Gospel—R. Klassen Jr.
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A brother asked at a Sunday school many years ago. He said what's the best time?
To accept Jesus as your savior. And he said, I figured that the answer would be right now, and that's a good answer.
But he said to his surprise, a little girl in the room raised her hand and she said the best time to receive Jesus is the first time you hear about him.
And then she went on to say, that's what my dad and my mom and my brother and I did. The first time we heard about Jesus, we accepted him as our Savior. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 27. I'm going to read a number of scriptures tonight and I ask your pardon. And if you get tired of following along, just listen.
Matthew 27 and verse one. When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel.
Against Jesus to put him to death. When they had bound him, they led him away.
And delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Let's skip down to verse 11. And Jesus stood before the governor, And the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.
Then said Pilate unto him, Herest thou not how many things they witnessed against thee?
And he answered him to never a word, in so much that the governor marvelled greatly.
Now at that feast, the governor was won't to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would.
And they have then a notable prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them.
Whom we whom will ye that I release unto you Barabbas, or Jesus, which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man? For I've suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Abbas.
And destroy Jesus, the governor answered, and said unto them, Whither of the twain will ye that I release unto you?
They said Barabbas, Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?
They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified, when Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing.
But that rather a tumult was made. He took water and washed his hands before the multitude.
Saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see to it. Then answered all the people, and said, his blood be on us and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them, and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him.
To be crucified.
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.
And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe, and when they had planted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head in a Reed in his right hand.
And they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying Hail King of Jews. And they spit upon him, and took the Reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him.
And led him away to crucify him.
Verse 37 And he set up over his head, his accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.
Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and the other on the left?
And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroy us the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
Verse 44. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.
Now from the 6th hour there was darkness over all the land until the 9th hour and about the 9th hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying Eli Eli, Lama Sabachthani. That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
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Verse 50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
And then let's turn to Luke chapter 23. We know that this account is in all four of the Gospels.
There are a few points that I do want to pick up at the different ones.
Luke chapter 23 and verse four then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people.
I find no fault in this man. And they were more fierce, saying he stirreth up the people teaching throughout all jewelry, beginning from Galilee to this place.
When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked whether the man were a Galilean, and as soon as he knew that, he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction.
He sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time.
And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he'd heard many things of him, and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned him in many words.
But he answered him nothing, and the chief priests and the scribes stood and vehemently accused him.
And Herod with his men of war, set him at Naughty and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe.
And sent him again to Pilate.
Let's read one more verse for right now in Matthew chapter 12.
Read a couple of verses, Matthew chapter 12 and verse 30. This is the Lord Jesus speaking, He that is not with me.
Is against me, and he that gathereth gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
And then in verse 36. But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the days of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words.
Thou shalt be condemned.
Well, the person that we want to speak up tonight is the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, we're we read of the day when he was on trial in this world.
I don't know how many of us have been on trial, maybe for a traffic ticket or something, but I think we know the order. There's a judge, there's the accused, there are those that are prosecuting, those are defending usually, but not in this trial.
And the man that was over this trial, the judge, was a man named Pilate.
A man named Pilot who apparently had a wife that he valued. You know, when men climb in this world, they they often have a wife. I think the same. I don't know exactly how it goes, but something like behind every successful man is is a successful woman or a tremendous woman, a woman that helped him get there. And so in this trial, when the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God stood before the.
This multitude that hated him.
He got a message.
And perhaps this wasn't uncommon. In the middle of everything, he was handed a note.
A note from his wife and we read it. It said have nothing to do.
With this, with that, just man Speaking of Jesus.
For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
But you know, Pilot no doubt had followed her counsel because those of us that are married know that our wives are a tremendous health. They have an intuition. They have an insight that we don't have. We may have logic and and objective thinking sometimes and we overlook things. And so A-Team, A-Team of a man and a wife and this man in the middle of the trial or perhaps at the beginning of it, I don't know when it was got this note, have nothing to do.
