Turn back to Matthew chapter
26. The title of the message is this,
What Everyone Will See Hereafter. What Everyone Will See Hereafter. What we are seeing here in these last chapters
is the fulfillment of all the Scriptures. God is good for His
Word. He will do exactly as He said. Isaiah 53 especially comes to
my mind. That's the reason I read it to
you earlier. We see the Lamb of God led as
a sheep to the slaughter. And that's just what it was.
Isaiah put it right. It was a slaughter. Look over in Isaiah 52. In verse 13, the Lord says, Behold, give attention
to this, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted
and extolled and be very high. But then he says, as many were
astonished at thee. His visage, appearance, was so
marred, it was so marred from the beating, from the beating,
more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. It was a slaughter. Some have
called this a slaughterhouse religion. It is. It is. What was it Moses' wife
said after she had to circumcise her son? You know, God thought
Moses was going to kill him for not circumcising his son. And so she did. She circumcised their son. And she said to Moses, She was
upset. She didn't want to do that. She
said, you are a bloody husband. And our Lord is a bloody husband. He is a bloody husband. It's
by His blood. It's by the blood of our husband
that we are saved. That we are redeemed. That we
are washed. Yes, it is a slaughter. We also
will see His creation. spit in his face. I don't know that there's anything
that you can do to another human being to show your hatred of
them than to spit in their face. And they mocked him. We're going
to see this. And we see them slap him just
as the Word of God said. just as it predicted, prophesied.
You would have thought that when the Son of God came into this
world, we would be happy, wouldn't we? You would think that it would
have been the most joyous occasion that could have ever happened
when the Son of God came into this world. Instead, we despised
Him. We rejected Him. mocked Him,
cleared our throats, and spit in His face. That's what His
creation did to Him. And we will see that men did
what their wicked hearts wanted to do to Him. But at the same time, at the
same time, they did what God purposed to be done. Nothing
is out of control. Nothing is out of control. The
mob is under his authority, his control. Now it says in verse
1, they led him away. Does that not jump out at you?
They led him away. They did not, now listen, they
did not drag him away. He did not resist. He did not
fight. They led him away as the Scripture
said in Isaiah 53, 7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shears his dung, so he opened
not his mouth. He's brought. He's led. How will
he? How willing our Lord was to go
to Calvary and to die and to redeem a multitude of sinners. What love can you? That's love
that passes our understanding. Totally, totally goes over any
kind of human understanding. That kind of love. That kind
of love. They have taken him to the slaughter.
Have you ever been to a slaughterhouse? I have. I've been to a slaughterhouse
when I was a younger boy. It's not a pretty sight. I watched
one time, I can remember this. I remember watching my dad when
I was just a little fella, but old enough to barely remember,
but I remember it. I watched him and my uncle slaughter
a hog. I watched them cut the throat,
cut open the belly. I don't need to go on, do I?
I watched that as a little kid. And I remember it had an effect
on me to watch them slaughter that hog. And our Lord is going
to the high priest. He's going to be taken there.
And you know what happens. He's going to be slaughtered.
He's going to be slaughtered. But while they take him there,
they lead him there, Peter follows him afar off. He wants to see
what they are going to do to his Lord. It says there, he wants
to see the end. I thought, well, he sees the
end now. He's with Him in glory. That's the end. As our glorification,
our redemption is to be with Him forever. But he wanted to
see what they were going to do to him at that time. But he also
followed him afar off because he was afraid. He let Peter now be Peter. I thought of this. You know,
Peter feared for his safety. That's the reason he followed
afar off. If you go over some time and read in the book of
Judges of Samson, Do you know when he was strong? When the
Spirit of the Lord was upon him. You can read in Judges 14, he
kills this lion and it says the Spirit of the Lord came upon
him mightily. And another time, he kills Philistines
and the Spirit of the Lord, it says, came upon him. Who was
his strength? Where was his strength? The Lord. It was the Lord. If He withdraws
His hand for just a second, you and I would tremble like little
children. Fear, afraid, be scared to death
of anything. Our strength is and always will
be the Lord Himself. The Scripture teaches us this.
