1
00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:03,360
Turn in your Bible to Matthew 
27. 

2
00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,760
We've almost finished all of the
mock trials that Jesus has been 

3
00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:13,560
walking through. 
Last week, Alan walked us 

4
00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,480
through Jesus before Pilate, the
beginning of that. 

5
00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:17,640
Today we're going to finish 
that. 

6
00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,480
Pilate is sitting last week, 
ironically, on what was called 

7
00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:24,840
the judgment seat. 
There's a different judgment 

8
00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,000
seat, far above Pilate's 
judgment seat, and it actually 

9
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,160
makes righteous judgments, 
unlike Pilate. 

10
00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:33,800
Pilate's wife sends word to him 
about Jesus. 

11
00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,520
This righteous man, she's 
saying, have nothing to do with 

12
00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,720
this man's death. 
Pilate wants out. 

13
00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,200
He knows that Jesus is innocent.
Even this godless Pagan ruler 

14
00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,480
can see the injustice of what's 
going on here, but he fears the 

15
00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:47,920
pressure that he's experiencing 
from the Jews. 

16
00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,400
He says, what has he done? 
I find no guilt in this man. 

17
00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,040
He's essentially declaring him 
not guilty. 

18
00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:55,720
And they what should I do with 
him? 

19
00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:57,520
Let him be crucified. 
Why? 

20
00:00:57,520 --> 00:00:59,720
What evil has he done? 
But they shouted all the more, 

21
00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,239
let him be crucified. 
Then we're going to read from 

22
00:01:04,239 --> 00:01:07,720
verse 24. 
So when Pilate saw that he was 

23
00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,480
gaining nothing, but rather than
a riot was beginning, he took 

24
00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:15,040
water and washed his hands 
before the crowd saying, I am 

25
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,160
innocent of this man's blood. 
See to it yourselves. 

26
00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:22,440
And all the people answered. 
His blood be on us, and on our 

27
00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,040
children. 
Then he released for them 

28
00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,840
Barabbas, and having scourged 
Jesus, delivered him to be 

29
00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,680
crucified. 
Then the soldiers of the 

30
00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,600
Governor took Jesus into the 
Governor's headquarters, and 

31
00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:36,760
they gathered the whole 
battalion before him. 

32
00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,240
And they stripped him and put a 
scarlet robe on him, and 

33
00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,640
twisting together a crown of 
thorns, they put it on his head 

34
00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:46,720
and put a Reed in his right 
hand. 

35
00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:51,160
And kneeling before him, they 
mocked him, saying, Hail King of

36
00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,440
the Jews. 
And they spit on him and took 

37
00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,160
the Reed and struck him on the 
head. 

38
00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,560
And when they had mocked him, 
they stripped him of the robe 

39
00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:03,600
and put his own clothes on him, 
and led him away to crucify him.

40
00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,639
Heavenly Father, help us to see 
the depth of our sin and the 

41
00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,920
greatness of your mercy. 
I pray that we would see both 

42
00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:16,280
and that we would be filled with
love, that we would be filled 

43
00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:19,280
with fear, that we would be 
filled with more adoration for 

44
00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,720
the Lord Jesus, the perfect man,
the God man, the one full of 

45
00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:28,640
love and grace and self-control 
and all power and all authority 

46
00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:32,920
who suffered for us, who bore 
the curse and all of our shame. 

47
00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:38,080
Jesus, we honor you, we love 
you, we need you. 

48
00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:42,080
Holy Spirit, open the eyes of 
our hearts to receive all that 

49
00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:43,720
you have intended for us to have
today. 

50
00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:49,480
Make all of us humble, 
teachable, trainable, and 

51
00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,440
pliable only in your hands. 
In Jesus name, Lord, we trust 

52
00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:55,560
you and we thank you for it. 
Amen. 

53
00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,760
So Pilate here trying to get out
of this difficult situation that

54
00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,760
the Jews have put him in. 
He remembers that Rome has this 

55
00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:07,360
custom of releasing A prisoner 
to gain goodwill with the Jews. 

