The Suffering Servant

THE SUFFERING SERVANT
A pastor was preaching on the Minor Prophets...all twelve of them in one sermon. After two hours he was only half-way through his message. Everyone was getting restless. Most had stopped paying attention. After four hours, to everyone's relief, he said "Finally...". It was almost over, they thought. Then to their horror, the Pastor said, "Oh my, I forgot about Micah...what shall we do with Micah?". One old lady sitting right in front could take no more. She stood up and said, "Hey, preacher! Micah can take my seat...I'm going
home!".
Many of us associate suffering for Christ or suffering in general with just suffering through a bad service or a long service.
Today I don’t plan on going through all 12 minor prophets but I do want to talk about something very basic to our faith.
Sometimes I ask, what is the message the early Church preached?
This was the question that men that became part of something called the American Restoration Movement started asking a little over 200 years ago.
What was the basic essential message of the Church?
The last two weeks I have looked at the cross. The cross according to Paul and the rest of the New Testament is the linchpin on which all other things hang.
That is the central message for us- the Cross of Jesus Christ
Two weeks ago we talked about Christ’s death as our substitute.
Last week we looked at the cross as victory.
This wee we will look at the suffering of Jesus on the Cross.
We will look at something called the doctrine of the Suffering Servant.
We seem to think of suffering as something foreign and strange. But scripture tells us clearly that those who follow Jesus Christ WILL share in His suffering.
A look at the church’s history over the last 2,000 years shows us that this is true. For example,

At the Nicene Council, an important church meeting in the 4th century A.D., of the 318 delegates attending, fewer than 12 had not lost an eye or lost a hand or did not limp on a leg lamed by torture for their Christian faith.
This idea of the one that Suffers for the good of others was alive and well in the first century when Jesus came upon the scene.
There was a prophecy of the coming of a suffering servant found in Isaiah. There are four songs found in Isaiah called the Song of the Servant.
The Jews were puzzled at the time of Jesus on just how this suffering servant might fit with their idea of the Messiah.
Was the suffering Servant just a metaphor or a symbol? Was the Suffering Servant the messiah they had waited for?
If he was the messiah how would that reconcile with the idea that the Messiah would be a Davidic King?
Today we will tackle this passage and get a glimpse of the cross of Jesus. We will encounter the Gospel preached in the Old Testament.
The book of Isaiah clearly presents a picture of the coming Messiah as a Suffering Servant.
For those of you who are reading Isaiah, you will discover four passages which are often called the “Servant Songs”.
They aren’t actually songs, but they are like the Psalms in their poetic and lyrical style. The four Servant Songs the present a portrait in poetry of the one the Lord calls “my servant.”
1. Isaiah 42:1-7; shows the Lord’s delight with his anointed servant and the gentle characteristics of the servant’s ministry
2. Isaiah 49:3-7; describes the chosen servant of the Lord and the world-wide scope of his influence.
3. Isaiah 50:4-10; Details the obedience of the servant and his vindication after suffering.
4. Isaiah 52:13 – Isaiah 53:12; Explains the atoning sacrifice of the suffering servant who is despised and rejected yet obeys to the point of death and is therefore highly exalted by God
In the New Testament, the four Gospels give us most of what we know about the life of Jesus Christ here on earth. But the “Gospel of Isaiah” also gives us a portrait of the life of Jesus Christ.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us in past tense about the Messiah they knew. Isaiah tells us in future tense about the Messiah who in his day was yet to come.
Isaiah foretold Jesus’ character, obedience, and relationship with His Father in amazing detail, 750 years before He came to earth.
The interesting thing that occurs is that this idea of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah takes center stage in the book of Acts.
One of the first people converted to Christianity was converted through this passage. It would be Isaiah chapter 53 that would help Philip the Evangelist lead the Ethiopian Eunuch.
I find it interesting that if boil it down, and say what was the central message preached by the early Church you come up with a passage like Acts 8.
An Ethoipian official was traveling home from the Temple services and the Holy Spirit sent Philip to preach to him. The Spirit told Philip to go up and talk to the man about Jesus.
The Eunuch was reading this passage from Isaiah 53 and we see that this passage gives Philip the launch pad to preach the gospel to him.
Acts 8: 30-38
30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading ?" 31 And he said, "Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this : "HE WAS LED AS A SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER ; AND AS A LAMB BEFORE ITS SHEARER IS SILENT, SO HE DOES NOT OPEN HIS MOUTH. 33 "IN HUMILIATION HIS JUDGMENT WAS TAKEN AWAY ; WHO WILL RELATE HIS GENERATION ? FOR HIS LIFE IS REMOVED FROM THE EARTH." 34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this ? Of himself or of someone else ?" 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water ; and the eunuch said, "Look ! Water ! What prevents me from being baptized ?" 37 [And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."] 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop ; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

Just a quick look at this passage and we can see where Jesus was preached through Isaiah 53.

The formula here is simple. The word of God, the reading and understanding of the Scripture leads to faith in Jesus – faith in His work on the Cross.

With that is an immediate response to that story in which the Ethiopian receives water baptism.

