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John 19 was a kind of chapter that I didn't know what to pinpoint things on. I often like to focus on one key thing as I go through the whole chapter. It's quite interesting. This time, I was just going through, like I often do, I listen to other sermons from other churches. Sometimes I listen to sermons of my old churches, and there was a certain thing that was said in one of my old churches. I want to tell you which church it is right now, because again, I love my old churches. I do. I love the men that preach behind the pulpit, but there are just some things that I find said behind the pulpit many times that are just puzzling to me. I don't understand. So he kind of gave me the title for the sermon tonight. If you look at John 19, verse number 36, it says, For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled. The title for the sermon tonight is, That the Scripture Should be Fulfilled. As we go through John 19, there are going to be events that we read about that were fulfilled. Right? Old Testament scriptures told us, prophesied of these events, and when these events took place, guess what? The Scripture was fulfilled. Does that mean the Scripture is partly fulfilled? Does it mean it's completely fulfilled? You know, I mean, I think if we have a look at this and we see how God uses this language, we can definitely say, no, it was completely fulfilled. There's nothing left to fulfill in these scriptures. And when someone says to you, no, no, no, this is a part fulfillment, there are still fulfillments to happen in the future, we're going to ask them the question, well, why does the Bible say that the scriptures were fulfilled, if it's just a partial fulfillment? And I think you know where I'm going with this now, that I've kind of given you that introduction. But to understand verse number one, let's just go back to John 18 very quickly. We have Jesus Christ being arrested, of course, brought before Pilate, and in verse number 38, John 18, 38, it says, Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said thus, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. Pilate looks at Jesus and says, look, he's innocent, he's not worthy of death, he's not worthy to be crucified, in fact, there's no fault in him, I can't even find, I'm trying to figure out what could be wrong with this man, I find no fault in him whatsoever. And you may recall in the previous chapter, he just asked about Jesus Christ as a king and Jesus Christ told him, well, you know, my kingdom is not from hence, it's not from here, you know, his kingdom was from above, and therefore his servants would not fight on this earth against the Roman Empire. And so Pilate says, look, there's no fault in this man. Okay, now that he finds no fault in the man, now that he's saying that Jesus Christ is innocent, if Pilate is a just man, a just judge, a righteous judge, what should he do now? Just let Jesus free, right? If Pilate is a good man, he should let Jesus go free, alright? And maybe even chase those that brought him before him, you know, to figure out what kind of corruption is taking place in his region. But instead, verse number one, it says, then Pilate, John 19, John 19, verse number one, then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. He takes Jesus and whips him, okay? He's trying to appease the crowd, he's trying to please the Christ-rejecting Jews. And you can see what is of a high priority to Pilate, you know, is justice the high priority or pleasing people the high priority? And brethren, we cannot be like Pilate. You know, you can't please everybody. You need to understand that in life, you're not going to please everybody, you know, you do the best to be just, you do the best to be righteous, you do the best to serve the Lord as best as you can with what God has given you, and you're not going to please anybody and don't lose sleep over it, okay? Pilate does the wrong thing. He pleases the people, he pleases the Christ-rejecting Jews. Verse number two, and the soldiers plated a crown of thorns and put it on his head that they might put on him a purple robe. So he's bleeding from the back from the whipping, he's bleeding from the head from this crown of thorns, and said, Hail, king of the Jews! And they smote him with their hands, so they continue to beat up on him. At this point, Christ is bleeding, he's blue, he's bruised, okay? And they mock him, Hail, king of the Jews! They're mocking him. Now, it's really interesting because what you find in this chapter is this continual back and forth between Caesar and the Christ-rejecting Jews. What Caesar is doing here, when he says, Hail, king of the Jews, when they're making that comment about him, he's trying to show the Jews, look, this is your problem, right? This is the man that you're claiming to want to be the king. Pilate has already assessed, Jesus has no interest in being the king of Rome. Jesus Christ has no interest in being the king of the Roman Empire, or be the Caesar, okay? The kingdom is not from this earth. But the Jews are accusing Jesus of wanting to be a king, of wanting to assert authority on the earth, and so Pilate kind of throws it back, Hail, king of the Jews. He's not the king of Jerome, but hey, here's your problem, he's your king, and so he beats him, again, trying to please the Christ-rejecting Jews. Then he gets to verse number four. Pilate, therefore, went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Because he brings him again to the Jews, look, he's innocent, I find no fault in this guy at all. This time he presents Jesus bruised and bleeding, you know, being mocked, right? I mean he's saying, look, we've beat him up enough, we've whipped him, we've mocked him, isn't this enough for you, you Christ-rejecting Jews? Is this not enough? We've disgraced him, alright, but he's innocent, I can't just go ahead and kill this guy. But you know how it is, what Pilate is dealing with, these Christ-rejecting Jews, I personally believe at this point in time, definitely by now, obviously not the entire crowd, they're being jeered up by the leaders, but many of these people are reprobate, they've rejected the Lord, time and time and time again, and the Lord has rejected them, I certainly believe these people are reprobate, how is it that you can have a man bleeding, you know, being beaten, who's innocent, who's not worthy of death, nor by the Roman Empire, nor by the laws of Moses, and they're still not satisfied, they're still not satisfied. And it says in verse number 5, then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the people robe, and Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man, look at verse number 6, when the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out saying, Crucify him, crucify him, Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. Look obviously, Pilate's conscience is bothering him, I just can't kill an innocent man, if you care that much to kill him, you crucify him, I believe he's being sarcastic because the Jews had no means to crucify, they had no