With this just man, and you know, as we read through here, we see that Pilate tried to follow that advice.
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He valued his wife's advice.
But it was fatal advice. And if you're here tonight?
And you've more or less had nothing to do with the man that you've been told so much of, the Lord Jesus.
Perhaps it's because you want to leave that alone.
I'm glad you're here. This was a happy day, wasn't it? And the Lord gives his people happy days.
He's so good.
But again, my concern tonight is for you. Have you ever?
Yourself. Personally.
Come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In regard to your sins and accepted him as your savior.
I'm not asking you if you followed a formula. You know Pilate. I think if you gave him a formula that day you would have been so thankful for it, but he couldn't.
And all the while he tried to avoid having to do with Jesus.
But he couldn't, you know, the first time when he heard that he was from Galilee, he thought, ah.
Herod's here in town, and that's his jurisdiction. Herod can settle that answer.
And some perhaps.
If we're children and we were raised in a Christian home.
You've been told many times that your dad and mom can't believe for you.
They've done a lot for you and they love you, but they can't believe for you. You personally have to do with the Lord Jesus Christ and you can't get out of it.
You may think you have and maybe today to date this date you feel you have, but you know we read in that in Matthew 12, the Lord Jesus said he that is not with me.
Is against me.
When it comes to the Lord Jesus, you can't be neutral. You can't be.
And it's remarkable that everybody that had to do with the Lord Jesus on that day.
They didn't stay neutral. Everyone of them were affected.
When the Lord Jesus went to Herod.
Which pilot was so glad to hand him off to Herod? Well, Herod was looking forward to seeing him. I don't know why he never saw the Lord Jesus, for we know that the Lord Jesus for three years did many miracles.
And he covered many miles, but he had never seen the Lord Jesus. He'd heard about him just like you have.
And he was just curious. He wanted to see the Lord Jesus do a miracle.
And so in the Lord Jesus appeared before him. He began to question him.
And the Lord never answered him a word. Can you imagine that scene? A scene where a dignitary and he's asking questions of a person?
A man that's accused and he doesn't say a word.
I think it would have been kind of hard to be in that room. It would have been most uncomfortable to just see the Lord Jesus, the Son of God.
Stand and look while you asked him questions and not say anything. Why didn't he say anything?
Didn't he care about Herod?
Ah, Herod didn't care about him.
Herod had had a man tell him about Jesus.
John the Baptist.
And he'd heard. He'd heard it more than once. And Herod had been told about his wicked life.
And how he needed his savior.
And you know what he did? He silenced that voice in death. He cut off John the Baptist's head.
He was unaffected, he was unmoved by what he heard, and the Lord Jesus wasn't going to say anything to him.
That song you know if you're here tonight.
And you're hearing about the Lord Jesus, the one that we sang tonight is the Savior of sinners.
You're accountable for how you accept this message, and you will either reject it or accept it.
You say I'll ignore it. You can't.
Can't. You can't remain neutral either. You're with him.
Or you're against him.
But Herod wasn't the only one.
You know when he was at Herod's and the Lord never said anything. Before he left, we read how Herod's soldiers dressed him up in a robe and mocked him.
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They marked the Son of God.
You see, they couldn't remain neutral.
No, and neither can you. And that's what song to my own soul tonight, if you're here and you know the message just as well as I do.
But you haven't come. You won't stay static.
You will progress.
You know, it's, it's remarkable to me.
Because even the thieves that were crucified with the Lord Jesus.
They weren't unmoved either.
It's hard to imagine men, they're on their way out to die and to die at death.
It's horrible, I guess the most horrible death that man ever thought up. That's the death he awarded to the Lord Jesus Christ.
But why would these men who know they're going to be dead by the end of that day?
Who are who are headed for torture and suffering?
Why would they spend any breath turning to cast those same words of mockery?
And cursing that the Lord Jesus Christ.
