Thank you. in the car I heard a story about a
Bible college classroom where there was a group
of students, about 25 students, and a seasoned
professor. And it struck the professor that the
class seemed to be not real dialed in. They weren't
real excited about learning the things of God
and what it was that they needed to know. Now,
it's a Bible college class. To get into Bible
college, you have to share your testimony. You
have to profess to be a Christian. Theoretically,
you have to be baptized. And so he thought, well,
they should be pretty fired up about the things
of God. Those are the people that you expect
to be pretty fired up. When I was in Bible college,
pretty much all of my classes, everybody was
pretty fired up. We would debate and struggle
over difficult topics, and we would ask questions
that one week no one could answer, and then we'd
all come back next week, and we'd talk about
it again to have the answers. But this professor
said, well, I think my class is not very fired
up about the things of God, and I don't understand
why that is. So he hatched a plan. What he decided
was at his next class he would come in and he
would bring the very largest Beautiful doughnuts
that he could get We got these great big doughnuts
I didn't understand exactly what a great big
doughnut is until two years ago when Aaron and
I went down to a golf tournament and they had
doughnuts that were big as your head actual doughnuts
same kind of just like you'd get like a frosted
doughnut or glazed doughnut whatever they were
literally this big and We had to split one. It
was way too big for to eat one And anyway, so
he brought in these great big donuts, and he
put one on each student's desk before the students
came in the classroom. And then he asked one
of the students to stay after the week that he
was plotting this, and he said, next week I'd
like you to be part of an object lesson. He said,
how many push -ups do you think you can do? And
he said, I don't know, probably a couple hundred.
Easy. He was a guy who was very physical, well
-built, whatever. He said, I'm not going to do
a couple hundred. And he said, so next week I
would like you to do... maybe 300 push -ups.
And he's like, I don't think I can do 300 push
-ups. And he said, but nonetheless, I would like
you to commit to do that. Can you do that? And
he said, oh, I can sure give it my best. I'll
give it my best try. So the next week he comes
into class and the donuts are on the desk and
the student comes into this town just like normal.
And the students are all like, what are the donuts
for? Did we do something good? And they're excited
for the first time ever because there's donuts,
right? They're not so excited about learning
the word of God, but they're excited about the
donuts. And the young man's name was due to do
the push -ups. His name was Bob. And everybody
noticed that on Bob's desk there was no donut.
And Bob raised his hand and said, I didn't get
a donut. And he said, no. But I would ask you
to come forward. And he did because he'd been
prearranged to do so. And then he went to the
first student in the first desk at the right
-hand side. And he said, no one's allowed to
eat these donuts. And he said, but I ask you,
Bob, would you do 10 push -ups so that... whatever
her name was, Sally can eat her donut. And Bob's
like, oh, sure. And he flops down on the floor,
and he does the 10 push -ups, no problem, jumps
back up, and he's beaming, he's excited, and
Sally starts eating her donut, and she's happy,
working down the row. Each student, he says,
would you do 10 push -ups so that Ron can eat
his donut? Would you do 10 push -ups so that
Kerry can eat his donut? Would you do 10 push
-ups, and he's going down the row, and it's going
pretty good. I mean, he's able to do 10 push
-ups at a time, not really a problem, but it's
kind of getting up there. He's getting to the
point where... He's done 150 push -ups, and they
can see now he's sweating, and his face is red,
and his muscles are changing shape a little bit
from the hard workout. And about midway through,
they're like, I want to do my own push -ups.
The next guy, he's a pretty physical guy. He's
like, I want to do my own push -ups. I'm sorry
you can't. Only Bob can do the push -ups today.
So Bob, will you do 10 push -ups so Jeff can
eat his donut? And Jeff's like, I won't eat it.
If I can't do the push -ups, I'm not going to
eat the donut. And he said, will you do 10 push
-ups so Jeff can eat the donut that Jeff refuses
to eat? And he drops down on the floor and he
does the 10 push -ups. And Jeff just sits there
fuming. And it goes about like that for the last
10 students. One student gets up and he says,
I'm not going to participate in this object lesson.
You can see Bob's obviously struggling. He's
sweaty. He's red -faced. Sweat's dripping off
his nose at about 220 push -ups. And so the kid
gets up and he throws his donut in the garbage
can. And he says, I will not. And then he said,
Bob, don't do the push -ups. And Bob says, I
have to do the push -ups. I have to. And he's
like, but I'm not taking a donut. I don't have
a donut. It's not a donut. I'm not going to eat
it. I'm not going to do it. And Bob says, I have
to do the push -ups. So he gets down and he does
the push -ups. And the kid sits down and he's
fuming. So now about a little under half the
class. The ones that kind of figured it out.
