[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is the next message in our series on the book of John, entitled, Jesus is God.
[0:15] Alright, take your Bibles if you would and turn to John chapter 19. I'm sure you know that John doesn't go into the crucifixion. You should have noticed that by now. He doesn't go into it as much as Luke does or as much as Matthew does.
[0:28] Because remember, John has a special purpose in what he's writing. John is writing so you will know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing in His name, you can have eternal life.
[0:42] So he's got a purpose. So I want you to go with me if you would. Back to John 19. This will just be a tad of review. But John 19, 7. We'll read one verse. Let's kind of get that one straight.
[0:52] Talk about it in just a second. We'll move on if you would. But in John 19, 7. Here's the key. Don't forget, what does John want you to know? John wants you to know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing in His name, you can be saved.
[1:08] He has written this gospel track. He's written this gospel. He's written this evangelio. That's Spanish. He has written this treatise to tell you Jesus is God.
[1:23] Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ. And believing in Him, you can have eternal life. So in verse 7, he says, the Jews answered him, we have a law, and by our law, He ought to die.
[1:34] By our law, He ought to die. Because He made Himself the Son of God. Now, before I move on, I want to review this morning because I want you to really know this. Some might say to you, well, He said the Son of God, not God.
[1:48] And you keep saying that Jesus is God, and the Bible says that Jesus is the Son of God. And so you're kind of confused there. And maybe without even realizing it, you have a tendency to slip a little bit towards Jehovah's Witness and think that there's God the Father, and then Jesus is God the Son.
[2:05] But He's not all the way up there with God. And He's not equal with God, but He's a little bit less than God. And so I want to clear that up. The word Son of God, it means that He is God.
[2:16] We looked at it this morning. You should have it written down. I want you to review those with me quickly, if you would. The first thing I tried to show you this morning is that when it says the Son of God, it meant that God dwelt in human flesh.
[2:29] How many of you remember that? If you do say amen. What verse would you use to say, we know that Jesus is God dwelling in human flesh. Somebody holler out a verse for me. What verse would you use?
[2:40] In the book of John, somebody tell me. John 1.14. John 1.1. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. John 1.14. We saw the Word become flesh.
[2:52] We beheld the Word as it became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory as the only begotten of the Father. And you know that only begotten is used in John 3.16. Speaking about Jesus, He's the only begotten.
[3:04] That's the only person that could have been talking about. So Jesus is God. The Word was with God. The Word was. The Word what? The Word what?
[3:16] Was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. So Jesus is all God.
[3:27] Jesus is all God. He is equal to God. He is all God. Fact is, He's the same essence as God. We looked at that in a second this morning. The Godhead dwelt entirely in Him.
[3:39] We'll only use one of those verses. But in Colossians chapter 2, I gave you a verse this morning that showed you that. Can anybody tell me where it was found without Patrick showing you on the screen?
[3:50] What verse said that in Him dwelt the Godhead bodily? Colossians 2.9. Alright, put it up now. Colossians 2.9.
[4:01] Look at what the Bible said. For in Him, in Jesus, dwelleth all. All. Not part. Not some. Not 98%. Not 90%.
[4:11] Not a little bit less than God. Not 99.99. The word all is a real hard word to understand. It means all. And so He said all, the Godhead, all the fullness.
[4:22] It's redundant. It's like the Holy Spirit's trying to say, so you get it. I mean all. How much all? The fullness. And where did it all dwell? In Him. And what dwelt in Him?
[4:33] The Godhead. And did it really dwell in Him? Like maybe some movie you see where He'll always be with us. No, it dwelt in Him. Look at the last word.
[4:44] Bodily. So Jesus is the Son of God. But the Son of God is a term that refers to Him as God. He is God. I also showed you a verse in Colossians chapter 1.
[4:56] Jesus is the very what of God. Thank you. You don't need to say another one. It's two you've got. God is the very what? Somebody back there? In essence it's true.
[5:09] But I want another word. He's the very what? I didn't hear it. Yes, He has preeminence. But He is the very what of God. He is the very.
