I have entitled this message,
The Issue. The Issue. Now, what was the accusation
against the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, I just read The accusation
against him was his kingship. That is what he was accused of. His kingship. The word accusation is sometimes
translated in the New Testament, the case, the cause, the charge,
the crime, The fault. This was the charge against Christ. This was the crime laid at Him. This was what they accused of
being His fault. His kingship. This was the accusation
written over His head. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews. That was the issue then. And my dear friends, it is the
issue now. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews. Now, all error, all false doctrine,
all sin, all rebellion, Has this at its root a failure to submit
to the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ? It's this cry. We will not have this man to
reign over us. Let's begin reading in verse
28 of John chapter 18. Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas
unto the hall of judgment. And it was early. And they themselves
went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled.
Forbid that we be defiled. We're getting ready to murder
the Son of God, but we don't want to be defiled. We want everything
to be just right. that they might eat the Passover. There's some irony there, isn't
there? Pilate then went out unto them
and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? What's the
charge against him? What is his crime? They answered
and said unto him, If he were not a malfactor, we would not
have delivered him up unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, Take
ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore
said unto him, It is not law for us to put any man to death,
that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake,
signifying what death he should die. Now understand that everything
that took place happened that his word might be fulfilled.
He was in complete, absolute, sovereign control over every
event taking place. And even this, when they said,
we can't kill him. You see, the Jews didn't kill
by crucifixion. The Lord had said, I'm going
to die on a cross. He told them that he would be
lifted up from the earth. And everything that was taking
place was taking place according to his word. He's letting us
know, even at this time, he's in complete control over this
event. Everything that took place, took
place that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he's
faced, signifying what death he should die. Verse 33. Then
Pilate entered into the judgment hall again. And called Jesus
and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? This is the
accusation they're bringing against you. Are you the king of the
Jews? Verse 34, Jesus answered him,
Sayest thou this thing of thyself? Or did others tell it of me?"
You know, I would like to ask that question regarding everything
that we believe. Do you believe this of yourself?
Is this what you really believe? Or are you just spitting out
what somebody else said to you? What do you really believe? Verse 35, Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation. And the chief
priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done?" Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered
unto the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from Hence, you see,
his kingdom is not like any earthly kingdom. It's not of this world. What does this say about all,
all political activism in the name of Christ? You know what it says. It's all a bunch of baloney.
That's all it is. Our Lord said my kingdom is not
of this world. Huh, if it were, don't think
you have any control over me. Don't think it for a second.
If it were, my servants would fight. I'd send 12 legions of
angels and they'd blow this place out. My kingdom is not of this
world. Now here's Pilate's answer, verse
37. Pilate therefore said unto him,
Art thou king then? You're talking about a kingdom?
Uh-huh. This accusation is true. You're saying you're a king. Jesus answered, Thou sayest that
I'm king. You said it. To this end was
I born. Remember when Herod came looking
for that one who was born king of the Jews? Why did he want
him dead? Because he was born king of the
Jews. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice." You are a king. That's the claim
you're making. Yes, it is. And everyone that's
of the truth hears my voice, Pilate saith unto him, what is
truth? We're going to look at that a
little bit more next week, Lord willing. What is truth? But let's
go on reading. And when he'd said this, he went
out again unto the Jews and saith unto them, I find in him no fault
at all, but You have a custom that I should release unto you
one at the Passover. Will ye therefore that I release
unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all again, saying,
Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Then Pilate therefore took Jesus
and scourged him, and the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns A king
has to have a crown. So they thought they would help
him out. The soldiers plaited a crown
of thorns and put it on his head. And they put on him a purple
robe and said, Hail, King of the Jews. And they smoked him
with their hands. Under what office did they make
fun of him? Not his priesthood. Not his prophet. Not because of the miracles that
he did. They weren't making fun of him
over this. But they were making fun of him over his kingship. Oh, they make him a crown. Place
it on his head. They give him a purple robe.
