Grace Chapel Bible Ministries
Worship Call 1100 The Kangaroo court - 2024/06/24
[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] >> Welcome to Worship Call with Bible teacher Buzz Laubet. Buzz is the pastor of Grace Chapel Bible Ministries located in Duncan, South Carolina. This ministry is dedicated to the verse by verse teaching of God's Word and discipleship programs aimed at strengthening the faith of God's people. Now here's today's message. >> The question is just who was on trial? Jesus was standing before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. But the verdict was going to be handed down, but when the final verdict is handed down, who's going to find themselves in the most trouble? This is the second day of the week in God's created order, the 24th day of the sixth month, 2,024th year of our Lord, and this is another fine day in the Lord. Father in Heaven, we thank you for another day. We praise thee, we lift up our hearts to thee, and this time for those who are without Christ, it's a desperate time. For those who have no sense of future and of the glory that's to come when the Son of Man comes in the club, these are the most darkest of times and they're getting darker. But for those of us who are anxiously awaiting, we are excited, we look forward to your coming. We pray this morning for those that are on our prayer list. We pray Heavenly Father Mom's surgery for tomorrow. We ask for her healing and for the doctor and for the skill of the doctors to remedy those things that hail her. We pray for traveling mercy for our friends Greg and Linda and their family as they're traveling this weekend and for our travels later on this week. We thank you Heavenly Father for praise for George, for having a full house of Ramos yesterday as he continues to preach to God's Word and we pray for Mike's transition. Mike's work, Springfield, for a smooth transition as the new owners take the business. So I pray this morning for our service, open up our hearts to the things that we continue to study and we do things we pray in Christ's name, amen. All right, yes, it's another day. It's the start of another fine week in the Lord and here we are and here we are. We see that Jesus was brought in to the, he was arrested, he was brought in, he had his first child that was before the end. And the first child, this is at night, it was against the Jewish Jewish prudence as far as legalities go. There's everything under the cover of darkness and evil, this is where evil does its work, is at night. And this is what they were doing. Jesus was brought to the retired high priest, Anis, and Anis is a thug. And he is the one whose pockets are lined with all the money that goes into all the business and transactions that's taken place in Temple. So he finds him guilty, sends him to Caiaphas. Now, in Caiaphas, now he stands before the Sanhedrin. They, again, another illegal assembly here, they call the Sanhedrin in together. Sanhedrin is a body of a legal body. It presided over the matters, over the Jews and legal matters apart from the Roman Romans. But the Romans, they considered themselves a sovereign over everything. Otherwise, Anis would still be ahead of this, but because the Romans said not too much power and they had to split up. There had to be a different head over the Sanhedrin, which would be Caiaphas. So now Jesus stands before Caiaphas, and this counsel headed by Caiaphas, it was a court presided over the Jewish citizens. They would not have power to sentence to death, that any death sentence. We're going to find that it's going to be a little different when it comes to Stephen. I'll mention Stephen later on. And at that point, they just drug Stephen out to be stoned. And this was a planned emergency session by the Sanhedrin. They need to get this done. This is Passover. They need to get things done. And this is illegal. First of all, as mentioned, it was at night. It was against the jurisprudence. Number two, that Jesus had no representative. He was given no defense counsel. He just stood there on his own. And thirdly, he was already considered guilty. This was a came to root court. They didn't consider that a court takes the accused. There was one body. It was between two people or two organizations against a person, whatever. There must be an indictment. This guy is accused of doing this. Because he's done this. So you have a prosecution. You have the defense. They come together. There's an attorney. And all the court does is sit there and they hear the case. They weigh the evidence and they make the verdict. But this wasn't what was going on. The counsel here at this was doing a fact finding. They were trying to find means by which they could find this man guilty. Same thing happened in our, if you remember President Trump when they were impeaching President Trump. They had a court and session behind closed doors. What was he guilty of? Well, that's what they were trying to figure out. They weren't taking an accusation and trying to weigh out the guilt. They were just trying to find what they were going to get him for. Nothing new under the sun. And this is what they were doing to Jesus. They were just trying to figure out what they were going to do. Matthew 2659. Now the chief priest and the whole council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus. So that they might put him to death. They did not find any. Even though many false witnesses came forward. But later too came forward. What they would do is they would have the court. The court was assessed in Sanhedrin and they would bring in, when they would bring him witnesses. And Deuteronomy tells us that in 17, 6, that on the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death. He shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. And again, they were speeding through this trial and it was frustrating for Kipas. It was Kipas who said in John 1150, "Nor do you take an account that it is expedient for you that one man died for the people and that the whole nation not perished." And that was Kipas. So he was anxious. He had to hurry up and get this over. But you could tell that he was just frustrated. Because what they would do is they would bring in a witness. They wouldn't bring both witnesses in together, one and two stand beside each other. It was that one would stand outside of hearing, outside the doors or whatever, and he would wait to be called in. They would bring the first witness in and the first witness would say, "Well, Jesus did this, this, this, this." Then he would stand aside and the next one would come in and he said, "Okay, what is your account?" And the next witness would come in and their stories would not match. Okay, these two were thrown out, couldn't use them. Okay, next witness to it, this is a come in. Each one would be done one by one by one. And Kipas with each time Kipas would be getting more and more frustrated. So, was anybody asking the question, what did this man do? Was there, somebody, the Sanhedrin was made up of 71 members? Were they all just as frustrated and, I don't think so. I believe that there were those, and remember, there was Nicodemus and Joseph Arimathea, they were two in that council. I don't know if they were there that day in that morning, but I think there were others like them. I believe that there were other members of the Sanhedrin that said, "This is ridiculous." But you know what, as it usually goes, they were too afraid to say anything. They were too afraid to stand up and speak. There was too afraid to say, because who were they up against? Not just Kipas, but also Anis. And remember, Anis the thug. So, if the speak would cost them dearly, so they just sat there and discussed it, that was what was going on, that a guilty man, and they knew he was, or an innocent man, and they knew that he was innocent, but they didn't open their mouth. So, what was, what did he do? Why was he here in this court? What was the charges when you couldn't find nothing wrong with this man? They did know what they were going to get, they didn't know what they were going to get him for. And remember, when I remember that they had to get him for something, and I couldn't just put him on the cross. And finally, there were two of them, two witnesses that came forward. And never mind that they both missed, that there was a misinterpretation of what Jesus said, and even changed the words around a little bit. It was enough for the counsel to go on. Matthew 26, 61. And said, this man, okay, let's back up just 60C where we are, and 60, they did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on, two came forward, and said, this man stated that I am able to destroy the temple of God, and rebuild it in three days. So the, you could imagine this, the counsel brings in the first witness who wrongly quotes Jesus. What was it that Jesus actually said, and has quoted in John 2.19? Jesus said, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Jesus, what's missing here, or what's been out of here? Jesus didn't say, I will destroy this temple in three days, and we'll raise it up. Second of all, what's Jesus talking about here? He's not even talking about the temple. He's not the temple made with hands. He's talking about the temple that was made with, made with that. It was his own body, okay? Let's continue here. The Jews then said, it took 46 years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days. What's he say, but he was not speaking of temple, or is he, but he was speaking of the temple of his body. So when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remember that he said this. So entirely misinterpretation. And he didn't say, he didn't say, I will destroy this temple, you will destroy the temple. And in fact, again, he was referring to the temple, not made with hands, but his own body. So the first witness, you can see how this works out. You get the first witness comes in, and he says, well, Jesus said he was going to tear this temple down. He's going to destroy the temple. And he said in three days, he's going to raise it up. All right, they set that first witness aside, and he calls in the second witness to put words in his mouth. You can imagine this, I'm, I'm conjecturing here. This is, this is how I could see this playing about. But he brings, the Kipus brings the next witness in, and he says, did Jesus say that he was going to tear down the temple and raise it up in three days? And the witness says, yes, he said that. And okay, putting words. I could see that Kipus would put words in his mouth being frustrated and all that he was. And he said, okay, very well. Okay, now they have their two witnesses. And here, Kipus probably, probably, finally, finally we can work with this. And Matthew 26, 62, the High Priest stood up and said to him, do you not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against you? But Jesus kept silent, and the High Priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God. Isaiah 53 7, he says, he was oppressed, and he was afflicted. Yet he did not open his mouth. What a lamb that is led to the slaughter. And like a sheep that is silent before tears, he did not open his mouth. Jesus didn't have to defend himself. He wasn't, he wasn't there for that. Jesus wasn't there to add to this agricultural court, you know, when you get into an argument. When you get, and you may have, scripture tells us not to answer a full court to his folly. And when