here in John 18. I talked last week about Christ
before Pilate and I want to talk about Him before Pilate again.
I may go on through verse chapter
19 too, I don't know yet. But, Our Lord Jesus told us that all
things concerning Himself must be fulfilled. And the Jews, when Pilate told
the Jews, he says, you know, here, you take him to judgment
according to your law. They took him to Pilate, to the
judgment hall. And they said, it's not lawful
for us to put a man to death. Well, it's lawful for them to
put a man to death. They stoned Stephen to death. They were going to stone that
woman taking an adultery to death. And they were even going to stone
our Lord Jesus Christ twice. So they just told a lie because
they didn't want to have to deal with the Lord Jesus Christ. They
want somebody else to do it. But the fact remains that he
was fulfilling the will and purpose of God. That everything concerning
Him has an end. Everything has a purpose. He
was fulfilling the purpose of God, the work of God. And God
used men, wicked men, to do His will. And yet men done exactly
what they wanted to do. You know, it says in another
place that Pilate willingly, willingly, gave Jesus to the
people. Willingly gave Him to them. But
our Savior said instead of being stoned, as the Jews would have
done it, had to be lifted up. Had to be lifted up. When He
prayed, when He went into the Gethsemane, He said, Father,
if it be Thy will, save me from this hour. This hour. He said, I have an hour. Well,
this is his hour. And this is the hands of wicked
men doing what God determined before to be done. And Pilate
here is a man, he's a very, very weak character. Very weak character. A politician is what he is. The
Jews placed him there as a governor. He's the one that ruled the Romans
there at that particular time. He was a man with a very, very
weak character. And he knew the art of compromise. And how to please people even
he didn't like personally. He didn't like them at all. And
that's why he didn't like the Jews. He didn't like their religion. He didn't like their God. He didn't like to deal with them.
That's why he says, you take it. You take it. Why have you
brought this man? What's the accusation? What's
he done? Why have you brought him here? And so we see here that our Lord
Jesus Christ, and I'll show you the carnal enmity against our
master. Verse, let's start at verse 33. Then Pilate entered, after he
came out and talked to the Jews. came out and they standing out
around the remember they wouldn't go in because they'd be defiled
but they still stood outside the judgment hall. Now this is
early in the morning and our Lord Jesus is not going to be
crucified till nine o'clock in the morning. So this is early
in the morning. Holly came back in, entered back
into the judgment hall again after he talked to the Jews.
And evidently the Lord Jesus Christ wasn't before him yet.
Because he called Jesus. They had him over someplace else
and he said they called him. Bring him over here. Get over
here. I want to talk to you. Had him
come over there. And then he went in there and
he called the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the thing, beloved.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was treated with the grossest injustice by
even the Jews and the Romans by their own standards. By their
own laws, by their own standards. The Jews treated him so unjustly. Annas the high priest did and
Caiaphas the high priest did. You keep John 18, look over in
John 7. John 18, look here in John 7,
how they mistreated our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how they mistreated
Him. Now, I know that most people,
preachers, they want people to pity the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
not what we preach Christ for. No, no. This was all determined
before to be done. But yet, God holds men accountable.