Was it because he had done anything?
You know, Pilate said more than once as he examined him and cross examined him.
As he listened to all these false accusations and you know, of Pilate, this isn't the first trial he'd had.
He marvelled. He never seen a man.
Who is being falsely accused time after time? And Pilate knew that they were false accusations, and he observed the Lord Jesus, and to see that he never said anything then either. And yet he well knew that.
His life was on the line.
Pilate asked the Lord. Can't you hear what they're saying about you?
But you know the Lord Jesus.
He'd been the night before in the Garden of Gethsemane.
And he knew what was before him.
And he knew the awfulness of it. Sometimes we dread something that's in front of us, but we don't really know.
What all it will involve, We're just afraid of it. But the Lord Jesus knew what was ahead of him as he went to the cross and that night.
That night, with all of that weighing upon him, he bowed to God and said, Nevertheless, not my will be done with thine.
And so as he goes, Isaiah says he went like a sheep to the slaughter.
You know sheep, they just follow the one in front of them.
The Lord Jesus didn't go as a sheep to the slaughter and ignorance, but He went as a sheep to the slaughter in willingness.
In submission and if you think of that day, how many times he was.
I don't want to say drug because he wasn't drug, he followed them, but how he went to, first of all, the high priests.
Palace and there was abused you know they put a blindfold over his eyes and then they.
Hit him as hard as they could, I'm sure on the side of his face. And then they said prophecy.
Who struck thee?
I think it was because they couldn't look in his eyes.
But again.
These thieves.
Why? Why would they bother?
Why wasn't there any sympathy with them to say?
You know he's in the same boat as we are.
Poor man.
But it shows who he was. It shows that you can't remain neutral. And thank God one of those thieves he turned, but at first he cast the same at his teeth.
But I think he got in on the little visit that Pilate and the Lord Jesus had.
And I say that because of what he said. But you know, we read about the passers by.
Two and verse 30 they that pass by reviled him.
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Wagging their heads. You know somebody is just passing by.
They usually don't bother with what's going on around them. They may have been walking along, visiting, engrossed in what they were doing, but as they came to that scene of the Lord Jesus on the cross, they couldn't pass by.
Without chiming in, isn't that remarkable?
They too.
And seeing thou that destroyeth the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.
And perhaps they went on their way.
And so you see tonight, dear one.
You can't remain neutral.
You will make a decision.
Then all don't be. Don't listen to pilots wife.
Have nothing to do.
With this righteous man, this just man, you have to do with him. We heard about it last night.
All things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven.
Given among men, whereby we must be saved.
We think sometimes this hymn.
I see the crowd in Pilot's Hall, their furious cries. I hear.
Their shouts of crucify appall their cursing fills my ear.
And in that.
Forget it here for a moment.
Yeah, I'm sorry. And in that Dana voice is rude. I recognize my own. I've skipped a line. But then it says I see the scourgers Wren flesh of God's beloved Son, and as thy smite I feel afresh that I of them AM 1.
I see that throng around the cross.
That mocked the sufferers grown, yet still my voice, it seems to me.
As if I mocked alone, I crucified the Christ of God.
I joined the mockery.
You know, it's a wonderful moment. It's a solemn moment.
When I come to the realization that went on that day, the crucifixion.
The judgment, the condemnation of a man.
Who, how many times was it said, and it was said from an array of people, different perspectives. The man that betrayed him said I betrayed innocent blood. And that's something the one that betrayed him to death, his testimony and he walked with the Lord Jesus for three years, 3 1/2 years, He said I betrayed innocent blood.
Pilot's wife said. Have nothing to do with that, just a righteous man, Pilate himself, as he examined the Lord Jesus said.
I find no fault in the other translation says whatever.
And him Isn't that remarkable. Have you ever known anyone that no one could find any fault with him?
Wouldn't that make a wonderful savior?
One that's absolutely pure and holy.
One who, when he was here, went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed.
