The Lamb Before the Slaughter (Matthew 26) | Louis Azuma

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Alright, we are almost done with the gospel of Matthew.

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Matthew, chapter 26 is where we're at.

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So turn the arrhythmia in your

Bibles to Matthew chapter 26 Now.

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As I was studying this passage, I was

reminded of Avengers end game, and I

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did some research because Avengers End

game, I think of Avengers End game.

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My, my only thing I didn't like

about it was that all the characters.

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Don't get much screen time right,

because there's so much going on.

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Right.

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They gotta tie in all these plots, they

gotta tie in all the infinity stones,

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they gotta tie in all these things.

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There's so much going on.

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It's like, okay, I, I wanted

more of that and I wanted more of

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that, and I wanted more of that.

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But the point is that it's

like this grand finale, right?

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It's, it's the like 10.

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10 years of, of movies that

have built up to, to one movie.

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Right.

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And that's kind of what's happening

here in the gospel of Matthew.

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Matthew is, is taking all of these

things that have happened in the

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past 25 chapters and he's bringing

them all into to one moment.

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And so I'm not gonna be able to

read all of these verses, but I,

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I want to just give you guys an

overview of what we've got going on.

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So these are all the verses we're

gonna cover, and this is kind of

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my brief summary of each section.

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Okay.

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So the first part, Matthew 26,

if you wanna follow along in

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your Bibles, you can do that too.

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The first part starts with when Jesus had

finished all these sayings, everything.

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So it's almost like this is it.

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Jesus is done teaching.

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Now he's, he's here to do what?

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He's, what The main task he has, which is

to go to the cross and and die for sin.

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That's the main thing.

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So Jesus, he's finished all these

things and he tells his disciples

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in two days it's gonna be Passover.

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Now, Passover, Jewish

Festival, think Exodus, right?

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Exodus, they had to, um.

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To lay the lamb and put the

blood over the door, right?

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So the angel of death would pass over them

and so that the firstborn wouldn't die.

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So the lamb died instead

of the firstborn, right?

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That's Passover, if you remember that

from, from your time in kids' ministry.

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So in two days that feast is coming

up and the son of man, that's

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Jesus talking about himself, will

be delivered up to be crucified.

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So Jesus says, look, I'm gonna die.

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And then the next few verses we,

we see the chief priest, the Jewish

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leaders, they're like, you know what?

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We want to kill Jesus, but.

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We don't wanna kill him yet because

there's all these people in town

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for this festival, for the Passover

festival, and that'll be crazy, right?

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If we kill Jesus during the festival.

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There's gonna be all these people here.

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They think he's a prophet,

they think he's a teacher.

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Maybe they like Jesus,

they're gonna get upset.

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It's gonna be crazy.

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And the reason they don't want

it to be crazy is because the

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Romans are in charge, right?

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And the Romans, if they saw a

bunch of Jews going crazy, they'd

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be like, all right, we gotta

take away more of their stuff.

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We gotta send the police in and,

and beat them up to make sure

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they're not being crazy anymore.

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So that's why the Jewish leaders

don't want to make a commotion

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or an uproar as your Bible.

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Might say, but they've

decided to kill Jesus.

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So that's that first section.

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Then we, we zoom into this place

called Bethany, and Jesus is staying

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at this guy named Simon's house.

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And this woman comes up to

him and she dumps this really

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expensive oil on his head.

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And that is like the

idea of anointing, right?

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She's anointing him with oil, but

in her mind, she's just showing

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Jesus how much she loves him.

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But Jesus says, actually what she's doing

is she's preparing me for burial now.

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You're like, what?

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What does that do with anything?

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Well, Jesus, he's like,

look, I'm gonna die.

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Right?

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Jesus knows he's gonna die.

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He knows he's going to the cross.

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And so what happens is when

someone was gonna die, right?

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Dead people smell bad, right?

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And so what Jesus is saying is She's

putting all this nice smelling perfume on

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me so that I don't smell bad when I die.

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So she's preparing me before I die.

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That's what's going on in those verses.

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And then we, we.

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Fast forward to Judas.

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Now Judas, he's decided to betray Jesus.

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So he goes to the chief priest and

say, Hey, I wanna, I want Jesus dead.

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How much will you pay me if

I give him over to you guys?

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And they, they tell him

and they give him a price.

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And he says, all right, sounds good.

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Let's do that.

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So that happens.

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And then all these other

things happen, right?

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All of these things are, are going

on in the lead up to the cross now.

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What we're gonna see, because I

don't have, I don't have time to

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go through all of these sections,

but there's three things I think

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Matthew wants us to know about Jesus'

death and, and the lead up to it.

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Okay?

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And these three things all show

us that Jesus is the right guy.

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Jesus is the Savior.

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He's the one that we need to trust.

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He's the one who's come to die for sin.

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Jesus is the right one.

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Jesus is worthy of your trust, and I think

he has that same message for you tonight.

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He's, he's put all of these

scenes together, all of these

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things that Jesus is doing.

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All these things that people are doing

to Jesus, he's doing all of that.

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He's, he's pulling it all

together at the end of his book.

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So, you know the most important

thing about Jesus, and that's that

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Jesus is worthy to be trusted.

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So our main point tonight is to

trust Jesus as the Savior you need.

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That's the main point.

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That's the main takeaway from this sermon.

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Trust Jesus as the Savior.

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You need.

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Jesus is he's, he's the guy.

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He's the right one to save you.

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No one else is worthy of

your trust in that way.

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That's our main point tonight.

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Maybe you're thinking,

I don't need a savior.

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Or maybe you're thinking, I don't

know if Jesus is really someone

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that I want to give my life to.

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I don't wanna make all my

decisions in relationship to Jesus.

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I wanna do my own thing.

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Matthew is gonna tackle all of those

objections tonight in our passage.

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So keep looking with me at, at

Matthew 26, Matthew wants us to know

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that Jesus is worthy of our trust.

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And the first thing he's gonna

do is he's gonna show us.

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That Jesus is someone you can put your

confidence in that Jesus is someone

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who, who you can say, you know what?

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Jesus is in control.

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Jesus can do everything.

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Jesus knows everything.

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Jesus is someone that I can trust

with my life because he's got all

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these other things under his control

so surely he can take care of me.

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And so our first point tonight, build

your confidence in Jesus to save you.

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Build your confidence.

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Jesus to save you.

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Now, it sounds really similar to

our main point and that that's

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the idea is Matthew is trying to

tell us that Jesus is in control.

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And so he's gonna give us all of

these details that show us that

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Jesus is the one in control.

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Now it's kind of like, I don't

know if you, you remember this?

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Um, but there is, I was thinking

about, man, what's someone that like.

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You wanna count on, right?

