In the Gospel of Luke, chapters
22 and 23, is given the account of the Lord Jesus Christ on trial
before men. Now, the terrible irony of this
all is that the judge of the universe is being judged by men. The Creator is being questioned
by His creatures. Yet this, as with everything,
was in the purpose and will and power of God Almighty. Though
men did what they wanted and willed to do, yet they did what
God had predetermined and willed for them to do long before it
took place. Now, here we have the account
of Christ on trial before men in Luke 22. And it's my contention
that this very thing is still taking place today. Read with
me or I read for you in verses 63 through 65 of Luke 22. I read. And the men that held Jesus mocked
Him and smote Him, and when they had blindfolded Him, they struck
Him on the face and asked Him, or taunted Him, saying, Prophesy,
who is it that smote thee? And many other things blasphemously
spake they against Him." Many blasphemous things they spoke
against Him. And today, no less, does man
speak blasphemous things against Christ. And most of the blasphemy
is going on in Christ's name. Blasphemous things spoken against
him. Now, the word blasphemy means
this, and I quote from Webster's Dictionary, the word blasphemy
means irreverence. irreverence or indignity to God. One deserving dignity or a dignified
person bringing that one down to a lower level or being irreverent
or careless or flippant or fearlessly speaking to one who is to be
held in high esteem. Now, when men today speak of
God so irreverently, so flippantly, so fearlessly, so ready to use
His name on every hand. It is blasphemy. They speak of
the holy triune God, whom angels cover their face before, as if
He were, and I quote, the man upstairs. They speak of a Jesus
as if He were just a man, as if He were Less than that, as
if he were some poor beggar standing outside our heart's door and
can't come in unless we let him. Religion today is a mockery of
God. It's a laughing matter. The world
is scoffing at Christianity with all of its talk of an impotent
God, or that is, a God who cannot do anything unless his creatures
allow him to do so. which speak of a pitiful, poor,
pitiful Jesus who tried and failed in his mission, as well as the
ridiculous circus sideshow which is called worship today. And
men today, men hold their mock meetings or trials today and
literally, literally are asking the multitudes who hear them
the same thing As Pilate asked the multitudes before when he
said, ìWhat will you do with Jesus?î That very question is
being asked the multitudes today, ìWhat will you do with Jesus?î
Well, Iím here to tell all who hear me this morning that God
Almighty put the Lord Jesus Christ into the hands of human beings
one time years ago, and Heís not in their hands today. and
that one time which he put Christ into the hands of human beings
was in order to fulfill his purpose of killing the Lamb which he
sent for the remission of his elect sake. But now Jesus Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, is sitting on the throne of glory as judge
and executioner. He is not in man's hands, but
now they are in His. He is not up for election. He
is the one that does the electing. The question is not, what will
you do with Jesus? But rather, what is He going
to do with us? The question is not, will you
accept Jesus? Nowhere in the Bible does it
ask that question. No, sir. But the question is
now, Will He accept us? Will He accept or reject us? He is not on trial now. He is
on the throne. Man is on trial. We stand before
Him for Him to do with us as He wills and as He pleases. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, saving wisdom. And the amazing thing about this
story we are looking at, the amazing thing is that the sovereign
power of the Lord is on display here. Though Jesus Christ was
bound and in the grasp of men here, He is the one in control
of them. Though men think He is in their
power, yet they are always in His sovereign power. This is
the Lord of the Bible. This is the Jesus Christ of Scriptures. Then and now. Jesus Christ the
same yesterday, today, and forever. Well, verse 66 says this. I read on in verse 66 of Luke
22. As soon as it was day, the elders
and the people and the chief priests and the scribes, that
is, these religious leaders and religious people, This was a
good Sabbath day, good, moral, devoted, religious group of people. Or in our day, it would be a
Sunday go-to-meeting lynch mob, is what it was. Well, they all
got together and led him into their council. They held a council
or a meeting, a gathering of the minds, the great religious
minds of their day. a gathering of religious leaders.
