I'm going to be speaking to you
today from Mark chapter 11, and in this chapter two questions
are asked. The Pharisees asked the Lord
a question and the Lord asked the Pharisees a question. And
the title of this message is, What is the answer? What is the
answer? I want us to find out this morning
what is the answer to both questions. Verse 27 here in Mark chapter
11 it says, and they, that's our Lord and the disciples, they
come again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the
temple, there come to him the chief priest and the scribes
and the elders, and saying to him, By what authority doest
thou these things? And who gave thee this authority
to do these things?" Now, what things are they talking about?
They're asking him, who gave you the authority to do what
you did? WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? IF YOU LOOK BACK IN VERSE
15 IT SAYS THEY COME TO JERUSALEM AND JESUS WENT INTO THE TEMPLE
AND BEGAN TO CAST OUT THEM THAT SOLD AND BOUGHT IN THE TEMPLE. YOU REMEMBER THAT STORY I'M SURE.
OUR LORD CAME INTO THE TEMPLE WITH A WHIP AND HE DROVE OUT
ALL OF THAT ALL OF THAT FOOLISHNESS THAT WAS GOING ON, ALL THE MONEY
CHANGERS, THAT HE OVERTHREW THE TABLES OF THE MONEY CHANGERS,
THAT'S WHAT IT SAYS HERE IN VERSE 15, AND THE SEATS OF THEM THAT
SOLD DOVES, AND WOULD NOT SUFFER THAT ANY MAN SHOULD CARRY ANY
VESSEL THROUGH THE TEMPLE. AND HE TAUGHT, SAYING UNTO THEM,
IS IT NOT WRITTEN, MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED OF ALL NATIONS THE
HOUSE OF PRAYER? BUT YOU HAVE MADE IT A DEN OF
THIEVES." I BELIEVE THAT COULD BE SAID IN MANY PLACES TODAY.
THE HOUSE OF GOD IS SUPPOSED TO BE A HOUSE OF TRUE WORSHIP
AND PRAYER, BUT THEY'VE BEEN TURNED INTO DENS OF THIEVES. AND THE SCRIBES AND THE CHIEF
PRIEST HEARD IT AND SOUGHT HOW THEY MIGHT DESTROY HIM. THEY
HATED HIM FOR THIS. AND THEY FEARED HIM BECAUSE ALL
THE PEOPLE WAS ASTONISHED AT HIS DOCTRINE. HE CAME INTO JERUSALEM
AND HE WENT INTO THE TEMPLE AND HE TORE THAT PLACE APART. HE
PURGED IT. HE PURGED THE TEMPLE AND HE TOOK
ALL OF THAT WICKEDNESS AND DROVE IT OUT. AND AFTER THAT VERSE
19 SAYS, WHEN EVEN WAS COME HE WENT OUT OF THE CITY. NOW THE
FOLLOWING DAY OR WHENEVER IT WAS, VERSE 27 SAYS, AND THEY
COME AGAIN TO JERUSALEM. AND AS HE WAS WALKING INTO THE
TEMPLE, HE WENT BACK INTO THE TEMPLE. HE WAS JUST THERE AND
HE PURGED IT AND NOW HE HAS COME BACK INTO THE TEMPLE. AND THERE
COME TO HIM THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE SCRIBES AND THE ELDERS,
AND SAYING TO HIM, BY WHAT AUTHORITY DOEST THOU THESE THINGS, AND
WHO GAVE THEE THIS AUTHORITY TO DO THESE THINGS? WHO GAVE
YOU THE RIGHT TO DO WHAT YOU DID? WHO GAVE YOU, JESUS OF NAZARETH,
THE RIGHT TO CAST OUT OUR MONEY CHANGERS AND THEM THAT SOLD DUBS? Who are you? What they're asking
our Lord is, who do you think you are? Who do you think you
are? What gives you the right to say
how we worship? What gives you the right to stop
us from worshiping like we feel like worshiping? We're doing
what we want to do. Who are you to come in and condemn
us? That's what they're saying. Who
gave you this authority? Verse 29, And Jesus answered
and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and
answer me. And I will tell you by what authority
I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from
heaven or of men? Answer me." Don't you love the
authority of God? Don't you love how in control
the controller is? He's controlling this whole thing. He said, I'm going to ask you
a question. They came to him and you think
of the audacity, think of the arrogance, coming to God Almighty
in the flesh, God manifest in the flesh and saying, who do
you think you are? Who gave you the authority to
do this? And he responded to them by saying, well, I'm going
to ask you a question. And you're going to answer me. If you want
me to answer you, you're going to answer me first. And here
was his question. Verse 30, the baptism of John,
was it from heaven or of men? The confession of John, the message
of John, the message that men and women heard from John. THE MESSAGE THAT JOHN PREACHED
AND THE MESSAGE THAT THOSE PEOPLE BELIEVED AND CONFESSED. DID GOD SAY THAT? WAS THAT OF
GOD OR DID A MAN JUST MAKE THAT UP? DID JOHN OF HIS OWN ACCORD
JUST MAKE THAT UP? DID GOD PUT THAT MESSAGE IN HIM
OR WAS THAT OF MAN? AND OUR LORD SAID ANSWER ME.
