(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Okay, so if you're wondering why we're going through the book of Luke today, it's just that I really want to get through one chapter of the Bible per week, okay? And the last chapter, we had to take two weeks to cover it because it was so long, and so I wanted to make up for it. So we're taking a bit of a break from the fruits of the Spirit, and we're just getting straight into Luke chapter 23, and this is really the pinnacle of the whole gospel. I mean, this is why Jesus Christ came. We've been reading about his birth, on John the Baptist preparing the way of the Lord. We saw the beginning of his ministry. We've seen all the miracles and the works, the great things that Jesus did, you know, training up his disciples, training up another 70 or so, going out and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, casting out devils, I mean, doing great miracles. And now, you know, last week we saw how Christ was arrested and taken to trial, how his best friends, you know, Peter the apostle, denied him. And this chapter now, we're up to that crucifixion of Christ, such a pinnacle point of his ministry. And this chapter is full of so many things, I just wanted to give us enough time to go through it and cover it in quite a lot of detail. So just look at Luke chapter 23 verse 38, if you can. Luke chapter 23 verse 38, the Bible says, in a superscription, also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews. The title of the sermon tonight is the king of the Jews. And look, Jesus Christ was definitely the king of the Jews, not just the Jews. This was written in Greek, all right, which was kind of like the universal language for that day, was written into Latin, which was a language that was up and coming, you know, become another major language, and also in Hebrew, okay. Jesus Christ is the king of all, but most definitely what we want to point out here is that he was the king of the Jews. Verse number one, Luke 23 verse one, and the whole multitude of them arose and led him unto Pilate. Verse two, and they began to accuse him, saying, we found this fellow perverting the nation. Perverting the nation, they said. He's defiling the nation, no, Jesus Christ came and did great works. He came and was doing the works of God. I mean, he was a good man, and they're falsely accusing Christ of being perverted for perverting the nation. Look at this there in verse two, and forbidding, look at this, look at this false accusation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a king. Now is there any reference in the Bible that Jesus Christ ever said they should not pay taxes unto Caesar? That's a false accusation. If you guys just remember, just a few chapters ago in chapter 20 verse 25, Jesus said unto them, render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's. Hey, this was a false accusation, Jesus Christ affirmed, all right, if you're required to pay your taxes, if you're required to pay tribute, then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Hey, look, Jesus Christ did not come to be rebellious, okay? But the accusation, okay, came, the accusation, because they wanted to tell Pilate, he was a Roman, you know, authority, that he was, you know, defiling the nation in disobedience against Roman law, okay? Now obviously the Pharisees, the scribes, these rulers, arrested Christ because he was making them look bad, they arrested Christ because they accused him of blasphemy, but the Romans aren't going to crucify Jesus over blasphemy, they don't care about the ways of the Jews, so they had to find some false accusation to say, look, he even defiles the nation, you know, telling them not to pay taxes to Caesar, all right? I want you to keep your finger there, turn to John chapter 18, please, John chapter 18, and I want to explain to you why they had to bring him to Pilate here, okay? So obviously these scribes, these Pharisees, these rulers wanted to kill Christ, but look at John 18 verse 19, just another parallel passage of this incident, it says in verse 29, Pilate then went out unto them and said, what accusation bring you against this man? They answered and said unto him, if he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. They said, look, if he wasn't bad, we wouldn't bring him to you. What accusation is that? Let's keep reading. They answered and said unto him, sorry, verse 31, then said Pilate unto them, take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. Look, Pilate recognises nothing he could accuse Jesus of. There was no legitimate reason to crucify him. There was no legitimate reason to kill him. It's kind of like that they said that, they said that he would, he told, like he forbade to give taxes unto Caesar, but Pilate knows full well, that's not happening. Pilate knows full well people are paying their taxes. He's not hearing this uproar, this rebellion of people not paying their taxes because of Jesus said. Pilate knows these guys are false accusers, you know, he knows they don't have anything to stand on. So it says, look, if he's done something according to your law, you judge him according to your law. But the reason they brought him onto Pilate, you can see there in verse number 31, it says it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. You see, when the Israelites were taken under Roman captivity, if you want, or the Romans were in charge, but the Romans made it law that the Jews could not kill a man without first going for the proper authorities. Now of course, God gave the law to the Jews, to the Israelites, where they could put someone to death based on breaking a criminal law, but at this point in time, they were not allowed to put someone to death unless they first got the authority from the Roman, you know, the approval by the Roman authorities. So that's why they brought him to Pilate, but Pilate says, he's done nothing, he's done nothing that I can accuse him of. Let's keep reading there in verse number 32, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus and said unto him, art thou the king of the Jews? So that's that's where Luke chapter 22, if you go back there, the question gets asked, art thou the king of the Jews? If you look back at Luke chapter 23, Luke chapter 23, and verse number two, like once again, just the end of that, it says that he says that he himself is Christ, a king. There is Christ, a king. That's pretty important because you see, Jesus Christ was the Christ, he was the Messiah. And they recognize by being the Christ, that he was a king, okay, that he was a king. That's why Pilate turns around to Jesus, art thou the king of the Jews? Are you a king, Jesus? He asked him, you know, and then look at verse number three there. And Pilate asked him saying, art thou the king of the Jews? And he answered him and said, thou sayest it. You said it. Okay, again, that roundabout way of answering the question. You said it. You know, it doesn't say I am the king of the Jews, but he goes, you said it. That's true. I am the king of the Jews, if you like. Now keep your finger there one more time, and go to the book of Matthew, please. This is pretty important to look at. Let's understand in what way is he a king here. Matthew chapter two, verse one, Matthew chapter two, verse one, we're going back to the birth of Christ now, not his death, but back to his birth. Matthew chapter two, verse one, it says, Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, what are these wise men