And they hate it, and they have such carnal enmity against the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look here in John 7, 50. Now this is after the Pharisees
sent people to arrest the Lord Jesus Christ and they came back
and said, no man ever spake like this man. And then Nicodemus
saith unto them, he that came to Jesus by night, being one
of them, one of the Sanhedrin, one of the Pharisees, one of
the rulers, he says this, doth I law judge any man? before it
hear him and know what he doeth? You wanted to go and arrest him
and you got no charge against him. What is he doing that you
want to go and arrest him? Our law says that a man's got
to be judged by the mouth of two or three witnesses and you
ain't got any. The answer sent unto him, this
is their answer. This is how much they hate our
master. And there's still people that hate him the same way. Art
thou also of Galilee? Did you come from Galilee where
this man came from? Search and look. Look through
the book. Look through the Bible. Look
through the scriptures. For out of Galilee, there's no prophet
ever come out of Galilee. So every man went to his own
house. So they treated him so unjustly according to their own
laws and so did the Romans. And the Roman law required that
the accused and the accusers be brought face to face. You
got an accusation against a man and that's exactly what happened
over in Acts chapter 23 when they had Paul in jail. One of the kings came down
and Felix told him, he says, now wait a minute. He said, these
Jews brought this man to us. And they want us to try them
accordingly and they said all I can find out is that they're
upset about something about their religion. Said there's no reason
for this man to even be in jail. Much less to be killed. And oh,
Old Fester says this, he says, well, I'll wait till their accusers
come down and then I'll hear this matter. But he said, wait
till those that accuse you come down here and you face them face
to face and then we'll hear this matter. We'll hear what you got
to say, we'll hear what your accusers got to say. And that's
the way it was done. But not this way. No, no, no. There was no trial. There was
no accusers. There was two false witnesses
that they finally got a hold of. And Pilate knew, for envy,
they delivered the Lord Jesus Christ up to them. Out of envy,
he delivered them. And then look what he asked him.
Look what he asked him there in verse 33. Oh, what a question. Art thou the king of the Jews? Are thou the king of the Jews?
You know why I ask this question? Because he says, if you are against
Caesar, then I'll have a reason to kill you. I'll have a reason
for you to die. If you're a king and you're against
Caesar, if you hate Caesar and you decide that you're going
to be the king and dethrone Caesar and fight against Caesar, stand
against Caesar, Then I'd have a reason to crucify you. I'd
have a reason to crucify you. But oh my, are you against Caesar?
But here stands a man. Now you listen to this. Here
stands a man. He's a peasant. He's a poor man. Our Lord Jesus Christ was a poor
man all of his life. He had on a peasant's garment. And he's bound. He's got on no royal robe. He
don't have a crown on his head. He don't have a royal court.
He don't have a palace. He's standing there as a peasant
battle. What would make this man, ask
this man here, standing before him, bound, in peasant's garments,
no crown, no royal garments, no court, no bunch of people
around him, and he's standing there by himself. Why in the
world would Pilate say, are thou the king of the Jews? Did he
look like a king? He no doubt had heard about our
Lord Jesus Christ when he rode into Jerusalem on a coat the
fold of an ass. They laid down the garments and
said, Hail, thou son of David. And he's wondering, who is this
man that multitudes came to? But he was hated, so hated, by
the leaders. Well, our Lord asked him a question.
Our Lord asked him a question. Look what he says in verse 34.
Our Lord answered him. Are you king of the Jews? He
answered him. He said, are you saying this thing of yourself?
Do you think I'm the king? Did you learn this from yourself?
Did this question come out of you? Are you interested in me
being the king? Does this question come from
you? Do you say this yourself? You ask this question yourself.
And this is a good question for anybody. What do you say about
the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He really the king? Is He
the King of Israel? Is He the King of this universe? Multitudes, multitudes say He'll
never be King until He comes and sets up His throne in Jerusalem.
But our Lord Jesus Christ was King before He came into this
world. He was King. And the Scripture
said He, Herod asked, where is He that's born King of the Jews? Our Lord was born king. Our Lord
Jesus Christ was king before he got here, was king while he
was here, and he'll be king and on his throne right now. And that's why they choose Paul
and said he preaches that there's another king. Even one Jesus. You say this thing to yourself,
what do you say about Christ? Does He have the right to rule?
Does He have the power to rule? The scripture says in Revelation
over His head are many crowns. And it says this, that everybody
that gets there and talks about all the crowns that believers
will have, said they'll cast their crowns at the Lord Jesus
Christ's feet. Now he said, are you saying this
about yourself or did somebody else tell you? Did somebody else
come in here and say it? He's the king of the Jews, you
know. He's the king of the Jews. That's what the Jews accused
him of. He's king of the Jews. He said, did you tell this to
yourself? Is this a conclusion you come
to? Or did somebody else tell you? I'll tell you one thing.
We didn't know he was king until somebody told us. Ain't that
right? We'd have never known how he
ruled unless somebody else told us. We don't see him in a glorious
robe. And we sang that song, crown
Him with many crowns. Come Thou Almighty King. Oh, worship the King. We sang all these things about
our Master being King. Where did we find out He's King?
