Matthew chapter 27. And let's read verses 24 through 26. When
Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but rather a tumult
was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude,
saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it." Then answered
all the people and said to that accusation, to that declaration
that he made before. Then answered all the people
and said, His blood be on us and on our children. Then released
Him a rabbis unto them, and when He had scourged Jesus, He delivered
Him to be crucified. Every so often, men and women who are caught
off guard say things that expose them for what they really are. They expose, it exposes in them
those things which they deny. I'm not like that. I'm not like
that person you described. Now, every so often, in a certain
circumstance, that person will say something that exposes what's
really inside them. A couple of years ago, one of
our men was talking with a man who was trying to justify his
relative's hope, who had no interest whatsoever in the Gospel, and
who had rejected God's testimony of his son, And he'd become angry,
become angry at him. And he kept telling him, well,
the Scripture says, the Scripture says, the Scripture says, and
after a while he got mad and he said, I don't care what the
Scripture says. That exposes what's in the heart
of a man. He don't care what God has to
say. He don't care. But there's nothing
that I've ever read or heard that sends cold chills down my
back as what this angry, incited mob. They were incited. The elders
and high priests of Israel went out among them and incited these
people into a riotous state so that they were not going to have
Barabbas. They were going to have the Lord
Jesus and have Him crucified. Listen to what they said again.
Let these words ring clear in your mind. They said, let His
blood be on us and upon our children. Let death
and judgment, the death and judgment of this just man be laid to our
charge. This man which was hated, the
Scripture said, without a cause. Without a cause. Men and women
come here all the time. They're angry at this Jesus that
I describe and set before Him without a cause. There's no cause
to be. He's full of love. He's full of mercy. He's full
of grace. He's full of compassion. He's full of kindness. But He's
just because the God who sent Him and the God who's in Him
and He was God is just and holy. And so that those who despise
Him, they hate Him without a cause. Listen to this here in John chapter
15. I don't know if you've ever had this brought to your attention
before or not. But our Lord brought this charge
against the Sanhedrin, the High Council of Israel, and the elders
of Israel who rejected Him. They rejected Him as He was set
forth of God. They rejected Him. And listen
to what our Lord tells them here in John 15, verse 22. He said, if I had not come and
spoken unto them, they had had no sin. That is,
they wouldn't have that sin of rebellion and that sin of rejection
and that which they exposed in their heart. He said, if I hadn't
spoken to them and declared to them who I was, they wouldn't
be guilty of that. But now, He said they had no
cloak for their sin. It's out and open now. He that
hateth Me hateth My Father also. If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they had had no sin. But now have they both seen and
hated both Me and My Father. And that's what's going on here
at the cross. They hated this man Jesus Christ because of the
way God set him forth was contrary to their traditional understanding
of who and what this Christ should be. They hated him because he
said he was one with the Father. This is God. He is the God-man. He is completely, totally God
and yet completely, totally man. They hated him because he preached
a spiritual kingdom. And they hated him because he
declared himself to be the Lord. I don't know of anything that
incites a natural man more than that. That Jesus Christ sits
upon the throne of glory as absolute Lord. And they hated him because
he would not sanction or practice their tradition. They despised
him for it. And not only he didn't practice
them, but he told his disciples not to follow after him in the
practice of those things. And they hated him because he
exposed them as evil men. And being stirred up and incited
by the elders, the chief priest, and all the people cried in one
voice, let his blood be upon us and upon our children. Now if that don't bring cold
chills down your back, There's something wrong with your perception
of God. I've got four things this morning,
four accusations, if you will, concerning what this mob of angry
men and women said concerning the blame of the death of Jesus
Christ. And the first thing I want you
to see is that this declaration was the result of the influence
and intimidation of anti-Christ religion. That's what it is. That's what our Lord called those
men Antichrist. His disciples called those men
Antichrist, and they were Antichrist. They were against the Christ
of God. That's what Antichrist is. And they went out and intimidated
the people. In verse 20 of Matthew chapter
27, it said, But the chief priests Now, this is not a few rogue
rebels out of the nation of Israel. This is the high priest. This
