Matthew chapter 26, verse 57, this is when
Jesus faces the Sanhedrin.
What the Sanhedrin was, is a governing body
in Jerusalem that would govern the people spiritually.
So Rome was the law over the people,
and the Sanhedrin was the governing body of
mainly just Israel, of the Jewish people, and
they could not execute.
The power of execution was taken away from
the nation of Israel when Rome conquered them.
But right before we re-read Matthew 26,
verse 57, do you remember what got us
here last week?
I talked about when darkness reigns, and we
just saw that Judas betrayed Jesus.
And it was interesting this week, and sometimes
I recommend books, I would recommend this book,
it's called The Christian in Complete Armor by
a Puritan, William, I believe his name is
William Grinnell, written in the 1700s, David Wilkerson,
C.H. Spurgeon, a lot of men and
women highly recommend this book.
I actually got the modernized, abridged version of
it, versus, I've got the big larger one,
but it's that old English, and it's a
little challenging to say the least.
So this is put in modern language, but
talk about a page I can't highlight.
I mean, it's talking about the Christian being
in complete armor.
And it's not for the faint of heart,
so I'll tell you that up front.
But he wrote this, and I thought of,
and I read it two days ago, and
I thought of Judas Iscariot on this, and
actually many who live today.
Would it not be wise before you barter
with the devil to ask if his promises
come with a warranty?
Can he secure the bargain and keep you
from a lawsuit with God?
Can he guarantee that when you die you
will not be left destitute in another world?
Let the buyer be warned.
Time will show how Satan has cheated you.
And that's what happened with Judas, and that's
what happens with a lot of people.
The devil presents the bait, and we think
that we can rebel against God, but there
will become a day of reckoning.
There will come a time where we have
to give account for our choices.
And many of you know I can say
this, because he definitely won't hear the sermon
probably, but my friend from high school came
last week, and he's still caught up in
that whole lifestyle, and we talked afterwards, and
he makes comments like, well that's good for
you, I'm glad you found that, you know,
it's good for you.
And I want to just keep in mind,
so it's everybody, at some point you will
have to give an account for your life.
But the devil barters with him, and many
people who aren't believers.
You just keep up that lifestyle, you know,
that drunkenness, and that party scene, and I
don't want to give this up because I
love it.
Well the flesh loves it, and that's what
the devil keeps bartering with you.
And it goes by week, and then month,
and then years later, and you realize that
he had led you astray.
Because you can't barter with the devil, and
you can't play with him and get away
scot-free.
You have to, repentance has to take place,
and that disconnect has to take place.
Matthew 26, 57, and those who had laid
hold of Jesus led him away to Caiaphas
the high priest.
Now Caiaphas is the high priest, and what
that means is, once a year the high
priest would go into the holies of holies,
and make atonement for the sins of the
people.
So he actually had this position above all
other, those who served in the temple, all
other administrators, he was the high priest.
And that's why Hebrews talks about, we have
a high priest now, who's been tempted like
we are.
He was tested in all points, yet he's
without sin.
So we go straight to our high priest.
That's one big difference between Protestants and Roman
Catholicism.
We don't need the guy sitting in the
booth to go confess to.
We have our high priest.
That's sufficient.
And there's a big distinction there that people
like to argue, but it's crystal clear, that
we don't need that anymore.
But that's where it comes from, that they
had priests back in Old Testament, in Jesus'
time.
So they led him away to Caiaphas the
high priest, where the scribes and the elders
were assembled.
But Peter followed him at a distance.
You know it's safer to follow Jesus at
a distance, isn't it, for most people?
Let me just stay back, not get in
that controversy, but then it's hard to stay
in God's will when we follow at a
distance.
So they went to the high priest's courtyard,
and he went in and he sat with
the servants.
Peter went in, sat with the servants to
see the end.
Now the chief priests, the elders, and all
the council sought false testimony against Jesus to
put him to death, but none found any,
or found none.
Even though many false witnesses came forward, they
found none.
But at last, two false witnesses came forward
and said, this fellow said, I am able
to destroy the temple of God and to
build it up in three days.
Now this to me, maybe it's just me,
but it's ironic, because this is all you
got?
This is all you have on Jesus after
three years?
That's, that's, you can't find anything.
So you bring in false witnesses.
