The Sermon on the Mount I

Subtitle: Behold Your King!

Matthew 1-5.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on December 3, 2023.

As we embark on our look at the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 through 7, we want to take time to adjust just how we see this scene.

The word “sermon” sounds as if Jesus is simply a preacher, and everyone that day was simply going to church.  As we will see, Matthew sees something far greater than a teacher exhorting us to live for God.

As an introduction to this series, I have picked the subtitle, “Behold Your King!”  These words are used in Zechariah 9:9 to point Israel to Messiah who would come to them as lowly, and riding on a donkey.  Both Matthew and John quote Zechariah 9:9 to Jesus, particularly the Triumphal entry before his crucifixion.

The early church understood that Jesus was presenting himself as king.  Even after his rejection and crucifixion, he is still King Messiah.  God had made him king, and God was not taking nominations for the position.  He wasn’t looking for our input on who it is going to be.  We see this in Psalm 2.

Matthew’s gospel is not just a diary that tells us what happened each day of the life of Jesus.  It does roughly follow his life, but it is presented, or packaged, in a way to help us see who Jesus really is.  Some of the crafting of this message is done by Jesus himself, particularly when we are reading his words.  However, in the chapters leading up to the sermon on the mount, Matthew is purposefully arranging things so that we will understand what he understood about Jesus.  In fact, the whole book of Matthew is clearly packaged in a way to highlight things about Jesus.  There are 5 large collections of the teachings of Jesus in Matthew with the Sermon on the Mount being the first.  Another one that we see is the Parables of the Kingdom.  It is believed that Matthew puts it in these 5 collections to map or to picture the five books of the law.  A similar thing is done with the five collections, or books, of the Psalms.

I say all of this because I want us to pay attention to how Matthew presents the very Jesus who gives the sermon on the mount starting at Matthew 5:3.  There are two main pictures that lay behind who Jesus is.  Let’s look at those.

Jesus is the greater David

In the very first verse (1:1), Matthew signals something important about Jesus.  He is descended from David, “the son of David.”  He is also descended from Abraham.  Matthew will go on to give the data of the genealogy of Jesus.  However, this is the most important connections.  Why? 

He does so because King Messiah would come from the lineage of David.  Matthew is ultimately presenting Jesus as the Messiah of God, sent to rule Israel and the nations.   He is also presenting Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of The Promise to Abraham.  Through Jesus, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

Yet, Messiah is not just a son of David.  Messiah, Jesus, is greater than his ancestor David.  David gives us a template of a righteous king versus King Saul, a template of a wicked king.  David was righteous, but not like Jesus.

If you think that I am making this up, then look at 1:18.  Matthew writes, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows…”  For us, the word “Christ” almost comes off as a last name.  However, it is the Hebrew word for Messiah, and all of the prophecies in the Old Testament make it clear that Messiah is a king.  You can particularly go to Psalm 2 to verify that.

Yet, the king references given by Matthew continue.   In Matthew 2:2, the Magi come from the East and ask Herod a question.  “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?”  They are looking for a king, which is disturbing to Herod (isn’t he the king? Who is this king they are looking for?).  In 2:4, Herod inquires from his religious experts where “the Christ was to be born.”  Notice that Herod and his religious leaders make the connection from a king of Israel, that Gentiles would be looking for, to the Messiah, Christ.  The chief priests then respond by using Micah 5:2.  Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and would become the “Ruler,” and the “Shepherd” of Israel.

All of this harkens back to the Davidic covenant given in 2 Samuel 7 (also in 1 Chronicles 17).  There God tells David that one will come from his line who will be a son to God and that God would be a father to him.  This special son would reign as king forever.  This king would be directly anointed by God’s Spirit to fix and rule over Israel and the nations.

This is most likely why the exile (“captivity”) is mentioned by Matthew in his genealogy of Jesus, 1:17.  The captivity was a great crisis among the people of Israel.  The line of David was cast down, Jerusalem destroyed, and the temple gone.  What was God doing?  Was He done with Israel?  We will look more at this later.

In Matthew 4:17 and 23, the main thing that Jesus is proclaiming is “The Kingdom,” which is connected to King Messiah.  Jesus is not just a man from the house of David trying to be king.  He is being presented as the Messiah who brings in a special time of heaven’s administration on earth called “The Kingdom,” or “the Kingdom of Heaven.”   In the sermon on the mount alone, Jesus references “kingdom” nine times (five times in chapter five, three times in chapter six, and 1 time in chapter seven).  The Kingdom is important for Jesus.

Jesus tells them in Matthew 4 to repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.  They need to get things right with God, but they specifically need to listen to the one whom God was sending, Jesus.  He would show them how to fix everything in Israel and the nations.

