Turn with me in your Bibles back
to John Chapter 18 and we'll begin looking at the trial of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I want us to be reminded that
this is a trial of the men who are trying Him. Our Saviour and
God is perfect and sovereign and so here we have a stark contrast
between the religion of Christ and the self-righteous religion
of men. I want us to turn in our Bibles
to verse 19 of John chapter 18. The high priest then asked Jesus
of his disciples and his doctrine. Jesus answered him, I spake openly
to the world, I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple,
whither the Jews always resort, and in secret have I said nothing. Why askest thou me? Ask them
which heard me. What I have said unto them, behold,
they know what I said. When he had thus spoken, one
of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of
his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? Jesus answered
him, if I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil. But if well,
why spoutest thou me? It's a great question that the
high priest asks. Even though the question is embedded
in deceit and they had already made up their mind what they
were going to do with him. But they have, even in this circumstance,
they have to put on a pretense of religious righteousness, don't
they? They have to. You know what's
in their hearts. The Lord Jesus Christ declares
that they are the children of the devil. Satan had entered
Judas and Judas has gone with them. And when he had begun conspiring
with him, the only time in all the Gospels we hear that the
Pharisees were glad is when Judas came and promised to betray the
Lord Jesus Christ to them. They had in their hearts right
from the beginning that they were going to destroy him. But
what a great question, and what it leads to, as all of the scriptures
do, leads to a remarkably important answer, isn't it? You listen
to it. It's an important question. How
do you identify the true disciples of Christ? How do you identify
the true preacher? He is the great preacher, isn't
he? I don't like hearing people say that Spurgeon is the Prince
of Preachers. There's one, isn't there? And if Spurgeon ever managed
to preach anything which was truth, who gets all the glory
for that? Men exalt other men in their
preaching, and we ought to esteem the office of those who do proclaim
the gospel and care about them and care for them. But how do
you identify the true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ? The
answer is here, isn't it? Those who believe the doctrine
of Christ. They believe what he said. What
is his doctrine? It's all of what he says in all
of the scriptures about himself. And there are three great things,
aren't there? There is the necessity of having
a knowledge of God. This is eternal life. John 17.3
is, you know, Him. You know the Father and
Jesus Christ whom He has sent. This is eternal life, is to know
Him. And it's not just to know about
Him, it's to know Him in love, it's to know Him in obedience
and faithfulness to Him. So where the true disciples are,
they are going to be taught of God and they're going to come
to Christ. And where the true disciples
are, there will be true doctrine. Where the truth is proclaimed,
the true disciples will be gathered. We'll look more about that in
a little bit, but I want us to look at why they ask this question.
And the purpose of course is to put the Lord Jesus Christ
to death, and put him to death in such a way that they can justify
their righteousness. So turn back with me to Deuteronomy
13, because the Lord Jesus Christ had come proclaiming and performing
wonderful, wonderful miracles and saying remarkable promises
and those promises being fulfilled. And in Deuteronomy 13 we have a remarkable challenge to the children of
God about false prophets. Listen to it from verse 1. Deuteronomy 13 verse 1. If there arise among you a prophet
or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or wonder, what hath
the Lord Jesus Christ done? Wonders and signs. And the sign or wonder come to
pass. whereof he spake unto thee, saying,
Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known, and let
us serve them. Thou shalt not hearken unto the
words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord
your God proved with you to know whether you love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk
after the Lord your God and fear Him and keep His commandments
and obey His voice. You shall serve Him and cleave
unto Him. And that prophet or dreamer of
dreams shall be put to death, because he hath spoken to turn
you away from the Lord your God. I'll stop there, but you can
read on in Deuteronomy. As I said, there was deceit behind
the question, but ultimately in the very providence and mercy
of God, what is revealed here is, again and again, they actually
thought that he was demon possessed. And so the challenge of doctrine
in their minds, and should be in our minds, is a challenge
about the God you know and the God you follow. Listen to what
it says, isn't it? You'll not let us go after other
gods. They were saying that the Lord
Jesus Christ was leading them away from the God that they declared
that they were serving and the God that they were proclaiming.