He taught, he preached, he rose people from
the dead, he cleansed the temple, he drove
the money changers out, and none of that
was bad, none of that was wrong.
Three years, they found nothing.
And I want to throw that invitation out
to you as well.
If you're seeking, you will find nothing in
Christ.
Nothing that will cause you to find and
seek something else.
Nothing demeaning, nothing of sin, nothing at all.
And that's one, another distinction from Christianity with
other religions, that the founder, Jesus Christ, was
God.
He was free of sin.
You look at any other religion that was
founded on somebody, they were a sinner.
And they're trusting in the sinner for eternal
life.
And that's a distinction and a difference.
Jesus really said, destroy this temple and I
will raise it again in three days, meaning
his body.
You destroy me, I will raise it up
again in three days.
So after all of this, all they have
is false witnesses saying that he would destroy
the temple and rebuild it.
Now even if he was talking about the
temple of God, that's not a blasphemous statement.
That's not going to get you killed.
They might just say, away with this man,
that's no big deal.
That's nothing to die over.
So you can imagine Caiaphas is getting rather
upset by now.
He's trying to find something and he can't
find anything.
He wants to put Jesus to death and
he can't find anything.
And the high priest arose and said to
him, do you answer nothing?
See, he's getting mad now.
Do you answer nothing?
What is it that these men testify against
you?
But Jesus kept silent.
And that's a good model.
You don't have to respond to all the
lies.
We're going to see Jesus respond in a
minute, but he doesn't respond to the lies.
He just, whatever, whatever.
The truth will defend itself.
But then Caiaphas puts him on the spot,
so to speak.
But Jesus kept silent and the high priest
answered and said to him, I put you
under oath by the living God.
Tell us if you are the Christ, the
Son of God.
So you have the high priest, the highest
position of authority, asking Jesus, I put you
under oath.
Answer this question.
So Jesus felt compelled to answer the question.
He says, it is as you said.
It is as you said.
Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will
see the Son of Man sitting at the
right hand of the power and coming on
the clouds of heaven.
That did it right there.
And what's a big deal with that?
Well, you have to understand that the right
hand of power, they knew exactly what Jesus
was talking about.
Old Testament imagery, the right hand of God,
the right hand is a power, is usually
a signal of strength.
So Jesus is going to sit on the
right hand of God, be in his position
of authority and ride the clouds in judgment.
He just put himself above Caiaphas and said,
you will see me coming again to judge
you.
That's not going to do.
Now you can understand Hebrews.
Hebrews 12.
I read it this morning.
I jotted it down.
He endured the cross.
Jesus endured the cross.
He put up with the shame and then
he sat down at the right hand of
the authority of the Father.
That's why God says every knee will bow
and every tongue will confess that Christ is
Lord.
He's at that position of power and authority.
There's no other name greater than the name
of Jesus.
You can say any other name and nobody
cares.
But when you start, why do they want
to remove him from the schools, from the
government office, even from the churches, even from
the little kids at the public school?
Get Jesus out of here.
Why?
Because that name grabs the spiritual realm and
it rips it apart.
Even demons have to flee.
Even Satan is under his control and dominion.
Jesus Christ.
Every knee will bow and every tongue will
submit what they're saying to him.
Everything.
There's no other name under heaven that saves.
And he just told Caiaphas this.
And he's upset.
He's alarmed.
Then the high priest tore his clothes, which
is unthinkable for a high priest to stand
up and tear his clothes, which they cannot
be put back.
It's to say blasphemy and he rents his
garment.
He rips it in half.
You know it's interesting.
I just thought of something I didn't express
last night.
I think it was Pastor Steve Schell on
the radio a year ago.
I heard him talk about this and it's
an interesting concept but it's something I think
it fits in here.
The high priest said blasphemy and tore his
clothing and tore his outer garment.
But it's interesting, when Jesus died on the
cross it is finished.
The veil in the temple was rent from
the top to the bottom as if God
was saying blasphemy.
Blasphemy on you.
You just sacrificed the Messiah.
And God ripped that veil that's thick.
It's impossible.
And he just ripped that thing as if
he was saying blasphemy.
Christ has just died.
You don't need the veil now separating the
inner court and the outer court, the Holy
of Holies.
You don't need that veil.
