A true gospel message most always
includes and declares these three things. The first being is how
holy is God? How holy is God? Secondly, how
sinful is man? That's an issue. And third, how
can a man be reconciled to God? God is holy. Man is sinful. How can the two be reconciled? Well, how holy is God? Exodus
15 says, Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is
like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? God is glorious in holiness. And that's to say that the essence
of God's glory is His holiness. Holiness is His nature. God is
holiness and holiness is God. Holiness is not one of God's
many attributes. Holiness is the essence of all
God's attributes. But what is holiness? Who can
define it? Well, many think or have the
idea that it has something to do with moral purity. perfection
to the word holiness and certainly anyone who is holy must be morally
pure and perfect. But moral purity does not begin
to describe the meaning of God's holiness. It is the supreme,
absolute greatness of God. which sets him apart from and
infinitely above all his creatures. Scott Richardson, a dear pastor
who recently passed away, once said that holiness has something
to do with wholeness. Wholeness. The holiness of God
is the whole perfect being of God. All that God is, is holy. And we know that the Bible was
God's inspired word and it reveals a perfectly holy God. The scriptures are called the
Holy Bible. God's angels are called the holy
angels. Such a God as this cannot be
the invention of man's finite mind. Can't be. This is what
God himself proclaims concerning himself. How holy is God? Then in light of God's holiness,
we ask how sinful is man? That's one of the first things
that God reveals to a believer, his sin before a thrice holy
God. How sinful is man? He's totally sinful, completely
sinful. David said, Behold, I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Oh, it's
not like we were born, did okay for a while, and then became
sinful. No, we were born sinful. David the psalmist also said,
the wicked are estranged from the womb and they go astray as
soon as they're born, speaking lies. His son Solomon wrote in Proverbs
30, there is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and
yet is not washed from their filthiness. And as we read earlier
in the Sunday school in Isaiah chapter 64, but we are all as
an unclean thing. And our righteousness, we have
none. It's just a filthy rags and we
do fate as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away.
Well, friends, we're so sinful that the Scriptures declare we're
dead in trespass and sin. And what can a dead man do to
redeem himself to God? Absolutely nothing. Nothing. He's cold. He's lifeless and
he can't do one single act to help himself That's where we
are Totally dependent upon God Almighty to reveal himself to
us And that brings me to the third thing briefly. How can
a man how can a sinner be reconciled to God? Only God in the mediation
and substitution of His precious Son can make unholy, sinful men
and women perfectly holy. There's only one way. There's
only one truth. There's only one life. And Christ
said, I am all those things. I am the way, I am the truth,
and I am the life. And he adds this, no man cometh
unto the Father but by me. Sounds to me like that's the
only way. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Never ever
forget that salvation is not in your doing. I've heard men
say, well, I'm going to straighten up and fly right. You'll never
straighten up and fly right. Not on your own doing. No, it
won't happen. If you're a child of the living
God, then God has revealed and shown you what a sinner you are. And friends, sin, you've heard
this said many times, sin is not what you do. Sin is what
you are. And if you're redeemed, if you
sit here this morning and you are redeemed, God has shown you
that only by the blood of the Lamb are you redeemed. Your substitute
and your surety, the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, has
shed His precious blood for you. So just in a quick introduction,
three important things. How holy is God? Oh, He's infinitely
holy. How sinful is man, so sinful
that he can never be reconciled unto a thrice holy God, except
it be done in the substitution, in the mediation of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's how men are saved. Salvation
is of the Lord. Now, if you would turn in the
Scriptures with me to the Gospel of John chapter 18. John chapter 18. We'll begin reading in verse
28. Here we have the story of the
Jews who had hard false witness. Those who would lie on the Lord
Jesus Christ. And they took Him in the Garden
of Gethsemane in chapter 17. And I'll remind you that when
they came to the Lord Jesus Christ, They asked which one was him,
and he said, I am. He said, I am he, but that word
he is italicized. He said, I am that I am. And you know what the scriptures
declare? That they fell backwards into
the ground. Oh, the power of God Almighty
in the flesh. I am, he said. And they took
him. Can you imagine man taking God
and binding Him with chains and hauling Him off? But do you know
what He said as He left? You let these go. You let these
go. Oh, isn't that the Gospel? God
stood in our place. He bore the sin, our sin, and
He said, You let them go free. You let them go. Well, we pick
up the story here in verse 28 of John 18, and it says, Then
they led Jesus from Caiaphas, who was the high priest, unto
the hall of judgment. And it was early. Oh, they weren't
wasting any time. They had one desire and one desire
only, and that was to crucify the Lord of Glory. And they went
early. And notice these next words,
and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest
they should be defiled, that they might eat the Passover."
