Mark 11, our brother just read
these verses and two questions are asked in this text. Two questions. The Pharisees
asked the Lord a question. And the Lord asked the Pharisees
a question. The title of this message is,
What is the answer? That's what I want us to find
out this morning. What is the answer? What is the
answer? Look at verse 27, Mark 11, verse
27. And they, that's the Lord and
his 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 say unto 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 came and asked him, who
gave you the authority to do these things? What things are
they talking about? Look back at verse 15. And they
come to Jerusalem and Jesus went into the temple and began to
cast out them that sold and bought in the temple. He started ruining
their business. And he overthrew the tables of
the money changers 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 ye have made it a den of
thieves and the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how
they might destroy him for they feared him because all the people
was astonished at his doctrine. He came to Jerusalem and he went
into the temple and he tore that place apart. He absolutely tore
that place apart. He purged it. He took all of
that wickedness and drove it out. He drove it all out. Man, aren't you so glad God would
come and do that? And then verse 19 says, when
the even was come, he went out of the city. He came into Jerusalem
and he purged his temple and then that evening 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
in the temple, he went back into the temple. He was just there
and he comes back and he goes back into the temple. 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? Who gave you the right? That's what they said. They all
got together and they said, we're gonna go talk to him. And they
walked up to him and they said, who gave you the right to cast
out our money changers? Who gave you the right to cast
out them that sold doves? We're worshiping the way we feel
like worshiping. And who are you to condemn us? Verse 29 says, 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 man? Answer me." Don't you love the
authority of our Lord? Don't you love that? He does
not beg and plead men to do anything, never once. Did the Lord God
of heaven ever beg man to do anything? He never has. He never
will. He said, you answer me. The controller
controls every situation. Every single situation. He said, I'm going to ask you
a question and you answer me first and then I'll answer you.
Verse 30, he said, The baptism of John, was it from heaven or
of man? Answer me. The baptism of John,
the confession, if the Lord is willing, tonight we're going
to have an immersion, right? We have
water in this. Is that holy water? That's Kingsport tap water. Is this salvation? We're going
to come back tonight and witness a salvation. No, we're not. We're
going to witness a confession. Of a salvation that was finished
on the cross of Calvary. Right? And he asked the confession
of John. Nowhere did our Lord say baptism
is salvation. The confession of John. The message
of John. The message that men and women
heard from him and believed and confessed. Did God say that or
did man make it up? Did God put that message in John? What John said? What everything John said, did
God put that message in him or did man make that up? He said,
you answer me. Verse 31 says, and they reasoned
with themselves. That right there is what man
does. That's what man does. That's
what religion does. They all want to get together
and reason with themselves. We're going to really do something
here. We're going to accomplish something great. All of our minds
are going to get together and reason with ourselves. By nature, meaning the makeup
of a human being, the mind, the heart, the will, the natural
will, the natural man, by nature, men and women don't bow. They reason. That's what they
do. They don't submit to God's word. God has a word. And naturally,
men and women don't submit to it, they reason. But when God speaks to his people.
When God speaks to his people, God chose a people. And God gave
those people to Christ. And Christ redeemed those people. And in time, God sends his spirit
to those people and God calls those people. He opens up the
word for the first time. They always knew religion. Everybody
knows God. The remote village that has never
seen modern man knows where they worship. They're sacrificing
to something. But all of a sudden, God reveals
his word. The word starts to open up. And
when God's people hear him through his word, they bow. They bow. They hear it. They obey it. God told Abraham. And this is
what he said, and you think about this. God told Abraham. Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's
house unto a land that I will show thee." Isn't that what he
said? Abraham did not say, well now Lord, it really doesn't make
sense for me to go anywhere until I know where I'm going. He went. He went. God said go. And he
went out not knowing whether he went. Could you imagine packing
all your stuff up? Where are you going? I don't know. God
said, go. And then after that, God said,
Abraham, I want you to take your son, your only son, Isaac, up
to the top of a mountain, and I want you to sacrifice him there
to me. And Abraham didn't say, I just
don't see why you want me to do this. You promised Him to me. And you
waited all this time to give Him to me. And you told me I
would have a seed that no man can number. And you told me it's
going to come through Him. I just cannot see how this is
going to happen. If I kill Him, I don't see how
this is going to happen. Abraham got wood, he got fire,
he got a knife, and he took his son to the top of a mountain,
didn't he? He did not reason, he bowed. How could Abraham do that? God
did it. He said, my people will be willing
in the day of my power. My will will be their will. They'll be willing. Our Lord
said, My sheep hear my voice and they follow me. They follow
me. But he told the religious Pharisees,
he said, You don't because you're not my sheep. You're not my sheep. And our Lord right here is talking
to some self-righteous, proud religionists. And he asked them
the ministry of John the Baptist, the message, the methods, the
confession before God. Was it the truth or was it a
lie? What John had to say about man,
was that the truth or was that a lie? What John had to say about
God, was that the truth or was that a lie? He said, you 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 shall say of men, they
feared the people, for all men counted John, that he was a prophet
indeed. And in just a minute we're going
to read a verse of scripture. where the Apostle Paul said, if I'm
the servants of men, I can't be the servants of Christ. But
this said, they feared the people. If we say of men, they feared
the people. All men counted John, that he
was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto
Jesus, we cannot tell. That's our answer. We cannot
tell. And Jesus answering said unto
them, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things."