So the first half of the class, they eat the
donut. They're enjoying the heck out of it. By
now, her entire donut's gone, you know, and they're
sort of processing what's going on. And the last
few students become downright irate. They're
ready to cuss out the teacher. Now, they're not
doing that because it's Bible college and we
don't do that in Bible college, but they're very
angry with the teacher. And those last ten push
-ups, that was really something for Bob to do
those push -ups. And he does the push -ups. And
then he goes back and he sits down in the seat,
which is empty. He doesn't even have a donut.
And the class is waiting for the professor to
say something, and the professor doesn't say
anything. And then finally, after a long silence,
the professor says, the gospel is like this.
Jesus Christ died for you. Even if you want to
do it for yourself, you can't. Even if after
you realize that you decide to do some of it
for yourself, you can't. His sacrifice is sufficient.
And they look at Bob and they're like, that's
amazing. And they realize Bob doesn't even have
a donut. And some of the people near Bob try
to give him their donut, the ones that they,
and he's refusing. You see, Jesus didn't need.
to be saved. And that was part of why he did
the saving. So in this season, as we're two weeks
away from Easter, we would be prudent, I think,
to look at the story of Jesus' crucifixion. It
would certainly be foolish not to look at it
at some point in time before we look at his resurrection,
which occurred essentially on what we call Easter
morning or Resurrection Sunday. We're going to
do that today, but we're going to hone in on
just two key points. And then we're going to
bring those together and see something that I
think, I hope, some of you may have already seen
it in Scripture, but many of us have not. The
first point is Jesus was declared innocent. So
if you have your Bibles, maybe a little Hoot
or Hallelujah, go with me to Luke chapter 23.
Amen. This is God's Word. By doing that, that
might be hard for you, but by doing that, you
are divorcing yourself of your own ideas and
submitting yourself to the ideas of God. This
is God's Word. Whether or not I get it right,
what comes out of God's Word is life -affecting.
By the way, we sang the song Heart of Worship.
That is the song that we sang at camp many years
ago. And I was saying to God, God, You tell me
what to do and I'll do it, whatever it is. And
I had said that to Him a hundred times. God,
tell me what to do and I'll do it, whatever it
is. And God said back to me, you say that, but
you don't do it. And I was like, no, no, I do.
I do. I was like, started to argue with God saying,
no, I do do what you tell me to do. God, honestly,
I do. And then God flashed in my mind images
of all the things that he had told me to do.
Little things like go tell that person hello.
Witness to that person. Give that person your
Bible. Things like that that had happened in
the preceding years. And at about 13 visions
of that. I was crumbling. I was falling apart,
wondering if I was even a Christian. Tears were
streaming down my face. From then, I have tried,
and I probably failed, but I've tried and succeeded
a lot too, to always do what it is that God called
me to do. And this sermon is different from any
sermon that I've ever written in all the decades
that I've now been preaching. And it's that way
because this is the way God told me to structure
it. So I hope it means something to you. It does
to me. because to me it looks like I did what
God told me to do. All right. So first look at,
and we're going to skip through Luke 23. I'm
going to give you a couple of other texts. You
can mark them. You can flip there. We won't be
there long. So it's how you want to handle it
is up to you. Okay. So Luke 23 in verse four,
then Pilate, who was the governor, of course,
he doesn't say that. It says, then Pilate said
to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no
guilt in this man. So he's talking about Jesus.
He renders the verdict. I find no guilt in this
man. In that day, in that moment in time, there
was only one person on the earth who had jurisdiction
over top of Jesus who could have found him guilty.
The Jews didn't have that. In fact, they all
even say, look, we don't have the right to put
him to death. We brought him to you to do that
because we don't have the right to do that. So
Pilate was the guy and his verdict was, I find
no guilt in this man. And then down in chapter
23, verses 14 to 16, he says, and said to them,
you brought this man to me as one who incites
the people to rebellion. And behold, having examined
him before you, I have found no guilt in this
man regarding the charges which you make against
him. No, nor has Herod. For he sent him back
to us, and behold, nothing deserving death has
been done by him. Therefore, I will punish him
and release him. So it's interesting that he
was going to go ahead and punish him, because
obviously there were some problems, right? There
was a crowd here rioting somehow because of Jesus.