That veil has been removed by Christ and
Christ alone and you can walk boldly to
the throne of grace.
That's why I want to talk about a
clean slate and tie it in because so
many Christians walk around defeated and beat up
by the devil and they fell down and
they fall and they can't get back up.
God doesn't say, oh you're in trouble.
He says, get back up and win this
race.
You are not designed for failure here.
Get up and take your place.
That's what life is, getting back up.
The Christian life, folks, when you go to
the grave, you go limping, you go with
the hurt arm, you go with crutches, you
go and you go broken.
That's why it's called warfare.
The Christian walk is not easy.
I don't care what you hear on television.
It's not.
It's warfare.
We're tempted.
The enemy is coming after our homes.
He's coming after our hearts.
He's coming after our testimony.
We're one choice away from ruining our testimony.
Have you ever realized that?
One choice away.
One choice away from ruining our testimony.
But God wants us to return to that
clean slate.
And I'll get to that in a minute.
Then the high priest tore his clothes saying,
he has spoken blasphemy.
What further need do we have of witnesses?
Look now, you have heard his blasphemy.
What do you think?
And they answered and said, he is deserving
of death.
Also, this is even a false charge.
I don't know.
It's not.
I was looking for the name last night.
It's not the Talmud and it's not a,
I couldn't find the exact wording or the
term of it, but the Jews have their
law inside of this book.
And actually, the charge of blasphemy, the word
Yahweh has to be used.
The word Yahweh has to be taken in
vain.
The word Yahweh basically has to be taken
and trampled on the ground.
Blasphemy.
This is not blasphemy according to their own
rules.
But that's why it upset him so much.
Then they spit in his face and beat
him.
Another struck him with the palm of their
hand saying, prophesy to us Christ, who is
the one who struck you?
This is interesting as well as a commentary
I'm reading talked about when they hit his
face or spit in his face.
I don't know if you ever had that
happen to you.
I still remember a girl in elementary school
did it to me.
Spitting in the face, it's a lack of
respect for authority.
Beating him showed he had no power.
And then saying, who hit you?
Prophesy to us.
Tried to show him as a false teacher,
a false prophet.
Let me stop here for a minute.
When he said, tell us if you are
the Christ, the Son of God.
He said, it is as you say.
There is no wiggle room there.
When he said, I am the Christ, I
am the only way, the only truth, no
man comes to the Father except through.
There's no wiggle room.
Everybody wants a little bit of wiggle room.
It's very clear, very direct that he is
the only way, the only truth, the only
life.
Now, I thought this was interesting as well.
How could Caiaphas, how could these religious leaders
not recognize Jesus?
I mean, you start out your ministry, there's
no fault in him.
You're going to find that he said, destroy
this temple and I'll rebuild it.
That's all you have?
I mean, they heard the report.
The reports went nationwide.
People would travel far to be healed and
touched and delivered and set free.
Why?
How in the world can Caiaphas, hearing these
things, no doubt seeing these things, he sent
men to get him and they said, no
man ever spoke like this man.
We can't take him.
He would hear the healings.
He probably saw the healings, the feeding of
the thousands.
How in the world can you see all
this and still deny him?
That, folks, is the power of a hard
heart.
That's a hard heart.
How do I know?
Because on this side is Caiaphas.
Who's on this side?
Nicodemus.
Religious leader, wasn't he?
He was high up there.
Nicodemus was one of the religious leaders.
So he comes to Jesus by night, by
the way.
I don't want people to know just yet.
Clearly you have been sent from God because
nobody could do these works if it wasn't
for God being with them.
So how do you have Nicodemus and Caiaphas
different?
Complete, right?
Nicodemus, one, Joseph of Arimathea, rich man, probably
on the council.
There was followers of Christ that were Pharisees,
that were Sadducees, that were religious leaders.
But then you have this side.
Why?
How?
It's the power of a hard heart.
Well, that's okay for unbelievers, Shane, but no,
it's true of believers too.
The power of a hard heart.
It will destroy a marriage.
It will destroy a church.
It's devastating.
The reason is, too, one is a searcher,
Nicodemus.
The other is a skeptic.
That's the difference.
If you don't know God, if you don't
know Christ as your Lord and Savior, you
must turn from being a skeptic to a
searcher.
And I encourage people often, say God, if
you're out there, Jesus, I want to know
if you're real.
