I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Prophecy of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the high priest. He was a wicked man. He was the
enemy of Jesus Christ. He was one who was used to sentence
Christ to death. He hated Jesus Christ, Caiaphas,
the high priest. As a matter of fact, we know
that he was one of two high priests. That lets us know how much the
Jews' religion had fallen. Two high priests? Well, that's
a complete denial of everything in the Bible. But here we have
this man, Caiaphas, making this prophecy. Verse 51 or verse 50. Well, let's start with verse
49. And one of them named Caiaphas,
being the high priest that same year said unto them, the Sadducees,
you know nothing at all. nor consider that it is expedient
for us that one man should die for the people that the whole
nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself."
Yes, he said this and he had a different motive behind what
he was saying. But he spake not of himself.
But being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should
die for that nation. And not for that nation only,
but that also he should gather together in one the children
of God that were scattered abroad. Now this prophecy uttered by
Caiaphas was inspired by God. A prophetic word, it says that. a prophetic word uttered by a
wicked man that was an enemy of Jesus Christ. Now, before
you think, how could that happen? Let me remind you, Balaam, the
chief false prophet, said, I cannot go beyond the word of God to
do less or more This man was in God's hand and even his thoughts
were controlled by God and his words were controlled by God
because God exercises absolute sovereignty over even the thoughts
of men and women. You think what you want to think,
the thoughts that go through your mind, you're doing what
you want to do, you're thinking about what you want to think
about, But God is an absolute sovereign control over all of
that. And I'm glad. This man, Cephas, could only
say what God had ordained for him to say. Now, verse 47, then gathered the chief priests
and the Pharisees a council. Sanhedrin is what the word is.
You've heard that word Sanhedrin, a Sanhedrin and said, what do
we for this man do with many miracles? Now they saw that Jesus
Christ raised a man from the dead. Many of these people saw him,
Lazarus, who had been dead four days, the process of decay had
already started in his body, and then he's raised from the
dead, and he walks out of this wound, wound, wound, what am
I saying? Tomb, thanks, tomb. You know,
I've said to Lynn, I'm only 65, but I'm slipping. And I've asked
her, when I get to I'm slipping so much, people can't listen
to me and let me know. And she said, I'll do it. I've
got her watching out. So don't worry about me being
one of these. She'll get me out of here. But
two, they saw him walk out of this tomb, and they couldn't
deny the reality of this. And instead of believing, seeing
he did what only God could do, they got a council together and
said, we need to put a stop to this. We need to get rid of this
man. And here's why. If we let him
thus alone, all men will believe on him. And the Romans shall
come and take away both our place and our nation. If we let him
alone and do not stop him. Here's what's going to take place.
And I think it's amazing that they thought they could stop
him in the first place, seeing he raised somebody from the dead.
You'd think they'd figure out, I can't stop him. He's God. He
does what only God can do. But yet they come up with this
plan, we need to stop him, because if we don't, The Romans are going
to hear about him and the uprising he's causing, people believing
on him, and they'll think that this is a political uprising
against them and they'll send an army and they'll take away
our place, our position, and our nation, and everything will
change. We need to do something about
this. We need to put a stop to this. Verse 49. And one of them during this Sanhedrin,
this meeting about what to do about this man who raised the
dead, how we got to put a stop to it. One of them named Caiaphas,
being the high priest that same year, said unto them, you know
nothing at all. Now Caiaphas was a Sadducee,
a liberal. And he's speaking to the Pharisees. the conservatives. And that's
a good description of the Sadducees were the liberals. The Pharisees
were the conservatives. And he, the liberal says to he
who is the conservative, they who are the conservatives, you
know nothing at all. Sounds like what's going on in
our day, doesn't it? In the political fights, the conservatives and
the liberals would both say to each other, you know nothing
at all. You know, it's always been that way. They've always
hated each other. That's just, it was that way
then. You know nothing at all. This
was a slam. I know something you don't know.
