Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the gospel according to John 11. Going through this blessed book
and taking these scriptures Verse by verse. You know that after the Lord
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, immediately it raised up, it
exposed, it made evident the animosity that the religious
leaders had toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't it amazing how
it's the religious folks that get so mad? The counsel of the chief priests
and the Pharisees plotted against the Lord. It was because Outwardly speaking, it was because
of their fear, they said, of the Romans. If we leave this
man alone, the Romans are going to come. And they're going to
take away our place. They're going to take away our
land. They're going to take away everything.
But you know why. They hated the Lord Jesus Christ. It's because he exposed them
for what they are. This is what the gospel of God's
grace does. There's only two messages, you
know this, there's only two messages that's preached in this world. Salvation is either totally,
completely, finally, eternally by the grace of God, whereby
Almighty God saves a sinner and then tells him about it. Or it
is the message whereby men set forth that God wants to save
people, but He can't. unless they let him. Now, one
of these messages is not so. Let's see what God has to say. John 11, 47, 48, the Scriptures
said, while they were plotting together, then gathered the chief
priests and Pharisees of counsel and said, What do we? For this
man doeth many miracles. That should have rang a bell,
shouldn't it? This man is making blind men
see and lame men walk. He's giving sight. He's giving hearing. He raised
a man from the dead. This man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all
men, will believe on him, Romans shall come and take away both
our place and our nation." Truly, the fear of man bringeth a snare. But Proverbs 29.25 says, "...whoso
putteth his trust in the Lord shall be saved." Well, having
heard the plotting of the group, Verse 49 to 52 of John 11, one
of them named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year,
said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it
is expedient for us. It's advantageous is what that
word means. It's to our advantage that one
man should die for the people. and that the whole nation perish
not. And this spake he not of himself,
but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should
die for that nation, and not for that nation only, but that
also he should gather together in one the children of God that
were scattered abroad. Now, truly, the words that this
man spoke, they absolutely were from a heart of wickedness. This man was saying just exactly
what he wanted to say. It's to our advantage. Now you
people, what he said was, you people don't know anything. They
were all perplexed. They were saying, what are we
going to do? This man is doing all kinds of miracles, and if
we leave him alone, then the Romans are going to come here
and take away our place. And he said, you people don't
know anything. It's expedient. It would be to
our advantage to let this man die, and we're going to have
to take care of this. It would be to our advantage
to let him die, that the whole nation would not perish. He meant that. He meant it. He meant we need to kill him. This man is trouble. He is trouble. Let's kill him. But the Spirit
of God moved that man to say just exactly. That's what he
said. That's what Scripture says. This
spake he not, verse 51, of himself, of being the high priest. He
prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation. The Spirit of God moved on that
man and gave that man a desire, being the high priest that year.
That he should set forth the glorious substitutionary work
of the Lord Jesus Christ and did it through a wicked man's
mouth. 2 Peter 1.20 says this, knowing
this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. You know what that means? Men
have never come up. with what God's Word has to say. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of who? God. All Scripture comes forth,
penned of men, absolutely. Holy men of God were moved upon
to write what they wrote. This man was right when he said,
you know nothing at all. He was right about that. They
were blind, ignorant men, blind to the glory of God, blind and
ignorant to the only hope for salvation. And truly, it was
expedient, it was advantageous for the true Israel, the chosen
nation of God, God's elect, the heavenly Jerusalem, that one
man should die for the people that the whole nation perish
not. Oh, how true it is. The wrath
of man is going to praise Him. Men stand up in rebellion against
Almighty God, and they say just exactly what they want to say.