And they hit him in the face saying, Hail, King of the Jews. Verse 4, Pilate therefore went
forth again and saith unto him, Behold, I bring him forth to
you that you may know that I find no fault in him." You see, Pilate
understood something about what was going on. He was a savvy
politician. And he knew that they had just delivered him for
envy. Scripture points that out. But he wanted to content the
people. He wanted to satisfy the people. So he brought him
out. Truth wasn't enough to make him do what was right. He wanted
to satisfy the people. But he wants to let them know,
I didn't have anything to do with this. He washes his hands. Verse
five, then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple
robe and Pilate said unto them, behold, the man. When the chief priests, therefore,
and officers saw him, they saw this one with this purple robe
and this crown of thorns, they cried out saying, crucify him,
crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take
ye him, and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews
answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die,
because he made himself the Son of God. You see, they understood
what they were accusing him of. He makes himself equal with God. He calls himself the Son of God. He's saying that he is reigning
and in control. We'll not have this man reign
over us. We won't permit this. Verse 8,
when Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid. You know, he was afraid of the
Lord Jesus. He knew there was something about him. He didn't
know what it was, but he knew it scared him. It scared him. He was the more afraid. And he
went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence
art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then said Pilate unto him, Speakest
thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have
power to crucify thee, and I have power to release thee? I love the Lord's answer. Jesus answered, thou couldst
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. Every time I read that,
it does something for me. Don't you know I've got power
over you? You have no power. And from thenceforth Pilate sought
to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let
this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend, whosoever maketh himself
a king speaketh against Caesar. They're trying to make this a
political thing. When Pilate therefore heard that saying,
he brought Jesus forth and he sat down in the judgment seat
in a place that is called the pavement, but in the Hebrew,
Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover, about the six
hour And he saith unto the Jews, Behold your king. But they cried out, Away with
him! Away with him! Crucify him! Pilate saith unto
them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We
have no king but Caesar. You know, they pretty much tied
up Pilate's hands. He didn't have any choice. He'd
lose his job. He couldn't let this go. Then
delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they
took Jesus and led him away. And he bearing his cross as a mighty king. He, bearing
his cross, went forth into a place called the Place of the Skull,
which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified
him. And two other with him, one either
side, one and Jesus in the midst, and Pilate wrote a title and
put it on the cross. And the writing was, Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title then read many of
the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was not the
city, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. Hebrew,
the language of the religious. Greek, the language of the common
man. Latin, the language of the intellectuals. Written in three different languages,
still with one message. And this is the message. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews. Verse 21, Then said the chief
priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not the King of the Jews,
but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What
I have written, I have written. Now, why was the Lord Jesus Christ
nailed to that cross? For His good deeds? For His mighty miracles? For His healing? No, because
of His kingship. This is the cry of humanity then
and now. We will not have this man to
reign over us. That was the issue then. That's
the issue right now. What do you think of his kingship? When God looks into your heart
and he's looking into your heart right now, he knows what's really
there. What do you personally think
of the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, when the apostles
preached, This is what got them in trouble. Let me show you this
in Acts chapter 17. Would you turn over there? Acts chapter 17. Verse five,
but the Jews, which believe not, moved with envy, took unto them
certain lewd fellows of the baser sort. and gathered a company,
and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason,
and sought to bring them out to the people. When they found
them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren under the rulers
of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside
down are come hither also, whom Jason hath received. And these
all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying, There is another
king, one Jesus." There is only one king. Now, the kingship of Christ,
you know what that means? That means you and I are in His
hands. And you and I have absolutely
no control. He can do with us as He sees
fit. He can save me Or he can send
me to hell. I'm in his hands for him to do
whatsoever he is pleased to do. That's the kingship of Christ.
He has all control. I have no control. What do you
think of that? What is the response of your
heart? Now, he's the king. I'm not saying
he has a right to rule. I'm saying he does rule. Somebody
says, well, I don't believe that. Well, that's part of His plan.
