The Controversial Christ (V)
This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.
Words are very important. Words are very important, and they're very telling. The Pharisees here in this account were confused about what really defiled a person. They thought that what went into a man—that's what defiled him. He had to be careful about all the ceremonial washings and such, because if you didn't wash your hands the right way, then you defiled yourself. And our Lord Jesus addressed that in His ministry.
In Matthew 15, verse 18, you remember He said, "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from" – where? – "the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witnesses, slanders. These are the things which defile the man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."
A similar account in Mark 7, verse 20, our Lord was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, theft, murders, adulteries, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."
There's nothing more telling about a person than what they say. Now think about that. There's nothing more telling about the person—a person—than what they say. What characterizes a person's speech—and here, mark it down, referring to a pattern—what characterizes a person's speech is what characterizes their heart and what characterizes their life.
Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:34, "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart."
– What's down in the well comes out in the bucket. –
"The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment." – And then He closes with this: – "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:25-36).
You talk about how telling a person's words are—when Jesus speaks of that final day of judgment and can say that by your words, by words men will be justified, by words they will be condemned. That speaks of the importance of words.
With that in mind, just to remind us, thus far we looked at the reality of division found in verse 19a. We've seen together where the truth is spoken in a world full of sin, in a world full of decay, in a world full of sinners. There's going to be inevitably division. There's going to be controversy. There's going to be discord. Jesus came not to bring a false kind of peace to the world. He came to be a true Peacemaker, to bring the sword of the truth of the Word of God. And as a result, He told us, there's going to be division.
We see division here more than once. There was division throughout the ministry of our Lord. Verse 19: "A division occurred" – ‘palin’, once more, more than one time, yet "again among the Jews because of these words."
So we looked at the reality of division. And also, last time we were in this text, we looked at the reason for the division. End of verse 19, we saw together that it was not—we looked at what it was not—it was not a political division. It was not because Jesus was sinning or done something wrong and just trying to cover it in the name of God. No, no, it's a peacemaking division. It's a division brought about by the truth. Look at the last few words in verse 19: "Because of these words."
Well, this morning, I want us to focus on the third heading. I want to point out from these verses the third heading: the revelation of division. The reality of division, the reason for the division. And now we will look at and consider the revelation of division. And that is in verses 20 and 21.
There's this enmity on the part of the unbelieving Jews toward Jesus. There's this battle, this war really going on, and you see it throughout His ministry, His entire ministry. But the question is, how is it again and again revealed, this enmity? How is this enmity manifested in the ministry of our Lord? We don't just need to think about the Pharisees and the Lord Jesus at this point. We need to think about lost humanity and the living God as well. It's the same thing.
The Bible teaches that there is enmity, there is hostility that exists in the heart of man, the natural man, the lost man, toward God and the things of God and the people of God. The Bible says that we're enemies of God by nature. The Bible speaks of that fact that there is in man, left to himself, hostility of mind towards God and His truth. Enmity towards God and the truth. Well, how is that hostility revealed? That's the question.
Well, there's a powerful statement about that in the book of Jude. Turn with me to Jude and look at verse 14 and following. There's this statement concerning this hostility revealed. How is it revealed, this enmity towards God? Look at verse 14: "But Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men", – referring to the false teachers – "saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’ These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lust; and their mouth speaks arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of their own benefit. But you, beloved, must remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, 'In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.' These are the ones who cause” – what? – "divisions, worldly-minded, not having the Spirit."
Enoch prophesied of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the final judgment. And he sees the Lord Jesus judging all the ungodly, the wicked, not only for the ungodly deeds that they have done in such an ungodly way, but also, he says, He's going to judge all the harsh things that the ungodly, ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. And so the lost world reveals its enmity towards God by what it says—words, speech. By our words, we will be justified. By our words, we will be condemned.
And here in verses 19 to 21, you see the enmity of these unbelieving Jews toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And how do you see it? Well, you see it in what they say, right? He has spoken words of truth and now they're going to speak their words. And listen again to what they say. "And many of them," verse 20, "were saying, 'He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?'"
Let's pause there and let's think about what is revealed, what kind of enmity is revealed in these words spoken by the Pharisees. There are a few things that I want to point out concerning their words, these words that were spoken in verses 20 and 21. First of all, I want us to note that these were hateful words. They were hateful words.
To say that someone is demon-possessed, to say that they are insane, I think by any standard would be considered to be harsh. Wouldn't you agree? I think again about the book of Jude: all the harsh things that the ungodly, ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. Verse 15. These are not mild words. He's demon-possessed. He's insane. No, no. These are harsh words. These are hateful words.
And Jesus Himself acknowledged that this was the attitude of the unbelieving world toward Him. The world literally hated Jesus. John 15:18: "If the world hates you, know that it has" – what? – "hated Me before it hated you." John 15:24: "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin, but now they both have seen and hated Me and My Father as well." John 15:25: "But this happened to fulfill the word that is written in the law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'" "They hated Me without a cause."
Beloved, listen. What is the true state of sinful man? What is the true state of sinful man? What really is his attitude toward God? What was revealed when God came to earth? When you had God incarnate, God in human flesh, walking in the midst of sinful humanity, what was the attitude toward God? It's nothing less than hatred. He came to His own, His own received Him not. This is what is in the natural man toward God. Hatred. Hatred. Hatred toward the truth. Hatred toward those who belong to the truth. And Jesus says, If they hated Me, they're going to hate you. Hatred.
I'm thoroughly convinced that many of the methods being used in ministry today are being used precisely because the church doesn't understand what the world's attitude really is toward God. And the reason I say that with confidence is because there's this philosophy at work that says this: the real reason why there's enmity between the world and our message is because we just haven't said it right. I mean, we haven't done it the right way. And if we could somehow present the message in a different way, if we could put it forth by different means or put it forth in a different dress, maybe even if we could say it more nicely. I mean, if we could just say it differently, then there wouldn't be such enmity.
And what men are really saying when they think this way is men really would be open to the truth of the gospel. I mean, naturally open to the truth of the gospel if you could just say it the right way. Just, you know, soften it a little bit. Let me ask you a question. Has there been anyone who ever walked on the face of this earth who spoke truth more perfectly than the Lord Jesus? Can anyone speak the truth more appropriately, more perfectly than God incarnate? What's the answer? Absolutely not. Of course not. And did they love Him for it? Did they love Him for it?
Now, of course, those who belong to Him, His sheep, those who were being saved, loved Him for it. But those who didn't believe, didn't love Him. In fact, they hated Him. They hated Him because of the truth.
John 17:14, "I have given them Your word;" – Our Lord is praying – "and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Matthew 10:22, "You will be hated" – hated, hated – "by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved."
Now let me stop there and ask, does that surprise you, beloved? Does it surprise you? Will it surprise you if you meet with this? This attitude, this hatred? I mean, do you realize that there really is hatred in the human heart towards the true God and toward His Son and toward His word and toward His people? Do you believe that? Are you ready for that? Are you prepared for that in your workplace, at school, wherever you are?
Do you know in your own mind, in your own heart? Are you assured of this, that you could speak the truth in the most perfect way possible and still be hated for it? Because the Lord Jesus is the proof of that. Truth incarnate. Because if you don't understand that, if you think that the real problem, the real reason for this enmity is just the way you're conveying the message—now don't misunderstand, let me insert this as a parenthesis—we ought to be workmen who don't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of God. We want to present the Word humbly and in love. We're told in Scripture to do that.
But if you think that the only reason for hatred toward the message is the way you're presenting it, you will forever be trying to change the way you present it and thinking that that really is the problem, when really that isn't the problem. And what you end up doing is you end up altering the message, tampering with the message, softening the message.
