In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the division among the people who saw Jesus as a messenger, the Messiah, or just a myth. The speaker expresses concern for those who have knowledge but are still in darkness and heading towards destruction. The sermon also highlights the encouragement for believers in Christ, believing in their immortality until their work is done. The speaker then focuses on the chapter of the people in the book of John, discussing the reactions and divisions among the people regarding Jesus.

John chapter 7 again this evening, and we're at the latter part of the chapter. You remember we finished with the great saying, in that last day, the great day of the feast, verse 37. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirsts, and you remember I underlined that little phrase, if any man thirsts of being the picture, the picture of a longing soul, somebody thirsting for life, somebody thirsting for peace, somebody thirsting for power, somebody thirsting for God, it's the picture of a longing soul. And Jesus said, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me. What a wonderful statement that is. You see, that's the picture of an all-sufficient Savior, one who can supply every need, one who can meet us just at the very point of, only let him come unto me, and drink. And I pointed out that that was the picture of life's secret, my everything's prepared, the feast is spread, all things are now ready, just come and taste, appropriate to yourself. And then the Lord finished the great saying by saying, let him come unto me and drink, he thus believeth on me. As the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. You see, there is a lasting sufficiency. And then the Holy Ghost takes this up to explain this, but this speak he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because not Jesus was not yet glorified. And I think you could always put the section mark there and say, because Jesus was not yet glorified, as what? And the true answer is, that Jesus was not yet glorified as the head of the church. For only when he went up through the clouds, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty of high, he was made to be the head over all things to the touch. And then the Holy Ghost came to baptize all the followers down here into the body of Christ, and connect them forever with the head. And you know, that's why the Holy Ghost came, because Jesus was glorified one day as the head of the church. Now, we'll really start from verse 40 this evening, and we're going on down through to verse 1 of chapter 8, because I think that the chapter was made in a very poor place, wasn't it? You see, the last verse of the chapter, verse 53, and every man went on to his own house. And in between the two chapters, there's a little word left out that's in the original. It's the little word, but. Very often the translators would leave this precious little word out when they wanted to make a chapter. Here's how the last of the chapter should read, and every man went on to his own house, but Jesus went on to the mount above. You can see the connection quite clearly, and you can see that demands that the box should be there. So, we're going right on down to the first verse of chapter 8, because I believe it's connected with verse 53 very definitely. And I want to underline some very precious things for you in these 15 verses. First of all, we want to have a look at the platter of the people. You can see verse 40 begins with the word, many. Many of the people, therefore, which heard this great saying that we were looking at a moment ago on the last day of the feast, many said of a truth, this is the promise. Then verse 41, others said, and in the same verse, some said, that we are going to look into the platter of the people. And then you will notice that in verse 43, so there was a division among the people because of him, and we're going to look up the cleavage in the ground. And then in verse 44, some of them would have taken him, but no man laid hands on him. You see, there was real anger in the breasts of some who believed that he was making himself the eternal son of God, and they would have taken him. But their anger was anchored on this occasion, because that no man had power to touch him, except it were given him from above. And the anger was anchored on that occasion. And then we must take time tonight to look at the observation of the officers. The officers came back to the pharmacies and answered, never man speak like this man. What a wonderful testimony from the soldiers of the temple to the savior of the world. Yes, never man speak like this man. Then I shall take my time tonight with this part of the chapter, the perniciousness of the pharmacy. Why, they had a way of talking and belittling everything. Why, they would inoculate the people with their pernicious ideas, all to do away with light and truth. And we would need to take time there this evening. Then I shall ask to underline the nobility of Nicodemus. He comes a little bit more out into the open in this chapter, and then we shall finish there watching the creator go to Mount of Olives for the night, and the creatures going every man to his own house. Now, let's begin at the beginning, right back there at verse 40. Many of the people, I think we need to take time here, because you must notice exactly what part of the crowd you're dealing with. Now, many of the people, and we must differentiate this evening between the common people at the feast, and the pharisees who were the rulers in the temple. You see, this evening we're still down at Jerusalem, at this Feast of the Double Echoes, and here we are finding many of the people, I think we could