But he was not going to kill him. He said, no
punishment worthy of death. Then down in verse
22, still in the chapter 23 of the book of Luke,
it says, And he said to them the third time,
Why? What evil has this man done? I have found
in him no guilt demanding death. Therefore, I
will punish him and release him. Over in John
19, verses 4 and 6, John writes it this way.
Pilate brings Jesus out, telling the crowd for
a third time that he finds no basis for a charge.
In Matthew 27, 24, Pilate washes his hands, declaring
himself innocent of this man's blood. That's
after he was warned by his wife to have nothing
to do with Jesus because she had suffered in
a dream because of the righteous man who Jesus
was. Luke 23, 41, the criminal hanging alongside
Jesus declares, this man has done nothing wrong.
Now, you know, there's an old saying, it takes
one to know one. So Pilate was the guy who had
the authority to crucify Jesus, but here is a
thief being crucified who could have looked at
Jesus and known that Jesus was something unclean,
that he was worthy of the crucifixion, right?
But he looks at Jesus and says, this man has
done nothing wrong. He admits his own guilt as
he's being crucified, but of Jesus he says, this
man has done nothing wrong. And then in Luke
23, 47, the Roman centurion declares, as he sees
Jesus die, and Jesus' final words, It is finished.
The Roman centurion declares, certainly this
man was innocent. And so you've got the governor,
the thief, and the executioner, all saying Jesus
was innocent. But then now notice this. In Matthew
27, 26, it says that Pilate releases Barabbas
and orders Jesus scourged and crucified. In John
19, 6, Pilate delivers Jesus to them to be crucified.
In Luke 23, 24, and 25, that's in that same chapter
we're looking at, Pilate decides to grant the
demand of the crowd and hands Jesus over to be
crucified. So what we have is a verdict. The
verdict is innocent, punishable perhaps, and
releasable. That's the verdict. And then we have
a punishment delivered, scourging and death.
We see two characters in the story essentially
going at it. And I submit to you, and it's a
little bit of a metaphor, but I submit to you
they are brothers. Israel as a son of God. Remember
it said of Israel, out of Egypt I have called
my son. Talking about Israel. The people of Israel
were considered essentially a son of God. And
they cry out for the destruction of Jesus. But
notice that it is Jesus' blood that will actually
spare even them. If they will ever be saved,
it will be by the blood of Jesus, the very one
that they crucified. The theme of two brothers
runs like a thread through the whole Bible. And
there are two brothers here in this story. The
theme usually follows a subversion of expectations.
The older natural heir, the older natural brother,
fails or is rejected while the younger chosen
one receives the blessing. That occurs over and
over again. The pattern... finds its ultimate
fulfillment here. So all of these stories that
I'm going to give you in very brief synopsis
here, we're pointing to what we're reading about
in Luke 23 and the other Gospels, the conflict
between two brothers, Israel and Jesus Christ.
You may or may not know the stories, so I'll
give you a basic summary of the story, and then
in a moment I'll come back and show you how they
relate very well to what we're seeing in Jesus'
crucifixion. There was the story of Cain and
Abel. Cain offers the fruit of the ground, which
you could call human effort, and responds to
rejection of his offering with murder. Abel offers
a blood sacrifice, a good lamb, the best of lambs
from his flock, and he becomes the first martyr.
Like Abel, Jesus' sacrifice is accepted by God
and his blood is shed by his brother, his own
people. However, in Hebrews 12, 24, it says that
Jesus' blood speaks a better word than the blood
of Abel, because Abel's blood cried out for justice,
but Jesus' blood cries out for forgiveness. You
see the difference? Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael
was a... natural son achieved according to the
flesh. His dad didn't want to wait for the promise
and went seeking after the son that God had promised
him. Well, Isaac was the child of promise, the
one that God actually intervened divinely to
create. At the trial, the religious leaders rely
on their physical lineage. They all could trace
their lineage back to Abraham and say, well,
my father's father's father's father's father
was named, and my father's father's father's
father's father was named, and we can taste the
line all the way back to Abraham, and therefore
we are Israel. We are the people who will receive
the promise. We are the ones. They were relying
on their physical lineage to condemn Jesus. Jesus
represents the new covenant of promise, the children
of the flesh. persecute the child of promise,
just as Ishmael mocked Isaac. In Genesis 16,
you can read this story. You see the conflict
and the expulsion. And then in Galatians 4, it
talks about the flesh versus the promise of God.
