Matthew 27:56-28:20

Matthew 27:45-51

Matthew 27:26-44

Matthew 27:1-25

Matthew 26:46-75

Matthew 26:30-46

Matthew 26:17-25

Matthew 26:6-13

Matthew 25:31-32

Matthew 25:14-15

Matthew 25:1-3

Matthew 24:32-52

Signs of His Coming

Part 6 – Lessons From A Thief and Two Servants

Matthew Chapter 24 closes with Jesus giving to us

FIVE PRACTICAL LESSONS concerning His Second Coming —- by way of FIVE ILUSTRATIONS

A lesson from: Trees, Noah, a Thief, a Servant, and an Evil Servant!

32“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

Lesson #1 -

His Coming is Near!

When Spring is in full bloom….know Summer is around the corner!

37As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Lesson #2 –

Watch!

History is going to repeat itself.

“Days of Noah” Were marked by Plenty of warning, but ZERO Unpreparedness!

100 years of CONSTRUCTION

100 years INSTRUCTION (Noah – a preacher of righteousness)

In ANTICIPATION of the coming judgment

Yet no preparedness!

JESUS SAYS that this very same outcome will be repeated before he comes a second time to this earth!

There will be a PROCESSION of very specific events

Deception —- Geopolitical chaos —- Natural disasters —- increasing in frequency and intensity

Israel in the land once again – A Temple in Jeruslaem

In the middle of a seven year covenant the anti-Christ will walk into the rebuilt Temple and demand to be worshipped as God. THEN there will be GREAT tribulation such as has never been seen before in history and will never again be seen so radical that if Jesus did not return there would be the complete annihilation of humanity cosmic disturbances

All of these culminating in the second coming of Jesus to the earth. Jesus says that DESPITE all of these SIGNS When He comes He will find many UNPREPARED and UNCONCERNED JUST LIKE it happened the Days of Noah when the flood came and took them away!

WHAT was it that caused mankind in the Days of Noah to not see the coming judgment?

The common interests of life!

God was literally going to rain on their parade and they just kept living for the parade!

Lesson #3 –

A LESSON FROM A THIEF

43But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Jesus is so practical.

It’s an obvious assumption you’d protect your home!

KEY POINT:

If you knew the time a thief was going to come – you would be Especially Alert!

Every little sound will attract your attention.

It wouldn’t matter where the thief would try to break in

Backdoor

Window

Wherever

The master’s eye is watching —- His hand is ready

BECAUSE he has received ample warning that the thief is coming!

BUT THE POINT HERE is that this person does NOT KNOW when the thief is coming — they can only prepare for that unexpected event

In the natural —-most men are prepared to defend for the UNEXPECTED visit of a thief!

Every new home comes with an alarm —- insurance companies offer a discounted premium if you have one installed and activated.

But mankind is NOT ready spiritually

I. The LESSON OF THE FIG TREE – “His Coming is Near!”

II. The LESSON OF THE DAYS OF NOAH – “Watch”

III. The LESSON FROM THE THIEF – “Be Ready!”

To those living in the Great Tribulation Jesus says BE READY!

1 Thessalonians 5:2 ESV For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

They can not be ready for His coming apart from the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION:

None can READY for His coming apart from the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we move through to the end of the chapter there Jesus is going to shift the emphasis of His discourse

It is not uncommon in scripture for a writer to change emphasis in the middle of a sentence.

EXAMPLE:

Isaiah 9:6 KJV “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder.”

The whole church age occurs between the word given and and

Child born – Son given = 1st coming.

And the government shall be upon His shoulders = Millennium.

EXAMPLE:

Isaiah 61:1-2 ESV “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God;”

The beginning of the verse up to the word LORD deals with the FIRST coming of Jesus and His ministry that would continue through the agency of the Church.

The emphasis then switches to His SECOND COMING with the words And the day of vengeance of our God

IN THIS SECTION HE SHIFTS His emphasis

From – Outward EVENTS

To – Inward ATTITUDES!

Lesson #4 –

FROM A FAITHFUL SERVANT

45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

In addition to

being watchful and ready in light of OBSERVABLE SIGNS of the Second Coming

Jesus exhorts the Tribulation believer to see themselves as faithful servants in a household.

KEY INSIGHT:

Household

It’s used four times in the New Testament.

= therapeia

We get our English word Therapeutic from this word

In the KJV

2x translated as household

2x translated healing.

Revelation 22:2 ESV through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

THAYERS GREEK DEFINITIONS –

medical service: curing, healing

household service

body of attendants, servants, domestics

The EMPHASIS is on the attitude of heart

The man or woman who comes to faith in Christ during the Great Tribulation is to see themselves

Even in the midst of the HORRORS and WICKEDNESS of the Great Tribulation

As a domestic servant whose very life and actions are THERAPEUTIC and HEALING!

The faithful servant is the one going to give …. food at the proper time

NOTE:

The reward for living as a servant in the midst of the the horrors of the Great Tribulation –

46Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.

Obedient service is the capacity for greater service!

Lesson #4 -

Be a Faithful & Wise Servant!

V. A LESSON FROM AN EVIL SERVANT!

48But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

NOTE WELL:

This “wicked servant” is in reality not a REAL servant of the Lord —-

Because though he might fool man —- he can not fool the Lord who is returning.

Galatians 6:7 ESV Do not be deceived: God is not mocked,

Jesus KNOWS that this individual is a HYPOCRITE

Thus Jesus will JUDGE this man WITH the rest of religious HYPOCRITES!

CLOSING THOUGHTS

QUOTE:

Dr. John Walvoord – While these illustrations, beginning in v.32, have as their primary interpretation and exhortation the situation immediately preceding the second coming of Christ, there are parallels to those living today in expectation of the rapture.

WE SHOULD LEAR

I. The LESSON OF THE FIG TREE –

“His Coming is Near!”

II. The LESSON OF THE DAYS OF NOAH -

“Watch”

We NEED to be looking at the world through the lens of Scripture —- and in particular through the lens of the prophetic elements of this Olivet Discourse. The reality of ONE MAN grabbing the confidence of the world and the world embracing ONE MAN as their leader into an era of global peace prosperity

May seem absurd to most Americans

May evoke the response – THAT could NEVER happen.

CHRISTIANS –I want you to listen to a short bit of an article by a man named Fouad Ajami

He is a Professor; Director of the Middle East Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University

The article is called – “Obama and the Politics of Crowds”

There is something odd — and dare I say novel — in American politics about the crowds that have been greeting Barack Obama on his campaign trail. Hitherto, crowds have not been a prominent feature of American politics. We associate them with the temper of Third World societies. We think of places like Argentina and Egypt and Iran, of multitudes brought together by their zeal for a Peron or a Nasser or a Khomeini.

In these kinds of societies, the crowd comes forth to affirm its faith in a redeemer: a man who would set the world right.

The political genius of the man is that he is a blank slate. The devotees can project onto him what they wish

The entire article really a great read.

I found this analysis quite profound

Not because I think that Obama is the anti-Christ

Nor because Obama is the last man in the world I would vote for as president

But because it is a great take on mankind and his willingness to embrace a FALSE messiah!

And it is a great take on HOW he will gain global endorsement.

As the world becomes more unstable — Just as Jesus said it would –

There WILL arise a man who is a blank slate.

The Bible calls this man

“the son of perdition”

“the man of lawlessness.”

Yet his character and agenda will be so obscured – that the world will project on him their hopes

But there will come a day – when this blank slate will reveal his agenda.

III. The LESSON FROM THE THIEF –

“Be Ready!”

Are YOU ready to meet the Lord?

ONLY ONE THING can make you ready to meet Him – The blood of Jesus.

IV. LESSON FROM A FAITHFUL SERVANT

Jesus has gone away to prepare a place for us.

He will come for us BEFORE the events of the Great Tribulation.

UNTIL then we need to be taking care of our master’s business!

Luke 19:12-13 ESV – 12He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’

We need to be about the business of FEEDING the household of God.

Being a part of that enterprise in every way possible.

Being vessels through whom the Lord can bring healing in every way possible.

V. LESSON FROM THE WICKED SERVANT

We want to be guarding against

Religious hypocrisy

The attitude that says – “Our master is delaying His coming.”

Falling into carnal company and carnal behavior.

• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®

  Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles,

  a division of Good News Publishers

  All rights reserved.

• Scripture quotations marked “NKJV™” are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Matthew 24

Signs of His Coming

Part 5 – Five Practical Lessons Concerning the Second Coming

We have been working our way through Matthew 24 – a chapter PACKED with tremendous PROPHETIC CONTENT
CRUCIAL: “The purpose of Prophecy is not to entertain the curious, but to encourage the consecrated!”
EXAMPLE: Dr. Horatius Bonar (1800’s – the prince of Scottish hymn writers – served the Lord for 60 yrs.)
When he’d draw the curtains at night would say – “Perhaps Tonight Lord!”
In the morning he’d draw open the shades —- see the new day and say —- “Perhaps Today Lord!”
Matthew Chapter 24 closes with Jesus giving to us
FIVE PRACTICAL LESSONS concerning His Second Coming —- by way of FIVE ILUSTRATIONS
A lesson from: Trees, Noah, a Thief, a Servant, and an Evil Servant!
TREMENDOUS TIME OF LEARNING for me
EYES OPENED concerning some old assumptions about the text –
THINGS CLARIFIED that were cloudy —- especially thankful for the disciplined lessons of context especially from Dr. John Walvoord’s commentary
I. The Lesson of the Fig Tree
32“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33So also, when you see all these things (what things? – things of the anti-Christ/Great Tribulation) , you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
KEY INSIGHT: The fig tree was a COMMON fruit tree in Israel —- The Jews KNEW something about these trees.
They KNEW that the fig tree has a regular pattern.
The leaves appear, and then summer follows.
THE LESSON in nature >> When you see the leaves, you know summer is near.
KEY INSIGHT: The fig tree is mentioned many times in the Old Testament, especially as a description of the abundance of the land.
Sometimes figs or fig trees are also used as symbols or pictures —- and on a number of occasions they are used to picture the nation of Israel.
Judges 9:10 Jeremiah 24:2
Hosea 9:10 Joel 1:6-7
For that reason many students of the Bible see in THIS LESSON a reference to the nation of Israel budding forth —- and that all of these signs take on end-times significance in reference to Israel being once again in the land.
WE DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS –
Israel is the key to Biblical prophecy.
From 70 AD until 1948 it seemed as though Israel had ceased to be as a nation.
Because of that many godly Bible commentators through the middle ages forward fell into what is called “replacement theology.”
What a rebuke those men are to many in the pulpit today
These were men who looked at a world without the nation of Israel and still said –
We believe what the word of God says
We believe that in the Scriptures God says what He means and that He means what He says.
God never thought differently about His COVENANTS with Israel from 70AD to 1948.
In our day we commonly read headlines that say – “Israel prepares for war.”
It doesn’t say the church prepares for war.
BY THE WAY – Israel existing today as a nation is a miracle
Though they were dispersed throughout the entire world, this people retained it’s identity!
For hundreds of years the Roman Catholic church pronounced a death sentence on anyone who married a Jew.
As a result Jews were forced to remain separate!
For hundreds of years, the Jew in Europe was not allowed to be land-owners.
So they became doctors and lawyers and bankers and diamond cutters and the professional people of that world —- so that when the time came for them to return to the land, they would be ready! (Today Israel is one of the leaders in technology!)
Ezekiel 37 is such an amazing prophecy
God took Ezekiel into a valley of dried bones.
Ezekiel had experienced so many strange things that when God said, “Ezekiel can these bones live?” Ezekiel said, “Lord thou know!”
Now we have seen the nation of Israel brought to life.
We haven’t yet seen the spiritual awakening in Israel —- But we see them at the center of the geopolitical stage!
Israel has in a very real way budded forth.
DON’T MISS THIS – Our future lies around Israel not Washington.
That’s why I have problems when Jesse Jackson goes to France and says that if Obama becomes president that America’s international politics will change radically because the “Zionists” will not have influence in that administration.”
CRUCIAL – Whether you understand the fig tree budding forth as a picture of Israel being re-established as a nation OR NOT —-
AND —- BY THE WAY – Some do NOT because of Luke 21:29-31
“Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
REGARDLESS – The lesson still remains the same relative to the SIGNS OF HIS COMING
When a fig tree buds, there is an inevitable result –
summer is near, and fruit is coming.
In the same way, when these signs are seen (what signs?)
the abomination of desolation
followed by great tribulation
followed by signs in the heavens
Then KNOW that the coming of Jesus in glory —- to the earth —- with His church —- will inevitably follow.
34Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
KEY QUESTION: What generation does Jesus mean?
It cannot be the generation of the disciples, because they never saw Jesus return in glory as described in Matthew 24:30.
It is undoubtedly the generation that sees these signs.
KEY POINT: These events —- and the Second Coming of Jesus —- won’t be on some 1,000-year timetable —- they will happen in succession.
35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
It is IMPOSSIBLE for these things to NOT happen!
Many in churches today want to live as though God’s Word WON’T come to pass.
36“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
KEY QUESTION: What does this mean?
After all – we are told in Daniel 12:11 that end will come 1,290 days after the abomination of desolation.
THAT is an EXACT day!
POSSIBILITIES
1.) It could mean that no man on this side of the abomination that causes desolation will know the day or the hour
2.) Those who witness the abomination of desolation will not know the exact DAY and HOUR because the the abomination of desolation might take place over a period of days
EXAMPLE: While in Captivity in Babylon Daniel was studying the prophecies of Jeremiah
From Jeremiah Daniel KNEW that the time of their captivity was drawing to a close.
God by way of Jeremiah had declared that the Southern Kingdom would be held captive in Babylon for 70 years.
Seeing that the 70years was drawing to a close Daniel began to fast and pray to see how he might be used by the Lord.
Daniel knew the duration —- 70 years.
But their captivity actually transpired in three waves.
Would they be released 70 years from the FIRST exile or the LAST exile?
Would they be released on the LAST DAY of the 70th year
Or on the first day of the 71st year?
And at what hour?
36 ….. But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Jesus here is referring to the human limitations that He took upon Himself —- His human intelligence, not His divine omniscience.
II. The Lesson of Noah
37As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42Therefore, stay awake,
for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
THE FIRST LESSON HERE in regards to the Second Coming is that history is going to repeat itself
The days of Noah were characterized by
Plenty of WARNING – Zero RESPONSE
Plenty of WARNING – Zero READINESS
THIS IS RADICAL: In the days of Noah mankind OBSERVED the CONSTRUCTION of something that had never existed before —- the ark!
THAT in itself was a sign of things to come
IN the Days of Noah mankind also HEARD Noah give to them INSTRUCTION concerning the coming righteous judgment of God.
2 Peter 3:5 Noah, a herald of righteousness
Watching Noah’s CONSTRUCTION and Hearing Noah’s INSTRUCTION they could anticipate that a flood was impending
DON’T MISS THIS: This CONSTRUCTION and INSTRUCTION went on for 100 YEARS (Gen. 5:32; 7:6 ).
It was obvious that the flood —- the coming judgment — could not come until the ark was completed.
The same is true concerning the second coming.
The rapture has no preceding signs —- thus it can occur any moment!!
But the second coming of Christ to the earth to set up His kingdom cannot occur until a procession of signs have been fulfilled.
Look back at the Days of Noah – for one hundred years
The world around Noah saw some strange things happening.
The CONSTRUCTION of a something NEVER seen before —- a boat
In ANTICIPATION of something that had never happened before – RAIN
But there was MORE that they observed
Animals walking in pairs into the Ark (Gen 7:2-3)
THEN —- God announced to Noah that in 7 days he would send rain upon the earth for 40 days —- and by it destroy every living creature not in the ark.
Then the animals were safely on the ark – Noah, his wife and three sons entered the ark —- and GOD SHUT THEM IN.
AT THAT MOMENT EVERYTHING HAD CHANGED!
The PROCESSION OF EVENTS preceding the flood was complete!
No more animals to enter.
No more preaching of righteousness.
The man of faith was in the ark.
The door of the ark was shut and THEN it began to rain!
JESUS IS SAYING that it will be JUST LIKE THAT before He comes a second time to this earth!
LOOK GUYS!
100 years of CONSTRUCTION and INSTRUCTION in ANTICIPATION of the coming judgment
Yet no preparedness!
JESUS SAYS that this very same outcome will be repeated before he comes a second time to this earth!
There will be a PROCESSION of very specific events
Deception —- Geopolitical chaos —- Natural disasters —- increasing in frequency and intensity
Israel again in the land and a Temple once again in Jerusalem
In the middle of a seven year covenant the anti-Christ will walk into the rebuilt Temple and demand to be worshipped as God.
THEN there will be GREAT tribulation
such as has never been seen before in history
and will never again be seen
so radical that if Jesus did not return there would be the complete annihilation of humanity
cosmic disturbances
All of these culminating in the second coming of Jesus to the earth.
DESPITE all of these SIGNS
When He comes He will find many UNPREPARED and UNCONCERNED
JUST LIKE it happened the Days of Noah when the flood came and took them away!
CRUCIAL QUESTION: HOW could they have MISSED it’s coming? WHAT was it that kept them from listening and obeying Noah’s message?
NOTE IT WELL: The common interests of life!
God was literally going to rain on their parade and they just kept living for the parade!
DON’T MISS THIS – Not one of the 4 things listed are inherently “bad”!
QUOTE: “That which is lawful and right, under other circumstances, becomes a positive evil when it takes the place of preparation for the coming of the Son of Man.”
QUOTE: “They lost the Best by living for the Good!”
It’s a dangerous thing to get so absorbed in the pursuits of life that we forget Jesus is Coming!
QUOTE: John Walvoord – “Woe unto those whose eating and drinking do not include the Bread and the Water of Life; and who marry or are given in marriage, but not to the Heavenly Bridegroom!”
39and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
The only reason it came upon them so SUDDENLY and UNEXPECTEDLY was because they gave no heed to the what they had seen and heard for 100 years.
Jesus says that it will be JUST LIKE THAT before His Second Coming.
It will be sudden —- unexpected
NOT because they didn’t have sufficient warning to prepare for His return!
Mankind will have been given plenty of advance warning —- but they will make no preparations BECAUSE
They will be too busy with life as they know it and love it.
40Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left.
KEY QUESTION: IS THIS ABOUT THE RAPTURE?
CONTEXT – CONTEXT- CONTEXT
The CONTEXT is the SECOND COMING
Like the days of Noah —- the time of the second coming will be a period of judgment on the earth.
NOTE WELL: The flood came “and swept them —- took them all away” —- referring to the judgment of unbelievers
In the SAME manner —- at the second coming, some will be taken away.
FOLLOW ME HERE – In the Rapture – believers will be taken out of the world —- And because of that some have confused this with the rapture of the church.
HERE IS THE DIFFERENCE – At the rapture —- the one who is taken will meet the Lord in the air and forever be with the Lord —- and the one left behind faces the Great Tribulation
But HERE the situation is the reverse.
The one who is left, is left to enter the millenial kingdom
The one who is taken, is taken in judgment.
1.) This is in perfect keeping with the illustration of the time of Noah when the ones taken away are the unbelievers.
2.) The word for “shall be taken” in verses 40-41 is the same word found in John 19:16, where Christ was taken away to the judgment of the cross.
42Therefore, stay awake
KJV = Therefore WATCH
The LESSON from
the Fig Tree is – The coming of the Lord is NEAR!
the Days of Noah –STAY AWAKE in watching for Hi
AGAIN – This for the men and women living on the earth just before His Second Coming.
BUT there is a very REAL APPLICATION for our the believer today
For all who have committed their hearts and lives to Christ it means that
As we see the signs of His Second Coming to the earth coming to pass with increasing frequency and intensity
We should BE READY and WATCHING for His coming for His Bride —- which PRECEDES the Great Tribulation!
KNOWING that the Rapture will transpire WITHOUT warning.
Let’s beware of the danger of being so absorbed in the pursuits of life that we forget Jesus is Coming!
TONIGHT – as we close our curtains
“Perhaps Tonight Lord!”
Should we see the morning arrive
“Perhaps Today Lord!”

Matthew 24:21-31

Signs of His Coming

Part 4 – The Great Tribulation and the Return of the King

We are in the last week of the life of Jesus —- the days leading up to His crucifixion.

It is the middle of the week

Jesus has predicted the destruction of the Temple

He is now with His disciples on the side of the Mount of Olives answering a three-fold question asked by Peter, Andrew, James and John

1.) “Tell us, when will these things be” i.e – the destruction of the Temple

2.) “what will be the sign of your coming

3.) “what will be the sign of the close of the age?”

We have worked our way through the first 20 verses of His response, known as the Olivet Discourse.

In the first 14 verses of Chapter 24 Jesus has set forth the flow of human history leading up to the revealing of the anti-Christ.

In verse 15 we have the introduction of the anti-Christ on the world stage.

By verse 15 this man has already been on the world scene for 3 ½ years.

In fulfillment of Daniel 9 he will have confirmed a covenant with the nation of Israel for 7 years

Most likely giving them the ability to rebuild the Temple on the Temple Mount.

That there will be a Temple is understood by the prophecies of Daniel 12 – 2 Thes 2 – Rev. 13

CRUCIAL FOR US TO KNOW – Those 7 years constitute the last seven years of God’s dealing with the nation of Israel — the last of the 70 weeks of Daniel 9

But in the middle of that seven year covenant this man will stand in the Temple declaring himself to be God —- fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel

Matthew 24:15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation…..

As we noted —-

We do NOT know the DAY on which this 70th week of Daniel BEGINS

We DO KNOW that from the abomination that causes desolation it will be exactly 3 ½ years until Christ returns!

Jeremiah 37 calls this last 3 ½ years the time of Jacob’s trouble.

It is also known as the Great Tribulation

We get that title from the opening words of verse 21.

To say that this entire 7-year period is not a time of tribulation is to be naïve.

The entire 7 years is a time of tribulation that is so intense that it provides the platform for the anti-Christ to come on the scene —- at the first as a man of peace.

It will also be a time of great economic trouble — as this man will be able to enforce a one-world system of buying and selling

A time of world war.

BUT —- as we have said —- All of this will be a RESTRAINED VERSION of what is going to transpire during these last 3 ½ years.

21For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

“Elect” – There are those who read this and say —-

Ahha – there yo have it – the Church is in the Tribulation

KEY INSIGHT: The term Elect speaks of three groups of people in the Bible

Israel – The Church – Those saved in the Tribulation

LAST WEEK I asked you to read Revelation 6-19 (the Great Tribulation.)

IN those chapters you will NOT find the word CHURCH once!

So we must understand that the term ELECT in this passage can not mean the Church.

Then who is it?

Isa 45:4 For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen (KJV = Elect), I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me.

We find the same thing in Isaiah 65

Isa 65:9 I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and from Judah possessors of my mountains; my chosen (KJV = elect) shall possess it, and my servants shall dwell there.

Isa 65:22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen (KJV = elect) shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

Romans 11 is a very important chapter – clearly telling us that God is not finished with Israel – no matter what some say.

(Rom 11:25-28 KJV) Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”28As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

….if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved.

The events of this period of time are going to be so catastrophic —- so horrific in nature and scope

That if they were to continue beyond 3 ½ years it would result in the total extermination of everyone living in the world —- UNLESS Christ returns.

It is to stop this process that Christ returns to the earth.

So —- The KING intervenes on exactly the 1290th day (Dan.12:11).

23Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (every Jew and Tribulation believer) 25See, I have told you beforehand. 26So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

He didn’t say – “I’m coming to Brooklyn in 1925 to reveal myself to the Watchtower Society.”

He didn’t say – “I’m coming in the 1800’s to reveal myself to a 14 yr. old story teller named Joseph Smith.

INSTEAD – He tells them that there will be

NOTHING SECRET

NOTHING UNCERTAIN

About His Second Coming

27For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

“Lightening” – Yes, this could speak of the SPEED in which He will return

BUT – In this context —- lightening stands in stark contrast to the notion of His return being

Obscure or unnoticed

Local or limited

Or one which is so gradual that it can scarcely be discerned!

Lightening can’t be MISSED or IGNORED — even if you don’t want to see it you see it!!

Every eye shall see Him!

Jesus —- the Light of the world —- will be seen AROUND the world —- from E. to W.

And the world will be STARTLED!

Nothing is so sudden or so startling as lightening.

28Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

You be asking yourself —- WHAT does this mean?

1.) The certainty of God’s Judgment

When a body dies, the vultures come.

In the same way —- Where there is wickedness and moral corruption, judgment must come.

The great judgment being poured out upon the world in the Great Tribulation is a Divine CERTAINTY in the face of the blasphemy and unbelief which characterizes the great tribulation period.

2.) These vultures will be a literal reality during the Great Tribulation

Rev 19:17-8 King of kings and Lord of lords.17Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”

3.) It is a reference to the WHEN of Christ’s return

You see God measures time —- not by BC or AD or by human calendars

God measures human history by a moral clock.

Remember – He said to Abraham in Genesis 15 that the Jews would go down into Egypt for 400 years and THEN He would bring them into the Promise Land because the iniquity of the Ammorites was not yet full.

There would be 400 years —- as man measured time —- before God would give the descendants of Abraham the promised land

BECAUSE their entrance into the land would also be used by God to bring judgment upon a people that will be so corrupt that there was no benefit for there existence.

Verse 28 tells us that morally the world will come to the condition where things are so rotten that judgment is inevitable.

That’s why Jesus makes this the reference to the vultures that ties into Rev 19:17-8

29“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,

and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

SO Jesus sets up the moment of His return –He says —-

“The events of the Great Tribulation are going to be be horrific beyond imagination —- so horrific so that if I didn’t come there would be no one left on the planet.

But for the elect’s sake I’m returning.

So be careful.

Don’t believe it when you hear people saying “this guy’s the Messiah” or “that guy is.”

Because when I come you won’t need a prophet to tell you or a secret society to talk about it.

When I come the sun will go out —- the moon will go out —- the stars will fall from the sky

And OUT OF THAT utter darkness —– as lightening shines and comes from the east to the west —- I WILL COME.”

This will not be a confusing issue.

This is not going to be a secret thing.

There will be only one visible light in the sky — and THAT will be ME!”

WOW!!! Try to imagine the heavens FILLED with the brilliant glory of Christ

brighter than the light of day —- when Jesus Christ comes back in power and great glory.

TURN WITH ME to Revelation 19:11-16

The main subject of the LAST Book of the Bible is JESUS – It is the REVELATION of Jesus Christ

It is all about the second coming and the revelation of Jesus Christ when He comes.

The first eighteen chapters of Revelation lead up to it and describe the period —- especially the great tribulation which anticipates the second coming.

Revelation 20 describes the millennium, the period following the second coming.

Revelation 21 and 22 reveal the eternal state which will follow the millennium.

But chapter 19 records the great climax of the book of Revelation —- the second coming — which IS the revelation of Jesus Christ

Rev 19:11-16 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations,

and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

SOME ASK – How everyone will see the second coming of Christ.

They point to the problem that the earth is round.

The Scriptures reveal that Christ will come to the Mount of Olives

How is He going to be seen in the United States?

Because the earth is round, will only half of the earth see this event?

I do NOT believe that the answer to this question is TV.

There won’t be much technological infrustructure remaining by this time.

Even if some does survive the cataclysmic events of the Great Tribulation — not everybody will have access to it.

As always – A simple explanation of the problem is probably the best.

The rapture (Jesus coming FOR His Church) is an event that occurs instantly (moment/twinkling of an eye)

But there is no reason to assume that the second coming of Jesus to the earth will be instantaneous

In fact, the Bible pictures just the opposite.

The second coming is a very deliberate, methodical event

Millions upon millions of believers will come WITH Christ TO the earth in His Second Coming

They will make earth their abode throughout the millennial reign of Christ.

It could easily transpire over the time it would take the earth to make a complete revolution.

Everybody will have a ringside seat.

Think of the many restaurants that have been built at the top of a tower or high building on a revolving platform.

In the course of an hour, every eye gets a panoramic view as the entire room keeps turning very gradually.

So it will be when Christ comes back.

As the earth turns, every eye will see Him descending to earth.

“…then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn

KEY INSIGHT: There will be those in Israel and among the Gentiles who will have turned to Christ during this time of GREAT tribulation.

As best as I can see – the ONLY believers that will survive the Great Tribulation will be 144,000 Jews who were sealed by God and preserved through the Great Tribulation

They will welcome Christ’s return.

BUT – The great majority of the world will have worshipped the beast, the world ruler.

They will have received the mark of the beast, blasphemed the name of Christ and put themselves beyond the reach of grace.

Now their hour of judgment has come.

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: When Christ returns, it will be too late for those who who have not confessed Him before His coming.

The Bible reveals plainly that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ as Lord

(Isa 45:23; Rom 14:11; Phil 2:9-11; Rev 5:13).

Those who do not bow the knee to Jesus BEFORE His return WILL BOW —- but not willingly

When He came the first time, prophecy was literally fulfilled.

He was born of the virgin, of the line of David, in Bethlehem.

He was Immanuel, God with us, God incarnate.

These great prophecies were completely fulfilled in Christ —- even to the minute detail of soldiers gambling for his cloak at the foot of the cross

So too —- in His Second Coming, prophecy will be fulfilled.

This time He will not come as a babe in a manger but as King of kings and Lord of lords.

The graphic account of Rev. 19:11-16 describes

the majestic armies of heaven

Countless millions of saints and angels accompanying Christ

as He comes from heaven to the earth to claim the earth which is His

His by right as creator

His by right as redeemer.

Created by His power – Redeemed by His blood

31And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The second coming is not only a time of judgment on the wicked, but it is also a time of reward and gathering for the saints of God.

Mark expressed it “from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven” (Mark 13:27)

AGAIN – This is not the rapture

the rapture has an entirely different purpose—to take the church out of the world.

The gathering here is for the purpose of joining with Christ in His reign in the earth in the millennial time.

Christ will come —- in fulfillment of His promise given by the angels in Acts 1:11, “This same Jesus…shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

In the ascension He went to heaven bodily.

He is coming back bodily.

He went gradually; they watched Him.

He is coming back majestically and every eye will see Him

AMAZING STUFF!!!

Our generation is closer to His SECOND Coming than any generation before us.

Making the the coming of Jesus FOR His Church more IMMINENT than ever before.

Jesus is going to continue in this discourse

He is going to give a series of illustrations and applications for all those who await His coming.

Matthew 24:15-20

Signs of His Coming

Part 3 – The Anti-Christ Revealed

Last week we came to one of the most RADICAL passages in the entire Bible.
It is known as the Olivet Discourse.
This discourse (Matthew 24-25) is the second longest by Jesus (next to the Sermon on the Mount —- Matthew 5-7)
This discourse has it’s beginning as Jesus and the disciples are leaving the Temple Mount.
It begins in VERSE 1 with an OBSERVATION made by the disciples
Followed by a mind-blowing PREDICTION made by Jesus in VERSE 2.
That Prediction birthed a three-fold question.
By VERSE 3 they have crossed the Kidron Valley and on to the side of the Mount of Olives
It is there that Pete and Andrew, with James and John asked the question
1.) “Tell us, when will these things be” i.e – the destruction of the Temple
2.) “what will be the sign of your coming
3.) “what will be the sign of the close of the age?”
Last week we noted that – Matthew’s gospel does not answer the first question, which relates to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
It is Luke’s account that addresses that question.
Matthew and Mark answer the second and third questions
Matthew’s account was written to the Jew
It is the Gospel of the Kingdom!
Because that is the major theme of Matthew’s account he records that portion of Christ’s answer that relates to Messiah’s future kingdom and how it will be brought in.
WE ALSO NOTED THAT there are THREE things that Jesus singles out as the SIGNS OF HIS COMING
1.) Religious deception
2.) Geo-political upheaval —- wars and rumors of wars.
3.) Natural disasters.
WE ALSO NOTED THAT not a single one of these by themselves constitute the sign of His Coming!
From the beginning of time there has always been wars, there’s always been natural disasters, false Messiahs
These become the SIGNS OF HIS COMING when all of these things are
Increasing at the same time —- BOTH in frequency and intensity
IN this discourse we find TWO THINGS that set us apart from any generation that has ever lived.
1.) These prophecies anticipate the re-birth of the nation of Israel.
None of these things could have end-time significance from 70 AD – 1948 —- BECAUSE the Jews were not in the land.
BUT – On May 14, 1948 Israel became a state
2.) The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
Matthew 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
WE MUST BARE IN MIND THAT as we look at the world today – as crazy as it is – it is a restrained version.
But there is coming a time when the restraining work of the Holy Spirit is removed all hell will break loose.
And the Anti-Christ will come forth bringing the ULTIMATE spiritual deception and unleash a reign of violence on planet earth.
We CLOSED our study last week by saying that verses 3-14 give to us the flow of history leading up to the last 3 ½ years before the return of Christ.
Somewhere in the TIME prior to verse 15 the anti-Christ will have been on the scene for 3 ½ years
BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION – This section is definitely speaking to the Jews:
There are key words and phrases that tell us this

Judea
People on the house tops (Definitely cultural)
Their concern for breaking the Sabbath
The term “Holy Place” —- only pertained to the Temple in Jerusalem
Daniel’s Prophecy – Angel to Daniel “ these things were decreed about your people and your holy city
HOMEWORK: Read Rev. Ch.’s 6-19 for more info on the Trib.!
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS – (Time Line)
The Rapture (any time)
Dan. 9:27 -

The Anti-Christ makes a 7yr. Covenant with Israel
3 1/2 yrs. into it he breaks the covenant
An Image of himself is erected in the Temple & everyone is forced to Worship it
At this time God sends “Great” Tribulation upon the earth
All nations gather at Armageddon for a battle;
Jesus Returns and interrupts it
They turn to fight Him (which will prove to be a VERY bad move)
He wipes out His enemies
He is FINALLY recognized and received by the Jews and establishes His kingdom on earth for 1000 yrs.
15“So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
AS WE NOTED EARLIER –This has a Jewish context.
when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place

He is speaking to Jews living in Jerusalem observing this event
And he’s writing to those who will see.
CRUCIAL INSIGHTS: The 42 months following the abomination of desolation is the most documented and specific time period in the Bible.
Dan 12:11 And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.
This abomination of desolation is midway in Daniel’s 70th week.
Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
Seventy Weeks (periods of seven years) that have to do with ISRAEL
490 years that will culminate in the everlasting Kingdom of the Messiah.
The First 69 “weeks”
from March 14, 445 BC out to April 6, 32 AD
had to do with the First Coming of Messiah
at the end of the 69th “week” he would be cut off for the sins of the nation.
The 70th week has yet to begin!
We DON’T know the EXACT DAYwhen that 70th week of Daniel begins
But we do know that at the mid-point of that 7 years there is a very specific event that begins the count down to the very day of the return of Christ at the end of the Great Tribulation!
MID WAY in that last 7 years that the anti-christ forces all both small and great to receive a number.
(Rev 13:15-17 KJV) And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. {16} And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: {17} And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
NOTE: This is NOT credit cards!
NOTE: This is going to happen AFTER the antichrist comes into the temple (that is not rebuilt yet) in Jerusalem and claims himself to God.
NOTE: This also lends a very UNIQUE TIME STAMP to these events – AND OUR GENERATION
Because it would require
1.) The financial backdrop for such a move
2.) AND the technology to regulate the buying and spending of every one on planet earth!
EXAMPLE: Global economy was horrific in the 1920’s —
Things were so bad in Europe that in Germany they would take a wheel-barrow full of currency to buy bread!
It was this economic backdrop that gave opportunity for Hiltler’s lunacy to be seen as plausible.
But it could NOT give birth to a globally regulated system of buying and selling!
CRUCIAL INSIGHT: Some There are many students of the Bible who say that the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel has already happened in 165 BC
when Antiochus Epiphany came to Jerusalem and proclaimed himself to be God.
Because the Jews wouldn’t worship him he slaughtered a hundred thousand Jews in one day.
He took a female pig and slaughtered her on the altar in the temple.
He forced the priests to drink the blood from that pig and to eat the raw flesh.
Then he took the blood and smeared it all over the walls of the temple.
Without a doubt – Antiochus Epiphany was a foreshadowing of the antichrist and the abomination that causes desolation.
But there is a problem with this take –
Jesus says “Shall” – future tense.
KJV – 15When ye therefore shall see
NLT – 15“The day is coming when you will see

Some believe that this was fulfilled in 70 AD
Josephus tells us that the Romans burned the temple and offered sacrifices to their images placed by the eastern gate.
But that does not fit the details of
Daniel – Matthew 24 – 2 Thes. 2 – Rev. 13
2 Th 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
2nd Thessalonians 2 goes on to tell us that this abomination that causes desolation will culminate when the anti Christ is destroyed by the very return of Jesus Christ.
2 Th 2:7-8 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
So we’re looking at something at the end of the age.
16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
On the east side of the Jordan River there is in the mountains the rock city of Petra —- rediscovered in the last century
Many believe this to be the place that many Jews will flee.
The city there is about the size of Manhattan.