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And I was like, man, the kicker

on a football team is the guy

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you want to count on, right?

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Or the closer on a baseball team, you send

that guy in, you know it's done right?

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The cowboys, I remember this

one game very specifically.

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Their kicker missed four

extra points in one game.

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So, you know, score a

touchdown at the end.

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Touchdown six points.

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Most people think it's seven.

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The reason is 'cause you're supposed to

be able to make the extra point, right?

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You're supposed to be able to make the

extra point at the end of the game.

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Now this cowboys kicker, he

missed it four times in a row.

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Every time he missed it.

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Now, imagine if that guy was your

kicker and you're losing 27 to 24

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game on the line, and you're like, all

right, we got in the field goal range.

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We're gonna send our kicker

in to try to tie the game.

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How are you feeling about that guy?

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You're like, do we have, can

we just, can we just throw it?

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Like, do we have to kick it?

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Right?

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That's how you're feeling in that moment.

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You wanna put your confidence

in someone that is in control

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of the situation, right?

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You wanna put your confidence in

someone that knows what they're doing.

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You wanna put your confidence

in someone you can count on.

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That's what Matthew is

showing us about Jesus.

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Now, I showed you that big slide

with all the things that happen.

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This section of Matthew 26, the the

first, honestly, almost the whole

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chapter is filled with things that

Matthew wants you to know about Jesus

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and showing that he's in control.

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Look at, look at all this.

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So remember that first part about

Jesus knowing what's gonna happen.

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He's like, oh, in two days I'm

gonna go and I'm gonna die.

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Jesus is doing this on purpose.

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Jesus isn't like surprised.

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He's not like, oh, oh

shoot, I have to die.

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I didn't know that.

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He's not like surprised by that.

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He's not like, oh man, I'm really scared.

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Uh, I don't know what's

gonna happen to me.

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No.

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He knows exactly what's gonna happen.

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Right?

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And now if you look closely, look with

me at verses three through five, okay?

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Right here with the chief

priests and, and the elders.

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Verse verse three of chapter 26.

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The chief priest and the elders, they

gathered in the place the, the palace of

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the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,

and they plotted together in order to

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arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

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But they said not during the feast,

lest there be an up or among the people.

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Now, when do they actually arrest Jesus?

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During the feast or after the

feast, they actually end up

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arresting him during the feast.

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They make this whole plan,

let's wait till after.

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And their plan is literally

gone like in 10 verses.

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Their plan's gone, but

Jesus, he's in control.

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His plan is exactly what

it's supposed to be.

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His plan in verse two, right?

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You know that after two days, the

Passover is coming and the son of man

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will be delivered up and crucified.

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That's Jesus' plan.

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His plan is under control.

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Their plan changes.

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This next part with the woman

who anoints him with oil and

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prepares him for burial, right?

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Jesus says she's doing this

to prepare me for burial.

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No one else knew that.

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Everyone was like, what

are you talking about?

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Jesus?

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Jesus knows what's happening.

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He's in control.

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Moving on, even to the next

part, Jesus and his disciples,

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they go to this, this room.

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He's like, all right, when you get

there, let's look with verse 17.

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Now, first day on lemon red disciples

came to Jesus saying, where will you have

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us prepare for you to eat the Passover?

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Right?

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Disciples are like, where do we go?

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What's happening?

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Jesus said, go into the

city to a certain man.

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Say to him, the teacher

says, my time is at hand.

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I will keep the Passover at

your house with my disciples.

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Does that sound like Jesus

knows what's going on?

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Does that sound like Jesus is in control?

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Does that sound like Jesus

is worthy to be trusted?

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He's got a plan.

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He's executing the plan.

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He's doing everything that he

says is gonna happen right then.

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He also knows that Judas will betray him.

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We see that later on in the

the next few verses here.

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Verse 2025, they're talking during dinner.

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The disciples and Jesus are talking

and he says, truly, I say to

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you, one of you will betray me.

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And then eventually

Judas is like, is it me?

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And Jesus is like, you said it.

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So Jesus even knows

who's gonna betray him.

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So Jesus is in total

control of this situation.

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And then we go on and we see

more of what Jesus knows.

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And then this next part is something that

I really wanna show you about how Jesus.

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Is worthy of your trust.

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Okay?

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So verses 49 to 54, when Jesus

gets arrested, okay, so Jesus, he's

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praying in the garden and then he's

like, all right guys, it's time.

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And then Judas, he came up to Jesus

at once and said, greetings, rabbi.

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And he kissed him.

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Now that is just like a cultural

thing that they did, right?

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Jesus.

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Jesus and Jesus aren't like making out.

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This is like a friendly thing, right?

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This is what they did.

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This is like, you know, bro hug.

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This is what they did back in the day.

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Okay?

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Verse 50.

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Jesus said to him, friend,

do what you came to do.

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Right?

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You know why you're here.

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Jesus isn't messing around.

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He's like, Judas, you

know why you're here.

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I know why you're here.

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Right?

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This is like, you know when you're,

when you're like trying to sneak

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something around your parents

and they're like, look, we both

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know what's going on here, right?

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That's what Jesus is doing to Judas.

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Then the soldiers, they come up to Jesus.

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They laid hands on Jesus.

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They arrest him and then.

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One of those.

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Imagine, okay, imagine you're

like one of the soldiers, okay?

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You're like, all right, we gotta

arrest this guy for whatever reason,

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you know, they said he's causing

trouble, so we're gonna arrest him.

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Okay?

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So you go to arrest him and his followers

are there, and one of the followers takes

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his sword out and like attacks one of

your fellow soldiers and cuts his ear off.

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Right?

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At that moment, you're probably

like, we're just gonna kill

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all these people, right?

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Because they attacked us, right?

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This is, this is how it works.

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If you're, if you're a soldier

and someone attacks you, you're

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like, all right, we're coming in.

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We're gonna kill them.

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Then Jesus is like, hang on, stop.

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And then in John, what we see that

Jesus does is Jesus heals this guy.

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So imagine you're a soldier.

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Some dude cuts your friend's ear off, and

then the leader is like, hang on, bro.

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Don't cut his ear off.

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Puts the ear back and heals him.

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Now you'd be like, I don't want that, that

Jesus guy to do anything to me, right?

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Because if he can reattach this

guy's ear, he can probably do

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a lot worse than that, right?

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So this is kind of like

the biggest flex ever.

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Jesus is like, look, I don't need your

help sword guy who we find out is Peter.

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He's like, don't you think that I can

appeal to my father and he will at once

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send me more than 12 legions of angels?

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See, the soldiers think that

they're arresting Jesus, right?

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Who's really in control here.

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Jesus is right.

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Even as he's being arrested,

Jesus is the one in control.

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And in verse 54, you see how then

should the scriptures be fulfilled?