[5:21] Look at if you would Colossians 1.15 and you tell me. I'll get an answer from you. He is the very what of God. He is the very what of God. The fact is when you see Jesus.
[5:34] Who are you seeing? Talk to me. When you see Jesus. Who are you seeing? The Father. Do you remember what happens in John chapter 14? We looked at this morning.
[5:44] In John chapter 14 verses 1. And following you found out Jesus is going to heaven. He's going to prepare a place for us. Philip is a little doubtful about it. And Thomas is a little doubtful about it.
[5:56] And what does he say? He said, well show us the what? That's right. Show us the what? And it suffices us. If you just let us see the Father.
[6:07] And Jesus' response was. I am not believing you. I have lived with you all this time. You've been looking at me. And I have the image of the Father. And when you see me.
[6:17] You see God. I don't know what to think about you. Now I need you to look at me a second. Let me ask you a question. Did Jesus believe that when you looked at Him. You were looking at God. If He did say amen.
[6:29] Did He or not? Say amen if He did. Yes He did. Jesus believed that when they looked at Him. You know why He did, don't you? Because He knew what He was talking about. Because He is God. And so the real reason they hate Him.
[6:40] And the real reason they want to kill Him. Is so strong here. And it goes right straight. See John is writing this book. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. You do know John is like the writer.
[6:53] But the author is the Holy Spirit. The Word of God was written by God. That's why we call it the Word of. We call it the Word of. Not the Word of John.
[7:04] I really hate it when somebody says to me what Paul's opinion. I hate it when somebody says to me. Paul's opinion of women wasn't that good. Actually we don't know much about Paul's opinion. What we know about is what God wrote through Paul.
[7:17] And so what we know is that anything Paul said, Paul didn't say it. Who said it? God. Now Paul said it. But here's the way Paul said it. What do you want? Okay, I got it. What do you want again? Okay, I got it. What do you want again? I got it. See, I believe that God gave us verbal.
[7:30] Plenary verbal inspiration. That means full word inspiration. He gave us the Word. He gave us what He wanted us to know. Can you say amen right there? Okay, so He's God. He's God.
[7:41] So I want you to understand first. Here's the whole thing in John 19. John started, when John wrote this book, in fact, I can't wait until I get to John chapter 20 and I preach that verse because you've said it so many times.
[7:52] And I just want you to, here's what John does. John starts off writing. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. They don't know where I'm going, but I'll get it. I know what I've got coming.
[8:03] The Holy Spirit's already told me what my book's about. And so John, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he just keeps on writing. And he came into his own, and his own received him not. But to as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the Son of God.
[8:15] And John 1, 1, in the beginning was the Word. John 1, 14, the Word became flesh. The only begotten. John 3, 16, the only begotten. And he just keeps writing. And he keeps writing. I just can't wait until we get to John 20. And we get to John 20.
[8:26] The apostle John's going to lift his head up and say, this is why I'm writing the book. I'm writing the book so you'll know Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
[8:37] And believing in his name, you'll know you'll have eternal life. So I want you to realize, number one, he is God. Second thing I want you to do, go with me to John 19, verse 12.
[8:49] Pilate wants to release him. This is a sad indictment. Those who had the 39 books of the Old Testament. Those who God had given the Word.
[9:03] Those who had the prophets and the priests. Those that had the men of God. Wanted him killed. But the Bible says in John 19, 12.
[9:15] 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.
[9:28] I don't have time to preach all this. There's so much. This chapter, you're going to go over the same verses a couple of times probably with me before it's over. But I find this like alarming. Won't you underline it in this Bible?
[9:41] Underline it in your Bible. Thou art not Caesar's friend. Wouldn't you have thought the Jews would have said, we're God's friend. Wouldn't you have thought the people who had the 39 books of the Old Testament.
[9:54] From Genesis to Malachi. Wouldn't you have thought they'd have said, we're God's friends. That's not what they said. They said, Pilate, if you don't kill the one who claims to be God, you're not Caesar's friend.