How did we know He's King? Somebody told us. And now since
we found out, now we can say it of ourselves. We ourselves
from our heart can say yes. You know who we bow to? The only
king we bow to is the Lord Jesus Christ. If I met the king of
England or the queen of England, I would not bow to her. If I met a king anywhere, any
place, I wouldn't bow to him. There's only one person I'll
bow to, only one person that I will bow the knee to, and that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. The only one that's got the right
for us to bow down before is the Lord Jesus Christ. The only
one worthy of our worship is the Lord Jesus Christ. The only
one worthy of our hearts is the Lord Jesus Christ. And we gladly abdicated Him.
And oh listen, and what He's doing, He's addressing His conscience.
Do you know this yourself or did someone tell you? And what
He said is, if you think I am a king, and I'm the king of the
Jews, where are the witnesses that say I'm against Caesar?
Where are the witnesses that say I'm against Caesar? I want
to show you something. You keep John 9, look in Matthew
22. Matthew 22, 15. Look over here. If I'm king, then you say it
yourself or somebody else says it. So we're the witnesses that says
I'm against Caesar. Look what it said here in verse
15. Matthew 22. Then went the Pharisees
and took counsel. They all got together and took
counsel. Said, now how in the world can we entangle this man
in his talk? How can we entangle him and trick
him into saying something to expose himself? And they sent
unto him with their disciples the Herodians. That's the political
party. Saying, Master, the first thing
they do is flattering, and you know he that flattereth a man
lays a snare for his feet, what the scripture said. Master we
know that thou art truth and teach us the way of God in truth.
And listen to this, you don't care for any man. You're not
impressed by anybody. You don't regard the person of
men. You don't care whether it's a Pharisee or a poor man, a sinner
or a saint. It don't make any difference
to you. Tell us therefore, What do you think? Is it lawful to
give tribute or pay taxes unto Caesar or not? Our Lord perceived
their wickedness and said unto them, Why tempt ye me, hypocrites? He said, Show me the money. Show
me the tribute money. Show me the tax money. And they
brought unto him a penny. And he said to them, who is this
image and superscription? Who's image is on it? And all
of our money has images on it. All of our coins and all of our
bills has images on it. And he says, now you give me
that money and let me look at it. And he looked at it and he
said, who is this image and who is this superscription? They
said, well Caesar's on it. There's Caesar's picture on there.
He said, well you render unto Caesar's the things that are
Caesar's. What he's got his name on, his face on, give it to him.
For whatever belongs to God, give it to God. Oh, and listen,
God ain't interested in men's money. He said, if I was hungry,
I wouldn't ask of you. And oh, listen. And I tell you
one time, they come to making king of the Jews. They come to
making king. And John 6, and he went out of
the midst of them. They come to make him king. And
then look what he answered him. And back over here in John 18
verse 35. Pilate answered him, am I a Jew? Am I a Jew? I don't care who's
king of the Jews. I'm not interested in who's king.
I'm not interested in the Jews. I'm not a Jew. I don't care anything
about them or their religion. Huh? I'm not interested in. I'm not
a Jew. I don't know your laws. And that's
why we ask if you're king of the Jews. And look what he said. Oh, Pilate. And look what he
says now. He said, Am I a Jew? He said, I didn't deliver you
up. I'm not the one here. I'm not the one here. I'm not a Jew. I'm not the one
interested in thee. He said, are thou the king of
the Jews? He said, your own nation did this. Your own nation, the
Jewish people did this. And the chief priests, the leaders,
the rulers, they did this. They're the ones that brought
you to me. They're the ones who brought you to me. So here, let
me ask you this. Since they brought you to me,
and I'm not a Jew, I'm not interested whether you're king of the Jews
or not. I'm interested in this. Why in the world have you done
that your nation delivered you up? That the chief priest delivered
you up? What have you done? What kind
of a crime have you actually committed? I'm not interested
in your religious arguments. What have you done? It's your
nation. What do they have against you?
Why do they hate you so? Why do they want you here in
my presence so? Now he's acting like a judge.
