You can turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16. We're going to read verse 13 to verse 20, and we're going to use the text as a point of departure to observe the importance of the knowledge of Christ. A number of Sundays ago, not too many Sundays ago, Pastor Butler had mentioned Survey that was done online that I think it was Ligonier ministries some of the men in the theology study might be able to give you exact information But the question was asked about the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ And I believe the question was something to the effect of is Jesus Christ the highest creature of God 78% of polled evangelical Christians answered yes, that Jesus Christ is a creature, the highest creation of God, which effectively means that, depending on the scientific reality of the study, if it was a proper sampling of people and that sort of a thing, 78% of the Evangelical Church is effectively Aryan, effectively heretics, denounced at the Council of Nicaea and throughout the ages of Christianity. It brings to the fore the reality that we are to know our Christ.
We are to have a knowledge of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. And this isn't something that stops after the first month or the first year of our Christian profession. continues on because Christ Jesus is the stuff of our joy as we march along as Christians in this lower world time and time again. He is the object of our affections. He is the chief object of our joy.
And he is the one who is to be known. And so here in Matthew 16, in verses 13 to 20, we have this reality brought forth by Christ himself. In fact, I would offer to you I would offer up the fact that I believe the most important question ever dropping from human lips, divine human lips in this case, is the question that Jesus Christ asks in verse 15. Let's read Matthew 16 beginning in verse 13 and finishing at verse 20.
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, who do men say that I, the son of man, am? So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God.
Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
Amen. Well, let us pray. God, we rejoice in your word to us. We rejoice in this discourse of Jesus with his disciples.
We thank you for the instruction that it brings to us. And we do pray that we would gain much from a study of the The stuff and the importance of these verses here this evening do help us as we engage in the act of preaching. Be with preacher, be with hearer. Might this be an exercise that is to your glory and to your praise.
And we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
Introduction
Well, we want to observe, as we already noted, the knowledge of Christ. Not Christ's knowledge, but our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And a study in Christ is not to be about the excellence of oration. A study in Christ is not to be about the use of big words, though sometimes big words are used.
But it is about the riches and the excellencies of Jesus Christ. Leontius of Byzantium, I don't think we've ever quoted from Leontius of Byzantium in Lord's Day worship before. But he wrote this with regards to the importance of the study of Christ. As if we were interested in fitting ourselves out with verbal beauty, rather than gazing on the truly golden face of truth, than which nothing is lovelier, even if there is no elegance or brilliance of style involved.
For truth needs no further ornament for its decoration, but is splendid with natural beauty and has no need of deceptive transformation of language like cosmetic powders. This is a simple question that is asked and a simple answer that is given here by the Apostle Peter. In this text, just to break it down very briefly, we have first a question asked and answered. The question asked and answered isn't initially the specific point of Jesus Christ in this particular discourse, but rather, secondly, the intended question asked and answered is, where he turns his focus to his disciples and he says, but who do you say that I am?
They had previously answered the first question with regards to everyone else. Who do, you know, what do they, those people out there, who do they say that I am? And they answer, some say Elijah, John the Baptist, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. And then he turns their focus upon them and he asks them the simple question, who do you say that I am?
And Simon Peter answering for the disciples says, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Thirdly, we have a blessing and a promise given. And then lastly, we have a command made. This blessing and promise is given by Jesus Christ in response to Peter's answer.
He says, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. This correct response that Peter gives, but you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus Christ notes here that this has been given to Peter by divine revelation. He had been, Peter had been effectually called from darkness to light.
And by divine instruction, Peter can answer this blessed question rightly. Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And there is a promise given that I will build my church. and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." A passage of scripture that we often refer to because we are the blessed beneficiaries of the continuation of this promise and the ongoing reality of this promise throughout the ages. 2,000 years removed and Chilliwack British Columbia we are still seeing the exercise of the sovereign will of Christ in the execution of this promise. He's building his church.
