And the title of my message this
morning is, Seven Questions Our Lord Asked. Seven Questions Our
Lord Jesus Christ Asked. And I'm going to deal with all
seven of them if I can this morning. I had this outlined in my briefcase
for well over a year and the Lord enabled me to get it together
this week. And he asked seven questions.
And when you and I ask questions, we ask for information, to learn
something, to find out some information. A good educator, that's what
they do. They know how to teach and where
people will ask questions and learn. That's the best way in
the world to learn is asking questions and seeking the answer
to the question. And we can even ask the scriptures.
We can ask the scriptures questions. If you want to find out what
the Bible has to say about something, ask a question. First of all,
you say, who is speaking? In this instance, Christ is speaking.
You ask, where are they at? He's in the coast of Caesarea
Philippi. Why is he asking? What's he talking
about? He's asking who in the world
people think I am. And when it happened, And why? You can ask the scriptures questions
and the scriptures will answer your questions. Who's speaking? Who's he speaking to? Why is
he speaking? What is he looking for? What's
the purpose in it? But our Lord Jesus Christ asks
questions. And then when he asks these questions,
he doesn't ask it to learn anything like you and I would. But every
one of these questions, what he does is as he asks these questions,
he exposes the human heart to the enmity that's against him.
He exposes man to be what he really is and how they despise
and reject and hate the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of the
questions exposes that about human nature. And I tell you
what, in the enmity that they have against him. Here's the
first question. He says here in verse 13, when Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea of Philippi, he asked his disciples, he's talking to
them now, whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? You see,
he asked his disciples because they were out and about. They
heard what was going on. They heard the talk about their
master. They'd hear what they had to say about him. And then
some would say one thing, some would say another thing. And
so they answered and they gave him four different answers. They
said unto him, some say you're John the Baptist. John the Baptist
heard and cut off his head. And even Herod thought that the
Lord Jesus Christ was John the Baptist raised from the dead.
They said, well, you're John the Baptist. You're that last
prophet. You're that one, that voice crying
in the wilderness. The next answer was, well, you're
Elijah. That prophet that called down
fire from heaven. That prophet that destroyed all
those false prophets. You're Elijah. And others said,
no, he got to be Jeremiah. because he's a man acquainted
with grief and sorrow. He's a man that's just so heavy
hearted and so carries such a burden and he is so concerned with others
that he has to be Jeremiah. And then one of them said, well,
he has to be one of the prophets come back. That's what they said.
So they gave him four different answers. Well, our Lord Jesus
Christ, look what he says now. Then he gets personal, he gets
direct to his disciples. And this is what we need to know.
He saith unto them, but who say ye that I am? Peter, who do you
say? You disciples of mine, what do
you say? Who do you say I am? Oh my, listen
to what he said. Simon Peter and about the Christ
you're the Messiah. You're the one promised of God
You're the one that we read about in the Old Testament You're the
one that they've seen of the woman and look what he goes on
to say and not only are they the Christ But you're the son
Of who? The living God. God who is alive. God who gives life. God who sent
life in the person of His blessed Son. God, the living God. And
oh, listen, He answered in our Lord, you know, and that's, what
question, if our Lord asked us what do we say about Him? What
would we say about Him? If somebody says, what, thank
you, what do you, who is Christ? Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?
What would you say? How would you answer it? You
know, when you say that he's the son of God, you're saying
that he is God almighty who inhabits eternity, who measures the waters
in the hollow of his hands and cast the stars in heaven and
calls them by name. You're saying that Jesus Christ
is the son of God who lives and ever lives and will always live
the same today, yesterday, and forever. Now that's a mouthful
to say that Jesus Christ is the son of the living God. And that's what John said over
in his little letter in 1 John. He said, He that believeth that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God hath life. And oh, the Antichrist does not
believe that he's the Son of God. Not only is he not the Son
of God, but God's not even alive. Oh my, and listen to what our
Lord, you talking about blessed, listen to what our Lord said
to Simon Peter. And the Lord answered him, since
he said that, he said that great, wonderful, blessed statement.