Meaning, this is the issue, and this is the issue. Verse 31,
and they reasoned with themselves, and that's what men do. They
reason with themselves. That's what religion does. Religion
reasons. Religion tries to take the Word
of God and just reason it. Religion will not accept it as
God has written it. BELIEVE IT AS GOD HAS SAID IT. RELIGION TRIES TO, AND MAN BY
NATURE, THIS FLESH TRIES TO REASON IT AWAY. WELL, SURELY HE DIDN'T
MEAN WHAT HE SAID. LET'S REASON THIS OUT. BY NATURE,
THIS FLESH WILL NOT BOW, AND WE MUST BOW. We must bow, we
must submit to God's Word and not reason with it. There is no reasoning with it.
When God speaks, His people hear. They do and they obey and they
bow. God told Abraham, here's a prime
example. God told Abraham, I want you
to get out of your country. and from thy kindred, and from
thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee." He didn't
tell him what that land was. And Abraham did not respond to
the Lord by saying, well, Lord, you know, it really doesn't make
sense for me to pack everything up and go if I don't even know
where I'm going. He didn't say that. He went,
not knowing whether he went. He got his stuff and went. Abraham departed. AND THEN GOD
SAID, ABRAHAM, I WANT YOU TO TAKE YOUR SON, I FINALLY GAVE
YOU THIS PROMISED SON, AND I WANT YOU TO TAKE THY SON, THINE ONLY
SON ISAAC, UP TO THE TOP OF MOUNT MORIAH AND OFFER HIM THERE FOR
A SACRIFICE. And Abraham didn't say, Lord,
again, I don't think this makes any sense. You promised that
I would have a seed as the stars of the heaven and the sand of
the seashore, innumerable, and it would come through Isaac.
And if I kill him, I don't see how that's gonna happen. Abraham
didn't say that. He got fire, he got wood, he
got a knife, and he took his son to the top of Mount Moriah.
He obeyed God. He did not reason. And that is
what you and I must not do. We must not reason, try to reason
with God. We must bow. We must bow. Our Lord said in John 10, my
sheep hear my voice and they follow me. They follow me. He told the religious Pharisees,
he said, but you don't, you don't follow me. You don't hear my
voice and you don't follow me because you are not of my sheep. That's what he told them in John
10. He said, you don't because you're not of my sheep. You're
not chosen sheep of the Lord. And our Lord right here is speaking
to self-righteous, proud religionists. And He said, the ministry of
John the Baptist, here's His question, the message, the methods,
the confession before God, He said, was it the truth or a lie?
