Well, it's good to see you this
morning. It is so wonderful to be able
to be together, to meet together in the name of our Lord. Let's pray together. Our Father, call and ask and knock and seek. And we realize that all that
we are, we are by the grace of God. We ask You in the name of
the Lord Jesus. Lord, would You speak to our
hearts. Speak, we pray through Your Word. Teach us concerning. our precious
Savior. Remind us. For Christ's sake,
we ask these things. Amen. Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the Gospel according to John, chapter 2. John, chapter 2. The Lord Jesus Christ had just purged the temple. That's what
we looked at last time. And I know that this is an exhibition. It's a demonstration of His power,
of His deity, of His jealousy. for the glory of His Father.
I know that. I know that in the great day
of God's judgment, there is going to be that very thing, judgment
for all that are not found in the Lord Jesus. But as we looked
last time, in that beautiful passage of Scripture, even in
the purging of the temple, we saw the mercy of God that would
not leave His own to themselves, but would purge them. That's
what David said. Cleanse me. Purge me with hyssop
and I'll be whiter than snow. Unless the Lord drives out that
which is bound in us rebellion against Him. And I do realize
that we are still having in this body the presence of sin. And
we grieve over it. But I tell you, the throne of
rebellion does not rule in a believer. God's people have a new nature
too. a new nature that has been given, and a new nature that is sinless. That's a real debate. I don't
know if you know that, but that's a real debate now. Well, it's
always been a real debate, but it's kind of raised its head
again. But listen to me. There are two natures in a believer. There's one in which a believer
was born. It's the flesh. It's that old
nature. It's born in Adam. And that which
is flesh is flesh. It's never cleaned up. It's never
changed. And there's a new nature, a nature
that is given from heaven. It's the divine nature, Paul
says. And that new nature that Almighty
God gives is the nature of God's mercy,
grace, compassion, and it does not sin. Now, you know how we know that? God told us. that which is born
of God sinneth not, for His seed remaineth in you." Now, we've
got two natures, one that does nothing but sin, and we've got
a new nature that does not sin. And they're contrary one to the
other. And they don't agree. And there's a war going on in
every believer. And they're struggling. And they're
seeing in their And their flesh, as Paul says, I see in me that
is in my flesh. There dwells no good thing. But he said, I see a new me.
He said that that new me, that new I, I serve the law of God. That
is the Word of God. Not that we keep God's law. No,
I say we serve God's Word. We bow to Him by faith. We believe
Him. And we have no confidence in
the flesh. I mean, I'm telling you, we're struggling all the
time. I've got an old man that hates
God and a new man that loves God. Well, I started all that by saying
the Lord purchased the temple. The zeal of thine house has eaten
me up. He's going to do something for
His people that they cannot do for themselves. Well, after He purged the temple,
there was a group of Jews, and I'm going to look at verses 18
to 22, Lord willing, this morning. And there was a group of Jews
that questioned His authority. They questioned Him. And when
they questioned Him and He told them, gave them an answer to
their question, one of the things in the last verse that we'll
look at today, verse 22, it said in the latter part of verse 22,
then His disciples remembered. When therefore he was risen from
the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said unto them, and
they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said."
