What Jesus Said About Baptism

WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT BAPTISM

Matthew 28:18-20

My granddaughter and I went to the Caverns of Sonora last week and had a wonderful time…but on the way home I made a wrong turn and soon we realized that we were going the wrong way…we were lost.

• So, realizing we were going the wrong way, we immediately pulled over, pulled out the map, hooked up the GPS, and found out where we were and where we needed to go.

Now, I believe that is what people need to do when it comes to their eternal salvation…perhaps even some here this morning.

• People need to pull out the map and hook up the GPS (Bible) and find out first of all where they are!
• I am convinced that most people have no idea if they are lost or not…and a lot of people are simply going by what someone has told them.
• Listen, we are talking about an eternity of either heaven or hell…and there is nothing more important than that…and people need to find out where they are according to what God says…not according to what some people say!
• Because God tells us in 2 Peter 2:1-3 “that there will be false teachers among you” and some of those false teachers will tell you things that are not true.
• And they will be very convincing…and they will entertain you and make it fun…and tell you what you want to hear.
• But remember, even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
• For the sake of eternal salvation pull out the map, hook up the GPS, find out where you are and what you need to do to be saved…and then do it.

Now, this morning, I want to look at something that a lot of people who claim to be saved…or who claim to be disciple’s of Christ have never done even though the Lord Himself commands it for salvation. Look again at the passage that was read: Matthew 28:18-20.

• Now, when you come to what Jesus says here, He has been crucified which means that He and the “thief on the cross” have both died.
• A lot of people today want to look at the “thief on the cross” and say that Jesus saved Him and therefore you can be saved by simply “calling on the name of Jesus.”
• Well, it is true that while Jesus was here on this earth He had authority to save anyone He wanted to.
• But, when He ascended into heaven to the right hand of God, He did not pass that authority along to His disciples…instead He gives them some instructions…some commands…some orders that He wants carried out while He is gone…and here in Matthew 28:18-20 you find those instructions. Look what Jesus says:

18        And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19   “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20        teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

These are the final “marching orders”….the final instructions of Christ to the church while He was still here on earth.

• These are the last words that He spoke!
• And the thing I want you to notice in these verses are the 4 commands given.
• Jesus says, “Go”…”make disciples”…”baptizing”….and “teach.”

Now, every religious group that considers Christ to be Lord obeys 3 of these 4 commands.

• They “go”…they strive “to make disciples”…and they “teach!”

But, why is it that they leave baptism out?

• Jesus says here that the way you make a disciple is “you baptize them and you teach them.”
• When it comes to making disciples, Jesus is saying that baptism is indispensable.
• If one wants to be a follower of Jesus, you can’t leave it out!
• Why is it that many religious groups obey and practice the other commands and leave baptism out?

MARK 16:15-16       And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16        “He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

Notice in this passage what baptism is associated with?

• It is associated with belief…or faith….and salvation.
• Belief is expressed in the act of baptism.
• If you believe…if you believe that Jesus is Lord…if you believe in His life and His death…if you believe in your sins and your condemnation from those sins…if you believe that He can save you and He can save you…you are going to be baptized…and you will be saved.
• But if you don’t believe…no baptism…only condemnation.

Faith and baptism go hand in hand.

• There are two choices in the NT.
• One choice is to believe and be baptized.
• The other choice is not believe and not be baptized.
• One leads to salvation…the other to condemnation.

JOHN 3:3-7   Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”4          Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”5          Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.6          “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7          “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

 

Notice there in verse 7 that Jesus says, “You must be born again.”

• It’s not optional.
• It’s not “I’ll try to get around to it when I can.”
• It’s not, “If you want too.”

If you desire to enter into the kingdom of heaven and spend an eternity with God, you must be born again of “water and the spirit.”

• It is absolutely necessary.
• This is Jesus Himself saying this.

Now, a lot of people want to take this passage and say that the “water here is not talking about baptism.”

• You can go back and study the early church fathers….all the way up to and including Martin Luther…and every one of them agreed that this was talking about “baptism.”
• Only when John Calvin came on the scene did anyone deny that this was talking about water immersion.

Jesus Himself is saying, “You will not enter into the kingdom of God unless you are born of water…and the Spirit.”

• Baptism is absolutely necessary.

One more passage for this morning….there are others that I want to consider but I will do them another day….turn to ACTS 2:38

Peter had been preaching about Jesus and telling the people that when they crucified Him they crucified the Messiah…and the people cry out, “What shall we do? And Peter says:

 38        “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 

Now notice how Peter said, “Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins.”?

• I mentioned at the beginning that one of the major ideas found today in religious circles…in fact it is the predominant view today…that baptism is not necessary for the forgiveness of sin…
• Instead people teach that you experience the forgiveness of your sins first, and then you can be baptized as a public manifestation of your forgiveness…but baptism isn’t necessary…it is something you can do only if you want too.
• And what they say is, the meaning here is not, “be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins”….rather it is “because of the forgiveness of your sins.”

Well let me share with you three thoughts concerning this passage.

• The Greek word here for the word “for” is the Greek word “eis.”
• “Eis” is never translated “because.”
• The word “because” in the Greek is the word “epi.”
• This Greek word here translated “for” means “into…toward…pointing too…with a view toward…for the purpose of.”

Turn with me to Matt. 26 and look at verse 27.

Jesus is instituting the Lord’s Supper and he gives his disciples the cup and in verse 27 he says:

 “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

 Where Jesus says, “FOR the forgiveness of sins”…that is the exact same word used in Acts 2:38 when Peter says, “FOR the forgiveness of sins.”

• Those who change “FOR” to “because” in Acts 2…do not change the word here.
• And the reason is, nobody in the religious world says that, “before Jesus died on the cross…there was forgiveness of sins.”
• It took the blood of Christ to forgive.
• And yet the same Greek word is used in both places and they want to change the one in Acts 2:38.
• You have to twist the passage to make it say what they want it to say.

Another thing I want you to think about here.

• If this word here in Acts 2:38 were translated “because” of the forgiveness of your sins”…when did they repent…and when did that forgiveness take place?
• You see, in the verses just before this, Peter tells these people that they have crucified the Messiah.
• The have committed a horrible sin!
• And immediately they say, “What shall we do?”
• It makes absolutely no sense for Peter to tell them to “repent and be baptized “because” of the forgiveness of their sins.”
• If their sins have already been forgiven…there is no need for him to tell them this.
• And besides, when were they forgiven?

Another thought….

• It says, “Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.”
• Or “repent and be baptized” in order to be saved.
• No one in the religious world says that you don’t have to “repent.”
• And yet they say, “You don’t have to be baptized!”
• Isn’t that strange.
• You have to twist this passage to keep it from saying what it says.

This passage says what it says.

It says, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

No one is saved…no one comes into the presence of God…no one enters into the kingdom of heaven still bearing their sins.

• It can’t be done.
• Isaiah 59:2 tells us that our sins “separate us from God…and it causes Him to hide his face from you.”
• 2:1-3 tells us that our sins and trespasses, “make us dead”…separated from God.
• You cannot go to heaven still carrying the shame, guilt and responsibility of your sins.
• The only way you can go to heaven is to have your sins forgiven…and that forgiveness takes place at baptism.
• The blood of Christ is what forgives…it is what atones for them.
• Baptism is the when.

Now let me close with this.

Someone might say, “Well, what’s the big deal.” “What difference does it make?”

• “Why are you so emphatic about this?”

I will tell you. Didn’t Jesus say, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”?

• People every day…by the thousands….are being convinced that they are saved….without baptism.
• That they are saved by simply “calling on the name of Jesus” and asking Jesus to come into their heart to save them.
• First of all, that is less scriptural than baptism will ever be…and yet people believe that.

But the reason I am so concerned about this…and the reason you should be so concerned about this…is because people by the thousands and thousands…are believing they are saved…when in reality….they are not.

• And some of them are not just people….they are our sons…and daughters…and moms and dads.
• What a horrible deception!

And what adds to the tragedy of this is…some of us who have been baptized for the remission of our sins….are almost indifferent to this horrible teaching…

• And the fact of the matter is…we often endorse it by acknowledging those who practice it and who teach it as “brothers and sisters in Christ”.

 What this dangerous doctrine should do is it should break our hearts and motivate us to oppose it like we would any other false teaching that leads people astray.

What about you this morning?

Were you “baptized for the forgiveness of your sins?”  Or were you forgiven separate and apart from baptism.

Were you saved when you were baptized? Or were you saved….even without baptism?

Think about how and when you were saved?

If it wasn’t in accordance with what the Bible says…it may be that you were never saved at all.

Please, give it some serious, prayerful thought.

Don’t take a chance with this.

We are talking about an eternity in heaven or an eternity in hell.

Don’t you want to make sure you have it right?

Right according to what Jesus says:

“He who has believed and has been baptized, shall be saved.”

If you want to study about this more…please come see me.

If you want to just get it right this morning…we are here to assist you.

If you want to give your life to Christ…and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins…what ever your need is….

 

 

 

 

Dead And Alive

DEAD AND ALIVE

Matthew 28:1-10

We have been studying Matthew for a long time and now we come to the end…and that is “Good News.”

• Now, I don’t mean that it is “Good News” that we are finally about to finish our study of Matthew….hopefully our study has been a beneficial one.
• The end of Matthew is “Good News” because here in these verses Matthew speaks of an “Empty Tomb.”
• It is because of the empty tomb that we have hope.
• It is the empty tomb that reassures us that Jesus was who He claimed to be…that Jesus truly was the Son of God.
• It is the empty tomb that confirms to us that our faith is not in vain.
• It is the empty tomb that reassures us that one day our Lord will come again and judge this world….and when He does those of us who have been and are faithful to Him will be raised to put on a glorious body suitable for heaven itself.
• If the tomb is not empty…then we of all people are to be pitied the most.

Now, as we go through this passage it seems that Matthew really wants to make the point that when Jesus died on the cross…He was really dead.

• And there is a reason for that.
• If Jesus did not actually die then He is a liar and we are fools…and all that we believe is false…and our faith has no foundation to stand on.

So Matthew seems to make every effort to point out that Jesus was really dead.

• He doesn’t want any of those rumors started about Jesus swooning…or passing out on the cross….and them taking Him down….and then Him reviving in the coolness of the tomb.
• Matthew doesn’t want any of that. Matthew wants every one to know that Jesus was dead.
• So look at what he says. Look at Matt 27:57-58.

57 And when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. 58 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given over to him.

Now, what you need to know is that back then, the death of a condemned man on the cross did not mark the end of his humiliation.

• You see, Rome wanted to make the point that “you had better not cross them or the consequences will be humiliating, not just at death but afterwards as well.”
• So what Rome would do is they would deny a crucified man the dignity of a proper burial.
• Instead, they would throw his body on the trash heap to rot where everyone could see it.
• And the public would get the message that you had better not mess with Rome.

The only way you could give a crucified man a proper burial is if you had permission from the Roman magistrate in charge of the area.

• And not very many people were willing to go and ask.

But in Jesus’ situation some one did.

• A man named Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus.
• And the verse says that Joseph “had also become a disciple of Jesus.”

But there is something else I want you to know about this man…it is found in the gospel of Mark in chapter 15:43.

• Mark says that Joseph of Arimathea was a “prominent member” of the very council that condemned Jesus.
• Now, if Jesus were not really dead…would this “prominent member of the council” not say so?
• Matthew and Mark are both telling us that Jesus was really dead.

