I wanted to begin this morning
By simply reading one account of the resurrection.

Turn to: Luke 24:1-7

For just a few days it looked like the early symbol of Christianity
Was going to be a tomb.

TODAY: People go and decorate the graves of the deceased.

And so it was no surprise that early Sunday morning
These women were headed for the tomb.

WHAT THEY RECEIVED WAS A STARTLING TRUTH
“Why do you seek the living One among the dead?”

Jesus never intended for a tomb to be the symbol of Christianity.

His mission didn’t end in death, it ends in life.

That is why we don’t gather in a cemetery this morning,
For we don’t come to celebrate death, but to celebrate life.

THE RESURRECTION MAKES CHRISTIANITY UNIQUE

Men debate the sayings of Confucius, or the tranquility of Buddha,
Or the wisdom of Muhammad.

And just when this world wants to declare
“All religions equal as suitable ways to get to heaven,”
That is when we as followers of Jesus, stop the debate.

We offer to the masses something that no other religion can offer,
AND THAT IS A LIVING SAVIOR.

And YES, the resurrection of Jesus did occur.
Turn to: 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

• 500 Witnesses
Easier to prove that Jesus is alive,
Than to prove that most people are dead.
(If it was based on actual eye witnesses who could testify)

• Boldness of the Apostles

• No Body was ever produced

The resurrection did occur.
Jesus was dead, and He arose from the dead.
And this morning,
We are just going to talk about that truth for a little while.
• (A Different type of sermon for me)
• (One that cannot be completed in one service)

But this morning we will begin our look at
“The Significance of the Resurrection”

I want to be begin by revealing.
WHAT THE RESURRECTION REVEALS ABOUT JESUS

The person of Jesus is a highly debated topic.

Even Jesus knew He was a topic for debate:
Matthew 16:13-16 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

See, there were skeptics even in Jesus day.
John 7:5 “For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”

John 7:12 “There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.”

John 7:40-44 “Some of the people therefore, when they heard these words, were saying, “This certainly is the Prophet.” Others were saying, “This is the Christ.” Still others were saying, “Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee, is He? “Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.”

People couldn’t seem to decide who He was.
But the resurrection made things clear.

3 Things
1) HE IS GOD

In case you were unaware, Scripture DOES continually say
That Jesus is indeed God made flesh.

John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Titus 2:11-13 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,”

Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

Colossians 2:9 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,”

Even the Old Testament said that God would come in the form of man.
Isaiah 9:6 “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

Furthermore, Jesus even continually claimed to be God.
Turn to: John 10:27-33

John 8:56-59 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.”

John 14:8-11 “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”

If time permitted
• We could talk about how Jesus received prayer…
• We could talk about how Jesus is worshiped…
• We could talk about how Jesus forgave sin…

There is no doubt that
The writers of Scripture thought that Jesus was God.
Jesus thought that He was God.

Yet today, the topic is a hot debate.
• Let a Jehovah’s Witness come to your door…
• Let a Mormon come to your door…
• Strike up a conversation with a Muslim…
• Even today we have LIBERAL THEOLOGIANS…

Despite the word of God, and despite the claims of Jesus,
There are many who deny the fact that Jesus is God.

BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO TAKE MY WORD FOR IT,
THERE IS PROOF THAT JESUS IS GOD
THE RESURRECTION

Romans 1:4 “who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
Listen to what Jesus said to His disciples.
John 14:19-20 “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”

Furthermore listen to what one pessimist had to say after he saw the resurrected Lord.
John 20:26-28 “After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

The point is that the resurrection proved
That we were dealing with no ordinary man.

The resurrection proved that Jesus was God made flesh

That is why the Pharisees fought so hard
To cover up the fact that He was raised.

Matthew 28:11-15 “Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” 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 see the resurrection proved that they had crucified God in the flesh,
And they did not want to bear the blame.

BUT JESUS DID RISE, AND IF YOU REJECT HIM,
YOU ARE REJECTING THE ONE AND ONLY TRUE GOD.
Acts 2:32-36 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”‘ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.”

We must all come to grips with the fact that, like it or not, Jesus is God
And one day every knee will bow to Him.

But that is not all that the resurrection proves about Him.
2) HE IS THE STANDARD OF JUDGMENT

By that I mean that Jesus is the standard by which men are judged.
He is the plumb line…
He is the level…
Isaiah 28:15-18 “Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place. “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place.”

Like it or not, there is a divine standard we must meet
In order to enter the presence of God.

Today people quickly forget that.

“I am a good person”

Of course Scripture vehemently disagrees:
Romans 3:10-12 “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”

Yet people still justify themselves as “good”

WHY?
Because you are better than “that guy” or “that girl”?

People who look at themselves and think that they are good
Are people who are using a faulty standard.

JESUS IS THE STANDARD.

That means that in order to go to heaven,
You have to be as good as Jesus.

HOW DO I KNOW THAT?
The resurrection.

Turn to: Acts 17:29-31
God will judge the world with righteousness
And the standard that is used is Jesus.

The fact that Jesus was raised,
Proved that He was acceptable to God.

There was no grounds by which death could hold Him.
He was innocent.
He was acceptable.
So getting to heaven is simple.
You simply have to be as good as Jesus.

And just to let you know what you are up against.
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

If that concerns you, it should.

But don’t let it ruin the day, there is still one more thing the resurrection proves:
3) HE IS THE SAVIOR

Our world is full of “Saviors” who claim to be able to deliver.

And Jesus is One of them.
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”

John 7:37-38 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'”

John 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

John 10:9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Jesus claimed to be the One who has everything you need.
• Rest for the weary…
• Food for the hungry…
• Drink for the thirsty…
• Hope for the hopeless…
• Life for the dying…

There is no doubt He claimed to be the Savior.

THE WRITERS OF SCRIPTURE CLAIMED THAT HE IS AS WELL.
1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

The most famous account of this is found in Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

Peter spoke in reference to that passage when he said:
1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

Both Jesus and His followers said that He is the Savior

BUT WHY SHOULD YOU BELIEVE THEIR CLAIMS?
-The Resurrection

If a man says He can save you from death, and then dies,
You are really left with a dilemma.

Can you really trust a dead man
To handle your death problem?

If they die and stay dead, then it is quite possible
That they had their own sin problem to deal with.

BUT THE RESURRECTION PROVES JESUS WAS SINLESS
(Death had no grounds, which made Him able to be a payment for us)

If it were not for the resurrection,
We would have no guarantee that Jesus was a successful Savior.

1 Corinthians 15:17 “and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.”

But Jesus did rise, and therefore proved that our salvation worked.
Turn to: Romans 4:23-25

THE POINT:
JESUS IS THE SAVIOR!

Acts 4:11-12 “He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

The resurrection is a credential that only Jesus has.
It sets Him apart from every other religious personality.

• Jesus is God
• Jesus is the Standard for Judgment
• Jesus is the Savior

If you go through life without submitting to Him,
You will miss life entirely.