The brothers Jacob and Esau. Esau despised his
birthright for a temporary meal. He said, What
good will my birthright do me if I die of starvation
while I'm waiting for soup? Or whatever else,
while I'm making my food, etc. Jacob, meanwhile,
sought after the promise. Even though Jacob was
a deceiver, he sought after a promise with all
that he was. He went after, risked his life,
lied, cheated, and stole to get the promise.
Right? Israel, like Esau, traded their birthright
for a mess of pottage. Like stability and favor
from Rome. They cried, we have no king but Caesar.
Think about that. Considering what we study in
the book of Judges. How they were after a king
already when Gideon, they asked Gideon to be
king. And Gideon said, I will not be king, not
me nor my sons. Right? And when Samuel was high
priest, and they asked Samuel to anoint for them
a king, and he said, I don't want to do it. The
king of God's people, Is God. And God said don't
worry about it. They're not rejecting you. They're
rejecting me. Go ahead and anoint for them a
king. And they got Saul. The king of God's people
was supposed to be God. And they traded their
birthright. Having God as their king. For their
political favor with Rome. And their kingdom
as it existed under their control. You can read
about the birth and prophecy. Surrounding Jacob
and Esau in Genesis 25. You can see him sell
his birthright in Genesis 25. And then you can
see the stolen blessing in Genesis 27. The story
of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph is the beloved
of his father. The coat of many colors and all
that. His brothers are envious. And they plot
his death. And they sell him for... How much,
Arden? 30 pieces of silver. And how much did
the Jews pay... Judas to betray Jesus. Holly,
30 pieces of silver, right? See the parallel?
This is perhaps the most direct parallel. Jesus
was sold for 30 pieces of silver by his own.
Just as the brothers told Jacob that Joseph was
dead while he was actually being prepared to
save them. It was through Joseph that God saved
all his people, right? And they were all brought
into Egypt. During the famine that would have
destroyed them all, Israel rejected Jesus, not
realizing His death was the very mechanism for
their future salvation. You can read about the
envy in the plot in Genesis 37, the selling for
silver in Genesis 37, and the revelation and
salvation in Genesis 45. Then there was David
and... Eliab, this was probably a little less
known, although it might be a little more known
if you recently saw the movie David that came
out in theaters and is now on, I think it's on
Angel, right? Eliab had the outward appearance
of a king, but he had a heart of fear and resentment.
David, the youngest, was a man who would be called
later after God's own heart. During the trial,
the Sanhedrin and the high priest, the Eliabs,
looked for the part of spiritual authority. but
lacked the Spirit. Jesus appeared unimpressive.
And Isaiah 52 says this about Him. It says that
Jesus was marred or would be, because it was
a prophecy, and that's what happened, marred
beyond human recognition. And as that, Jesus
faced the true King, the true Goliath, the human
King, which was actually sin and death, not even
the people that were crying out for the crucifixion.
He was defeating sin and death. Two more. The
prodigal son. Maybe you've heard of this one.
The prodigal son and the elder brother. The younger
son squanders his life, but returns in repentance.
The elder brother remains faithful in works,
but is filled with self -righteousness and resentment
at his father's mercy toward his younger brother.
In the passion narrative, the stories that we're
reading today, the outcasts and Gentiles, the
younger brothers, begin to recognize Jesus. While
the religious establishment, the elder brother,
stands outside the party of the kingdom angry
that God would offer grace to the unworthy people
through Jesus. And Jesus would say, the tax collectors
and whore mongers will come and sit down in the
kingdom of God before you. And he said that to
those who were of the religious establishment.
You can read that story in Luke 15. And actually
read the verses that very clearly explain the
resentment of the older brother in Luke 15, 25
to 32. And then much more closer to the present
time of what we're actually looking like, we
see Barabbas and Jesus. And these are like shadow
brothers. Though not biological brothers, they
are presented as a binary choice for the family
of Israel. Barabbas literally means son of the
father. That's what Barabbas means. And so they
were choosing. between a son of the father who
uses violence and the true son of the father
who used self -sacrificial love, by choosing
Barabbas, Israel fulfills the archetype of choosing
the fleshly older brother over the spiritual
one that God was offering. You can read about
those choices in Matthew 27, Mark 15. So the
contrast is this. Ishmael was born according
to the flesh. Isaac was the child of promise.