And if you look at Mark 15:44 when  Joseph makes his request for the body of Jesus and Pilate is surprised that the body is already dead.

• And so in verse 44 he asks a centurion if that was possible.

Now, this is the same centurion that Matthew spoke of back up in verse 54.

• This man was trained in the art of execution…it was his job.
• He knows how to kill men…and he knows when men are dead.
• And notice his words back up in verse 54.
• “Truly this man was the Son of God”.
• He “was” but not any more! Why?
• Because he is dead!
• The cross had succeeded!
• Matthew is telling us that Jesus was really dead!

So in vs. 57 and 58 Joseph of Arimathea asks for the body of Jesus…and Pilate orders that the body be given to him.

• This Roman governor is not going to do that unless this body is really dead.

But now Matthew is not through.  To make sure that everyone knows that Jesus was really dead he tells us about the actions of Joseph in verse 59.

• They take Jesus’ body down from the cross and they wrap it in linens…and lay it in the tomb.
• Now, to do that is going to take some rolling, some moving.
• And in the process, any movement….any twitch….the slightest flinch….the faintest breath…any thing that might indicate that Jesus was still alive and Joseph would not have left Him in that tomb and all wrapped up in those linens.
• Joseph’s actions show that Jesus was dead and that they had no expectations of any kind of any resurrection.
• In fact, Joseph, certain that Jesus was dead, had a large stone rolled against the entrance of the tomb.
• Matthew is stressing to us that Jesus was dead!

Did you hear me? He was dead!

• Now don’t let that slip by you so fast that you miss the magnitude of that.
• The next time you deal with death.
• The next time you lay a loved one to rest.
• The next time you are at the funeral home going through the pain of death.
• You keep in mind that God Himself knows what you are going through because he has been there, not just as a mourner, but as a corpse.
• There is no dimension of our humanity that God has not tasted,
• None! The body was dead and the body was God’s.

But Matthew is not through. Look at chapter 26:62.

62 Now on the next day, which is the one after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ 64 “Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day, lest the disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.

• Now, a “guard” could exist of anywhere from 6-60 men.
• So no one is going to steal Jesus’ body.
• And they “set a seal on the stone”…they may have crossed that stone with some straps and put a wax seal where the two straps crossed…and then they would imprint that wax with the governors seal…and to violate that seal was punishable by death.
• These Jewish leaders…and the Roman governor was intent on Jesus’ body staying in that tomb.

Now, look at Matthew 28 starting in vs. 1: Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

• Are these ladies convinced that Jesus was dead?
• If not, why did they come to a grave?

Now, look at vs. 2: And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his garment as white as snow; 4 and the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5 And the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 “And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead;

• These ladies were looking for and expected to find a dead body in that tomb!
• And when it is not there, they are “afraid…startled…amazed.”

 What happened to the body?

• Did they make a mistake and go to the wrong tomb?
• No, because back up in verse 61 of chapter 27 they watched where His body was laid.
• They knew exactly what tomb He was in.

Did the disciples steal the body?

• If they did why would they go around afterward subjecting themselves to harsh treatment and death all for a lie?
• And besides, how could they get the body with all these Roman guards there?

Did the enemies of Jesus steal the body?

• If they did, then when the disciples started preaching that their Lord had been raised from the dead….why didn’t they present the body and prove them to be liars?

What happened to the body?

Listen, God did not roll that stone out of the way to let Jesus out.

• He rolled it out of the way to let us in!
• He let us in so that we each have to answer that same question….where is the body?

Well there is no need to wonder. The only thing to wonder about is, “Will you hear the word of God on the matter?”  Look at verse 6 again.

• The angel of the Lord says, “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.”
• What is symbolized by the stone is verbalized by the angel!
• Matthew wants us to know that Jesus was dead…and now He is alive!

But Matthew isn’t through!  Look at verse 8 at the reaction of the ladies.

“And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.

• Can you blame them?
• This would scare you to death!
• Knowing that someone was dead…and then being told that He is now alive…you would walk away wondering what in the world is going on!

So the ladies go to report to the disciples…and look at what happens in vs. 9: And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me.” 

• The angel had told them that He had risen…now they get hands on proof.

Vs. 11 Now while they were on their way, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and counseled together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ 14 “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” 15 And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.

• You have to really respect these Jewish leaders because they maintained their integrity or should I say, their lack of integrity, all the way through!
• Wow, just how stubborn, how blind, how arrogant can you be…after all that took place at the crucifixion…the darkness from the 6^th hour to the 9^th….the tearing of the veil in the temple from top to bottom…the earth shaking and the rocks splitting…and the tombs opening up and the bodies of many of the saints being raised up…
• And then you have a severe earthquake and an angel descending from heaven and rolling the stone away…and the guards see him and they shake with fear…and that tomb is empty…
• All these things take place and still these Jewish leaders refuse to believe!

And with this account, God, through Matthew, has given indisputable proof that still exists today that Jesus was all that He claimed to be…that He is the Son of God….that someday our Lord will return and judge this world…He has given us the empty tomb!

• And the thing that we each must do is decide…will we listen to the proof and be faithful disciples of Christ…or will we stubbornly deny the proof and harden ourselves just like these Jewish leaders?

Is it all a lie? Or is it the truth? If it is the truth…and Matthew says it is…God says it is….and the empty tomb says it is….then I hope that you are courageous enough to do that which the truth demands. Look at vs. 16:

But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. ” 

All through the gospel of Matthew, Matthew has been calling us to discipleship…not just people who have been baptized…He has called us to die to ourselves….and take up the cross and follow after Him.

• Why? Why should I die for Him?
• How do I know that if I lose my life that I will save it?
• Well, the answer is, HE did. He gave His life to God…and now He lives.

Cross Words

CROSS WORDS

 Matthew 27:11-56

This morning, in this chapter we come to that which Matthew has been leading us to for some time.

• You see, back in Matthew 16:21, Jesus tells His disciples for the first time in the gospel of Matthew that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.
• And today, we finally get to what Matthew has been leading us too.

This morning, as we go through this passage, we are not going to examine every detail.

• Instead, we are going to consider some of the words that were spoken…some of the statements made that I think sum up the story of Christ crucified.
• The first is found in verse 11.

When you get to verse 11 the Jews have brought Jesus to the Roman governor, Pilate.

• But when they bring Him to Pilate, they don’t accuse him of blasphemy before Pilate.
• They know that Pilate could care less if someone had blasphemed the God of the Jews.
• So they don’t bring Him to Pilate accused of blasphemy….they bring Him accused of high treason….as being KING of the Jews.

And that is the irony here.

• They charge Him before Pilate with being exactly what they wanted Him to be.
• They wanted a Christ who would be their king…who would liberate them and drive the Romans from the land.
• But when Jesus wasn’t that kind of a Messiah they haul him before Pilate and accuse him of being that way.
• And these Jews, the chief priests, and the members of the council, and the scribes slowly push Pilate toward a verdict.

But notice what Pilate knows about this situation in verse 18.

• It says that he “knew that because of envy they had delivered Him up.”
• These chief priests, and scribes and leaders of the Jews were envious of Jesus.
• They were envious of his influence, and the following He had among the people.
• The way He taught…and spoke.

And Pilate knew that.

• He knew what motivated these people to bring Jesus to him.
• He knew that loyalty to Caesar was not what motivated them.
• He knew after questioning Jesus that Jesus was no threat to his job.
• Them bringing Jesus to him under the pretense of Jesus committing “high treason” was a hoax.
• And Pilate knew that.
• They brought Jesus because they were jealous of Him.

Pilate just didn’t realize HOW jealous they were!

• Their jealousy had gone so far that when they had the opportunity to see a real insurrectionist punished….I mean after all that is what they falsely accused Jesus of.
• When they had opportunity to see a notorious murderer by the name of Barabbas punished.
• When they had opportunity to choose between Jesus and a notorious criminal…their jealousy of Jesus had gone so far….that they chose Barabbas over Him.

You see, Pilate didn’t realize how much people desire power and influence.

• Some people want power and influence so bad that they will kill in order to get it.

Now look at vs. 23-24: And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!” 24 And when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.”

• Pilate knows what the right thing to do is.
• But he also knows that Rome did not send him to Jerusalem to do justice.
• They sent him to keep order.
• And Rome is far more concerned about a riot than they are about some Jewish preacher.
• And so he makes his decision…and in vs. 26 he has Jesus scourged…and delivers Him to be crucified.

And so what Matthew has done is he has shown us that Jesus is led to his death, not just by the Jews…but also by the Romans.

• Not just by the Jews…but by the Gentiles.
• You see, all men are responsible for the cross of Jesus.

Why? What crimes was Jesus guilty of?

• Well, the answer is, Jesus was not crucified because He was guilty.
• He was crucified because we were.

Notice verses 27-32. What happens to Jesus in these verses is brutal.

• You see, for the Roman soldier, to be sent to Palestine was the worst of all possible assignments.
• If you were a Roman soldier you were absolutely despised in Palestine.
• You were hated.
• You were hated so much that some of the Jewish zealots and patriots would kill you given the chance.
• So if you were a Roman soldier you looked for any chance you could find to vent your hatred for these Jews.
• And when Pilate turned Jesus over to these soldiers to crucify Him, these hated Roman soldiers released all their pent up hatred and bigotry on Jesus in a beating that was so savage that Jesus was physically unable to carry the cross.

And they mock Him as King…and they keep beating Him with reeds…and spitting on him.

• And they take Him out to crucify Him.
• And they drive those nails into His hands.
• And set the cross in its place.

And you would think that by now they would have all had their fill of being so cruel and inhumane toward Jesus.

• You would think that there might be a faint spark of compassion in some of them for this man who has already suffered so much and that they wouldn’t put Him through any more.
• But there isn’t.
• Because in verse 40, those passing by were “hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Ha! You who were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself and come down from the cross.”
• And in verse 42 the chief priest and scribes were ridiculing Him saying, “You saved others but you can’t save yourself..”
• “Come down from the cross Jesus and we will believe!”
• Don’t underestimate for a minute how hard it was for Jesus to bear this kind of verbal abuse.
• What they said here hurt just as much as the blows He felt earlier from the fists of the Romans.
• It was in His power to call on God and thousands of angels would rescue Him from that cross.
• But He didn’t call on that power because He had already surrendered to the will of the Father.
• You see, the nails didn’t keep Jesus on that cross….Love did.
• His love for God….and His love for you and I.
• And oh what a love it is.
• It is a love so great that Jesus takes the absolute worst ugliness that this world can dish out…and He rises above it…and dies to save the very ones who mistreat Him.

 And those men who mocked Him and said, “You saved others, but you can’t save yourself”, just didn’t realize that He could save others….and He could have saved Himself.

• He just couldn’t do both.
• If He would have come down from that cross He would have saved Himself…and we would all be lost.

And then what happens next is hard to imagine. Vs. 45 says that “about the 6^th hour darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.”

• God comes in judgment.
• But not on the people! Oh they deserved it!
• Instead, He comes in judgment on this One who is on the cross.

Jesus cries out, “Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani?”

• “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
• Jesus is finally made to drink the cup that He dreaded so much in the garden and that He pleaded with God to take away from Him.

It wasn’t so much the pain of the cross that made Him cry out.

• 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God.”
• That is what made Him cry out!
• I don’t know how to explain it…but somehow in that dark moment fellowship between the Father and the Son was broken.
• The Trinity was dismantled.
• And God’s wrath was poured out on the Son all because of our sins.

God departed from Jesus so that He would never have to depart from you.