56
00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,720
So maybe somebody was arrested 
who maybe really shouldn't have 

57
00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:11,480
been. 
And the Jewish people are really

58
00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:13,240
mad about it. 
So once a year at Passover 

59
00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:16,200
pilot, we go, hey, like, y'all 
are in the middle of a big 

60
00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:17,840
festival. 
They're like, this is a way to 

61
00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,000
gain goodwill with the people. 
Like, he hates them, They hate 

62
00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:23,400
him, but he's gone. 
I can do this thing. 

63
00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,160
So at once a year he comes, hey,
which prisoner do you want? 

64
00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,600
They're like, we want Bob or we 
want whoever. 

65
00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:31,400
And he's like, all right, Bob's 
really. 

66
00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,400
Yeah, we got Bob back. 
And it just adds to the 

67
00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:35,080
celebration as to the 
festivities. 

68
00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,960
And of course, depending on what
Bob has done, like Rome is still

69
00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,040
keeping a close eye on this guy 
now that he's been released. 

70
00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,440
But he's thinking, wait a 
second, I have another card. 

71
00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:46,520
I have another trick that I can 
pull. 

72
00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:48,880
And of course, this thing falls 
apart. 

73
00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,880
He picks the probably the worst 
guy he has in custody because he

74
00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,120
wants to make sure he's like, 
I'm going to make it impossible 

75
00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,720
for them to deny that I would 
release Jesus. 

76
00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,080
So let me get Barabbas. 
This guy's a murderer. 

77
00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,200
There's no way that they're 
going to pick him over Christ. 

78
00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:06,120
Surely they won't want him. 
He even frames it up. 

79
00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,800
He says, can I give you Barabbas
or Jesus, who is called Christ? 

80
00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:14,080
He even puts Jesus's title in 
there to sway the crowd, but it 

81
00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,399
doesn't get him off the hook. 
Let him be crucified all the 

82
00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:19,360
more, they scream. 
Let him be crucified. 

83
00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:24,280
This is how a mob functions. 
Mobs have a demonic nature to 

84
00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:28,080
them. 
It gets carried away and there 

85
00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,360
is demonic influence. 
There's demonic influence all 

86
00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,440
over the world. 
There's, there, there, there are

87
00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,160
demons all over the place. 
Roughly speaking, we're not 

88
00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,440
intimidated by them. 
We're not afraid of them, but we

89
00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:42,240
should be aware of them. 
And in as Westerners, you know, 

90
00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:44,640
we're way too smart for that. 
We're way, we're way, we're way 

91
00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:47,680
too high highly educated to 
think that there's angels and 

92
00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:49,920
demons flying all around us all 
the time. 

93
00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:52,720
And in fact, we're very stupid 
to not recognize what the 

94
00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:56,640
Scripture tells us to be true. 
So demonic influence is a very 

95
00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,800
real thing. 
Satan, he hates you and he has 

96
00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:04,000
his his Kingdom. 
Satan is not omnipresent though.

97
00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,040
Satan cannot be in in two places
at one time. 

98
00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,720
So Satan as a demon spirit is in
one place right now. 

99
00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:13,640
I don't know where he is, I have
no idea. 

100
00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:17,000
I doubt personally, honestly, 
that Satan himself has ever 

101
00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,520
bothered with me personally. 
It's probably been hit. 

102
00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,480
Other demons. 
It's not really a relevant 

103
00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:24,800
point, Just wanted you to think 
clearly and understand how this 

104
00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:26,800
works. 
He does not have all power. 

105
00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:31,760
He's not the great rival to God.
It's not a close fight. 

106
00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,480
It's not a fair fight. 
This is a created being who was 

107
00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,880
thrown out of heaven with a 
third of the angels who rebelled

108
00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,600
against God and that we now 
refer to them as demons. 

109
00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:45,800
So this is what's going on in 
when a mob is functioning, 

110
00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:48,680
people give into the flesh. 
And as they continue to give 

111
00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,600
into the flesh, they're 
motivated by others. 

112
00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,160
And of course, demon spirits are
a part of influencing this. 

113
00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,080
They will shoot arrows. 
They will, they will bring 

114
00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,560
thoughts into people's minds. 
And then as they gain more 

115
00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,920
jurisdiction, as more 
unrighteousness increases, well,

116
00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:07,680
it becomes a compounding effect.
And then you go, how did that 

117
00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:11,160
happen? 
How did a mob it was, if you 

118
00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:13,480
took those people out on their 
own, they might have been more 

119
00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:16,320
sensible. 
But in this mob setting, how did

120
00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:17,680
everything spiral the way it 
did? 