That is why in order to be a follower of Jesus,
It is required that not only must you submit your life to Him,
But you also must believe that He really did rise from the dead.

Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”

This morning I simply want you to know what the Bible teaches
And what the resurrection proves.

But your submission and your faith are up to you.

If you have never submitted your life to the Lord Jesus Christ,
Then I would ask you to do it.

• Believe that He died for you, and rose from the dead.
• Believe that He is God.
• Believe that He is the Standard for Judgment
• Believe that He is the only Savior from sin

AND PROVE YOU BELIEVE, BY FULLY SUBMITTING TO HIM

Matthew 27:62-66

You heard Roy read earlier how the first plot of Satan was carried out.
Satan devised a scheme and it was a murder plot.

In his mind the way to ensure victory was to kill the Messiah.
And so the plot was set.

He bated the Pharisees and Chief Priests
and fanned the flame of their jealousy until their rage was at an all time high and they desired to kill the Christ.

He bribed the weak-minded Judas
and for 30 pieces of silver he had his inside traitor.

He then used a mob to intimidate Pilate
and just like that the murder of Jesus was underway.

In the middle of the night Jesus was arrested.
He was tried before the Chief Priests and then taken to Pilate.
Pilate had him scourged and beaten and brought back to the pavement.
Upon intimidation Pilate succumbed to the mob to have Jesus crucified.

The cross was then placed upon Jesus back
And he began the long trek up the hill to Golgotha.

On the way, He crumbled under the weight of the cross, and Simon was forced to help Him carry it the rest of the way.

And all along Satan held a smirk.

At the third hour (9am) they drove nails through the hands and feet of Jesus and they dropped the old rugged cross into the hole.

And for the next 6 hours
Jesus would hang in agony and torture upon the cross.
Gasping for every breath…
Mocked by those who are watching…
Seeing the pain of His mother…
Feeling the sin of the world, and the rejection of His Father…
And finally during the 9th hour (3:00pm) Jesus would breath His last

AND SATAN WOULD REJOICE!

They would lower the body of Jesus off of the cross, and a man named Joseph of Arimathea would muster up courage to ask Pilate for His body.

A stone would be rolled over the entrance, and by the end of the day, the entire following of Jesus was two women sitting at the grave.
So much for the great following of Jesus.
So much for this all-powerful healer.
So much for this self-proclaimed Messiah.
JESUS WAS DEAD

And all the forces of evil rejoiced as the plot of Satan
Had seemingly been carried out to perfection.

But I want you to know, that was the only the first phase of his plot.
There was a second phase to the plot of Satan.

Killing Jesus was only part of the deal,
Here this morning we learn about the second aspect.

Our story picks up on Saturday (Sabbath) the day after Jesus was crucified, and there are three things we see here.

#1 A WICKED CONVENTION
Matthew 27:62

Matthew tells us that the day after Jesus was crucified
That the plotting and scheming had not yet come to an end.

Despite their supposed love of God, reverence for the Sabbath,
We find these religious leaders still at work in their scheming.

They had pretended to hold this day in high esteem.
John 19:31 “Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath ( for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.”

Yet apparently worship and focus on God was not what was important to them, for here we find them locked in a new convention.

AND WE LEARN A LOT WHEN WE SEE WHO WAS PRESENT

“the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate,”

Now first I want you to know how bizarre this is.
We read over that like this meeting is no big deal,
But this is a monumental meeting.

“the chief priests”
This group was mostly made up of the group we call the Sadducees.
They rejected all things spiritual. They didn’t believe in the resurrection, they didn’t believe in angels, the final judgment, and they only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament as Scripture.

They were the white collar aristocrats,
They were also comprised of mostly Hellenistic Jews.

These were the Jews who had adopted Greek culture and worldliness.
To put it plainly, these were the LIBERALS.

It was to them that Jesus would say:
Matthew 22:29 “But Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.”

ON THE OTHER HAND
“the Pharisees”
These were exact opposites of the chief priests. They arose during the days of the Maccabean revolt.

The term Pharisee means “separated one” and it was because while many Jews were falling into a Hellenistic influence, they sought to hold themselves aloof. They were dedicated to obedience to the Law and worship of God.

Not only did the view the entire Old Testament as authoritative, they also added to that law with hundreds of oral traditions that were just as binding.

While the Sadducees were liberal, these were the LEGALISTS. Everything was according to works and merit, and looking religious men on the outside.

Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”

The chief priests and Pharisees were not only opposites, but were in strict opposition to one another. They did not run together at all.

AND THEN THERE WAS:
“Pilate”

Pilate wasn’t a Jew at all, he was a Gentile, and to make matters worse, he was a Roman. He worked for the country that set in dominance over Israel. Not only to mention Pilate was exceptionally vile.

Luke 13:1 “Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.”

Pilate was a tyrant who did hideous things to Jews suspected of revolting from Rome, including the incident we just read about.

While the chief priests represented liberalism…
And the Pharisees represented legalism…
Pilate represented LEWDNESS.

He was vile and worldly in every sense of the word,
Even if chief priests and Pharisees didn’t get along,
They certainly would neither have bonded with Pilate.
Yet, we find these men all meeting together.
Nothing in this world could possibly have united them,
Except their unified desire to kill the Son of God.

These men had differing ideals in every sense of the word,
And the only common bond was that they all hated the truth.
Liberalism
Legalism
Lewdness

This was literally a convention of the wicked.
YOU CAN ALWAYS TELL WHEN SATAN IS AT WORK,
HE STARTS UNITING PEOPLE FOR THE PURPOSE OF EVIL.

But there is a second thing I want you to see this morning.
#2 THE WORRIED CONSPIRACY
Matthew 27:63-64

It seems like they just want to keep the disciples from stealing Jesus body because they don’t want the people to be deceived.

At least that is what they say,
But common sense teaches us that is not at all what they are concerned about.

THINK ABOUT IT:
HOW HARD IS IT TO PROVE A DEAD MAN IS ACTUALLY DEAD?
Ask the Centurion that stabbed His side…
Ask the Centurion that was breaking the legs…
Ask Joseph, who buried Him…

There are tons of witnesses to prove that Jesus was dead, AND THEY ARE WORRIED THAT THEY WON’T BE ABLE TO PROVE IT?
Yeah right.

THAT IS NOT WHAT THEY ARE WORRIED ABOUT.

THIS IS THE 2ND PLOT OF SATAN
NOT JUST TO KILL JESUS, BUT TO KEEP HIM DEAD

They know they killed Him, But
They must have gone to bed Friday night haunted by JAIRUS’S DAUGHTER.
They must have woken up in the night thinking of the WIDOW’S SON.
They must have awakened Saturday morning with LAZARUS on the brain.

And now, although they know they killed Him, they are worried,
And so their focus now shifts to keeping Him dead.

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING?
There were many who wanted to kill Hitler, but I’ve never heard of a single person who was worried about keeping Hitler dead.

But their concern is now to keep Jesus dead.
WHY?