• And Jesus said those words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”, so that you would never have to say them.

And that is why we should lift up the cross.

• And that is why we should get upset when anyone ridicules the cross or suggests that any other god is just as good…
• I am going to tell you something….no other god ever loved man so much.

Notice now verse 51. Another strange thing happens. Just as Jesus breaths His last and dies, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

• What does that mean?
• Well, in the Hebrew tabernacle that veil made separation between God and man.
• In a sense it was symbolic of sin….and how sin separates us from God.
• And when Jesus died…His death on that cross was the atoning sacrifice that removed the barrier of sin…and gave man access back into the presence of God.
• And the fact that that veil was torn from top to bottom indicated that the sacrifice was acceptable to God.

Now notice verse 54. Here in this verse a Roman soldier, standing right in front of Jesus sees Jesus breath His last, and then he says what Matthew has been telling us all along.

• “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”

He calls Him the “Son of God.”

• Prior to this, in the gospel of Matthew, the disciples call Him the “Son of God” only one time. (When Peter walked on water)
• God calls Him this twice: Once at His baptism and once on the “Mount of Transfiguration.”

No one else calls Him that until this centurion does here in verse 54.

• But I guess that is because no one is sure who Jesus really is until He gets to the cross.

This centurion expresses what this gospel has been saying all alone.

• “Truly, this man is the Son of God.”

 They thought when they killed Jesus that they would stop His message.

• Instead, they endorsed it.
• It is the cross that speaks to the heart of men.
• And when Matthew writes of the cross it is as if though he is saying, “Folks, I have written all I have written to get you to this point.
• And if what I have written here in this chapter doesn’t move you….
• If the cross doesn’t move you….then you are not going to be moved.
• If the cross doesn’t convict your heart…then there is nothing I can write from her to eternity that will make a difference.

So, have you heard the cross today?

There were three crosses that day.

• On the left was a cross and on that cross was a man who was angry at God.
• He was angry with his neighbor.
• He was filled with bitterness and hatred…and that man had sin in him and on him…
• And he will stand before God condemned.

On the right there was another man.

• That man was just as guilty as the man on the far left.
• But this man on the right looked to Jesus and threw himself toward Jesus…and his faith found grace that day.
• And that man died with sin in him…but he will not stand before God with sin on him…all because there is a cross in the middle.

Because on that cross in the middle was a man who had no sin in Him…but who had all sin ON Him.

• And every man who stands before God will be like the man on the left…or the man on the right.
• And it all depends on what you do with Jesus.

Jesus died on the cross, “forsaken by God” so that you would never have too.

• His cross is speaking to you today…will you respond to it?

Peter On Trial

PETER ON TRIAL

 Matthew 26:58, 69-75

Last week in our study of the gospel of Matthew we looked at the arrest and trial of Jesus.

• We talked about how ugly of a scene that Jesus’ arrest was.
• How the mob came out with swords and clubs as though Jesus was a robber.
• And how frightened the disciples must have been.
• And how Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss…and how the mob, recognizing Judas’ kiss as the signal that marked Jesus as the one they were after, how the mob “laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.”
• And when they did Peter whipped out his sword and swung at the face of the high priest’s slave…and when he did an ear fell off.
• And Jesus then healed the man.

And we talked about how Jesus told the mob that coming out at night with all the swords and clubs was so unnecessary because they could have arrested Him at any time during the day.

It was an ugly scene.

And then we talked about Jesus’ trial found in verses 57-68…that is if you can call it a trial.

• The whole thing was a mockery of justice.
• The court met at night which was illegal.
• They brought in false witnesses which was illegal.
• The chief priest questioned the defendant which was illegal.
• The accused was condemned by his own testimony which is illegal.
• They condemned him to die at the same time they declared him quilty…which was illegal.
• They unanimously condemned him which was illegal.

Everything they did was illegal but they weren’t worried about legalities.

• All they wanted to do was “get rid” of Jesus.

It was an ugly, ugly scene.

But I want you to notice verse 58 again.

• Here at the beginning of Jesus’ trial Mark tells us that “after the mob had seized Jesus, and led Him away to Caiphas, the high priest, where the scribes and elders were, that Peter followed at a distance into the courtyard of the high priest…and he was sitting with the officers of the court.
• Why does Matthew mention this here at the beginning of the trial?
• When you consider what Peter had just done out in the garden when he took his sword and cut off the servant’s ear…you would think that Peter would be the last one to show up in a place like this!
• Why does Matthew mention this here at the beginning of the trial?

I think Matthew puts this here because he wants us to see that during this dark hour more than one man is on trial.

• And just as we learned last week some very valuable lessons from Jesus’ trial, Matthew wants us to learn some more valuable lessons from Peter’s trial.

So let’s begin in verse 69.

Now, keep in mind just a short time before this (in vs. 31) Jesus had told the disciples that “He would be struck down and that they would all fall away or be scattered.”

• But Peter took exception with that.
• And Peter told Jesus (in vs. 31) that “everyone else…all the other disciples might fall away…but not him.”
• In fact, if he had too he would even (in vs. 34) “die with Jesus before he would deny Him.”
• Peter would fight to the end!

But look at verse 69. Peter was in the courtyard…and one of the servant girls of the high priest comes up to him and she looks at him and she says, “You too, were with Jesus the Galilean.”

• And Peter denied it.
• He says, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
• And he goes out to the gateway.

He denies Christ!

• The one who stood so strong just a short time before.
• The one who said he would die first.
• The one who took a sword and cut a man’s ear off in defense of Jesus…has just denied Christ.
• And what is interesting is, Peter isn’t toppled by a soldiers sword…he is toppled by a girl’s question!

Peter goes to the gateway…and another servant girl sees him and says to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth!”

• And again, Peter denies it…but this time he denies it with an oath: “I don’t know the man.”

And Peter doesn’t know that even as he denies Jesus that his own words betray him because of his Galilean accent. Look at the end of verse 73. They say, “Surely, you are one of them, for the way you talk gives you away.”

• What is a Galilean doing in the courtyard of the high priest in the middle of the night when another Galilean is on trial?
• He must be one of them because he is from where Jesus is from.

Notice now verse 74. Peter has got to convince these people that he is not one of those who followed Jesus so “he began to curse and swears, “I do not know the man.”

 And notice that Matthew says, “Immediately a cock crowed.”

Notice the irony. Inside, a bunch of brutes are beating Jesus while He is blindfolded, telling Him to prophesy…mocking Him as a prophet…while outside exactly what He prophesied would happened is coming true.

Look at verse 75. And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a cock crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

 Not one time during this whole episode does Peter use Jesus’ name.

• The cock crows a second time…and Peter remembers Jesus’ words…and he weeps.
• And it wasn’t the crowing of the rooster that breaks Peter’s heart.
• It is when he heard the rooster crow that he remembered the words of Jesus.
• You see, it is always the word that penetrates the heart and brings about repentance.

When Peter weeps here I believe that his tears reflect genuine sorrow.

• Let me show you why. Turn with me to Mark 16: 5-7.

And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.  6    And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, {here is} the place where they laid Him. “But go, tell His disciples and Peter….”

Make sure you tell Peter. Be sure that Peter knows that Jesus wants to see him again.

• I think the story offers hope to us who have failed or denied Jesus…and we all have.
• Many times when we consider what Peter did here in this passage, we have a tendency to be hard on Peter…to be critical of him.
• But we need to be careful in doing that.
• You see, Matthew did not put this story here so that we could question Peter and criticize him.
• Matthew recorded this story so that we would examine ourselves.

You see, the great danger in a story like this is for you to say, “It is a great story but I just can’t relate to it. It could never happen to me.”

• When you say that…then you are denying even more than Peter is.

Let me close now with just a couple of lessons that hopefully we will learn.

First of all I want you to go back to verse 74.

• Three times the people charge Peter of being a disciple.
• And to put an end to it all Peter, “curses and swears, I do not know the man.”

I want you to notice that after he curses…the people never accuse him again about being a disciple.

And the thing I think we need to understand is, if it worked for Peter…it will work for us.

• If you want people to be convinced that you are not a disciple of Christ.
• If you want them to no longer think you are His follower…then do what Peter did.
• Curse and swear.
• Curse and swear your lack of knowledge of Jesus and no one at work…or on the baseball team…or at school…or wherever will ever again ask if you are a Christian.

It will work every time.

Peter “cursed and swore” and denied Jesus and no one charged him anymore with being a disciple.

• And the question I want to ask is “what does your speech…your words…your language say about you?”
• When people hear what you say do they think, “This man is a disciple of Christ? OR do they think, “No way?”

You see, what you say says a lot about whose you are?

• And if you don’t want people to think you follow Christ…then simply curse and swear.
• It will work every time.

Lesson Number 2: Be careful about thinking to much about yourself.

•  Peter’s downfall can be contributed to his confidence in the flesh..

Do you remember earlier in the evening when Jesus was in the garden and he came back and three times he found Peter and James and John asleep?

• And three times He tells Peter that they needed to be praying!
• That they needed to be “watching and praying because “their flesh was weak.”

Jesus knew what was going to happen that night…and he knew that unless Peter prepared himself the flesh would give in and he would fall.

• If it happened to Peter it can happen to you…unless you are prepared.

Let me tell you, Satan is going to present several opportunities this week for you to confess or deny Jesus as Lord.

• It may be that he will give you opportunity to confess or deny Jesus as Lord by the way you handle someone’s “come on to you.”
• It may be that he will give you opportunity to confess or deny Jesus as Lord by tempting you to give in to some sinful sensual desire.
• It may be that he will give you opportunity to confess or deny Jesus as Lord by tempting you to tell some crude story…or make some disrespectful remark about the Church…or your brethren…or about Christ.
• It may be that he will give you opportunity to confess or deny Jesus as Lord by a temptation to make money in a way that is unethical.
• It may be that he will give you an opportunity to confess or deny Jesus as Lord by putting you in a situation where you are tempted to retaliate…or slander…or degrade.

It may be one of many possibilities…and depending on how you handle it….you will either confess or deny Jesus.

• And if you have not prepared yourself for the confrontation.
• If you have not spent time in prayer…and worship…and study of the Word…then you are not ready…and your chances of falling are much greater.

It is so important for you to be in worship each week…and each Sunday night…and each Wednesday evening.

• It is so important for you to spend time in your Bible regularly.
• It is so important for you to spend time in prayer.
• Because that kind of preparation can and will help you stand…even though the flesh is weak.
• That kind of preparation can and will keep you from falling.

And finally, we need to learn that sin is a reason for weeping.

• You know, sin doesn’t mean much to us any more does it?
• Someone commits a sin and we say, “Oh, well, that’s ok. It’s no big deal”, and we shrug if off and go on.
• Sin is so meaningless to us that we are indifferent to it…sometimes even justifying those who commit it…or make excuse for the sin or for them committing it.

Do you know what sin is? Sin is a denial of the Lordship of Jesus.

• It is saying, “Jesus, I know you are Lord but I am going to do this any way…”
• “Jesus, I know you are Lord but I don’t care…”
• Or “Jesus, you aren’t Lord…I am.”
• Any time you commit a sin that is exactly what you are saying.
• In a sense you are doing the same thing that Peter did in this story…he denied the Lordship of Jesus.
• And because he did…Peter didn’t say, “Well, that’s ok.”
• Or, “It wasn’t my fault.”
• Or, “I couldn’t help it.”
• Peter wept.

And because he did…the Lord took Peter back again.

