Would you turn back to John chapter
five? Tonight, we're going to observe the Lord's table together. You may remember, I think it's
been three weeks ago, that we considered this miraculous healing
that took place in John chapter five. And I didn't spend much
time with the last of this story. And that's what we're going to
consider this morning. And I want to read verse 16 once
again. This is the conclusion of this
story. Therefore, did the Jews persecute
Jesus and sought to slay Him? because he had done these things
on the Sabbath day. I've entitled this message, Why
Men Wanted to Slay Jesus. Men wanted to kill him, why? This miracle of the Lord began
this campaign. Men hated Jesus Christ. They hated Him then. They hate
Him now. Now, I realize no one hates the
false Jesus that's presented by false Christianity, a very
non-offensive person who loves everybody and wants everybody
to be saved and wants to save you if you'll just let it. Nobody
is mad at that Jesus. Nobody is offended by that Jesus. But the Christ of the Bible,
listen to me carefully, the Christ of the Bible is offensive to
every natural man. Have you ever been offended by
Christ? A Christ that is not offensive
is a man-made Jesus, an idol, the figment of man's depraved
imagination. The Christ of the Bible is offensive. Let's pick up reading in verse
10. This is after, well, let's read verse 8. This man had been
paralyzed for 38 years. Verse eight, Jesus saith unto
him, rise, take up thy bed and walk. Oh, I pray the Lord says
that to somebody here this morning. Pray says it to me. Rise, take
up your bed and walk. And immediately the man was made
whole and took up his bed and walked. And on the same day was
the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto
him that was cured, it's the Sabbath day. It's not lawful
for thee to carry thy bed. That's amazing. This man was
miraculously cured, made to walk. He'd been paralyzed for 38 years. Here he is walking. And what
did the Jews have to say? You're breaking the law. This is wrong. It's the Sabbath
day. What do you think you're doing? The Jews, the representatives
of human religion, are always very good at spotting out what
they perceive to be the sin in others and are utterly blind
to the sin in themselves. They didn't understand the Sabbath
in the first place, but all they could say to this man who was
miraculously cured, what are you doing? You're breaking the
law. It's not lawful for thee to do this on the Sabbath day. Demonstrating they had no idea
what the Sabbath meant in the first place. Verse 11, he answered them, he
that made me whole, the same said unto me, take up thy bed
and walk. Now there's our rule of action. He told me to do this. You can't
go wrong by doing what he tells you to do. He told me to do this. Verse 12, then they asked him,
what man is it which said unto thee, take up thy bed and walk?
Notice they don't say, what man gave you the ability to walk?
What man performed this glorious, miraculous miracle, but who is
it that told you to take up your bed and walk? Verse 13, and he that was healed
wist not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a
multitude being in that place. Now he knew who said this to
him, but he didn't know his name, because as soon as the Lord did
it, he left the premises. Verse 14, afterward, Jesus findeth
him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, Thou
art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing
come unto thee." Now, why this detail? It seems to me evident
that this man's paralysis had something to do with his sin. The Lord says, sin no more, lest
a worse thing happen to thee. Now, why this detail? This is to let us know, me and
you, that our sin is our fault. Amen. Can't blame my circumstances.
Can't blame my environment. Can't be like Adam and Eve. The
woman you gave me, this is your fault. The woman you gave me,
she gave me of the fruit and I did eat. And Eve, I was deceived
by that serpent. Really, This is not our fault. Oh, beloved, we're not victims. I can't blame. I'm a good person
and I've been dealt a harsh set of cards and I've got bad circumstances
and I've got a bad upbringing. No, my sin, this is the point.