you get into these useless debates, when you get into trivial things, and this was really trivial, but when few words are spoken by a wise one, then there is less to have to parse. There is less to have to figure out. And Jesus wasn't going to join in to the squabble. He wasn't, he wasn't there to defend himself. He had one direction, and that direction was to cross. And this, this must have infuriated the, the council even more. This must have infuriated, typists even more, because Jesus was in control. He was in control of, you see, the Kangaroo court was out of control. They were outside the boundaries of any jurisprudence or law that they had established outside of it. And they were falling apart. They, they, they were lawless, lawless, and falling apart with Jesus. He was in complete control. And when they demanded for him to speak, no. He wasn't going to, he wasn't going to speak according to what they wanted. So wisdom is knowing when to speak. Wisdom is also knowing when to not speak, and our Lord Jesus Christ is the most wise. And he was not participating in the useless debates that would lead to nothing. He knew where he was going. He knew what the verdict was going to be. He knew he was going to crawl. So why should he answer? 1 Peter 3, 10. For the one who desires life to love and seek good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Proverbs 13, 3. The one who guards his mouth preserves his life. The one who opens wide his lips come to ruin. Proverbs 21, 23. He who guards his mouth and his tongue guards the soul from trouble. The more words that are spoken would only leave one trying to sort out what was most important, what was most significant. Namely the gospel, the purpose of Jesus. And I say this and coming up to a point of application. Many unbelievers will seek to tear down your faith. And if they tear down your faith, they will also tear down the gospel that you speak. Our job is to convey the gospel message to others that Jesus Christ provides eternal life for anyone to trust and import. To give the gospel the good news. Happy are the feet that brings that good news. So, and that, it's Paul who says in Romans chapter 1, that I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation. First to the Jew and to the Greek. And we've seen this, Tim you've seen this, I've seen this, Becky's seen this. We've seen how in a group where you had the centers that they were, well the Bible, you know, they all start with argument and they'll say the Bible wasn't true because, you know, being wrote it and this, that, you know, thing or they'll bring up series of debates. And what are those debates? Be careful. Because those debates are to bring about your, you know, and the world is prepared with this argument. And it will come to you with these stupid debates and they're expecting, they're trying to lure you into a debate that you can't win. And next thing, you know, you're discredited. And because you don't know your Bible, you don't know this, you don't know. So therefore, how can the gospel, if you can't answer all these other questions, how can you believe the gospel? Be careful because that's what it's all about, the gospel. And so stand, you know, when those times come, a wise man knows when to open his mouth and when to keep his mouth closed. And when there's only a few words, there's less words that you have to parse. And when your words is that Jesus Christ provides eternal life or anyone that believes in him for it, and you steer the conversation and your controller, you see what you're, what you're, well, what about evolution? And what about evolution? Then as you're praying, you're steering the conversation back to the gospel message. Well, what about you? Do you really believe that evolution? Ask them a question. Do you really believe that evolution is viable? You know, if you, if I trust evolution and then there's no Jesus Christ and there's no salvation, what do you think about the Lord Jesus Christ? Bring it back around to them. Let them, rather than trying to defend your belief, let them defend their unbelief. Matthew 26, 63. But Jesus kept on it in the high priest, said to him, "I drew you by the living God that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God." Finally, Jesus will open his mouth and he says, "Because this is, this is the most important thing. You have said it yourself. Nevertheless, I tell you that hereafter you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven." The members of the Sanhedrin really thought that Jesus was on trial. The members of the Sanhedrin really thought that they had the power and control. Erikaans, misinterprets, it's eyes on self and it's self boastful and there's Erikaans skills. We've learned those Erikaans skills in the past. They are self deception, self justification, self absorption and they're on trial right here. But it's not Jesus that has these things, it's this Sanhedrin who really was on trial. It was Sanhedrin because here is the gospel. Jesus says that you will see the Son of man coming in the clouds and that is the first witness. But there's going to come a second witness. But there's going to be another witness that's going to stand before. And like I said, these are the men that's on trial. The Sanhedrin's on trial. Jesus is not on trial, the Sanhedrin's on trial. The Lord says over in John that all authority has been given to him. In Matthew 28, also, all authority has been given to the Son. And that's the authority to behold. These guys are going to stand before the judgment seat but of the great white throne judgment as unbelievers. And they're going to have to give an account for their rejection of the truth. Yes, they are going to have to do this. And