the sixth chapter of John. And
we looked last week at the feeding of the multitude. This week I want us to just focus
our attention on verses 14 and 15 here in John chapter 6. And this is the reaction of those
who heard what he spoke and saw what he had done, saw these miracles,
partaken of the food, and this was their reaction. Verse 14,
John chapter 6, Then those men, when they had seen the miracle
that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth, that prophet, that
shall come into the world. When Jesus, therefore, perceived
that they would come and take him by force, To make him a king,
he departed again into a mountain himself alone. It's important, and I brought
this message last week on total depravity, because these understandings,
these things that I'm teaching you, and these things declared
in the Scripture are based on truth. and a knowledge of truth. Without a knowledge of truth,
these things seem contrary and they seem unbelievable. They seem unfair at times, maybe
a bit proud or contentious. These things are based on truth.
And we live, the truth of it is, we live in a world cursed
of God. I don't think most people believe
that. I don't think most people understand
that. In fact, I know they don't. This world is cursed of God. It's cursed of God. In Romans
8, verse 20, he tells us that creation was made subject to
vanity. This whole planet, not by its
own will, but by the will of Him who subjected the same in
hope. are subject to vanity. In verse 21 of Romans 8, he said,
it lies in a bondage of corruption. And we see that all around us.
We see the big talk today is weather and things of that nature. But we see that corruption all
around us. We see the disasters and all
that type of thing. He says in verse 22 that creation
groans and prevails in pain. And we see that. We see that
by the things that sinful men have done without thought. They
fill the atmosphere full of smog and smoke and this and that and
the next thing. We run around in ignorance as
to the planet. taking no thought for it or no
thought for the next generation and creation as a result of those
things, it says it groans and travails in pain. And it's waiting, the Scripture
said, for God's deliverance into this glorious liberty of the
sons of God. It's waiting for something. It's
being preserved for something. He says in Genesis, when he talked
in Genesis chapter 3, when he pronounced his curse on Adam,
he said, curse it is the ground for thy sake. It's not that he
cursed the earth for something in the earth, he cursed the earth
for what man had done and for sin. He cursed the... and you can see that with its
disasters and storms and floods and fire and pestilence, disease,
rot and corruption. It's evidenced all across the
planet. Peter says this, it's kept in
store, reserved under fire against the judgment and perdition of
ungodly men. That's what it's all about. In
1 John chapter 2 verse 15 we're told this about the world. He
said, Love not the world. Neither the things that are in
the world. Don't get attached to them. Don't
set your affection on them. Don't be fooled by it. Don't
be drawn away to it. Don't put too much substance
on it. Don't put too much hope on it. Don't set your fictions on it.
We're told to love not the world, neither the things that are in
the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father
is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And then he
goes on to say, the world passeth away. It passeth away. We live in a world cursed of
God, and the God of this world is Satan. We're told that. That's
his name. He's called the God of this world. God has to do with religion.
It has nothing at all to do with civil matters. It has to do with
religion. The religious people in this
world who don't know God, their God is Satan, whether they know
it or not. He's called the Prince of the
Power of the Air. He's called the Spirit that now
worketh in the children of disobedience, transforms Himself into an angel
of light. Light has to do with knowledge.
Light has to do with understanding. Light has to do with your way
and your will. And he said his ministers appear
as ministers of righteousness. And the believer, true believers,
And I can't prove that outside of you sitting down and just
reading the Word of God and God opening your heart to understand
it. But true believers are said in the Scripture to find no joy
in this world. No joy. They find no hope in
this world. They find no solid ground to
put their foot in this world. This world is cursed of God. They understand that. They've
come to see that. They've come to see themselves.
