Well, it's good to have each
one of you here this morning. We have several that are absent.
We have a number that are absent, really. But we're thankful for
this privilege the Lord has granted us today. I invite you to take
your Bibles and turn back to the 10th chapter of the Gospel
of Saint John. I want to read beginning with
verse 11 and read down through verse 18. Verse 11 through 18. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an
hireling and not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not,
seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the
wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth,
because he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am
the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. and other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life,
that I might take it again. No man, listen carefully to verse
18, no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself,
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Let us pray the Lord's blessing
on the service. Father, we are grateful for your
merciful and kind providence that you've allowed us to gather
here today, and we thank thee for our blessed Redeemer, the
Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for his willingness
to come into this world to leave heaven and eternal glory and
to come down here and to be born among men and to live out his
days and to suffer the agonies of Calvary in order that our
souls might be redeemed, in order that we might be saved. We're grateful this morning for
the great mercies that you have showed us, the boundless mercies
that we've experienced in the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that
you will bless this meeting and that you will open our hearts,
our minds to the Word. And may the Word, our Father,
today be effectual. Might it work effectual in our
hearts that we might, each one of us, know that we've been under
the sound of the Word of God. May you bless the service and
accomplish thy purpose in this meeting. And we pray for those
that are away today, and we ask that you remember them. and that
you'll bless them where they are and encourage them and keep
them. We love them and we pray that
you'll bless them and meet all their needs. We pray it in Jesus'
name and for his sake alone, amen. Many years ago, the Lord laid
hold of my heart when I was about 16 years old. and moved upon
me to preach the gospel of his redeeming grace. I have attempted
to be a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ and I have
desired that I might tell the truth about him. It's my desire
to tell the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ to give him his
due. Now I recognize that there are
many who are lying on God today and they've lied to us about
the Lord Jesus. They've told us things about
him that's not true. I hope today that the Lord will
give me your attention for a little while that I might be able to
say some things to you about the Lord Jesus Christ that you
will never forget as long as you live. That you'll remember
these things And it'll be to the salvation of your soul. Now,
there are certain people that during the life and the ministry
of the Lord Jesus, they became so upset with Him that they sought
to kill Him. They wanted to actually do away
with the Lord Jesus Christ. They wanted to kill Him, put
Him out of the world, out of their sight, out of their hearing.
They did not want to hear Him. They did not want to receive
His message. Now I want you to notice the
forcibleness of the words that we have here in verse 18. Now
it says that no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of
myself. Now what the Lord Jesus was talking
about here, he was speaking of his life. And he makes it clear
in this passage that no man has the power or the authority to
take his life from him. Make any difference how infuriated
they became with this message, how divided they were over his
sayings? They had no authority, they had
no power, they had no ability as men to take his life from
him. Now you and I cannot say this,
men could take our lives in any number of ways, But you notice
here in verse 11, he says, I am the good shepherd and the good
shepherd giveth. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. Now then, in verse 15, he says
also, I lay down my life for the sheep. I lay it down. I give
my life. No man takes it from me. I lay
it down. Myself no man has the authority
to take it from me now you and I cannot say that because death
overtakes us Man has not the power of the ability to retain
his own spirit till an hour of his own choosing Man cannot say
when he's going to die. He doesn't have the ability to
retain his spirit Now in verse 17 he repeats I lay down my life
That I might take it again I lay it down that I might take it
again. The Lord Jesus knew that when he laid down his life at
the time, at the appointed time, at the time appointed by the
Father, that he would rise from the dead. that he would be raised
up again according to the power of God. Now in verse 18, I have
the power of the authority to lay it down and the power to
take it again. The Lord Jesus tells us in another
scripture that he has all power in heaven and in earth. He has
all authority in heaven and in earth. Now Jesus Christ did not
have his life taken from him. Even when he died on the cross,
he was voluntarily giving his life. He was laying it down of
himself. He knew what that meant to lay
down his life, to give his life. He knew beforehand what it would
mean, what it would entail. And before he ever cried out
from the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He
knew the meaning of that cry. He understood that cry. The Bible
says that he came into the world to do the will of the Father.