saying, what are they looking for, saying, where is he that is born king of the Jews? You see, Jesus Christ would not come to a point in his life where he would become king. These wise men recognize that at the point of his birth, he was already king. All right, it says there, look, where is he that is born king of the Jews? Hey, as soon as this guy is born, we know this is the king of the Jews. And it says, for we have seen his star in the east, and I come to worship him. Hey, they came to worship the king of the Jews. Verse three, when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophets, and thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah. For out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. You see, Jesus Christ came to be the ruler or the king of Israel. You know what he's quoting there? You don't need to turn there, I'll just quickly read to you from Micah 5-2. Micah 5-2 is being quoted here in the book of Matthew, and I'll just read this to you. It says, but thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little amongst the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be the ruler in Israel. There it again, that ruler in Israel, the king of Israel, if you want, but I love Micah because it continues, it says, whose going forth have been of old from everlasting. You see, this king of the Jews that would come was from everlasting. His birth was not his beginning. He came from eternity past, okay. This is the Lord God that would be born in Bethlehem as the king of the Jews, you know. What a great prophecy that was fulfilled in Christ, and yet even at his death, they're all saying, hey, this is the king of the Jews, that's what he means to be the Christ. That's what he means to be the one that comes from everlasting. If you guys go back to Luke chapter 23 now, Luke chapter 23 verse 4, Luke chapter 23 verse 4, then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in this man. He's like, okay, what? He says he's the Christ. He says he's the king. I find no fault in this man, all right. I mean, Pilate, as a corrupt Roman official, he knew that Christ was innocent, okay. And obviously he doesn't want to just put someone to death, you know, because even wicked corrupt governments still have some integrity in them, okay. You know, they're not, you know, desiring necessarily to just kill someone, all right. There's got to be reasons behind it. Verse number five, and they were the more fierce saying, he stirs up the people, teaches throughout all Jewry beginning from Galilee to this place. When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man was a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod who himself was at Jerusalem at that time, okay. So Herod's jurisdiction was Galilee was part of his jurisdiction. And you'll see later on that Pilate and Herod, they didn't like one another. So he kind of gives his problem unto Herod, because he doesn't like Herod, you can deal with this problem, you know, you can have that. Let's keep looking. Verse number eight, and by the way, this Herod is the same Herod that beheaded John the Baptist, okay. Verse number eight, and when Herod saw Jesus, Herod's such an interesting person to me. I find him really intriguing, okay. Now he's lost, he died without Christ, and he's in hell today. But he just really interests me as a person, okay, because look at this, when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad. He was so happy to see Jesus, says, for he was desirous to see him. For a long season, he wanted to see Jesus for so long, because he had heard many things of him, and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. And he questioned him in many words, but he answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. You see, Jesus Christ did not give Herod a miracle. In fact, he didn't even say any words to Herod. Herod asked him questions, Jesus just remained silent. Now Herod really intrigues me, because he just, he wants to see the miracle of Christ. He wants to hear Christ. If you guys just keep your finger there once again, go to Mark chapter six. We're looking at a lot of other parallel passages here, but go to Mark chapter six, verse 20. Mark chapter six, verse 20. This is about Herod and John the Baptist, it says here in Mark six, 20. It says, for Herod feared John. Why did he fear John, John the Baptist? Knowing that he was a just man and holy and holy and observed him. And when he had heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly. You see, Herod, you know, had some level of fear of God. He knew that John the Baptist was legit. He knew he was a man of God. He knew he was just. And he wanted to gladly hear what John the Baptist had to say, okay? So he's a really interesting person. And by the way, there in verse 20, Mark six, 20, it says he did many things and heard him gladly. John the Baptist at this point in time was already in prison, was already arrested by Herod. So it seems like Herod would go to the prison and listen to John the Baptist preach. Listen to him talk. Now John the Baptist was preaching against Herod. He had preached and he had taken the wife of his brother Philip. And still, it intrigued him. He still wanted to hear the words of these men that he knew were legitimate. Legitimate prophets of God. So that gives you an idea, you know, that he, by the way, he was sad. He was sad when he had to behead John the Baptist. But when he finally has Jesus in his midst, you see that he's really glad, all right? Now go back to Luke chapter 23 verse 11. Luke chapter 3 verse 11. Because I want to show you here that at the end of the day, Herod ended up rejecting Christ, okay? And it's such a sad thing. This is why he intrigues me. Because he knows the truth. He knows these men of God are legitimate. He knows they're speaking the truth. He even wants to know. He gladly listens to it, all right? And yet he still rejects Jesus Christ. I mean, it's a scary thing that people can get so close to the truth. Can even know the truth and still reject Jesus. Because look here in verse 11. Luke 23 verse 11. It says, And Herod with his men of war set him at naught and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe and sent him again to Pilate. You see, he rejected Christ because Christ would not, you know, put on a show for Herod. And so he decides, well, you know what? I'm not going to receive him then. I'm just going to mock him. I'm going to put this robe on him, mock him the fact that they're calling him the King of the Jews, and he sends him back to Pilate, okay? And it's such a sad thing when people can be that close to the truth and still be rejecting Jesus Christ. I mean, I wouldn't want to be in Herod's shoes, you know? And unfortunately, there are so many people like that today. They've heard the gospel. They understand the gospel. I mean, I'm sure you've talked to people that really wanted to know what the Bible says. They get it. They know it's the truth. They still reject it for whatever reasons. It's such a scary thing, but we see this play out here in Herod's life. You know, I'm kind of saddened for him a little bit, you know? Look at verse number 12. You see, before this, Herod and Pilate didn't get along. They were kind of like enemies, okay? They competed with one another, but after this event with Jesus Christ, it made them friends. It's such a sort of strange occurrence when this happens. And I've seen this play out, especially in recent times. You know, and I sort of