That's part of His plan. Object? That's okay. Everything
is under His thumb. That's what we're talking about
when we're talking about the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
beloved, the only way Christ can be preached is as He is.
He is God's King. God says, yet have I set my King
on my holy hill of Zion. There's no voting him into office.
And he cannot be impeached. He is the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, our Savior. I've heard preachers
say, won't you make Jesus the Lord of your life? That's blasphemy.
He is Lord. He is King. Pilate says, Behold, in verse
14, behold your king. Now, I want to ask you a question.
They were making fun of him at this time. I mean, they were
hitting him, placed a crown of thorns on his head, watched the
blood and the gore come out, smacking him, making fun of him
as a king. Was he king? While they were making fun of
him. Was he the king? Ask the thief. He knew, didn't
he? He knew he was Lord of Lords
and King of Kings. How'd he know? Same way you know
if you know. God revealed it to him. That's
the only way anybody can know the Lord Jesus Christ is that
God is pleased to make him know. You know when those soldiers
were driving the nails in His hands and His feet. Do you know
that He gave them the strength to do that at that time? They
did it according to His will. He was in complete control. I love the shout of the king
when he died. You know what it says of Israel,
the shout of the king is among them and with them. What is the
shout of the king? It is finished. That's the triumphant shout of
the king. Death couldn't even take him
until he gave it permission and then he yielded up the ghost. Now, throughout his life, he
gave glimpses of his kingly authority. Demons. groveled in fear at his
presence. And they couldn't move from one
place to another without first asking his permission. Suffer
us. Suffer us to go into the herd
of swine. They knew they couldn't do it unless he left. The demons
knew who he was. They knew exactly who he was. Why, the weather obeyed his will. They said, what manner of man
is this that even the winds and the sea do obey Him? I'll tell you what manner of
man this is. This is God's King. God says to Him, Thy throne,
O God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of Thy kingdom. When Pilate, that paper king,
said, Don't you know that I have power to release you and I have
power to crucify you? I love to think of what our Lord's
voice must have sounded like at that time. With calm majesty,
He said, Thou hast no power at all over me, except it be given
thee from above. Now listen to me. If you've not
seen Him as king, You've not seen Him, period. He is the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords. And it was as a King whose will
was being done that He died. He was no victim. He said to
the daughters of Jerusalem while He was carrying His cross and
they were weeping, He said, Don't weep for Me. The Son of God doesn't
need our pity. Don't weep for me, but weep for
yourselves. He was doing what he was doing
as a mighty king, the king of kings. You see, as a king, he
died whose will was being done. That's why there's such saving
efficacy in his death. It wasn't just a man that died.
If I died for you, what good would it do you? None. None. But if he died for you,
what's it do for you? If He died for you, you must
be saved because of who died. It's Christ that died, the mighty
King, and they're saving efficacy in His blood. All that He died
for, they must be saved. They can't be anything but saved
because of who died for them. I don't know of anything more
disgusting to me than that doctrine of universal redemption, that
Jesus Christ can die for somebody and they might wind up in hell
anyway. Somebody believes that and doesn't believe the gospel.
Somebody doesn't believe in the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is king. Now what does the Bible mean
by Christ being king? Now you can say Christ is king
and mean something different than what the Bible does. What
does the Bible mean by the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well,
in the Bible, the king was the absolute monarch. Whether you prospered or whether
you were brought to poverty, whether you lived or whether
you died was in the king's hand. All power was vested into his
hands. Now, kings back then. Kings remained kings until one
of two things happened. Either they died or somebody
that was stronger than them, knocked them off the throne.
You know, when I was a little boy, I got to thinking about
this. We had, around where we lived, we had new construction
going on and there was always dirt piles where they'd dig out
the foundation. There's these big dirt piles.