He came down here from heaven with one mission. That was to
do the will of the Father. He came down here to give His
life a ransom for the sheep. He came down here to die, to
pay that which the people of God, the elect of God, owed to
the justice of God. He came into this world to redeem
His own unto Himself. He foresaw the death of the cross.
He was made a curse for us, knowing what the curse meant, and He
calmly resolved to bear it. He was resolved in this. He was
resolved to bear whatever he must bear to do the will of the
Father and to save his people. He would finish the work. Now
for this deliberation of love, the Lord Jesus has or ought to
have our inexpressible gratitude and love. Everything he did,
he did voluntarily. No man takes my life For me,
I lay down my life myself. I give my life for the sheep. Now, beloved, we ought to be
this morning filled with appreciation that the Lord Jesus Christ, you
cannot know the love of God any more than you know it in the
manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. He's laying
down his life for us. He gave himself, the scripture
says, for us according to the will of God our Father. He gave
himself for us. Now had he wanted to, he had
the power to withhold any and all threats on his life. Now
there were many efforts made to kill the Lord Jesus Christ. None of them were successful. Now I want you to listen this
morning. If he had not given his life, he would have never
died. You believe that? If he would
not have given his life, he would have never died. He was a victim
by intent. He was a Redeemer by resolve. He was a Savior by purpose. It was by purpose that the Lord
Jesus Christ became our Savior. Now the Lord Jesus was not, he
was not a martyr. He was a sacrifice. The Lord
Jesus came into this world to give himself a sacrifice unto
God for our sin. He needed not to die at all.
The scripture says Messiah was cut off, but not for himself. Not because he was a sinner.
The Bible says that he who knew no sin was made to be sin for
us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
He knew no sin. He had no sin. There was no reason
that he should suffer the penalty of the broken law and that he
should die because he had no sin of his own. The only sin
that the Lord Jesus had was when he was legally constituted sin
on our behalf. When he was made to be sinned
for me. When he became a sinner because
he bore my sin in his own body on the tree. That's when Jesus
Christ was a sinner. And when he became a sinner,
then the justice of God sought him out. He was nailed to the
cross and he gave up the ghost. He gave it up. The scripture
says he gave it up. Now then, he wills to die, no
man takes it from me. It was his will that he die. Now here is love indeed, free
love, deliberate and resolute love. Here it is. The Lord Jesus
just giving himself, laying down his life. for us. Came into this
world because the justice of God had been sinned against. God, His law had been broken
and He came into this world to die for His people. Look at Him
there going as a sheep to the slaughter. Isaiah 53 tells us
that He went as a sheep to the slaughter in patience but He
did not go like a sheep in regards to knowledge and purpose. He
knew what He was doing, and He knew what the purpose was in
it. And for the joy that was set
before Him, He endured the cross. for the joy that was set before.