I’ll let Paul answer that question for you.
1 Corinthians 15:12-19 “Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. Moreover we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”

If Jesus stays dead:
There is no point to the apostles preaching: “our preaching is in vain”
The Christians believed in vain: “your faith also is vain”
The disciples are liars: “we are even found to be false witnesses of God”
Faith has no value whatsoever “your faith is worthless”
Forgiveness is a farce “you are still in your sins”
Dead believers are in hell “those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished”
Christians are the most pitiful people in the world “we are of all men most to be pitied.”

I THINK YOU SEE WHY THIS WAS SO IMPORTANT TO SATAN
In order to thwart the plan of God,
Satan simply had to kill Jesus and keep Him dead.

So Satan gathered his workers together one more time to do his bidding, and this time it was to make sure Jesus stays dead.

BECAUSE COULD YOU IMAGINE IF HE AROSE?
MY GOSH, if He were to rise from the dead,
Then that would prove everything that He said was true.

If He rose from the dead that would prove He was the Son of God.
If He rose from the dead, that would mean all the religious leaders were wrong.

NO IT WAS IMPERATIVE THAT THEY KEEP HIM DEAD
And so that is precisely what this meeting is about.

We see a wicked convention We see a worried conspiracy
#3 A WORTHLESS CONSTRAINT
Matthew 27:65-66
Now is where the story gets really good.
The plot is once again underway.
“You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.”
In other words, you do whatever it takes
To make sure that Jesus stays in the grave.

And the liberals and the legalists rise to the occasion
To do all they can to keep Jesus dead.

(66) “And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone.”

“seal” translates SPHRAGIZO (sfrag – it – zoe)
“to seal, is used to indicate security and permanency”

So they completely seal up this tomb, and just to make sure no one attempts to break this permanent seal, they post a guard at the tomb.

YOU SEE SATAN WANTED TO MAKE SURE JESUS STAYED DEAD

And while Satan’s puppets are at work outside the tomb,
Satan’s demons are at work inside the tomb.

For the Bible teaches that when Jesus died He went where our sins warranted Him go. He went to hades.

1 Peter 3:18-19 “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,”

You see the demons had a great thought.
They thought they would encircle Him and keep Him dead.

And this was a good plan, after all, no one else had ever beaten it.

Remember the rich man?
Luke 16:22-26 “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. “And he cried out and said, ‘ Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’”

One worked the outside, and the other worked the inside.
SURELY THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO KEEP A DEAD MAN DEAD

WRONG!

1 Corinthians 15:26 “The last enemy that will be abolished is death.”

Acts 2:24 “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

DEATH NEVER NEW WHAT HIT IT

They never tried to bind anybody like this before.
He put hell on it’s knees, and the stone was no kind of a barrier.

JESUS BROKE THE BINDINGS
As we sing in the Easter son, “He tore the bars away”
He stole the keys of death and hades and came bursting out of the tomb,

As soon as victory was achieved,
The angels of God rushed to share the knews!

Matthew 28:1-7 “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. 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. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

Victory was achieved, and Satan was proven the fool.

They tried to do everything they could to keep Jesus dead.
GOD HAD SEEN THEIR SCHEMING
AND 1,000 YEARS AHEAD OF TIME
HIS RESPONSE WAS ALREADY RECORDED.

Psalms 2:1-6 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

Psalms 37:12-13 “The wicked plots against the righteous And gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, For He sees his day is coming.”

As God them seal the tomb, and laughed out loud,
saying, “Yeah, that’s gonna work.”

And we are once again confronted with the ineptness of Satan.
HE COULDN’T EVEN KEEP A DEAD MAN DEAD

THE CHIEF PRIESTS, PHARISEES, AND PILATE
COULDN’T EVEN KEEP A DEAD MAN DEAD

That’s because God on His weakest day,
Is stronger than man ever thought about being.
1 Corinthians 1:25 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

And what I want you to know this morning,
Is that despite the desires of the wicked,
I’M HERE TO TELL YOU THAT JESUS IS ALIVE.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”

And I’m also here to tell you that He can change your life.
Romans 6:4-11 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Because Jesus rose from the dead,
EVERYTHING HE SAID IS PROVEN TO BE TRUE.

He proved He is God by stepping out of the tomb.

BUT SO MANY TODAY, FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS
OF THE PHARISEES AND CHIEF PRIESTS,
IN THAT THEY DON’T WANT TO LET JESUS OUT OF THE TOMB.

He makes for a good story,
He makes for a good sermon,
He makes for a good moral example,

But to countless thousands across our world,
Jesus might as well still be in the tomb,
Because they have never received the power of His resurrected life.
I’m asking you this morning to let Jesus out of the tomb!

Adrian Rogers said,
”To demons were speaking to one another, and one demon said to the other, ‘If these liberal theologians ever really let Jesus out of the tomb, hell help us, all of heaven’s going to break loose.’”

I’m asking you to believe that Jesus really is alive,
And that He really lives, and that He really can change your life.

DON’T FALL PREY TO SATAN’S 3RD PLOT
Oh yes, there was a third plot.

His first plot was CRUCIFIXION
His second plot was CONTAINMENT
His final plot is COVER UP

Matthew 28:11-15 “Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” 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 see Satan couldn’t keep Jesus in the tomb,
So instead he tries to convince you that He is still there.

He wants you to believe that He is dead…
He doesn’t want you to see that your life should be changed…
He doesn’t want you to see that your life could be changed…
And so he spreads the lie that Jesus is dead.

BUT I KNOW IT’S NOT SO.

I still remember the night that I let Jesus out of the tomb.
I remember the night I died with Him,
And how He caused me to be resurrected to new life.

I remember when Jesus became more than a story…
I remember when Jesus became more than words on a page…
I remember when Jesus arose in my heart
And set me free from sin and gave me a new nature.

HE CAN DO THE SAME FOR YOU, BUT YOU MUST BELIEVE

Romans 10:9-10 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
You must confess Him as Lord, and believe that He is.
AND JESUS WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

That is what Easter is all about.
It is about the day when death was forced to give way to life.

It is the day when liberals and legalists became a laughingstock.
It is the day when the demons trembled.
It is the day when Satan went down in flames.

It is the day when those who confess Jesus as Lord
Found everlasting life.

“Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes
He arose a victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign
HE AROSE!
HE AROSE!
HALLELUJAH CHIRST AROSE!

Pray

 

The Power of the Cross
Matthew 26:26-28

I wanted to start out by reading that familiar text from the upper room
As sort of a back drop for what we are going to study this evening.

You know I’m not really a fan of topical approaches
But it is true that sometimes it is very fitting for us
To sort of scour over the pages of Scripture and be reminded of certain truths.

And this evening the truth I want you to rest on is
“THE POWER OF THE CROSS”

You know that it was on this very day that our Lord was actually crucified.
It was during the Passover that Jesus was put to death.
And so the reasons for coming to worship tonight are obvious.

But where I want to get started actually occurred on Thursday night,
The night before the Lord was killed.

