Let's go to the Lord before we
begin. Our gracious Father and our God,
how we do thank You all the rich blessings you've
given to us in Christ. We thank you, Lord, that you've
saved your people, called us, and that you keep us. Lord, we ask you now, make us
to see our Redeemer living, working in his people. Make us to be
settled in our hearts, trusting Christ alone. May You bring all the glory and
honor to Yourself in our hearts. Make us true to believe You,
trust You. How we do thank You, Lord, for
forgiveness of sins, for Your continual grace in keeping us
and preserving us. Thank You for all these things
in Christ's name. Amen. Alright, John 16. My message
is really going to be the same point I was making last week,
but I want to go back and look at something here in a little
more detail. John 16.1, the Lord said, These things have I spoken
unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you
out of the synagogues, yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth
you will think that he doeth God's service. And these things
will they do unto you, because they've not known the Father,
nor me, But these things I have told you, that when the time
shall come, you may remember that I told you of them." He
said, the Spirit of God shall glorify me. He'll take the things
of mine and show them to you. He'll bring these words of our
Lord to remembrance. He'll keep faith in our heart,
keep us looking to the Lord Jesus. How shall we not be offended?
That's our subject. How shall we not be offended?
It's by Christ's Word that's kept in the believer's new man
by the Spirit of God. It's by His Word, keeping His
Word, the Spirit keeping His Word in our heart, keeping us
believing Christ and trusting Him. He said, these things have
I spoken unto you that you should not be offended. Offended here
means far more than simply getting our feelings hurt or being crossed
in some way. It's the Greek word from which
we get the word scandal. Scandal is to be tripped up,
to stumble, and to be trapped. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
is an offense to natural man. It's a scandal. It's scandalous
to him, to those not born of the Spirit. Paul said in Galatians
5.11, I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, If I just give
sinners something to do, why do I yet suffer persecution?
Then is the offense of the cross ceased. Same word. Then is the
scandal of the cross ceased. He said the Jews require sign
and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews a stumbling block. Same word. Stumbling block. unto the Greeks foolishness,
but unto them which are called, whether they be Jew or Greek,
Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Our Lord declared
this in Isaiah. He said in Isaiah 14, Christ
shall be for a sanctuary to those born of the Spirit of God and
given faith in Christ. Christ will be a sanctuary. He'll
be your refuge, that holy place you kept in and kept separate
from the world. but for a stone of stumbling
and for a rock of offense, same word, for a rock of offense to
both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. Why is the gospel of Christ offensive? Why is it a scandal to naturally
religious man? Well, first of all, when the
Gospel is preached that salvation began in eternity by God the
Father choosing His Son and choosing a people in His Son freely by
His sovereign grace, choosing whom He would, that's offensive
to men who believe God saw some good in them. It's very offensive. So that strips away, that strips
a little bit there when you preach the true doctrine of election.
When the Gospel goes forth, we preach that sinners are dead
in sins and they must be born again of the Spirit of God, they
must be given faith, they must be made willing by the power
of our Lord Jesus to come to Christ and rest all in Him. That's offensive because men
like to boast in their will and in their decision they made for
Christ. when you declare that the Lord
Jesus Christ himself is the righteousness of God, that he is the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. The whole
purpose of the whole law of God given was to bring his people
to Christ, the end, to bring us to him, to rest in him. and
believe unto righteousness. And you declare that the righteousness
of Christ is imputed only through God giving us faith to rest all
in Him. You declare this, it's offensive
because men want to say they made themselves righteous by
their works. And then when we declare through
the gospel that Christ is our sanctification, that God the
Father sanctified his people in Christ by divine election,
that by one offering the Lord Jesus Christ perfected forever
them that are sanctified. Paul said in Hebrews, by the
witch will, by his will we are sanctified. When you declare
that Christ is the holiness of the new man, when the new birth
When the Spirit of God births us anew and Christ is formed
in you, that new man is meat for heaven and meat for the inheritance
of the saints in light because Christ is our holiness. We don't
get more holy than Christ has made us by his presence in our
new man. We grow in grace and knowledge
of him, but Christ is that holiness. And this offends men that want
to boast in their self-sanctifying works and how they make themselves
holy. The gospel is an offense to natural
man. The Jews sought righteousness
by the law, but they didn't attain it. And here's why. Paul said,
because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the
works of the law, because they stumbled at the stumbling stone. That's Christ the offense, the
stumbling stone, the stumbling stone. Now, the second thing,
that's the first thing. Men are offended when we preach
Christ. Salvation is all Christ alone. Now here's the second thing to
remember. The trials and the persecutions that come because
of the gospel are sent by our sovereign savior on purpose.