He despised the shame and is now set down at the right hand
of God. He did it deliberately. He did
it on purpose. He did it voluntarily. Now you
see those bullocks and rams going to the altar of the temple as
it's pictured in the Old Testament. Poor, dumb, driven cattle. They
know not what they are doing. and they know not that they're
going to be a sacrifice. They cannot throw into their
desks the merit of devout intent. They can't do that. They don't
have the ability to do that. But when the Lord Jesus went
to the cross, there we see him, beloved, with that merit of purpose
and intent, that merit of love and devotion to the Father, He
was laying down His life for His people. Now the climax of
all of this is seen in every account that we have here in
the Gospels, and I want you to notice this in Matthew 27 and
50, it says He yielded up the ghost. He dismissed his spirit. He said to death, it is all right
now for you to take me because I've accomplished the purpose
that I came into the world to accomplish. It's all over. The
work is finished. The work to redeem the Lord's
people is finished. I've laid down my life. Now in
Mark 15 and 37, the scripture says he gave up the ghost. The
accent, of course, is to be placed on giving it up. He gave it up
now in Luke 23 and 46. He said father into thy hands
I commit my spirit Having said this he gave up the ghost and
then again in John 19 and verse 30 the repetitious statement
again He gave up the ghost He gave it up. Now you say, Preacher,
why is this so important that we stress this? That no man takes my life, I
lay it down of myself. Now the laying down of his life
was the supreme example of his devotion to the Father and to
the will of the Father. Now when Christ died, as we've
said, he did so voluntarily. It was a voluntary matter as
far as he was concerned. Now this is a point of vital
importance. We must never, as the people of God, give place
to the dishonoring thought that the Lord Jesus was powerless
to prevent his sufferings, that when he endured such indignities
and the cruel treatment at the hands of his enemies, it was
because he was unable to avoid them. We must never think that
way. The Lord Jesus could have called
10,000 angels and he could have been delivered. He could have
been delivered. It was not necessary that he
should die. Now, nothing could be further
from the truth that he was a helpless victim and that he could not
do anything to protect or deliver himself. Now, the treachery of
Judas. the arrest in the garden, the
arrangement before Caiaphas, the insults from the soldiers,
the trial before Pilate, the journey to Calvary, the being
nailed to the cross, all of these were voluntarily endured. I want to impress that upon you. Without his consent, none of
this, not even a hair of his head could have been hurt without
his consent. Now what I'm leading up to you
is, is that the Lord Jesus Christ is a sovereign. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God Almighty in a body of flesh. Jesus is God. Now Christ did not succumb to
death through weakness. He gave up his life in the full
vigor of his strength. It was not the nails, but it
was the strength of His love to the Father and His devotion
to the Father and His love for His people that held Him to the
cross. That's what it was. Now, the
preeminence of Christ was fully manifested at the cross. In birth, the Lord Jesus was
unique. In life, the Lord Jesus was unique. And so in His death. Beloved,
now we have not read aright the inspired accounts of His death
in the Bible if we suppose that on the cross the Savior was a
helpless victim. We've not read it right. We're
mistaken. We're wrong. Now this was very
clear at His arrest. Now in John chapter 18, I want
you to look at this with me if you have your Bible, and in verse
6 when we read in verse 3, Judas then having received a band of
men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees cometh
thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore
knowing all things that should come upon him went forth and
said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which was betrayed
him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground. Now you
see what happened when they were going to arrest the Lord Jesus.
Why? When they came and approached
him, he said, I'm he. And the very force of those words
caused them to fall to the ground. The Lord Jesus could have walked
away. He could have just very easily walked away. Well, he
did not. Before Pilate, he reminded the
Roman soldier in John 19 and verse 11, look at it. In verse
11 of John 19, We read these words here. Jesus
answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except
it were given thee from above. Therefore, he that delivered
me unto thee hath the greater sin. You couldn't have any power
over me if it wasn't given to you from above. If I wasn't delivered
into your hands by the determinate counsel of Almighty God, you
would have no power over me. It's because I'm here by God's
purpose. I'm here because the Lord has
predestinated I be here and that's why you have power over me because
God has given you that power and you wouldn't have it otherwise. Now on the cross you remember
the Lord Jesus was triumphant. He saved the dying thief on the
cross. And not only that, but he made
arrangements. He provided for his widow mother
there on the cross, made arrangements that she be taken in to John's
home. And the Lord Jesus Christ, he
witnessed and was such a powerful testimony of triumph even on
the cross that the Roman soldier spoke up and said, Is not this
the Son of God? Surely this is the Son of God. So the Lord Jesus Christ, no
man took his life from them. The Lord Jesus Christ, he laid
it down, he gave his life for his people. But men did not know
that this was the Son of God. Paul said if they would have
known that this was the Son of God, they wouldn't have participated
in the crucifixion of the Son of God. Men are blind to who
Jesus is. blind to the Son of God. Now
I want us to look in the Gospels at some of the attempts that
were made on the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have established
that any effort to kill him before the time when the Father appointed
would be in vain. Now I want us to look at some
of the scriptures that shows how that there was effort put
forth to kill the Lord Jesus and the issues that were involved
in those efforts. And now please be aware that
many times when Jesus spoke, men were at ease and they heard
him gladly. But at other times, certain ones,
the scribes, the Pharisees, and the lawyers, they became infuriated
at him and they attempted to do the impossible, and that was
to take him and to kill him. Well, who was the first person
in the Bible who sought to kill the Lord Jesus Christ? Well,
we read about it in Matthew chapter 2 and verse 13. If you want to
turn there, look there with me. Matthew 2 and 13. It was King
Herod. King Herod was the first who
wanted to kill the Lord Jesus. Why did he want to kill Him?