Our Lord answered, said unto him, oh Simon, Simon Peter, you
are so blessed. Simon, son of Jonah, flesh and
blood hath not revealed that unto thee." Oh, I'm flesh and
blood. He said, I'm flesh and I've got
blood. But my flesh and blood didn't
even reveal this unto you. That's what our Christ, our Lord
said. Flesh and blood. People like you and me didn't
make Him understand that. But my Father, my father which
is in heaven he said that's how you know I'm the Christ that's
how you know I'm the son of the living God and you know we know
he's the son of the living God because it's been revealed to
us the father revealed it to us God from heaven revealed it
to us now I want you to look at another question that's the
first question our Lord asked look over in Matthew 20 here's
the second question here's the second question He said in verse 15, Matthew
20 verse 15. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with mine own? Is that I evil because I am good? Now why did he ask that question?
Because he went out, he said he gave this parable, a man went
out to start, he needed people to work for him that day. Went
out at 6 o'clock in the morning, hired some men, went back out
at 9, hired some men, went back out at noon, hired some more
men, went out at 3, hired some more men, went out at 5 o'clock
and hired some more men. And then the work day was over
at 6 o'clock in the evening. And so those fellows that started
work at six o'clock and nine o'clock, they thought since they
had worked so hard, look what he said here in verse nine. When they came
that were hard about the 11th hour, they received every man
a penny. But when the first came, the first ones that was called
to work that day, they supposed that they should have received
more. And they likewise received every man a penny. That last
fellow that started working, he got paid first. And the first
fellow that went to work, he got paid last. And now watch
what happened. And when they received it, they
murmured against the good man of the house, saying, These last
have wrought but just one hour, and you have made us equal unto
us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. Oh my, they
was upset about it. They didn't like the way this
man was treating them. We worked all day, and you just
give us a penny. These folks just worked an hour,
and you give them a penny. That's not equal. That's not
right. That's not fair. And oh my, look what he answered.
He said unto them, one of them said, Friend, I do thee no wrong. When you came to work this morning,
did you not agree with me for a penny? Did you not agree with
me that salvation is by grace? That salvation is not something
you earn, that everybody gets exactly the same? Did you not
agree with that when you first came to say you believe the gospel? Is that not what you believe?
Now look what he goes on, take that that I am is and go on your
way. And I'll give unto this last, this
last person that started to work, just as much as I give you. And is it not lawful? And this
is what, here's what, and he said, is your eye evil because
I am good? Because I give every man the
same? Because I treat everybody the
same? That I'm not a respecter of persons?
And that's where the rug comes. When men don't like God's way
of dealing with them, they start finding fault. And let me show
you that. You keep Matthew 20 and look over here in Romans
chapter 9. We did Romans chapter 9. This
is exactly what happened. You know, and I remember years
ago, And people think that they're going to get rewards when they
get to heaven. They're going to get to roll
over so many sinners and they're going to get so many crowns and
they're going to get, you know, the fellow that's been so faithful
for so long and done so much work and went to all the Sunday
school classes. He thinks when he gets to heaven,
he's going to have a whole bunch of rewards. And us poor old folks
that just ain't done nothing and ain't got nothing, but just
believe God and take what He gives us and gives Him thanks
for it. People say, well listen, because I'm good is you got an
evil eye and you gonna find fault with me? You gonna find fault
with me because I treat every man the same? I give them just
exactly what they got coming? And I tell you, listen, beloved,
we're not even worth a penny when it comes right down to it.
And if we wanted a penny, wanted more than somebody that got in
the last minute, that shows us we didn't believe the grace of
God to start with. Ain't that right? You take Herman. Herman never
became a believer until he was 75 years old. He's done gone
on to be in glory. Henry Mahan preached the same
church for 50 years. And he's 92 years old. He's up
there in Virginia. And he has labored all these
years. And you know what he'll say?