The world complicates this message we come today to bring clarity. Today lets just boil it down to simplicity.

The Gospel message is not complex – it is needed so bad.

We need to bring clarity to a confused world. – we need to simply preach Jesus and Him Crucified and raised, we need to cut through the clutter and tradition that stand in the way of just being a follower in Christ.

The cross is central to that mission. We must put the cross of Jesus back in the center of our message.

It is said that one of the Roman Emperors commanded a fleet of Roman ships to sail to Alexandria, Egypt and bring back loads of sand to be used in the arenas of Rome.

The commander of the ships said he would bring wheat back no matter what the Emperor said. There were people starving in Rome.

How could he bring them sand?
Likewise there are souls starving for the pure, simple gospel of the cross.

Churches are bringing people sand, or stuff that is just worthless, we are not a social club or self help seminar – we are the vehicle of the Gospel we are the pillar and ground of truth.

So lets turn to Isaiah and just see what a compelling picture Isaiah paints for us 750 years before Jesus.
HIS APPEARANCE:
Isaiah 53:2
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground ; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
We tend to put a lot of importance on physical appearance. But when God “put on flesh” and came to earth as a man, notice that he did not choose to come as one of the “beautiful people.”
Jesus was evidently an ordinary, average-looking person. And yet, all through scripture you find people are drawn to him. The attractiveness and power of Jesus did not come from outward strength or beauty. Jesus was a man of astounding magnetism and power
But his attractiveness did not come from physical beauty. And his authority did not come from a forceful, assertive personality. Look at this description in Isaiah 42:

HIS PERSONALITY:
Isaiah 42: 1-3
1 "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold ; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 "He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. 3 "A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish ; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

Jesus will bring justice to the Earth but will do so gently. He will cry out for the common man that is oppressed by the rulers of this world.

Jesus will do this so gently that he would not break a vulnerable reed or extinguish a dimly lit lamp.

This is the personality and character that draw men to Jesus – this is His ultimate love demonstrated.

Can you feel the tender gentleness of this Messiah? He will be able to bring justice to the nations without even raising his voice. How unexpected and astounding that the King of the Universe would come so quietly.
I love the idea that children ran to Jesus, the outcasts that on one would talk to Jesus talked to. Do you think about Jesus in this way? Do you ever sit around and think about his gentle heart? What does that say about the grace and love He wants to give you?
HIS MINISTRY:
Isaiah 42: 7
7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
Isaiah predicted the amazing healing ministry of the Messiah. He also predicted that his teaching ministry would be unparalleled.

Look in Isaiah 50:4:
The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

Here the Messiah is speaking in first person through the prophet Isaiah. Jesus spoke with wisdom that came straight from His Father, the Sovereign LORD. This reminds me of the words Jesus spoke in John 14:
John 14: 10
Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing the work.

The Obedience and Innoncence of the Suffering Servant
Isaiah 50: 5-7
5 The Lord GOD has opened My ear ; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back. 6 I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard ; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting. 7 For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore , I am not disgraced ; Therefore , I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.

Just as Isaiah foretold, Jesus NEVER rebelled against the will of God. These words were written hundreds of years before Jesus was beaten and mocked.

And yet they not only tell us the specifics of what the Messiah would suffer. They also give us a glimpse into the very MIND and HEART of Jesus Christ.

Jesus consciously offered his back to the whip of the Roman soldiers.
He offered his cheeks to those who pulled out his beard.
He offered his face to those who mocked and spit on him. And here are the very thoughts of Jesus – foretold hundreds of years before the events.

These are the thoughts of Jesus Christ as he was flogged and tortured and mocked: Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

Isaiah 53 adds to this that he was quiet like a sheep about to be slaughtered. He was willing to go quietly and innocent.
Isaiah 53: 7, and 9
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth ; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth
Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

Jesus is described as a lamb being led to the slaughter.

One painting of the crucifixion concentrates on the actual nailing of the two thieves and our Lord to their respective crosses. The two thieves were fighting.
They were scared and angry. Jesus, however, was calmly lying down with outstretched arms. He was not struggling as he was about to receive the nails. He was like a lamb that is led to the slaughter.

Think for a moment at the anger that is aroused in the human heart over the suffering of an innocent person.

This is what makes so many people angry at the wide-open stance on abortion of our society where abortion may be performed at any point of pregnancy for any reason.

Many movies and television shows are built around the theme of the innocent suffering. The show "Quincy" had its appeal in this way.

Quincy was always right, but to prove it he had to fight against his boss and half of the local government officials.
As you watched the show you got angry and felt like you were fighting with him against the apathetic establishment.

WHY that suffering was necessary.

Isaiah 53: 5
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities ; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

I want you to think a moment about the wounds of Christ. These were wounds he accepted willingly so that we could be healed.

We sometimes see pictures or sculptures of Jesus hanging on the cross.
His suffering is obvious in these pictures, but the reality of the wounds of Christ are obscured.
We see little marks where the nails went in his feet and hands.

We may see trickles of blood on his face from the crown of thorns. Even though the Romans crucified people without clothing, piece of cloth is always added for modesty.