121
00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,840
Well, it's a, it's a satanic 
thing that can take place. 

122
00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:22,720
And we've seen this in the news 
before. 

123
00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,200
You know, you've, you've seen 
the, you know, in the, the 

124
00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,040
protests that happened 
throughout our nation and things

125
00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:30,000
that happened all throughout the
earth, we see the same kind of 

126
00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,120
thing take place here multiple 
times in this passage. 

127
00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:36,360
We see it first with the mob 
screaming, crucify him, and then

128
00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,800
we're going to see it with the 
soldiers, hundreds of soldiers 

129
00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,680
who have Jesus alone as they 
abuse him and mock him and 

130
00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,360
torment him. 
There's bloodlust in a mob, 

131
00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:48,520
there's fury, there's foaming, 
and there's the satanic 

132
00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,720
manifestation where people 
genuinely lose their minds as 

133
00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,280
they submit their minds to 
another spirit. 

134
00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:56,800
This is how satanic oppression 
works. 

135
00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,840
Satan comes to suggest, first of
all, comes with a suggestion, 

136
00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:03,840
but he is looking for your 
toleration. 

137
00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,640
He doesn't need you to say I am 
a Satanist. 

138
00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,840
He knows that the majority of 
human beings on the earth will 

139
00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:15,640
never make any such vow, and yet
he doesn't need any such vow. 

140
00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:20,000
The scripture says that we were 
all children of the devil and we

141
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,160
and that the devil is our father
when we're outside of Christ. 

142
00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,160
I'm not some devil worshipper. 
The Bible didn't say that you 

143
00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,560
acknowledge that you were. 
The Bible just said that we 

144
00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:31,480
function that way. 
So outside of Christ, we follow 

145
00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:36,080
the Prince and the power of the 
air and he makes his suggestions

146
00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,560
and then he just needs us to 
tolerate those suggestions. 

147
00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,040
He doesn't even need you to act 
on him the first time he makes 

148
00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,280
suggestions to you. 
He just needs you to be 

149
00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,440
tolerant. 
Who's against tolerance anyway? 

150
00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,640
What's wrong with tolerance? 
I should be tolerant of you. 

151
00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,440
You should be tolerant of me. 
And in the true, actual 

152
00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,440
definition of the word 
tolerance, Christians can give 

153
00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,480
two thumbs way up to tolerance. 
How I tolerate a lot of things 

154
00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:02,120
doesn't mean I prefer those 
things. 

155
00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:03,960
It doesn't mean I approve of 
those things. 

156
00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,480
But there are certain things 
that must be tolerated. 

157
00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,160
Something that must not be 
tolerated in your life, though, 

158
00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:12,440
are thoughts and suggestions 
that come from Satan, thoughts 

159
00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:14,960
and suggestions that come from 
the devil, thoughts and 

160
00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:18,880
suggestions that anything that 
would raise itself up against 

161
00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,000
the knowledge of God, anything 
that would be in opposition. 

162
00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:23,680
So you're like, did it come from
a demon? 

163
00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,240
Did it not? 
It doesn't really matter whether

164
00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:27,720
or not you know the exact 
origin. 

165
00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,840
The point is, does it agree with
what God has to say? 

166
00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,480
And if so, that's the kind of 
thing that you have to 

167
00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,280
immediately evict. 
This is what the Bible talks 

168
00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,840
about when it says taking our 
thoughts captive. 

169
00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:41,799
You are in charge of your 
thought life. 

170
00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:43,960
I am in charge of my thought 
life. 

171
00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,200
You actually have things in your
head and they are your 

172
00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,520
responsibility to meditate on or
to get rid of. 

173
00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,400
By the way, we're all 
professionals at biblical 

174
00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,040
meditation. 
What I mean by that is the 

175
00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,200
meditation that Scripture 
describes is a chewing on a 

176
00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,720
handling, a considering over and
over and over. 

177
00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:05,400
Everybody is excellent at 
meditation. 

178
00:09:06,360 --> 00:09:10,640
Everyone is, you know where I'm 
going with this. 

179
00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:13,440
You're already doing it all the 
time. 

180
00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,000
There are things that you 
meditate on all the time. 