say it like one of the others said, many of the common people, the ordinary folks gathered at the feast. Many of the common people, therefore, when they heard this saying, when they heard Jesus crying, O not lost, they are the feast of any man, first let them come unto me and drink. When they heard this saying said, of a truth, this is the prophet. Now, Rebullinger points out that the words, The Prophet, ought to have a capital T, I and the capital T, because it's not just a prophet, this is not just a prophet, this is the prophet. You see, the Old Testament talks about the prophet who would come. It shows you that the people of whom they were the common people, their minds were going back into the Old Testament, and they were thinking about what Moses had said. But, just go back and watch what Moses really did say. You'll find it in Deuteronomy, chapter 18, please. Deuteronomy, chapter 18, and down the chapter there, at verse 15, Deuteronomy 18, verse 15, and Moses is speaking, The Lord thy God is talking to the whole nation, will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee of thy brethren, like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken. According to all that thou desirest of the Lord thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see this great fire any more that I die not. And the Lord said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise then up a prophet from among the brethren like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him, says the Lord. You see, I want you to get the idea, that's why I turned back to read that, that the people, the common people, when they heard this tremendous message on the last day of the feast, that the people said, is truly, this is the prophet. You see, the idea here is, this is indeed the messenger of the Lord. That's the idea. You know, they were looking at what they believed to be the messenger of the Lord. This is the one who's going to stand in Moses' place and bring the word directly from God to us, this is the prophet. But I want you to get the hold of this, that all the common people turned to him and believed him to be the messenger of the Lord, yet they never received his message. That's a very sad thing, you know, because I believe that there are folk in this building just now, and they believe that Jesus Christ is the way back to God, and not only the way, but the truth. I believe that if I were to tackle many of the unsaved friends in this building, that you would admit immediately that every word Jesus Christ spoke was truth, and yet you can't take it in. You know, I was talking to a little girl, she's in the meeting now, she'll forgive me for this. Some time ago she wanted to be saved, and she came into the little vestry there, and she said to me, Mr. Mullen, I need to be saved, you know. And I said, sit down in the chair there. I said, what's keeping you back from getting saved? Do you not know the way of salvation? She said, I know that Jesus came from heaven, and I know that he went for the cross, and I know that he gave himself as a sacrifice for sin, and I know that he pleased God on the cross, and I know that he rules again. And I said, what comes after that? She said, you know, I can't trust him. I said, you can't trust him? I said, can you trust your mother? Have you any bother trusting your mother? If your mother promised you a bicycle for Christmas, would you have any bother trusting your mother? She said, I could trust my mother. And I said, you know, if the Lord Jesus Christ looks at you, and he says, come unto me, and I will give you rest, or whosoever shall call on my name shall be saved, can you not trust him? Can you not rest upon his word, and take the gift of life from his mealtiest hand? And you know, it was simple after that. And you know, there are many of you here this evening, and you believe, like these people long ago, that he's really the messenger of God, that he speaks the truth, yet somehow or other, you can't accept it. Cursed unbelief is keeping you back from blessing, and it will damn you, remember, eventually. But I want you to get this deeper, even in what we're at it now. Look at this, the platter of the people. Many of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying, said, oh, for truth this is the prophet. Others said, this is the Christ. So, what's the difference? You see, I believe the difference is here, that a great part of the crowd just saw him as the messenger of God, and yet there was still another part of the crowd that saw him as the Messiah of the nation. My dear friends, I'm perfectly sure that standing in that crowd that day, there were quite a number who really honestly believed in the heart, from all the wonderful miracles and messages that had been got to them by this man, that they believed this is the Christ, but they never accepted him. So, I want you to get the hold of this this evening. I think the greatest example in the Bible is Pilate. You see, it's one thing to realize that he's speaking the truth, it's another thing to recognize the person who speaks the truth. And, you know, I believe that Pilate saw this. You see, when he was brought into Pilate's judgment hall, and we read in Matthew that he stood before the governor, I think I can see the proud, conscious Roman governor looking into the eyes of this stranger of Galilee. And he's dressed in an ordinary robe of an ordinary Nazarene. And as he looked into his face, he said this. This is the first question I want you to mark. He said, Art thou a king then? Now, why would the judge on the bench ask a poor, humble prisoner such a question? Art thou a king then? And Jesus answered clearly. He said, To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world. And