I won’t get into why Jesus and His disciples
Were taking the Passover on Thursday instead of Friday

Except to point out, some Jews measured a day from sun-up to sun-up.
Others measured their day from sun-down to sun-down.

And that means that “twilight on the fourteenth day”
(when the Passover occurred) for some of the Jews
Would have been Thursday and for some would have been Friday.

But none the less, we have here Thursday night
And Jesus and His disciples in the upper room
Doing what every Jew understood and normal practice.
They were taking the Passover.

Exodus 12 prescribed that on the fourteenth day
Of the tenth month every Jew was to partake in the Passover.

It commemorated God’s deliverance from Egypt.

They ate bitter herbs – symbolizing their bondage
They ate unleavened bread – symbolizing their separation from sinful Egypt
They ate roasted lamb – the blood of which they had painted on the door frame

And as they ate, they were To eat with their loins girded,
Their staff in hand, and To eat it in haste,
Thus symbolizing their certain belief in the deliverance of God.

And every year Jews returned to eat the Passover
As a memorial of God’s great deliverance from Egypt.
To the Jew, the Exodus was the greatest deliverance
God had ever performed.
• 10 plagues
• Pillar of fire
• Parting of the Red Sea
• Drowning of the Egyptians
• Manna from heaven
• Water from a rock
• Shoes that never wore out

And so Jews routinely celebrated the Passover
To remember God’s great deliverance.

But on this night Jesus was about to reveal something to the disciples.
THE EXODUS IS NOT GOD’S GREATEST DELIVERANCE

For as He partook of that meal, notice what He did.
“While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

What Jesus did here is absolutely astounding,
And the claim He is making is second to none.

He declares that He is about to perform
A greater deliverance than the Exodus.

“Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

In other words, stop eating this bread and thinking about the Exodus.
You think of “My body”

And He did the same with the wine.
“And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

It isn’t the lamb’s blood that was powerful,
It is “My blood” that is powerful.

It was a mandate from Jesus that they change the symbolism of the meal.

Luke 22:19 “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

Jesus said “do this in remembrance of Me.”
DO WHAT? The Passover

Jesus said the next time they come to partake of the Passover,
They don’t need to do it with the Exodus on their mind.

Instead, they must partake with Jesus on their mind.

He emphatically declaring that the deliverance I am about to bring
Is even greater than the deliverance of the Exodus.

And with such a statement by our Lord,
I thought it only fitting to take a little time this evening
And examine the power of the cross.

(and like I said, this is topical, so we are going to bounce around a little here)
#1 THE SINNERS IT REACHED

If you want to talk about the power of the cross,
One of the first ways we see that power is in the reach of the cross.

It is absolutely amazing who the cross was and is able to reach.

• It was not as though Christ was only interested in a certain quality of sinner.
• It is not as though Christ was looking to help those who would help themselves.

We just learned last Sunday morning what Jesus said:
Matthew 9:12 “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.”

The cross reached all the way down to the sick.
The cross reached all the way down to the most vile.

1 Timothy 1:15 “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”

Paul clearly saw himself as the worst sinner that ever lived.
• For not only was he a murderer who killed Christians.
• We also know him to have been covetous.
• We know he had selfish ambition.
• And we also know he swore falsely in the name of the Lord, as one who pretended to love God, but did not really.

And when Paul took inventory of his life he was amazed that Christ would save him for he knew himself to be the worst of the worst.

Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Perhaps Paul wouldn’t have thought it strange if Christ had come
To save the religiously moral, or the bad person with good intentions.

But the fact that Christ came to save the most vile
Was absolutely astounding to him.
And yet that is the power of the cross.

No one was too wicked for the cross.
No one was beyond the reach of the atonement.

And we could spend hours with the illustrations.
• The Woman at the Well and her immoral living
• Mary Magdalene and her 7 demons
• The woman who wept over Jesus’ feet who sins were “many”
• Matthew, or Zaccheus and their greed
• Even centurions in their callous way of life

And yet it really didn’t matter how much sin a person had,
The debt was never too large for the cross.

But it isn’t just the vileness of the sinner that makes this impressive.

It is also impressive because there is no limit to who can come.

We think everything has a limit.
A limit to our days.
A limit to our water supply
A limit to our natural resources
A limit to our financial resources

We often suppose things to have a limit.
Either one person can have a whole lot, or a lot of people can have a little, but we all know that every resource eventually runs out.

And yet this is the power of the cross.
There is no end.
The flow never stops.
The redemption never runs out.

The cross can reach EVERY sinner regardless of the depth of their sin.

That is why we are blown away by passages like:
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

John 12:32 “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”

Those passages reveal that there is a total sufficiency
In the atonement of Christ on the cross.

Every sinner can come, regardless of how much they owe.

And that is why we sing:
“There’s room at the cross for you”

“The blood will never lose it’s power…it reaches to the highest mountain, it flows through the lowest valley. The blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose it’s power.”

The Sinners It Reached
#2 THE SANCTIFICATION IT PRODUCED

You are probably familiar with one of the great questions
That Jeremiah asked in the Old Testament.

Jeremiah 13:23a “Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots?”

The obvious answer being, “No”.
You are what you are.

And we know what man is.
Man is a slave to sin.
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

We come into this world only concerned about ourselves.
We are ambitious for the things we want, and those things aren’t God.

Titus 3:3 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.
Paul nailed it there for Titus.
We were wicked people who never changed.
BUT
Titus 3:4-7 “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

And this is again the beauty of the cross.
It had the ability to change sinful wicked men into saints of God.
LOOK AT THE CHANGE
Paul from persecutor to missionary
Peter from coward to preacher
John from “son of thunder” to elder who loved

Or what about men like Nicodemus or Joseph?
Nicodemus was curious, but so afraid that he came to Jesus at night.
Joseph of Arimathea was said to be a secret disciple for fear of the Jews.

Yet
John 19:38-41 “After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.”

What a difference the cross made in their lives.
These two silent and secretive followers,
Confessed their love about as public as you could.

While the leopard can’t change its spots,
We have found that the cross can change anyone.

And the power is the transformed lives we see of people everywhere.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Romans 6:4-7 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”

It is what Paul meant when he wrote:
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

That is certainly more powerful than the Passover.
We all remember how righteous those who partook of the Passover were.

They barely made it out of Egypt
Before building a golden calf or grumbling against God.

The cross has the power to take willful hardened sinners
And turn them into dedicated saints of God.

That is the power of the cross.
The Sinners it Reached, The Sanctification it Produced
#3 THE SATISFACTION BROUGHT

And this one I find especially amazing.
The cross did something that no one or nothing had ever done.

The cross satisfied God.

Romans 3:23-25 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;”

1 John 2:2 “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

You probably know by now,
But that word “propitiation” means “appeasement”.

It was the sacrifice of Christ on the cross
That satisfied the holy requirement of God.

And this is amazing because when you read the Old Testament you very rarely find this.

