Sermon for Lord's Day August 20, 2023 Coming to Terms with Jesus Words

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Sermon for Lord's Day August 20, 2023 Coming to Terms with Jesus Words

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We're here in verse 25 and 26, but before we ask you to stand in honor of the reading of God's Word, let's go to the
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Lord in prayer. Lord, as we read in your
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Word this morning in Psalms, we're coming before you singing praise, giving you honor, giving you glory.
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For the simple fact who you are, that you are our
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God, you are our Father, you are our
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Redeemer, you are our Savior, you,
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Lord, are our Rock, you are our Hot Tower. Lord, you are our friend.
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For having made peace through the blood of your cross, we are reconciled unto you and we give you thanks.
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We give you thanks and honor and glory because you, Lord, are our
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Comforter. You, Lord, are our peace.
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You, Lord, are our confidence. You, Lord, are our hope.
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You, Lord, are the righteous tower that we run to and are safe.
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And for that, we give you honor and glory and praise today.
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And Lord, as we come before your throne this morning,
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Lord, I come to beg one more time for wisdom, to apply the knowledge of your
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Word, to speak, to teach, to preach your truth.
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And I pray, God, that you would make yourself big in this place, that as we read the text, as we look at this passage today, that we would see
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Christ. And that we would see the purpose for which you came and the purpose for which you have accomplished.
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Our prayer today is this, God, that you would reach into the minds and into the hearts of the people in this place that hear your
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Word proclaimed. And that you would bring light to the dead heart, that you would give sight to the blind eyes, that you would give the ability to come unto you.
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And only you can give today. Fan the flame today of the power and the fire of your
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Spirit that lives in your people. Cause us to rejoice in you today in your words.
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Please, Lord, save the lost, reclaim the cold and indifferent, set your church ablaze, that your church,
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O God, would be the city that is standing on the hill, shouting brightly, proclaiming the truth of your
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Word. For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Stand with us, if you would, this morning to honor the reading of God's Word.
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We're going to be reading only two verses this morning. In your hearing, verses 25 and 26, this is the
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Word of the living God. He said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
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Was it not necessary that Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
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Thus far is the reading of God's holy Word today. You may be thinking to yourself, my goodness, what a small passage of Scripture.
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We will certainly be in and out of here quickly today. If you're taking notes today and would like to put a header on the top of your notes, here is what
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I put as the header for my notes. Simply this, coming to terms with the reality of Jesus' words.
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It is the responsibility of the teacher. It is the responsibility of the preacher.
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It is the responsibility of the pastor. When we proclaim the
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Word of God, to see to it that you are put to a decision.
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Many times, folks will come to church. You'll sit in church week in and week out.
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Bottom left button, if you just press that. There you go. You'll come and you'll sit in church and you'll go out as though you heard nothing that was said.
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Our hope and our prayer today has been this. That you will intentionally be faced with a decision.
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You will come to terms with what Jesus' Word says. And you'll believe on Jesus Christ or you will go and deny
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Jesus Christ. There is no middle ground. J .C.
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Ryle said this. Let us cling firmly to the resurrection of Christ.
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As one of the pillars of the Gospel. It ought to produce in our minds a settled conviction of the truth of Christianity.
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Our faith does not depend merely on a set of texts and doctrines. It is founded on the mighty fact which the septic has never been able to overturn.
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It ought to assure us of the certainty of the resurrection of our own bodies after death.
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If our master has risen from the grave, we need not doubt that his disciples shall rise again at the last day.
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Above it all, it ought to fill our hearts with a joyful sense of the fullness of Gospel salvation.
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Who is he, as the Apostle Paul writes, who is he that would condemn us?
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For our great surety has not only died for us, but church, he has risen again.
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He has gone to prison for us and come forth triumphantly after atoning for our sins.
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The payment that he made has been accepted. The work of satisfaction has been perfectly accomplished.