You know, how many years removed from that? 2,000 years ago when the church was just a pocket in Jerusalem, and now it's spread throughout the corners of the earth, if we can use that language. A blessed reality and a testimony to the rightness and the truthfulness of Christ's promise here that he would build his church. And then there's a command given. He commanded his disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
This is Probably he he wants that to wait for the proper time. He's going about the business of his messianic work He's going about the business of his mediatorial task And so the full disclosure the full revelation of Jesus Christ of Jesus being the Christ Was not to be made known to the people quite yet that would come on Really and and primarily upon his ascension when he dispatches his disciples to go throughout Jerusalem Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth to proclaim his riches and his excellencies So that's just this passage in a in a brief nutshell again. We're using it as a launching pad or a point of departure and to study Christ, to study the importance of the knowledge of Christ. And we're going to do that under seven heads.
Working through them quickly, I will not keep you any longer than one should. But seven things with regards to the importance of the knowledge of Christ. And just by way of introduction, This is what we would call Christology. Though we're not engaging in an in-depth Christological exercise, this is something that we would call a study in the importance, rather, of Christology.
And Spurgeon notes this, on any endeavor with respect to the knowledge and the doctrine of Christ, he says, he who often thinks of God will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe. He may be a naturalist, boasting of his ability to dissect a beetle, anatomize a fly, or arrange insects and animals in classes with well-nigh unutterable names. He may be a geologist, able to discourse of the megatherium and the plesiosaurus and all kinds of extinct animals. He may imagine that his science, whatever it is, ennobles and enlarges his mind.
Now, just pause for a moment. What Spurgeon is really saying here is that Christology is the highest of sciences. There is biology, sure, it's an interesting study, a study of living things. Anthropology, the study of man, sociology, the study of society, people's impact of people's on society and vice versa.
But the greatest ology is that of Christology, the study of the doctrine of Christ. He goes on to say, I dare say it does, that is, those things enlarge the mind. But after all, the most excellent study of expanding the soul is the science of Christ and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead and the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the deity.
And so that's the task of Christology, and it's an important one, isn't it? If we could wrap up Christology in a phrase, it simply pertains to the dignity of the person of Christ and the virtue of His office. That's what we're doing as Christians when we reflect upon the doctrine of Christ and the importance of it. We are reflecting upon, we are glorying in the dignity of His person and the virtue His office to paraphrase John Owen and it is a good study, isn't it?
Because he is the namesake of our high and holy religion so any exploration of the importance in this case of the doctrine of Christ is to understand and to to glory in the one who is the namesake of our religion that is of course Christianity so the importance then of the knowledge of Christ brought out by this simple question of and this simple answer, yet a glorious question and a glorious answer, but who do you say that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Christ as the Scope of Scripture
First, the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen first in the fact that Christ is the scope of Scripture. Now when we say scope, we mean the center, target, or aim of divine revelation in this case, the trajectory and terminus of old covenant revelation and new covenant revelation. So the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen first in the fact that he is the scope of scripture, or he is the glorious intended end of all divine revelation. When we come to the Bible, We don't come to an ancient and dusty tome of 66 books smacked together haphazardly, testifying to various subjects and various themes, never crossing over, no consent of the parts, nothing like that.
It's just a smattering together of various literature. No, of course not. When we come to the Bible, that's not our Bible. But much rather, we have, yes, 66 books.
But one common author, God most high, superintending human authors over the course of 1500 years to bring together one glorious message wrapped up in Jesus Christ, the Lord, wrapped up in Jesus Christ. the Savior, again spurging on this reality with respect to the scriptures. I'm never ashamed to avow myself a Calvinist, although I claim to be rather a Calvinist according to Calvin than after the modern debased fashion. I do not hesitate to take the name of Baptist. You have there pointing to the baptistry. substantial evidence that I am not ashamed of that ordinance of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But if I am asked to say what is my creed, I think I must reply it is Jesus Christ. My venerable predecessor, Dr. Gill, that's John Gill, has left a body of divinity admirable and excellent in its way. But the body of divinity to which I would pin and bind myself forever, God helping me, is not his system of divinity or any other human treatise, but Christ Jesus, who is the sum and substance of the gospel, who is in himself all theology, the incarnation of every precious truth, the all-glorious personal embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life.
