people who were believers.
[4:33] This is that question. I hope that the way I could ask you, in Matthew 16, 13, when Jesus came to the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, well, guys, who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?
[4:48] And they said, well, some say you're John the Baptist. And some say you're Elijah. And some say you're Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And he said, well, I got a question for you guys. What do you say?
[4:58] Who do you say I am? And Peter answered for him and said, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. These are the guys that knew him. These are the guys that loved him.
[5:10] And he wanted them to realize he's not just a son of a carpenter. He's not just Jesus, a physical body. He is the Christ. They knew him.
[5:20] Even if the world would not recognize him, they knew who he was. But he's not just the Messiah. He is the very Son of the living God. So the question about who Jesus is, that's the most important personal question anyone will ever answer.
[5:38] So now in the story in Matthew 22, they've just come out there like a lucha libre, like a worldwide wrestling tag team match.
[5:49] And they've come out and they've tried to tackle him. And they messed up. And another group got tagged in. And they messed up. And another group tagged in. And they messed up. But now Jesus is telling you to say, y'all got questions?
[5:59] Well, I got one. Whom do you say the Christ is? What do you say about the Christ? So he asks them a question. He doesn't ask them what they think of him. That's pretty obvious already.
[6:11] They've seen his miracles. They know about his wisdom. And they have still rejected him. He poses them a question as a theological question. What do you think of the Christ?
[6:21] The real question is, whose son? Whose son is the Christ? You should take this question as a personal one for you.
[6:33] Before I go on today and walk you through Matthew 22, you should understand you're not here out of habit. You're not here out of custom. You're not here out of culture.
[6:44] You're here with a meeting with a divine God. The all-powerful God. The creator God. The judge of the universe. And he wants you to know him. And he wants you to know him through his son, Jesus Christ.
[6:56] And so you shouldn't just sit here and say, I've got to do my duty. Get my hour in. Get out of church. Wait until next week and do some more Christian cultural stuff. You should look at yourself and say, do I know the Christ?
[7:08] Do I know who he is? Do I know what the Bible says? Because that is the most important question you'll ever answer. What do you think of him? Do you think of him as a good teacher?
[7:21] Do you see him as God? Do you see his death on the cross paying for your sins so you could be saved? Have you believed that he is God? Have you trusted him for your salvation?
[7:33] If you haven't right now, you ought to be thinking to yourself, man, I am on my way to hell. I don't know God. I live in my sin. I live in my rebellion. I live doing my own thing.
[7:44] And the Bible is clear that God will judge that. But the Christ came that you could be saved. The Christ came to give you a way of salvation.
[7:56] Now go with me if you would to Matthew chapter 22 and verse 41. The answer to the question, who is the Christ? Here comes the question and the answer. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked him, saying, what think you of Christ?
[8:11] And here it is. Underline this in your Bible. Whose son is he? That's a big question. The real question is whose son is he? And you'll understand that in a minute. So be sure and underline it.
[8:22] And they say, well, he's the son of David. That's their answer. He's the son of David. And you've got to understand, Jesus is standing in front of these people and they don't have a good attitude towards him.
[8:36] They think, many of them have already stated that he's the tool of Satan. Go with me if you would to Matthew chapter 12. Got your Bible open? Matthew chapter 12 and verse 22.
[8:47] Then was brought unto him one possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him. Verse 23, the people were amazed. And the people said, is not this the son of David?
[8:59] Check it out. Who is this Christ, the son of David? The people said, boy, Jesus is working miracles. Isn't he the son of David? The Pharisees respond.
[9:12] The legal religious people, the guys who know the Bible better than anybody, they said, this fellow does cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils.
[9:23] He ain't the son of David. This guy's a tool of the devil. This guy's here in the power of the devil. That's who he is. So you see, when he asks the question, what do you think about the Christ?
[9:35] Whose son is he? The people already been calling him the son of David. The people already been using the reference about him being the Messiah. The Pharisees and religious people are rejecting him.
[9:46] Today, many would rank Jesus as one of the greatest teachers and prophets ever. Most everybody knows anything about religion and history. They just have to admit, Jesus was at least one of the greatest.