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No wonder the Apostle Peter in his epistle wrote these words. Blessed be the
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God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope.
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And that living hope is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
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So as we approach this text, as we consider this text, as we continue to move toward the end of Luke's Gospel account, we can certainly see, we certainly see that Luke's purpose in writing his
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Gospel account has been fulfilled. Luke set out to give his friend
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Theophilus an orderly, detailed account of the life of Jesus Christ.
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If you look back in chapter 1 of Luke's Gospel, you'll find this, that Luke said he wanted to give certainty of the things that had been taught to Theophilus.
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Now the Greek word that's used in chapter 1 in verse 4, the Greek word is katikeio, which means simply to instruct, to teach.
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Does that word sound familiar? Catechism. This is why we catechize, this is why we go through the catechism, to instruct and to teach.
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That itself is the purpose of catechism. But I want us to notice as well
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Luke's intention was not only to instruct and to teach, but to do so in an orderly manner.
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Not scattered here and there, but in a very detailed and orderly manner.
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As we'll see in the furtherance of the remainder of chapter 24, which
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I know we're only going to look at two verses today, but as we look at the furtherance of the text, we'll see that Jesus is going to set forth for these two disciples,
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Cleopas and the other unnamed, he's going to set forth for them in an orderly fashion all that the law and the prophets said concerning himself.
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So he's going to interpret to them all that the scriptures teach concerning his person and his work.
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Now in the short section that we're going to look at today, we'll consider today a question.
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If you noticed it, hopefully you noticed it, Christ asked this question, was it not necessary that Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
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Now this question proves to be, both to Cleopas and the other disciple, as well as to all who read the inscripturated word of God from here on out, it proves to be a life -altering question.
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The question was asked to Pilate, what will you do with the
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Christ? What will you do with Jesus? Will you believe on Christ today or will you deny
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Christ today? It is set to you as that.
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You must come to terms with the reality of this great question.
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These two disciples, Cleopas and again, I know I mentioned the other is unnamed. Some commentators may say it might have even been
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Luke himself. Nonetheless, these two disciples were talking to one another on the road to Emmaus.
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In verse 13 through 24, we see the conversation that they're having.
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They were talking to one another and what were they talking about? Who were they talking about?
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They were talking about the one who alone is worthy of our conversation.
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They were talking about Jesus. And if we were to spend as much time in our days thinking and meditating and in worship and in adoration of our
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Savior, we would everyone be the better for it. Now these two set forth for us two examples.
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They set forth two examples. One, a wise example and two, a not so wise example.
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They set forth for us a wise example of how our time should be spent as we journey through this land.
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Our time should be spent as God's people in worshiping and adoring the
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Lord our God. Our time should be spent talking with one another about how good our
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God is. The psalmist put it this way, if I were to count up in order all the good that God has done to me,
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I would lose count. Now I know that ain't the KJV. That ain't the ESV.
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That's the hillbilly translation of that. That you can put it to the test. If you start to try to add up all the good that God has given to you, you will lose count.
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So, going on. On the flip side, on the flip side of that, we see the reality of the weakness of our nature.
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And as we see this, when we are faced with trials, when we are faced with hardships, we tend to forget what the
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Lord has said. Anybody been there? Alright. We tend to forget what the
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Lord has said. Now, keep in mind, keep in mind, as a primer, as a review kind of summation, to bring us up to speed where we're at in the text, keep in mind,
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Jesus is walking with these disciples of His. Remember, they're walking and they're talking, they're debating, they're in a heated conversation about all that took place.
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Jesus walks up beside them, says, hey guys, what are y 'all talking about? They say, have you not heard?
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Are you the only person that's in and around Jerusalem that is misunderstood about what is taking place here today?
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So, this is when Jesus Christ makes the statement to them and He says,
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O foolish hearts and slow to believe all that the prophets have said, was it not necessary?
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Was it not needful that Christ suffer these things and that Christ enter into His glory?