Why was he on trial then?
You know the thief, said this man, the one that turned to the Lord Jesus at last.
He said, this man hath done nothing amiss.
Could that be said of anyone else in this world? You know it couldn't.
Why then, was he crucified?
You know, says and Isaiah that he was taken from judgment.
He was taken from prison and from judgment.
What does that mean?
Well, we know what it means. He was taken from judgment because we've been speaking about that. They brought in false accusers.
But the testimony from that array of people, a criminal from a man that walked with him.
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From the judge himself.
All to testify is to his.
Really to his perfection, but certainly to his guiltlessness.
But it was a kangaroo court.
They'd already decided before they started, and so he was taken from judgment. But I understand that even if a man was condemned to death, they always kept him in jail overnight.
Just in case.
I understand since they can track DNA that they've realized that.
They've punished men that weren't really guilty of the crime that they were punished for.
But you know, there's never been a travesty of judgment like this. Never.
There's none that could have ever been said about them. They've done nothing amiss.
No, they were suspect enough that they were condemned, but the Lord Jesus.
Perfect. Pure.
Holy spotless, he was condemned to death and I don't think that that day was a normal execution day because it seemed to cause real trouble for them. They couldn't go certain places and they wanted to make sure that the those were being crucified. They had to hurry up their torture and kill them because this the Sabbath was drawing on. But when it came to the Lord Jesus.
They didn't want to take a chance that they'd lose him.
And so they made a special day.
And they made a.
An absolutely unjust trial. And then they hurried him out there as quick as they could.
To hang him on the cross.
I wanted to I want to read in John.
Pilate was in a difficult place, even though he said to the people.
I can't find any fault with him. And you know what? He offered. He offered.
To scourge him, to whip him.
And another goal.
We read.
By thy words shalt thou be justified, and by thy words.
Shalt thou be condemned?
You may not remember all the words that you have spoken, but if you have been raised in a Christian home.
I'm sure tonight that you've said enough words whereby you're condemned tonight.
In connection with the Lord Jesus.
Want to be something if you remain in your sins and one day you stand before none other.
Than the one that was standing on trial this day, the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
As we heard last night, the one that God has appointed to judge this world, and he takes your words.
And condemns you with him. What could you say?
You know what it says about Pilate that he knew that for envy they delivered him up.
He never said that.
But God tells us that He knew that.
And God knows what you know tonight.
Certainly being raised in a Christian home, you know a lot.
And it tells us, I believe it's in Matthew, that he that knew his Lord's will.
And did it not shall be beaten with many stripes to tell us that you and I are accountable for what we know?
And Pilate was too.
And so he's struggling. He doesn't want to have anything to do with this righteous man.
But after all, he's underoath to be just and fair, and yet he knows that the accusers.
The whole reason why they brought the Lord Jesus in that day is because they were envious of Him.
What a place to be in.
Maybe what you know tonight is the very thing that has given you to go on with a measure of peace, even though you've never accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
That's a solemn thing, isn't it?
Perhaps because I I wanna tell you that I did the same. I went on for years and never, never myself. I knew how to be saved. I even told other people how to be saved. But myself, I had never decided for Christ. I had never said I want to be on the side of the Lord Jesus.
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You know, as Pilot went on in this trial, he realized that if he did.
He'd be all alone.
And so will you, in one sense. Oh, not that your mom and dad aren't there.
And that no doubt they prayed for you for years. Perhaps you've concerned them because as we heard last night, if you have new life, it shows. You know I plant little seeds every year.
And the assurance I have that when they're alive is I see them springing out of the ground and they're green and they're growing. Life expresses itself.
But I want to get to this visit that the Lord Jesus had with Pilate.
In John chapter 18.
It's hard to tell any other scriptures and the other accounts, but I think it's evident here that Pilot had time with the Lord Jesus alone. Let's look in John chapter 18 and verse 28. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment, and it was early, and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might.