Now my first point, I have four, and I'm going to try to give
them to you as briefly as I can, is the self-righteousness and
the wickedness of men by nature. And it's very apparent in these
verses before us. They took Jesus and they took
Him to pallet, but it says, "...and they themselves went not into
the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled." Now here
the Jews, made up of false witnesses and accusers, brought Christ
before Pilate. And in Matthew's account, we're
told in chapter 26, that they sought false witnesses against
Jesus to put Him to death. There was one thing on their
mind this morning, this early this morning, and that was to
crucify the Lord of glory. They sought those that would
lie against Christ and the things that he did. Oh, the evil of
men's heart. That was one of the points that
I had. How sinful is man? Here we have a beautiful picture
of the sinfulness of man. Man's evil heart purposely and
falsely accused a perfect man, God in the flesh. Man's heart
is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. And who
can know it?" Jeremiah 17, 9. And here the first sign we see
of the self-righteousness of these Jews is found in this verse. It says, "...and they themselves
would not go into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled."
You see, they were okay with allowing Pilate to judge this
man. But because of their self-righteousness
as Jews, they would not even enter into the courts of the
Gentiles. If they had done so according
to their laws and their traditions, they would have been considered
defiled. The Gentiles were considered
dogs among the Jews, were they not? And Pilate was a Gentile,
and they dare not enter into his courts because of their arrogant
hypocrisy. If they had gone in, they would
have been considered unclean and unworthy to eat the Passover. Oh, the self-righteousness of
these men. Look at verse 29. And Pilate
then went out unto them, and he said, What accusation bring
ye against this man? What is your reason for bringing
this man before me? And they answered, and they said
unto him, If he were not a malefactor, an evildoer, we would not have
delivered him unto thee. And here again, secondly, we
see their self-righteousness and their answer to Pallet. Well,
they didn't answer him. Pallet went out to him and he
said, what's your complaint? What is your accusation? What
have you found against this man? And notice what they said. They
didn't answer him. They said, hey, if he were not
an evildoer and a malfactor, we wouldn't have delivered him
unto you. all the arrogance, offended at the question that
Pilate asked, and filled with indignation that they should
be so interrogated. With an air of haughtiness, they
replied, how dare you question our judgment and our knowledge?
Is that not what they said? Why, if he wasn't an evildoer,
we wouldn't even have brought him to you. How dare you ask
us what his crimes are? Oh, they were self-righteous
judges of what was right and wrong, and they knew what was
best, so they thought. Sarcastic and arrogant was their
answer. Why question us? If he wasn't
a malfactor, if he wasn't an evildoer, we wouldn't have brought
him to you. Are you questioning us, the Jews, God's people? I like what John Gill wrote on
this. He said, in their own eyes, being
religious men of such rank and dignity and of so much knowledge,
learning, and religion, they took it offensively that he should
ask such a question to them who were so famous for their prudence,
their integrity, and their sanctification. Oh, how evil and self-righteous
are men even today, dear friends, who question the holy and righteous
God of Scriptures. And they bear false witness,
lies, against Him. I hear men say things about God
that are so untrue that it just sickens my heart. The word trying
should never be used in the same sentence as God. God is trying.
God never tried to do anything. God does according to His will
and purpose in the heavens. He's done whatsoever He's pleased.
God's never tried to do anything. I'll tell you another word that
should never be put in the same sense. God wants. God wants for
nothing. God does according to His will
in the heavens and the earth and in deep places everywhere. God does as He pleases. It shouldn't even be used in
the same sentence with the word God Almighty. Well, Pilate in
verse 31, And I can just imagine his thinking, well, okay, we're
going to play it your way then. So then in verse 31, Pilate said
unto them, will you take him and judge him according to your
law? You don't feel as though you owe me an explanation as
to why I should condemn this man? That I should try this man? And so you take him and you deal
with him according to your own law. And look what they said.