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So, making an adjustment here, let's consider sin for a second as we move forward.
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Sin. Sin, as defined by the Bible, is the transgression of God's law.
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It's the going beyond what God's law has said. Okay?
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In the book of Romans, we find the Apostle Paul making the statement, the wages of sin is death.
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But he goes on to say, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
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Lord. It's inevitable. Somebody will hear this and that you will ask this question today, what does this text, what do these two verses have to do with sin?
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Why would the preacher mess the sermon up and talk about sin? To which the preacher would respond and say this passage has everything to do with sin.
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For it is sin for which Christ died. It is the sin of mankind for which
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Christ suffered. It is the sin of mankind for which Christ propitiated on the cross as he hung between the heavens and the earth.
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This passage has everything to do with sin because it has everything to do with the
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Savior. And so God is so holy that he could not and he would not be able to overlook sin.
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According to his own standard, God has said the soul that sins shall die.
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But thanks be unto God, he has also provided the means of salvation.
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And so it is by the preaching of the cross that men and women, boys and girls alike can be saved today.
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This is good news. Concerning sin,
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Samuel Clarke said so plainly and so eloquently as many of the
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Puritans spoke such straightforward truth. Samuel Clarke said this, sin is the spawn of the old serpent.
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It is the birth of hell. It is the vomit of the devil. Edmund Callamy went on to say this about sin.
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He said, look upon sin as the greatest of evils, greater than poverty, greater than imprisonment, greater than banishment or greater than death itself.
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Callamy went on to say, choose the greatest affliction rather than commit the least sin.
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For if hell were on one side and sin on the other, you should rather choose to go to hell than to sin against God.
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I want to make a funny point here because I just heard it in my speech.
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As I'm making notes, sometimes I'll hit the microphone button and speak while I'm thinking. Do you know that no matter the technology that's given to us in iPads and Kindles and so on and so forth and the voice recognition technology,
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I could say hell four different times and it gave me four different spellings for the way it heard me say hell.
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But do you understand today that we are talking not about H -A -I -L. We are not speaking about H -A -L -E.
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We are speaking about H -E -L -L, the reality of hell.
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Hell is a reality. As Christian people, we battle with sin daily.
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Our lives are in moment by moment struggling where the spirit and the flesh are at odds with one another.
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We, like the Apostle Paul, desire to do what is right. But often we find ourselves doing what we wish we wouldn't do.
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We end up doing that which we wish we would not do. We end up sinning and often it seems that we find ourselves in this place.
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We are moving to an exposition of these two verses but it is so important that we understand what was taking place leading up to this.
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As an example of sin, let's consider the desire to be at odds with one another set in contrast to these disciples here in the text.
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They were talking about Jesus. Brothers and sisters, today our unity, our faith, our rallying point is the
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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our Redeemer, our
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Lord has broken down the middle wall of partition according to the Scriptures. He has broken down that wall of partition that stood between the
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Jew and the Gentile and the church of Jesus Christ has every reason to be unified.
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If you're on Twitter, all you see is a dumpster fire. Folks, the church is not intended to be at odds with one another.
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We are intended to be united one with another around the person and the work of Jesus Christ.
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This is so very important. Now, it's no doubt, as an example of sin, as we consider this, as we think about this, we must consider this thought.
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The disciples were not at odds with one another. However, again with the juxtaposition here, the problem of disunity in the church of our
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Savior even today is a reality that must not be overlooked. And it is a sin that must be denounced.
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Disunity within the church of Jesus Christ is sin. It's a disgrace and it's a dishonor to the
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Lord our God who loved us and who gave himself for us.
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These disciples were tore up. They were disillusioned, they were disheartened, but I want you to notice where their hearts and their minds were.
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They were talking about Jesus. The Apostle Paul said this concerning unity.