Bless God. All I want is the grace of God
and go to heaven by the grace of God. He ain't going to get
upset with God because God did something different for one and
another. Oh, listen. Look what he said here in Romans
9. Verse 11, For the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto the elder, The elder shall serve the younger.
Oh Esau is going to end up serving Jacob. As it is written, Jacob
hath a lot, but Esau hath a hating. Oh, folks say, well listen, that's
not right. That just can't be fair. And I remember people saying
to me when I first started learning the gospel and I started talking
to them about the gospel, they say, well, what about these people? What about that people? What
about these other people? Don't God have to give them a
chance? Salvation is not by chance. Salvation is on purpose. These
people here were saved on purpose. The purpose of election. The
purpose of calling without works. God loved Jacob on purpose. And
He hated Esau on purpose. And when he calls a fellow into
his vineyard, that man agrees to him with what he says, I'm
going to give you. He said, I'm going to give you
grace. I don't want nothing else but grace. I'm going to give
you Christ. I don't want nothing else but Christ. Is that right? We agree with
that. We don't get upset with him whenever he does something
different. But look what else he goes on
to say here. And that's the first thing folks say. What shall we
say then? God's unrighteous, ain't He?
To love one and hate another? To choose one before He's ever
born? He ain't done nothing good. He
ain't done nothing evil. He's just there before He's ever
born. He said, I loved Him. Before
He's ever born, I hated Him. Oh, my! But Paul says this, God forbid,
you wouldn't dare. Who in the world do you think
you are that you go stand and tell God that he's wrong in how
he deals with people? Do you know more about how God
deals with people than he does? You mean to tell me you want
to stand and tell God that he's not right dealing with this man
or that man or another man? You're standing up and telling
God that he is wrong in how he deals with people. oh you know more than God does
and look what he says for he says to Moses I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy and I'll have compassion on whom I'll
have compassion so then it's not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth oh boy
I've got to I've got to get in this thing and I've got to give
it all I've got and I want to get all my rewards but of God,
that show us mercy. That's it. And I'll tell you
what these say back over here in our text, back in Romans,
I mean, Matthew 20. When men don't like God's way of dealing
with them, they find fault. And they said, we have toiled.
That's the first thing they said, we have toiled. They started
pointing to what the works they've done. They started pointing to
the labor they've done. They started talking about all
the works they've done and how hard they had labored. How much
they had more coming to them. Oh my, they expected more. They expected more. But oh listen,
if Christ is not rewarding us, then I don't know what to tell
you. If He's not rewarding enough, if the Lord Jesus Christ, the
last got exactly what the first one got, and people seem to think
that God's going to reward us for what He has done for us and
what He's done in us, why would we expect God? God did it all,
so what in the world is He going to give us more than that? Can
He give us more than Christ? Can He give us more than grace?
Can He do any more than put all our sins away by the sacrifice
of Himself? Oh, that's why Paul said, for
me to live is Christ to die and gain. He didn't say, I want to
go to heaven and get my rewards and I'm going to rule over seven
or eight cities. He didn't say that. He said,
I want to depart and be with Christ. And all people expect, you know,
if God did it all, then He gets all the glory. If He didn't do
it all, then you get some of it. And I tell you what, He did
it all, so bless His holy name. He gets all the glory. All right,
that's the second question. Let me give you the third question.