Now, the natural man hates God. And that hatred is expressed in various degrees, in various ways, but it's present in the unredeemed human heart. Hostile in mind. That's how the Bible describes lost humanity. These are hateful words. They reveal the hatred that's present, the enmity between man, lost man, and a holy God.
But there's a second thing that we could say about these words in verses 20 and 21. Not only were they hateful words, they were also hurtful words. They were hurtful words: "He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?" Now, when I say they're hurtful words, I don't simply mean—exclusively mean—that they were intended to hurt the Lord Jesus in some emotional way. I mean, there's no doubt that these aren't kind words. They're hurtful in that sense, but their desire to hurt went beyond how they would impact Jesus. How they would just impact Jesus.
They were slandering the Son of God, and they were attempting to turn others away from Him. That's what they were trying to do as well. They meant, by their words, to affect the way that others looked upon Him, the way that others listened to Him. These were really malicious words, hurtful words. They were meant to hurt. They were meant to ruin. And in case you think this is just something that was directed toward the Lord Jesus, remember there were also malicious words spoken against the messenger who came to prepare the way, John the Baptist.
Remember in Luke 7:31, our Lord pointed this out: "To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, who say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.'" In other words, you can't please them either way you come to them, because the real issue is the truth. Either way you come with the truth—whether it's in a sober way or a joyful way—either way the issue is the truth, and they're going to hate you for it either way.
He goes on to say, "For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'" – The same accusation – "The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!" So they didn't just slander, they didn't just say it was the Lord Jesus who had a demon, but they also said John the Baptist had a demon.
Indeed, this is going to happen wherever the truth is spoken. Beloved, do you realize that when hurtful words are spoken against you—not just meant to hurt you, but meant to ruin your reputation, affect others who would listen to you otherwise—do you realize that you're walking in a long tradition of truth speakers? We saw it last time in Matthew, last time we were in this passage in Matthew 5:11, "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you" – and here's the key – "because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
You see, it goes even beyond, it goes even further back than the Lord Jesus and John the Baptist. This is what they did to the prophets of God. And when the truth reached its zenith, in terms of its expression—in the truth, the embodiment of the truth, the Truth Himself, the Lord Jesus—the enmity was especially intense and focused. And it was expressed not only with hateful words, but also with hurtful, malicious words. Why listen to Him? He has a demon. He's insane.
There's a third thing we recognize in these words. There were hateful words, there were hurtful words, there were also evasive words. There were evasive words. Just go through the Gospels and read these kinds of interactions that Jesus had with the unbelieving Jews, and notice this: when do the Jews usually begin to cast their insults at Jesus? When did the lid come off? It's usually when He's reduced them to a place of what? No escape.
That is, His words were so powerful, so strong, so true, so inescapable, so sound, that the only way to get around what He was saying was what? Attack the messenger. Insult Him. Insult Him. Cast scorn upon His words to mischaracterize what He was saying. It's, you know, it's an escape mechanism, isn't it? It's an evasive maneuver. If you can't deal with the truth, what do you do? You insult the speaker of the truth. This is what they did.
We saw it earlier in our studies of John, but let's go back to John 8 for a minute. I want us to see how this actually is expressed, like you see manifested—John chapter 8. You remember the whole discussion about Abraham? "Before Abraham was, I am." He tells them that their father is Satan in John 8. Notice how this is escalating, how it escalates. Look at verse 39, and we'll take it from there: "They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham's our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, you would do the deeds of Abraham. But now you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father.'"
Let's stop here for a minute. He's just spoken the truth about their attitude and their conduct, and how are they gonna deal with it? I mean, He's exposed them. How are they gonna deal with that exposure? Well, they're either going to respond in repentance—repentance on their part—or in some other way to deal with what He just said. But what did they do?
Look at verse 41. They begin with a veiled insult. See what happened here? Veiled insult. "They said to Him, 'We're not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father: God'"
Here's this veiled attempt to say that Jesus was born of sexual immorality. There's this veiled insult. And so the conversation goes on, and they go on from this veiled insult. Look at verse 48. Now they move to an open insult. "The Jews answered and said to Him, 'Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?'" This is just after He said in verse 46, "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason, you do not hear them, because you are not of God."
Again, He confronts them with truth, truth that they cannot escape. They cannot get around it.
And so how do they deal with it? They just now, they openly insult Him. "You are a Samaritan and You have a demon."
The conversation goes on. Verse 53, look at it. "Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?" This is after Jesus said, if anyone believes in Him, they won't see death. And so they say, are You greater than Abraham? The prophets—they all died. What are You talking about?
Verse 54, "Jesus answered, 'If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, He is our God; and you have not known Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.'" Verse 57, "So the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?'" Ha, ha, ha. What are they doing? They're mocking Him. They're mocking Him. They go from veiled insult to open insult to mocking.
And how does Jesus respond? "Truly, truly, I say to you," verse 58, "'before Abraham was, – ‘Ego eimi’ – "' I am’." I am God, I am Jehovah Jesus. "Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple." So they go from veiled insult to open insult, from mocking to violence to murderous violence. The hatred is expressed in a desire to hurt. It begins with words, but then it progresses into action. Those words are evasive words meant to escape the truth, and that's why they eventually lead to violence. They want to get rid of Him. They want to kill Him. They want to get rid of Him. They want to evade what He's saying.
Now let me pause here and ask, do we not deal with evasiveness in men and women when we declare the Word of God? Now think about that in your own experience. Are men still evasive when it comes to the truth? Does the natural man still seek to escape the truth? He does, doesn't He?
Sometimes by what? How do they do it? By twisting our words, right? By twisting our words. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone that involves the truth, the truth of God's Word, and they just continue to turn what you say in a way that you didn't say it? "No, no, no, that's not what I said. That's not what I mean." But the conversation goes on and they just continue to twist and twist.
Sometimes by ignoring our words, right? Not only by twisting our words, but by ignoring our words. You can say something to them and it's the truth, and they'll pick up their point as if you've never said what you just said, completely ignoring what they heard. They don't wanna hear it. Sometimes by what? Changing the subject, right? Changing the subject. You see an example of this with the woman at the well. Jesus is talking to her about her husband, and all of a sudden she has a question about worship. Changing the subject.
And of course, sometimes by straw man arguments. They raise up these arguments that have been used over and over again, have been disproven long ago, but they continue to raise them up because they're easy things to run to when you don't wanna have to deal with the truth and face the truth.
But then eventually, when the truth is inescapable, it comes to the point of what? Insult. Sometimes veiled, sometimes open, sometimes mocking. And then when man is free to do it, when society allows him to do it—and sometimes even when society doesn't allow him to do it—it progresses to what? Killing. It progresses to violence.
Well, these words spoken on this occasion in John 10 were hateful words, hurtful words. They were evasive words. They didn't wanna deal with what Jesus was saying. That's why they insulted Him.
But there's a fourth thing that we can see in these words. There were also demonic words. There were demonic words. The sad irony here—they accused Him of having a demon, but where does their speech come from? I mean, where did this idea come from that Jesus had a demon? Where does their murderous, hurtful spirit come from?
Well, they hated Him and they wanna hurt Him. They wanna get rid of the truth. Well, where is this attitude coming from? He's already identified it, by the way, hasn't He? Let's go back to John 8. John 8, verse 41—but let's back up to verse 39:
"They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham's our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, you would do the deeds of Abraham. But now you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. You are doing" – what? – "the deeds of your father.' And they said to Him, 'We're not born of sexual immorality; we have one Father: God.' Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceed forth and come from God, for I have not even come of Myself, but He, God, sent Me. Why do you not understand what I'm saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.'" – Now watch verse 44 – "You are of your father," – and what does He say? – "the devil." The devil. Where are these thoughts coming from? That Jesus has a demon, that He's insane, that He's to be killed—where are these thoughts coming from? Jesus says, "The devil." They're coming from the devil. It's the devil who would suggest that Jesus has a demon.