We could not bear to look upon the reality of the wounds that brought us healing.

Isaiah foretold how hideous he would look after the terrible beating he endured. He wrote in

Isaiah. 52:14,
14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men.

When the Romans hit him in the face and planted a crown of thorns on his head those weren’t playful slaps.

We forget that Jesus was beaten severely, we want to sugarcoat it because it makes us feel better.
It is because of the terrible nature of sin that Jesus took on this punishment.
Realize that most victims of the Roman 39 lashes with the cat-o-nine-tails did not live through the experience.

It was like being skinned alive. Most of Jesus skin and outer muscles on his torso were hanging in ribbons. No wonder he didn’t have enough strength to carry his own cross all the way to Golgotha.
Jesus had to be a man of uncommon vitality to even make it to the cross let alone endure it for those horrible hours before he succumbed to death.

The torture at the hands of the Roman Soldiers was so intense that he was severely dehydrated and probably in some stage of shock from blood loss. As Isaiah had predicted, “he was marred beyond human likeness.”
Crucifixion was a terrible way to torture and kill a person.
Cicero, an ancient Roman author, had witnessed many crucifixions. He said the victims often became raving madmen before they died from fever, thirst, infection, pain, exhaustion, and other problems.
Sometimes the tongues of men on a cross were cut out to stop their terrible cries and screams.
It was clearly one of the worst methods of punishment ever devised by mankind.

If you are ever tempted to under-rate the ugliness of Sin, remember the horrific kind of wounds that were necessary to bring us healing.
You may think that I have lost my mind to bring up these unpleasant realities this morning but I believe that is what drove Paul to say that he desired to know nothing other that Jesus Christ and Christ crucified.

The cross reminds us of the terrible nature of sin. Every time we want to sin or do something that God would not approve of we should consider the pain and suffering of Jesus.

Is that sin worth the crucifixion of the Son of God? I guess what I am saying is, How much does Jesus sacrifice mean to you?

He died to set you and me free, why would we go back into the muck and mire of sin?

Why would we ever want to hate again or commit sexual sin? Why would we not want to just go and sale everything and preach the gospel to all people.

The story of the cross is that compelling that you want to just live for Him.

Our SALVATION:
Isaiah wants to remind us, he tells us that there is a reason for all of this.

This beating, this suffering, this marring of the most innocent man that ever lived is for one reason.
Isaiah 53:11 -12
11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied ; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong ; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors ; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
He will Justify the many – that is us, we have all sinned, we have all gone astray, we are justified or made right with God through this sacrifice of Jesus.
He bore our sins, he took on our sin and our iniquities.
He bore our sins but also intercedes for us – He died so that we can be saved.
One man supposedly had a dream that he was witnessing a soldier cruelly flogging Jesus.
He was disturbed by the viciousness of the punishment and rushed forward to try to stop the soldier. When the soldier turned around to speak to him, it was himself.
The meaning, of course, is that our sins caused Jesus to have to suffer.
In Norway there is a church building that has the figure of a lamb carved on it.
A traveler asked what it meant. Did it refer to Jesus as the lamb of God?
As the story went, when the building was being constructed, one man was working high above the ground.
He lost his footing and fell. Rather than dying from the fall, though, he fell on a sheep in a flock that was being herded past the building at that moment.
It killed the lamb, but it probably saved that man's life by cushioning his fall. It was a vivid reminder to the people of that locale that long ago another lamb had died so that we might live.
You see that Jesus the Lamb of God came to take away the sins of the world.
We have no hope without Christ – sin is so terrible – it is so evil that the cross vividly reminds us that it was so bad that it crushed the Son of God.
We need to take a minute and just think about that. Put all other things in this life on hold and just consider this for a minute.
God who Created us, who made this world and all the beauty that we see loves us so much.
We rebelled – man had everything – God wants to give us all that we need but we are rebellious, we want to do what we want to do.
But instead of just sentencing us to eternal separation – which is what we really, really deserve God who made us becomes one of us.
Takes on flesh and then dies on our stead, takes on the punishment that we deserve and says now the way is open.
You can be saved – things can be different.
In North Carolina two horses pulling a wagon were rushing down the street of a small town.
A man ran out and grabbed the reins to try to stop the wagon. The horses dragged him, but he would not let go.
Finally he brought them to a stop. He was severely injured and died after a short time, but before he died people were able to ask him why he did it?
Why should he have risked his life to stop a wagon? He told them to look in the wagon.
In the straw in the back, resting peacefully, was his tiny, baby boy. He died to save his child.
God is imploring like this man – God doesn’t want you to be carried into destruction.
He has done all the can do to get our attention – He sent His Only Son to die – what else can He do to jolt us out of rebellion and bring us back home to God’s family?