Matthew 21. Look in verse 42. Here's the
third question. Here's the third question. Verse
42. Jesus saith unto them, Did you
never read in the Scriptures the stone which the builders
rejected? The same is become the head of
the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and
it's marvelous in our eyes. He's quoting from the 818th Psalm. Therefore I say unto you, the
kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation,
bringing forth fruits. And whosoever shall fall on this
stone, on this stone which the builders rejected, shall be broken. But on whomsoever it shall fall,
it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and
Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake
of them. Now here's what happened in this
situation. Our Lord Jesus Christ says this good man let out his
vineyard unto some people and they wouldn't give him the fruits
of his labor, the fruits that belong to him. Well he said,
I'll send this prophet. They killed him. He said, I'll
send another prophet. They killed him. They said, I'll
send my son. Perhaps they'll give what's coming
to them. And when they took the son, the
heir, they killed him. They killed him. This heir, come
let us kill him and let's have the inheritance. And they slew
him. And I said, he'll miserably stroll
these wicked ones. Now what happens, and our Lord
Jesus Christ said, when he told them this, did you never read
in the scriptures? where in Isaiah and Psalm 118
where it says you know behold I lay in Zion for a stone for
a sure foundation and oh listen he says you know this stone which
the builders rejected is the Lord's doing now Christ's stone
upon which his church is going to be built Christ is the foundation
of his church and so they come and he says did you never reel
in the scriptures that the stone that God provided, the stone
that God laid in the corner, the elect stone, the precious
stone, the cornerstone, the chief cornerstone. Did you never read
in there? Did you never read that the stone
God provided, the builders, and that's what these Pharisees and
Sadducees are, they're builders. They're going to build up the
kingdom of God. They're going to build up the kingdom of God
and this is how they do it. And oh my, did you never read
that it's the same that God provided? The Jews and the Pharisees, you
know what they built on? They built on the law. They built
on the law. That was the foundation of their
whole philosophy. That was the foundation of everything. Built on the law. Built on the
law. The Pharisees built on self-righteousness. The Pharisees built on washings. And the Pharisees built on tithes.
They built on words. Then those two men went up to
the temple to pray. And one of them said, I, the
Pharisees stood, and the scripture said, he prayed thus with himself. So if he'd been here praying,
he'd been praying with himself, and you just got to listen to
what he talked to, how good he talked about it. Oh, I thank
you that I'm not like that publican over there. That old sorry, sinner,
blasphemer, that old sorry, nobody, nobody cares about that publican
over there. But I thank you I'm not like
that publican. I'm not like other men are. Oh, I'm above them,
I'm better than them. I know more than them. I am cleaner
living than them. And he says, I pay tithes of
everything I possess. Of everything I possess. And he said, I'm not an extortioner,
I'm not an adulterer. He started talking about all
the things that he wasn't. But one thing he wasn't. He wasn't
a sinner. And the difference between him
and the publican was the publican was a sinner. And God sent him
down to his house justified. And oh, they build on their self-righteousness,
their worthiness and their worth. Look over here in Matthew 23.
Look down through. Look at verse 1 with me. And
this is You know how self-righteousness
is exposed. They perceive themselves better
than others. If you ever perceive yourself
better than anybody else, and listen, the only difference
between us and anybody else is the grace of God. So we can't look down our nose
at anybody. If you'd have been in Mary Magdalene's
day, and you'd have been a Pharisee, you know what you'd have said?
This man don't possibly know what evil a woman this is. She's
a sinner. Don't he know what kind of woman
she is? And that's why we can't look
down our nose at anybody, and I'll tell you why we can't. God
has saved blasphemers, murderers, adulterers, liars, cheaters,
abusers of themselves with mankind. He saved every kind of sinner
there is. He saved drug addicts. And so the only difference between
us and the world out there, and us being a blasphemer, and us
being lost, and us being drunks, and us being drug addicts, and
us being the worst kind of people on the face of the earth, is
the grace of God. That's the only difference. Because
I remember what I was like, and I know if God don't keep me,
I still got enough in me to damn the whole human race, if God
don't have mercy on me. And all he goes on here, look
what he says now in verse Matthew 23, 1. Then spake Jesus to the
multitude and to his disciples. Remember I said who is he talking
to? He says the scribes and the Pharisees they sat in Moses'
seat. They sat in the place of the
law. They sat in Moses' seat where they make the judgment.