is the choice. Not the high priest, but the
chief priest. This is the elders. This is the
elders of Israel. And they persuaded the multitude
that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. In Mark 15,
verse 11, it said, But the chief priest moved the people. He moved the people. He incited
them that they should rather release Brabus unto them. And then in Luke 23, verse 23,
it says this, And the voices of them and the chief priest
prevailed. Prevailed. A man is dead spiritually. He said, There is none that understandeth,
none that seeketh after God. I Corinthians 2.14 said, The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
their foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they
are spiritually discerned. And it is this folly nature that
makes him a prime target for Satan and his Antichrist religion. Preacher, don't you think that
is going a little too far? Don't you think that's going
a bit too far to say that the religion of this world is possessed
with the spirit of Satan? Don't you think that's... No,
I don't. Not at all. I think that's exactly according
to the Scriptures. Turn with me to John chapter
8. Now let me be clear on what I'm saying. I'm saying that any
religious leader, any group of leaders, or denomination that
rejects the Lord Jesus Christ as God has set Him forth in the
Holy Scriptures, are Antichrist. And they are possessed with that
spirit of Antichrist which is none other than Satan himself. Now let's look at this and see
if I can make good on that statement. John 8, verse 41. Our Lord looked at them, and
He said, You do the deeds of your father. Now, they've been
claiming that Moses was their father, and Abraham was their
father, and all of the old men, the old patriarchs of God, these
are our fathers out here. And He said, You do the deeds
of your father. Then said they unto him, We be
not born of fornication. We have one Father, even God. Verse 42, Jesus said unto them,
If God were your Father, you'd love Me. For I proceeded forth
and came from God, neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My
speech? Even because you cannot hear
My word, ye are of your Father." What's that say? The dead. Ain't that what that says? And
the lust of your father you will do. That's what you do. That's
how I know you're children of Him, because you obey Him. You
follow Him. You receive what He teaches.
You bow to Him. And He was a murderer from the
beginning and a bowed knot in the truth, because there's no
truth in Him. When He speaketh a lie, He speaketh
of His own, for He's a liar. and the father of it. Do you
remember what the Scripture said about Judas before he betrayed
Christ? Our Lord said, that one who takes
the sop, they asked him who it was going to be. He said, the
one that takes the sop. And after Judas took the sop,
what did it say? Satan entered into him. Isn't
that what that says? This is the betrayer of Christ. In Ephesians 2, verse 2, talking
about the fallen state of natural men, those dead in trespasses
and sins, he said, they walk according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, making
us all by nature the children of wrath, even as others. So
here's the first accusation I bring against this angry mob. They've
been influenced and intimidated by anti-Christ religion. Nobody,
nobody who not blinded, if our gospel be hid, it's hid to the
lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded their minds,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine
unto them. Intimidated. Nobody would stand
before God in the judgment of His Son and say, let His blood
be on us. My second indictment concerning
this angry mob is that what they are doing is a sure evidence
of God's judgment upon them. In John 3.36 it said, he that
believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abideth on him. And again, I point you to Ephesians
2 and verse 3, which is a reminder to every saved man and woman
that at one time they were by nature. That's where He found
us, in their company. We were right there in that multitude.
Right there in that multitude. He said, crucify Him. Crucify
Him. Solomon said, the heart of the
sons of men is full of evil and madness is in their heart while
they live. Only a madman would say such
a thing. Let the blood of this man Jesus, let His blood be on
us. And not just us, but on our children. And there's no need to individually
scrutinize every man. Well, that was for that age.
That was for that people. That was that crowd gathered
there. Oh, no. There's no need to. to individually
scrutinize every man. Here's a nucleus of all men gathered
here at the crucifixion of Christ. Rich and poor and educated and
uneducated, Jews and Gentiles, religious and heathen, clergy
and laity, kings and beggars, free men and prisoners, all gathered
here at the cross. Here's a nucleus of all men.
And here's the thoughts. that is on the heart and in the
mind of every man. This man is guilty. We don't
want him. Away with him. Give us Barabbas. That is what our Lord is talking
about over here in John 3 verse 19 when He said, This is the
condemnation that light has come into the world, and men love
darkness rather than light. That is why they chose Barabbas.