You guys are idiots is what he's saying. You're all idiots. You
know nothing at all. consider that it's expedient
for us that one man should die for the people that the whole
nation perish not." Now he was saying he's got to die so the
Romans won't come and change things around here. It's expedient
for us, it's a good thing for us if he dies because that will
keep Rome off of our back. That is what he meant and he
didn't realize he was making a prophecy. This he spake, verse
51, not of himself but being high priest that year, he prophesied
that Jesus should die for that nation. Now this wicked man who
had no love for Christ didn't mean what God the Holy Spirit
put in his heart to say. He didn't realize it, but he
was prophesying according to the power of God causing him
to say that. He didn't know it, but here he
is. He meant something different
out of it, but this is what God put in his heart to prophesy
that Jesus should die for that nation And not for that nation
only, but that also he should gather together in one the children
of God that were scattered abroad." Now, I love the way he begins
his prophecy. You know nothing at all. Now,
he was saying that feeling like he was morally superior. You
guys are a bunch of idiots. You know nothing at all. But
in preaching the truth, isn't that a good place to begin? You
know nothing at all. You know, nothing about God.
You know, nothing about sin. You know, nothing about the truth.
You know, nothing at all. You know, perhaps this is a good
place for somebody to begin. I know there's a God and I know
I don't know it. That's a good place to begin. You know nothing at all. And that's really true with regard
to all of our natural thoughts about God, sin, self. You know nothing at all. And he says this next verse 50,
nor consider that it's expedient for us that one man should die
for the people that the whole nation perish not. Now that word consider is most
often translated reason. What he's saying is you using
no reason. What you're thinking and saying makes no sense. You
are not using reason. I was made to think about something
that happened to me probably 35 or 40 years ago. I was talking
to a Southern Baptist preacher and I was talking to him about
the atonement of Jesus Christ, what he had actually accomplished
on the cross. And he believed that Jesus Christ
died for everybody. and made salvation possible for
everybody, and died for everybody's sins, and made salvation available
for everybody. And I said to him, well, if that's
the case, God is unjust and Jesus Christ failed. Now somebody says,
what do you mean by that? Well, if Jesus Christ can die
for your sins and pay for them, and God turn around and make
you pay for them again, God's unjust. I'd be wrong. That would be him
doing something that was evil and God doesn't do anything.
And it also, if Jesus Christ intended on saving everybody
and didn't save everybody, Jesus Christ is a failure. If he intended
for his blood to save everybody and it didn't work, that means
he's a failure. And the guy hurled this criticism at me. He said,
you're just trying to make sense. Um, well, um, I don't believe
something because it makes sense. I believe it because the Bible
says it, but it does make sense. Doesn't it? It does make sense.
And yet this guy is saying to these people, you're not reasoning. You're not making any sense in
what you believe. It'll be good for us if this
man dies. Through his death, Rome will
not come and squash us and our nation will not perish. This
is what he meant when he said these things, but he had no idea
that this was a gospel statement. I couldn't help but think of
some of the things said around the cross. For instance, he saved
others, himself he cannot save. Isn't that the truth? For me
and you to be saved, he could not save himself. But because
he didn't save himself, I'm saved. What about them crying his blood
be on us and our children? We're so positive of his guilt
that Let us be held responsible for his death. Let our children
be held responsible for his death. That's how much we hate this
man. What a prayer. Let his blood be upon us. Oh,
I need his blood to cover my sin and my children's sin. What
about when Pilate had his accusation written over his head, Jesus
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. He was saying that, not
believing he was the King, but has there ever been a truer statement? He is the King of the Jews. Now this man had no idea what
he was saying. He was looking at it merely from
a political point of view. We won't. Rome won't come and
squash our religion and our place and our position. It's expedient
for us. It's best for us that he die. But what a statement. Nor consider,
verse 50, that it's expedient for us that one man die for the
people that the whole nation perish not. And then only John
tells us this. As a matter of fact, this story
is not in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It's only in John. And
this spake he not of himself. When he made this statement,
he didn't realize he was being inspired to make this statement.
It was a prophetic word put in him by God himself. This spake
he not of himself, but being high priest that year, He prophesied
that Jesus would die for that nation. Verse 52. Now John tells
us what that means. And not for that nation only,
but that also he should gather together in one the children
of God that were scattered abroad. Now, when Jesus Christ did die
for that nation. We read in Acts chapter 4 verse
27. For the truth against thy holy
child Jesus whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate
the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done." Now when those men were nailing the spikes in the
hands and the feet of our Lord and bringing up that cross into
the stand, they were doing what they wanted to do. They weren't
thinking, I'm being forced by an irresistible grace, gracious
hand to do this for God's will to be done. They didn't think
anything like that. They were doing what they wanted to do.