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Jesus is saying, this is on purpose.

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Everything that I'm

doing here is on purpose.

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I've got this all under control.

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I am the one who's really

making things happen here.

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Everything is happening the way

Jesus wants, and so that's why.

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Hopefully for you that's building

your confidence in the kind of

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savior that Jesus is, right?

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Maybe in your life you're thinking,

man, I don't know if Jesus is in control

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of, of what's going on with me, right?

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Is just in control of my parents.

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Maybe your parents are going

through a hard time, is just in

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control of my, my classes at school.

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You know, I'm not sure how

this class is gonna go.

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I'm not sure if I'm gonna be

able to make it into, into this.

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College, I'm not sure if I can

make it onto this team, or I don't

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know how this is gonna work out.

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: 00:13:47

Maybe you're anxious about something

or you're, you're doubting something

324

: 00:13:51

or you're afraid of something.

325

: 00:13:52

Jesus is the one who's in control.

326

: 00:13:55

If Jesus is in control of his arrest,

Jesus is surely in control of everything

327

: 00:14:00

that you've, that you worry about.

328

: 00:14:04

See, confidence in Jesus will protect

you from anxiety, from doubt, from fear.

329

: 00:14:11

All these things.

330

: 00:14:11

Think about it, right?

331

: 00:14:12

If, if you're anxious, let,

let's say, let's say you've got

332

: 00:14:16

a big test coming up, right?

333

: 00:14:18

And you're like, man, I don't

think I'm gonna pass this test.

334

: 00:14:20

I've studied hard, I've

done my job, right?

335

: 00:14:23

I'm not, I'm not anxious

because I'm unprepared, right?

336

: 00:14:25

That's different.

337

: 00:14:27

I'm anxious just because it's hard

and I'm not, I'm worried about how

338

: 00:14:30

it's gonna go now, in that moment,

how does confidence in Jesus help you?

339

: 00:14:35

Well, you could say,

one, I'm confident that.

340

: 00:14:40

My worth is more than

just my grades, right?

341

: 00:14:45

And my worth is not just my score on

this test or my grade in this class.

342

: 00:14:50

And I know that because I know

that from Jesus, my worth is, is

343

: 00:14:54

defined by God, not by my grades.

344

: 00:14:56

So maybe that's how

confidence in Jesus helps you.

345

: 00:14:58

Or maybe you say, you know what?

346

: 00:14:59

Whatever happens on this test, right?

347

: 00:15:01

Or whatever my parents say about my grade

or whatever, my friends think about me.

348

: 00:15:06

If I don't do well on this test, I know.

349

: 00:15:10

God is in control.

350

: 00:15:11

And so whatever happens, it's because

God is sovereign and God let that happen.

351

: 00:15:17

And if God let that happen, surely

it's coming from a good, loving God.

352

: 00:15:23

Or maybe your confidence in

Jesus is something bigger.

353

: 00:15:27

Maybe you're, you're dealing

with something like, I don't

354

: 00:15:29

know if I'm a Christian, how does

confidence in Jesus help you there?

355

: 00:15:33

Well, remember that Jesus knows

if you're a Christian or not.

356

: 00:15:38

Jesus already knows everything about you.

357

: 00:15:39

He's in control of

everything in your life.

358

: 00:15:41

Jesus already knows if you're a Christian

or not, and so if you're not sure, but

359

: 00:15:45

you're like, oh, I really hope I am a

Christian, you can come to Jesus and say,

360

: 00:15:49

Jesus, I'm not sure if I'm a Christian.

361

: 00:15:50

Will you please show

me if I'm a Christian?

362

: 00:15:52

Jesus knows He can show you.

363

: 00:15:53

He can do anything.

364

: 00:15:54

He can reattach a dude's ear on the spot.

365

: 00:15:57

He can help you.

366

: 00:15:59

Maybe you're thinking, okay, that, that

sounds great, but I don't even know if

367

: 00:16:02

Jesus, I don't even know if this is true.

368

: 00:16:04

I don't even know if, if anything.

369

: 00:16:06

I dunno if I can believe

what the Bible says.

370

: 00:16:08

It's a really old book.

371

: 00:16:09

You know, someone at school told me

that, you know, the church just put

372

: 00:16:11

it all together and the three hundreds

and Constantine did this and whatever.

373

: 00:16:15

Maybe that's what you heard, right?

374

: 00:16:16

And you're like, I don't even

know if the Bible's true.

375

: 00:16:17

Well, did you notice?

376

: 00:16:20

Did you notice stuff like

this in this passage?

377

: 00:16:22

How then should the

scriptures be fulfilled?

378

: 00:16:24

There's been prophecies that

Matthew is pulling together.

379

: 00:16:27

We don't have time to look at all of

them, but maybe one we can look at

380

: 00:16:30

together right now, we can look at.

381

: 00:16:35

Chapter 26.

382

: 00:16:36

Let's go to verse 31.

383

: 00:16:38

Verse 31.

384

: 00:16:39

Jesus said to the disciples, you will

all fall away because of me this night.

385

: 00:16:43

For it is written, I will strike

the shepherd and the sheep of

386

: 00:16:46

the flock will be scattered.

387

: 00:16:48

That's a quote from Zacharia chapter 11.

388

: 00:16:51

So

389

: 00:16:53

the Bible, their stuff written in

the Bible before Jesus lived, right?

390

: 00:16:58

All the Old Testament, everything

before Matthew was written, before

391

: 00:17:01

Jesus lived, and it talks about Jesus.

392

: 00:17:04

What Matthew's doing in this section.

393

: 00:17:05

He's not just saying, you can be confident

in Jesus because he is in control.

394

: 00:17:09

You can be confident in Jesus because

he really is who God says he is.

395

: 00:17:14

He's got all these prophecies about him

that Matthew's pulling together and he's

396

: 00:17:17

saying, look, Jesus, for it is written.

397

: 00:17:19

This happened.

398

: 00:17:20

This happened, this happened.

399

: 00:17:21

The Bible's the only book

with stuff like that.

400

: 00:17:24

The Bible's the only book that has that

kind of evidence that it's from God.

401

: 00:17:27

Right?

402

: 00:17:27

And you can do the research.

403

: 00:17:28

I challenge you if you're not sure, if

you're like, oh, I don't know if, if.

404

: 00:17:31

Bible's true.

405

: 00:17:32

I don't know if, if God's real, do

the research, do your homework and,

406

: 00:17:35

and you'll find that God is, God has

answers for your questions and so you

407

: 00:17:42

can build your confidence in Jesus.

408

: 00:17:44

Ultimately, you can trust

that he can save you.

409

: 00:17:46

That's what this comes down to.

410

: 00:17:48

It's we wanna know if Jesus is

someone we can trust with our life.