That curse in themselves. They've come to experience that
sin in themselves. And they love not their own life
unto death. We look with Abraham for a city. which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God. We look with Peter for a new
heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. The believer is a man who has
been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into
the kingdom of his dear Son. And I challenge you to look up
that word kingdom. Nearly everywhere where it appears
in the New Testament, the word literally means rule. has to do with being brought
under the rule of Christ, under the rule of God. And the lesson
this morning has to do with that very thing. It has to do with
how this world reacts to the person of Christ and to those
miracles which He did and to His fame and to His reputation
and to His appearance on this earth when recognized. It's about
how natural men respond to the person and work of Christ. These
men, it says about 5,000 of them in number, sat down in that lush
grass on that mountainside and listened to the King of Glory
preach to them. Listened to those gracious words
that proceeded out of His mouth. Listened to the one purposed
All the way back from the beginning, declared in the garden, declared
in the law, declared in the prophecies of the Old Testament Scripture,
sang about in the Psalms, pictured in the life of David. All these
things. They sat down and they listened
to his words and they ate and enjoyed the benefits of his hand.
And they sat there in that grass and talked it over and they said,
I'll tell you what we need to do. We need to make him king. Now that's what preachers are
telling folks all over this land, ain't it? That's exactly what
they're telling them to do. That's exactly what they're telling
them to do. God has no hands but your hand, no feet but your
feet, all that kind of nonsense. Five thousand men besides women
and children, they saw this miracle of God, heard these gracious
words of the Savior, ate until they were full, and sat there
and discussed what they were going to let Him be or make Him
be. Now that's what they did. Listen here. Chapter 6, verse
15, it said, When Jesus therefore, see that word ought to jump out
at you every time you see it. Therefore. That is based on what
they meant by this prophet they thought they had discovered.
By what they thought his coming was for and by what was indicated
by his appearance. When Jesus therefore perceived
that they would come and take him by force to make him a king,
he departed. He didn't say, to this end was
I born. He didn't say, that's why I came.
He didn't say, this is a good thing. He walked away. He disappeared out of sight.
Their reaction to what he said caused him to leave. caused him
to leave. They sat there filled with the
bread and the fishes and discussed what it was they ought to let
him be and what they ought to allow him to do. If they were
to let such a man as this rule Israel, their nation could be
reborn. This is how the conversation
went. With him on the throne, the oppression
of Rome could be put down. If they accepted him as their
Messiah, their personal Savior, they would have all the favor
of God, and he would in turn bless all the works of their
hands. Their herds and their crops would
be multiplied. That oppression would be gone,
life would be worth living. The possibilities are endless.
Who could defeat a man who could feed an army out of a lunch sack
and heal all their sick and turn water into wine? Who could defeat
such a man? And so they said, let's just
take him and make him king. I know he may be opposed to it,
he may be against it, but we're going to take him and make him
king, because if he can't see what he's here for, we can't.
We can. Turn with me to Psalm chapter
2. I'm telling you this, this is
the dream that most of what this world calls religion believes
and declares. Everything that he is about is
only made effectual by something you do. In other words, everything
he offered, he came here as a man and lived under that law as a
servant to God. His reputation, he was equal
with God, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him
the form of a man, of a servant, made under the law, subject to
the law, subject to its demands and requirements, walked a perfect
life on this earth, came down here in humility, the sovereign
God of glory, becoming a man, taking to himself human flesh,
walking on this earth, men spitting on him, laughing him to scorn,
shoving crowns of thorns down on his head, reviling his message,
would have taken him out and thrown him off a cliff if they
had their way, hired false witnesses to lie on him, treated him with
resentment and disgust, All these things, believing themselves
to have the right to make this Messiah and identify this Messiah
and give him his power to reign. Because they pictured that Messiah
to be one like themselves, one like David or Solomon. They pictured
that kingdom to be an earthly kingdom. They pictured those
benefits to be earthly benefits just as they were pictured in
the Old Testament. They believed that this Messiah
was going to come. He was going to conquer Rome.
He was going to defeat all the enemies round about. He was going
to put the fear of God in everybody's heart and nobody was going to
contest Israel after that. And that God would pour out His
blessings again on them and they would enjoy all them benefits
and that former glory and all those things that they had under
Solomon. Listen here in Psalm chapter 2. In verse 1 he said,
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth have set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the
Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands
asunder, and cast away their cords from us. Every fallen son
of Adam imagines in his heart that he has the power to effectively
resist the will of God. It's like he's this little nation
over here and he's sovereign. He's little, but he's sovereign.