The sermon on the mount becomes a king who is announcing his arrival, and declaring the terms of his kingdom.  Yet, this is not the only image that Matthew is projecting to us.

Jesus is the greater Moses for a new exodus

Jesus is not just giving Israel the word of the Lord.  He is the Word of the Lord.  Similarly, Jesus is not just another prophet in a long series of prophets.  He is The Prophet.  In fact, Moses prophesied that God would send another prophet like him in Deuteronomy 18.  Israel would need to listen to this prophet. This is important because Moses was not just another prophet.  The writer of the book of Hebrews in chapter three of his letter makes the connection between Jesus and Moses.  Moses was faithful as a servant in order to set up the House of Israel for Yahweh.  All the prophets that came after him were different in that they pointed Israel back to the writings of Moses.  They were not instituting a new thing, but maintaining what Moses helped set up.  Even the prophecies they gave of the future Messiah were in light of Israel. 

Jesus would similarly build a new house.  However, Jesus is greater than Moses.  He is not just building a house for God, but He is building a house as a son.  This is a marriage picture.  The son builds onto the house of his father to make room for him and his bride.  Jesus is The Prophet who is like Moses, and yet, who is also greater.

Matthew’s 5 large collections of the teachings of Jesus are presenting him in this light.  We can notice on top of this that Jesus goes up  in Matthew 5:1 “on the mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.”  “The mountain” is sometimes translated as “a mountain” simply because it is not defined in the passage.  Yet, the definite article is there.  Matthew is using language connected to the days of Moses, and the mountain they went to in order to receive the instruction of Yahweh. 

This may not be expected for us, but the Hebrews understood from the prophet Isaiah that God was going to do a New Exodus in order to solve the problem created by Israel’s sin.  Isaiah ends chapter 39 with the revelation that God was going to judge Judah and send her into exile in Babylon.  Yet, the next chapter opens with God telling the prophet to comfort His people.  God would send a servant that would bring Israel back from the captivity and enable the work of God to prosper in his hands.  This servant would set up the promised Kingdom of Messiah.  From chapter 40 to 66, the imagery of the Exodus is promoted as God’s template for saving Israel again.  The same God who saved them from Egypt would save them from Babylon, and even more than that.

Yes, it looked like Israel was done, and that the line of David was done.  However, through Isaiah, God says that He is not done!  When the enemy tells you, “It’s over,” and “There is no recovery from that,” don’t listen to him.  Whether it comes to mind about yourself, another person, or a certain Republic you know and love, it doesn’t matter if it is dead, the meat is completely rotted off of the corpse, and the bones are completely dry.  God is able to bring back from the dead in order to keep His promises.  This new exodus would be on a greater scale, and such an impact would require a greater Moses.

Christ would be the end of the captivity of not just Israel, but also of the nations.

Yet, Jesus is greater than simply being the greater Moses.  In Matthew 2, we see the child Jesus going down to Egypt in order to escape Herod’s attempt to kill the kids under two years old.  Isn’t it strange that we have a king killing babies, and Jesus going to Egypt?  There is purposefulness to this.  Jesus is even the greater Israel.  Everything that Israel went through and failed, Jesus will walk through and succeed, without sin.  He will be the perfect Israel, the perfect servant of the Lord, following the leading of Yahweh even through the desert.

Israel’s time in the wilderness was supposed to be an intimate time of God’s supernatural care and provision.  Yet, they fell to sin by grumbling and complaining.  They created a golden calf to serve, rebelled against Moses, and even committed sexual immorality at Baal Peor.  Yet, Jesus goes into the wilderness and is tempted at all points by the devil, only to come out of it having passed the test with flying colors.

All the promises to Israel fall upon the One who is the ultimate Israelite.  We should even note that the name Israel was not given to the nation.  It was given to an individual, Jacob.  Jacob had wrestled with God and is given a blessing of a new name.  It is often translated as “Prince with God,” which is fair.  However, it might be more impactful to think of it as “One who has power with God.”  Jacob had touched God, and God helped him.  He had power with God, not a power of control, but a power of relationship.  God cared for him.  Jesus is the greater Jacob, the greater Israel, the greater One who has power with God!  God listens to him.

Listen, God is not done with Israel even today.  Romans chapters nine to eleven show this.  Just as God did not throw off the gentiles forever, but used Israel to reach them, so too, God has not thrown off the nation of Israel forever, but will use the nations to bring Israel to a place where they will recognize Jesus as Messiah and repent before the Lord.