IF all we do is excuse sin….deny sin…ignore sin…justify sin….and by doing so deny the Lordship of Christ….then their will be no sorrow…there will be no repentance…and as a result their will be no restoration back to Christ.

• For Jesus himself said, “Unless you repent…you will all likewise perish.”

Conclusion: Jesus wasn’t the only one on trial that night…Peter was too. And today each one of us in on trial. Where do you stand with Jesus? What do people say about you?

• Does what you say and what you do prove that you are a disciple of Christ…do does it cause people to say, “No way.”
• Are you prepared and are you preparing yourself to withstand the attempts of Satan to get you to deny Christ as Lord? Are you spending time in prayer, attending worship, studying His word, participating in fellowship like you should? Or do you need to repent?
• And how do you feel about sin? Do you weep over sin or do you just ignore it?

 

Arrested Development

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
Matthew 26:47-56

In the passage that was read Jesus is arrested and will be put on trial.
• And even though this trial took place over 1900 years ago, in a sense, Jesus is still put on trial today in many places by many different people.
• And many people are still willing to make a case against Jesus.

The question that we will be faced with this morning is, “What do you say about Jesus?”
• Will you defend Him to be who He claimed to be?
• Will you stand and say that He is worthy of all that those claims make Him worthy of?
• Or, when the pressure is on, will you deny who He is?

Let’s study starting in verse 47.

In verses 47-56 we read about Jesus’ arrest.
• And because we have read it so many times we don’t think too much about what took place.
• But let me tell you, this was an ugly scene.
• Keep in mind that this takes place late at night.
• And this mob doesn’t come all nice and polite, worried about Jesus’ civil rights.
• They come with swords and clubs…with anger and hatred.
• And there was probably some cursing…and threatening.
• This mob comes prepared to strike.

And you can imagine the fear and the threat that the disciples felt.
• They knew that threats had been made against Jesus’ life.
• And they also knew that, because of their close relationship to Him, they too were in danger.
• So they probably bristled some too.
• And besides, they had just before this sworn that they would “die themselves before they would deny Jesus.”
• This was a very scary scene.

And then Judas comes forward and He signals to the mob which one they were after by kissing Jesus.
• And it was not just any old ordinary kiss.
• The term used here is that of a “passionate, intense, emotional embrace.”

And when he does that verse 50 says that the mob, “laid hands on Him, and seized Him.”
• And for one of the disciples, that was the wrong thing to do.

They seize Jesus and in verse 51 and John 19:10 Peter jerks out his sword and he swings at the face of one of the high priest’s slave with every intention of ending his life.
• And an ear falls to the ground.

Had Jesus not picked it up and placed it back on the head of the man who was injured and healed him, there very likely would have been 4 crosses the next day at Calvary.
Look what Jesus says in verse 55: “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as against a robber? Every day I used to sit in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.”

This scene in the middle of the night was so unnecessary.
• They could have arrested Him at any time.
• Why are they doing it now?

Because they are afraid of the people.
• Many of the people esteemed Christ.
• They may not have believed He was the Messiah but they did think He was a prophet.
• And these members of this mob knew that.
• And the best time to arrest Jesus to prevent an uproar from the people was in the middle of the night.

So they arrest Jesus, but I want you to notice the very end of verse 56. Jesus says: “But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.”
• One more time Jesus exposes the hearts of these men.
• He says, “What is happening here is a fulfillment of scripture?”
• They could check it out and see if it was not so.
• And if it was so, then they would know that He was truly the One God said would come.
• But they aren’t interested in the truth.
• All they want to do is get rid of Jesus.

This was an ugly, frightening scene.

In verses 57-68 you read about the trial…that is if you can call it a trial.
• Keep in mind that it is in the middle of the night.
• And if you will notice in verse 59 that the “Council” or the “Sanhedrin” is there.
• The Sanhedrin was the Jew’s highest court…it would be like our Supreme Court.
• It consisted of 71of the most powerful, educated men in Israel and they were the ultimate authority when it came to Jewish Law.

And they want to condemn Jesus so badly that in verse 59 they bring in witnesses to lie.
• But if you look at what Mark says in Mark 14:56, the witnesses testimony didn’t condemn Jesus because their testimony wasn’t consistent…it was conflicting….and no one can be found guilty on conflicting testimony.

And so in verse 62 the high priest stands up and he begins to question Jesus.
• And after hearing what Jesus says the high priest in vs. 65 accuses Jesus of blasphemy.
• And then the court condemns him to death.

And look at verse 67.
Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him, 68 and said, “Prophesy to us, You Christ; who is the one who hit You?”

This whole trial was a sham! This was a Kangaroo Court.
• This whole thing took place because this Jewish court didn’t have the right to condemn Jesus to death….only the Roman court could do that.
• But these men are determined to see Jesus punished…they are desperately trying to come up with some charge that they can take to the Romans so that the Romans will execute Jesus.
• And what they do here is a mockery to their own judicial system.

First of all, according to Jewish law, the arrest was illegal.
• According to their own law you could not arrest anyone at night.
• Secondly, the arrest is illegal because it was brought about by the word of a traitor…and you could not arrest on that basis.
• Third, the court proceedings themselves, this hearing before the Sanhedrin was illegal because a trial could not take place at night….it could not take place before the morning sacrifice.
• It was also illegal to have a preliminary hearing in private. Any kind of hearing like this had to be public.
• It was against the law for the high priest to question the witness. The high priest was not allowed to directly question the witness.
• Conflicting testimony is being accepted.
• The witness himself is condemned based on his own testimony…that was against the law.
• He was charged with blasphemy…and even though the charge was serious…under Jewish law that charge was not specific enough to condemn Him.
• Once the accused is found guilty, 24 hours had to pass before sentencing could occur. They passed sentence immediately.
• The Judges were not polled individually for their verdicts. They were supposed to ask each one individually what his verdict was.
• And under Jewish law, any verdict that was unanimous was considered invalid because they said that a unanimous verdict was clearly the action of a mob or the result of emotional fervor.

You see, this whole thing was a sham.
• Every thing they do here is done intentionally to find some kind of charge they can take to the Romans to hopefully have Jesus crucified.

But there is something here about Jesus I want you to notice.
• They bring in these false witnesses to accuse him…but that doesn’t work very well.
• So in verse 62 the high priest stands…and he comes forward to Jesus and he says, “What about all these charges? Are you not going to answer?”
• And Jesus stays silent….He doesn’t say anything.

But they have got to find something to justify their actions against Jesus….so the high priest presses Jesus in verse 63, “I adjure You (appeal to, command) by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
• Now look at this!
• All through the gospel of Matthew, Jesus has been hesitant to announce and reveal his identity.
• It has not been His practice to tell people this.
• When people did tell Him that He was the Son of God…He would tell them not to tell anyone.
• So it has been Jesus’ practice not to acknowledge who He is.

And now, if there was ever a time to keep silent, this is it!
• If He will just stand there and keep quiet, they will have no grounds to approach Pilate and the case will be thrown out.

But guess what?
• The one time when it is the most dangerous.
• When it is prudent not to speak.
• Jesus says, “You have said it yourself;” “Or, “It is as you say.”
• In other words, He is saying, “I am the Christ, the Son of God.”

And look what he says in verse 64: “I tell you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
• That is not a confession. That is a warning!
• Because anyone who comes on the clouds comes to judge.
• And what Jesus is saying to this high priest and the rest of the court is, “You try me today but I promise you, the day will come when you will see me on the bench. And you will be before the bar, and I will be the judge, and I will pass irrevocable judgment on you.”

The high priest knew he got the answer he wanted.
• And he said, “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you say?”
• And they all condemned Him to die.

And they beat Jesus with their fists, and slapped Him, and tell Him to prophesy….and they don’t even realize that as they do so, they themselves are fulfilling prophesy.

Now, let me give you 3 lessons from this story.
1. In the midst of all of this Jesus stands alone.
• Back in vs. 56, Matthew says “All the disciples left Him and fled.”
• Jesus was totally abandoned by people who earlier pledged to never deny Him.

And the point is, when you follow Christ, you too may find yourself at times, standing all alone.
• You may find yourself at some time being the only one standing up for Christ…standing up for what is right.

Jesus stands alone and His courage and His conviction does not rest on others.
• His courage and His conviction came from inside.

And if we are going to stand alone…we must do the same….we must develop a faith of our own that gives us the courage and conviction to withstand any and all charges that people might make against us because we follow Jesus.

2. Jesus told the truth.
• When the high priest asked him, “Are you the Son of God?”, what did He say? “You have said it yourself.”
• He tells the truth.
• He is not ashamed of the truth…He is not afraid of the truth.
• He doesn’t back off from the truth…
• He knows they want to kill Him…He knows that they will ridicule Him and mock Him…and still He tells the truth.

Jesus told the truth and the question is, “Will you?”
• And you may think that is a strange question…but the fact of the matter is, many people don’t tell the truth about Christ and the things He says.
• They are afraid of what people think…and what people might say….and what people might do.
• Or they are afraid of what that truth might mean to them.
• It might cause them to have to do some things differently…or not do some things they are doing.

Will you tell the truth about Christ? Regardless of how painful it might be?
• Here in this passage these men didn’t…and because they denied the truth the truth destroyed the One who told the truth.
• But the irony is, in the long run, He was raised up because He told the truth.
• And they were judged by the very truth that they denied.
• You can deny the truth…ignore it…or reject it….but be sure you cannot escape its judgment.

3. You stand on one side or the other…there is no middle ground.
• You either stand with Caiaphas or Christ.
• Line up your life with Christ…or deny him and do something else with it.

You see, that is why this story is here: For you to ask “where do I stand?”
• Are you defending Christ…or are you by your life and lip denying Him.

Two things about your verdict:
• To deny Him is to face his judgment.
• That is what Jesus told the Sanhedrin that night.
• That He is going to come back as judge.
• And when He comes there will not be many questions.
• There will be just one. And that one question will be “What did you do with Jesus of Nazareth?”
• And Jesus gives the answer in John 8: 24, “If you do not believe that I am the one that I claim to be you will indeed die in your sins.”

You see, Jesus is no longer on trial, but we are.
• To deny Him is to face His judgment.
• To defend Him and to follow Him is to accept his sentence.

Don’t miss Matthews point.
• Jesus had a lot of chances to declare his Messiah-ship.
• Chances that would have brought him fame, applause, masses and masses of fans, and He never spoke up.
• But when He had a chance to speak up and it brought him a cross, you could not keep Him quiet.
• And the point is obvious.
• If you are going to speak up for and follow Jesus Christ, don’t do it thinking you are going to get popular.
• Don’t do it thinking you are going to get applause or a big following.
• You better do it knowing that the people who speak up for Jesus might get the same sentence He got.

It might mean a cross for you too.

And so what will you do? Will you stand up with Him or will you flee.
This morning, you are on trial…He is watching you…what will your answer be?

 

In The Garden

IN THE GARDEN

Matthew 26:36-46

This is a picture of the garden of Gethsemane as it looks today.

• My wife has been there.

When Jesus went into the garden He only took 3 of His disciples with Him.

• The other 8 were not allowed to go.

Anita tells me that it is a beautiful garden…and it may be that its beauty is enhanced by the fact that it is also a battlefield.

• You see, the most significant spiritual battle in the history of mankind was fought in this garden…and as a result, this garden is the place where the greatest of all victories was won.

Today, in our study, Matthew is going to take us into this garden.