SLIDES
17Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.
A COUPLE OF THINGS HERE – ANY DELAY would be fatal!
Same is true of SALVATION –
”2 Cor, 6:2 “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
Verse 17 – let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.
Specifically to the Jew fleeing the anti-Christ – Don’t let things material stand between you and escape.
PRACTICAL POINT FOR Christian today – Life is more than Property!
“The Christian carries all of his property in Christ!”
Verse 19 – And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!
Notice the concern and sympathy of Jesus for women
This is AMPLIFIED in light of the low regard for women in that time and culture.
“Not on the Sabbath”
Today in Israel
the buses / taxis and trains shut down on the Sabbath
Even elevators are programmed to stop on every floor!
NEXT WEEK – The GREAT TRIBULATION
21For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

Matthew 24:3

Signs of His Coming

Part 2 – The Beginning of the End

Last week we came to one of the most RADICAL passages in the entire Bible.
It is known as the Olivet Discourse.
This discourse (Matthew 24-25) is the second longest by Jesus (next to the Sermon on the Mount —- Matthew 5-7)
This discourse has it’s beginning as Jesus and the disciples are leaving the Temple Mount.
It begins in VERSE 1 with an OBSERVATION made by the disciples
Followed by a mind-blowing PREDICTION made by Jesus in VERSE 2.
By VERSE 3 they have crossed the Kidron Valley and made their way on to the side of the Mount of Olives
In the course of their walk that Prediction would birth a three-fold question.
In response to their question Jesus is going to forth the flow of events in human history leading up to His Second Coming to the earth at the end of the Great Tribulation.
We laid the important ground work for our study of the passage.
1.) These are NOT the signs of His coming FOR the Church —- A.K.A. “The Rapture”
The Rapture = Jesus coming FOR His Church —-
The Second Coming = Jesus coming WITH His Church to the earth

2.) Jesus is setting forth the SIGNS that will mark His return AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION to set up His rule upon the earth for 1,000 years —-
3.) These chapters are PROPHETIC in nature.
1? Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
1.) This prophecy was NOT fulfilled immediately (38 years / 70 A.D.)—- but it was fulfilled LITERALLY.
There was nothing symbolic about
1.63 million Jews killed / 90,000 Jews carried away as slaves
The stones of this magnificent structure being thrown down — crushing the pavement in the Tyropean Valley bellow real temple
IMPLICATION / APPLICATION: The literal fulfillment of this prophecy establishes the tone for the rest of the prophecies in the chapter.
We should expect a literal fulfillment for these as well.
3As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?”
KEY INSIGHT: Mark 13:3 tells us that it was two sets of brothers that asked the question
Peter and Andrew – James and John
KEY OBSERVATION: It’s important to see that this is a three-fold question.
1.) “Tell us, when will these things be” i.e – the destruction of the Temple
2.) “what will be the sign of your coming
3.) “what will be the sign of the close of the age?”
NO DOUBT – As Jesus spoke of the unthinkable destruction of the Temple the disciples couldn’t help but think back upon
the destruction of Solomon’s temple, in 586 BC,
after which the surviving Jews were carried away into captivity in Babylon for 70 years of
They would have been wondering WHAT is going to happen following the destruction of THIS Temple.
If THIS temple is going to be thrown down and destroyed, then that surely must mean the end of the age
Because as they looked at the magnificence of Herod’s temple they thought that surely the Messiah must be coming.
These guys thought that Jesus was going to overthrow Rome.
Remember the disciples on the Road to Emmaus —- We HAD hoped that He was the Messiah?
NOTE WELL: Matthew’s gospel does not answer the first question, which relates to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
It is Luke’s account that addresses that question.
Matthew and Mark answer the second and third questions
Which refer to
Christ’s coming
And the end of the age as one and the same event.
Matthew’s account was written to the Jew
It is the Gospel of the Kingdom!
THAT is why he records that portion of Christ’s answer that relates to His future kingdom and how it will be brought in —- Because that is one of the major purposes of the gospel.
KEY OBSERVATION: There are THREE things that Jesus singles out as the SIGNS OF HIS COMING
1.) Religious deception
2.) Geo-political upheaval —- wars and rumors of wars.
3.) Natural disasters.
Go home and listen to the news tonight.
Religious deception is everywhere.
Political upheaval on a GLOBAL scale —- “ya think?”
Natural disasters are shocking.

4And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
QUOTE: Spurgeon – “Almost every page of history is blotted w/the names of such deceivers.”
In the N.T. -

Theudas the Egyptian (Acts5:36)
Judas of Galilee (Acts 5:37);
Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:9 claimed to be someone great)
Writing in the First Century John the Apostle said –
1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
After the time of John’s letter there have been many who have claimed the Place, Office, or Name of Christ!
Mohammed is one of them!
His false religion has cause a bit of trouble on planet earth — ya’ think!
Today there is an amazing proliferation of FALSE messiah’s
Check out the line-up of speakers on Oprah and Friends on XM Radio
She has the largest church in the world!
But though these are increasing in the number and their influence in the world — they PALE in comparison to THE ANTI- CHRIST!

READ 2 Thes. 2:1-12 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word,
or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction 4who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. 5Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8And then the lawless one will be revealed,
whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. 9The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
6And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.
7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
NOTE IT WELL GUYS!
Wars and rumors of war,
nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom,
famines, earthquakes, pestilence
He tells us that these are the beginning of the birth pains.
Many of you men have been with your wife during labor.
You cheered her on, SILENTLY rejoicing that you are a man!
Your wife came to that point in labor known as transition – and she is now certain that her condition is real, not imaginary!
As those contractions became more INTENSE and more FREQUENT —- they indicated that birth was near.
THAT is the picture here.
CRUCIAL: Not a single one of these signs by themselves are indicative of His Coming!
From the beginning of time there has always been wars, there’s always been pestilence; there’s always been famine.
Jesus is saying that when all of these things are
increasing at the same time
in frequency and intensity
THAT is a clear sign that this baby is coming.
THAT — -according to Jesus —- is what matters.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
THIS IS NOT local military conflict
This is global conflict!
IN this discourse we find TWO THINGS that set us apart from any generation that has ever lived.
1.) These prophecies anticipate the re-birth of the nation of Israel.
Matthew 24:15-16 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel,
standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
That presumes a rebuilt Temple.
A rebuilt Temple presumes Jews living in Judea once again.
THAT required a miracle —- one which I believe is superseded in scope and greatness only by the virgin birth and the resurrection
Because in 70AD the Jews were scattered among the nations.
No other people group driven from it’s land has ever maintained it’s unique cultural and ethnic identity.
They have always been assimilated into other cultures — losing every ethnic identity.
But NOT the Jews. Though dispersed among the nations of the world they preserved their language and their religion.
And in May 14, 1948 they RETURNED to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The existence of the State of Israel sets our generation apart from every other generation of Christians before us in regards to these signs!
It is God’s time piece telling the world that we have come into the very last days before the return of Christ!
2.) The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
Matthew 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Unless Jesus comes back during the Battle of Armageddon, no human or animal would survive!
Never before has mankind been close to being able to annihilate ourselves.
Not in the crusades
Not in the Civil War
Not in WW 1
And not even in WW II. (It wasn’t until the end of the war that we saw Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)
In WW II
32 MILLION were killed in battle.
25 MILLION civilians were killed in bombing raids.
25 MILLION died in concentration camps.
That = 82 MILLION dead and 29 MILLION left maimed and wounded.
INSIGHT: The estimated cost to the allies was $225,000 per kill.
Man has found much less expensive ways to do that.
One Trident submarine has 40 times the detonating power of every weapon detonated by every side in WW II.
INCREASING INTENSITY –
Today there are 10 nations besides the US and Russia that have nuclear weapons.
World military spending grew 45 percent in the past decade
INCREASING INTENSITY – Add to that the military and political tension around the world
BBC – There are over 70 active conflicts in the world today.
And especially the Middle East – you have SERIOUS BIRTH PAINS!
QUOTE: Dr. Norman Myers – lecture panel member for the Center for Environmental Studies

“No generation in the past has ever faced prospect of mass extinction in its life time.”
In other words no other generation ever lived where we could kill everyone on the planet.
You couldn’t do that with swords and bows and arrows — muzzle loaded guns —- cannons
So as we look around there are very intelligent people —- military people —- strategists —- people in the intelligence community —- that realize the trouble we’re in.
NOTE THIS – Today as we look at the world – as crazy as it is – it is a restrained version.
But there is coming a time when the restraining work of the Holy Spirit is removed all hell will break loose.
And the Anti-Christ will come forth and that will be ultimate spiritual deception.
There have been wars and rumors of war —- but all of that has been restrained.
But when we get to verse 15 there will be no more restraint then
KEY APPLICATION: This is NOT a good scene, UNLESS
You see them just as Jesus saw them
As the SIGNS OF HIS RETURN!
KEY QUESTION: How are you looking at do you view the world today?
SO WHEN YOU TAKE
the re-birth of the nation of Israel
ADD to that wars and rumors of war, famines, pestilence and earthquakes
each of these things INCREASING in FREQUENCY and INTENSITY
THOSE things in unison constitutes the sign that the return of Jesus is at hand.
9“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake
INSIGHT: And surely all of these men listening to Jesus were martyred, with the exception of John the beloved.
6 million in the first 3 centuries of the Church
In Foxes book of Martyrs, he lists the death, and the manner of death, of all of the disciples
It’s a book that will really give you an appreciation of the heritage that we have.
And the price that was paid to bring the Gospel to us
10And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.
Those who once were true to each other will betray each other.
This suggests that marriages, homes, and nations will be torn asunder over the issue of Christ.
11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
The Antichrist – that final world dictator who will lead the nations astray – will begin his career as a peacemaker, signing a covenant with Israel to protect her from her enemies (Dan. 9:27).
AMAZINGLY Israel will welcome this man as their great benefactor (John 5:43).
John 5:43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him..
12And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
lawlessness will be increased – There are countless nights when you watch the news and it goes from the account of one shooting to the next shooting to the next.
Steve Mays, pastor of CC South Bay had a son-in-law who had gotten away from the Lord.
Gotten involved with the wrong people.
He eventually recommitted himself to the Lord.
But not long after that some guys picked him up gagged him and shot him fourteen times. They found his body up in the mountains.
One of Steve’s assistant pastors was doing a ride along in LA with the police.
Somebody walked up to the window shot the policeman through the window and killed him.
The assistant pastor got out and started to run —- the man shot him twice. He had a vest on so he kept going.
They chased him down and caught him and grabbed him by the neck. Pulled down his vest and fired three times down inside the vest and killed him.
Lawlessness will be increased – This fits in with what Jesus will say in v. 37 –
37As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Genesis 6:5; 11 5The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually….. 11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.
BECAUSE lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
The world will become cold —- cynical —- selfish
Incapable of trusting others or caring for others.
As a dad —- this stuff is shakes me

I pray everyday that He will come because I don’t see a future here.
Things are not going to get better.
Washington is not going to improve things.
NOTE WELL: Jesus, Paul, Peter – the entire New Testament – says things will grow worse and worse until He comes.
LISTEN – I am not a pessimist.
I’m an optimist.
If it was not for Jesus Christ I would not have an optimistic bone in my body.

Can you imagine being unbeliever and watching the news?
Can you imagine what it would be like to live today without the Bible?
Thank God for Jesus Christ that He was gracious to save a wretch like me.
Now when I see this stuff I see a kingdom coming.
13But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
ENDURE = to bear up under
Jesus wants us to know that as we see these things transpiring with increasing intensity and frequency that it’s not going to be easy
It’s going to be hard.
You’re going to be lights in a dark world —- but the world doesn’t want the light.
You’re going to be salt to preserve the world from rotting —- but they don’t want that preservation.
From the Book of Acts forward the Christian life has NEVER been an easy life.
It demands persistence and perseverance to keep loving Christ Supremely!
Following Jesus DEMANDS that we keep on
Trusting and Obeying Jesus
Following and Honoring Jesus
Serving Jesus
Though Jesus is primarily looking at persecution of the Jews under the anti Christ, we are not excluded.
I have to tell you that as I see these things going on I find in my own heart growing cold towards this world.
I need to remember that God so loved the world.
God does not hate the homosexual.
It’s easy for my soul to get vexed as Lot’s was.
And sometimes I can just have the attitude, “Just get me out of here.”
Well there’s one thing that we need to hold on to – and that’s people.
Everything else is going to burn.
People are eternal.
I NEED for the Lord to constantly check my heart.
And if we ever feel faint, then “Be Faint, yet pursuing!”
Psalm 63:8 KJV My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.
One great old saint said – “It is better to limp IN the way, than to run with swiftness out of it!”
14And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
So this is the flow of history leading up to the last 3 ½ years before the return of Christ.
Somewhere in the TIME prior to verse 15 the anti-Christ will have been on the scene for 3 ½ years
According to Revelation 6 and Daniel 9 he will have come on the scene as a man of peace.
Israel will embrace him
He will broker a seven year treaty involving the nation of Israel
But in the middle of that seven years he will break that covenant in the most shocking of ways.

Matthew 24:1-2

Signs of His Coming

Part 1 – Truly I Say To You

INTRODUCTION

This morning we come to one of the most radical passages in the entire Bible. It is known as the Olivet Discourse. This discourse (Matthew 24-25) is the second longest by Jesus (next to the Sermon on the Mount — Matthew 5-7).

This discourse has it’s beginning as Jesus and the disciples are leaving the Temple Mount.

• It begins in VERSE 1 with an OBSERVATION made by the disciples.
• Followed by a mind-blowing PREDICTION made by Jesus in verse 2.
• By verse 3 they have crossed the Kidron Valley and made their way on to the side of the Mount of Olives.
  • In the course of their walk that Prediction would birth a three-fold question.

In response to their question Jesus would set forth the flow of events in human history leading up to His Second Coming to the earth. He sets forth for them SIGNS that will mark His return AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION to set up His rule upon the earth for 1,000 years.

WE NEED TO LAY SOME IMPORTANT GROUND WORK HERE!

1. These are NOT the signs of His coming for the Church – A.K.A. “the Rapture.”
   • The rapture is not mentioned in these chapters, and it actually transpires before the specific end-time events of the Great Tribulation.
   • Jesus does not begin to make know His coming FOR the Church until the night before He dies in John 14:1-3
     

     ¹“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ²In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

   • The rapture will be further revealed in 1 Thes 4 and 1 Cor 15 which predict that Christ will come for His church.
   • When He does, Christians who have died will be resurrected and Christians who are living will be changed — in a moment — in the twinkling of an eye.
     • They will meet the Lord in the air — Their bodies will be suddenly changed — and they will be with Jesus in heaven.
     • Following the event of the rapture the events predicted in this discourse will transpire with great speed leading up to the return of Jesus TO the earth WITH His Church
   • CRUCIAL DIFFERNCE:
     • The Rapture = Jesus coming FOR His Church —
     • The Second Coming = Jesus coming WITH His Church to the earth
2. Jesus is setting for signs that will mark His return AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION to set up His rule upon the earth for 1,000 years — A.K.A. “the Millennium”.
   • There are THREE views of this period of time.
     • Amillennial view – Is actually a denial of a future, 1,000 year, physical reign of Jesus Christ on the earth spoken of in Revelation 20.
       • The Amillennial view holds that the number of years in Revelation 20 is a symbolic number, not a literal description;
       • It also says that the millennium has actually already begun and is identical with the church age
     • Postmillennial view – Which sees Christ’s second coming as occurring after (Latin post-) the an era in which the world essentially becomes Christian!
       Which by the way is the view articulated by the most influential Christian leader in America.
       • “If Jesus Christ does not come back a thousand years from today there will be no organizations or government… there will be a Church.” – Rick Warren
       • THE PROBLEM with this view is that it is expressly contradicted by the words of Jesus in these chapters which speak of increasing evil — climaxed by the judgment of Christ at the second coming.
     • Premillennial view – A.K.A. the right view – Is the belief that Christ will literally reign on the earth for 1,000 years at his second coming.
       • The doctrine is called premillennialism because it views the current age as prior to Christ’s kingdom.
3. These chapters are PROPHETIC in nature.
   • Modern Christianity has DIMINISHED the importance of prophecy.
   • Again – Rick Warren: In referring to Acts 1 –
     When the disciples wanted to talk about prophecy, Jesus quickly switched the conversation to evangelism. He wanted them to concentrate on their mission to the world. He said in essence, “The details of my return are none of your business. What is your business is the mission I have given you. Focus on that!”
   • This is PATENTLY a self-serving DISREGARD of the Olivet Discourse in which Jesus spent 97 VERSES on the subject of the SIGNS of His return!
     • WATCH was the KEY NOTE… “When you see these things…”
       Paul – “Times and season…”
   • NOTE WELL: One out every ten verses in the New Testament speak about the Rapture or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
     • Some people say, “Oh prophecy, prophecy. These guys are always banging on prophecy.”
     • Listen – we are going to speaking a lot about prophecy as we study through the Gospels and the rest of the NT because one of every ten verses we cover is going to deal with prophecy.
   • KEY INSIGHT: Billy Graham makes note of the fact that the New Testament makes mention of the New Birth 7 times.
     • The doctrine of the New Birth is VERY IMPORTANT to us as believers. It is ESSENTIAL to the Christian faith.
     • The New Testament speaks of repentance and faith 20 times. Very important! ESSENTIAL to the Christian faith.
     • The New Testament speaks of baptisms 70 times
       (baptisms plural – baptism of the Holy Spirit, water baptism, baptism into the Body of Christ.)
   • Billy Graham makes note of the fact that there are over 300 hundred mentions of the return of Jesus Christ.
     • By far the broadest subject in the New testament.
   • Such breadth and depth dedicated to the subjects of the Lord’s return FOR His Church and the Lord’s return WITH His Church to the world should NOT strike us as odd
     • Put yourself in the Lord’s place!
       • The place of a bridegroom looking for the day when he will come for his bride
       • Or the place of a parent separated from his children.
     • Certainly in your writings, the greatest part of your writings would deal with the subject of when you were going to see each other again.
       (John 17:24 NKJV) “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
   • It is in the heart of Christ for us to be gathered to Him.
     • Yet He knows that as we wait for that day, we will live through an age that will be troubled.
     • So Jesus tells us that when we see these difficult things, as difficult as they are, they are SIGN of His coming!
   • One of the things we must bare in mind in the study of prophecy is that when God predicts future events, they always come to pass exactly as He prophesied.
     • So we MUST pay CLOSE ATTENTION to what is actually said as the details are very important.

With that groundwork laid – Let’s dig in!

¹Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.

Mark adds this –

Mark 13:1 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”

• This temple was originally rebuilt by Zerubbabel and Ezra (Ezra 6:15)
  • It was the center of Jewish life for almost a thousand years.
  • It represented to them not just their worship — but the stability and certainty of their nation.
  • It was so vital a part of the nation that it was customary to swear by the temple (Matthew 23:16), and speaking against the temple could be considered blasphemy (Acts 6:13).
• The Temple was later greatly expanded and improved by Herod the Great.
  • A very LITTLE man that built VERY BIG things.
  • After Herod’s work, the temple was huge – nearly 500 yards long and 400 yards wide.
• Herod’s rebuilding work started in 19 b.c., and was only completed in 63 a.d. – more than 80 years
  • The temple was finished only seven years before it was destroyed.

• The SCOPE of it’s size —

  • To enlarge the Temple Mount he made a huge retaining wall comprised of massive stones, quarried and pre-cut outside of the city.
  • An especially large course of stones is visible on the southern and western walls today.

  • In what is today called the “Rabbi’s Tunnel” you can see what is called the “Master Course”.

    • It consists of four stones
    • The largest of which weighs 570 tons
    • It is 44 feet long
    • 10 feet high
    • 12-16 feet deep.

  • The next largest stone in the wall is a mere 40 feet long.

  • SENSE OF SCALE – The largest stone in the Great Pyramid weighs 11 tons.
  • The bottom of that largest stone is cut to the shape of the bedrock so it just fits in place perfectly.
  • On the top level is Today’s “Western Wall”
    • there are many stones there over 20 feet long, 5 feet high, 8 feet thick — put in place with no mortar —- You can put the blade of your pen-knife between the stones.
• Then there was the Temple itself
  • 150 feet tall!
• But the temple wasn’t just big —- it was also beautiful.
  • The Jewish historian Josephus says that the temple was covered on the outside with gold plates, that were so brilliant that when the sun shone on them, it was blinding to look at.
  • Where there was no gold, there were blocks of marble of such a pure white that strangers, from a distance, thought there was snow on the temple.

So here these men are very MOVED at the majesty of this place.

• STRUCK by the SPECTACULAR SIZE and BEAUTY of the Temple and it’s courts.
• No doubt MOVED by the sense of SECURITY and SIGNIFICANCE that it lent to the nation.

Then Jesus drops this radical PREDICTION on them.

²But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

UNTHINKABLE

• What unthinkable chaos would befall Israel for such a thing to happen.
• Such large stones could be dislodged only through deliberate force.

Some 40 years after Jesus said this, there was a widespread Jewish revolution against the Romans in Israel.

• Ultimately the legions of Rome crushed the rebellion.
• In 70 a.d. Jerusalem was leveled, including the temple – just as Jesus said.
• It is said that at the fall of Jerusalem, the last surviving Jews of the city fled to the temple, because it was the strongest, most secure building in the city.
• Roman soldiers surrounded it, and one drunken soldier started a fire that soon engulfed the whole building.
  The ornate gold detail work in the roof melted down in the cracks between the stone walls of the temple, and to retrieve the gold, the Roman commander ordered that the temple be dismantled stone by stone.
• The destruction was so complete that today archeologists still have have found it difficult to find the exact location.

This prophecy was fulfilled literally.
There was nothing symbolic about

• About 1.63 million Jews dying
• About 90,000 Jews carried away as slaves
• The stones of this magnificent structure being thrown down — crushing the pavement in the Tyropean Valley bellow real temple

IMPLICATION / APPLICATION: The literal fulfillment of this prophecy establishes the tone for the rest of the prophecies in the chapter.

• We should expect a literal fulfillment for these as well.
• If Jesus could prophesy some 38 years in advance with that much accuracy I think it’s very important for us to listen to the rest of the chapter too
• I believe with all my heart that everything else He says in this chapter will be happening in our day exactly as He said.

The fulfillment of the prophecy was NOT immediate

• There was not a stone thrown down for 38 years.
  • In fact for the next 31 years stones were ADDED — not thrown down.
• The work of renovation —- though completed in it’s large part — would carry on for 31 years.

BUT the day did come — Just as Jesus predicted.

• And the Temple was so completely destroyed that it’s has been virtually impossible for archeologists to determine it’s exact location on the temple Mount.

CRUCIAL APPLICATION: We do not want to misinterpret God’s delays

• Some mistake God’s delays as evidence that He will NEVER act to fulfill His Word — or NEVER act in judgment.

  • First of all – To the contrary —- His ACTS are NEVER delayed.

    • God is NEVER LATE.
    • He is only LATE —
    • He only DELAYS —- from our vantage point.
    • He ALWAYS does what He has purposed to do — In His PERFECT timing.

      Isaiah 46:8-11 ⁸“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors,⁹remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, ¹⁰declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’¹¹ I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.

  • Secondly – The passing of time in the fulfilling of a prophecy is out of MERCY.

    • Revelation 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”
    • As men view this He concludes that if Jesus hasn’t come in 2,000 years HE AINT COMIN at all!

      2 Peter 3:1-9 ¹This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, ²that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, ³knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. ⁴They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, ⁶and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. ⁷But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.⁸But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come…

  • Yes – Jesus HAS (from our point of view) “delayed” His return for nearly 2,000 years!

  • Peter tells us why:
    • God wants to give this sinful world opportunity to repent and be saved (2 Peter 3:1).
    • 38+ years passed from Matthew 24:2 until Jerusalem was destroyed
    • BECAUSE Jesus wanted to give men and women an opportunity to repent.

TRULY I SAY TO YOU

Peter told the believers that UNLIKE the unbelievers they should remember the predictions of the holy prophets

CRUCIAL QUESTION: WHY does man turn a blind eye to the reality of fulfilled Bible Prophecy — and Bible Prophecy yet to be fulfilled?

• Because if you look at
  • The predictive nature of the Bible
  • And the unerring accuracy of those predictions
• There are RATIONAL and INESCAPABLE conclusions
  • There is a GOD (IN last weeks readings in Isaiah God Himself said THAT was one of the main purposes of prophecy – to show that He alone is God)
  • There is a HEAVEN and HELL
  • There is a FOREVER that has NOTHING to do with this present world.
  • This world is coming to an end!
    Everything that this world values is TEMPORAL and is of ZERO value apart from it’s relationship to Christ!
    • Not just your “stuff” — but your life itself!

TRAGIC OBSERVATION: The average church-goer and the average church today ignores and/or avoids books of the Bible or portions of books of the Bible that are prophetic in nature

• Because the world that they know and presently enjoy is too precious to them
  • Bible prophecy rains on that parade!
  • That’s why they don’t want to study passages like Matthew 24-25
  • That’s why they don’t want to believe that the events of Matthew 24-25 are actually going to happen.
• They’re O.K. with the Bible — as long as it is looked at as a “How-To” manual to improve their quality of life and lifestyle in this present world.
• And for many churchgoers the bits in the Bible about heaven are more of a fire insurance policy than a truth that transforms their lives in this present age.

A true understanding of

• Bible prophecy as a whole
• And Matthew 24-25 in particular should
  • Motivate us to obey God’s Word
  • Motivate us to share God’s invitation with a lost world.
  • Provoke MINISTRY, and EVANGELISM and PURITY of heart.

CLOSING APPLICATIONS

• The magnificent Temple made these Jews from Galilee stand in awe.
  • It was not only majestic, but in the eyes of many Jews
    • It stood as something unshakable / immovable
    • It stood as THE constant in in the face of Roman occupation.

SURELY the lesson for us is that whatever

• we might think is the SURE thing —
• we might look to on this earth for STABILITY
• Is really NOT so sure.
• There is ONLY ONE thing that can not be shaken
  • The life found IN Christ and found standing upon His Word.

But there is one last application for us here

• For many, the Temple gave a FALSE sense of security in their relationship to God.
• BUT – God was not O.K. with the spiritual life of Israel.
  • The men overseeing the Temple worship and functions had just been exposed by Jesus as the worst of religious hypocrites
  • The men overseeing the Temple had turned the House of God into a den of thieves.
  • The men overseeing the Temple of the Living God had had only days earlier rejected the promised Messiah of Israel and now they were desperate to see Him destroyed.
• LISTEN to these words of the Prophet Jeremiah 7:1-4

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord.
³Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. ⁴Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

• The Jews of the Old Testament had found FALSE security in the Temple that had just been renovated in the day of Jeremiah.
• The Jews of Jesus’ day found false security in the Temple.
• There are many attending churches this very day — perhaps here at Metro — who look at
  • their church building
  • their church attendance
  • their church involvement
• And conclude that all is well with them and God.
• IF that is your security with God you will find not one stone left standing.

Matthew 23:13-39

Rejection of the King

Part 9: Seven Woes and a Lament

Exodus 12:3-7; 12-14 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household…… 5Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 7“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it…..
12For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. 13The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.14“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.
Jews from around the world have flooded into Jerusalem to commemorate their deliverance and offer the Passover Lamb
At the end of this week, Jesus —- THE LAMB OF GOD —- will be betrayed by Judas Iscariot, turned over to Pontius Pilate, beaten and murdered as the sacrifice for our sins–

In Chapter 23 we have the record of the LAST words spoken by Jesus to the multitudes at large.
The subject matter was the religious hypocrisy Scribes and the Pharisees.
In the opening 12 verses of the chapter Jesus PUBLICLY denounced the Pharisees and scribes and identified their religion as FALSE on FIVE COUNTS
v.3 – He DENOUNCED them as Hypocrites
v.4 – DENOUNCES them and IDENTIFIES their religion as false because they laid heavy spiritual burdens upon men and women
v.5-7 DENOUNCES them and IDENTIFIES their religion as false because their religious activity was NOT for God and His glory —- it was for THEMSELVES and THEIR OWN glory!
v.6 He DENOUNCES them and IDENTIFIES their religion as false because all of their PUBLIC DISPLAYS of spirituality were merely the means to THE SELFISH ENDS of POSITION and TITLE
v.11 He DENOUNCES them and IDENTIFIES their religion as false because they had a false concept of greatness
As scathing as these denunciations were –
They were actually just the PRELUDE to SEVEN WOES that Jesus was about to pronounce upon the Scribes and Pharisees.

QUOTE: A. T. Robertson called these “the rolling thunder of Christ’s wrath.”

QUOTE: Plummer – these woes are “like thunder in their unanswerable severity, and like lightning in their unsparing exposure.. . . They illuminate while they strike.”
CRUCIAL NOTE: We must not read this series of woes with the idea that Jesus lost His temper.

REMEMBER – From our study in 1 Samuel that God’s anger against sin is NOT LIKE our anger.
There is NOTHING in His heart that looks like the irritation and impatience and malice that we have against those who have offended us.
It is NOT anger as we know it
It is the CALM —- SETTLED OPPOSITION —- of His NATURE to sin

KEY INSIGHT: The Greek word for woe is hard to translate into English because it includes not only wrath, but also sorrow.
The THUNDER and LIGHTENING of each woe has it’s origins in the settled opposition of God’s nature against sin
BUT – The THUNDER and LIGHTENING of each woe is also filled with divine grief over the stubborn blindness of these men!
I believe there was compassion in the heart of Christ for them as individuals.
He fully understands the consequences of their hypocrisy!
13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

NOTE WELL: He never talked to a prostitute or a sinner in this way.
He never spoke this way to those whose hearts were towards Him.
To them He always spoke of God’s love and repentance.
The sincere, yet stumbling, believer is never addressed like this.
He didn’t even speak this way to the rich young ruler who walked away from Him!
For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
Nobody talked to these guys like this.
I imagine that He pointed His finger at them.
hupokrites in the Greek
an actor under an assumed character
Derived from Greek word that means: to speak under a false part
Across this nation there are people who go to seminary and graduate and are ordained
Many of them never really ordained of God
Many of them aren’t even saved.