You know, I went back and looked in this passage of scripture,
in this chapter right here. There's three times, three times
it was said that the disciples believe or remembered. And the
first one was in verse 11 of this chapter. This beginning
of miracles did Jesus in Cana..." That's when He turned the water
into wine. "...in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory,
and His disciples believed on Him." That's the first time they
watched and they believed on Him. And then in verse 17, after
He purged the temple, "...and the disciples remembered that
it was written, The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up." And
then in this 22nd verse, When therefore he was risen from the
dead, his disciples remembered." Listen, it is a marvelous grace. It's the grace of God
that would cause a man or a woman to remember. And I'm not talking
about just a mental ascent. You remember certain things. I'm talking about to believe
and to remember by faith. With all of the disrespect in
this world that Almighty God would give a man or woman a heart
to remember and to muse upon, to think upon, to believe God
and to realize, remember He's here. Remember. salvations by grace. Remember that what we are, we
are by the grace of God. Remember that we have no confidence
in the flesh. Remember, if Almighty God has
shown mercies because He is eternally purposed to show mercy, remember. Lord, give me a heart today to
remember. When he purged the temple, and
then in verse 18 it says, Then answered the Jews and said unto
him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these
things? What authority? What authority do you have to
come into this temple and take that little scourge That rope
and small cords. What sign do you give us seeing that thou
doest these things? Now, you remember when Moses
went into Egypt. The Lord God had sent Moses to
Egypt to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses asked the Lord. Exodus
3.13, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall
say unto them, The God of your fathers has sent me unto you. And they shall say to me, What
is his name? What shall I say unto them? And
God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, Thus shalt
thou say unto the children of Israel, I am has sent me unto
you. This is the sign that I give
you to give them. When they ask you, who sent you? What's his name? You tell them
that I am. So here's these Jews. Moses gave
them a sign. Moses gave the children of Israel
a sign. Now these Jews say, no, wait a minute. Who gave you the authority to
walk in here and just drive out all of these that were? We were
providing a service. Who gave you the authority? We
demand a sign from you, but here is the revelation of the ignorance
of man by nature. That's the ignorance of a blind
heart. You show us something. And here is the open manifestation
of what John the Baptist said in John 1.26, I baptize with
water, but there standeth one among you whom you know not.
Do you realize what it takes? It takes a new
heart. It takes revelation from God.
for Almighty God to reveal to a man or a woman who He is concerning
His glory, His deity, His power, His right. You know, you take a passage
of Scripture and it sets forth the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Does the potter have the right?
Over the same lump to make one vessel into honor and another
vessel under dishonor. Does he have the right to do?
Who gave you that honor? That's what man by nature says.
That's not fair. I was talking to somebody the
other day. We was talking about fair. About God's sovereignty. God has the right. He has the
right to show mercy to one. He has the right to pass another
by. Well, is that fair? Is that fair? I told him, I said, no, no, stop
for just a minute and think about the question you just asked.
Fair. If you want to say fair. How
about this? In Adam all die. Do you realize the mercy of Almighty
God that God would show mercy to any? That Almighty God in
His indescribable mercy would send the Lord Jesus Christ into
this world, God Himself come into this world and take upon Himself flesh and
walk in absolute obedience before God, and that God Himself would
deal with the surety instead of dealing with the rebel. Fair? I need for God to show mercy.
I'm telling you, the Gospel that we preach is the only message
that gives any hope. for anybody. Fair! Is that fair? I think if Almighty
God did not choose some to show mercy to, I'm going to perish. I need mercy. What authority,
what sign do you give us? Verse 19, Jesus answered and
said unto them, destroy this temple and in three days I will
raise it up." Now, here's three things that I'm going to look
at just for a minute here. Three things concerning our Lord's
answer. Three things. Here's the miracle. Number one, God speaks. God speaks. David said, Lord, if You're silent
to me, I'll be as those that go down to the pit. Lord, if
You don't say anything, Lord, if You're silent, if You don't
say something to me, I have no hope. Show us a sign. The miracle of
God's grace is that the Lord spoke. He answered. Show us a sign. Did He answer their request? Yes, He did. They wanted a sign
and He gave them the only sign that He was going to give concerning
His authority. What sign do you give us to show
us that you're doing these things. What right do you have? Now you think about the answer
that he gave. Let me just sum it up and then
we'll just make a couple of comments on it. When he said, destroy
this temple in three days, I will raise it up. I'll tell you the
answer that he gave them. I'm God. That's what right, what sign,
what authority, what is the proof? What's the proof of your deity? Matthew 12, 39 and 40, But He
answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given it. Now
you think about this. This is the only sign. that the
Lord said was going to be given an evil and adulterous generation.