then Pilate left the prisoner, and went out to the crowd outside, the rabble mob outside, and he said, Behold your king! He was recognizing the person. And then he did more. When he wrote the superscription for the cross, he penned it like this. This is Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. And the Jews came and said, Don't, don't, don't do that. Don't write that. Write that he said he was the king. And Pilate said, I won't change it. What I have written, I have written. And I'm persuaded way deep down in my bosom this evening, that Pilate recognized the person, but crucified him just the same. And I'm perfectly sure, you know, that there are men and women in this holding now. And if I were to press you into the corner one by one, you would admit this very night, that the man on yonder cross was God's Son. You would say with a centurion, Truly, this man is the Son of God. Somehow, you know, he came from heaven. Somehow, you know the wonders of his birth. Somehow, you've got to know the glorious person. But you have no time for him tonight. By Pilate, you know. And you're a deep, undyed sinner of Pilate. You see, a part of the crowd recognized the Messianic, and a part of the crowd recognized the Messiah. And then the platter goes on, verse 40 again, Many of the people, therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Oh, for truth, this is the prophet. Others said, this is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said? Now watch this little bit. They're quoting Scripture now. Hath not the Scripture said that Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was? You see, some saw him as the messenger, and others saw him as the Messiah, and some saw him as a make-believe. They said, Will Christ come out of Galilee? They said, Doth not the Scripture say he was born in Bethlehem in the town of David? I'll tell you this, they knew the Scriptures of by letter, but they didn't know the history of the man before them. They didn't know. Sins, they didn't even know that he was born in Bethlehem, and they didn't even understand that he belonged to the house and lineage of David. And here they were, trying to quote Scripture to show their knowledge of the book, when all the time they're displaying their ignorance of the person. Yet they're all the same. Because, you know, it's possible for you to do the same. My, I've heard people fiddling about with God's words, when everything they were saying was just telling you all the time that they were absolutely ignorant of the glories and wonders of this person. I've seen them too often. My dear friend, I want you to get this. I think I should put my weight into this. You know, sometimes we teach the children to just quote Scripture, and I don't think that there's anything wrong, you know, with filling your heart and mind with the perfect knowledge of the Word of God. But I want you boys and girls to get the hold of this, that being able to rattle off verses will not get you to heaven, if you don't experimentally, personally, know faith. There were people who could quote Scripture, and they were quoting it correctly, out of the town of Bethlehem, of the house of David, and not out of vanity. They were quoting the Scripture correctly, but they're quiet. They didn't know. You know, I'm not asking you what verses you know now. I'm asking you, do you personally know Christ as your own and personal Savior? You know, I heard about a little girl, and she's just four, so I can't tell you her age. Her father is in the meeting now. I think she's only six or seven, maybe eight. She's a tiny little one, and she was saved last Monday night, in our Monday night meeting. And I just met her coming from school the other day, and I stopped the car, and I opened the door, and I said, come in. And she's a wee bit afraid of me. I couldn't tell you for why, but she is. And she looked at me with her big eyes on the footpath, had a good glimpse at me, and I put on the best face that I can put on, and I take some effort. And I said, come in, come in, and we went in the car. And very slowly, she threw the bag in, and then she climbed up, and I pulled the door. And I said, I heard something about you. She never spoke, she just looked. Oh, I said, it was all right, you know, it was something good. She said, I trusted the Lord Jesus last Monday. I said, are you sure of that? She said, I am sure. I said, where did it happen? She said, in the little back room. I said, where? She said, when the man was preaching, I just knew that I needed a saviour, and I just trusted him as my own saviour, and I'm saved. And you're saved for how long? How long? She said, I'm saved forever. I'll tell you this, she had a personal experience of making Christ her very own, and I don't think she'll ever forget it. And I positively thought it was real. She was too scared of me to talk, but she couldn't keep it back. Came from her heart. Tell me, tell me, tell me. I'm not asking you what verses you can talk, how many chapters you know. I'm asking you this. Do you personally, experimentally know Christ? Don't you see this crowd quoting the chapters? They don't know the Christ. In fact, they're talking against him. My, their very thought displays their ignorance of the person. That will do for the platter on the beam. Verse 43, so there was a division among the people because of him. Oh, I think that's a beautiful phrase. I think that any preacher could pitch all night on that. There was a division because of him. