John Chapter 19:5-15

If you remember, the children of Israel early on had God as a king, a theocracy governed by God, but they wanted a king and they got Saul. Here they wanted Caesar. They got Caesar.

They had a choice to make. Who is your king? Is it Caesar? Every one of us has this decision in front of us.

Not just yesterday or last year or No, right now, this morning. Who is your king? Is it Jesus? See, this is the thing, as we grow in the Lord, our life needs to revolve more and more around God and less and less around ourselves. But we need to make him our king. And Jesus is also Lord, but we must make him our Lord. Today, Pastor David McGee explains this important decision as we continue in the Gospel of John, chapter 19.

Now, here's David McGee as he finishes his teaching, The Trial. John, chapter 19, verse 5. Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, Behold the man. Now, understand, this is the man, the God-man, but the man who will take away the sins of the world. This is not just another man.

This is the man, the perfect man. In verse 6, Therefore when the chief priests and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. And Pilate said to them, You take him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. So we see Pilate keep saying that he doesn't find any fault in him.

It's kind of ironic, isn't it? He's saying he doesn't find fault in him. But at this point, Jesus has already been beaten, and Jesus has already been scourged. Well, if he didn't find any fault in him, why did those things happen? Because Pilate knew what was right, but he didn't do what was right. Pilate knew what was right, but Pilate didn't do what was right. It came across this quote, A coward is someone who knows what is right and does not do it.

A coward is someone who knows what is right and does not do it. Now, I'm not talking about our struggles as Christians, because sometimes let's all, you know, let's be honest. We know what is right. You know, we sit here on Sunday morning. This is what right is. And we fail sometimes, and we fall sometimes.

But your life, is it built around knowing but not doing? See, that's why I encourage you to put wheels on your faith, to have your faith as an active one so you can begin to do some of the things that are right. Let's read on verse seven. The Jews answered him, we have a law, and according to our law, he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the praetorium and said to Jesus, where are you from? But Jesus gave him no answer. Verse 10, then Pilate said to him, are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you and power to release you?

Wow. Notice something. Jesus has already spoken truth to him. Even as a, you know, are you the king of the Jews? And he said, you said it. But Jesus is unwilling to reveal deeper truth to him.

I think there's a concept. There's a spiritual truth there. Rarely does God reveal deeper biblical truth to somebody when they are neglecting or rejecting the truth that he's already given them. He doesn't take them to a deeper truth when they've thought, ah, understand that. If you're making application of God's truth in your life, what he'll do is continue to speak deeper and deeper truth to you. But if you're rejecting what he's already speaking to you or you're not acting out what he's already spoken to you about, he won't give you deeper and deeper truth. If you're here this morning and you don't feel like the Lord has spoken to you in a while, go back to the last thing he said.

Go back to the last impression he gave you on your heart or in the word of God and see what that was and begin to apply that and act on that. And let me promise you God will speak to you again. I'll never forget there was a moment in the ministry that God has given me. I was traveling around and for a time I traveled with a complete band. And God was putting my focus more on teaching and to go out just on an acoustic guitar. And I knew that the Lord was telling me to put the band down and it was a struggle.

And so I went up to the mountains. I was gonna spend some time alone with God and in prayer and listening to the Lord and stuff. And I'll never forget, I got kids all in bed.

The kids were younger then. Got the kids all in bed and sat at the table, blank sheet of paper and a pen. I'm like, all right, gonna enter in the prayer and have the Lord speak to me and sat down with my pen in hand. And the Lord was like, I'm not gonna say anything else to you until you do what I've already told you to do.

Well, okay, we can go home, family. I've heard from the Lord. That wasn't an audible voice some of you are like. It was that still small voice the Lord speaks to us in. I said, Lord, I'm sorry. I'll do what you've told me to do. Many of you know the story.