He is our strength. He's our strength. But it mentions
Peter here just briefly, just throws us in right here, because
of what's going to happen, and we'll look at it, Lord willing,
next week. Peter denies him. We just get
a brief sight here. And one of the things that Peter
did, he went in and he sat down with
the servants, the high priest servants. Nothing good ever comes
out of that. You go sit down with the wrong
crowd, I promise you, you will not make them better. You'll
not make them better. You have what they have. They
don't have what you have. You have their old nature. They
don't have your new nature. And Peter went in and he sat
down with them. And this is where he ends up denying the Lord. Verse 59. Verse 59, here we have The best of men at that time,
you know, this is supposed to be the best of men. These are
the most orthodox in religion. These are the ones who are supposed
to uphold all the ceremonies, the types and the pictures and
the law. These are the ones who have that. So what we have here
is the best of men looking for false witnesses. They are not looking for someone
who can back up what they are suspicious of, but they are looking
for false witnesses. They don't care. If you can lie
and make it stick, come in. We can use you. And this shows
us this, that religion without Christ is nothing, it is absolutely
nothing more than a gathering of devils. That's all it is. Did our Lord not look at them
one day and say, you are of your father the devil. These are the ones who professed,
I mean professed to know God. These are the ones who professed
to do the services of God and Christ said you're a bunch of
devils. They were as crooked as the people
they condemned. Turn over to Romans chapter 2. In Romans chapter 2, look in
verse 21. which teacheth another." You
teach. You call yourself a teacher.
Teacheth thou not thyself? Don't you learn anything? Haven't
you learned anything from your own teaching? Don't you teach
yourself also? You know, I stand here and preach every week. I'm not just preaching
to you. I'm preaching to me too. I'm preaching to me too. Thou
that preachest, a man should not steal. Dost thou steal? Thou that say'st a man should
not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? They were guilty
of that. Thou that abhor'st idols, dost
thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of
the law through breaking the law, dishonest thou God? They were as dishonest, our Lord
is saying here, you're as dishonest as the people you condemn. But let me point something out
here also. The law said, over in Romans there, you know, thou
that teachest, don't you teach yourself? You preach, don't you
preach to yourself? The law said there had to be
at least two witnesses, at least two witnesses before there could
be capital punishment. Before any man could be put to
death, there had to be at least two witnesses. They found none. They found none. And the two
that they did come up with, it says they found many witnesses,
but none of them agreed. You know, many false witnesses
came forward, but none of them agreed. Well, finally, they found
two. And they lied, of course, they said, this fellow in verse
61, this fellow said, I'm able to destroy the
temple of God and build it again in three days. Well, over in
John chapter two, verse 10, you see where the Lord said, destroy
this temple. You destroy this temple. He didn't
say he was going to destroy the temple of God. He said, you're
going to destroy the temple of God and I'm going to raise it
up. Speaking of his own body, not speaking of that temple made
of stone. But they twisted it. So what
they did here, they finally come up with two witnesses, and Mark
says over in Mark 14.59, but neither so did their witness
agree together. Even what they said, they couldn't
even agree together. It's the thing about lying, you
have to remember how you told it, and so if you can't get together
on it and write it down and memorize it, you're in trouble. They just couldn't even agree
together. It says in verse 60, but they found none. Though many
came forward, they found none. Our Lord is the spotless Lamb of God.
Now, I would say that any one of us could be condemned for something.
I mean, we can be condemned for many things. I mean, you can
find witnesses out there that can come in and say, I know,
I knew John when he was a teenager. I knew him when he was this age. We can do that throughout here.
But not one person, not one person could find one fault in this
man after living for 33 years. Not one witness could be found
against him. What a perfect life. What a spotless Lamb of God. He knew no sin. Man could not
find fault in Him. Pilate. He said, I find no fault
in him. What am I supposed to do here?
He's an innocent man. You're wanting me to kill him.