Jacob was the older brother essentially of the
flesh. I'm sorry, Esau. Esau was the older brother
of the flesh and Jacob was the younger brother
and wound up with the birthright and the blessing.
Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Esau, David
and Eliab, Barabbas and Jesus, they all point
us to this understanding. That Jesus Christ was
accomplishing something as the younger brother.
Something for the younger brother, which would
be the kingdom. Something desperately needed.
Isaiah 52. In Isaiah 53, we have a beautiful
picture of Jesus' crucifixion written hundreds
of years before his birth. But in Isaiah 52,
we have these. It says, Behold, my servant will
prosper. He will be high and lifted up and greatly
exalted. Just as many were astonished at you,
my people. That's talking about Israel. So there
was a time, especially in Solomon's day, where
all the world was looking at God's people and
saying, maybe we should be like that. Maybe we
should have their God. Look at all the wisdom.
Look at all the power and authority and wealth
and goodness that exists in Israel. And all the
world was looking to the point that like a queen
traveled a thousand miles just to hear the wisdom
of Solomon. And all the world was looking and
says, And just as they were astonished at you,
my people, so his appearance was marred more
than any man and his form than the sons of man.
Thus he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will
shut their mouths on account of him. For what
had not been told them, they will see. He's talking
about us. And what they had not heard, they will
understand. You see, Jesus was doing all of this
so that there could be a declaration of innocence
that would catch our attention. And also a punishment
that would catch our attention. And also a door
open that we would enter a kingdom whereby we
would become a shining light to all the world
that they might enter the kingdom. Pilate's declaration
of Jesus' innocence meant nothing to the Jews.
In this story, Pilate's our Gentile representative
as governor, just as we are governors of our
own choice. But the promise, the prophecy fulfilled,
the clear pattern of God's saving, all of these
things remain true even if a person chooses to
know better than God, which is exactly what's
happening. There will come a time where people
will be looking back on a road, That clearly
leads to destruction a wide way. And the off
ramps will be painfully obvious. And for that
reason alone there would be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. I've mentioned a couple of times the
first sermon that I ever wrote. I told you that
I wrote the whole thing out on 23 note cards
front and back. And I stood up in front of the
people at the Gospel Rescue Mission in downtown
Toledo. The backside of downtown Toledo. And
I read the front of the first card and then I
flipped it over and I read the back of it. First
card. And then I read the front of the second
card. I flipped it over and I read the back of
the second card. And my whole sermon was written
out in my text. And I really didn't look anyone
in the eye. I didn't have any illustrations except
the whole sermon was sort of one illustration.
And I haven't mentioned to you what that one
illustration was. And it was this. I told them
in that sermon that I had a vision, a thought,
if you will, that I thought was from God. And
I still to this day believe it was of a man riding
in a truck. He's driving a truck. He's in the
driver's seat. Next to him in the passenger seat
is a being. Not quite a man. Suspicious in nature.
And as the man is driving down the road, he keeps
passing exits. And the person in the passenger
seat, the being in the passenger seat is saying
to him, not this exit. Not this exit. Don't get
off now. Stay on the road. Keep going. Go faster.
Go straight. You're going the right way. Keep
going. Keep going. Not this exit. Not this exit.
Not this exit. And then in the end of the dream,
the truck goes off a cliff and crashes and the
man driving dies. He is destroyed, utterly destroyed.
But when he crashes, he looks over as his truck
is just about to hit the rocks at the bottom
of the cliff. He looks over and there's no one
in the passenger seat. That's the dream. That's
the vision that I shared in the very first sermon
I ever wrote, 23 postcards front and back. And
I talked about how we encounter obvious vestiges
of the gospel. John 3 .16, for God so loved the
world. Romans 10 .9 and 10, if you believe with
your heart and confess with your mouth. And of
course Romans 6 .23 where it says that the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ his
son. In the second half of the verse, as the
first half of the verse reminds us that the wages
of sin is death. And Romans 3 .23, which tells
us that all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God. And it goes on, all throughout
the Bible, over and over again. There are bits
of light, enough to see by, enough to understand
that God is calling to humans, one and all. And
the exits are available. You could be here today,
still doing it your own way, still headed for
destruction, still not having submitted your
life to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is another
exit. And somebody's with you. Some spirit, some
flesh, some nature, some teaching, some mental
state. And you're going, well, I don't really
have to pay too much attention right now. It's
not really about me. I'm good. Yesterday I heard
Holly sharing the beginnings of the gospel testimony
in the pantry. And the guy that she was talking
to said, I'm good about that. I'm all good. I'm
fine. I'm okay. I really don't need that. See
what he was doing there? I don't know where he
was getting it from. Probably could have been
his flesh, could have been a demon, evil spirit,
a teaching somewhere along the lines that he
bought, whatever. But nobody's good about all
that. This eternal message has lasting ramifications.