If you ask Spurgeon, is the Old Testament just a slapping together of ancient books with no unified theme? And is it simply the story of Israel across a certain number of years, 1,500 years, and that sort of a thing? Spurgeon would say, no, page after page, chapter after chapter, it points to Christ upon the cross working out the salvation of men. You see, that's why a knowledge of Jesus Christ is so important, because the Bible is about Christ.
And do we have the Bible itself testifying to this reality? Does the Bible say that Jesus Christ is the scope of Scripture, the center, the target or aim of divine revelation? Turn with me to the Gospel of John. Not only does the Bible say so, but from the lips of the Savior himself, we have this truth set forth.
John chapter 5. Notice in John 5, beginning in verse 37, And the Father himself who sent me has testified of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form, but you do not have his word abiding in you, because whom he sent him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of me.
But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life." And then notice if you go down to verse 46, "'For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.' But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? These are startling words by the Lord Jesus Christ, testifying to the fact that the scriptures, the Old Testament, was about him. The first point of evidence, if you will, you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life. These are they which testify of me.
This would have come as striking words to the first century Jews, who were all about the scriptures, who were all about studying. In their unregeneracy, they missed the point, and that's what Christ's point is. In their hardness of heart, they completely miss that the one standing before them is the glorious intended terminus of all divine revelation. But nevertheless, he said they had the scriptures.
They had the word of God. And he says, these are they which testify of me and more to the punch. He goes, he speaks in verse 46, for if you believed Moses, and he is assuming that they do believe Moses, or he's assuming that they know Moses and rather that they have read Moses, for if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?
He's saying that Moses in the first five books of the Bible, the first five books of the Old Testament wrote concerning him. Glorious and striking words that come from the Lord Jesus Christ again from the lips of the Savior. You can turn with me to the Gospel of Luke. This is a wonderful scene that we have in the gospel of Luke in chapter 24.
And it's a passage of scripture, hopefully, that comes to your mind. Okay, I probably know where Pastor Porter's going with this. It's resurrection day, and he's appeared to his disciples. First, he's appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
And the words are amazing. Notice the words that we have in verse 25. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus were distraught because they did not completely grasp yet the reality of Christ's message, the reality of the announcement of Christ Jesus, that he would go to Jerusalem, he'd be delivered up by wicked hands, he'd be crucified and put to death, but he would rise again the third day. They didn't quite grasp that yet.
And he says in verse 25, and then he said to them, Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and To enter into his glory and then Luke adds the information and beginning at Moses and all the prophets He expounded to them and all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Have you ever been with you know pastor butler or myself when we're talking when we're preaching from the bible and we're doing a bible study and we're we're talking about uh christ being the fulfillment of the old testament scriptures and hopefully it's a wonderful time for you uh as you as you know we bring along a study in the word of god but imagine being present for jesus christ himself giving a bible study That's when Jim and I disappear into the far distance and there's the one infinitely glorious giving you a Bible study. Wouldn't that be amazing? These two distraught disciples had thought all is lost and they come across the Lord Jesus Christ having not been yet revealed until he begins speaking to them when he's made known to them, their hearts were burning in them.
But Jesus Christ giving a Bible study to these disciples, what an amazing thing that would have been. And what is he doing? But he's opening up, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he's expounding to them in the scriptures the things concerning himself. What a glorious thing.
And later on in the passage, we have in verse 44, then he said to them, these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me, verse 45, and he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the scriptures. Now with all of his disciples before him, giving another Bible study, opening up the scriptures and disclosing that I, Jesus Christ, am the glorious intended terminus of all divine revelation. What a glorious thing. You see, it's that that would equip them, not just that, the giving of the Spirit, but it's that that would equip them to go out into the world and to proclaim a right message concerning this Jesus.
