I have for you this morning what
I believe is a very, very important message. I'm going to be speaking
from the book of Isaiah, chapter 53, and I'll be reading verse
3 for my text. Now, here's the title of the
message. I have entitled this message, The Christ of the Bible. The Christ of the Bible. Now,
not many years ago, a man said to me, There's something that
I do not understand. Will you please explain it to
me?" I said, what is it? He said, well, the Bible, speaking
of Jesus Christ, says this in Isaiah 53. He is despised and
rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, And we
hid, as it were, our faces from him. He is despised and rejected
of men." Is that correct? I said, that's what it said.
And he said, doesn't it say over in the book of Matthew, that
when our Lord came into a city one time, that all the people
of the city, all the people of the city, great multitudes, came
out to meet Jesus Christ. And they ask him to leave their
country and not come back. Is that correct? I said, that's
exactly right. They ask him to leave their country
and never return. And he says, doesn't it say in
the book of John, chapter 15, the Lord Jesus himself speaking,
if the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated
you. I said, that's exactly what it
says. Christ said that many times. He told his disciples one time,
marvel not if the world hate you. It hated me before it hated
you. Don't be amazed if people hate
you because they hate Christ. And then he said, didn't Pilate
ask the people? There was a multitude gathered
on that special day. And he asked them, whom shall
I release unto you? Barabbas, a thief, a condemned
criminal, a convicted murderer, Shall I release unto you Barabbas,
or Jesus, which is called the Christ?" And didn't the people
say, give us Barabbas? We prefer Barabbas to Jesus Christ? And Pilate said, well, what shall
I do with Jesus? The people said, crucify him.
I said, that's correct. They said, give us a thief and
crucify Jesus Christ. That's what they thought of him.
And he said, didn't Jesus say over in Luke 10, he that heareth
you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you despiseth
me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me."
I said, that's exactly correct. The Bible says all those things
that you have mentioned. Well, he says, what does all
that mean? What does all that mean? No one hates Jesus. No one hates Jesus. Why, he fed
the hungry and he healed the sick. And he raised the dead,
and he blessed the children, and he went about doing good.
People don't hate Jesus. My reply was this. Now, you listen
to me. All of those scriptures I read
to you are right there in the Word of God, and you've read
them and you've heard them. He was despised and rejected
of men, hated. We hid, as it were, our faces
from him, and he was crucified and slain. rejected of all men. He came unto his own, his own
received him not. He was in the world, and the
world knew him not. Now my reply was this, the people
of the world, then and now, the people of the world did not hate
Jesus of Nazareth because of what he did. They didn't hate
him because of what he did. They hated him because of what
he said. Now will you please listen to
this? They didn't hate Jesus of Nazareth
for what he did. They hated him then, and they
hate him now for what he said, and what he claimed for himself,
and what he declared about redemption, about his father, about sin,
about them, and about himself. That's why they hated him. Now
listen carefully. Don't leave me. I'll show you
something that you may not have understood up to this point.
They didn't hate Jesus Christ when he performed miracles. They
rather lauded and praised him. It says in John 2, verse 23,
and I see the preachers talk about Jesus heals and all these
things. I know God heals, but that's
not the issue. It wasn't the issue then. It's
not the issue now. Nobody hates a doctor. Nobody
hates a healer. Nobody hates a man who relieves
people of pain. And these people didn't hate
him for that purpose. In John chapter 2 verse 23, listen, Now
when he was at Jerusalem, at the Passover, many believed in
him, in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But
he did not commit himself to them, because he knew what was
in them, and he needed not that any man testify unto him what
was in man. Well, they believed on him when
they saw the miracles. And then in John 6, Verse 14,
when our Lord fed the 5,000, He took, what, five loaves and
two fishes? And fed 5,000 men, not counting
women and children? And you know what they said when
they got through eating that fine meal? They said what? This
is of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world. And
they followed Him all the way to the other side of the sea.
When He healed people, they praised Him. When He fed them, They followed
him. And then in Matthew 21, when
he rode into Jerusalem, you know this is so. When he rode into
Jerusalem on the donkey, the Jewish people in multitude spread
their garments, the scripture says right here in Matthew 21,
they spread their garments before him. They cut palm branches from
trees and spread them in his path. And they began to cry,
blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna
to the Son of David. Oh, they had visions of great
earthly kingdoms. They had visions of Jesus of
Nazareth sitting on a throne and restoring the Jews to the
power and glory of David and Solomon, and they were so excited
about it, they didn't know what to do. So I'm saying that there
was no conflict with Jesus Christ concerning what He did. It was
what He said. What he did was not the issue.