I came back and sat the band down and told them and started going out. And God just blessed the ministry. But the thing is, he doesn't keep telling you stuff when you keep not listening. Now, this is amazing that Pilate, listen to Pilate's words. Do you not know that I have the power to crucify you and the power to release you? Do you understand Pilate's own words just condemned him?

Be careful what you say. Pilate said, I could turn you loose. God had given Pilate a certain amount of power. Look what Pilate did with that power. He misused it. He has right here the power by his own words, the power to release Jesus. And what does he do with it?

Not a thing. Now, before we cast stones at Pilate, which we could, but to little spiritual benefit to us, let's ask ourselves, what power has God given us? And what are we doing with that power? Acts chapter 1, verse 8, we've been given power through the Holy Spirit, what? To be witnesses, that power, that Greek word dunamis.

It's where we get our word for dynamite. We've been given this dynamite power. What are we doing with the power? Asking for God to bless us with trinkets? We are asking that God will give us the opportunity to be witnesses for him. What an incredible, we've been given incredible power.

What an opportunity to use that power. And Jesus tells him, verse 11, Jesus answered, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. Part of the reason that Jesus was so composed at this moment is because he realized that even at that point, his father was in control. He didn't think that his father had stepped off of the throne, that he had abdicated or forgot what he was supposed to be.

He knew his father was in control. The life lesson here, everything we go through has been filtered through the hands of God. We suffer in this fallen world. We live in a fallen world. This is not heaven.

This is pain. We feel disappointment. But those things can be used to drive us to God. That is some of my problem with medicating anxiety and depression.

It's because often we feel anxious and we feel depressed, and those things are very, very real. You look at the life of David in Psalms. You see a man who is incredibly depressed, a man who's incredibly anxious.

If you want to use the modern language, a man who was bipolar to the max. But what was his need? His need was God. And those things, those emotions were driving him to the Lord.

Why? Because that's what happens. See, being a believer, everything that enters into our life can be to our benefit. Well, pastor, what about when I fall? Even when you fall. See, when you fall, you're brought back to the place where you understand it's the grace of God.

And the fact that you were standing before you fell, that wasn't you. That was the power of God in your life. So even through falling, you can come back to the grip of grace. And if you're standing, well, you can understand it's not you or your power in which you stand. It's His power.

So everything can be a learning experience as we go through these things, as we go through pain and suffering and depression and anxiety and all these things. Says the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. Now, obviously, that could be speaking of Caiaphas. But, you know, as I contemplated this passage, as I thought about it, why was Jesus where He was? Well, it wasn't really Pilate.

It wasn't really Caiaphas, was it? It was you and I. It was our sins. 1 Corinthians 15, 3 says, For I delivered to you first of all that which I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

Let me ask you a question. Since it was our sins He died for, aren't we responsible for His death? Yes, we are. You see, what this passage describes is the day that man killed God. God gave His life for us. The Bible talks about the fact that these scars that were inflicted from the beating will be there in heaven. Do you understand the only man-made thing in heaven will be the scars on Jesus?

That will be our contribution to heaven. He died for our sins. And to me, to think about that, to think about rejecting Jesus as your Savior while you are responsible for His death, as your friend.

I don't want anybody in that place. Now understand, if you've asked the Lord to forgive you of your sins, you've asked Him to forgive you of that sin, the sin that delivered Him to His death, as well as all your other sins. But if you've not yet done that, you are responsible and accountable for your sins delivering Jesus to be crucified.

I know that's heavy, but that's the reality of this. Verse 12, From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. That's kind of ironic and hypocritical that the Jewish leadership here is so concerned about Caesar, who they were in revolt to at that time.

Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. See, Pilate sought to release him. Pilate, again, knew what was right. I mean, he knew there was something different about Jesus. He knew that Jesus was innocent. He maybe even thought He might be the Son of God, but what did he do? Nothing.