In fact, when you talk about natural wisdom, when you talk about wisdom and the judgment that operates in the natural man, do you know where that wisdom comes from? Think about our world of lost humanity. Think about the wisdom that they operate with, all around us—the world system, lost humanity. By the way, we all once operated with the course of this world, the mindset of this world. Who's over the course of this world? The Bible tells us, right? Many places. One of them is in Ephesians 2. It's the prince of the power of the air who is at work in the sons of disobedience.
But let's think about this worldly, natural wisdom. James chapter three. James chapter three. In verse 14, James says, "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth." This wisdom is not coming down from above, but is earthly, natural," – and then he says what? – "demonic." You see it? Demonic.
Let us really have this in our minds once and for all. What is earthly wisdom? It's demonic wisdom. What is natural wisdom? It's demonic wisdom. It's demonic. What are false doctrines? These false ideas about God, these false ideas about man, these false ideas about what's really important in life, these false ideas about salvation, the false ideas that are all introduced all over the world, all the time about Heaven and Hell and the non-existence of Hell in some cases. Where are these ideas coming from? The Bible calls them doctrines of what? Demons.
And so here, they're looking at God incarnate, God in human flesh, and they've come to the conclusion that He has a demon, that He's of the devil. And where did that thought come from? Where are these words coming from? The devil himself. The devil doesn't work against himself, but he does work against the Son of God. The devil doesn't work against himself, but he does work against His truth. So he also works against the Church, God's people.
Let me give you another example. Turn with me to Matthew 12. Matthew 12. Look at verse 22. I love the sound of the pages turning. A Bible in hand, the Word of God. Sweet sound, sweet sound. And I'm glad you're reading your Bibles also on the iPad as well, or whatever you're doing, so that's great. The Word of God is marvelous, however you read it, but there's something special when you hear this, right?
Matthew 12, verse 22: "Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus. He healed him so that the mute man spoke and saw. And all the crowds were astounded and were saying, "Can this man really be the Son of David?" But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons."
People are praising the Son of God. They say, He is potentially the Messiah, the long-awaited—Is this the Messiah? And the Pharisees hear it, and the Word of God tells us elsewhere that what was continually operating in their hearts was what? Envy. Envy. So they hated Him because He was the truth, the embodiment of truth, truth incarnate, and they were thoroughly jealous of the Son of God. They had envy.
They hated Him for the fact that He was worthy of praise and worship and directed men away from them, and so they were so insecure, and so they speak this honest conclusion. They say, He does this by Beelzebul, the ruler of demons. Notice verse 25: "And knowing their thoughts, He said to them, 'Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?'"
Jesus says, you know what? Your thoughts and your words are absolutely absurd. Satan casting out demons? Satan casting out Satan? You have to understand, these are not false deliverances. These are not false deliverances. These are not deceptive deliverances. These are genuine, undeniable deliverances from demon possession and oppression. People were blind, all of a sudden could see. People who are mute, all of a sudden could speak. It was undeniable, and they're saying that Satan is doing it, and Jesus said, this is absolutely absurd.
Satan doesn't work against Himself, but then He points out something else.
Look at verse 27: "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons," – by Beelzebul – "by whom do your sons cast them out?" You see, they had disciples. The Pharisees had disciples, and apparently these disciples were involved in some deliverance sessions. How real and legitimate theirs were—there's a serious doubt—but the point that Jesus is making is that they never said that their sons were doing it by Satan. They just freely accepted that those acts were of God. But when He genuinely casts out demons, now they say concerning Him, well, that's the work of Satan. In other words, their thoughts clearly reveal a prejudice against Him.
This is why He says at the end of verse 27, "For this reason, they will be your judges." The way you've spoken of them compared to the way you've spoken to Me will judge you.
And then notice verse 28: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house? He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters." Jesus says here, I have demonstrated clearly My authority over Satan. It is impossible to plunder a man's house unless you have the strength to bind him. And so the authority of Jesus over Satan has been manifested, has been demonstrated clearly by all of these miracles, all of these healings, all of these deliverances. He has clearly demonstrated His authority over Satan.
Now, the question is, will they submit to the authority of Christ? Well, their words revealed what? Rebellion. They were absurd thoughts and absurd words. They were prejudiced thoughts and words. They never questioned their own disciples—in all likelihood, false deliverances—but they questioned His. And their words and their thoughts were rebellious in nature, refusing to submit, refusing to bow before a clear demonstration of the authority of God incarnate, which means also that their words were damning.
Look at verse 31: "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." Now, let me say this. It's possible, very possible, that you've spoken a word against the Son of God because you didn't have a clear understanding set before you of who He really is. Prior to coming to Jesus, you never really saw a clear demonstration of who Jesus is. You underestimated His person, and so at some time in your past, you've spoken against Him.
But then God does something amazing. He reveals the truth about His Son. He opens your eyes. He gives light, and you submit to Him as your Lord and your Savior, and you're forgiven, and your sin is forgiven entirely. You're adopted in the family of God.
But what do you do when there's a clear, undeniable demonstration of the Spirit of God's working in the Son of God? A clear, undeniable demonstration of the authority of God in your midst? You are now without excuse. You've seen things with your eyes that you know have never taken place in the history of the world. You know there's no other explanation but that it's God, God at work Himself, and you are settled nevertheless in your unbelief. So much so that you will call what He does as being from Satan. No hope for you. No hope for you.
You mean lost men are capable of that? Lost men are capable of knowing that this is the Son of God? And still call Him a devil? You mean lost men are capable of knowing that they're hearing the truth and still remain settled, hardened in their unbelief? Beloved, I ask today, are lost men capable of that? They are. They are. This is the depth of depravity. This is what sin has done to the human race, and this is what's being revealed in their words.
Back to John chapter 10, because you see not only their hateful words, and hurtful words, and evasive words, and demonic words. You also see these words were also dishonest words. They were dishonest words. I really believe that they knew better than what they were saying. Look at verse 20: "And many of them were saying, 'He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?'" Now watch this. Verse 21: "Others were saying, 'These are not the words of someone demon possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?'"
The dishonesty of the words of the one group, verse 20, is exposed by another group, verse 21. Now the group in verse 21, not yet believers at this time. They may become believers later. We don't know, but they're not yet believers at this time. But they were at least, you could see, they were at least fair-minded, honest about something that was really undeniable, indisputable.
That is, the only way you could ever say that Jesus was demon possessed and insane is your refusal to deal with two clear, self-evident things.
One, they're saying, have you been listening to Him? I mean, are these the words of a demon possessed man? I mean, think about it for a minute. Go through the Gospels. Go through the Gospels and read the accounts of the people who were really demon possessed. Would you say that they were eloquent? Would you say that they were in their right minds? Would you say that their reasoning was impeccable, it was sound? No, in fact, some of them were so dreadful in the way that they were living, people wouldn't even come near them.
Then you listen to the words of the Lord Jesus, and as men and women even went and listened, as they listened to Him, they marveled at what He was saying. And remember when they sent the group of soldiers to arrest Him? Remember what they said? "No man has ever spoken like this man speaks." His words were so—I mean, they are the words of God. His words were so perfect, perfect sound, powerful, penetrating, enlightening, beautiful in every respect. And you've come to the conclusion that He's speaking by a demon? How dishonest can you be with what you're hearing?
Read what He says about the Good Shepherd. Listen to the reasoning involved in what He's taught. Are these the words of a demon-possessed man? You're out of your mind. You're being dishonest.
But there's a second thing they're just not willing to deal with. And that is, you've got a man—remember the account in chapter 9? You've got a man who was blind and now he what? He sees. He sees. Is that the work of a demon? No, the reason why they say the things they say is because they just don't want to deal with the truth. So these are dishonest words.