In Matthew 2:15, he quotes Hosea 11:1 “out of Egypt I called my son.”  When you look at the context of Hosea 11, you may think that they are misquoting.  It is clearly speaking of Israel as a nation.  Yet, when you see Israel as a prophetic, image in contrast, then you see how Matthew makes the connection.  Just as God called Israel out of Egypt, so Messiah would be brought out of Egypt.  Messiah is the ultimate Israel.

This connection of Jesus with King David and with The Prophet Moses will later be rounded out with The Great High Priest.  Jesus is presented as all of these roles all wrapped up into one.  He sits on the mountain and gives the Torah, the instructions of Yahweh for His people.   This is what Matthew is presenting.

So, when we read the sermon on the mount, we are not just hearing a nice sermon.  Jesus is setting up his kingdom, and we would do well to heed his instructions.  He is the prophet of god who we need to listen to so that we don’t perish in the wilderness (Exodus).  And, he is the king established by God that we need to submit to so that we don’t perish in the way when his wrath raises up just a little (Ps 2, Messiah).  Lastly, he is the High Priest who we need to remove our sins from us, to reconcile us to God so that we do not miss out on our inheritance.

Thus, Jesus tells us in the sermon on the mount, 5:17-18, that he did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.  He is all that the Law was pointing towards.  He is the ultimate fulfillment of what the Law was showing us.  Hallelujah!

Behold King audio

The Acts of the Apostles 22

Subtitle: Rejoicing in Persecution

Acts 5:40-42.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on October 23, 2022.

There are many things in life that cause people to rejoice.  We rejoice at weddings and at the birth of children.  We rejoice at graduations and getting that first job as an adult.  Of course, there are many similar things of lesser caliber that we rejoice over as well.

However, it is not common for people to rejoice when they are being persecuted by others for the sake of following Jesus Christ.  Yet, if we are truly following Jesus, we should be growing in our ability to do so, and far more Christians should be spiritually mature enough to do it.  I do not mean in theory, or in pretense.  I really do mean that we should internally and externally rejoice when we are persecuted for our faith in Jesus.

Today we are going to see the Apostles of Jesus rejoicing because they were being persecuted.  May God bless us with even half the joy that they had on that day!

Let’s get into our passage.

The Apostles are released (vs. 40)

The Apostles of Jesus were in a tough spot with the council angrily planning their death right in front of them.  It seemed that the same thing that happened with Jesus would now happen to them.  Yet, something unexpected happens.  Gamaliel, a rabbi with a lot of clout on the council, stands up and gives a speech strongly cautioning the group against putting the men to death.  This is where we left off last week.

In verse 40, we are told that his speech “persuaded them.”  He is a very learned man who knows this assembly well.  He cannot easily be dismissed by the high priest and the Sadducees on the council.  It is also possible that he has caught them off guard, and the are persuaded more out of a lack of preparation to resist his logic. 

All this notwithstanding, Gamaliel is not the hero here.  It really is God who has turned them from this path of executing the Apostles.  God often works through people, both the righteous who are willing to be used of Him and the unrighteous who are used unwittingly by Him.  Thus, it is God who has set them free.

We should remind ourselves of how God protected Daniel in the lion’s den.  He sent an angel who was clearly unseen by others.  How many times was Israel outnumbered by their enemies, but God sent an angel, or stirred them to fight one another, or pummeled them with hailstones, etc.  Many are the methods that God employs to help the righteous, and sometimes it involves using those who are unrighteous.  Yes, I am saying that Gamaliel is unrighteous.  He is resisting and standing against the clear leading of the Spirit of God in his day.

However, God does not always set His servants free from the hands of those bent on persecuting them.  Everyone of these Apostles would be heavily persecuted by their fellow Jews, and by the Gentiles.  Most of them would be executed for the sake of Jesus as martyrs down the road.

Jesus himself had warned Israel that he was sending them prophets and that they would persecute them.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”  Matthew 23:29-36 (NKJV)

They would become guilty of all the righteous blood shed on the earth because they were doing this over the top of the powerful light of God given in their generation.  Cain is the primary, or original, type of this.  He slew his brother even though he had been warned by God Himself.  He had great light and sinned against it.  There is a rejection of God and truth, and an embrace of wickedness.  We see the same thing with Mystery Babylon in the book of the Revelation of Jesus.  Revelation 18:24 says, “And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth.” 

The light and the glory of Jesus Christ has spread across this world, and many who would speak of Jews as Christ-killers will themselves become the greatest persecutors of his true followers.  It has been figured that, from AD 1540 to 1580, papal Rome had over 900,000 Protestants killed.  However, those numbers pale in comparison to what can be done today.  Perhaps we will see the days when Protestants themselves call for the death of those they disagree with.  I pray not.  Yet, the rise of Pentecostalism in the early 1900’s received much social persecution from the Protestant churches they were being kicked out of.  Perhaps even Pentecostals will join in the fray of persecution.  This is always the challenge.  Will we allow ourselves to make the institution an idol and persecute those who refuse to do so?  Or, will we allow Jesus to lead us along the path that he has chosen?