181
00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,000
Yeah, but they're bad stuff. 
Yeah, I know it might be bad. 

182
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,840
It might be good, but the point 
is, everybody knows how to. 

183
00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,040
I just don't know how to do it. 
Yeah, you do. 

184
00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,560
It's your brain. 
Yesterday, I had a Yesterday 

185
00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:28,640
morning, I heard Elijah Fayne 
sing a song lyric. 

186
00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:30,960
And then for, like the next 15 
minutes, that song was stuck in 

187
00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:33,240
my head, stuck in my head, stuck
in my head. 

188
00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,360
And I was walking past him. 
I was like, I got that song 

189
00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,000
stuck in my head and then I 
caught myself and I was like, 

190
00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:41,720
it's my head and I'm going to 
get it out now. 

191
00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,440
You know, I was saying it 
jokingly, but also seriously, 

192
00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:46,440
like I'll get this thing stuck 
in my head. 

193
00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,200
Well, whose head is it? 
Do you want it stuck in your 

194
00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,160
head? 
No, Then get it out. 

195
00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:55,120
Well, how did you get it out? 
I just stopped thinking about 

196
00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:56,600
it. 
Did it take effort? 

197
00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:58,680
Yes, it did, but I wanted to 
stop. 

198
00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:01,080
I wanted it out of my head. 
I just was like, I'm, I'm on a 

199
00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:02,200
loop here. 
Like this is annoying. 

200
00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:03,320
I don't want I don't want to 
keep doing. 

201
00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:06,280
It's your head. 
You're in charge of it. 

202
00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,640
Well, I just, I guess if God 
wanted me to have different 

203
00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:09,800
thoughts, I would have different
thoughts. 

204
00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,240
No, that's your brain. 
And what you're thinking about 

205
00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:14,880
is what you're choosing to think
about. 

206
00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:16,320
I don't want to think about it, 
though. 

207
00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,200
I get that. 
I can relate. 

208
00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,800
And yet my point is you've got 
to take your thoughts captive. 

209
00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,120
You've got to take them 
prisoner. 

210
00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:25,880
You got to grab them by the 
throat and say you will obey 

211
00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,640
Jesus or you'll get out. 
That's it. 

212
00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:30,400
Those are the kind of thoughts 
that we want. 

213
00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:31,760
Those are the kind of thoughts 
that we need. 

214
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:34,240
And this is this is what 
Christian discipleship looks 

215
00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,040
like. 
This is a part of Christian 

216
00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:38,400
discipleship. 
A lot of times as believers, I'm

217
00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,560
looking for the Holy Ghost ZAP 
of lightning. 

218
00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:42,760
Don't you love the Holy Ghost 
ZAP of lightning? 

219
00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,440
Don't you love the miraculous 
mercy of God? 

220
00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:50,080
When you're like, I got nothing 
to all I I got no effort, I got 

221
00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:52,240
no obedience. 
And the Lord in his sovereign 

222
00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:55,560
mercy gives you some kind of 
supernatural ZAP. 

223
00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,040
Well, what a blessing. 
What a kindness, what a 

224
00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:00,920
goodness. 
And yet that's not his normative

225
00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,680
means of discipleship for you. 
His normative means of 

226
00:11:03,680 --> 00:11:05,720
discipleship for you are all the
commands that he gives you, 

227
00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:09,760
where again he says you control 
your thoughts and you're 

228
00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:11,680
responsible for where you take 
those things. 

229
00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,960
All this was free holy. 
The Holy Spirit wanted, wanted 

230
00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:19,720
us to have this this morning. 
Wasn't it my intentions 

231
00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:30,480
originally? 
My original point was Satan just

232
00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:34,480
needs you to tolerate a thought.
He just needs you to be tolerant

233
00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:36,400
of it. 
And this is how a stronghold is 

234
00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:37,640
built. 
I've given you this story 

235
00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:39,840
before. 
You've got this castle, it's 

236
00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:41,080
yours. 
And you've got all this 

237
00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:42,480
property. 
It's yours. 

238
00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:43,960
The fields and fields and 
fields. 

239
00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,600
And you can see, you can see for
miles in every direction. 