Issues of doctrine are fundamentally so, so important. And I'm so
pleased that these men asked this question because we can
see the Lord's answer to it. But the issues of doctrine are
issues ultimately about the very character of God. They are not
minor issues ever. They're not minor issues ever. So you shall walk. It's all about
love for him, isn't it? Verse three, isn't it? To know
whether you love the Lord your God, and then the love of the
Lord your God, you shall walk after the Lord your God. You
shall fear him. Those who have false doctrine
have no fear of God. Period. They have no fear of
God. That's the testimony of God about
those who have another God and have other doctrine. You fear
him and keep his commandments, obey his voice, you shall serve
him and cleave unto him. So this is how fundamental the
issue is, and this is reiterated again and again throughout the
scriptures. Turn with me to 2 John. It's all of 13 verses, but listen
to John's description of the false teachers, which were promised
to abound in his day and are promised to abound even more
in our day. Why is there so much confusion
in religion? Why is there so much confusion
in Christianity? Because there are so many false
teachers. Listen to what he says in verse
9, what God the Holy Spirit says. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ. All doctrine is about Christ.
And in the scriptures, the word doctrine is always in the singular
unless it's referring to false doctrines. It's always singular
because all the doctrine is talking about him. It's talking about
his character, it's talking about what he did, it's talking about
who he is, it's talking about who he is in union with his people,
who he is as the God-man. Abide and not in the doctrine
of pride. Listen to what he says. They have not God. That's pretty simple, isn't it?
If they transgress, if they've moved away from the doctrine
of Christ, the doctrine of the apostolic testimony and the scriptural
testimony of the Lord, they just don't have Him. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son. This is eternal life, that you
have them, that you know them. If there come any unto you, and
bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him Godspeed. You're not to wish him all the
best. For he that biddeth him Godspeed is a partaker of his
evil deeds. God is serious about God, and
God is serious about the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. God
is serious about the person of his dear and precious Son, and
may God cause us to examine the Lord's answer to these people. We saw earlier that Caiaphas
was concerned about putting the Lord Jesus Christ to death, that
he might not lose his place in his nation. But here the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Great Preacher, gives a great definition of preaching. He gives a great definition of
preaching. It's a three-point definition
and it's a good thing for us to know, isn't it, and to hold
on to and to remind ourselves. Firstly, He says, I spoke openly
to the world. Everything he said, he said to
all of humanity, all of the Jews, saved and unsaved. And the Gentiles
who happened to be there heard exactly the same thing. He didn't
have another message. He doesn't have different messages
for different people in different places. And what he does is he
speaks, the word openly means plainly, with confidence, boldly,
free and fearless, and not concerned with the offence that's taken
by many. Truth has no reason to hide.
Truth has no reason to hide. Light has no fellowship with
darkness. What's the solution to the problem?
Shine more light on it. Give me more of Christ in it.
The righteousness of God stands before any and all men with boldness
because our confidence is in Him. I don't have to have confidence
in myself. My confidence is in Him. Perfect
love casts out fear. Love Proverbs 28 verse 1, the
wicked flee when no man's pursuing. The wicked flee when no man pursues
but the righteous are as bold as a lion. So firstly, true preaching is
to speak openly, to speak plainly, to speak clearly, not speak with
ambiguity, to not sort of hedge your bets so that you can have
a little bit this way. So some people who believe in
free will can find happiness and comfort in what's being said
and those who believe in free grace can find it as well. It's
just to be said, where does this say who God is and how God saves
sinners as plainly as possible? True preaching is speaking openly.