The sign of the prophet Jonas, for as Jonas was three days and
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Verse 21
says, when he told them this temple, destroy this temple,
verse 21 said, you know he's fake. We're going to look at
verse 20. But look, verse 21 says, he's fake of the temple
of his body. But he gave them an answer. My question is this. Of all the false gods, name them
whatever, which ones have died and raised
from the dead and are now seated in the heavenlies? His answer was spiritual. It
was truthful. He spoke in a parable. But all they heard was what the
corporal hears. He spake of his body. Destroy
this temple. And they looked around. Man, there's my second point,
is dull of hearing and he hates God. They're dull of hearing. They don't Here, they said, then
said Jesus, forty and six years was this temple. I'm sorry, then
said the Jews, forty and six years was this temple in building
and we'll bow, rear it up in three days. Forty, what sign,
what authority do you give us? Destroy this temple and in three
days I'll raise it up. And they looked around and they
saw a temple that took 46 years to build. And that's all they
saw. That's all they heard. You remember when the disciples
came, why do you speak to them in parables? And he said, because
it's given unto you to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven. To them, it's not given. Man
is dull of hearing. Man is blind. He's dead. He's unable. He cannot see the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's dull of hearing. I've used
this verse of Scripture so many times. And a believer is going to understand
what I'm saying. My sheep hear my voice. Let me ask you something and
be truthful. Just think. Have you ever woken during the night and you're tired, you're sleepy,
but the Lord has drawn your heart to talk to him. And I know you didn't hear his
voice with a corporeal ear. I know that. I know you didn't.
But have you ever found your heart in that new man? Now, I'm talking now about things
for the dawn of an unbeliever. They don't know anything about
what I'm talking about. Have you ever in that new man, You know. You know. You're talking
to God Almighty. And you know you are. And He speaks to you in your
conscience. He speaks to you in your heart.
His Word comes back to your mind. The Spirit of God brings back
to your memory those things that you've heard. And He gives you
assurances. He comforts your heart. I'll never leave you. You're
hearing Him more surely than you're hearing me right now. My sheep hear my voice. I know that there was instances
in Scriptures where men actually heard a verbal. I've read that. But I'm going to tell you something.
Do you know I've never verbally heard a voice? I've never heard. But I'm telling you, I believe
God. I believe God. And when He said,
My sheep hear My voice. Do you know what? In my heart,
I said, Lord, I've heard Your voice. I hear You. God's sheep hear His voice. They
hear His voice in the preaching of the Gospel. They hear Him.
They hear Him with ears that the world doesn't know anything
about. They hear Him with a new heart. And an unbeliever hears
that and they think, you're just over the top. I don't
know what you're talking about. I understand that. I understand
that. that eats my flesh and drinks
my blood." The Jews said, how can this man give us his flesh
to eat? Someone told me the other day
they were talking about a religion whereby they think that a man
can say a few words over a little piece of bread. And they believe
that that actually turns into the actual body, the actual physical
body of Christ. That's not so. When the Lord
Jesus gave His disciples, He broke the bread and He gave it
to them. Now, He's sitting there in His
physical body and He hands them a piece of bread. And he said,
this is my body. Was that his actual physical
body or was it the symbol, the picture? Was it the type of what
was going to happen to him? He broke it. What he said was,
this is what's going to happen to me. I'm showing you in type.
He's sitting there in his body. And he handed him the bread.
And he said, there's my body. And here is His physical body
right here. What does it mean, He that eats
my flesh and drinks my blood? He who by faith believes what
He did in this life by flesh, made flesh. He who eats, who
ingests that by faith. I believe, Lord, that when You
lived on this earth, You lived for me. and drinks my blood."
What does blood speak of? The death. The shedding of his
blood. He that drinks my blood and says,
Lord, when you died, I died with you. That's what Paul the Apostle
said. I was crucified with Christ.
You might say, now, you know what? There's no way that Paul
the Apostle was actually crucified with Him. The Lord was on that
cross by Himself. A believer says, you know what?