Would you show me?
God will answer the prayer of a sincere
heart.
God's not going to be up in heaven
going, no, not answering that one.
No, you're going to have to find me
on your own.
You're out of luck.
He wants, he wants, bring your questions to
me.
Bring your sincerity to me.
He wants a soft, pliable, teachable heart.
He'll show that person the way.
So you have Caiaphas, you have Nicodemus.
You see the difference there.
I want to read a quote from Stop
Playing Church.
I found them on Facebook.
They have a lot of interesting quotes.
They said 2,000 years ago, Israel was
expecting a lion, but they got a lamb.
2,000 years later, the church is expecting
a lamb, but they're going to get a
lion.
When Christ returns, He's no longer on the
throne of mercy.
He's on the throne of judgment.
See, don't we live in an interesting time
here, because when Christ comes again, there's no
plan B.
There's no backup plan.
Oh, now it's time to get ready.
No, when He comes, the time of mercy
and grace is coming to an end.
At some point, those times come to an
end, and then a time of judgment comes.
People have to be prepared, and a hard
heart is what is keeping many people away
from the kingdom.
You might say, Shane, what is a hard
heart?
Glad you asked.
Let me tell you what a hard heart
is.
Baker's Evangelical Dictionary says this, the heart, in
effect, is the whole person, and all of
his or her distinct human activity is thinking,
planning, willing, feeling, worshiping, and interacting.
And of course, when the person is not
living according to God's will, it is the
heart that is described as darkened, rebellious, callous,
unfeeling, and idolatrous.
Now, this is interesting.
You can look at, get a lot of
scriptural support for this.
Yes, that's true of an unbeliever.
When an unbeliever's heart, my friend, I was
talking to, okay, let's, a hard heart.
Make sure I don't send him this message,
right?
But if he finds it on Facebook, there's
nothing to do about that.
So, unbeliever, the heart is darkened, rebellious, callous,
unfeeling, and idolatrous.
That's a hard heart because they're outside of
God's will.
But, you can take a believer whose heart
is becoming hard, and the same things apply.
They're darkened.
They're living according to the flesh.
They're rebellious.
A person with a hard heart is rebellious.
There's just no way around that.
Let me just get that out, just in
case you're wondering.
If you have a hard heart, you are
rebellious.
There's many times we've, I've talked to marriage
counseling, and wanted to do marriage counseling for
people.
And they're, no, I don't want to do
it.
I don't want to do it.
I don't want to hear it.
Why?
Because you're rebellious.
You've got a hard heart.
Somebody who has a teachable, pliable, open heart
wants to know what God's Word says.
They want to change.
So, a believer can have a very hard
heart, rebellious, callous, unfeeling, and idolatrous.
Idolatrous means idle.
There's something else where God should be.
We see that in everything from sports, to
partying, to everything.
That God is, you'll fit him in on
Sunday, but he's really not your whole life.
There's idolatry taking place, and idolatry is just
putting anything where God should be.
And I wrote an article last year, I
might bring it sometime, or print it, about
where I see sports going, too, with kids.
And they, you know, the little leagues and
all those didn't want to publish it, because
I talked about how it becomes idolatry now,
all these travel ball teams, and how they'll
have to get them to soccer, and to
baseball, and all these things on weekends, and
we'll fit church in maybe once a month.
When did that happen?
I mean, I drove down Valencia last year,
the churches are empty, but the parks are
full.
What?
Idolatry.
I want the next Nolan Ryan.
I want the next, my son's going to
the big leagues, I'm going to do everything
he can to get there.
It becomes idolatry, because, you see how that
works?
Because in church we'll squeeze it in, and
this is a struggle I have, helping with
little league, and coaching, and seeing, you know,
my son's potential, and I could turn him
into a very, very good player, if it
was five days a week, batting lessons, pitching
lessons, all these things, I could do that,
but then that becomes the focus.
We've asked to be on three or four
different travel ball teams now.
We can't do that.
Well, we'll take your son for the weekend
and bring him.
No, that's not going to happen either.
But it's this culture, and you have to
be careful, because it happens with believers, that
we start to put other things before God.
Just look at church attendance.
30, 40 years, now this is going to
get a little convicting, it's okay, it's time
for the choir to get convicted, right?
