Matthew chapter 21. I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said there in verse 23. And when he was
coming to the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people
came unto him as he was teaching. The Lord hears in the middle
of his sermon, teaching and preaching the gospel. in the temple of
God, in the house of God, and they interrupt him, and they
say, who gave you authority? Who gave you the power? By what
authority do you say what you say? By what authority do you
do what you do? These Pharisees and scribes could
not deny his many miracles of mercy that He performed on those
people in the temple. You remember, look back at verse
14. Remember when He drove out all
the money changers, He made room for those who were blind and
lame, verse 14. They came to Him in the temple,
and He healed them. They could not deny that the
Lord had done these many mighty miracles. So they sought to destroy
his character. They sought to discredit his
ministry. As it says over here in verse
15 of the same chapter, Matthew 21, when the chief priest and
scribe saw the wonderful thing that he did in the children crying
in the temple saying, oh, Zanna, oh, save us, son of David, Messiah. The Christ of God, they were
sore displeased. They were not happy campers.
They were mad at the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in Luke 19 that
they sought to destroy Him. They were not only displeased,
but they were so angry they were ready to kill Him. And the very
point of contention with these Pharisees was the Lord's authority,
the Lord's power to act in the name of God. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the only begotten, well-beloved Son of God. He is the Son of
God who is God the Son. The Lord Jesus Christ was acting
there in the temple as God, being God. In the beginning was the
Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory,
the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and full of truth. These chief priests and religious
scribes and elders among the Jews came and asked the Lord
Jesus Christ this question about His credentials, about His authority. Turn back over here to Matthew
chapter 7. Remember at the end of the Lord's Sermon on the Mount? Look back at Matthew chapter
7 verse 28. And it came to pass when Jesus
had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his
doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority, not
as the scribes." Not as the scribes. If you look just across the page
there over in Matthew 9, when those four men brought the paralyzed
man lying on his bed, and they brought him to the Lord Jesus
Christ. In Matthew 9 verse 2, the Lord
said, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven. You see
that in Matthew 9 too. Behold, certain of the scribes
within themselves said, this man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing
their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
For which it is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or
to say, Arise and walk. But that ye may know that the
Son of Man hath authority, same word there, power, to forgive
sins. Then he saith to the sick of
the poles, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thy house. And he rose and departed. When
the multitude saw it, they marveled and glorified God, which had
given such power unto this Son of God, the God-Man Mediator."
Always remember this very important truth found in the Word of God.
that the Lord Jesus Christ has all power and all authority.
As God, He's the Sovereign over all things. He's the Sovereign
over all events, over all people, over all things, were of Him
and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory
both now and forever. Romans 11, 6. Psalm 135 says,
Whatsoever the Lord please, that's what He does in heaven or sea
and all deep places. He has declared the end from
the beginning. Things that are not yet done,
saying, my counsel shall stand. I'll do all my pleasure. Calling
a ravenous bird from the east, a man that would execute my counsel
from a far country. I've spoken it. I bring it to
pass. I've purposed it. I will do it. Sounds like somebody's in charge,
doesn't it? Sounds like somebody has all
authority and power. Does it not? The Lord Jesus Christ
does. as God, as the Son of God, as
the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the God-man mediator,
also has sovereign power, complete authority given to him by his
Heavenly Father to accomplish our salvation, the salvation
of his people, to save his people from their sins. Remember the
Lord prayed in John 17, Father, I thank you. You've given me
power over all flesh that I should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given to me. The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ,
when he came forth from the tomb, delivered for our offenses, raised
again for our justification. The resurrected Lord of heaven
and earth ascended to glory, having all power. and all authority. He said that in Matthew 28. Before
He ascended, all power is given to me in heaven and earth. Go
and preach the gospel knowing I have all power, I have all
authority. The Lord Jesus Christ ascended
to glory, seated on the throne of glory right now, and He still
has all authority and all power right now. Somebody's in charge.
He's in charge. He has all authority. He has
all power. Paul writes this in Romans 13.
1. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there
is no power but of God, and the powers that be are ordained of
God. We're going to see in just a
few chapters when the Lord stands before Pilate, and Pilate said
to him, don't you know I have power? I have authority over
you to crucify you or to let you go. And the Lord corrected
him, didn't he? He said, you don't have any power
over me, except it be given thee of my father. God has all power. God has all authority. Now you
remember what had taken place here. The Lord of glory went
into the temple of God. He called it my house, and he
cast them out of the temple who were abusing and mistreating
the poor people, who were preventing them from observing the Passover
feast, They prevented them from observing
the Passover feast without them first giving some money to these
money changers in the temple. And what did the Lord do? We
know what He did. Remember, look back at chapter
21, verse 12 and verse 13, Matthew 21. He cast them out, didn't
He? Maybe He planted a whip like
He did before. Verse 12, Jesus went into the
temple of God and cast out all them that sold and bought in
the temple over to the tables of money changers and the seats
of them that sold. And said unto them, It is written,
My house shall be called the house of prayer. But you made
it a den of thieves. They were robbing the people,
abusing the people. They were enriching themselves
and abusing the people. Now the first thing I want us
to notice here, that the Lord Jesus Christ was about His daily
business, doing the Father's will, teaching and preaching
the gospel. Verse 23, when He was coming
to the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people
came unto Him as He was teaching. Why was He in the temple? Teaching
the way of salvation by the grace of God. in the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I must always be about
my father's business, where this is recorded in Luke chapter 20.
It says there, as he taught the people in the temple and preached
the gospel, the chief priests and scribes came upon him with
the elders. Right in the middle of his sermon,
right in preaching the gospel, they came to him and attacked
him viciously. The Lord Jesus Christ was indeed
the prophet son of God, sent among the people. He came with
God's message of salvation by the grace of God, salvation in
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of that
prophecy that we read about there in John chapter 1. Deuteronomy
18 said, I'll raise him up a prophet from among the brethren like
unto thee. I'll put my words in his mouth. He shall speak
unto them All that I shall command him and it shall come to pass,
whosoever will not hearken to my words, which he shall speak
in my name, I'll hold him accountable. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke the
very testimony and word and will of God. He said, the words I
speak unto you, they're not mine. The Father who sent me, speaking
the words of God about how God saves sinners in Christ. Our
blessed Lord was a preacher of the gospel. It says in Mark chapter
1 verse 14, After John was put in prison, John the Baptist put
in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God, saying, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand,
now you repent. Repent, change your mind to have
God save sinners. Repent and believe the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Same thing Paul preached to those
elders at Ephesus, repentance toward God and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ. Let us as believers make much
of the preaching of the gospel of Christ as the Lord Jesus Christ
did. Let us make much of the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is pleased God, by
the foolishness of preaching, to call out His people. It is
pleased God, as the ordained means, to use the preaching of
the gospel of Christ to call out His people. May we be determined
to preach nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
as all the counsel of God. As all the counsel of God. He
has commanded His church to go into all the world and, not entertain
folks, preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember
what Paul, when he sits in a Roman dungeon, waiting to be executed
for the gospel, he writes back to young Timothy, he says, I
charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, preach the
word. Preach Christ, in season, out of season, doesn't matter,
always preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And while
the Lord was doing that, the will of the Father, preaching
and teaching, instructing sinners in the way of salvation, preaching
salvation, he said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the
life, no man comes to the Father but by and through me. These
vultures and predators of religion descended upon him like a pack
of wild dogs. not to learn of Him, not to listen
to Him, but rather to silence Him, to put an end to His ministry,
to put an end to Him, and to put Him out of business. They
sought, they went out and held counsel as they might destroy
Him. When the Lord on the Sabbath
day healed that man who had the withered hand, you remember?
Matthew chapter 12. It was on the Sabbath day. That
man had a withered hand and he said, stretch forth your hand.
And he did. And this same crowd of self-righteous
Pharisees got angry and so upset, they went out instead of giving
thanks unto God, they went out and held a council how they might
destroy him. Don't tell me we're not depraved.
He went about doing good, and they went about to kill him.
We are totally depraved sinners. We're no different. We're no
different. Now, here's the point of their attack. By what authority? Where'd you get this authority?
Who is in charge in this matter of salvation? It's not the same
thing. It's not just the same thing
that religious lost people argue about today. Who's in charge
in salvation? Who's in charge of salvation?