240
00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,680
And one enemy, like literally 
one guy with a pitch work, he's 

241
00:11:50,680 --> 00:11:52,840
got the wrong colors on your 
kingdom's blue, this kingdom's 

242
00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:54,320
red. 
And he comes walking and he's 

243
00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:56,560
got the red outfit on. 
He's got his pitch work and he's

244
00:11:56,560 --> 00:12:00,320
just walking around in the field
and you're like, what is this 

245
00:12:00,320 --> 00:12:02,640
guy doing? 
This doesn't feel like a threat.

246
00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:05,040
This doesn't seem to be like a 
big problem. 

247
00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:06,560
This doesn't seem to be a big 
deal. 

248
00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,240
So you tolerate him and you 
don't kill him. 

249
00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,240
Well, he's just one guy. 
Like it almost seems unfair 

250
00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,440
like, but he's but he's not in 
where he's supposed to be. 

251
00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:20,080
He's in your turf and he's in 
your jurisdiction. 

252
00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:24,280
And ultimately, in this Kingdom 
I described of yours, it's 

253
00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,160
actually not yours. 
It actually belongs to Jesus. 

254
00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,080
And Jesus is very possessive and
very protective of his Kingdom. 

255
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:33,400
If this guy wants to repent and 
join the Kingdom, that'd be one 

256
00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:34,760
thing. 
But this guy in this case 

257
00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,600
represents a thought. 
This guy represents a suggestion

258
00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:39,480
from the enemy that you 
tolerate. 

259
00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,000
And ultimately he brings friends
and you go. 

260
00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,000
They just got a few little tents
out there. 

261
00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,040
We have a castle, but you 
continue to tolerate and you 

262
00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:51,320
continue to tolerate and Satan 
continues to normalize this idea

263
00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:55,000
in your thought life until 
eventually something is built 

264
00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:57,040
out in your field, until 
eventually there's another 

265
00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:01,440
castle on your property. 
You gave permission with your 

266
00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,520
passivity and with your silence.
And now there is what we call a 

267
00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,160
stronghold in your life. 
And you go, where did this come 

268
00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:10,680
from? 
How did this get here? 

269
00:13:10,680 --> 00:13:13,400
And if we would rewind the tape,
you would find one little guy 

270
00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,760
with a pitchfork saying, hey, 
can I hang out? 

271
00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,720
And you said, I guess it's not 
going to hurt anything. 

272
00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:21,480
This is how strongholds are 
built in our lives. 

273
00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:25,080
Thankfully, these strongholds 
are destroyed through 

274
00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,520
repentance, confession, and 
renouncing these things in our 

275
00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,960
lives. 
Welcome to moments of surrender 

276
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,440
as we describe them. 
That's what moments of surrender

277
00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:35,720
are. 
Where the Lord said, hey, I'm 

278
00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:38,120
going to highlight something 
that you didn't even know was 

279
00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:39,640
there. 
Whoa. 

280
00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:42,240
The Holy Spirit put a light on 
this thing. 

281
00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:44,240
That part of the Kingdom was 
dark, and he shined the light. 

282
00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:46,080
And he said, how did that castle
get there? 

283
00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:48,840
And he said, you let it get 
built, and you assisted in the 

284
00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:51,160
building of it. 
And now I'm asking you to tear 

285
00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,000
it down with a Wrecking Ball. 
And that's when we feel that 

286
00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:55,840
tendency in our flesh to be 
hesitant. 

287
00:13:55,840 --> 00:14:00,680
Oh, Lord. 
Yeah. 

288
00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:03,200
You almost like it now. 
You almost have preference for 

289
00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:04,400
it. 
You've gotten used to it. 

290
00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,600
You've become accustomed to it. 
This is how strongholds are 

291
00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:09,680
built in your life. 
This is this is Christian 

292
00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:12,520
discipleship. 
This is what it looks like to 

293
00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:14,760
actually take up your cross and 
to follow Jesus. 

294
00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,480
It's not the one time, OK, I 
turn from my sin, I'll 

295
00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,800
acknowledge that I'm a Sinner 
and now I want to try and walk 

296
00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,880
with Jesus. 
It is the I've been walking with

297
00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:27,080
Jesus for 40 years and all the 
sudden he showed me something 

298
00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:30,840
new today and it hurt and it 
stung and it feels like death. 

299
00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,040
How does he keep finding ways 
for me to die? 