That's what Moses did. People come to him and he'd make
judgments. And all therefore whatsoever
they bid you or tell you to do, you observe. You observe what
they tell you to do. That observe and do. And now
listen to this, but do not do after their works. For they say
one thing and don't do it. Though they talk about it, They
glory in it. They talk about how they keep
the law. They talk about how they keep the Ten Commandments.
They talk about all their tithe paying. Look what he goes on
to say. For they bind heavy burdens. Lay heavy burdens on you. Grievous
to be borne. And I tell you the law is a heavy,
heavy weight. And lay them on men's shoulders,
but listen to what it says, but they themselves will not move
them with one of their fingers. They'll put their weight on you
and go on about something else. But all their works they do for
it to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries
and enlarge the borders of their garments. Oh, they want everybody
to look how well dressed we are. Oh, how dedicated and devoted
we are. and love the uppermost rooms
at the feast and the chief seats in the synagogues, they come
sit in the front, cross their arms, see what this fellow's
gonna say. And oh my, but be not ye called
rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. So I'll tell you what, Christ
was that stone. 11th precious, the chief cornerstone
that God himself laid. And you know what? Not only is
the Pharisees builders, and they build on the law, and you just
read what they build on. But we're builders too. I'm building
this morning. I'm building this morning. Every
time I come to serve, I'm building. And that's why Paul said over
in 1 Corinthians 3, he says, you know, he said, we build.
and be careful how you build. The foundation has already been
laid and that foundation is Christ. Now we build on that foundation
and here's the thing, either we're going to build wood, hay
and stubble or we're going to build on Christ himself. Wood,
it'll burn. Hay, it'll burn. Stubble, it'll
burn. And every man's work is going
to be tried to see how he built on that foundation. We going
to build with silver and gold? The silver of Christ's redemption?
The gold of his deity? Are we going to make Christ to
be all? Are we going to build on man's works? Are we going
to build on man's worth? Are we going to build on man's
goodness? Are we going to build on man's free will? Man's self-righteousness? If you do, it's going to burn.
But if you build on Christ, The fire. I tell you what, that's
why God tries us now with the fire trials. You know why He
tries us? We're going to stay on Christ. We're going to trust
Christ and trust Him for everything. Or are we going to do something
else? Huh? Oh my. Alright, here's another
question. The fourth question. Look with me over here in Matthew
22. Matthew 22 and verse 41. And here's the situation here.
These Pharisees had come and asked him question after question
after question. They asked him, first of all,
about paying taxes. Then they asked him about the
resurrection. And then they asked him about the law and what the
law means. They asked him three questions.
And our Lord Jesus turned around and asked them a question. When
they shut up, verse 41, while the Pharisees were gathered together,
Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son
is he? They say unto him, Why, he's
the son of David. He's the son of David. Oh, what
think ye of Christ? You've got an opinion about me.
You've got an opinion about the Christ. You've got an opinion
about the Messiah that's to come. You think something about Him.
You're looking for Him to come. You're looking for Him to come
and save you. And whose son is He? Well, their
answer, the son of David, that's the correct answer. He was the son of David. According
to the flesh, He was the son of David. But that's not the
whole answer. He asked, what? Thank you, Christ,
the Messiah. They said, well, he's the son
of David. Well, if he's the son of David, here's the conclusion
they got to come to. As the son of David, he's the
rightful heir to the throne. Is that not right? God said,
I'll raise up a man to sit on your throne forever and ever
and ever. Solomon wasn't that king. And
so they come and he says, well, he's the son of David. If he's
the son of David, and he's the son of David, then that means
that he's the king. That means he's the rightful
king. That means he's the heir of the throne over all of Israel. Oh my. And that's, you know,
listen, that's another thing. There's a lot of people that
believe that Christ is not King right now. He won't be King until
He comes and sits on His throne in the Millennial Kingdom. If
he's not king now, who is he? Who in the world rules over us
and who reigns over us if he's not king? And that's what he
said. Oh, if you say I'm the son of David, I'm your king.