True preaching is teaching. Listen to what he says. This
is the Lord's description. I ever taught. I ever taught. He taught publicly. Preaching
is declaring, but in declaring we're teaching people. We're
teaching people. And he was teaching people from
the Word of God. He was teaching people about
who God is and how God saved sinners and how he was the only
saviour of sinners. And listen to what he goes on
to say. In the temple and the synagogue where the Jews always
resort. And in secret have I said nothing. You went into the private rooms
of the Lord Jesus Christ and you heard him saying exactly
what he said in the synagogues and the temples and the streets
of Jerusalem. He didn't have one message, private message
for someone. His private conversations were
as his public conversations. Isn't that a great description
of preaching? Openly to the world, teaching,
and hiding nothing. Paul said he kept back nothing
from them that was profitable. In Acts Chapter 20, when he's
saying goodbye to the Ephesian elders on the beach there beside
the Mediterranean, he said, I am free of the blood of all men,
for I have not failed to proclaim the whole counsel of God. What is the whole counsel of
God? 1 Corinthians 2.2 says it's Jesus Christ and him crucified
as the whole counsel of God. I'm not free of the blood of
all men because I haven't failed to proclaim the whole counsel
of God. If someone is hiding something of the counsel of God,
what does that mean? According to that verse, I don't
want to go there. I don't want anyone that I know
to go there. I want us as a church, and I
want as a pastor, and I want you as disciples to hear what
is true, plainly, clearly, which is why we repeat ourselves all
the time. We say the same thing over and
over again. Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father,
all flesh is grass. Listen to how Paul describes
his preaching in 2 Corinthians 2. Now thanks be unto God, which
always causes us to triumph in Christ and make us manifest the
savour of his knowledge by us in every place. It's teaching
openly, isn't it? For we, I love this, we are unto
God. We are under God, a sweet saver
of Christ, in them that are saved and in them that perish. For
to the one we are the saver of death under death, and to the
other the saver of life under life. Who is sufficient for these
things? The next chapter he makes it
really plain. Our sufficiency is of God's,
not of us at all. And he says, verse 17 is lovely,
isn't it? For we are not as many which
corrupt the word of God. Even in the days of the apostles,
there were many who were corrupting the word of God. But as of sincerity,
but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. Speak we in Christ. Who's the
audience? God is the audience. God is the
audience always. Who sends the preacher? God sends
the preacher. And if God sends the preacher,
he'll preach openly, he'll teach, and he'll hold nothing back.
His private conversations and his public conversations, public
declarations, are all the same. Listen to how he describes this
ministry in the next chapter, chapter four, verse one. Therefore
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we
faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully,
but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God. Who was Paul concerned
about? in the sight of God, unto God. He's speaking as of God. I have ever taught in the synagogue
and in the temple, with the Jews always resort, and in secret
have I said nothing. How do we know what someone is
preaching? The next verse tells us what
people How do you tell what someone is preaching? He says in verse
21, Why askest thou me? Ask them that heard me. What I have said unto them, behold,
they know what I said. He's saying to these people that
were there before him who had sent the people out to examine
him and examine him and examine him for the last three and a
half years. He said, You heard what I said. You were there when
I preached. You were there beside the Jordan.
You were there. You examined me and you examined
John the Baptist and you challenged him. You can read it from John
chapter one on. They were there. How do we know what someone believes? It's what is said publicly. How do you know what is being
preached? It's what people who hear regularly
and consistently declare is said. Ask them. Ask them. It's our
sad testimony of meeting many professing believers who have
said over and over again, we see what you say is true from
the scriptures. but for fear of man, but also,
I think more importantly, for fear of losing self-righteousness. The self-righteousness that they
have earned, like Caiaphas and these religious leaders, they
have a place, they have a reputation, they have a name, and they draw
back from fellowship with God's people. You can go to the churches
around here and you will find people in many, many churches
who would believe free grace and you'll find someone equally
in that church who will believe free will openly. You can go
to many churches and you'll find there'll be lots of people who
want to say that God loves everyone and Jesus died for everyone. People have, when Satan takes
people captive to his will, and blinds people, they don't stop
being religious and they don't stop attending places of religion. When Satan entered Judas, where
did Judas go? He didn't go to the brothels
of Jerusalem or the bars of Jerusalem. He went to the most religious,
self-righteous people you could possibly imagine. Satan is thrilled
if you have enough religion that allows you to look anywhere else
other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He has deluded this whole world. He has deluded billions and billions
of people in their religion. He has deluded the whole Western
world by giving us so many comforts that we can find comfort for
ourselves in the things of this world and have no need of the
Lord Jesus Christ. May He make us needy. People
have enough religion, as these men did, to pacify their consciences,
and their religion will only ever be exposed by the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of his Gospel. I don't like looking at what
other churches around here say but I can't help it sometimes
and I'm horrified by so much of what I hear. Listen to how clever One of these
large churches here wants to talk about how our job is to
proclaim the love of God to all people and to have people come
and join us in that love. And then they make this statement
which has become very common throughout the sort of professing
evangelical world. It goes something like this,
that through His death and resurrection and forgiveness of sins, eternal
life are granted to them who trust Jesus as Saviour and Lord. And all of that is true. But if you ask a whole bunch
of those people in that church as how you were saved, I was
saved by my act of believing, and I was saved because I walked
the aisle, I was saved because I prayed the sinner's prayer.