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In Ephesians chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 through 7, the
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Apostle Paul says this to the church at Ephesus, I therefore, a prisoner of the
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Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, and how to do so with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the
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Spirit in the bond of peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call.
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There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all, but grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.
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And again, if you jump back to Galatians, in Galatians chapter 5, we see more exhortation and have more encouragement, and we have a very clear, distinct picture of what it means to be in unity, or to walk in the
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Spirit of God. The Apostle Paul, in Galatians chapter 5, beginning in verse 16, makes a plain black and white contrast distinction between what it is to walk in the
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Spirit and what it is to walk in the flesh. Paul says, but I say, walk by the
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Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the
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Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other, and they are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things that you want to do.
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But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now, the works of the flesh are evident are these.
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You want to know what it means to walk in the flesh? Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.
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Paul says, I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
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But the fruit of the Spirit, brothers, is love. It is joy. It is peace.
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It is patience. It is kindness. It is goodness. It is meekness. It is temperance.
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And according to the Word of God, against such there is no law. And to those who belong to Christ, to those who have crucified the flesh with its passions and with its desires, if we live by the
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Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited.
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Let us not provoke one another. Let us not envy one another. And brothers, he goes on in chapter 6, brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.
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Keep watch on yourself also, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
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What is the law of Christ? What is the law of love? What is the law of liberty?
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Christ himself delineated and marked this out. What are the two greatest commandments?
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You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
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And the second is like unto this, you should love your neighbor as yourself.
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So, this is common today in the churches of our Lord. It was common in the days of the
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Old Testament, it was common in the days of the New Testament, and it is common in our day as well.
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So the issues and the challenges that we face with the sin of disunity in the church, with the sin of disunity in the churches of the living
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God, this is not a unique challenge that is set before us. We see this repeated throughout history, and the remedy is yet the same as it ever has been.
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Be reconciled to God. And when you are reconciled to God, you can be reconciled to your brothers and to your sisters in Christ.
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Philippians, if you would turn back over to Philippians for just a moment here, for another biblical illustration, another biblical example.
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So, Philippians, as we consider this and we begin to close out considering this challenge of disunity in the church, as we enter into this text the importance of the passage itself, but as we do, let's look at Philippians as well.
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For we see a clear cut, a very plain, straightforward illustration and example of Paul the
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Apostle calling out disunity in the church of God at Philippi. Now, the context of Philippians, some of you may, some of you may not know this.
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Philippians, probably one of the mushiest epistles written to the churches.
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Paul gushes love out to these Philippians from chapter one, verse one, all the way to the very end.
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It is very loving. He's showing forth his tender, loving care for the church at Philippi.
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But when we get to chapter four, beginning in verse two, notice what the
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Apostle Paul states. He said, I entreat you Odia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the
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Lord. Now, nobody wants to be known for being disharmonious, right?
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Nobody wants to be known for being the troublemaker. Josh said that was, that was, I praise
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God for Josh's testimony. He left on good terms. He didn't want to be a point of contention at the church. He didn't want to be the guy that every time they came, that he came to the elders, but they said, oh no, here we go again, right?
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But imagine, inscripturated for all of eternity in God's word, we have these two names that are like flashing neon signs,
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Uodia and Syntyche. They will forever be known as the ones who the Apostle Paul called out, whose names were inscripturated in the word of God.
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But what Paul says to them, I entreat you, agree to agree in the
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Lord. Yes, and he said this, I ask you, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
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And then he says, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I'll say it, rejoice.
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Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and by supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
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And in doing so, the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and will guard your minds in Christ Jesus.
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Finally, brothers, finally, finally, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there be any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, what does he say to do?
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Think about these things. What you have learned and what you have received and what you have heard and seen in me, he said to practice these things.
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And the God of peace will be with you. So we see that, again, all that just to bring to light the reality, the reality and the challenge that the church continually faces to battle against the sin of disunity.
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But again, these disciples were not at odds with one another, so as we move back to the text here in Luke, as we look at this, we want to consider this.