They're sent by Him on purpose. If you read John 16, 2 down to
verse 4, you see how certain this is. Christ is not speaking
in maybes here. He said, they shall put you out
of the synagogue. The time cometh, it will come,
that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God's service.
These things will they do unto you. because they've not known
the Father nor me. These things have I told you
that when the time shall come, there's no maybes here, it shall.
You may remember that I told you of them and the Spirit's
going to keep us remembering. It's not just that we're just
going to remember these things. The Spirit is going to speak
affectionately into our hearts and keep the gospel alive in
our heart. All these things Christ has been
speaking that night is all about what He would do in sending the
Spirit and keeping His people in Him. But the trial and the
persecution that comes is ruled by our sovereign God on purpose. Here's the purpose. First Corinthians
1119, it says, there must be, there must be also heresies among
you. That word heresies means choices. There must be choices, sex, sex,
that they which are approved may be made manifest among you."
When God gives faith, God assays His child like they assay gold
to prove it's the genuine thing. And one of the ways they assay
gold is by fire. And that's what our Lord is speaking
about here, this fiery trial that's going to come through
the religious world persecuting his people. Now, Peter said,
the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold
that perishes, though it's tried by fire. that it might be found
unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ,
that God might praise and honor and glory in that which he's
worked in his people, his workmanship, the faith he's given. The Lord
declared the fiery trial will come. It shall come. We haven't
experienced much of this in our lifetime. I do believe the scriptures
when it shows us that it will get worse and worse. But God
sends the fiery trial to manifest those approved of God. Now, those who have no root in
themselves, those that are not born of the Spirit of God and
kept by God, they will be offended when they're pressured by men,
when they're pressured to mix law and grace, pressured to deny
Christ being the only righteousness of his people. The Lord used
this word offended when he was describing the different types
of ground, when he gave the parable of the different types of folks
who will hear the word. He said of those that receive
the word in the stony places, their stony heart has not been
broken yet. and they spring up a little while,
he said, but he has not rooted himself, endures for a while,
because when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by
and by, he's offended. It becomes too scandalous to
trust Christ only. Brother Ian read to us from Matthew
24, Thursday night, Our Lord said, Matthew 24, 9,
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill
you, and you shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake.
And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another,
and shall hate one another. These are folks who profess to
believe Christ. And many false prophets shall
rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto
the end, the same shall be saved. Now the Pharisees didn't have
Christ the root formed in them. They didn't have the Spirit of
God in them, so Christ was a scandal to them. He came and he saved
publicans and harlots who they cast out. He dined with them. He had fellowship with them who
they would have nothing to do with. And on one occasion, the
Lord Jesus was with his disciples, and they had not washed their
hands before they ate. And the Pharisees began to accuse
them of defiling themselves because they didn't wash their hands
before they ate. And our Lord Jesus declared, it's not what
goes into a man's mouth that defiles him. It's what he already
is in his heart. In his heart, he's born sinful. He's born depraved in his heart.
And it's, so therefore, every word that comes out of the mouth
is sin. Every word he does is reprobate,
rejected by God, because it's nothing but sin. And when he
told this, then came his disciples and said unto him, knowest thou
that the Pharisees were offended? That was a scandal to them. They
were offended after they heard this saying, but he answered
and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted
shall be rooted up. Let them alone. They be blind
leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both
shall fall into the ditch. And the Pharisees' disciples
were offended as well. And here's why. Go back to John
5. This is a very important word. Here's why. This persecution's
pressure. It's pressure from men. It's
peer pressure. And here's why they're offended.
John 5, 42. But I know you. He said this to the Pharisee,
that you have not the love of God in you. I am come in my father's
name and ye receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him you will receive. How can you believe which receive
honor one of another? and seek not the honor that cometh
from God only." This is the sum and substance of natural religion,
to be seen of men, to get honor that comes from men. And they
covet that honor from men. And if it's somebody they want
the honor from, somebody they admire, somebody they love, especially
if it's somebody very dear to them, they're going to succumb
to the peer pressure, but by the Spirit of God. but by the
Spirit of God. Among the chief rulers, many
believed on him, but because of the Pharisees, they did not
confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue,
because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of
God. When they pressure Believers
who start out believing Christ, believing the gospel, trusting
that He's all our salvation, when they pressure men to mix
law and grace, to bring works back in, when the leaven of the
Pharisees begin to puff everybody up and they begin to use the
law and condemn and all those things, unless a man's born of
the Spirit of God, he will succumb to that. He won't stand with
Christ and say, nope, we're saved by grace alone, through faith
alone, by Christ alone, through the gospel alone. Later they
said, it's okay to believe on Christ, but now except you be
circumcised and keep the law of Moses, you can't be saved. Paul said, as many as desire
to make a fair show in the flesh, They constrain you to be circumcised
only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ. You're going to suffer persecution
if you preach Christ. And he said that's the only reason
they won't do it. They won't suffer that. So those not born
of the Spirit will succumb to peer pressure. They'll turn back
from Christ to mix in their works. Now is God frustrated by that?