411

: 00:17:51

'cause maybe you're thinking, well, I'd

rather live for myself than live for God.

412

: 00:17:56

In some ways that's a trust issue.

413

: 00:17:58

You don't trust that

living for God is better.

414

: 00:18:01

Than living for yourself, right?

415

: 00:18:02

You don't think that living God's way will

make you happier than living your way.

416

: 00:18:08

You're like, well, I know

what's better for me.

417

: 00:18:11

I know better than God.

418

: 00:18:12

God says, don't do this, but I think

if I did that, I'd be really happy.

419

: 00:18:15

Or God says, do this, and I know

if I did that, I wouldn't be happy.

420

: 00:18:20

What you're saying is,

God, I don't trust you.

421

: 00:18:22

I don't trust you to take care of me.

422

: 00:18:24

I don't trust you to look out for me.

423

: 00:18:25

I don't trust that your

way is better for me.

424

: 00:18:29

So.

425

: 00:18:30

How can we build our confidence in Jesus?

426

: 00:18:32

Right?

427

: 00:18:32

Maybe you wanna follow God.

428

: 00:18:33

You're just like, I don't really

know if doing what God says is,

429

: 00:18:38

is really gonna work out well

for me in those moments, right?

430

: 00:18:41

When you're, when you're afraid, when

you're anxious, when you're tempted,

431

: 00:18:44

do what Matthew's doing here, right?

432

: 00:18:45

Matthew is giving you all

of this evidence, right?

433

: 00:18:48

We saw that.

434

: 00:18:49

All of these reasons, right?

435

: 00:18:51

These are, this is all evidence for you

to look at and say, man, God is so big.

436

: 00:18:56

Jesus is so powerful.

437

: 00:18:57

Jesus is in control.

438

: 00:18:58

So remind yourself of those things, right?

439

: 00:19:01

You can remind yourself

and say, well, well, look.

440

: 00:19:03

Look what Jesus did in the past.

441

: 00:19:04

Right?

442

: 00:19:04

Look back.

443

: 00:19:05

Look back at your own life.

444

: 00:19:07

How did Jesus take care of

me my whole life so far?

445

: 00:19:10

How did Jesus take care of my

friend, my parents, people at church?

446

: 00:19:14

I know people in my small group.

447

: 00:19:16

You can look around and and

build your confidence in Jesus.

448

: 00:19:20

But see, the only reason

any of this matters.

449

: 00:19:23

Because Jesus is the only

one who can get you to God.

450

: 00:19:28

And that's why ultimately you wanna trust

Jesus is because Jesus is the only person

451

: 00:19:32

you can trust to get you eternal life

to, to get you a relationship with God.

452

: 00:19:38

And that's what Matthew does with

this section on the Lord's Supper.

453

: 00:19:42

So we're gonna zoom in for a bit

on just three verses right here.

454

: 00:19:45

So look at verse 26 with me.

455

: 00:19:47

Okay.

456

: 00:19:49

Matthew 26.

457

: 00:19:50

26.

458

: 00:19:51

So they're eating the

Passover meal, right?

459

: 00:19:53

Passover meal.

460

: 00:19:53

They're celebrating what happened

at the Exodus right now As they

461

: 00:19:57

were eating, Jesus took bread and

after blessing it, he broke it.

462

: 00:20:00

He gave it to the disciples

and he said, take eat.

463

: 00:20:03

This is my body.

464

: 00:20:05

He took a cup, and when he had given

thanks, he gave it to them, saying, drink

465

: 00:20:07

it, all of you, for this is my blood

of the covenant, which is poured out

466

: 00:20:12

for many for the forgiveness of sins.

467

: 00:20:16

So.

468

: 00:20:17

What Jesus is doing is he's like

repurposing the Passover meal

469

: 00:20:21

and he's turning it into what we

know as the Lord's Supper, right?

470

: 00:20:24

As communion.

471

: 00:20:26

That's what's happening right here.

472

: 00:20:28

He's taking something in the Old

Testament and saying, this actually points

473

: 00:20:31

forward to what I'm about to do, right?

474

: 00:20:34

He's talking about blood now in the

Old Testament, what was blood for?

475

: 00:20:40

Think of Leviticus.

476

: 00:20:41

Think all the books that make

you not wanna do the DBR, right?

477

: 00:20:44

Those books.

478

: 00:20:46

Are about atonement, they're

about how does God, who's holy,

479

: 00:20:50

live with a sinful people.

480

: 00:20:52

'cause remember at the end, how

does the Book of Exodus end,

481

: 00:20:54

anyone else, the top of their head?

482

: 00:20:55

How does the book of Exodus end?

483

: 00:20:57

They build this tabernacle, right?

484

: 00:20:59

They, they start getting all the

instructions for the, for the, for this

485

: 00:21:01

big tent that they're gonna live in.

486

: 00:21:04

And then it's like God's

about to move into the tent.

487

: 00:21:07

Now I have a question.

488

: 00:21:08

If God is about to move in with you

at your house, you'd be like, shoot.

489

: 00:21:14

There's a lot of, there's a

lot of issues with me, right?

490

: 00:21:17

There's a lot, I've got a lot of problems.

491

: 00:21:19

If God lived with me, right,

you'd probably feel exposed.

492

: 00:21:22

You'd probably feel really sinful.

493

: 00:21:24

You'd be like, oh, man, if God's gonna

live in my, like, in my neighborhood or

494

: 00:21:30

in my house, there'd be a, a lot of, I,

I'd feel so like, just guilty, right?

495

: 00:21:36

All, all the things I think about,

all the things I, I've maybe seen

496

: 00:21:39

or, or watched or said or felt.

497

: 00:21:43

Done.

498

: 00:21:43

Right.

499

: 00:21:44

I would feel so.

500

: 00:21:44

So how does a holy God

live with a sinful people?

501

: 00:21:47

Well, something has to be done

about sin, and that's what

502

: 00:21:50

Jesus is talking about here.

503

: 00:21:51

So in, in the Old Testament,

they would substitute the lamb

504

: 00:21:55

or the whatever animal for them.

505

: 00:21:58

They would say, you know what?

506

: 00:21:59

The wages of my sin is death.

507

: 00:22:01

And so instead of me dying,

this lamb is gonna die.

508

: 00:22:05

That's what the priest would do.

509

: 00:22:07

So you put your hand on the lamb

and they'd come over and they would.

510

: 00:22:11

You know, the lamb and um, the

blood would get, would go all over.

511

: 00:22:16

And the point was that your sin caused

death and that should have been you.

512

: 00:22:22

And so you had this vivid

representation of my sin did that,

513

: 00:22:26

and that should have been me.

514

: 00:22:27

And Jesus is saying, that

is actually all about me.

515

: 00:22:31

That's what I'm about to do.