Who's in charge in this matter of God's free grace? God, it's
His grace. Isn't He in charge of it? Absolutely. And men argue in religious circles
today about salvation by the free will of man or by the free
and sovereign grace of God. Now, you who believe and know
the gospel, you know the answer to that, don't you? It's not
of him that will it. It's not of him that run it.
It's God that shows mercy. There's no debate among those
who believe how God saves sinners. Man's will is not free. It's
in bondage to his sinful, rotten nature. It's always self-ward
and downward, never, never God-ward and upward. Of his own will begat
he us. with the word of truth. We read
in our reading earlier, he came into his own, his own received
him not, but as many as received him, to them gave he power, right
or privilege to become sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name, which were born, not of blood, not of the will
of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. So salvation's of the Lord, is
it not? Who's in charge of salvation? By what authority do we have
to go out and preach salvation by the sovereign grace of God?
He's given us that message. It's his message. We're not making
things up as we go. We're declaring what God has
already said. That's what preaching is. It's
declaring what God has already said. Those who are taught of
God have only one answer. not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." Paul
again writing to young Timothy while he sits in jail and reminds
him, don't be ashamed of me or the gospel, for it's God who
saved us, it's God who called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace. Given
us in Christ Jesus, oh, before the foundation of the world.
That shuts man's will and work out of the picture, does it not?
I found this to be true over the years. When you take a bold
stand for the gospel of God, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ,
and insist that salvation is by the total, sovereign, free
grace of God, and insist that, with no compromise, boldly declare
that salvation of the Lord the enemies of the gospel will attack
you too. I've experienced it more than
once over these last 40 years or so that I've been trying to
preach the gospel. When you read through the book
of Acts and read about the apostles as they went preaching as the
Lord commanded them, they were severely persecuted over this
matter of who's in charge. I'll give you a good example
of this. Hold your place there and find Acts chapter 4. Remember,
Peter and John were in the temple. And a man who was crippled was
made to believe, they said, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
take up your bed and walk. And he did. You know, they got
in trouble. They got in trouble because the
Lord healed that man. And in Acts chapter 4, Notice
this, when they were gathered together before Annas the high
priest, verse 6, Acts 4, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, as many
as were the kindred of the high priest, gathered together at
Jerusalem. Same crowd, same bunch. And when they had set Peter and
John in the midst, they asked, by what power or by what name
have you done this? Same issue, isn't it? Who's in
charge? By what authority? By what power
have you done this? Peter, verse 8, filled with the
Holy Ghost, said unto them, you rulers of the people and elders
of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deed done
to this impotent man by what means he's made whole, be it
known unto you and all the people that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him does this man stand here before you whole. This is
a stone which is set at nought of you builders, which is become
the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other, nor the name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved." Same issue, wasn't it? What authority, what
power? I'm saying this book teaches
that salvation is by God's power, God's authority, God's will in
the matter. Now the Lord, back in our text,
verse 24 and verse 25, the Lord turns the table on them. He said,
I'll ask you one thing. If you tell me, I'll tell you
by what authority I do these things. Now the Lord's setting
a trap here. They don't know it. The Lord's
smarter than they are, much wiser than they are. He said, the baptism
of John. Now, remember, they sent men
to ask John, who are you? These men knew who John the Baptist
was. They knew he was sent of God. They knew he had God's message. And the Lord said, what about
the baptism of John? Where did he get his authority?
Where did he get his power? From heaven? Or was it of men? And they answered, and they reasoned, rather, they
reasoned with themselves. Now, that's not a wise thing
to do. They reasoned with themselves
saying, if we say from heaven, he will say this and why don't
you believe him? But if we shall say of men, Well, we fear the
people, for they all hold John as a prophet. And the Lord answered
and said to them, they answered and said, we cannot tell. In
other words, we're going to straddle the fence. We're not going to
go this way or that way. We're just going to straddle
the fence. We cannot tell. And he said to them, neither
tell I you by what authority or what power I do these things."
The Lord wisely goes on the attack and turns the table on them and
asks them a question. He did this often when the Pharisees
and scribes asked all sort of questions about taxes, about
the resurrection, about marriage, and about the law. We're going
to see this in Matthew 22. Turn over there in Matthew 22,
look at verse 41. Matthew 22, verse 41, the Pharisees were
gathered together and Jesus asked them, here again he's putting
them on the line, saying, what think ye of Christ? Whose son
is he? There's a question, isn't there? What think ye of Christ?