Why did he want to kill a baby? The baby, Jesus, had just been
born. And the wise men, in chapter
2, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod
the king, behold, there came a wise man from the east to Jerusalem,
saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we've seen
his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod
the king had heard these things, in verse 3, he was troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him. Now then, what we have here is
these wise men have given a statement here concerning this one they've
come to worship. And they said that he's been
born and he's king of the Jews. Now this greatly troubled Herod
and it troubled all Jerusalem. Now it did not bother Herod that
these wise men, that they'd saw the star or that they came to
worship him for that matter. That wasn't what bothered him.
But when they said we come to see the king of the Jews, And
this bothered Herod, this greatly disturbed him and infuriated
him. Now, I want you to see what the
issue is here this morning. What is it? Well, the issue is
the kingship, the lordship, the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. That is the issue. Now, the Lord
Jesus, as we know, is a friend, but beloved, He's more than that.
Somebody said the Lord Jesus is a good teacher. Well, he is
indeed a good teacher, but he's more than that. Somebody said
he's the great physician. Well, he is that indeed, but
then there's more to it than that. Beloved, he is King of
kings and Lord of lords. The Lord Jesus Christ is sovereign
God himself. Now Herod knew what that meant.
When they said he's born king of the Jews, Herod knew exactly
that he was a rival to him and he knew exactly what it meant.
Now most people will not get too disturbed as long as you
keep Jesus on a fairly reasonable level, as long as you modernize
him, as long as you bring him down And make him one of the
boys and keep him on a level with us Everybody will love this
Jesus and everybody will accept him and for whatever good that'll
do this Jesus that preachers have brought down and and that
they have degraded Beloved listen, but when you preach him up When
you preach the Lord Jesus Christ up, and when you give Him His
due, and when you tell men and women that He's King of kings
and Lord of lords, and that the government is on His shoulders,
and that He's sovereign God in heaven and in earth, then you'll
stir up a hornet's nest. People do not want to hear that
salvation is in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ and he
can give it to Whomsoever he will people like to think that
they have Jesus on their hands and that they can do with him
whatever they want to They like to think that they like to feel
that but beloved. It's not that you have Jesus
on your hands He has you in his hands and the issue is what's
he going to do with you? That's the issue. Not what you're
going to do with Him. Preachers said, now what are
you going to do with Jesus? That's not the issue. What is
He going to do with you? You see, He's King of Kings.
And He's Lord of Lords. He's Sovereign. You see, He's
not going to be King. He is already King. Jesus Christ,
we're told, 1 Corinthians 15 and 25, it says He must reign
until all of His enemies are put under His feet. He's reigning
right now. Somebody said, well I thought
he'd be in the millennium when Jesus would reign. No, he's king
of kings right now, he's reigning right now. All authority and
all power in heaven and on earth has been given to him. And he's
God and he's ruling and reigning now. Now when Herod found out
that Jesus was born King, he sought to kill him. And in verse
16, in verse 16 we see that here. Then Herod, when he saw that
he was mocked to the wise men, you see God spoke to the wise
men and told them to go another way, not to come back and to
see Herod again, because Herod said, when you find him, you
come and tell me. And no, the Lord directed them
another way. And when he saw that he was mocked
of the wise men, he was exceeding wrath and sent forth and slew
all the children that were in Bethlehem and all the coasts
thereof from two years old and under, according to the time
which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Well, why did
he do that for? He did that, beloved, because
he wanted to kill the Lord Jesus. And he thought if he killed all
those male babies, That he would surely get the lord jesus he
would get the king and he would crucify and kill the king He
would destroy the king and he'd be rid of the king and then we
read here in verse 17 and 18 Very tragic terrible terrible
then was fulfilled that which was spoken by jeremiah the prophet
saying In ramah was there a voice heard Lamentation and weeping
in great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and would not
be comforted because they are not. Because they're not. Now God in heaven only knows
of the anguish and the heartache and the terrible tragedy of hundreds
of male babies put to death by Herod because, for one reason,
because Jesus was king. Because Jesus was king, All these
male babies had to die. Now that was Herod's effort to
kill the Lord Jesus, but no man taketh my life from me. I lay
it down of myself. Now, beloved, Jesus stripped
of his lordship. Jesus, a Jesus that is stripped
of his kingship and his sovereignty is not the Jesus of the Bible.