The Cross - Victory in Christ

Tim Tebow spoke to a group of young people in Nashville a year ago about living a victorious life. He talked about victory in Christ in particular.
Tebow told the audience that he had narrowed down his college choices to Tennessee, Alabama, and Florida before he made his final decision to be a Florida Gator.
He said he visited Knoxville and at the time Phil Fulmer was the head coach at Tennessee. Fulmer brought him in his big office and on the desk was a huge red phone.
Tebow wondered what is that phone for? He asked Fulmer and Fulmer explained to him that they had a direct line to Heaven at Tennessee. They could call any time for 1000 dollars per minute long distance charge.
Tebow was impressed, being a Christian – he thought well they take their faith serious at Tennessee.
The next week he want to Alabama and at the time Mike Shula was the head football coach.
Shula took him in his office and sure enough there was a big red phone. Shula went on to explain to Tebow that at Alabama they had a direct line to Heaven and it cost 1000 dollars per minute in charges to call but it was there whenever Tebow needed.
At last Tebow went to Florida to meet with then Coach Urban Meyer. Meyer invited Tebow into his office and Tebow found that Meyer also had the red phone on his desk.
Tebow cut off Meyer before he could explain and he told Coach Meyer, I know that that is for.
Meyer said, really – what is it for? Tebow said it is a direct line to Heaven that costs 1000 dollars per minute.
Meyer said you are right about one point there Timmy.
He said Yes it is a direct line to Heaven but you see here in Gainesville the call is free because it is a local call.
Now I am not a Florida fan but I love Tim Tebow and I just had to share that story.
But when I think of Tebow I think of a winner.
I think of Victory.
Today I am going to talk about a different type of victory – Last week I started a series of sermons on the Cross of Christ.
Last week we talked about How Jesus freely took our place – He was our substitute. He loved us so much he took our punishment for sin.
This week we are going to talk about the cross as Victory.
What do you think of when the word "victory" is mentioned?
What ideas come into your mind?
Do you think of military victories like V-E day or V-J day?
During a war in Europe in the 1860's each regiment of an army returning to one major city was stopped at the city gate.
They were each asked by what right they desired to enter the city.
Each regiment would sing and tell of the victories they had won. They would then enter the gate and march through the streets, saluting their leader.
Is this the sort of thing that comes to your mind when victory is mentioned? Maybe you think of sports rather than military victory.
One famous television commercial refers to "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." Maybe you think of the Super Bowl or the World Series.
As a Christian a very different sort of victory ought to also come to your mind.
It is a victory that has been won for you by someone else.
It is a victory you are unable to win for yourself. Only by sharing in the victory of Jesus Christ can you attain this victory.
This victory is unusual in that it was not won through military conquest or athletic skill.
Force and violence were not used to overcome an enemy or an opponent.
Instead this victory was achieved through sacrifice and the power of the resurrection.
Scripture says the Following:
"In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Rom. 8:37).
"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:57).
"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith" (1 Jn. 5:4).
This idea of Victory in Christ is largely ignored in our world today.
How, then, is the cross of Jesus a victory?
If someone were to ask us how the execution of Jesus of Nazareth by the Romans in 33 AD resulted in any type of victory what would you say?
I) VICTORY OVER SIN
First of all – The Cross represents Victory over Sin
The Biblical view of man is that we are in bondage to sin.
Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin" (Jn. 8:34).
While modern man proclaims his freedom very loudly, he is usually enslaved to his own passions and lusts.
He is like a beautiful eagle a preacher noticed one time while visiting in Switzerland.
This magnificent bird that could look so majestic floating on air currents in the wild instead was bound with a twenty foot long chain.
Man is the same way- we were created to be great, God created us in His image
Likewise man is in bondage to sin.
Once in Iowa a stranger called late at night at the local jail.
He was a member of a local theatrical company who was locked in handcuffs and wanted help in getting them off.
They had performed a local magic show and what was all fun and games was no longer fun.
They keys were broken off in the lock of the handcuffs and they were almost in full panic mode.
Sin is like that. We can play around with sin, flirt with temptation, and believe we will not get hurt.
We can think that sin is just a passing fancy and then one day we when we get older we will get serious about our faith.
What we then find out is that sin enslaves us, locks us up.
Then, when we are ready to quit, we find that we are addicted, entrapped, enslaved, and in bondage.
The Bible teaches that all mankind is enslaved to sin. Freedom from bondage to sin does not come merely through more information.
Education alone is not the answer. If that is all that we needed, then God could write us a letter from heaven and tell us how to be free of sin.
The problem is rarely that we do not know enough, but that we seem unable to do and perform what we know is right.
We need victory over the power of sin in our lives.
Freedom from sin and its power comes by yielding ourselves to Christ:
"Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness" (Rom. 6:16).
The victory over sin has been won for us by Christ
Some early church writers compared this to the struggle between David and Goliath.
It was David who won the victory that day, but the Israelites participated in and benefitted from his victory. It is the same with Christ and the Christian.
Christ won the victory over sin but now we benefit because of that victory.
II) VICTORY FROM THE LAW
In Christ we have the end of the old system of law as introduced by Moses for the Jews:
"Having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross" (Col. 2:14)
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13).
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery" (Gal. 5:1).
Salvation does not rest on self-effort.
If it did, it would be impossible for us to be saved. When we are confronted by law, it merely condemns rather than saves.
Many times law and regulations make us worse.
Think about it this way, when you tell a kid not to do something many times it entices them to try it all the more.
We are rebellious in nature many times and laws and regulations do nothing but make people worse.
Since all sin and fall short of God's law, it is a sentence of death rather than life.
Only by a system of grace such as Christ instituted through his death on the cross can one be saved.
We accept salvation through faith rather than vainly attempting to earn it by our worthless human works.
WE don’t obey Christ as a Christian because we HAVE to – We do it because we WANT to. We want to please our Lord.
We want to live by God’s family values – we are so thankful for salvation that now we are alive to good works because Christ has set us free from sin.
We are now truly able to be human.
III) VICTORY OVER DEATH
As sinful human beings we are also in bondage to death.
Although death is such a universal reality of life which cannot be avoided, we still fear it to a certain degree.
Most people cope fairly well with death, including non-Christians.
There are people dying all the time in our culture who have no relationship with God, and there is no apparent overt fear of death.
We have built in mechanisms designed to help us cope with and handle death.
Some think we are a Christian nation and that as moral citizens we are surely within the grace of God.
Even in our culture, though, I have had funeral directors tell me that those who have no religious roots are those who do not cope with death as well.
