Our lesson this morning will
be taken from the first eight verses of Luke chapter 20. Luke chapter 20. The subject of the lesson And
what I chose to title the lesson is, A Religion Without Answers. Let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 20, beginning with verse 1. And it came to pass that on one
of those days, now remember last week, he had rode into Jerusalem
on the wild ass's coat, fulfilling Scripture, They were throwing
palm branches down in front of him and throwing their clothes
in front of him and crying, Hosanna to the King. The King has come. They were recognizing him as
the promised Messiah. And then he entered into the
temple and there he began to drive out the money changers
and overturn their tables and drive out the livestock that
they brought in there to sell for sacrifices. And then after
that, he began to teach in the temple. And that's what this
lesson's all about. It came to pass that on one of
those days when he was teaching, as he taught the people in the
temple and preached the gospel, The chief priest and the scribes
came upon him with the elders. And they spake unto him, saying,
Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? Or, Who is
he that gave thee this authority? He was in their house. The chief
priest lived there. That was their home. And he comes
in and turns that place upside down and just starts teaching.
And they said, who gave you this authority to do this? What authority
do you come in here and do this? And he answered, verse 3, and
said unto them, I'll also ask you one thing, and answer me.
The baptism of John, that is John the Baptist, was it from
heaven or from men? By what authority did John baptize? And they reasoned with themselves,
saying, if we shall say from heaven, he'll say, why then believe
you him not? Because they didn't believe John
the Baptist. They didn't accept or receive
John the Baptist. But, and if we say of men, all
the people will stone us, for they're persuaded that John was
a prophet. And so they answered, that they
could not tell whence it was. And Jesus said unto them, neither
tell I you by what authority I do these things. Now these verses fall on the
heels of our Lord's purging the temple. And this purging was
an example of His deity as our Savior. I'm telling you, you
didn't cross this bunch This was the most evil of men. You didn't cross this bunch,
they'd take you out and stone you. This was an example of our Savior's
deity. God's authority in Him over men. I can't explain that to anybody. The first time I heard Henry
Mahan. Henry Mahan and I are about the
same height. He might be just a hair shorter than me. He wasn't a big man. Don Fortner was a big man. His
size intimidated people, but not Henry. Henry's size didn't
intimidate anybody. But I tell you, when I saw him,
I sensed the authority of God in that man. I can't explain that. Why is
it some men God puts in your heart a reverence for him. You
realize this man ain't playing games. This man is a servant
of God. And I'm going to leave him alone. I'm going to listen to him. Now
I can't do that to anybody, but God does. He does. Paul said, I know your election
of God. You become followers of us and
the Lord. He purged the temple and manifested
God's authority in him over men. And I read here, no resistance
to his overturning of the money changers' tables. He come in
and just started. Man, the first time he did it,
he came in and sat down and flatted a whip and beat him out of the
temple. This time he doesn't mention the whip, but he overturned
the tables. He forbade those that were in
there selling to so much as carry a vessel through there. Don't
you even carry a vessel through here. This is God's house. This
is my house. And I don't read of any resistance. He drove the beast from the temple.
both man and animal. And He forbade them to so much
as carry a vessel. And I expect that His disciples
looked upon it just that way. He has God's authority in Him.
And this is an example of the irresistible power of God. Jesus
of Nazareth was a man approved of God. What's that mean? Well, it means officially accepted,
agreed on, proved to be. the Son of God. Proved to be the Christ. And
He proved it by miracles and wonders and signs which God did
by them in their midst. They saw Him. He was a man in
every sense of the word. He was a man. He wasn't a big
man. He wasn't an intimidating man.
But He had the authority of God. And they saw His miracles and
talked to those who were healed by Him and witnessed fulfilling
of the Scriptures concerning these things, but they would
not be persuaded that He was the Christ. Now there came a time in my life
when I needed answers. For the first time in my life,
I began to ask some questions, serious questions. Hell become a reality, judgment
become a reality. Sin become a reality. I had questions,
serious questions. And as I'd been taught from a
child, I went to the religion of my father for some answers,
and I was shocked to discover they didn't have any. They couldn't
answer a single question that I asked them. And that was just
the beginning of the realization of false religion. False religion
has behind it the power of Satan. Well, what kind of power is that?