• And as we go into God is going to teach us once again about what it means to be a disciple.
• And for some, God is going to test your heart.
• He is going to see if you have a heart that is grateful…and thankful…or one that has no gratitude.
• He is going to see if you have a heart that appreciates what God has done for
  you…or one that is indifferent.
• He is going to see if you have a heart that recognizes just how much you owe.
• Or one that is blind to the debt you owe.
• He is going to see if you have a heart that recognizes love in its full expression.
• Or one that is blind and perhaps hardened to the love that has been manifested
  to you.

He is going to test your heart because you are going to see the Son of God bowed low.

• And if you leave today unfazed, then I am not sure that you will have gotten the
• Or that you have the kind of heart that is characteristic of kingdom people.

Let’s begin in verse 36.

In verse 36 Jesus and His disciples come to Gethsemane.

• And Jesus tells His disciples to “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”
• And He takes Peter, and the two sons of Zebedee or James and John with Him, and I want you to notice what it says in verse 37-38.

It says that, “He began to be grieved and distressed.”

• And in verse 38, Jesus says that He was “deeply grieved to the point of death.”

It is so easy for us to just say these words and go on and miss the whole impact of how Jesus is feeling.

Do you see the word “grieved” in vs. 37?

• That word means to “to be sorrow-filled; to be in heaviness of sorrow.”

 And the word “distressed” literally means to “be heavy.”  Burdened down”

And the phrase in vs. 38, “deeply grieved in His soul to the point of death” literally means He was “surrounded by sorrow.”

And some of you have felt that and seen that.

I have had times when I have had to tell someone that their mate…or their child has died.

• And when they receive that word a sudden “horror” strikes them.
• And weakness comes on them.
• And they are crushed.
• And their legs buckle and they fall under the blow.
• And they are so grief stricken that they feel as though they will die also.

That is much of what Jesus is feeling here because look at verse 39.

• He tells His disciples to “stay behind” and then He goes a little “beyond them”…and “He falls
  on His face to the ground.”
• “And He begins to pray that if it were possible, that this cup might pass from Him.”

Why? Why is Jesus so grief stricken? Why is He feeling so crushed…so heavily burdened?

Well, look at verse 39. He says, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” All things are possible for Thee, remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt.”

Do you see the word “cup?”

• “Cup” here is a metaphor for what Jesus is about to endure.
• And if you go back to Psalm 11:6 and Psalm 75:8, and Isaiah 51:17, and several
  other passages, you find that the “cup” is used in reference to God when He spills
  out His anger and wrath, and judgment on sin and

And what you need to understand here is, Jesus is not burdened down with grief and pleading with God just because He is about to die.

He is burdened with grief and full of sorrow because He is soon to feel the wrath of a sin

hating God!

• 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that God, “made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so

that we might become the righteousness of God.”

• In just a few short hours Jesus is going to experience the full force of God’s wrath against sin.

Did you know that this is where   Jesus comes under a lot of criticism from Antichristian critics?

• They criticize Jesus here for the way that He is facing death.
• They scoff and they say, “He is no brave man!”
• “A lot of martyrs died for what they believed. . .and they died bravely. “
• “And here you have Jesus whimpering, on His knees begging to avoid death. “

What they fail to understand is, Jesus is facing more than just death.

• He is facing the full wrath of God because of sin!

And that isn’t all.

• Jesus has lived His life wholly for God and in fellowship with God.
• And now, He is facing being alienated from God!
• An alienation which comes when God judges sin.

And understand this… because this is where the test of your heart comes in.

• He is going to experience all of this…the wrath of God and the alienation from ..for sin He didn’t commit!

That is why He is grieving!

This is His dread!

And so He falls down and prays.

• But not with whispers and whimpers.
• The Hebrew writer in chapter 5:7 says that it was with “loud crying and tears” that
  He pleaded with God.

He raised His voice, He clinched His fists and He cried out, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.”

But then He says, “Yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

• You see, He had a choice.
• He had a choice. . . He could have chosen to say, “This is not what I want and this
  is not what I am going to do!”
• “I don’t want to go through all of this so I am not going to die for the sins of the
• But He doesn’t do that. Instead He says, “Thy will be done O God.”

Many believe that the cross was the critical moment in Jesus’ life in terms of His struggle to obey God’s will.

• But I don’t believe that is true.
• Here in the garden is where the struggle takes place.
• This is where the war is going on.
• When He went to the cross He had already made His decision to obey God.
• Here is where He submitted to the will of God.

Here is where the tough decision was made.

When God made man and called him Adam, He put him in a garden, and He didn’t ask much.

• Simply, “Honor Me and don’t eat the fruit of the tree.”
• And that was too much for Adam.

But here, outside of Jerusalem, the second Adam is in a second garden, and, oh my, what God asks of Him.

• God asks this second Adam to surrender His will… His will to live.
• And to do it for sins He didn’t even commit.
• If you think it was easy, then you do not understand why 3 times He prayed.

Here is where the battle took place…and thanks be to Christ that because He submitted
to the will of the Father… We won!

Jesus prays, “Yet, not as I will, but as Thou wilt,” and He gets up and He goes and finds his disciples sleeping.

• And He tells them in vs. 41 that they must “Keep watching and praying, that they may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Understand what He is saying here.

• It is so easy to fall into temptation… because the “spirit it willing, but the flesh is
  weak.”
• The “spirit” doesn’t want to give in to that temptation.
• But not so with the flesh.
• And so the only way to keep from falling into some temptation is to constantly be
  on guard to that possibility.
• To constantly be watching for and ready to recognize temptation for what it is.
• And fortifying the spirit through prayer.

Prayer is so important because it constantly reminds you of God…and His will…and His purpose for you…and His power and His strength…

• And any time you are reminded God, you are reminded of His holiness and the
  dangers of sin.
• And those reminders strengthen the spirit and give you more resolve to withstand
  giving in to that sin.

Prayer is so important for keeping the spirit strong.

Jesus tells His disciples to “Keep watching and praying”, and then He goes back and again He asks God to remove the cup from Him…and He agonizes again with the fact that He will soon face the wrath of God and be alienated from Him.

• And then He comes back and finds His disciples asleep again.

And then for a third time He asks God to remove the cup…and again He tells God, “Yet not my will but thine.”

• And a third time He comes back and finds the disciples asleep.

But now don’t miss what happens in verse 45.

• Jesus comes and finds His disciples asleep and He says, “Are you still sleeping?”

But then He says, “Behold, the hour is at hand; and, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand.”

Don’t miss the calmness and the courage of those words.

• Don’t miss the acceptance of the will of God.. .that Jesus should die for sins He
  didn’t commit.

The cup is not removed from Jesus…instead He accepts the will of the Father.

• And notice, Jesus doesn’t run from His betrayer.
• Instead He readily awaits Him.

You see, the real battle was won before the swords and clubs even showed up.

• Jesus has agreed to die for you and me.

 And that fact puts you to the test. Turn to Hebrews 12:28.

• Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us
  show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with
  reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

Do you know what this verse says?

• This verse says that we are to be “grateful” for what God has given us.
• For what God has done for us.

The word “gratitude” speaks of that which the heart feels because of what God has done.

• We are to be so “thankful and appreciative” for Christ and His willingness to die for us…that we in turn “worship and honor God” if full reverence and sincerity.
• And if we aren’t grateful.. .well, the Hebrew writer reminds us that “God is a consuming “

So what you find is, your response to what Jesus did in that garden when He willingly agreed to die on the cross for your sins…your response to His actions that night…is a pretty good indication of the kind of heart you have?

• So the question is, what kind of heart do you have?
• Is it one of gratitude or ingratitude?
• Is it one of “thankfulness” or one of “un-thankfulness.”
• Is it one that recognizes just how much you owe…or is it one that is blind to what
  you owe?
• And that is important, because it will be life or fire, depending on what kind of
  heart you have.

One more quick point and the lesson is yours.

Today we read of the second of two significant gardens mentioned in the Bible.

And your relationship with God is summed up in the two gardens.

• In one garden He put one Adam…our earthly father.
• And in that garden Adam was given a will to obey and he said, “No, I think I would
  rather do what I want to do.”

And in the second garden there is a second Adam, your spiritual brother.

• And He was given a will to obey and He said, “I wish I could escape this will but it is
  more important to me to obey God than to do things my way.”

And I suggest to you that your relationship with God and your future with God depends on which garden and which Adam you follow.

• Whether you obey His will…or your own.
• All the paths there are or ever will be go somewhere through a garden…and you will
  show your true colors by what you decide there.

Jesus died to self and surrendered to the will of God….and because He did salvation is available to all.

But the only way you can be a partaker of that salvation is to do the same…you too must die to yourself…and surrender to the will of God. Will you do that today?

The Disciples Fall

THE DISCIPLES FALL

 Matthew 26:30-35

One of the things that a disciple of Christ is supposed to do is he is supposed to live a life that manifests himself as a disciple of Christ.

• He supposed to be loyal to Christ.
• Faithful to Christ.
• Obedient to Christ.
• He is supposed to live a life of righteousness.

But what about those times when we as disciples stumble?

• What then?
• What happens when a disciple stumbles? Sins?
• Is he without hope?
• Is it a “one shot deal” and if you blow it is it over?
• What does the Lord do when a disciple stumbles?
• What should a disciple do when He stumbles?

Well, this morning, Christ and His disciples are going to give us some insights to these questions.

• In addition, we will learn of a very present danger that exists for any disciple of Christ.
• Let’s begin in verse 30.

In the verses just prior to this Jesus has just initiated what we call the “Lord’s Supper” with His disciples.

• And after eating of that supper, and after singing a hymn, He and His disciples go east of the city to the Mount of Olives.

And Jesus speaks and He tells His disciples a little more about what is going to take place in the next several hours.

• And He tells them that they will “all fall away” just as the prophet Zachariah had said hundreds of years before.
• Now don’t misunderstand and think that their “falling away” was preordained and that they had no choice in the matter.
• That is not the case.
• When Jesus says that they would “all fall away because it is written”, what you are seeing here is the fulfillment of what God foreknew would happen way back in the days of the prophet.
• So Jesus is simply saying that God already knew what was going to happen.

So He tells them that they will “all fall away”, and that He would be “struck down”…and then afterward He would be raised….and after He has been raised, He will go before them to Galilee.”

 But Peter takes exception to what Jesus has said.

• In vs. 33 he says, “Even though all may fall away….and the phrase “fall away” literally means “to stumble.”
• He says, “Even though all may stumble, I will not!”
• He says, “The rest of them might stumble, but not me!”

And Jesus tells him, “Peter, this very night, before a cock crows you shall deny me three times.”

 But Peter continues to disagree, and he insists that “he would die with Jesus, before he would deny Him.”

Now, let me make a couple of quick points and the lesson is yours.

First of all, PETER DIDN’T FOLLOW THROUGH WITH WHAT HE SAID HE WOULD DO. THEREFORE, PETER STUMBLED.  Vs. 31.

• And the thing I think we need to see is how it happened.

You see, while Peter was with Christ…he was strong and confident.

• “He would never deny Christ.”

Even when they came out to arrest Jesus down in verse 50, John 18:10 tells us that Peter pulls out a sword…and cuts off the “ear of the  high priest’s slave” in an effort to defend Christ.

So up to that point, Peter still seems strong and confident.

But look at verse 57….Jesus is removed from Peter.

• Jesus isn’t there for Peter to draw strength and courage from.

And look who He is with in verse 58.

• He is with the officers or servants of the high priest.
• Servants of those who want to kill Jesus.