It's not like one thunderous earthquake that
took place in approximately 33, 34 A .D. And
then after that, down here, I say, oh yeah, I
want to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then after that, I just rock it into heaven
50 years later. The moment I realize that these
rays of light, these quakes after the quake,
mean I have to do something, mean I have to be
something, mean I have to receive something,
mean I cannot do it myself. Then from that moment
on, I'm being changed with every breath, every
thought. Not changed to be like the world. Oh
boy, they'll like to can you if they can. But
changed to be like Jesus. Transforming a little
bit more each day to be like the living Christ.
And there will come a moment in time when people
will look back on the road of their life and
they'll say, oh gosh, right there it was. I could
have got off right there. Right there it was.
I could have got from the wide way to the narrow
way and I just never did. You are part of this.
You know in your heart that God can do this.
That His claims are true and that His love for
you and for me would be no call to punishment
like this if it were not for his justice needing
to be satisfied. There was a payment that needed
to be paid for sins. Kid yourself not, you are
a sinner, born and bred. Your situation, your
flesh, your desires, your parents, your teachers,
all the way along, a thousand, a million, infinite
possible impetuses for you to become and be a
sinner in your flesh. But also, kid yourself
not, an opportunity has been prepared. A payment
has been made. The Apostle Paul, who started
so many of the New Testament churches and wrote
a third of the New Testament as he was inspired
by the Holy Spirit, says it this way. He says,
it's not as though God's word had failed. For
not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
Nor because they are his descendants are they
all Abraham's children. On the contrary, it is
through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.
And that's in quotes. It is through Isaac that
your offspring will be reckoned. In other words,
it's not the children by physical descent who
are God's children. but it is the children of
the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.
For this was how the promise was stated, quote,
at the appointed time I will return and Sarah
will have a son, unquote. Not only that, but
Rebekah's children were conceived at the same
time by our father Isaac. Yet before the twins
were born or had done any good or bad, in order
that God's purpose in election might stand, nor
not by works, but by him who calls, she was told,
the older will serve the younger. Rebekah is
the mother of Jacob and Esau. Just as it is written,
Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. What then shall
we say? Is God unjust? Not at all. For he says
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. It does not therefore depend
on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy.
For scripture says to Pharaoh, I raised you up
for this very purpose that I might display my
power in you, that my name might be proclaimed
in all the earth. Therefore God has mercy on
whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom
he wants to harden. One of you will say to me,
then why does God still blame us for who is able
to resist his will? But who are you? a human
being to talk back to God? Shall what is formed
say to the one who formed it, why did you make
me this? Does not the potter have the right to
make out of the same lump of clay some pottery
for special purposes and some for common use?
What if God, although choosing to show his wrath
and make his power known, bore with great patience
the objects of his wrath, prepared for destruction?
What if he did this? to make the riches of his
glory known to the objects of his mercy whom
he prepared in advance for glory. Let me translate
that for you. What if God did everything that
we're reading about today so that it would be
abundantly clear to us how much God loves us
and what he has already done for us? That's what
he wrote. He wrote it this way. What if he did
this to make the riches of his glory known to
the objects of his mercy, that's us, whom he
prepared in advance for glory? Even us, whom
he also called, not only from the Jews, but also
from the Gentiles. As he says in Hosea, I will
call them my people who are not my people, and
I will call her my beloved one who is not my
loved one. In the very place where it was said
to them, you are not my people, that there they
will be called the children of the living God.
Paul is still speaking here. He says, Isaiah
cries out concerning Israel, though the number
of the Israelites be like the sand of the sea,
only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord
will carry out his sentence on earth with speed
and finality. It is just as Isaiah said previously.
Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom. We would have
become like Gomorrah. And then he makes this
super clear, Israel's unbelief that was happening
at the time of the crucifixion. He said, what
then shall we say? That the Gentiles, that's
us, who did not pursue righteousness have obtained
it, a righteousness that is by faith? But the
people of Israel who pursued the law as the way
of righteousness have not attained their goal?
Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith,
but as if it were by works. They thought they
were going to get in by a set of rules, not by
a savior that they needed. That's what he's saying.