In fact when you read the Law God is pretty clear.
• If you commit murder, you die. (Exodus 21:12)
• If you hit your parents, you die. (Exodus 21:15)
• If you curse your parents, you die. (Exodus 21:17)
• If you kidnap someone, you die. (Exodus 21:16)
• If you have a goreing ox who kills someone, you die. (Exodus 21:29)
• If you commit adultery, you die. (Leviticus 20:10)
• If a man lies with an animal, he dies. (Exodus 22:19)
• If you blaspheme God, you die. (Leviticus 24:16)
• If you willfully disobey God, you die. (Deuteronomy 17:12)
• If you worship idols, you die. (Exodus 22:20)
• If you work on the Sabbath, you die (Exodus 31:15)

Now of course God had the sacrificial system, but it doesn’t take long
For a person to realize that it must not be too effective.

The sacrifices keep coming.
Hebrews 10:2-4 “Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

The sacrifices never stopped, so they couldn’t have been that great.

Furthermore God remained behind the veil.
There was a continual separation.
Obviously God was not satisfied.

If one did not know better you might even think that
It was impossible to satisfy God.

He almost appeared to be impossible to please.
His standard was too high.
His holiness was too great.
No one would ever be able to satisfy God.

And yet that is precisely what the cross did.

The cross of Jesus had the power to do
What the blood of 100 billion sheep never could.
Jesus satisfied God.

This, by the way, is what makes the resurrection so significant.

Apart from the fact that it proves that death is conquered,
The resurrection also proves that God was satisfied with Christ.

Romans 4:25 “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”

Christ was raised “because of our justification.”

He was raised because He was successful at justifying us.
The resurrection proves the cross worked.

Had Christ remained dead we would wonder if God was really satisfied.
But because He was raised we know God was satisfied.

This is also why the veil was torn.
For the first time access to God was granted.

It is just astounding what the cross accomplished.

The cross took the most vile sinners imaginable,
Turned them into righteous saints
And fully satisfied the wrath of God against them.

That is the Power of the cross

The Sinners it Reached, The Sanctification it Produced, The Satisfaction is Brought
#4 THE SECURITY IT ACHIEVED

And of course this one may blow our minds yet again.

So the cross reached to a vile sinner and made him right before God,
BUT WE KNOW HUMANITY PRETTY WELL.

Humanity is prone not only to mistakes,
But to repeat those mistakes.

So certainly Christ redeemed man once, but how many times will He have to do it?

And the answer proves just how powerful the cross really is.
Hebrews 10:10 “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,” He then says, “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”

“the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE for ALL”

“having offered ONE sacrifice for sins for ALL time”

“For by ONE offering He has perfected for ALL time those who are sanctified.”

This is where the Catholics have it all wrong.
• They still have Jesus hanging on the cross.
• They believe at Mass Jesus comes down again to pay the penalty for all the sin they confessed to the priest.

This is to grossly misunderstand and insult the cross.

The cross of Jesus was so powerful that this one act by Jesus
Is powerful enough to atone for all sinners of all sin for all time.

The Passover never did that.
They had to take the Passover year after year.

And now you see why Jesus tells the disciples
To stop thinking back to the Passover.

From now on when you eat that bread and when you drink that cup,
You remember the deliverance of the cross.

Only the cross was powerful enough to reach vilest sinner,
Make him clean, pay his debt, and pay it forever.

“This the power of the cross, Christ became sin for us, took the blame, bore the wrath, we stand forgiven at the cross.”
And that is why we come here today.

This is the day when we would be partaking of the Passover.
This is the day when we would be remembering the great deliverance from Egypt.

But instead, on this day, we “Do This” and remember Jesus.

• We remember His atonement which was powerful enough to cover all my sin.
• We remember His atonement which was powerful enough to change my spots.
• We remember His atonement which was powerful enough to make God satisfied with me.
• We remember His atonement which was powerful enough to cleanse me for all time.

And the way we remember is to partake of the Lord’s Supper.

“While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

Now, as you know Scripture declares that before we partake we are to have a time of self-examination.

1 Corinthians 11:27-29 “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.”

And so that is what we do.
Examine your life.

• Have you turned from your sin to follow Christ?
• Are you trusting in Christ and Christ alone?
• And is your life characterized with the humility and gratitude that Christ’s follower should have?

I’ll pray, we’ll examine ourselves.
Then we’ll partake of the Lord’s Supper.

Pray
THE LORD’S SUPPER

• Deacons come forward and fold blanket

Colossians 2:8-14 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

• Give bread to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacon’s pass out bread

Matthew 26:26 “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

• Take bread

1 Peter 2:21-25 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”

• Give juice to deacons
• Deacon prayer

Matthew 26:27-28 “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

• Take Juice
• Deacon Prayer

• Closing Hymn

The Means of God’s Salvation
Isaiah 53

This morning we are here to partake of the Lord’s Supper.
It is the commanded ordinance of the church
Meant to continually bring us back to the cross.

In order to do that we are going to study the 53rd chapter of Isaiah.

However, before we study this chapter,
I want to help you see it in its context.

Isaiah 50 – 66 is all about the salvation of Israel.
It begins with their rejection
And ends with their reconciliation back to God.

Let me give you some of the highlights of the section

TURN BACK TO: ISAIAH 50
Isaiah 50 recounts the separation
That occurred between God and His people.

It actually describes this split as a divorce.

(VS. 1) – God wants to know when the divorce occurred
(VS. 2)

Isaiah 51 is God seeking His people to come back to Him.

Notice the heartfelt pleas to reconcile the relationship.

(Vs. 1) – “Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the LORD”
(Vs. 4) – “Pay attention…give ear”

And all throughout the chapter it echoes the cries of Jesus
As He begged Israel to come to Him.

Isaiah 52 – Continues the theme of God pleading for reconciliation.

(Vs. 6) – “Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore in that day I am the one who is speaking, “Here I am.”

And then of course is the 53rd chapter
Where God actually makes provision for their forgiveness.

Isaiah 54 Celebrates the fact that forgiveness is possible.

(Vs. 11-17) –announces the good news of salvation.
But because Israel would not listen to Jesus or the apostles,
The next 9 chapters reveal one evangelistic call after another.

(55:1) – (55:6) – “ (56:1) – (58:1) –(59:1-3) (61:1-3) (62:1)

And finally CHAPTER 64 Israel gets saved.

(Vs. 6) – “For all of us have become like one who is unclean…”
(Vs. 8-12) – They actually ask for salvation.

And so you see that these 17 chapters
Are all about the future salvation of Israel.

And the pinnacle of these chapters is clearly the 53rd.
For it was in that chapter
That salvation was actually purchased for God’s elect.

If chapter 53 does not exist then the remainder of the book of Isaiah
Is not possible. It all hinges upon this event.

SALVATION REQUIRES MORE THAN THE MOTIVATION OF MAN
IT REQUIRES THE SATISFACTION OF GOD

There is a sin debt outstanding, and until that debt is paid,
It doesn’t matter how much man wants to be forgiven.