Friend, hear me.  You had better flee to Jesus and deliver yourself from this wicked and perverse generation.  No denomination can save you.  No church can save you, only Jesus can!  I pray that you as an individual, and this church as a local body, and the Assemblies of God will hold the line in standing with Jesus.  However, our faith is anchored in Jesus, and not in an institution.

We are told that they are beaten and ordered not to speak in the name of Jesus, but it would not stay that way for long.  God had a certain work that they had to accomplish, and no one could stop them, until they had accomplished what He had sent them to do.  Yet, they were able to make the apostle’s lives difficult.

In our generation, we do not like it when sinful people, even sinful “Christians,” make our lives difficult.  However, this is the call to all who would follow Jesus.  Following Jesus is not easy because he is headed to a cross, and he tells you to pick up and carry your own cross in following him.  Praise God that there is coming a day when Christ will come in his glory, and the sons of God will be manifested to a world that is not worthy of those whom God has sent!  It is not yet clear who we are, but God Himself declares that we are His children.  He will manifest it on that day!

We should now turn our attention to the response of the Apostles.

The response of the Apostles (vs. 41-42)

Imagine how you would respond to being hauled before the Snohomish County Superior Court judge, or the supreme Court of the State of WA, or the House of Representatives of these united States of America.  What if you were unlawfully detained, questioned, beaten, and then told to quit talking about Jesus or you would get worse?  I know that it seems an impossibility and hard to fathom.  Yet, this is what had happened to these men.  How did they respond?  Maybe we had better focus more on how we would respond?

We are told that they responded by rejoicing in their suffering.  No, they were not rejoicing that they were released, but that they had suffered for Jesus!  Why would they do such an odd thing?  We could chalk it up to the fact that they had failed before the cross to stand with Jesus.  Perhaps this was an opportunity to prove their devotion and love to their Lord after having failed so miserably before.  However, I believe it is more than that.

Jesus had prepared them for this moment as a part of their discipleship.  The Gospels record several places where Jesus addressed this.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  Matthew 5:10-12 (NKJV)

Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!  For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.”  Luke 6:22-23 (NKJV)

They were not suffering because of living a sinful lifestyle, and rejecting the Word of God.  They were suffering shame for the name of Jesus and doing righteousness! 

Public humiliation, or public shame, is one of the ways that societies and governments have kept people in check through the years.  However, these men were more interested in pleasing Jesus than they were in pleasing people.  Leonard Ravenhill said it similar to this.  If we displease God, then it doesn’t matter if we please men, and if we please God, then it doesn’t matter if we displease men.  God help us to quit being people who are trying to please others at the expense of pleasing God.  God give us enough backbone to follow Him even when other Christians become our greatest persecutors and call us heretics, or accuse us of perverting the faith. 

This was the shame that these Apostles were suffering.  They were treated as traitors to Israel and to God.  They would be excommunicated and cut off as heretics accused of working for the devil.

I have saved the phrase “counted worthy” for last.  They were rejoicing, but Luke adds a sense of being counted worthy to suffer.

Do we have this whole issue of suffering backwards?  Do we think that the more we know God the less persecution we will encounter?  This is not an accurate understanding of a man like Daniel.  Yes, the lions did not eat him, and he was restored to his position.  However, Daniel was not protected from suffering persecution.  These men had laid in wait and used their power, position, and craft against him.  Martyrs are clearly suffering, but my point is that even the great examples of those who were protected by God (remember David?) suffered great persecution for standing with Him.

We may think that there is not as much persecution against Christians in America because we are far more civilized than those other nations.  We are somehow better and more righteous than they.  But what if we are not living lives worthy of suffering for Christ?  Maybe us pastors are living lives that do not have enough faith to preach the truth in the face of opposition?  Perhaps believers are afraid of what may happen if they get serious about warning others around them about a future without Jesus.  Or simply, maybe we are consumed with the lusts of our flesh instead of the eternal work of the Lord Jesus that the Spirit of God is calling us to?  O, friend, if you have ever sensed the Spirit of God before, then sense Him now.  Jesus is looking for workers in the fields, and those workers will encounter persecution to varying levels.  Will you answer His call?

We are told by Luke that the Apostles never stopped teaching and proclaiming the Gospel, that Jesus is the Messiah!  They did not surrender for even one minute!  They did not obey the unlawful command from the lawless authorities.  Rather, they continued to do what Christ had told them to do.  They preached Jesus as Christ to the people in his power and authority.  They declared him to be the Anointed one promised by God the Father.  This anointed one would be the savior of mankind, and he would have authority over all in heaven and on the earth.  He is the King of kings, and the Lord of lords!