And then the third charge I make against this angry mob is that
their cry for His blood to be charged to them is the sure evidence
of their ultimate rejection of Him. We will not have this man
reign over us. They're not going to have Him.
They're not going to have Him. And I've known a multitude of
men and women in my lifetime who have totally rejected the
Christ of Scripture. Totally rejected Him. They have
a Christ. They have a Savior. They have
another Jesus. But they know nothing of the
Christ of God. And they treat Him as though
He was an imposter. Their reaction to Him is as though
He was an imposter. And that's this angry mob looking
at Him. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
23. I make this charge against any man or woman who has heard
the gospel of Jesus Christ and rejected that testimony to cling
to another. You have as much as said with
this mob, let his blood be on my hand. Now watch this here
in Matthew 23, 32. Talking to these same men, these
same men who went out and incited this mob. Our Lord said, fill
ye up the measure of your fathers, because you are just like them.
You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape
the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto
you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them you
shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in
your synagogues and persecute them from city to city. Now listen,
that Upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the
earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias,
son of Barthias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar."
Just like them. Just like them. The nature of
sin is the same in every man, and anything any man has ever
done is in your heart in principle. It's in your heart and nature,
and it's in you by potential. And the only reason you haven't
done some of these things is because of the restraining hand
of God. Only he who now letteth will
let until he be taken out of the way, and then shall that
wicked be revealed. Then sin and its reality will
be revealed. I'm saying when you bow up and
reject the Christ, I preach to you that I sit before you in
the plain testimony of the Word of God. You're saying to God,
let this man's blood be on me. Let it be on me. Peter brought this accusation
against Israel at Pentecost. He said, let all the house of
Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom
you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2.37, listen to this. When
they heard that, when they heard that, have you ever heard that? You ever heard that? God the
Holy Spirit ever spoke that to you? When they heard this, they
were pricked in their hearts and they said unto Peter and
the rest of the apostles, what are we going to do? What are
we going to do? Our hands are gripping with the
blood of Christ. What are we going to do? What
are we going to do? And then here's the fourth thing. The hope of the gospel was seethed
through the mouth of those who despised Him. They didn't mean
it to be heard that way. They were not trying to accomplish
that end. But is this not the hope of the
gospel? That His blood be upon us? Isn't that the hope of the gospel?
Turn with me to Acts chapter 3. Let me see if I can show you
something of the wisdom and sovereignty of God at work, even over this
wicked mob that cried for our Lord to be crucified. Acts 3,
verse 13. The God of Abraham, and of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified His Son
Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied Him in the presence
of Pilate when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied
the Holy One, and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted
unto you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised
from the dead, whereof were all witnesses. And his name, through
faith in his name, hath made this man strong, whom you now
see and know. Yea, the faith which is by him
hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of y'all. Now
listen to what Peter says next. And now, brethren, I want that
through ignorance you did it, as did also your rulers. But
those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all
his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye, therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times
of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. God took all that they did, all
who were there, all of the deception and ignorance and evil spirits
and heathen power, and in Acts 4 verse 28, did what His hand
and His counsel determined before to be done. And what He did resulted
in the salvation of 3,000 souls, most of which was in the mob,
saying, let His blood be on us and on our children. That's the
wisdom and sovereignty of God at work. Peter saw how nothing
could prevent the redemption of God's people, but rather work
toward that redemption. And all the resisting they could
muster was used of God to save the souls of His elect. some
of which were in this very crowd. And seeing God's hand in this
work, Peter said in Acts 4.29, And now, Lord, having seen what
the Lord did in all of this, he said, And now, Lord, behold
their threatenings. They are still out here threatening.
They're still out here making those accusations. They're still
out here inciting the people and doing all these things. And
grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they might
speak thy word. Because He knew that even in
their rejection of Christ, God's still going to redeem His people.
The very blood which we have in times past, own to be upon
our own heads. has been mixed with the precious
oil of the Holy Ghost and made to be that which now purges our
conscience and converts our souls. We cry in a whole new light,
let His blood be upon us and upon our children. But we cry
at seeing that full redemption of Christ. May the Lord be pleased
to make it so on every soul here this morning.