They hated Jesus Christ. They mocked him. They derived
pleasure out of killing him. They were doing what they wanted
to do. but they were doing exactly what God's hand and counsel determined
before for them to do. And that word determined before
is predestinate. Predestinate. Oh, do you believe
in predestination? Absolutely. Listen, a God that
is not the God of absolute predestination is a non-existent God. He's not real. He's the figment
of man's depraved imaginations to make a weak pygmy God. God of the Bible is the God of
absolute predestination and what was happening to the Lord Jesus
Christ was what God predestinated to be done for his glory and
the salvation of his people. Now when he was dying, he was
dying As John says, not for that nation only, but also that he
should gather together in one, the children of God that were
scattered abroad. Now, notice it says he was gathered. He was doing this together, together
in one. Notice the language together,
together in one, the children of God that were scattered abroad. Now, I'm not making this statement to divide or to be sensational, but the Bible
teaches that there are two kinds of people, the children of God
and the children of the devil. Now, I'm not trying to be inflammatory.
I'm giving what the scripture actually teaches. He was dying
for the children of God, together in one, the children of God.
There are two kinds of people in this world, children of God
and children of the devil. You and I are one of those two
kinds of people. Now let me show you this in John
chapter eight. Turn back to John chapter eight, verse 43. Why do you not understand my
speech? John 8 43. Why do you not understand my
speech? Even because you cannot hear my word. You are of your
father, the devil. And those are the words of the
Lord. You are of your father, the devil. and the lusts of your
father, you will do." Now that's strong language, isn't it? Turn
to 1 John chapter three. 1 John chapter three, verse six. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth
not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of
the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this
purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him. Let's talk
about the new birth. I hope you know that. The new
man does not commit sin. The old man does nothing but
sin. The new man does not commit sin. But let's go on reading.
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed,
God's seed, the seed of The Holy Spirit, the new man, the new
nature remains in him and he cannot sin because he's born
of God. In this, the children of God
are manifest and the children of the devil." See, there it
is. The children of God and the children of the devil. Now, it's
a very sobering thing to think in this room right now. We have
children of God and if somebody's an unbeliever, and remains that
way, they're children of the devil. And that's scripture. So back to our text in John chapter
11. He speaks of the children of
God. Verse 51, and this spake he not
of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that
Jesus should die for that nation and not for that nation only,
but that also he should gather together in one the children
of God that were scattered. Now, turn back to John chapter
10. 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. Do you recall out of Hebrews
2.11, both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are
all of one. He talks about gathering together in one, all the sheep. Now turn to John chapter 17. In verse 9 of John chapter 17,
he said, I pray for them, the elect, those the Father gave
me. That is referred to seven times
just in this 17th chapter. I pray for them. I pray not for the world. You've got to wonder how the
average preacher would deal with that. What's that mean? I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me, for they are thine." That's who Jesus Christ was praying
for, those the Father gave Him. That's who He died for, those
the Father gave Him. Now look in verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone,
not just the twelve. neither pray I for these alone
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word."
That's all about me and you if we're believers. At this time
Jesus Christ was praying for you, every single believer. Verse 21, that they all may be
one. And there's that word again.
That they all may be one. Remember he's gathered together
the children of God that are scattered in one. That they all
may be one as thou father art in me and I in thee that they
also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou hast
sent me, and the glory which thou gavest me, I've given them,
that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that thou
hast sent me and has loved them as thou has loved me, that they
all may be one." Think of this, that they all may be one as thou
father art in me and I in thee, that they may be one in us. Now, how one are the father and
the son? Think about that. How one are
the father and the son? They're one God. You can't get
more one than that. Jesus Christ is not like God. He's not very similar to God.
He is God. Jesus Christ is God. He's one
with the Father because the two are one. One God and three distinct
persons. Do I understand that? Obviously,
I don't. Do I believe it with all my heart? We'd never know
this without the Bible. I realize that. But God is one
God. In three distinct persons, God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the Father
and the Son are one. And however one the Father and
the Son are, so is every believer one with them. That's the great mystery of union
with Jesus Christ. He said, the glory which thou
givest me, I have given them, that they may be one as we are. Now, if me and you are believers,
we have true unity. We have true oneness. We're one, one in Christ. unity. You see, I'm in Him. You're
in Him. We're in Him. We're one. Look in verse 23 of John 17.