Do you believe, beloved, that the enemies of the gospel sometimes say things that they know are not true just to avoid the truth of the gospel? Does this world that we live in say things about the church, about Christians, that they know they are not true? By and large, as a whole, they know it's not true that they say it because they don't want to deal with the truth of the gospel? I mean, there are hypocrites in the church. But you know, you often hear the statement, "Oh, all Christians are hypocrites."
Now let me ask each and every one of us. By our words, we will be justified. By our words, we will be condemned, Jesus said. Right? That's what He said. Here's the question: What do your words reveal about your relationship to the gospel? What do your words reveal about your relationship to the gospel? And when I say the gospel, I'm saying Christ. He is the gospel. As I said at the beginning, words are so important. And you know that words actually not only reveal lostness, like in this case. Words reveal also the presence of salvation. Words reveal that there's life present.
Two passages, very quickly, as we bring this to conclusion, stood in my mind. Really, these stood out in my mind, these two passages. One is found in the book of Hebrews. Turn with me there. Hebrews 11. And this is where the application—I trust that the Lord, the Holy Spirit, will bring it to bear upon our hearts.
Hebrews 11, look at verse 13. In the midst of this, description of what faith accomplishes, genuine saving faith, given by God, how it evidences itself in men and women. Look at verse 13. : "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." – Verse 14 – "For those who say such things" – you see that? Did you catch that? – "For those who say such things." In other words, for people who speak thus. Those who talk like
that.
You see? People who talk about the promises of God. People who believe the promises of God. People who look forward to the things that they will never see in their lifetime, and keep on talking about them, and believing them, and clinging to them all the way to the grave.
And people who say, "This is not my home. I'm a stranger, I'm an exile, I'm a pilgrim. I'm passing through. My one ambition in this life is to be pleasing to Him, my Master and my Lord." People who talk like that, and mean it—look at what He says about them in verse 14: "For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them."
Wow. Has He prepared a city just for some believers? Or has He prepared a city for all believers? All of them, beloved. All of them. So this kind of speech characterizes what? Believers. This is what really characterizes believers. Their mouth, their words say they are people of faith.
Let me give you an Old Testament example. Go to the book of Malachi, the book we're studying right now in our evening services. Go to the book of Malachi chapter 3. Look at verse 13. God bringing indictments against the sinful people.
Verse 13, we read the following. Now, watch this. Malachi 3, verse 13: "Your words have been strong against Me, says Yahweh." "Your words have been strong against Me, says Yahweh. But you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ You have said, 'It is worthless to serve God.'"
Now, are those the words of a believer or an unbeliever? It's worthless. It's vain. It's empty. It's meaningless to serve God. "And what gain is it" – he goes on to say – "that we have kept His charge, that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts? So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape."
It's vain. Worthless to serve the Lord, they say. It's vain. It's worthless to serve Him. Where does God reward the righteous? Where does He punish the wicked? But notice now in the next verse, verse 16: "Then those who feared Yahweh" – what did they do? – "spoke to one another." You see it? "They spoke to one another, and Yahweh gave heed and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name."
So what marked those people who feared Yahweh? What marked those people who esteemed His name? They spoke to one another. They spoke to one another. Words. They spoke to one another in a way that God saw as rewardable. He paid attention. He heard it. He treasured it. In a language that we can understand, He wrote a book. A book of remembrance was written before Him.
In verse 17 He says: "They will be Mine," says Yahweh of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve God."
He is saying on that great day, there is going to be a clear distinction made between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who served God and the one who didn't serve God.
But if we were paying attention, there was already a distinction, and it was found in what came out of what? Their mouth. One said, It's worthless to serve God. Why serve God? And the other spoke with one another in a way that spoke of their fellowship with God, their faith in the promises of God, their trust in God.
And for those who say such things—you see, Hebrews chapter 11— "for those who say such things", who say, we are pilgrims. We are strangers. We are sojourners looking for another kind of city, God has prepared one for them, and He is not ashamed to be called their God.
So let me ask you again: What do your words say about your relationship to Jesus? What's the pattern there? To God? To His Son? Do you praise His words? Do you speak of your love for God's Word? Do you speak of the preciousness of the things found in the Scripture?
Your words came to me, and I ate them, and they were sweet. They were a delight. Oh how I love Your law. Do you talk about God's Word? Do you praise His words? Do you proclaim His Word?
There is a relationship to God's Word found in God's people. They love it. They read it. They obey it. They proclaim it. They speak it. They speak His Word. Do you prize His Word? Do you place great value upon His Word? Do you treasure His Word?
I can never forget a testimony of a Christian in one of those places where Christianity is banned. A testimony that stuck in my mind: when she was a little girl, they would take a Bible and they would tear pages out of it. Individuals would have not a Bible—they would have a page of Scripture, and they would memorize it because they weren't allowed to have the Bible. It was so scarce that the one Bible had to be shared by many, and they had to memorize one page each. Is God's Word valuable to you?
How do we know there was enmity between Jews and Jesus? All you had to do was listen to them—hateful words, hurtful words, evasive words, demonic words, dishonest words. What does your mouth say about your relationship to God?
If your sin has found you out this morning, I beg you, repent. And I plead with you, repent. Cry out to God. Ask Him for forgiveness. Turn to the Son of God and embrace Him as your Lord and Savior. Come to Him empty-handed: Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.
Lord Jesus, You have done everything for me, and You have done what I could never, ever do. You lived that perfect life that I am required to live, but I can never live—can never, ever, ever, ever live. And You died the death that I deserve to die on Calvary's cross.
And on that cross, suspended between Heaven and earth, rejected by men, rejected by a holy God—because all of the sins of all of those who belong to You were laid upon the Lamb of God—and God the Father judged God the Son, who became the sin bearer. And on that cross He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? He died that you might live He drank the cup of wrath that you might drink a cup of mercy and grace believe upon Him ask Him to come into your life to give you a heart of flesh to take away the heart of stone and to write His words His law upon the tablets of your heart and He will do that come to Him empty handed, come all the way to Christ, don't be satisfied that your toes are right up to the narrow gate that leads to life, come all the way to Christ, enter through the narrow gate, give your life to Him, embrace Him as your Lord and Savior, He’s a merciful God, He’s a merciful Savior, your works the best that you do is filthy rags in the sight of God, in fact let me tell you my dear sinner friend the more you try to do to earn acceptance with God the more judgment you will heap upon yourself because the best that you do is tainted and tarnished your only hope is to rest on the doing and the dying of another the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Give your life to Him, He's a gracious Savior. You may be a great sinner today but I'm presenting you with a great Savior, He's mighty to save, able to save to the uttermost those who come to Him by faith.
Let's pray.
Father in Heaven we give you thanks that salvation is not just a legal reality it's an experiential reality, you, you change your people from the inside out, you took out of us a heart of stone and you gave us instead a heart of flesh and because you've changed us Lord what's in our hearts is revealed by our lips, out of good treasure comes forth good things and yet Lord we must also confess as your people that because of the presence of the flesh the remaining corruption the struggle we have with sin there are many times that we have to in light of your holiness say with the prophet Isaiah woe is me for I'm a man of unclean lips. Lord we say things we ought not and we don't say things many times that we ought, Lord lead us in a way that our words would reflect our love for you and our belief in what you've told us and Lord may people be able by your words to know that by our words to know that we belong to you that we would speak only that which is for edification that would impart grace to the hearers as we fellowship with one another in our homes in our families Lord may there be much talk about you about your word may you indeed Lord find in our families words that you would write down and remember as we esteem your name in that book of remembrance and Lord I pray for those in this place this morning whose words would condemn them whose words reveal the true condition of their hearts whose words reveal that they don't know you O Lord may they pay attention to their own speech and recognize today their lostness and even today repent and run to the one who is willing to forgive them and save them, willing to forgive all the harsh things that ungodly people have spoken against you, O Lord have mercy we ask you this today in Christ's name our good shepherd Amen.