Not at all. Not at all. Listen to 1 Peter
2.6. It is contained in the scripture
that God said this through Isaiah, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious, chosen of God, precious to God,
and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. He'll
never be confounded, for trust in Christ. And unto you, therefore,
who believe, he is precious. Christ is all our salvation. He is all our salvation. We look
in nowhere but to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. But unto them which
be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed. There's
the disobedient. They rejected Christ. The Sames
made the head of the corner a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. There's the word. This was on
purpose. even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed." They were appointed. Now go back
to Psalm 69 and we'll see why Christ appointed them to this.
It's because they rejected Him. Look here at Psalm 69 and verse
20. He said, Reproach has broken
my heart, and I'm full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity,
but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me
also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar
to drink. let their table become a snare
before them, and that which should have been for their welfare,
let it become a trap. The scriptures, all the scriptures
are just a trap to them. They go to these scriptures thinking
they have life by what they do, holiness by what they do, righteousness
by what they do, and they're just trapped and can't get out
of it. But here, look, let their eyes
be darkened that they see not, and make their loins continually
to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon
them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their
habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents. Why?
because they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they talk
to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Christ being all
our righteousness, Christ being the author and finisher of faith,
him being our salvation by his obedience alone, freely by God's
grace, through faith, through the preaching of the gospel alone,
this one means this is a scandal to natural man. It's a scandal. Men really don't believe Christ
is alive and working in his people in the midst of his church, so
they have to put their hand to it. They don't believe him. These Jews rejected Christ for
their will, for their means, and for their works, and so God
made all their religious works a snare from which they could
not escape. That's what happens when God
sends the trial, the test. That's what will happen for all
who are not born of the Spirit of God. Now, but Christ declares
that those born of the Spirit of God shall pass the test. They'll pass the test. It takes
the Spirit circumcising us in our hearts to make us desire
the honor and praise that comes from God only and cease seeking
honor from men. Seek wilting under the pressures
of vainly legal men. Look at Romans 2, verse 28. He says, this is what Christ
is saying, I'm going to send the Spirit to you. and He's going
to keep you. He's going to keep you remembering
the words of life will be in you. And this is what happens
in the new birth, Romans 2.28. He's not a Jew which is one outwardly,
neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh,
but He is a Jew which is one inwardly. Circumcision is that
of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise
is not of men, but of God. What does it mean that it's in
the spirit, not in the letter? We worship God in the spirit. The new man is created. We worship
God from the heart. We rejoice in Christ Jesus. He's
our salvation. And we have no confidence in
the flesh. We don't know one another after
the flesh anymore. That's all religion does. Religion
just knows men after the flesh. Touch not, taste not, handle
not. We know men now, by the Spirit of God, as being saved
by one Spirit, by one faith, with one hope, with one Lord
and Savior, and one God and Father of all, who's keeping us. And
we trust him. It's not he that commendeth himself
that's approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. You see there
the praises of God. He commends His people. This
is an amazing, this is amazing grace. God does it all. He does
it all for us. He does it all in us. He keeps
us trusting Christ only. He does it all. He gives you
the new birth. He makes you to be born again.
He brings you to behold Christ has worked out all righteousness.
And now, and you're living by the faith of Christ in you, keeping
you trusting Him. He does it all. And then He praises
and approves and commends those who do the will of God the Father.
