J.C. Ryle, a preacher back in
the 1800s, one statement he made that I'll never forget, he said,
the church is ever indebted to John for writing the first 18
verses of the Gospel of John. I would agree, we're indebted
to the Lord who did that through John. And he also made this statement,
he said, Rock of Ages is the greatest hymn in the English
language. I wouldn't argue with that either.
We got both of those this morning. Would you turn back to Luke chapter
23? I've entitled this, Pilate and Herod made friends. Pilate and Herod made friends. Verse 12, and the same day, The day when the Lord was tried
and he was going to be crucified, and both Pilate and Herod had
something to do with this. They could have saved the Lord. They had the political ability
to do so, but they didn't. At the same day, Pilate and Herod
were made friends together. For before, before this very
day, they were at enmity. between themselves. Now you see
this in the world all the time, don't you? People who hate one
another. People who despise one another. This was Pilate and Herod. They hated one another. They were political rivals and
they despised one another. Enemies. As I said, we see this
in the world all the time. People that hate one another.
But on this very day, they were made friends. All of a sudden,
they were bosom buddies. Something united them. You know, the scripture says,
how can two walk together except they be agreed? Well, they can't. You can't walk together except
you be agreed. And they were united. They were
at agreement in their view of Jesus Christ. Now, before they
were enemies, but this brought them together as friends. Now, one of the most eye-opening
experiences I ever had with regard to the gospel is one time when
I was working in the print shop, there was an atheist that I was
speaking with, and I wasn't trying to prove the existence of God
or anything of that nature, but I was talking to him about the
God of the Bible, the absolute sovereignty of God, He and myself
were in his hands. God is sovereign. I told about
God's electing mercy, and Christ redeeming the elect, and God
the Holy Spirit calling the elect. I was giving him the gospel,
and he was getting mad. He was getting mad. He didn't
like it, what I was saying. Now, there happened to be a man
who professed to be a Christian across the room listening, and
he was getting mad. And the atheist and the religious
person were brought together in their opposition to the gospel. They couldn't walk together before
that. I mean, he's an atheist. He's
a godless atheist, and I'm a Christian, you know, all that kind of foolishness.
And they did not walk together. But when they heard the gospel,
they became friends. They became united. in their
opposition to Christ. And I'll never forget me looking
and thinking, this is weird. I mean, here we have these two
guys are gnashing their teeth on me. They hated so bad what
I was saying concerning the character of God and the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now we have the same thing here
with Herod and Pilate. Before they were enemies, But
now they're brought together in their opposition to Christ. Now, think about this. The Baptist
and the Catholic, well, he's a Catholic, he's a Baptist. They
can't get along. I mean, good grief, how can they
believe something so foolish? The Methodist and the Presbyterian,
all these, they're opposed to one another. We've got a more
accurate view of the gospel than they do. But they unite together
in their opposition to the gospel. It's always been that way. It
always will be that way. Now, I think it's interesting
that this passage of scripture is prophesied
of in Psalm 2. We're gonna get there in a moment,
but turn with me to Acts chapter four. Acts chapter four. beginning in verse 18. And they called them and commanded
them. This is the religious leaders
speaking to Peter and John. They called them and commanded
them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and
said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to
hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot
but speak the things which we've seen and heard. That's preaching, isn't it? We
cannot. We've got to preach what we've
seen and what we've heard. So when they had further threatened
them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish
them because of the people. For all men glorified God for
that which was done, for the man was above 40 years old on
whom this miracle of healing was showed. And being let go,
they went to their own company and reported all that the chief
priests and elders said unto them. And when they, the church,
this is the early church, when they heard that, and these people
had not been believers very long, weeks. And when they heard that,
they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said,
Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven and earth and the
sea and all that in them is who by the mouth of thy servant David
has said, why did the heathen rage and the people imagine vain
things? The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ for the truth against thy holy child Jesus,
whom thou has anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles
and the people of Israel. Now that covers everybody, doesn't
it? Herod and Pontius Pilate and the Gentiles, the heathen
and the people of Israel. What were they doing? They were gathered together.