And look at verse 69…Peter is in the courtyard and one of the high priest’s servant’s girls sees Peter warming himself at a fire…and she puts him on the spot!

• “You, too, were with Jesus.”
• And he denies it; vs. 70.

And in verse 71, another servant girl does the same thing; “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

And again, Peter denies it; vs. 72.

And then in vs. 73, the bystanders say it again, “Surely you too are one of them.”

• And this time Peter begins to curse and swear and he says, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

What in the world happened to Peter?

• In just a matter of a few hours all the confidence and resolve that he had is gone! Why?

Peter loses his confidence and his resolve because he is separated from Christ and the other disciples…and he is among those who give him no strength…and no encouragement.

• In fact, they only weaken his resolve.
  • It was easy for him to be strong when he was with Christ.
• It was easy for him to be courageous when he was around the other disciples.
• But when he was separated from Christ….and “scattered” from the other disciples…all of his confidence and resolve were gone.

And that is just exactly what Satan wants to do to each of you…and unfortunately has done to some of us.

• Satan wants to separate you from Christ.
• If he Satan can separate you from the vine…
• If he can keep you from talking to Him in prayer…and keep you from His word.
• If he can distract you and get you to thinking about yourself more than about Christ.
• If he can separate you from the other disciples…if he can get you to quit coming to the assemblies where you are strengthened by your brothers and sisters in Christ.
• If he can get you to associate more with the world than with the saints.
• If he can do that…He can get you to “stumble too.”

You see, there is nothing that Satan wants more than to get you off by yourself away from Christ and your brethren…because if he can do that…he can destroy your confidence and resolve too.

• He can take a man who once said, “I will die before I deny Christ” and make him say, “I do not know what you are talking about.”

Satan works in different ways.

• Here, Satan separated Peter from Christ in one quick act.
• Many times Satan works slowly…more subtly.
• You miss for this…and you miss for that…then it is easier and easier.

If you aren’t spending time in prayer…if you aren’t spending time in His word…if you are only hit and miss in assembling with the saints….if you are doing those things…Satan is getting you to do just exactly what he wants you too.

Now, let’s look at some good news. Look at verse 31 again. Jesus tells His disciples…these men who walked with Him, learned from Him…and ate with Him…”that they would all stumble.”

• And they did!
• And if they did, we will too.
• John says in 1 John 1:8 that if we say we won’t then we are liars and the truth is not in us.

Jesus knew that they could not be perfect enough and neither can we.

• So what happens when a disciple of Christ stumbles?
• When we are untrue…when we are unfaithful?
• Is if all over for us? Are we without hope?
• When we get out here and we stumble….
• When we deny Christ so we can make a little more money…
• Or when we deny Christ so we can fit in with a certain group of people or impress someone.
• Or when we deny Christ in order to satisfy some desire or appetite.
• When we get out here and deny Christ and stumble…is all hope gone?

Well look at verse 32 again. This is interesting.

• Jesus tells these men that “They will all fall away…that He will be struck…but then He says, “after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

 Jesus doesn’t say, “You guys denied me so after I am raised I’m not going to have anything to do with you!”

• He doesn’t do that.

Instead He says, “I will go before you to Galilee.”

• Jesus is still offering to lead them…and be with them…and have fellowship with them…in spite of the fact that they stumbled.

Just because we stumble…and we will…doesn’t mean that you are without hope.

• Every one of us is going to stumble at some time and Jesus knows that.
• And because of His mercy and His grace He continues to offer fellowship to us.

But notice something else here.

• The only way that He can “go before them is if they go themselves.”
• You see, these guys stumble…and fall…but they don’t stay there!
• They get up and follow Jesus again.

You see, that is the key!

• Everyone of us is going to “stumble and fall” at some time or another.
• Jesus knows that!
• But what makes a difference is what we do when we do stumble.
• If we get up…and come back and resume our walk and let Christ lead us again…then nothing is lost.

But if we stumble…and stay down there…and refuse to come back to Christ and follow Him…then we have no fellowship with Him…and we, just like Judas, are doomed to destruction.

Turn with me to 1 John 1: 7.

John says, “If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another.”

But now notice the next part of the verse. He says: “…and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses (that is continuous action) us from all sin.

• Your walk will not be perfect!
• You will sin…you will stumble and you will fall.
• And don’t think you won’t because verse 8 here says to deny it makes you a liar.
• So, you will stumble.

But notice, “the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin!”

• As a result, fellowship with Christ is never broken.
• It is not broken unless you fail to resume your walk…unless you fail to walk according to His world…unless you fail to follow His lead.

Now go back to Matthew 26:32. Jesus says, “But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

• Do you know what is interesting about what Jesus says here in this verse?
• He tells these men before they ever fall, that He will lead them again.
• You see, He knew their character!
• He knew that these men had the kind of character that, even though they would fall, they would get back up.

Do you have the same kind of character?

• Do you have character enough to get back up after you fall and do what is right and follow Jesus?
• Or is your character such that you can’t or won’t recover from the fall.

These men fall, and then they follow Jesus again.

• And when they do, they are stronger than ever before!
• In fact, these men will follow Jesus, and they will fulfill what Peter said he would do here in this passage.
• Every one of them will die before they ever deny Jesus again.

Why would they do that? What made them so determined the second time?

• Perhaps the fact that, in spite of what they did, Jesus took them back again.

Hopefully, the fact that Jesus takes us back too will cause us to be even more determined than ever….to follow Jesus…even to the point of death.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Lord Institutes His Supper

THE LORD INSTITUTES HIS SUPPER

Matthew 26:17-30

Just a little bit ago we participated in the taking of what we call the “Lord’s Supper.”

• Here in this passage Jesus institutes that supper.
• And by studying this passage we will be reminded of some things…and perhaps taught some things about the Lord’s Supper…and how significant it is.
  • So let’s cover this material and let’s learn some things concerning the Lord’s Supper.

Notice in verse 17 that it is the time of the Passover and the Feast of the Unleavened Bread.

• And it is not a matter of whether Jesus will observe these memorial feasts.
• The question is “where.”

And so in verse 18 He tells His disciples to go into the city and He tells them that they would meet “a certain man” there and they were to say to him, “the Teacher says, My time is at hand; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”  

So, in vs. 19 the disciples do…they go into the city and they “prepare the Passover.”

Now look at verse 20-21.

• Jesus is gathered with the 12 and as they are “reclining at the table and eating” He tells them that “one of them will betray Him.”
• And the disciples are “deeply grieved” in vs. 22 and they began to say, “Surely not I, Lord?”
• And Jesus says in vs. 23 that it will be “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl.”

Now these disciples have walked with him for 3 years now and not one single time has Jesus said something, and no matter how absurd it seemed, did it not come true.

• So when Jesus says this, they are somewhat surprised and grieved.
• And notice it says that “each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I?”
• What is happening here is one is saying, “Is it me…and then another says…is it me…and then another and another.”

And I think their response is interesting in that it seems to show that they are not confident in their own moral strength.

• As much as they would like to believe that they wouldn’t do something like this…
• As much as they would like to each believe that their loyalty to Christ is strong…they aren’t sure.
• And so they each ask, “It’s not me is it?”

And now look again at what He says in verse 23 and 24.  He says, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one who will betray Me. 24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.”

The first thing that Jesus does here is He narrows it down.

• He says, “It is one one who dips with me in the bowl.”
• Why does Jesus say this?
• Why does Jesus warn the one who is going to do this?

I think He is giving Judas a chance to repent.

• You see, if you go back to verse 14-16, Judas has already started looking for a way to betray Christ.
• So when Jesus says this here He is making it known to Judas that He already knows what Judas is going to do and that He could expose him to the others when He wanted too.
• And He is giving Judas an opportunity to repent.

But the reality is some people do not want to repent…and I hope you are not one of them because each one of us knows what happened to Judas.

• Judas is an example of what happens to those who refuse to repent.
• And, our Lord always gives people ample opportunity to repent.

And here is another thing.

• Most of us, if our plan was exposed before we did it, we would back off.
• But not Judas.
• Judas had already set his heart on doing this thing.
• And that is the point: Once again, “Jesus knows our hearts and our intentions and we only fool ourselves if we think we are fooling Him.”

And here is something else: When Jesus proclaims this betrayal “by one who has dipped his hand in the bowl with Him”, He implements within each of them a self-examination.

• He doesn’t identify the betrayer…and by not doing so He causes each one of them to examine their own heart and motive.

Self examination is something that we all should do regularly.

• In fact, according to 1 Cor. 11: 28 examining ourselves is something each one of us is to do each time we take the Lord’s Supper.
• The Lord’s Supper is a time for each of us to ask ourselves, “Surely it is not I who will betray you.”

Now in the next few verses Jesus is going to share His supper with the other disciples, but I want you to see something that I think is significant in understanding His supper. Turn to John 13: 21.

• Here in verse 21 Jesus tells His disciples that one of them would betray Him.
• And in verse 22 they are stunned…and surprised and in verse 24 they ask, “Who it is that He is talking about?”

Now verse 26, read with me:  Jesus therefore answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, {the son} of Simon Iscariot.             And after the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Jesus therefore said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”  Now no one of those reclining {at the table} knew for what purpose He had said this to him. For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we have need of for the feast”; or else, that he should give something to the poor. 30 And so after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.

 Jesus knew what Judas had in mind.

• And before He institutes His supper…before He breaks the bread and shares the cup…He sends Judas out.
• Why does He do that?

 Well, I will tell you why He does that.

• His supper…His blood and His body is not for people whose hearts are not given to Christ.
• It is not intended for those who want to drink of the cup of the Lord as well as the cup of the demons.
• The supper of the Lord is for those who belong to the Lord.

I believe the apostle Paul says this same thing in 1 Cor. 10: 15:  I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. 16 Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

1 Cor 10:21-22  You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?

• The reason Jesus sent Judas out is because His supper is not for people whose hearts are not given to Christ…the supper of the Lord is intended for those who belong to the Lord.

Now, go back to Matthew 26 and verse 26.

• Judas has left and gone out into the night…and Matthew says: “And while they were eating…”
• While they were eating the Passover meal…
• While they were eating a meal to commemorate God’s passing over the houses of the Israelites…
• A meal to commemorate their deliverance from bondage.
• While they are eating the lamb’s body that reminded them that it died so they could be saved, Jesus takes some bread…and after a blessing He broke it…and gave it to them…and said, “Take, eat, this is My body.”

What Jesus does here when He does this is He equates Himself and His impending death to that of the Passover Lamb.

• He too will die so they can be delivered.
• He too will die so they can escape the coming judgment.
• He too will die so they can be set free from bondage.

When He takes that bread and breaks it and gives it to each one and says, “This is My body” He is in a sense equating Himself to that Passover Lamb that they were eating of…and all that Lamb stood for.

• And when they ate of that bread they were accepting Him and acknowledging all of that to be true.

 But there is more.

• Any time in the old sacrificial system when the blood was sprinkled on the horns of the altar it indicated that sin was atoned for.
• And then, when sin was atoned for, a festive banquet was prepared by the priest and the one who had offered the sacrifice was invited to eat at that banquet…
• And the fact that the priest prepared the banquet and invited the worshipper was symbolic of God hosting the banquet.
• And the fact that the worshipper was invited to a banquet hosted by God indicated that there was fellowship between God and the worshipper.

 Well, when it came to the Passover the door posts and the lintels served as the altar where the blood was sprinkled…and that signified atonement.

• And then the Passover meal indicated fellowship between the people and God.

