Do you know who Jesus of Nazareth
is? That man who lived 2,000 years
ago in Israel? Jesus of Nazareth called to Christ,
do you know who He is? That man was God manifest in
the flesh, Scripture said. That man was the creator of this
world. God walked this planet. There
are multitudes of people today who do not believe that. There
are whole denominations that go door to door to try and disprove
that Jesus of Nazareth, that Jesus Christ is God. The Mormons, the so-called Jehovah
Witnesses all deny His deity, that He is God, the very God
of the very God, the Creator of all things. God manifests
in the flesh. But Scripture plainly declares,
clearly tells us, Isaiah 7, Isaiah 9, Immanuel, God that was with
us, called His name the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.
Yes, that man who walked this earth made the earth upon which
He walked. He is God. And God came to this
world, this sinful, Scripture calls it, this present evil world,
this vile place full of creatures that hated God. And he came to this world to
do a work, a work of redemption, a work of salvation, a work of
mercy and grace and, yes, love to some of these unlovely, undeserving,
rebellious creatures. No, God does not love every person. There's no one worth loving.
But God, who's rich in love and mercy, chose some of these fallen
creatures to reveal Himself to. And He came to this earth to
do this work of redemption. Well, in Luke's Gospel, chapter
22, the Lord Jesus Christ has been apprehended by a mob of
religious people. The only reason He was apprehended
is because He allowed it to happen, because God delivered Him up
to be apprehended. God is delivering His Son to
be the substitute for His chosen people. This was God Almighty
standing before men. This clearly reveals what man
really is, and who and what God really is. The story of Christ
being crucified reveals man's great sin and guilt and shame,
and yet reveals God's great glory, Christ's great glory. The title
of this message is, When Man Was Faced With God. God, Emmanuel,
came and men laid hold of Him, not seeking mercy, not seeking
grace, not seeking salvation, but in hatred. In Luke chapter
22, he stood face to face with the religious leaders of that
day. They were the scribes, the Pharisees,
the chief priests, the elders, the rulers of religion. They
were famous men, famous religious leaders like there are many today
on TV and everywhere. And these men hated him. They
plotted his murder. And they finally got their hands
on Him, and they mocked Him, and they spit on Him, spit in
the face of God, and belittled Him, and derided Him, and made
fun of Him. The only reason this happened
is because He allowed it to happen. God sent Him. And the reason,
and here's the The ultimate reason that's hidden behind all of this,
hidden to most, is he was a substitute for his people who deserve such
shame. Rebels they were, dead in sin,
enemies against God, yet Christ became them. He became their
substitute. And he received at the hands
of men, at the hands of God, what God's people deserve. That our Lord said to His disciples
in John 15, He said, I chose you, you did not choose Me. The
reason men hated Him is because of His sovereign claims that
He will do what He will with whom He will. That's the God
of the Bible. That's the Jesus Christ of Scripture.
Not this one that men claim you must let Him do things. No, no. That's a figment of men's imagination. But He told His disciples in
John 15, You have not chosen Me, I chose you. He said, Remember,
they hated Me before they hated you. And He told them what the
world was going to do to them because they did it to Him. And
here's why He said that men hate Him. He said in verse 24, If
I had not done among them the works which none other man did,
they had not had sin. But now have they both seen and
hated both me and my Father." He said, if I had not come and
spoken unto them, they had not had sin. But now they have no
cloak, no covering for their sin. The Lord Jesus Christ exposed
the façade, stripped the façade, the phony covering of religion. Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites,
He said, outwardly you appear to be moral and upright Men of
God, but he said, within you're full of extortion and excess,
money hungry, praise hungry, glory seeking, phonies, fakes. He called them all hypocrites,
playing a part. And men believe it, but God knows
the heart. He looks on the heart. So they
turned their thumbs down on him. They hated him. Religion hated
him. But someone says, but preacher,
not now. Not in this modern world. That was back then. But not now. We live in a civilized society.
No, religion is worse now than it's ever been. They make God
to be a bystander in the affairs of men. He can't do anything
unless creatures let the Creator do something. Jesus, they've
got Him outside in the rain haunting in your heart and knocking on
your door and it just holds. So hopeful you'll let him in.
Love sick. Helpless martyr named Jesus.