Eat the Passover.
And Pilot went out onto them and said, what accusation bring you against this man? For time, let's go down to verse 33.
Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus and said unto him.
Art thou King of the Jews?
Jesus answered him, saying.
Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell thee it of me?
Pilon answered, Am IA Jew Lino, nation of the chief priests have delivered thee unto me.
What hast thou done? Jesus answered. My Kingdom is not of this world.
If my Kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews? But now is my Kingdom not from hence? Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king? Then Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into this world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him.
What is truth and when he had said this?
He went out again to the Jews, and said unto them, I find in him.
No fault at all.
If you're here tonight and you have never, definitely.
And openly take in the Lord Jesus for your own Savior.
You've never had to do with him directly, personally.
I I'm assured of this that he's visited with you.
There's times in our life, maybe it's when we face death, when we almost ourselves perhaps were killed.
Or maybe when we're at a funeral of someone that was close to us.
We stared at that unmoving body, and we realized how real death is.
You know we live in an unreal world, the media and the entertainment.
Has gotten it so people hardly know what is true anymore it seems.
And after a while, it seems like they don't even care if they know what's true.
But all the Lord Jesus had this talk with Pilate, because God speaketh once.
Yeah, twice. Yet man perceiveth it not.
He's spoken to you, dear one, but what did you do?
And I love how the Lord Jesus says to Pilate, he says to him, are you the King of the Jews? And he said, did you say that?
And Pilate says, well, I'm not. It's your people. I'm not a Jew.
And then the Lord Jesus tells him, yes, I am the King, but my Kingdom is far greater than the Jews.
It's not even of this world. Oh, can you see Pilate listening to him?
And then he says to him, in the face of all that facade and what Pilate knew.
He says to him, Everyone that's of the truth hears my voice.
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Are you willing for the truth to come into your soul?
Are you willing to realize that your heart isn't any different than those that crucified the Lord Jesus? What a moment to realize.
That we can hear our voice there, you say. I wasn't there, you were there.
And if you stand there, you can hear your voice. You can see the wretchedness of your own heart.
To take that blessed man.
Why?
No answer.
Only one answer because God sent him as a Savior of sinners.
You know Pilate, I don't know how long he stayed there, but he said to the Lord in trying to deflect him, what is truth?
But then he went out.
He couldn't stand to face the truth.
Can you?
I want to plead with you tonight, whatever the light of God as it shines on your guilty soul tonight.
And you feel, you feel your wretchedness, awe turn to him.
I so appreciate the Lord Jesus striving with Pilate's soul that day in spite of.
Pilot's fickleness in spite of him dodging and trying.
Every way not to have to do with the Lord Jesus again, I want to say tonight.
I'm not going to give you a formula to be saved because it's having to do with him.
You know Thomas, we call him Doubting Thomas.
Says who is called dynamis, which means twin.
Thomas perhaps was much like you. If you've never openly confessed to Lord Jesus as your own Savior, if you've dodged every way, you've maybe said, well they say if you do this, I'll be saved and not really had to do with him.
I think that was Thomas problem. You know the Lord Jesus said to him, Thomas.
He said to all the disciples that the way that he was going to go, they knew.
Not quoting exactly right where I go, you know, and the way you know.
And Thomas said to the Lord Jesus, we don't know where you're going and how can we know the way?
And the Lord Jesus said I am the way.
I'm the way.
You see tonight, if you don't have peace, and perhaps you want to have peace.
Could I suggest it's because you've tried every way except to have to do with him?
The only one that can give you peace.
Job tells us Acquaint now thyself with how to be saved, Know with him, acquainting all thyself with him. And this was Pilate's chance.
And he went out.
Don't go out tonight. You know this world and it was mentioned in the prayers tonight. It's getting darker.
There's so much falsity, there's so much darkness of opacity.