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The disciples, again, were let down, they were disheartened, they were in one accord because they were talking about the same thing, and I would go so far as to say if they'd have had a hymn book, they would have been singing off the same page.
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I would say that much like that old song, Jesus Keeps Me Singing, do any of you all know that song?
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Jesus Keeps Me Singing. There's within my heart a melody, Jesus whispers sweet and low.
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Fear not, I am with thee, peace be still, in all of life's ebb and flow.
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I would believe they would have been singing in harmony with one another, and there is no doubt about it, even though they were disheartened, even though they were discombobulated, even though, to put it in plain terms, they were out of whack.
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Have any of you ever been out of whack, where you just don't know which way to turn, you don't know where to go?
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I want to encourage you today. Believers in Jesus Christ, go to the book.
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Go to the word of God. Go to the source. Go to the fountain.
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Go to Jesus Christ. Calvin said this, they were conversing with one another.
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It was a proof of godliness that they endeavored to cherish their faith in Christ.
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When we talk with one another, when we encourage one another in the faith of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, even though our faith may be small, even though our faith may be weak, our faith ought to have no other object than to be focused and aimed at our
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Lord Jesus Christ himself. John Downing, another of the old
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Puritans, uses the term holy conferences. Now, I know that's not a term we think of a whole lot.
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It's a very, very old term, but the reality and the truth of this term is very, very relevant today.
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A holy conference is when you gather, when you gather in the name of Jesus Christ, and together you lift up the name of Jesus Christ.
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Whether it be in the assembly on Sunday, whether it be on Wednesday night with the ladies' Bible study group, whether it be on Thursday night with the men's
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Bible study group, whether you're just going to lunch, when you gather, talk about the
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Lord. For we have the Lord in common one with another. But John Downing said this, we must use the help of holy conferences, instructing, exhorting, admonishing, counseling, and comforting one another.
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Why? So that we may be further edified in the most holy faith. For as sticks scattered asunder will hardly keep fire, but if they be laid together, they will quickly grow to a great flame.
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So if we single ourselves out from one another and admit no communion by religious conferences, we shall quickly cool and quench the fire of the
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Spirit. But if we meet together and we exercise ourselves in the holy conferences, we shall hereby stir up God's grace in us.
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We shall, like knives striking one upon another, sharpen our gifts and set an edge on our desires to the performance of all good duties.
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We shall pile up our graces one on another and with these bellows of conference, we shall blow upon them until they grow to a great flame.
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And I know in the Reformed world, there's a lot of folks that act like they ain't got no emotions.
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But my friend, I don't care if you're Pentecostal, if you're Reformed, whatever you may be, if you're saved by God's grace, you will know it and you won't be able to help but to rejoice at the fact that your name is written in the
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Lamb's book of life. So this holy conference that Downing spoke of is actually biblical principle, the command of the scriptures themselves.
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In Ephesians chapter 5, verses 15 through 21, the Apostle Paul again writes to the church at Ephesus, he said, watch carefully how you walk.
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Don't walk as unwise, but as wise. Make the best use of time, why?
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Because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the
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Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the
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Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and in spiritual songs, making melody to the
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Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the
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Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting one to another out of reverence for Christ himself.
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So, to the text, verse 25, he said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
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Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and enter into his glory?
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Certainly, Jesus reproves them in verse 25. Jesus reproves them, and yes, they absolutely deserve the reproof.
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Jesus' words are strong. Jesus is also very, very quick to remind them about where their confidence was to be.
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Let's pay careful attention to the question again that Jesus asked. Was it not necessary that Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
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This is a big question, and it is a question that today you yourself must attend to.
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It is a question that if answered wrongly would deny both the sufficiency and the efficiency of Jesus' sacrifice.
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Let me clarify. By sufficiency, I mean to say the need for Jesus' sacrifice, and by efficiency,
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I mean to say the results of Jesus' sacrifice, that Jesus Christ was both necessary and that Jesus Christ's sacrifice was effectual to accomplish the purpose that he intended for it.