And if anybody tells you this modern Jesus today, why he's
acceptable to the masses, the preachers of our day, they don't
know who he is. They have a very light approach
and a light presentation of a modern Jesus. Well, listen, they talk
about how good he is, but they don't really know how good he
is. I'll tell you how good he is. He's good enough. that he
came into this world, he lived under the law, he never committed
a sin, and the father looked him over and said, this is my
beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Never sinned the Lord
Jesus. That's how good he was. And then
he was willing to take his life and to lay it down. He was willing
that his good works, that they all be imputed or accredited
to the account of his people. That's how good the Lord Jesus
is. Well, most people in our day and time don't know anything
about that. How kind, how loving, how sweet,
how compassionate the Lord Jesus Christ really is. Now, beloved,
the only ones who really know Jesus and the Jesus of the Bible
are those to whom He has been revealed. His loved ones are
really the only ones who really know Him. Know Him in His sovereignty
and know Him in His power. Now, these preachers of our day
and time that misrepresent the Lord Jesus Christ and have this
light presentation of a modern Jesus. They're kind of like that
creek I heard about out in Oklahoma. And it's called Preacher's Creek.
And the reason it's called Preacher's Creek is because it's a mile
wide at the mouth and an inch deep. And beloved, those who
preach the Jesus of the Bible and tell you that he's just this
little weak Jesus, he can't do anything unless you let him,
and that he can't save anybody that don't want to be saved,
the only people he can save is those that are cooperating with
him, those fellas don't know anything about the God of the
Bible, and they're just like that creek I was telling you
about. They misrepresent Him, and they are afraid they're going
to infuriate somebody, and they misrepresent the Lord Jesus Christ,
and they don't want to create a problem for themselves. And
I've heard it over and over. If we preach that, the Jesus
of their preaching can be walked on. The Jesus of their preaching
is a doormat. And there, Jesus, you can spit
on him still. Now there was a day when Jesus
was spat upon. But my friend, you don't spit
on him now. He's sitting on a throne. He's been raised from the dead.
He's seated at the right hand of God. He has eternal power
and majesty. And nobody spits on him now.
Nobody says, tells him what they're going to do. Now listen, you
can't keep him from being successful. You can't rob the Lord Jesus
Christ of his people. He shall seal the travail of
his soul and be satisfied. Everybody he died for is going
to be in heaven. Nobody is going to miss being
there that he laid down his life for. He said, I laid down my
life for the sheep. I give unto them eternal life.
They'll never perish. And neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me,
he's greater than all. No man's gonna pluck them out
of his hand. The sheep are gonna be in glory. They're gonna be
there because he laid down his life. Now then, the Lord Jesus can do whatever
he will. He can save whomever he will, he's God. He can do
whatever, I don't know anything about, I can't understand people
worshiping a God that can't do whatever he wants to do. Can
you? Any little puny God that can't
do what he wants to do should not be the object of our worship.