I and them and thou in me that they may
be made perfect in one and that the world may know that thou
has sent me and has loved them as thou has loved me." Now do
you hear that? The Lord says God the Father
loves every believer with the exact same love he has toward
his son. Now we wouldn't dare think that
if it were not in the word of God. But here it is. This is union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now how can that be? How is it that God can love me? The same way He loves His Son. On Calvary's tree, when Jesus
Christ was nailed to that cross, the reason He was nailed to that
cross was because of sin. Understand this. There's only
one reason for death, sin. By one man, sin entered the world,
and death by sin. He was made to be what he was
not, but what I am. I am sin. I am sin. Now, somebody says, what do you
mean by that? I am sin. Let me give you two scriptures.
And I want to see if you can see yourself in light of these
scriptures. Here's the first. I'm saying,
I am sin. You know, I got a letter from
a dear man just last night. I've never met him, but he was
worried about himself, and he said, can you be a believer if
you commit the same sins over and over again? I was telling
Rich about it, and he said, tell him to join the club. I'm not
making an excuse in any way, but this is, yeah, you do that. Does that make it OK? No, but
yeah, you do it. You do it. Now here, when I say I'm seeing,
let me give you two scriptures. Here's the first scripture. And
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. Does that describe you? Is that you? I'm not asking you
if you believe in the doctrine of total depravity, I'm asking
you if you believe that you are totally depraved. Do you? If you do, you understand
what I'm saying when I say I am sin. One other scripture, Romans
chapter two, verse one. Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For thou that judgest,
doest the same things. Whatever it is you're judging
anybody for, you're being a hypocrite because you're doing the same
thing. Somebody says, no, I'm not. Yeah,
you are. God says you are. You can say,
no, I'm not. I don't do it. Yeah, you do.
And if you understand what being a sinner is, you know what I'm
saying is so. You the judge do the same things. Now, on Calvary's
tree, when he was made sin, he was made to be what he was not,
but what I am. When he drank that cup in Gethsemane's
garden, he drank the cup of the sins of God's elect. He took
them into His own body on the tree. He became what we are. Second Corinthians 521, for He
hath made him sin. Well, I want you to look at it
with your own eyes. Second Corinthians 5, Verse 21, for he, God the Father, hath
made him, and notice that 2B is in italics. It was placed
there by the translators and it's not really in the original.
Here's the way it reads, for he hath made him sin. You think of all the evil and
the vileness that's in your heart. He hath made him sin. Now, don't misunderstand me.
That doesn't mean he started committing sins, or he started
having evil thoughts, or he started lusting, or he started, no. He's
always holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. Even when
he was made sin didn't mean he started committing sins. This
is worse. He was made sin. God the Father made him, his
son, sin. Why? That we might be what we're
not, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now, my dear friends, that's
the gospel. He was made what I am. He became guilty of the
commission of those sins. That's why He was punished. They were His sins. How can you
say that? Because they're not mine anymore. Put those sins in that cup. He
drank the cup. He became guilty of the commission
of those sins when he said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken
me? Because he was sin and God's
wrath came upon him. And he did something me or you
could never do. He satisfied God by his death. He put away those sins. They're
gone. And now every believer is made
the very righteousness of God in him. That's the gospel. Turn with me for a moment to
Hebrews chapter seven. Verse eight, and here men that
die receive tithes, talking about the Levitical priesthood. But
there he receiveth them of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
And this, and as I may so say, Levi also, which received tithes,
paid tithes in Abraham, for he was yet in the loins of his father,
when Melchizedek met him. Now in that little two or three
verses of scripture, Levi was the great grandson of Abraham.
Levi had never been born. He's a great-grandson. When Abraham
paid those tithes to Melchizedek, guess who else paid those tithes?