And the Lord is going to take the rebellion of men, and He's
going to work it for good. of God's people. Almighty God
is going to move and direct and charge men with rebellion for
what they do. And all the while, they're going
to praise Him. They're going to bless Him. Caiaphas
emphatically stated, this man should die for the people. And
of course, the whole council set forth. set out to do that
very thing. Look at verse 53. Then from that
day forth, they took counsel together for to put him to death. And here they were, doing exactly what they wanted
to do. And all the while, they were
accomplishing the purpose of God. Now, what was the purpose
of God? Almighty God has sent the Lord
Jesus Christ, His servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, God, God Almighty,
who took upon Himself the form of sinful flesh. The form. He knew no sin. And He came into
this world to seek and to save that which was lost. The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to redeem His people from their sins. What people? Those that the Father had given
Him in electing grace. The sheep. John 10.15 says that. He came into this world and men
hated Him. There was a nature born in man
that hates God. They hate Him. The Lord Jesus
Christ told His disciples, He said, they hated Me before they
hated you. You don't have to teach a dog
to hate a cat. There's just a nature about Him
that just hates a cat. You don't have to teach a sinner
born in Adam to hate God. There's a nature in every man
that hates God. The carnal heart, the man born
in Adam is enmity against God. Now the thing we know is this,
we're not making this up. We are repeating what the Lord
has said. Look at Acts 2, 22 and 23. Here is Peter speaking to the people
on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2, 22. You men of Israel,
hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know, Him
being delivered." Now, we do know that the Lord Jesus Christ
was delivered into the hands of men. Was He not? We know that. He was delivered into the hands
of men. Who delivered Him? into the hands
of men. The scripture says, him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Now who delivered him into the
hands of the wicked men? God did. What was the means by which Almighty
God accomplished His purpose in the substitutionary death
of the Lord Jesus Christ? The wicked hands of men. Almighty God moves upon all men
in the accomplishment of His purpose. And men that stand in
rebellion against Almighty God are not without blame. God Almighty does as He will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and no man stops Him, stays His hand. These men, these wicked
religious bigots, had one thing on their mind. We're going to
kill Him. Because He's going to mess us up. We're going to
kill Him. And they were accomplishing the
purpose of God, and they were accomplishing the purpose of
God while they themselves were guilty. The Lord had a people
found within the nation of Israel that He was going to die for. But He has a chosen people also
scattered throughout all of the world. Look at verse 52. Caiaphas,
when he was prophesying under the inspiration of God's Spirit,
while he himself knew nothing of God's grace. The Scripture
says in verse 52, and not for that nation only, but that also
he should gather together in one the children of God that
were scattered abroad. God Almighty has an elect. and elect people, and they are
scattered all over this world, and He is absolutely going to
save them. Look at Romans 11. Romans 11,
26. Romans 11, 26 and 27. And so all Israel, You shall be saved. Does that mean everyone that's
ever been found in the nation of Israel? No. How do you know
that? Well, I know this for some. There
were some that the Lord Jesus Christ told them in John 10. He said, you're not my sheep.
The reason you don't believe, you're not my sheep. Not all
of Israel. All of spiritual Israel shall
be saved. As it is written, they shall
come out of Zion, the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
for Jacob, for this is my covenant unto them. I shall take away
their sins. Chosen people. Out of every nation
and kindred and tribe and tongue, that's what Revelation 4.9 says.
So it was expedient for the people of God that the Lord Jesus Christ
die, that His people would not. 1 John 2.2 says this, and He
is the propitiation, the Restorer. One that restores. The Restorer. of friendship. He is the propitiation
for our sins and not for our sins only, but also for the sins
of the whole world. Everybody's sins. Turn to John 17. Scripture says the whole world.
What did the Lord Jesus Christ mean? John 17, verse 6 to verse
9. John 17, 6. Now here is the Lord
Jesus Christ, and He is praying unto His Father, this high priestly
prayer, and He says, I have manifested Thy name unto the men which Thou
gavest Me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me, and they have kept thy word." Now let me say this before
I read anything else. Let me tell you who he was specifically
referring to right there, and then I'll tell you also what
he means concerning not only those, but those that we'll hear
later. He was talking specifically about
his apostles. that were his elect, specifically. There were 11 of them. Judas
was not one of his sheep, never was one of his sheep. He was
a son of perdition. Let me show you that. I have
manifested thy name unto the men, thou gavest me out of the
world. Thine they were, thou gavest them me. They have kept
thy word, they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast
given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the
words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and
have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have
believed that thou didst send me." I pray for them. I pray not for
the world. But for them which Thou hast
given Me, for they are Thine." Now let me ask you this. If the
Lord Jesus Christ loves every man, every woman without exception,
don't you think He'd pray for them? Now here were some that
He was saying, I'm not praying for them. I am not praying for
them. I'm praying for those that You
gave Me out of the world, I am not praying for the world. I pray, look at verse 9, I pray
for them, and I pray not for the world, but for them which
Thou hast given Me, for they are Thine. Look at verse 20 and
21. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word,
that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe
that thou hast sent me." He must die as the substitute to put
away the guilt of his elect. that the law might be satisfied,
that its demands for justice might be met, for God to be just,
and for God to justify a sinner. Christ must die in the place
of His people. I lay down my life, He said,
for the sheep, and every one of God's sheep are going to be
saved. John 6.37, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Proverbs 19.21 says there are
many devices in man's heart, nevertheless the counsel of God,
that shall stand. You rest assured. Men may stand
in rebellion against the Lord of glory and against God's sovereign
right to do what He will, to save whomsoever He will, but
all the rebellion against the Lord is going to prove to His
honor and His glory and to the demise of all that stand against
Him. Everything is going to praise
the Lord. Everything. is going to be to his honor and
his glory. When evil men do what they want
to do, they do it to their own death. They do what they want
to do against him when Joseph and his brothers sold him into
slavery. You know that story. Years later,
the Lord sent a famine and made his brothers have to go down
before Joseph. Joseph was second in command. in Egypt. And they had to go and talk to
Joseph. He knew who they were. And he loved them. He was tender
to them. And they told him the story.