Why would you worship a Christ who is not able to accomplish
what he set out to accomplish? I tell you, we worship the Lord
Jesus. Now this Jesus of modern day preaching would have been
no threat to Herod. Why, he said, I can handle this
Jesus. Wouldn't be no problem for Herod to take care of this
modern day Jesus. He can be frustrated. Why, he
can be made to wring his hands. He can't do anything but what
you let him. If Herod could have handled that,
he wouldn't have went out and killed all them babies. No, he
killed them babies because He couldn't handle this Jesus. This
Jesus was a sovereign and he thought he could take care of
it in this way. The Jesus of the Bible though will give him
trouble because Isaiah 42 and 4 says, he shall not fail or
be discouraged. Jesus is not going to fail. He's
going to accomplish the Father's purpose and he will deliver his
people. He'll rule your life. He'll rule
the lives of his people. He will my friend. He will either
rule your life and the best thing you could do is find you a place
where you could get on your face before God and submit yourself
unto the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ because salvation
is not a thing on earth. but the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ ruling over your
life. Men do not dictate to Him. Jesus
will do the dictating. You say, well, I thought you
could dictate to him. No, no, my friend. You don't
dictate to this sovereign. You don't dictate to a king sitting
on the throne. This king has all power. And this king will either damn
you or save you at his will. Salvation is by the will of God. Nobody gets saved unless God
purposes it and wills it. Men do not, as we said, He calls
His own sheep by name. Men do not dictate to God. He knows His sheep. Well, you
say, preacher, and you know I've heard a lot of people say this,
what does all this lead to, this light presentation, this modern
Jesus and the preaching of this modern Jesus who men can wipe
their feet on, use as a door, what does it lead to? Well, it
leads to these people saying, And I've heard him say, preacher,
I'm freaked out on Jesus. I'm a Jesus freak, is what I
am. Well, my friend, listen. Somebody
else will say, well, I'm a fan of Jesus. That sounds pretty
good at the outset, does it not? I'm a fan of Jesus. Jesus and
I have a good thing going. You ever heard anybody say that?
That's because people have never really heard the truth about
this Jesus. They don't know who he is. Are
you running with me, Jesus? Have you ever heard anybody say
that? Well, listen to me, my friend. I've heard people that
were kind of anxious about Jesus being taken places that he shouldn't
go. I've heard people say, you know,
well, so-and-so is a professing Christian taking Jesus into the
tavern or taking Jesus into the movie house. He's taking Jesus
somewhere. Are you running with me, Jesus?
No, my friend. Jesus is not going any place
but where he wants to go. He says, he said this, he said,
the sheep, they follow me wherever I go. They follow me. I'm not
following the sheep. The sheep are following me. Jesus
is not running with anybody. The Lord Jesus is sovereign,
and He's not going no place He don't want to go. And you remember
that. He's sovereign. Now, you say,
oh, He's the carpenter's son. Well, no, not really. He really
never was the carpenter's son. Is that right? Really, He never
was. He's the Son of God, the Son
of God with power. Now, when men and women find
out that the Jesus we preach will knock them off of the throne
of their lives. They will try, they will make
every effort they can to dethrone God themselves. And they'll get
mad. They'll get irritated. They'll
get upset. They'll get infuriated. And they
say, well, we won't listen to that. Nobody's going to tell
me that this Jesus, this man will not reign over me. That's
what they say. but Jesus will reign over you
or you go to hell. That's exactly right. The lordship
of Jesus Christ. Now then next, and we're gonna
hurry and close here in just a little while, let's turn to
Luke. The book of Luke chapter four, and we find another example
here of the Lord Jesus Christ's effort being put out to kill
him. So turn back with me, if you
will, to the book of Luke. Luke chapter four. And we'll
look at verses 25 through 30 here. But I tell you the truth,
many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven
was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was
throughout all the land. But unto none of them was Elias
sent, save unto Serapis, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was
a widow. And many lepers were in Israel
in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed,
saving Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose
up and thrust him out of the city, led him under the brow
of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast
him down headlong. But he passing through the midst
of them went his way. Now here is the second attempt. The people in the synagogue,
which is a type of the church, And this is where the people
met to worship. And the Lord Jesus had taken
the scriptures and had stood up to read the scriptures. And
then he was interpreting here the word of God. He explained,
he illustrated what the scriptures were teaching. And what was the
problem? Well, the problem was, and this
has to do with the subject of election. God having a people,
God having chosen a people, Jesus read this scripture to them.