Deception. That's the power. Satan doesn't
have power over men to do all the things that Hollywood depicts.
Satan's power over men is deception. In the garden, when the woman
talked about the fruit, we're forbidden to eat. Oh, no, no,
no. You'll be all right. You'll be
all right. She was deceived. That's His power. And especially
men with a fallen nature. He can twist your mind and heart,
your reasoning to where plain statements in the Word of God
seem contrary to the truth. Doesn't He? He sure does. And that was just the beginning
of the realization. Our Lord said to them, they said,
wait a minute, we'd be not born of fornication. We're not heathens.
We'd be not born of fornication. We had one father, even God. And the Lord said, if God was
your father, you'd love me because I'm God. I come forth from the
Father. He that seeth me seeth the Father. You're of your father the devil.
Boy, don't you know they got a lump in their throat when he
said that. These holy men, holy in their own eyes. The lusts,
the desires of your father you will do. Now, I want you to hear
me. False religion doesn't know that
it's false. That's what it means to be deceived.
Our Lord said there's going to come a time when these people
think they're doing God a service when they kill you. They're not going to plot your
death being evil men. They're going to think they're
doing God a service when they do this. Paul thought he was
doing God a service when he shot those papers and went down and
brought those men and women up to prison to be tortured and
die. He thought he was doing God a favor. when he stood and
held the coats of them that stoned Stephen to death. False religion doesn't know it's
false for the most part, but they're convinced that they are
the true servants of God. Read Romans chapter 2. He said,
I know what you believe. You believe you're the teacher
of babes. You're teachers of babes. You
think you're the servants of God. They told our Lord over in John
chapter 8, we'd be not born of fornication. But they were. And men and women who participate
and serve in false religion are deceived. Listen to the Scriptures. He said in Ephesians 4, 14, that
we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and the
cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive." That's
the power in false religion. Craftiness. Craftiness. The ability to... Peter said,
they're going to come into your church, and when they do, they're
going to come in unaware. You won't even know they came
in. You put your arm around them. Welcome, brother. Come sit right
here. Here, I'll tell you what. We're
going to have you teach a Sunday school class. They'll come in on a wire. You
ain't going to know it. They're not stupid, superstitious
heathens. They're highly intelligent men,
well-trained, backed by great organized bodies of men. And most have a well-rounded
knowledge of the scriptures. You want to talk to them about
scriptures, they can talk to you. and to have an outward form and
dress so that they looked the part. Clean cut, pay their bills,
moral. And this religious band that
came upon our Lord in the temple were imposters. They were wolves
in sheep's clothing. They were howling shepherds,
thieves and robbers of God. And in every way a fleshly heart
can reason, they appeared to be the servants of God. Even
our Lord's disciples defended them before Him and said, wait
a minute, don't you know you offended these men? Yeah, I know. I meant to. I meant to. But the one thing then and still
is today that exposes them to be the enemies of God is that
they have no wisdom of God. They know nothing of God. Jesus Christ and him crucified
is the wisdom of God. How can God be just and justify
a vile sinner in Christ crucified? That's it. Ain't no other way. Oh, well, he's going to do this
and he's going to do that. He justified in Christ. Is that right? As was said, he
was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. We've already been put on trial
and judged, put to death, and raised from the dead through
a substitute, through a representative. And now, Paul said, we're seated
with him in the heavenlies. They had no wisdom of God. Paul
said, we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews, the legalists,
the ones who believe in self-righteousness by the law. Unto the Jews, he
said, we're a stumbling block. This gospel of Christ is a stumbling
block. And unto the Greeks, foolishness,
foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God, now listen,
and the wisdom, the wisdom of God. False religion is a religion
void of understanding. Scripture said, having their
heart, their understanding darkened. They have counselors of all kinds,
going to any Big church in the land. They have counselors. They're
going to counsel you. Marriage counselors, parent counselors,