hesitate to bring up, you know, the new wife bee and past rants and all that. I'll just bring it up here, okay? Because it's such a strange thing sometimes when I, what I look at on the internet, where people who would normally be at enmity with one another, people who would normally not get along with one another, okay? They have enough differences with one another where they would not fellowship or encourage or, you know, work with one another. When they find that common enemy, it often happens with Pastor Anderson. They find that common enemy, it makes them friends, all right? It makes them support one another. It's such a strange thing. You know, there is a saying that goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Now, that could be sometimes true, all right? That could be true. I mean, it could be a friend, but your enemy of your enemy might be your enemy as well, all right? So that saying is not always true. But here we have the fact that Herod and Pilate, they're actually enemies. They're enemies to one another. But what brings them together is the accusation of a man of God. The accusation of a man who's doing righteous deeds, okay? And it's such a strange thing that, you know, the ungodly can make friends by accusing righteous men of God, you know? And that's what we see playing out here. And so it shouldn't surprise us when we see it play out in our lifetime. It happened to Jesus Christ. Let's keep reading verse 13. Luke 23 verse 13. It says, and Pilate, when he had caught together the chief priests and the rulers of the people. Oh, so by the way, Herod sends him back to Pilate. I think we saw that before. So he says in verse 14, said unto them, ye have brought this man unto me as one that perverted the people. And behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man, touching those things whereof ye accuse him. It's the second time Pilate now says, look, again, I find no fault in this guy. Why are you bringing him back? Verse 15. No, not yet Herod. Hey, not even Herod, okay? And Herod's familiar with your ways. He's familiar with your laws and your commandments. He's familiar with the scriptures. He's familiar with the law of Moses. Not even Herod can find fault in that man. Of course not. Jesus was without sin. You know, what could they bring from the scriptures to accuse Christ of? You know, he had come and he had fulfilled the law of God perfectly. Not even Herod could find problems with Jesus Christ, okay? And then verse 16. And by the way, there in verse 15, it says, and lo, nothing worthy of death is done unto him. That phrase, and I've covered this before, that phrase worthy of death, every time you see it in the Bible, it's in relation to the death penalty, okay? Being put to death over a crime, a sinful crime that is deserving of death. And he says, look, Jesus is not deserving of the death penalty. He's fine, I've examined him. Why are you bringing him back? Verse 16. Now he tries to appease these religious rulers. He tries to appease these Jews. He says, oh, therefore chastise him and release him. Now Jesus had done nothing worthy of chastisement either. He goes, but you know, just to appease these guys or chastise him. Maybe flog him, whip him, and then I'll let him go, all right? Verse 17. For of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast. So there was a custom at this time before the Passover that he would release one prisoner to the Jews, okay? And they cried out all at once saying, away with this man and release unto us Barabbas. Who is this Barabbas? They want Barabbas released instead of Jesus Christ? Verse 19 tells us who Barabbas was. It says, who for a certain sedition made in the city and for murder was cast into prison. Sedition is rebellion, you know, disturbing the public peace, okay? So this guy was accused of rebellion. This guy was also a murderer. That's why he was in prison. And the Jews would rather this wicked evil man released than Jesus Christ. You know, you can see the wickedness of the hearts of these people. And one thing that we need to come to realize, guys, I'm just going to read to you quickly from John 7, 7. Jesus said, the world cannot hate you, but me it hateth. Why does it hate Jesus? Because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil. Why did the world, why did the Jews hate Jesus Christ? Because he says, I testify of it that the works thereof are evil. Hey, and this is the reality of the world we live in. You see, people are more forgiving to the wicked person than the one that judges the wicked person, than the one that calls out the wickedness, okay? The world doesn't like, doesn't love, doesn't care for. In fact, the world hates Bible preaching, okay? The world hates Bible preachers. The world hates someone saying, hey, this is wrong. This sin is wrong. This is wickedness. They would rather be forgiven to the wicked than the one that calls out the wickedness. You know, let me give you a perfect case here. You know, the abortion doctors, the abortionists. Hey, the world doesn't hate the abortionists. The world doesn't hate people that kill little babies in the mother's womb. But you know who they hate? They hate the preachers that call out abortion as they sin, okay? That's what they hate. And this is what we're seeing play out here. They would rather let Barabbas go, who's a proven murderer, you know, who's a guilty, rebellious man and a murderer, let him go, than Jesus Christ, who all he came doing was testifying of the evil works of the world, you know? So you know, guys, if you ever become a preacher, a pastor, be aware that the world will hate you for preaching the Word of God. And the world will hate you because it first hated the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be afraid. Don't be fooled. Don't be surprised when you're attacked by the world. Verse number 20. Pilate, therefore, willing to release Jesus, speak again to them. So again, a third time, he's willing to release Jesus, right? And he speaks to them, trying to convince them, hey, not Barabbas, come on, let's release Jesus. Verse 21, and they cried, saying, crucify him, crucify him. And he answered them the third time. This is the third time in this second visit, okay? So this is the fourth time, as it were, that he's saying, hey, Jesus is innocent, let's let him go. And he said unto them the third time, why? What evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him. I will therefore chastise him and let him go. You think Pilate just wants to kill Jesus? He's trying to get away with it, right? I mean, trying to get out of this situation that he's in. Verse 23. And they were innocent with loud voice requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and the chief priests prevailed. Now, these accusers of Christ, I mean, I'm sure many of them, many of them will reprobate, I'm sure. Because one of the characteristics of a reprobate, the Bible says, I'll just quickly read to you from Romans 131, it says, without understanding covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable. That's the word I'm looking for, unmerciful, implacable. You know, the word implacable there means someone that is relentless. You know, someone that cannot be appeased. No matter how many times Pilate said, you know, I don't find any fault in Jesus, he's innocent. Not many times he said that these Jews were implacable. They couldn't be appeased. And so Pilate tries to appease him. He says, look, I'll chastise him, then let him go. That's