EXAMPLE: Joe Focht – was telling me about a seminary-educated pastor in the Philadelphia area that had visited his church —- and upon hearing the clear proclamation of the Scriptures had gotten saved
He went back to his denominational church and started to preach the gospel on Sunday morning
He started to see two or three of his congregation get saved
The next thing you know people were getting saved in bunches
And after a matter of time his denominational headquarters heard about it and the big mobs were there.
And they said, “We’ll not have any of this preaching of the gospel here.”
And he was out on his ear.
Now I would say those folks fit this category —- keeping men and women out of heaven!
If you have the ESV your verse numbers go from 13 to 15 — If you have the KJV or the NKJV you have v.14
(Mat 23:14 KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
All through the Old Testament we see that God has a special place in His heart for the orphan or the widow.
(James 1:27 NLT) Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.
Yet here Jesus says that these men —- the religious leaders of the nation —- are devouring widow’s houses.

INSIGHT: The scribes would come to the widows of Israel and essentially say to them, “Look if you really want to honor your husband we think you should take a part of the estate and donate it to the temple in his name.”
And then as a pretense of being “spiritual” they made long prayers for the sake of big donations.
SUCCESSFUL SCAM – When the Romans conquered Jerusalem in 70AD they turned up what would be worth today in our market over 2-1/2 million dollars in sterling and close to 3 billion in gold.
Therefore you will receive greater condemnation:
No one will have it good in Hell
But Jesus makes it clear that some will have it worse than others will.
15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
Zeal in evangelism does not prove that a person is right with God.
These religious leaders went to great lengths in their evangelism, but they brought people to darkness, not light.
Paul spoke of this very thing in Romans 10:2
There he stated that some of the Jewish people of his day had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
NONE of their converts were actually born again.
BECAUSE their message could only produce more men and women trying to work their way into heaven (which is impossible!!)
When he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves:
These men were similar to Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses today.
Courageous and energetic messengers, but with a false message that leaves THEM and their hearers lost!
The GOSPEL declares that you can only be saved from hell and enter into heaven through FAITH in the finished work of the cross.
It is THAT message alone that God uses to save souls!
James 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth,
1 Peter 1:23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;
16“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
It was a common belief that if you swore by the temple that the oath you were making was about a five on the serious scale —- and thus there was wiggle room to connive your way out of it.
But they believed that if you swore by the gold in the temple —-
WELL THEN!!
THAT was the really sacred stuff!
THAT made it an unbreakable oath!
17You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19You blind men! For which is greater,
the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
20So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
CHECK THIS OUT – Fools (v. 17) = moros = blockhead
NOBODY had ever talked to these guys like that before.
HERE’S THE POINT that Jesus is making
Earthly things are sanctified by their relationship to heaven.
23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

KEY INSIGHT: They would grow their own spices.
As they would gather their seeds they would say -nine seeds for me and one for God.
He said, “You guys are blind hypocrites. You’re tithing of your seeds and forgot about justice.

KEY OBSERVATION: He didn’t say they shouldn’t be tithing,
He said they should be tithing AND be just and merciful and full of faith.
1 Cor 13:1-3 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
24You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
If a Pharisees got a gnat in his mouth he would stop and have a fit because it had blood in it.
The Law said that they were to eat nothing with blood.
SO – He would stick his finger down his throat and make himself throw up rather than swallow a less than kosher gnat.
Yet Jesus says these guys —- who would be that extreme regarding a gnat —- would gulp down a camel (The camel is the largest mammal in the middle east.)
Now of course it was figurative.
The point is that they would STRAIN over the most minute detail of their traditions — because such details made them more spiritual in their own eyes and the eyes of the nation
But they MISSED —- IGNORED —- the LARGEST POINT of relationship with God – LOVING Him and His children!
Tragically, the church is obsessed with the trivial while the world goes to hell.
25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

KEY INSIGHT: A lot of these men were immoral.
They had problems with greed and pride and lust.
But because they kept up the external they fooled others and over time themselves.
BUT NOT GOD – He is not mocked.

KEY INSIGHT: There is ONLY ONE thing that clean the inside!
What can wipe away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
1 John 1:7 For the blood of Jesus Christ —- God’s Son —- cleanses a man of all sin.
Isaiah 1:18 Come let us reason…..
27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful,
but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

KEY INSIGHT: At the time of a mandatory feast (when the Jews from all over the known world would have to come to worship) they would take time to white wash the sepulchers.
They did this to make them VISIBLE because many of them were right by the roadside
YOU SEE —- if you were a Pilgrim coming to Jerusalem to worship and accidently touched a grave you were unclean for seven days and would be excluded from the feast.
So out of courtesy – and because they wanted you in the temple to get your money – they would whitewash the tombs so the people would not accidentally touch them and become defiled.
With this FAMILIAR picture Jesus points out that these men might look great OUTWARDLY
But you would no more want to be around them than you would want to touch something dead
These guys were filled with stuff that would defile them as much as any tomb!
He’s not trying to win a popularity contest this day.
I wonder if through all of these woes that their hearts are sinking.
29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
We say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
They would fill the cup.
They would kill the Messiah.
33You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
As if woe wasn’t bad enough.

NOTE: In Genesis 3 Satan comes to Eve as a what?
a serpent.
(John 8:44 KJV) You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

NOTE: Jesus goes beyond merely calling them serpents, He uses the term viper – a poisonous snake.

KEY POINT: Jesus wants us to know that hypocrisy is poisonous.
It’s one of the reasons that church discipline is given to us in the scripture.
34Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

KEY OBSERVATION: “Upon you will come all of the blood that was shed in the Torah.

KEY INSIGHT: It doesn’t mean a generation as in those were alive.
This generation = genea, ghen-eh-ah’; = this family.

KEY QUESTION: What do you think Jesus is really feeling in His heart towards these guys
Anger for the sake of anger
Or indignation mingled with grief because of the consequences of hypocrisy
Or indignation mingled with grief because He knows

That the Romans will come and kill 1,630,000 Jews.

- That the siege of the city would be so bad that those living in Jerusalem would turn to cannibalism.
- That Ferdinand and Isabella pass a statute that the Jews should be sought out at the inquisition.
- Everything that will happen with Nazi Germany.
I think that Jesus has a broken hearted here because
He sees all of the bloodshed of the righteous through the ages —– as He tried to send prophets to warn these very people —- and yet they constantly rejected the Word of the Lord.

It was a continuous situation where hypocrites loved to have their own position…..
Even if that meant killing the prophets.

NOTE: One of the reasons they said they killed Him was because He’s taking away our authority.
Mark 15:10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.
All of this is the reason why when He was coming down on Palm Sunday that He wept.
He was convulsing weeping.
It was a continuous situation where hypocrites loved to have their own position…..
Even if that meant killing the prophets.

NOTE: One of the reasons they said they killed Him was because He’s taking away our authority.
Mark 15:10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.
All of this is the reason why when He was coming down on Palm Sunday that He wept.
He was convulsing weeping.
The siege and destruction of Jerusalem was so terrible that Titus Vespesian was said to have looked up to heaven and cry out to a God he didn’t believe in and said, “Don’t leave this to my account. I’m not responsible.”
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 38See, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

KEY INSIGHT: If you don’t know Christ in a personal way this is your life story.
It’s the life story of all of those who have heard and turned away.
Christ will one day say, “How often would I have gathered you to myself in tenderness and love. The way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings and takes care of them. And you would not.”
Those of us who know Him – He put us right here, right now for a reason.
I think of how desperate this nation and the world are for this kind of love that we profess to have fiund in Christ.
Why did Jesus utter such scathing rebukes?
Because He loved these men.
These men were the farthest from God and they needed to be warned of coming judgment.
What Jesus really wanted was their repentance, not their judgment.

Matthew 23:1-12

Rejection of the King

Part 8 The King’s Denunciation

In Chapter 23 we are given our Lord’s last “public” message before He withdraws from the people.

NOTE with me the TOPIC that Jesus chooses for his final public words!

QUOTE: Warren Wiersbe – “It is a scathing denunciation of false religion that was paraded under the guise of truth.”
Without a doubt this is the most “severe” language Jesus ever used in His Ministry!
These first 12 verses serve as an intro to the SEVEN WOES that Jesus will pronounce upon the Scribes and Pharisees.

NOTE: Not all of the Pharisees were hypocrites.
There were about 6,000 Pharisees in that day
There were many more who were “followers” but not full members of the group.
Most of the Pharisees were middle-class businessmen who were no doubt sincere in their desire for truth and holiness.
The name “Pharisees” came from a word that means “to separate.”
The Pharisees were guys who desired to
separate or consecrate their lives to the study of the Law and to the keeping of the Law
Separate their lives from the Gentiles, or the “unclean” Jews who did not practice the Law (“publicans and sinners”)
Among the Pharisees were a few members who sought for true relationship with God
Nicodemus (John 3; 7:50-53)
Joseph of Arimathea (John 19)
And the unnamed man mentioned in Mark 12:32-34
But for the most part – this group stood opposed to the Gospel from the time of John the Baptist forward –

REMEMBER – John called them a “brood of vipers.”
They used religion and their influence to
Promote themselves
And at the same time achieve material gain.
So Jesus is going to
Denounced them
And identify their religion as FALSE on FIVE COUNTS
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat,
The idea here is that ‘they have seated themselves in Moses’ seat.’
They have taken as it were the place of Moses authority.
Moses was REVERED in Israel’s history as the lawgiver.
The AUTHORITY of Moses came from the fact that he spoke with God and wrote the law and gave it to the nation.
But now these religious leaders have taken it upon themselves to sit in the place of Moses and take his place of authority.
They usurped this authority and claimed to be the final authority in Israel – even over the Word of God.
THIS was the constant battle that Jesus had with the religious leaders.
(Mark 7:7-9; 13) in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’8You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”9And he said to them,
“You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!….. 13thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
3so practice and observe whatever they tell you—
That is – all that they bid you to observe in regards to the Law – the Word.
but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

HERE is the FIRST count –
He DENOUNCES THEM as HYPOCRITES!
Again – The hypocrite is not someone who LOVES the Lord and tries to LIVE for Him…. But has FLAWS and FALLS along the way.
The hypocrite is the person who SAYS they are something that they are not!
Someone who SAYS they are lovers of God but in reality are NOT!

We really want to try picture this scene!
Jesus gathers the multitude to hear something.
And I get the sense that He is pointing a finger here!
He is saying – Don’t ignore the Word of God just because these guys are hypocrites.
I wonder how many here this morning have ignored the Truth of Scripture because you were raised in a religious system and saw hypocrisy there.
CHRISTIANS! It’s important that
1.) WE never stand between the world and Jesus….. Obscure their view of Jesus by our hypocrisy
2.) WE point men PAST the hypocrisy of Religion to Jesus.
Jesus was there ministering to the multitudes
The Bible says that the common people heard Him gladly (Mark 12:37).
They HEARD Him speak and teach with authority.
But they also watched His demonstration of His love.
THAT was so NEW —- so DIFFERENT —- so REFRESHING —- compared to what they had seen and heard in their religious leaders.
By the way – THAT is what we should be desiring to see happen before an unbelieving world today.
We want men and women to MEET JESUS!
We merely want to make ourselves available to Jesus in that process!
Jesus saw the people like sheep without a shepherd.
So He says to the multitude and His disciples,
“Look —- these are the religious leaders.
Listen to what they say —- only as it relates to the Word of God —-
BUT —- Don’t follow their works.
Because they love to tell you what to do
But they themselves don’t lift a finger to accomplish those things.
CONTEMPORARY APPLICATION: Don’t let hypocrisy stain the Word of God in your life.
God’s Word is true it will abide forever.
And just because there are hypocrites in the church doesn’t mean that your heart should be turned off to Jesus.
1.) Jesus denounces them as hypocrites
2.) Jesus DENOUNCES them and IDENTIFIES their religion as false because they laid heavy spiritual burdens upon men and women
4They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
These men said —
Here is the only way to know God and be loved by Him —– and then they laid on them a Mount Everest of religious burdens!
But here is Jesus
God incarnate
And HE said that He came to lighten burdens, not increase them.
Matthew 11:28-30 28Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
With these words Jesus denounces these men (who presented themselves as the spiritual leaders of Israel) —- and labels them as hypocritical religious dictators!
A quick way to spot a false teacher —-
They want to encumber you with countless rules and regulations that have nothing to do with the Bible

QUOTE: William Barclay – Here is the test of any presentation of religion…..Does it carry him, or has he to carry it? Whenever religion becomes a depressing affair of burdens and prohibitions, it ceases to be true religion.
If Satan can’t get you to compromise your way into backsliding, he’ll be glad to get you to become a legalist
BIBLE BUS READING THIS MORNING – The Galatians fell into that. They had backslidden into legalism.
Think of it – God —- the creator of the universe
For some reason that is an absolute mystery to us —- a reason beyond our comprehension
Actually loves us!
And He gave His own Son as a sacrifice for our sins so that our sins could be forgiven
And IN CHRIST He offers to us
The right to become the Children of God
Every spiritual blessing in heavenly places
His daily care and concern as our Heavenly Father.
And face to face fellowship with Him for eternity!
BUT BECAUSE of our own tendency to not believe that God would freely love us
We buy into these burdens thinking that IF we can perform under the weight of them —- we can earn God’s love.
We actually believe that there is SOMETHING in us that can deserve the love of God.
The fact that Pharisees exist and people follow them is solely a matter of Pride.
The Bible tells us His love is unmerited – undeserved.
But BECAUSE OF PRIDE —- It doesn’t take much coaxing for a Pharisee to come into our lives and coax us into a performance based relationship with Jesus.
Christian perfection is not perfection of performance
It is perfection of relationship
The more we grow in grace and in the knowledge of who Jesus is, we find ourselves more in love with Him
The more we love Him, the more we desire to please Him —- And THAT is not a burden — it is a JOY.
The Pharisees were taking advantage of the fact that it is so easy for man to try approach God on the basis of perfecting performance rather than perfecting relationship.
Jesus DENOUNCES these men and IDENTIFIES their religion as false
1.) Because they were hypocrites
2.) Because they laid impossible religious BURDENS on men
3.) Because their religious activity was NOT for God and His glory —- it was for THEMSELVES and THEIR OWN glory!
5They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
they make their phylacteries broad
Deuteronomy 6:6-8 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
In light of that command from God the Jew of that day —- and still in our day —- wears —- what are called tephillin or phylacteries.
They are worn on every day except the Sabbath and special holy days.
They are like little leather boxes, one strapped on the wrist and one on the forehead.
The one on the wrist is a little leather box of one compartment, and inside it there is a parchment roll with the following four passages of scripture written on it—
Exo.13:1-10
Exo.13:11-16
Deut.6:4-9
Deut.11:13-21.
The one worn on the forehead is the same except that in it there are four little compartments, and in each compartment there is a little scroll inscribed with one of these four passages.?
The Pharisees, in order to draw attention to himself, not only wore phylacteries
but they SUPER SIZED them!

To let every one know that he was not merely obedient to that Command

But SUPER OBEDIENT —– SUPER SPIRITUAL!

and their fringes long,
Even Jesus would have had this “fringe” on his garment!
Num 15:37-39 The Lord said to Moses, 38“Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner. 39And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes
These fringes were like tassels worn on the four comers of the outer garment.
Today this is perpetuated in the tassels of the prayer-shawl which the orthodox Jew wears at prayer.
Again —- they would SUPER SIZE them!
Not to remind a man of the commandments, but to draw attention to himself.
You can still see these guys today —– even on the plane to Israel —- suiting up!
You can see these guys “bobbing” and they bob harder than the next bobber.
4.) Jesus also denounced them and identified their religion as false because all of their PUBLIC DISPLAY of spirituality were mearly the means to THE SELFISH ENDS of POSITION and TITLE
6and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues
7and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others
It was NOT ENOUGH to be merely thought of as spiritual — they wanted a PAY OFF for all of their show of religion!!
In the day of Jesus the back seats of the synagogue were occupied by the children and the most unimportant people
The further forward the seat, the greater the honor.
The most honored seats of all were the seats of the elders, which faced the congregation.
If a man was seated there, everyone would conclude that he was a man of tremendous spirituality!
There —- as he basked in his position he would have an even greater platform to put on a show of spirituality!
But it got them more than the front row seat!
Following such elevation in the synagogue there would then be the accompanying recognition in public.
At the market —– on the streets!
Oh! – there is Rabbi so and so…. He is the most spiritual man in our community!
PLACE of HONOR and TITLE of honor!
If you remember the scene in the Godfather Part II
where Don Cicci was walking through the streets with his coat worn like a cape over his shoulder –
everyone fawning over him —-
He would grab food from the merchants with out paying — and the merchant felt honored that he took food from his stand
THAT is the scene here!
8But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.10Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.
Finally —- Jesus DENOUNCES these men and IDENTIFIES their religion as false because they had a false concept of greatness
11The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12Whoever exalts himself will be humbled,
and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
The NATURAL MAN —- the world outside of the King’s kingdom —- determines greatness by how many people serve and honor us.
Jesus, the King of kings, says that in His Kingdom HE defines greatness by how we serve and honor others.
Unfortunately
For the most part the Church has imitated the style of the scribes and Pharisees more than the style of Jesus.
The Pharisees had adopted fallen man’s take on greatness.
But they had just been humbled by the King.

NOTE IT WELL: The Kingdom of Jesus is UPSIDE-DOWN from the kingdom of this world
In the Kingdom of Jesus the way up is down —- and the way down is up!
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted:
This is a DEFINITE —- not a maybe!
This is not a POSSIBILITY — it is a PROMISE.
This is absolutely the way it works!
Sometimes this will only be done in eternity
But very often God has his ways of working this out in the here and now!!

Matthew 22:33-46

Rejection of the King

Part 7: The Greatest Commandment and David’s Lord

KEY INSIGHT: This wasn’t a new question – scribes had debated this for centuries.
The 10 Commandments were comprised of 613 letters.
The Jewish Scribes instituted a precept for each letter of each word in the Ten Commandments = 613 commandments.
365 ‘thou shalt nots’ and 248 ‘thou shalls’

So they made it very complicated.
This Doctor of the Law is asking – Which of the 613 commands is greatest?
37And he said to him,
BY THE WAY —- I get the sense – by the way Jesus answers this young man – that there was some sincerity in this guy.
Because there is not the standard —- “Have you not read?”
It would appear that he was a sincere young man —- a student of the O.T. Law —- who was put forward by the Pharisees to ask the question
There seems to be tenderness as Christ answers him —- and we are told in Mark’s Gospel that at the end Jesus tells this guy that he is not far from the Kingdom.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
I’m astounded by this answer.
As we read this we HAVE to understand that the One standing before this lawyer is Yahweh —-
the One True and Living God of Israel —– now manifest in the flesh.
The One standing before this guy —- answering this question —- is the author of the scriptures.
This is the almighty God Who led Israel for 40 years in the wilderness as a pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day.
This is the One who parted the Red Sea.
This is the One Who met with Moses on Mt. Sinai.
Exodus 20:18-19 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”
The question – What’s the greatest commandment of all?
First – Let me say this
Isn’t it interesting that when we try to share Christ with our friends and relatives they —- like we used to —-have the idea that God wants to take something from us!
If you’re a Christian you can’t have any more fun.
You can’t do the things you used to do.
You have to give up this or give up that.
Isn’t it remarkable that we hear right from the very mouth of God —– that the what God really wants from His children is that they LOVE Him?
This is the greatest commandment of all.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION #1 – Jesus does not talk about DEEDS —- He talks about affections
Because it is out of those affections the rest of the commandments are hinged

QUOTE: Alexander MacLaren (not to be confused with Brian MacLaren) ‘As a man loves, so is he.’
Man will have 1 of 2 loves –
either the love of self —- or the love of God
And all character and conduct are determined by which of these master us.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION #2 – Love of God must be undivided.
To love God with half a heart is to not love God .
It must be ‘all in all, or not at all.’
We are to love him supremely, more than all other beings and things, and with every ounce of passion within us.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION #3 – We are NOT commanded to have good feelings about him
INTERESTING —- Man wants to have a God he can feel good about.
To LOVE GOD (like all true love) involves the will as well as the heart.
It is CHOSING to DEVOTE our AFFECTION, our LIFE, our MIND to loving Him
All your heart =
Heart is the seat of affection
to fix our affections on God, more strongly than on anything else
be willing to give up all that we hold dear at his command.
With all your soul = with all thy life.
be willing to live unto him…. For Him
Willing to serve Him
Even be willing to lay down your life for Him.
With all your mind = To love Him with your intellect
submit the intellect to his will
submit all our faculties to his teaching and guidance
to devote to him all our intellectual efforts and achievements.
MARK adds With all thy strength =
To devout the entirety of our energies for his glory
To make Him and His Glory the great object of all our efforts.
39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

NOTE: The two commandments are alike
both call for love

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: The second is second BECAUSE it is a consequence of the first.
LOVING GOD is behind the keeping of every other commandment!
John 14:15; 21 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.
THE FLAW of natural man
the atheist —- humanist —- religious man —–
Is that he makes LOVING his fellow man the FIRST…. The END-ALL.
BUT to make it the first is to end all hope of ever fulfilling it.
BECAUSE —- Self-seeking will yield to no force but the love of God.
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
JESUS SAYS THAT all of the Law and the Prophets hang on both of these commandments.
If a man really loves God, he must also love his brother and his neighbor
If we love God, we will love our neighbor;
And if we love our neighbor, we will not want to do anything to harm him.

KEY OBSERVATION: Loving God is set forth as a commandment.
But have you ever noticed that you just can’t love God because He commands you to love Him.
We are only capable of loving Him, and willing to love Him, WHEN His love touches our lives.
It tells us in 1st John that we love Him because He first loved us.
When His love breaks in on our lives and grips our hearts —- THAT is when we want to live for Him and love Him.
Suddenly, everything becomes a matter of – “I just want to do this for you –I just want this to be my way of saying ‘I love you.’”
Do you remember the moment when His love came flooding into your life, and suddenly you realized that God LOVED YOU with a love unlike any love you had ever known before –
And the response of your hearts was – “God, I just want to love you back.”

CRUCIAL QUESTION / PERSONAL APPLICATION:
IF Jesus Christ —- God Incarnate —- said that these are the two greatest commandments ever given —- that all of the Law and the Prophets are wrapped up in them
THEN how much time do we spend in praying – “Lord cause me to love you with all of my heart, soul and mind and to love my neighbors as myself.”
Our own failure to love those around us —- even those dearest to us —– should drive us to pray THAT!
THE WORLD —- run by the god of this world —- WARS against us loving God —-
The very course of this world —- which is dictated by the god of this world —- is set against us loving God
At every turn the child of God has sets before him/her countless things that VIE for the affection of their hearts!
1 John 2:15-16 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.
In light of what Jesus says – shouldn’t it be our prayer everyday –
“Reveal more of yourself.
Blow my mind more and more so that I find that You, Lord, are more desirable to me than the world.”
If you are struggle this morning with some compromise, some sin in your life, why don’t you just say,
‘Lord I love ___ more than I love you.’
Why don’t you just be honest?
Then you need to say -

“Lord – please reveal something of Yourself
Or make the things that I think I know about You more real to me
Do it in such a NEW and POWERFUL and FRESH way that my affections will be more drawn to You than to any anything in this world.’
That’s honesty.
And we can CONFIDENTLY pray it BECAUSE Jesus said that if we ask anything according to His word that we can have the petitions that we ask.
We know that THIS is in His will because Jesus said that this is the greatest commandment ever given.
In the mind and heart of God the greatest commandment is that we would love Him……
Not just feel good about Him
Not just love Him a little —- or even a lot
But love Him with ALL that we are!
That’s what we were created for
To KNOW and LOVE God!
Adam walked with God in the Garden in the cool of the day.
THAT is the very essence of eternal life!
THAT is what He wants from us.
When He takes us into eternity that’s what is going to happen.
We’re going to see His face.
We’re going to walk with open fellowship.
He’ll wipe the tears from our eyes.

SHORT VERSION – NEXT PAGE
Isaac Watts – When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
When I survey the wondrous cross?On which the Prince of glory died,?My richest gain I count but loss,?And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,?Save in the death of Christ my God!?All the vain things that charm me most,?I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,?Sorrow and love flow mingled down!?Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,?Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,?That were a present far too small;?Love so amazing, so divine,?Demands my soul, my life, my all.
How incredible and how little did this lawyer know.
I wonder if we’re going to see this lawyer in heaven.
How incredible and how little did this lawyer know.
I wonder if we’re going to see this lawyer in heaven.
Now it’s Christ’s turn to ask a question.
41? Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, 42saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” 43He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying,
Jesus asks this question BECAUSE when He came into Jerusalem they were singing,
“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the son of David.”
As they were singing that the Pharisees were telling the disciples to tell the people not to sing that.
So He asks them the question because they need to learn that the son of David is also David’s Lord.
They said to him, “The son of David.”
43He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’? 45If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

KEY OBSERVATION: David, moved by the Holy Spirit, calls Him Lord with a capital ‘L’.
They had a huge problem with this because they knew that this Psalm was messianic in nature.
Yet this was also unthinkable in the patriarchal culture of the Israel in that day.
The oldest living male was the patriarch of the family.
And there was never a time when a father would call his son ‘lord’. It was unthinkable.

KEY POINT: So Jesus is asking them how can this be
Rev 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

KEY INSIGHT: Root of David = He’s the creator of the nation.
It was through Him that the world, AND Israel came into being.
Yet remarkably He’s also the offspring / descendant.
He brought that family into being and then through that family —- through a virgin —- He was born.
THIS is what they didn’t understand.
46And no one was able to answer him a word,
I like this —- Imagine a hundred thousand people dead quiet.
46 nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
Wouldn’t you like to have been there and just watched the expressions?
Isaac Watts – When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
When I survey the wondrous cross?On which the Prince of glory died,?My richest gain I count but loss,?And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,?Save in the death of Christ my God!?All the vain things that charm me most,?I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,?Sorrow and love flow mingled down!?Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,?Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,?That were a present far too small;?Love so amazing, so divine,?Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Matthew 22:23-33

Rejection of the King

Part 6: The Reality of the Resurrection

It is now Tuesday in the week of Passover.
Last week we saw how the chief priests and the scribes
still stinging from the way Jesus had systematically exposed their religious hypocrisy and unbelief
hoped to trap Jesus into saying something that would not only destroy the credibility of Jesus before the Passover crowds —– BUT ultimately give them grounds to have Jesus Himself destroyed!

15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his talk. 16And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. 17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”.
They thought they had Jesus pinned!
IF Jesus says, “Yea, it’s legal to pay the poll tax to Caesar,”
THEN – the religious Jews can accuse Him from Deuteronomy and other places of idolatry
But – IF Jesus says, “No don’t pay Caesar,”
THEN – the Herodians are there to accuse Him of civil charges of treason.
18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. 20And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21They said, “Caesar’s.” 21 Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, AND to God the things that are God’s.”
We spent our time together last week considering
1.) how those we, who are citizens of heaven, are to relate to the earthly governments to which we belong.
2.) When that relationship becomes EITHER-OR
When we must chose between honoring Caesar or honoring God.
3.) What is it that we should give back to God?
I belong to HIM —- by CREATION
I belong to Him —- by REDEMPTION
He purchased me…… He has sealed me
He has put His mark of ownership upon me…..
STAMPED ME with the IMAGE of Jesus!
ROMANS 12:1
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
22When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.
The Pharisees and the Herodians had launched their counter-attack on Jesus and been routed
NOW —- a third the sect of Judaism Sadducees took up the battle.
23The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection

KEY INSIGHT: The Sadducees were not many in number; but they were the wealthy, the aristocratic, and the governing class.
The chief priests, for instance, were Sadducees.
The Pharisees were theologically conservative —- while the Sadducees were theologically liberal.
The Sadducees refused to accept the oral and scribal law, which the Pharisees held in such high esteem.
Mark 7:13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.
Neither did the Sadducees hold the entire body of the O.T. Scripture as inspired.
They held the first 5 books in great esteem.
They did not accept the prophets or the poetical books as scripture at all.

KEY to understanding this event is that the Sadducees were the Rationalists and Materialists of Judaism.
That is – anything that didn’t fit within in the confines of their own intellect they mocked.
If they couldn’t understand it, couldn’t see it, touch it, or feel it, it couldn’t be real.
Acts 23:8 For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.
All of their life was in this world.
They come to Jesus to make fun of the resurrection by way of an absurd hypothetical question.
They come to Jesus to make fun of the resurrection by way of an absurd hypothetical question.
23 ….and they asked him a question,
Their hypothetical question was based on the Jewish law of “levirate marriage” from Deuteronomy 25:5-10.
The word levirate comes form the Latin word levir which means “a husband’s brother.”
We saw this law applied in the marriage of Ruth and Boaz, recorded in Ruth 4:1-12.
24saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’
25Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. 26So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27After them all, the woman died. 28In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
For the Sadducees this hypothetical situation illustrated the absurdity of the doctrine of resurrection.
By the way – What seventh brother in his right mind would marry this woman after six of his brothers are dead? There is justice – last of all the woman died.

Jesus gave them a direct answer.

NOTE WELL: He stated that their problem was not the absence of doctrinal clarity in the O.T. Scriptures
Their problem concerning the resurrection was born out of their ignorance of the Scriptures and of the power of God.
29But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong,
Wrong = Deceived, seduced, lead astray!
because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
Know = to inspect, examine….. to look at ….. Behold
IN other words – ignorant of
the content of the scriptures
and of the power of God
Because you have failed to LOOK at and EXAMINE the Word of God and the Power of God.
30For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

KEY OBSERVATION: The whole question starts from a basic error
The error of thinking of heaven in terms of earth
The error of thinking of eternity in terms of time.
The error of thinking that heaven is going to simply be a continuation or an extension of this world.

CRUCIAL: Jesus states that in the Kingdom there is a whole new order.
And that THAT order has nothing to do with this present order of procreation.
In the eternal Kingdom of God the redeemed will be like the angels ——– a fixed number.
The angels don’t get married and have kids.
In the Kingdom nobody is dying and there’s no need for the continuation of procreation.
Now it doesn’t mean they’re sexless.
Some Bibles put that note in their Bibles
There is not a sexless angel in the Bible.
Every single angel from Genesis to Revelation is in the male gender.
That’s not the point.
The point is there is no need for marriage and procreation in heaven.
It is eternal —- thus eliminating the need for marriage and procreation
I know this passage makes some people sad….. Mainly women
“You mean we’re not going to be married in heaven, honey? Will I know you there?”
Well —- we’re not going to be dumber there than we are here. Of course we’ll know each other.
31And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: 32? ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”
I love it when He does this – Have you not read the Bible.

KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus takes them to task from the very part of the Bible thatthink is the ONLY inspired part of the O.T.
Jesus points out that when God met Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:6) He didn’t say
“I was the God of Abraham. I was the God of Jacob. I was the God of Isaac.”
God said to Moses “I am” —- presently —- the God of Abraham.
He was making it clear that they were still alive!

QUOTE: Dr. John Walvoord –
In His reply, Jesus not only affirmed resurrection but also the continuance of personal identity, in that Abraham would be Abraham, Isaac would be Isaac, and Jacob would be Jacob, an identity related to the resurrection of their bodies. The Sadducees could not attack this statement of Christ without being in the position of attacking Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. They were neatly trapped in their own hypocrisy.
By the way —- the spiritually dead have their gods in this world.
It might be their car, it might be money, it might be pleasure, it might be drugs.
Isn’t it interesting
If you’re in medical school and you’re giving yourself to your studies —- staying up nights studying —- people will say, “Man they’re so dedicated.”
But if you want to come to church Sunday morning, Monday night, Tuesday Shepherd’s School, Thursday morning/night —- you’re a fanatic —- You’re a lunatic.
If you are dedicated to God there is something wrong with you.
AGAIN – The Sadducees had always held that
ONLY the first 5 books of the O.T. were valid.
And that there was no text in the Pentateuch which could be used to prove the resurrection of the dead.
WHAT was one of the most common titles of God in the Pentateuch?
“The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob.”
The living God must be the God of living men.
The Sadducees position was shattered.
Jesus had done what the wisest of the Pharisees had never been able to do.
Out of Scriptures
He had proved the Sadducees wrong
He showed them that there is resurrection life
And that resurrection life must not be thought of in earthly terms.
The crowds were BLOWN AWAY!
33And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
The Greek word for astonished =
to strike one out of self-possession, to strike with panic, shock, astonish
It would appear that most of the common people enjoyed the fact that Jesus was —- one by one —- blowing out of the water each of these three groups.
And particularly the Sadducees.
I don’t think the people had any appreciation for the Sadducees.

CLOSING THOUGHTS
Humorists and philosophers have understood the basic fear of death, and the basic dilemma of death.
Philosopher Albert Camus – “Neither in the hearts of men nor in the manners of society will there be a lasting peace until we outlaw death.”

Humorist Woody Allen – “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.”

REALITY – For a long, long, long time, death has ruled over men like a tyrant.
This world is NOT the land of the living, but the land of the dead and dying.

INTERSTING – Unbelieving man does NOT fear dying —– he fears DEATH!
He fears what is BEYOND his last breath.
Did you know that the Bible teaches that everyone is going to be resurrected?
Paul the apostle in Acts 24:15 having a hope in God……. that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
Matt 25:46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
The Bible makes it clear that every man and woman is going to EXIST for eternity.
The question is, WHERE?

VERY IMPORTANT CONCEPT – Eternal life is something that is NOT merely a matter of DURATION
It is a matter of ESSENCE
Jesus said that Eternal life CONSISTS in a personal with the Living God
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
That LIFE begins the moment you trust in Jesus Christ to SAVE you from your sins.
Because it is your sin that separates you from God – who is your life.
The wages of sin is death
Your sins have separated you from God
The moment your sins are forgiven you are restored to fellowship with God
THAT is why Paul would write –
1 Cor 5:18-21 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
BUT – to NOT be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus leaves you ETRNALLY separated from God.
There will be a resurrection for you
But you will be raised only to spend eternity separated from God – who alone IS life.