financial counselors. And they have philosophers and
lawyers and doctors of divinity. But they're ignorant of God and
ignorant of God's purpose, His power, and God's will. God doesn't
do anything except His will. That's what God does. And He
has His way in everything. He ain't having His way in my
life. Oh, yes He is. Oh, yes He is. Boy, I don't believe
nothing. I know. And He's having His way. And you've got no hope in your
way. Your only hope is going to be in His way. And Christ
said, I am the way. Isn't that what He said? For all they're having, they're
ignorant of God, ignorant of His purpose, His power, and His
will. Paul said, we preach the wisdom of God in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world under our glory, which none of
the princes, the wise men, the kings, the counselors, the rulers,
The doctors of divinity, which none of the princes of this world
knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified
the Lord of Glory. Worldly religion is a religion
without answers. Now they have a million questions,
and really they don't know the questions, but they have questions. Paul said they're proud. Listen
to this. They're proud. knowing nothing. Boy, don't that
describe us to a tee. Proud, knowing nothing. They're disputers of men of corrupt
minds who are destitute of truth. They don't know any truth. They
speak lies and hypocrisy. And our Lord, having purged the
temple of Everything these men had approved of is suddenly confronted
by the high council of Israel, the Sanhedrin. He's confronted with them. Now,
how many people is that? Over a hundred. All at once. The high priest, the chief priest,
the rulers of the people, the scribes, chosen Pharisees, they
all confronted him at one time in the temple. Not a few at a time, but the
entire Sanhedrin. And they demanded of him to answer
their questions concerning authority. Now the real question is one
put to the Romans when Paul wrote to them. And he said, thou wilt
say unto me, why doth he yet find fault? Now here's what you
say to men like this. Here's what Paul wrote. They tortured him. Imprisoned
him. He said, nay, but O man, who
art thou that replies against God? Huh? Shall the thing formed question
him who formed it? Huh? You going to put God on
trial? Who art thou? That's where true
wisdom begins. Who are you? There's a bunch of peanut men
dressed up to look like what they imagine the servant of God
ought to look like, demanding answers from the Son of God. And having the very wisdom and
authority of God, our Lord exercised His authority by asking them
this question concerning the baptism of John. Here's John. He was just a man. He wasn't
a God-man. He was the forerunner. He was
one who came before Christ to announce the coming of Christ.
And John starts something that nobody had ever done up to this
point. There was no ordinance of baptism. And John began to baptize. And
all Jerusalem and all the surrounding areas you did, they all went
out here in the wilderness to where John was. And here's these
uppity-ups in the temple and nobody's showing up. Reminds me of some of the campaigns
between Trump and Biden. Nobody showed up. You know, it
looks like I've seen more people to drive in theater than I saw
coming here to Raffles. And here they are, these are,
man, we got the reputation, we have the building, we have the,
where's the people? Oh, they're out there. They're
out there being baptized. Baptized? Who gave him the authority
to start a new ordinance? God did. And I tell you, when
God gives you the authority, it'll be, it'll come fast. Here comes the past. They couldn't answer them because
they cut their own throat. If they said from heaven, their
own unbelief would be exposed. If they said of men, the people
would have them stoned. I ain't questioning. How can a
sinner be just with God? I'm talking about when God reveals
sin to you, you realize what you are by nature. I know everybody's
broken the law. Everybody has not done something
or did something, whichever it is. That's not being convinced
of sin. Your conscience told you that
when you did it. And it told you that after you
did it. That's not conviction of sin. Conviction of sin is
when you realize what you are. It's not what I did, it's what
I am. Huh? That's it. Oh, how can somebody like me
be just with God? I can't do anything. Everything
I do is tainted with sin. My best prayers tainted with
sin. All my righteousnesses are as filthy rags before God. Man
at his best state, altogether vanity. How can a man be judged? That's the question. Ask them. They don't have an answer. Who
is this man Jesus of Nazareth? Why did he come? What did he
do? Where is he now? What's he doing? He said He came to fulfill the
will of the Father that sent Him. What's the Father's will?