even more than what Jesus deserved. Jesus did not deserve any punishment. And still that did not placate these, you know, reprobate Jews at this point in time. You know, it's such a wicked thing to condemn a man to death who was innocent. Verse 24. And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they require. Wow. So Jesus, Pilate sentences Jesus to death because of what the multitudes wanted, because of what these Jews wanted. Verse 25. And he released unto him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired, but he delivered Jesus to their will. So look, just two lessons we can take out of Pilate here, guys. The first lesson is this. If you're ever put in a position of authority, and that's, you are in a position of authority straight away with your family, okay? But if you ever take a position of authority, even in your local church, all right? What's important here is that you always do that which is right, okay? It's not about appeasing the multitudes. You know, if the church at large wants you to do something, you know, to preach something that's not right, that's not biblical, that's ungodly, to conduct a church, you know, a way that's not right. You know, it's not about appeasing the multitudes. You do what is right, you do what is according to God. Look, Pilate knew what was right. He knew that Jesus was innocent, but he caved into the multitudes. Guys, you know, men, parents, fathers, you know, we're in position for mothers. You're in positions of authority of your children, you know? You need to make sure you do what is right, not what is going to make your children happy, okay? Now, if you do what's right and your children are happy, bonus, praise God. You know, that can work sometimes, but many times in life, in family life, you're going to have to make decisions that don't satisfy the kids and you're going to be tempted to cave into their demands. Hey, no, you do what's right, otherwise you're no better than Pilate, okay? That's the first lesson. The second lesson that we can take out of this is that, you know what? Our politicians today, our politicians are largely no different to Pilate, okay? We think we're voting for a man that will stand for what's right. We think, you know, you're voting a man that will stand firm on the laws of the nation. You know, hopefully the laws are in the Bible, but more often than not, guys, and we've seen this, you know, the double speech of the politicians, the flip-flopping of the politicians. Look, they're just, all they want is to satisfy the multitudes. They want to be re-elected and they just do whatever the people want. Instead of standing for what's right, instead of doing what's right, doing what's true, they would rather appease the multitudes. They'd rather appease the loudest voices. That's why quite often we see, you know, our government pass laws that are unbiblical, that are unrighteous, because they're listening to lobby groups, they're listening to usually minorities, but these minorities have a loud voice and they cave in just like Pilate caved in to the Jews here. Verse 26. And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they lay the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus. Now this might not make a lot of sense in the book of Luke, because we see Jesus arrested. Yeah, we see him beaten a little bit, you know, and we see him mocked, but then Jesus Christ is being led to be crucified. And normally they would put that cross on the one that would be crucified, like the one that would be crucified would carry that cross, but this time they found a man, a Cyrenian, I looked this up, this is a North African Cyrene, it's a place located in Libya today, and he was passing through and they put the cross of Christ on him. Now you might not make a lot of sense if all you did was read the book of Luke, but obviously prior to this, you know, Christ was heavily beaten, he was whipped, okay, remember he had not slept the night before, I mean Jesus Christ has gone a long time without sleep, he's weak, all right, and so obviously they recognise the fact that Jesus Christ is too weak to carry the, you know, the planks, the wooden planks, so they take Simon and they place it on him to carry it for Christ. Verse 27, And they followed him a great company of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him. Now pay attention here, because this is something I've not really heard a lot of preaching on, again, I don't think I've heard any preaching on this. So as Christ has been led up to be crucified, there's all these ladies, all these women are wailing and lamenting, sorrowing over Christ. Now my natural reaction when I first read this is to think, well, they must be sorrowing for Christ because they believe on him, you know, that they must be believers of Christ, you know, but then the way Jesus responds to them paints another picture. Let's look at how Jesus responds to them in verse 28, But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. That sounds like these are believers in Christ, for Jesus to respond in that way. Let's think about this. Now, why would he say don't weep for Jesus? Don't weep for me. Why would he say that? I'll just read to you from Hebrews 12, verse two, which says, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. You see, Jesus Christ went to that cross with joy. Okay, knowing what this was going to accomplish. That's what led him there. It wasn't a time to sorrow because this is what he came to do. Yes, he was a man of sorrows. Yes, he took on the sorrows, the sins of the world in his body. Okay, but what he came to accomplish, this also brought him great joy. Okay, he was fulfilling the task the Father had brought him. So says, Look, don't weep for me. Weep for yourselves. Weep for your children, he says to these ladies, you know. So what we'll see here is that these women, now obviously not all the women, but these women that he's referring to were non-believers. Okay, and that might sound a bit unusual to you, but let me explain something to you right now. Today, how many people love Jesus? How many people today claim the name of Jesus? You know, they call themselves Christian after Christ and are unsaved. How many? So many, all right. So many people that think they're saved, think they believe in Jesus or whatever that is. They think, you know, they're the children of God. They might even weep. They may even sorrow in church. You know, they might have their emotional experiences, but are still unsaved. So how many are there? There's a lot. Go door to door, soul winning with me. Okay, how many claim to be Christian and they don't even know what must I do to be saved? Okay, this is what we're seeing here. You know, these women that think that they're right with God, that think they've claimed Jesus Christ, but Jesus says, look, weep for yourselves. And I'm going to prove this to you that they weren't saved, because let's keep reading verse 29. Verse 29, Jesus says to them, for behold, the days are coming in the which they shall say, blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bear and the paps which never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, fall on us and to the hills, cover us. What does that sound like to you? Doesn't that sound like the sixth seal? Absolutely. Okay, the sixth seal in the book of Revelation. If you guys want to turn that you can. Revelation chapter six, Revelation chapter six, verse 15. This is the important because he's saying, look, you