Now I want you to look at verse 22 and also we're going to compare
verse 27 with 22. And all bear him witness and
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.
And they said, is not this Joseph's son? And then look again, if
you will, at verse 27. where it says and well no not
27 I think it must be 29 and it says and rose up and thrust
him out of the city and led him under the brow of the hill whereon
their city was built that they might cast him down headlong
now beloved these this is the same congregation this is the
same crowd of people this is not a different group here before
he mentioned election They were marveled at, wondered at his
gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. But once he
made these statements that we've had here from verse 25 down through
verse 27 and 28, then they rose up to thrust him out of the city.
Said, we'll kill you for that. We're not going to listen to
that. Now, what did he say that infuriated them so much? Well,
he told them about how Elias had prayed and the heavens were
shut up and there was a famine. And God, instead of sending Elias
to one of the widows in Israel, he sent her outside of Israel
to a Gentile widow. And then he told them about Nahum
and the Syrian. And he said that there were many
lepers in Israel in the days of Elias the prophet. And none
of them were cleansed save Nahum and the Syrian. He told them
about how God passed over all of the lepers in Israel. and
went to Nahum and the Syrian and cleansed him, told him what
to do. You remember he told him to go
down and dip himself in the river. Well he did so and he was cleansed.
And they didn't like this. There was two things about this
they didn't like. Number one, they did not like
God smiling on the Gentiles. They didn't like God taking mercy
and grace and taking His power and His love and His goodness
and taking it and passing them by and giving it to somebody
else. They didn't like that. And not
only that, they just couldn't figure out how God could pass
by all those Jewish widows and all those Jewish lepers and bless
the Gentile widow and the Gentile leper. How can God do that? God
has no right to do that, to pass us by. We're religious. I mean,
we're religious as all get out. We got every right to everything
God's got. No, my friend, that's not the
way it is. God will save whomever he will. God will bless whoever
he desires to. He's an absolute sovereign. He
can do what he wants to do with his own. You belong to God. God can either save you, deliver
you, or pass you by. It's his sovereign prerogative.
Salvation is of the Lord. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy. And whom I will, I'll harden.
He said, I'll save whomever I want to save. God is a sovereign and
so many lepers in Israel, oh listen, God had the audacity
to do this? To pass us by and to deliver
somebody else? It is not right. It is not right. We'll not listen to that kind
of preaching. This is election pure and simple
and we'll not listen to that. God having a choice? Well, The
Bible says that God has chosen us in Christ before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. He told the disciples, he said,
you've not chosen me, I've chosen you and ordained you that you
should go and bear fruit. Paul told the Thessalonians,
God had from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief for the truth. God, according to