And your state of faith says nothing to contradict that in
any way at all. So the Armenians and the Calvinists
can all join hands together where there is no clarity. You ask those who hear them. That's how you know what is being
proclaimed. False teachers make merchandise
of men's souls. That's interesting, isn't it? This is a great description of
these religious people here. Many shall follow their pernicious
way, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of, and through covetousness they shall with feigned words
might make merchandise of you. Religion is business. It's big
business, isn't it? There could be a covetous for
money and there could be a covetous for glory. It's not necessarily
about money. But that word feigned means plastic. It's a word from which we get
plastic. So they'll mould a Jesus, they'll mould a God that suits
this certain form of teaching. They'll mould a Jesus to suit
themselves. The essence of false teaching
is often discovered by what people do not say as much as what they
do say. It's what they hide from people.
I find it really, really, really annoying when I'm with people
in religion and what they're wanting to do is sort of fudge
the books and you're trying to sort of catch them in a corner
and then all of a sudden they're over here and then all of a sudden
you think you've got something sorted here and they're over
here. Satan, Satan, Satan. Listen to what Paul says. This
is Paul's fear. This is the fear of all of those
who love God and love His people and love His glory. I fear, 2
Corinthians 11 through you know well, I fear lest by any means
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should
be corrupted from the simplicity that's in Christ. Our Gospel
has a singleness about it, isn't it? It's all about Him. Someone
complained years ago, all those people down there do is talk
about the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been given more compliments
by those who hate us than we have by those who pretend to
be our friends. For if any come and preach another
Jesus which we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit
which you have not received, or another gospel which you have
not accepted, you might bear well with them. Isn't that extraordinary? The success of false teachers. There's a fellow that Ben and
I know well and he loved the word nuance. The love of God
is a nuanced love and the death of Christ is a nuanced death. I had someone else tell me some
years ago, in anger, he said, God really does love everyone
and Jesus did really die for all of the sins of all humanity.
But those things are hidden in the secret counsel of God and
not revealed in the scriptures. I've heard so many statements
from people, you think, does that person ever replay what
they've said? They ought to be absolutely horrified
by what was said. Verse 22 of our text, And when
he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck
Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high
priest? So what had he said wrong? What
had he said that was wrong? Our Lord was bound as a convicted
criminal when he was struck. This man received no rebuke for
his crime, and it was a crime for which he was not commanded
to perform. Maybe in time we'll come and
look at all the ways in which the Jewish leaders broke every
single one of the laws that were involved. There they were pretending
to be religious. They couldn't go, as you'll see
later on in the next few weeks, they couldn't go into the judgment
hall because they might defile themselves and they may not be
able to eat the Passover. They had to have the legs of
the people on the crosses broken so that they wouldn't be desecrating
their special days. The religious, here they are,
murdering the Son of God Almighty. Holiness had walked among them. Holiness had walked among them,
and they couldn't see it, and they rose up in anger. The Lord
answered him, If I have spoken evil, be a witness of the evil.
But if well, why smitest thou me? The Lord Jesus Christ had
to be examined and also he had to defend himself to make sure
that we know that the Lamb of God is a perfect sacrifice for
sin. There wasn't a reply to this
question. Our Lord Jesus Christ cannot
lie. And he cannot do evil. He cannot
think evil. He cannot sin. So they asked
him, and I'll just be brief as much as I can in closing, but
they asked him about the disciples and about his doctrine. In John
Chapter 8, we have the Lord's description of a true disciple.
Who is a true disciple? Throughout John's Gospel, And
we may well assume that John was writing after the church
had been through many, many trials, and John may have been an older
man, but we don't know that for sure. But nevertheless, the church
had witnessed so many people who professed to be believers
and professed to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then after a while,
they fall away. They find his teaching, and his
person offensive. They're happy to have the things
that he gives them, but when he declares himself to be God
Almighty they find him offensive. What's a true disciple according
to the Lord Jesus Christ? John 8 verse 30. If you want
to turn there you'll hear the Lord's description of a true
disciple. They asked him about his disciples.