THIS IS SO AMAZING – God is NOT willing that any should perish.
So unwilling that He sent Christ to die for your sins.
To REFUSE God’s ONLY provision for the forgiveness of your sins is to chose an eternity separated from God.
You are left facing not just the process of dying — but the reality of DEATH —- separation from God.
IF you chose to exist without God HERE in this life —-
You will by that same choice exist forever separated from God
in outer darkness
where the fire is never quenched
where you are dying forever!

BY CONTRAST – Jesus made this radical declaration that speaks to the man or woman who has trusted in Him
John 11:25-26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die (physically), yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
The Christian might fear dying.
Fear the means of death — the pain of the process
But the Christian need not fear DEATH!
On the other side of the grave there is LIFE!!
Fellowship with God forever.
BORN ONCE – DIE TWICE
BORN TWICE – DIE ONCE
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

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Richard Cimino
June 17, 2007

Matthew 22:15-33

Rejection of the King

Part 5 The Duties of Dual Citizenship

It is now Tuesday in the week of Passover.
The chief priests and the scribes were still stinging from the way Jesus has systematically exposed their religious hypocrisy and unbelief in a series of three parables.
These were THE most powerful men in Jewish society and they did not enjoy being humiliated before the crowds.
They are at this moment absolutely bent on destroying Jesus
They hoped to trap Jesus into saying something that would not only embarrass Jesus before the Passover BUT ultimately give them grounds to have Jesus condemned to death!

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: But there was another reason for their questions that was quite beyond them and their wicked agenda!
Jesus was going to die as the Lamb of God, and it was necessary for the lamb to be examined before Passover (Ex. 12:3-6 ).
If any blemish whatsoever was found on the lamb, it could not be sacrificed.
God the Father was now permitting His Only Begotten Son to be examined publicly by His enemies, and they could find no fault in Him.
AN EVEN MORE AMAZING REASON for Jesus permitting this exchange was that Jesus was giving to His enemies another opportunity for them to believe and be saved.
In fact, one of these Pharisees came very close to the kingdom (Mark 12:32-34 ) “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
Even at the last minute, there is hope for the worst of the lost, if he will receive the truth, repent, and believe.
15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his talk.
This isn’t a smart thing to do when you’re dealing with Jesus.
They have ALWAYS had this blow up in their faces.
Like Wiley Coyote and the Roadrunner
16And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians,
These are strange bedfellows –
because the Pharisees and the Herodians didn’t like each other.
The Herodians were the political Jews of the day who were willing to compromise the religious convictions of the Pharisees in order to have peace and favor with Rome.
Modern Christianity has it’s Herodians
By contrast, many of the Pharisees were zealots and wanted to take a stand against Rome and not compromise because they believed that they should have no king but God.
Normally they were at each other’s throats.
It is indeed interesting how two people (or two groups of people) —- who otherwise can’t stand each other —- can become friends on the common ground of their rejection of Jesus. (Pilate and Herod)
You can tell the way they’re buttering Him up they have a plan.
Listen to this.
saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.
This is an interesting comment because this was the common consensus of the people.
That’s the way most people thought about Him.
They’re saying in a very sarcastic way trying to bait Him.
17Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”.

KEY INSIGHT: Now this tax was the poll tax that the Jews were forced to pay.
It was a tax levied on
- women aged 12-65
- and men aged 14-65
It was a relatively small tax on top of
The 10% tax on grain and a 20% tax on wine and fruit
As well as other taxes for road and bridge improvements.
The Pharisees had chosen the least of the taxes, but to pay it was to legitimize Roman oppression and polytheism
The Pharisees opposed the Roman poll tax because
They did not want to submit to a Gentile power
2) Caesar was revered as a god
Here’s their strategy -

IF Jesus says,
“Yea, it’s legal to pay the poll tax to Caesar,”
THEN – the religious Jews can accuse Him from Deuteronomy and other places and say
“This is wrong. We have no king but God. We’re only to bow the knee to Him.”
But – IF Jesus says,
“No don’t pay Caesar,”
THEN – the Herodians are there to accuse Him of civil charges of treason.
And so they have Him surrounded – they think.
They think they have Him trapped in an either or —- one or the other scenario.
All the people are watching
18But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? 19Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.

KEY OBSERVATION: It says that they brought Him a denarius – which means they defeated their own argument.
Because if you carried the currency of the emperor it meant that you were submitted to his government.
They had one —– and they pulled it out for Jesus.
20And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” 21They said, “Caesar’s.”

KEY INSIGHT: One side of the denarius was stamped with the image of the Emperor’s head.
In the ancient days coinage was the sign of kingship.
As soon as a king came to the throne he minted his own coinage
That coinage was held to be the property of the king whose image it bore.
And on the other side of the coin
Was a picture of Augustus seated on the throne with the attire of the high priest and it said, “Pontus Maximas,” high priest.
This really tweaked the religious Jews.
21 Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, AND to God the things that are God’s.”

CRUCIAL POINT: Every Christian has a dual citizenship.
The Christian is a citizen of the country in which he happens to live.
Phil. 1:1 Paul and Timothy, servants 0f Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi
Spiritual address and a physical address
Acts 22:26-28 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.”
BUT – He is also a citizen of heaven.
Eph. 2:19 …..but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
Phil 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Col 1:13-14 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
HERE’S THE QUESTION: WHAT is our relationship to the human government to which we belong?
The Pharisees and Herodians framed their question as an “either-or”
It was a doomed question because it was — to a certain point a “both-and” reality
Jesus does NOT say – that is always a matter of
Chose either Caesar or God
Honoring God does not NECESSARILY mean that we have to dishonor civil government.
Instead Jesus says – “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
When Jesus says – render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s it means, “Give back,”

QUOTE: Barclay – He is a citizen of the country in which he happens to live. To it he owes many things. He owes the safety against lawless men which only settled government can give; he owes all public services. To take a simple example, few men are wealthy enough to have a lighting system or a sewage system or a water system of their own. These are public services.….This places him under a debt of obligation. Because the Christian is a man of honour, he must be a responsible citizen; failure in good citizenship is also failure in Christian duty.….The Christian has a duty to Caesar in return for the privileges which the rule of Caesar brings to him.
There are things that “Caesar” has provided for us and we should GIVE BACK to “Caesar” for those provisions
Here in America we have
Tremendous freedoms preserved by a standing military.
Civil rest by way of laws that are enforced by the police.
Clean drinking water / electricity – sewage – roads
We have great and tremendous privileges —-

With all our complaining this is the greatest government going right now.
And certainly we need to pray for this country.
But we also need to RENDER —- GIVE BACK to Caesar for those services.
There is a point when it become EITHER-OR
If what the government asks of you transgresses the plain teaching of scripture then there is time to make a stand. Caesar est kurios OR Jesus est kurios
HERE’S THE CRUCIAL POINT – Their problem (and ours) is not – should we pay this to Caesar or not
Our problem is that we can fail to recognize two kingdoms.
Jesus asked – Whose image is on the coin? Caesar’s.
The image of Caesar on the coin meant that that coin belonged to Caesar!

CRUCIAL QUESTION: Whose image is on us?
1.) We were created in His image and likeness.
Caesar’s image is on the coin.
God’s image is on us by way of CREATION .
2.) God’s image is also on us by way of REDEMPTION.
Upon believing in Jesus we were sealed with the Holy Spirit
Eph. 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

NOTE: The analogy was easily understood by the believers in Ephesus.
The great port of Rome was Putioli.
The merchants would purchase the goods in Ephesus and pack them for shipping to Putioli.
Once they were packed for shipping they would SEAL them
This was done by putting a wax seal on the merchandise and putting the imprint of the owner’s signet ring upon the wax.
This was their mark of ownership.
The goods would be placed on the ship and sent to Rome.
When they would arrive at Putioli the servants of these merchants would go to the docks and identify their masters goods by means of the SEAL that was upon them.
That wax impression was something TANGIBLE.
The seal transferred an IMAGE upon the wax as the PROOF of ownership.

KEY INSIGHT: The Holy Spirit is God’s Seal upon our lives to prove His ownership.

KEY INSIGHT: The Holy Spirit stamps upon the hearts of God’s purchased possession the very image of God.
He leaves the stamp of His character upon our hearts and lives.

NOTE: THAT is PROOF of redemption.
God’s mark of ownership is the expression of Jesus Christ in our lives.
You see, Jesus purchased you from the slave market.
You were once a slave to sin and in the bondage of corruption, but now you belong to Him.
1 Cor 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Give back the things that are Caesar’s.
Give back to God the things that are God’s.
I belong to HIM —- by CREATION
I belong to Him —- by REDEMPTION
He purchased me

He has sealed me
He has put His mark of ownership upon me…..
STAMPED ME with the IMAGE of Jesus!
Isn’t that where the struggle comes?
I find that in my own life.
Render to Caesar is even easy by comparison.
I think for all of us the struggle is giving to God the things that are God’s
Our time, our talent, our resources, our obedience….. 1 Samuel 15 – To obey being better than sacrifice.
We COMPARTMENTALIZE our lives as Christians – Sunday’s belong to God…. 10% belongs to God…
NO —- ALL that I am belongs to God!
22When they heard it, they marveled. And they left him and went away.
heard it….. Marveled
But didn’t STAY with Him
Didn’t bow to the grace and truth revealed in Jesus
Phil. 2:13-16 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.14Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast to the word of life
ROMANS 12:1
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (reasonable service).

]]> http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2215-22/feed/ 0 http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-221-14/ http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-221-14/#comments Sun, 17 Aug 2008 06:00:02 +0000 admin http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-221-14/

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Richard Cimino

June 17, 2007

Matthew 22:1-14

Rejection of the King

Part 4 The King’s Invitation

As we continue begin Matthew 22 we find Jesus continuing in a series of parables that were given to to EXPOSE
The DELIBERATE UNBELIEF and REJECTION of the AUTHORITY of Jesus by the chief priests and the scribes
1.) The parable of the two sons (21:28-32)
2.) The parable of the householder (21:33-46)
3.) The parable of the marriage feast (22:1-14)

KEY INSIGHT: This third parable moves into events prophetic and future.

KEY INSIGHT: We want to remember that a parable is the use of familiar, every day, earthly things to teach a heavenly truth.
The kingdom of heaven is like this.
In this particular parable He’s going to use a royal wedding feast
The preparation for such a royal wedding feast was something that the Jews were familiar with.
1And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son,

BROAD STROKE: The whole of human history is quite simply the account of God drawing out a bride for His son.
As we head into this parable you and I need to remember that we are not just getting invited – we’re getting married…… we are the Bride of Christ!
3and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.

KEY INSIGHT: The Royal Invitations in Biblical times and cultures came in to parts
The 1st – asked guests to attend.
The 2nd – announced all was ready.

EXAMPLE: Esther 5:8; 6:14

KEY OBSERVATION: This was a special invitation from the King Himself!
The Jews were highly honored in being chosen out of all the nations of the earth by the King of the Universe to attend the wedding of His Son.

NOTE WELL: These listeners would be able to see that Jesus was actually describing the history of their nation
The True and Living God had already INVITED them
He spoke directly to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob
He spoke directly to Moses and to millions of them as they were encamped by Horeb.
He gave them the Law and gave them a beckon call to walk with Him.
As time went on He sent the prophets to them.
Despite the ministry of the prophets they turned away and worshiped other gods.
Then He sent John the Baptist
Finally He sent His son.
WE DON’T WANT TO MISS the Heavenly Truth concerning the nature of God that is pictured in the parable

The beautiful picture here in this parable is that by the third appeal we’re getting a picture of the grace of God.
The picture of God continually calling, and calling, and calling.
Perhaps you can see that same process in your life
That same procession of events and invitations from God –
Before you were saved it probably wasn’t just one incident.
It wasn’t with me.
I remember God
stirring my heart before coming to salvation.
sending people across my path.
the point where He finally broke through.
For most of us there was a continual process of invitation followed by invitation.
We found ways to turn it off or shut it out BUT some way or other GOD just keeps inviting.
THAT is what Jesus pictures for us in this parable!
It happens on a personal level.
It certainly happened nationally for Israel.
The invitation continued.
For those of you who don’t know Jesus this morning – you’re in this process.

Two, three weeks —- a year.
Maybe you’re backslidden and you’ve been fighting Him off and you sense the reminder of the invitation….. That the wedding is ready!
BY THE WAY —- we didn’t know you were coming.
Your mom didn’t call —- Your Wife/Husband didn’t call
This is the chapter that we were at this morning.
So you better listen up, ok? God’s grace calling, drawing.

NOTICE: they WOULD NOT COME…. Were not willing
It doesn’t say they COULD not come…. It says they WOULD not come.
This is VOLITIONAL.
TWO points here!
1.) There are some who say that if you are not PREDESTINED to be saved that you are PREDESTINED to NOT be saved.
IF that were the case God the Holy Spirit would have said – They COULD not come
Because God had DECREED that they NOT come.
2.) This is VOLITIONAL.
A choice is being made
Something is PREFERRED above responding to the invitation of the King.
4Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’

KEY OBSERVATION: The feast is prepared
In those days you couldn’t put it back in the fridge.
Everything’s ready. Everything’s killed.
The Kings Actions were met with Reactions!
5But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

NOTICE the two attitudes in their rejection of the invitation.
One is that of indifference and the other is of hostility.

NOTE WELL: The same is true concerning people who reject Christ
There are those are INDIFFERENT to the Gospel while others are HOSTILE towards the Gospel.
THE INDIFFERENT RESPONSE —- 5But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,
Went off >
They “went their ways” —- not the “King’s way”
Interesting: Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;
WHY did they go THEIR own way rather than go the KINGS way?
They paid no attention >
KJV – made light of the invitation
There are those who make light of God’s love for them
Ameleo = careless; negligent
They simply could not care less about the invitation
BECAUSE they CARED MORE about other things
one to his farm, another to his business
Considering material things more important.
Considering temporal things more important than eternity.
And it’s the same today, isn’t it?
WHAT is that you CARE about?
It says a lot about the reality of your professed faith
Matt. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Col 3:1-2 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
“Carnal men, love Carnal things!”
They are “Earth-bound!”
Jesus said that the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches will choke out heavenly concerns in your life
Are you more concerned w/your home or business than w/the things of God?
2 Tim. 4:9-10 NLT Timothy, please come as soon as you can. 10Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life
THE HOSTILE RESPONSE —- 6while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
A couple of things here
1.) Have you ever been amazed at how HOSTILE some people can be at just the mention of the name of Jesus
2.) There are those who can not be content with merely rejecting the invitation —- or even voicing their contempt for the invitation or the Name of Jesus.
They MUST destroy the messengers in hopes of preventing the invitation from ever being announced again.
HENCE the history of those who have died for no crime other than proclaiming faith in Jesus and inviting others to believe the Gospel.
The FIRST of them was a young man named Stephen.
He was the first of SIX MILLION who were murdered for the sake of the Gospel in the first 300 years of Christianity.

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: There is HOPE for even one of those murderers to finally respond to the Gospel.
1 Tim 1:12-16 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service,
13though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
7The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

KEY INSIGHT: Jesus is speaking of the fact that
Titus Vespasian would come in 70 AD and under him the Roman Legion destroyed the city of Jerusalem.

KEY OBSERVATION: phrases his troops and their city
their city – These men who rejected the invitation with great hostility had their own city…. Jerusalem
Luke 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it!
The armies of Rome are referred to as the troops of the king
The Roman Emperor Vespasian thought he was sending his armies against the Jews; but he was unconsciously, working out the eternal purpose of the most high God.
As He did w/both Assyria and Babylon.
Is.10:5-6 “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation, And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets.”
Jer.25:9-10 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
As Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD, the INDIFFERENT perished alongside of the HOSTILE.
Different postures —- but SAME judgment!
WE DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS:
The man or woman who NEGLECTS the invitation because they are more careful about temporal things will perish with the man or woman who reacts violently against the message and the messenger!
The guy who responds to you saying —- “Well I’m glad for you…. Thanks for sharing but I believe we’ll all find our own spirituality…..
Will face the same eternity in hell as the man or woman who tortured and murdered Christians.
8Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.

INSIGHT: WORTHY was a term commonly used in the market place.
Axios = deserving or comparable
It was used when they weighed things in the market place.
When you put enough weight on one side to make them even that was axios.
ESSENTIALLY the king says to his servants that those who were bidden were not worthy
= they didn’t weigh as much as this great invitation.
By the way none of us are worthy.
We’re going to see that as we move on in the parable.
None of us are as weighty or worthy as the invitation that has been given to us to be sons and daughters of God.
The wedding is ready but they that were bidden were not worthy.
9Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
They went out and gathered everybody.
The good, bad and the ugly.
I’m glad it says the bad and the good.
That is the DEMOGRAPHIC of the Kingdom of THIS King!
I was the bad.
Raise your hand if you were the good. I’m just curious.

REMEMBER – those who were bidden were not worthy

CRUCIAL: THIS is a picture of ISRAEL in it’s rejection of the King’s Invitation and the rejection of the King’s Son.
11“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.

KEY INSIGHT: In the wedding of a king – or an extremely wealthy man – he was the one who provided the garments for each guest at the wedding.
In other words they didn’t get bums off the street and bring them in the way they were dressed.
They were all supplied with a garment for the wedding feast.
Evidently this man came and said – “Oh no I don’t need a garment because the clothes I have on are good enough.”
THIS is a beautiful picture of Revelation 19 – where we read of the white robes for the wedding feast of the lamb.
Those robes were PROVIDED
They are actually clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
BY FAITH in Christ —- Each of us has been provided with the ONLY garment that is acceptable at the wedding feast of the Lamb – and that’s the very righteousness of Christ.
HERE’S THE PICTURE
Anyone who tries to come into the wedding feast with their own garments —- their own righteousness —- will be confronted by the righteousness of God.
And He will say, “How is it that you are here without the proper righteousness. The proper attire.”
THAT is why Paul the apostle would write -
(Phil 3:9 KJV) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

NOTE IT WELL: This individual is depicted as speechless. There’s no answer.
There’s no excuse at that time.
People make lots of excuses now but there is no utterance, no excuse at that point in time.
At that time you will finally realize that
God IS Holy, just as the Scriptures declare
You are NOT righteous enough to enter in to His presence.
You MISSED the opportunity to receive the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ.
13Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
What kind of torment must there be for the weeping and gnashing of teeth to be audible.
TO THE BELIEVER: This scene should be a source of encouragement to those of you who are saved
Praise the Lord for
His persistence in extending the invitation
The righteousness that He’s given us.
TO THE UNBELIEVER: If you are not saved and think you’re getting in heaven because of your own righteous deeds – you need to know that you’re not getting in by your righteousness.
It tells us plainly and simply in Isaiah 64:6 that all of our righteousness is like filthy rags.
The problem is that no matter what we have performed religiously or outwardly
Jesus says in our hearts we’ve sinned
Our hearts are the problem.
We were born in sin.
We came out of the shoot BENT upon sinning
And if we try to come into the Kingdom with our own righteousness, we will be cast into outer darkness.
There is no getting into this wedding feast except in the righteousness of Christ ——
Which God will freely provide to those who TRUST in Christ and what He did on the cross as their only means of salvation.
This man had no excuse because the same garment that was supplied to all the others – who were also not worthy – was offered to him
They got to enter in simply because they had been provided with the garment acceptable to the King.
This man was worse than those who had refused the invitation
For while he professed to accept it, he still rejected the King in his heart.
He essentially insulted the King to his face
I’ll take the invite but I’ll come in on MY own terms!
God has His foes without and within the Church!
14For many are called, but few are chosen.”
“Called” – not, “the called”
He was speaking of the Jews
He was speaking of this man w/o the robe; and those who were “called” to the feast but rejected the invite.
“Chosen” – All who responded, good and bad
All who received the wedding garment

]]> http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-221-14/feed/ 0 http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2123-45/ http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2123-45/#comments Sun, 10 Aug 2008 06:00:47 +0000 admin http://metrocalvary.org/?p=4659

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Richard Cimino
June 17, 2007

Matthew 21:23-43

Rejection of the King

Part 3 The Authority of the King

In our study last week we saw the King cleansing the Temple and cursing a fig tree.
The account ended with these words of Jesus that deserve some attention before we
(Mat 21:21-22 ESV) And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Now that seems like an awful broad promise.
Anything you ask believing….. even if you say to this mountain float up off the ground and go into the ocean….. it will happen.
As I read that I get the feeling that no one has ever had that kind of faith
We read of nothing in the New Testament —– we know of nothing throughout history —- of anyone taking a mountain and throwing it into the sea.
Again as I read that it’s a difficult passage. Is He talking about a literal mountain?
I doubt He’s talking about that
This statement is made in the context of the difficulty of the rebuilding of the Temple – re-establishing true worship.
I believe that Jesus is talking about the seemingly impossible task of REMOVING the hypocrisy of the Temple and restoring true worship
He’s talking about removing any obstacle in our relationship and worship with God.
23And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
ESSENTIALLY –
What seminary have you graduated from?
Where did you get your diploma?
WHO told YOU that YOU could act like this?
24Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?”
The religious leaders raised the question of Jesus’ authority
NOW the Jesus raised the question of their competence to judge such an issue.
Were those who went out to be baptized at the Jordan responding to a merely human impulse or were they in fact answering a divine challenge?
And they discussed it among themselves,
So the religious leaders now they yell, “huddle.”
You have to realize that this is a big scene here.
There are thousands of thousands of people around.
25….. And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us,
‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”
If they said that the ministry of John was from God
Then they had NO alternative but to to admit that Jesus was the Messiah —- for John had borne definite and unmistakable witness to that fact.
On the other hand, if they denied that John’s ministry came from God
then they would face the anger of the people —- who were convinced that John was the messenger of God.
For a moment the Jewish chief priests and elders were silent.
Then they gave the lamest of all lame answers —-
27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”
They ought to have known
It was part of the duty of the Sanhedrin to judge a prophet to be true or false!
These men would not answer the question because they had already REJECTED the authority of Jesus.
They would not answer Jesus because they CAN NOT bring themselves to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah —- as the Son of David
They were willing to endure the shameful self-humiliation of their answer than acknowledge Jesus as King .

KEY INSIGHT: If a man chooses expediency above principle,
His first question will NOT be – “What is the truth?”
Instead it will be – “What is it safe to say?”
He will lamely say, “I do not know the answer,” when he well knows the answer, but is afraid to give it.
The true question is not: “What is it safe to say?” but, “What is it right to say?”
If a man knows the truth, he is under obligation to tell it, though the heavens should fall.
27….. And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

KEY INSIGHT: They willingly REFUSED to acknowledge the truth that was plainly revealed to them.
The result is that truth was withheld from them.
When a man rejects the truth he will not believe nothing —- he will believe anything!
2 Thes 2:9-12 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
It is a basic principle of Christian living that
We cannot learn new truth if we disobey what God has already told us.
The religious rulers had rejected the truth preached by John, and therefore Jesus could not impart new truth.
Ultimately – Your response to the truth concerning Jesus is what determines if you will be saved or condemned.
John 3:16-19 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.
In order to EXPOSE the DELIBERATE UNBELIEF and their REJECTION of the AUTHORITY of Jesus by the chief priests and the scribes —- Jesus gives 3 parables
1.) The parable of the two sons (21:28-32)
2.) The parable of the householder (21:33-46)
3.) The parable of the marriage feast (22:1-14)
1.) The parable of the two sons (21:28-32)
28“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
The point of this parable is clear:
Real faith is more than lip service
Real faith produces a life where lip service is matched by lifestyle.
Professions of faith can never take the place of performance
James 2:20 KJV But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
DEAD = NEKROS
destitute of life, without life, inanimate
The religious leaders
KNEW the Scriptures
Could QUOTE the Scriptures
Were FANATICAL about outwardly obey the Law —-
BUT they would NOT BELIEVE in Jesus
By CONTRAST — the tax collectors and the prostitutes
Didn’t know the Scriptures
Couldn’t QUOTE the Scriptures
CONSTANTLY broke the commandments —-
BUT when they heard and saw the king they believed him.
2.) The parable of the householder (21:33-46)
BEFORE we get to the next parable let’s read from
Isaiah 5:1-7 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.7 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting;
2.) The parable of the householder (21:33-46)
33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.
Even today they will lease out their land.

Interesting – they know that the law says that every seventh year they’re supposed to let the ground lay fallow and not farm it.
So the Jews in Israel today will farm their vineyard for six years and in the seventh year they’ll rent it to an Arab for a percentage of what he does.
There’s a loop hole everywhere.
They adhere to the written letter of the law but not the spirit of the law.
34When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying,
‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

REMEMBER – He’s got these guys in the temple precincts —– at Passover —– and He is now going to compel them to pronounce judgment upon themselves.
Every practicing Jew KNEW that Israel and Jerusalem are the vineyard of the Lord. (Is. 5)
And it had not produced the fruit that God was looking for.
They understood that the King was pronouncing judgment on these vine dressers for killing the prophets and the holy men that were sent to them.
And now —– finally the Lord of Hosts has sent His Son and these men want to kill.
GREAT INSIGHT INTO THE HEART OF GOD
NO man would send his son into a situation where his other representatives had been murdered!
Instead he would call the for the authorities and deal with them in judgment.
But here we see the CONTRAST between what man would do and what God actually DID!
40When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

KEY INSIGHT: Now of course it’s a picture of Israel being condemned and the vineyard being handed for now to the Gentiles.
Now I have a feeling here that they are squirming knowing that they got trapped in their own trap.
And here’s His favorite line.
Even though Israel had rejected His prophets earlier and killed them and had rejected John the Baptist —-
God DID send His son,
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
THEN Jesus made the application with tremendous force:
42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
Jesus is going to quote from Psalm 118
The very psalm that the crowds had been shouting out when Jesus road into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.
This is the very Psalm that the children had been singing when after Jesus had cleansed the temple and healed the lame and the blind.
The very Psalm that these men DID NOT want to hear.
It is this very Psalm that is condemning them.
“‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits 44And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

INSIGHT: In the building of Solomon’s temple the stones were quarried and cut to size outside of the walls of the city
(1 Ki 6:7 NKJV) And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.
Tradition has it that the workmen had brought in the capstone early.
And it didn’t fit anywhere in the current work flow
They couldn’t figure out what in the world the point of that stone was.
They cast it off to the side.
Which is of course a beautiful type of Christ.
And as they came to the finishing stage of the construction and wanted to put the capstone in to finish it they remembered this misfit stone and had to go and find it —- get it out of rubbish and put it in.
He’s applying that to them.
The people —– and these men —- understood that Christ was presented Himself to them as a stone.

KEY INSIGHT: The figure of a stone is found often in Scripture
Jesus being referred to both as the foundation stone and the head of the corner (1 Co 3:11; Eph. 2:20-22; 1 Pe 2:4-5).
To Israel, Jesus was a stumbling stone and rock of offense (Is 8:14-15; Ro 9:32-33; 1 Co 1:23; 1 Pe 2:8).
At the time of His second coming, He will be a smiting stone of destruction (Daniel 2:34)
To the Jew
Christ is the stumbling stone.
They trip over Salvation apart from the Law
They can not come to grips with how the grace of God works!
To those who believe in Him
He is the chief cornerstone that our lives are built upon
At the time of His second coming
He will be a smiting stone of destruction
Daniel in his dream sees the kingdoms of the world and sees a stone cut without hands and he sees it coming from heaven smiting and destroying the politics of humanity of the world.
Even today Jesus is still a rock of offense to religious people.
“You mean that some guy who has never gone to church in his life is going to heaven because he “believes the Gospel” —– And I have spent my entire life in church….. I tithe and serve …. And your telling me that won’t get me into heaven?
JESUS IS
Either the chief cornerstone of your life
Or He’s a stumbling block of offense
And He WILL —- without a doubt —- be the smiting stone that crushes the final rebellion of man against when He returns to this earth at the end of the Great Tribulation as the King of kings and Lord of lords when
He’s going to come back in power and glory and set up His kingdom and all of those who do not yield will be ground powder.
45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds,
because they held him to be a prophet.
Jesus Christ: Cornerstone or Rock of Judgment?
Repent and Believe the Gospel –
And God will lift you up out of the horrible pit and set your feet upon the sure foundation of Jesus, who IS the rock
Reject Jesus –
And you will find that the rock that could have saved you will in the end crush you in judgment.
Not because He desires that outcome —- but because you refused the truth

]]> http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2123-45/feed/ 0 http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2112-22/ http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2112-22/#comments Sun, 03 Aug 2008 06:00:45 +0000 admin http://metrocalvary.org/?p=4654

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Richard Cimino
June 17, 2007

Matthew 21:12-22

Rejection of the King

Part 2 The King Cleanses the Temple and Curses the Fig Tree

As Chapter 21 opens we now enter the 4th major division of Matthew’s account of the life of Christ.
The great theme of this section is “The Rejection of the King.”
Last week we saw the Day the King Came to the nation
Just as promised in Zechariah 9:9 —- Meek and lowly, riding on a donkey

On the very day predicted in Daniel 9 —- April 6, 32 AD, the Sunday before Passover
This morning we see the King as Judge
As King He judges the sins of Israel
In so doing we discover why the religious leaders rejected Him and His message.
This morning we will see Jesus cleanse the temple, and He curse a fig tree.
Both of these acts revealed the hypocrisy of Israel:
The center of worship in Israel had become a den of thieves
And the nation itself (symbolized by the fig tree) was without fruit.
Inward corruption and outward fruitlessness were evidences of their hypocrisy.
As we look at Jesus acting in judgment we need to bear in mind the words of John
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jesus is indeed full of grace
Ready to do for us that which we don’t deserve
Ready to give to us that which we could never earn
He is also full of TRUTH.
He calls sin “sin”
He deals directly and sternly with the religious hypocrite

Here we see Jesus “full of GRACE and TRUTH”
Grace —– That He would
Even enter the “den” of the hypocrites despite their rejection of Him
That He would touch the lives of the needy in the midst of the hypocrites.
TRUTH
About their religious hypocrisy and spiritual blindness
About how the heart of God for the needy
Matthew 21:12 -13 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
Jesus had opened His ministry with a similar act (John 2:13-25)

KEY INSIGHT: There are in the New Testament two words which are translated Temple
One word is used in regards to The Temple
The structure that contained the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies into which only the High Priest might enter, and he only on the great Day of Atonement.
But the Temple itself was surrounded by a vast space which was occupied by successive and ascending courtyards.
First there was the Court of the Gentiles
Any non-Jewish person could enter there…. But if a Gentile went beyond it they would be put to death.
Then there came the Court of the Women, entered by the Beautiful Gate of the Temple
into which any Israelite might come.
Next there came the Court of the Israelites, entered by the gate called Nicanor’s Gate
A great gate of Corinthian bronze which needed twenty men to open and shut it.
Lastly there came the Court Of the Priests, into which only the priests might enter
In it there stood the great altar and the great brazen laver;
At the back of it there stood the Temple itself.
This whole area, including all the courts, is called the Temple; but the Greek word is he – ay -rown
Here in Verse 12 Jesus enters the hieron —- the Temple Precincts
As we said – the outer courts were known as the Courts of the Gentiles.
This was THE PLACE where all the nations could come and discover the truth of the one and true living God of Israel.
It SHOULD HAVE been that — but it had become something very different

At this time a man named Annas had turned the COURT OF THE GENTILES into a money making enterprise

REMEMBER –
It is Passover —- a mandatory feast
Jews were thronging in from all over the Roman world.
Many of them have traveled from North Africa or from Spain and thus they obviously couldn’t bring a lamb for the sacrifice over such a long distance.
So they would come there and would have to then buy an animal that the priest was selling.
But they couldn’t use the Roman coinage.
You could only use the “temple Shekel” because Roman coins bore the image of Caesar – who was worshipped as a god.
It was defiled currency.
In order for you to buy an animal to sacrifice you had to have the Hebrew shekel from the temple mount.
So you would come with your Roman money and you would exchange your currency and the exchange rate was exorbitant.
So FIRST they would RIP YOU OFF in the currency exchange
Then they would rip you off on the purchase of an animal for your sacrifice.
If you tried to buy the animal you were going to offer in the market place the priest would examine your animal and find a spot or a blemish and say, “This animal is not pure. It’s not clean. You can’t sacrifice it.”
And you’d be left in the position of having to buy
a pre-approved Passover lamb
from the precincts at jacked up prices

KEY POINT: Those outer precincts SHOULD have been THE place where the Gentiles could come and see how man worshipped God in Spirit and in truth
But instead —- they saw
A religion run by thieving hypocrites
The Temple of the true and living turned into a market place.
There in the Court of the Gentiles
the “outsider” —– those outside of Judaism —- saw the high priest and his cohorts taking advantage of people who had come sincerely desiring to worship

PRESENT APPLICATION: In many places today men and women who are “outside” of faith in Christ will show up at a church because surely THAT is THE place where they can see how men and women can approach the True and Living God.
And when they get there they see those who are supposed to be spiritual leaders, take advantage of the sincerity of God’s people.
God’s people will come to worship.
God’s people will come grow in grace and in the knowledge of their Lord and Savior
They come to have a fresh view of Christ on the cross and remembering the price that was paid.
And there are in our time those who will be talking money and taking advantage of them.
And the sincere worshipper —- because they are sincere —- will feel condemnation and pressure and sure enough they get fleeced instead of fed.

KEY POINT: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever.
Jesus feels the same way about it today as He did then.
And I have a feeling He would be turning over some tables today – Tables run by a lot of guys on TV.
Because He hates it when His people are taken advantage of.