My sin is all my fault. You blew that? Verse 15, the man departed and
told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. Isn't that the gospel we preach? There's our message. It was Jesus
that made, strong language, me whole. Verse 16, and therefore did the
Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay Him, sought to put Him
to death, sought to murder Him because He had done these things
on the Sabbath day. Now they had no understanding
of the meaning of the Sabbath. And they believed that the Lord
was showing a profound disrespect for their religion. Well, he
was. He was. They didn't miss that. They tried to keep the Sabbath. And that was their effort to
please God and gain his acceptance. And the Lord's action said to
them that their religion was utterly worthless and irrelevant. That's what the Lord said to
these people. That's how they took it. They didn't understand
the Sabbath in the first place. They had no idea what they were
doing. But what the Lord was saying to them by their actions
was their religion was utterly worthless and irrelevant, and
they were offended. They were very offended, so much
so that they persecuted the Lord Jesus Christ and sought to slay
him. Now, if I would tell you that
your religion was not only utterly irrelevant but evil, you know
what you'd do? You'd get offended. You'd be offended by that. But their offense actually goes
deeper than that. Now, today's Christianity, and
I say Christianity, it's not real, it's not true,
but today's Christianity, if I would give one description
of Christianity, it seeks to not be offensive. They do not preach what Paul
called the offense of the cross. They take the offense out of
the message and try not to offend, try an approach that doesn't
create offense or hostility or rejection. Why do they do this? Because the true gospel message
is offensive to the natural man. Always. This is the gospel. Christ is hated by and defensive
to the natural man. The same is true of the gospel. You can't separate Christ and
the gospel. The natural man is offended by
and hates the gospel. The religious, the supposedly,
allegedly scriptural world hated Jesus Christ, didn't they? They
wanted to kill him and they did kill him. I know the only reason
they did it was it was because of God's eternal purpose to save
his people from their sins. And I'm so thankful that every
man is in the Lord's hand. I love the scripture. The Gentiles
and the people of Israel were gathered together to do whatsoever
thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. But that does not get these men
off the hook of hating Jesus Christ, nor does it get you or
me off the hook of hating Jesus Christ, even though we can't
do, or we only do what his hand and counsel determined to be
done. I love saying this, God is completely
sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions of men. My actions, I
do what I want to do, but God's completely sovereign over that.
Aren't you thankful? God's so glorious. The only people other than those
who believed him that did not hate him when he walked upon
this earth were the people who didn't know who he was in the
first place. They didn't know who to hate. He said to his disciples in his
last discourse to them, if the world hate you, you know it hated
me before it hated you. He that hateth me, these are
quoting the Lord, and I'm gonna do a lot of quoting. He that
hateth me, hateth my father also. They have both seen and hated
me and my father. They hated me without a cause. Now why? Why did men, why do men hate
Jesus Christ? And let me remind you, I'm talking
about the Christ of the Bible. I'm not talking about the false
Christ preached from most pulpits in the United States and all
over the world. He's not offensive. He's in your
back pocket. He can't do anything unless you
let him. I'm talking about the Christ of the Bible. Why do men hate Jesus Christ? And I'm not talking about a hatred
that's, I don't like you, I hate you, you know, I'm talking about
a deep-seated hatred that wants him dead. Now turn with me to
John 7, here's the answer to that question. John chapter 7,
verse 7. The world, John chapter 7, verse
7, the world, cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify
of it, that the works thereof are evil. That's why the world hates the
Lord Jesus Christ. He testifies that the works thereof. Now, he's talking about more
than the crimes. We all agree that theft is evil. Sexual sin is evil. Lying is
evil. Perversion is evil. Whatever
the things that everybody agrees with, those are bad things. Yes,
they're evil. He's talking about all the works. All the good deeds. All the things that men count
as righteous, all the works thereof are evil. That's the Lord's testimony. And that is what men hate. The Lord testifies to all men,
me and you, You're evil, inherently evil, incurably evil, intrinsically
evil, completely evil. This is what men hate to hear. You are evil. You can't be fixed. That is what men hate, and that's
why they sought to slay him. Your evil and your religion is
nothing more than an extension of your wickedness. Religion's
a bad thing. Somebody says, oh, religion's
a good thing. It's a step toward God. No, it's a step away from
God. Man's religion, evil, evil. Now let's look at what the Lord
said. John chapter five. I'm going
to read quite a few scriptures here. John chapter five. This
is the same chapter in which they sought to slay him. He's
speaking to these people at this time. And we read beginning in verse
37, and the father himself, which has sent me, hath borne witness
of me. Now look what he says to these
people that hate him. John chapter five, verse 37.