And as he spoke these words many believed on him. Then Jesus said
to those Jews which believed on him, if you continue in my
word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And you shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free. What's the mark of
a true disciple? and they stay to the very end. To continue in my word, continue
in the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. His doctrine is everything
he said, because he said it all openly, he said it all publicly,
and he taught it to people. He spoke with all the authority
of God when he spoke. He says in his commission to
his church, you go into all nations, all power is given, Matthew 28,
you know these verses well. All power is given unto me in
heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. The disciples, the true disciples,
continue to the end. He could have, in the presence
of those people, said, well, there's one of my disciples over
there sitting by the fire. Blaspheming and cursing and denying
my name. He could have, couldn't he? And
he could have told the truth. Don't you love the fact that
the Lord Jesus Christ has so taken away the sins of all of
his people that he will not bring them into a place of any accusation
before their enemies. And yet, he dealt in the most
extraordinary way with Peter, who had fallen, fallen, fallen
so very badly, just like we do all the time. It's for the glory
of God to cover sins, but he doesn't cover them without exacting
perfect justice. Peter, in the very presence of
God Almighty, and the Lord Jesus Christ was not going to expose
it. Isn't it wonderful to have a saviour like that that stands
between you and your enemies, stands between you and your sin? Okay, just in closing I want
us to look at his synagogue teaching and his temple teaching. We've
seen these verses so often, but it's just so good to be reminded
that he spoke in the synagogues openly and we know the response
of the people in the synagogues. And we know that these witnesses
were witnesses to what he said in the synagogue. Luke Chapter
4 is in a synagogue in Nazareth. He taught in their synagogues.
Luke chapter 4 verse 14. He taught in their synagogues,
being glorified of all. Verse 16. And he came to Nazareth
where he'd been brought up, and as his custom was, he went in
to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He was in the synagogue
every Sabbath day. and stood up for to read. And
there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
So when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was
written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed
me to preach. What's his anointing? He came
as a preacher. He came as a preacher. In Mark
chapter two, there are crowds waiting for him outside his house.
And he goes to another, I've come to preach, he's a preacher.
God saves people by the foolishness of preaching. He has sent me,
he has sent me, he's anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor, he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, the recovery of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord, to preach that jubilee year when
everything that you had forfeited because of your own sin and failings
was completely restored to you. It's a glorious, glorious description
of what the Lord Jesus Christ did. Go down to verse 22, and
they all bear him witness. these witnesses, and wondered
at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And then immediately,
instead of continuing in that vein, they look at him and say,
well, he's just an ordinary man. We know his mum and dad. How
can this man be the Christ of God? How can this be God in human
flesh? Then he declares what it is for
God to be God, to be absolute sovereign over all. He says,
this scripture is fulfilled in your ears. Verse 22, they all
bearing witness wondered at the gracious words which proceeded
out of his mouth, and then they said, is not this Joseph's son?
And he said, verse 24, verily I say unto you, no prophet is
accepted in his own country, but I tell you a truth. This
is what it is for God to be God. Many widows were in Israel in
the days of Elias, Elijah, when the heaven was shut for three
years and six months, when a great famine was throughout all the
land, but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta,
a city of Sodom, a Gentile lady, a woman that was a widow. And
many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elias the prophet,
that's Elijah, and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the
Syrian. And all they in the synagogue,
they're in church. And they'd wondered, one minute
they're wondering at gracious words, and the next minute he's
plainly doing what he said he's openly teaching and hiding nothing
from them about the purposes and the character of God. When
they, they all in the synagogue, when they heard these things
were filled with wrath. and rose up and thrust him out
of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon
their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passed him through the
midst of them. You see, his teaching was plain.
Did he know he was going to offend those people who had witnessed
the glory of his holiness and not seen a single thing of it?
Fancy having in your presence God Almighty for all those years. Never a lie. Never a cross word,
never a cross look or a cross thought. Perfect, holy humanity. In a heartbeat they go from being
amazed at gracious words to being full of wrath. But he spoke openly. He knew what they were going
to do. He knew what was in their hearts. He knows what's in our
hearts now, brothers and sisters. Let's come and call upon him. His teaching, was it plain? Was it unmistakable? Was it open
and it wasn't in secret? And he was teaching and they
know. If you want to know what he said, you go and ask those
that heard him. Turn with me to John Chapter
6. You know these places in the scriptures where the Lord Jesus
Christ spoke at length in the synagogues? And we know the Jews' response
to it. The Jews murmured. And in John
Chapter 8, a crowd of people said they believed on him. By
the end of John Chapter 8, when he's declaring himself to be
God Almighty, they pick up stones to stone him. In John Chapter
6, there's a crowd of people, it was thousands possibly, and
there he was teaching them. And they'd seen him, and they'd
seen him for the loaves and the fishes. and he knew what was
in their heart. And they said unto him, verse
28, what shall we do that we might work the works of God?