If you're not going to answer me, I'm not going to answer you.
Now, here's our question. What is the answer? Has God told
us the answer? Has he revealed the answer to
us? What is the answer to the Pharisees'
question and to the Lord's question, both of them? By what authority
does he do these things? By what authority? And this message
that John was sent with, this message that prepares the way
of the Lord, is that truly of God? Is that truly of God? Is that the truth? Or is that
just the imagination of man? Let's see what John actually
preached. All right. Let's see what he persuaded men
to believe. Go with me to Matthew chapter
three. Matthew chapter 3 verse 1 says, in those days came John the Baptist
preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, repent ye for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What does that mean, repent?
What does that mean? It means we need a changed mind. And I'm going to tell myself
and then I'm going to tell all of us. We need a changed mind. That's what man needs. That's
what the world needs. We need a changed mind. John
cried to the world. John cried to the world. And
all of the religion, all of the Jewish religion questioned him,
doubted him, hated him. But he cried to the world, we
need a changed mind. Let me tell you who God is. We
need a changed mind. Verse five 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. Confessing their sins. John cried,
confess your sins. Don't do it to me. Don't do it
to any other man, confess him to God. We've sinned against
God. If we say that we have no sin,
we make God a liar. Isn't that right? He said, all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And John cried,
we must bow to that. We must bow. That's the first
thing we confess. Now hold your place right here
in Matthew 3 and go with me to Luke 7. We're going to come right
back. Luke 7. Luke 7 verse 29. And all the people that heard
him and the publicans justified God, being baptized with the
baptism of John. They all justified God. Every single one of them. They
justified God in their confession. That's what David did in Psalm
51, isn't it? He justified God. He said, I'm
a sinner. I'm a sinner. I acknowledge it. I acknowledge it to you. I deserve whatever you do with
me. Can we say that I deserve whatever
you do with me? I'm just being honest. I'm not
worthy of anything. The only thing that makes me
worthy is Christ. And I'm a sinner and I acknowledge
whatever you do with me, you're clear in it. You're right in
it. You're justified in your judgment
against me. But he said, I'm begging for
mercy. I'm begging you for mercy. I'm
begging for the blood of a substitute. And I believe Christ. I believe
him. I believe that he came to seek
and save sinners like me. I believe that. I believe that my only hope before
God is in the redemption of Jesus Christ. I believe that. I acknowledge
everything that God has said to be true and right. Can we
say that? Or do we say, well, you know,
what hope do you have? Well, my hope is that I made
the decision to be baptized. September the 25th, 2016, I decided
to be baptized. That's not my hope. I had a bad experience. I had
a, I almost died one time. It scared me so badly. I decided
to give my heart to Jesus and turn over a new leaf. That's
not my hope. My hope's in the blood of Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ shed his blood. And that's all my hope. Verse 29 says, and 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. They did not believe John's confession. And when they rejected what John
had to say, they rejected God. The reason is because John declared
God's word. He declared his word. Now go
with me back to Matthew 3. Verse 5 says, Then went out to
him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about,
and 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, who hath warned you
to flee from the wrath to come? Now who came out to him? All those preachers. All those
religious leaders. And he said, O generation of
vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Bring forth therefore fruits, meat for repentance. Have a changed
mind. He told all those preachers,
have a changed message. You need to change your message.