authority to crucify, okay, but it's like, I'm not going to kill, you kill him if you're that desperate, you know, to do so. But these Jews are implacable, they can see an innocent, beaten, bleeding, whipped man, and say it's not enough, we want you to kill him, we want you to crucify him. Now very quickly, come with me to Romans chapter 1, keep your finger there, and come with me to Romans chapter 1 verse number 28, Romans chapter 1 and verse number 28, Romans chapter 1 verse number 28, everyone knows, I mean how many announcements has Pilate made that Christ is innocent, it's not enough for these Christ rejecting Jews, it's not enough for them, they're implacable, and in Romans chapter 1 verse number 28, it says, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. This is why I believe, at least these leaders, these people that are jeering up the crowd, right, that these people are reprobate, because it says, verse number 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, murder, crucify him, crucify him, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, is Jesus God? Or they're haters of Jesus? They're haters of Jesus, they're haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedience to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, I think, again, natural affection, like, I think anybody, you know that man's innocent, and he's being beaten, just let him go, is that enough? Like, you don't have to love Jesus, you know, you just have to have some decency in your mind, in your heart, for your fellow man to go, hold on, this guy's innocent, just let him go already. They're without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, it's not enough, crucify him, implacable, implacable means unable to be placated, or unable to be appeased. These people cannot change, they cannot be stopped, they want it, and they're gonna get it at all costs. You know, you can't go halfway with these people, okay? If there is a known reprobate in your midst, don't try to negotiate with them, don't try to please them, don't, look, Pilate made a mistake, right? He should have just let Jesus go free from the beginning, but he beats him up, gets him beaten up, you know, whipped, tries to make them happy and to let Jesus Christ then go free, they're implacable, you can never please these people. You know, I'm not saying don't be pleasing, in general we should be pleasing people, in general we should have a good reputation, a good report, you know, that we can try to be a blessing to those people that we come across, but when people intend for evil, you cannot negotiate with them, don't worry about it, don't please them, right? Don't satisfy them, you can't satisfy them, so don't even try to satisfy them. Pilate finds himself in this really bad situation, trying to please reprobates, but these reprobates are implacable. Back to John 19 verse number 7, John 19 verse number 7. So brethren, just don't get young people, don't get caught up with this idea that I'm going to please people as much as, look, please the Lord, please the Lord, okay? Do what God's asked of you, be righteous before him, alright? And just understand you're not going to make everybody happy, okay? Look, if people's hearts are right with God and you're doing what you can to please the Lord, then the people that love the Lord are going to be pleased with you. The people that are not going to be pleased with you are people that do not love the Lord. So why waste your time trying to please these people? Verse number 7, the Jews answered him, we have a law and by our law he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. So because he says he's the son of God, he deserves to die. Now what is that law? There is no law like that. There is no Old Testament law that says, you know, if you call yourself the son of God, in fact I am a son of God right now. You know, I think we all would proclaim that we are children or sons of God, aren't we? We're sons of God. We've been born again, born into his family. We've been made his children. Is that against the Old Testament laws? You know, it's just ridiculous. But what they're really trying to pinpoint upon Jesus is that it's blasphemy for him to say that. If you can, keep your finger then. Come with me to John chapter 10. John chapter 10 verse number 33. John chapter 10 verse number 33 very quickly, just as a reminder. John 10 verse 33. The Bible says, the Jews answered him saying, for a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy and because thou being a man maketh thyself God. Right? In John 17 it says he maketh himself the son of God. In John 10 it says you maketh thyself God. Meaning that Jesus Christ as the son of God is God. Okay? Is God. So they're trying to get him on blasphemy by claiming to be God. Alright? And of course, when people that deny the deity of Christ say, well he's not God, he's the son of God. But you can see here, even the Jews understood by making himself the son of God in that regard, he's claiming to be God. Okay? Because again, one God, three persons. The father, the son and the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is fully God. Jesus Christ is fully God. The son of God is fully God and the father is fully God. And so they're trying to kill him over blasphemy. But again, this is not something that under Roman law someone ought to be put to death about. Alright? Now, look at verse 28. This is really interesting. So they're saying that Jesus Christ says he's the son of God. Then verse 28 says when Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid. He's like, what? He claims to be the son of God. Because, like, he realises he's doing wrong, beating up this innocent man. But how much worse if he's actually the son of God? Because he already finished telling Pilate that his kingdom is not from here. You know, I think from Pilate's perspective, he starts to think, could this be like, could this be legit? Like, this man's not like any other man that I've dealt with before. You know, am I sentencing this man to death who could be God himself? I mean, I can understand his fear. Not a fear of God necessarily, but a fear for himself. Like, what's going to be for me if I carry out such an action? And so he goes to Jesus, asks him the question. Look what he asks him. Verse number nine. And went again into the judgment hall and saith unto Jesus, whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. He says, whence art thou? You know what he's saying? Where are you from? Like, he's starting to realise this is not just a normal man. Where are you from? Whence art thou? You know, you're not from here. That's for sure. You're not from the earth. You know, you've claimed that your kingdom is from above. And they're saying that you've said you're the son of God. You know, whether this is, you know, it's come to some understanding of the truth, you know, the truth of who Christ is, or whether it's just superstitious, like superstitious, I'm not sure exactly, maybe it's a mix of all of the above. But one thing that I'm reminded of, of his fear, you may recall, and let me just see if I've got the, oh yeah, I do have the reference here. I'll just read it to you quickly. In the book of Matthew, it says in Matthew 27, 19, when he was set down on the judgment seat, this is Pilate, his wife sent unto him saying, have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. Pilate's wife said, look, have nothing to do with Jesus. Just, he's a just man. Leave him alone. I've had too many nightmares about Jesus Christ. And so he's got this sort of, you know, in Pilate's mind, he's got all this information about Christ and, you know, he's afraid, like, what do I do? Who is this person? Verse number 10. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee? Or, and have power to release thee? I love Christ's response. Verse number 11. Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee, hath the greatest sin. He says, Pilate, you would have no power, but the only reason you have power over me is because it's been given to you from above. The Father has given you that power. God has given you authority on the earth to rule in the Roman Empire, to rule over Judea. And again, that, those words always give me a lot of peace in my heart. You know, always when I think of the weakness of our governments, the weakness of our politicians. You know, it's true about them as well. You know, we could say about them, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. You know, the governments, the powers it's been given, God can destroy them if he so wishes. You know, even in the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 2 verse 20, Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his, and he changeth the times and the seasons. He removeth kings and seteth up kings. He giveth wisdom unto the wise and knowledge to them that know understanding. You know, Daniel says, look, God can set up kings. He can take down kings. God allows certain powers to be on the land at certain points in time for his purposes. That's why I don't get so caught up in politics. You know, I don't care who's in power. It's like, well, Lord, in Jesus' time, we've got such a wicked government here. Right? They've beaten up an innocent man. They're appeasing the people. They don't care about what is right and what is just. Right? And what? Jesus Christ is walking the earth at this time. Is he trying to topple down the government? Is he out there protesting on the streets? You know, is he trying to get an uprising against the power of the land? Jesus Christ has other things to do, more important things to do, to get about his kingdom than to worry about the kingdoms of the earth. And he realizes you've only got power because the Father has given it to you. And, brethren, you need to be the same as Christ. Who cares? Who cares about these governments and these wicked powers to be? You know, they haven't taken us just yet and started to crucify us and kill us and slay us. It was worse in the time of Christ. And there's no one as innocent as Christ. Right? But I love it because it just reminds me, man, sometimes our hearts get so drawn to this earth, so drawn toward politics, so drawn toward the wicked powers of the land. Well, just set your heart on Christ. Set your heart on the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. Now, in this chapter, verses 12 to 16 really caught my attention. Because what you see here is this mind game, mind games between Pilate and the Jews. Okay? It's kind of like what you see here is like, let's say Matias come up here. Let's say this hymnal represents Jesus. Right? And Matias will represent Pilate and I'll represent the Jews. Okay? So this represents Jesus. We want to kill him. He's a problem for the Roman Empire. You take Jesus and you say, well, actually not a problem. He's a problem to the Jews. Right? And I go, no, no, no. He's a problem to the Roman Empire. It's like, no, it's a problem to the Jews. And it just keeps this back and forth, keeps happening. No one wants to take responsibility for Jesus and his death, you know, in his sentence. He can sit down. This is what you see playing out here in the next verses. Look at verse number 12. Because remember, Pilate already said he's innocent. All right? I see no reason to kill him. All right? He said, just you go and kill him. Again, now he's doing that issue. Right? He said, you go and crucify him then. But they can't crucify him. They're not allowed to. Right? And so he's kind of passing the buck to the Jews. And the Jews are going to do the same in return. Look at this. Verse number 12. And from henceforth Pilate sought to release him. All right? You can see that. But the Jews cried out saying, if thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. The Jews are saying, look, if you don't kill him, you know, he's your problem. He wants to be the king. Right? And your king is meant to be Caesar, Pilate. So what are they doing? Jesus Christ never said he wants to take over the Roman Empire. All right? He doesn't care for the kingdoms of this earth. But the Jews are making it appear that this is what Jesus Christ wants. That he wants to be the king. He wants to take down Caesar. And Pilate, if you don't kill him, you're not a friend to Caesar. They're trying to get leverage over Caesar. Okay? They're trying to get Caesar. They're trying to put pressure on Caesar. They're trying to make Caesar do what they want, even though it's not correct. What they're saying is a lie. Okay? But, if this rumour gets out of control, think about it for a minute. If Caesar, sorry, if Pilate lets Jesus Christ go free, and this rumour starts to circulate through the region, and all the way to the Roman Empire, that there's a man called Jesus, that claims to be the king, all right, that wants to take over the Roman Empire, what is Caesar going to do when he hears about that news? And Pilate, you let him go free? You see, the Jews here are trying to create a rumour that's going to get Pilate in trouble with Caesar, if he doesn't take action. They're trying to take leverage over Pilate here. And look, he's your problem Pilate. Okay? He wants to be the king over Caesar. He wants to be the king over Rome, so if you don't kill him, you're not a friend to Caesar. But this rumour can spread very quickly, and it can cause Pilate to look really badly. Don't forget, Pilate wants to release Jesus. Verse number 13. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. So he takes time to think about these things, and then he says, this happens, and he's safe unto the Jews, behold your king. Remember, they said, no, he wants to be a king, you're not a friend to Caesar. He now takes Jesus and goes, no, behold your king. He's your problem. He doesn't want to be the king of Rome, but he wants to be your king, so he's your problem, behold your king. He's trying to pass the buck back to the Jews. Verse number 15. But they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, shall I crucify your king? Like remember, he doesn't claim to be my king, he doesn't claim to be the king of Rome, okay, but shall I crucify your king? You see this mind game playing out between the two of them? And the chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. In other words, he is your problem, okay, because our king is Caesar, and we don't want Jesus to become our king. Trying to make it seem like again it's a problem between Jesus and the Roman Empire. Verse number 16. Then delivered him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away. So look, the Jews, they got leverage over Pilate, okay. They're like, no, no, no, we just want Caesar. Any other king, you know, is contrary to the Roman Empire and it's going to look bad on you, Pilate, you better get this guy killed. The Jews, the Christ rejecting Jews, they win this mind game with Pilate, this back and forth that takes place. Now I realise that Pilate is, you know, between a rock and a hard place, dealing with Jesus Christ, okay. He's afraid, what if this rumour goes crazy, okay. I release Jesus and my, you know, my, what do you call it, my authorities look bad, look down upon me for not taking action, you know, for a man claiming to want to be the king and take over the Roman Empire. So I can see the situation he finds himself in and I was thinking about it, so I was just thinking like, if I was Pilate, if I was Pilate, like just Pilate, not Kevin, saved man, but if I was Pilate, what would I do in that situation? Well number one, you should not have taken the innocent man and beaten him up in the first place. It wasn't a problem. You already identified he was innocent, okay. And this is what happens when you start to take problems that do not belong to you on your hands, now you've got bigger problems, okay, because it's not your responsibility, alright. This should never have even come to this point. He should never just handle it just a little bit to please the people. He should say, look, this has had nothing to do with me, the man's innocent, let him go. Say, well, if he did that, you know, the people would be upset and there'd be a big riot, but I don't think so. What we know is that it's coming up, this is the day of the Passover. This is a holiday. The Jews are so careful to not defile themselves, they would not even walk into the judgment hall. They didn't want to defile themselves with things that, you know, are deemed to be of gentile origin or anything like that. Like, if I was Caesar, number one, yeah, I would have let Jesus Christ go earlier, but number two, if I had beaten him up at that point, I would say, no, look, the right thing to do, look, we've beaten him up, if this doesn't satisfy you, he's still going free. If he knows the people that he's ruling over, they've now got the Passover and then seven days of unleavened bread, there's going to be an eight-day holiday period. Yeah, this is the most important holiday of the Jews at this point in time, okay. So whatever anger they've got, they're not going to start rioting in the streets. They've got to honour, they've got to celebrate their holy day. It's an important day for the Jews. By the end of eight days, their anger would have been gone by then. Like, it would not be at the same level. That's what I would have done if I was Pilate, I'm not Pilate, but that's what I think I would have done. Then, what about the rumour that Christ wants to, you know, take over the Roman Empire? Immediately I would have sent news – I'm just thinking about what I would have done – immediately I would have sent news to Rome saying, look, there's a situation here, you know, there's a big, you know, problem with the Jews here and that they're claiming that Jesus Christ wants to take over the Roman Empire. I asked him myself, we have this, this was all done in the judgment hall, this is all documented, this man Jesus claimed to have been from heaven, that his kingdom is not of this earth, his kingdom is from above. Don't know, lunatic, crazy man, who knows, but it's not a problem, he's not a hostile threat to the Roman Empire whatsoever, you know, and then, Caesar, this is what's taking place, what do you reckon? You satisfied with this or should further action be taken? I don't know, okay, but that's probably the way I would have handled it, like if I was Pilate, but no, you know, he's a weak man, like he's a poor leader, he's not a righteous man whatsoever, okay, so just, alright, let's just go crucify this man. How many times did he say he's innocent? How many times? And he's afraid, he's afraid. But I just think about that, wow, what horrible leadership, what a horrible leader Pilate was, you know, to betray, not betray but to just give in to the pressure, you know, to allow these people to have leverage over you, to go and beat an innocent man, right, and now you allow the crucifixion to take place. Let's keep going there, verse number 17. Verse number 17, and he, Jesus of course bearing his cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified him and the two other with him on either side one and Jesus in the midst and Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross and the writing was, this is interesting, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. Even though the Jews won the mind battle with Pilate, Pilate has the last words, like on the inscription above is the king of the Jews. I think that's interesting and it kind of bothers the Jews you'll see here. Now that inscription, I can't remember which, I don't know if it's the book of Luke or the book of Matthew, but basically that inscription, what it represents is that that's the accusation, like that's the reason why he's been crucified. I mean I can't prove this but I assume the other thieves on the cross probably had some rights above their heads as well for whatever they've done, like whatever crime they've committed worthy of death and so again this just pictures that he's claimed that he's the king of Jews which is why the Jews wanted him crucified and that's why it's written over his head there. But verse number 20, this title then read many of the Jews. For the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, write not the king of the Jews but that he said I'm the king of the Jews. Pilate answered, what I have written I have written. Like they're bothered, you can't just say that he's the king of the Jews. Again I think Pilate's just kind of having the last say here, like trying to show look I'm still in charge, like even you guys, you got your way but I'm still in charge, I'm going to write what I write. This is the issue, the issue is not that he's trying to be the king of Rome, the issue is that he's trying to be the king of the Jews and you hate him for it. Now look, both the Jews here and Pilate are obviously very wicked people for doing so. But just to bring you back, just to remind you, if you can go back to verse number 11 very quickly. Verse number 11, Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. According to Jesus, who has the greater sin? According to Jesus, who has the greater faults for him being crucified and being treated like this? Pilate or the Jews? The Jews have the greatest sin. Okay? And this just reminds me of a really horrible teaching that's out