[9:59] Maybe he was a Mother Teresa, a great teacher, a man filled with humility and kindness. The greatest question of all is, who is Jesus really?
[10:13] Who is he really? Who is Jesus? The Pharisees answered the question with a simple, straightforward answer that any Jew would have known. The Messiah, the Christ, is the son of David.
[10:28] The Christ is the son of David. 2 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 12. You see, David had an extremely special relationship with God. And he got an extremely special promise given to him.
[10:43] In 2 Samuel chapter 7 and verse 12, he said, When thy days be fulfilled, David, when it comes time for you to die and you sleep with your fathers, and we put your body in the cemetery, I will set up thy seed after thee.
[10:57] The one that comes out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. You should have your Bible open in 2 Samuel 7, 12 and underline this. I'll set your seed up after you. See, that's where this is all coming to.
[11:08] That's where this is all coming to. And he said, I'll establish his kingdom. And in verse 13, he said, I will build a house for my name. And he will build a house for my name. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
[11:21] David, you're going to die, but I got a promise for you. The one that comes out of your bowels will set up a kingdom. He'll build my house.
[11:32] And he'll have a kingdom forever. Verse 15. And my mercy shall not depart away from him. And verse 16. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee.
[11:46] Thy throne shall be established forever. What a promise. David tells, God tells David, man, you're my boy. And when you die, your kid, I mean your natural born kid, I'm going to set him up a kingdom.
[12:02] He's going to build me a house. I'm never going to take my mercy away. And it's going to last forever and ever. David, I got big plans for you. That sounds a lot like Solomon.
[12:15] His son who built the temple. The problem is that after Solomon, the kingdom's divided. And it's never restored again. There was Saul, the king of Israel. Then there was David, king of Israel.
[12:26] Then there was Solomon, king of Israel. And then they split. And they're never back together. No everlasting throne. It didn't work out like they thought it might have.
[12:37] In Psalm chapter 89 and verse 1, the promise that the son of David will have an everlasting throne is repeated in Scripture. I have made a covenant with my chosen.
[12:50] I have sworn unto David my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever. And I will build your throne to all generations. Verse 20.
[13:01] So you know who he's talking about? My servant, David. Verse 24. For my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him. Verse 29. His seed will I make to endure forever.
[13:13] And his throne as the days of heaven. So David had this very special promise from God. You see, God is a promise-making God. He's also a promise-keeping God, so you know.
[13:24] He had promised Abraham things. He had promised Isaac things. He promised Jacob things. He had promised all these things to people. And now he's promised David something special. He's told David.
[13:35] He's told David, I'm going to give you a throne. And I'm going to give it to you forever. So when he asked, who's the Christ? Whose son is he? They immediately go to David.
[13:46] Chapter. God promised the divided kingdom would be restored. And he said David will rule. Now that's pretty hard. David died. His son Solomon came along, built a temple.
[13:56] The kingdoms were divided. But look what he said in Ezekiel. A prophet. Chapter 37 and verse 21. Thus said the Lord God, behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whether they be gone.
[14:08] And I'll gather them on every side and bring them to their own land. Maybe you're watching the news. You always see Israel in the middle of it. You wonder why such a puny little nation could have such an impact. See, God made these fantastic promises to them.
[14:21] And he told them, one day when all of y'all are scattered all over the world and you're everywhere, I'm going to bring y'all back. And he said in verse 22, I'm going to make one nation in the land.
[14:31] And one king shall be king to all of the guys in Israel. You'll not be two nations anymore. In verse 24, look what he said. And David, my servant, shall be king over him.
[14:42] And in verse 25, and they shall dwell in the land I gave to Jacob. They shall dwell in that land. And my servant David shall be their prince forever. Now, so I need you to understand.
[14:55] You see, the question comes with a whole lot of knowledge. They've been raised and they've read the Old Testament scriptures and they know who David is. He's our greatest king ever.
[15:06] They know who Solomon is. He built the temple. He was the richest king ever. They know all these stories. And now it's hundreds of years later and Jesus is here on earth. And Jesus asked them a hard question.
[15:17] He said, tell me what y'all think of the Christ. Oh, well, we know about the Christ. We read the 39 books of the Old Testament. Well, whose son is he? Immediately their mind would have run way back to David.