What John said. After John preached what the
people confessed, WAS THAT THE TRUTH OR A LIE? WHAT JOHN HAD
TO SAY ABOUT GOD WAS THAT THE TRUTH OR A LIE? WHAT JOHN HAD
TO SAY ABOUT MAN WAS THAT THE TRUTH OR A LIE? WHAT JOHN SAID
GOD WAS GOING TO DO TO MAN, SINFUL MAN, WAS THAT THE TRUTH OR A
LIE? HE SAID, ANSWER ME. VERSE 31,
AND THEY REASONED WITH THEMSELVES, SAYING, IF WE SHALL SAY FROM
HEAVEN He will say, Why then did you not believe Him? But
if we say, Of men, they feared the people, for all men counted
John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto
Jesus, We cannot tell. That was their answer. Well,
we can't tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I
tell you by what authority. I do these things." Now, our
Lord would not tell them by what authority He's done these things,
but our Lord has told us. Our Lord tells His people exactly
what authority He does these things by. And our question this
morning is, what's the answer? What is the answer to both questions? BY WHAT AUTHORITY DOES JESUS
CHRIST DO ALL OF THESE THINGS IN THIS CONFESSION OF JOHN THE
BAPTIST? WAS IT OF GOD OR OF MAN? IS IT THE TRUTH OR IS IT
A LIE? WELL, LOOK WITH ME IF YOU WOULD
AT MATTHEW CHAPTER 3. LET'S SEE WHAT JOHN ACTUALLY
SAID. WE'LL START RIGHT HERE. MATTHEW CHAPTER 3, VERSE 1 IT
SAYS, IN THOSE DAYS, JOHN THE BAPTIST CAME PREACHING IN THE
WILDERNESS OF JUDEA, AND SAYING, REPENT YE, FOR THE KINGDOM OF
HEAVEN IS AT HAND. THAT'S WHAT JOHN SAID, REPENT. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? THE WORD
REPENT. We need a changed mind. That's what John came preaching.
All of these Pharisees had this one message they were all pretty
much sharing. It was basically the same message.
John came in with the truth and shocked everybody. And he told
them, you hear what all these other men are saying? We need
a changed mind. They're not telling the truth.
We must have a changed mind. Verse 5 says, Then went out to
him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about
Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their
sins. After they heard the message
of John, they knew we are sinners, we are sinners, we are good as
we were told we were by all these other men they said oh you're
just you're doing great you're doing good and God loves you
the way you are they heard the message of truth from John the
Baptist and they all started crying we're sinners oh we've
sinned against God God help me God be merciful to me that's
what David cried and And they said they were baptized in Jordan
confessing their sins. Over in Luke 7, this is the same
account. Luke chapter 7, it says in verse
29, all the people that heard him and the publicans justified
God. After they heard what John said,
they justified God being baptized with the baptism of John. They
all justified God. That's what David did. Psalm
51, he said, I'm a sinner and I acknowledge it. I confess it. I deserve whatever you do with
me. You'll be clear and justified in your judgment against me.
I'm begging for mercy. I'm begging for the blood of
a substitute. I believe Christ. That's what
they said. That's what David said. That's
what we say. IF WE'VE HEARD THIS MESSAGE OF TRUTH. I BELIEVE WHAT
CHRIST HAS TO SAY. I BELIEVE THAT HE CAME TO GIVE
HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY. I BELIEVE FIRST I'M A SINNER
AND I NEED A SUBSTITUTE. I NEED HIS BLOOD AND I BELIEVE
HE CAME TO GIVE IT TO MANY. I BELIEVE HE CAME TO SEEK AND
TO SAVE SINNERS LIKE ME. I BELIEVE MY ONLY HOPE BEFORE
GOD. IS IN THE REDEEMING BLOOD OF
THE LAMB. THAT'S MY ONLY HOPE. I STAND
THERE BEFORE GOD AND GOD LOOKS ON ME. I BELIEVE THE ONLY HOPE
I HAVE IS IF I'M ABSOLUTELY COVERED HEAD TO TOE IN THE PRECIOUS SINLESS
BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST. I ACKNOWLEDGE EVERYTHING GOD
HAS SAID TO BE TRUE AND RIGHT EVEN IF IT CONDEMNS ME. Truth,
Lord, it's true and it's right. It says here in Luke 7 verse
29, "...all the people that heard Him and the publicans justified
God being baptized with the baptism of John." Verse 30 says, "...but
the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves
BEING NOT BAPTIZED OF HIM. THEY DID NOT BELIEVE JOHN'S MESSAGE. JOHN STOOD THERE AND TOLD THEM
THE TRUTH RIGHT FROM GOD'S WORD AND THEY WOULDN'T BELIEVE IT.