300
00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:38,080
I thought I already did this. 
I thought I died already Jesus. 

301
00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,760
And he goes, well, yes. 
And you are in a new creation. 

302
00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,920
And also there's an area of your
mind, there's an area of your 

303
00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:46,600
soul where I still don't have 
full dominion. 

304
00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,560
And I want full dominion because
it's mine and because I love you

305
00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,000
and because also this is best 
for you. 

306
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,160
It's not a win for Jesus and a 
loss for us. 

307
00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:00,840
It's a win win. 
What's good for the groom is 

308
00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:05,360
good for the bride. 
So this is what it looks like to

309
00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,640
take control of our thoughts and
to begin to renounce things. 

310
00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:11,600
We do that with our mouths. 
I want you to not just think 

311
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,120
about out thinking your 
thoughts. 

312
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,840
I want you to get in the habit 
of speaking to your thoughts. 

313
00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,680
Just like Grace is going to say 
when temptation comes, she's not

314
00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,680
going to go. 
She's not just going to have 

315
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:24,200
this internal warfare. 
She's going to go. 

316
00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,400
I'm not a smoker. 
I'm not a smoker. 

317
00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:29,280
The Lord called me to be free, 
and now I'm free. 

318
00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:31,800
That'll be a good confession for
her. 

319
00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,480
She's actually answering the 
accusation instead of remaining 

320
00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:37,720
silent as the enemy harasses 
her. 

321
00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:41,080
The same thing should happen for
you and I when we're tempted 

322
00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:43,760
with any sin. 
It's a good confession. 

323
00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,480
It's a biblical confession. 
I died to sin. 

324
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:47,960
How could I live in it any 
longer? 

325
00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:53,840
Say what the word of God says. 
I have a Good Shepherd I shall 

326
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,240
not want. 
He makes me lie down in green 

327
00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,320
pastures. 
This is a good confession. 

328
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:02,720
This is good Christian 
discipleship. 

329
00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:04,480
This is what your life should 
look like. 

330
00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,720
If your mouth is not moving, if 
you're not declaring the 

331
00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,440
promises of God, and if you're 
not actually fighting, you're 

332
00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:12,920
just trying to out think your 
thoughts, that's way too 

333
00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:16,520
difficult. 
You want to actually bring your 

334
00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,560
mouth into the place where 
everyone can hear you. 

335
00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,760
Heaven and earth can hear you. 
Satan can't read your mind, but 

336
00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,560
he can read your actions and he 
can read your inactions, so he 

337
00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:28,040
might know. 
Oh, I know that arrow just 

338
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,080
landed. 
See what happens? 

339
00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:36,840
Nothing interesting. 
I know that I can shoot these 

340
00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:39,000
arrows and there's no 
retaliation. 

341
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:41,440
I know I can shoot another arrow
at him. 

342
00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:43,160
I can shoot another arrow at 
her. 

343
00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,320
She's just taking it. 
Whatever I throw at her, she 

344
00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,040
just takes it. 
Not so Christian woman. 

345
00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,400
Not so Christian, man. 
You don't just sit down and take

346
00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:54,920
it when you feel those thoughts,
when you feel those temptations,

347
00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,480
when you feel this, you need to 
get active and you need to show 

348
00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:00,120
the enemy. 
Oh no, you don't devil. 

349
00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:01,800
And he's like, he's answering 
me. 

350
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,000
You should talk to the devil. 
Your pastor is telling you that 

351
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,480
you should talk to the devil. 
You should talk to the demonic 

352
00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:12,880
with the authority of Christ and
run them off like stray dogs. 

353
00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:16,280
And you should not be surprised 
though, when they try to return 

354
00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:17,520
because that's what stray dogs 
do. 

355
00:17:18,079 --> 00:17:19,400
They continue to try and come 
back. 

356
00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:21,480
This is where other believers 
lose the fight. 

357
00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:25,480
They fight the the good fight 
for a moment and the stray dogs 

358
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:27,800
run off and they go, victory is 
mine. 

359
00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:31,960
And then a day later, stray dogs
are back and they go, Oh no, my 

360
00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:36,440
brother in Christ, my sister in 
Christ, continue to kick the 

361
00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:38,760
stray dogs in the ribs over and 
over and over. 