516

: 00:22:34

Jesus is about to, to die to

bleed for the forgiveness of sin.

517

: 00:22:41

That's what the cross is about.

518

: 00:22:43

And, and that's what you need to

trust Jesus for so point to depend on

519

: 00:22:47

Jesus, for your relationship with God.

520

: 00:22:56

The idea here is that Jesus is the only

way for you to, to have a relationship

521

: 00:23:02

with God, to, to be connected with God.

522

: 00:23:07

It's kind of like.

523

: 00:23:10

Imagine that you were, imagine you were

dating like the, the, the daughter or

524

: 00:23:14

the son of a really famous person, right?

525

: 00:23:17

Imagine you like this, you know, you just,

you didn't know the parents, you just met

526

: 00:23:21

this person and you started dating them,

and then you found out, oh my goodness,

527

: 00:23:25

like their, their dad's super famous.

528

: 00:23:27

You know, like, oh, maybe they're, I don't

know, maybe they're, let's just go with

529

: 00:23:32

first famous person I thought of would be.

530

: 00:23:35

Judge.

531

: 00:23:36

Let's say their dad's Aaron

Judge from the Yankees, right?

532

: 00:23:37

Or let's say their dad is, I don't

know, let's just, Donald Trump.

533

: 00:23:40

I don't know.

534

: 00:23:41

Right?

535

: 00:23:42

Let's say their dad's super famous.

536

: 00:23:45

The only reason you have a

relationship with that person,

537

: 00:23:47

with that, let's say with Mr.

538

: 00:23:49

President is because you know

someone they love, right?

539

: 00:23:55

You know their daughter,

you know their son, right?

540

: 00:23:58

That's the only, that's the only

way you're connected with them.

541

: 00:24:02

You're associated.

542

: 00:24:04

With their kid.

543

: 00:24:07

So they love you by extension, right?

544

: 00:24:09

They, they, they've never seen you.

545

: 00:24:10

They've never met you, but because you're

associated with their, with their kid,

546

: 00:24:16

now they have a relationship with you.

547

: 00:24:17

And now they, they care about you, right?

548

: 00:24:21

Your connection with Jesus is the

foundation for your relationship with God.

549

: 00:24:28

That's why you hear about

that phrase in Christ, right?

550

: 00:24:31

In Christ, it's all

over the New Testament.

551

: 00:24:34

What does that even mean?

552

: 00:24:34

Like I'm not literally in Christ, right?

553

: 00:24:37

Just like you can't accept

Jesus into your heart.

554

: 00:24:39

Jesus isn't in there, right?

555

: 00:24:40

You ever heard the story about like a

little kid, they go to the doctor to get

556

: 00:24:43

an X-ray and they're like, wait, stop.

557

: 00:24:46

Jesus might be in there

and he won't get hurt.

558

: 00:24:48

Like, no, that's not how it works, right?

559

: 00:24:50

So you're not literally in Christ, just

like Jesus isn't literally in you, right?

560

: 00:24:53

So how does that work?

561

: 00:24:55

What does it mean to be in Christ?

562

: 00:24:56

Well, think about like the

term connected to Christ.

563

: 00:24:59

You're united with Christ.

564

: 00:25:01

You're closely associated with him.

565

: 00:25:04

That's what it means to be a Christian.

566

: 00:25:06

You're someone who said,

I'm, I'm with Jesus.

567

: 00:25:09

He's the only reason I can

have a relationship with God.

568

: 00:25:12

If I was by myself, I would have no

reason to have a relationship with God.

569

: 00:25:17

In fact, God should punish me for my sin.

570

: 00:25:20

That's why all those animals had to die.

571

: 00:25:22

'cause I'm a, I'm a guilty sinner.

572

: 00:25:24

The wages of sin is death, but

because of my association with Jesus.

573

: 00:25:28

I trust him because I've, I've

put my faith in him because I've

574

: 00:25:32

connected myself to him by faith, I

can now have a relationship with God.

575

: 00:25:40

Now, the additional part of this is

that you need blood for forgiveness.

576

: 00:25:46

That's what the idea of death.

577

: 00:25:48

The wage of sin is death.

578

: 00:25:50

'cause God can't just be like,

well, you and Jesus are tight,

579

: 00:25:55

but there's all this sin.

580

: 00:25:57

What's God gonna do about all the sin?

581

: 00:25:59

Right?

582

: 00:25:59

Think about, let's say, um, there's,

there's a judge, a, a, a, a good judge.

583

: 00:26:05

And let's say that I, let's say

that I, I don't know, beat up

584

: 00:26:09

Carson and took all his stuff, okay?

585

: 00:26:12

Hypothetical, right?

586

: 00:26:14

Let's say I beat up Carson, took all

his stuff, and then Carson takes me

587

: 00:26:16

to court and he's like, look, Mr.

588

: 00:26:18

Judge Lewis beat me up

and took all my stuff.

589

: 00:26:21

And the judge is like,

well, I'm a loving, kind.

590

: 00:26:25

Forgiving judge, so you're good, Louis.

591

: 00:26:29

Don't worry about it.

592

: 00:26:31

You'd be like, what in the world?

593

: 00:26:32

Like, what's wrong?

594

: 00:26:34

Come on, man, like you're

not doing a good job.

595

: 00:26:37

Carson would be very upset, right?

596

: 00:26:38

Carson, you don't look so happy.

597

: 00:26:41

You're supposed to look upset.

598

: 00:26:43

There we go.

599

: 00:26:45

Right?

600

: 00:26:46

That judge isn't being a good

judge because he's not doing

601

: 00:26:50

his job in the same way.

602

: 00:26:52

You can't just be like, oh, hey God.

603

: 00:26:55

I'm sorry for my sin.

604

: 00:26:56

Forgive me.

605

: 00:26:57

We're good now.

606

: 00:26:57

Right?

607

: 00:26:59

Well, if, if you want God to do

that with your sin, what if God

608

: 00:27:03

did that with someone else's sin?

609

: 00:27:05

What if God did that with Hitler's sin?

610

: 00:27:07

What if God did that with the person

who cut you in the lunch line?

611

: 00:27:10

What if God did that with someone who

did something terrible to your family?

612

: 00:27:14

Right?

613

: 00:27:16

You don't want God to

do that with their sin.

614

: 00:27:17

You don't think that's fair, but

you want God to do it with your sin.

615

: 00:27:22

So, God, we, we want God

to do something about sin.

616

: 00:27:25

We want him to punish sin, right?

617

: 00:27:27

So that's why Jesus had to die.

618

: 00:27:30

That's why this is all happening.

619

: 00:27:31

That's why we're talking

about the crucifixion.

620

: 00:27:33

That's why we're talking about Jesus

going to, to his death on a cross.