know, sorrow for yourselves, why? There's coming a time when you're going to ask, you know, for mountains to fall on you, right? Fall on us and to the hills, cover us. Go to Revelation six, verse 15. Revelation chapter six, verse 15. This is on the sixth seal. It says here, and the kings, this is when the sun and the moon go dark and the stars fall from heaven, all right? Verse 15, and the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men and every bond man and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us. Same thing that he quoted there in Luke 23. Fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sit upon the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. The wrath of the lamb. Hey, these are people that are about to experience the wrath of God, you know? And if you're saved, look, you know, you're not appointed to the wrath of God if you're saved, okay? But definitely the unsaved are. Verse 17, it said, For the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand? So Jesus Christ says to these women that are weeping, hey, sorrow for yourselves. They had not believed on Christ. They had not received Christ. These women were going to face the wrath of God if they weren't saved, all right? They're facing the wrath of God. This is why Jesus says, look, worry for yourselves, okay? There's a great day coming when the wrath of God is gonna be poured upon even these ladies, even these women. Let's go back to Luke chapter 23. Luke chapter 23, verse 31. Luke chapter 23, verse 31. And then Jesus says these words that for a while, I was kind of scratching my head, what is he saying here? Look at verse 31 and try to work it out for yourselves before I explain it to you. It says, Jesus speaking, For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? Now, probably, what is that? So took me a while to think about what is this going on? And then I had to bring it back to the wrath of God there. And what I believe this is saying is that Jesus Christ, as it were, represents that green tree. So it says, look, for if they do these things in a green tree, all right? So he's been crucified to death, he's been pronounced innocent, okay? He's been examined, he's innocent. Look, if these people are able to do this to a green tree, you know, crucify me, as it were, what shall be done in the dry? Now, when fires burn, do they burn when trees are green, or do they burn when the trees are dry, when the grass is dry? Obviously, you know, fire will burn vehemently when it's dry, okay? When the vegetation is dry. So what Jesus here is comparing what he's going through and what those that face the wrath of God will go through. Says, look, you guys are willing to crucify me. Like this green tree. You think that's, you know, that there's kind of like this minimal destruction that can be done in a sense, all right? But for you guys that have done that, you're like that dry, you're just going to be utterly destroyed. You're going to be utterly burnt up for what you did to that green tree, all right? Let's keep reading, verse 32. And then it says, and there were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death. Now, malefactors, you might not understand that word. The word malefactors, like in Spanish, in Spanish, if I would say you're a bad man, you know, I would say, you know, tu eres malo. Malo means bad. It kind of has the same root word, okay? Malefactors, these are just evildoers in a sense. Now, some other words like in English, you might think of words like malfunction, okay? Or malpractice. And when you think about that word mal there, that's bad practice. Malfunction means something went wrong, something went bad, you know? Or you think of the word malicious, you say someone is being malicious, M-A-L, mal, malicious. You know, you're saying that person is doing something wicked, something evil. And so the word malefactors there, just to clarify if you're not sure, just means these are evildoers, these are evil workers that was put to death with Jesus Christ there. Verse 33. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary. Now, children, you love singing at Calvary, don't you? You know, I'm not sure if you're all familiar with what that means, but this is the place, this is the hill that Jesus Christ was ultimately crucified on. So when we sing at Calvary and rejoice in that, we're rejoicing in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ here. So which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, and I can't believe these words, you know, then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they part in his reignment and cast lots. And I just, I think it shows once again, the mercy of God, you know, the forgiveness in the heart of Jesus Christ, you know, that he was, he's able to forgive those that are crucifying him. You know, he's able to forgive them, he's even asking God the Father, of course, you know, the Father sees the Son, being treated this way, even though that's the plan, that's the plan of God. But if you saw your own son, your own child, being tortured, you know, by your enemies, wouldn't you just want to destroy them? You know, and I like to think that it's almost like God the Father just, you know, would almost bring destruction on these people for what they're doing to the Son. And the Son just kind of has to gently remind the Father, you know, forgive them, you know, forgive them for they know not what they do. And, you know, forgive them because, you know, the crucifixion is what Jesus Christ came to do at the end of the day. You know, and I do believe these people were forgiven, like, you know, in the ignorance of crucifying Christ, as it were, you know, that I believe the Father would have, you know, listened to the plea of his Son at this point, you know, but one thing they would not be forgiven for, obviously, is for rejecting Christ. You know, you know, these people were forgiven, I'm sure, for crucifying him, you know, but if they rejected him, you know, if they rejected him and they then, you know, obviously, there is no forgiveness for that. The only way to be saved is by receiving Christ in faith. Verse 35, And the people stood beholding, and the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself. That's true, Jesus Christ did come and save others, they're mocking him, but it's the truth. But Christ did not come to save himself. Christ came to die on the cross, says, let him save himself. If he be Christ, the chosen of God, and the soldiers also mocked him, come into him and offering him vinegar, and saying, if thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself. Now, I believe this is, I believe strongly that by offering Jesus Christ vinegar, this was an act of, like of, of hatred, you know, of mocking Christ, because if you're thirsty, and Jesus does say in the book of John, I thirst, and that's when they bring him the vinegar. I mean, if you're thirsty, you want water, right? You want something that's going to quench your thirst. You know, it's not like they came to give Jesus a bit of comfort, you know, here's a drink of water, you know, no, they brought him vinegar. I mean, I don't know how many of you guys, I like vinegar in my salad, for example, you know, in some meals, you know, but not as a drink to satisfy my thirst. I mean, vinegar is going to make you more thirsty. It's not what, it's not satisfying at all. And so I believe, and if you look at verse number 36 again, I think it's quite clear that they're