I believe that Jesus is removing the middle ground here in America.  To our flesh, it is a scary day, just as the night of betrayal was to the Apostles.  But when you get on the other side of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gives you a vision of what lies ahead!  May God help us to be a people who are seeking to be fille with His Spirit.  May we be a people hearing the Holy Spirit, repenting of lethargy, and exercising faith in him through loving obedience.  In short, may we truly be his disciples and take on the image of Jesus Christ! 

Persecution audio

The Acts of the Apostles 13

Subtitle: Arrested for Jesus

Acts 4:1-12.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 14, 2022.

If Jesus asked you to be arrested and thrown into jail for his sake, would you submit and serve him through it?  Or, if he just allowed it to happen, since he has told us in advance that this world would persecute his disciples, would you even then hold the faith?

In the audio, Evangelist Joe Pyott tells a story about a time when he was arrested for preaching on the street.

Mark 8:38 says, “For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”  What if you came to church and found out that your pastor had been arrested?  Some might say that they always knew he was no good.  Others might say that he could not have done anything wrong and is just being persecuted.  Others would be on the fence.  In all of this, God knows the truth.

Peter and John will be arrested for simply doing what God had told him to do.  They are still on the Temple Mount preaching to the crowds under Solomon’s Colonnade when we come to Acts 4:1.

Let’s get into our passage.

Peter and John are arrested.  (vs. 1-4)

While they are still preaching, a group approaches to take them into custody.  No doubt, the healing of the lame man, the gathering of the crowd around Peter and John, and their teaching had sent some witnesses scurrying to let the authorities know what was going on.

The problem here is not authority, or the person calling the authorities.  The problem is always whether both of these are done in honor of God and for His purposes.  Peter and John are serving the purposes of the King of kings, and the authorities here are not.  Thus, they were never authorized by God to thwart His purposes, and so their authority is null and void, in the eyes of God.

We are told who it is who arrests Peter and John.  The Sadducees is the larger group that is led by the High Priest and has many rich nobles of Jerusalem also in the group.  The priests are a subclass of the Sadducees, as most priests were, and were those serving in the temple that day.  Lastly, the captain of the temple is referring to a Jewish guard that kept the peace on the temple mount.  Of course, if things became too out of control, the Roman soldiers would make an appearance.

The terminology has a sudden connotation to it.  They come upon them and laid hands on them quickly.  There doesn’t seem to be much discussion.  They just move in, arrest them, and take them to a holding place.  It is evening by this time, so they will be held over night for a hearing in the morning.  They came to the temple around 3:00 PM, so they had been preaching for quite a long time by the time they were arrested.

What were they being arrested for?  Verse two tells us that they were arrested for teaching the people, and teaching in Jesus, resurrection from the dead.  There doesn’t seem to be any declaration of this by the captain of the temple guard.  Rather, Luke is telling us in advance.

These disciples teaching on the temple grounds was probably reminiscent of Jesus just 2 months ago.  The week leading up to his crucifixion was spent teaching in the courts of the temple.  These men were not “official teachers.”  We have to be careful that our systems and institutions do not lose connection to God and become an obstacle to what He is doing.  In fact, that care starts within each of our hearts.  Have I become an obstacle to what God is doing?  Have I come to play a wicked part in His plan, all the while thinking that I am doing good?

The second part mentions teaching resurrection in the name of Jesus.  They were definitely promoting that Jesus rose from the dead.  It is not clear that they were also teaching about the general Resurrection of the Righteous at the end of the age, but the Sadducees rejected this teaching as well.  Regardless, resurrection was a debated topic between the Sadducees and the Pharisees.  This could hardly be an arrestable offense, but such is power in the hands of people that are unworthy of it.

In verse 4, Luke gives us another commentary on the event.  Though they were trying to shut down the effectiveness of Peter and John’s teaching, another large group of people believe in Jesus.  The new number is 5,000 men as opposed to the 3,000 souls on the Day of Pentecost.  The first number most likely included women- “souls” is very general.  In this passage, we have the traditional counting method.  There are now 5,000 men who are believers in Jesus.  These men would represent wives and families. 

It is not just a sexist thing.  Numbers can hide the underlying dynamics.  The 5,000 number was not inflated by large families counting children, etc.  It would be like a politician saying that they have raised over a million dollars and presenting that as a mandate for their positions.  However, when you look under the number, you might find that there were only 4 people who gave and one of them gave a million dollars.  Or, conversely, you might find that they had 50,000 $20 donations.  This number is intended to hammer home the point that many people were taking this seriously and the total number of believers in Jesus at this time was most likely more than 20,000.