And you know where he lays the guilt? You know where he lays
the guilt? At the Jewish nation and at the
chief priest. These are the ones that delivered
you up. I didn't do it. They did it. And I tell you here,
the Lord Jesus said he came unto his own and his own received
him not. But oh my, now listen to what
our master says. What have you done? What have
you done? That's what I want to know. Just own up to it. If you're
guilty, tell me. And our Lord answered him, I
love this, I just absolutely love this. Our Lord answered
him, my kingdom is not of this world. I'm a king, I'm a king, but my
kingdom is not in this world, it's not of this world. My kingdom is not of this world. He didn't say my kingdom's not
in this world. He said it's not of this world.
He even told about believers being in the world. We're all
in this world. We live in this world. You have
to work in this world. We do business in this world.
But we're not of the world. We don't think like the world.
We don't love like the world. We don't We don't seek ambition
like the world. The world has its way of looking
at things and the way of doing things, but our way of looking
at things and the way of doing things is altogether different
than the world. He said, my king is not of this
world. Oh my. He didn't come to establish
a temporal power. You remember in Acts chapter
1 when he was going out to ascend back to heaven? Up on Mount Olive
and his disciples were standing there with him. And they said,
Lord, will you now at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? They had always heard that a
king would come and establish his throne in Israel. He said, will you now restore
the kingdom to Israel? He said, it's neither for you
to know the times or the seasons. I tell you what, our Lord Jesus,
he says, kingdom is not of this world. He didn't come here to
establish a temporal power. He didn't come here to be supported
by taxes. The only demand and only authority
he ever exercised was over men's hearts. Over men's hearts. That's all he's interested in.
Over men's hearts. Oh, his enemy said, he's a friend
of sinners. He's a friend of publicans. But
he said, I come not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
Oh my. The only dominion he ever exercised,
the only authority he ever exercised was over the hearts and minds
of men. And you know the only weapons he used were spiritual
weapons, his word and his deeds. And he never asked anybody to
do anything for him. And I tell you His subjects,
the only weapons we have are spiritual weapons. You know the
only weapon we use is this right here. Two weapons we use. The Word of God and prayer. The
Word of God and prayer. That's the weapons we use. That's
the only weapons we got. His Word. Oh, I know every once
in a while we get upset and every once in a while we'll pop off
and every once in a while we'll act so unlike Christ. But our
weapons are not of this world either. Our weapons are the word
of God, the scriptures and prayer. But he says my kingdom is not
of this world. He says he has a kingdom. I've
got a kingdom. And I've got subjects. And I've
got servants in my kingdom. But look what he says. My kingdom
is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
you know what would happen? There'd be a multitude right
here to fight for me. There'd be a multitude. There'd
be a whole bunch of them gather around me. Oh, they'd come around
and they would fight. They would fight that I should
not be delivered to the Jews. You know what it says? You know,
when David decided to build a house for the Lord, God said, no, you
can't do it, David. You can't do it. Why you can't
build a house for me is you've killed too many men. You're too
bloody. But he says, your son, your son will build a kingdom.
Your son will be. And he says, not only am I going
to establish your house, but I'm going to establish a man
to sit on your throne forever and ever and ever. And who is
that? The son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. And beloved, he
came into this world. He sits on David's throne. He
was the one that's the rightful heir to the throne and the last
king. The last king. And my kingdom's unlike any kingdom
ever before it. It didn't originate with men.
It come from God. And once it comes into existence,
it's never going to stop. Oh, Daniel said, I saw one like
unto the Son of Man. come unto the ancient of days
and a dominion and power and glory was delivered unto him
forever and ever. Ever and ever. And I tell you
something else, it doesn't depend upon the world to exist either.
And you know what this kingdom exists of? Righteousness, peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost. And then Pilate says this, Art thou then a king of the Jews?
Art thou then a king now? Oh, listen to what our master
said. He said, you say that I'm a king. You say that, that I'm
a king. To this end was I born. Yes,
I was born king. I was born king of the Jews.
I was born king. I am. I'm a king. You say that.