mocking him as they're doing this. It says, and the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar. All right, so they're just, you know, they're so cruel to Christ, even on the cross they're crucified. And I'm just going to quickly read to you. Can you guys go to Psalm 69? Again, keep your finger in Luke 23. Go to Psalm 69. And I'm going to read to you from Matthew 27 verse 34. Matthew 27 verse 34. It says, they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall, or gall, I should say. And when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. So he gets a taste and then doesn't want to drink it. Okay, because it obviously doesn't satisfy his thirst. But it says it's mingled with gall, and gall can be sometimes used like the gallbladder, the intestines and things like that. But gall also means like bitterness as well in the Bible. So it's like it's been made bitter, even more than what vinegar naturally is. But you guys are in Psalm 69 verse 20. Go to Psalm 69 verse 20. And this is a prophecy of here of Christ. It says, I just want you to notice this. It says, reproach have broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. These are words of Christ. And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none. And for comforters, but I found none. Hey, did these people offering Jesus Christ the vinegar, did they do it for comfort? Now Jesus Christ says here, that he was seeking for comforters, was seeking for someone to give him pity, but there was none. Okay, verse 21. They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. So you see, these are prophetic words about Jesus Christ as he was on that cross. So I just wanted to show you, this was not an act of love. This was not an act of comfort from the soldiers giving him vinegar to satisfy his thirst. No, Jesus Christ, you know, they were just mocking him as they did this. Go back to Luke 23, please. Luke 23 verse 38. Luke 23 verse 38. Now I'm going to ask whoever got here. Isabel and Paris, can you both come up here very quickly? I've got an activity for you guys, okay? And this is why I thought the sermon might be a little long, but I think it's worth going through. Can you give them out to primarily the adults and then the children if there's any left? And can you give some pens out? So just hand them out. And while you're handing them out, I'm just going to read verse 38. It says, and a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the King of the Jews. Now I want to show you, just because I think this is wonderful, I think just to see the consistency of the Bible, you know, that is definitely one offer. Even though we have four gospels of Christ, you know, four different authors as it were, we see that this is all the mind of God as it was written, all right? So let's look at this superscription. These words that were put above Christ on a cross, that He is the King of the Jews. So please take a sheet, please take the worksheet with you and a pen if you've got a pen. I hope there's enough pens for, I don't think it's gonna be enough for everybody, but do the best you can if you can. Now let's have a look at this very quickly. I'll be as fast as I can. Let's go to Mark chapter, let me just find my place here. Mark chapter 15 please. Mark chapter 15. Go in your Bibles to Mark 15 verse 26. Mark 15 verse 26. It says here, and the superscription of his accusation was written over the King of the Jews. So what does Mark say was written above Jesus Christ? The words, the King of the Jews. Now what I want you to do, if you look at your sheets, okay, we're gonna write out what was above the name, what was above the head of Christ here, and we're gonna look at all four Gospels. Because the amazing thing is that there's not one single Gospel book that has it laid out in full. You've got to look at all of them to get the fullness of what was written above the head of Christ. So what I want you to do, if you look at these, you know, the little dots, little dashes that you can see there, if you count from the right, so from back to front, see how I've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, like all four references there? If you can start from there and write what we saw in the book of Mark there, which was the King of the Jews. So those lines should fit, if you can write that out there, the, obviously three dashes, T-H-E, the, and then there's four dashes, King, do you guys know what I'm explaining, what I'm trying to explain there? It's just the last one, two, three, four, five, the last five, you know, places for you to write these words at the end of this sheet, please write the King of the Jews. It should fit there, right? The King of the Jews. Let me just quickly check. Yep, you guys are doing all right. Have you got one for yourself? No, all right. So at the end of there, the King of the Jews. We saw this in the book of Mark, yeah? In the book of Mark. Now, please turn to, back to Luke, please, Luke 23. Luke 23. Luke 23, verse 38. Luke 23, verse 38. It's what we read already. It said in a subscription, also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the King of the Jews. So what do I want you to write now? This is, yeah? Because you've already written out the King of the Jews. So just before that, all right, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. This is where you're going to write it. The first two spots on your sheet. Sorry guys, the first two spots. So go to the first two spots, spots there, where you got four letters and then two letters, yeah? Four letters and then two letters, right at the beginning of your sheet. Write this is. Write this is. I hope this is making sense. Write this is. So once you've written that, what you should have in your paper is at the beginning, this is, and then at the end, the King of the Jews. Is that what everyone's got at the moment? Yeah? All right, good, good. All right. I think the kids are doing all right. I'm not sure about the adults. All right. Let's now turn to Matthew 27, please. Matthew 27. Matthew 27, verse 37. Matthew 27, verse 37. The Bible reads, and set up over his head, his accusation written, this is Jesus, the King of the Jews. So there's an extra word here in the book of Matthew. What is that word? Jesus, yeah? This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. So next to the words this is on your sheet, there should be five lines for you to write the name of Jesus there. This is Jesus, yeah? This is Jesus, and then the end of your sheet should say, the King of the Jews. All right? So make sure you write down Jesus. I'll give you a moment to do that. Now please turn to the book of John. John. So we're looking at all four Gospels here. John chapter 19, verse 19. John 19, verse 19. John 19, verse 19. It says, and Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross, and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. So what are you going to write after the name of Jesus? Jesus of Nazareth, okay? So after Jesus, name of Jesus on your sheet, write of, this is Jesus of Nazareth, all right? Write of, you got two more spots, that's what you should fill out, okay? Of Nazareth. Now all four Gospels said something different, didn't they? It wasn't exactly the same, but was there a contradiction in the Gospels? No. When we look at all four of them, we see what was written above Christ at his crucifixion. And what did it say? Matthias, can you read out what's on yours? Nice and loud. Yep. This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. So