They're given a Bible study by the risen King himself. Clearly, we see that the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen first in the fact that Christ is the scope of Scripture.
Eternal Life and Knowledge of Christ
Secondly, we want to notice the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen second in the fact that eternal life hinges upon the knowledge of the person of Christ. Eternal life hinges upon the knowledge of the person of Christ. A proper identification of Jesus is linked to everlasting life. The first instance of this is with respect to his deity, the proper confession of his deity in the Gospel of John and in chapter 8.
The importance of a knowledge of Christ clearly brought forth by Christ, again, by His own lips, from His own lips. We have the importance brought forth with respect, in this case, to His proper identification as true and essential deity, one in substance with the Father. Notice in John 8, at verse 24. Backing up to verse 23, and he said to them you are from beneath I am from above you are of this world I am not of this world Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins For if you do not believe that I am you will die in your sins The he is provided there in your text.
You might see it italicized that he is provided there It doesn't need to be there Because Jesus Christ is using the Isaac 10 exodus 314 identifier of I am to identify himself If you do not believe that I am you will die in your sins It is a sobering statement by the Lord Jesus Christ here a sobering statement These people were rejecting him. You are from below, I am from above. You are not of this world, I am not. You are of this world, I am not of this world, Jesus Christ says.
He is continually railed against them for their unbelief, for their opposition to Christ and his message. And here we see him render these striking words, deliver these striking words. If you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. Again, it's the language of Yahweh from the Old Testament.
Christ appropriating that language to himself. If you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. The importance of the knowledge of Christ. If you confess him as just the highest creature of God, if you confess him just as some great prophet or some great angel or some great creature, you are outside of saving faith and in damning unbelief.
He is God Most High, true and essential deity of one substance with him who begat him, even the Father. And the gravity of the statement is strong. You will die in your sins. All who reject the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, who call him not God, those who say there was a time when he was not, that they will be cast into eternal fire reserved for the devil and his angels.
Those sharp-dressed folks that rap upon your door and want to give you the Watchtower magazine. They're basically just modern-day Aryans rejecting the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they will die in their sins. Knowledge of our Christ is absolutely important.
Christ's True Humanity
His humanity. So, if his deity is linked, the proper identification of his deity is linked to everlasting life, is the proper identification that he became man necessary for everlasting life? Yes, it is. In 1 John 4, we have this language brought out in verse 2.
By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world.
You see there, with regards to the importance of the knowledge of Christ, in this case, with respect to the knowledge of His person, and more to the point, the knowledge of the fact that He took upon Himself man's nature for our redemption and for our recovery. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. That's a simple statement.
There's no wriggling out of that. There's no ambiguity, no confusion in that. It's a clear statement. Remember that John is dealing with Opposers to this doctrine he's dealing with some who would later be known as the dossetists that Christ only Seemed to come in the flesh He only seemed to be human but because matter all matter is wicked the Son of God could not have taken to himself true human nature he can only seem to be so and And so John is coming, railing against this Gnostic idea, and he's saying, no, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.
And if you do not confess this, you are not of God. Gregory Nazi ends and writes this with regards to this reality. He writes, if anyone has put his trust in him as a man without a human mind, he is really bereft of mind and quite unworthy of salvation. What he's dealing with is he's dealing with a heresy that denied Christ had a human mind.
When we say Christ took to himself man's nature, He took to himself man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof a reasonable soul and body subsisting and so Gregory here is dealing with those who denied that he had a human mind, but it applies beautifully Someone who denies this is really bereft of mind and quite unworthy of salvation For that which he has not assumed he has not healed But that which is united to his Godhead is also saved if only half Adam fell then that which Christ assumes and saves may be half also. But if the whole of his nature fell, it must be united to the whole nature of him that was begotten, and so be saved as a whole. Let them not then begrudge us our complete salvation, or clothe the Savior only with bones and nerves and the portraiture of humanity. In other words, he took to himself a full humanity, and the knowledge of this is vital for our salvation, for if we deny that, then we are with these condemned by John as being the spirit of Antichrist.