[15:30] And they'd say, well, David's the man. David's the man. God gave David great promises. And David's going to have a kid. And we're going to build a temple. And he's going to rule forever.
[15:41] That's what the answer to that is. Well, we're in the book of Matthew now. And Jesus in the book of Matthew, Matthew on purpose wants them to realize Jesus is the king from heaven.
[15:53] And he says, well, let me show you something. Matthew 9, 27. Get your Bible open. Open it up there. Matthew chapter 9 and verse 27 if you would. Matthew chapter 9. Jesus is referred to as the son of David frequently.
[16:06] Now, understand. Like if you call me the son of Charles, that doesn't mean anything. But if you were to call me the son of George Washington, that would mean something.
[16:18] The son of Abraham Lincoln, that would mean something. But to say you're the son of David, that's like saying you're the son of Queen Elizabeth. It's like bigger than that. It's like God made big promises.
[16:30] And everybody knew that this person, the son of David, would be super special. He'd be the Messiah. The anointed one. The one sent from God.
[16:40] See, the whole story in the Bible resolves around one person. It revolves around one person. That story of the Bible is the story of Jesus.
[16:51] The story of the Bible is God revealing himself. The Bible starts off in Genesis 1, 1. In the beginning, God, and ends up with the book of Revelation saying, let me show you Jesus.
[17:02] I've been telling you about him. I've been teasing you with who he was. I've been showing you, but now is the big unveiling. Check him out. He's Jesus, the son of God. God in human flesh.
[17:12] That's what's going on. Matthew chapter 9 and verse 27. When Jesus departed, it's two blind men followed him crying, saying, thou son of David, have mercy on us.
[17:24] Hey, you, special one, anointed one. Hey, have mercy on us. In chapter 12 and verse 23, they said, is not this the son of David?
[17:37] Is this not the son of David? In chapter 20 and verse 30, they said, two blind men sitting by the wayside, and they heard that Jesus passed by. They cried out, saying, have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.
[17:51] You see, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees, and the Herodians, and most of the people, they saw Jesus as but a mere man. He was more like Solomon.
[18:05] He was like, maybe the son of David is just a human being. I have a question for you. How do you see him? How do you see him? Have you seen him as God?
[18:17] Have you yielded your life to him? You see, here's the thing. We get so familiar with him. We talk about him all the time. We have Christmas stories about him.
[18:27] We have Easter stories about him. He's a part of our culture. With some of us, he's a little more than, excuse me, Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, or George Washington, or Abraham Lincoln.
[18:40] He's just not. I mean, do you know who is the Christ? That's what he's questioning. Who is he? Great teacher? Great prophet?
[18:52] Wise one? Kind one? Example of humility? Who is the Christ? And they said, well, he's the son of David.
[19:05] See, but the question here is, whose son is he? So go with me, if you would, now to 43. Chapter 22, verse 43. Jesus says, time for a Bible lesson.
[19:16] I'm not a Pharisee. I'm not a scribe. Never went to your Bible college. But I did write the book. He didn't say that part. But he did. Amen? He wrote it all.
[19:26] I love that. He wrote it all. He said, we'll have a lesson. So look if you would at verse 43. He said unto him, how then does David in spirit call him Lord?
[19:38] If you've got your Bible open, you need to underline, circle, and point some areas. It says, David in spirit. Now, that phrase is like, David under inspiration of the Holy Spirit said these things.
[19:50] In other words, this is Holy Scripture. This isn't man's opinion. This isn't just a regular guy saying it. This isn't David saying that. This isn't those guys saying that.
[20:02] It's Holy Scripture. It's Holy Scripture. The Holy Spirit said it. By the way, as a Christian, if you haven't gotten to the point where you realize when you hold in your hand, it was said in spirit.
[20:14] I'm going to show you some verses in a minute. But this is the Word of God. And the reason we come and we open it and we study it and ask you to look up the verses and ask you to underline the verses is because here we study what God said.
[20:27] This isn't a collection of 66 books written by 40 authors over 1,500 years that we just kind of collected and put into it. This is the Word of God.