You know what the will of God the Father is? When that multitude
came to our Lord Jesus, they cried to Him and said, What shall
we do that we might work the works of God? All these works
they were looking to. Whatever these works are, we'll
do them. And the Lord said, This is the work. It's just one. singular, that you believe on Him who hath
sent. This is what Paul was saying
when he said to the Corinthians, they had all the troubles going
on and they were biting and devouring one another and accusing and
excusing and turning back to the letter of the word and all
of that. He said, I'm fearful. As Satan beguiled Eve in the
garden, so you shall be beguiled from the simplicity, the singleness
that's in Christ. Trust in Christ only. Heresy's
choices must enter to test his people. But the Spirit takes
away all our choices. He already took away all our
choices. When he makes you know that of God are you in Christ
Jesus. Who of God is made unto us wisdom. and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption, so that we cease glorying in our flesh and we
glory only in the Lord. And when you're turned to the
right or to the left, our Lord said in Isaiah, you will. You
will turn to the right or to the left. But when you do, the
Spirit will speak into your heart and say, this is the way, walk
ye in it. Christ gives you the mind of Christ. When you're turned
out of the way, He brings you into your right mind to bring
these things to your remembrance, to know this is the way, Christ
is the way. Turn from your way, turn from
your works, turn from your sin, turn from whatever else it is,
whatever idol it is, and trust Christ, and He's going to keep
His people doing so. That multitude heard Christ say
that except they believe on Him alone, they didn't have life.
And they said, this is a hard saying, who can hear it? They
were offended by it. It was offensive to them. And
when the leaders walked away with this multitude, their disciples
who looked up to them, who considered them so wise, they succumbed
to the pressure and they left too. But the Lord turned to his
apostles and he said, will you go away also? Here's the difference
the Spirit of God makes in the hearts of his people. He said,
will you go away also? And Simon Peter said, Lord, to
whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe, and we're sure. You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God. And Christ said, Have not I chosen
you? flesh and blood didn't reveal
this to you my father which is in heaven revealed this to you
that's what our Lord he said these things I've spoken to you
that you shall not be offended in John 15 he said the same thing
to his apostles again he said you didn't choose me I've chosen
you and I've predestinated you that you should go forth and
bring forth fruit and your fruit should remain And that's how
we're going to be kept, because of the Lord our God. He said,
and these things I've spoken to you that you should not be
offended. The Spirit's going to keep you looking to Christ.
He's going to keep His people stayed on Christ. We may waver,
we may get all turned around and tangled up into confusion,
but the Lord's going to settle you back at Christ's feet and
keep you looking to Christ only. He said, He'll glorify me, He'll
receive of mine, He'll show it to you. And by the Spirit keeping
Christ's words in our heart, we will endure persecution. We
will. You may not think right now that...
I mean, you look at Hebrews 11. There was people sewn asunder.
There was people who were martyred for believing Christ, and they
wouldn't deny the Lord. How did they do that? Scripture
says, by faith. They did it by the Spirit of
God keeping them believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. They say
of John Hus whenever he was martyred, They lit a fire, and because
the fire wasn't burning enough, the priest said, whoever brings
wood for this fire and builds this fire greater, your sins
will be absolved. That's what Christ said. They're
really going to think they're doing service by sacrificing
you to God. How are we going to be kept from
that? Our Lord sent Paul, and he preached the gospel to Lydia
and to others at that river in Philippi. And the Lord called
him. He gave him faith to believe
him and trust him. And shortly after that happened, the Lord
had Paul and Silas arrested. Beaten and thrown in prison he
did it because he had an elect child and many in his family
that that In that jailer and his family and God was going
to call them out through Paul's preaching so that Persecution
was for that purpose to put them in that prison to be able to
preach the gospel to that jailer who was in that prison but now
you think about if you were Lydia and those other brethren who
the Lord had just given faith and and you see your preacher
who just preached the gospel to you arrested and beaten and
thrown in prison for preaching Christ who you just openly confessed
to believe, how are you going to be kept? How are you going
to not wilt under that kind of pressure? Well, Paul and Silas
went out of the prison, and they entered into the house of Lydia,
and Paul and Silas saw the brethren, and they comforted them. He said
in another place, they strengthened him. They came to him and declared
to him, we must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom
of heaven. Christ is ruling. He did this. He's called out
his people through it. Paul said in Philippians 1, this
is falling out for the furtherance of the gospel. It always does. It always does. And later when
he wrote to him, he said this. He said, I am confident of this
very thing. He's writing to Lydia and all
the brethren at Philippi. He said, I'm confident of this
very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He said, be of one mind,
one spirit, one faith, working together for the faith of the
gospel. And he said, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries.