Remember when Herod heard that this under unit is born in the
city of David, there's this he that's born king of the Jews? And he sent men down there and
said, you go down there and kill every child under two years old. Because he wanted this king killed. And that's when they took our
Lord Jesus into Egypt. He wanted the born king of the
Jews. They said we'll kill all them
babies. We'll get that king. We'll not
have this man reign over us. We'll get rid of him before he
gets a chance. But look what our Lord said.
He asked them another question. He saith unto them, How then
does David, by the Spirit of God, and in his spirit, call
him Lord? If he's the son of David, why
does David call him Lord? Why does David acknowledge him
as his Savior? Why does David acknowledge him
as his Lord? Why does David say, this is my
Lord? And my Lord, Jehovah God, said
unto my Lord, my Savior, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. He said, if my Lord said unto
my Lord, look what he says now, sit, sit on my right hand. Oh, listen, this is what he said,
if you go to the son of David and go to sit him at his own,
why does David call him Lord? Why does David see him sitting
on his throne by the right hand of God himself? Until I make
you enemies, you footstool. Oh my! And if David then called him
Lord, how then is he David's son? Oh, they missed the whole thing.
He's the Son of David according to the flesh, but He's the Son
of God by Spirit. And He is God and man in one
blessed person. And that's the thing. He's born
King of the Jews. And He says, Set at My right
hand. How in the world did that happen? And they know the Scriptures.
This is Psalm 110. And they said, Oh my. And look what it says there in
verse 46. And no man was able to answer
him a word. We don't know the answer to that
question. Neither does any man from that day forth ask him any
more questions. He'll shut them out now. I'm
telling you, you don't have to shut them out. He knows how to
do it. And let me give you another one
real quick here. Look over here in Matthew 21,
23. Matthew 21, 23. Here's those questions you're asking. It said in verse
23, And when he was come into the
temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came
unto him as he was teaching. Now these are the big shots in
town. I mean, these are the fellas
that's got all the power and all the authority. And the chief
priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was
teaching. Now he's in the temple now. and
said, by what authority doest thou these things? Who gave thee
this authority? Where did you get the authority
to teach anybody anything? Where did you get this authority?
Who gave you this authority? I didn't. The people said, we
didn't give it to you. You didn't graduate from any
of our schools and our seminaries. You're not even a Pharisee. You're
not numbered among us. Who in the world gave you this
authority? In their mind, authority means that somebody's got to
be in control. Somebody's got to run this thing.
And they said, where in the world did you get this authority? They're
the ones with the power. They're the one with the authority.
And what they're saying is, you didn't get it from us. But our
Lord's always confounding the wise, makes them look like the
fools that they are. And look what he says to them
now. And he put a question to them. The baptism of John, where
did it come from? Was it from heaven? Or did men
give him this authority? And listen, they got off to themselves
and they went over here and started murmuring to themselves and started
reasoning among themselves and started talking among themselves.
Said, now wait a minute. If we say it's from heaven, then
they'll say, well, why didn't you believe on him? And if we
say it's of men, then we fear the people because they believe
John was a prophet. What are we going to do? What are we going to do now?
If we say it's from heaven, our Lord's going to look at us and
say, well, why didn't you believe John? And if we say if it's a man,
everybody in the world is going to be mad at us because I tell
you what, they believe that John was a great prophet. So what
in the world are we going to do in this situation? What are
we going to do? And oh my, and that's what they
said. They answered and said unto him,
verse 27. We can't tell. There ain't no kind of answer
we can give that's going to make us look good. There's no answer
we can give that's going to acknowledge that Christ has got all the authority.