Verse 9, And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham
to our father. For I say unto you that God is
able to raise up stones of these stones to raise up children to
Abraham. He said, don't say we're natural Israelites and God saves
all natural Israelites plus the elect. He said, don't say that. Verse 10 and now also the ax
is laid unto the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree
which bringeth forth, not forth good fruit, is hewn down and
cast into the fire. He said, I indeed baptize you
with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier
than I, whose shoes I'm 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." Now here's the question being asked. Is that true or
not? Is that true or not? Is that of God? That's what John
said, right? Is that of God or not? Is God
going to do that? Is He really going to do that?
I don't hear anybody preaching that too much anymore. Do you? So is it still true? Is it still
true? Is God really going to do that?
Is He really going to burn up the chaff? All those who have
not bowed to Christ. All those who don't believe on
Christ. And we're not put in Christ.
Is he really going to burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire?
Look with me over at 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 6, 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. He said, you rest because
God put faith in you to believe on Christ. And he said, when
he comes, he's coming in flaming fire. That's what John preached,
isn't it? Sounds like John got his message from God. That is
indeed what's going to happen. That's what will happen. Now,
let me show you what else John said. Go with me to John chapter
one. John chapter 1 verse 6. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. There's our answer. John's message, John's baptism,
John's confession. Was that of God? There was a
man sent from God whose name was John. Boy, old John was a, was Ralph
Barnard. And he, he, uh, all those preachers
came in their good robes, you know, and they had all their,
their collars turned around backwards and all that kind of stuff. And
they walked up to him saying, hello, brother, how are you today?
He said, generation of vipers, be warned. Boy, he shocked some
people, didn't he? He did not have the message they
thought he was going to have. They all went to, you know, they
communed with themselves, they reasoned with themselves saying,
nobody else is preaching like he is. There was a man Scent of God,
scent from God, whose name was John. Verse seven says the same
came for a witness to bear witness of the light. That's Christ. Now you see this message of fear,
this message of terror. is called the truth. Wouldn't
you love to know the truth? Then somebody tell you it's going
to be fine. You're going to cross over that river and it's going
to be fine. And then all of a sudden you
cross over and you realize I was lied to. This reality of eternity, this
reality of meeting this holy God is called the truth, but. If there was no hope attached
to it, God would have never sent John. Men would just go meet
him and he'd deal with them. But God in mercy sent a man with
a message. And verse 7 says, The same came
for a witness to bear witness of Jesus Christ the light, that
all men through him might believe. John was not that light, but
was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light,
which lighted 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. Who is Jesus Christ? Jehovah God. Genesis 1.1 says,
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Who
is God? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Verse 10 says, He was in the
world, 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 said, we
must repent of this. Verse 11, he came to his own
and his own received him not, 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, which were born, not of blood. Salvation is not in a family
tree. nor of the will of the flesh.
No man or woman can get me saved. Nor of the will of man. I cannot
decide to save myself. This is what John was crying.
The end of verse 13 says, but of God. But of God, salvation
is of God. John pointed men to the way of
salvation. And it's of God, it's of God,
verse 14, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, we beheld
his glory, the glory is of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. John bear witness of him. It's the whole reason John came.
He bear witness of him and cried saying, this was he of whom I
spake. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me, for he was before me. Verse 23, he said, I'm the
voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the
Lord. That's the whole reason I'm here. He said that's the
only message I have. It's the only message I have. John said it's Him. It's Him. It's only Him. He's the only
way. Look at verse 29. The next day
John seeth Jesus coming unto him and said, Behold the Lamb
of God which taketh away the sin of the world. He's the only
way. He's the only way. John said,
men and brethren, we're going to meet this holy God. We have
sin on us. We must acknowledge it. It's
there. It's there. But he's the only
one who can remove it. He's the only one who can deal
with the sin of his people. And over in chapter 3 verse 36,
this is what he said, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
He said it all hinges on Jesus Christ. All of it. Now is what John confessed of
God Is everything he said of God.