Nothing. Man, that's convicting. The life lesson here is our beliefs should lead us to action. What we say we believe should impact the way we live. Bible study should lead to Bible action. See, if you come in here week after week, sit in a Bible study, and don't begin to apply this stuff in your life, that leaves you in a bad spot. If you've ever seen a birdbath that's been there for a while that the birds aren't really coming to, begins to get green and slimy and smell bad, why? Because no water is leaving. Water's just coming in. And yet that's the picture of some of us in our Bible study. God's pouring in.

God's revealing truth. But we're not pouring out. We're not serving. We're not giving. We're not doing the things Scripture very clearly tells us to do.

And we create that situation spiritually in our life. Pilate knew what to do. He didn't do it. And already, Pilate had messed up.

We talked about this last week. He'd brought idols into Jerusalem. Jewish people got upset. Caesar found out Tiberius Caesar, who was kind of a harsh ruler. And then Pilate takes the money out of the temple to build the aqueducts. They get upset again. Rome finds out. Caesar finds out. So he's on thin political ice here.

And you know, the quest for political power has caused many a man to forget what is right and not do what is right. We'll be right back with more from David Magee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A.

Brown. Hey, we want to take just a couple minutes to pray for some cities in our listening audience, specifically Polson and Whitefish, Montana, and also Franklin, Norfolk, and Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and Battle Mountain and Carson City, Nevada. Lord, thank you for the people tuning in right now listening in these cities. Lord, we pray that they would be encouraged, that you would fill them up with faith to say yes to you, and Lord, that they would trust you with all that you want to do. God, we pray for the churches in the area, that you give the pastors wisdom. Lord, that you fill the churches up and that people would grow and thrive and begin to serve you. And Lord, we pray for those in government positions.

Lord, the mayor, police chief, those on the town council, everyone with authority. Lord, we pray for unity. We pray for wisdom, discernment, and peace. God, we pray that you bless these cities and that many people would put their trust in you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Verse 13. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. The Pavement in Jerusalem is a place where we know where it is. I've been there. I've been there.

There's markings on the ground. And it's interesting. One time I went with a group of pastors and, you know, we're talking and joking around a little bit, and we came into this room in silence and tears as we realized this was probably the very place that Jesus stood and was beaten and mocked. Verse 14. Now, it was the preparation day of the Passover in about the sixth hour, so they're getting ready continually for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And he said to the Jews, Behold your king. It's amazing they were, again, more concerned with the religious tradition than what was happening with God.

Verse 15. But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered and said, We have no king but Caesar.

What a sad and accurate statement. If you remember, the children of Israel early on had God as a king, a theocracy governed by God. But they wanted a king, and they got Saul. Here they wanted Caesar. They got Caesar. They had a choice to make.

They're saying, You know what? God is no longer our king. We've given our lives to Caesar.

Ask you a question. Who is your king? Is it Caesar? Every one of us has this decision in front of us.

Not just yesterday or last year or, no, right now, this morning. Who is your king? Is it Jesus? See, this is the thing, as we grow in the Lord, our life needs to revolve more and more around God and less and less around ourselves. What does your life revolve around? Does it revolve around knowing the Lord, serving the Lord?

Or does it still revolve around you? Is your king your television, your house, your car? See, you can do several things. You can look at several things. If you have a day timer, you can flip through it and figure out who your king is. Flip through your checkbook.

Probably give you a good idea. See, the Lord, and I don't know where we got this concept, that, you know, as long as we give God an hour or two on Sunday morning, 10% of our income, we're good. We're okay. Where did we get that concept? It's not in the Bible. See, this goes back to the Shema. Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul. It doesn't say just love Him and worship Him for a couple of hours on Sunday, and you're good. These thoughts, these beliefs, these things should be leading to actions that change our lives.

But do they? Jesus is Lord of lords. Jesus is King of kings.