In Matthew 15, verse 18, you remember He said, "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from" – where? – "the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witnesses, slanders. These are the things which defile the man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."
A similar account in Mark 7, verse 20, our Lord was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, theft, murders, adulteries, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."
There's nothing more telling about a person than what they say. Now think about that. There's nothing more telling about the person—a person—than what they say. What characterizes a person's speech—and here, mark it down, referring to a pattern—what characterizes a person's speech is what characterizes their heart and what characterizes their life.
Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:34, "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart."
– What's down in the well comes out in the bucket. –
"The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment." – And then He closes with this: – "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:25-36).
You talk about how telling a person's words are—when Jesus speaks of that final day of judgment and can say that by your words, by words men will be justified, by words they will be condemned. That speaks of the importance of words.
With that in mind, just to remind us, thus far we looked at the reality of division found in verse 19a. We've seen together where the truth is spoken in a world full of sin, in a world full of decay, in a world full of sinners. There's going to be inevitably division. There's going to be controversy. There's going to be discord. Jesus came not to bring a false kind of peace to the world. He came to be a true Peacemaker, to bring the sword of the truth of the Word of God. And as a result, He told us, there's going to be division.
We see division here more than once. There was division throughout the ministry of our Lord. Verse 19: "A division occurred" – ‘palin’, once more, more than one time, yet "again among the Jews because of these words."
So we looked at the reality of division. And also, last time we were in this text, we looked at the reason for the division. End of verse 19, we saw together that it was not—we looked at what it was not—it was not a political division. It was not because Jesus was sinning or done something wrong and just trying to cover it in the name of God. No, no, it's a peacemaking division. It's a division brought about by the truth. Look at the last few words in verse 19: "Because of these words."
Well, this morning, I want us to focus on the third heading. I want to point out from these verses the third heading: the revelation of division. The reality of division, the reason for the division. And now we will look at and consider the revelation of division. And that is in verses 20 and 21.
There's this enmity on the part of the unbelieving Jews toward Jesus. There's this battle, this war really going on, and you see it throughout His ministry, His entire ministry. But the question is, how is it again and again revealed, this enmity? How is this enmity manifested in the ministry of our Lord? We don't just need to think about the Pharisees and the Lord Jesus at this point. We need to think about lost humanity and the living God as well. It's the same thing.
The Bible teaches that there is enmity, there is hostility that exists in the heart of man, the natural man, the lost man, toward God and the things of God and the people of God. The Bible says that we're enemies of God by nature. The Bible speaks of that fact that there is in man, left to himself, hostility of mind towards God and His truth. Enmity towards God and the truth. Well, how is that hostility revealed? That's the question.
Well, there's a powerful statement about that in the book of Jude. Turn with me to Jude and look at verse 14 and following. There's this statement concerning this hostility revealed. How is it revealed, this enmity towards God? Look at verse 14: "But Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men", – referring to the false teachers – "saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’ These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lust; and their mouth speaks arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of their own benefit. But you, beloved, must remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, 'In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.' These are the ones who cause” – what? – "divisions, worldly-minded, not having the Spirit."
Enoch prophesied of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and the final judgment. And he sees the Lord Jesus judging all the ungodly, the wicked, not only for the ungodly deeds that they have done in such an ungodly way, but also, he says, He's going to judge all the harsh things that the ungodly, ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. And so the lost world reveals its enmity towards God by what it says—words, speech. By our words, we will be justified. By our words, we will be condemned.
And here in verses 19 to 21, you see the enmity of these unbelieving Jews toward the Lord Jesus Christ. And how do you see it? Well, you see it in what they say, right? He has spoken words of truth and now they're going to speak their words. And listen again to what they say. "And many of them," verse 20, "were saying, 'He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?'"
Let's pause there and let's think about what is revealed, what kind of enmity is revealed in these words spoken by the Pharisees. There are a few things that I want to point out concerning their words, these words that were spoken in verses 20 and 21. First of all, I want us to note that these were hateful words. They were hateful words.
To say that someone is demon-possessed, to say that they are insane, I think by any standard would be considered to be harsh. Wouldn't you agree? I think again about the book of Jude: all the harsh things that the ungodly, ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. Verse 15. These are not mild words. He's demon-possessed. He's insane. No, no. These are harsh words. These are hateful words.
And Jesus Himself acknowledged that this was the attitude of the unbelieving world toward Him. The world literally hated Jesus. John 15:18: "If the world hates you, know that it has" – what? – "hated Me before it hated you." John 15:24: "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin, but now they both have seen and hated Me and My Father as well." John 15:25: "But this happened to fulfill the word that is written in the law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'" "They hated Me without a cause."
Beloved, listen. What is the true state of sinful man? What is the true state of sinful man? What really is his attitude toward God? What was revealed when God came to earth? When you had God incarnate, God in human flesh, walking in the midst of sinful humanity, what was the attitude toward God? It's nothing less than hatred. He came to His own, His own received Him not. This is what is in the natural man toward God. Hatred. Hatred. Hatred toward the truth. Hatred toward those who belong to the truth. And Jesus says, If they hated Me, they're going to hate you. Hatred.
I'm thoroughly convinced that many of the methods being used in ministry today are being used precisely because the church doesn't understand what the world's attitude really is toward God. And the reason I say that with confidence is because there's this philosophy at work that says this: the real reason why there's enmity between the world and our message is because we just haven't said it right. I mean, we haven't done it the right way. And if we could somehow present the message in a different way, if we could put it forth by different means or put it forth in a different dress, maybe even if we could say it more nicely. I mean, if we could just say it differently, then there wouldn't be such enmity.
And what men are really saying when they think this way is men really would be open to the truth of the gospel. I mean, naturally open to the truth of the gospel if you could just say it the right way. Just, you know, soften it a little bit. Let me ask you a question. Has there been anyone who ever walked on the face of this earth who spoke truth more perfectly than the Lord Jesus? Can anyone speak the truth more appropriately, more perfectly than God incarnate? What's the answer? Absolutely not. Of course not. And did they love Him for it? Did they love Him for it?
Now, of course, those who belong to Him, His sheep, those who were being saved, loved Him for it. But those who didn't believe, didn't love Him. In fact, they hated Him. They hated Him because of the truth.
John 17:14, "I have given them Your word;" – Our Lord is praying – "and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Matthew 10:22, "You will be hated" – hated, hated – "by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved."
Now let me stop there and ask, does that surprise you, beloved? Does it surprise you? Will it surprise you if you meet with this? This attitude, this hatred? I mean, do you realize that there really is hatred in the human heart towards the true God and toward His Son and toward His word and toward His people? Do you believe that? Are you ready for that? Are you prepared for that in your workplace, at school, wherever you are?
Do you know in your own mind, in your own heart? Are you assured of this, that you could speak the truth in the most perfect way possible and still be hated for it? Because the Lord Jesus is the proof of that. Truth incarnate. Because if you don't understand that, if you think that the real problem, the real reason for this enmity is just the way you're conveying the message—now don't misunderstand, let me insert this as a parenthesis—we ought to be workmen who don't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of God. We want to present the Word humbly and in love. We're told in Scripture to do that.
But if you think that the only reason for hatred toward the message is the way you're presenting it, you will forever be trying to change the way you present it and thinking that that really is the problem, when really that isn't the problem. And what you end up doing is you end up altering the message, tampering with the message, softening the message.
Now, the natural man hates God. And that hatred is expressed in various degrees, in various ways, but it's present in the unredeemed human heart. Hostile in mind. That's how the Bible describes lost humanity. These are hateful words. They reveal the hatred that's present, the enmity between man, lost man, and a holy God.