We'd always say, I'm going to play at the dirt pile. And we'd
play king of the hill. King of the hill. Whoever's strongest,
he stays on top. There might be four or five boys
trying to knock each other off. You know, king of the hill. Well,
this king, Ain't nobody strong enough to knock Him off. And
this King will never die. He is the King. Eternal. Immortal. Invisible. The only wise God. I think this
will help to illustrate this. Turn to Revelation chapter 17
for a moment. Beginning in verse 12. And the ten horns which thou
sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but
receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one
mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
These shall make war with the Lamb." Now, is there any way
they can win this war? Go on reading, "...and the Lamb
shall overcome them, For He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. That is who He is. Do they have a chance of overcoming
Him? No, because He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Now, let me make some statements
from the Scriptures regarding the kingship of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Remember, this is the issue.
This is the issue between you and God. Right here. If you want
to know what the issue is, it's right here. His kingship. Now, a king has a kingdom. He
has a jurisdiction. A kingdom over which he rules.
What is the kingdom of this king? Now, like I said, when we were
little boys, we were playing on dirt piles. I'm the king of
this dirt pile. And that's about what you could
say about any human king. Not much to it. But this King, Daniel said, whose
dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom from generation
to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing,
and He doeth according to His will in the armies of heaven,
and among the inhabitants of the earth. And none can say his
hand and say, what doest thou? He's answerable to no one because
he has absolute authority. What do you think about that? I love it. I love it. He doesn't answer to me. He doesn't
answer to you. He's the king. And his jurisdiction is over
all. in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. He rules over all. A king has
a throne. We see his kingdoms over everything.
A king has a throne. When Isaiah saw him, he said,
I saw the Lord high and lifted up. And that's the only way you
see him. You see him any other way than that, you've not seen
him, period. He said, in the year the king Uzziah died, I
saw also the Lord high and lifted up, sitting on a His throne is
an eternal throne. Thy throne, O God, is forever. It never had a beginning, and
it will never end. He's always the King sitting
upon His throne. And His throne is a throne of
absolute justice. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of Thy throne. But thank God, His throne is
a throne of grace. Yes, it's an eternal throne.
Yes, it's a sovereign throne. Yes, it's a throne of absolute
justice. But thank God, it's also a throne
of grace. We're called upon to come boldly
to the throne of grace that we may find mercy and obtain grace
to help in time of need. What's grace? What is grace? Let me tell you something. It's
not something you accept. It's not something you reject. It's God's grace saving. It's saving grace. That's what God's grace is. It's
saving grace. By grace, ye are saved. This is the throne of grace we're
talking about. We're talking about a throne of electing grace.
Redeeming grace. Justifying grace. Regenerating
grace. Preserving grace. Glorifying
grace. Salvation by grace. Aren't you
thankful it's a throne of grace? I mean, it's a sovereign throne.
But I tell you what, to that sovereign throne, I come and
lay myself down. Lord, if You will, I tell you
on the way to come to this throne, Lord, if You will, You can make
me clean. The king has a scepter, and the
scripture says in Hebrews 1, 8, a scepter of righteousness. It's the scepter of his kingdom.
Righteousness. There's no more important word
in the Bible. Well, Christ is the most important
word in the Bible, but next to Christ, there's no more important
word than righteousness. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink. It's righteousness. and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost. Righteousness. And listen to
me. He's righteous. You know that,
don't you? He's righteous. And everybody
He saves is righteous by what He does for them. Now, here's
righteousness. I'm actually, if Christ died
for me, I'm a righteous man. My sins put away. I don't have
any sin. I have a perfect standing before God's law. I kept the
law. If He kept the law... You know
the reason I don't try to keep the law? Because I kept it. I've
kept it in the Lord Jesus Christ. I've kept God's holy law. I stand
before God righteous. I've got a righteous nature,
a nature given to me in the new birth. The kingdom of God is
not meat and drink, it's righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. Oh, what righteousness there
is in His kingdom. That's why David said, I beg
mention of thy righteousness, even thine only. See, there's
only one righteousness. That is the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. And that's the righteousness
that I stand in before God. A king has a crown. And the scripture
says, on his head were many crowns because he wore that crown of
thorns. He now wears a crown of glory as the king, the savior,
the mediator. A king has a royal robe. And
you'll notice, you'll remember how that robe of his was seamless.