They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it
is written, he quotes, See, I lay in Zion a stone
that causes people to stumble and a rock that
makes them fall. And the one who believes in
him will never be put to shame. And he was talking
about Jesus. See, Paul understood that there
were two brothers in the conflict. One of them
was the brother that was Israel. It was the descendants
of Jacob who would be called Israel. It was the
descendants of Abraham in the flesh. passed down
their lineage, father to son to son to father
to son to father and so on. And down it went
until the day of Jesus when the Messiah finally
came and everything that they have received essentially
stood in the way of everything that they were
meant to be. What about you? Jason, has everything
that you have received stood in the way of everything
that you were meant to be? Josh? Has everything
that you have received stood in the way of everything
you were meant to be? Carrie? I'll tell you that's
true for me. At 25 years old, I realized that
I had so much. Now, I owed a lot to the bank,
right? I had a mortgage and I had two car payments.
But I had a house and two cars and a beautiful
child and one on the way. And I realized that
everything that I had received was now standing
in the way of everything that I had meant to
be. that God had meant for me to be. And maybe
that's where you're sitting today. You're sitting
at the crux of the moment of trying to figure
out, but what if this following Jesus thing,
what if this accepting the blood of Christ to
cover my sins thing, what if this receiving God's
Holy Spirit thing makes me into a man or a woman
that has to not have some of the good things
that I feel like I have received from God? Do
you think Jesus felt that very way? Do you think
Jacob felt that way? As he fled from Esau. As
he worked for seven years for the wife that he
really wanted, and then had to work for seven
more years as he was deceived. He said, the funny
thing about a deceiver is they're pretty easily
deceived. He said, no, no, that doesn't make
any sense. So a liar knows a liar, right? It
takes one to know one. A liar knows a liar, but
here's the fact of it. When you know you're wrong,
the enemy, demons, evil spirits, your flesh,
your mind, can use that against you because you've
spent so much time covering up that wrong that
you wind up being the older brother. And your
heart is not with the father, but rather defending
yourself against the younger brother. Oh, but
here's the comfort in it. If you've been doing
that, There is a way to realize that you're doing
it and stop. Do you want to be like Esau? Do
you want to be like Joseph's older brothers?
Or like Eliab who didn't understand that his
younger brother who was faithfully following
God had it right? Do you realize Eliab was in
the army of the Israelites for weeks while they
waited for somebody to come and fight Goliath?
And he couldn't just say to himself, as he was
serving his father's interests, as he was serving
his kingdom, as he was part of the army, he couldn't
just say to himself, this is really God's fight,
I'm going to go do it. And then when David came,
he mocked David for thinking that David could
do what God was calling him to do. You want to
be Elliot? You want to be Esau? You want to be
Joseph's older brothers? You want to throw Jesus
in a well? You want to sell him for 30 pieces
of silver? The next time you have the opportunity
to be the man or woman that God wants you to
be, to walk out your faith, to walk by faith,
not by sight, you're doing nothing less than
choosing again between being like Jacob or being
like Esau, being like Abel or being like Cain.
But if you'll come to God and say, God, I need.
I need you. I need more of you. I need your presence.
I need to follow you. I need to have you as Lord.
I need you to be king. I will not take a human
king. I'll have no other master and not serve
between two. I'll have just one. Just one master
who is God. You know, the funny thing is, Jesus
said you can't have money and God as master because
you have two men. No man can serve two masters
because you wind up loving the one and hating
the other. You see, that's what happened. Israel
got to the point where they had two masters.
Don't think that they didn't believe in God.
The problem was, they believed in God, and they
stopped fearing God. They stopped recognizing
that God had a way already planned that He was
going to carry out the salvation of all men.
They stopped waiting for God to do it God's way,
and they said, we'll not have God as king, Caesar
is our only king. You see, He said if you have
two masters, you'll wind up loving the one and
hating the other. And Israel faced off with God
in the flesh and hated Him. And I'm here to say
to you, if you call yourself a Christian, you
need to understand that Jesus, when He said you
cannot have two masters, that Jesus, when He
said that, was speaking to people, His disciples,
who were ready. by their human profession anyway,
to die with Him as necessary. They left their
homes, left their pillows, left their comfort,
left their families, and were following Him around,
sometimes despised, fearful at any moment to
be arrested or to be stoned. I submit to you
that until it got close to Jesus' crucifixion,
they never even considered the fact that they
might wind up crucified. But then when Jesus
is crucified, you know they consider the fact
because when we next see Jesus appearing to them,
they'll be hiding behind closed doors, waiting.