 And when Jesus hosted this Passover meal…and then took the bread and presented it to these disciples…He was symbolically saying, “We are in fellowship with one another.”

So you see, when we take of the bread…we are recognizing Christ as a sacrifice superior to the Passover lamb.

• We are recognizing Him as the One who can and will deliver us from our sins.
• And we are declaring that “we are in fellowship with God.”

Notice something else.

Jesus takes the bread and He says, “This is my body.”

• He doesn’t say, “This is my broken body.”
• We often pray that.
• But one of the things that God told the people concerning the Passover lamb was that its bones were not to be broken; Ex. 12: 46.
• And if you will study the crucifixion of Christ…one of the things you will find is that when they came to break His legs…which is what they did to hasten the death of one crucified…
• Jesus was already dead…and therefore…the bones of our Passover lamb were not broken either.
• The fact that His bones were not broken signified that He is God’s Passover Lamb for us.

But now look at verse 27.

• Jesus takes a cup….and He gives thanks…and He gives it to His disciples…and they all take a drink.
• And He says, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many for forgiveness of sins.”

Back in chapter 20 and verse 28 Jesus said that “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

• What is the ransom for many going to be?
• It is going to be His blood.
• His blood is going to be the price that is going to purchase or redeem many.
• And when He dies on the cross, He fulfills His part of the covenant.
• His part of the covenant says, “I will die to atone for your sins and to save you.”
• And our part of the covenant is to “believe in Him…and obey Him.”
• We enter into covenant relationship with Him when we are baptized.
• And when we drink of the cup…that cup is a reminder of the covenant relationship that we have with Christ.

That is what the Lord’s Supper is.

• It is a reminder of the fellowship we have with Him.
• It is a reminder of the covenant that we have with Him.
• It is a reminder of His atoning sacrifice made on our behalf so that we can be delivered from the bondage and condemnation of sin.

Observing the Lord’s Supper does not take away sin.

• Your sins are washed away by the blood of Christ (Rev. 1:5) at baptism (Acts 22:16).
• You take the Lord’s Supper as a reminder of the fact that your sin has been taken away…and as a reminder of the One who died to take them away.

Now, look at verse 29. Jesus says: “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” 

When Jesus institutes this memorial supper He knows that by the next evening He will be dead.

• And yet, He says here that He will share this meal with them again.

That makes this memorial feast unique above all other memorials.

• You see, most memorials are erected to remember the dead.
• But His memorial feast…is to remember Him who is still alive.

He is still alive…and He is coming back…and the Lord’s Supper reminds us of that.

Are you ready?

Judas wouldn’t repent and be saved. Surely you aren’t that way?

 

 

An Extravagant Love

AN EXTRAVAGANT LOVE

Matthew 26:1-13

In this passage we find the story of what we call, “the Alabaster Jar.”

• And this is a very unique story in the sense that it is the first time in the gospel of Matthew that someone approaches Jesus, not to ask something from Him…but to give Him something.
• To give Him something when so many others wanted to kill Him.

Now what you are going to find in this story is that some people couldn’t appreciate the gift for counting the cost.

• And so what you find then is a contrast that exists among those who surround Jesus.
• And as you see this contrast the question you have to ask yourself is, “Which of the two am I the most like?”
  • Let’s look at this story and learn.

As you look at verses 1 through 5 you find that it was a dangerous time for Jesus.

• It is just two days before the Passover and the Unleavened Bread.
• And the chief priests and the “elders of the people” were “plotting together to seize Jesus by stealth, and kill Him.”
• However, they didn’t want to kill Him during the Passover when so many pilgrims would be in Jerusalem because they were afraid that the multitudes would riot.
• After all, Jesus had built a pretty good following of people who were amazed at Him.
• So they were planning another time to kill Him.

But it wasn’t up to them.

• God had ordained from the beginning of time that this lamb was going to be slain at the Passover.
• The typology and prophecy of God made hundreds of years before would be fulfilled so that no one could honestly mistake what was taking place…and who He was.
• So even though they planned otherwise…God’s plan would be fulfilled.

Now in verse 6, as Jesus’ day of crucifixion approaches, Jesus is in the little town of Bethany, which is just outside of Jerusalem.

• And the verse says that He is at the home of Simon the leper.

John’s account, found in John chapter 12, says that Lazarus was also there.

• So what you have is two people who are living examples of the power of Jesus are present at this supper.
• You have Simon the leper and the only way a leper would have a supper with guests is if he wasn’t a leper any more.
• And Lazarus, who just a few days before had been raised from the dead by the power of Jesus.
• And it may well be that the reason they are having this supper is out of gratitude for Jesus and what He has done for them.

But any way, while they are reclining at the table, Mark says, “a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume” came in.

• John says that this woman is Mary, the sister of Martha and more significantly for this story, the sister of Lazarus.
• And she takes this “alabaster vial of very costly perfume” and she “pours the perfume over Jesus’ head.”
• And if you take into account what John says, not only does she pour this perfume on His head, but she also pours some on His feet…and then she takes her hair and wipes his feet.

Now why would she do that?

• Well, just a few days before her brother Lazarus had died and was placed in the tomb.
• And Mary and Martha had been grieving his death and all of these people were consoling them, when Jesus came and raised Him from that tomb.
• And so now, apparently, for the miracle of raising her brother, she wants to express her love and gratitude to Jesus.
• She wants to do something for Him because He has done so much for her.

So what she does is she takes this “vial of perfume.”

• And notice in verse 7 how Matthew describes it.
• He says it was a “very costly” perfume.
• In Mark’s account in Mark 14:5 we are told that it was “worth about 300 denarii” which would be the equivalent of almost a year’s wages.

She takes the most expensive…most precious thing she owned.

• This was probably her life’s savings.
• And she takes that “vial of perfume”…and she breaks it and pours it on Jesus.
• Not just a little bit of it…not just a drop or two.
• She doesn’t open it and put a little dab behind each of His ears and say, “Jesus, I love you.”
• Just doing that would have been more of a gift than any one else had given Him.
• But she doesn’t do that.
• She takes this perfume…every bit of it…all she has…and she pours all of it over the head and feet of Jesus.

And look at the reaction of some who saw her do this. Look at verse 8.

But the disciples were indignant when the saw this, and said, “Why this waste?”

 For some, what she did was too much! It was too extravagant!

• They were sitting there thinking, “You have gone to far!”
• “Couldn’t you have just put a little bit behind his ear there.”
• “Couldn’t you have just dabbed a little here and a little there, written a song and read a poem and said, “Jesus, I love you” and left it at that?”

Well, they may have been able to do that…but not Mary.

• You see, as far as Mary was concerned extravagance was not an issue when it came loving Jesus.
• When it came to expressing how much she cared for Him…how much she appreciated Him…how much she loved Him… concern about cost went out the window.
• She loved Him so much that she would give Him anything.

You see, Mary had no limits on how much she loved Jesus.

• A lot of people put limits on it.
• They love Jesus…but only until it becomes too costly… too expensive…or too demanding…too inconvenient.
• “Jesus I love you but don’t ask me to do this…or don’t expect me to do that.”
• Their love only goes so far.
• They want to do what is the absolute minimum that they have to do and stay in His good graces.

But not this woman.

• When it came to expressing her admiration for Jesus she was willing to give it all.
• A lot of people only play at loving Jesus…but she meant it.

And so, some of those who were present began to rebuke her indignantly.

• “Why this waste?”
• And look at vs. 9: “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Mark says that “they were scolding her.”

• That word “scolding” there comes from a word that literally means…”to snort with anger.”
• I picture a “bull or wild animal that snorts.”

Isn’t that amazing?

• “Why did you waste it by giving it to Jesus?”
• Can you imagine?
• Someone gives this kind of gift…manifests this kind of love…this kind of honor to Jesus…and someone else sees it as a waste?

Today we see this manifested in a little bit different way.

• A young man tells his parents that he wants to be a preacher…
• Or some young man or woman decides she wants to be a missionary…and their parents change their minds for them because “mom and dad thought it would be a waste.”
• Can you imagine?

Or a man quits his high paying job with all these wonderful benefits…in order to be able to attend church…or do more work for Christ…or to better fulfill his God given responsibilities to his wife and kids…and people say, “What a waste.”

John says that Judas is the one who actually spoke these words recorded here in Matthew .

• These are the first recorded words of Judas in the Bible.
• Did you know that Judas is the only man in the Bible to ever express a concern about wasting the Lord’s money?

But let’s not be too hard on Judas.

• Judas may have spoken these words but Matthew makes it clear in vs. 8 that he spoke for a lot of people present.

And do you know what this tells me?

• This tells me that these people hadn’t listened.
• They hadn’t listened the day before when Jesus spoke in the temple about “loving the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, and with all your strength.”
• If they would have they wouldn’t have criticized Mary like this.

But you see, this is just another example where the teachings of Jesus just goes in one ear and out the other.

And so, they turn on the one person in the room who had understood what Jesus was saying.

• They turn on one of their own.
• Isn’t that sad?
• She comes and she gives this kind of gift…she gives the most precious thing she has.
• She manifests a love for Jesus that has no limits…
• And because she does…because it doesn’t fit with their way of thinking…she is harshly criticized by others who claimed to love Jesus.

And it happens today.

• Some one has a deep love and devotion for Christ…and so they dedicate themselves to serving Him.
• And they give of themselves…and of their time…and their money.
• And they make tremendous sacrifices for the sake of Christ and His cause.
• And they are out teaching the word…and holding Bible studies.
• And they go door to door…or they go to a foreign field.
• And others are sitting there watching and in their mind they think, “You’re being too extravagant…you’re going too far.”

 And let me tell you, we do this in reference to other congregations.

• We see them doing all these works…running nursing homes…and medical clinics.
• And food banks…and clothing rooms…and soup kitchens…and homeless shelters.
• And rehabilitation programs…and drug counseling centers.
• And sometimes we sit back and we say, “You have gone too far…that is too extravagant.”
• And so we scold…and we attack…and we criticize.

And do you know what I think Jesus would say to us when we do that?

• The same thing He tells these people here in verse 10:
• “Why do you bother the woman? For she had done a good deed to Me.”
• How dare you to put limits on the way they express their love to Me.
• How dare you to tell someone that they are being too extravagant in the way they love God?
• How dare you to criticize one who is doing these things for Me.

Let me tell you what I have seen.

• Years ago, an old man who went to the hospital every day to visit people there.

Realize this…in scripture Jesus speaks more against insincere, going through the motions, uncommitted, lukewarm, love and devotion than He ever does against what we might consider an extravagant expression of love.

Let me ask you this.

• Could it be that the reason we are so quick to criticize the Mary’s…is because it is a way of defending our own shallow expressions of love?
• Could it be that the reason we are sometimes quick to attack the Mary’s is because the spirit and love they show rebukes us?

Let me tell you something…there are enough darts being shot at us from the enemy that you shouldn’t have to worry about getting shot at from the back.

• Especially when their only motivation for doing so is that you manifested your love for God in a way that they personally didn’t agree with.

Jesus says, “Why are you bothering her?” She has done a good deed to Me.”

• “I challenge you to find any other deed in the Bible where Jesus poured out such praise.”

Verse 11: He says, “For the poor you have with you always; but you do not always have Me. For when she poured this perfume upon my body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.”

In this verse you find another reason why Mary poured this costly perfume on Jesus’ head.

• He is going to die…and she realizes it.
• The others have heard him say it before but they don’t want to hear it.
• They block it out.

But not Mary.