They said, we've got a dad back there. We're just kind of in
a world of hurt. And Joseph sent everybody else
out. Nobody in there but Joseph and
his brothers. And he wept because he loved
them. And this is what he told them
concerning what they had done to him. Genesis 50, 20, As for
you, you thought evil against me. But God meant it unto good. That evil. The evil that they
did, they did it because they wanted to do it. But God meant it unto good to
bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Here's the Lord Jesus Christ.
All of these folks, they do just exactly what they want to do.
They hated Him because He exposed them. One man stood up who was
the high priest that year and prophesied It is to our advantage
that this one man die. That's true. That's true. That
the whole nation perish not. The Spirit of God moved upon
John to write this in verse 52, not for that nation only, but
that also he should gather together in one the children of God. They
were always the children of God. They've always been God's children.
If they're God's children, now they've always been God's children. They never became God's children
in time. They were made manifest in time.
But they've always been His children. They took counsel together to
put Him to death. And the Lord Jesus Christ knew
it. How did He know it? He's God. How many times did
Scriptures record, He knew their thoughts. And the Lord, knowing
their hearts, said unto them, why think ye evil? They were
doing just exactly what they wanted to do. And let me tell
you, in verse 54, here is a word, and it's the first word in verse
54. Oh, it's second, actually. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the
Jews, but went thence unto a country near to the wilderness, into
a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. They were doing just exactly
what they wanted to do, accomplishing the purpose of God. They plotted
against Him. And the Lord, therefore, won't
know more among them. The Spirit of God recorded those
words, therefore, because of their rebellion, won't know more
openly. If the Lord withdraws himself,
there is no hope. If Almighty God leaves a man
to himself, leaves him in unbelief, there is no hope. Verse 55-57, And the Jews' Passover
was nigh at hand, and many went out of the country up. to Jerusalem before the Passover
to purify themselves. Then sought they for Jesus and
spake among themselves as they stood in the temple. What think
ye? That he will not come to the
feast? Now both the chief priest and the Pharisees had given a
commandment that if any man knew where he were, he should show
it that they might take him. Here is the carnal but religious
man playing his game. They came to outwardly purify
themselves to be seen of men. That's what the Lord said. He
said don't be like the scribes and the Pharisees. He said they
like to stand on a corner and they like to be seen of men.
A few days these people that were,
in just a little bit, they were going to be crying, Hosanna.
Hosanna. Look at verse 12. That's what's
getting ready to start the event after the Lord has His supper
with Lazarus, Martha, Mary. The people, in just a little
while, they're going to start crying, Hosanna. Blessed be the
name of the Lord. Blessed be He that comes in God's
name. They thought that he was going
to be their physical deliverer. He was going to get them out
from under the yoke of Rome. He didn't realize his mission. Soon they'd be crying, crucify
him too. But for these Jews right here
that plotted against him, the Lord withdrew himself. Then they
started watching. You think he's going to show
up? You think he's going to be here? For a while, is going to
be somewhat of a holding back by the Spirit of God, a restraining
by the Spirit of God. But in that day, when Almighty
God is pleased to allow the Lord Jesus Christ to be glorified
in the moment of His crucifixion, all of God's people shall be
redeemed. And all of these that stand in
rebellion against Him will not be held guiltless. They watched. It's expedient that just one
man die, that the whole nation perish not. The Lord calls us
afresh today to see by faith the advantage, the expediency,
of the Lord Jesus Christ putting away the guilt of his people.