You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. and you have not his word abiding
in you, for whom he has sent him you believe not. You search
the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life,
and they are they which testify of me, and you will not come
to me that you might have life. I receive not honor from men,
but I know you, that you have not the love of God in you. I'm
come in my father's name and you receive me not. If another
come in his own name, him will you receive? How can you believe? Which receive honor. one of another,
and seek not that honor that cometh from God only. Do not think that I'll accuse
you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you
would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if you believe
not his writings, how shall you believe my words?" Now, those
are the words of the Lord. Verse 44, verse 43, John chapter
six, verse 43. And Jesus answered and said to
them, murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me. No man is able to come to me. Now that's the words. No man
is able. to come to me. You know what
that means? If the Lord leaves you to yourself, you will not
come to Christ and you will not be saved. That's what the Lord
says. No man can come to me. Do you know you've never come
to Christ until you found out you can't? That's when you come. No man can come to me. except the Father which hath
sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day."
Look at the end of this chapter, he repeats himself in verse 65,
he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come to
me, except it were given unto him of my Father from that time
many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Look in John chapter 7, he's
going to refer to this event that took place in John chapter
5. Let's begin in verse 16. And yet if I judge, my judgment
is true, for I'm not alone. No, I'm in chapter, I'm sorry,
I'm in the wrong chapter. I thought that sounded funny.
Chapter 7, verse 16. And Jesus answered them in their
objections to him. And Jesus answered and said,
my doctrine's not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will
do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of
God or whether I speak of myself. Anything I don't believe that's
not of the scripture is because I am unwilling to do his will. There's always an evil motive
behind anything that is not believed in the scripture. If any man
will do his will, he'll know the doctrine. God's not going
to let you be deceived. If any man will do his will,
he'll know the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak
of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeks his own glory. But he that seeketh his glory
that sent him, the same is true. And no unrighteousness is in
him. Did not Moses give you the law yet? Not if you keep the
law. Why go you about to kill me? And he's referring to what
I just read in John 5, 16. The people answered and said,
thou hast a devil, you're demon possessed, who goes about to
kill thee? Jesus answered and said unto them, I've done one
work and you all marvel. Moses therefore gave unto you
circumcision, not because it's of Moses, but of the fathers,
and you on the Sabbath day circumcise a man. If a man on the Sabbath
day receives circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be
broken, are you angry at me because I've made a man every whit hole
on the Sabbath day? Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Turn to John chapter 8, verse
30. Now we're looking at what the
Lord said. And when I see the way the Lord
spoke to men, I think I can understand why they hated him, why they
were so offended by what he said. Look in verse 30 of John chapter
8. As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus
to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my
word, then are you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him,
we be Abraham's seed. We're never in bondage to any
man. Well, they were in bondage to the Romans at that time, weren't
they? Where are they coming up with
this? We've never been in bondage to any man. How sayest thou you
shall be made free? Jesus answered them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the slave of
sin. And the servant abideth not in
the house forever, but the son abideth forever. If the son therefore
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you're
Abraham's seed, but you seek to kill me because my word hath
no place in you. I speak that which I've seen
with my father, and you do that which you've seen with your father.'
They answered and said unto him, Abraham's our father. Jesus saith
unto them, If you were Abraham's children, you'd do the works
of Abraham, but now you seek to kill me, a man that hath told
you the truth which I heard of God. This did not Abraham. You do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, we be
not born of fornication, we have one father, even God. Jesus saith
unto them, if God were your father, you'd love me. For I proceeded
forth and came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent
me. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot
hear my word. The reason you don't understand
my speech is you lack the ability to hear my word. Verse 44, you're of your father,
the devil. And the lusts of your father,
you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning
and abode not in the truth, because there's no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar
and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not." What an accusation. The reason you believe
me not is because I'm telling you the truth. Which of you convinces
me of sin? You can't. I have no sin. And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that's of God heareth God's
words. You therefore hear them not.