NOTE: Those people who give in sincerity will receive the reward.
They maybe naïve and they may have contributed to some scoundrel but God will reward them for their giving.
It’s the person that took it whose shoes I would not want to stand in.

KEY POINT: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever.
Jesus feels the same way about it today as He did then.
And I have a feeling He would be turning over some tables in the year 2008
Because He hates it when His people are taken advantage of.
He hates it when the unbeliever is turned away by religious hypocrisy
He hates it when the church is run by mercenaries instead of missionaries.

NOTE: Those people who give out of a sincere heart will receive the reward.
They maybe naïve and they may have contributed to some scoundrel
But God will reward them for their giving.
It’s the religious hypocrite that ripped them off that will be judged!

KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus comes into the middle of the scene and begins to turn over the table of the moneychangers and begins to drive them out.
Jesus meek and mild chases everybody.
You can hear everybody screaming.
The scene must have been incredible because of the presence and authority of Jesus

REMEMBER – He just allowed Himself to be owned as Messiah and King.
Imagine the tremendous display of authority in Jesus at that moment —- for just one man to upset thousands upon thousands and to begin to clear that temple precinct by Himself.

THINK ABOUT THIS – Jesus said “You have made it a DEN of thieves.”
You remember how Jesus told the story about the man who was held up and robbed and beaten and then cared for by the Good Samaritan.
The people could understand the story quite well because they were all very familiar with the old road that went up from Jericho to Jerusalem.
They knew that there were many caves and hideouts for the thieves along that road from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They knew there were many blind curves, around which robbers and thugs would lie in wait.
It was a dangerous journey.
Jesus is saying that the REAL dangerous place was not the road from Jericho to Jerusalem.
He said that the REAL DEN OF THIEVES was on the Temple Mount and the ring leader was the high priest.
He was saying that it was MORE dangerous to go up on the Temple mount than to travel that road.
Often times the same is true today —– the most dangerous place to be is not out on the streets but in a church!
13He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”

CRUCIAL: When Jesus called the temple “My house,” He was claiming to be the GOD of Israel!
He was quoting Isaiah 56:7
these I will bring to MY holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for MY house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
The entire 56th chapter of Isaiah denounces the unfaithful leaders of Israel.
The phrase “den of robbers” comes from Jeremiah 7:11
It is part of a long sermon that Jeremiah delivered in the gate of the temple
In it he was rebuking the people for the same sins that Jesus saw and judged in His day.
What does God want in His house?
God wants prayer among His people
True prayer is an evidence of our dependence on God and our faith in His Word.
For the Christian prayer is like breathing —- you can’t survive physically without breathing nor can you survive spiritually without prayer.
But again —- today churches are places where people people
Come to meet God —- worship God —- pray
But instead they are often robbed.
Of their time and talents and resources.
In order to build a building and fill a building.
And tragically —-
they don’t seem to be bothered so much by being robbed
But they are really bothered at the idea of coming to pray!
14And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.
THAT is what God desires in His house —-
1.) He wants His house to be the place where the needy, broken and empty to COME TO JESUS
By the way —–
We need to realize that when God leads someone inside these doors He is leading them to meet Jesus — not be an attendance statistic for Metro.

KEY INSIGHT: The blind and the lame were not normally around the temple precincts.
The lame came to the gates and to the entrances to the temple and sit there and beg.
Normally they would not come in.
But after all of the thieves are driven out —- the lame and blind want to come in because they know who Jesus is….. They’ve been hearing all about Him for 3 years now.
You can see them now sliding across the temple floor for the first time.
And as they are coming to Christ He is healing them
2.) He wants His house to be the place where the power of the Holy Spirit is working through the Word of God to change people.
15But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, 16and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”
3.) He wants His house to be the place where Jesus is exalted!

NOTE: It was the closest this temple precinct had ever been to realizing its glory.
Because the Messiah was there
He had cleansed it
The children were worshipping and singing.
The lame were being healed the blind were receiving sight.
What an incredible scene.
How I would have loved to been there and just see the children worshipping and singing.

AMAZING!
Seeing all of this —- the religious leaders are indignant.
It was OK for the moneychangers to be there but please do not heal people and watch children sing in our temple.
They are angry. You have to try to imagine their tone of voice.
17And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there. 18? In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry.
19And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.20When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

KEY INSIGHT: Mark places it on His way into the temple.
Matthew seems to be writing more with a concern for the events as they related to Israel more than a chronology.
There is a difference between the two
Mark seems to give us a more shot by shot chronological sequence of events.
Matthew is relating to the Jew —- writing to the Jew.
Ninety-nine times in his gospel he quotes the Old Testament
More than any of the other gospels combined.
And because of his audience —- when he comes to this cursing of of the fig tree —– he puts it in this order after Christ has cleansed the temple.
Because this fig tree is a picture of the nation of Israel
Judges 9:10
Jeremiah 24
Hosea 9:10
Joel 1:6
Each of those passages pictures Israel as God’s fig tree.
God is looking to Israel to produce good figs —- to be fruitful.
Jesus was not angry at the tree. Rather, He used this tree to teach several lessons to His disciples.
Just as this tree had leaves but no fruit
so Israel had a show of religion but no practical experience of faith resulting in godly living.
God wants to produce fruit in the lives of His people.
Fruit is the product of life.
The presence of leaves usually indicates the presence of fruit, but this was not the case.
In the Parable of the Fig Tree (Luke 13:6-9) the gardener was given more time to care for the tree
But now the time was up.
This tree was taking up space and doing no good.

NOTE WELL: This must be understood to be FIRST and foremost about Israel
The time of judgment had come.
The sentence was pronounced by the Judge, but it would not be executed for about forty years.
In 70 AD Rome would come and destroy the city and temple and scatter the people.
But we must not miss the application to our own lives
We must beware of the danger of fruitlessness.
The temple was supposed to be a “house of prayer”
The nation was to be a believing people.
Both were missing.

]]> http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2112-22/feed/ 0 http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-211-11/ http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-211-11/#comments Sun, 27 Jul 2008 06:00:15 +0000 admin http://metrocalvary.org/?p=4650

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Richard Cimino
June 17, 2007

Matthew 21:1-11

Rejection of the King

Part 1 The Day the King Came

We have been following Jesus on His journey down the Jordan Valley through Jericho on His way up to Jerusalem and the Cross!
Chapter 20 ended with Jesus healing two blind men.
As Chapter 21 opens we now enter the 4th major division of Matthew’s account of the life of Christ.
The great theme of this section is “The Rejection of the King.”
We are now in the last week of the life of Jesus.
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples,
Jericho is approximately 18 miles from Jerusalem
It is some 1800 (?) feet BELOW sea level.
Jerusalem, on the other hand, is approximately 3,000 feet ABOVE sea level.
So the journey is a continuous uphill journey.
Jesus led the way on this journey – he went before
The approach to Jerusalem from Jericho is on the backside of the Mount of Olives
Coming from Jericho, you can NOT see Jerusalem until you get to the top of the Mount of Olives.
On the wilderness side of the Mount of Olives there are two villages –
Bethpage and Bethany
They are both just bellow the crest of the Mount of Olives on the wilderness side.
As they were approaching these two villages Jesus sent two of His disciples into the one village
2saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” 4This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” 6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.

KEY INSIGHT: Up until this very moment Jesus has always been saying – “Don’t tell anyone who I am.”
Now for the first time Jesus is deliberately taking action that will culminate in all of Israel knowing that He is the Messiah, the King of Israel
THAT is why Jesus is sending His disciples to bring to Him a donkey because NOW is the very time when the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 is to be fulfilled.
Hundreds of years earlier Zechariah had said,

(Zec 9:9 ESV) Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Jesus knows that THIS is the very day that was appointed for Him to enter Jerusalem.
The prophet Daniel most specifically and most remarkably had predicted not only that Christ the Messiah would come but had predicted the very day seven hundred years before this.
If you’re interested Sir Robert Anderson wrote a book entitled, The Coming Prince –
He was Assistant Commissioner of Metropolitan Police and Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department at Scotland Yard In 1888
In his book he gives to us the remarkable details concerning the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy
In Daniel 9 God declares that from the time the commandment was given to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Messiah would be 69 periods of 7 years.
From his research he discovered that the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes on March 14, 445 BC.
69 seven year periods on a 360 day Babylonian calendar year = 173,880 days

And if you start at March 14, 445 BC and go forward 173,880 days you come to April 26,32 AD
On our calendar this is exactly the Sunday before Passover in the year 32 AD.
This is THE day when Jesus, instead of avoiding the attention of people, is now owning the fact that He is the Messiah and on this day He comes into Jerusalem and presents Himself to the nation.

KEY INSIGHT: On the Jewish calendar it was the 10th of Nissan –
The EXACT day that according to the Law of Moses The Jews were to bring their lambs to the temple to present them to the priests for inspection —- to see if they were without spot or blemish —- so you could offer them for Passover.
ISN’T THIS AMAZING!!
His public ministry began with John the Baptist pointing to Jesus and saying – John 1:29 Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World.
And now —- on the very day prophesied by the prophet Daniel —–
Jesus is presenting Himself as the lamb without spot or blemish – inspected and scrutinized.
He was presenting Himself for slaughter on the Passover.
So this is an incredible day as Jesus – instead of avoiding – is actually orchestrating everything.

REMEMBER – Jesus IS the very God of Israel
Who inspired Daniel and Zechariah
He has also foretold to His disciples exactly what was awaiting Him in Jerusalem
How he would be rejected —– which as we are going to see —- would transpire within the next hour of His of His life.

KEY APPLICATION: God says what He means and means what he says!

KEY OBSERVATION: Mark 11:2 adds a very interesting bit of information in his account –
a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat.
If you were to attempt to sit on a donkey that had never had a man sit on it before you would find the donkey greatly surprised and then you would be surprised!
This donkey stands as a great rebuke to the religious leaders of Jesus day —- and to many men and women in our time
The religious leaders of Israel in the day of Jesus were bucking Jesus — they would not be saddled by Jesus
6The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. 8Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
When you crest the Mount of Olives you see stretched out before you the city of Jerusalem.
You see the Temple Mount, the East Gate and the magnificent Temple that was built by Herod
It is one of the most glorious vantage points in the whole world.
So as this crowd crests the Mt of Olives they would see the Temple of the Living God and their beloved city of Jerusalem
The one they believe to be the Messiah is with them, just as Zechariah prophesied…. And they break forth into shouts of excitement and joy
There is something about the acoustics in Israel that enables sound to travel great distances

EXAMPLE: The Amphitheatre in Beth-Sean can hold thousands of people…. Yet you can sit on the edge of the stage and speak to the stands without amplification

EXAMPLE: On top of the Herodian, outside of Bethlehem, you can hear the conversations of the children almost 1 mile away!
With this incredible natural amplification of sound, when they crested the Mount of Olives, the shouts of this crowd would be heard in the city of Jerusalem
At the upper end of the Temple Mount was the Antonia Fortress where the Roman troops were garrisoned and where Pontius Pilate held court while in Jerusalem.
I can imagine that when this shout went up from the Mount of Olives that these Roman soldiers would have looked up to see what was going on.
They would have SEEN the disciples laying their garments in the path of Jesus and laying their palm branches before Jesus who was riding on this donkey.
But they also would have HEARD the cries of the disciples
“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

KEY INSIGHT: They’re singing song Psalm 118.
One of the “Hallel” songs that were associated with these feasts.

KEY INSIGHT: The section of the Psalm that they were referring to begins with the words
Psa 118:22-23 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is obviously a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ….
The BUILDERS being the religious leaders of Israel who REFUSED Jesus

NOTE: When Peter was on trial before the Sanhedrin (after the day of Pentecost because he was used by God to heal a lame man) he was asked:
Acts 4:7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?
Acts 4:8-12 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,
“Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Thus Peter identified this Messianic Psalm with Jesus and the rulers of Israel.

KEY INSIGHT: The next portion of the Psalm declares
Psa 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
This passage is so often misused
You wake up in the morning and the sun is shining and you say – “Oh, this is the day that the Lord has made”.
In a sense, that is right, but it is NOT what this passage is speaking about
The Psalmist is talking about ONE SPECIAL DAY in all of history when God would fulfill His promise of a Savior
A SPECIFIC day —– 173,880 days after March 14, 445 BC —- that would come when God would bring salvation to lost man

KEY INSIGHT: Matthew and Mark (11:9) both tell us that the people were crying out HOSANNA = Save Now!
Going back to the prophecy of Zechariah
Zec 9:9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he,
Your King is here, riding on a donkey, brining salvation
THIS is THE day that the Lord has made
all the city was MOVED
We get our word seismic from this Greek word.
= to rock (vibrate, prop. sideways or to and fro), i.e. (gen.) to agitate (in any direction; cause to tremble); fig. to throw into a tremor (of fear or concern):–move, quake, shake.
The city was shaken with this event.
Multitudes were following Him over the hill.
Thousands upon thousands were pouring out to meet Him.
The whole city is shaken emotionally and spiritually
The whole center of Judaism is testified to at this time.

KEY INSIGHT: As the crowd broke out with these shouts, the Pharisees, recognizing that they were quoting a Psalm of the Messiah, ordered Jesus to rebuke His disciples
Luke 19:39-40 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
LUKE TELLS us that at this moment Jesus wept!
Luke 19:41-42 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
Jesus was coming to make peace between God and man… to reconcile man back to God
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace,
Col 1:21-22 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
YOUR peace is dependent upon being at peace with God
UNLESS you recognize Jesus as the only way to be right with God
UNLESS you accept the forgiveness of your sins which is only available through Jesus
THEN you can NEVER have real peace
THIS day, in Matthew 21, was the day on which God’s provision for the peace of Israel was being made….
THAT is why Jesus, He WEPT over them

NOTE: He wept over their BLINDNESS
Luke 19:42 “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

In essence —- Check it out guys –
The donkey
The shouts of “Hosanna”
NOT only that, THIS day is exactly 173,880 days from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
Just as Daniel predicted (9:21-25)
Your King has come!
God does give men SPECIAL opportunities and invitations
THIS was THE day of their visitation…
THIS was THEIR day
These SPECIAL visitations from God can so radical that you would think that it would be IMPOSSIBLE to walk away from them
NOT so!
Jerusalem was PHYSICALLY visited by their King —-
The Son of God who performed RADICAL miracles and taught them His Word within their walls…. BUT they rejected Him
AMAZINGLY ENOUGH —-
Jesus not only entered Jerusalem on April 6, 32 A.D., exactly 173,880 days from March 14, 445 B.C.
But Daniel prophesied that Jesus would be rejected
Dan 9:26 And after….. shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself:

QUOTE: WORDSWORTH – Jesus is shedding tears as a man for that which He foretold as God
CLOSING
All ignorance is NOT excusable
When men CAN know the truth but REFUSE to know it, they are indeed GUILTY before God
The issue is responding to the light that you are given
NOW THEY ARE HID -

QUOTE: Matthew Poole – “First men shut their eyes against the things that belong to their peace, and THEN God hides them from them”

]]> http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-211-11/feed/ 0 http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2029-34/ http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2029-34/#comments Sun, 20 Jul 2008 06:00:12 +0000 admin http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2029-34/

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Richard Cimino

June 17, 2007

Matthew 20:29-34

Lessons for the Citizens of the Kingdom

Part 12 When the King Opens Your Eyes

The final verses of Matthew 20 are the hinge —- if you would —- of two sections in Matthews Gospel
It closes for us the section filled with instructions for the citizens of the Kingdom and begins the section delalng with the REJECTION and SUFFERING of the King
LAST WEEK – 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
THIS WEEK we see the KING’S LIVING OUT His mission
32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?”
(Matthew 20:29 ESV) And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.

KEY INSIGHT: Matthew says they were departing Jericho……. Luke tells us that they were coming into Jericho.

So of course the Bible critics say, “A ha – another flaw in the Bible.”
What they don’t tell you —- or don’t know —- is that there were 2 Jerichos in the day of Jesus.
There was ancient Jericho – destroyed in the days of Joshua, and Joshua commanded that it never be rebuilt.
Joshua 6:26 Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.
But because Israel always listened to everything God said they rebuilt it.
So there was an ancient city of Jericho and then there was a Herodian Jericho.
The Jews didn’t like the Romans.
There was a separation between the two population groups.
It was beautiful there.
Herod had rebuilt part of Jericho and there were bathhouses and gymnasiums and saunas and in ground pools.
Everything that Herod built had a signature —– great in it’s scale and design and engineering.
Hence his name – Herod the Great

Well obviously the Bible is always right.
Matthew – writing to the Jews —– tells us that Jesus is leaving ancient Jericho and Luke, who is writing to the Gentiles, says that He is approaching Roman Jericho.
a great multitude followed him

KEY INSIGHT: Jesus is headed to Jerusalem for Passover —— the last week of Christ’s life lead up to that day!
This is one of the mandatory feasts.
The normal population of Jerusalem 500,000 on average.
Josephus tells us that the population of Jerusalem would swell to between 2-3 million during Passover
Josephus made this calculation based upon the number of lambs sacrificed (256,500) — said Brook Kidron ran red with the blood of the sacrificed lambs
Exodus 12:3-4 tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. 4And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
Number of lambs sacrificed (256,500)
Even at the very low estimate of 10 persons to each lamb the number of people assembled must have been just under 2.7 million without taking into consideration those that were present but unable to eat of the lamb because of impurities
If you have been to the old city of Jerusalem this is pretty staggering!
So as they’re going from Jericho to Jerusalem it says there was a great crowd.
There were tons and tons of people on this road.

REMEMBER – The Feast of Passover commemorated the DELIVERANCE of the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt.
Passover was always a time of unrest and expectation in Jerusalem because
1.) It caused Israel to yearn for independence from Roman rule.
The Romans would always bring extra soldiers to Jerusalem during Passover
2.) They were looking for a Messiah to take them out from under Roman bondage.
30And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

KEY INSIGHT: When you read Mark’s account we are given the name of ONE of these guys – Bartimeus.

REMEMBER – Mark is writing the record he heard from Peter.
Matthew tells us there were two.
Evidently one of them was the spokesman.
So here —– in the midst of this multitude —- are these two blind men
Jesus was big news amongst the afflicted – we see that all through the gospel.
So now they’re hearing that He’s passing by.
They’re not going to let this opportunity pass them by —- So they start to scream.

INSIGHT: They’re normal cry was, “Alms for the poor?”
They’re not crying for alms.
They are crying “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!”

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: Bartimaeus and his friend call Jesus by His Messianic title.
“I can’t see you —- but I know that you are the Messiah —- the One who is to sit on the throne of Israel —– Have mercy on us.”

NOTE WELL: As the King is drawing near to Jerusalem the cry of these two men stand as a rebuke to the blindness of the religious leaders
Two blind guys are able to see that what the religious leaders could not see —– that Jesus is the Son of David

NOTE WELL: Even as the two blind men stand as a rebuke to the religious leaders —- the multitude stands as a rebuke to the Church
31The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent,
The crowds —- who are usually not representative of Christ —- tell them to shut up.
Maybe there are those here this morning who say, “Well I don’t like church”
Hey – You’re not alone – I never did either.
I never liked to be around Christians.
Usually the multitude is not representative of Jesus.

CRUCIAL: You can’t judge Jesus simply on the basis of Christians.
No doubt —- we as Christians want to live our lives in such a way that you can see Jesus
We want to do that. But when you look real close you’ll find out that we’re human.
It’s shocking, I know.
But Jesus is different than the multitudes.
but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?”
They cried out the more.
The man or woman truly looking for Life will do that very thing —-
Despite how the multitudes turn them off they cry out the more to Jesus!!

KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus hears that cry above the crowd. He hears faith crying out.
Jesus loved to hear, “Have mercy on us.”
He wished He’d heard this everywhere in Israel.
v. 32 tells us that Jesus stood still.
I wonder if they heard the whole procession stop.
The others would have watched it stop —– They would have HEARD it stop!
UNKNOWN TO THE CROWD – Right at that moment there is some transaction between their heart and His heart.
The Bible says He’s the same yesterday, today and forever.
Each week —- right here —- in this crowd —- there is a transaction that takes place between your heart and His.
Even though everybody around you may not know about it.
In light of that I don’t want us to miss what is right before us in Matthew 20
Jesus hears that voice through the crowd.
Mark’s account of the moment tells us that somebody went and got them and led them to Jesus.
CHALLENGE TO BELIEVERS!
By the way —- If you have a friend who has been telling you about Jesus trying to lead you to Jesus please don’t be offended at that.
You’ve been lead you’re whole life anyway.
Why not be led to Jesus?
I was being lead to hell until one guy led me to jesus
MARK ALSO ADDS
Mark 10:49-50 And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
THIS IS REAL FAITH!
For a blind beggar this garment would have been his most valuable possession
The cloak was the outer garment and it was large enough for him to sleep in.
It was like a sleeping bag that he wore.
He would lay it out in front of him during the day while he was begging —- alms would be cast on to it.
And at night he wraps up in it and sleeps in it.

When he heard that Jesus was asking for him he took that garment and said, “I don’t need this anymore.”
BUT – What if Jesus didn’t heal him?
IF that happened he’d be back saying – “Did you see anybody take my garment?
But the thought never entered his mind!
Then they hear a voice, “What do you want me to do for you?”
Imagine hearing that out of the darkness.
DON’T MISS THIS —- GOD who became man does NOT say —- What can YOU do for ME?
THAT is the twisted concept of God in false religion —- Divine quid pro quo – this for that — if you do this for me I will do some good thing for you. CONTRAST Ephesians 1-3 and then finally 4:1
33They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

RADICAL – The first thing that stimulates the optic nerve is the face of God who became man —- no doubt smiling at them.
By the way – that’s the very first sight I saw when my eyes were opened —- Jesus.
I heard about Him —– grew up in a religious system.
BUT I never saw Him —- I was blind.
But the day came when He heard me crying out to him —- somewhere around 1:30am on Dec. 31, 1973
And He stopped….. Had pity on me
And God shined into my heart the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
they recovered their sight and followed him.
You’re blind —- you’re eyes are opened and there is Jesus looking into your face —–
What are you going to do – have a beer?

KEY APPLICATION: When you have a genuine encounter with Christ that should be what takes place in your life.
I hear people say
“I’m not sure if I want to accept Him.
Does that mean that I have to give everything to Him?
What if I ask and He’s really not there?
What if I give this up or that up?
What if He says leave everything and follow Me?”
ALL of those questions ran through my mind in one form or another just before giving my heart to Jesus.
It was hard for me to understand why anyone would be sold out to Jesus
UNTIL Jesus opened MY eyes and I saw how beautiful He is!

LISTEN TO ME –
When He opens your eyes and you see who He is there’s no where else to go.
There is absolutely only ONE THING you WANT to do —– ONE THING you MUST do —- Follow Jesus
This is an exciting crew coming with Him to Jerusalem.

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Richard Cimino
June 17, 2007

Matthew 20:17-28

Lessons for the Citizens of the Kingdom

Part 11 Our Lives Defined by His Cup and His Mission

(Matthew 20:17-18a ESV) And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
Mark 10:33 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,
Isaiah 50:7 said that “He set His face like a flint.”
HE HAS AN APPOINTMENT awaiting Him in Jerusalem that was fixed in eternity past —– and that which awaited Him would not be an accident, but an accomplishment.
SO – He is leading the way up to Jerusalem —- no longer lagging behind talking with the guys as before.
THAT is why His demeanor troubled them at this time.
he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death
19and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
THIS is the THIRD TIME now that Jesus speaks to them DIRECTLY about His CRUCIFIXION.
Each mention of His crucifixion causes these guys to short circuit and shut down —- BECAUSE
They’re thinking, “We’ve left all to follow You and what are we going to get?”
They’re still expecting for Him to set up His kingdom.
A King on a cross means NO kingdom!.

REMEMBER – He is POURING into these guys insights concerning the nature of His Kingdom —
and the nature of the Kingdom is inseparably linked to the nature of the King.
THAT is why Jesus speaks of His cross and resurrection in terms of THE SON OF MAN —-
So that they will KNOW that He is indeed the one that Daniel had prophesied of in Daniel 7:13.
He wants them to KNOW that the One who will one day come in His power and glory will now be scourged and killed….. THAT is the NATURE of their King!
The PROOF that they do not get this is evident in the conversation that immediately followed His declaration.
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something.
From Matthew 27:56 – Mark 14:40 – John 19:25 we know that she is Salome —- Mary’s sister.
Which means that James and John are cousins to Jesus.
21And he said to her, “What do you want?”
21 She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
WE NOTED that this moment clarifies for us just how shallow and self-absorbed man can be
Gethsemane is before Him and in Him (they can SEE it on His face!)
It was weighing on His heart.
And THIS is the what is on their minds and hearts.
22Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
Little did Salome or her sons realize that there is no CROWN without the CROSS.
Mark 10:37 “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
They still did not understand that THE CROSS was His GLORY!
“Can you be plunged into the thing that I’m going to be plunged into? You don’t know what you’re asking.”
THE CUP OF THE KING –
It is the SAME cup that Jesus prayed about in the Garden of Gethsemene
Matthew 26:39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
This CUP is the cup of God’s wrath and against sin! (Isaiah —- Jeremiah —- Ezekiel —- Revelation)
Rev. 14:10 the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger
On the Cross Jesus would drink THAT CUP
The cup of God’s wrath and indignation that you and I deserved to drink.
He drank it fully —- He drank it undiluted
He took all of our sin upon Himself on the cross.
THIS MORING we want to continue to look at the KINGS CUP and HIS MISSION DEFINE OUR LIVES today.

KEY QUESTION: How does the CUP that Jesus would drink apply to you and me today.
1.) We know that there is ONE WAY specific way in which it can NOT mean to us what it meant to Jesus
ONLY Jesus bore the infinite wrath of God against sin.
Hebrews 2:9 …..Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
ONLY Jesus stood in our place / paid for our sins…..
Our death CAN’T pay for anybody’s sins.
2.) Neither does it mean martyrdom
Life played out very differently for these brothers
James would die for his faith in Jesus.
While John lived to be almost 100 years old and die a natural death on Patmos.
It’s wrong wrong to think that THIS CUP defines every believer as those who physically die for their faith in Jesus.

KEY INSIGHT: THE CUP OF THE KING DEFINES OUR LIVES in this –
Matthew 26:39 “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
THE KING’S CUP DEMANDED absolute surrender to the will of His Father
THAT is what Jesus meant when He asked Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?”
Are you willing to embrace the will of the Father
Even at the expense of your will —– your life?
THAT IS HOW THE KING’S CUP DEFINES the way we are to live

QUOTE: WILLIAM BARCLAY – A Roman coin was once found with the picture of an ox on it; the ox was facing two things–an altar and a plough; and the inscription read: “Ready for either.” The ox had to be ready either for the supreme moment of sacrifice on the altar or the long labour of the plough on the farm. There is no one cup for the Christian to drink. His cup may be drunk in one great moment; his cup may be drunk throughout a lifetime of Christian living.
THAT is HOW one lives in the Kingdom of God!
The SPECIFICS of YOUR cup may not be the same as the specifics of mine
But the ESSENCE of the cup is the same
ABSOLUTE SURRENDER to the will of God.
Thursday morning’s Bible Bus
Acts 27:23 Paul referred to God as the God to whom I belong and whom I serve / worship

REMEMBER – We can only understand the nature of the Kingdom in light of Jesus, the King of the Kingdom.
These guys were trying to DEFINE life in the Kingdom apart from the Nature of it’s King
They were defining it in terms of the value system of the World out side of Christ and His Kingdom
1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions — is not from the Father but is from the world. 17And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
PASSION —- POSSESSIONS —- POSITION
They were motivated by PASSION / PLEASURE
They were asking for glory for themselves, not for the Lord.
The sense of pleasure and gratification of the corner office —- the name outside the door.
Motivated by PRIDE / POSITION
James and John wanted to “lord over” the other 10 in POSITION —- the way the unsaved Gentile rulers lorded it over their subjects.
No doubt they felt relieved that they had gotten to Jesus with this request before Peter and the others did!
The person the Bible calls Satan —– the one who presently directs the course of the world living outside of Christ —– was cast out of heaven because of pride.
He was obsessed with a throne
I will be like the most high…. I will be exalted

REMEMBER – (Luke 4) Satan had offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would worship
Jesus refused — It is written, you shall worship God only
Satan thought that Jesus would think how he thought —–
He thought that Jesus wanted a throne and a crown —— by any means!
Jesus would receive no kingdom until He first saved it’s citizens through the sacrificing of His own life.
The KING of THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN would have NO kingdom without the CROSS
OUR KING —- our LORD and SAVIOR —- the LORD of GLORY —- is our PATTERN
He Himself said – not as I will, but as you will. Matt 26
Psalm 40:7-8 Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: 8I desire to do your will, O my God
Isaiah 50:4-6 Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.5The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward.6I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.
24And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers.
Probably because they had not thought of it first!
They did not see why James and John should get to Jesus first —- even if they were the cousins of Jesus.
What caused the division?
We’ve seen this earlier in this section of Matthew —–
James 3:14-16 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
These guys were the twelve – not the ten and the two.
But now two of the ten are trying to push their way into a special position.

NOTE: These are the apostles – the church will be left to them.
The other guys are thinking, “I’m going to get my mom to talk to Jesus too!”
Jesus is going to use this as a teaching moment
And again —- He will teach them about the NATURE of His Kingdom in light of the nature of HIS MISSION.
Even His CORRECTION tells us much about the NATURE of our King.
It shows us his kindness.
It is amazing to see Jesus with these guys —- always suffering long with them.
In spite of all He had said, here were these men and their mother going on and on about desired positions in an earthly government and kingdom.
But Jesus does not explode at how obtuse they were
OBTUSE = Slow to learn; annoyingly insensitive.
BUT —- He is gentle…. He is sympathetic
And in love he seeks to lead them to the truth.
25But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
HIS MISSION —– GIVE HIS LIFE as a ransom for many…..
And He carried out that mission by being a SERVANT
HIS MISION DEFINES our lives
Essentially – “We know how the world outside of my kingdom operates.”
In the world you are great, not just when you have money, but when you have power to lord over others.
But He says 26It shall not be so among you.
He says —– In MY Kingdom
Service alone is the badge of greatness.
Greatness does not consist in commanding others to do things for you
it consists in doing things for others
But whoever would be great among you must be your servant (diakonos), 27and whoever would be first among you must be your slave (bond slave)
In NT times – not every servant was a slave, but every slave was a servant.
BARCLAY – Jesus uses a kind of gradation.?
“If you wish to be great,” he says, “be a servant; if you wish to be first of all be a slave.”
The Christian life is
TRULY REVOLUTIONARY
TRULY COUNTER-CULTURE
Because it is predicated upon the PERSON and NATURE of Christ, the King.
SADLY – Today the Church is neither REVOLUTIONARY nor COUNTER-CULTURE.
It has embraced the culture of celebrity.
But very few servants.
American church culture is still dominated by a culture of “authority” and “celebrity”
Those who want to exercise authority over others and those who are willing to be ruled over if it is by someone notable.
There is a passage in the NT that is hard to understand in our culture of celebrity
1 Timothy 3:1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
aspires to – to stretch one’s self out in order to touch or to grasp something, to reach after or desire something
But Paul could say that in the first century because LEADERS were the first to be persecuted and imprisoned — first to die.
It is ONLY as we look at the NATURE of the KING’S MISSION that we can understand the nature of OUR mission.
28even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
DISSONANCE – A tension or clash resulting from the combination of two disharmonious or unsuitable elements
This chapter contains TRUTH that is DISSONANT to
1.) the world outside of the rule of this King and His Kingdom
2.) much of modern church culture (which is so influenced by the world)
3.) and our own selfish hearts.
Yet it shall not be so among you
THAT is a stinging —- yet necessary —- rebuke to the how so much of what is called Christian looks so much like the world in it’s substance and style….. message and method.
We can only understand the nature life in the Kingdom of God in terms of the nature of THE KING
His Cross; His Cup and His Mission

QUOTE: William Penn 1896 – No Cross No Crown
O come! let us follow Him, the most unwearied, the most victorious Captain of our salvation…. all the great Alexanders and mighty Caesars of the world ….. were all great princes of their kind, and conquerors too, but on very different principles. For Christ made Himself of no reputation to save mankind; but these plentifully ruined people to augment theirs….. Misery and slavery followed all their victories,
his brought greater freedom and felicity to those He overcame. In all they did they sought to please themselves; in all He did He aimed to please his Father…..
A GREAT DIAGNOSTIC as to how well our hearts are in tune with the heart of the King – PRAYER

QUOTE: Warren Wiersbe – If we are serving Him and others, then we will not be praying selfishly. If we honestly can say, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening,” then He will say to us, “Speak, servant, for your Lord is listening.” If our prayers do not make us better servants, then there is something wrong with them.

QUOTE: Warren Wiersbe – Do our prayers make us easier to live with? The two disciples prayed selfishly and threw the fellowship into an uproar! Do our prayers make us more like Jesus Christ? Do our prayers cost us anything? Prayer in the will of God does not mean escape; it means involvement. If our prayers do not bring us nearer to the cross, they are out of God’s will.

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Richard Cimino
June 17, 2007

Matthew 20:17-28

Lessons for the Citizens of the Kingdom

Part 10 The King’s Cross, Cup and Character

(Matthew 20:17-18a ESV) And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18“See, we are going up to Jerusalem.