In mission work one finds a very different story, though.
In some cultures there is a terrible fear of death.
One missionary had a Muslim woman come to discuss death with him.
Her daughter had been converted to Christianity and had also died recently.
The mother wanted to inquire what they had done to her to make her die that way.
The missionary said they had done nothing to her. "What do you mean?", he asked. "She died smiling. Our people do not die that way," was her answer.
Christians may not welcome death as a friend due to earthly commitments, but the pagan fear of death should be gone, since Christ came to
"deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage" (Heb. 2:15).
In one village there was a custom of ringing the church bells once for each year of age of a person who had died.
One man said he used to listen carefully to that ringing and count the number of years.
If it was seventy, eighty, or ninety he would breathe a sigh of relief.
He reasoned that he would probably live many more years until he reached such an age.
If the number was lower, a chilling fear would run up and down his spine when the ringing would suddenly stop.
This continued for a long time until he came to realize that in Christ, he had eternal life. He was given victory over the fear of death through Jesus.
Paul explains that in Christ we are also given a victory over death itself:
"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 15:54-57).
The real fear of death is that we will die lost in sin and suffer eternal torment in hell. Through Christ the sting of death, sin, is removed by cleansing in the blood of Jesus Christ.
IV) VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL AND EVIL
When the time for his death was drawing near,
Jesus declared, "Now is the judgement of this world, now shall the ruler of this world, be cast out...He said this to show by what death he was to die" (Jn. 12:31, 33).
Jesus saw his death on the cross as a victory over Satan and the kingdom of evil.
The writer to the Hebrews agrees: "He himself likewise partook of the same nature [flesh and blood], that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb. 2:14).
The so-called ransom theory of the atonement really stressed this victory over Satan during the first millenium of the church's existence.
People really believed in a personal devil back then.
They had an awareness of the reality of evil more so than the contemporary, secular American.
People today joke about Satan and picture him as wearing a red suit and having a pitchfork in hand, but we do not take him too seriously.
He makes a good character for a movie from time to time, but we rarely think of him.
In the first century, though, people believed that Satan had gained power, a kingdom in this world. He is called the
"ruler of this world" (Jn. 12:31; 16:11)
and "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2).
Anyone not following Christ was said to be following Satan. In the early centuries, though, it was stressed that the dominion the devil had over man was wrong.
He had no right to man. He was a robber, a thief, and a usurper.
When the devil incited men to put Jesus on trial and finally crucify him, many Christians believed this was the greatest irony of all.
In the devil's seeming victory he met defeat.
The resurrection turned the cross into a gigantic trap which caught the devil and saved mankind. Some of the descriptions of this were quite crude.
The humanity of Jesus veiled his deity, so that he was like bait on a fishhook which caught Satan.
Another described the cross as a mousetrap baited with the blood of Jesus. Granted these analogies are somewhat grotesque to us, but there is an element of truth in them.
In the cross of Jesus the devil was defeated and judged.
"He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in him [or it]" (Col. 2:15).
Possibly this is the explanation of that difficult passage in Revelation 20.
There we are told, "He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years" (Rev. 20:2).
Maybe Jesus' atonement is the binding of Satan. The preaching of the gospel, the good news of the cross of Jesus Christ, is a binding power against Satan wherever it is proclaimed.
In Jesus' death on Calvary we have victory over sin, over death, over the devil, and from the law.
This is a great message of hope for all mankind. In Christ a once-for-all and a once-for-all time victory has been won. God is not the victim of circumstances beyond his control. History is not subject to Satan or chance. Rather history exhibits the careful plan and foreknowledge of God. We can shout, "If God be for us, who can be against us."
Application:
So what do we do:
1) We as Christians Go and tell the Story of Salvation- We cry out the victory Cry – we let people know the good news.
The story has often been told of the little church in Germany sited near train tracks that carried Jews to their death.
"Each Sunday Morning," the German man telling the story said, "we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks.
We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars!"
"Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews en route to a death camp. Their screams tormented us."
We knew the time the train was coming and when we heard the whistle blow we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church we were singing at the top of our voices.
If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.
Years have passed, and no one talks about it much any more; but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help.
God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene."
Now when we hear this story we are horrified that these German Christians did nothing to stop the trains. We know that if they tried they would have died for it.
Now consider this – we live in a free country – we can proclaim the Gospel to whoever we want. There are people literally in the bondage of sin.
Much like these people going to the concentration camps – we have people all around us dead in sin and we do nothing.
I think this is far more serious in that we are talking about people’s eternal destiny.
We must tell people about the victory of the Cross of Jesus Christ.
A preacher tells of visiting 2 churches back to back, and it was a great lesson in opposites. He said that 1 church was dying, the other was growing and thriving.
The first had a big sign out front that said, “All welcome…come on in.”
And it was dying. The other was thriving, but it’s sign wasn’t on the outside, but just inside the door…you could only see it from the inside as you made your way out…
“you are now entering the mission field”.
That sign was saying, “go out and bring them in from the fields of sin!” Just as Jesus said, “go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in.”
Nowhere does the Bible command sinners to come to church!
We must go and tell others about Jesus and the Victory that the Cross has one them.
2) We may have people right here that have not claimed the victory.
You need to take hold of the promises that Jesus has given us through His work on the cross.
During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton was overseeing the work of the Red Cross in Cuba.
One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her, wanted to buy food for his sick and wounded Rough Riders.
But she refused to sell him any. Roosevelt was perplexed. His men needed the help and he was prepared to pay out of his own funds.
When he asked someone why he could not buy the supplies, he was told, "Colonel, just ask for it!" A smile broke over Roosevelt's face. Now he understood--the provisions were not for sale. All he had to do was simply ask and they would be given freely.
I know that there may be someone here today that has tried to do it themselves. You may be trying to figure out this life all on your own and you are getting nowhere.
Here is the message of Christ – He has done it for you. He has won the victory on the cross.
You have nothing to fear- you have everything to gain by just accepting His free gift of salvation.
All you answers are given in Jesus just don’t be stubborn and submit your will to Jesus – take the promise and victory of the cross and make it your gift today the gift of God’s grace that He wants to give you.