The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us
to put any man to death. Pallet's saying here, well, since
you know so much and you know what's best, you can judge so
rightly, then you judge him. And since you won't give me an
answer and you won't give me a reason, then why bring this
man to me? And for the third time, we see
their self-righteousness and their arrogance and their evil,
deliberate intentions to kill the perfect Son of God. They
said, our law don't allow us to kill anybody. They've never
even brought an accusation against Him yet and the desire of their
heart is to crucify the Lord of glory. They said, you take Him and you
judge Him according to your law. Because our law won't allow us
to kill Him. Now here's what they were saying,
and I know that you know this. They were saying, it's not lawful
for us to put any man to death, and we want him dead. But it would be wrong for us
to do it, so you do it. We're bound by our holy law that
we can't put any man to death, but we want him dead. So you
judge him by your law." That's what they said. Isn't that amazing? They wanted Pallett to condemn
him, put him to death, without even having a reason or knowing
any crime that he may have committed. Oh, man, you want to talk about
the wickedness of men's hearts outside of the Lord Jesus Christ?
Here's a beautiful picture of it. Well, it's a sad picture,
not a beautiful one. They insinuated that Christ was
guilty of a crime deserving of death. Oh, the wickedness and
self-righteousness of men by nature. They will not have Christ
to rule over them. Christ Himself said in John 5.40,
and you will not come to Me that you might have life. Do you know
why? They wouldn't come to Him. Him. He declared to be the Son of
God. the redeemer of man's sins, and they didn't want any part
of him. Why? What good thing has come
out of where he lived? He worked in Joseph's carpenter
shop. He's just, he's crazy. Claims to be the son of God,
but he was. He was. The second thing that
I'd have you to see in these verses is the divine providence
and purpose of God. Notice verse 32. This was all
done, what we've read up to this point, that the saying of Jesus
might be fulfilled, which He spake signifying what death He
should die. Yes, I know. It is the self-righteous
arrogance and hypocrisy that brought Christ before Pilate
this day by the Jews. We've read that. We see that.
Yes, it was by the wicked hands of men that our Lord and Savior
was taken to be crucified, judged falsely, condemned, and then
crucified. There's no doubt about it. We
just read that. But never, ever forget, dear
friends, that God Almighty is the first cause of everything. And it was by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. That's what Acts 2.23 says.
Let me read it to you. By the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, men with wicked hands took and crucified
the Lord. But it was, oh, it was, they're
responsible, they did it, but it was the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God that allowed it. Oh, the providence
of our great God. His death and how he should die
was according to God's divine providence. The Jews told Pilate,
well, if he weren't a malfactor, we would not have delivered him
up. But friends, it was God that
delivered him up. Oh, men by wicked hands took
him, and they brought him before Pilate's court, and they lied
and yelled, crucify him, crucify him. But it was by the will and
purpose of God. And you know why? To save chosen
sinners like you and I. Oh, the beauty and the sovereign
purpose and providence of God Almighty. Romans 8.32 says, God
that spared not His own Son, but what delivered Him up, for us all, all His people chosen
before the foundation were all those that He gave Christ. Christ
said, I pray not for the world, I pray for them that Thou hast
given Me, and I'm not going to lose a one. It's by divine providence. It
says that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled. Scripture
had declared long before this ever happened that Christ should
be delivered by the Jews to the Gentiles. They'd crucify Him,
and He should be lifted up from the earth as a serpent on the
pole. All these things happened by
the divine providence of God signifying, it says here, what
death He should die. Well, Christ had even said Himself
in Matthew 20, He said, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem. He's talking
to His disciples. And He says, The Son of Man shall
be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they
shall condemn Him to death. And He went further. He said,
And they shall deliver Him to the Gentiles. Isn't that what
they did? To mock and to scourge and to
crucify Him." He said, in the third day, He shall rise again. Oh, this was horrible news to
His disciples, but He didn't leave them without hope, did
He? He said, on the third day, I'll rise again. He said, in
another place, if I be lifted up from the earth, I'll draw
all men unto And this, he said, signifying what death he should
lie in John chapter 12. And in John chapter 3, verse
14, he said, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so, what must, must the Son of Man be lifted up. With God's wondrous providence
conducting the whole affair, dear friends, he was delivered
as he had foretold and all the scriptures before him had. The
Old Testament spoke of Christ and his dying for his people.