that was written in Hebrew, in Greek, in Latin, above the head of Christ, okay? I just wanted to show you how cool that was. I thought it was pretty cool when I first looked at this, that none of the Gospels have it in full, but when you look at all four of them, you can work out what was, you know, fully written above the head of Christ. And it just shows you the consistency, it shows you that there's one author, obviously the Holy Ghost, God is the author of the Bible, you know, definitely not from the minds of men, all right? So go back to Luke 23 now, I hope that was kind of interesting. Luke 23, Luke 23 verse 39, Luke 23 verse 39, the Bible says, Now what was this matter of fact of wanting from Christ? Mocking Christ, but he was seeking a physical salvation, right? He was seeking to come off the cross, to be saved off the cross, he was looking for a physical salvation. Now Jesus Christ, you know, yeah, I mean God can save you physically, you know, I'm sure he can do that, but Jesus Christ came to save our souls. Okay, it's a spiritual salvation, not just a physical salvation, Jesus Christ came to save us for all eternity. And this is what the other malefactor notices. Let's keep reading here in verse 40, Luke 23 verse 40, But the other, that's the other malefactor, the other thief on the cross, answering, rebuked him saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, verily I say unto thee, to thee shalt thou be with me in paradise. Beautiful, beautiful story here of the thief on the cross that called upon the name of the Lord. Now what are we to notice there? Look at verse 40 again. What do we see? This man gets saved, doesn't he? He's not looking for a physical salvation. He's looking for a spiritual salvation. He's looking for salvation for all eternity. And he turns to Jesus, turns to the other thief I should say, and says, Dost thou not fear God? Hey, this thief got to a point now where he finally fears God. And knowledge, the fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. It's the beginning of wisdom. He's finally realized he's going to have to face God on judgment day and he's rebuking the other thief for mocking Christ. Then he says in verse 41, and we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. What do we notice about the thief? He recognizes, he admits he's a sinner. He says, look, we're deserving of this death. We're deserving of this punishment for the deeds that we've done, for the sins we've done. So what do you notice? That he recognizes that he's a sinner, right? That that is pain for his sins here on the earth. But then he says, but this man hath done nothing amiss. He says Jesus is innocent. Jesus is perfect. What's another thing we need to understand when we get saved? We need to understand not only that Jesus paid for our sins, but we need to understand that Jesus was the perfect lamb of God, that he was righteous without any sin. And this thief recognizes that. This man has done nothing amiss. And then verse 42, and he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me. Hey, he calls upon the Lord, doesn't he? He calls upon them Lord. But look at this. He says, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. What does he believe in? How is Jesus? Jesus is about to die. He's on the cross, okay? But what does he believe about Jesus? That this is not the end of Jesus. That Jesus is going to come into his kingdom. He believes in the resurrection of Christ, okay? That he's going to come and set up his millennial kingdom anyway. This is not the end of Christ. He's coming back, and all he wants is to be remembered by Christ. Just think about me, please. You know, when you come into that kingdom. And the other thing is when he says the kingdom, you know, he's obviously Jesus. He sees Jesus with that crown of thorns. You know, he sees that that superscription which is meant to mock him. This is the king of the Jews. And he says, no, this is the king. You know, he's going to come in his kingdom. You know, his eyes were open to spiritual truths. He knew that this was the Christ. He knew this was the anointed one. He knew this was the one from everlasting. He knew that he'd be raised from the dead. He knew he was the king of kings. What an amazing thing. Verse 43, And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, to thee shalt thou be with me in paradise. You see, once you call upon the name of the Lord in faith, and this man had faith. Okay, in what way? Well, he knew that Christ would be resurrected. He knew there was a future kingdom and he wanted to be part of that. Okay. His faith was that Christ would be his vehicle for salvation. And Jesus says today, hey, when you believe on Christ, you're saved today. Okay. It's not some process. It's not something you have to doubt. It's not something you have to worry about. Once you've placed your faith on Christ, you know that he's paid it all. You know that he's been resurrected from the dead. Today you're saved. It's not something you need to wait for or to check that you're saved. No, you put your faith on Christ. It's done today. It's done today. And what does Jesus say to him? Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. I've already covered this before, but paradise is heaven. Okay. That he would be with Christ in heaven. And look, this man on the cross, he's like this. He's paying for his sins. He can't turn from them. He can't repent from his sins. He's just on the cross. All he can do is say, Hey, I'm a sinner. I need you, Jesus. You know, please remember me. And he's on the cross. He can't get baptized. He can't go to church. He can't learn more doctrines of the Bible. He can't do any righteous works. He can't go into the temple and offer sacrifices. All he can do is believe in Christ. Hey, that was sufficient for his salvation. It's the same for us today. Nothing's changed. Hey, salvation has always been by grace through faith. And by the way, this is still the Old Testament time, isn't it? Nothing's changed. People were saved in the same way in the Old Testament, by grace through faith. Now we know the New Testament does not begin till Christ will die. Let's keep reading verse 44. Verse 44, And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. I haven't got time to go into all this, but the veil in the temple, the high priest, the great high priest, or the high priest I should say, would enter into the holy of holies. It was a place you could only enter, and you had to enter with blood once a year, okay, to offer a sacrifice for the sins of all of Israel. That was something to be done once a year. Only the high priest, a regular priest was not allowed there. Only the high priest, okay, was allowed to enter into that temple, okay. And it was protected by this veil. But look, it says here, when the sun was darkened, the veil in the temple was rent, okay, in the midst. Hey, right in the middle of this temple, it was split apart. God had performed the miracle, okay. Because the reality, this is the reality now, is that Jesus Christ came and became our great high priest. We no longer need to go into a temple. We no longer need the high priest to offer the blood of animals, okay. We now can enter into the holy of holies, boldly because we have Jesus Christ. This is showing that the Old Testament ways was done with, and now Jesus Christ is bringing in that New Testament, that, yeah, that New Testament in his blood, all right. Verse 46, And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I