There's no answer we can give. He's got us hemmed up in a corner. He has made the wise look so
foolish. And we cannot tell. He said unto
them, well I ain't going to tell you by what authority I do these
things either. You can't tell me, you can't
answer me, I'm not going to answer you. I'm not going to answer
you. Oh my. My, my, my. Well, let me give
you, here's the sixth question. John 8, 46. Here's the sixth
question. Here's the sixth question. John 8, 46. You know, this is where the Lord
Jesus Christ came. And told them, know the truth
and the truth will set you free. And they said, well, man, we've
never been in bondage to anybody. We're Abraham's children. Our
Lord said, if you were, you'd do what Abraham did. You'd believe
God. And let's start here in verse 42. Jesus said unto them,
if God were your father, you would love me. That's one way
you can tell God you're a father. Do you love Christ? Do you love
Christ? There is a name I love to hear.
I love to sing his word. Sounds like music in my ear.
The sweetest name on earth. Oh, how I love Jesus. And look
what he goes on to say. For I proceeded forth and came
from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not
understand my speech? Oh, they understood his words.
They understood it. He says, you know why you can't
hear it? You can't understand my speech because you don't have
the ability to hear what I'm saying. You don't hear what I'm
saying. You don't understand what I'm
saying. You don't want to understand what I'm saying. You are of your
father the devil, and the lust of your father you'll do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and he abode not in the truth,
because there's no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And then
he said, and because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Now, here's the question. Which
of you convinces me of sin? Now you folks say you're a bust
in, you say you're law keepers. You say you stay in that temple
and you pray three times a day and you fast and bake guys with
everything you got. And here you are, you're finding
fault with me. You won't hear anything I got
to say. You can't hear what I got to say. You don't believe me
and I tell you the truth and you say, well, we're not in bondage.
Truth will make you free. Well, we don't need to be free.
We're not sinners. We're not in any kind of a bondage.
And that's exactly the condition most people are in. I had folks
tell me, my own children say, Daddy, I know I need to come.
I know I need to come. Well, if you know you need to
come, why don't you come? You're not going to be saved
without the gospel. God's not going to speak to you apart from
His Word and apart from His Gospel, apart from a preacher. He's not
going to do it. And that's what they said here.
They said, oh my. He said, oh, which of you convinces
me of sin? It's easy to convince me of sin.
My own heart tells me I'm a sinner. My mind tells me I'm a sinner.
My actions tell me I'm a sinner. The Scriptures tell me. But He
said, which one of you is going to convince me of it? Tell me
where you've seen me sin. Tell me where you've seen me
say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, treat somebody not the
right way. Tell me where you saw me do something
that wasn't perfect, wasn't glorious, wasn't God honoring, wasn't the
truth. Have you seen me do anything
like that? Where did you ever see me do anything that you'd
look and say, that man there, boy, he's not who he says he
is? I heard him really getting on
somebody one day. I heard him straightening somebody
out. I heard him say one thing to one people and sort of say
something else. He says, which of you ever heard
me do anything like that? Our Lord Jesus Christ, what a
blessed hope, glorious thing that He's sinless. Men debate
whether He could have sinned or not sinned. There's no debate
about it. He didn't. He didn't. We have a high priest
who is tempted in all points like us, yet without sin. Oh my, and he says, and here's
the thing, here's what upsets you. If I say the truth, why
do you not believe me? Why don't you believe me if I
tell you the truth? Now here's where we are. Here's where we
are right now. You tell me if this is not you
and me. He that is of God, begotten of
God, called of God, saved by God, elected of God, born of
God, if he that is of God heareth God's words. Are you of God? Do you hear His
words? He said, Paris said, you can't
hear. You therefore hear them not. You know why you don't hear
them? Because you're not of God. You know why people don't receive
the gospel? Why they don't believe the gospel?