Jesus Christ took to himself our nature, with all the properties and infirmities thereof, yet without sin, to effect a glorious salvation.
Unity of Christ's Person
Thirdly under this point that eternal life hinges upon the knowledge of the person of Christ We would want to confess the unity of his person and for this I want you to turn to Hebrews 1 for a moment Perhaps you've never Haven't heard a whole lot of this though. You've heard the language of the hypostatic Union those sorts of things when we talk about Christ But the unity of his person the simple reality that Christ is very God and very man yet one Christ the only mediator between God and man there's a battle that endured for centuries in the early church over this very point and that people were denying the unity of Christ. People were, A, either saying that the divinity and the humanity are lost into now one admixture of a person, or secondly, that the divinity and the humanity were separate and that the union was just one of honor and dignity, Christ being himself two subjects, not Son of God and Son of Man, one single Christ, but Son of God and Son of Man only united by purpose Dignity and honor notice in the God and notice in the epistle to the Hebrews though the language of both divinity and the language of both divinity and Humanity is brought and wrapped up in one son one Christ one Lord notice here in in verse two has in these last days spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high it is one Christ it is one son who is God upholding all things by the word of his power and who is By virtue of his humanity purging our sins who by himself purged our sins one son one Christ one Jesus one Lord very God and very man yet one Christ and so yes the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen in in the fact that eternal life hinges upon the knowledge of the person of Christ.
The Gospel Is About Christ
Thirdly, then, the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen, third, in the fact that the gospel is about Jesus. You know, if Christianity is all about the gospel, then what is the gospel about? Christianity is to be about the gospel. That is to be the main thing of our Christian religion, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
As we've been discussing, the dignity of his person and the virtue of his office. But thirdly, the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen in the fact that the gospel is about Christ. Remember that the gospel is not your virtuous life. pithy little sayings or you know cute little sayings about preach the gospel and when possible use words are are are silly Because the gospel cannot be preached without words and the gospel is not our virtuous lives Though we ought to live virtuous lives make no mistake about it by virtue of Christ redeeming us from sin by virtue of the work of a perfect Redeemer We ought to, in light of that and according to the joyous compliance with the law of God, live virtuous lives. But the gospel is not your virtuous life lived.
The gospel is not a fuzzy feeling. The gospel is not your new heart. The gospel simply has to do with the doing and the dying and the rising again of the Son of God. And this is the point in 1 Corinthians 15.
Or it's a point that the Apostle Paul brings up to argue for the only hope for Christians being in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. But a definition of the gospel is given in 1 Corinthians 15 when Paul writes, And then says in verse 3, writes in verse 3, For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. If anybody ever asks you, what is the gospel? You can take them to 1 Corinthians 15, 3 and 4 and say, that's the gospel.
That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Notice that there is historical truth, and this is met with a theological interpretation or a theological commentary on it. Christ died for our sins. He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.
This was all for our sins. If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, these gospel verities were rendered for your sins, that you might have the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. But this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, that He died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. The reality that we preach, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, that isn't the gospel in and of itself.
That is the summons that comes upon the heels of the giving of the gospel. The gospel is this, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and notice that this comes to dash away the vanity that is seen in the denial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are of all men the most pitiable if the gospel is not true. Our preaching is empty, our faith is futile if this is not true.
Being true, however, but now Christ is risen from the dead, being true, our faith is not vanity, but our faith is good and pure and right. And our preaching is not empty, but it is full if it is constituted by Christ dying, Christ buried, Christ rising again. The importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen in the fact that the gospel is about Christ.
Christ the Only Way of Salvation
Next then, the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen forth in the fact that Christ alone is the only way of salvation. Christ alone is the only way of salvation. This is the preaching to the choir, but this is a reason why the importance of the knowledge, why the knowledge of Christ is so important, that Christ alone is the only way of salvation. This exclusivity, by the way, is a kindness and not a presumptuous prejudice.