his own purpose and grace, has called us unto himself. He saved
us and called us unto himself. God has a people. They were chosen
in old time, back in old eternity, and they were given to Christ
as a love gift. before he ever came into this
world. They were redeemed by Christ on Calvary and they have
been effectually called by the Spirit of God out of the world
unto himself. God has a people and that people
belongs to him. Well, there was a reaction. There
was a reaction. Well, what's the reaction? We'll
kill the fella that said that. We'll get rid of him. We will
throw him down the hill. We will cast him out. We take him to the brow of the
hill upon which the city is built and we'll throw him headlong
over. We'll kill this man. No, you
won't. No, you won't. He passing through
the midst of them, win his way. Well, there always is a reaction
when the doctrines of grace are preached. When God is exalted
on a sovereign throne, there's always a reaction. Beloved you
pay the price if you preach that God's sovereign and that he's
got a people and that Christ died for those people and that
the Spirit of God is calling out those people unto himself
now in the In John 10 in the chapter we read from earlier
today. Look at verse 31 John 10 and
31 Listen to what this says here.
Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Well, it
says they did it again. Well, that means that they'd
done it before. You see, they had to do this. Now, in John
8 and verse 59, We'll close here just a minute,
I'm just gonna cut it short. Then took they up stones to cast
at him, but Jesus hid himself, went out of the temple, going
through the midst of them, and so passed by. You say, well why
would these religious people do this? Looks like religious
people. After all, looks like they would
be disciplined, and looks to me like they would be loving
and kind, and why would religious people react like this? Well,
beloved, it's because of the insufficiency of religion. The
insufficiency of it. Religion alone will not give
you an appetite for the things of God. Religion alone will give
you no love in your heart for the Lord Jesus Christ and His
truth. Religion, it might make you furious at those who believe
the truth, but it'll never give you a love for the truth. It'll
never give you a desire to hear it. These people were religious
goats. And salvation is not a biological
miracle whereby goats are turned into sheep. It's not. God saves his sheep. They're
his. Look in John 10, 26 here. Here's
a very, very plain verse. John 10 and verse 26. But you
believe not, Jesus said, because you're not of my sheep, as I
said unto you. You don't believe on me. You're
not my sheep. The publicans in the harvest,
they'll believe, but you won't believe. Religious hypocrites. The do and don't people. That's
what these people were. They did their don'ts when you
wasn't looking and their do's when you are looking. That's
the kind of people. These are hypocrites. These are
religious folks. They don't have anything. I mean
the well is dry. They don't know Christ. And it's
Jesus said, you don't believe me. And the reason is because
you're not of my sheep as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice
and I know them and they follow me. They follow me. Now look
at verse 39 and we're done. Therefore they sought again to
take him, but he escaped out of their hand. These religious
people said, we're gonna take you. We're gonna kill you. No, you're not gonna do that.
because no man takes my life from me. I preach the truth,
I stand for the truth, I declare the truth, I am the truth. Jesus
said, nobody's gonna take me out of here until the Father's
purpose is completed, until I save those the Father gave to me in
that love gift. And when I've laid down my life
and cried it's finished, then I'll give up the ghost. I won't
give it up until then. I'll give it up when I'm finished,
when I've redeemed the Lord's people, when I've saved my people
from their sins. Now, beloved, this is a victorious
Christ that we've preached to you today. I told you, I'm dedicated
to telling the truth about Jesus the best I know it. And I will
not, I will not in any way, shape, or form present to you a view
of Jesus Christ that is dishonoring to Him. He's God and He must
be exalted and you believe on Him as the exalted Son of God,
as Him that has all power in heaven and earth. He can save
you or damn you. It's in His hands. It's not in
your hands. It's in His hands. How's it gonna
be? Now, I've not put Jesus off on
your hand. I'm telling you, go out of here.
Best place, best thing for you to do, find you a place where
you can bow your knee and submit yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says He's the Lord
of the dead and the living. He's everybody's Lord. You don't
make Him Lord, He's everybody's Lord. and you just bow down to
Him, maybe He'll have mercy on you. Maybe He'll save you. Maybe
He will have you. Maybe He'll give you eternal
life. And if He ever does, you'll never
perish. You'll never perish. You'll never
go to hell if He gives you life. But life is in the bleeding hands
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you only get it from Him.
You can't get it anywhere else. It's in His hands to give. Ah,
I love preaching about this Jesus. This Jesus, this sovereign Lord
Jesus Christ. Let men make all the effort they
can. They cannot kill the Lord Jesus. He'll lay down his life
for his sheep. I mean, he'll give it up of himself
voluntarily. Wonderful, isn't it? Praise God. Father, we give thanks for your
lovely Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks for His power,
His authority. We give thanks for His Lordship. Oh, give us grace to bow our
knees and to submit ourselves in every way to Him and to be
His follower, to be His disciple. Help us, we pray, and save some
poor soul here today. Make them seekers after the Lord
Jesus, to follow Him and to obey Him. May there be some sheep
here today that hears His voice. and follows him. We ask it in
Jesus name, amen. We're going to have a hymn