Who gathered them together? They were gathered together for
to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Herod and Pilate, you know what
they were doing? In their wicked desire to silence
Christ and silence the crowd and feather their own nest, you
know what they were doing? They were doing what God had
determined before to be done. You see, this was all about the
cross. The Lord had to die on a Roman
cross. He's the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. And Herod and Pontius Pilate
and the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
to do whatever God's hand and whatever God's counsel determined
before to be done. You see, God is completely sovereign
over the wicked actions of men. And his purpose and his counsel
is always being done. Now listen to this statement
real carefully. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
was not God's response to the fall of man. Now I want you to think about
that. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
was not God's response to the fall of man, how he's trying
to fix things after man messed things up in the fall. The fall
of man was for the cross. Do you hear that? The fall of man had this one
specific purpose. It was God's will so that the
cross would take place. Now remember, Christ is the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. There's a very real
sense in which the cross was before the fall, wasn't it? What
do you mean a real sense? It was before the fall. He's
called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So,
the fall was simply that God would make himself known through
the cross. The cross is the full, whole
counsel of God. It's God's revelation of himself. I love the way the Lord said,
in the Garden of Eden, in the day you eat thereof, you shall
surely die. He didn't say if you do. He said
when you do, dying, you're gonna die. The fall of man was for
the cross. And all these men are gathered
together. Herod, Pontius Pilate, they become buddies after this.
With the Gentiles and the people of Israel, they were all pawns
in God's hand. And God was doing all this that
the cross, the most glorious thing that there is. Nothing
can be compared to the cross where God manifests himself.
His character, his attributes, his perfections are all manifest
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And these fellows were
all gathered together for this purpose. God's will to be done
in the crucifixion of his blessed son and what he would accomplish
through that. Look back at Acts chapter two. Verse 22, ye men of Israel, hear
these words. Jesus of Nazareth, that's the
one I'm talking about, a man approved of God among you by
miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst
of you, as you yourselves also know, him being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain. You're responsible for
this. You did what you did willfully
and wickedly, but it's all according to the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. Y'all love to preach that. I
do. I just, God really is God, isn't
he? And he controls everything. Now I'd like to go back to Psalm
2. This is the rage spoken of in
Acts chapter 4, where the early church said, why do the heathen
rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth
stood up and the rulers were gathered together against the
Lord and against his Christ. He's talking about Herod and
Pontius Pilate. He actually mentions their names.
The church mentions their names. Verse 27, for a truth against
thy holy child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and
Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were
gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. Psalm 2. This was a prophecy. With regard to Herod and Pontius
Pilate. Verse one. Why do the heathen rage? And
the people imagine a vain thing, a thing that just can't be accomplished. Verse two, the kings of the earth
set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against
the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us break their bands
asunder and cast away their cords from us. Their rage against the Lord and
against his Christ is seen in this. We'll not have his cords
around us. We'll break his bands asunder.
We reject his sovereignty. We reject his rule over us. We will not have it. We will not have this man to
reign over us. will break his bands and cast
his cords asunder. We will not accept any of this. No. We're declaring independence. We're declaring independence. You know, that's always been
going on. Isn't that what Satan did? I'm going to exalt myself over
his throne. He's not going to rule over me. Satan declared
his independence. Let's look at that in Isaiah
14. Verse 12. How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer. Do you remember when the Lord
said in Luke chapter 11, I saw Satan as lightning falling from
heaven? How art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the
ground, which did weaken the nation? For thou has said in
thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mounts
of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I'll be like the most high. Yet
thou shalt be brought down to hell. Sounds like the same thing that
was happening in the Garden of Eden. Isn't it? Turn to Genesis 3. Now the serpent was more subtle,
was more deceitful than any beast of the field which the Lord God
had made. And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said you
shall not eat of every tree of the garden? He's trying to hold
things out on you. Now God never said that. He gave
one tree that they were not to eat of to demonstrate his authority
over them, but any other tree was fair game. But Satan is saying,
God is holding out on you. As he said, you shall not eat
of all the trees of the garden. And look at her response. And
the woman said into the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden, but of the tree of the that which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said you shall not eat of
it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. Now there's another
addition. God never said don't touch it.
