“What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He?”—Matt. 22:42.
“The Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” —Gal. 2:20.
MANY learned and religiously-instructed men, who were accustomed to put difficult questions, were assembled together: in their midst was Jesus, and He became the questioner. He asked them not of their points, but by one simple word laid bare the state of their hearts, silenced their questions, and taught them to fear to ask Him more. “Jesus asked them, saying,
“What think ye of Christ?”
The rapid and fatal increase of unbelief threatens, like a rampant weed, to choke the growth of the pure Gospel in this land, and to turn our country into a wilderness of infidelity and superstition: and more than ever do we need personal, heart-searching tests, and surely there is no test to the heart like this—
“What Think Ye of Christ?”
Eternity is near: its issues for you depend upon your answer. The Bible may be in the hand, the knee may be bowed, the voice may be lifted up in strains of worship, with the heart utterly at enmity to God. The professor may spend a life in the outward things of religion, yet never be for one hour alone with God as to what he thinks of Christ. Thus it was, not long since, with a venerable man, who, hearing that his days were numbered, cried out piteously, “Tell me, how am I to be saved? I have been an elder of a congregation, but I have not been to Christ.”
“What Think Ye of Christ?”
Do not inquire of your heart for warmth or for coldness, for light or for darkness; turn off the eye of the soul from self and all that is within, and, in the presence of God, ask yourself what you think of His Son—of that Jesus who died for sinners, and who is now upon the throne of God. Escape the searching question you cannot. You may evade it now, but hereafter it will find you out. In hell Christ will be hated: in heaven He is loved. And now upon the earth the difference between being saved and lost may be discovered by what the heart thinks of Christ.
Oh, anxious and distressed soul! Why is it that you are in doubts and darkness? Have you ever considered that the reason is simply because you have such poor thoughts of Christ? You reply, “It is not so: my darkness arises from the sense of my own state.” But the truth is, the state of your soul, which begets the darkness, is occasioned by your thoughts of Christ. Did we ever hear a troubled soul saying, “It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us”? No, dear reader, with such God-given thoughts of Christ doubts and darkness would be impossible. CHRIST IN THE HEART AND MIND AND DARK THOUGHTS OF GOD’S SALVATION CANNOT DWELL TOGETHER.
“What Think Ye of Christ?”
as the Sin-bearer? Hear the word of God in reply — “His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness, by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Pet. 2:24).
“What Think Ye of Christ?”
as the one Offering? Thus saith the Lord— “After He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb. 10:12).
“What Think Ye of Christ?”
as the Lifegiver? These are His own words— “This is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life” (John 6:40).
“What Think Ye of Christ?”
as the Preserver of His Sheep? “I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My Hand” (John 10:28).
“Unto Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father: to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, He cometh with clouds: and every eye shall see Him; and they also which pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.”
May the Spirit of God make the thoughts of both reader and writer to agree with the Word of God respecting Christ!
WHEN the four thousand are fed, the seven basketsful of fragments remain—a voice to us that there is a perfect abundance yet for all who seek Him. Christian people frequently lament the barrenness of the day in which they live; but let us exalt the fulness which abides in Christ.