[10:07] Because he claims to make himself a king. After Pilate examined Jesus, he wanted to release him. Look, if you would, at chapter 19 and verse 8. When he heard Jesus claim to be the Son of God and the Jews believed enough to put him to death.
[10:20] It causes Pilate to be afraid. Look in verse 8. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid. He was the more afraid. Pilate's sitting there. And this is a religion that's a tad foreign to him.
[10:33] He wasn't born in it. He wasn't raised in it. He might have known quite a bit about it. But he wasn't a student of it. It didn't come to him. It's like you hearing about somebody else's religion. And these Jews want him dead.
[10:44] And they come to him and they say that they're going to kill him because he claims to be the Son of God. Right there in verse 7. And in verse 8, he's scared. And he's even more afraid.
[10:55] You mean he says he's the Son of God? So that causes Pilate to ask a question in verse 9. I hope you underline. Where are you from?
[11:06] Underline it. It says, whence art thou? Maybe you ought to make a note in the margin of your Bible. Where are you from? And went again into the judgment hall and said unto Jesus, whence art thou? Where are you from?
[11:18] They say you say you're the Son of God. And they believed in God's coming to the earth. Those Romans did. But they were capricious gods. They were gods that did stupid stuff.
[11:28] They were gods that got involved in sin and immorality. There was none like Jesus, the one and true, only one and true God. And he says, they say you say you're God. Where are you from? He was questioning.
[11:39] And then Pilate kind of shows himself pompous and proud and lets Jesus know that he could put him to death. And Jesus says, no, you have no power.
[11:53] Look at John chapter 19 verses 10 and 11. You got it? Then said Pilate unto him, speakest thou and not unto me? Pilate said, Jesus, hey, I ask you where are you from? You going to answer me?
[12:04] You're trying to ignore me? You know who I am? You're not going to respond to me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee? And I have power to release thee. You ought to talk to me right now.
[12:15] He's already beaten him. He's already left him. I mean, honestly, he has already received a death sentence. The majority of men that received that died. Only like one out of five lived through what he's already done to him.
[12:27] He says, I have the power to release you. I have the power to crucify you. Talk to me. And Jesus' answer is this. You have no power at all against me.
[12:39] Unless except it were given thee from above. Those that have delivered me, they have the greater sin. I want you to underline this. Except it were given thee from above.
[12:50] Except it were given thee from above. Jesus knows that Pilate has no power. Jesus knows that it is God who's in charge.
[13:02] And Jesus knows that God is at work. And Pilate doesn't know it. Jesus is not afraid to look him straight in the eye and say, You don't have the power. You have no power against me.
[13:15] Except what my Father has given you. I'd like to take just a second to stop there. And if you have ever noticed, I am as non-political as I can be from this pulpit. Because I'm a Bible preacher.
[13:26] Not a politician preacher. But just can I say something to you? It doesn't matter who you get elected president in November. The power is not in Washington. No power except power given from God.
[13:39] So that some of you that are maybe a little more politically minded than you think maybe ought to be, Can I just tell you, I lived in a country under communist leaders. I lived in a country under terrorist leaders.
[13:50] I lived in a country and all that stuff. For 18 years we lived in some pretty amazing civil war times. And I'll just say this to you. It's always God. It is always God.
[14:01] And so no matter who gets elected, I'll tell you this. I'm still going to be respected in the one I respect today. And that's the God of heaven. That's where the real power lies. And if you would go with me to verse 12.
[14:14] Pilate is like, I got to let this guy go. He's afraid because he's the son of God and the people know it. He asked Jesus where he's from.
[14:24] Jesus doesn't answer him. He said, I could crucify you. And Jesus said, no, you couldn't. So in verse 12. 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.
[14:38] Whosoever maketh himself a king speaks against Caesar. So Pilate as a Roman could see there was something different about Jesus. He knew they should release him. But they chose a robber.
[14:53] A thief. A sinner. No heart. No knowledge. And no mercy. I just stopped to tell you.
[15:04] The world chooses everything and anything but Jesus.
[15:17] And you're going to see that the rest of your life. It's always going to be. They would rather have darkness than light. They'd rather have lies than truth. They'd rather have anything but Jesus.