THEY DID NOT BELIEVE JOHN'S CONFESSION AND THEY REJECTED WHAT JOHN HAD
TO SAY AND WHEN THEY DID THAT THEY REJECTED WHAT GOD HAD TO
SAY. HE WAS JUST REPEATING GOD'S WORD. THAT'S ALL HE WAS DOING.
So here in Matthew 3 now, verse 5 says, "...they went out to
him in Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about
Jordan, and they were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing
their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation
of vipers." That's bold, isn't it? All the preachers came out,
all these publicans and sinners, they were crying, God be merciful
to us and baptize, they were baptized in the confession of
that. And these Pharisees and Sadducees and all these religious
leaders came out and John said, oh generation of vipers, who
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth
therefore fruits meet for repentance. What are those fruits? It's a
broken heart begging for mercy. It's a changed mind. I'm not
the holy man I thought I was. I'm a sinner. And he said, think
not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father.
For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise
up children unto Abraham. He said, that won't carry any
weight for you. AND NOW ALSO THE AXE IS LAID UNTO THE ROOT
OF THE TREES. THEREFORE EVERY TREE WHICH BRINGETH
NOT FORTH GOOD FRUIT IS HEWN DOWN AND CAST INTO THE FIRE. HE SAID, I INDEED BAPTIZE YOU
WITH WATER UNTO REPENTANCE." THIS CHANGED MINDS. BUT HE THAT COMETH AFTER ME IS
MIGHTIER THAN I, WHOSE SHOES I AM NOT WORTHY TO BEAR. HE SHALL
BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOLY GHOST AND WITH FIRE, WHOSE FAN IS IN
HIS HAND, AND HE WILL THROUGHLY PURGE HIS FLOOR AND GATHER HIS
WHEAT INTO THE GARNER, BUT HE WILL BURN UP THE CHAFF WITH UNQUENCHABLE
FIRE." John said, I am preaching this new mind of the truth. But he said, salvation is not
of me. Salvation is in the one I'm preaching. Everything is
in his hand. And he's going to gather the
weed into his barn and he's going to burn up everything else. And he warned them. He said,
the warning has gone out. Flee the wrath to come. Now,
let me ask you this. Is that a true message or was
that just made up? You don't hear Many men at all,
any more, declare God has a particular people. All are sinners. All are sinners. All have come
short of the glory of God. But God chose some. All deserved death. But God in
kindness chose some to redeem to Himself through the giving
of His own blood, the giving of His own life. And God is going
to judge those who are not found in Christ. They're going to be
burned up. Is that the truth? Are all men and women absolute
sinners who are going to be burned up because they deserve it? And
God chose, is that the truth or is that a lie? 2 Thessalonians rather, 2 Thessalonians
verse 1 it says, "...seeing it is a righteous thing with God
to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you. And to
you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall
be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified
in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because
our testimony among you was believed in that day." That's what John
preached, isn't it? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe not and thou shalt be
damned. That's John's message and that is indeed the message
of truth. John chapter 1 verse 6 says,
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. There's
the answer. This message of John, was that
of God? It says, There was a man sent from God whose name was
John. Verse 7 says, "...the same came
for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all men through
Him might believe." Did you know that the ability to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ is the gift from God to a sinner? WE CAN'T EVEN, THE COMMANDMENT
IS BELIEVE AND YOU'LL BE SAVED. BUT WE CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE UNLESS
GOD IN KINDNESS AND MERCY GIVES THE ABILITY TO BELIEVE. GOD STARTS
THE WHOLE WORK AND GOD FINISHES THE WHOLE WORK AND THAT WAS JOHN'S
MESSAGE. JOHN DID NOT SAY NOW GOD IS TAKING
THE FIRST STEP IF YOU'LL TAKE THE SECOND. And John didn't say,
if you'll take the first step, God will take the second. John
said, God started this whole thing and God will finish it.
God came all the way to you and God will take you all the way
to glory. Verse 8, he said, I'm not that
light. I'm sent to bear witness of that
light. Verse 9, that was the true light which lighteth every
man that cometh into the world. He was in the world and the world
was made by him and the world knew him not. HE CAME UNTO HIS
OWN, AND HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM NOT. THAT'S THE SIN, JOHN'S SAYING
WE NEED TO REPENT OF. HE CAME TO HIS OWN, AND HIS OWN
WOULD NOT RECEIVE HIM. VERSE 12 HE SAID, BUT AS MANY
AS RECEIVED HIM, TO THEM GAVE HE POWER TO BECOME THE SONS OF
GOD, EVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME. HOW DOES A PERSON
BELIEVE ON HIS NAME? VERSE 13, WHICH WERE BORN NOT
OF BLOOD. It's not in a family tree just
because my parents believe, that doesn't mean I'm going to believe.