But there's a second thing that we could say about these words in verses 20 and 21. Not only were they hateful words, they were also hurtful words. They were hurtful words: "He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?" Now, when I say they're hurtful words, I don't simply mean—exclusively mean—that they were intended to hurt the Lord Jesus in some emotional way. I mean, there's no doubt that these aren't kind words. They're hurtful in that sense, but their desire to hurt went beyond how they would impact Jesus. How they would just impact Jesus.
They were slandering the Son of God, and they were attempting to turn others away from Him. That's what they were trying to do as well. They meant, by their words, to affect the way that others looked upon Him, the way that others listened to Him. These were really malicious words, hurtful words. They were meant to hurt. They were meant to ruin. And in case you think this is just something that was directed toward the Lord Jesus, remember there were also malicious words spoken against the messenger who came to prepare the way, John the Baptist.
Remember in Luke 7:31, our Lord pointed this out: "To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, who say, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.'" In other words, you can't please them either way you come to them, because the real issue is the truth. Either way you come with the truth—whether it's in a sober way or a joyful way—either way the issue is the truth, and they're going to hate you for it either way.
He goes on to say, "For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, 'He has a demon!'" – The same accusation – "The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!" So they didn't just slander, they didn't just say it was the Lord Jesus who had a demon, but they also said John the Baptist had a demon.
Indeed, this is going to happen wherever the truth is spoken. Beloved, do you realize that when hurtful words are spoken against you—not just meant to hurt you, but meant to ruin your reputation, affect others who would listen to you otherwise—do you realize that you're walking in a long tradition of truth speakers? We saw it last time in Matthew, last time we were in this passage in Matthew 5:11, "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you" – and here's the key – "because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
You see, it goes even beyond, it goes even further back than the Lord Jesus and John the Baptist. This is what they did to the prophets of God. And when the truth reached its zenith, in terms of its expression—in the truth, the embodiment of the truth, the Truth Himself, the Lord Jesus—the enmity was especially intense and focused. And it was expressed not only with hateful words, but also with hurtful, malicious words. Why listen to Him? He has a demon. He's insane.
There's a third thing we recognize in these words. There were hateful words, there were hurtful words, there were also evasive words. There were evasive words. Just go through the Gospels and read these kinds of interactions that Jesus had with the unbelieving Jews, and notice this: when do the Jews usually begin to cast their insults at Jesus? When did the lid come off? It's usually when He's reduced them to a place of what? No escape.
That is, His words were so powerful, so strong, so true, so inescapable, so sound, that the only way to get around what He was saying was what? Attack the messenger. Insult Him. Insult Him. Cast scorn upon His words to mischaracterize what He was saying. It's, you know, it's an escape mechanism, isn't it? It's an evasive maneuver. If you can't deal with the truth, what do you do? You insult the speaker of the truth. This is what they did.
We saw it earlier in our studies of John, but let's go back to John 8 for a minute. I want us to see how this actually is expressed, like you see manifested—John chapter 8. You remember the whole discussion about Abraham? "Before Abraham was, I am." He tells them that their father is Satan in John 8. Notice how this is escalating, how it escalates. Look at verse 39, and we'll take it from there: "They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham's our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, you would do the deeds of Abraham. But now you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father.'"
Let's stop here for a minute. He's just spoken the truth about their attitude and their conduct, and how are they gonna deal with it? I mean, He's exposed them. How are they gonna deal with that exposure? Well, they're either going to respond in repentance—repentance on their part—or in some other way to deal with what He just said. But what did they do?
Look at verse 41. They begin with a veiled insult. See what happened here? Veiled insult. "They said to Him, 'We're not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father: God'"
Here's this veiled attempt to say that Jesus was born of sexual immorality. There's this veiled insult. And so the conversation goes on, and they go on from this veiled insult. Look at verse 48. Now they move to an open insult. "The Jews answered and said to Him, 'Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?'" This is just after He said in verse 46, "Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason, you do not hear them, because you are not of God."
Again, He confronts them with truth, truth that they cannot escape. They cannot get around it.
And so how do they deal with it? They just now, they openly insult Him. "You are a Samaritan and You have a demon."
The conversation goes on. Verse 53, look at it. "Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?" This is after Jesus said, if anyone believes in Him, they won't see death. And so they say, are You greater than Abraham? The prophets—they all died. What are You talking about?
Verse 54, "Jesus answered, 'If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, He is our God; and you have not known Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.'" Verse 57, "So the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?'" Ha, ha, ha. What are they doing? They're mocking Him. They're mocking Him. They go from veiled insult to open insult to mocking.
And how does Jesus respond? "Truly, truly, I say to you," verse 58, "'before Abraham was, – ‘Ego eimi’ – "' I am’." I am God, I am Jehovah Jesus. "Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple." So they go from veiled insult to open insult, from mocking to violence to murderous violence. The hatred is expressed in a desire to hurt. It begins with words, but then it progresses into action. Those words are evasive words meant to escape the truth, and that's why they eventually lead to violence. They want to get rid of Him. They want to kill Him. They want to get rid of Him. They want to evade what He's saying.
Now let me pause here and ask, do we not deal with evasiveness in men and women when we declare the Word of God? Now think about that in your own experience. Are men still evasive when it comes to the truth? Does the natural man still seek to escape the truth? He does, doesn't He?
Sometimes by what? How do they do it? By twisting our words, right? By twisting our words. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone that involves the truth, the truth of God's Word, and they just continue to turn what you say in a way that you didn't say it? "No, no, no, that's not what I said. That's not what I mean." But the conversation goes on and they just continue to twist and twist.
Sometimes by ignoring our words, right? Not only by twisting our words, but by ignoring our words. You can say something to them and it's the truth, and they'll pick up their point as if you've never said what you just said, completely ignoring what they heard. They don't wanna hear it. Sometimes by what? Changing the subject, right? Changing the subject. You see an example of this with the woman at the well. Jesus is talking to her about her husband, and all of a sudden she has a question about worship. Changing the subject.
And of course, sometimes by straw man arguments. They raise up these arguments that have been used over and over again, have been disproven long ago, but they continue to raise them up because they're easy things to run to when you don't wanna have to deal with the truth and face the truth.
But then eventually, when the truth is inescapable, it comes to the point of what? Insult. Sometimes veiled, sometimes open, sometimes mocking. And then when man is free to do it, when society allows him to do it—and sometimes even when society doesn't allow him to do it—it progresses to what? Killing. It progresses to violence.
Well, these words spoken on this occasion in John 10 were hateful words, hurtful words. They were evasive words. They didn't wanna deal with what Jesus was saying. That's why they insulted Him.
But there's a fourth thing that we can see in these words. There were also demonic words. There were demonic words. The sad irony here—they accused Him of having a demon, but where does their speech come from? I mean, where did this idea come from that Jesus had a demon? Where does their murderous, hurtful spirit come from?
Well, they hated Him and they wanna hurt Him. They wanna get rid of the truth. Well, where is this attitude coming from? He's already identified it, by the way, hasn't He? Let's go back to John 8. John 8, verse 41—but let's back up to verse 39:
"They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham's our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, you would do the deeds of Abraham. But now you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do. You are doing" – what? – "the deeds of your father.' And they said to Him, 'We're not born of sexual immorality; we have one Father: God.' Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceed forth and come from God, for I have not even come of Myself, but He, God, sent Me. Why do you not understand what I'm saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.'" – Now watch verse 44 – "You are of your father," – and what does He say? – "the devil." The devil. Where are these thoughts coming from? That Jesus has a demon, that He's insane, that He's to be killed—where are these thoughts coming from? Jesus says, "The devil." They're coming from the devil. It's the devil who would suggest that Jesus has a demon.