This is where touch not, taste not, handle not religion came
from. Came from Eve. And the serpent said unto the
woman, verse four, you shall not surely die. He says, God,
what God said isn't so. For God doth know that in the
day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and you
shall be as gods. That'll put you up on his level,
knowing good and evil. Now he's trying to keep you from
being like him. If you ate of this fruit, you'd know good and
evil. Now what this is, is you'll have a free will. You'll know
good, you'll know evil, and you'll be choosing the good over the
evil, and that's what'll make you like God. And you know that
sounds good, doesn't it? It sounds better to choose it.
He said, right now you're just robots. You're programmed to
obey God, And my thought is that's not such a bad thing, I don't
think. I'd like to be that way, wouldn't you? But he said, right
now you're robots, you're just obeying your nature, but if you
do this fruit, you'll know good, you'll know evil, you'll choose
the good over the evil, you'll be equal to God. You'll be like
God. That's the temptation. It's been going on ever since
then. That was what was going on on
the cross. Let's get rid of God. We won't have this man to reign
over us. Let's get rid of it. It's always been that way. And
as long as man is, it'll continue to be that way. Goodbye, God.
We want to get rid of you. We don't want your cords around
us. We don't want your restraints.
We want to do our own thing. We want to be free. Goodbye,
God. That's what he's saying. Goodbye,
God. And you know how that's done
in our day? It's done with religion. It's done with religion. And here's how it works. Let's make us a God that's less
than absolutely sovereign and call Him Jehovah. Let's make a Savior who cannot
save unless we do our part and let's give Him the name of Jesus.
And let's manufacture a Holy Spirit who wants to do certain
things but can't without our cooperation. And let's call him
the Holy Spirit. And let's build us a building.
And let's get people to listen. And here we have it. Goodbye
God. We're free. We've got rid of
him. We've cast his bands asunder
and taken his cords from us. Why do the people imagine a vain
thing? Look in verse four of Psalm 2. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. We're gonna cast his bands asunder. We're gonna break his cords from
us. We're not gonna have this man to reign over us. You don't
have any choice. He reigns whether you like it
or not. Somebody says, won't you make Jesus Lord? You can't
do that. You can't make him Lord, he is the Lord. And He's your
Lord, and you can't cast His cords off you. He's in absolute
sovereign control of even the thoughts going through your mind.
That's the Lord. Now, there's some people that
adore that and love that, and there's some people who would
prefer it not to be that way. Which person are you? But I know
this. Someone that will not have this man reign over us will cast
his cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Oh, so you think you can cast
my cords from you? We'll see. Verse five. Then shall he speak unto them, in
his wrath, and then shall he vex them in his sore displeasure. Then, at his time, at his time,
they may be raging now, and they may be making big claims now,
but then, at his time, he'll speak to them in his wrath. Boy, that's something I don't
want to meet. The wrath of God. Then will he vex them and torment
them in his sore displeasure. Where is God? Where he's always
been. Even though these men are making
these claims, he's still on the throne. And he's in control of
everything and every body. Then in God's own time shall
he judge them. Oh, you think you can break my
bands and cast off my cords as you boast of your free will and
your ability? We'll see, we'll see. Verse six, yet have I set, this is God speaking,
yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. Now, what is Zion? Zion's the
church. Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of the most high God. Zion is the church, and Zion's
holy, my holy hill of Zion. Everybody who loves his kingship
who loves his sovereign rule and reign. They do so because
they are holy. God has given them a new nature
that loves his rule and his reign and his absolute sovereignty.
And God says, yet have I set my king on my holy hill of Zion. God said concerning Christ, thy
throne, O God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou has loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore, God, even thy God,
has given thee the oil of gladness above thy fellows. He's the king. You know, I think it's interesting.
You go on with Herod. What were Herod and his men doing?
They were mocking his kingship. They put a crown of thorns on
his head. If a king needs a crown, here's
your crown. They gave him a gorgeous robe
and they gave him a reed. They hit him with it, but here's
your scepter. They were mocking his kingship. Did he cease being
king then? No. All they were doing was performing
his will. God says, yet. Have I set my
King on my holy hill of Zion. Now the Lord Jesus begins to
speak in verse seven. This Psalm is actually divided
into four parts, each three verses apart. Now the Lord Jesus begins
to speak. He says, I will declare the decree. I love that word, don't you?