621

: 00:27:39

God can't let your sin just be there.

622

: 00:27:42

He has to do something about it,

and you want him to do something

623

: 00:27:44

about it except for yours, right?

624

: 00:27:46

We don't want God to do

something about my sin.

625

: 00:27:47

We also do something

about everyone else's sin.

626

: 00:27:49

That would be great.

627

: 00:27:51

So you don't just acknowledge

like, oh yeah, I like Jesus.

628

: 00:27:55

We're gonna be buddies

now I get to go to heaven.

629

: 00:27:59

Right.

630

: 00:27:59

We're, we're trusting Jesus for something.

631

: 00:28:02

We're depending on Jesus for something.

632

: 00:28:04

We're depending on

Jesus to pay for my sin.

633

: 00:28:07

You're depending on Jesus

to pay for your sin.

634

: 00:28:09

That's what it means to

trust God, to have faith.

635

: 00:28:12

What are you trusting God for?

636

: 00:28:14

What are you depending on him for?

637

: 00:28:16

Well, Jesus died.

638

: 00:28:18

Because of my sin.

639

: 00:28:19

The reason Jesus had to bleed on

the cross, the reason Jesus had

640

: 00:28:23

to suffer God's wrath was because

he had to take away my sin.

641

: 00:28:30

And I want God to take away

my sin because I, I, I, I need

642

: 00:28:36

something to be done with it.

643

: 00:28:37

I can't make up for it.

644

: 00:28:38

And that's what this next part

of, of what we're gonna look

645

: 00:28:41

at is talking about is that.

646

: 00:28:45

Jesus didn't just take away sin.

647

: 00:28:47

He also lived a perfect life.

648

: 00:28:50

And that's something else that Matthew

wants us to see is that Jesus is

649

: 00:28:54

faithful and, and righteous, and he's

gonna contrast that with the disciples.

650

: 00:29:00

So if you look in your Bible, if we've

got two disciples that get a lot of

651

: 00:29:06

screen time in this chapter, right?

652

: 00:29:08

We've got Judas and Peter.

653

: 00:29:10

They both get talked about a lot, right?

654

: 00:29:12

We've got Jesus.

655

: 00:29:14

Talking about Judas Betrayal a lot.

656

: 00:29:16

We even see Judas saying, Hey, I'm gonna

sell Jesus out, literally and betray him.

657

: 00:29:22

And then we, in verse 33, they're

talking about Peter's denial, right?

658

: 00:29:26

We know that Peter said,

I'll never fall away.

659

: 00:29:28

And then guess what he did, right?

660

: 00:29:31

And all the other disciples actually

fall away right at the end of the scene

661

: 00:29:37

in the garden where Jesus tach the

guy's ear, the disciples all run away.

662

: 00:29:41

They flee, they, they abandon Jesus.

663

: 00:29:43

They say, you know what?

664

: 00:29:44

We followed you for three years, but now

that you're getting arrested, we're done.

665

: 00:29:49

We're out.

666

: 00:29:50

The disciples all fail.

667

: 00:29:51

They all let Jesus down.

668

: 00:29:53

They all abandoned him.

669

: 00:29:55

And if we're honest, we've all done that.

670

: 00:30:00

We've all said, Jesus,

you're not worth it.

671

: 00:30:03

And we've done that by sinning.

672

: 00:30:04

We've said, Jesus, I

love this more than you.

673

: 00:30:07

I love people's approval

more than I love you.

674

: 00:30:10

I love money more than I love you.

675

: 00:30:12

I love pleasure more than I love you.

676

: 00:30:14

We've all said that.

677

: 00:30:15

I love control more

than I love you, Jesus.

678

: 00:30:17

We've all done that.

679

: 00:30:19

We've all failed Jesus.

680

: 00:30:21

We've all abandoned him.

681

: 00:30:22

And that and that.

682

: 00:30:23

Even Matthew even shows that when Jesus

is on trial, Jesus is on trial and

683

: 00:30:28

he's doing, he's he's being faithful.

684

: 00:30:31

He's not giving in to the persecution.

685

: 00:30:34

He's enduring it.

686

: 00:30:35

He's not giving up.

687

: 00:30:36

And then what's the next thing

that happens after Jesus' trial?

688

: 00:30:40

Verse 69, we now see Peter and Peter's

on trial, but instead of getting beat

689

: 00:30:46

up by the Roman guards and, and the

Jews, Peter is talking to a little

690

: 00:30:50

girl in the courtyard and she's like,

oh, I thought I saw you with Jesus.

691

: 00:30:55

And Peter's like, Uhuh,

I wasn't with Jesus.

692

: 00:30:58

So Peter's trial is a lot less scary,

but Peter gives in, that's that big

693

: 00:31:04

section at the end of chapter 26.

694

: 00:31:06

And then.

695

: 00:31:08

So actually I'm gonna go

back to this big screen.

696

: 00:31:12

See that?

697

: 00:31:13

So Jesus is on trial right here, and then

Peter is on trial and he denies Jesus.

698

: 00:31:17

So Jesus endures and is

faithful, Peter is not.

699

: 00:31:21

And then what's the next thing we see?

700

: 00:31:23

There's this little, there's

little part right here.

701

: 00:31:26

And then Judas.

702

: 00:31:27

So what Matthew's doing is

he's putting all three of

703

: 00:31:30

these guys next to each other.

704

: 00:31:31

You see that pe Jesus, Peter, Judas.

705

: 00:31:34

'cause he wants you to see the difference.

706

: 00:31:36

He wants you to see, look.

707

: 00:31:37

Jesus is righteous.

708

: 00:31:39

Peter is a failure and

Judas is worse, right?

709

: 00:31:44

That's what Matthew wants you to see.

710

: 00:31:46

We don't try to look at all of

it, but that's the big picture

711

: 00:31:49

that Matthew wants us to see.

712

: 00:31:50

And what he's trying to help you see is

that Jesus is righteous and you're not.

713

: 00:31:55

And that's our third point tonight,

once I get to it, rely on Jesus

714

: 00:32:00

righteousness, not your own.

715

: 00:32:03

Rely on Jesus righteousness, not your own.

716

: 00:32:09

Jesus is faithful, but his

disciples are failures and us like

717

: 00:32:18

the disciples are also failures.

718

: 00:32:20

And we see this actually

all over Chapter 26.

719

: 00:32:24

The disciples do not get a good look

in chapter 26, and which honestly,

720

: 00:32:30

if you're, maybe you're a skeptic,

you don't think the Bible's true.

721

: 00:32:33

If you made up Christianity and

you were a disciple of Jesus.

722

: 00:32:36

Why would you make the disciple look bad?

723

: 00:32:39

Right?