And to them that'll be an evident token of perdition, but to you
of salvation, and that of God. He said, to you it's given in
the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to
suffer for his sake. And he gives it to you, just
like he gives you the faith to believe him, he gives you the
strength to bear whatever it is he's pleased to sin, to suffer
for his sake. It's a must be, Paul said, because
he's going to manifest those he has approved, those that he
really dwells in. They're going to have the same
conflict we saw in Paul and here of Paul, the same kinds of conflict. but he said he's going to keep
his people, trust in him. Perseverance in faith, especially
in the face of persecution, especially when it's your nearest and dearest
loved one, is due only to the sanctifying work of the Spirit
of God keeping you separated unto Christ and believe in him.
It's only by Him. Child of God, you that have been
born of God have the Word of God in you. You have the love
of Christ in you by the Spirit of our Lord. And so you're going
to, by His grace, you're going to seek the honor that comes
from God only. that He gives only to those who trust His Son
and rest in His Son. That means you trust Him for
your salvation for eternity, you trust Him for your salvation
today, when the persecution comes you trust Him for salvation,
you trust your brethren to Him, you trust Him, and you use the
one means whereby He called you and made this word official in
your heart, and that is the good news of the Gospel of Christ.
And that's what he's going to keep his people doing. Because
we believe, we really do believe, he's our prophet. All these things
Christ told them would come to pass, it all came to pass. Everything
he's told us would come to pass, has come to pass. That's the
sign of a true prophet, the scripture said. He is that prophet. We
believe him to be our high priest. We have interest into the holiest
of holies by one, the just one, the holy one. That's Christ our
Lord. Having a high priest over the
house of God, being washed by his blood, we can enter into
the holiest of holies. And we believe he is our king. Everything that's coming to pass
in this earth, good, bad, and otherwise, he's bringing it to
pass. He's doing it to prove them that
are his. Christ declares this in our text. That's what He's saying. Now,
by the Spirit, He's going to keep you rooted and grounded.
Ephesians 3.16. If you want to look there, this
is what He said to them. Listen to this. Ephesians 3.16. He prayed that He would grant
you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened
with might by His Spirit in the inner man. That's the only way.
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that you being
rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all
saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and
to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you might
be filled with all the fullness of God. And unto him that is
able, he's able, to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages world without end. One more
place. Go to Colossians 2. Colossians
2. Look here in verse 6. This is where
he's going to keep you knowing, this is where he's going to keep
working in the hearts of his people. Colossians 2.6, As you have therefore
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him, rooted and
built up in him and established in the faith as you've been taught,
abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, that's the touch not, taste not, handle
not, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, which is
the head of all principality and power." Complete in Him. That's what He's going to keep
you knowing. That's what He's going to keep you knowing. The
Spirit's going to keep His people united, believing Christ alone,
by one Spirit, with one hope, and one faith, believing one
Lord and God, and God the Father of us all. And as Paul said,
who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Shall distress? Shall persecution? Shall famine? Shall nakedness
or peril or sword? As it's written, for thy sake
we're killed all the day long, we're counted as sheep for the
slaughter. In other words, we're going to suffer all those things. How are you going to continue?
How are you going to continue? He said, no, we're not sheep
counted for the slaughter. In all these things, we're more
than conquerors through Christ that loved us. He said, I'm persuaded. You persuaded of this? Death, life, angels, principalities,
powers, things, presence, things to come, height, depth, nor any
other creature shall be able to separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus the Lord. No possibility. No possibility. That's the assurance
you have in Christ, by Christ, giving you the Spirit of God
and keeping you because of what He's accomplished. And this is
how we shall not be offended. That's the only way, by the Spirit
of our Lord. And I'll tell you this, he said,
Peter said, when the chief shepherd shall appear, you shall receive
a crown of glory that fadeth not away. And this is amazing. Paul said, then shall every believer
have praise of God. He's going to say, well done.
But Lord, you did it all. He's going to say, well done,
well done. Isn't that a gracious God? Isn't
that a gracious God? Let's go to him. Father, thank
you for this wear. Thank you for these promises.
Thank you for working this work for us and in us. Lord, we ask
you to, by your mercy, keep us, keep us looking at Christ, keep
us knowing indeed you're working this. Father, don't let us succumb
to the pressure of persecution. Make us stand with Christ. Make
us believe Him. Make us use the gospel of Christ
to edify one another, restore one another, and help one another
keep looking to Him. Lord, we thank you as you continue
to do this in our hearts through your gospel. We pray you keep
your gospel going forth in the hearts of your people. I pray
you bring all the glory and honor to you. We do praise you. We
glorify you. Thank you, Lord, for keeping
us in spite of our unbelief and keeping us looking to him. In
Christ's name we ask it. Amen.