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ caused a division. There's a lot of talk now about unity, you know, about getting them all together, no matter what they believe. Well, I'll tell you this, that the Blessed Master causes division. Have a look at this verse. Have a look at Luke's Gospel, chapter 12. It's a wonderful one, and you shouldn't forget it in the days in which we're living. Luke's Gospel, chapter 12, and we're away down there at verse 50, and he's speaking to the clouds, and he's talking about Calvary. He says, but I have a baptism to be baptized this. And that's one of the phrases, if you beg, if I beg your pardon just for a moment for leaving the subject, that's one of the phrases that proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that sprinkling can't be substituted for immersion. Because when I asked a man not so very long ago, when our Lord said, I have a baptism to be baptized this, what was he talking about? He said he was talking about his death on Calvary. I said, that's correct. Would you like to translate it like this? I have a sprinkling to be sprinkled with. For the man who would say that the death of the cross was a sprinkling is a fool. Why, he went down into the depths where there was no standing, and every wave and billow of God's wrath went over his head. He was immersed. There's no sprinkling about that, and that's one of the phrases in the book that you couldn't substitute sprinkling for the word baptism. My dear friend, you couldn't. But I want to get on. He said, I have a baptism to be baptized with. How am I straight until it be accomplished? Suppose, ye, that I am come to give peace on earth. I tell you, nay, but rather division. Why, I tell you, we need to sit up and take notice of this. You know, friends, we need to get the hold of this, that the whole way through the Lord Jesus is a divider of the crown. And He is, you know. Why, He'll bring division into homes. Why, there can be four or five in the house, and you know, maybe only one of them knows personally and experimentally the Lord Jesus as their own impersonal Savior, and at that blessed moment they become, they become a child of light, child of light. But you know, friends, the others are in darkness, and light heart knows fellowship with darkness. And you know, when God is talking to His own children, He's telling them all the time to come out and touch not the unclean thing, and be ye hapless. Some people try to teach me, you know, that they can disobey God's Word and say unquestionable things to do good. They have never learned yet that Christ is the divider. So, He makes divisions. I know He does. And you know, when He comes to the air, He divides. He'll take us out, aye, and He'll leave the darkness behind, and He'll make divisions in the graveyards, for those that are Christ's will rise first. And when He comes to deal with the nations, He'll divide the sheep from the goats, and that's how great He was then between the man who repented and the man who died in darkness. And you'll find that Christ always makes a division. Tell me, have you made a division in your life from the day that you met Him, where there are lots of things and places and peoples that you had to get away from, and be separated from, and touch no longer the thing that was clean? Had you to come out and be separate? Well, He makes that division, you know. And here it is again, you see, why there was a division among the people because of Him. You see, even on this occasion, in John 7, while I believe the common people, the people who saw the messenger, and the people who saw the Messiah, and the people who saw only the make-believe, I don't believe that any of them truly accepted Him, yet there was a division. But there's one thing that I think that I need to put over as we get there, and it's this. Remember the people who saw the messenger, and the people who saw the Messiah, and the people who saw only His make-believe. They were all at the last in the one trounce. My dear friend, isn't it awful that you, with all your knowledge, you're still in a company that's in darkness and going down to destruction. There was a division among the people because of Him. And then, verse 44 is a wonderful one, And some of them would have taken Him, but no man laid hands on Him. You know, I think this is a great encouragement to all the children of God. You know, I'm one of those old-fashioned believers. I believe that I'm preserved in Christ. I believe that round about and underneath are the everlasting arms. I'm sure of that. I'm positively sure, like one of old, that I'm immortal until my work is ended. I know that I'm launching out on something that all the believers don't believe. I think that some of them are too scared to believe, but I'm positively sure of this. I'm like Job. I'm hemmed round with a hedge, just like as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so is the Lord round about. So God allows it. And you know, if you could have only seen the surge in that crowd, my son would have taken Him, just like a boot on the feet, but he was being held back to his ankle. No man laid hands on Him, just the same. His hour was not yet come. And when Pilate looked into his face and said, Knowest thou not that I have power to release thee, or power to hand thee over? He looked back and said, Thou hast no power over me, except it be given thee from above. Oh, I wish we children of God could get the hold of this. I wish we believed that God would preserve our going out, and our coming in, from this time forth, and even for evermore. You know, old John G. Paton believed this, and proved it, when he went to the West Indies, and landed on the beach. You know, as he stood alone missionary, why, he could see men creeping out of the forest. And he knew that these cannibals had come to gaze upon him. And they got along the beach about two hundred yards away. He