They said to him, he's the son of David. And he saith unto them,
How then doth David in his spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord
said unto my Lord, Sit thou in my right hand, till I make thine
enemies thy footstool. He quotes from Psalm 110. If
David then call him his Lord, how can he be the son? And no
man was able to answer him a word, neither doth any man from that
day forth ask him any more question. He silenced them by one question,
What think ye of Christ? He does the same thing here in
verse 25. The baptism of John, where is it from? Heaven or men? He stopped their nonsense by
one powerful question. The baptism, which includes the
message of John, the ministry of John. What was his message?
Behold the Lamb of God. The baptism of John was given
of God. John the Baptist baptized the
Lord Jesus Christ. We saw that in Matthew chapter
3. Suffer us now to fulfill all
righteousness. The baptism, the message, and
the ministry of John, was it from heaven or was it of God? Did John put himself in the ministry?
We read there was a man sent from God whose name was John. What a blessing. What a blessing. Remember, they had sent a committee
of their own to examine him, and he said, behold, the Lamb
of God. Had these Jews acknowledged John's ministry, they must acknowledge
him as the Christ. For John came, identified the
forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, identified the Messiah
as the Lamb of God. John's own testimony was, I must,
he must increase, I must Decrease, right? They're shameful and unreasonable
thoughts, verse 26, 27. They reason with themselves,
and that's not a good thing to do. And then there was an outright
lie declared. We can't really tell. We don't
really know. They pretended ignorance, didn't
they? Rather than profess the truth, in other words, what did
they do? They lied. They lied. That's the sin that's common
to all men naturally. We love darkness rather than
the light. We come forth from the womb speaking lies and will
continue to do so until we die. Let God be true in every man
a liar. Someone might say, well I've
never lied. You just did. Now I want to tell
the truth the best I can. But the only time I'm telling
the absolute truth is what I'm reading, thus saith the Lord.
Let God be true in every man a liar. The wicked are estranged
from the womb. They go astray as soon as they
are born, speaking lies. The Lord Jesus Christ answered
them in a way of silencing them with the authority and power
of the King. You don't deserve an answer.
Those who will not own the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord, God, and
Savior will be disowned by Him. Our Lord said, if you're ashamed
of me now, I'll be ashamed of you in that day. Now, I said
all that to get to this point. And here is where I want to camp
for just a few minutes, and I've got just a few minutes left.
The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the gospel of God concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, is it totally of God or partially of
God? Does man have any part in the
accomplishment of it? The answer is obvious to those
who believe the gospel. If you listen, though, to the
average preaching in most churches today, you will find that most
preaching that goes in our day has totally a different message. They say things like, God has
done all He can do. The rest is up to you. You need
to make a decision today. Decide for Jesus. Make Him Lord.
You can't make Him Lord. Salvation is not a decision on
your part. Salvation is of the Lord. Is
it of men? Is it from heaven? Is it from
men? We know salvation is of the Lord, don't we? We know that.
The salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. Salvation is
of the Lord in His planning. God's eternal purpose. He's the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Salvation of the
Lord in His execution that pleased the Lord to bruise Him in our
room and in our stead. What did you have to do with
that? Nothing but adding sin unto it. Salvation of the Lord
in His application. God who has begun a good work
in you, He will perform it. Salvation of the Lord in His
sustaining power. We're kept by the power of God.
He gives His sheep eternal life and they'll never perish. Salvation
is of the Lord in its ultimate perfection. We're predestinated
to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. What
is predestination all about? Christ, God choosing a people
and making them just like the Lord Jesus Christ. I love it.