No doubt about it, no question. But the question is, is He your Lord? Is He your King? There's an interesting scripture, Acts 10, 14. The Lord's having this discussion with Peter. But Peter said, not so, Lord, for I've never eaten anything common or unclean. Now, Peter had this habit of saying to God, well, not so, Lord. Well, no, Lord. What a weird statement. He's saying He's Lord, and then He's telling him no.

Which is it? Because if you're telling Him no, He's not Lord. See, we live a life. We get saved, and let's be honest. The day you ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins, He's Savior. He's not Lord yet. You may be willing in your heart to make Him Lord, but He's not Lord yet.

Why? Because you haven't really given Him total control of your life. And saying, Lord, here's my life. Take what you, do what you want to do with my life. We live a life of transition from having Him Savior to having Him Lord. And the Lord says, you know what? He looks in the area of your life and says, you know, I'm not Lord of that area of your life. I want to be Lord, but you're not letting Me.

I don't know what that area is for each person in here. Maybe it's service. Maybe you're not serving the Lord. The Lord wants you to serve Him.

That's plain from scripture. Maybe it's finances. Maybe you're not giving the Lord.

It's not Lord of your finances if you're not doing that. Maybe it's your mouth. Maybe you rule over your tongue. And God's saying, you know what? I don't rule over your tongue. I desire to.

I want to bless you, but bitter and sweet waters can't flow out of the same mouth. God wants to be our Lord, no doubt about it. But we got to give up control. Now, understand, that's a scary thing.

I understand that. God is asking us to give up control, but He knows far better than us how our lives should be lived. Guys, I'm saying this not as, hey, I've arrived, and I'm encouraging you all to arrive. I still do the tug of war with the Lord. God still comes into the area of my life and goes, I want to be Lord of this. I'm not Lord of this, and I get in this tug of war. Well, I think I know how that should go, Lord. And then every time I let go of the rope, I think, why didn't I let go of the rope earlier?

Whenever I let go of something, I think, why didn't I let go of that earlier? The life lesson here, Jesus is King, but we need to make Him our King. Jesus is Lord, but we need to make Him our Lord. Pilate is forced to a decision. Pilate chooses Caesar. Again, oftentimes in the service on Sunday morning, at the end, I ask for people who don't yet know the Lord, who've not yet asked Him to forgive them of their sins to make a decision.

But here's the reality of this teaching this morning. Everybody in here has a decision to make. What will you decide? Will you decide that, yes, God does want to be involved in every part of your life? Or will you choose your own way?

Will you choose Caesar? Matthew chapter 12, verse 30 says, he who is not with me is against me. And he who does not gather with me scatters abroad. Or the New Living Translation says, anyone who isn't helping me opposes me and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me. So the question is, for each and every one of us, are you working with Him? Are you working against Him? Is there fruit in your life where you can say, you know what, I can see that I'm making progress and having Jesus be the Lord of my life.

Or is there very little fruit in your life? This morning you needed to make a decision because you've been given supernatural power that you might impact lives for eternity. What an awesome opportunity we have as a body of believers to do just that. And as we submit to the Lord and give our lives to the Lord, He'll do that, I promise. He'll be faithful and true.

But what area this morning is God desiring for you to submit to Him? And He'll give you the power and the strength to have victory and to be overcoming in whatever area you're struggling with. But choose Him. Don't choose Caesar. In my life, at some point, I've chosen Caesar. I've chosen my way.

And I've lived to regret it. I know that some people in here are choosing their own way. And you've got to be tired because nothing will wear you out or wear you down like trying to rule and run your life. And that's why Jesus said to us, come unto Me, all you who are weak and heavy laden, and might I add, trying to run your own life. It's a scary thing to give control to God. I understand that.

But who better to give control to? You and your limited knowledge or God and His unlimited knowledge? Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name, Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer, according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at P.O. Box 12515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life. or a continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's Word continues to go out through Cross the Bridge.

Thank you so much. Well, D.A., before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee.

Those are terrific. And it's easy and it's free. So folks, sign up today at crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the Gospel of John.