INSIGHT: You ALWAYS travel UP to Jerusalem.
It does not matter which direction you come from.
2500 ft above sea level — Jordan Valley 600 feet below sea level

INSIGHT: Mark adds a very striking observation:
Mark 10:33 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,
Speaking of this 700 years beforehand Isaiah 50:7 said that “He set His face like a flint.”
These men were amazed and afraid because they were seeing in Jesus something that they had never seen before.
The LOOK on His face —- The PACE of His journey
The POSITION of Jesus relative to them —- Walking out in front of them!
YOU SEE —- For Jesus —- this trip to Jerusalem was MORE than a 2,600 foot uphill walk

Jesus was headed UP to the place of His agony.
Remember on the Mt. of Transfiguration – Matthew 17
When Jesus was TRANSFIGURED as the GLORY of His divinity shined through the VEIL of His humanity.
Elijah and Moses both appeared with Jesus IN GLORY
In Luke 9:31 we are told that they talked with Jesus about His “decease” – literally His “exodus” that He would “accomplish” at Jerusalem.
His suffering and death in that city would not be an accident, but an accomplishment.
THAT is why He’s no longer lagging behind talking with the guys as before.
THAT is why His demeanor troubled them at this time.
So now – As they are headed down the Jordan Valley on their way to Jerusalem —- He takes these twelve guys aside and talks to them.
he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified,
THIS is the THIRD TIME now that Jesus speaks to them DIRECTLY about His CRUCIFIXION.

KEY POINT: He’s telling them of the horror and the shame that He is deliberately headed for.
It has affected His entire demeanor.
GUYS – WE DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS – Jesus is speaking about Himself and yet
He says – “They will condemn HIM …. Deliver HIM to be mocked, flogged and crucified.”

He doesn’t say “They will condemn me.”
Instead —- He DELIBERATELY says – the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes

REMEMBER – He is POURING into these guys insights concerning the nature of His Kingdom — and the nature of the Kingdom is inseparably linked to the nature of the King.
He does this so that they will KNOW that He is indeed the one that Daniel had prophesied of in Daniel 7:13.
He wants them to KNOW that the One who will one day come in His power and glory will now be scourged and killed.
and he will be raised on the third day.”
I AM SO GLAD that Jesus made sure to add this CRUCIAL bit of information.
By the way I don’t think that ANY of this is really registering.
This IS the THIRD time that Jesus is talking OPENLY and PLAINLY about what will most certainly be accomplished in Jerusalem.
The PROOF that they do not get it is going to be evident in the conversation that is going to immediately follow.
HERE’S A QUESTION worth considering —–
WHY aren’t they grasping it even after THREE downloads?
I believe it is because these statements made by Jesus regarding His cross the resurrection cause these guys to short circuit and shut down —- BECAUSE
They’ve left all to follow Him.
And they’re thinking, “We’ve left all to follow and what are we going to get?”
They’re still expecting for Him to set up His kingdom.
TO them —- at this time —- a King on a cross means NO kingdom!.
In hindsight they will see that the cross was not an END to the plans of Jesus
They will fully understand that it was a PRE-DETERMINED plan – as Peter will say on the day of Pentecost,
Acts 2:23 ESV this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

KEY INSIGHT: As we look into the New Testament we realize all of this was planned AND that Jesus was completely in control of the situation.
He’s willingly and knowingly going to Jerusalem to personally offer Himself up as the wrath appeasing sacrifice for OUR sins.
Think about it – If somebody said to me
“Oh….. you’re going to Jerusalem…. head south, it’s about a four day journey.
When you get there one of your 12 closest friends is going to betray you

They’re going to condemn you to death

They’re going to spit in your face
They’re going to beat you beyond human recognition

They’re going to pluck the beard off of your face
They’re going to scourge you

They’re going to put a crown of thorns on your head
They’re going to nail you to the cross naked.”
I’d say, “Ok.”
Then as soon as they walked away I would head North —- as fast as I could!
BUT YOU SEE – All of this is known to Him.
He is in complete control of the situation.
Those who will
blindfold him and then beat him with their fists —-
who will spit in his face
tear open His back
rip out His beard
drive nails through His hands and feet
ARE NOT IN CONTROL!!!
They are NOT taking Him against His will.
He is going willingly to lay down His life for us.
Everyone here this morning —- you need to grasp this –
He knew us then.
He loved us then.
THIS IS HUGE – JESUS never talks about the cross without talking about the resurrection.
YES – as His followers the CROSS is reality for each of our lives —- we have to DIE to self.
BUT – WHEN WE TALK about the cross issues —- the costs —- of the Christian life —- we should also talk about the resurrection.
Because the Scriptures tell us concerning what is ahead of us –
(Rom 8:18 KJV) For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

THINK ABOUT IT –
Along with you —- I am living in a fallen, lost and hopeless world where there is suffering and death.
My body is falling apart
And I think that I’m making some giant sacrifice to follow Jesus when He —- by His Cross AND Resurrection —- has promised for me a place in heaven where there will never again be pain, sorrow death or sin!
And all of that lived in the very presence of the Glory and Majesty of the Creator of the Universe!
As followers of Jesus we are too often thoughtless as to what the Gospel promises to us!
THAT is why EVERY TIME He talked about the Cross He talked about the resurrection.
But the Gospel —- the GOOD NEWS concerning Jesus Christ declares that
God came into history as the man Jesus Christ to
pay the penalty for our sins at the cross
And triumph over sin and death
And through his resurrection ultimately usher in a new world through his victory.
Now it’s obvious that it’s not registering because;
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons,
and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21And he said to her, “What do you want?”

KEY INSIGHT: If you read Matthew 27:56 – Mark 14:40 John 19:25
You’ll learn that
Her name is Salome
And that she’s Mary’s sister.
Which means that James and John are cousins to Jesus.
And maybe they’re saying, “Maybe we should keep all of this in the family.”
Back to the short circuit – Jesus just said He was going to Jerusalem to be killed and she comes and says, “By the way can my two boys sit on your right and left?”
So we get the feeling that they are not really registering it.
It says that she came and worshipping and asking for something and He has to say, “Ok what is it?”
She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.”
Back to the short circuit –
Jesus just said He was going to Jerusalem to be killed and she comes and says, “By the way can my two boys sit on your right and left?”
So we get the feeling that they are not really registering it.
It says that she came worshipping and asking for something
Jesus replies – “Ok what is it?”
21 She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
This question is essentially being phrased like many questions my kids ask me —-
“Dad I want to ask you for something but say yes and then I’ll tell you what it is.”
DON’T MISS how shallow and self-absorbed man can be
Gethsemane is before Him and in Him (they can SEE it on His face!)
It was weighing on His heart.
And THIS is the what is on their minds and hearts.
22Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
Here Jesus has turned to James and John.
They said to Him, “We are able.”
Little did Salome or her sons realize that there is no CROWN without the CROSS.
Mark tells us this Mark 10:37 “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
They still did not understand that THE CROSS was His GLORY!
Mark also adds this
38Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized,
“Can you be plunged into the thing that I’m going to be plunged into? You don’t know what you’re asking.”

KEY QUESTION: WHAT is this CUP that Jesus calls His cup in Matthew 20:23?
Surely it is the SAME cup that Jesus prayed about in the Garden of Gethsemene
Matthew 26:39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
This CUP is the cup of God’s wrath against sin!
Through out the Old Testament we read of The CUP of God’s wrath and Indignation! (Isa. Jer. Ezek)
We also read of it in the Book of Revelation
Rev. 14:9-11 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”
Christ drank of the cup of God’s wrath and indignation that you and I deserved to drink.
He drank it fully —- He drank it undiluted
He took all of our sin upon Himself on the cross.
Next week we will talk about HOW that CUP relates to us as citizens of the Kingdom and Servants of the King.
But we want to stop at this point to

REMEMBER the CROSS and the CUP
WORSHIP Jesus for having born the CROSS and taken the CUP take the BREAD and the CUP

]]> http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-2017-28/feed/ 0 http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-1927-2016/ http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-1927-2016/#comments Sun, 29 Jun 2008 06:00:55 +0000 admin http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-1927-2016/

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Richard Cimino
June 17, 2007

Matthew 19:27-20:16

Lessons for the Citizens of the Kingdom

Part 9 Sacrifice, Service and Rewards

(Matthew 19:27 ESV) Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”
CONTEXT: A rich young ruler had ran after Jesus
He fell on his knees before Jesus
TEACHER!!!! What good must I do to have eternal life?
This young man thought that he had kept the whole law of God —- and thus he was going to deserve entrance into the Kingdom of God.
Jesus pointed out to him that he had broken the very first commandment of God
I am the LORD your God. You shall have no other gods before me.
This rich young ruler was an idolator —- his possessions had become his god.
Jesus said to the man —– GO and get rid of your god and COME FOLLOW Me.
Jesus looked at him and loved him.
But the rich young ruler walked away sad
JESUS LET HIM WALK AWAY.
23And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” 27Then Peter said in reply
Peter was quick on his feet!

He is taking all of this in —– processing this stuff all of it and comes to some reasonable conclusions
“OK – We did what the Rich Young Ruler wouldn’t!”
“SO – What do we get out of following you?”
Oh how thankful we are to Peter for all his questions!
Here we are 2,000 years later benefitting from the ANSWERS of Jesus to the questions of Peter.
It would have been very easy for Jesus to dismiss Peter’s question with an impatient rebuke.
Jesus did not scold Peter.
He took his question, and used it as another opportunity to teach these guys truths concerning His Kingdom
He gives to them a two-part answer
The first part relates specifically to Peter and the other other apostles.
The second part pertains to every citizen of the Kingdom.
28Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne,
you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
v. 28 He told these specific men
that in the “regeneration,” or restoration of the kingdom, “When the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory,” THEY “shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”
This is clearly a reference to the earth during the 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth (the Millenium)
This will begin at the end of the Great Tribulation when Jesus returns to the earth WITH His
DON’T MISS THIS: Israel is NEVER REPLACED by the Church. Israel is Israel and the Church is the Church.
And then he made a promise to ALL the men and women who would
Lay aside their master passions in order to trust in Jesus to save them from their sins
And follow Jesus as Lord of their lives.
Mark’s account lends some important phrases
Mark 10: 29-30 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
FIRST THINGS FIRST -
What have any of us to Lose in coming to Jesus compared with what we Gain in Him?
The point is not “What shall we have”
The point is LOOK at what we’ve already received!
How about eternal separation from our sin —- it’s penalty and it’s power
How about an eternally binding love relationship with our most merciful and gracious Heaveny Father?
And then there is freedom from guilty conscience from your past?

ULTIMATELY – HE is our GAIN
Phil 3:7-9 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ,
Gen. 15:1 Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
SECONDLY – Jesus is saying – “Look God will never be your debtor, Peter.

EXAMPLE: Jim King – One of the most generous people I’ve ever met.
Richard – God will never be my debtor.
There isn’t anyone who is giving up anything for the kingdom that will end up without.”

KEY APPLICATION: If you’re making any sacrifice for the kingdom you’re NOT going to end up with less!
God will ALWAYS give it back to you a hundredfold.
Maybe not in the currency that we are thinking about
But He gives it back a hundredfold

NOTE WELL: Our PROBLEM is that it is difficult to give away the present for the future.
It’s much easier to see what we’re giving up than it is to see what is awaiting us in in the future and in heaven.
Some of the things that we are giving up are very comforting to us.
It’s easier to see the immediate gratification of the things that are comforting to us – than to see the value of the promises of God that are steadfast and sure – but in the future.
(2 Cor 4:17-18 NLT) For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever! {18} So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.
THAT is REALITY.
And he gives it back to us a hundred fold.
When Jesus speaks in reference to homes and family, I’m absolutely amazed at the family that I have in the Body of Christ.

EXAMPLE: When I travel to England (over 27 years – Lord willing I will be going again in November) – I’m 6,000 miles away from my wife and my kids.
But When I get there I’m at home.
Last time there, Jim King picked me up at Manchester airport and when we pulled into his driveway, he opened the front door and I said – “I’m home.”
When I walked in the door, there was my sister in Christ, Susan King.
We sat down at his table and he said, “Whatever you want is yours. This is your refrigerator – whatever you want – this is your home.”
God pays us back like that.
It was that way the very first time I showed up there and I was away from wife and my little 6 month old daughter who is now 28 yrs. old.
It was a difficult time – and that man became my brother and his home became my home.
GOD IS SO FAITHFUL!
Of course – our temptation is to look back at what we are leaving behind.
When we get to heaven there will be nothing that we will miss from this life and wish we had held on to.

PROBLEM: Sometimes there are those moments when we’re very enthusiastic
like at a women’s retreat or men’s retreat
and our hearts get stirred and we say – “Ok Lord I’m leaving all those things behind. I’m hot on your trail.”
But as we go on there is an inventory that we have to take.
We have to PRESENTLY count the cost.
(Phil 3:7-8 ESV) But whatever gain I had, I counted (past tense) as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count (presently) everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered (past tense) the loss of all things and count them (presently) as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
(Kenneth Wuest – Greek Scholar – throwing cargo over board to overtake another ship loaded with treasure)
30But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
No chapter breaks in the manuscripts —-
So He moves right into a parable in order to deal with motives in regards to service and rewards in the Kingdom.
In it Jesus is warning that in His Kingdom there will be those who are first in their own eyes who would be last in the judgment, and some who were last in the eyes of others would end up first.
1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
BY THE WAY – This parable gives a vivid picture of the kind of thing which could happen in the market-place of any Jewish village or town any day, when the grape harvest was being rushed in to beat the rains.
THE HOURS in the parable were the normal Jewish hours.
Counting from 6 a.m.
the third hour is 9 a.m.
the sixth hour is twelve midday
the eleventh hour is 5 p.m.
SO – the hiring times were {6am,9am, noon, 3pm, 5pm}
DENARIUS – A Roman silver coin, worth a laborers days wage. (size/dime)

KEY OBSERVATION: The 1st were under contract, the others not!
3And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them,
‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’
13But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16So the last will be first, and the first last.”

KEY INSIGHT: This parable has nothing to do with salvation.
The denarius CAN NOT not represent salvation
BECAUSE nobody works for his salvation.

KEY INSIGHT: Nor is the parable talking primarily about rewards
The Scriptures teach us that
we are not all going to receive the same reward
and that we are rewarded NOT on the basis of WHAT we did in the Kingdom — but on the basis of HOW we did it.
1 Cor 3:8 each will receive his wages according to his labor.

ILLUSTRATION: MY rewards are not going to be a matter of comparing how many people I have preached to as compared to how many people Billy Graham has preached to.
Billy will be rewarded according to HIS labor —- and I will be rewarded on the basis of MY labor.
The parable is emphasizing a right attitude in serving the King in His Kingdom.

KEY INSIGHT: There were actually two kinds of workers hired that day:
Those who wanted a contract and agreed to work for a penny a day
And those who had no contract and agreed to take whatever the owner thought was right.
In the parable the first laborers that he hired insisted on a contract.
This explains why the householder paid the workers as he did:
He wanted those who were hired first (who insisted on a contract) to see how much he paid the workers who were hired later.
He wanted to show those first workers how that he was more generous than they thought him to be.
Put yourself in the place of those workers who were hired first but paid last.
They each expected to get a penny, because that was what they agreed to accept.
But imagine their surprise when they saw the laborers who were hired last each receiving a penny!
This meant their own wages should have been twelve pennies each!
But the 3 o’clock workers also received a penny—for only three hours of work.
The 6:00am work crew complained!
But they had no argument, because they had agreed to work for a penny.
They received what they asked for.
HERE’S THE POINT: Had they trusted the goodness of the owner, they would have received far more.
HERE’S THE APLICATION: We should not serve Him because we want to receive an expected reward
WHY INSIST on knowing what we will get when God is INFINITELY MORE generous and gracious than we could ever imagine.
He will always give us better than we deserve.
Now we can begin to understand the dangers that were hidden in Peter’s question at the end of Chapter 19.
Praise the Lord for Peter’s question!
1.) It is possible to do the Father’s work and yet not do His will from the heart (Eph. 6:6)
If we serve Him only for the benefits (temporal and eternal), then we will miss the best blessings He has for us.
We must SERVE our King NOT for what we will get — but serve Jesus believing that trust He will always give what is best.
2.) There is the danger of pride in our service.
“We’re NOT like this rich young ruler —- What shall we have?”
Beware of overconfidence when it comes to the rewards God will give
Those who are first in their own eyes (and in the eyes of others) may end up last
The flip side of that – Don’t get discouraged;
for those who consider themselves last may end up first.
3.) Beware of watching other workers and measuring yourself by them.
1 Cor 4:5 “Judge nothing before the time,”
We see the worker and the work, but God sees the heart.

FINALLY – Beware of criticizing God by feeling that we have been left out or short changed.
God was generous, but the contract workers would not trust him.
They did not rejoice that others received more;
Instead, they were jealous and complained.
The goodness of the owner did not lead them to repentance (Rom. 2:4)
Their attitude towards the owner of the vineyard revealed the true character of their hearts:
They were selfish!
If we find ourselves like these complaining servants, we know that
We are not serving from a heart in love with the King
Nor with a heart trusting in the graciousness of the King.

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Richard Cimino

June 17, 2007

Matthew 19:13-26

Lessons for the Citizens of the Kingdom

Part 8 The Way Into the Kingdom – And the Man Who Walked Away Sad

(Matthew 19:13-14 ESV) Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

KEY INSIGHT: In Mark’s account of this moment we are told that Jesus was greatly afflicted – that He had indignation towards His disciples.

It is the only place in the gospels where the term is used concerning Jesus and Hs followers.
Every other time the word is used of Jesus it has to do with Jesus being moved with indignation towards the Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees
CONTEXT – CONTEXT – CONTEXT
The only time in the gospels when Jesus was moved with indignation towards his own disciples is when they hindered children from coming to Jesus.
INFLUENTIAL MEDIA – PARENTS – MINISTRY

KEY INSIGHT: Mark also lends this very important point concerning HOW one enters the Kingdom
Mark 10:15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
My kids ask me about heaven.
Nathan – “Can I bring Toby when Jesus comes for us?”
“Will we have to go to bed there?”
“Will we have to go to school there?”
“We don’t have to take a bath?”
NONE of my kids have EVER said – “You’re lying. How could there be a city with streets paved in gold? You’re making this up.”
They say, “Tell me. Tell us again.”
IN the natural – children are ready to receive and believe.
They don’t ever think – should I ask dad again?
“Dad, oh dad, daaaaad, oh dad please, daaaad.”
They never try to earn our love.
“Dad – if I take out the trash do you think I can have dinner?”

NOTE WELL: And He says that we must receive the Kingdom —- not childishly —- but childlike.
And unless we embrace with such complete faith we can NOT enter it.
The children were so quick to recognize that Jesus loved them and cared for them
Thus they came to Him freely.
The one who was the Friend of publicans and sinners was also the Friend of children.
15And he laid his hands on them and went away. And behold, a man came up to him

KEY INSIGHT: The Gospels give us a great COMPOSITE of this guy.
Matthew 19:20 tells us that this man is young.
Luke 18:18 tells us that he’s a ruler.
Likely a ruler of a synagogue – a religious ruler
We know from all three gospels that he’s wealthy.
So he has come to be known as the rich young ruler. That is his name tag.

KEY OBSERVATION: Notice the context in which we find him running to Jesus.
Mark 10:17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up
It would appear that he has listened to Jesus talking about the children.

As he is listening to Jesus speak about receiving heaven as little children he is thinking –
O.K. – I have religion, I have money; I have youth, I have power; but I don’t have what He’s talking about!
This man sensed something in the very person of Jesus and the words of Jesus that he had never seen or heard in the religious life of Israel.
SO – as Jesus sets out on his journey this rich young ruler runs after Jesus —- and Mark tells us
Mark 10:17 knelt before him
This tells is that this rich young ruler was also courageous
Because the religious powerbase of Israel had made it clear that ANYONE who follows this Jesus from Nazareth would be instantly ex-communicated from Judaism.
So here he comes – and notice what He is asking –
And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
He’s not asking Jesus to fix his life!
He has a life that by all human standards was “together” – rich – young – ruler.
We have seen lives in this gospel that were in tremendous need of fixing!
The demon possessed, the lame, the blind, the lepers.
People came and literally threw their loved ones at the feet of Jesus to be FIXED.
Matt 15:30 – the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others
DESPERATE PEOPLE.
This guy was equally desperate
He just didn’t know it until he heard Jesus!
KEY APPLICATION: Do you know someone like that – Someone who doesn’t think they need fixing?

I know some.
From their point of view they don’t feel like they need fixing.
I’m praying that one day – like this rich young ruler – they’ll over hear Jesus and say – “I don’t have that!”

KEY OBSERVATION: He comes for the right thing —-eternal life.

But his mistake is this, “What good thing must I DO?”
That doesn’t fit with receiving the kingdom as a child.
If you don’t know Christ personally please take note of this – This guy has it all.
We are going to see that
He is very religious.
He’s very upstanding.
He’s known the law from his youth up.
He is honest and courageous.
But none of those things will place a sinner in heaven.
None of those things will meet the need that is within our hearts.
17And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good?
Jesus challenges him
Jesus is not asking the question because He doesn’t know the answer.
It is interesting to do a study through the gospels to take note the questions that Jesus asks people.
You will find that Jesus never asks somebody a question because He doesn’t know the answer.
Jesus always asks someone the question to make them think of the answer.
Jesus always asks the question that He might cause something to arise in their heart and thoughts that He wants to deal with.

EXAMPLE: The woman of Samaria who comes to Him at the well and Jesus says to her after this little dialogue, “Do you have a husband?” —- “No I don’t”
Jesus was trying to get her to the surface.
“You’re right you don’t. You have five and the guy you’re living with now is not your husband.”
“Sir I perceive you’re a prophet.”
He asks the question to bring something to the surface.
There is only one who is good.
Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

KEY INSIGHT: Now the Jews were very clear on the concept that there was only one good and that was God.
So Jesus is challenging this guy
He’s saying, “Either I am God or I’m no good.”
Can you please note that –
If someone says – How do you know Jesus is God —- or Jesus never claimed to be God —- just bring them to the accounts of the rich young ruler (Matt 19; Mark 10; Luke 18)

KEY INSIGHT: Jesus then quotes the second table of the law
If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19Honor your father and mother,
and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Many of us remember the two stones that Charlton Heston brought down from Sinai.
The first table had 4 laws in regards to man’s relationship to God.
The second table of stone had 6 laws that dealt with our relationship with fellowman.
So now Jesus is going to sort this man out.
20The young man said to him, “All these I have kept.
That’s a pretty remarkable thing to say.
In his own mind he probably feels that he can say this
Because remember that the Pharisees viewed the Law of God only in terms of externally keeping of the Law.
Remember how in that the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus got to the HEART of the matter.
He told them that in order to enter the Kingdom their righteousness had to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees
He told them that God wouldn’t accept that form of righteousness.
You have heard it said that you shall not murder; but I say to you….
Thus Jesus proved that the righteousness that God demands, man does not possess.
20 What do I still lack?
? to miss out on something
through one’s own fault, to miss, fail to reach
? to be in short supply, fail, give out, lack
? to be in need, be needy, lack
this LACK jeopardizes your securing the inheritance
Jesus is really going to put His finger on the guy’s problem… that this guy has NO righteousness at all
Jesus would get to the heart of the matter by going to the first table of the Law.
21Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
He says – OK then, all you have to do is go and sell everything that you have and give it to the poor.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: Jesus points out to this young man that he had broken the 1st commandment which said that you are to have no other god before the true and living God
Bottom line – This guys god was his money.

KEY INSIGHT: Mark alone tells us what transpired next–
(Mark 10:21 NKJV) And Jesus, looking at him, loved him,
I have often thought – What did that look look like!
God had become man in the person of Jesus of Nazareth – and with those eyes, looked at him and loved Him! WOW!!!
WHY would Mark be the only one to make this observation?
Remember – We believe that Mark is writing from Peter’s first hand account of the life of Jesus
And Peter KNEW that look.
When Peter had denied Jesus 3 times we’re told that Jesus LOOKED at Peter.
I’m sure it was the same look.
I’m sure that Jesus looked steadfastly at this rich young ruler.
And the same eyes that looked steadfastly at the rich young ruler looked steadfastly at Peter at the moment of his greatest failure, and Jesus loved Him!

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: Jesus LOVED him! Jesus LOVED him!
But Jesus was going to CHALLENGE him!
WHY?
Because REAL LOVE is concerned with bringing the truth to bear upon an individual so that they will find eternal life!!

KEY INSIGHT: That is the tragedy in many Christian circles today –
They say that they love people but they won’t tell them the truth.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: Jesus didn’t compromise.
This guy WANTED eternal life!
Hey – If ever there was a SEEKER that we should be SENSATIVE to – it would be the rich young ruler!
But Jesus didn’t compromise – He looked at him and He loved him and said –
21 go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
NOTE THE RESPONSE

22When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
The guy goes away sad!
TREMEMNDOUS CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE:
The tragedy in much ministry today is that they don’t want anyone to go away sad!
They just want them to come – but they don’t want them to leave.
So those trusted with the truth of the Gospel don’t say anything that would cause them to walk away sad!
JESUS stands in total contradiction to much of modern ministry –
Jesus —- God incarnate —- who loved this guy
Put His finger on this man’s god
Said that he could never gain entrance into the Kingdom on the basis of his own righteousness / merit
Said that he needed to follow Jesus
And it says that he went away grieved.
Jesus loved him and let him walk away!

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: God made it very clear in the first table of the Law –
You can’t have any other god’s before Him.
That doesn’t mean in line before Him.
It doesn’t mean He has to be the number one God and you can have other gods behind Him.
The Hebrew is – ‘in my presence —- in my view.’ No other gods at all.
That’s what Jesus is touching here.
Go and get rid of your god and give it to the poor and come and follow me.

KEY OBSERVATION: By the way – the command to ‘go and come’ is always universal in regards to entering the Kingdom
Jesus is saying to you and to me – “Go and do this and come and follow me.”
BY THE WAY – He says it to us Christians –
“Go and do something like apologize to your wife.”
Or “Go and dump the pornography out of the house then come and follow me.”

KEY POINT: He’s saying that He won’t have any other gods is in His presence.

KEY POINT: He’s saying that He won’t have any other gods is in His presence.

NOTE WELL: He doesn’t say to every millionaire to go and get rid of all your money so you can follow me.
Because there are Christians that are millionaires that don’t worship their money.
They know that money is a great tool to use against Satan and to support ministry and mission!
They know it’s a great thing.
He says this only to those who have made possessions their god.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: Jesus touched this man’s god.
THAT is why he hung his head down and went away sorrowful.

KEY OBSERVATION: He didn’t walk away MAD – he walked away SAD.
He didn’t go away MAD at Jesus or thinking that Jesus was a lunatic –
He went away grieved thinking –
This Jesus has what I need and this is what it’s going to cost me – and I’m not up for it!
NLT – {23} Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is very hard for a rich person to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. {24} I say it again–it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

KEY INSIGHT: The camel is the largest mammal in Israel.
Whenever we go to Israel we always have fun with the camel rides. They are the stinkiest animals – disgustingly stinky.

INSIGHT: There are those who say He’s talking about a special gate at Jerusalem
There are those who have said that Jesus was talking about a particular gate called “the eye of the needle”
And that it was the only access to Jerusalem at night and if you came with a camel at night you had to unload the camel and it would get on its knees and be pulled through.

NOTE: They interpretation is incorrect for two reasons –
1.) There is no historical evidence of such a gate existing in the day of Jesus.
2.) To interpret the passage to mean that intimates that if you huff and puff you can get into the kingdom.
There is NO WAY that ANYONE can enter heaven by virtue of their own sacrifice or efforts.
You can’t sweat and struggle in.
Jesus is simply saying that
It is easier to get a literal Camel through the eye of a literal sewing needle, than it is for a rich man to get into heaven because it is so easy for them to trust in riches rather than in God.
Riches encourage a false security.
The rich man is apt to think that he can deal with any situation which may arise.

QUOTE: BARCLAY -
There is a vivid instance of this in the letter to the Church of Laodicaea in the Revelation. Laodicaea was the richest town in Asia Minor. She was laid waste by an earthquake in A.D. 60. The Roman government offered aid and a large grant of money to repair her shattered buildings. She refused it, saying that she was well able to handle the situation by herself. “Laodicaea,” said Tacitus, the Roman historian, “rose from the ruins entirely by her own resources and with no help from us.” The Risen Christ hears Laodicaea say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing” (Rev 3:17).
ALSO – Riches shackle a man to this earth.
“Where your treasure is there will your heart be also” (Matt 6:21).

QUOTE: BARCLAY
If everything a man desires is contained within this world, if all his interests are here, he never thinks of another world and of a hereafter. If a man has too big a stake on earth, he is very apt to forget that there is a heaven. After a tour of a certain wealthy and luxurious castle and estate, Dr. Johnson grimly remarked: “These are the things which make it difficult to die.” It is perfectly possible for a man to be so interested in earthly things that he forgets heavenly things,
to be so involved in the things that are seen that he forgets the things that are unseen–and therein lies tragedy, for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are unseen are eternal.
NLT – 25The disciples were astounded. “Then who in the world can be saved?” they asked.26Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
Is there someone you look at and think – IMPOSSIBLE!?
YOUR salvation was IMPOSSIBLE apart from God.
The same is true for everyone!
GOD is the ONLY one who can save a soul!
Ephesians 1 – Chosen, Adopted, Redeemed, Sealed – to the praise of HIS GLORY.
Who did all of those things for you?
If you’re a Christian it’s because HE Chose you
If you’re a Christian it’s because HE Adopted you
If you’re a Christian it’s because HE Redeemed you
If you’re a Christian it’s because HE Sealed you with the Holy Spirit.
It is ALL to the praise of HIS glory!
It’s ALL of God.
There is NOT ONE thing that we can take credit for in our salvation.
Even our ability to believe in Jesus – Ephesians tells us that we have been saved by grace, through faith, and THAT not of yourselves. It’s a gift from God.

KEY APPLICATION: Is there someone you know or love that you so desperately want to see saved and you’re thinking – What are they going to ever do to get saved?
There is NOTHING that they can do.
With MAN it’s impossible. But with God NOTHING is impossible!
PRAY for GOD to do what only HE can do!
This man saw in JESUS the desire of his soul
2 Cor 4:6 THAT is imposssible for man to do

]]> http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-1913-30/feed/ 0 http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-191-5/ http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-191-5/#comments Sun, 15 Jun 2008 06:00:14 +0000 admin http://metrocalvary.org/sermon-notes/matthew-191-5/

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Richard Cimino

June 17, 2007

Matthew 18:21-35

Lessons for the Citizens of the Kingdom

Part 7 Marriage – Divorce – Singleness

(Mat 19:1-3 ESV) 1Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2And large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.3And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”
In America (2005)
Number of marriages: 2,230,000
Marriage rate: 7.5 per 1,000 total population
Divorce rate: 3.6 per 1,000 population (46 reporting States and D.C.)
In Dave Carder’s and Duncan Jaenicke’s book, Torn Asunder: Recovering from Extramarital Affairs (Moody)
Carder notes that adultery and divorce rates in the evangelical population are nearly the same as the general population in the United States.
March 31 2008 Barna Group –
When evangelicals and non-evangelical Christians are combined into an aggregate class…. their divorce figure is statistically identical to that of non-born again adults: 32% versus 33%, respectively.
If you’re married you know the struggles of trying to make two human beings function together as one and do it with integrity and honor as God asks us to do it.
That makes this a passage of tremendous importance to the citizens of the Kingdom of God.
3And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”

FIRST – THE REFERENCE in the question
In Deut. 24:1-4 Moses had said that, if a man wished to divorce his wife because she had found no favour in his eyes, and because of some matter of indecency in her, he could give her a bill of divorce and the marriage was dissolved.
SECOND – The POINT of the question
The question was designed to pit Jesus against Moses – the great lawgiver and prophet of Israel
“Are you saying Moses was wrong?”
“Are you setting yourself above Moses as a law-giver?”
“Are you seeking to do away with divine law which was given to Moses?”
SECOND – The KEY ISSUE in the question
“Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?”
The religious leaders of the day were very divided on the question of what constituted grounds for divorce.
The courts of that day had particular opinions.
You were allowed to divorce if your spouse refused to consummate.
If the husband was impotent that was grounds for the woman then to divorce.
If the husband or the wife had leprosy then they would permit divorce.
If the husband refused, or was unable, to support the wife, it was grounds for divorce.
Very interesting – they said in case of insanity that the husband could not divorce the wife.
Do you feel like you’re in that condition?
If the wife became insane, the husband could not divorce her,
There was a genuine sense of mercy and compassion in this because if she was divorced, she would have no protector in her helplessness.
If the husband became insane, divorce was impossible
The reason being that it was the husband who initiated the bill of divorce, and if he was insane he was incapable of doing so.
Rabbi Shammai
Said that the indecency or uncleanness in Deuteronomy 24 meant fornication, and fornication alone —– and that for no other cause could a wife by put away.
Rabbi Hillel
Interpreted this in the widest possible way.
If she burns the dinner
Hey – If she’s getting on your nerves —– while she’s not looking you could turn the gas up on the range and burn the food.
If she spun around while she was walking down the street and in doing so was drawing attention to herself you could divorce her.
If she went out with her hair down it was grounds for divorce.
If she spoke to men in public you could divorce her.
If she said unkind things about the husband’s parents he was allowed to divorce her.
If she raised her voice to the point where the neighbors could hear her yelling you could divorce her.
Rabbi Akiba
He went so far as to say that the phrase if she finds no favour in his eyes meant that a man could divorce his wife if he found a woman whom he liked better and considered more beautiful.
The tragedy was that society in Israel had come to the place where the marriage bond was often lightly held, and divorce was permitted on the most trivial grounds.
THAT is the background for the question.
4He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5and said ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: Jesus essentially IGNORES Moses in regards to the question of divorce.