It's a kindness. You think about this, Christ being the only way of salvation. Those who are favorable to a religious plurality, or those who are favorable to religious pluralism, that all roads lead to God. That if we just all sang around a campfire with the ukulele and we sang kumbaya or whatever it might be, and all religions just were left alone to do their own thing, all religions ultimately find their way to God.
What a kindness it is for Christianity to come along and say, Christ is the only way of salvation. The world might look upon that as a presumptuous prejudice, but think about it this way. If you were to go to a doctor, if you were to go to a doctor and you had a grave disease, and you were seeking out an answer for that grave disease, would you want a doctor just to say, well, you know, anything you do should be fine? go out in the woods and dance around a fire and hold a pink stick and all you'll be okay or You know eat only eat green Skittles and and you'll be okay but if you can do the dancing thing or you can do the Skittle thing or you can you know, you can also do this thing with regards to invasive surgery and and precision of craft with regards to the The doctors and the nurses and those sorts of any of these things will work You would want the doctor to come at you with the only remedy for your particular case You would want the doctor to come with no no ambiguity no medical ambiguity But to come with clarity of speech and say this is what we need to do. Let's do this That's what Christianity does it comes along and it says Christ has died for sinners Christ has risen again and in him only is there salvation of from sins and Christianity brings a kindness in its exclusivity, not a presumptuous prejudice.
Do we see exclusivity in the pages of the Bible, though? Again, from the lips of Christ, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. The simple words of our Savior, Jesus Christ, with regards to the exclusivity of Christianity, with the exclusivity of salvation through Christ alone.
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, but what a bold Savior we have in Christ Jesus, going up against unbelieving Jews, knowing that he's going to be persecuted, knowing that he's going to be brought to the point of death, and he would be put to death. upon Calvary's cross, knowing that He would earn the ire and the anger and the opposition and the blasphemies of those before whom He's preaching. Nevertheless, He says, I am the way, the truth, and the light. I love our Savior and His boldness as He goes up against His enemies.
The exclusivity was seen recently in a passage that Pastor Butler preached on in Acts 4. Perhaps you're aware of this. Or perhaps you know this verse in Acts 4 at verse 11. Speaking of Jesus Peter says this is the stone which was rejected by you builders Which has become the chief cornerstone Stone nor is there salvation in any other for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved What boldness there and yet again what kindness there in the Apostle Peter?
There is no other name, nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Jettison any notion of religious pluralism and realize the glorious truth that in Christ Jesus alone, that Christ Jesus alone is the only way of salvation. We also have the reality in Acts 16 and in 1 Timothy 2.5, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
All Redemptive Benefits Are in Christ
Next then, the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen fifth in the fact that all redemptive benefits are in Christ Jesus. Aren't they? All redemptive benefits are in Christ Jesus. The importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen in the fact that all redemptive benefits are in Christ Jesus.
We're chosen in Him. before the foundation of the world. We are regenerated in Him, justified in Him, adopted in Him, sanctified in Him, glorified in Him. Notice in the book of Ephesians in chapter 1 that that language of in Him is repeated time and again, in Him, in the Beloved, in Christ. In Ephesians chapter one, we have this reality that all redemptive benefits are in Christ Jesus.
We have the statement first in verse three, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So there's our first in Christ. The text moves on, of course, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. The in him language continues.
Notice in verse five, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself. The language of all redemptive benefits being in Christ Jesus in only the span of a handful of verses. Verse seven, in him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Notice at the end of verse 10, in him, Verse 11, in Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.
In Him. You also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. You see that we have all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. This is why the knowledge of him is so absolutely important.
Ought we not to want to know the one in whom all spiritual blessings are? The fact that all redemptive benefits are in Christ Jesus the Lord. What a Savior! What a Lord!