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So, the Bible teaches us that a man left to himself is damned to the eternal flames of hell.
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For example, in Matthew chapter 25, Matthew chapter 25, verse 31, the
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Lord Jesus speaking here makes this statement. Matthew 25, verse 31.
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When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
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Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another.
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How? As a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left hand.
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Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my
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Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, you gave me food.
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I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.
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I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me.
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I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer to him, saying,
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Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?
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And when did we see a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?
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And the king will answer to them, Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
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Therefore, then he will say to those on his left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
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For I was hungry, and you gave me no food. I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink.
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I was a stranger, and you did not welcome me. Naked, and you did not clothe me.
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Sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer, saying,
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Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you?
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Then he will answer them, saying, Truly, truly, truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.
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And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
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Now Christ continually spoke to the people in parables.
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He spoke to the crowds, and many times it was to them, it was incomprehensible what he was saying, but the point of fact here is this, that Christ Jesus the
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Lord was incarnate before them, as never before in history and never since in history, standing before them, and they had to come to terms with the fact that he was who he said he was, that he was the
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Christ of the living God, that he was the Son of the living God, that he was the one who came to open the blind eyes, that he was the one to open the doors of the prison house, that he was the light that would lighten the
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Gentiles, that he was the bread of life, that he was the door of the sheep, that he was the water of life.
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They had to come to terms with this fact, but they would not come into agreement with this fact.
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So in fact, there was a decision that they made, and that decision was to deny the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Louis Bailey, another of the old Puritans, said this concerning this passage.
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He said, When Christ said, Depart from me, accursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, depart from me,
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Bailey said, There is a separation from all joy and happiness. When he said,
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You are cursed, he said, There is a black and direful excommunication. Then he said,
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Into the fire there is the cruelty of pain. When he spoke of it being everlasting, there is the perpetuity of punishment.
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Prepared for the devil and his angels, here are your tormenting and tormented companions.
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Oh, Bailey said, Terrible sentence from which the condemned cannot escape, which being pronounced, cannot possibly be withstood, against which a man cannot, except and from which a man can nowhere appeal, so that to the damned, nothing remains but torment, which knows neither ease of pain, nor end of time.
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We have heard this question used. We have heard this terminology that I'm about to say to you.
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We've heard this used. Have you accepted Jesus? We've heard this.
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And if the question itself were placed in a proper and a right context, it would not in and of itself be a bad question.
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But in the shallow form of this question, in the shallow form of this question, it asks something like this.
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Would you like to accept Jesus so that you can improve your life? Would you like to accept
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Jesus in order that you might become a better boss, a better employee, a better husband, a better wife, a better child, a better son, a better daughter.
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But basically, it's all about how Jesus can make you happy.
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How Jesus can improve your life. Paris Readhead, in the 1960s, put it this way, in a sermon entitled,
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Ten Shekels and a Shirt. When he preached this sermon, he said philosophy was the, in his day, or humanism was the philosophy of his day.
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In which he stated, that the end all and the be all of man's existence, was simply to be happy.
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And to do so by any means necessary. So, as it goes, this dangerous idea, this dangerous idea and concept of humanism, has permeated even the church world to the point, that pastors are doing all they can.
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I mean, they are bending over backwards to make the people happy, with whatever seems to work for the current circumstances, and the situations of their church.
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The problem with this mindset is, to quote Josh again, it don't jive with the scriptures.
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It does not jive with the scriptures. Proverbs chapter 14, in verse 1, the scripture states this, the wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands, tears it down.
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Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is devious in his ways despises him.
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By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
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Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
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A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies. A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.
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Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge. And notice what the writer here says, the wisdom of the prudent, the wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, to think about where he is, to think about where he is going, but the folly of fools is deceiving, for fools mock at the guilt offering.