The Church - on the offensive

A young boy had just gotten his driving permit.
He asked his father, who was a minister, if they could discuss his use of the family car.
His father said to him, "I'll make a deal with you. You bring your grades up, study your bible a little,
and get your hair cut, then we will talk about it."
A month later the boy came back and again asked his father if they could discuss his use of the car.
His father said, "Son, I'm real proud of you. You have brought your grades up, you've studied your bible diligently, but you didn't get a hair cut!"
The young man waited a moment and replied, "You know dad, I've been thinking about that.
You know Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, Noah had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair."
His father replied, "Yes son, and they walked everywhere they went!"
Many of us have memories of learning to drive.
Speaking of learning permits I remember a trip I took with my family and my brother just earned his learners permit.
That was one of the worst family trips we ever had because my brother nearly killed us multiple times. My Dad came unhinged on him multiple times but he was still allowed to drive all the way to my Uncle’s House right of off Watts-Bar Dam.
So sometimes when we think of taking a journey we may have positive memories or they may be negative.
Today we are going on a journey with Christ in Scripture.
This Journey with Christ and His disciples will tell us a good bit about the Church.
A few weeks ago we started a series about the Church.
Last week we explored the relationship between the Church and the State – or more specifically the relationship between the government and the church.
This week we will look at the nature of the Church and the World.
When I talk about the world – I mean the world as in the sense of what we read in 1 John 2
1 John 2: 15-17
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts ; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
John the Apostle lays out clearly that there are two realms.
The realm of God that lives forever and the one of this current world that is passing away and temporary.
Paul talks about Ephesians 6:12 about the world forces of Darkness
In Colossians 1:13-14 he states:
Speaking of Jesus Paul says the following:
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins
We see that there are two kings that are diametric opposition to one another.
The kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of Satan or what Paul calls the domain of Darkness.
In a prior series of lessons we tackled the reality of the spiritual warfare that is going on in this world.
WE are foolish to believe that the evil that we see manifested on the world stage going on right now is not orchestrated by this kingdom or domain of darkness.
Because of this we must change our thinking and how we relate to the world.
Today lets journey with Christ and He will give us a vivid example of how the Church relates to the world.
Many of you already know that Jesus ministry took place in Galilee.
Specifically the majority of Jesus teachings and miracles happened in the Northwest corner of the sea of Galilee called the Orthodox Triangle.
This is a place where they took their Judaism serious and would have been a place that we would say today had – Family Values.
The cities that formed this triangle were Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Korazin
In the passage that we will look at today in Matthew 16 we will encounter an area vastly different from that area in which Jesus operated and where his Disciples had lived most of their lives.
Jesus is going to take his Disciples to a place called Caesarea Philippi. This is some 25 miles north of Jesus base of operation in Capernaum.
This would not be some little jaunt just down the street. Sometimes when we read the Bible we forget that Just as the joke said earlier- They Walked everywhere they went.
Jesus’s trip to Caesarea Philippi was intentional. You just don’t travel 25 miles north just to go.
There was really no reason for Jesus to take His disciples to this place that he takes them.
He could have easily taught them at the Sea of Galilee.
The other times they travel – they travel south to Jerusalem for the feast days. So when you walk 25 miles there has to be a reason.
Today we are going to zero in on that reason and from that I think you will learn a valuable lesson about the Church and its relation to the world.
Before we turn to the passage and read, let me give you some background info on Caesarea Philippi.
This is close to the OT area of Dan where Baal worship was very prevalent.
This had been a focal point of paganism for a long time in Israel.
Caesarea Philippi, which stood in a lush area near the foot of Mount Hermon, became the religious center for worship of the Greek god, Pan.
This place was also the sight where the Jordan River originated and flowed out of springs from the base of the Mountain.
This took place in the time period right after the rule of Alexander the Great and would have occurred in the inter-testament time interval.
The Greeks named the city Panias in his honor.
Years later, when Romans conquered the territory, Herod Philip rebuilt the city and named it after himself and Caesar.
But Caesarea Philippi continued to focus on worship of Greek gods.
In the cliff that stood above the city, local people built shrines and temples to Pan.
Caesarea Philippi’s location was especially unique because it stood at the base of a cliff where spring water flowed.
At one time, the water ran directly from the mouth of a cave set in the bottom of the cliff.
The water was so deep at the base of Mount Hermon that the pagans had many times plunged heavy objects on long ropes into the cascading water and never found the bottom.
This added to the pagan speculation that this stream came straight from Hades.
The pagans of Jesus’ day commonly believed that their fertility gods lived in the underworld during the winter and returned to earth each spring.
They saw water as a symbol of the underworld and thought that their gods traveled to and from that world through caves.
To the pagan mind, then, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld.
They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld—the gates of hell.
In order to entice the return of their god, Pan, each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi engaged in horrible deeds, and these deeds were so perverse that I will not even mention them in from the pulpit.
Imagine things unspeakable even to the corrupt modern mind and you get the picture.
More importantly this area was literally called the GATES OF HELL.
Now consider – the Gates of Hell that flowed from a giant rock cliff. This would be the place that Jesus would give on of his famous teachings from Scripture.
If you mentioned Caesarea Philippi to the ancient person – automatically they would identify that area with the giant rock from which the city sat and the cave from which the Jordan River originated called the gates of Hell.
Now keeping that in mind let us turn to our passage this morning.
Matthew 16: 13-20