command my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. You see, he gives his spirit, he gives his ghost to the Father. Now, I know we have some differences of opinion here in this church, but I believe here that I think it's quite clear, especially telling the thief on the cross, that he would be with him in paradise, that the spirit of Christ, whatever that means, I'm not going to dissect God for you and explain how it all works, okay. But here we read that the spirit of God, the ghost of Jesus Christ, was put into the hands of the Father, and that he would be with that thief on the cross today in paradise. Today in paradise. Now, just very quickly, because I've heard oneness believers say, well, Jesus could say today that he would be with me in paradise because the Father was in heaven, and because Jesus is the Father, what they say, then he could be with Jesus in paradise. I've heard that taught, okay. And obviously, you know, we believe in the Trinity, okay, obviously. Somehow, spiritually speaking, I can't explain it all to you, but the Bible tells me, and I believe the Bible, that his spirit was with the Father, his spirit was with this thief on the cross, okay. Now, that does not mean that his soul was in heaven, okay, because we know that Jesus Christ came to be, you know, like a man. He came, God manifest in the flesh, and we know that man is made up of body, soul and spirit. Again, the Bible is very clear that his soul went to hell, okay, and his body was in the grave. Now, you want to ask me all of those questions. What does that mean? How does that look like? I can't really tell you, honestly, you know. I can't dissect God and explain it all to you, you know. I just have to take the Word of God by faith. Let's keep reading there in verse 44. I'm sorry, we read that already. Verse 47. And when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God saying, certainly this was a righteous man. I'm almost done now, guys. I know we've got a lot of verses to go through, but we're going to go through this very quickly now. And all the people that came together to that site, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts and returned. And all his acquaintance and the women that followed him from Galilee stood afar off beholding these things. And behold, there was a man named Joseph, a counsellor, and he was a good man and a just. Hey, when the Bible says this was a just man, it means he was saved. He was a believer of Christ. So verse 51. The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them. He was of Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who also himself waited for the kingdom of God. So this man's waiting for the kingdom, right? And he knows Jesus is the king. I believe he also knows Christ will be resurrected because he's waiting for the kingdom. All right, because now look at this, verse 52. This man went unto Pilate and begged the body of Jesus, okay? So he wanted to give honour and respect to this dead body of Jesus Christ. Verse 53. And he took it down and wrapped it in linen and laid it in a sepulchre, that's like a grave, that was hewn in stone, wherein never man before was laid. Now, what I want to show you, all I want to take away from this, guys, in verse 53, is that Jesus Christ was laid in a grave that no other man has ever been laid in, okay? Now, I believe this is symbolic, okay? This is symbolic of the fact, also literal, literally no man was ever in that grave before, but I believe this is symbolic that the death that Christ died was, he was the only one, he was the only one that could fulfill that, okay? And this is symbolic that no one else had died and had taken up this grave. He'd be the first and that he'd be the only sacrifice that would ever be needed by anybody in this world, okay? Jesus Christ came and fulfilled a great death that could redeem all of mankind. Yes, he died for the sins of all man, but unfortunately only those that believe on him, you know, can be saved. Let's keep reading, verse 54. And the day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also which came with him from Galilee followed after and beheld the sepulchre and how the body was laid. And they returned and prepared spices and ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now, this is where the Roman Catholics get it wrong because they see that these women were preparing the spices and the ointments for the body to prevent the stink of a dead body. And then it says, and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. So the Roman Catholics think that the Sabbath day here is a Saturday. Because Saturday is always the Sabbath day, you know, in the Bible, the seventh day of the week. And so they think, well, if they rested on the Sabbath day, then when did Jesus die? It must have been a Friday, right? That's where we get the good Friday, you know, tradition from that week. Now, look, I'm thankful that in Australia, we recognize the, you know, Easter, we recognize the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, but the days are wrong. Jesus was not crucified on a Friday. But you can see how the Roman Catholics can read this. They haven't got the spirit of God with them and think, well, the Sabbath, that's Saturday, he must have been dead on Friday and rose again on Sunday. But the Bible is very clear that he was dead for three nights, three days and three nights, okay? And so if he was crucified on Friday night, you only got a full day of Saturday, one day, and parts of Friday, parts of Sunday. Depends how early in the morning he raised from the dead. So obviously that's wrong. Now, just very quickly, what is this Sabbath that they're referring to? We know that it was the time of the Passover. This was the 14th day of the month when the Passover lambs in the evening would be cured and cooked and eaten. And this lines up with the death of Christ because Christ was a fulfillment of the Passover, okay? Now that first day of the Passover is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And if you guys are familiar, that feast was for seven days, okay? And so this whole celebration, this whole holiday, this whole Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread is a Sabbath day. It was a time when people were not required to work but were to enjoy this holiday and rest from their works. And why that's so important, guys, is because salvation is not by works, okay? Salvation is by resting in the finished work of Christ. This is what has been symbolically pictured here. The women prepared the ointments, but then they had to rest. They had to, the Sabbath, okay? No work was required by anybody, okay? Why? Because Christ had done all the work on the cross. It's time for the Sabbath rest. You rest from your works and you're saved by believing on Christ. And I'm just going to finish off today, guys, reading Galatians 2, verse 16. And you guys are familiar with it. Galatians 2, 16, which says, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh, listen to me, by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. No flesh. There's only one way to be saved. And it's by that beautiful sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, by putting your faith on him, by trusting his death, burial and resurrection, nothing else you can bring to the table. You just rest. You believe Christ did it all for you. You call upon the name of the Lord. You place your faith on him and you'll be saved. Guaranteed. Let's pray.