Satan came. The Lord said, Satan came and
hath found nothing in me. You think he'd find something
in me? You? The tent? To lay his teeth into? But when he came to our Lord, Our master, our redeemer. Listen, our redeemer. This is
good news. When he came to him, he found
nothing in him. What's amazing, when he came
to Adam, Adam was perfect. He found something in him to
get a hold of. And he found. But when he came
to Christ, he found nothing in him to get a hold of. Absolutely
nothing. And God found no fault in him. That says something. The scrutinizing eye of God found not even a spot
in him. Not even a spot. However, for redemption to be
accomplished, The Lamb of God must die. The Lamb must be slaughtered. Blood must be shed. Without the
shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. But let it be known that they
found no fault in Him. They found none. But what they
did do is, in verse 61, as I already read to you, they twisted His
words. They took what he said and then said what he didn't
say. Isn't that human? They just twisted it, turned
it around. I believe one of the reasons
that men keep translating the Bible is to try to get it to
say what they want it to say. That's why you keep having translation
after translation after translation. Sooner or later we'll get this
thing to say what we want. That's the purpose of all Continual
translations. This is the only one I've got,
and that's the only one I'm going to have. I believe this is the
Word of God. You say, well, it makes it more
simple, you know, easier to understand. You can't understand it if they
put it in Spot Chase Jane's language. I mean, that's what I ain't first
grade. See Spot Run. I don't know if
any of you all had that. I know some of you had it. I
don't care if you put it in that language, you can't understand
it. It has to be revealed. God has
to give an understanding. Like Frank said, I see. You can
sit here for years, hear us read the Word of God, hear us preach
the Word of God, and unless He gives you life and eyes and ears,
you'll never see it. You'll never see it. They twisted
His words. They lied on Him. And our Lord, in the midst of
all this, there in verse 62, kept silent. His silence, there in verse 62
and 63, His silence, listen, His silence amazed the high priest. You know, most people, if you
accuse them of something, and they're not guilty of it, because
I know I've done, you know, somebody accused me of something I'm not
guilty of, and I said, you're crazy. I didn't do that. You know, our Lord didn't say
a word. Even Paul defended himself. Our Lord didn't say a word. He
opened not his mouth. He did not. That priest didn't
realize that Christ's silence was fulfilling the Scriptures. His silence even fulfilled the
Scriptures. Isaiah said, He opened not His
mouth. And here He stands and He opens
not His mouth. He's fulfilling the Scriptures.
In silence He fulfilled the Word of God. Everything our Lord did
had a purpose. Even His silence had a purpose.
Nothing was wasted. Nothing. That high priest said, I adjure
thee, I swear by God, I swear by the living God, I adjure thee
by the living God, tell us if thou be the Christ, the Son of
God. See, he didn't ask him all these
charges to defend himself against these charges, but when he asked
him, are you the Son of God? Are you the Messiah? I swear
by the living God, tell me. That's what Christ said, I am.
He said, thou hast said, you said it, you're right. You're
right. Our Lord, and this just stood
out at me, our Lord respected that office so much that when
a tyrant, you see, this Caiaphas was put in by the Roman government.
They put this man in as the high priest. He was their puppet.
But our Lord respected this office so much that when this man said,
I swear by the living God, you tell me. He told him. He told him. He said in verse 64, Thou hast
said, or Thou hast rightly said, or I am. I am the Christ, the
Son of God, nevertheless. Oh, that's so important. Nevertheless. In the face of
all you see, what did they see? What did they see? They saw a
weak man. They saw a poor man. They saw
a captured man. They saw, they were going to
see anyway, a beaten man, a crucified man. They were going to see a
dead man. But nevertheless, whatever you see, nevertheless, God. Whatever they do to him, he's
nevertheless. Separate that word, nevertheless. Whatever you do to me, the beating,
the slapping, the spitting, the crucifixion, it will nevertheless
leave. I'm nevertheless God. Nevertheless,
he said. Nevertheless. Nevertheless God.
His power is nevertheless. His glory is nevertheless. His
authority is nevertheless. And His victory is nevertheless. No matter what you see right
now. No matter what you do right now. It's nevertheless. This is not my demise. Well, that high priest didn't
realize at the time he was seeing God manifest in the flesh. He
was dealing with the Creator. He didn't realize that he was
talking to the true high priest of God. He didn't realize that
the one standing before him was the Lamb of God. He didn't realize
that the Day of Atonement that was upon them was going to be
made by this Lamb. This is the Passover Lamb. He
didn't realize standing before him is the Lord, our righteousness,
the Redeemer, our salvation. He didn't see that. He didn't
see that. What he saw was a broken down,
poor man captured and getting ready to be slaughtered. But nevertheless, nevertheless,
here, he's speaking of this high priest. Here is what you are
going to see, and everyone is going to see, hereafter. This
is what you are going to see from henceforward. Hereafter,
the Son of Man, this despised man, you will see. You will see
Me. They thought they were just going
to see Him put to death. He was going to be buried. No, He said, here is
what you are going to see hereafter. After this is over with. After
I have finished the work that I was given to do, here is what
you are going to see hereafter. You are going to see the Son
of Man sitting, reposed, resting at the right hand of power. He sees that now. He sees that
now. And you are going to see Him
coming in the clouds of heaven. You will see the victorious man. That's what you're going to see. You're going to see a glorified
man. You're going to see the reigning man. You're going to
see the God man. You're going to see the conquering
man. That's what you're going to see. You're going to see every
knee bowed to this man, this son of man. Our Lord assures
them. He's assuring Caiaphas. and every
one of them, and us, of His victory. This victorious man. Everyone
will see this man, this Son of Man. He didn't say Son of God,
because what did they see? What was Caiaphas looking at?