It couldn't be divided. It couldn't be split up. It couldn't
be ripped. You see, he has no divided kingdom. We read of the
divided kingdom. This guy's a king here, but this
other guy's a king there. You know, it kind of got split up
until you got one king here. Not his kingdom. He has no divided
kingdom. He is the absolute king of all.
He's king of creation. That means He spake the worlds
into existence as an act of His will. He willed creation, and
there it is. That is a mighty King. He is
King in providence. That means He controls everything. Everything. He's first cause
behind everything. Isn't that wonderful to know that? I'd be
miserable if I didn't believe that. But it's so, whether I
believe it or not, that He's the King of Providence. By Him,
all things consist. And most especially, He is the
King of salvation. Salvation is in His hands. That's a good place for it to
be. You see, salvation was in my hands if it was up to me as
to whether or not you'd be saved. Now, I guarantee you I'd save
everybody in here. That's what I'd say. I'd say to everybody in here,
but give me some time and you cross me enough. I'd say, nope,
that's it. Aren't you glad I'm not in control
of salvation? I get an amen out of that, can't
I? But salvation is in his hands.
Salvation is of the Lord. The King has subjects. Are you
still there in Revelation 17? Let's read verse 14 again. The
King has subjects. Verse 14. These shall make war with the
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords. and king of kings. And listen to this description
of his subjects and they that are with him. I'd say this is the only place
I want to be found with him, in him and with him. Nowhere else. They that are with him, look
at this threefold description of them. They're called, they're
chosen and they're faithful. The reason they're with Him is
because He called them to Himself by irresistible, invincible grace. We preach Christ crucified unto
the Jews. He's a stumbling block. Unto
the Greeks is foolishness, but unto them which are thee called. Both the Jews and Greeks. Christ,
the power of God. And Christ, the wisdom of God. And they're described as chosen. Why are they called? Because
they're chosen. Chosen by God before time began. Chosen to be His precious bride. Chosen to be His follower. Thank God for election. Can you say that? Thank God for
election. They that are with Him are called,
they're chosen, and they're faithful. You know what that means? They
believe, and they can be believed. They trust, and they can be trusted. They rely, and they can be relied
upon. They're faithful. This is a description
of all of God's people. called, chosen, and faithful. Now, I'm talking about me and you.
We're going to bow to this King. Everybody in this room, everybody
in the world, we're going to bow to this King. Now, you're
either going to bow now or later. You're going to bow now, willingly,
bowing the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ, suing for mercy at His
feet, bowing, knowing He's King of kings and Lord of lords. You're
going to bow now, and you're going to do so willingly. Thy
people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Or one of these
days, you're going to be made to bow. Before you're cast into
hell as an object of his justice and wrath, treason against the
king, you're going to be made to bow. You say, we'll not have
this man reign over us. You've got no choice. He does
reign over you right now. Now you're going to bow either
now or later. By His grace, I bow Him now. I want to close by reading Psalm
2. Psalm 2. You know, I want to say this
right. Bow. This is a battle you can't
win. You've ever heard that saying,
if you can't beat them, join them? You can't beat them. You can't
beat them. Bow down. Psalm 2. Why do the heathen rage and the
people imagine a vain thing? 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. We won't have this man reign
over us. That's the same thing. We're not going to have this
man reign over us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. You would
dare not bow the knee to my Son? Oh, oh, what you're doing to
yourself! God says, Yet have I set my King
upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree The
Lord has said unto me, Thou art my Son. This day have I begotten
thee. Ask of me, and I'll give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings. Be instructed. Ye judges of the
earth, serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put
their trust Where? In Him. I'm, by His grace, I'm putting
my trust, my confidence that God will have mercy upon me.
I'm putting all my trust in Him. Now, God's command to you. God's
command. Not good advice, but God's command.
is to put your trust in Him. May God give us all the grace
to do just that. Let's pray together.