could see the spears glancing in the sand. He could see them with knives in their hands, and knives between their teeth. And then, with one martening cry, they come in across him, screaming, coming to take his life. And they quietly stood there. And when they came within twenty yards, the whole martening press rushed forth. And old Paton just looked, and waited, and prayed, and trusted God. Then he saw one lance, and one knife after another, fall on the sand. And he knew that God was between him and the enemy. Oh, I believe we need to learn this little. I think a half of you don't believe it. Surely God is nearer than the enemy. Surely He is. Do you remember when the little lard came in to Elisha, and said, Taras, master, what shall we do? The enemy was coming up the mound to surround them. Do you remember what the prophet prayed? The prophet looked up and said, Lord, open his eyes. I believe we would need to pray that for some of you. Oh, that God would open your eyes. And when the little fellow's eyes were opened, why, the harsh men of heaven and the chariots of God were nearer than the enemy. God is round about you. Oh, I tell you, here they were, longing to take him. The urge was in their hearts, but the anger was anchored in this occasion. Verse 45, Then came the officers to the chief priests and pharisees. You remember up the chapter a little bit last week, in verse 32, the pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him, and the pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. You see, the council, the Sanhedrin, had met, and now they send these officers. These were just the soldiers of the temple. They guarded the temple. And at the command of the pharisees, they went to take the chief. And then they came to the pharisees, and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man speak like this man. What a wonderful testimony that is. You know, I believe this, that as these officers came to the edge of the couch, and the master was teaching yonder in the courts of the temple, and as he said so many wonderful things so often, my, those very hearts were thrilled. They'd never heard anything like this before. Did you know they went away saying, Never man speak like this man. And that's a perfect testimony to our death at Lord's witching. You know, friends, I'll tell you a secret. You see, this was the word of the Lord that they were listening to. And you know, there's nothing like it in this world. You see, this Bible chapter, you see, it's filled up fully. Do you know what we're all here for? To see and hear and listen the word of the Lord. That's what I built it up on, you know. Not on films. Oh no, you can't keep them going for seven years. Not on foolish choruses. No, no, no, no, they might fill some silly hook for a minute or two. This Bible chapter is built on the word of the Lord. It gets the preeminent place. We came on God's word. And I'll tell you this, there's nothing like it. It abides forever. My, there's nothing like the word of the Lord. Nothing like it. Never man speak like this man. I thought down on one occasion, and I tried to see how often I could alter this beautiful phrase and still keep it scriptural. And I think if I remember rightly, that I was able to alter it 24 times. You see, I believe you could say that phrase like this, never man loved like this man. I'm perfectly sure that that's scriptural. Never man loved like this man. You know, I was sitting away out the road today in the car praying, and I really looked up and said, Lord, why did you ever love a thing like me? I'm telling you this, I can't understand why the Lord loved a thing like me. I can't, I can't honestly. And then I went further. I said, Lord, why did you so love a thing like me as to give yourself as a sacrifice and Calvary? Why? Why did he? But whether I understand it or not, I have simple faith that I believe he loved me. I believe he loved me so that he gave himself for me, I do. I'm perfectly sure of that. And I know that never man loved like this man, I do. And I think I could alter the phrase again, and I could say this, never man lived like this man is not true. You see, he was down here in this very world of ours for thirty-three and a half years, and he was watched along every pathway, every step he took was dogged, every word he spoke was weighed by the Pharisees and the Sadducees were weighing every single phrase. And he could look at the whole crowd at the end of his life and say, which of you convinces me of sin? He did, no sin. He never had to say, I beg your pardon, once. He never had to retreat a step. He never had an evil thought. He never said a wrong word. He never went out of the pathway of the will of God by one iota. Thirty-three and a half years without one single solitary stain. Never man lived like this man. Couldn't I alter it again? Never man died? Oh, I tell you, I may dare to preach on the death of Christ, but I shall never fathom it. You know, sometimes I gazed at his face when the soldiers punched it, for they buffeted him, and the word in the Greek means that they smoothed him with a clothed fist. I believe his eyes were puffed, that his cheeks were blue and black. They smoothed him with a rod, and there was the mark upon his cheek. They crushed the thorn into his lovely brow, and the long eastern thorn pierced into the flesh from the blood and the sweat drawn down. His hair was mottled as he hung on the cross. His back was furrowed with a lash, ripped to intercourse and crushed against the wood. His bones were pulled out of joint, his hands were pierced, his tongue cleaved to his jaws as he hung on the eastern sun. Never man died like this man. I haven't even touched it yet. That's only physical. You