What a Master! What a Christ! that we would consign him as just the highest creature under God, that we would consign him to anything other than very God and very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man in whom are all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ. The knowledge, the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen in the fact that all redemptive benefits are in Christ Jesus.
The Church's Commission Is About Christ
Moving towards the end then, the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen sixth in the fact that the Church's commission is given by Christ and is about Christ. Just one more time, the fact that the Church's commission is given by Christ and is about Christ. We have that reality of Matthew 28 18 to 20 all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me Go therefore and disciple the nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them everything that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age Christ gives the Commission and the Commission is about him, isn't it? When the apostles go about heeding this command, heeding the commission, when the apostles go about the business of listening to their Savior and in obedience to their Savior, going about doing what he called them to do, we read stuff like this in Acts 5.42, and daily in the temple and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
They're obedient to Christ who gives the commission, and the commission that they carry out is about the Christ who gave them the commission. The importance of the knowledge of Christ is clearly seen in that, not only in the act of preaching. Well, another text that I absolutely love, and then some comments from Spurgeon, because this has to do with the importance of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. In Galatians 6, there's a wonderful verse that speaks about The absence of Christian boasting and the one in whom.
We are to boast, but God forbid, Galatians 6.14, that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This has specifically to do, I believe, with the act of preaching, not exclusively, but with the act of preaching. Paul's boast before men was never himself.
There were times where he had to defend himself against those super apostles, against those who were arguing against his apostleship and against his message. But nevertheless, his boast, his proclamation, his declaration, his articulations, his assertions were about Jesus Christ, the Lord. That is why in the commission we see that it's given by Christ and that it is about Christ. Paul, Spurgeon says, did not budge before the sharp and practical reply of the conquerors of the world.
He did not tremble before Nero in his palace. Whether to Greek or Jew, Roman or barbarian, bond or free, he was not ashamed. of the gospel of Christ, but gloried in the cross. Though the testimony that the all-once-sufficient atonement was provided on the cross stirs the enmity of man and provokes opposition, yet Paul was so far from attempting to mitigate that opposition that he determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. His motto was, we preach Christ crucified.
He had the cross for his philosophy, the cross for his tradition, the cross for his gospel, the cross for his glory, and nothing else. The fact that the church's commission is given by Christ and is about Christ, and it's not seen only in the proclamation or in preaching, but also in baptism and the Lord's Supper. These are about Christ, given in the authority and in the name of Christ, and as well, church discipline in Matthew 18. 18 to 20. So those three marks of the church, the true and proper preaching of the word, the right administration of the sacraments, baptism, and the Lord's Supper, and church discipline are all given in the name and in the authority of Christ and are about Christ.
Christ is the one in church discipline who says, with regards to church discipline, who says, lo, I am in the midst of you, or where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them. You ever notice that that's a statement with regards to Christ's omnipresence? Christ is omnipresent. He's there in the midst of us when we engage in, in that case, church discipline.
But the main point isn't Christ's omnipresence, but it's a text that argues for his omnipresence. Christ is omnipresent. He's not the highest creature of God. He is God Most High, omnipresent in the fullness of His essence everywhere, filling the heavens and the earth.
Present and Future Hope in Christ
We close with this then, the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen seventhly and lastly in the fact that our present and future hope is in Christ. Our present and future hope is in Christ Jesus the Lord. First comfort and hope in this life is in Christ. Comfort and hope in this life is in Christ Jesus the Lord, isn't it?
When we come up against trials, when we come up against sadness and despair, what is our hope? Do we look to earthly things or do we look to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ? We probably won't have time to get to all of the application here, but I want to bring forth one because it's relevant to this, comfort and hope in this life. For any of you who've read Spurgeon's Sorrows, there's a portion in there where he talks about Spurgeon having to endure multiple deaths in a venue that he was preaching at.
He was preaching, I don't think he was preaching at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in this case. I think it was somewhere else. He was a visiting preacher at another church and he, somebody jokingly, yelled fire in the church. And there was a mass exodus and a stampede and a number of people died.