Christ cheerfully submitted and in great love for his people
redeemed them from the curse of the law. How? By being made
a curse for them. That's substitution. For cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Acts 3.18 says, but those things
which God before had showed by the mouth of all the prophets
that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Our great
and sovereign God works all things, all things. Did you hear that?
Not just some things, not just a few things, definitely not
just the good things. He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. And by His own will and purpose,
He causes all things to work together for good. Oh, do you
find comfort in the divine providence of God? I do. What a blessing
it is to know that He works all things together for good to them,
to them who love the Lord, who are thee called according to
His purpose. Believers love the divine providence
of God Almighty. Whatever, now listen, whatever
comes my way, Whatever comes my way, God makes it for my good
and for His glory. That's right. That's right. Third thing, and I'll hurry.
The King of Kings revealed. Look at verse 33. Then Pilate
entered into the judgment hall again. And he called Jesus and
he said unto Him, Art Thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus answered
him, and sayest thou this thing of thyself? Or did others tell
it thee of me? In Luke's account of this story,
in Luke 23, it says that they, the Jews, begin to accuse him,
saying, we found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding
to give tribute to Caesar. And we heard him say that he
himself is a king and that he would give no tribute to Caesar. What a lie. That was a lie. That was manufactured. And after
the Jews realized that Pilate would not receive him as a malfactor
upon their word, they began to charge him with false accusations.
They just began to make things up. but these were false accusations. Christ is the perfect God-man
and He never sinned in thought or deed. He never broke God's
law. And He never broke the law of
the land. Now hold your place here. I want you to turn to two
passages with me. The first is Matthew chapter
17. Matthew chapter 17. They said
that He forbids to give tribute to Caesar, saying that He Himself
is Christ. a king. Look at Matthew 17 verse
24. And when they were come to Capernaum,
they that received tribute money came to Peter and said, Doth
not your master pay tribute? And he saith, Yes. And when he
was coming to the house, Jesus prevented him saying, What thinkest
thou, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth
take custom or tribute? Of their own children or of strangers? And Peter said unto him, Of strangers. And Jesus saith unto him, Then
are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should
offend them, go thou to the sea. And you cast a hook, and you
take up the fish that cometh up, that first that cometh up. And when thou hast opened his
mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money, and take and give unto
them for me and thee." Oh, he rendered unto Caesar what
was Caesar's. Look over at chapter 22 of Matthew,
verse 15. Matthew 22, 15, Then went the
Pharisees, and they took counsel how they might entangle him in
his talk. Oh, the silliness of men trying
to entangle God Almighty! My, my! Verse 16, And they sent
him out unto him their disciples with a Herodian, saying, Master,
we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth,
and neither carest thou for any man, for thou regardest not the
person of men. But tell us therefore, what thinkest
thou? Is it lawful to give tribute
unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness
and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Show me the tribute
money. And they brought unto him a penny.
And he saith unto them, Whose is the image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. And then he said unto them, Render
therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto
God the things that are God's. This was a lie that these men
told Pilate. Our Lord Jesus, as I said, kept
God's law perfectly and He kept man's law perfectly. He was truly,
truly the only innocent man that ever lived. And many commentators
have many things to say about this question that Pallett asked
and the answer that Christ gave. And I don't have the time to
give you all the reasons. The question was, are you the
King of the Jews? The answer was given with a question. Christ often answered with another
question. He did. He said, did you say
this of yourself or did someone else tell you that? I can't help but to thank God
here for this verse and knowing that by the foolishness of preaching,
someone told me about Christ our King. There are those still
today that lie and bring false witness against the God and Christ
of the Bible. But thanks be to God, Paul said,
which giveth us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. No, friends,
my salvation in Christ was not something I knew and said of
myself. It was revealed to me by God
Almighty through the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It was a divine revelation of
God to me and to you, if you know me. One day the Lord asked
His disciples, said, who do men say that I am? And they started
naming off prophets, John the Baptist, everyone else. And He
said, who do you say that I am? And Peter said, thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. Now did Peter know that
of himself? No. Christ said, blessed art
thou, Simon. Flesh and blood hath not revealed
this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." That's the
only way that it will ever be known to us that Christ is King
of kings and the Lord of lords. Oh, friends, Pallett answers
this question in our text back in John 18, verse 35. He said, Am I a Jew? How would
I know? He said, all I know is this,
is that your own nation, your own people, your own chief priest
have delivered thee unto me. And what hast thou done? How can this be so? Why do your
own people speak evil against you and desire to have you killed? Immediately I think of the story
of Joseph. You know how his brothers were
jealous of him. took his coat of many colors
that his father had given him and spilt blood on it, took it
back and said that he'd been eaten by wild beasts. They sold
him into slavery and yet God raised him up and caused him
to be the second in charge. Great famine in the land comes.