know, friends, with his face battered, and his bones pulled out of joint, and his back furrowed, hanging yonder on the deep dark depths of Calvary, he bare my sins and his own body to the tree. Friends, friends, every scarlet thing that could be registered against me, sins that would make me blush if they were on the wall tonight, I should have to leave the meeting. He bore them. And when yon dread hour, God saw him as the substitute of a poor sinner like me, and I can go further. Never man rose like this man. You see, others had risen from the dead before him. Oh yes, Lazarus came out of the tomb, and Cyrus' daughter was brought back from the dead, and the widow's son was brought up, and they all died again. But when he came out, he came out in his own power, and by his own power, and tonight, blessed God, he's alive in the power of an endless life. Death is abolished. He's the victim. Never man rose like this man. When you can go on, you'll never end it. There's a text for you, if you're looking for sermons, there's no end to this one, I don't know where you would end it. Never man lived, never man died, never man rose, never man loved, never man saved, never man gave, never man... And you can go on, and on, and on, and on, I've got twenty-four of them, wonderful testimony. But watch again, I want to get to this bit. You see, the moment that they gave this testimony, never man spake like this man, then answered them the Pharisees. I want you to watch this little bit of word here, Are ye also deceived? You know, that's pernicious. You know, I want you to get the hold of this. You know, the land is full of so-called leaders tonight. Leaders, supposed to be leaders. And you know, when a young fellow or a young girl is beginning to get light from God, my, they're so pernicious that they call them right deception. And mind you, that's from hell. Oh, I know what I'm talking about, I could tell you a whole lot of stories about it now. There's a wee man in the meeting, you know, when he told the minister he got saved, the minister laughed. You say, that's something you hear at the street corner. That's not in the book. That's not in the book, saved's not in the book. God petty his blinded mind. But here are the leaders, and when these soldiers are beginning to get light, never mind people like this man, they call right deception. And they're not all dead yet, these Pharisees. Watch again. This is the perniciousness of the Pharisees. Just skip the next verse for a moment. Verse forty-nine we're at now. But this people, we're talking about the common people now, who knoweth not the law, are cursed. Do you see what they're doing? You see, they call right deception, and they call blessing. You folks that are talking about the messenger, and you folks that are talking about the Messiah, you're cursed. That's what the leader said, so that light becomes deception with them, and blessing becomes curse with them. My, they're very clever fellows, aren't they? You can see how dark and desperate and doomed and half damned they are. And there's a whole crowd in the country like that. Just the very same. Here's the bit that's in between. Verse forty, it's forty-eight. They're looking up the people, and they're saying, have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? You know, that's high in my day, isn't it? So you know, you fellows are talking about this being the Christ, and that never man speak like this man. Have any of the rulers of the Pharisees? My, they were the whole cheese of the day, so they thought. And no crowd in Jerusalem, remember this, were so dark and blinded and half damned as this crowd who are setting themselves up as the example. Don't you forget that. Don't you forget that that happened in the master's day, and it will be repeated today, and is being repeated. Some of these half-damned old ministers with collars round their necks, they'll take their stands, and we're the whole cheese. And if we don't believe in New Testament birth, and if we don't believe in redemption by blood, then it's all verona. My dear friends, it happened when Jesus was here. Happened when he was here. But where do you see what's going to fall on the top of them just now? You know, they're talking here about the people not knowing the law. They're crutched. And they're talking about the rulers of the Pharisees not believing. Then into the picture steps Nicodemus. Nicodemus sat onto them, and remember this, when we first met him in this book, he is a ruler of the Jews. He came onto Jesus by night, a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, a master in Israel. And he was in the council this day when the officers came back, sitting in the council. And he's listening very carefully. And he's listening to these men saying, the people don't know the law. And he's listening to these men saying, have any of our rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in him? Now he's being put up against enough. And to his credit, he stood up like a man. He was a lone ranger, but he stood up. Watch what he said. Nicodemus saith unto them, he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them, he was one of the council, doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what it doeth? Do you know, he's beginning to tell these fellows who are talking that they don't know the law either. Far as I said, the common people don't know the law. He's just pointing out, you fellows don't know it either. Wasn't that lovely coming in behind us? And then he's just letting them see that one of the rulers or one of the Pharisees has had a connection with this man. He's standing up for them. You know, you'll find that Nicodemus has mentioned three times in this