[20:38] God wrote it. God's the author. There were a lot of writers that God put it together and so Jesus said, before I start, let me just go ahead and tell you, when David wrote that, it was the Holy Spirit doing the talking.
[20:49] Amen. Read with me if you would. Chapter 22, verse 44. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy foot by footstool.
[21:00] And then he said, if David then call him Lord, how could he be his son? He said, David called him Lord. How could he call his son his Lord?
[21:12] The word for Lord there is God. He said, since when would a man, speaking unto the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, call his son God? So Jesus quotes, write this in the margin, Psalm 110, 1.
[21:27] You see, Jesus knows the Bible and when Jesus wants to have a discussion and when Jesus wants to answer questions, he doesn't say, I'll just write a new verse. He just quotes one he already wrote, which would be a good idea for you to learn what he said, that'd probably give you an answer.
[21:42] Maybe you ought to figure out, I know God and I want to know what God says and I want to get in God's book and I want it to affect the way I treat my wife. I want it to affect the way I raise my children because I have the Holy Word of God.
[21:53] It'll affect every part of my life. So he quoted Psalm 110, verse 1. Here's what Psalm 110, verse 1 says, The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
[22:06] The first thing Jesus makes clear was that David was speaking under inspiration of the Holy Spirit in this verse. He said unto them, How then does David in spirit call him Lord?
[22:21] David, under the control of the Holy Spirit when he wrote the verse. This means it's not David saying it. It's David writing it.
[22:34] David may not have even understood everything he was saying, but David wasn't the one getting his message across. That's a lesson everybody in this room needs to learn about the Word of God.
[22:45] It is His Word and God Himself said it. Take your Bible and go with me to 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21.
[22:57] Now listen to me. You've got to listen to this. I don't know what you think we're doing when we walk in this room, but the truth is I'm not that good a speaker and I'm not that smart and the truth is we don't sing that well and there's no reason to be here unless we're centered around one person and one book.
[23:15] We came to church this morning for one person and His name is Jesus. And we came to the church this morning because we believe we hold in our hands the very Word of God.
[23:28] And so we open it and we read verse after verse and we study verse after verse and we try to understand what the Bible says verse by verse because we realize this is not like a technological book.
[23:40] This is not like a textbook from school. This is not a biology book that will have to be rewritten when they figure out all the stuff they said was wrong. This is the Word of God and we understand it that way. So look what it says.
[23:51] For the prophecy, the Word of God in other words, it came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
[24:08] Austin, how did you get a Bible? That verse will tell you the Old Testament when those prophets are writing you know the prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Levitations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, Joel, I miss all what I joined and I can name him and I'm back at seven times I got stuck around Malachi you know all those guys?
[24:24] It wasn't them. Hey, you know you know how you got Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy? It wasn't them. You know how you got Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st, 6th, 7th, 1st, Kings, 1st, 2nd, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ezra, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon?
[24:39] You know how you got all those? Now here's the verse. Look at it. Read with me if you would. For the prophecy, out loud, help me, come on. The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
[24:59] David speaking in the Spirit said, David in the Spirit said, so you got to understand, now listen to me, if the Bible was a collection of what a bunch of men thought, I'd say to you, I got better things to do.
[25:14] I love books like Lessons on Leadership by Lincoln. I love that kind of book. But I ain't going to meet every week and talk about it. Just ain't going to do it. I love leadership books.
[25:26] I do. There's a lot of great books I've read. I like to read. So I read quite a few books but the truth is, there's not another book on the planet I want to get together and say, I need to study this one.
[25:38] I put hours every week into this one. Hours every week studying, hours every week trying to understand it and every time I get through finished, I finish studying and preparing a message, I'm like, I don't even understand what I'm talking about.
[25:49] I just barely scratch it in the service because this isn't my book and it isn't another man's book, it's the book of God. That's what makes it change lives. Doesn't matter what language you're in, doesn't matter what country you're in, it's God's book.
[26:03] 2 Peter 1, 21. Prophecy came not in old time by the what? Come on, help me. Came not in old time by the will of man. But holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
[26:17] First, the Holy Spirit of God moved them. So when David wrote that down, he might not even understood when he said, my Lord, speaking to my Lord, he's like, I don't even know how I'm writing here probably.