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist ; and others, Elijah ; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am ?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church ; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." 20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.
We see that Jesus intentionally goes to this area.
He then gets there and asks Simon Peter a very famous question.
Who do you say I am? Jesus doesn’t care about what other people are saying but he starts with Peter.
And Peter makes the good confession
-You are the Christ – the Son of the Living God
1) The Church is about a new Identity
From that Jesus changes his name.
Now let us consider in verse 17 – Jesus calls him by his given name – Simon Bar Jonah- literally Simon Son of Jonah – or Simeon
Then Simon confesses Christ and his name is changed.
This leads to me to my first main point today – the Jesus wants to change our identity – we will not be the same anymore after we meet Christ.
Thing back to the OT and the story of Jacob.
You remember Jacob had a hard time telling the truth – Many translators translate Jacob in Hebrew as meaning one full of guile or deceit. That name epitomized him.
But after a night of literally struggling with God – God changed his name to Israel and it was from Jacob the 12 tribes of Israel would come.
God doesn’t leave him the same but transforms him
When we come into the Church – God will change us and make us into new people.
Peter was a man that had been sinful – he was so sinful that once he told Christ to depart from him.
Later on in the Gospel narrative we see that Peter will turn his back on Jesus and deny Him. But God will still work on Simon Peter until he lives up to the name Jesus gives him.
You see the name Peter in Greek literally means a ROCK. Jesus calls him Petros in Greek which literally means ROCK.
Peter may not act like a rock now but later he will be a rock of teaching and authority in the early Church.
He will display rock like characteristics.
His identity is changed because of Christ and His work.
Blasé Pascal once said:
“Not only do we only know God through Jesus Christ, but we only know ourselves through Jesus Christ; we only know life and death through Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ we cannot know the meaning of our life or our death, of God or of ourselves.”
WE are no longer who we were before but new people.
When you become a Christian but you are a new creature – you are a new creature in Christ and an act of God’s sanctifying grace.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20)
We no longer live to ourselves but now we live – LITERALLY FOR CHRIST AND IN CHRIST
2) The Church is about the Truth of Christ
What was the one factor that Changed Peter’s status – and brought about that name change?
It was the confession that Jesus is the Christ – it is the foundational truth that transformed the world at that time.
A lowly carpenter from Galilee by the world’s terms, would never raise an army or personally write a book but would start a movement that would take the world by storm
This movement would put an end to gladiatorial games of Rome and stop infanticide and bring about Western Culture as we know it.
Why? Because HE is the TRUTH – he embodies Truth – With Jesus you don’t have to guess at what truth really is.
John 18: 37-38
37 Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king ?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." 38 Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"
Some of you may be sitting there today – asking that basic question – What is Truth??
Jesus tells Pilate that the reason He came into this world is to testify to the Truth.
So what was Jesus testimony to the Truth?
Well to break it down and make it real simple – it was this – mankind has fallen under a deception that has lead to our own destruction
We think we are autonomous and can do what we want.
Jesus comes to tell us that we are lost – we have no hope without God – we are cut off and will die in our sins.
Unless we repent and like wise Jesus says Repent – we will die in our sins.
He came to take away our sins, and not just that but show us what true flourishing and life is all about.
The Church is the community that is born out of that truth.
We have a common savior, a common hope, a common love and that unites us as His body.
We are the community of the Gospel – the community that is saved.
Sin and Satan come to divide and confuse but Jesus came to heal and put back together.
When sin enters the Church it brings about division and strife but perfect love casts out fear and division.
In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul tells us that the Church is to be the Pillar and Support of Truth.
In a world that is lost and groping for answers – we are the place that holds out those answers. And because of that it leads me to the next point.
3) The Church will be on the offensive.
You notice back in our passage that Jesus tells Peter that He will build His Church and the Gates of Hell would not prevail or get the upper hand against it.
Now think about that image for Jesus disciples.
He takes them away from the safe confines of their hometown to this most pagan place of their area.
It would be like us going to the red light district of a major city in America and taking our church bible class.
They had to be thinking Jesus WHY are we here?
I think He is giving them and us an object lesson.
We may could phrase it like this – Look at this paganism – look at this untruth – look at this false rock of idolatry.
I will build my Church – it will be built on a Rock Solid foundation that I lay down - That Gates of Hell – which in their day was a literal place – will not get the upper hand.
When the Gospel is preached it will take on the worse the world has to offer and transform it.
The kingdom of God will come into direct conflict with Satan’s domain and Jesus tells us that His Church will win.
We will win this battle not on our own merit or might but my His power.
Paul instructs the local congregation at Corinth to do the following:
2 Corinthians 10: 3-5
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ
Paul acknowledges the fact of the conflict at hand
We are waging a war in the spiritual realm.
This means that we are destroying arguments against Christ – we are taking captive even thoughts of people to Christ.
Where is our power?
Paul tells us in Romans chapter 1 that the power is found in the Gospel proclamation itself.
I had a conversation with Dr. Barrier who spoke to us the other day about his mission outreach in the Philippines.
He goes over there to train preachers for the Gospel.
We talked about the lukewarm nature of many American preachers.
He talked about one specific example. He said he was in the Philippines – and he had a man coming to class.
His ferry boat ride across the bay to the school sunk- the boat went down and they lost their vehicle.
The husband and wife swam to shore and still came to Bible class because he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to learn the Bible from this visiting American that knew about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is tough to hear about these folks in a foreign land that are hungry and it is hard just to get people in America to sit for an hour and listen to a Bible class.