In fact, when you talk about natural wisdom, when you talk about wisdom and the judgment that operates in the natural man, do you know where that wisdom comes from? Think about our world of lost humanity. Think about the wisdom that they operate with, all around us—the world system, lost humanity. By the way, we all once operated with the course of this world, the mindset of this world. Who's over the course of this world? The Bible tells us, right? Many places. One of them is in Ephesians 2. It's the prince of the power of the air who is at work in the sons of disobedience.
But let's think about this worldly, natural wisdom. James chapter three. James chapter three. In verse 14, James says, "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth." This wisdom is not coming down from above, but is earthly, natural," – and then he says what? – "demonic." You see it? Demonic.
Let us really have this in our minds once and for all. What is earthly wisdom? It's demonic wisdom. What is natural wisdom? It's demonic wisdom. It's demonic. What are false doctrines? These false ideas about God, these false ideas about man, these false ideas about what's really important in life, these false ideas about salvation, the false ideas that are all introduced all over the world, all the time about Heaven and Hell and the non-existence of Hell in some cases. Where are these ideas coming from? The Bible calls them doctrines of what? Demons.
And so here, they're looking at God incarnate, God in human flesh, and they've come to the conclusion that He has a demon, that He's of the devil. And where did that thought come from? Where are these words coming from? The devil himself. The devil doesn't work against himself, but he does work against the Son of God. The devil doesn't work against himself, but he does work against His truth. So he also works against the Church, God's people.
Let me give you another example. Turn with me to Matthew 12. Matthew 12. Look at verse 22. I love the sound of the pages turning. A Bible in hand, the Word of God. Sweet sound, sweet sound. And I'm glad you're reading your Bibles also on the iPad as well, or whatever you're doing, so that's great. The Word of God is marvelous, however you read it, but there's something special when you hear this, right?
Matthew 12, verse 22: "Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus. He healed him so that the mute man spoke and saw. And all the crowds were astounded and were saying, "Can this man really be the Son of David?" But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons."
People are praising the Son of God. They say, He is potentially the Messiah, the long-awaited—Is this the Messiah? And the Pharisees hear it, and the Word of God tells us elsewhere that what was continually operating in their hearts was what? Envy. Envy. So they hated Him because He was the truth, the embodiment of truth, truth incarnate, and they were thoroughly jealous of the Son of God. They had envy.
They hated Him for the fact that He was worthy of praise and worship and directed men away from them, and so they were so insecure, and so they speak this honest conclusion. They say, He does this by Beelzebul, the ruler of demons. Notice verse 25: "And knowing their thoughts, He said to them, 'Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?'"
Jesus says, you know what? Your thoughts and your words are absolutely absurd. Satan casting out demons? Satan casting out Satan? You have to understand, these are not false deliverances. These are not false deliverances. These are not deceptive deliverances. These are genuine, undeniable deliverances from demon possession and oppression. People were blind, all of a sudden could see. People who are mute, all of a sudden could speak. It was undeniable, and they're saying that Satan is doing it, and Jesus said, this is absolutely absurd.
Satan doesn't work against Himself, but then He points out something else.
Look at verse 27: "And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons," – by Beelzebul – "by whom do your sons cast them out?" You see, they had disciples. The Pharisees had disciples, and apparently these disciples were involved in some deliverance sessions. How real and legitimate theirs were—there's a serious doubt—but the point that Jesus is making is that they never said that their sons were doing it by Satan. They just freely accepted that those acts were of God. But when He genuinely casts out demons, now they say concerning Him, well, that's the work of Satan. In other words, their thoughts clearly reveal a prejudice against Him.
This is why He says at the end of verse 27, "For this reason, they will be your judges." The way you've spoken of them compared to the way you've spoken to Me will judge you.
And then notice verse 28: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house? He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters." Jesus says here, I have demonstrated clearly My authority over Satan. It is impossible to plunder a man's house unless you have the strength to bind him. And so the authority of Jesus over Satan has been manifested, has been demonstrated clearly by all of these miracles, all of these healings, all of these deliverances. He has clearly demonstrated His authority over Satan.
Now, the question is, will they submit to the authority of Christ? Well, their words revealed what? Rebellion. They were absurd thoughts and absurd words. They were prejudiced thoughts and words. They never questioned their own disciples—in all likelihood, false deliverances—but they questioned His. And their words and their thoughts were rebellious in nature, refusing to submit, refusing to bow before a clear demonstration of the authority of God incarnate, which means also that their words were damning.
Look at verse 31: "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come." Now, let me say this. It's possible, very possible, that you've spoken a word against the Son of God because you didn't have a clear understanding set before you of who He really is. Prior to coming to Jesus, you never really saw a clear demonstration of who Jesus is. You underestimated His person, and so at some time in your past, you've spoken against Him.
But then God does something amazing. He reveals the truth about His Son. He opens your eyes. He gives light, and you submit to Him as your Lord and your Savior, and you're forgiven, and your sin is forgiven entirely. You're adopted in the family of God.
But what do you do when there's a clear, undeniable demonstration of the Spirit of God's working in the Son of God? A clear, undeniable demonstration of the authority of God in your midst? You are now without excuse. You've seen things with your eyes that you know have never taken place in the history of the world. You know there's no other explanation but that it's God, God at work Himself, and you are settled nevertheless in your unbelief. So much so that you will call what He does as being from Satan. No hope for you. No hope for you.
You mean lost men are capable of that? Lost men are capable of knowing that this is the Son of God? And still call Him a devil? You mean lost men are capable of knowing that they're hearing the truth and still remain settled, hardened in their unbelief? Beloved, I ask today, are lost men capable of that? They are. They are. This is the depth of depravity. This is what sin has done to the human race, and this is what's being revealed in their words.
Back to John chapter 10, because you see not only their hateful words, and hurtful words, and evasive words, and demonic words. You also see these words were also dishonest words. They were dishonest words. I really believe that they knew better than what they were saying. Look at verse 20: "And many of them were saying, 'He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?'" Now watch this. Verse 21: "Others were saying, 'These are not the words of someone demon possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?'"
The dishonesty of the words of the one group, verse 20, is exposed by another group, verse 21. Now the group in verse 21, not yet believers at this time. They may become believers later. We don't know, but they're not yet believers at this time. But they were at least, you could see, they were at least fair-minded, honest about something that was really undeniable, indisputable.
That is, the only way you could ever say that Jesus was demon possessed and insane is your refusal to deal with two clear, self-evident things.
One, they're saying, have you been listening to Him? I mean, are these the words of a demon possessed man? I mean, think about it for a minute. Go through the Gospels. Go through the Gospels and read the accounts of the people who were really demon possessed. Would you say that they were eloquent? Would you say that they were in their right minds? Would you say that their reasoning was impeccable, it was sound? No, in fact, some of them were so dreadful in the way that they were living, people wouldn't even come near them.
Then you listen to the words of the Lord Jesus, and as men and women even went and listened, as they listened to Him, they marveled at what He was saying. And remember when they sent the group of soldiers to arrest Him? Remember what they said? "No man has ever spoken like this man speaks." His words were so—I mean, they are the words of God. His words were so perfect, perfect sound, powerful, penetrating, enlightening, beautiful in every respect. And you've come to the conclusion that He's speaking by a demon? How dishonest can you be with what you're hearing?
Read what He says about the Good Shepherd. Listen to the reasoning involved in what He's taught. Are these the words of a demon-possessed man? You're out of your mind. You're being dishonest.
But there's a second thing they're just not willing to deal with. And that is, you've got a man—remember the account in chapter 9? You've got a man who was blind and now he what? He sees. He sees. Is that the work of a demon? No, the reason why they say the things they say is because they just don't want to deal with the truth. So these are dishonest words.
Do you believe, beloved, that the enemies of the gospel sometimes say things that they know are not true just to avoid the truth of the gospel? Does this world that we live in say things about the church, about Christians, that they know they are not true? By and large, as a whole, they know it's not true that they say it because they don't want to deal with the truth of the gospel? I mean, there are hypocrites in the church. But you know, you often hear the statement, "Oh, all Christians are hypocrites."