Why they're going to continue on in their self-righteous ways? They're not of God. They're not
of God. They're not of God. And oh my,
bless His holy name. No sin. No sin. If He had a sin,
then He couldn't be our Savior, could He? Was anything wrong
with him? He couldn't have saved us. Here's
the last question. John 6. And this is a question of questions. Look right here. Here's the last
question. Start at verse 66. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. And he asked this question,
will you also go away? Will you also go away? What precipitated
this question? Well, our Lord told him that
he is that bread that came down from heaven. their fathers did
eat manna in verse 58 the fathers did eat manna in the wilderness
and they're dead but he that eats this bread this bread of
life this bread that came down from heaven and Philip said Lord
evermore give us this bread and these things said he in the synagogue
as he taught in Capernaum many of his disciples when they had
heard this they said this is a hard saying that's a hard saying
We've got to eat His flesh and drink His blood? We've got to
live by Him? Live on Him? Have Him to be everything? He's got to be our food, He's
got to be our drink, He's got to be our everything? And oh
my, they heard that and said, this is a hard saying. Who in
the world can hear it? Who can understand it? When Jesus
knew in Himself that His disciples murmured, He said, Does this
offend you? Do you stumble over this? Does
this hurt your feelings? Does this make you mad at Me,
angry at Me, and turn from Me? If that offends you, well, you
wait and see what's going to happen. If you see the Son of
Man ascend where He was up before, wait until you see the Son of
Man go back to glory and set in God's right hand. And look
what He goes on. It's the Spirit that quickens.
It's the Spirit that gives life. It's the Spirit that gives us
life through we eat the bread of Christ and we drink His blood. And oh my, the flesh profits
nothing. And I tell you, you know it profits
nothing because it cannot do anything. The words that I speak
unto you, they are Spirit, they are life, and you don't believe
it. And He says, but there are some of you that don't believe.
for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not
and not only that, but who should betray him. He said, therefore,
do you remember I told you that no man, no man can come unto
me except it were given unto him of my father. When he told
him that, you know what happened? Crowd around him, big crowd around
him. They just start walking away. The scripture says they, what
does it say? They walked no more with Him. Oh my! Walked no more with Him. Walking with Christ, talking
with Christ, following Christ, hearing what He had to say. and
they walked no more with him. Went back. Then, said Jesus, twelve left,
and he looked at those twelve, and he said this, will you also
go away? You gonna go too? Have I hurt
your feelings? Is this too hard a saying for
you? You don't want my flesh? You don't want my blood? You
don't want that manna that comes down from heaven and live forever? And this is the only answer we
can give. This is the only answer we can
give. Then says Simon Peter and answered him, Lord, Lord, to
who shall we go? Oh, Lord, to whom shall we go? To whom shall we go? To the Pharisees? To the Sadducees? To the temple? To the law? Oh, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Listen to this. Thou hast the
words, the words the words of eternal life. The words that
you speak, they're life. They give life to me. They quicken
my heart. They quicken my soul. They give
me life. And look what he, this is a confession
he makes. Not only that, and we believe
and are sure, sure of this, that thou art that Christ, the Son
of the living God. Oh my. That's seven good questions,
ain't it? And he exposed men's hearts where
they were. And you know the only ones that
stayed with him, the only ones that followed him, the only ones
that listened to him, was those that are of God. They hear God's
Word. Huh? Oh my. Seven questions. Seven questions. Our Father, O our Father, in
the blessed name of Christ our Lord, thank you for meeting with
us today. Thank you for your word. Thank
you for these precious truths that you revealed to us, made
us to know them, enable us to believe them. God, bless them
to our hearts, bless them to our understandings, bless them
to our memory. And O Lord, please, for Christ's
sake, Save you people in this place, for we know that he's
of God. He hears what God's got to say.
And if they hear what God's got to say, and they hear God's words,
and they understand it, they believe it, enable them, by your
blessed grace, to confess that to your glory. To your glory. Obey ye in the word. We ask these
things in Christ's holy name. Amen. Amen. Did you hear what?