His brothers come before him to get food. They don't recognize
it's him. And finally, in Genesis 50, verse
20, he says, But as for you, you thought evil against me. But God meant it to good. Friends, these Jews had one thing
and one thing only on their mind, and that was to kill and to crucify
the Lord of glory. But what they meant for evil,
God used for good. He meant it to good. To bring,
to pass, Joseph said, as it is this day, to save much people
alive. Christ tells Pilate he's a king,
but he says it this way, he says, my kingdom, his kingdom's a heavenly
kingdom. And he answered in verse 37,
my kingdom's not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered
to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from hence. Friends, this
is the king of glory. This is the king of all kings.
This is the Lord of all lords. He could have called 10,000 angels
to fight so that he would not have been delivered. But he was
delivered into the hands of wicked men by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God for what? The saving of his people. And verse 38, Pilate said unto
him, What is truth? What is truth? And when he had
said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and he said to
them, I find in him no fault at all. Even this Gentile judge, dear
friends, found no fault in our Lord and Savior. Now let me ask
you, dear sinner, in closing, let me ask you, Have you seen
Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Has God in truth revealed
Him to you? If so, you'll desire to have
this King rule over you. I can assure you of that. What
is truth? Well, Jesus Christ Himself is
truth. He's true God and He's true man. He's the truth of all the covenant
transactions, of all the types, promises, prophecies, ceremonies. Whatever He said and taught was
truth. And the truth of all doctrine
comes from Him and Him alone. The Gospel is truth. It comes
from the God of truth. It's proclaimed in the Scriptures
of truth. Christ is the truth. He's the
life. He's the way. The Spirit of truth leads us
to Him and makes the truth effectual to our hearts. The whole of Scripture
is true in every particular doctrine of it. What is truth? Christ
is truth. What think ye of Him? That's
the most urgent question I can ask. Last thing, substitution revealed
in Christ alone. And this is, be sure, look at
verse 39 and 40. Pilate said, but you have a custom
that I should release unto you one at the Passover. Will you
therefore that I release unto you the king of the Jews? And
they then cried they all again, all in one accord, all in unison,
not this man, no, not this man, but Barabbas." Now Barabbas,
it says, was a robber. But friends, he was much more
than a robber. Matthew 27 called him a notable prisoner. He was
no stranger to those Roman soldiers. He was a notable criminal. He
was well known as a criminal. According to another passage
of Scripture in Mark 15, it says, and there was one named Barabbas
which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with them
who had committed murder. He was a murderer. He was a robber. He was a notable criminal. Just for a moment with me, I
want you to think in your mind, can't you see that old criminal
Barabbas? Can't you just see him lay there
in that dark dungeon in prison? He's chained. He's bound hand
and foot. The law had put him there. He
was guilty of the law. Isn't that where we are and isn't
that where God's holy law has put us? He was guilty of notorious crimes. Friends, are we not guilty before
God of notorious crimes? He can hear that uproar, I'm
sure, outside that judgment hall. He must have been thinking, what's
going on? What's going on? My time has
come, I'm sure he thought. He could hear the Roman soldiers'
footsteps. clattering down into the dungeon
to get him and take him away. I can just hear him. And I'm
sure he's thinking within himself, the time has come. I deserve
what I'm getting. I'm guilty of all my charges. Then the soldiers unlock the
chains. on his hands. And they unlocked
the chains that bound his feet. And they said to him, you're
free to go. I'm sure he must have said, what? I'm free to go? And they said,
yes, Jesus of Nazareth has taken your place. He's taken your place. He's going to be crucified in
your stead and in your place. Now I ask you, is that not our
story? Is that not our story? The innocent
was condemned and the guilty was set free. Oh, the substitution,
the divine substitution in the Lord Jesus Christ. For He, God,
hath what made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God where? In Him. 1 Corinthians 15.3 says, For I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. May God add His blessings to
His Word.