These are large numbers, but compared to Jerusalem and all of Israel, it is still just a remnant.  There is a mystery behind when people put their trust in Jesus.  There will be more people joining the believers over the years ahead, but at some point, they will not continue to see thousands joining them each time Peter preached.

Let’s now look at the hearing on the next morning before the leaders of Israel.

Peter and John defend themselves to the Sanhedrin.  (vs. 5-12)

These two fishermen from the sticks of Galilee are put in front of the highest human powers and authorities in Israel, not counting Jesus.  Think of how intimidating it is to be drug in front of amazing buildings created with the people’s money, and made to face those who have the power to quash you like a bug.

The examination begins with their main question.  “By what power or by what name have you done this?

There are several different words for power.  The one used here refers to inherent power such as strength.  It is dunamis power in the Greek, and in this case, refers to the powerful miracle.  With what power did they effect this man’s healing?

They also ask by what name did they do this.  Remember from last week that a name represents more than a person’s reputation.  It includes their position, authority, and power.  Thus, the question is essentially, by whose authority are you doing these things?  Who said you can do them?  Of course, these leaders would see themselves as the ones who could authorize Peter and John to be teaching at the temple.  However, the temple belongs to Yahweh, and He is the true authority, not to mention that He had never said that only priests could teach in the temple courts.  They would simply be responsible to make sure that heretical things were not being taught.

We again see Peter doing the speaking.  It is not that John can’t speak.  However, some believe that Peter is the older one between the two.  Regardless, Peter’s earlier impetuous mouth, is being put to sanctified use by the Holy Spirit.  Peter is now a man filled with the Holy Spirit.  Let us be careful to guard our hearts and seek God each day for the filling of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus had promised them that the Holy Spirit would help them know what to say in such intimidating situations (Luke 12:12).  This promise still holds true for us today.  The Holy Spirit can give us the words to say when we are put on the spot by the powerful of this world.

The question they are asked is a bit vague.  The power part, the dunamis, would say that the healing is the main issue.  The name part would say that their teaching is the main issue.  Peter touches on the surreal aspect of the examination by using the conditional “if,” which begs the question.  Have we really been arrested for a good deed done to a helpless man?  Is this what the great priesthood of Israel has been reduced to?  If that is the problem, then Peter has an answer for them.  He will let them know exactly what power, and what authority, led to this man being healed.

This man was healed by Jesus, Messiah of Nazareth.  These leaders hear this answer, but Peter emphasizes that all Israel needs to hear this answer.  It was the power and authority of Jesus.  It is too easy for us to hear the words Jesus Christ and simply think of Christ as his last name.  Rather, Peter is declaring that Jesus is the Messiah of God who was prophesied to come.  Lastly, he mentions Nazareth so that they will definitely understand that he is speaking of the man they executed months ago.

Just as Peter had been contrasting the actions of the crowd earlier to the actions of God the Father, so he does here with the rulers.  You crucified Jesus, Messiah of Nazareth, but God raised him from the dead.

Do you understand that no power on earth, or in the heavens, can thwart what God has determined in heaven?  Our country is trying to continue forward without Jesus, and without the word of God.  It is trying to take the blessings of those who trusted in Jesus, and dare God to try and stop them.  No matter what powerful acts the great powers of this earth, and the great powers of hell, can accomplish, they can do nothing without the decision of Jesus allowing it to go forward.  He is God’s anointed King, Lord of heaven and earth.  All power and authority have been given unto him.

Peter then quotes from Psalm 118.  It is the psalm that starts out with “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!  For, His mercy endures forever!  It then has these antiphonal phrases where a worship leader would say, “Let Israel now say…,” and then they would respond, “His mercy endures forever!”  “Let the house of Aaron now say…His mercy endures forever!”  “Let those who fear Yahweh now say…His mercy endures forever!”  Can you hear it today?  Let the Church now say…His mercy endures forever.  Let the house of Jesus now say…His mercy endures forever.  Let those who fear the LORD now say…His mercy endures forever!

This is a spiritual battle psalm.  There in verses 21-22, the psalmist prophesies that God “will become” our salvation as a stone that the builders reject, but whom God makes the chief cornerstone.  It is the most important stone of the whole building.  You can’t keep building without this stone.  It won’t work.  If you do, it will fall apart in the end.  Ask yourself today, what am I building, and with what materials?  They may have rejected the stone, but they can repent, change their mind, and turn back to faith in Jesus.  We can have a foundational stone that can hold up all of humanity if they would simply put their faith in him instead of in themselves.