When He died, I died with Him. I died in Him. I was there. I was there. Now you know what? You know how you know that's
so? Because the Spirit of God revealed it through the Apostle
Paul. Paul did not make that up. Men wrote as they were moved
by the Spirit of God. Paul was taught that by God,
and when we die, all of God's elect were there with him, having
to do with him being made sin. I'm not going to try to get into
the depth. I don't understand it all. But
I will tell you this, when he died, I got just exactly what
I deserved in a substitute. He spoke to these guys. He said,
what authority? Destroy this temple. He was telling
them what they would do. That's what Acts 22. Remember
when Peter was talking, Acts 22, verse 22-23. Ye men of Israel,
hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you
by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did by him. in the
midst of you, as ye yourselves also know Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have
taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." Show us
a sign. Destroy this temple. That's what you will do. According
to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, show you
a sign and listen to this. I will raise it up." Who gave
you the authority to do what you do? I'm He. I am He. I am. That's what He
said. What sign? I will raise it up. He said, I have power to lay
down my life. I have power to take it again. What authority do you have? Destroy
this temple three days, I'll raise it up." He spake of the temple of his
body. But in closing, listening to what he said, I want you to
notice in that last verse for today, when therefore he was
risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that He had said this
unto them, and they believed the Scripture and the word which
Jesus had said." It doesn't say they believed Him
when He said it. When therefore He was risen from
the dead, His disciples remembered that He said unto them. After
His resurrection, After He was raised from the
dead, they remembered what He had told them concerning His
resurrection. Matthew, listen to this, Matthew
16, 21. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His
disciples how that He must go into Jerusalem and suffer many
things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed
and be raised on the third day. He told them that's what was
going to happen. But prior to His crucifixion
and resurrection, the Scripture bears out that they were very
dull concerning the understanding of what He had said concerning
His resurrection. I want you to turn in your Bibles
to Mark 16. Mark 16, verse 9 and 13. Mark 16. Look at verse 9. You know what I'll tell you what
this does as I'm finishing up here. It made me remember the mercy and longsuffering of
God to His elect. Now, I want you to remember and
think concerning yourself That's what I want to do. I want to
think concerning myself right now. Remember when the Scripture
says the disciples said, Lord, I believe, help mine unbelief? I do believe. But Lord, thank
You that You don't deal with me on the amount of belief that
I have because I need help. I need help. Listen to these
Scriptures. Mark 16 now. Now when Jesus was
risen early the first day of the week, He appeared first to
Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils. And she
went and told them that had been with Him. They mourned and wept. And when they had heard that
He was alive and had been seen of her," believe
not, After that, He appeared in another
form unto two of them as they walked and went into the country.
And they went and told it unto the residue. Neither believed
they them." The Lord said, told His disciples,
He said, I'm going to be taken by the elders and I'm going to
be crucified. And three days later, I'm going
to be raised from the dead. And you know, you would think
they would have been standing right there at that tomb just
watching. He's coming out. He's coming
out. It should be just any second
right now. It's the third day. And it says
that they did not believe Him. They didn't believe Him. Do you see something of the miracle
of God's grace and the long-suffering and the gentleness and the compassion
of God Almighty toward His own? But after they saw Him for themselves. That's what Thomas said. Unless
I see Him. I heard Him. I know what I heard.
But unless I see Him. I'm not going to believe. Oh, the mercy of God that keeps
His own in the midst of their unbelief. And we believe. We believe. And we struggle right
now. And right now, in our hearts,
we hurt because of the frailty of our flesh. And here we are
believing, believing Him. But oh, how little do we remember. Lord, would You bring back to
my memory what You've taught, what You've taught me through
Your Word. Oh, that I would believe that which I've read, seen, heard. If I would be able I know that
I struggle with myself and my flesh. But if I could just believe God,
I'd get up every day, Carl, with this thought. Today might be
the day. I'm going to watch. I'm going
to be looking. And I want to be listening. I
want to be reading His Word because today might be it. And if I would
be able to believe Him and trust Him, He's coming back. I'm going to be where He is.
I'm going to see Him by sight. I'm not going to see Him anymore
by faith. And I'll be forever with Him.
And I'll join air with Christ, air of God. and a joint heir
with Christ. And I'll behold the indescribable
glory of His grace." And he said, "'Eye hath not seen and ear hath
not heard it, neither hath entered into the heart of man that which
God has prepared for those that love Him.' And today might be
it." And I don't have any more time to do anything else. I'm
just waiting right now. I'm just waiting. But you know what I do? I get
up I start and I try to meet. I try to have a few minutes.
And then after that, I'm just taken up with stuff that's so
temporal. Is it not like that with you?
Oh, the longsuffering of God. The mercy of God Almighty that
would keep His people for Christ's sake. Amen.