CRUCIAL OBSERVATION: Instead of going back to Deuteronomy, Jesus went back to Genesis.
We are going to see the wisdom of Jesus in going back to THE BEGINNING –
The very fact that Jesus REFERENCES CREATION as the basis for properly understanding marriage tells us something significant.
WHY has there been such a concerted and prolonged attack on CREATIONISM?
Because when you eliminate the CREATION account you eliminate the moral, social and spiritual FOUNDATIONS for life!
Psalm 11:3 if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
In the beginning, he said, God created Adam and Eve, man and woman.
NOT Adam and Steve.
He did not create 2 males
NOT Ada and Eve
He did not create 2 females
Jesus is pointing out the THE OBVIOUS in the very account of creation
Adam (the man) and Eve (the woman) were created for each other and for no one else;
There was no other woman for the man
There was no other man for the woman.
Their union was complete and unbreakable.
By referring the question back to Genesis Jesus is saying
“What God did when He established the first marriage teaches us positively what He had in mind for a man and a woman.

CRUCIAL INSIGHT #1 – By pointing them past Moses to Genesis Jesus is pointing out that marriage has it’s ORIGINS from God —- He is the AUTHOR of the relationship.

CRUCIAL INSIGHT #2 – By pointing them past Moses to Genesis Jesus is is also pointing out the PURPOSE of Marriage
1.) The only thing that was not “good” about Creation was the fact that the man was alone (Gen. 2:18)
The woman was created to meet this need.
He needed a companion who was equal to him and with whom he could find fulfillment.
God’s answer to this need was Eve.
2.) Marriage makes possible the continuation of the race.
“Be fruitful, and multiply” was God’s mandate to the first married couple (Gen. 1:28)
Which by the way – makes it IMPOSSSIBLE to legitimize same sex marriage because they are are in and of themselves INCAPABLE of living out this Divine PURPOSE.

CRUCIAL: From the beginning it was God’s DESIGN that sex be enjoyed ONLY within the context of commitment of marriage.
Outside of marriage, sex becomes a destructive force
But within the loving commitment of marriage, sex can be creative and constructive.
CERTAINLY a man or woman should not marry simply to legalize lust!
They should never think that getting married will solve all of his personal problems with lust —-
If you have a problem with lust outside of marriage you will bring your problem with lust into the marriage.
Sex was designed by God to be enjoyed in the context of a monogamous —- heterosexual union.
When it is there is NO such thing as a sexually transmitted disease!

CRUCIAL INSIGHT #3 – Since it is God who established marriage —- only God can control its character and laws.
God’s CREATIVE PURPOSE knows nothing of “trial marriages.”
God’s CREATIVE PURPOSE knows nothing of “same sex marriage”
It is a union between one man and one woman.
God did not create two men and one woman
God did not create two women and one man
God did not create two men, or two women.
No court of law can change what God has established.
ALL of these variations are contrary to the will of God, no matter what some psychologists and jurists may say.
7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
JESUS DECLARES that what Moses said was not in fact a law, but nothing more than a concession.
Moses did not command divorce
The Mosaic regulation was only a concession to fallen human nature.
At best he only permitted it in order to regulate a situation which would have become chaotically promiscuous.
Jesus essentially said to these men
“True, Moses permitted divorce; but that was a concession in view of a lost ideal. The ideal of marriage is to be found in Gen.2:23-24 where we have the account of the divinely created, unbreakable, perfect union of Adam and Eve. That is what God meant marriage to be.”
9And I say to you:
CONTEXT – CONTEXT – CONTEXT
They are challenging Him as to whether He places Himself above Moses —-
Who do you think you are?
Jesus was always DIVINELY DELIBERATE in His choice of words.
He DELIBERATELY says –
Moses PERMITTED you —- BUT I SAY TO YOU
In saying this Jesus is claiming to be God
Because He has already established the authority of God concerning Marriage
As He claims Divine authority to speak in the matter He says
That marriage was a permanent union that could only be broken by sexual sin.
9And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus does NOT use the word adultery here
The reason Jesus used the word fornication – pornos – is because a Jewish man in that society only considered it adultery if he had sex outside his marriage with a free Jewish woman.
The Jewish man did not consider it adultery if he had sex with a concubine, a second wife, a prostitute or a mistress.
Jesus uses this word fornication because any sexual activity outside of marriage is sin and forbidden of God.
It’s a perversion.
That’s why He uses that broader term.
By the way – from Genesis forward the phrase one flesh is used six times in describing marriage..
Gen. 2:24
Matt. 19:5
Matt. 19:6
Mark 10:8
1 Cor. 6:16
Eph. 5:31
The idea is that the sexual union is integral for the marriage.
Certainly, without sexual intimacy it is possible to grow emotionally – but you’re not really united.
Marriage is a union that is physical and emotional.
THUS the Lord uses the term one flesh
That’s why Paul says that you should not defraud your partner.
There are many times in counseling that we hear of one partner using sexual as their way or to manipulate in the marriage.
That’s wrong because it’s an integral part of the union.
7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?”

NOTICE: They thought that Moses was the voice of God
Making the words of Jesus But I say unto you —- very important.
So they ask – Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorcement and to put her away?
Again —- In the Law God permitted them to divorce. He didn’t command them to divorce – and that’s the way they had been interpreting this.
8He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
In Malachi 2:16 God declared, “I hate divorce!”
Divorce is contrary to God’s plan for mankind!
BUT God ALLOWS divorce ONLY in cases of adultery as gracious concession to the innocent party BECAUSE of DEEP and PROFOUND nature of sexual intimacy
Matthew 5:31-32 “It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife except on the ground of sexual immorality…..
You see – God knows there is a joining together that is more than biological.
When that union takes place it is spiritual it’s not just physical.
That is why when infidelity enters into the picture they are so injured and they feel so vulnerable and so violated that the marriage often times can not —- will not survive.

KEY POINT: There is at that time a Biblical basis for divorce.
Both here and in the Sermon on the Mount (5:31-32) Jesus makes it plain that a believer may divorce and remarry ONLY on the basis of marital infidelity.
He does doesn’t say that you have to divorce in the event of infidelity.
And should you chose to reconcile —- in light of the teaching on forgiveness —- you can hold that over the guilty partner’s head for years.
You can’t use that as a weapon for the rest of your life.
We obviously don’t have time this morning to go into it but I must reference what Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth concerning divorce and remarriage.
In 1 Cor. 7:10-15 Paul reiterates the teaching of Jesus
He forbids divorce, and a subsequent remarriage, for any other reason than adultery
But he also adds that a believing spouse may be free to remarry in the event of the departure of an unbelieving spouse.
1 Cor 7:15 5But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.

There is one other grounds for divorce and remarriage
2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
The adultery or divorces prior to coming to Christ are a part of the Old Life that has passed away.
The slate is clean —- but from conversion forward you are held to KINGDOM STANDARDS regarding marriage and divorce.

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Richard Cimino

June 17, 2007

Matthew 18:21-35

Lessons for the Citizens of the Kingdom

Part 6 – Forgiveness

21Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

KEY QUESTION: WHEN is THEN
It’s always an important question to ask of a passage
Because CONTEXT is so important to having a correct interpretation of a passage —- and consequently the correct application.
The general context is that of Jesus continuing to pour in to His disciples truths concerning
The NATURE of His Kingdom…
It is built upon WHO He is —-
the Messiah, the Son of the Living God —-who would suffer and die for the sins of the world and rise from the dead
It is built upon HOW much he cares for the children of the Kingdom
Truths about how they should live as those serving such a King — in His Kingdom….
He is giving to them LESSONS IN CITIZENSHIP.
About the CENTRALITY of HUMILITY in His Kingdom
Humility DEFINES greatness in His Kingdom.
Humility PRESERVES unity
In the IMMEDIATE CONTEXT – Jesus has just taught them about the process of correction and restoration.
Humility and love in action to WIN a brother
THAT is the WHEN of
21Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
We are often quick to find fault with Peter —-
I think we are relieved by the size and number of the faults that we find in this guy.
But I also believe that we should be greatly encouraged by Peter’s great strength –
He was so secure in His relationship with Jesus.
He was never afraid to ASK questions of Jesus.
We are the beneficiaries of the fact that Peter —- despite his obvious flaws —- ASKED questions

Because we get to hear the ANSWERS given by Jesus.
REMEMBERING THE CONTEXT – Peter is essentially asking
“O.K. Jesus – What if we go after this guy and restore him as our brother, but he sins again. Does forgiveness have a limit?”
Do we say to somebody, “Look —- I have already forgiven you five times for what you done. That’s it–you have gone beyond the limit”?
Having pointed out the admirable trait in Peter we DO have to note that Peter’s question seems to be an attempt by Peter to make himself look good to in the front of the others
(after Jesus has laid the groundwork of how important humility is to citizenship within His Kingdom)
The rabbis taught that a man must forgive his brother three times.
Rabbi Jose ben Hanina said, “He who begs forgiveness from his neighbour must not do so more than three times.”
Rabbi Jose ben Jehuda said, “If a man commits an offence once, they forgive him; if he commits an offence a second time, they forgive him; if he commits an offence a third time, they forgive him; the fourth time they do not forgive.”
They based this upon the Book of Amos. (Joel – Amos – Obadiah)
In the opening chapters of Amos there is a series of condemnations on the various nations for three transgressions and then a fourth
Amos 1:3;6;9
Amos 1:11,13
Amos 2:1;4;6
From this they concluded that God’s forgiveness extends to three offences and that he visits the sinner with punishment at the fourth.
Thus the Jews justified the limit of three times for forgiveness, saying, “If three transgressions fills up the measure of God’s forgiveness, men can’t go beyond God.”
In light of this we see that Peter’s question was actually self-promoting

Peter says –
Lord – I know the Rabbis teach that we should forgive three times….
But look – I’m gonna multiply that by two —- and for good measure add one
So Peter asks the question (and bless his heart for asking)
But he asks as if he is eager to hear Jesus say —-
Whoa Peter —- you are more than TWICE as spiritual than any of these rabbi dudes!
He asks as if he’s eager to hear another —-
You are blessed again Simon son of John, —- you got ANOTHER revelation from My heavenly father!
Jesus drops a bomb on old Peter.
22Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
That must have blown Peter’s mind.
Who could keep count for that many offenses?
But that was exactly the point Jesus was making:
TO ILLUSTRATE this lesson in the boundless nature of God’s forgiveness Jesus then says
23Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’
27Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
Here’s a great king who one day decided to call in all his debtors.
So he sends out his soldiers and back they come with this man.
When the king asks, “How much does this man owe?” his CPAs check the books and back comes the answer, “10,000 talents, your majesty.”
To us in the year 2008 that doesn’t communicate anything.
Commentators list the modern value of 10,000 talents as anywhere between $12 million and $1 billion
THE POINT of the figure is that it was an un-payable debt
A man might work all his life and make ten talents
Or if he was wealthy might end up with a hundred talents. or perhaps even a thousand.
But here’s a man who’s run up a debt of 10,000 talents.
How did he do it?
The text doesn’t say —- but perhaps he was governor of a province in the king’s realm —- and perhaps he skimmed off the tax revenue and secretly amassed a huge fortune.
In any case, the day of reckoning has come.
And the man is flat broke.
He spent it all, doesn’t have a penny left.
So the king says, “Sell his wife, sell his kids, sell his house, and while you’re at it, sell him.”
Not that this man was worth that kind of money;
This would do virtually nothing to pay off the debt, because slaves at their top price were sold at a talent apiece.
At that point the servant does what any of us would have done.
Verse 26 says that he starts to beg.
And he even makes the ridiculous promise to pay him back.
He couldn’t do it in a million years.
The Bible says the king was moved with compassion.
And he does something the man doesn’t even ask for.
The king not only releases him, he also forgave the debt.
He wipes the slate clean
Erases the book
Cancels the debt that was IMPOSSIBLE to repay!
Now the man owes him nothing.
And the man walked away scot-free —- BECAUSE of the MERCY of the King!
Now this is interesting – the man has gone from owing a billion dollars to owing ZERO
He owes ZERO but he HAS ZERO!
SO he thinks – where am I gonna get SOME money?
28“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’

QUOTE: William Barclay – It was approximately one five-hundred-thousandth of his own debt.
NOTE THIS WITH ME: Verse 29 is almost a word-for-word replay of Verse 26 —- Only this time everything is reversed.
What the first man had said to the king the second man now says to him.
The man formerly with the great debt is on top and his friend who owes virtually nothing is begging for mercy.
29So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31So when his fellow servants saw what had been done,
they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done.
It wasn’t the fact that the servant would not forgive his friend that shocked them.
It was the fact that he was so unforgiving after having found such mercy himself.
32Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant,
just as I had pity on you?’ 34And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.35“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: This is NOT about losing salvation after having been forgiven.
You don’t EARN your salvation by works of righteousness
And thus you don’t LOSE it by failing to be righteous.
Gal. 2:16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
This story is intended to impress us with
1.) The enormity of our own sins.
2.) The greatness of God’s forgiveness.
3.) The relative lightness of the sins of others against us.
4.) HOW the FORGIVEN citizen of the Kingdom should live —- how that life should be marked by and forgiving.
We read this and say – What was wrong with this guy?
The same thing that is wrong with many professing Christians:
They are unable to extend forgiveness with those who have wronged them BECAUSE
They have such a FLAWED view of the mercy THEY have received.
They don’t truly understand GRACE and MERCY —- they still have some sense of self- righteousness in what they have received from God.
It is only when we truly experience forgiveness in our hearts that we are humbled by it and it makes us gentle and forgiving toward others.
The servant in the parable did not have a deep experience of forgiveness and humility.
He was simply glad to be “off the hook” — and for some reason believed that he SHOULD have been forgiven — while this guy wasn’t so worthy.
“And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).
“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do you” (Col. 3:13).
One of the evidences that a person is saved is love for the brethren (1 John 3:10-17 ).
Christians who cannot forgive others have forgotten what Christ has done for them on the cross.
The Church (church) must beware of “the leaven of malice and wickedness” (1 Cor. 5:6-8 ) that will silently grow and corrupt the entire fellowship.
REMEMBER – This last part of the parable has nothing to do with salvation; it is a matter of “family forgiveness” between siblings in Christ, not between God and the sinner
5.) The danger of an unforgiving spirit.
34And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers (tormentors) until he should pay all that was due to him.
CRUCIAL POINT: Our salvation may be sure, yet we may be “tortured” by our own un-forgiveness

KEY INSIGHT: The world’s worst prison is the prison of an unforgiving heart.
Some of the most miserable people I have met through my years of ministry have been people who would not forgive others.
They lived only to imagine ways to punish these people who had wronged them.
But they were really only punishing themselves.

QUOTE: The hidden tormentors of anger and bitterness that eat your insides out, the tormentors of frustration and malice that give you ulcers and high blood pressure and migraine headaches and lower back pain, the tormentors that make you lie awake at night on your bed stewing over every rotten thing that happens to you. The tormentors of an unforgiving heart who stalk your trail day and night, who never leave your side, who suck every bit of joy from your life.
“I can forgive but I can’t forget?”
Almost all of us have experienced the problem of forgiving someone the best way we know how and then discovering that angry thoughts still fill our minds.
This bothers them because they have been told that God forgives and forgets.
Hebrew 10:17 “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
LISTEN – God does NOT FORGET anything!
He CAN’T forget —- If He DID forget He would be imperfect — He would not be ALL-KNOWING.
He is God because He KNOWS ALL things.
THUS – We must understand Hebrews to mean that He CHOSES to not hold our sins against us in a judicial sense anymore.

KEY POINT: Forgiveness is a choice we make.
Forgiveness does not mean we somehow wipe out of our mind the record of what happened.
Forgiveness means that
We choose not to remember it in the sense of not dragging it up and holding it over their head!
We choose not to hold a grudge against someone who has wronged us.
LISTEN – What glory would it be to God in forgiving us if He had a Divine size lobotomy so that He couldn’t remember that we ever offended Him.
NO – the GLORY of His Mercy is that He knows EVERY sin —– not just the ones we count
Yet He CHOOSES to not hold our sin against us in a judicial sense —-
He REFUSES to drag up the charges ever again.
Christ will forever bear in His body the COST of our sin!
When we see Jesus we will see Jesus as the Father sees Him —- as the Lamb that was slain
Slain for MY sin —- for YOUR sin.
“What do you do if the other person will not admit he was wrong?”
Writing on this very passage over 400 years ago, John Calvin said there are two kinds of forgiveness.
1.) The first is the kind where the person who did the wrong
admits it
comes to you asking forgiveness
you grant it and the relationship is restored.
That’s the ideal —- There’s confession, forgiveness, reconciliation, healing.
Unfortunately, in this fallen world the ideal is not always possible.
Sometimes —- most times perhaps —- people who have wronged us
Will not admit their guilt no matter what we do.
Sometimes they will lie to cover up the truth.
Sometimes they will cut off the relationship rather than face the hard work of reconciliation.
Sometimes they will even keep on hurting us
How can you forgive in a situation like that?
Calvin said you can forgive even in that situation in the sense that you refuse to let the hurt dominate your own life.
True, the relationship remains broken.
It may never be healed.
You can choose to wipe the slate clean so that your life is free from bitterness.
That’s not easy but it’s far better than living in the past keeping that wound open and festering!
Many of us struggle with unresolved hurts going back many years.
We’ve been angry and bitter far too long.
The hidden tormentors have done their work.
Now —- Today —- is time to forgive.
BECAUSE WE have been forgiven
We are CITIZENS in His Kingdom because when we owed a debt of sin that was beyond calculation the King was moved with compassion for us.
SO MOVED that He died in our place to PAY the debt.
Wounded for our transgression….
And now HE CHOOSES to not hold our sins against us.
Now —- Today —- is time to forgive.
BECAUSE it is the way the citizens of His Kingdom are to live —- because the King has commanded us to it.

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June 17, 2007

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June 17, 2007

Matthew 17:22-18:4

“Lessons for the Citizens of the Kingdom”

As we pick up in Matthew 17 we want to bear in mind it’s context.
We are now within the last year of the public ministry of Jesus.
The emphasis of these months before His cross is not on the crowds —

though there were times when He met the crowds
the emphasis of His ministry now on His disciples.
This is their time. They are the object of His teaching.
He’s getting them ready for His death / departure.
He’s getting them ready for their ministry.
So He’s teaching them very important truths.
Truths about the NATURE of His Kingdom…
Truths about His cross and resurrection and Second Coming
Truths about how they should live as those serving in His Kingdom….
Because the Kingdom of heaven is NOT like the kingdoms of this world
FOR US TO TRULY UNDERSTAND to our all that Jesus is teaching these men we must understand what is meant by the term — the Kingdom of heaven
WHAT is the Kingdom of Heaven? (31x in Matthew)
Is it the same as the “Kingdom of God?” (15x in Mark 31x in Luke)
SIMPLY PUT – The Kingdom of Heaven is where ever God is King!
= the sphere of God’s rule.
It is synonymous with the phrase “Kingdom of God.”
They are not different.

QUESTION: “Why the different titles?”
The Kingdom of God
It is God who rules that Kingdom
The Kingdom of heaven emphasizes the character of His ruling.
It is God who rules that Kingdom
And He rules it with
heavenly wisdom (his ways are not ours – there is a way that seems right to a man…wisdom that is from above)
heavenly principles (the way up is down…. To find life you must lose it)
heavenly power
heavenly love (passes human knowledge… behold what manner of love…)
heavenly peace (not as the world gives)
The NATURE of this kingdom is heavenly as opposed to earthly.
SO — what we see in this week’s study is a lesson in citizenship —- how to live as citizens in the Kingdom of God
As we pick up in Matt 17:22 we don’t how many days have elapsed since Jesus came down from the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John, where they were confronted by a desperate dad whose son was demon possessed.
22Now while they were staying in Galilee,
SO they are back in Galilee now
Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, 23and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful.

OBSERVATION: Jesus reiterates the reality of his death…. And it’s imminence
BUT – He hits them with another new bit of information here –
He had told them before back in Chapter 16 about His death.
But this is the first time that He adds that He will be betrayed.
“What does that mean? Who’s the traitor?”
He adds a new dimension to what they’re already wrestling with in the statements He has made concerning His death
And they are exceedingly sorrowful.
And understandably so.
24When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”

INSIGHT: Now Matthew is the only one who records this.
I think it’s because he was a tax collector. He was sensitive to this.
They come to Peter and are asking about the half shekel required in the law for temple maintenance.
25He said, “Yes.”
I don’t think he knew, he just answered. That’s the way he was.
And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” 26Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 27Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
Peter didn’t understand this but he will later.

NOTE THIS: If any king imposed taxes on a nation, he certainly did not impose them on his own family.
It was indeed for the support of his own household that the taxes were imposed.
The tax in question was for the Temple, which was the house of God.

Jesus is declaring that HE is the Son of God
Remember what He said when his parents sought him in Jerusalem – “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:49).
How could the Son be under obligation to pay the tax which was for his own Father’s house?

NOTE: None the less Jesus said that they must pay
Not because of the compulsion of the law, but because of a higher duty.
He said they must pay “lest we should offend them.”
The verb offend = the Greek word from which we get the English word scandal
It never means to insult or to annoy or to injure the pride of.
It always means to put a stumbling-block in someone’s way, to cause someone to trip up and to fall

KEY APPLICATION #1 – In life there may be things we could quite safely allow ourselves to do.
But we must be careful to never do a thing that might possibly cause someone to stumble and fall.
As Christians people come to us and say, “You’re not allowed to do that.”
And we can argue, “Well yes I am. The Bible doesn’t restrict this.”

NOTE WELL: Here’s Jesus Himself — the King of the Kingdom — saying, “Hey, I am the temple. I am the son of the king and the children are free — yet, so that we don’t offend anyone I’ll pay the tax!
What Paul referred to as “the law of love” (Rom 13:9) puts that on all of us.
Isn’t it interesting to study the gospel of grace and to see the grace of God?
George Whitefield — Said that he observed better and longer lasting fruit from preaching God’s grace and love than from preaching hell fire.
BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE —-
GRACE does not CHEAPEN the holiness of God —-
GRACE is not an EXCUSE for SIN or a SLOPPY personal witness.
GRACE is NOT an EASY thing!
The Good News of God’s grace is in one way very taxing.
Because it is the grace of God that puts sinners, saved by grace, in direct communion and fellowship with a HOLY God.
It is also the grace of God that removes every restriction and yet makes us accountable to Him.
It is this same grace of God that would bid us, as it does in Romans 14 and in other places, that we wouldn’t do anything that would stumble another believer…. Even when the grace of God gives to you the liberty to do that very thing.
Is it wrong for you to have a glass of wine with dinner?
The Bible doesn’t forbid that.
It may not be wrong for you —
Yet you know the minute that you have a glass of wine at a restaurant that some other person from church might be there who has wrestled with alcohol abuse for years — and they’re going to say, “You know what? I guess Christians can do this.”
YOU STUMBLE THEM — they TRIP over your liberty and FALL in their personal walk with Jesus.

KEY APPLICATION # 2- Those who trust and follow Jesus as the Son of God are the true children of God
1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
John 1:12-13 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
BECAUSE of the love and grace of God we have become the true children of God
Therefore – we are free from the old system of temple worship with its many “sacrifices” and “taxes.”
This does not mean that we no longer care about the ministry of worship.
We were MADE for worship and REDEEMED for worship.
God is seeking worshippers who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
It means we come to God through Jesus.
IF there is a physical building involved in the worship of Jesus, we are not forced or coerced to support that building….. The sons are free.
If you are a child of God, you decide how you will support a non-essential building (and all of them are now!)
Not by thinking of yourself as taxed by God
But by thinking of whether the things that happen in it are actually exalting Jesus — actually advancing the cause of Jesus Christ —

which is not building-oriented
but God-oriented
and kingdom-oriented
and ministry-oriented
and people-oriented.
27 “Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
This is a remarkable miracle for several reasons.
1.) JESUS TAKES CARE of His Citizens
Here we see Jesus taking care of Peter’s Tax – just as He had taken care of Peter, and would, take care of Peter

But Jesus had also
healed his Mother-in-law
enabled him to walk on water
In a few months would
(the night before His crucifixion) heal the ear of a man named malchus
(after His ascension into heaven) deliver him from prison”
Is it any wonder that Peter would one day write – “Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you!”
2.) Jesus asks Peter to HUMBLE himself so that no one get stumbled – so that he might freely contribute to the worship of God.
go to the sea, cast in a hook
He was not some little boy, or some impoverished man having to cast a simple line and hook into the Galilee
Peter was a REAL fisherman.
He fished with NETS.
Jesus gives directions that are BENEATH Peter’s abilities and experience.
3.) We The CARE and PROVISION of the citizen is HEAVENLY in origin — DIVINE in it’s nature
Take up THE fish – a definite article here
Jesus knew this fish.
If you’re a Calvinist this fish was predestined.
An Amazing Miracle –
Someone had to lose a coin in the water;
The fish had to pick it up; had to hold it;
Then bite “Peter’s” hook with an impediment in its mouth; and be caught!
This is too complex for an accident — too difficult for human arrangement!
Now in the Sea of Galilee there is a particular kind of fish —
It is estimated that there are ten million of them in the Sea of Galilee.
With this particular fish the mother will hold the eggs in the mouth.
The baby fish actually hatch in the mouth.
Then as they’re growing they’ll flee to the mouth of the parent for safety.
Of course the problem comes when your kid gets a little bigger you don’t want him in your mouth.
You don’t want a teenager come running in your mouth.
What the adult fish will do is pick up a shiny pebble and put it in it’s mouth as a kind of NO VACANCY sign
as the young fish sees it ones see that they don’t even try.
An Amazing Miracle –
FIRST – Someone had to lose a coin in the water;
THEN – The fish had to pick it up and had to hold it;
THEN — WHILE having this impediment in its mouth; this ONE FISH in 10 million had to be be caught BY PETER!
I like the fact that Jesus can make such arrangements for the citizens of His Kingdom!
4.) Life in the Kingdom is LIVED BY FAITH.
Again – Systematic study of the Scriptures giving God the opportunity to ephasize truth – this week the truth that “The Just shall live by faith.”
The Bible does NOT say that Peter found a coin in a fishes mouth to pay the Temple Tax! —- there is no vs.28
It is the only miracle that doesn’t have the results recorded!

CRUCIAL QUESTION: How do we know the miracle took place?
Because Jesus said it would!
Like Solomon said in 1 Kings 8:56 “…There has not failed one word of all His good promise…”
We say “Amen” to Joshua in Joshua 23:14
“Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.”
2 Cor. 1:20 “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”
5.) THE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP between the Citizen and the King

KEY OBSERVATION: The coin is twice the amount of the tax.
It was enough for Peter and Jesus.
He says to Peter – “This is for you and me.”
He didn’t say – “Peter this is for you, me and John – or – This is enough for twelve.”
“Just for you and me.”
There are certain things that are just between Jesus and me.
Is He doing anything like that in your life this morning?
I hope so.
CLOSING THOUGHT FOR COMMUNION
PLEASE NOTE WITH ME that these insights into how the GRACE of God shapes our behavior as citizens in the Kingdom of Heaven — are all in the shadow of the Cross!
Instructions in regards to
NOT offending
FREELY giving to worship of God
LIVING in humility
LIVING by faith
Are set against the backdrop of the CROSS.
It is ONLY at the cross of Christ where we understand GRACE
It is ONLY at the cross that we understand HUMILITY (humbled Himself and became obedient… even to the death of the cross)
It is ONLY at the cross where we have defined for us SACRIFICIAL love – the laying aside of rights out of love for others
It is ONLY at the cross that we see the REASON to WORSHIP and for GIVING to the cause of worship
CONTEXT of giving — 2 Cor 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.

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June 17, 2007

Matthew 17:9-21

“The Valley of Need”

LAST STUDY we saw in Matthew 17 that Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; {2} and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: This “Transfiguration” was a fulfillment of a perplexing promise at the close of Matthew 16.
It was a miniature preview of the Second Coming of Jesus to establish His Kingdom. It was a miniature preview of the glory that will be revealed to the world when He comes to reign.
Jesus was “transfigured,” NOT by means of an EXTERNAL light focused on Him so that He reflected the glory of God.
Rather, this was the OUTSHINING of the ESSENTIAL GLORY that belongs to Jesus Christ.
AS EYEWITNESSES to the Transfiguration
These three men actually saw the only moment in His earthly ministry when
Jesus allowed the GLORY of His divinity to shine through the VEIL of His humanity!
CRUCIAL DOCTRINE – For all of eternity prior to His incarnation Jesus expressed the fullness of His glory in heaven before worshipping angels.

KEY INSIGHT: In His INFINITE LOVE for YOU
Jesus chose to HUMBLE Himself
And VEIL His glory in a human body
For ONE ultimate reason

In order that He might be forever joined with us in our humanity
And THUS be able SUFFER and DIE on the CROSS in our place…..
All to become our Kinsman Redeemer.
9Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying,
“Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from (out from among) the dead.” 10And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”11Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming ? first and will restore all things.
Jesus reassures the disciples that Elijah will indeed come first.
Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
But the first coming of Jesus did not bring the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
The Malachi 4:5 coming of Elijah is probably best identified with the appearance of the two witnesses of Revelation 11:3-13, and the Second Coming of Jesus.
12But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.
Yet, there is also a sense in which Elijah has come already, in the work of John the Baptist, who ministered in Elijah’s spirit and power
LUKE 9 MARK 9
Luke 1:17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’
12Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” 13Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.
As we continue there is a considerable contrast between what transpired in the opening verses of Matthew 17 and what is awaiting them at the base of Mt. Hermon.
We see Jesus and these three disciples going from the mountain of glory to the valley of need.
This contrast is going to teach us that the Christian life is NOT all mountain top experiences.
It is an abundant life.
It is a glorious life.
But it is NOT without it’s “valleys.”
Listen to how the Lord described the Promised Land to His people (which is a picture of the Christian life) –
(Deu 11:11 NKJV) but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys….
MOST PEOPLE go through life looking for the peaks…. They live from
Event to event….
Triumph to triumph…
Party to party…
Wanting to avoid life in the valleys and on the hillsides.
Peter didn’t want to leave the glory of that moment
4Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ? let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
BUT – This is NOT the life that Jesus models for us.
Jesus would NOT camp out there!

KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus would NOT stay on the Mount of Transfiguration because there were battles to fight and needs to meet at the foot of the mountain.
THE LESSON > We should
treasure those mountain top experiences
be refreshed in them
but there are battles to fight and needs to meet in the valleys of the Christian life!

CROSS REFERENCE > LUKE 9 MARK 9
14And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15“Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is ? an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”17Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him;
and the child was cured from that very hour.19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”20So Jesus said to them, “Because of your ? unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21? However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

KEY OBSERVATION: Straight from the glory of the mountain top, he was met by human suffering.
Straight from hearing the voice of God, he hears the pleading voice of human need in the face of demonic activity.

NOTE WELL: Jesus NEVER saw human need as a nuisance, or an interruption.

KEY APPLICATION: The MORE we become like Jesus, the LESS we will see human needs as a nuisance or an infringement upon our personal times of blessing.
It is easy to feel “Christian” in the moment of prayer and meditation; it is easy to feel close to God when the world is shut out.
But that is not Christianity, nor is it true spirituality – that is escapism…. isolationism!
Real Christianity is all about getting up from our knees before God to meet men and the problems of the human situation.
Real Christianity is all about drawing strength from God in order to SERVE others.
We are to take our own needs to God
Not that we might have peace and quiet and undisturbed comfort
But that we may be able to effectively and powerfully meet the needs of others.

KEY OBSERVATION: In the course of one day, a disciple can move from the glory of heaven to the attacks of hell.

KEY INSIGHT: I think this is quite significant, and I think that it is almost a rule.
It seems to me that Satan is waiting at the bottom of every spiritual high that you may have.
It seems to be the rule that after having a very beautiful spiritual experience that we are always tested and tried by the enemy.
He tries to immediately come and rob you of that which God has given.
It seems like Satan is just waiting there to smack you, and to take away all of the glory and all of the blessing that you’ve just received….
SOMETIMES before you even get to your car IN THE PARKING LOT

QUOTE: J. Hudson Taylor – When God opens the windows of heaven to bless you, Satan opens the gates of hell and you are caught between the two.
14a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, 15“Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is ? an epileptic and suffers severely for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. 16So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
17Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” 18And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”20So Jesus said to them, “Because of your ? unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Mark adds this very important bit of info
(Mark 9:14-18 NKJV) And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. {15} Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. {16} And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”
THE SCENE >
Fresh from the GLORY of His Transfiguration Jesus and His three friends find the OTHER NINE involved in a double trouble!
1.) They were unable to deliver a boy from demonic control….

2.) The scribes had noticed their failure and were using it as a reason for argument.
And while –
the disciples were defending themselves
and the scribes were accusing them
the demon was all but killing the helpless boy.
THE SCENE >
THE SEVERITY >
MATTHEW TELLS US that the man’s son was a LUNATIC
If your translation says epilepsy that’s wrong.
The Greek is literally moon-struck
Our English word Lunatic = latin for moon struck
The word used to describe bizarre behavior believed to be the result of being exposed to the light of a full moon…. (luna =moon — tic = struck)

INSIGHT: This word in this context says that the child was lunatic, was insane
The reason being he was demon possessed.
To translate the word as epilepsy is not good because NOT every epileptic is demon possessed.
Luke adds -
(Luke 9:38-39 NKJV ) “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. {39} “And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.
Mark adds -
(Mark 9:18: 21 NKJV) “And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid…. 21So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.”