ISAIAH 53 DEALS WITH THE PAYMENT OF THAT DEBT

This text naturally breaks into 4 divisions. (each of 3 verses)

Each division naturally breaks down as well into 3 points.
In each section the 1st verse makes a theological statement.
In each section the 2nd verse makes support of that statement.
In each section the 3rd verse summarizes that main point.

#1 HIS HUMILIATION
Isaiah 53:1-3

We already saw back in the 50th chapter that when God showed up
His people did not receive Him.

And certainly we saw that in the gospels as well.
John 1:5 “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

John 1:9-11 “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.”

And that is as Isaiah predicted here.
This great chapter begins with two questions.
“Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?”

Jesus is God’s incarnate word, His literal message.
Jesus is God’s arm, the means of His salvation.

DID ANYBODY SEE THAT WHEN HE CAME?
And the answer is obviously “No”

The Messiah (just as ch. 50 revealed) was not recognized.

WHY?
(2) “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”

The basic reason brought forth by Isaiah is that He was not recognized
Because He did not fit the profile of what Israel was looking for.

“He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,”
In other words He grew up in relative weakness and obscurity.
The only one who kept an eye on Him was God.

When people saw Him as a young boy,
No one really thought there was anything special about Him.

Contrast Him to a previous deliverer for Israel.
REMEMBER MOSES?
Acts 7:20 “It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father’s home.”

Hebrews 11:23 “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.”

There was something about Moses from the start.
You could just look at this kid and tell he was set apart.
When you saw him you just knew God had big plans for Him.

But not Jesus.
As a kid growing up no one suspected a thing (not even His brothers)
“like a root out of parched ground;”

Roots flourish in wet soil, in fertile soil.
But Jesus certainly wasn’t planted in fertile soil.

He was born to a carpenter, He was raised in Nazareth.
Perhaps you even remember one of His disciples:
John 1:45-46 “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

It was clear that Jesus didn’t have the right pedigree.
Even if He had it in Him to be a king (something no one suspected)
Then His hopes were crushed by being born into poverty and oblivion.

And if that was not enough:
“He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”

Remember when Samuel found king Saul?
1 Samuel 9:1-2 “Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. He had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and handsome man, and there was not a more handsome person than he among the sons of Israel; from his shoulders and up he was taller than any of the people.”

Remember later when Samuel found king David?
1 Samuel 16:12 “So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”

Well Jesus didn’t have any of that.
There was nothing remarkable about His childhood…
There was nothing beneficial about His pedigree…
There was nothing exceptional about His stature…

And because of that, the people failed to recognize Him.

• They wanted a savior from Rome…
• They wanted a general with power and persuasion…
• They wanted a warrior with conviction…

But that was not Jesus:
Matthew 12:18-21 “BEHOLD, MY SERVANT WHOM IHAVE CHOSEN; MY BELOVED IN WHOM MY SOUL is WELL-PLEASED; I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT UPON HIM, AND HE SHALL PROCLAIM JUSTICE TO THE GENTILES.”HE WILL NOT QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT; NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN THE STREETS. “A BATTERED REED HE WILL NOT BREAK OFF, AND A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT, UNTIL HE LEADS JUSTICE TO VICTORY. “AND IN HIS NAME THE GENTILES WILL HOPE.”

He wasn’t a bully.
He wasn’t a motivational speaker.
He didn’t create mobs and start riots.

His greatest tool was compassion and
His attitude was best described by submission.
If you wanted someone to overthrow Rome, this was not your guy.
And so Israel failed to recognize Him.

And therefore:
(3) “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised and we did not esteem Him.”

They despised Him because of His humility.

What they failed to realize was that
His humility was to help Him identify with us.

Hebrews 2:17-18 “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.”

Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

He came in humiliation because
He desired to understand our pain and our suffering.
And because of this people failed to see Him.

In fact He associated so well, that people often rejected Him for it.
Matthew 9:11 “When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?”

Matthew 11:19 “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

Jesus was a man of sorrows and pain
And because of that people were not interested in following Him.

First – His Humiliation
#2 HIS PROPITIATION
Isaiah 53:4-6

Propitiation is a word that means “appeasement”.
It means to satisfy someone’s wrath, or to make amends.

And that is why Jesus came.

Romans 3:21-25a “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.”
1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

1 John 4:10 “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

Jesus came to satisfy the wrath of God on sin.
And that is what He did.

(4) “Surely our griefs He himself bore, and our sorrows He carried;”

And I hope you will allow me to do a little
Defending of the truth here for just a moment.

This statement, along with the one in
verse 5, “and by His scourging we are healed.”

Are commonly quoted by those in the charismatic movement
To prove that physical healing is a part of the atonement
And that believers should no longer be sick.

Please listen to me for a moment.
God is Healer, and God does heal.
(you wouldn’t recover from anything if God didn’t heal you.)

And in a sense healing is part of the atonement,
For sickness is a consequence of sin.
(Coming as a part of the curse at the fall of man)

But the fulfillment of that won’t be until glory.
Sin was also defeated and yet Christians still sin.
Death was also defeated and yet Christians still die.

But this verse is used to support that no Christians should get sick.

The reason is because of the word study.

The Hebrew word for “griefs” literally means sickness
The Hebrew word for “sorrows” literally means pain

And therefore the conclusion is made that
The healing mentioned in verse 5 is a physical healing
And that through the atonement believers should never be sick.

BUT LISTEN
That misses the point of the text,
For Isaiah is not talking about actual sickness,
But rather is speaking of sin as a disease that is plaguing mankind.

Jesus did the same:
Matthew 9:12-13 “But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. “But go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Furthermore the remainder of the chapter makes it clear
That deliverance from sin and not sickness is in view.

(5) “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities…”
(6) “the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”
(11) “as He will bear their iniquities.”
(12) “Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.”

Is sickness a sin, or is sin a sickness?

Isaiah sees sin as a sickness that requires a healer.

WHY DOES IT MATTER IF THEY VIEW THE ATONEMENT LIKE THAT?

Because run the risk of making the same mistake Israel made
Which is failing to see your biggest problem.

If you come to Jesus for the wrong reason you will not last.

There were thousands who came to Jesus to be healed,
And nearly all defected from Him eventually, some even yelling crucify in Jerusalem. (Read John 6 if you want proof)

There were thousands who came to Jesus to make Him king,
Supposing He had the power to give earthly prominence and power, and they fell away eventually as well. (see Judas)

Those all misdiagnosed their main problem and therefore went to Jesus for the wrong cure, and they did not last.

That was Israel’s downfall.
They didn’t see sin as their biggest enemy,
And so they failed to see the Savior.

And so I want you to see that Jesus is the Savior from sin.
(His healing ministry was proof of His power to save from sin)

Matthew 9:5-7 “Which is easier, to say, ‘ Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” And he got up and went home.”

Jesus came to pay the sin debt of God’s people, and if you see that,
Then you are reading the chapter correctly.

“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried;”

But because men did not think they needed His services,
They excused His sacrifice.

“Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.”

He died for us, and yet we thought He died because He deserved it.

What a tragedy.
(5-6) “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

DID YOU NOTICE ALL THE “OUR” AND “WE” AND “US” STATEMENT?