because you are not of God. Then answered the Jews and said
unto him, say we not well, thou art a Samaritan and you're demon
possessed. That's what they had to say to
the Lord after he spoke these words to them. Now, what can
we take from the Lord's speech? I'll tell you exactly what we
can take. We are sinners. and lack the ability to save
ourselves. It ain't there. We can't be fixed. Genesis 6, 5, and God saw the
wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's God's testimony. We are totally depraved. and totally unable to save ourselves. You believe that? Well, so whether
you do or not. But we are, this describes everybody. Everybody is naturally, essentially,
incurably evil. Me. I'm not asking if you agree with
this doctrine. I'm asking you, does this describe you? The analogy the scripture uses
is dead. That's a powerful word, isn't
it? Dead. in trespasses and sins. What can a dead man do? Instinct. Instinct. That's it. He can't do anything to perform
the functions of spiritual life, dead, in sins. Listen to this
scripture, 1 Corinthians 2, 14, the natural man. That's the word
the Holy Spirit used, what we are by nature. The natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him, neither indeed can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. You have to have a spirit. That's what Adam lost when he
ate the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He still had
a body, he still had a soul, but his spirit died that very
day. It's only he that is spiritual,
that discerns, that understands, that's able to hear the gospel. Now, what I'm talking about is a distinctly
Christian doctrine. What I'm saying, this is a distinctly
Christian doctrine. What do I mean by that? Well,
first of all, you won't find this in any other religion. Every
other religion tells you what you need to do. Here's what you
need to do to bring you closer to God. Here's what you need
to do to gain God's acceptance. In false Christianity, it's the
same thing. Here's what you need to do before
God will save you. You need to do this, fill in
the blank, whatever it is that is a false message. That's not the message of the
gospel. Would you turn with me for a
moment to Luke chapter 11? Verse one. I want to read this verse because
I want to see who the Lord is speaking to. Luke chapter 11,
verse one, and it came to pass. that as he was praying in a certain
place when he ceased, one of his disciples, this is one of
the 12, said unto him, teach us to pray as John also taught
his disciples. So we see who he's speaking to
at this time. He's teaching them to pray. Wouldn't
you have loved to been with the disciples at that time, watching
the Lord pray. I guess maybe he was praying
out loud, and they were hearing what he was praying, and they
were so, oh, the Lord Jesus is so glorious. And they said, teach
us to pray. And I don't know why they said
it. John taught his disciples to pray, but that's what they
said. So we know who he's speaking to. Now, look in verse 11. This is after he had taught them
to pray. And he says, if a son shall ask bread of any of you
that's a father, will you give him a stone? Or if he asked a
fish, will it give him for a fish, a serpent? Or if he shall ask
for an egg, will they offer him a scorpion? If you then, what
are those next two words? What are they? Being evil. Present tense. active voice,
it's a participle, describes what you do and what you are.
If you then, he's speaking to his disciples, if you then, being
evil. You reckon EM got upset with
that? I'm saved, I'm a Christian, how could he say, if you then,
being evil. Know how to give good gifts to
your children. How much more shall your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" Now, are
you offended by this? Are you offended? The only ones that are not offended
are the ones who know it so. Everybody else is offended. Nobody that is saved believes that he's a good person. Everybody that's lost, that doesn't
know the Lord, is offended by this. The world cannot hate you, but
me it hateth, because I testify of it. that the deeds thereof
are evil. The people who do not believe
this about themselves are offended. The people who do believe this
about themselves are not. Everybody who is not saved does
not believe this. Everybody who is saved does believe
this. What do we take from this? This is where I want to close.
What do we take from this? You see men are offended by being
told that they're nothing but sin in and of themselves. The Lord takes their religion
and treats it with, it's worthless. It's irrelevant. It's evil. And that's why they were so offended
while what he was saying about their efforts to keep the law. And he says, you have no understanding
of what you're doing. Uh, I could go on with other
scriptures. Jeremiah 17, nine says the heart is desperately
wicked, deceitful, deceitful above all things. You ought not
trust yourself. You ought not trust anything.
I'll not trust myself. All I trust is what God says.