• She has spent some time at the feet of Jesus…and she has figured out that He means what He is talking about.
• He is going to die…and she only has a short time to show her gratitude and how much she loves Him.
• And what she does here is she sends her spray of flowers before the funeral instead of after, so He can smell them and enjoy them.

Maybe we ought to do more of that today. Express our love before they die.

Now look at what Jesus says in verse 13.

“Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of in memory of her.”

 Notice this. He says the “gospel” is going to be preached.

• People aren’t going to go into all the world and tell everyone about a man who simply died.
• They are going to go and tell everyone the gospel… some “good news.”
• They are going to tell everyone that He died…and was buried…but then He was raised!

So the “gospel”…the “good news of Jesus” would be preached to the whole world…

• And where ever it is preached…what Mary has done will be spoken of too!

Why? Why would what Mary did here be spoken of too?

• What does what she did have to do with the gospel?

Because when you preach the gospel you call people to love Christ.

• And how should they love Christ?
• The same way Mary did…she loved Him extravagantly.

Now look at verses 14-16.

In these verses Judas goes to the chief priests and betrays Christ.

• What a contrast between what he does and what Mary does.
• Here you have a woman who carries out this gorgeous act of love…and then you have this one who is stirring everyone up and getting them all upset.

And I think the point is clear.

• There are some who are giving of their time and their means…and themselves…doing what they can for Christ.
• And at the same time there are those who grumble and complain at any act that is done for Christ.
• And the hard question is: Which of these two…Mary or Judas…are you the most like?

Mary loved Jesus because He raised her brother from the dead.

• She looked at her brother and that empty grave…and she gave Him all she had.

You know He has done more than that for us…He has saved us from our sins.

• Shouldn’t we love Him the way she did?

And, when Jesus died on that cross…wouldn’t you say that was an extravagant act of love?

• Shouldn’t we love him the same way?

Let’s be careful about criticizing others.

 

 

 

 

The End

THE END

Matthew 24:35-41

This morning we are going to talk about a truth that the devil does not want you to see…and that is the coming again of Christ.

• He does not want you to see this truth so badly that he is actively engaged in trying to get you to forget about it.
• Because if he can get you to forget about it…If he can get you so occupied with this world that you forget that this world is doomed…then he can make you a weak, ineffective Christian.

Let’s go through this, this morning and let’s learn some things about the second coming of Christ.

If you remember from last Sunday, here in Matthew 24, the disciples came to Jesus and began to “point out the temple buildings to Him.”

• Mark says in Mark 13 that one of the disciples spoke about “How wonderful the stones and buildings were.”
• And in response Jesus said, “Not one of these stones will be left on top of the other.”
• And the disciples ask in verse 3, “When will these things be and what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?”
• “In other words, when will the temple be destroyed and what will be the signs of its destruction.”

So in verses 4-34 you have Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ questions.

• In verse 15 He tells them the “when”: When they “see the abomination of desolation” standing where it should not be.
• Then in verse 34 He tells them that “their generation will not pass away until these things take place.”
• So, when they see “the abomination of desolation” or the “detestable thing that destroys” standing where it shouldn’t that is the sign that the temple is about to be destroyed.
• And the fact that their generation will see it is the “when.”
  • So in verses 4-34 Jesus answers the disciple’s questions found in verse 3.

Now, as Jesus answers their questions…His comments lead into a discussion of the end of the world. Look at verse 35:

35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

 Here Jesus says, “All that I have said pertaining to the destruction of the temple…you can count on. It is going to happen.”

 But notice that He speaks of “Heaven and earth passing away”?

• In assuring His disciples of the destruction of the temple He introduces a discussion of the end of the world.
• And that discussion begins in verse 35.
• Look what Jesus says about the “Heavens and earth passing away.”

First of all, I want you to look at the statement, “Heaven and earth will pass away.”

• That statement alone says a lot.
• You see, when He spoke to them and said that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed…when He told them that when they saw the “abomination of desolation” standing where it should not be…in other words, when they saw the Roman armies surrounding the city…He told them to “get out of there….to flee…to run to the mountains.”

Well, when He comes again in the final judgment there will be no place to run.

• No one is going to escape when God comes to end this world.
• There is not going to be a cave to run to or a mountain that you can go to escape.
• Everyone will be included.
• The “Heavens and earth will pass away.”

So WHEN will this happen? Look at verse 36. He says:

36  “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father {alone.}

• The only one who knows when it is going to happen is God.

Look at what Peter says. Peter says in 2 Peter 3:10, that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief.”

• No one knows when a “thief” comes.
• A thief comes unexpected…and unannounced.
• There will be no signs.
• When Jerusalem is destroyed they would at least be forewarned by sight of the armies surrounding the city.
• But when this day of judgment comes on the world…there will be no warning.
• The only warning that we will have is the fact that we have been told that that day is

And notice, this verse in Matthew 24 says that “not even Jesus knows when that day will come.”

How could that be?

• When Jesus was on this earth, He divested himself of certain aspects of his deity so he could become like us.
• 2:6-7 says that: “although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, {and} being made in the likeness of men.”

 Jesus emptied himself of some of what it means to be God so he could be man.

• And one of the things that that meant is that on earth Jesus did not even know the time of his own return.

Does He know now? I don’t know. Maybe?

• As He sits there at the right hand of His Father in His glorified body He may very well know.
• But when He was here He did not know because He laid aside His divine prerogatives

And the interesting thing is, He was content not to know.

• He did not spend all of his time trying to figure out something that God had not told Him.
• And it is amazing to me that there are some people today who think they have absolutely figured out what Jesus did not know.

Jesus’ purpose when He was here was not to satisfy anyone’s curiosity about when He was coming again.

• His purpose was to build us up in faith and get us ready to meet our God.
• And to get us to stay ready.

Now, look at vs. 37: For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.

• How will the coming of the Son of Man be like the days of Noah?
• Well, He tells us…look what He says in vs. 38.

Vs. 38   For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.

• In spite of Noah’s warning the world continued on in what they were doing.
• They gave no heed to the warning! They didn’t change or repent…in ignored what God said would happen.
• The people of Noah’s day ridiculed the idea of a flood; those of Jerusalem ridiculed the idea of the temple and the Jewish system; and in like manner people today ignore and ridicule the idea of the Lord coming again (2 Peter 3:1-6).
• But Jesus says that day is coming. In fact, look what He says in vs. 40.

40  Then there shall be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 “Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. 

• Here Jesus emphasizes His unexpected, sudden return.
• Companions working in the field will be separated, the righteous will be redeemed, the other will not.
• Two women will be grinding; the closest ties and friendships; families preparing the daily meal shall be broken suddenly and forever.

No one knows when the Lord will come again…but He will come…and it will be sudden and unexpected…in fact look at His instructions in vs. 42:

Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.

• “Therefore be on the alert…”
• That is the Greek word “gray-gor-you-o”
• And in the Greek it is a word that means, “to stay awake…to be sleepless…to be watchful.”

And then look at verse 44. He says: “You be ready.”

• “You be ready” here is a different Greek word…this is the word “het-oy-mos”…and it means “be prepared…be ready.”
• Two times here, with two different words, Jesus says, “Stay awake…be ready.”
• Over in Mark’s account three times, with two different words, Jesus tells us to “stay awake!”
• Why does emphasize this “staying awake…staying prepared” so much?

Because we are going to be tempted to fall asleep and not be ready…not physically…but spiritually.   Turn with me to I Thess. 5. Look what Paul says…and this pertains to what Matthew is talking about.

 1          Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3          While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4     But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; 5 for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6       so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.

 You know, we speak of people who “are out of duty.”

• You have heard that expression.
• Someone who used to be active in church, who used to love God, but now their love for God has waned and they don’t come to church anymore, and we say, “they are out of duty.”
• Paul would say, “No, they have fallen asleep.”
• “They have fallen asleep and they are in peril.”
• “ And what they need is for someone to go in love and wake them up so they will be ready when Jesus comes.”

Turn to Romans 13 and look at verse 11-12.

 11       And this {do,} knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

 The reason Jesus tells us to “stay awake” is because it is so easy to go asleep.

• And maybe that has already happened to some of us here this morning.
• Maybe we are starting to nod off.
• I mean we wait…and we wait…and the weeks go by and the months go by…and the years go by…and centuries have passed since Christ spoke these words.
• And it is easy to start thinking…”It’s not going to happen.”
• “He’s not coming.”
• And as we wait and wait…spiritually we start to falter…and waver…and nod off…and the next thing we know…we are hit and miss in our worship…
• And we don’t pray…and we don’t study…and we don’t read.
• And then we are no longer faithful…no longer working…no longer going to worship.
• And spiritually we are fast asleep.

And what Jesus is saying here is, don’t do that.

• Stay awake because He is coming.

When it comes to this idea of the “end of the world” there are two extremes.

• One is a “hyper extreme” where every time there is a war or earthquake, people start saying, “This is it…this is the end of the world.”
• And Jesus says, “Do not be deceived by that.”

But there is another extreme when it comes to the end of the world that is a trait of many Christians.

• It is the extreme of careless indifference.
• You completely dismiss the thought of the final judgment from your mind.
• And Jesus says, “Don’t live that way either.”

We live in the shadow of eternity.

• And because we do we must live in a way so that it does not matter when Jesus comes back.

You see, the problem is not getting prepared for when Jesus comes back.

• The problem is staying prepared.

Turn to Hebrews 10:24-25 and let me show you what God wants us to do in order to stay awake…or stay prepared.

 24        and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging {one another} and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.

 Why are you here today?

• Does God want us here on the first day of the week just to give us something to do?
• There are several reasons God wants us to meet here on the first day of the week.
• One of them is so we help each other “stay awake” until He comes.

You hear us say, “You need to be in church…don’t miss.”

• Do you know why?
• A lot of people think it is because the preacher wants to look good.

The reason we stress your being here in services is because those people who miss run a much greater risk of “falling asleep.”

So what do we do while we wait for the Lord to come?

• Well, look Matthew 24:46 where it says, “Blessed is that slave who his master finds so doing when he comes.”

How do we wait for the return of Jesus?

• Do we get a glass of iced tea and go out on the patio and sit in a lounge chair and look up to heaven and say, “come back Lord.”
• No, life is not matter of killing time.
• Life is a matter of redeeming time.
• Each servant has his task.
• And by completing it we fulfill our obligation to “be alert…to be ready.”.
• In other words we are not to sit around and wait for Jesus to come back.
• We are to work while we wait.

In closing, let me share with you a couple of things that Christ wants us to do while we wait.

Turn to 2 Corinthians 5:10-11.

10        For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men…

 In the face of the coming judgment Paul said they were busy trying to “persuade” men.

• And that is one of the things that Jesus wants us to do while we wait.
• We need to be persuading men to get ready to meet God.

And now turn to 1 Peter 3:13:

13        Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober {in spirit,} fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  14        As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts {which were yours} in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all {your} behavior;

 While we wait Jesus wants us to grow in holiness.

 Persuading men…and growing in holiness.

• These are two areas where sometimes we get stagnant.
• Sleepy maybe is a better word.
• Maybe all of us should go home this week and do some personal evaluation about how alert we have been in certain areas of our life.
• It may be that we need to wake up.

Don’t be fooled by the lie that Satan has sold the world.

• You have heard it. “Life goes on and on.’
• Folks, that is a lie.
• Life does not go on and on.
• Life is going toward an end.
• And we must be alert.

 

 

© Sunset Ridge Church of Christ 2025