there in the world, in the Christian world where people say all sins are equal. If all sins are equal, can Christ say that there is a greater sin? If all things are equal, there's no lesser or greater all things are equal. Christ is saying the Jews have done worse than you Pilate. Pilate has sinned but the Christ rejecting Jews have done worse. They've got the greater sin. And of course this makes perfect sense because as you read the Old Testament scriptures, you know for certain crimes, there are different types of punishment. Alright? And yes, there's a death penalty for certain crimes, certain sins that are so great that that person deserves to die because some sins are greater than others. Some people are more wicked than other people and the more wicked, the greater sins somebody has if they die without Christ, the greater their punishment will be in hell and the lake of fire. Not all sins are equal. You know, Jesus Christ says that if a man looks upon a woman with lust, he has committed adultery in his heart. Listen, that's a sin. That's a grievous sin. I'm not trying to say that's okay but is that greater? Which one's greater? A man looking upon with lust with his heart or actually going out committing adultery physically against his wife? Of course the greatest sin is going and betraying your wife in that sense, going and sleeping around committing adultery which deserve the death penalty. But they're all sins. They're all wicked. They all make us deserving of hell. But you see, some people are greater sinners. Some people have a greater wickedness than other people. Now Christ died for the sins of all men. Don't forget that. You know? And as I was going through this chapter, several things came to me like strange teachings that you hear, strange things that you hear in Baptist churches. All sins are equal. Where? Where's that? If all sins are equal, then Jesus Christ is not telling the truth here. No, in fact, Christ is telling the truth. It's just these preachers don't spend time reading the Bible, trying to understand what God's Word says. You know, there's a reason why I told this sermon that the Scripture should be fulfilled. You know, the Scriptures are the most important part of our decision making, of our doctrines, our beliefs, our faith, our practice in life. You know, it's something that I'm trying to change in my vocabulary, how I talk and when I talk about the Bible is, you know, I've probably said this, I've heard people say this, you know, I can back up my, I can, I can, I can, how does it say, I can defend my beliefs with the Bible. Sounds good. I can defend my beliefs in the Bible. Sounds good. But you know what's even better? Instead of saying that, you know, I can defend my beliefs with the Bible, how about you just say, I believe the Bible. Because you know what, the Jehovah's Witnesses can defend their beliefs with the Bible. So can the Mormons, so can the Roman Catholics, everybody, pretty much, anybody that claims the name of Christ can defend their beliefs, you know, can make arguments for their beliefs with the Bible. But I realized, man, you know what's so important? You can just read the Bible and I don't even have to defend myself. I can just show you the Scripture and go, brother, read it for yourself. What does the Bible say? And you're like, yep, that's what it says. I see why you believe that. Yep, because we believe the Bible, right? If the preacher gets behind the pulpit and says, all sins are equal, but then you read this, where Christ says, the greatest sin. Well, I believe the Bible. That's what it says. There are some, some sins that are greater than others. So am I going to believe the Bible or am I going to make arguments for my beliefs? And I really want to encourage you, you know, read your Bible. You know, remove your biases, even your Baptist biases sometimes. You know, just come to God's word with a fresh, clean pair of eyes, asking the Lord to guide you and to direct you, right? And it's just amazing what God shows you in His word, when you're willing to come humbly before Him, not trying to defend your beliefs, but just saying, God, show me what you have to say. And I'll believe whatever I read. You know, Lord, I'm not smart. I'm not too smart for you, Lord. You tell me, you give me your wisdom. You give me your guidance. Teach me your word. I got a bit sidetracked. Where am I up to? Verse number 23, John 19, 23. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to every soldier of parts, and also his coats. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said, therefore, among themselves, let us not render it, but cast lots for it, who as it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled. There is again, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which sayeth, they parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture, they did cast lots. These things, therefore, the soldiers did. And so, let's see some of my water. You say, why would we get this kind of information? It just seems like it's just a random bit of information. It doesn't seem all that important. But I just find, again, very interesting that Jesus Christ has a coat, all right? He's got this coat. Of course, it's an outer garment. A coat is an outer garment. You know, I've heard people say, you know, why do you preach with a coat? Why do you preach with a tie? You know, did Jesus Christ walk around with a tie and a coat? Well, he definitely did not walk around with a tie. I'm pretty confident about that. I mean, I guess he possibly did. I don't know. But he had a coat. He had some type of coat. He had some type of outer garment, you know, as he went and preached and conducted his ministry. But this is what's really interesting about his coat. It says, now the coat was without seam, meaning that when it was made, it was made by one piece of fabric, okay? This would have been a very expensive piece of clothing. This is why the soldiers are trying to figure out who's going to take what, okay? Like, Christ actually dressed, look, he was not wearing skinny jeans. He was not wearing ripped jeans, okay? He didn't look like a dag, all right? He looked proper. Christ dressed himself well. His coat is without seam, woven from the top throughout. You know, normally, if you're trying to cut costs on clothing, you'll take different patches, different parts of fabric, and sew it together. You'll have seams. But if you go and have a piece of clothing without seam, it's one piece that has not been cut, and it's been, you know, it's been shaped to fit the man, you know, to wear it. And so I see from that, that Christ actually dressed well. You know, I'm sure he just looked proper. You know, I don't think he was trying to highlight bling bling, you know, he didn't have jewelry and gold or a batting, things like that. But look, he was presentable. And the reason why, you know, I want to look presentable at church is because, you know, we're trying to follow the steps of Christ. You know, if wearing a coat and a jacket and a tie today is deemed to be formal and appropriate, and, you