Not what I think, not what you think. The heart is deceitful
above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? Isaiah
said, from the sole of the foot, even to the head, there's no
soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. And somebody says, I just can't
see this. Well, believe it anyway. It's what the word teaches. I'm
not asking you to see if you can grasp this totally. Of course
you can't. I can't either. But I believe
what God says. It's that simple. I believe what God says. Now,
what does this tell us? This being true, this is the
teaching of scripture, what I've given, it's what I know about
myself. First, because the Bible says
it, and secondly, I just know it so. With that all being said,
let me give you four things that are absolutely necessary for
the salvation of a sinner. Number one. God's got to elect
me. He's got to choose me. I won't
choose him unless he chooses me. The Lord said in John 15,
16 to his disciples, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen
you. According as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. Now listen to me.
Election, God electing a people before time began is absolutely
essential to salvation. Ain't nobody going to be saved
if God didn't elect them. And let me say this about election.
Election does not damn men who would have otherwise been saved.
No, it saves men who would have otherwise most certainly gone
to hell. Thank God for election. Can you
say that from your heart? Do you say in amazement, why
me? Why would he look in mercy on
me? I stand amazed in the presence
of Jesus, the Nazarene, and wonder how he could love me, a sinner,
condemned, unclean. Thank God for election. It's
essential for salvation. Let me say this as well. It's
essential to preach election. Somebody doesn't preach election,
doesn't preach the gospel, period. period. Secondly, for me to be
saved, I must have Christ live for me and die for me in such
a way that my salvation is an utter necessity because of what
he did. You know, if you tell me of a
Christ that can die for me and I might end up not being saved
anyway if I don't do my part. That ain't good news to me. Not a drop of gospel in that
message. I hope you're hearing me. That's another gospel. There's no salvation in that
message. I need, since I am, as I've been describing, I need Jesus Christ to live for
me, to keep the law for me, to die for my sins and put them
away, to be raised from the dead in such a way as I can't be anything
but saved because of what He did for me. That's what I need. I have to have that. Thirdly, for me to be saved,
I must be made a new creation, born from above. God must put
something in me that was not there before. If any man be in
Christ, he's a new creature, a new creation. I need God to
create something in me that's from Him. It's being born again. born from above. I need God the
Father to elect me. I need God the Son to redeem
me. I need God the Holy Spirit to
regenerate me. No salvation for me apart from
those things. For me to be saved, fourth, I
must endure to the end, looking to Christ only. I must persevere
in the faith. all the way to the end, looking
to Christ only. I'd like you to turn to 1 Corinthians
1. Verse 22, for the Jews, the religious fellows,
require a sign. The need for a sign is unbelief. That's all it is. You need to
give me a sign. Show me something. The Jews require
a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. Now, when it's saying
the Greeks seek after wisdom, you say, that sounds like a good
thing. Well, what that means is they're trying to make this
world a better place. What can I do to improve education? What can I do to improve health
care? What can I do to make it a better
place? And that's a good thing. But
that's all they are seeking. The Greeks seek after wisdom. We preach Christ crucified. The only way a sinner can be
saved is the person and work of Christ. Christ crucified. Unto the Jews, it's a stumbling
block. What about good works? Have you
never figured out that you don't have any? You ought not be asking
that. What about good works? You don't
have any. I think of what the Lord said in Matthew chapter
7. He said, many shall say unto
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not preached in your name?
In your name, have we not cast out devils? In your name, have
we not done many wonderful works? Then shall I say unto them, Depart
from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. Now the Jews, they're going to
stumble. They don't understand that there
is no good works apart from the gospel. And the motive is wrong
anyway. All your good works, you get
a bad. They stumble at the gospel. The Greeks, this is foolishness. How is this going to help? How's
this gonna help mankind? How's this gonna make this world
a better place? But unto them which are called, called by God,
called with his invincible, irresistible grace, Christ, the power of God,
and Christ, the wisdom of God, may we be enabled to stand lovingly,
believingly, and firmly for the offense of the cross. That's why men hated Christ. They found him offensive. Let's pray. Lord, we Believe by your grace everything
your word says. Lord, you promised in your word
that all that the Father gives you shall come to you, and him
that cometh to you, you will in no wise cast out. We ask in
Christ's name that we might be enabled by your grace to come
to thy son and trust him only. And how do we thank you for that
promise? We will not be cast out. Bless your word for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.