And I'm telling you this now. You'll never reveal the true
feelings of a man's heart toward Jesus Christ by talking about
his power to heal. Nobody objects to that. Everybody's
for that. And you can talk about it from
now till he comes back to the earth and you'll never reveal
the true feelings of a man's heart about Jesus Christ talking
about his power to heal or talking about his power to feed the hungry
or his power to give benefits and blessings to those who follow
him. The true nature of men, their true feelings towards Jesus
Christ are revealed when you preach to them what he said. When you preach to them the gospel
which he preached, when you declare the doctrines that our Lord Jesus
Christ set forth, that's when the true enmity, that's when
the true hatred comes forth from the human heart. Now I want you
to listen very carefully. Do you hear what I'm saying so
far? I've tried to lay a foundation from the scriptures that are
true. It wasn't what Christ did that brought about the enmity
of heart against him. It wasn't what Christ did. It
was what he said. Now listen to these scriptures,
Matthew 7, 28. And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these
sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine. when he ended
these sayings, they were astonished at his doctrine. And then listen
to this in Luke 4, 28. And all that were in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, when they heard these things,
not when they saw miracles and people breaking crutches and
throwing away wheelchairs and things, when they heard these
things, when they heard these things, they were filled with
wrath. The wrath came because of what
they heard. And what they heard was what
he said, not what he did, what he said. And then in John 10,
19, listen to this scripture. There was a division among them
for these sayings. Now, there was a division among
the people because of him. And the reason was what he said,
what he preached, what our Lord declared unto them. And then
in John 6, verse 60, listen to this. Many of his disciples,
When they heard this, our Lord had preached to them. And when
they heard what he said, they declared, this is a hard saying,
this is a hard saying, who can hear it? And they went back and
walked no more with him. Do you see what I'm saying? Our
Lord could heal the sick and raise the dead, give sight to
the blind and cause the lame to walk and feed the hungry and
do all these things. and they had no objections whatsoever.
But when he began to declare who he is, and what he came to
do, and his father's will, and his father's power, and all these
things concerning his gospel, that's when there was a division,
and that's when wrath came up in their hearts against him,
and that's when they declared war against him, and that's when
they set about to kill him because of what he said. Now, I've given
you that again and again and again. When he finished these
sayings, The people were astonished. And when they heard these things,
they were filled with wrath. And there was a division for
these sayings. And then when his disciples,
not the twelve, but his followers, when they heard these sayings,
they said, we can't hear that. We can't hear that. And they
went back and walked no more with him. Now I'm saying this
as clearly as I can say it. Men do not despise. And they
do not reject Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord Jesus Christ, because
of charity. Everybody loves charity. There's
nobody against charity. They didn't reject him and despise
him because of good works. Who on earth would line up against
good works? They didn't despise him and reject
him because of morality. Most everybody I know is for
morality. But they refused his person and
his work in redemption. And the storm that rages about
Jesus of Nazareth, the storm that rages, has always raged,
about the head of the Lord Jesus Christ involves four things. I'm going to deal with them in
the time that we've got left together. There are four things
involved in this storm about the head of Jesus of Nazareth.
Number one, who is he? Who is he? Loud and clear, who
is he? Number two, what did he come
to do? And number three, what authority
and power and right does he have? What authority? And then fourthly,
where is he now? Now, I want you to listen to
the scripture. If you care to, take your Bible, follow with
me. In John 10, verse 30 through verse 33, that's John 10, verse
30, The Lord Jesus said, I and my
Father are one. I and my Father are one. Then
the Jews took up stones to stone him. And he said to them, many
good works have I done among you. For which of these works
do you stone me? And they said, for a good work
we stone thee not. We've got no objections to good
works. We're not stoning you because
of good works. That's not why we're angry. We're
stoning you because you are a man and you make yourself God. You claim to be God. They understood
exactly what he was saying. These men understood exactly
what Jesus Christ was claiming. They didn't care if he roamed
the streets and healed the sick. They didn't care if he roamed
the streets and made the blind to see. They didn't care if he
roamed the streets and relieved the poverty and distress. They
said you can't be God. You can't be God. Now, that's
exactly what they were angry about. And it's a clear issue.