And over here, God is like this gigantic nation. He's like all
of Asia over here. And He's a sovereign nation. But this country can't do anything
to that country unless this little peanut country over here gives
Him permission. He can't come over here and do
anything because they're a sovereign. When this big country could just
squash Him like an ant if He wanted to. His power is just
in his head. His power is just in his mind
and in his heart. He has no power. He has no rights
except those which God has given him. Every fallen son of Adam imagines
that in his heart, that he can resist the will of God. God can't
do anything to him or for him without his permission. Men and
women imagine themselves to have the power and ability to let
God do something. Let God? Think about that. Let God? Won't you let Him come into your
heart? Let God? They imagine themselves to have
the ability to let God do something or to put God into a position
where He can do something. Won't you make Him your Lord? Won't you accept Him as your
Savior, your personal Savior? I can't imagine. It makes me
sick. I can't imagine how God considers
a statement like that. Man making His anointing, the Christ of glory, the Son
of God, your personal ballet, your personal Savior. He's just
going to do your bidding because you say so? Men and women and boys and girls
all over this country this morning are being told that apart from
their decisions, God is helpless to do anything for them. that
is not their Lord until they make Him their Lord by their
consent. In short, the religion of our day challenges God for
His right to rule and challenges God on His ability and right
to say. The psalmist says, this is a
vain thing. That's what he calls it. And
that's how I see it. It's a vain thing. It's a vain
thing. And he says in verse 4 of Psalm
chapter 2, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The
Lord shall have them in derision. You know what that word means,
that word derision? It means he's going to leave
them stammering. That's what it means. He's going
to laugh them to scorn. And then he's going to speak
to them in his wrath. And he's going to vex them in
his sore displeasure. Moses said, when I go down before
Pharaoh, when I go down there to Egypt, and that's where God's
people were, down there in picture and type. They were down there
under the oppression of Egypt. They were down there in bondage
to Pharaoh. And Moses was just one man. He
couldn't talk. His speech, he wasn't prepared. He wasn't a speaker. He wasn't
a preacher. He was no deliverer in his own
eyes. And he begged God that he take
his brother with him because his brother could at least speak.
And he'd just tell his brother what to say and his brother would
go down there and speak. But he said, when I get there,
they're going to ask me, by what right are you here? Why should
I listen to you? Who sent you down here? Who gave you your authority? Who are you? He said, you tell
them I Am sent you. Not I will be if you let me.
I Am has sent me. I Am. Ejah. You remember the
names I gave you the other night? Ejah. E-J-E-H. Ejah. He said, my name is I Am. I am. Not I will be, not I might
be, not I will be if you let me. I am. That's who set you. I am. Oh. Then verse 5 of Psalm chapter
2. shall he speak to them in his
wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my
King, my King, upon my holy hill in Zion. I will declare the decree
the Lord has said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day, this day
have I begotten thee. And when God said this day and
this place, He's not talking about what happened over there
in Bethlehem. He's talking about that eternal
day. There was a day in which God
begat the Mediator King by decree. And that day when God made the
decree, I will declare the decree. You see the first part of that
verse? I will declare the decree. the Lord has said unto me. He's
talking about that eternal day. He's talking about an eternal
generation of God's anointed mediator king, no successor,
no limited term, no end to his rule, no challenger to resist
him, no change. No change. Oh, in Hebrews 1, verse 5, he
uses this same psalm to show his excellence above the angels
by right of an inheritance and name above theirs. Where did
he get this name? By the decree of God from everlasting. That's where he got it. That's
where he got it. God hath declared the decree
that all the armies of darkness and all the resistance of men
put together cannot affect His rule. He is King by God's decree,
and He is Mediator King to save. Now let me show you that over
in John chapter 17. Our Lord prays His high priestly
prayer in John 17. And He said, Now glorify Me with
that glory which I had with thee before the world was. And he said that the Lord gives glory. He gives
glory to the Father saying, Thou hast given me power as Thou hast
given me power over all flesh. Why did He do that? That I should
give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given me. That's
what this mediator rule, this mediator king is all about. He
is king that he might save. When he gave to the church its
great commission, he said, all power in heaven and earth is
given unto my hands. How much? All power. Now, he
said, you go preach. Now go preach. Well, there's
no other basis to preach. I'm talking to dead people. I've
got no power to give you life. Winston and I sit around talking
about doctrine, but you boil all that down, we're just two
worms, one worm talking to the other worm about what he knows.