know, something, you know, proper, especially in a time when your public speak and speak, especially speaking God's word, then, you know, I highly, I think it's a good thing to dress nicely. Of course, we don't want the outward to be the main thing, we want the inward, we want the inward to match the outward. Okay, but I wanted to show that Christ did not walk around in daggy, cheap, you know, secondhand clothing. He had good clothes. This is why the soldiers are going like, okay, who's going to get what? You know, it's valuable to them, even though it's probably blood-stained, you know, it's probably a little bit ripped from all the, I don't know, unless they took it off at the time and they beat him up, but there definitely would have been blood stains at that point. But verse number 25, now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, woman, behold thy son. I'm not going to expound on these scriptures all that much because I preach on this not too long ago on the final words of Christ on the cross, not long ago during Easter, but then verse number 27, then saith he to the disciple, behold thy mother, and from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home. That disciple that he's speaking about is John, the one that's writing this gospel, writing this book. Now I don't believe that as soon as Christ said those words, that they left the scene and went to the house, okay. I think that's just saying that from that hour, yes, you know, John, you know, took responsibility for the mother of Jesus, okay, because John's still on the scene as we keep going into the rest of the chapter, but he keeps going there in verse number 28. After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, there it is again, the second time in this chapter, saith I first. Now I want you to notice how verse number 28 is formed, okay, that the scripture might be fulfilled. So in order for the scripture to be fulfilled, what has to happen? Let's read the whole verse again. After this, Jesus knowing that all things, look at this, all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled. So in order for the scripture to be fulfilled, all things have to be accomplished. Do you say that? In order for all things, you know, for scripture to be fulfilled, is that all things have to be accomplished. Then it says I first. Okay, so this is one scripture that has to be fulfilled. I first. So verse number 29. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. Alright, keep your finger there and come with me to Psalm 69. Come with me to Psalm 69 please. Psalm 69 and verse number 20. Psalm 69 and verse number 20 please. Psalm 69 and verse number 20. So there is a scripture that was fulfilled when Christ drank that vinegar. All things were accomplished. So in Psalm 69 verse 20 it says, reproach have broken my heart. These are the words of Christ. How do you know these are the words of Christ? He goes, I am full of heaviness, and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none. And for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gold for my meat, and in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink. Alright, so there it is. There it is in the scriptures. Now, when you read verse number 21, they gave me vinegar to drink. Do you see that? If all things are accomplished, and now the scripture is fulfilled, do you think sometimes it still points to sometime in the future that Christ is going to drink vinegar again? What took place on the cross really wasn't the fulfillment of this scripture. There's something more to happen. Or when you look at these passages and say, well, that's it. It's done. When Christ drank that vinegar, this scripture was done. All things accomplished. It's done and dusted. You know, there's no future prophecies that come based on this situation. It's done. It's accomplished, isn't it? You say, pastor, that's obvious. You're being a bit silly today. Yeah, I'm being a bit silly because there are some Baptist preachers that are very silly. And sometimes you have to be sarcastic and clear so they can fix things. Look, it gives me no pleasure to correct brethren that I love and care about. Look how smart I am. And you guys are so stupid. I have no pleasure doing that. I just have a fear of God. You stand behind the pulpit, any pulpit of a church, teaching God's people His Word. If the Bible says it's fulfilled, if the Bible says it's accomplished, all things accomplished, it's done. It's finished. Alright, that scripture has been fulfilled. It's still there in Psalm 69. I want to show you something else that's quite interesting. It says, verse number 20 again, reproach have broken my heart. This wasn't just a physical suffering. This grieved Christ at the heart. This was emotional. This was a mental strain on Christ as He died on the cross. Have broken my heart. I want you to keep that in mind because I'm going to give you some thoughts. I'm not going to say I'm 100% correct on this, but I'm just going to give some things to think about. But I think it's interesting that it says His heart was broken there, you know, as He took of that vinegar. But back to John 19, verse number 31. John 19, verse 31. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day. For the Sabbath day was a high day, besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. Just showing you how important again the Sabbath day, this Passover, the days of unleavened bread was so important to the Jews. They couldn't even have people dying, you know, dying on the cross. They wanted that removed. They wanted purity. They wanted it to be a clean holiday. This is why I believe Pilate could have just said no and eight days later they will have been fine by then. Their anger would have been abated to some extent by them. But anyway, okay, you can see that the day is important for them. And, oh yeah, besought Pilate, the end of verse 31, besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might be taken away. So if you break their legs, they won't be able to lift themselves up to breathe. Taking oxygen, if you break their legs, they're going to be sagging. They won't be able to take in that breath and they'll die from suffocation. So it's a quick death. That's why they're trying to break the legs of these people being crucified. Verse number 32, then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. So this is significant that Christ did not have any broken bones, okay, or especially break broken legs there. Verse number 34, but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out blood and water. So look, this is not normal. If you get pierced on your side, you're not just going to start flowing blood and water, okay. It's not like if, you know, I mean, if people get shot, they're not just, you know, flowing water and blood everywhere. I mean, of course a pool of blood will develop, but you don't have this discussion that comes out. This is something very unique that took place and I believe just this one event can preach its own sermon as a whole and I do believe it's very symbolic and there's a lot of, it's a very