I hear these stories often and read about them also.
People in foreign lands – hungry for the Gospel – hungry to hear the good news about Jesus- want to learn as much as possible.
Then here in our own country people are complacent and not hungry.
The question is WHY?
Are we complacent? Do we have too many distractions? Are we cursed to have all the things that get in the way of us and God?
I believe the answer may be more simple.
I think many have lost their vision for what this is all about.
We have lost the vision of the eternal and see this temporal existence as all that there is.
We need to see things as they really are.
James tells us that our lives are like a mist – we are not promised another day.
How will people remember us one day. What will people say about what we held to be important?
Alfred Nobel is known as the inventor of dynamite. He actually found this out accidentally but that is another story.
He one day got up and read the obituary for his brother.
In 1888, when Alfred's brother Ludvig died, a French newspaper mistakenly ran an obituary for Alfred which called him the "merchant of death."
Nobel was horrified by this news. He didn’t want to be known as the merchant of death.
That is why he came up with the Nobel Prize to be remembered by something positive.
So we ask the question, what will people remember us for?
Will we be remembered for people that were about the Kingdom of God.
Does our lives’ align with the fact that God’s Kingdom is here and is present among us and is in direct conflict with the principalities and powers.
Do we live as if our identity has changed? Do we wear our new name as Christian well? Do people see this new identity in us?
Do people see that the Church has truth that the world needs drastically.
Are we challenging this world that is so dark.
We as a family are seeing that things have changed. We live in a world that is not getting better. Carlin is 11 now and it gets harder and harder to find cloths that are becoming a young lady. The clothing now for that age basically wants to make little girls dress like older girls.
That is just one thing that we deal with but should we ask the question why? Why is it like this? Why are we seeing a decline in our culture?
I will say this- we have the answer but we may just be too busy and too distracted to care about it.
We may just be too caught up in this world to tell people that there is a better way – a community of the gospel – a community of love, a community united by the love of Christ called the Church.