book, in John three, and in John seven, and in John nineteen, when they've taken the body down from the cross, they said, Nicodemus, my, he brought those wonderful ointments, and he very tenderly took his body down. And mind you, I'll tell you, they said, took a man to stand and take the body down after this crowd had crucified him. To identify yourself with a body, with asking for trouble. And I believe that Dr. Pink was right when he said this. When Nicodemus appears in John, he's in the midnight. In John seven, he's coming into the twilight. But in John nineteen, he's in the daylight. Out in the open for the Savior. Where are you? Wonder do you let the Pharisees ridicule? Do you take your stand for the Lord? I'll tell you, you'll not get all the pots on the bus you think you'll get if you do. Man, I've rubbed it into the old half-damned modernists who are no better than the old evil Pharisees. And I get what for, you know. But as long as I have breath, I'll do it. Man, I will. Stand out in the daylight for your Savior. Don't be afraid to come out into the open. I believe this, that we are just going into an era where the church of Jesus Christ is going to go through the most perilous times she's ever seen. And I tell you, it will bring you out into the open or it will put you back into the night. Or be ready to stand out in the open for your Lord. I think it was lovely just how Nicodemus, I think it was noble of him, and I called it the nobility of Nicodemus. Then, of course, these pernicious Pharisees answered back. They answered and said unto him, Ask thou also of Galilee. Search and look, for out of Galilee arises no prophet. Were they right in that? They were not. You see, it doesn't take you to be afraid of these people who shout like this. You know, when they just came out into the open and said, Out of Galilee arises no prophet. My, they didn't know the book at all. If you go back sometime and learn where Jonah the prophet came from, you'll find he came from Galilee. Oh, there was a prophet that came from Galilee, and nearly all the scholars are persuaded that Nahum came from Capernaum, because Capernaum simply means the city of Nahum, the prophet. My dear friends, there were more than one prophet came from Galilee, but the great leaders didn't know it, you know. They didn't know it. My, there are some people, they'll take a stand, you know, and when you begin to open the books and you begin to show them the truth of God's word, my, you would shake the life out of them. Don't be afraid of them. They don't know the truth. That's why they're in the dark. They don't know that's the prophet. But it was all pernicious. And then the chapter closes with this wonderful Dutch, and every man went unto his own house. This was how the feast broke up at the end of the day. Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. You know, I think that that's very touching, that the foxes it holds, and the birds of the air it nets, yet the blessed Son of God had nowhere to lay his head. Brethren and sisters, I want you to just see something of what it cost the blessed Lord Jesus to go to Calvary to be a Savior. I want you to get that. I want you to know this, first of all, that to be your Savior, he had to become a man, had to be born just like you were born, born of a woman. And to be your Savior, he had to become the man of poverty. The birds had nested, and the foxes had held, but he had nowhere he became for. And he had not only to become a man, and a man of poverty, but he had to become a man of sorrow. I am acquainted with this. But before he could take your hand and bring you to heaven, let me get this over to you. He had to become a man of Calvary. But let us never forget that. Oh, when we see him becoming a man, when we see him having no home, homeless, the stranger of Calvary, when we see him the man of sorrow, when we see him the man of Calvary, I want you to see him being taken down from the cross and dead. My dear, never you forget that. He died for you. And you go out from this place to take your stand for the man who died for you. I will not sing any more this evening. Just let us bow before the Lord. Let us take one's ex away with us tonight. Never man speak like this man when he cried on the cross, finished. Never man speak like that before, and they never have to speak like that again. It is finished. And when he looked into your eyes and said, come unto me and I will give you rest. Never man speak like this man. And when he said to you that day, thy faith hath saved thee. Never man speak like this man. And one of these days he'll come to the air and he'll shout, and we'll rise to meet him. And we'll know never man speak like this man. And when we're all before the throne, he'll speak to his father and say, behold I am the children which thou hast given me, I'm not one will be lost. Never man speak like this man. Lord we bow before thee. We're still learning just these nights what it cost thee the Holy One to bear away our sin. Lord we want to go out from this place wherever thou didst lead us, O that we might take our stand for thee, that we might be outlawed not in the twilight but in the daylight. Children of the day, shining for the glory of thy name. And O God if there are some here tonight and they know that you are the messenger, and that you are the Messiah, and that you are the Redeemer, and that you are the Savior, O Lord we pray that they'll not die with this knowledge in their heads and go to hell with the weight of heaven in their heads, but they'll come like the little girl came, and trust thee as their own and personal Savior. Taught us now in thy fear and with thy blessing, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.