deep thought of the water and blood, but I'll just give you just a very surface level physical view of what some people believe took place here in a moment. But then verse number 35, and he that saw it bear record, he that saw it is John himself. He's speaking about himself in the third person as he often does in the book. This is why, you know, he didn't just leave straight away and go with his Joseph's mother back to his house. He's still there. He's still being record. He's seen the blood and the water gush out of the side of Christ here and these things were done, sorry, verse number 35, and he that saw it bear record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. John says about himself, I've seen this. I bore record of Christ being crucified on the cross. My record is true. I know it's true. This is what John is saying, that ye might believe because I've written this book that you would come to believe on Jesus Christ. I'm an eyewitness of what took place, and then he says these words, verse number 36, for these things were done. Look again the third time, that the scripture should be fulfilled. A bone of him shall not be broken. So that was fulfilled. Again, the scripture should be fulfilled. So it was all things accomplished with this verse. The verse is found in Psalm 34, verse 20. He keepeth all his bones. Not one of them is broken. So when you read Psalm 34, 20, not one of them is broken, you know that was fulfilled, that was accomplished with Christ on the cross. It's not like, well, I wonder sometime in the future, you know, people are going to try to attack Christ and his bones aren't going to get broken, so maybe that's a future fulfillment yet to come. You know, that's ridiculous. Of course that's about the crucifixion. I mean, the Bible's telling us right here that it's fulfilled. It's done. It's finished. That scripture is completed, right? All right, now, the next verse is what I'm trying to get to. This is the controversy, but it should be no controversy, okay? Look at verse 37. And again, again, again what? Again, the scriptures are being fulfilled, right? Again, another scripture. Again, there's another scripture that has been fulfilled. Sayeth, they shall look on him whom they pierced. That makes sense. Christ is on the cross. He's been pierced, pierced in his hands, pierced on his feet, and the people are looking upon him. Yes, this was fulfilled with Christ on the cross. You go, of course, pastor, that's obvious. Where is that verse from? I'm glad you asked. Keep your finger there and come with me to Zechariah chapter 12. Come with me to Zechariah, Zechariah chapter 12, please. Zechariah chapter 12. Zechariah chapter 12. And this is what just so upset me when I heard, again, a man that I care about from a church that I love. Again, I'm not trying to listen to sermons to find problems. I'm trying to learn. I mean, if you're saved and you've got the Holy Spirit in you and you're preaching God's Word, surely you're going to learn something from a man filled by the Holy Spirit of God. Surely you're not going to receive lies. Surely you're not just going to lie, bold-faced lies, to God's people in God's house on purpose. Surely not, you would think. Boy, if I could not stand behind this pulpit with a clear conscience, I've said it so many times, I'd rather just step down. I'd rather just step down and go, guys, I'm not the man to be the pastor. I'm not the man to preach behind this pulpit. Please believe me when I say it's so important to me, you know, to preach correct. Look, am I going to make mistakes? Yes, but not on purpose. Certainly not out of just plain, I don't know, bias. Just to support my belief with some arguments. How about we just read it for ourselves? How about we just get a twelve-year-old, a six-year-old maybe, to read the scripture and tell us what they have to say about it. Sometimes people are just always looking for these mystic, deep, understanding, cryptic of the Bible. Just read it at face value. If you're missing what's at face value, you're not going to get anything deeper than that. Zechariah chapter 12, let me look at this, verse number nine. There is this teach, before I read, let me give you the why and why, what frustrates me about this. There is a teach amongst Baptist churches. We know there's a future seven-year period to come. Daniel's 70th week, tribulation, God's wrath, topic for another day, but there's a future seven-year period to come. There are Baptist churches all across Australia saying that at the end of that seven-year period, the Christ rejecting Jews, when Christ comes back on his white horse, that they're going to look at Christ and they're all going to get saved. Has anyone heard that before? And they'll say, well, they'll look upon him who they pierced. Hold on, that was fulfilled when Christ was on the cross. And when did anyone get saved by seeing Jesus on a white horse? I thought people got saved by hearing the gospel. I thought people got saved by believing the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I thought people got saved by putting their faith and trust on Christ's sacrifice. Not by seeing a miracle in heaven and Jesus on the, look, if they did not believe, you know, they think, oh, they just see Christ. They saw Christ for three years and they still crucified him. And now they're just going to believe. They're just going to get saved automatically, the nation of Israel. And I'll take this passage in Zechariah chapter 12, verse number nine. And it says this, and it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And we see that's the end times. You know, when Jerusalem is surrounded by the nations, by the Antichrist, then Christ is going to come in his white horse and deliver them all. And they're all going to be saved. And then verse number 10, and I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced. See, they're going to look. Christ is going to save them for all their enemies. And they shall mourn for him as one mourner for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. You see where that passage is taken from? It says here, and they shall look upon me. God is speaking there. And then in what we have in John 19, they shall look upon him. Who's Jesus? Jesus is God. There's a stupid teaching on oneness that says when Christ was on the cross, he wasn't God. It was just the man Christ Jesus. No, they should look upon me, Zechariah, God. When Christ was on the cross, it's not that his godhood left him and now just died a man on the cross. No, God died. God was pierced. God was crucified. Jesus the son of God is God. So when we look at this passage in Zechariah, I'm not trying to make this complicated. I'm really not because it is not. This really is not complicated. But Zechariah 12 verse 9 and 10, when you read that passage and then you get to John 19 that says this scripture was fulfilled in Christ. They looked upon him when they pierced on the cross, not on the white horse at the end of seven years, future seven years to come. On the cross it was fulfilled. That means all things were accomplished. That