They say, you're preaching to the choir, well,
it's time for the choir to get convicted,
because the choir's getting pregnant, the choir's getting
pregnant out of wedlock, the choir's, you know,
indulging in all these things, so sometimes the
church needs to be convicted.
And it's okay to preach this conviction, but
look at church attendance.
It was always consistent, except for, you know,
if things came up, and then it came
to three times a month, and now I
think it's two times a month, and it's
because our culture's changing.
We don't wake up with, I've got to
get to church, that's my passion.
I guess so.
Should we go today?
I've had those discussions.
I won't tell you when.
It hasn't been the last six years since
we planned the church.
But we, it's like, are we going today?
I don't know.
Are we going today?
I don't know.
Are we going today?
I don't know.
And then you go back and forth, and
you don't end up going, or you end
up arguing.
See, the enemy, why is there no arguments
on the way to the movies?
Getting ready, have you ever thought about that?
Getting ready, going to the movies, or going
out to dinner.
Very rarely is there an argument.
You've got a babysitter lined up, you're going
to the movies, but come Sunday morning, come
Sunday morning, the littlest thing.
And that's why, because the enemy wants us
out of fellowship.
You take somebody out of fellowship, that's the
first step in the wrong direction.
When we isolate ourselves, we get out of
fellowship, we get out of the normal course
of following God.
Now he talks about here, a disregard for
God's Word does lead to a hard heart.
But also I've seen people use God's Word
as a weapon.
And they are judgmental, they are arrogant, they
are bitter, they are mean, and they're just
as in much sin as this person.
Because you have to remember, the Word of
God is not meant to be used as
a sledgehammer all the time.
A surgeon and a thief both use a
knife, do they not?
But one is to help, the other is
to hurt.
So we have to be careful because I've
seen people on this side just, oh I
can't believe you did this, and this, and
this, and this.
But they're just as mean as a rattlesnake
stirred up with a stick.
And they're just judgmental, and bitter, and mean.
You can just see it coming off of
them.
Like, well you're not in a much better
spot to be critiquing this person.
Okay, they fell off the wagon, but you're
still on the wagon.
So we have to watch it on both
sides.
And judgmentalism can creep in those who've been
Christians a while, or mature in their faith,
or in the Word.
Be careful, careful for this side.
Your pastor can slip onto this side quite
often, right?
So be careful, because a hard heart.
And the more we do this, see, see,
see, the harder the heart becomes.
How could you, how could you?
What would Jesus say?
Woman, I don't condemn you, but go and
sin no more.
See, it's okay to do both.
You show the love, but you also encourage
them in the right direction.
I'm going to keep reading from, about the
hard heart.
I'm almost done.
The heart represents a total response of a
person to life around him or her, and
to the religious and moral demands of God.
Hardness of heart describes a negative condition in
which the person ignores, spurns, or rejects the
gracious offer of God to be part of
his or her life.
Do you know how many people I've talked
to, my friend, as a perfect example, dozens
of times about God's gracious gift.
And a hard heart rejects that, and rejects
that.
But as believers, those who have a hard
heart, have you ever went to somebody and
said, hey, you might want to consider, I've
noticed a lot of things, I don't think
you're heading in a good direction, and with
whatever, you name it, and they're like, no
I'm not, yes I am, it's you.
And they'll put it back on you.
All excuses.
There's a hard heart there.
There's a hard heart because they don't want
to address the problem.
So I would just really, really, really encourage
you.
Is there a strong word for really, really,
really?
Look at your heart.
Are you open to constructive feedback?
Are you teachable?
Are you pliable?
Are you flexible?
Are you loving?
Or are you very rigid?
Because that is a sign of a hard
heart.
There's no way around that.
God says often choose life or choose death.
Choose humility or choose pride.
Choose being teachable or choose being arrogant.
Choose to soften your heart or choose to
harden it.
It's a very interesting thing.
So on this topic of a clean slate,
I would encourage you.
I'm going to use that word encourage a
lot this morning, because I do want to
encourage you.
Look at your heart and start a clean
slate.
That's one of the things I love about
God.
When I come to Him and I want
to soften my heart, He says, no, you're
going to have to wait six months.
No, you know what?
You've asked me a hundred times.
I'm not going over a hundred one.