Now, to what purpose was this council held? Was it for the
purpose of justice being served? Was it for the purpose of true
judgment being rendered? Was it for the purpose of God's
glory, God's will, God's purpose to be determined and man to fulfill
that purpose? Were they looking into God's
Word as to what they should be doing? No. And man's meetings
Never have been, nor are they now. Man's meetings and gatherings
and councils never are for just purposes, but rather evil purposes,
selfish purposes, preconceived to do what they have already
predetermined to do. I think of this every time our
so-called Supreme Court gathers to decide a thing, whether it
be abortion or whatever rights, homosexual rights or whatever
it may be. They gather to decide whether
a thing should be so or allowed or rejected. I ask this, do they consult God? Do they call upon God for the
truth of the matter? Do they consult God's word, which
scripture says is truth and truth alone? No, they do not. And for these reasons and more,
I contend that there never to be any religious organizations,
formal organizations or councils. It's unbiblical, and every time
it happened in Scripture, it was for evil purposes. Even the
early church, when they got together at Jerusalem, it was because
some false brethren crept in saying that the Gentile believers
needed to be circumcised and keep the law. And Paul and Peter
had to go to Jerusalem to straighten everybody out about it. But the
whole meeting was a bad thing. Recently I was invited to a future
meeting of all, a gathering of all, of many so-called churches
in our area. And one of the things they were
going to talk about was unity in the church. the need for unity
in the Church. Well, I'm here to tell you that
God's Church has never been divided. God's Church is united today. It always has been, always will
be united in the belief of one hope of a calling, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one belief. It's the common belief, Scripture
says, the common belief of all of God's elect. It's the faith
of God's elect. No, the church is not divided.
It always has been unified. Denominations and so forth, counsels,
if you will, are man-made. They are not scriptural. Well,
they held their counsel here in Luke 22. And here is what
they said, or rather demanded of Christ. Verse 67, they had
Him before their counsel, and they said, verse 67, Art thou
the Christ? Tell us. Tell us. They're demanding of him an answer.
Now, unbelievers demand an answer. Unbelief says, or rather demands,
prove it. God, prove your God. Show me
your God and I'll believe. You know, our Lord said, an evil
and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, but no sign will
be given, he said. No. Unbelief says, prove it. Prove yourself to me, God. But
the faith which God gives, true believers, true seekers which
God creates, they say, I believe. And then Christ proves himself. Christ never proves himself to
any. Oh, no. He makes us believe. This is the mystery of his power.
According to the working of his mighty power, Paul said in Ephesians,
he makes human beings believe without proof. Noah, he called
Noah to build an ark because rain was going to come from the
sky and flood the earth, and Noah started building that boat
before a drop of water hit the ground. It had never rained before. He called Abraham to go to a
place he had never been to, and Abraham left. Abraham believed
before he took a step. Now, that is the working of God's
mighty power. You see, Christ never meets the
sinner's demands. God never meets the demands of
human beings, but rather He is the one who makes the demands
of men. He came to Jacob in the Old Testament,
and this is what He does with every sinner He saves. By the
way, that's what his people are called, sons of Jacob. And he
came to Jacob one day and wrestled with him and demanded of Jacob,
what is your name? What is your name? Jacob asked
him what his name was, and he wouldn't answer him, but rather
demanded of him, what's your name? You confess to me. You
admit to me what you are, who you are. I make the demands of
you, sinner, not the sinner of his God. Well, I read on in verse
67 and 68, Christ answered them. He said, If I tell you, you will
not believe. And verse 68, If I ask you, you
will not answer me, nor let me go. This is a threefold summary
of man's sinful will. He says, You will not believe,
though I tell you the plain truth. And He said, You will not answer
if I ask you. If I demand an answer of you,
Though the answer is clear, you will not admit it. And thirdly,
you will not let me go, or that is, you will not let go of your
belief that I am in your power, when the fact is, I am the Sovereign
Lord over you. In verse 69, he said, Hereafter
shall the Son of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God.
You are going to see, every eye shall behold Him. In verse 70,
they said, Art thou the Son of God? And he said unto them, You
say that I am." Or in other words, he is saying, You just said it,
and the very words which came out of your mouth will judge
you someday. And people, every time a human
being utters the name Lord, every time a human being utters the
name God, it will rise up in the judgment against them. Our Lord was on trial before
men this day, but no, rather, man was on trial before him as
it is now. May the Lord reveal the truth
of the matter to you, is my prayer. Until next Sunday, good day.