Levi. Because he was in the loins of
his great-grandfather. So whatever his great-grandfather
did, he did. If I'm in Jesus Christ, whatever
he did, I did. When he lived, I lived. When he obeyed God, I obeyed
God. When he died, I died. When he was raised, I was raised. It's called the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ. It's what baptism signifies. Now, here's
what being in him looks like. We're gonna end up here, Galatians
chapter two. Verse 20, Galatians chapter two,
verse 20. It's just as if I'm crucified
with Christ. Doesn't say that at all, does
it? It says, I am crucified with
Christ. When he was nailed to that tree,
I was in him. I was nailed to that tree. My
sin was paid for. I am crucified with Christ. What a glorious transcendent I, Todd Nyberg, me, I. was crucified with Christ. You
put your name in there if you're a believer. You were crucified
just as really as he was. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. I live right now. I live before
God. Yet, not I. But Christ liveth in me. Now let me tell you something
I'm conscious of. If I live, it's not me. It's Christ living in me. I'm dead sure of this, that if
I live, it's his life in me. I'm just dead sure of that. I
don't understand it all, but I believe it all. Him living
in me. My faith isn't the product of
my free will. It's the product of his will. And I'm trusting
His faith. I'm relying on somebody had to
believe God. He did. He said, though He slay
me, yet will I trust Him. Any little thing with us, we
quit trusting. I mean, everybody in here, let one little thing
not go your way and everything's going to fall apart. Not Him. He never quit believing God.
He never quit trusting God. I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. And look at this. The life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. I live off His faith. Do you
have great faith? Yeah, He is. He is. His faith. Somebody had to believe
God perfectly. He did. And that's my faith.
What are you trusting? His faith. And I am. I really am. I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life that I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. Listen to
this. The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Now, this is only for the believer. An unbeliever can't. Somebody
that dies and goes to hell could never say he loved me and gave
himself for me. There's not going to be anybody
in hell that Jesus Christ died for. There's not going to be
anybody in hell that Jesus Christ loved. This is the assurance
of the believer. He loved me. I stand amazed in
the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love
me. A sinner, condemned, unclean, but he did. He loved me. How? Because I'm united to him.
That's why. He loved me. And he gave himself for me. Now Paul says in verse 21, I do not frustrate the grace
of God. Now understand, you know what
it is, this doesn't mean frustrated the way we mean frustrated. I
get frustrated over things I can't do anything about. Somebody's
doing something and maybe I perceive their treat me wrong or something
foolish like that and I get frustrated because I can't do anything about
it. This is not what this frustration means. This means, I don't make
meaningless the grace of God, for if righteousness came by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain. If righteousness came
in any way by an act of obedience on my part, then the death of
Christ was a waste of time. My whole salvation is in his
death. what he accomplished by his death. And this is my personal testimony. If righteousness came by me doing
something, if there's something I need to first do before God
can do something for me, the death of Christ was a waste of
time. Christ accomplished salvation by his death. And that is who
I am resting in. I don't frustrate the grace of
God. I love this word, the grace of
God. Now, grace. To put adjectives before it is
unnecessary if you know what it means. For instance, we talk
about sovereign grace. Well, if it's not sovereign,
it's not grace, obviously. We talk about free grace. If
it's not free, it's not grace, obviously. We talk about saving
grace. If it's not saving, it's not grace, obviously. But the
natural man, the religious man, does not know what grace means.
They think it's a nice sounding word and they use it all the
time. They're beloved by the grace of God. I've heard rock
stars, drug addicts, they'll see some other person more druggier
or debauched than they are and they say, I'd be like that apart
from the grace of God. You don't even know what grace
means when you say something like that. We use these adjectives. It's
sovereign grace. That means if you're going to
have it, he's going to have to give it to you. It's not up to you.
It's up to him. We talk about free because if it takes anything
to pay, you can't have it. It's free grace. And it's saving
grace. God's grace is not an offer.
God's grace saves. Now, here is the personal testimony
of that person who is united to Christ. I'm crucified with
Christ. That's my experience. I'm crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet not
I, but Christ live within me and the life, which I now live
in the flesh. I live by the faith of the son
of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I don't frustrate
nullify the grace of God for righteousness came by the law.
Then Christ is dead in vain. Okay. If this didn't have any
idea what he was saying, he was clueless. But what a prophecy
God inspired him to give us. Let's pray. Lord, we, by your grace, bow
before you and worship thou art God and
beside thee is none else. And Lord, we ask in the name
of thy blessed son, that you will be pleased to take this
word and create life, spiritual life in each heart here for Christ's
sake. Lord, we pray. You told us to
pray. You've told us to ask. We're
asking that you will have mercy on everybody in this room for
the glory of thy son, Jesus Christ. Cause us all to trust Him only. In His name we pray. Amen.