Not mad at anyone. Loves everyone. There's no right
or wrong in the world. No rules. No need to fear Him. He's no threat to anybody's sinful
lifestyle. He wants us to be healthy and
happy if we just let Him into our lives. He wants to be a part
of our lives. What mockery! That's not the
God of the Bible. That is not Jesus Christ who
sits on the throne of heaven, reigning and ruling. God is not
mocked, Scripture says. In Revelation 16 it says the
whole world some day is going to cry out in a prayer meeting
to hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, Him
whom we have pierced. When Peter preached at Pentecost,
his preaching struck fear in the people. The truth will do
that. The truth of who God is, who
Jesus Christ is, and what man is before God. It will strike
fear in people if they ever hear it. No, religion does not love
the true God. They love the true Jesus Christ
of Scripture. They hated Him then. They hate
Him now. Here in chapter 23 of Luke, He is standing before two
of these puppet, pinhead rulers, Pilate and and Herod. Pilate and Herod. Now here stands
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords standing before these two
little puppet rulers, these two world leaders, two powerful men. Power. Pilate in one of the Gospels
said, ìDonít you know I have power to crucify you or to set
you free?î And our Lord with eyes as flame of fire looked
in his face and said, You have no power over me at all, except
it be given you from above. And the same is true with every
human being on the planet. These men had no power. They
were puppets in the hands of not only men, but in the hands
of God, doing as God would have them to do. These men, these
rulers, Pilate and Herod, clearly reveal the utter depravity and
corruption of the rulers of all nations. The political system
is corrupt through and through. They are cowards. They are under
the control of popular opinion. They are paid and they are in
men's pockets. That was Pilate and that was
Herod. Back in Daniel chapter 4, Daniel
said, Powerfully, he said, the Most High ruleth among the kingdoms
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over
it the basest of men." We don't elect rulers. God puts
them there according to His will. And He puts bad ones in power
because of man's sin and rebellion against Him. This all happened in Israel under
Roman rulers. Rome back then was the seat,
the center of modern civilization. Mankind at its highest level. Education, science, technology,
politics, arts and crafts, rich and prosperous civilized world. Yet underneath it was vile and
corrupt to the core. And God came and exposed it all
and they hated Him for it. He revealed man's true nature. Man is worse than the beast.
Worse than the beast. The Son of God came. Scripture
says He was holy, harmless, separate from sinners. That is, He came
to do no harm as a man. He came to save His people. But
He is going to do some harm when He comes the next time. He is
going to destroy this mess full of people. That is the Christ
of Scripture. And why He came and what He did
is we should not feel sorry for Him. It should strike fear in
us because He did that. He took the place of His people. And every human being deserves
what He got, what God did to Him, what God allowed men to
do to Him. It's what we deserve. But the
holy, harmless, separate from sinners, generous, kind, pure,
lovely, with dove's eyes, Scripture says, came. And here's man. He hated him. Man hated him.
You know, the Scripture says that the wrath of man shall praise
him. Oh, we need to be thankful that
God is slow to wrath, slow to anger. Oh, be thankful that God reigns
and rules over evil as well as good. If not, you better get
you some guns. You better stockpile you some
guns. If God's not reigning and ruling, you better get you a
gun, because this world is a vile and violent place. Oh, but God's
people are thankful. They know. The Son of God is
giving them an understanding. The Spirit of God through the
preaching of the Gospel, through the Word of God, has given them
an understanding that they might know Him that is true, the living
and true God, who He really is, holy, holy, holy, and the Son
of God, who He is, why He came. It reveals who He is, what He
did, what He endured, He sovereignly and willingly endured what He
did for His people as a substitute. Oh, it brings fear before them. It causes them to bow the knee
and kiss the sun. And do you know what this means
in Psalm 2, verse 11? It says, Serve the Lord with
fear and rejoice with trembling. Serve with fear and rejoice with
trembling. Oh, my, only God's people know
that He reveals the truth to them. Do you know who Jesus Christ
is? This was God who came to this
earth. And scripture says man hates
God, but God. Give some people whom He hath
chosen an understanding of who God is and what we deserve before
Him, and why Jesus Christ came, and they bow the knee to King
Jesus Christ, and wonder how He could love them and do what
He did for them. Oh, may God reveal Himself and
His Son to you. Amen.