Did God, we're going to go into eternity. Did God make the promise. Of salvation in the blood of
Jesus Christ. Did God say, did God really say,
is this true? Did he really say, when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you? Did he really say that? Is the message of mercy, this
message of mercy and grace, is that truly of God? Is this true
or not? And we're going to find the answer
and I'm going to close with this. As though we haven't already
found the answer, we found the answer, haven't we? We know the
answer. But we're going to see it again in Galatians 1. Go with
me over to Galatians 1. Galatians 1 verse 1, Paul, an
apostle, not of man, Is this of men? Not of men, neither
by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him
from the dead. And all the brethren which are
with me unto the churches of Galatia, grace be to you and
peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace
and peace. Who gave Himself for our sins,
that He might deliver us from this present evil world. Who gave Christ the authority
to do that? Where did He get the authority
to do that? By what authority? Verse 4 says,
according to the will of God and our Father. Everything Christ
did. Everything he accomplished was
on the authority of God Almighty. Every bit of it. He said, this
is the Father's will. This is the Father's will. Of
all that he has given me, I should lose nothing. Raise it up again
at the last day. He said it was all on the authority
of God. Verse 5, to whom be glory forever
and ever. Amen. I marvel that you're so
soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel, which is not another. But there be some
that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though
we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you, then
that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As
we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any
other gospel unto you, then that you have received, let him be
accursed. For do I now persuade men or
God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servants of Christ."
They all said, we can't tell. He said, you tell me, is this
of God or is this of man? They said they feared the people.
who are afraid of the people. So we're going to say we can't
tell. Verse 11, But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel
which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received
it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my conversation
in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it. and profited in the Jews'
religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more
exceeding zealous of the traditions of my fathers, but when it pleased
God." That's when it happened. That's
when it happened. I love thinking about that for
my own sinful self. There I was going, running down
my path, running down my way. But when it pleased God, when
God in the goodness and kindness of His heart, when God in, why
did God save me? Well, I was a good person. No,
I wasn't. You know, all I'm doing is reading this Word. Am I making
this up? This wickedness of man, is that
of God or is that of man? Am I making this up? This word is so honest about
sinful man. And that is me. And that was
me. But God in love and in mercy,
all I can say is why me? He reached way down. He laid
a hold of me. Verse 15 says, when it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb. I didn't separate
myself, He separated me. Verse 15 says, and called me
by His grace. I didn't call myself, He called
me. Verse 16 says, to reveal His Son in me. I didn't quicken
myself. He quickened me. He gave me life. He revealed Christ the way, the
truth, and the life in me. He did it. That I might preach
him among the heathen. That's all John the Baptist did.
He preached Christ among the heathen. He preached the way
to the lost. He preached the forgiver to the
sinner. He preached life to the dead,
and when God's children hear that message, they say, that's
of God. That's of God. No, I don't hear
that much, but I see it. I believe it. I hear it. And that's of God. That is the
truth. Now, this is it. I promise. We're done. I'm going to close
in John 10. Go with me to John 10. I want to close by asking every
single one of us in this room one question. One question. Let's all answer
it in our heart. One question. This message that prepares the
way of the Lord. This message that cries salvation
is totally of the Lord. Completely of the Lord. This
message that increases the Lord Jesus Christ and decreases sinful
man is that of God. Is that of God? Is that the only
true confession there is? Can we say with these people
right here in John 10 verse 41, And many resorted unto him, and
said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of
this man were true. That's what they said. We heard
John and now we've seen him. And everything John had to say
about this man is true. Every single bit of it. If we
can say that, our Lord said, blessed are you. Flesh and blood
didn't reveal that to you. But my Father which is in heaven,
it's of God. It's of God. If we have a heart
to bow, Not reason with this word. Believe it, bow to it,
that's of God. It means God has done something.
He's revealed the lamb John kept talking about. He's revealed
that lamb. Sinners who behold the lamb,
when they see why he was slain and what he accomplished, they
say that's of God. That is truly of God. It's all
of God. Those Pharisees answered, he
asked them that question and they said, we can't tell. You
ask, go out and ask somebody this question. Did Jesus Christ
die for every soul on earth? You know what they'll tell you
a lot of times? Well, I don't know. They'll say yes. Or they'll say, I don't know.
I'm not sure if God had revealed it to them. And he asked them,
what do you have to say about this? And the Pharisees said,
we can't tell. What do we say? Has God convinced us of the answer? Start to finish. To the praise
of the glory of His grace, it's all of God. Salvation is all
of God, every ounce of it. All right, let's stand together.