We're nothing before God. Nothing. Nobody's adequate to
do this work. It takes the mediator king. Now, he said, is my coronation. God has raised him from the dead
and set him at his own right hand. He made the decree and
now Every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to
confess what? Jesus to be what? Lord! To the glory of God the Father.
I don't care if you're a devil in hell, that knee is going to
bend and that tongue is going to confess in that day. In that
day. Oh, he is the firstborn of every
creature, giving them their being and design to his own end and
his own glory, all things created by him and for him. He is the
head of the body of the church, that in all things he might have
the preeminence. Why? Because it pleased the Father
that in him should all fullness dwell. He is before all things. His right to rule was declared
in His office, entered into before anything was that is. He is before
all things. In Proverbs 8, verse 23, He said,
I was set up from everlasting. I thought he just took his throne
when I said, I'll accept you. No. He said, I was set up from
everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth was. In 1
Timothy 1, verse 17, Paul said, Now, now, having told you what
I told you, now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
wise God, be glory and honor forever and ever. That's who
Christ is. He's not poor little Jesus, boy,
wringing his hands and looking over the balconies of heaven,
hoping that everything he did was just for nothing because
man won't accept him. Poor little Jesus. Won't you
feel sorry for Jesus? He's Lord by God's own decree. And he's seated on the throne
of God at his own right hand. And he's not worried about anything.
He's expecting until his enemies be made his footstool. And you can resist Him all you
want to resist Him, but I'm telling you this, one day them knees
are going to bow and that tongue is going to confess just before
He kicks you out into hell. You're going to confess and you're
going to bow. You're going to bow. Oh, every
power. Paul says over there in Romans
chapter 13, the powers that be are all from His hands. Boy,
we get upset over presidents, don't we? Governors. Get upset. I'm going to pull all my money
out of the bank, turn it into silver and hide it out in the
fence row because this president ain't no empowers. The powers
are there of God. The king of glory is running
things. He arranges his providence. He
puts these men in there. We exercise our rights in this
country as citizens of this country and we vote and we campaign and
all those things are right. We've been given those rights
under the Constitution of this country. But once that man sits
down in that chair, he's God's man. You better listen to him.
You better listen to him. You better respect him. He's
not there to minister spiritual things to you. He's there as
the head of the law. He's there as the head of this
country. And we enjoy the benefits of that. It keeps men from being
as evil as they could be. But in His own times, Paul said,
in His own times, and that's where the times belong, in His
hands, in His own times, He's going to show who is the blessed
and only potentate King of kings and Lord of lords, dwelling in
a light which no man can approach unto. He's King. He's King. His right to rule was declared
and his office entered into before anything was that is. Proverbs
8, verse 34, he said, Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching
daily at my gates, and waiting at the post of my doors. For
whosoever findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor
of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me
wrongeth his own soul." Will you hear me? We sit down here
in our little finite bodies and resist God with everything that's
in us. We resist God. He said, you wrongeth
your own soul. Why do you do it? My rule is
not opposed to you. My rule is not for your destruction. My rule is for your salvation. My rule is that I might administer
grace. My rule is so that I can show
mercy. And you kick and you fight and
you punch. Again, you are wrong with your
own soul, he said. You are wrong with your own soul.
All that hate me love death. Oh, His name is a name to be
reverenced with fear. His words are to be received
and obeyed. He is the brightness of the Father's
glory that expresses the image of His person and upholds all
things by the word of His power. God made Him king and God has
decreed the decree and set Him up from everlasting, set Him
over and turned into His hand His most gracious work. And now
He tells us in Psalm chapter 2, He said, Be wise, therefore,
you kings, and you counselors, and you people. You be wise,
and you kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish from
the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little, just a little.
May God give us some understanding, conquer the stubborn will, and
make us to bow and submit to Him as King. He's
King whether you submit or not. And He's accomplishing His will
in you, even in your rebellion. You just don't know it. God give
us eyes and a heart to know it.