But it's that loving Father, gracious Father, clean
slate.
Actually, if you've never, never embraced God's gracious
gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ, the Bible
says you just have to repent of your
sin, confess that Christ is Lord, and then
you're a new creation in Christ, a new
creation in Christ.
All things have passed away.
Behold, and now everything is new.
It's as if this old self was put
off and this new person in Christ starts
a clean slate.
That's a wonderful gift of God.
You want to shout it from the rooftops.
Why don't more people embrace it?
Why?
Because of a hard, callous heart.
Verse 69, Now Peter sat outside in the
courtyard, and a servant girl came to him,
saying, You also were with Jesus.
But he denied it before them all, saying,
I do not know what you are saying.
And when he had gone out to the
gateway, another girl saw him and said to
those who were there, This fellow also was
with Jesus.
But again, he denied it with an oath.
I do not know the man, basically swearing.
I do not know the man.
And a little later, those who stood by
came and said to Peter, Surely you also
are one of them, for your speech betrays
you.
Then he began to curse and swear, saying,
I do not know the man.
Immediately a rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the
word of Jesus, who had said to him,
Before the rooster crows, you will deny me
three times.
So he went out and wept bitterly.
I'm going to do something a little bit
differently.
Susie's going to get it ready, and you
can get the lights too as well, Trey.
I'm going to show you what this actually
looked like to get a better picture of
it.
Many of you have seen it before, but
it fits right in.
And I think it's going to be a
huge benefit to get our hearts in a
right spot to see exactly what this looked
like with Peter's denial.
And it was just, it was terrible.
I'm in America now like to be trying
to grow up to new north.
I got that on either of the two.
Gave.
I got that on one.
I said that.
Help me.
I'm going to do it.
We've all denied Him in some way, correct?
All of us have denied Him in some
way.
Now what's the definition of deny?
You might say, no I haven't.
Well here's the definition.
One who refuses to admit the truth or
the existence of it.
J.A. Broadus said, in fact, a Christian
is always and everywhere either confessing Christ or
denying Him.
Every wrong act performed, every duty disregarded or
imperfectly discharged, every indication of a character not
conformed to His will and likened to His
image is by the very necessity of the
case a denial of our Lord and Savior.
Anything that we do.
There's three ways an unbeliever denies the Lord
and there's three ways that also believers can
be tied into this.
Titus 1.16 that we deny Him by
our works.
They profess to know God but they deny
Him by their works.
So that should be a wake up call
to many people that they can deny Him
by their works.
So these people that think they know God,
if there's no fruit, if their life doesn't
line up with the scriptural course, they are
living in deception.
That's clear throughout the Word of God.
And then it dawned on me about believers.
We can deny Him by our lifestyle too,
can't we?
We can deny Him by our works.
People are watching.
And so it's our character.
I think I read that poem on Father's
Day about a son looking at his father
saying, Dad, the lessons you give me may
be very wise and true, but I'd rather
get my lesson by observing what you do.
For I may misunderstand you and the high
advice you give, but there's no misunderstanding how
you act and how you live.
And we can deny Christ by our works,
by our lifestyle.
Look at what our kids see sometimes.
Oh, this hurts a little.
It's okay.
Because the reason this hurts a little is
so the heart will start to soften.
Your heart will never soften nor will mine
unless it's convicted and hit sometimes with a
little sledgehammer from God, breaking that hard stone.
So believers and unbelievers can deny Him by
their works.
The second way, they can deny who Jesus
really is.
Did you know you can deny who Jesus
really is?
First John, who is a liar but he
who denies that Jesus is the Christ.
So everybody that comes knocking on your door
trying to give you a false gospel of
who Jesus is, well, this is who He
is.
He was Satan's brother.
He's a created being.
He's not really God.
They are liars and the truth is not
in them.
They are anti-Christ.
When is the last time you heard that?
That those people are anti-Christ?
I love them but I'm telling them the
truth.
Anti-Christ.
Come on, Shane, isn't that some figure in
the end of the world?
Well, it depends what your theology is but
John says that the anti-Christ spirit has
been here for 2,000 years.
The anti-Christ spirit denies who Jesus is
because that's the way to salvation.
Why is that?
Have you ever thought why is that so
important?
The virgin birth, it had to be conceived
by God, not man.
Had to be.