724

: 00:32:40

If you're an early church person

trying to make up Christianity, why

725

: 00:32:43

would you put, oh yeah, Peter denied

Jesus, but Peter started the church.

726

: 00:32:47

Like, why would you do that, right?

727

: 00:32:49

If you're making this up, this is

a horrible way to do it, right?

728

: 00:32:51

So that's one.

729

: 00:32:52

Another way, you know it's not made up

right, is the disciples in the gospels

730

: 00:32:56

and all the gospels actually aren't

like the greatest people in the world.

731

: 00:33:00

If you were making up a religion,

you'd be like, I'm awesome.

732

: 00:33:04

Look at me.

733

: 00:33:06

If they don't do that anyway, the

point here that Matthew's making

734

: 00:33:09

is that the disciples and Jesus,

he's, he's contrasting them, right?

735

: 00:33:14

Jesus faithful disciples are failures

and we see that all over 26, the

736

: 00:33:20

disciples, remember that lady

who anointed Jesus poured all the

737

: 00:33:23

expensive perfume on him disciples.

738

: 00:33:25

You know, they said about that.

739

: 00:33:26

They weren't like, oh, awesome.

740

: 00:33:28

Look at this.

741

: 00:33:28

This woman who's, who's worshiping Jesus.

742

: 00:33:30

They were like, that's such a waste.

743

: 00:33:32

Why are you doing that?

744

: 00:33:33

Not a, not a good look

for the disciples, right?

745

: 00:33:35

Then we have Judas, who's betraying

Jesus, for which, by the way, 30 pieces

746

: 00:33:40

of silver, that's the price of a slave.

747

: 00:33:42

So Jesus, Judas thinks Jesus

is worth 30 pieces of silver,

748

: 00:33:46

the same price as a slave.

749

: 00:33:47

Meanwhile, that random woman from

earlier put all this expensive

750

: 00:33:52

perfume on Jesus and wasted it all.

751

: 00:33:55

So she thought Jesus was worth

more than even Judas was willing

752

: 00:33:58

to sell him out for anyway.

753

: 00:34:00

Then Judas betrays Jesus and

the disciples all fall away.

754

: 00:34:03

Peter's prideful.

755

: 00:34:04

He's like, no, I'm never gonna fall away.

756

: 00:34:06

And then what does he do?

757

: 00:34:07

Deny Jesus three times.

758

: 00:34:08

And then we have that contrast between

Jesus, Peter, and Judas, and see, relying

759

: 00:34:14

on your own righteousness will end,

will leave you where the disciples were.

760

: 00:34:19

You'll be just ashamed,

embarrassed, and worn out.

761

: 00:34:24

If you're depending on your

own goodness, your own.

762

: 00:34:28

Church going your own Bible knowledge,

your own morality to make you feel

763

: 00:34:33

good enough for God, it's, you're

gonna, you're gonna let yourself down.

764

: 00:34:40

You aren't good enough.

765

: 00:34:43

You can't be good enough.

766

: 00:34:46

And also you can't pretend to be good

enough because God sees right through you.

767

: 00:34:50

Jesus knew exactly what his

disciples were gonna do.

768

: 00:34:53

He knew they were gonna run away.

769

: 00:34:55

He knew that they were gonna abandon him.

770

: 00:34:58

So relying on your own righteousness,

I, if you are thinking, well, I

771

: 00:35:02

must be a Christian because my

parents are Christians, or, I

772

: 00:35:05

must be a Christian because look

at all the things I do, right?

773

: 00:35:08

If someone asks you, oh,

why are you a Christian?

774

: 00:35:10

Or, when did you become a Christian?

775

: 00:35:11

Or, how did you become a Christian?

776

: 00:35:12

You're like, look at all the stuff I did.

777

: 00:35:14

I, you know, I, I did this, I did, I,

I memorized the books of the Bible.

778

: 00:35:19

I did this all, all

these programs at church.

779

: 00:35:22

I, you know, did all these things for God.

780

: 00:35:24

Look at what I did for you.

781

: 00:35:27

That's, that's not good enough.

782

: 00:35:29

You need perfect righteousness.

783

: 00:35:32

You need 100% all of the time.

784

: 00:35:36

Heart level righteousness, not external.

785

: 00:35:40

Look at all this stuff.

786

: 00:35:40

I've done Jesus righteousness.

787

: 00:35:44

Relying on your own righteousness

will leave you exhausted, but it

788

: 00:35:48

also will send you to hell because

you're gonna stand before God.

789

: 00:35:51

You're gonna say just like

those people in Matthew seven,

790

: 00:35:53

scariest verse in the Bible.

791

: 00:35:55

Did I not do this?

792

: 00:35:56

Jesus.

793

: 00:35:56

And he's gonna say, I never knew you

794

: 00:36:00

because you didn't trust me.

795

: 00:36:01

You didn't depend on me.

796

: 00:36:02

You trusted yourself, because that's

really what you're doing when you're

797

: 00:36:05

relying on Jesus righteousness or

relying on your own righteousness.

798

: 00:36:08

You're, you're relying on yourself.

799

: 00:36:09

You're saying, I'm good

enough to go to heaven.

800

: 00:36:11

I don't need Jesus.

801

: 00:36:12

That's really what you're saying.

802

: 00:36:13

So if, if that's you tonight, if, if

you've been, if you've been playing the

803

: 00:36:18

church game and, and you think, man, I, I.

804

: 00:36:23

I deserve to go to heaven, or I'm a

good person, so I should go to heaven.

805

: 00:36:26

Or I've always, I've, I've

always been a Christian.

806

: 00:36:29

This is always what I've done and

that's why I should go to heaven.

807

: 00:36:33

If, if you've never admitted, I mean,

I don't deserve to go to heaven.

808

: 00:36:37

I actually deserve hell.

809

: 00:36:38

I've, I've sinned against God.

810

: 00:36:40

I've separated myself from him.

811

: 00:36:42

I've chosen other things instead of him.

812

: 00:36:46

If you have never admitted that and

said, Jesus, I need your righteousness.

813

: 00:36:51

I'm not bringing anything to the table.

814

: 00:36:53

You bring the righteousness.

815

: 00:36:55

I bring nothing.

816

: 00:36:59

There's a famous theologian,

he said that the only thing you

817

: 00:37:03

contribute to your salvation is

the sin that made it necessary.

818

: 00:37:08

All you bring to the table

is you need to be saved, but

819

: 00:37:15

also sometimes you, maybe

you are a Christian.

820

: 00:37:19

You rely on your own righteousness,

not for salvation, but for assurance.

821

: 00:37:24

And maybe that's you, maybe you're,

you're, you know, you're a Christian,

822

: 00:37:28

but you always are, aren't sure.