In verse twelve, Peter brings the message home that they can’t have their cake and eat it too.  They must make a decision.  They can no longer remain in the positions of leadership in Israel and stand in the way of God’s plan.  They will either repent and be saved or not and lose their place.  Jesus is the only name, the only power and authority, by which we must be saved.  He emphasizes the necessity of salvation, and the exclusivity of the person of Jesus.  There is salvation in no other power or authority, no other person, only Jesus!

Listen, salvation is life.  Yes, it is eternal life, but it is also eternal life in this present life.  We have already begun eternity because we have the eternal life of God dwelling in us (that is if we have put our faith in Jesus).  Friend, in these days ahead, you will be tested more and more.  It is a grace of God that will help you to get rid of what He is not building, and to build what He wants.  We must boldly and humbly proclaim the truth that Jesus is Lord, and he has become our salvation!

Arrested audio

What Does God Really Want from Me? Part 8

Matthew 28:16-20.

This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday March 6, 2022.

We will finish our series today talking about sharing Jesus passionately with those who do not know him.

Everything that we do as a Christian should revolve around the worship of God.  It is a whole-life worship that demonstrates the worth and value of God when we CONNECT to Jesus and his people through an authentic relationship.  We also demonstrate His worth and value when we GROW spiritually through intentionally becoming like Jesus.  Again, we demonstrate His worth and value when we SERVE selflessly through the natural and spiritual gifts that God has given us.  Lastly, we demonstrate His worth when we SHARE Jesus passionately with those who do not know him.

Last week, we saw the passion side of sharing Jesus with others.  How could I not share Jesus, and who could keep me silent when he has set me free from a life of begging and being spiritually lame, like the man at the Beautiful Gate in Acts 3.  No one was going to shut that man up short of putting him in prison and executing him, and then his death would witness even more loudly!

Today, we will look at the command and duty side of sharing Jesus.  Passion is not always enough to keep us sharing Christ.  We can get angry, wounded, or hurt.  In those moments when passion is low, the command of Christ is there to challenge our flesh.  I may not feel like it, but the Lord has given me a command, and I do not want to disappoint my Lord.

Let’s look at our passage.

Jesus uses his authority to give us a command

We talked about this last week, but we should always keep in mind the Daniel 7 passage where God judges the empires of the world, and yet, he then gives the kingdoms of the world to a Son of Man character who represents Jesus.  This Son of Man receives comes to the Ancient of Days riding on the clouds of heaven.  This imagery helps us see why Jesus purposefully used this title of himself.  Yes, it is a phrase that can essentially mean a human.  However, this phrase also had a connotation that reflected a mystery human who can ride the clouds like Yahweh, and will rule over the nations.  Many of the Jews understood this character as the Messiah.  We must never let this pompous, bloviating world take our eyes off of the fact that Jesus is the King of heaven and earth, and we will be judged on whether or not we were faithful to him.

All of that is to say that Jesus has left us with a purpose and a Great Mission, which is also called the Great Commission.  As we connect, grow, and serve, we are enabled to reach those who do not know Jesus with the Good News.

He could rapture us up to heaven the second that we believe, but that is not how God operates.  There is a spiritual battle for the souls of people happening on this earth.  Jesus shows us that God is not standing by silent.  We never become more like him than when we rise up to fight those principalities that hold humans in bondage through their own sinfulness (how sick the evil one is!).

It is easy to make the focus in this passage to be on the word “go,” but to do so is to miss the main point.  The main verb is “make disciples,” and it is modified by a phrase that explains just who we are to disciple, “all nations.”  Just so we are not confused, ask yourself who the subject of this command is.  Yes, it is his disciples, but not just those back then.  Jesus was to be with us to the end of the age, and therefore the mission is ongoing to the end of the age.  Since those original disciples are no longer with us, it is clear that Jesus intends this mission to be passed down from one generation of disciples to the next.

So, what does it mean to make disciples?  To make a disciple starts with being a disciple yourself.  We must become students of Jesus who are being transformed by the life and word of Christ.  This is the foundation of sharing the bad news and the Good News with others.  God’s Word is our powerful weapon because it is truth, and it is spiritual power energized by God’s Holy Spirit.  In essence, becoming a disciple of Jesus is another way of saying that we have connected to him as our Teacher and to his other disciples.  This means that we are a community of people who study and learn of Jesus.  Be must not become something other than that.