He said it's not of blood, it's nor of the will of the flesh.
I can't just decide to believe God. I can't decide to save myself. I think I'm ready to be saved.
I can't do that. He said it's not of the will
of man. Another man or woman can't will for me to be saved.
They can't pray me into heaven. The end of verse 13 says, it's
of God. It is completely and totally
of God. John said, it's Him. It's Him
alone. In verse 29 it says, the next
day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and he said, behold the Lamb
of God which taketh away the sins of the world. He pointed
to Jesus Christ and he said, it's Him alone. It's Him alone. It's not Him and you. It's not
Him and me. It's Him alone. Is that message true or is that
a lie? Is that of heaven or is that
of men? Did God say that? He most certainly
did. It is Him alone. It all hinges
on Jesus Christ. Now, the message of mercy, this
message of grace and mercy. IS THIS TRULY, THIS PROMISE THAT
GOD GIVES IN THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, IS THIS TRULY FROM GOD TO SINNERS? AND HOW WILL I KNOW IF I HAVE
RECEIVED IT? LOOK WITH ME AT GALATIANS CHAPTER
1, IT SAYS IN GALATIANS 1 VERSE 1, PAUL AN APOSTLE, NOT OF MEN,
NEITHER BY MEN, BUT BY JESUS CHRIST AND GOD THE FATHER WHO
RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD." None of this is of man. This is totally
of God. And He said in verse 2, ALL THE
BRETHREN WHICH ARE WITH ME AND TO THE CHURCHES OF GALATIA, GRACE
BE TO YOU AND PEACE FROM GOD THE FATHER AND FROM THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST. HE SAID IN VERSE 4, WHO GAVE
HIMSELF FOR OUR SINS THAT HE MIGHT DELIVER US FROM THIS PRESENT
EVIL WORLD. NOW, HOW? HOW DID HE DO THAT? BY WHAT AUTHORITY DID HE DO THAT?
THE END OF VERSE 4 SAYS ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD AND OUR FATHER. THEY ASK HIM, BY WHAT AUTHORITY
DO YOU DO THESE THINGS? HERE'S THE ANSWER. HE DID IT
ON THE AUTHORITY OF GOD ALMIGHTY. THE AUTHORITY OF GOD HIS FATHER. HE IS GOD ALMIGHTY. AND HE COMES TO HIS CHILD IN
HIS OWN TIME. THE APOSTLE PAUL RIGHT HERE WAS
SAYING, I WAS IN RELIGION. VERSE 15 HE SAID, BUT WHEN IT
PLEASED WHO SEPARATED ME FROM MY MOTHER'S WOMB AND CALLED ME
BY HIS GRACE." He said, I didn't separate myself. I didn't call
myself. He separated me. He called me
and He revealed His Son in me that I might preach Him among
the heathen. And that's what John the Baptist did. That's
what our Lord did. AND BY HIS GRACE AND HIS MESSAGE
THAT'S WHAT WE WILL DO. THAT'S WHAT ALL OF HIS MESSENGERS
OF THE WORD WILL DO. EVERYTHING THAT CHRIST DID, EVERYTHING
THAT CHRIST ACCOMPLISHED, IT'S ALL ON THE AUTHORITY OF GOD AND
ALL THE GLORY GOES TO GOD. EVERY OUNCE OF IT IS ON THE AUTHORITY
AND THE GLORY OF GOD. Over in John 10, our Lord said,
and this is how we'll close this message. In John chapter 10,
our Lord said, "...many resorted unto John, and said, John did
no miracle, but all things that John spake of this man were true."
And here's the question I want to ask, can we say the same thing? Everything John said, can we
agree it was the truth? It was the truth. If we can,
it means God has chosen to show mercy to us. I pray that's our
confession. Till next week, may the Lord
bless His word to our hearts.