823

: 00:37:30

You're always feeling like, oh, I

don't know if I'm really a Christian

824

: 00:37:32

because I, I did this, or I said

this, or I keep sinning, or I do this.

825

: 00:37:37

And maybe you're just, you're, you,

it's maybe it's been years and you've

826

: 00:37:40

always been like, oh, I'm not sure if

I'm a Christian because I keep sinning.

827

: 00:37:45

Well, one.

828

: 00:37:46

Newsflash, you're gonna sin

for the rest of your life.

829

: 00:37:49

Christians keep sinning,

830

: 00:37:53

but Christians hate sin.

831

: 00:37:55

Christians confess sin.

832

: 00:37:56

Christians grow in godliness.

833

: 00:37:58

Christians love Jesus.

834

: 00:38:00

Christians aren't sinless, but

they do as, as my old pastor

835

: 00:38:04

put it, sinless Christians have.

836

: 00:38:07

There's a trajectory of coming

to God and repenting from sin.

837

: 00:38:10

I don't wanna do this anymore.

838

: 00:38:12

I stopped doing this.

839

: 00:38:14

I hate this.

840

: 00:38:16

I love God, I want to do this, but maybe

you're thinking, well, I'm not sure if I'm

841

: 00:38:22

a Christian and because of X, Y, and Z.

842

: 00:38:26

I don't know.

843

: 00:38:27

Some days I feel like I

am, some days I'm not.

844

: 00:38:30

What makes you a Christian?

845

: 00:38:32

Is it again, are you saying, well, I

don't know if I'm a Christian because

846

: 00:38:37

look at all the stuff I've done.

847

: 00:38:39

Your focus is on the wrong spot

and that's why you're doubting.

848

: 00:38:43

It comes down to, do you

trust you this or do you not?

849

: 00:38:46

Because if you're always looking to your

own, your own performance as a Christian

850

: 00:38:53

for your security with God, if you're

saying, oh, well, I don't feel close to

851

: 00:39:00

God, so I don't know if I'm a Christian,

or if you're saying, well, I didn't do

852

: 00:39:03

very well reading the Bible this week,

so I don't know if I'm a Christian or

853

: 00:39:06

you're saying, oh, well, I, I don't,

I just, I, I gave into this one sin.

854

: 00:39:11

I don't know if I'm a Christian.

855

: 00:39:13

What makes you a Christian?

856

: 00:39:16

What saves you?

857

: 00:39:16

It's, it's Jesus, not you.

858

: 00:39:20

So when you're doubting, look to Jesus,

don't be like, oh, well, once I stop

859

: 00:39:25

doing this, then I'll become a Christian.

860

: 00:39:28

Or, oh, once I, you know, I, I

would feel better if I, I just

861

: 00:39:33

started being more righteous.

862

: 00:39:36

Like one, you probably, if you are a

Christian, you probably would feel better.

863

: 00:39:41

Because maybe the reason you're doubting

your sin or you're doubting your salvation

864

: 00:39:45

is because you've got unconfessed sin

in your life and you need to confess it.

865

: 00:39:49

Maybe that's why you're doubting your

salvation, but what saves you what?

866

: 00:39:54

What makes you good enough for God is

not how you're doing in your prayer life.

867

: 00:40:00

It's not how much you know

about the Bible, it's Jesus.

868

: 00:40:04

That's what makes you good enough

for God, because ultimately.

869

: 00:40:10

Justification is about what you're

looking for to make you feel good enough.

870

: 00:40:16

See, what happens is a lot of the time

871

: 00:40:21

we don't feel like we're good enough

and so we, we reach for something.

872

: 00:40:25

We say, oh, well, I don't feel

strong enough, so I'm gonna start

873

: 00:40:30

putting other people down, and

then I'll feel better about myself.

874

: 00:40:32

I don't feel respected.

875

: 00:40:33

I don't feel liked by people, so

I'm gonna start putting other people

876

: 00:40:36

down and making them feel bad,

and that'll make me feel better.

877

: 00:40:39

You're, you're looking for that to

make you feel good enough, right?

878

: 00:40:42

Or maybe you're saying, oh, once I get

to be with, you know, this boyfriend

879

: 00:40:46

or this girlfriend, or maybe once I

get to that school or once I get this

880

: 00:40:50

much money, or once I make it to that

career, then I'll be good enough.

881

: 00:40:54

That's your idol.

882

: 00:40:56

You're saying that's

gonna make me good enough.

883

: 00:40:59

And that's where Jesus

righteousness comes in.

884

: 00:41:02

'cause you can stand before God and say, I

am perfectly acceptable because of Jesus.

885

: 00:41:08

Because I trust him.

886

: 00:41:09

I don't bring anything to the table.

887

: 00:41:11

He brings everything and that's

what makes me good enough.

888

: 00:41:13

And that's what qualifies

someone for heaven.

889

: 00:41:16

It's not how well you're repenting.

890

: 00:41:19

It's not how much you know.

891

: 00:41:22

It's not who your parents are, it's Jesus.

892

: 00:41:26

And so maybe you don't feel like

you're worthy to go to heaven.

893

: 00:41:31

It's a good place to be

'cause you're not on your own.

894

: 00:41:36

That's why you need Jesus.

895

: 00:41:39

So I hope even though we didn't read

much of Matthew 26, that this flyover

896

: 00:41:46

of Matthew 26 has helped you see that

Jesus is worthy of your trust, that

897

: 00:41:50

you can depend on Jesus because he's in

control, because he took the penalty for

898

: 00:41:56

sin and because he lived a perfect life.

899

: 00:41:59

So let's pray and we'll go to small group.

900

: 00:42:03

God, thank you for sending your son.

901

: 00:42:06

You didn't have to, you went

out of your way to save us.

902

: 00:42:12

And so, God, I pray that you help us.

903

: 00:42:13

Remember that what saves us is not

anything we do, but it's what Jesus did.

904

: 00:42:20

Jesus takes away our sin and

and gives us righteousness.

905

: 00:42:24

So I pray that, um, if we

have any questions or if we're

906

: 00:42:26

confused about something that you.

907

: 00:42:28

Give us courage to ask in small groups.

908

: 00:42:30

I pray that you would help us

understand where we are before you.

909

: 00:42:35

If, if there's anyone who's not sure

if they're a Christian or maybe thinks

910

: 00:42:38

they're a Christian or isn't a Christian,

God, I pray that you would make that clear

911

: 00:42:42

to them where they stand, and I pray that,

um, we would be more confident in who

912

: 00:42:47

Jesus is, that we would trust Jesus more,

that we would love Jesus more, and that we

913

: 00:42:50

would have more if we are saved, have more

assurance that Jesus truly has saved us.

914

: 00:42:55

Praise this.

915

: 00:42:56

It's Jesus name.

916

: 00:42:57

Amen.