Son of David. But he says, and for this cause
came I into the world. To this end was I born, be king
of the Jews. But here's another reason. Here's
the real reason that I came into this world. The purpose that
I came into this world to do. To bear witness unto the truth.
To tell the truth. to expose the truth, to bring
the truth into this world like it's never been brought. I came
to bear witness unto the truth. You know, His kingdom and truth
go hand in hand. Wherever His kingdom is and His
subjects are, truth and His kingdom go hand in hand. He comes to
bear witness to the truth and He bore witness to the truth.
He Himself said, I am the truth. I am the truth. And truth, when he says here,
I bear witness to the truth. Truth is authoritative. Everybody
talks about truth being relative. It's relative to how you see
it. No, no, it's not that way. Truth is truth. Black is black
and white is white. I had a doctor tell me that one
time. He says, boy, you see things
in black and white. You don't see nothing gray. I
said, there ain't nothing gray. There's colors. But no, things
is black and white. Truth is truth no matter what
it's about. And then people say they set
forth a theory and say a theory, this is truth. When really it's
a theory. But beloved God don't set forth
theories. He sets forth truth. Truth is
authoritative. There's only one thing you can
do with truth. Believe it or reject it. Believe
it or not. They say, well, that's what you
believe about Him. And not only is it authoritative,
it's imperial, it's majestic. In fact, He with grace and truth
came into this world. How? By Jesus Christ. By Jesus
Christ. And oh, listen to what He goes
on to say here. Oh, what have you done? What
have you done? He said, oh, I'll tell you what
I've done. When he asked him what you've done, I bore witness
to the truth. And it's the truth. Look what
he says here. And everyone's of the truth. Here's my voice.
I bore witness to the truth. That's what I've done. It's the
truth that wins his people. It's the truth that sets them
free. It's the truth that saves them.
He said, Father, sanctify them through thy word. Thy word is
truth. It's the truth that's the sword
that pierces the heart. It's the truth that enlightens
the mind. It's the truth that we desire.
It's the truth that we come to hear. And I tell you what, he witnessed
the truth about man. He said in John 2.28, he said,
I don't need nobody to tell me about any man. Don't come to
me and tell me about any man. Why not? Because I know him. I know what's in him. I know
everything there is about him. I know him. He witnessed the
truth of man. Oh, you say Abraham's son? If
you was Abraham's son, you'd do what Abraham did. You'd believe
me. If he says you're not of Abraham,
you're of your father the devil. How do you think they felt when
he told them that? You're of your father the devil. I bet
they didn't like that very much. And he'd come to tell the truth
about God. I work and my father works. I
speak and my father speaks. And he came to bear the witness
of himself. He said, you want to come to
God? You want to approach the Father? You got to come through
me. And the truth either saves you
or harms you. No middle ground. Saves you or
harms you. And look what our Master said.
I'll hurry up. Look what our Master said. And then the last
part of that verse, verse 37. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice. People who believe the truth,
have been taught the truth, what do they do? They listen to the
voice of Christ. My sheep hear my voice, and a
stranger they will not follow. When we're looking for something
for truth, and we're looking for something to say, We're looking
for a message. We're looking for something from
God's Word. What are we listening for? Christ. Listening to His
voice. What He says, that's what we
believe. What He says, that's what we do. What He says, that's
what we bow to. We're listening for His voice.
You come here this morning to hear Christ. And I tell you what,
He says, Oh, everyone that says the truth here is my voice. I
should have heard His voice. He heard his audible voice, but
did he hear his spiritual voice? Did he hear that truth? Huh? How? Will you listen? God said,
this is my son, hear ye him. We owe our very lives, our very
souls to Him who taught us the truth and revealed truth to us
and saved us by His truth. I want to listen to what He has
to say. You ought to listen to what He
has to say. And listen to what old Pilate
says. Oh, what an awful thing. Pilate said unto Him, what is
truth? He said it in such a contemptible,
sarcastic way. What is truth? What is truth? I don't believe there's any truth. Truth is what we want it to be.