scripture is finished. It's done. It's not about future events. You've even got the New Testament, John 19, just black and white stating this was fulfilled with this scripture. And then you've got Baptist preachers getting behind the pulpit saying, well, that's about the future time to come. Lies, ignorance, stupidity. How can you stand behind the pulpit and just lie to God's people like that? I don't understand. What is wrong with Christianity? What is wrong with preachers? Don't you love God's people? Don't you love the Lord? Can't you just say what God says? It angers me, brethren, because I, you know, I give a lot. I sacrifice a lot to study God's word and to be as right as I can be as a human being. And then I just see these preachers just, yeah, they'll look upon him when they pierce. Just repeating nonsense. They've never picked up the Bible and read it for themselves. They've just gone on some course. They passed some test. They read some book. They watched some video. And then they feel they're qualified enough to come and preach to God's people. It disgusts me to treat God's word so poorly when God makes it so clear this was fulfilled on the cross. They shall look upon him when they pierced. Yeah, they mourn. There are people that believed on Christ there as well. They were mourning the death of their Saviour. This has nothing to do with future events. They say, well, hold on, pastor, didn't it say there in Zechariah 12, 9, and it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that shall, that come against Jerusalem. What's that about? Yeah, because Zechariah was at a time when Judah was delivered out of Babylon and they're rebuilding the nation, they're rebuilding the temple, rebuilding the city, okay. And there were nations and there were people that were against them and God stopped the hand of their enemies so they could rebuild Jerusalem. Zechariah chapter 12, 9, and 10 is about past events that took place and then spoke of the coming of Christ. It's not about future events to come. See, people often take these prophecies of the Old Testament. When the people were under, when they were exiled, when they were taken into captivity and Christ promises them that they're going to come out of captivity, they're going to have victory over their enemies, which is about that time period, and they'll take that and apply it to the end times. And yet God knows fulfilled in Christ when he was on the cross. I'm sorry for venting my frustration, but I hope you can see my heart. I want to be as honest and true to you. You know, I don't care if we're not a 300, 400 member church. I just want to make sure that what we preach is true. No church is perfect, but can we, God's word is already perfect. We don't have to change God's word. Just say what God's word says. Anyone can pick it up and read it. Why do young people leave churches? Because they've heard too many lies from their preachers and they open the Bible. That's not what it says. Why should I trust this? Why should I believe this man? They can't even get it right. And they're trying to tell me how to live my life. Cause it's too much damage when you, when you lie. You know, when you try to support your bias or your arguments without clear scriptures, too much pain, too much hurt that can be created in the church. We have to be careful about that. Back to John 19, verse number 38. John 19, 38. I'll be quick with these last verses. And after this Joseph of Arimathea being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take the body of Jesus, take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore and took the body of Jesus. So this Joseph goes to Pilate secretly, right? Secretly he takes the body of Jesus Christ away. Why? Because fear of the Jews. Because obviously the Jews will persecute them or mark them, right? Whatever it is. He doesn't want the Jews to know. The fear of the Jews, speaking about unbelieving Jews here. Then it says in verse number 39, and there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night. That's John chapter three. And brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Then took they, the body of Jesus and, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden, a new sepulchre wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus, therefore, because the Jews preparation, because of the Jews preparation day, for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. All right. Just in summary, the reason Christ was buried in this sepulchre is because it was already made. They're saying that basically, verse number 42, I'll just end with that one. They laid Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews preparation day, because their Holy days are also Sabbath days, like they're not going to work. Like the death, they're not going to go, they're not going to dig a grave for Jesus on these days. And so, because there's already a sepulchre made, which is Joseph's, they, they buried Jesus there. All right. Now, when it comes to Nicodemus, I'm really, I'm really encouraged by Nicodemus in this passage. I do believe he was saved. Can I show you black and white? No, I can't. Okay. I can't show you black and white that he was a saved man. But remember, Joseph takes the body of Jesus Christ privately for fear of the Jews. Okay. So keeping it a secret from the unbelieving Jews, but Nicodemus knows about it. So Nicodemus is not one of those people that, you know, is causing Joseph to have fear of the Jews. Nicodemus knows the secret. That's why he's prepared. He brings the, the, the, you know, the ointments and the oils and the nice smelling things to anoint the body of Christ for his burial. And so I believe Nicodemus, just by this passage, is in the inner circle with the disciples. Okay. There is no fear of Nicodemus. There's fear of the unbelieving Jews, but there's no fear of Nicodemus. Nicodemus knows about the secret. He knows the body's been taken away in secret and he's prepared to honour and anoint the body of Christ. So to me, it's, it's, to me, it's so encouraging to think that a man like Nicodemus, who was a Pharisee and a ruler in Israel, you know, even though his contemporaries hated Christ and rejected Christ, it appears to me anyway, that he did believe in Christ. You know, he did become at least friends with the disciples and was not contrary to Christ. Alright brethren, the title of the sermon tonight was that the scripture should be fulfilled. And I hope you learn to love the Bible. It's, it's a complete work. You know, 40 different authors, 66 books, but once again, everything pointed us to Christ. And brethren, when the New Testament says the scripture was fulfilled, it was fulfilled. It's done. Okay. Just believe the words of God. Be a Bible believer. Yeah. Be a Bible believer. It's the best thing. God's word's amazing. You know, it's, it's like a puzzle. It all fits together. You don't even have to put a lot of effort in understanding the puzzle. Just let God speak to you clearly, you know, through his word. And there's no greater book, you know, than God's word. Alright, let's pray.