so the first witness in that trial was Jesus himself who told them who they were. You're going to see the Son of man with all authority coming in the clouds. That's quoted back in Daniel 7. They understood that in Daniel 7 with the Son of man coming in the clouds, he is the one that's given authority. He is the last Adam that he will rule as the first Adam was to reside over this earth. The last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to reside on earth. But there's going to be a second witness. And we're going to find that before this same body. And we're going to find that in Acts chapter 7 verse 54. That when Stephen was standing before the same body, let's look at that, Acts 7.54. Now, when they heard this, this is the Sanhedrin, they were cut to the quick, just like they're going to be here with Jesus. And they began gnashing their teeth at him. And this is Stephen, gnashing their teeth at Stephen. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God. And Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Now, interesting. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, but Jesus is now standing up. He's not given Stephen a standing novation. He's standing up to provide the second witness. Jesus is actually a first witness and Stephen is the second witness. Remember, what we read in Deuteronomy, no one's put to death apart from two witnesses. So you have Jesus and you have Stephen at this point. And he said, "Behold, I see in heavens open up in the Son of Man." There we go, that Son of Man again, standing at the right hand of God. But they cried out in loud voice and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him. And the witness laid aside the robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And this time, like I said, they do not hold the Romans. At this point, the Sanhedrin takes matters in their own hands and they stoned Stephen. Matthew 2664. And Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself. Nevertheless, I tell you, he were after. The Son of Man is sitting at the right hand of power and coming on in the clouds." So there's going to be a reversal role. And it's one of these already but not yet. He's like us right here. Really, positionally, Jesus is already in position just as we are as the body of Christ. We are in this world. We're subject to the authorities. We're subject to persecution and injustices of this world that has against the body of Christ. And this world thinks that it has the upper hand. This world thinks that, okay, we, and Christian, you should not think of it. Let the world think what it wants. But we must not have this defeatist attitude. Because what does it say and I'll bring this up. What does it say and again this is one of my most comforting verses in Psalms. Psalm 37. "Do not fret of evil deers. Do not be envious toward wrong deers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good dwell in the land and cultivate the faithfulness. Delight yourself and the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord and trust in him and he will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and the judgment and the new day. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Seize to be angry and forsake wrath. Do not fret. It leads only to evil doers. For evil doers will be cut off. But those who wait upon the Lord they will inherit the land. Yet a little while the wicked man will be no more. And you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there but humble. But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in the abundance of prosperity. It is the already but not yet. Even though we are in this world and we suffer the persecutions as Christians and we are going to see that none less no matter what we go through. No matter what we see no matter what we see the injustices. It is not indefinite and we are already in position. We are a royal family of God and we are victors in him. He says don't let your heart be troubled I have overcome. Matthew 26, 65 then the high priest tore his robe and he said he has blaspheme. What further need do we have of a witnesses? Behold you have now heard the blasphemy. So things are not looking good. Things are not looking up. There is not indictment but who is the indictment? When I say things are not looking good. I am not saying they are not looking good for Jesus. I am saying they are not looking good for the Pharisees. And there is a heavenly court that waits and in that heavenly court those God haters, those Bible haters, those persecutors, those who think they have control and authority now will stand before the one true authority which is now in charge. It is now sitting upon the throne. His father is thrown at this point but when he sits upon his throne that is going to be the time when the guilty, the true guilty and the court before the Lord Jesus Christ who will know all the facts it is going to be a day of reckoning for him. Father in Heaven thank you for this opportunity this morning of fellowshiping in your word. We thank the Heavenly Father for we praise thee. We thank the Heavenly Father that there is hope, that there is life, there is eternal life for anyone that trusts in your son who has went to the cross, who died, who was buried and three days later he rose again to ascend into heaven and sit there at the right hand at your right hand we do not worship a dead martyr but a very much living God and the son of man that we keep looking forward to that one day we will return. We pray these things in Christ name. Amen. All right notifying day and the Lord keep your armor on, keep fighting in good fight of faith. Lord willing spirit God wraps your pen and will be back here in the AM. Amen. . [BLANK_AUDIO]