[15:29] When it comes, the fact is, they'll show more respect and more tolerance towards a non-Jesus religion than they will towards a Jesus religion. You just need to know that.
[15:41] That's life. Pilate was like, I cannot get it. These religious people don't get Jesus. But could I bring you to what I really think is going on in their minds? They know he's God.
[15:52] Pilate can see he shouldn't be crucified. But here's the real thing. They say, no king but Caesar. No king but Caesar. Look if you would at verse 15.
[16:03] They cried, away with him, away with him, crucify him. And Pilate said unto them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar.
[16:16] I might ought to stop and tell you who the Christ was just briefly. The Messiah, the sent one, the anointed one. I would like to remind you that Jesus was born and the wise men came and worshipped him.
[16:29] Everybody knew he was born to be a king. They brought him gifts. They knew he was born to be a king. Herod knew he was born to be a king so much that he killed every kid under the age of two. To make sure the king didn't live.
[16:42] All Jews knew that since the time of David, God had given a promise to David that there would be a king, David, who would sit on the throne. They knew that. But today, when Jesus claims to be that king, to be the sent one, to be the Christ, to be the Messiah, they say, we'll have no king but Caesar.
[17:01] We don't want David. We don't want the Old Testament promises. We don't want the one God sent. We want the world. That's what they said. We'll have no king but Caesar.
[17:14] I love the way Pilate makes fun of them. Look at verse 14. Chapter 19 and verse 14. It was a preparation of the Passover about the sixth hour and he said unto the Jews, Behold your king.
[17:29] Behold your king. I challenged you this morning to draw a line from verse 5 to verse 14. In verse 14, he showed them Jesus all beaten up and with a crown of thorns and a purple robe. And he said, Behold the man.
[17:40] By verse 14, he said, Behold your king. But they wanted no king but Caesar, a human king, a political king, a king they chose, but definitely not God as king.
[17:52] Look at verse 15. They cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. And Pilate said unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar.
[18:14] I'm afraid that our songs that are popular songs written in the world and our folklore and our culture has bred into us, we'll have no king but Caesar.
[18:29] I'm afraid the great majority of us live like this. I'll live life my way. I will grab all the gusto I can. I will live life to the fullest.
[18:40] It's all about me. Life revolves around me and who I am. It's exactly what's going on in this passage. They see the Christ. They see Jesus. They see the Son of God.
[18:51] And they say, We want no king. And I'm going to just give you some things to think about in a second. But I'd like to challenge you. If you're a born-again Christian, do you realize Jesus isn't some sweet, sissified, little, golden-haired, pretty blue-eyed, white-skinned little guy who wants to be your buddy?
[19:10] He's the king of glory. Do you realize he doesn't want to say, Hey, you guys, why don't we talk? Let's chew the fat. You give me your opinion and I'll give you my opinion and let's chew the fat.
[19:21] Let's see if we can get into an agreement here. No, he's a king and he knows he's a king. And I hope you realize that. I think most of us come to him like these Jews.
[19:34] Hey, he may be God and we know that and on Sunday morning we'll worship him and we'll honor him. But we don't want him as a king. We want him as a savior.
[19:45] I think we choose. We love Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We love Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But we fail to realize what Lord meant.
[19:57] Lord's another word for king. Jesus is king. If you were in Morocco, which I visited several times, if they hear that you speak against the king and it's found out, you will disappear.
[20:17] You don't speak against the king. And get away with it. We walked into a restaurant and I was asking questions about the pictures because it had pictures of the king on his motorcycle down at the beach in different places.
[20:30] And I was asking questions. I didn't mean to be smiling. I just asked him questions. And the missionary and the Moroccan guy said, hey, be careful how you do this. Be careful.
[20:41] He's a king. This is no president. You don't talk about him lightly. Jesus is a king.
[20:52] He's the king of kings and the Lord of glory. And John will write one, three, four more books. He'll write 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. He'll write the book of Revelation. And by the way, when you get the book of Revelation, you'll see Jesus as he is.