I want to say nine people, I might be wrong on that. A number of people died, and Spurgeon was just absolutely distraught. He was broken. He was a broken man over this.
And he said the one verse that always came to his mind to cheer his soul was Philippians 2, 6-11. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men. and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And this was the verse that Spurgeon brought pointedly to the fore. Therefore, God has also highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name.
That confidence and that hope that comes in the resurrected and in the exalted Christ. There is comfort and hope in this life in Christ Jesus the Lord. And secondly, the blessed anticipation of the life to come. the blessed anticipation of the life to come. The glorious appearing of our God and Savior Jesus Christ is the way Paul puts it in his letter to Titus.
We have the blessed anticipation of the life to come and we have the eventual enjoyment of the life to come. I love the language of the Apostle Paul with regards to the eventual enjoyment of the life to come. He writes this, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. The enjoyment of the life to come is in Christ.
For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. Yet what I shall choose I cannot tell, for I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. The enjoyment of the life to come, the eventual enjoyment of the life to come, is all in Christ.
Practical Import of Knowing Christ
So hopefully we've seen some things, brethren, here that that speak to the importance of the knowledge of Christ. Those things don't expire or exhaust the list of reasons why or what wherein the importance of the knowledge of Christ is seen, but just very quickly in closing, the practical import of the knowledge of Christ, first for worship. first for worship therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven of those on earth and of those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father the knowledge of Christ informs our worship it also informs our humility and Since then the Son of God descended from so great a height, how unreasonable that we who are nothing should be lifted up with pride. That's John Calvin. Having a knowledge of who Christ is and what he has done informs us so that we might be marked by humility and not pride.
It also speaks to the hope, as we've already noted, the import of the knowledge of Christ is seen and that it brings us much hope. It informs us with respect to beneficence. The knowledge of Christ informs us with respect to our loving, our love-filled giving to the saints in Christ. Whether it is of our own good things or whether it is of our hospitality or whatever it may be, Christ who was rich became poor so that we who are poor might be made rich.
In Christ, in the knowledge of Him, it informs our beneficence. It equips us for and it invigorates us for good works. Christ has remade us, refashioned us after His own image that we might be zealous for good works. Our knowledge of Christ, again, who He is, the dignity of His person, what He has done, the virtue of His office ought to inform our doing in this lower world for His glory and for the adornment of the gospel.
And lastly, it ought to inform our steadfast confession. There's a passage in Hebrews 10 that reads this way. Doesn't the knowledge of Jesus Christ inform us to grip Christ, to grip the dignity of his person, the virtue of his office, with an inviolable grip, he only has an inviolable grip, he holds us in it, but to grip it with a white knuckle grip, the Christ who is very God and very man, yet one Christ, that Christ who is our only mediator, that Christ who has blessed us with benefaction after benefaction, this glorious Savior, is so glorious that our response ought to be, verse 23 of Hebrews 10, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. Well, brethren, hopefully, as we go about our Christian sojourn in this lower world, we will never tire from a study of our Savior, and we will gain each and every day, and each and every Lord's Day even, an appreciation for the proper knowledge of so glorious a Savior.
Might all who are here safely in Him rejoice in Him, study Him, and learn Him until that glorious day when you're brought into His presence. And all those outside of Christ know this, that you will die in your sins if you do not confess Him as Lord and Savior. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Let us pray.
Closing Prayer
God, we thank You for Your Word. We rejoice in Your goodness to us in worship. We thank you for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. We would ask, Lord God, that you would always fill us with the knowledge of our precious Savior, that we would not tire in the learning of Him.
And we pray that as we go into this week, we would reflect upon our glorious Christ, that we would reflect upon Him as very God, very man, yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man, that we would rejoice in all of His blessings, in all of His doings, in His dying, in His rising again. We do pray that You would equip us now that we might go into this week, that we would live for Your glory's sake, conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it's in His name that we pray. Amen.