They can't have the DNA of man in
Christ.
Born of a virgin.
It had to be God Himself.
Who is going to take my place and
your place on the cross?
Another man?
It won't happen.
Without the shedding of blood, there is no
remission of sin.
For sin to be eternally cleansed, it had
to be God Himself dying on the cross
in the form of Jesus Christ.
That's why this is so important.
So somebody denies who Jesus is.
He wasn't God.
He was a created being.
He's the brother of Satan.
That is anti-Christ.
That's against what God proclaimed and what God
did.
The verse, if I keep reading, says that
is the anti-Christ.
He who denies the Father and the Son.
No one who denies the Son has the
Father.
So people who deny Jesus, you don't have
the Father.
You have the wrong God.
Because it's the whole package.
It's the Trinity.
The triune nature of God.
God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
If you've got that theology master, talk to
me afterwards, because I don't.
But we know that it's true.
We see the triune nature of God.
You can go back into the very beginnings
of the Old Testament, when God said, let
us create man in our image.
And you look at the singular word of
God, El.
And then you look at the plural, Elah.
And then you look at Elohim.
And you see this triune nature of God.
And who denies that, denies that the Father
and the Son are one, yet separate, is
anti-Christ.
Now let me encourage you in this as
well.
Those who are new believers, or those who
don't understand this, it's a process to understand
theology.
It's good to have questions.
If you say, God, I don't understand it.
I believe in Christ.
I believe you sent Him.
Help me understand this theology, the study of
God.
God will show you.
God will help in that area.
So a person doesn't need to have perfect
theology before they die, but they better have
good theology that lines up with Scripture.
As long as they believe that Jesus died
for their sin, that Jesus is the Son
of God.
That's what this is saying here.
Matthew 10, 32, deny Him before others.
Deny Him before others.
So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I
also will acknowledge before My Father who is
in heaven.
But whoever denies Me before men, I will
also deny before My Father who is in
heaven.
You're going to be seeing this a lot
more in our nation.
It's happening in other countries where if you
can quote the Koran, they won't shoot you.
But if you can't, you are dead.
And we're going to see this as the
culture, as the gas on your stove, right,
turn on the heat on that water, and
that water starts to get hotter, you're going
to see more people jumping out of that
crockpot.
It's very, right now it's very easy to
be a Christian.
You just put a little sign of the
fish on your car, and you show up
to church, and you post the cute little
Facebook things.
But when persecution comes, that's when the rubber
meets the road.
When you will die for your faith, or
you will lose a job because of your
faith.
There's so many people right now in the
school system, or in the government, different things,
and I'm not in their position, but to
maintain their job, they have to be silent.
They can't say a word about anything.
And this will come, as we're seeing more,
the more we deny Him, not us in
particular, I'm saying the more the world and
the more carnal Christians that say they're Christians
and possibly aren't, the more we deny Him,
the stronger the warning comes that God will,
Jesus will deny us before the Father.
And I was going to, with showing that
video with Peter, and is it ready at
all?
You guys fix it?
No?
Okay.
The words work.
Okay.
That's alright.
Alright.
Note to self-check it before the service
starts.
My fault.
The difference between Peter and Judas.
What was the difference?
Judas went out and hung himself.
Peter repented.
And I believe this goes back where Jesus
says, Peter, Satan has asked for you, he's
going to sift you as wheat, but I
pray for you that your faith fail thee
not.
And when you strengthen yourself, return to your
brothers and feed the flock.
So Peter, broken before God, denied, I mean,
you put him and Judas, you know, what
they each did was each not very good.
You know, you're not going to sit and,
I don't know the man, I incurse, incurse,
I don't know the man, and then come
to a point of just brokenness and say,
I've denied him.
God restore me a clean slate.
That's the difference.
Where Judas felt remorseful, threw the money back
and went out and hung himself.
He didn't finish strong.
And the more I, the older I get,
the more I realize it's very important to
start the Christian faith well.
Don't get me wrong, but you better finish
well.
Because that's what they're watching.
If there's big moral failure in the church,
you think they're going to, well, but he's
finished, he started well.
Everybody looks at, how did you finish?
How did you finish?
But as believers, I want to encourage you
this morning, get up and win that race,
finish.
You're going to fall.
You're going to be, you're going to be
knocked down.