A man. And he said, you're going to
see this man, this Son of Man, sitting at the right hand of
power and coming in clouds of heaven. Turn over to Revelations chapter 20. Look in verse 11. Here's what
you're going to see. And I saw a great white throne,
and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth And the
heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books
were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book
of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave
up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man
according to his works." Who's the judge? This man. This man, this is who you're
going to see. He said, this is what you're
going to see hereafter. This is what you see now. A weak
man, a poor man, a man that's going to be beaten, a man that's
going to be crucified. But this is what you're going
to see after this is over with. The Son of Man seated at the right
hand of power. And then he says here in verse
65 and 66, let me go back here. What think ye? The high priest
here in verse 65, he says, Then the high priest ran his clothes,
saying, He hath spoken blasphemy. He finally said what I wanted
him to say, but I don't believe it. What further need have we of
witnesses? False witnesses. Behold, now
you've heard him. You've heard his blasphemy. Now,
what think ye? What do you think? He asked them what they think.
Now, what do you think? And what he's saying here, what do you
think? Is he guilty of death? And they cried, he is guilty. What think you? Is he guilty
or is he not guilty? Does he deserve to die? You know,
guilty means responsible for a wrong. It means having committed
an offense. Did he do that? Did he blaspheme? Did he blaspheme? That's what
he's saying. Did he blaspheme? If so, he's
worthy of death. Well, no, he did not blaspheme. No, he did not. The scripture
says he knew no sin. And he didn't blaspheme because
he is God. If he's not God, he's the greatest imposter that ever
stepped on this earth. But he's God. He's God. He knew no sin. And how could God let him be
condemned to die. This is the perfect man. This
is the perfect spotless Son of God. I'll tell you why. Because he's guilty. You know why? First of all, he's
guilty as a substitute. He became a substitute and that
made him guilty. When he was made sin, he became
guilty. When the sins of God's people
were laid on Him, He was found guilty. Do you know why He opened
not His mouth? All the charges were true. He knew no sin. Innocent. Yet, He's guilty. Because He's
standing there as a substitute for a multitude of sinners. Yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He knew no sin, and it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. How could that be? Because he
was made to be sin. And the sins of all God's children
were laid on him. And he stands there guilty because of the people he represented
were guilty. And then we got, in closing here,
we end with a picture of the human race. Here in verse 67, it says, The
high priest ran his clothes, saying, He has spoken blasphemy.
What further need have we of witnesses? Behold, now you have
heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered
and said, He is guilty of death. Then, this is what everyone, including
us, would do if God leaves us alone. If He leaves us alone,
leaves us as we were born in the nature we were born with,
this is what we would do. This is what we do to holiness.
This is what sin does to holiness. Then did they spit the servants
of the high priest, the low ones. They made nothing of him. They
cleared their throats and they spit in their Creator's face. They slapped Him. They said,
prophesy, tell us who slapped thee. If you're the Christ, then
you can tell us who slapped you. Well, I just read you Revelations
chapter 20. One day, one day at the great
white throne of judgment, this man, this son of man, The Son of Man is going to tell,
He's going to reveal to everyone who slapped Him. Everyone who
spit in His face. Everyone who hated Him. Everyone
who despised Him. He's going to tell it. He's going to tell it. For some, the hereafter is going to be
glorious. It's going to be glorious. That's
what we're here for is the hereafter. Looking forward to it. Looking
forward to seeing our Lord, our Redeemer, our Master. But for others, they are going
to cry, He said in Revelation, for the rocks and the mountains
to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. This is very real. This is what
we are going to see Hereafter. This way. Sitting at the right
hand of power. Okay, Mark.