Why were they hiding? Because they thought, well,
we might be crucified too. We might suffer like
Jesus. I'm asking you, why would you hide? We
are to be like the younger brother. We are the
church. We are God's people. And God did what
he did on that day. that Jesus would have his
innocence declared not once, but four times by
Pilate, then by a thief on the cross next to
him and a Roman soldier, and that we would be
able to look back almost 2 ,000 years later and
read those accounts and know that he was declared
as innocent. Jesus died an innocent man, but
also God the Son, and thereby paid for our mistakes.
And if you will have that cleansing, if you will
have that Lord, then there is nothing more that
you can do to make yourself any more acceptable
to Him or loved by Him. Which means, if you're
living a version of Christianity that says you've
got to do, you've got to be, or else you're not
His, that's not the version of Christianity that
Jesus taught. The version of Christianity that
Jesus taught was the one that says you will do.
You will follow my commands because you love
me. You will follow the commands of my father
because you love me. You will put your hand to
the plow and not look back because you love me.
You will. So if you're still in that place where
you're wrestling as to whether you will or not,
and more often you are than you're not, then
probably you're not even following Jesus. You're
following your own idea of who Jesus is, which
is very dangerous because you're passing off
off ramps where you could get over here and go.
To Jesus in earnest and follow him alone in earnest.
And the road eventually comes to an end. Jesus
said it this way. He said, there is a wide road.
But it's a narrow gate at the end. And there'll
be lots of people on the road like little lemmings
following it and saying, ah, we're going this
way. This is the way the road goes. We're going
this way. And they'll get to the end of the road
and they can't get through the narrow gate. Because
they ran into a wall. They can't even find the
narrow gate. They had so many opportunities to
get on the narrow way, pardon me, and they did
not. I come to you today in the tradition of
Paul, in the tradition of Jesus, in the tradition
of Abraham, in the tradition of Isaac, in the
tradition of Jacob, in the tradition of Abel.
In the tradition of David, asking you to become
like a younger brother as well. Reach your hands
out to God and say, God, I am willing. God, I
am your servant. I see maybe that there are other
things in my life that take up space, that take
up time, that take up importance. And I turn
from those things, one and all, and all the ones
that I can't name, not everyone you can name,
but everyone that exists. And I turn to God and
God alone. I turn to you through your son, Jesus
Christ. And I now see the gospel story in a new
light. In a light to see that it was an older
brother and a younger brother. A fleshly brother
and a brother of the Spirit. And not everyone
is of Israel who was born of Israel. But everyone
who chooses the pathway of the promise of the
younger brother, then I choose it. I choose it
for myself, and if you choose it for yourself
and for your family, then the word says, repent
and be baptized, and you and your whole household
will be impacted. But if you're depending in
any way, shape, or form on yourself to make it
through, then sometime or other along the road,
someone smarter, someone quicker, someone with
a better plan is going to come. They're going
to take advantage of you. If you reason today
that it makes good sense to have Jesus alone
as Lord, someday you can reason that it no longer
makes good sense to have Jesus as Lord. And if
you can someday reason it no longer makes sense.
to have Jesus as Lord, then you're not getting
saved today. But if right now, if you would trust
in faith, the God of the universe, see that his
plan is beautifully orchestrated and absolutely
intentional, that we might know there were two
brothers that day. And we have chosen the younger
brother, the brother of promise, who was actually
the older brother. Because he's been around since
the beginning. I ask the praise team to come
at this time and lead us in our closing hymn.
If you're here today and you see in yourself
a need to make a profession, a need to say, I
believe with my heart, I want to confess with
my mouth that Jesus Christ is love and Savior,
then you come and respond. If you see in yourself
today that you are a follower, you say, I'm a
follower of the Lord Jesus, but I also realize
that I'm sort of like dividing my attention.
between God and these other things, whatever
they might be. You probably don't even have to
make a list. You just know that's the tendency
of your heart. That you depend today on God first.
That never put himself first in your life. Become
like a younger brother, a child of promise. So
let it be. Would you stand with me then and sing
this song? The Lord speak in your heart. You
respond in some way. You're here, you need to
be baptized, you need to join the church, you
need help finding a church home. If you don't
think this is the one that's right for you, whatever
it might be, call the ministry. Whatever it might
be, be responsible.