His death was not because He was at fault.
He died because we had a sin problem we could not solve.

• He came to this earth in humiliation identifying with our weakness…
• He took our sin upon Himself and paid the penalty for it…
• And all along we thought He deserved what He was getting.

He came to defeat our biggest enemy and that was sin.
He did so by paying the debt we owed against it.

1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

His Humiliation
His Propitiation
#3 HIS AUTHENTICATION
Isaiah 53:7-9

Many would ask: “HOW DO YOU KNOW HE DIDN’T DESERVE WHAT HE GOT?”

You can talk about Him paying our penalty,
But how do we know He didn’t just pay His own penalty.

Well the greatest proof of that point is that He rose from the dead, But beyond that, even the atonement itself proves He was innocent.

Look at His attitude when He died.
(7) “He was oppressed and he was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, so He did not open His mouth.”

Nothing He did was done in selfishness,
All that He did was done in submission.

This even perplexed those around Him.
John 19:8-11 “Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; and he entered into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

Pilate had seen many a man on death row and none acted like Jesus.
This man was at peace, this man was submissive,
He was not your common criminal.

I especially like verse 8
“By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?”

Did you catch the question?
“Who considered that He died because of the sin of the people?”

DID ANYBODY RECOGNIZE THAT HE DIDN’T DESERVE TO DIE?
YES

• The Judge who condemned Him first declared Him innocent.
• Pilate said, “I find no fault in this man.”

• The Centurion who nailed Him to the cross later declared Him to be the Son of God.

• The Thief who died beside Him declared to all who were present that while his death was deserved, “This man has done nothing wrong.”

But if that wasn’t enough, notice how God intervened.

(9) ‘His grave was assigned with wicked men,”

And that was true.
They would have buried Him with all the other criminals,
But God intervened.

“Yet He was with a rich man in His death”

You will remember that instead He was buried in Joseph’s tomb,
This all by the determination of God.

WHY?
Because Psalms 116:15 says:
Psalms 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.”

And even though His stay in the grave would not be long,
God would have it be an honorable one.

“Because He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”

In other words He was the real deal.
• Pilate knew it…
• The Centurion knew it…
• The thief knew it…
• God knew it…

He really did not die for His own sin, but for the sin of the people.

His Humiliation His Propitiation His Authentication
#4 HIS GLORIFICATION
Isaiah 53:10-12

Some would ask.
If God was so pleased with Him, then why would God kill Him?

And so the answer is spelled out again.
(10) “But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief;”

God was actually pleased to kill Jesus.
WHY?

“If He will render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.”

God was pleased to crush this righteous man
Because this righteous man was paying the sin debt for God’s people.

God was pleased to crush Him because in Him salvation was possible.
Jesus actually could fulfill the plan of God.

And as a result of the obedience of Jesus, God highly magnified Him for it.

(11-12) “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

Jesus was righteous, yet He died a humiliating death
In order to fulfill God’s plan of redemption for His people.

And because Jesus did that God highly glorified Him.
In fact God made Him the absolute preeminent one.

Philippians 2:9-11 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Because of the faithfulness of Jesus, God has made Him Lord.
He is the One that you and I must submit to.

You see Jesus didn’t come to save you from poverty, or government oppression, or even hardship and pain.

Jesus came to save you from sin.
He did so by taking sin upon Himself and paying it’s penalty in full.

This morning we return to the table of the Lord to remember that fact.

The body that was broken, the blood that was spilled
Are symbols of the crucifixion and atonement of Jesus.

We partake in thanksgiving, we partake in submission.

But this morning if you have never given your life to Jesus Christ, I want to first give you a chance to do so.

After this great chapter in Isaiah,
Isaiah gave some of the greatest invitations of all time.

Isaiah 55:6-7 “Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

And that promise is for you as well.

We are about to have a time of preparation, you respond to Jesus.
THE LORD’S SUPPER

• Deacons come forward
• Deacons fold blanket

Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

• Give Bread to Deacons
• Deacon Prayer
• Deacons pass out bread

Matthew 26:26 “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

• Take Bread

Isaiah 53:10-12 “But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

• Give Juice to Deacons
• Deacon Prayer
• Deacons pass out juice

Matthew 26:27-28 “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

• Deacon Prayer
• Parting Hymn

 

 

 

 

 

Luke 3:1-20

I HAD BEEN BURDENED RECENTLY ABOUT WEDNESDAY NIGHTS.
GOD LED US TO OUR NEED FOR PRAYER

BUT THE NEXT DAY GOD SHOWED ME MORE

So this morning we’re going to examine this verse that God hit me with, And see the importance of repentance.

As we study there are 4 things I want you to see.
#1 THE PROPHECY OF REPENTANCE
John 3:1-6

As Luke sets the historical stage to the coming of John the Baptist,
He first sums up everything John was doing in verse 3.

“And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

When John arrived on the seen,
He was only concerned with one topic,
And that was turning people away from their sin.

We are told we aren’t allowed to even acknowledge that people need repentance, let alone tell them to do it.

But that was precisely what this greatest man born of woman did.

But this was not just John’s idea, this was a fulfillment of prophecy.
Isaiah 40:3-5 “A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isaiah spoke of a day when the salvation of God would come,
But He said something would proceed it.

There is one thing that always precedes salvation: REPENTANCE.

Therefore before we see Jesus enter the seen, we first see His herald.
And heralding is exactly what John the Baptist does.

“Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight”

And if you will make the path beautiful, then,
“all flesh will see the salvation of God.”
It was God’s plan that John come before Jesus.
Before salvation can take place, repentance must take place.

And it is the same today.
If you want God’s presence in your place…
If you want God’s power in your life…
If you want God’s salvation to flow through you…

THEN YOU MUST FIRST REPENT
The King is not going to accept the trashy condition as it is.

Hosea 14:2 “Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips.”

Ezekiel 18:31-32 “Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? “For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repent and live.”

But the tragedy was that many in Israel never would.

Isaiah 22:12-14 “Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.” But the LORD of hosts revealed Himself to me, “Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you Until you die,” says the Lord GOD of hosts.”

Isaiah 30:15-17 “For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing, And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,” Therefore you shall flee! “And we will ride on swift horses,” Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill.”

All the judgments of Israel
Are directly proportional to their lack of repentance,
The reason is before salvation would come, repentance had to come.

You see God hates sin.
Psalms 5:4 “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You.”

God is more than willing to save,
God is more than willing to bless with His presence,
But He will not show up in filthy surroundings.

Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘ As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?”
So we see why John came before Jesus.
But there is more to learn in this text about repentance
Than just when it must occur.

So first we see the prophecy of repentance
#2 THE PERSONALITY OF REPENTANCE
Luke 3:7-9

Verses 4-6 reminded us that if repentance occurred then all flesh would see the salvation of God. “So he [John] began saying to the crowds who were going with him…”

He immediately begins calling the people to repentance.

But we learn here more than just the need to repent,
We learn about the nature of repentance.
We learn a little bit about how John wanted us to repent.