The irrevocable fiat of God. When God speaks, it's a decree. Oh, when I speak, it's not like
that at all. I might say something, it might happen, it might not.
I hope it does. But when God speaks, it's an
irrevocable decree. The divine fiat. This is The
King of Kings speaking. And he says, I will declare the
decree the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son. This day have I begotten thee. Jesus Christ is the son of God. You believe that? If you do, that means you believe
he's the creator. You believe that? If you do,
that means you believe he is incapable of failure. Whatever he does is successful. You believe that about him? It's
impossible to believe he's a son of God and not believe those
things. But look what he says. He says in verse seven, I will
declare the decree the Lord has said unto me, thou art my son. Now look at this next phrase. This day have I begotten, birthed
thee. Five times. In the book of John,
and we read one of them this morning, Christ is said to be
the only begotten Son of God. Now this begetting of sonship is an unoriginated relationship. There was not a time when it
began to be. It's always been. Now, I realize
I'm sitting here talking to you about stuff that I have no idea
what I'm talking about. I do. I know it's what the Bible teaches,
but do I understand it? No. Do I believe it? Yes. You okay with that? Do I understand it? No. The only
begotten Son of God, how He's the eternally begotten Son of
God, how this beginning is not an event in time, but it's a
fact, irrespective of time. He's the only begotten Son. He is God. As a man, all the attributes
of pure Godhead reside in him. And this begetting, this begetting,
well, in time, God raised him from the dead. He was begotten. He was raised. But you know,
he was raised from the dead before time began. Because he was slain
before the foundation of the world. And he didn't stay slain,
did he? He was raised from the dead even
then. And this is an eternal thing. It doesn't have anything
to do with time. This is not an event. This is
a fact. He is the only begotten Son of
God. And the writer of the Hebrews
put it this way. He talked about Christ being
the new and living way. And that word new means literally
freshly slaughtered. He is eternally. Oh, how real
is his death, burial, and resurrection to the Father? He is the eternal
Son of God, the only begotten. He said, my Father said to me,
this day, and it's continual, isn't it? This day have I begotten
thee. Verse eight, ask of me. This is the Father
speaking to the Son. The Son's letting us know what
the Father said to Him. Ask of Me, I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. You see, whatever He asked for,
He gets. When He said, Father, forgive
them. You know what? The Father forgave
them. Everybody he prayed for, the
Father forgave. Because whatever he asked for,
he gets. Peter, I've prayed for you, that
your faith fail not. You know the reason you'll persevere
all the way to the end and that you won't fall away? It's because he prayed for you.
That's the only reason. Ask of me, he says, and I'll
give you whatever you ask for. Whatever he asked for, he gets.
Verse nine. This is what's gonna happen to
those people who imagined a vain thing, who said, let us break
their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. Verse
nine, thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash
them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Verse 10. Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings. Be instructed, you judges of
the earth. Now, isn't that a mercy that he says to these kings who
have been so opposed, be wise. Don't be such a fool. Don't imagine
such a vain thing. Be wise, O ye kings, you who
are opposed to his absolute sovereignty. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. Verse 11. Here's true wisdom. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Now, instead of saying, we're
going to cast his bands off, serve the Lord with fear. You know, I've heard people talk
about the fear of the Lord. People used to fear the Lord. No, they
didn't. Never have. Never have. No man, no natural
man has the fear of God. Boy, I wish we lived back in
those good old days when people feared God. Ain't been any days
like that. What is the fear of the Lord?
You fear God when you're flat out afraid to look anywhere but
Christ alone for all your salvation. That's the fear of God. You look
anywhere else, you have no fear of God. You're ignorant of his
character. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice. Are you glad God's on the throne?