And that's the, so it isn't about finishing
perfectly.
It's about getting back up and fighting and
getting back up and fighting.
That's the Christian, that's the Christian walk to
get up and win that race.
And I'm going to read a brief poem.
It's about two minutes long.
I've read an excerpt before.
I think I read it here when I
first started speaking.
And it talks about what I'm trying to
encapsulate perfectly.
And I think it'll be a good encouragement
as we conclude.
It's entitled The Race by an author unknown.
Whenever I start to hang my head in
front of failure's face, my downward fall is
broken by the memory of a race, a
child's race, young boys, young men, how I
remember well, excitement sure, but also fear, it
wasn't hard to tell.
They all lined up so full of hope,
each thought to win that race, or tie
for first, or if not that, at least
take second place.
And have you, I just want to stop
there for a minute.
Have you ever, they lined up so full
of hope.
Do you remember that when you are full
of hope, and just full of God's hope,
and then the enemy comes in and sidetracks
and gets you completely out of ministry, completely
out of gifting, completely just off to the
side, and you are hurt, and you are
broken because that hope has been dashed?
Well, I want to encourage you because God's
word says, though weeping may endure through the
night, joy cometh in the morning.
And the reason it comes is because the
sun comes up again, and there's a renewed
hope and a renewed passion, and you say,
okay, devil, you got me yesterday, but come
today, I'm coming out with both barrels blazing.
And that hope can be reignited.
Their parents watched from off the side, each
cheering for their son, and each boy hoped
to show his folks that he would be
the one.
The whistle blew, and off they flew like
chariots of fire.
To win, to be the hero there, was
each young boy's desire.
One boy in particular, whose dad was in
the crowd, was running in the lead and
thought, my dad will be so proud.
But as he sped down the field and
crossed a shallow dip, the little boy who
thought he'd win lost his step and slipped.
Trying harder to catch himself, his arms flew
every place, and amidst the laughter of the
crowd, he fell flat on his face.
As he fell, his hope fell too, he
couldn't win it now.
Humiliated, he just wished to disappear somehow.
But as he fell, his dad stood up
and showed his anxious face, to which the
boy so clearly said, get up and win
that race.
He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a
bit, that's all, and ran with all his
mind and might to make up for his
fall.
So anxious to restore himself, to catch up
and to win, his mind went faster than
his legs, he slipped and fell again.
He wished that he'd quit before, with only
one disgrace, I'm hopeless as a runner now,
I shouldn't try to race.
Anybody been there?
But through the laughing crowd, he searched and
found his father's face, with a steady look
that said again, get up and win that
race.
So he jumped up to try again, ten
yards behind the last, if I'm going to
gain those yards, I've got to run real
fast.
He gave everything, he gained eight and then
ten, but trying hard to catch the lead,
he slipped and fell again.
Defeat, he lay there silently, a teardrop from
his eye, there's no sense in running anymore,
there's three strikes, I'm out, why try?
I've lost, so what's the use, he thought,
I'll live with my disgrace.
But then he thought about his dad, who
soon he'd have to face.
Get up, an echo sounded low, you haven't
lost at all, for all you have to
do to win is rise each time you
fall.
Get up, get up and take your place,
you were not meant for failure here, get
up and win that race.
So up he rose to run once more,
refusing to forfeit, and he resolved that win
or lose, at least he wouldn't quit.
So far behind the others now, the most
he'd ever been, still he gave it all
he had and ran as though to win.
Three times he'd fallen, stumbling, three times he
rose again, too far behind to hope to
win, he still ran to the end.
They cheered another boy who crossed the line
and won first place, head high and proud
and happy, no falling, no failing, no disgrace.
But when the fallen youngster crossed the line
in last place, the crowd gave him the
greater cheer for finishing the race.
And even though he came in last with
head bowed low and unproud, you would have
thought he'd won the race to listen to
the crowd.
And to his dad, he sadly said, I
didn't do so well.
To me you won, his father said, you
rose each time you fell.
And now when things seem dark and bleak
and difficult to face, the memory of that
little boy helps me in my race.
For all of life is like a race
with ups and downs and all, and all
you have to do to win is rise
each time you fall.
And when depression and despair shout loudly in
your face, another voice within you should say
get up and win that race.
Amen, amen.