Apostasy. You dare not go any longer if you haven't openly and decidedly decided for Christ. You know they Pilate tried another guy's He was a gracious person. Every year he would release to the Jews the one of their choice, guilty men. And you know that day he thought this might be an opportunity. I still could not have to do with Jesus, and yet I could get out of this decision.
And so we offered them a bad man. You know what? I'll let Barabbas go.
You got to choose between the two, and we read the Bravos was a murderer.
And he was a thief.
And he was a rebel.
And you know what they said, and I don't know if they trembled to think of that man out on the streets again.
But they saw unto the blood of the Lord Jesus. They said, Well, take Barabbas.
And you know, I think of Barabbas.
I think of what was open to him that day. He was on death row.
And to think of them going that day and turning the key in his cell.
Perhaps he thought, this is it.
And have the man say we are free now.
And have him say, what do you mean I'm free?
And to have him be told that the choice was between him.
In Jesus.
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He could have asked who Jesus was. What did he do?
Can you imagine that question? What did he do?
I don't know, maybe we should go out and see what's over his cross.
I'm sure the Lord would have told us.
Perhaps it'll be a surprise in heaven, but you know what Pardon has offered you tonight.
We read in Luke chapter 13 there apparently was a shock. There were some that told the Lord Jesus that Pilate had mingled the blood of these certain persons with their sacrifice and.
And it seemed to shock them enough that they told the Lord about it. Pilate had that on his conscience.
And you know you're a Sinner tonight.
Yes, you are. The Word of God tells us that each and everyone of us are sinners.
But we sang that the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
And the Word of God tells us that Christ Jesus came into the world to save.
Sinners. And then the chief said, And he saved me.
And so that guilty man Barabbas.
He could have walked out.
To see the man that took his place.
He was pardoned. Imagine being on death row and anticipating any moment.
The kind of death that the Romans like to give bad people to teach them a lesson.
And to suddenly be free the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Our Lord and you know, he could have gone out and looked up.
And seeing the one that died in his place.
Because God isn't going to overlook sin, and you know that tonight. No, He won't. Every sin and every disobedience.
Is going to see receive it's just recompensive reward, but that's why Jesus came. We heard about it this morning.
Propitiation and substitution and he took my place.
At Calvary.
You know what Barabbas means.
The son of the Father.
And that's how good God is. Not only is he willing to forgive, for thou, Lord art good and ready to forgive.
And plenty ascend, immersed in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Not only is he willing to forgive, but it doesn't stop there. No, He wants to take you and make you one of His own children. Can you resist that kind of love?
Thank God I couldn't. And so many in this world, in this room couldn't.
So many. He broke us down by that love.
Yes.
He took my place so that I might have his place.
With the Father that could be made one of God's own children.
And have you delayed that tonight? Have you tried every way not to have to do with him?
I want to tell you tonight in order to have peace.
You must have to do with him, but he wants to like Pilate. He'll take time for you like Cain. Last night, think of Cain and his rebellion. And God took the time to reason with Cain and even to assure him. Cain, you won't lose anything. I'll even make it that you'll still be the Big Brother.
And yet he turned away.
The Lord Jesus said to those who well knew him, Ye will not come to me.
You will not come to me. Ah, but he wants you to.
He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should be saved.
All should come to repentance and.
So I want to encourage you tonight, come to the Lord Jesus. You know, I believe that Thomas loved the Lord Jesus, that he had life, but he didn't have peace. And so he had doubts and doubts. When the Lord Jesus said that he was going to go to a certain place, Thomas said, well, let's go and die with him. He didn't have peace.
Because the Lord Jesus said Thomas, you're unbelieving.
You know it's me. He that answer was to Thomas that day. I'm the way, I'm the way, the truth and the life. And I want to say again, if you're trying to find the truth apart from the Lord Jesus, apart from the word of God, you'll never find it.