What's He doing? Is God truly sovereign? Does
God really reign over everything that is? Huh? Does He set in motion the flat
plan of a bug? Is God really sovereign? Is there
none that can resist His will? That's what scripture says. He's
sovereign. Religion don't have an answer
to that. What is predestination? Boy, I asked them out. You want
to put a fly in the ointment? Ask them what predestination
is. That's what they told me. They
lost their breath when I asked them. Don't go there. The hidden
things belong to God. I said, I know, but this ain't
hidden. Huh? It's not hidden. Well, some
things are hidden. This ain't hidden. Things revealed in His words
are not hidden. But these are hidden. And I tell
you this, when John, he saw things that we'll never see until we
get to glory. And he was going to write them
down. And the Lord said, whoa, hold that pen. That's enough. don't write anymore. That's hidden
things. But the things in that book,
they're not hidden, they're revealed. They're stated clearly. What
is predestination? Religion don't have an answer.
They can't, they'll cut their own throat if they try to answer
it. What is salvation through a substitute? What is it to be
in Christ or Christ in you? Does man have a free will? What is the providence of God
and does God change or alter His will or His providence? Does
God use certain means to save sinners or does He just save
them anyway a man wants to be saved? I had questions, real
heartfelt questions and they had no answers. I have not seen,
listen to this, this is 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul said, we preach
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom ordained
before the world was under our glory. As it is written, eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him, but God hath revealed them unto us. Politicians and false prophets
need to guard their answers lest they lose their standing. But
true servants of God can answer questions from the Word of God
without fear. Without fear. And then notice this. Our Lord
was teaching people in the temple and preaching the gospel to them
when He was confronted by these men. Had He left? As he did three
years before, they would have dismissed that whole thing as
an unavoidable mishap and reinstated the money changers and sellers
and sacrificers back into the temple, all of whom they themselves received
a commission. He taught daily in the temple,
but the chief priests and the scribes and chief of the people
sought to destroy him and could not find, the scripture said,
what they might do, for all the people were very attentive to
hear him. He had something to say. Boy, every now and then comes
a man along that God's instructed and he has something to say.
And boy, the sinner perks up. Huh? This man's saying something. I might not understand all of
it, but he's saying something. And where this wisdom is taught,
it will always be challenged by false religion. Now watch this. The fence straddlers
made up a lie to protect their status and their reputations.
They said, we can't tell. We just can't tell. That was
a lie. We can't tell. John the Baptist, like one for
whom he was the forerunner, was a walking, talking fulfillment
of prophecy. The voice of one crying in the
wilderness. God said he would. And every
preacher in a way is a forerunner of Christ. When Christ appointed
the 70 and sent them out to preach for him, it says he sent them
before his face into every city and place whether he himself
would come. Isn't that something? Boy, I wouldn't preach if I didn't
believe that. What would be the point? And as forerunners of Christ,
like John, we are to stress to men and women to make straight
the way. Make it straight. And Christ
is the way. No man cometh unto the Father,
he said, but by me. And every preacher sent of God
has the authority of God behind him. And on many occasions, men
and women have asked, who does he think he is? Huh? You've had that asked you about
me. Who does he think he is? Who appointed him an ambassador
of God? Who does he think he is? Now
let me tell you something. Our Lord could have, he could
have whipped these men out of that temple the same as the money
changers. Couldn't he? I'm telling you,
those money changers wasn't the money we got. Old big men, rough
men. He whipped them out of the temple
with no resistance. And he could have whipped this
crowd out of the temple with no resistance. But it wouldn't
have fulfilled the will of God. And so he just put them to silence.
He put them to silence. God doesn't convict every false religious person. He don't. Sometimes he just leaves
them standing quiet, and that's what he did. He could have driven them out
as he did the beast they were trying to sell, but he didn't.
He simply exposed them for what they are and went about his business. There is but one way to convince
men of the truth, and that is to preach the gospel, and that's
what he did. That's what he did. And to wait
upon the Spirit of the living God to do for men what man can't
do for himself. Give him the gift of faith and
lead him to repentance. May the Lord teach us these things. Thank you.