And in these three verses we see 3 attributes that John required.
1) SINCERITY (7)
“So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

Now isn’t that sweet.
John holds a church service, and at 10:30am all the people start coming into the auditorium and finding a seat, but before they can even get comfortable, the pastor makes his way around the room asking one question.

“What do you think you’re doing here?”
“I’m surprised a thug like you even knew what a church was.”

I bet you never read that tactic in a church growth book.

Sometimes we get our priorities out of wack.
WHAT WAS JOHN SENT TO DO?
“make ready the way of the Lord, makes His paths straight”

John was sent to get people to repent.
John was sent to point out what was unacceptable to God.

You will never find in any of your Bibles where John’s job
Was to get a nice sized crowd together for Jesus.

God did not tell him to go and gather people together.
God told him to point out the filth that was in the way.

I don’t know of a church in the world today
That would hire John the Baptist to be the preacher.
But beyond that, you can see an attribute of repentance that John is extremely concerned about, and that is SINCERITY

He didn’t just want people to come and get wet,
He wanted people to repent.

He did not want a outward show, he demanded repentance.

God expects the same things from you.
Joel 2:12-13 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.”

Jeremiah 4:3-4 “For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. “Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds.”

Amos 5:21-25 “I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. “Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel?”

We come and we sing songs about making me a servant.
And how much I want to worship God.

To make such statements without truly meaning it in your heart Means you are nothing but a brood of vipers.

And John wasn’t about to let snakes into his church.
He demanded sincerity.

2) STAMINA (8)
“Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”

He didn’t just want a time of decision.
He want a life of commitment.
“bear fruits in keeping with repentance”

Are you presently living in sin that you have repented of?
Then you didn’t repent.

Repentance is continuous and we can tell by the fruit.
“and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’”

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS?
It is a personal excuse for why you don’t need to repent.

The Jews had a nifty one.
We’re Abraham’s descendants and thus God can’t destroy us because He promised Abraham He wouldn’t.

Notice John’s response.
“for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”

God can make the stones become children to Abraham.
They are made of the same basic substance – dirt.

We are good at letting ourselves off the hook.
We are good at finding reasons why I don’t have to repent.

If you aren’t committed to repentance, then you haven’t repented.

Hosea 6:1-6 “Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. “So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.” What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early. Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Psalms 78:34-37 “When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”

Isaiah 58:3-5 “’Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the LORD?”

Sincerity, stamina
3) SPEED (9)
“Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
We are talking here about urgency

Since every tree that does not “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” will be “cut down and thrown into the fire”

You need to repent, but there is something you should know.
“the axe is already laid at the root of the trees”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Luke 13:6-9 “And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'”
Judgment is so close, the axe is already at the root of the tree,
And at any minute He could take a swing at you.

Jonathon Edwards, (“Sinners in the hands of an angry God”)
“The bow of God’s wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God. However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God, it is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it.

The point is repentance is urgent. It needs to be done right now.
You are taking the chance of pushing the owner of the vineyard over the edge.

Hebrews 3:7-13 “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. “THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS’; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, ‘THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST.'” Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”

John was only concerned that people repent
And do it with sincerity, stamina, and speed.
Prophecy of, personality of
#3 THE PRECISION OF REPENTANCE
Luke 3:10-14
When John came asking for repentance
The people didn’t just say, “OK” and leave.

Notice what they did.
“Then what shall we do?”

God is not looking for some generic, all sins included prayer.

“and forgive us where we’ve failed you.”
“and forgive us for our many sins”

THAT IS NOT REPENTANCE.

First off, repentance is an ACTION.
“BEAR FRUITS in keeping with repentance”
“what shall we DO?”

There is nothing wrong with asking for forgiveness.
But it is not repentance.

Repentance means to change your action, and IT MUST BE SPECIFIC.
Simply saying, “I’m sorry for all the bad things I’ve done”
WILL NOT CUT IT

And that is exactly what John tells them.
He tells the crowd to have COMPASSION
(11) “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise”

Luke 6:30-36 “Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

He tells the tax collectors to watch their COLLECTION
(13) “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to”

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

He tells the soldiers to have CONTENTMENT
(14) “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

1 Timothy 6:8-10 “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

I don’t think it is by any coincidence that he first hits their pocketbook. Jesus Himself said it was the key to their heart.
“where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

But I do want you to know that John got specific
With everyone about their sins.

(18) “So with many other exhortations he preached the gospel to the people. But when Herod the tetrarch was reprimanded by him because of Herodias, his brother’s wife, and because of all the wicked things which Herod had done, Herod also added this to them all: he locked John up in prison.”

John didn’t just preach on money. John told every person what they needed to change, including the ruler of the day.

Everyone needed repentance and repentance was specific.

If greed is your problem then listen to what John said and quit loving money.

If it is a sexual sin
1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.”

Maybe your speech is your sin
Ephesians 5:3-5 “But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

God does not want a blanket prayer for forgiveness from you, God wants you to first ask, “What should I do?”
And then He wants you to do it.

Acts 3:19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”
God expects you to turn around and go the other direction.
If you love money, STOP
If you are living in sexual sin, STOP
If you are gossiping, or cursing, or lying, STOP
If you aren’t obeying God, DO IT

Repentance is a specific action to correct a sinful action.

Prophecy of – Personality of – Precision of
#4 THE PURPOSE OF REPENTANCE
Luke 3:15-17

Now this crowd is so cut to the heart about John’s message,
That they assume he must be the Messiah.

John sets them straight, but tells them they had better get ready for Him.

And notice that John here drives the point home.
(16) “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

I’m not Him, and I don’t have any power.
But you had better get ready for Him because He is more holy than me.

You don’t have to be afraid of me. You don’t have to do what I say.
I can’t do a thing to you.
But there is One coming that can do something
And you had better get ready for Him.

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”

NOW WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

Well the Holy Spirit baptism is obvious. That is salvation.

(6) “and all flesh will see the salvation of God.”

John 7:37-39 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

BUT IF YOU WON’T REPENT
He has a baptism for you as well. “fire”

Now many think this is what happened at Pentecost, but those were “tongues as of fire”
The context of John’s message shows us what fire represents.

(9) “every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire”

(17) “His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

When John talks about fire, he is talking about judgment.
Jesus will either baptize you with salvation,
Or He will baptize you with judgment.

WHAT DETERMINES WHICH ONE YOU RECEIVE?
Repentance.

Acts 2:37-38 “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ” Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 3:19-21 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”

Acts 17:30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,”

I wasn’t going to preach here this morning, but God wanted this.
That means our church is in need of repentance.

If we do, we can expect the blessings of God, and the presence of His Spirit.
If we don’t, we can expect the judgment of God, and the absence of His Spirit.

Jeremiah 15:6-7 “You who have forsaken Me,” declares the LORD, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting! “I will winnow them with a winnowing fork At the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; They did not repent of their ways.”

Psalms 7:12-16 “If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts. Behold, he travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made. His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate.”