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You want to know what the people in Jesus' day, in the context of this passage did? They mocked at the guilt offering, the price of sin that Christ paid on the cross, they mocked at that, and because of that they will forever be damned.
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But my friends today, because Christ has both necessarily and efficiently accomplished and paid the price of redemption, you today can be saved, based upon what
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Christ alone has done. So what does it mean to accept
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Jesus, in the biblical sense of this term? Simply put, simply put, to accept
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Jesus means to believe, to believe that his life, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his ascension, and his physical return were and are still and shall ever be necessary, and that the effective product of belief in Jesus produces assurance and hope of eternal life.
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To accept something means to come to terms with it.
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To accept Jesus means you've come to terms with Christ, you've come to terms with the frailty of your life as an individual, that you've come to terms with the reality of your sinful nature and your standing before a holy
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God. To accept Christ means that you've come to terms and you recognize the fact that Christ died for me.
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To come to terms, to accept Jesus Christ, means that you've come to terms with the reality that because Christ raised on the third day that you now have justification for your sins.
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Have you accepted Jesus? Have you come to terms with the reality that Christ had to suffer?
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That Christ had to die? That Christ had to be buried?
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And that Christ had to rise again? And that he had to ascend to the
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Father? And that he has to and will one day return and call his church home?
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Do you see? And I want to make this just as plain as possible because salvation is so complicated by so many.
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But the simplicity of the gospel is not complicated. Do you see today that you are spiritually bankrupt outside of Christ?
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Meaning this, that outside of the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ, that you're broke.
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Do you see? Can you accept this fact? Can you come to terms with this reality?
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If so, my friends, you can be saved today.
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He came for the poor. Christ came for the needy. He came to do what we were unable to do.
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Christ lived the life that we cannot live. He fulfilled the perfect, holy, righteous standard of God's law.
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Jesus died a propitious death. Jesus raised from the dead on the third day.
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Jesus ascended to the Father. And he ever lives according to the word of God to plead our case before the
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Father. So to say this question, was it necessary that Christ had to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?
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To say that this question is a big question might be the understatement of the century.
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This is life altering. It is life and death. It is life to those who believe in him and it is death to those who deny him.
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Coming to terms with Jesus is what you must do today.
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Faith and trust in Jesus as your
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Lord and as your Savior is not a feeling.
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Although in many cases it is accompanied by emotions. Your salvation should not ever be premised on how you feel at the moment but it should always be premised on what
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Christ has done. Boy, the good news is this, church.
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What Christ did will never be undone. The old saying, you can't unring a bell.
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Boy, that's the truth. Faith, quite simply, church, is the acknowledgement of this.
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Faith is simply saying I acknowledge that I am a great sinner and that Christ is the great
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Savior. So what must I do to be saved today? Preacher, what do
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I need to do that I can be saved today? What do I need to do that I can have eternal life today?
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Number one, let's start here. Realize that you can do nothing, absolutely nothing in and of yourself to be saved.
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But look unto Jesus. Can you look? Because that's all that is necessary.
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Look unto Him, you ends of the earth, and be saved today, was the cry of the prophet
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Isaiah. Simply believe that Jesus died for your sin and that He was raised to life on the third day.
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And this belief, this belief in Christ, is in itself, is the godly sorrow that produces repentance unto everlasting life.
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How do I know if I'm saved, preacher? Are you believing in Christ? Are you looking to Christ?
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If you are, that's it. Because a dead man can't see, a dead man can't hear, and a lame man can't get up and walk.
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But the living is the one who hears the word of God and not only hears the word of God, but obeys the word of God.
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And the command of the gospel for you to obey is this, repent and believe the gospel today.
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Stand with us if you would this morning. And as you're standing, one last statement
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I'd like to make in closing. May we always as a body, as the called out assembly of the saints of God, may we always and ever proclaim the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ as absolutely necessary and as eternally sufficient and effective.