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And you're going to school again now, and they'll tell you that you can't know anything for sure. There's no such thing as absolute truth. All the Word of God tells us there is. And you know what? It's never changed. Your textbooks change. The thoughts of men have changed. Philosophers have come and gone, But the Word of God has never changed. It's forever settled in heaven. And you can rest your soul on what God has said tonight, and you can have peace.
Because that was the issue in Thomas's life. Who is Lord?
And when he saw the affection of the Lord Jesus for him, the.
Maybe even the hurt that Thomas didn't want to have to do with him.
And yet he was still said to Thomas, You come. If it takes putting your finger in my hand, you come and do it.
It takes thrusting your hand in my side. I want you to do it.
But I want you to know. I want you to know.
And you know.
Thomas knew.
He said my Lord and my God.
I want to suggest to you tonight our time is up. We could follow Pilot on.
That he struggles not to have to do with the Lord Jesus.
And you know, he was told you're not going to be friends with Caesar. I'd probably mean his job.
I'm going to suggest tonight that if you've never made an open decision for the Lord Jesus, if you don't have peace.
Your friends could well have to do with that.
But you know, Pilot is one day.
The roles are going to be reversed. As I've sat in the room here, I think of this curtain.
You know, it almost looks like a throne. And I thought, what if that curtain separated tonight?
And there, behind that curtain, was the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he looked at you.
Would you look at him with joy to see his face or would you be in terror?
Because you're still in your sins.
One day these roles will be reversed.
And the Lord Jesus will be on the throne. Yes, he will, God's Word tells us.
And Pilot.
Will stand is the one that's going to be under judgment.
The one that said I find no fault in this man.
Yes. Oh, don't stand there with him. Where will Caesar be then? All the dead, small and great are going to stand before God. And you know all those things you're so used to? The world, your house, the earth, your school will be gone.
And he'll stand alone.
Before the one that pled with your soul tonight.
Or if you wait until then.
You'll see no grace in his eyes that day. His eyes will be as a flame of fire.
And you won't have anything to say.
He'll have to cast you an outer Darkness.
The trial will be definite. There's no appeal, but don't wait till then.
And I want to encourage you.
Know our time is up. We've had in the meetings as Paul wrote to Timothy, and I wanted to spend more time on this.
He wrote the first epistle, and as we had it was a young man.
That love the Lord Jesus Christ, and he loved his people and he was going on.
And as Paul told him of the pitfalls of material wealth and gain.
He said to him, he brought before him that scene that day when Pilate.
When the Lord Jesus confessed before Pilate the good confession.
Yeah, pardon me, I want to. I want to read that because I want to leave you with that. And I trust that it is something for each and every one of our consciences, particularly those of us that no one loved the Lord Jesus and want to please Him.
He says in verse of First Timothy chapter 6 and verse 11, after he's told him of his sorrows and the pitfalls, he says, but thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness, fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal land, all that was a land that was brought before us today.
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That belongs to us, but all God wants us to be in the enjoyment of it. To whereunto thou art called and as professed a good profession or a good confession before many witnesses.
I give thee charge on the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed.
A good confession that they'll keep this commandment without spot unrebucable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in His time this is the King we had before us shall show who is the blessed and only potentate.
The King of kings and the Lord of Lords, who only have immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach, unto whom no man hath seen nor can see, to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
We're going to leave here tonight. I think it's the burden in each one of our hearts that know the Lord Jesus that we want to go back and we want to be for Him.
We want to go back a different way than what we came. And as Paul is admonishing his son whom he loves.
He says to him, Don't forget the Lord Jesus that day.
In spite of tremendous pressure, in spite of all odds, in spite of what lay before him.
In spite of the judgment of God that was before him.
He confessed the good confession before Pilate and if you get with your friends.
And you're going to hide your identity.
If you're thinking of dishonoring the Lord Jesus, just remember in their astounding before Pilate with everything against him and standing true standing firm for you, for me.
And I believe it will help us. And let your light shine. Let them know whose side you're on.
The Lord knows those that are His, and may this world know those that are His. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
Let's pray.