[21:05] Men today have much the same attitude. We want a king of our choosing. We want a king of our choosing. We want a king that doesn't interfere with our plans or make us see our guilt and our sin.
[21:18] I wish you'd write that down somewhere. A king of our choosing. We want a king that fits our agenda. We want a king that goes along with what we want. We want a king that says, hey, I'm here to prosper you.
[21:31] Honestly, you know what we want out of our king? We want our king to make us princes. You know what we want out of our king? We want our king to put us in the palace. You know what we want out of our king? We want our king to take care of us.
[21:43] We don't want him to let our 99-year-old grandmother to die. We know what we want of our king. We want him to take away our cancer. We want him to do everything for us because he's the king and he can take care of us.
[21:54] But can I remind you it was the king that sent forth armies to die. It was the king who taxed them. Jesus is a king.
[22:05] And he shouldn't be a king of our choosing. And he shouldn't be that you reject him because he interferes with your plans. You came to him to be your savior, but you can't choose the savior part.
[22:18] His name with titles is Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is his name. He's king. Jesus, the Messiah.
[22:30] King Jesus, the sent one. The real problem is that Jesus is God and they know it. They can see it and they want to get rid of him. They reject him because the very nature of sin is rebellion, willfulness, and selfishness.
[22:46] Notice I didn't name the sins you could say amen with. It would have been good if I had said, it's homosexuality and adultery.
[22:57] And I would have named it. And you all would have been saying, yes, you're right. But willfulness, boy, that gets me, doesn't it? Because you see, I want God to fit my plans. I want God's will for my life as long as God's will lines up with my will.
[23:10] I'm selfish and rebellious, but that's the very nature of the word sin. That's the nature of those Jews. How do you see him today?
[23:21] If he is God, then you have no choice but to recognize him as king and humble yourself. If he is king, then you are not. If he is king, then you are not.
[23:41] Do you think most people see Jesus as king or simply as a good teacher and a prophet? Let me ask you this. When's the last time you said, you're the boss?
[23:56] My money doesn't belong to me. It belongs to you. My life doesn't belong to me. It belongs to you. My wife doesn't belong to me. She belongs to you. My children don't belong to me. They belong to you.
[24:07] Boy, people get so mad at God. God doesn't answer their prayers. God doesn't do the things they want them to do. They feel like God deceives them and drops them and does it because their whole attitude is, God, you will do what I want you to do.
[24:21] And if you don't, that's not the way you talk to a king. In John 19, they're going to kill him. And they're going to kill him. And he's fixing to be put on the cross. And we'll get to that by next Sunday morning.
[24:33] But you know what? They're going to put him on a cross. You know what they're putting him on a cross for? Because he said he was God. He made out that he was the son of God. And they want no king but Caesar.
[24:48] I worry about us as Christians. I wonder if we recognize him as king. If he comes tonight to take you through death or your family member and he is king, you'll honor him and say, Lord, I'm going to need some comfort here.
[25:24] But you're king. If he comes and says to you, mission field, ministry, whatever he comes and says, you'll say you're king.
[25:35] I believe it was George Mueller whose wife died. And when she died, he was very brokenhearted. And as he prepared for the funeral, they all wondered because they'd never seen him so quiet.
[25:48] And they'd never seen him so broken. And when he came out, he said, I want to thank God for my wife today. He said, I want to thank him for giving her to me.
[26:00] She's been such a good wife. He talked about that a minute. He said, I would like to thank God for letting me have her so long. And he talked about how God had been good to him to let him keep his wife so long. And then he said, and I want to thank God for taking her from me.
[26:13] Because he would only do what is right and best. Somewhere along the way, you and I need to say, I surrender all.
[26:25] I step aside. Jesus, you are king. Father, I love you and I praise you and I magnify you. And I pray that your people tonight gathered something from the word that would help them in their Christian life to let Jesus have his rightful place.
[26:44] Work in our lives. Magnify yourself. Show your power. You have been listening to Austin Gardner, pastor of Vision Baptist Church.
[26:55] For contact information, location, service times, or more audio and video recordings, log on to www.visionbaptist.com. Music .
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