It was to them. It ought to be to you and me.
Isaiah 7, 14. Let me read you some Scripture.
In Isaiah 7, 14, the Scripture says, Behold, the Lord himself
will give you a sign. A virgin shall be with child,
and bring forth a son, and you'll call his name Immanuel. You know
what Immanuel means? It means God with us. In Isaiah
9, 6, the prophet wrote, under us a child is born, under us
a son is given. And the government shall be on
his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
And when the disciples asked Jesus of Nazareth to show them
the Father, They said, We'll be satisfied if you'll show us
the Father. And he said to them, Have I been
this long with you, and you don't know me? He that hath seen me
hath seen God. When you look at me, you're looking
at God. When you hear me, you're hearing God. When you believe
me, you believe in God. For I and my Father are one.
That was the issue. That's what brought the wrath.
That's what brought the anger from the people. That's what
made them nail him to the cross. They said, We have no king but
Caesar. We'll not have this man reign
over us. He was rejected in his office
as king, he was mocked in his office as king, he was crucified
with that claim written in three languages over his cross, and
he's exalted right now in heaven as king. Now that's the issue. He's God Almighty. John 1, 1
through 3 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld his glory. the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth." Listen to this verse.
When Paul was leaving the elders at Ephesus, he said to them,
you feed, you take heed to yourselves and to the flock over which God
has made you overseer, and you feed the flock of God which he
has purchased with his own blood. You feed God's church, God's
people, which God purchased with his own blood. God was in Christ. When Thomas fell at his feet,
he looked into the face of Jesus Christ and said, My Lord and
my God. And the writer of the book of
Hebrews says, The Father declares, Let all the angels of God worship
him. And again, he said in Hebrews
1.8, Thy throne, O God, is forever. Now, I'm telling you, you can
raise a lot of Ruckus and things like that by drawing up issues
in your church, but I'll tell you where the issue is. It's
who is Jesus Christ Who is it? That was the issue then and that's
the issue now and that's what brought the wrath This man says
well, they don't hate Jesus. They don't hate the Jesus. They're
here and preach Because he's been whittled down He's been
made in the image that men let him bear instead of bearing the
image of the Heavenly Father Who is he? All right In John
8, 56, now listen to this. Our Lord said, your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad. And the
Jews said, well, you're not even 50 years old. You're not 50 years
old. Have you seen Abraham? He said,
before Abraham was, I am. Then they took up stones to stone. When? When he said, before Abraham
was, I am. I am is the name of God. All
right, the second great issue is this. What did Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, come into the world to do? Well, he came into
the world to save sinners. That's why he came, save sinners
by his obedience and his sacrificial substitutionary death. And these
men, these religious men, rejected his charges against them. He
said they were sinners. They said, we'd be not sinners.
He said, all men are sinners. They rejected His charges against
them when He said, you shall know the truth and the truth
shall make you free. They said, where we Abraham sinned,
we've never been in bondage to anybody. We're not in bondage.
And Christ said, whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin. He's
in bondage to sin. And then they said, well, we
be not born of fornication. That is, we be not born in sin.
We don't believe in original sin. We have one Father, even
God. And he said, no, now listen to
this. He said, no, you're of your father, the devil, and his
works you'll do. And he was a liar from the beginning,
and you're a liar just like he's a liar. Now that upset, that's
what made him angry. That's what made him angry. Our
Lord Jesus Christ declared the true condition. They said, we're
not in bondage. We weren't born in sin. We be
not sinners, God is our Father. And Christ said, you were born
in sin, you're the servants of sin, the devil is your father,
and you need mercy. That was it. That was it. And
they hated him. And then they resented his love
for and association with sinners. The Pharisees said to his disciples,
why does your master eat Republicans and sinners? Our Lord heard them.
He said, because the well don't need a doctor, but they that
are sick. I've come not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance. You go learn what that means. The Son of Man's
come to seek and to save the lost. That was offensive to those
good, moral, righteous, religious men. And it is offensive today. It offends man's dignity. It
offends his ego. It offends his pride to tell
him he was born in sin and corrupt by nature and a child of wrath
and does not know God, that God's not the Father of all men. He's
the father of believers in Christ. They said, God's our father.