Jesus did not tell them to only reach other Jews, or any particular race, culture, etc.  The Gospel is to be taken to every nation as the Holy Spirit leads us.  We disciple those who respond to the drawing of the Holy Spirit no matter what their background, their sin, or their culture.  Not everyone fulfills the same task however.  There is a Sending, Giving, and Going aspect to this Mission.  Those who Go need a group behind them that are Sending them by continually praying and providing a support system.  Yet, we should be careful of drawing to strong of a distinction between those three aspects.  Technically, we are all called to go, but not always to go across the world to a completely different culture.  We should all be a prayer support for other Christians who are sharing Christ even if a person is a missionary. Can a missionary support another missionary in prayer and funds as needed?  Of course, they can!  So, we need to keep our eye on making disciples whether that is around the world or across the street.  All of us are working together in order to make disciples around the world.

Now, let’s look at the going component.  Going is necessary as I have already alluded.  We have to become a people who are learning to go to others.  I have to learn to step outside of myself, my comfort zone, in order to share Jesus with others.  Acts 1:8 gives us a picture of concentric circles moving out from Jerusalem.  “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

All of us go, just like our Lord who left the great halls of heaven in order to go to earth and battle for our souls.  We must be led by the Holy Spirit to go out from a life that is only focused on ourselves.  However, it takes greater sacrifice to reach the opposite side of the world.  Thus, God calls some people to be missionaries.  They will have to travel to areas in which they do not know the customs, and the language.  They will have much to learn.  They will need supporters back home who will pray for them and give money to support them.  Yes, this can become a racket if we let it.  Thus, believers at every part of this must become a people of prayer responding to the Holy Spirit.  We see this in the New Testament as many supported Paul in his evangelistic endeavors so that he could take the Gospel into the area of what we call Turkey today, and onto the European continent through Greece.

Another phrase that Jesus adds is that we are to baptize those who become disciples.  Jesus has them continue this practice as a symbol or sign that a person has joined the community of the disciples of Jesus.

There are some who become overly worked up over what is said when a person is baptized.  This is not a mystical ritual that must be done just right in order to “work.”  Rather, it is the response of a person’s soul to the Spirit of God.  This is what makes it effective.  Jesus emphasizes that disciples are being baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Yet, in other places it doesn’t use this “formula,” as some call it.  As I have said, I do not believe that Jesus is giving us a “formula.”  To connect to the Father is to connect to the Son and the Holy Spirit.  To respond to one is to respond to the others.  Yet, this process of becoming a disciple is operated by each of them in different ways.

Jesus then emphasizes that they are to teach the newer disciples.  This connects to the earlier make disciples, but it is more explicit.  We don’t just hand a bible to new believers and leave them on their own.  The older disciples are to teach the newer disciples, not in a sense of being between them and Jesus.  The Spirit of Christ is the ultimate teacher, but Jesus wants the mature disciples to come alongside of the immature.

One might ask, “Isn’t the Word of God and the Holy Spirit sufficient?”  Sure, they are completely enough for any disciple, but it is not a question of sufficiency.  God has provided a community that new believers enter, and He also gives a command through the Lord Jesus for us to help each other.  Thus, we surrender to the will of God rather than lecture Him on the theoretical sufficiency of the Word and the Spirit.  All disciples need to keep their eyes upon Jesus and learn from him as he uses others to teach us.

Just like God is teaching us to battle the spiritual forces arrayed against His people and those who are lost, so He is teaching us to become spiritual parents that help His new children mature spiritually.  Spiritual maturity can be defined as simply learning to obey the commands of Christ through an intimate relationship with Jesus.  Thus, I can be a follower of Jesus for over 30 years and still be infantile spiritually.  Of course, it is not possible to be the essence of maturity in one day, but some grow into maturity much faster than others.  Of course, we should restrain ourselves from judgments in this area because we cannot see the heart, and some who appear mature may not be what they seem under pressure.

One last thought on this teaching issue is that you don’t need an official title or position to do it.  We are all supposed to become like Christ who was a teacher.  Thus, we are all to teach even while we are students to those whom God brings to us.  No human teacher has ever arrived.  They are still learning themselves.  In fact, I believe that you never learn more about Christ than when you are trying to teach others, that is if your heart is open to the Holy Spirit.

Well, that’s the mission.  It is still the mission of Christians today, whether you have been saved for decades or days.  Yet, Jesus ends this with the encouragement that he will be with us even to the end of the age.  He has not left us alone. This is more than a human saying that they are thinking of us.  Jesus is present with us today as if he was standing here in our church, or sitting there right beside you.  When you are in the most difficult place, remember that Jesus is with you.  He will give you the words; he will give you passion; he will give you wisdom, strength and courage! 

The enemy is raging against God’s people in our society today- all over the world in fact.  Yet, until God calls us home, He is not finished yet, and so, neither are we.  Let’s go forward with our Joshua, who is Jesus, and know that he will be with us no matter what we face.  Then we will connect lost sinners to the abundant life that can only be found in King Jesus!

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