Are you glad he's in complete control and no one can cast off
his cords or break his bands that he is the sovereign of the
universe? Now there's only two responses
to that. I hate it or I love it. Rejoice with trembling. This is not some kind of arrogant,
no trembling. Verse 12. Kiss the son. This one who you've
been enraged against, kiss him. Kiss him. Where at? Judas kissed him on the cheek. The woman that was a sinner kissed
his feet. Where are you at there? Judas! He could walk up to him
and kiss him on the cheek. The woman who was a sinner, she
stayed behind him and she kissed his feet. Kiss the son, lest
he be angry. And you perish from the way when
his wrath is kindled but a little. I told the Sunday school class
this morning, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that said
that the Jesus portrayed in the New Testament, which is, well,
this is New Testament, it's Old Testament, but it's New Testament,
said he bears no resemblance to the Jesus portrayed in religion. Boy, isn't that the truth? Here's
the truth, kiss him lest he be angry when his wrath is kindled
but a little. Blessed, oh how blessed are all they that
put their trust in him. Now what does that mean? Now
if you do, you're blessed of God. If you put your trust in
him, if you do, that means you're someone God has blessed. I want
His blessing, don't you? Oh, to be blessed of God. What does it mean to put your
trust in Him? I can tell you exactly what it
means. Interested? God the Father put His trust
in His Son to save me. Now how much did the father look
to the son for my salvation? How much? How much did the father look
to me? Not at all. He completely entrusted
my salvation with the son when he gave me to him as my great
surety and covenant head before time began. He gave me to the
Son and He entrusted my salvation completely, completely to His
Son. He didn't look for a thing out
of me. He looked completely to His Son to do it all. Now, there you learn something
about what it is to trust the Son. You trust Him the same way
the Father trusted Him. You trust Him for everything. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1.12,
I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded. I'm convinced
that He is able to keep that which I've committed to Him against
that day. Now, I've committed to Him. My
entire salvation has nothing to do with me. It has wholly
to do with Him. What about the stuff you're supposed
to do? My salvation has wholly to do with Him. Well, don't you
have to believe? Yep, you've got to believe that.
That's exactly what you've got to believe. That your salvation
is totally in His hands and you are relying Well, don't you have
to repent? You ain't got to repent of anything
but that. That's it. You look to Christ only. Now, if you do that, you're blessed of God. I love the pronouncements of
blessedness in the Psalms. Psalm 1, blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. That man is truly
blessed. Psalm 32, blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Psalm 65, 4, blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach. unto thee. Lord, choose me, cause
me to approach. That's my response, not to argue
with it, but to say, Lord, choose me, cause me to approach. Psalm 84, 14, blessed are they
that dwell in thy house. That's abiding in Christ. Psalm
89, 15, Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound. They recognize the gospel when
they hear it. You know there's folks who wouldn't
know the gospel from anything. How blessed you are if you can
hear the gospel and you know the joyful sound. Psalm 94, 12,
blessed is the man whom thou chastenest. Whom the Lord loveth,
he chastens. I tell you what scares me is
the thought of me not being chastened, being left to myself. Oh Lord,
drive me to thy Son. Psalm 106.3, blessed are they
that keep judgment and do with righteousness at all times. Now
all that is justification. If you do righteousness at all
times, that's because you've been justified and that is how
you are. You're somebody who does righteousness
at all times. That's justification. Psalm 112,
1, blessed is the man that feareth
the Lord. Psalm 119, 1, blessed are the
undefiled in the way. Psalm 119, 2, blessed are they
that keep thou testimonies. That's a believing of the gospel.
Psalm 144, verse 15, blessed is the people whose God is the
Lord. Oh, I want to be somebody that's
blessed of God, don't you? Well, how can you know if you've
been blessed of God? Is it because you got a lot of
money in the bank? Is it because you're healthy, wealthy, and
wise? No, you might've been sitting in slippery places. The only
way you can know if you've been blessed of the Lord is if you
look to Christ only as everything in your salvation. Christ is all you have. Not Christ in your experience,
not Christ in anything you do. Christ is all you have. And you
don't want anything else. Oh, if that's your condition,
you have been blessed of God. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for our
king. Lord, how we thank you that he's
the king that you have set upon your holy hill of Zion. And Lord, how we thank you for
your absolute sovereignty in all things. Lord, I ask in Christ's blessed
name that by your spirit, you would enable each person in this
room to trust in him. Lord, drive us away from trusting
in ourselves or anything that's human. and to trust only in Him. In His blessed name we pray,
Amen.