Now let me ask each and every one of us. By our words, we will be justified. By our words, we will be condemned, Jesus said. Right? That's what He said. Here's the question: What do your words reveal about your relationship to the gospel? What do your words reveal about your relationship to the gospel? And when I say the gospel, I'm saying Christ. He is the gospel. As I said at the beginning, words are so important. And you know that words actually not only reveal lostness, like in this case. Words reveal also the presence of salvation. Words reveal that there's life present.
Two passages, very quickly, as we bring this to conclusion, stood in my mind. Really, these stood out in my mind, these two passages. One is found in the book of Hebrews. Turn with me there. Hebrews 11. And this is where the application—I trust that the Lord, the Holy Spirit, will bring it to bear upon our hearts.
Hebrews 11, look at verse 13. In the midst of this, description of what faith accomplishes, genuine saving faith, given by God, how it evidences itself in men and women. Look at verse 13. : "All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." – Verse 14 – "For those who say such things" – you see that? Did you catch that? – "For those who say such things." In other words, for people who speak thus. Those who talk like
that.
You see? People who talk about the promises of God. People who believe the promises of God. People who look forward to the things that they will never see in their lifetime, and keep on talking about them, and believing them, and clinging to them all the way to the grave.
And people who say, "This is not my home. I'm a stranger, I'm an exile, I'm a pilgrim. I'm passing through. My one ambition in this life is to be pleasing to Him, my Master and my Lord." People who talk like that, and mean it—look at what He says about them in verse 14: "For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed, if they had been remembering that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them."
Wow. Has He prepared a city just for some believers? Or has He prepared a city for all believers? All of them, beloved. All of them. So this kind of speech characterizes what? Believers. This is what really characterizes believers. Their mouth, their words say they are people of faith.
Let me give you an Old Testament example. Go to the book of Malachi, the book we're studying right now in our evening services. Go to the book of Malachi chapter 3. Look at verse 13. God bringing indictments against the sinful people.
Verse 13, we read the following. Now, watch this. Malachi 3, verse 13: "Your words have been strong against Me, says Yahweh." "Your words have been strong against Me, says Yahweh. But you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ You have said, 'It is worthless to serve God.'"
Now, are those the words of a believer or an unbeliever? It's worthless. It's vain. It's empty. It's meaningless to serve God. "And what gain is it" – he goes on to say – "that we have kept His charge, that we have walked in mourning before Yahweh of hosts? So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape."
It's vain. Worthless to serve the Lord, they say. It's vain. It's worthless to serve Him. Where does God reward the righteous? Where does He punish the wicked? But notice now in the next verse, verse 16: "Then those who feared Yahweh" – what did they do? – "spoke to one another." You see it? "They spoke to one another, and Yahweh gave heed and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear Yahweh and who think upon His name."
So what marked those people who feared Yahweh? What marked those people who esteemed His name? They spoke to one another. They spoke to one another. Words. They spoke to one another in a way that God saw as rewardable. He paid attention. He heard it. He treasured it. In a language that we can understand, He wrote a book. A book of remembrance was written before Him.
In verse 17 He says: "They will be Mine," says Yahweh of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. So you will return and see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve God."
He is saying on that great day, there is going to be a clear distinction made between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who served God and the one who didn't serve God.
But if we were paying attention, there was already a distinction, and it was found in what came out of what? Their mouth. One said, It's worthless to serve God. Why serve God? And the other spoke with one another in a way that spoke of their fellowship with God, their faith in the promises of God, their trust in God.
And for those who say such things—you see, Hebrews chapter 11— "for those who say such things", who say, we are pilgrims. We are strangers. We are sojourners looking for another kind of city, God has prepared one for them, and He is not ashamed to be called their God.
So let me ask you again: What do your words say about your relationship to Jesus? What's the pattern there? To God? To His Son? Do you praise His words? Do you speak of your love for God's Word? Do you speak of the preciousness of the things found in the Scripture?
Your words came to me, and I ate them, and they were sweet. They were a delight. Oh how I love Your law. Do you talk about God's Word? Do you praise His words? Do you proclaim His Word?
There is a relationship to God's Word found in God's people. They love it. They read it. They obey it. They proclaim it. They speak it. They speak His Word. Do you prize His Word? Do you place great value upon His Word? Do you treasure His Word?
I can never forget a testimony of a Christian in one of those places where Christianity is banned. A testimony that stuck in my mind: when she was a little girl, they would take a Bible and they would tear pages out of it. Individuals would have not a Bible—they would have a page of Scripture, and they would memorize it because they weren't allowed to have the Bible. It was so scarce that the one Bible had to be shared by many, and they had to memorize one page each. Is God's Word valuable to you?
How do we know there was enmity between Jews and Jesus? All you had to do was listen to them—hateful words, hurtful words, evasive words, demonic words, dishonest words. What does your mouth say about your relationship to God?
If your sin has found you out this morning, I beg you, repent. And I plead with you, repent. Cry out to God. Ask Him for forgiveness. Turn to the Son of God and embrace Him as your Lord and Savior. Come to Him empty-handed: Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.
Lord Jesus, You have done everything for me, and You have done what I could never, ever do. You lived that perfect life that I am required to live, but I can never live—can never, ever, ever, ever live. And You died the death that I deserve to die on Calvary's cross.
And on that cross, suspended between Heaven and earth, rejected by men, rejected by a holy God—because all of the sins of all of those who belong to You were laid upon the Lamb of God—and God the Father judged God the Son, who became the sin bearer. And on that cross He cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? He died that you might live He drank the cup of wrath that you might drink a cup of mercy and grace believe upon Him ask Him to come into your life to give you a heart of flesh to take away the heart of stone and to write His words His law upon the tablets of your heart and He will do that come to Him empty handed, come all the way to Christ, don't be satisfied that your toes are right up to the narrow gate that leads to life, come all the way to Christ, enter through the narrow gate, give your life to Him, embrace Him as your Lord and Savior, He’s a merciful God, He’s a merciful Savior, your works the best that you do is filthy rags in the sight of God, in fact let me tell you my dear sinner friend the more you try to do to earn acceptance with God the more judgment you will heap upon yourself because the best that you do is tainted and tarnished your only hope is to rest on the doing and the dying of another the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Give your life to Him, He's a gracious Savior. You may be a great sinner today but I'm presenting you with a great Savior, He's mighty to save, able to save to the uttermost those who come to Him by faith.
Let's pray.
Father in Heaven we give you thanks that salvation is not just a legal reality it's an experiential reality, you, you change your people from the inside out, you took out of us a heart of stone and you gave us instead a heart of flesh and because you've changed us Lord what's in our hearts is revealed by our lips, out of good treasure comes forth good things and yet Lord we must also confess as your people that because of the presence of the flesh the remaining corruption the struggle we have with sin there are many times that we have to in light of your holiness say with the prophet Isaiah woe is me for I'm a man of unclean lips. Lord we say things we ought not and we don't say things many times that we ought, Lord lead us in a way that our words would reflect our love for you and our belief in what you've told us and Lord may people be able by your words to know that by our words to know that we belong to you that we would speak only that which is for edification that would impart grace to the hearers as we fellowship with one another in our homes in our families Lord may there be much talk about you about your word may you indeed Lord find in our families words that you would write down and remember as we esteem your name in that book of remembrance and Lord I pray for those in this place this morning whose words would condemn them whose words reveal the true condition of their hearts whose words reveal that they don't know you O Lord may they pay attention to their own speech and recognize today their lostness and even today repent and run to the one who is willing to forgive them and save them, willing to forgive all the harsh things that ungodly people have spoken against you, O Lord have mercy we ask you this today in Christ's name our good shepherd Amen.
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