That's an important question, isn't it? I love his answer,
it's just glorious, isn't it? It's not their work, this is
the work of God that you believe on him whom he has sent. And then he goes on to talk about
himself, and he talks plainly. He talks so plainly and so clearly. Verse 37, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. He spoke openly about election,
eternal election, always openly about it. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven. He speaks
about the will of God. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. Now we have
a declaration openly and plainly of the Father's will. And this
is the Father's will which has sent me. that of all which he
has given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone that seeth the sun and believeth on him
may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. And the Jews murmured at him. Verse 41, they murmured
at him because he said, I'm the bread that came down from heaven.
Listen to what he says about them in verse 44. No man can
come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him and
I will raise him up at the last day. He speaks openly about the
total depravity of man, the total inability. No man can. It is written in the prophets,
they shall all be taught of God. Every man, therefore, that has
heard and that learned of the Father cometh unto me. Not that
any man has seen the Father, save he which is of God. He has
seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. He goes on
to speak about himself. And these people are offended
by it. They say that these are harsh
sayings. This is a hard saying. This is
an inhumane saying, they say in verse 60, when he talks about
who he is and his union with his people and the bread that
came down from heaven. And they murmured. And then he
knew that he was offending them. Verse 61, does this offend you? Is the teaching of the Lord Jesus
Christ offensive? Scandalous is the word. He says,
if you're scandalized by what I'm saying now, you're gonna
be extraordinarily scandalized. What and if you shall see the
Son of Man ascend up to where he was? There's a coming a time
when everything will be exposed. Best to deal with the scandal
now than to deal with it then. From that time, verse 66, many
of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. And
he turned to the twelve and said, will you go as well? He didn't
come to win a popularity contest. He preached openly, he preached
clearly, he preached in the synagogues, and he preached in the temple.
I love his temple teaching, and we haven't time to look at it
in any detail, but I trust you might go through John's Gospel. But his first meeting in the
temple was in chapter two of John's Gospel, and he goes again
at the end of his ministry in Matthew chapter 21. And I love
what he says in the temple. He went in there. The Jews Passover was at hand.
Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Verse 13 of John Chapter 2. And
he found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves.
Who was in charge of all that auction in there? Annas and Caiaphas
and all of their buddies. and the changes of money sitting.
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them
all out of the temple, and the sheep and the oxen, and poured
out the money, the changes money, and over through the tables.
And he said unto them that sold doves, take these things hence. Make not my father's house a
house of merchandise. They're making merchandise for
men's souls in religion. And when he says it's my father's
house, he's saying this is my house. I'm the messenger from
Malachi chapter three that's come to his temple. This is his
temple, this is his place. He has the right to rule and
reign everywhere at all times, and particularly he had the right
to rule and reign over all of what happened in Israel, and
particularly in the temple. And then they said, verse 20,
then said the Jews, 40 and six years was this temple in building,
and will thou rear it again in three days? And that's the charge
that we'll find if you read the other gospel accounts. That's
the charge that they accused him of, and then took that charge
of him being the Christ to Pilate. In their religious court, they
wanted to deal with his religion. When they go to the court of
Pilate, they want to deal with him as a king. By feigned words they make merchandise
of men's souls. Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke openly,
he taught, and he taught nothing in secret. Don't you love the
fact that everything that we need to hear from God has been
openly proclaimed, been faithfully taught, and there are no secrets. Rather, nothing hidden. May the Lord cause us to know
and love He who is the truth, and to know and love all the
truth that is in Him. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we do. Praise you for our great saviour
and substitute, and for all that he did. We pray, Heavenly Father,
that we would enter into something of the depths of his love for
his bride in all that he suffered. Our Father, we pray that you
would be merciful to us, that you would again cause us to cling
to he who is the truth, and in doing so to love all the truths
that make up the truth that is the Declaration of our Lord Jesus
Christ and our Saviour. We praise you Heavenly Father
that He came into this world to save sinners. Sinners like
Peter, sinners like us. We praise you Heavenly Father
that our sins are covered. were washed in his blood, redeemed
from the fall, and made to be heirs and inheritors alongside
your dear and precious son. Make these things precious to
us. Make Him precious to us, Heavenly Father. And if He is
precious to us, everything about Him will be made precious. Cause
us to cling to Him, to walk in Him and with Him and for Him. We pray your mercy upon us. We
pray that you might give us and grant us the grace to eat and
drink worthily, simply resting, trusting, relying, depending
for everything for our soul's well-being in the hands and the
arms of your dear and precious son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We
pray in his precious name, our father,