Truth is what we believe it to be. Truth is what we accept for
truth for ourselves. What is truth? You don't know
what truth is. Nobody else knows what truth
is. That's what Pilate said. That's what Pilate said. And when he said that, he went
out again under the Jews. He walked away from Christ. When
Christ just said, I'm the king. I was born this way. Born a king.
And I come here to bear witness to the truth. Now how are you
going to react to it? What are you going to do? He walked off
and left the Lord Jesus standing there and went back outside.
There's a crowd there. There's a big crowd there. And
you know who's up in the front of the crowd? That's Sanhedrin. All them chief priests, all them
leaders, all them people that hired the folks to lie against
him. The ones that gave 30 pieces of silver to Judas. And he went
out, and again unto the Jews, and he says to them, you know
what he says? I just examined this man. I just listened to
this man. I just asked this man some questions
and you know what? I don't find any fault in him
whatsoever. None. None. I find no fault. I find no crime. There's no reason for him to
be here. That's what he's saying. Oh my, they've got customs. Everybody's
got customs. The custom this time of year
is to have Nativity scenes and Santa Claus and the Grinch and putting Jesus back in a manger. Singing that song, Poor Little
Jesus Boy. They sung at the National Cathedral
last year. Abortion to deceive. Poor little
Jesus. Poor little Jesus, boy. But they got a custom. People's
got customs. It's our custom to do this. It's
our custom to do that. You have a custom. That I should release unto you
one at the Passover. It's the Passover. The time when they were down
in Egypt. They remember when they were down in Egypt, God
said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. And from then
on, they were supposed to, once a year, take a lamb. Every man
take a lamb and offer a lamb for his house. And it's the Passover. They're going to all sit down
and eat a feast. They're going to eat a lamb. They're going
to eat a roast and they're going to eat unleavened bread. It's
going to last seven days. But I will tell you something
about this Passover. It's the last, Christ is the
last Passover ever offered. He, Christ, is our Passover sacrifice
for us. But you have a custom that I
should release unto you, one at the Passover. Somebody that's
guilty of something. Somebody that's in jail. It's
your custom. He said, I'll tell you what I
want to do. It's what I want to do. Will you Therefore, is
it your will that I release unto you the King of the Jews, that
I let him go? Let him go. Is that your will? Oh, then they all cried again.
They began to cry. One place it said they began
to cry out, crucify him, crucify him, crucify him. Then cried
they all again saying, not this man, no, no, no. Don't turn this
man loose. Don't set him free. But I'll
tell you who we want. There's a man over there in jail.
One place it says he's a murderer. Here it says he's a robber. I'll
tell you who we want you to set free. We want you to go over
in that jail. We want you to go over in that
dungeon. And we want you to open that cell door and I want you
to let out a man out of there who's murder and insurrection
and robber and set him free. And kill this man here. Barabbas, son of the father. Now this is true substitution. They take one that Pilate himself
said, I find no fault. A sinless, holy, glorious man. And they take him, the innocent,
the just, and put him, when Barabbas should have been
the one that died that day. But they took Christ and put
him in that place. And they walked down that hall,
and they turned Barabbas loose, and he walked out of there a
free man. Christ, we was bound. Oh, how bound we were. But our
Lord Jesus Christ said, listen. Take me. Father, take me. Take me. Oh, they're murderers. They're robbers. They're liars.
They're cheats. They're God-haters. There's awfulest
people ever was. Take me. Let them go. True substitution. You know who
doesn't suffer that day? Barabbas doesn't suffer. You
know who did? The Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father, oh blessed Master,
our Lord Jesus Christ, again we come into your presence to
thank you for your great love. We're with you, loved us. We
sung that song, how can it be, how can it be, that thou, my
God, shouldst die for me? How can it be that you would
love such a soul as mine? How can it be? And, Lord, we
thank you for taking our place. We were all like Barabbas. We
were all Barabbases. And, Lord, if you hadn't have
took our place and let us go free. And, Lord, we thank you for your
great, great love for which you loved us. For the blood that
cleansed our sins. For being our Passover. And because
of you, God passes over us. For he sees your blood, your
blood that cleanses us from all sins. We thank you for that and
bless you for it. In Christ our Lord's name, amen.