I love it. It's God's choice. He said you
didn't choose me. I've chosen you and ordained
you to eternal life. So when we consider salvation,
Is it from heaven or men? Now you know the answer, don't
you? Because you've been taught of God. When we consider salvation,
we have to say salvation of the Lord. Secondly, when we talk
about redemption from sin, When we talk about our sin being forgiven,
is it from the Lord and through the Lord Jesus Christ alone,
or is it some way dependent and determined or accomplished by
something we do? Do we put away our sin by just,
why don't you just stop sinning? Okay, try it. Sin is not put
away by our puny efforts. The Lord Jesus Christ said that
we are redeemed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm not interested in the opinions of men. What does the Word of
God teach? In whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches
of His grace. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputes not iniquity. How is that done? Only through
the blood atonement of Christ. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He obtained
for us eternal redemption with His own blood. He did it! Salvation, is it from heaven
or is it of men? Redemption, is it from heaven
or is it of men? salvations of the Lord, redemptions
of the Lord. Thirdly, justification before
God. Justification, being cleared
of all guilt. Justification before Almighty
God. Is it of God, through the glorious righteousness and blood
atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, God, our Savior,
or is it accomplished by the works, merit, deed, and righteousness
of the creature? It can't be both. It can't be
both. We're either justified freely
by the grace of God, or we're justified by works. Now, which
is it? It's not by works of righteousness, which we have done. What does
the Scriptures teach? By the deeds of the law. Oh,
wait a minute. How's that go? How's that go? By the deeds of
the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight. We're justified
by the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, not by our doing. What does the book of God say?
We believe, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall be saved as others. The Apostle Paul, in his first
sermon, when he was sent out to preach the gospel, said this,
God raised him from the dead, be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brothers, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sin, and by him all that believe are justified
from all things which you could not be justified by the law of
Moses. We say with the Apostle Paul,
we count everything else done, lost, ruined, that we may win
Christ and be found in Him. So, salvation, is it from heaven? Look at verse 25 again. Is it
from heaven or of men? We know it's salvation of the
Lord. Redemption from all sin? Is it from heaven? Is it of God?
Or is it of man? We know it's of God. He sent
the Redeemer who redeemed us with His own blood. We talk about
justification and righteousness before God. Is it from heaven?
Is it of God? Or is that something you came
up with? Now these are serious issues,
are they not? When we talk about regeneration,
being made a new creature in Christ, brought forth from the
grave, a spiritual death, being delivered from the bondage of
the law, having a new spiritual nature given to you in the new
birth. Is that from heaven? Or is it
of man? What did the Lord say to Nicodemus? Except you're born from above,
you cannot see the kingdom of God. The new birth is from above.
It's of God. It's of God. It's not. It's not
of us. That which is born of the flesh,
our Lord said, is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit
is Spirit. Except you're born again, you cannot see the Kingdom
of God, you cannot perceive the Kingdom of God. Except you're
born from above, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. The
old preacher Robert Hocker, that I love to read after, he said,
nothing in the flesh, in regeneration, nothing in the flesh is made
holy. Nothing in the flesh. I'm still a sinful, fleshly creature. But nothing in the Spirit is
left unholy. We've been made a new creature
in Christ Jesus. That which is born of the Spirit
of God does not sin. I have that old nature. It's
nothing but sin. I have that new nature and the
new birth that cannot sin. That's right. Amen. Be in Christ.
He's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things become new. Now, is that from heaven? Or
is that of men? Now, you know the answer, don't
you? I've given you the Scripture on this. Now, if you say these
things are of God, then why don't you believe Him? Why don't you
trust Him? Why don't you bow to Him, submit to Him, own and
confess Him publicly? as the Lord Jesus Christ, your
God and your Savior. If you say these things are so
and you believe and trust Him, confess Him. Confess him as your
Lord and Savior. Well, how do believers confess
the Lord Jesus Christ? By believer's baptism. By believer's
baptism. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. Whosoever believeth on him shall
not be ashamed. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord, they shall be saved. I'm gonna call upon
him for mercy. Or do you, like these religious
ignorant fools, say, well, we cannot tell. Now, you're sitting
here this morning listening to what I've said, and you're not
going to say in your heart, well, I just don't know what the preacher's
saying. I just don't know what the preacher's talking about.
Yes, you do. I said, salvation to the Lord. If that's your hope, confess
Him in believers' baptism. My dear friend, it's not well
to reason among yourself, with yourself, to see if these things
be so. They are. It would be wise to
go home and take the book and read the book and study it for
yourself. Don't believe it just because I say so. Go home and
read the Word. See for yourself whether these
things be so or not and ask God to give you faith in Him. You
remember the noble Bereans? They were more noble than those
in Thessalonica, and that they received the Word of God with
readiness of mind and searched the Scripture daily, whether
these things be so. Now they are, not just because
I say they are, because God says so in His Word. God says so in
his word. May God bless us to do so, to
bow, submit, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Help my unbelief.