KEY OBSERVATION: This demon continues to throw this kid into the fire and water

NOTE: Self destructive behavior — suicide — are demonic in origin.
EVERYONE here is RIPPED OFF and DEFEATED
RIPPED OFF
John 10:10 NKJV The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
The father had been robbed

Because of this demonic activity his fatherhood had been reduced to caretaker and hopeless observer
He was robbed of the hopes, dreams, and aspirations for his boy.
The son was robbed of his boyhood –
no friends, his playmates were probably warned to stay away from him!
Parents – RUN to Jesus for your children —- PLEAD with Jesus for your children.
THE SCENE >
THE SEVERITY >
JESUS RESCUING >
EVERYONE has been robbed…… defeated
But Jesus LEFT the GLORY of His Transfiguration so that He could RESCUE those who had been robbed and defeated.
FIRST He rescues His disciples…. confronts the Scribes! (Mrk.9:15,16)
I’m glad that this is my Jesus –
That when I’m inadequate and others come against me that Jesus will step in the gap for me
That he’ll maintain my right and my cause – I don’t have to defend myself.
Jesus — my great rescuer!
NEXT He rebukes the whole crowd (Mt.17:17)
17Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.”

NOTE WELL: faithless and perverse generation

KEY INSIGHT: This is, by the way, the path to national decline – First faithless — then perverse.
That’s always the order.

NOTE: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17)
Hence the strategy of Satan —
Challenge the Bible….
Get it out of the hands, hearts and minds of man….
And they will become faithless… and then they will by default become perverse!
NEXT He deals with the faith of the boys father (Mark 9:22-23)
Since the disciples had failed, the desperate father was not even sure that Jesus could succeed; hence his statement….. “If you can do anything”
23And Jesus said to him, “If you can! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24Immediately the father of the child cried out ? and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve uttered those words to Jesus!

NOTE WELL: THAT is the kind of faith Jesus is looking for by the way.
Jesus is looking for the kind of faith that says –
“Yes Lord I believe –
but I realize that my faith is far from perfect – it needs to grow.
I don’t want my son’s deliverance and healing to hinge solely upon what little faith I possess
I’m looking to YOU –
your mercy and power…. To who you are.”
That’s the kind of faith that Jesus is looking for.
NEXT He rebukes the demon (Matt. 17:18)
Mark 9:25 ESV And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
Luke 9:42 And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him (last kicks and screams). Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.
AWESOME: The Redeemer returns the stolen goods to their rightful owner!
Jesus can present to us our children, our loved ones.

KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus secures the present and the future in the life of this father and son.
After this day the father never had to worry about taking his boy by water or sitting by a bonfire.

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: When Jesus saves us, He
takes care of our past,
provides for us in the present
and secures our future.
JESUS secures the whole thing.
BECAUSE Jesus has taken care of our past, we have a FUTURE with the Lord.
Yes – we ARE going to stumble and fall along the way — but that doesn’t change our future because that was taken care of by Jesus.
Let me tell you something guys –
We might be shocked at our failures
“I CAN’T BELIEVE I DID THAT!”
But heaven isn’t!

Jesus NEVER looks at one that He has saved and asks Himself – “How could I have picked such a loser” – as if it was a bad NFL draft pick — NEVER.
He NEVER says that BECAUSE when He paid for our sins He knew exactly what He was getting.
He didn’t pay for our sins past, and then say – From here on out you’re on your own.
He paid for the past, present and future.

FINALLY He answers the disciples question as to why they became powerless (Matt 17:19-21)
19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”20So Jesus said to them, “Because of your ? unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain
‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. 21? However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
1.) When we fail we should own our failure and ask our Lord for His gracious intervention.
We should sit at the feet of Jesus and humbly receive Rebuke or Instruction — as He sees fit.
2.) They were really comfortable doing this —- I think this wasn’t the first time.
3.) This kind = this genos – a race or a tribe.
It’s interesting the scripture indicate that there are different categories of angels and demons – principalities, powers and rulers of darkness.

KEY OBSERVATION: Jesus says that this particular kind of demon is not going to leave easily.
4.) “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”
It doesn’t mean that when you encounter the demon that you start praying and fasting then.
Jesus is speaking of a lifestyle of prayer and fasting.
THIS STATEMENT tells us that while Jesus was away, they began to grow self-indulgent.
In light of what we will shortly learn about these guys (Matt 18:1) — they were probably pouting over the fact that Jesus had left them behind and took those three)
They neglected prayer;
Their faith weakened.

Then, when this great spiritual confrontation came, they were unprepared.
Like Samson, who woke up to battle the philistines only to realize that his power was gone!
We need to stay Spiritually Healthy!
There are things and circumstances that seem impossible situations.
If you plant a mustard seed in the ground it might as well be under a mountain.
But it will move all the dirt when it senses the light to push out.
Bible NEVER teaches us to have faith in faith
When Moses and the children of Israel were in front of the Red Sea they didn’t have faith in faith. Moses had faith in God.
The secret is to have faith in the mover of the mountain….. not in faith itself.
By describing faith as a mustard seed
Jesus is also telling us that faith is something that is living, something that can grow.
We want to be giving ourselves to those things that will keep our faith alive and growing….PRAYER and THE WORD!
CLOSING THOUGHTS
We can’t help but be moved by the faith of the boy’s father.
In spite of the failure of the disciples, the father never doubted the power of Jesus.
“These guys are pathetic, and I’m not much better, but just let me get at Jesus himself, and my son will be saved.”
There are many who feel that
professing Christians have failed them,
or that the Church at large has failed them, and is powerless to deal with the very real needs of today’s world.
Yet this man
would not allow the failures and faithlessness of the disciples to stand between himself and Jesus.
Are YOU letting the failure or faithlessness of your
Husband/Wife
Church
Brother/Sister in the Lord
Stand between you and Jesus?
Having said, that I think it’s important that we realize the bottom line.
People NEED to get to Jesus!
They NEED to trust Jesus!

We are challenged to let those in need see Jesus so that they will run to Him.

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Richard Cimino

June 17, 2007

Matthew 16:27-17:8

“The Unveiling of His Glory”

Matthew 16 has been a wealth of truth
1.) The TOTAL DEPRAVITY of Man > The LOST condition of mankind
2.) SOTERIOLOGY > the NATURE of Salvation
3.) CHRISTOLGY > NATURE and MISSION of Jesus
4.) DEFINTION OF DISCIPLESHIP > The COST of following Jesus
We closed last weeks study considering the RATIONAL given by Jesus for counting the cost and following Him.
26For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Then Jesus – in the context of His redeeming mission — and the cost of following Him — shifts from the subject of suffering to the subject of glory!
27For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.28Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

KEY QUESTION: WHAT does Jesus mean by this?

QUOTE: Dr. John Walvoord – If the plain sense makes sense, make no other sense of it.
The PLAIN sense of it would be that some of them would never die until Jesus returned to the earth at the end of the Great Tribulation.
The FACT that ALL of them died in the 1st Century A.D. eliminates that possible interpretation.

KEY INSIGHT: It is important to note that in the original manuscripts there were
NO Chapter numbers — NO Verse numbers— NO Chapter breaks
The ONLY way to interpret the LAST verse of Matthew 16 is to understand that it is NOT disconnected from the first verse of Chapter 17
I believe that Matthew 17:1-8 flows directly from Matthew 16:28
THUS Matthew 16:28 is a reference to the very next event in the life of Jesus
An event in the Life of Jesus that is crucial to our understanding of

1.) the Deity and Incarnation of Jesus
2.) the Glory of the Cross
BY THE WAY – These words of Jesus iat the end of Matthew 16 are found in THREE of the Gospels.
Matthew 16, Mark 9 and Luke 9
In EACH instance these words are immediately followed by the account of what is known as the Transfiguration of Jesus.

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: This “Transfiguration” was a fulfillment of this perplexing promise at the close of Matthew 16.
It was a miniature preview of the Second Coming of Jesus to establish His Kingdom.
It was a miniature preview of the glory that will be revealed to the world when He comes to reign.
(Mat 17:1-2 NKJV) Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, (not special ops team – special ed) led them up on a high mountain by themselves; {2} and He was transfigured before them.
LISTEN to how the Gospel writers conveyed the brilliance of our Lord’s glory at the moment of His Transfiguration.
(Mat 17:2 NKJV) His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
(Mark 9:3 NIV) His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.
(Luke 9:29 NKJV) As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered….
THIS EXPERIENCE had a LASTING IMPRESSION upon these men.
(John 1:14 NLT) So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
(2 Pet 1:16 NKJV) For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

KEY INSIGHT: This word translated TRANSFIGURED gives us our English word “metamorphosis.”.
A metamorphosis is a change on the outside that comes from the inside.
A caterpillar emerges from a cocoon as a butterfly due to the process of metamorphosis.

QUOTE: J. Dwight Pentecost
Jesus was “transfigured,” NOT by means of an EXTERNAL light focused on Him so that He reflected the glory of God.
Rather, this was the OUTSHINING of the ESSENTIAL GLORY that belongs to Jesus Christ.
AS EYEWITNESSES to the Transfiguration
These three men actually saw the only moment in His earthly ministry when
Jesus allowed the GLORY of His divinity to shine through the VEIL of His humanity!

CRUCIAL DOCTRINE – For all of eternity prior to His incarnation Jesus expressed the fullness of His glory in heaven before worshipping angels.

CRUCIAL DOCTRINE – When Jesus became man He did NOT surrender His deity, nor His divine glory.
(Phil 2:6-8 YLT) who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God, {7} but did empty himself
When Jesus became man He chose to “EMPTY HIMSELF” of the right to express the glory that belonged to Him as the true and living God.
TO become our Kinsman Redeemer would require that His glory be VEILED in the tent of His humanity

KEY INSIGHT #1- The GLORY that shined through the veil of His humanity is
the very glory that belongs to God which was “veiled” in the Holy of holies in the Tabernacle, and later the Temple.
the very glory that belongs to God that departed from Israel because of their unbelief in Ezekiel 10-11.

KEY INSIGHT #2 – This is the glory that will be revealed when Jesus Christ to this earth the Second time.
(Mat 24:30 NKJV) “…. and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

KEY INSIGHT #3 – In the Transfiguration these men saw
the glory that will illuminate the entire world at the Second Coming,
the light in which the redeemed will walk for all eternity.
(Rev 21:23 NKJV) The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
3And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.
The presence of Moses and Elijah was significant.

NOTE: These two men represented THE LAW and THE PROPHETS in the Hebrew Old Testament.
ALL of the Law and Prophets point to Christ and are fulfilled in Christ (Luke 24:27; Heb. 1:1).

REMEMBER – that Peter saw the cross as a threat to the fulfillment of the promises in the OT concerning the Messiah.
Jesus wanted to assure these men — especially Peter — that not one word of the Old Testament Scriptures will be unfulfilled.
The promised kingdom would be established (Luke 1:32-33, 68-77).
Just as the three disciples saw Jesus glorified on this mountain, so God’s people would see Him in His glorious kingdom on earth (Rev. 19:11-20:6).

CRUCIAL: LUKE gives us this observation

(Luke 9:30-31 NKJV) And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, {31} who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
It is interesting to note the three men Jesus chose to witness His Transfiguration — Peter, James, John

They were chosen by Jesus to be with Him on THREE of the most crucial events of His ministry
Dr. G. Campbell Morgan has pointed out that these three occasions all had to do with death.
They were with Jesus in the raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead, teaching these three men that He was victor over death.
They were with Him in the Garden of Gethsemene when He surrendered to death.
Now He is allowing these same men
to witness the glory of His divinity shine through the veil of His humanity Jesus while speaking about His DEATH.

Jesus was showing these men (especially Peter) the GLORY of the CROSS!
4Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ? let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Peter had opposed Jesus going to Jerusalem to die,
So Jesus had to teach Peter that, apart from His suffering and death, there could be no glory.

This moment would NOT be lost on Peter

In his first epistle we find Peter repeatedly emphasizing the themes of “suffering” and “glory” (1 Peter 1:6-8; 11….. 4:12-5:11)

KEY OBSERVATION / INSIGHT:
In Luke 9:31 Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus about His “decease” – literally His “exodus” that He would “accomplish” at Jerusalem.
His suffering and death would not be an accident, but an accomplishment.
4Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ? let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

INTERESTING – Peter would one day use the very same word – “exodus” – in describing his own impending death (2 Peter 1:15).

CRUCIAL POINT: For the believer, death is not a one-way street into oblivion.
It is an EXODUS — a release
FROM the bondage of this life INTO the glorious liberty of the life in heaven.
Our RELEASE and was paid for by Jesus
The two Emmaus disciples had hoped that Jesus would set the nation free from Roman bondage (Luke 24:21).
BUT – What Jesus died to accomplish was not political freedom, but spiritual freedom:
Freedom from the world system (Gal. 1:4)
Freedom from a vain and empty life (1 Pet 1:18)
Freedom from iniquity (Titus 2:14)
Our redemption in Christ is final and permanent.
The very thing that Peter wanted Jesus to by-pass is the only way to our eternal Glory!
But there is something more of THE GLORY OF THE CROSS for us to see here -
4Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ? let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
The CROSS is the very reason that Jesus came to this earth, and thus the CROSS is the REASON for the laying aside His glory.
(Phil 2:7-8 YLT) but did empty himself, the form of a servant having taken, in the likeness of men having been made, {8} and in fashion having been found as a man, he humbled himself, having become obedient unto death — death even of a cross,
(2 Cor 8:9 NLT) You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was very rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.
Without this VEILING of His glory in the tent of His humanity there could be NO CROSS.
If there is NO CROSS there can be NO REDEMPTION for you and me.

KEY INSIGHT: In His INFINITE LOVE for YOU
Jesus chose to HUMBLE Himself
And VEIL His glory in a human body
For ONE ultimate reason

In order that He might be forever joined with us in our humanity
And THUS be able SUFFER and DIE on the CROSS in our place…..
All to become our Kinsman Redeemer.
4Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ? let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
OH THE GLORY OF THE CROSS —
The POWER of the Cross to REDEEM man — The POWER of the Cross to CAPTURE the heart of man.
(1 John 4:19 NKJV) We love Him because He first loved us.
(Gal 6:14 NLT) As for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world died long ago, and the world’s interest in me is also long dead.
(2 Cor 5:15 NLT) He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves. Instead, they will live to please Christ, who died and was raised for them.
4Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ? let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

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Richard Cimino
June 17, 2007

Matthew 16:13-28

“The Cost of Discipleship pt2”

REVIEW Matthew 16 has been AMAZING in regards to the DOCTRINE that we have learned
DOCTRINE = That which we should believe as Christians
1.) The TOTAL DEPRAVITY of Man > The LOST condition of mankind
2.) SOTERIOLOGY > the NATURE of Salvation
3.) CHRISTOLGY > NATURE and MISSION of Jesus
4.) DEFINTION OF DISCIPLESHIP > The COST of following Jesus
1.) The LOST condition of mankind
Jesus asked His disciples the question – v.14 “Who do men say that I am?”
They told Jesus what they had discovered to be the public opinion of Jesus
John the Baptist raised from the dead….. Elijah…. One of the prophets back from the dead.
THEN Jesus asked the question upon which Eternity hinges – v.15 “But who do YOU say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
NLT 17″You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.
LOST is not cliché — Separated from God by sin, man is INCAPABLE of discovering God.
2.) The NATURE of Salvation
The saving of a soul is the WORK OF GOD.
Man can NOT be saved apart from what God accomplished on the cross —- and can not become a beneficiary of that work UNLESS the Holy Spirit ILLUMINATES the heart and mind of the natural man to the TRUTH concerning Jesus Christ
3.) The NATURE and MISSION of Jesus (at the heart of MISSIONS is CHRISTOLOGY)
v.16 His NATURE – the MESSIAH, the Son of the Living God.
v.21 His MISSION – He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
Christianity is BUILT upon the the IMOVABLE bedrock of the PERSON, the NATURE and the WORK of Jesus.
The Church is built upon that alone.
The lives of saved men and women are built upon that alone!
The very strategies of hell can not prevail against the man or woman whose lives are built upon Jesus.
AN AMAZING few moments here!!
We might think that in view of these AMAZING truths being rolled out that they would have
circled up….
put their hands into the middle
and Jesus would say – On three – “God Rules!”
“1-2-3 GOD RULES!!!!”
And then they would march off to Jerusalem!
But alas – Peter had something else he just needed to say!
AFTER ALL – God the Father HAD given to him revelation a few moments earlier… and he was certain that he had just gotten another one!
22Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
In other words, “We MUST eliminate even the possibility of the cross!”
Jesus KNEW exactly where that sentiment came from.
Jesus basically said – “Peter that’s THE philosophy of Hell.
SATAN who HATES the Cross because it is THE PLACE where God saves and Satan loses.
WHAT JESUS SAID NEXT follows straight from the fact that
the natural man savors the easy way out…..
the natural man likes the taste of life without the cross…. A way to be saved without the cross!
24Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
We placed a tremendous emphasis on what was transpiring here!
JESUS IS NOT
Asking men and women to consider the option of joining a sub-culture
JESUS IS NOT
Asking men and women come to an intellectual agreement on certain doctrines.
HE IS
DEFINING the TERMS… DEFINING the COST
Of following the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
DENY HIMSELF
Peter had said to Jesus – AT ALL COSTS you MUST SPARE Yourself
Jesus responded emphatically – “THAT is the agenda of Hell….
The AGENDA OF HEAVEN – 2 Cor 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
JESUS ALWAYS
Esteemed others above Himself.
Put the PLANS of His Father….. The WORK of His Father…. And the GLORY of His Father before self.
So Jesus said – if any man is going to come after me, he can’t spare himself, he must deny himself.”
Because -
Christianity is BUILT upon the foundation of Who Jesus is.
The KING of the Kingdom is SELF – less
The kingdom of God is not man centered, it is God centered.
A man whose life is centered in God, can not be centered in himself!
A Christian is someone who is TRUSTING and FOLLOWING this same Jesus -

Therefore -
THIS is the REQUIREMENT… the COST of…. daily TRUSTING and FOLLOWING Jesus.
TAKE UP HIS CROSS and follow Me.
What the Cross meant to Jesus it also means to us!
The taking up of the cross involves the total submission of your will to God.
(Luke 22:41-42 NKJV) And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
TRUSTING and FOLLOWING will always be a matter of “Father not my will, thy will be done in my life.”
It is the submitting of myself totally to the will of the Father.
TAKE UP THE CROSS means that ALL arms of rebellion must be laid at His feet and the throne of the heart abdicated in His favor.
TAKE UP HIS CROSS and follow Me.
What the Cross meant to Jesus it also means to us!
The taking up of the cross involves the total submission of your will to God.
(Luke 22:41-42 NKJV) And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
TRUSTING and FOLLOWING will always be a matter of “Father not my will, thy will be done in my life.”
It is the submitting of myself totally to the will of the Father.
TAKE UP THE CROSS means that ALL arms of rebellion must be laid at His feet and the throne of the heart abdicated in His favor.
24Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
AGAIN -

JESUS IS NOT
Asking men and women to consider the option of joining a sub-culture
JESUS IS NOT
Asking men and women come to an intellectual agreement on certain doctrines.
HE IS
Asking men and women to FOLLOW HIM!
In this simple challenge we have clearly defined for us

THE DIRECTION
The DURATION
HE IMPLICATIONS of following Jesus!
THE DIRECTION >
The path that Jesus is taking is in complete opposition to the path that the unbelieving world is following.
Ps. 23 – The Lord is my shepherd,….. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake
Ps. 25:4-5 Show me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.5 Lead me in thy truth,
THE DURATION >
= be in the process of following Him.
The tense of the verb denotes a continued action.
THE IMPLICATIONS >
For the disciple this means that it will be a life of constant resistance to our every action because in following Jesus we will be going against the current of contemporary culture and values. (“any dead fish….. Takes a live one…)
SUMMARY
1.) DENY ourselves of whatever stands between us and a full commitment to God.
2.) TAKE UP YOUR CROSS in the surrendering your will to the will of the Lord.
3.) FOLLOW JESUS even though it is a path contrary to the course of this world
Jesus now moves from the WHAT it will cost to follow Him, to WHY it is worth the cost.
He says, “You can rightfully say the requirements are costly, but THINK ABOUT THIS….”
25For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
The world says –
You don’t want to LOSE anything….
Carpe Dium – Sieze the Day
Life is yours for the taking….. Yours for the keeping
That Philosophy of the World has pervaded “Christianity”….
The result is another Gospel that says – You can follow Jesus without having to Lose your life!”
Jesus says – Real life is found when you lose your life for Christ’s sake.
When you submit yourself totally to Him you discover the real meaning, and purpose of life itself.
Did God
place you here in order that you might go out and fulfill all your desires, and follow after your ambitions?
No way.
Did God
place you here in order that you might find all of the pleasure that you can, and live for pleasure?
NO way!
The man who
seeks to find his own pleasure, and his own way in life, is only losing his life.
But the man who
will seek to bring pleasure to God, is the man who has discovered life, and it’s meaning, and it’s purpose.

EXAMPLE: Ernest Hemmingway
Here was a man who by man’s standard “lived life to it’s fullest.
He was an ambulance driver in WW I.

He was actively involved in the Spanish Revolution.
He was a renowned hunter.
He was a famous author,
He drank hard and played hard.
And in the end he put a double barreled shot gun to his head.
Life on his terms! Yet in the end all was lost.
Place his life in contrast to a young man named Jim Elliot.
Bright, intelligent, articulate, physically talented,
He chose to consecrate his life and talents to serving Christ.
To the shock of even his Christian peers he became a missionary in South America where he would die a martyr’s death.

QUOTE: JIM ELLIOT – “No man is a fool who gives up that which he can not keep in order to gain that which he can not lose.”
26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

KEY QUESTION: How satisfying would it be to be the RICHEST man in hell?

ILLUSTRATION: A friend asked a son of a farmer, “How much did your old man lose when he died?

The son replied, “EVERYTHING!”

KEY QUESTION: How satisfying would it be to be the SMARTEST man in hell?
Ecclesiastes 2:16 (NKJV) For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!
or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Let’s say that you could own EVERYTHING in the world and could live for 150 years.
If you spend ETERNITY in hell, what real profit was there for you?

KEY OBSERVATION: Matthew tells us that Jesus immediately asked another question.
or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
NLT — Is anything worth more than your soul?
As far as God is concerned
your soul is worth more than the whole world.
As far as God is concerned
if you took the whole world in exchange for your soul, you’d be making a bad deal, a stupid deal.

CRUCIAL INSIGHT: You see, your soul is eternal. The world is going to pass away.
(1 John 2:16-17 NLT) And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves.
Yet men and women will sell their soul for so little.

EXAMPLE: My friend from high school.
He was so interested in knowing how he could have what I had found in Jesus.
He asked one final question, “Can I still sleep with my girl friend if I become a Christian?”
He exchanged his soul for the price of an orgasm.

ILLUSTRATION: Monkey Hunting in the Philippines.
Monkey Brain is a delicacy…. Process…..
Lose his head for a fist full of rice
To the BELIEVER
deny yourself.
take up your cross.
follow Me.
Following Jesus is MORE than lip-service
Deut. 29:22 that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I ? follow the dictates of my heart’—
Selfish and self-serving Christians are miserable Christians.
If you live as a Christian demanding your rights you’re a miserable person.
More than that –
If someone wrongs you and you want to sing the blues and tell everybody about it — you’re a miserable person — not to mention everyone else around you.
By contrast – When you see someone who’s really come to an end of their own life they have peace and joy.
There isn’t anything that you can take from them because they don’t have anything to lose!
IF YOU take hold of your life you lose your life.
You hear people saying that, “I feel like I’m losing it, I feel like I’m losing it.”
Well they are losing it…. Emotionally…. Is because they’re trying to hold on to it.
Let go of it and you’ll find it.
Who knows what He could do with you?
What is there that is preventing you from being a D.L. Moody or a Charles Spurgeon?
There is noting that stands in the way of that except self
2 Chron 16: 9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. (life is given over to Him).”
To the UNBELIEVER
Satan is bidding on your soul.
Some people sell cheap – for a handful of rice!
For some it’s as cheap as a moment of sexual pleasure!
For others it’s as cheap as a stock portfolio
For others as cheap as demanding their own way and their own will.
Too many people get earth and heaven confused.
All of their hopes and dreams are wrapped up in here and now.
Do you have an endless hope or do you have a hopeless end?
In this morning’s Bible Bus we read these words – spoken to the Children of Israel while they were in the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 30:15-17 15“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18I announce to you today that you shall surely perish;
We are brought back to the very beginning of the events in Caesarea Philippi
NLT 17″You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.
A man or woman can NEVER look at the costs of trusting and following Jesus and truly conclude –

Yes, I will come after Him
I will deny myself… take up my cross and follow Him
Merely on the basis of intellect.
It REQUIRES the greatest miracle in the universe
It REQUIRES God the Holy Spirit revealing to you the depth of His love, grace and mercy in the person of His Son.
It is NOT about
goose bumps, or tears or chills or some warm feeling that comes over you… though you might have one or all of those happen.
Salvation occurs when – apart from anything and everything else –
CONVINCED of the truth of Jesus in a way that is so CLEAR and so DEEP that it causes you to REPENT and BELIEVE in Jesus.
Isaac Watts
When I survey the wondrous cross?On which the Prince of glory died,?My richest gain I count but loss,?And pour contempt on all my pride.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,?Sorrow and love flow mingled down!?Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,?Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,?That were a present far too small;?Love so amazing, so divine,?Demands my soul, my life, my all.

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Richard Cimino

June 17, 2007

Matthew 16:13-28

“The Cost of Discipleship”

WE LEFT OFF in Matthew 16 with Jesus and His disciples in the extreme North of Israel – a place called Caesarea Philippi.
There at the base of Mount Hermon Jesus asked His disciples the question – v.14 “Who do men say that I am?”
According to the twelve there were three major opinions concerning Jesus:
John the Baptist raised from the dead – Elijah – One of the prophets back from the dead.
It is interesting – that in all of the SPECULATION concerning Jesus, that there were NONE that speculated that He was the Messiah!
That no one else considered Jesus to be the Messiah is of great importance in light of what happened next.
Because THEN Jesus asked the question upon which Eternity hinges – v.15 “But who do YOU say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus responded to Peter’s answer
v. 17 NLT “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.

KEY INSIGHT: Jesus declares to Peter, and to us, that this is NOT something that you ANALYZE and DEDUCED on your own.
This is something that HAD to be revealed to Peter, and MUST be revealed to us, from heaven.
We spent a great deal of time looking at the LOST condition of man… the spiritual darkness in which lost man lives and thinks…
and lost man’s TOTAL INABILITY to know truth apart from the work of the Holy Spirit ILLUMINATING our darkened hearts with the truth of the Gospel.
The Scriptures declare that man, by his wisdom, will NEVER know God.
For all of his intellectual powers, the Natural man…. Man separated from God by sin… can NOT KNOW the things of God, because he CAN’T RECEIVE them….
2 Cor. 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
THEN Jesus made it clear that HIS Church would be built upon the foundation of who Jesus is.
The Church is built upon the IMOVABLE bedrock of the PERSON of Jesus.
The very strategies of hell can not prevail against the man or woman whose lives are built upon Jesus.
20Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

WHY did Jesus do that?
Because at THIS POINT, they themselves did NOT under-stand the full implication of Jesus being Messiah.
Jesus is going to begin to tell them what those implications are and they are not going to be able to handle it!
21From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
Matthew tells us that upon hearing this statement of Jesus that Peter began to rebuke Him!
22Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”
In other words, “We MUST eliminate even the possibility of the cross!”
23But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Jesus is NOT calling Peter, Satan.
Jesus KNOWS exactly where that sentiment came from.
Jesus basically said – “Peter that’s THE philosophy of Hell.
SATAN HATES the CROSS…
Because IT is THE place where He loses and God WINS…. IT is THE ONLY place God SAVES!
That is why TODAY Satan still works hard to
Keep even the followers of Jesus savoring the things of man…..
And to keep them from glorying in the cross… proclaiming the cross

KEY OBSERVATION: What Jesus is going to say next follows straight from the fact that the natural man savors
the easy way out
the comfortable things.
24Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
CONTEXT – CONTEXT – CONTEXT
THESE WORDS OF JESUS immediately follow very specific events
JESUS tells them that BECAUSE He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God,
He MUST suffer
He MUST die on the Cross
He MUST rise again on the Third Day.
Jesus NO SOONER says that and PETER IMMEDIATELY responds to Jesus by saying –
SPARE YOURSELF
At all costs, we can not let this happen
DO NOT MISS THIS
JESUS IS NOT
Asking men and women to consider the option of joining a sub-culture
JESUS IS NOT
Asking men and women come to an intellectual agreement on certain doctrines.
HE IS
DEFINING the TERMS… DEFINING the COST
Of following the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
24 “If anyone desires to come after Me (continually come after me), let him deny himself,
DENY HIMSELF
Peter had said to Jesus – AT ALL COSTS you MUST SPARE Yourself
Jesus says – “THAT is the agenda of Hell….
I AM NOT going to spare Myself…. So if any man is going to come after me, he can’t spare himself, he must deny himself.”

NOTE THIS WITH ME – discipleship Jesus did not set forth a lengthy set of do’s and don’ts.
He did NOT say, “To come after me thou shalt not _________.
Instead, He simply declared that in order to come after Him, one MUST deny self.

NOTE WELL: Self Denial is NOT DENIAL of SELF.
Self-Denial can be very SELF-serving.
Dieting / Working out involve self-denial.
But the beneficiary of that self-denial is YOU!
We live in a society that says we in order to be a decent person we have to FIRST take care of ourselves.
The world around us tells us -

THE reason we act badly towards others is because we don’t take good enough care of ourselves.
I don’t see anywhere in the Bible where we have a problem loving self.

I think most of us are pretty much in love with ourselves.

EXAMPLE: I can come home on a Friday night feeling like I’ve worked hard all week.
And I want the remote.
It’s my right.

You guys have gotten to do what you wanted all week.
While I can’t sit down for five without someone ELSE needing something FROM ME!
HERE’S ANOTHER ONE: You hear people say – “Oh I hate myself. I hate my hair it’s so ugly.”
But you know that’s actually IR-rational!
If you really hated yourself you’d be glad you were ugly.
You’d be happy – “I hate myself. Boy am I glad I’m ugly.
THE problem is that we love our selves…. And because of that we ALWAYS want to SERVE self!
That’s why Jes HAD to tell husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church… usto love his bride the way he takes care of his own body.
Think of it like this –
You wash your car it lasts for a few months but not your teeth.
SO – You brush your teeth everyday.
You have to get up every morning and do the same thing.
And you DO it because it’s good for YOU to do it.
IN EVERY CONTEXT –
Moment by moment as I go through the day
I find that taking care of self is the easy thing to do.
And THAT is exactly what I am doing when I
Insist upon ARGUING… Raising my voice….
God says that a soft answer turns away wrath.
But I have a different thing going on inside of me that says – If I scream louder I may win.
That is the preservation of self, not the denial of self.
To FOLLOW JESUS requires that we DENY SELF
JESUS ALWAYS
Esteemed others above Himself.
Put the PLANS of His Father….. The WORK of His Father…. And the GLORY of His Father before self.
Christianity is BUILT upon the foundation of Who Jesus is.
A Christian is someone who is TRUSTING and FOLLOWING this same Jesus -

That RELATIONSHIP must BEGIN with…. and CONTINUE with….. the decision to DENY SELF.
THUS is the REQUIREMENT… THIS is the COST of…. daily TRUSTING and FOLLOWING Jesus.
And it REMAINS the same to this day –
There MUST be a denying of self because
The KINGDOM of God is not about SELFishness.
The KINGDOM of God is not about SELF-centeredness.
The KING of the Kingdom is SELFless
There must be a denying of self because
The kingdom of God is not man centered, it is God centered.
A man whose life is centered in God, can not be centered in himself!
24Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and TAKE UP HIS CROSS and follow Me.
The SECOND DEMAND of discipleship is that we must take up the Cross
These words of Jesus are widely misunderstood.
Have you ever heard someone say
“I guess this is the cross I have to bear.”
They are usually referring to their
Spouse… boss… rebellious child…. old car… bad healtr
That is NOT at all what these words mean
AGAIN – REMEMBER that it is JESUS that we are deciding to TRUST and FOLLOW
He has just said that He MUST be crucified
What the Cross meant to Jesus it also means to us!
The taking up of the cross involves the total submission of your will to God.
(Luke 22:41-42 NKJV) And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
RIGHT UP FRONT – TRUSTING and FOLLOWING will always be a matter of “Father not my will, thy will be done in my life.”
It is the submitting of myself totally to the will of the Father.

REMEMBER how sensitive Jesus was to the ORIGIN of Peter’s insistence that Jesus NOT go to the Cross?
Satan had tried to tempt Jesus into by-passing the Cross…. Which was the very reason Jesus came into this world.
Satan not only HATES the Cross because it is THERE where God saved sinners
He hates it because the Cross of Jesus was the ULTIMATE act of SUBMISSION and OBEDIENCE to the will of the Father.
Phil. 2:8-11 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Satan was cast out of heaven because he exalted his will above God’s!
(Isaiah 14:12-15 NKJV) “How you are fallen from heaven O Lucifer, son of the morning! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ 15Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,

ILLUSTRATION: After a notable British victory over the French in a naval battle
One of the defeated French admirals smilingly approached Lord Nelson with outstretched hand, and sword swinging at his side.
Nelson impassively greeted the Frenchman with, “Your sword first, sir.”
TAKE UP THE CROSS means that ALL arms of rebellion must be laid at His feet and the throne of the heart abdicated in His favor.

QUOTE: A.W. Tozer
In every Christians heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne until he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross, he remains on the throne. We remain the king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and wear our tinsel crowns with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility.
We will leave off here this week
The Lord willing, we will pick up next Sunday with the THIRD DEMAND of discipleship and the RATIONAL for committing to Follow Jesus.
deny himself…. take up his cross, and follow Me. 25For
whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

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