[26:30] Don't you worry about it, God knew, because it's God's book. So go with me, this is Matthew 22, 45. He said, I got a question for you boys.
[26:42] If David, then call him Lord, how's he his son? Now the word Lord there, you know, the Bible came out of Greek and Hebrew and the word Lord there is a word for God.
[26:57] And he said, so how did, how do you go about calling your son God? He said, that don't make sense. No mere human will be dressed as Lord. That's the word for God in the verse.
[27:10] David was talking about more than his own son. He was talking about the son of God. And that'll be clear in just a second. The Messiah, the Christ, was and is the son of God.
[27:25] Now look at me, listen to me. We're studying a book, the Bible, inspired by God, moved by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost gave these men what to say. We're studying that because it's telling us the story of the Christ.
[27:38] And the question is, what do y'all think of Christ? You're here this morning, what do you think of Christ? You're not here because I'm so good looking. We all know that. You're not here because I'm such a good speaker. There's a thousand of them better than that.
[27:50] You're here because we're just going to open the book and see what the book says. That's what we're doing. So Jesus doesn't make them admit it. But it was pretty obvious. Everybody watching him for three years or a little bit over, they knew.
[28:03] All the miracles? I mean, he walks on water, he feeds thousands of people with nothing. He raises the dead. He heals everybody in town.
[28:14] Is this not the son of David? How could he not be? Look at what the Bible says in John chapter 20 and verse 30. John chapter 20 verse 30.
[28:26] And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book. Did you know all the stuff you know about Jesus? It's not near the story.
[28:39] God just so chose to tell us a few of them. He did so many things and they're not even written in the book. You say, what all did Jesus do over those three years? I don't know. Not in here. Look at verse 31 if you would.
[28:51] These are written. The ones I put in the Bible, the ones I put in the Bible, I did so you might believe that Jesus is the what? The Christ. The what?
[29:02] Comma, the Son of God. Christ, comma, not the Son of David. He is the Son of David but he's the Son of God. And that believing you might have life through his name.
[29:15] Only one way you're going to live when all this is over. When you're dead and we put you in a box somewhere and drop you into the ground, we can fix your body where it'll be the same for 50 years and put you in a nice vault but you won't even be there.
[29:30] You'll be living for eternity somewhere in heaven or hell and there's only one way you can have life. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.
[29:42] Jesus said, the thief comes but to steal, to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life and have it more abundantly. In John chapter 21 and verse 25, and there are also many other things which Jesus did the which if they should be written every one, I suppose the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.
[30:05] Amen. Jesus Christ, not just the son of David, son of God. In your Bible, in John chapter 20 and verse 31, you should underline the Christ, the son of God.
[30:21] You see, if he's the son of God, we better take note. Jesus is the son of God. In Romans chapter 1 and verse 2, the apostle Paul, writing under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said, which he had promised to afford by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
[30:40] You see, Paul knew that what the Holy Scripture said, the Old Testament, Genesis through Malachi, was written by the prophets and he called it Holy Scriptures.
[30:50] separate, set-aside, blessed, holy Scriptures. God took care of those books. Verse 3. He said, and they were talking about, look at verse 3, concerning who?
[31:02] Help me. Concerning who? His son, Jesus Christ. What was the Old Testament written about? Help me. Concerning what? His son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.
[31:20] You see, Matthew took great detail to say this is how Jesus got here. He's the son of David. Because everybody knows him as high as the son of David. And he's got it put in the Bible so you can see it. Verse 4.
[31:31] Romans 1, 4. Look at it. And declared, not only to be the son of David, underline it, declared to be the son of David and declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.
[31:53] If I could say this so childishly, he's the son of David by being born to Mary. He's the son of God by living a holy life and being raised from the dead.
[32:04] He's the son of God and he's the son of David. That son of God came to earth humbling himself. Please understand, when we talk about Jesus, what do you think of the Christ?
[32:18] He came to earth to die on a cross. Look at what the Bible says if you would in Philippians 2 and verse 5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God and thought it not robbery to be equal to God.