He said, the devil's your father. That's what made them mad. And
that's what men hate today. And I answered the man's question.
He said, nobody hates Jesus. I said, they do hate the Christ
of the Bible. And then the third great issue
was his authority. Listen to this and look forward.
And all they that were in the synagogue, when they heard these
things, They were filled with wrath, and they rose up and thrust
him out of the city, and led him to the brow of a hill, and
would have murdered him. But he passed through their midst.
His time was not yet come." What brought on this awful, dreadful
act of anger and wrath? What made these people who were
worshiping in a temple on the Sabbath day, what made them turn
into a lynch mob? What he said. Not what he did,
what he said. We said, preacher, for heaven's
sake, what did he say? I'll tell you what he said. He
told them the truth. He said, I'll tell you a truth. You see,
all these people assumed they were people of God. They were
Israelites. They were of the seed of Abraham
by flesh. They kept the Sabbath day. They
kept the law. They did all these things. They
assumed they had a corner on God. And our Lord said to them,
I'll tell you a truth. There were many widows in the
land of Israel in the days of the prophet, and God fed none
of them. He fed a Gentile. And there were
many lepers in the land of Israel in the days of the prophet, and
God healed none of them. He healed a Gentile. That's when
they grew angry, when our Lord declared, I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy.
and they rose up in such anger that they would have killed him.
They tried to throw him off a cliff because he told them the salvations
of the Lord, that men have no corner on God, that God's not
obligated to any man, that all authority is given unto him in
heaven and earth. That's what he said. He prayed
that in John 17. He said, Thou hast given me all
authority over all flesh, that I should give eternal life to
as many as Thou hast given me.' The leper said to him one day,
Lord, if you will, you can make me whole." And my friend, Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And what
He said then, He says today. And what He is then, He is today. And what He did then, He does
today. That's right, He's God. He came to save sinners, and
he'll save whom he will. Salvation's a gift of God. It's
through the mercy of God. It's not earned. It's not bought.
God's under no obligation. Now, that's true. You're understanding
some more now of why they hated him, aren't you? Because don't
you feel some of you rising up in your heart, that's not fair.
That's not fair. If God does it, it's right. See,
God is the standard of right. Not you and me. And then the
fourth great issue is this, where is he now? Where is Jesus Christ
now? Where is he now? He's got to
be somewhere. Where is he now? All right, John
6, 60, listen. Many of his disciples, when they
heard this said, this is a hard saying, who can hear it? When
Jesus knew that they murmured at his word, he said to them,
does this offend you? Does this offend you? And what
he's been talking about is a vital union with Christ, eating his
flesh, drinking his blood, salvation by grace, his sovereignty, and
they were offended, offended. And he said, does this offend
you? Does this offend you? What will be your reaction when
you see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before? If this
offends you, wait till you see where he is now. You talk about
offensive, well, you say, well, where is he now? He's exalted
and seated at the right hand of the majesty and glory. That's
where the hated, despised, rejected man of sorrows, Jesus of Nazareth,
is right now. He's on the right hand of God.
You see, when he was buried and rose again, he ascended. As our
great high priest, he ascended to heaven, and the scripture
says this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
sat down on the right hand of God. As our great high priest,
and he entered not into the holy place made with hands, but into
heaven itself. And there on the mercy seat of
glory, he himself is the mercy seat, and the altar, and the
sacrifice, and the atonement, and the one to whom it's made.
But there on the mercy seat of glory, Our Lord perfected and
sanctified every believer. And then it says he ascended
as our Mediator, this one God, and this one man, the one Mediator
between God and men, and that's the man, Christ Jesus. And our
Lord sits at the right hand of God. You say, what does he do?
He ever liveth to make intercession for me and for you. And then
He ascended with all power as King of kings and Lord of lords.
Jesus Christ is coming again. And the Scripture says that when
He comes again, every eye will see Him, and every tongue will
confess that He is Lord, and every knee will bow to the glory
of God the Father. So when the man asked me this
question, Do men hate Jesus Christ? And I said, they surely do. Well,
I don't believe anybody hates Jesus. They don't hate the Jesus
that's a figment of their own imagination. They hate the Jesus
of the Bible, the Christ of the Bible, who has all authority,
who is prophet, priest, and king, who reigns in glory, who is the
only mediator between God and men.