[32:32] He was God and he never even crossed his mind to act like I'm bragging. It's just a fact. I mean, when I say I'm the son of God, it's not a big deal. I am. I don't even think there's any robbery to it.
[32:43] But he made himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant and he was made like a man. He came down from the great glory of God where he existed forever and ever in the past and forever and ever in the future and the God of heaven, the God of creation, the God that lasts forever took on human flesh and became a servant.
[33:02] And he fashioned himself as a man, verse 8, and he humbled himself and became obedient to death and the death of the cross. And that's why God has highly exalted him and given him a name above every name at the name of Jesus.
[33:19] Every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You need to know he was God taking on human flesh.
[33:35] He wasn't a great teacher. He was a great teacher. That's not all he was. The Bible says in John 1, 14 and the word was made flesh.
[33:46] John 1, 1 it says in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the word was God. And then the word that was God and was in the beginning with God took on human flesh and the guy who's asking the question now is that word.
[34:01] He is God. He was both. He was the root and offspring of David. Revelation 22, 16 of Jesus if I, Jesus have sent my angels to testify to you these things of the churches I am the root of David.
[34:15] The root and the offspring of David the bright and morning star. I am God in human flesh. See the problem the Jews were having I need you to listen to this I have four minutes just listen to this the problem the Jews were having is there are two pictures of the Messiah in the Bible.
[34:34] Some of the scripture talked about this servant that would come and suffer and die and some of the scripture talked about this guy who would come and reign and because they wanted a king who would deliver him from Rome that's what they wanted Jesus to be but he was going to come first as a suffering servant.
[34:49] He was going to come first and pay for sin and he's coming back to do the other. He's both. Both pictures were true. Both pictures were true. In 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 10 or verse 11 it says when it testified the scriptures testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would follow.
[35:09] There's only one Messiah. He comes first to die for our sins and save us. Now you're going to hear a wild one. All those prophecies that came true when he was born the Bible just was just detail.
[35:22] Jesus will be born in Bethlehem. His name will be he will be born of a virgin. All that's in the Old Testament and it all came true. The same time the Bible's like he will come again he will rule and he will reign and he will sit on a throne and we haven't seen any of that happen yet but if he came the first time like he said he's coming the second time like he said.
[35:42] They're both true. Do you believe that Jesus do you believe what God has said about Jesus? Are you ready to trust him with your eternity?
[35:54] Because listen to me stop just a second let's go to the funeral home. Soon you will be there. Soon you will be there.
[36:04] It's like the saddest time in the world for a family. Their loved one's in a box and they've died. There's eternity after this.
[36:15] There's forever after this. There's life forever and what you believe about Jesus will determine all of that. Do you believe that God came in flesh?
[36:27] God in flesh you believe that he died on a cross and paid for your sins and offers you eternal life? Well the story's over. Matthew 22 46 They got through hearing that and they're like hmm he has asked us a question that's hard to answer.
[36:44] He said who is the Christ? Whose son is he? And they said David son of David he goes okay well let's read the Bible you guys got it memorized I got it memorized we all know what it says how in the world could a man say to his son you're God and the promises haven't come true so how's that working?
[37:00] How's that working out for you? They were like hmm no more questions it'll be the last ones they really ask him it's over. See they were afraid to face the truth they did not believe and still had no answers but he did.
[37:19] The religious people were blinded by their tradition their pride and believing Jesus would destroy their position in society. Maybe some would believe but in two days from now in the story they'll be crying crucify him crucify him.
[37:37] the religious people had been humiliated and embarrassed they couldn't win they crossed swords with Jesus and they lost but they were not humbled to a point that they would believe and I have a question for you now what do you think of the Christ?
[37:55] Have you seen the truth? Will you accept the truth? Or will you walk away in your pride unwilling to humble yourself and obey God? As kids we're glad our children get baptized and fill out that little piece of paper and join the church but we as adults often our hearts have never been humbled to the great awesome mighty powerful God who rules the universe in all of eternity that before we got here and that after we're gone and we don't have the right attitude about Christ truth of the matter is we're members of a church and not saved truth is we've been baptized we're not born again the truth is we're religious but we're lost this message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia for more information log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times location contact information and more audio and video recordings followers of the world next to everybody bisschen to the next time