362
00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,560
This is how we walk out the our 
authority. 

363
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,360
This is what it looks like to 
fight the good fight of faith. 

364
00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,880
Jesus has already conquered your
enemies, and yet you are 

365
00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,280
responsible for continuing to 
establish what he has already 

366
00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,320
done in your life. 
All right, let's get into this 

367
00:17:55,320 --> 00:18:05,920
sermon, shall we? 
Pilot saw that he was gaining 

368
00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,360
nothing, but rather than a riot 
was beginning, he took water and

369
00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:11,880
washed his hands before the 
crowd, saying I'm innocent of 

370
00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,080
this man's blood. 
See to it yourselves. 

371
00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:16,560
Pilot realizes he's 
accomplishing nothing and the 

372
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,000
Jews are escalating, so he wants
to cave. 

373
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,160
He wants to step aside, not 
because Pilot is some 

374
00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,160
compassionate man, but because 
he recognizes the injustice of 

375
00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,120
what's going on. 
He sees that he's gaining 

376
00:18:27,120 --> 00:18:28,880
nothing. 
Now the riot is starting to stir

377
00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:30,520
up. 
The mob is agitated. 

378
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:32,480
He can see they're going to 
create a huge disturbance if 

379
00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:34,680
they don't get their way. 
This is how manipulators 

380
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:38,720
function. 
I I told you what I wanted, and 

381
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:40,800
you didn't do what I wanted. 
Now I'm going to escalate my 

382
00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:43,760
emotional intensity. 
You have done this. 

383
00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:46,600
Let me let me stop talking about
vague manipulators out in the 

384
00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:47,640
world. 
You know people. 

385
00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:49,720
You know your brother-in-law. 
No, no, no. 

386
00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:53,880
You've done this. 
I want to hit every set of 

387
00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:58,640
eyeballs. 
You've done this, Duh. 

388
00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,160
It's called flesh. 
And whenever our flesh is 

389
00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:04,240
riling, riling up and and you 
don't go with what I want and do

390
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:05,880
with what I want, I've got the 
temptation now. 

391
00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:11,160
Well, let me just escalate with 
some emotional heat and let me 

392
00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:13,080
show you that I'm willing to 
become more emotionally 

393
00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:15,680
outrageous than you and 
therefore I can like walk in 

394
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,640
victory over you. 
I haven't fought for the truth. 

395
00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,040
I fought for what I wanted. 
And this is a dangerous thing. 

396
00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,160
This is another thing that 
cannot be present as a Christian

397
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,280
grows in Christ. 
This is another thing that has 

398
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,800
to continue to be squashed more 
and more and more in the 

399
00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,240
believers life because what the 
believer should be after, 

400
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,600
whenever there's conflict or 
disagreement with anyone, 

401
00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,360
someone that you love, it should
be everyone, a friend, a foe, an

402
00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:41,960
enemy. 
Whatever is happening in 

403
00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,520
Christian conflict or in 
conflict with a Christian, the 

404
00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:46,760
Christian should always be 
seeking the truth. 

405
00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,200
The Christian should always be 
saying I want the truth to go 

406
00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:53,080
into the middle of the room and 
then I will align myself 

407
00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:57,280
properly to the truth. 
But what immature people do, and

408
00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:00,560
even immature Christians do, is 
they won't just argue from their

409
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,480
preference and from their desire
and from their selfishness and 

410
00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,120
from their flesh. 
They don't want the truth to be 

411
00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:07,560
put in the middle. 
But hang on, hang on, hang on. 

412
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:09,920
They don't want to take turns 
with speaking. 

413
00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:12,720
They don't want to let somebody 
walk back what they you said 

414
00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:14,280
this. 
Well, what I meant was it 

415
00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:16,280
doesn't matter what you meant. 
It matters what you said. 

416
00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:18,240
And I'm going to hold you to it 
forever and ever. 

417
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:19,920
Hang on, hang on. 
Let's be gracious. 

418
00:20:20,120 --> 00:20:22,200
Let's be patient with one 
another in communication. 

419
00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:24,040
What are you describing? 
Pastors? 

420
00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:25,520
Michael, are these high level 
tactics? 

421
00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,560
Yeah, I invented them. 
They're called Lovejoy. 

422
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:30,680
Peace, patience, kindness, 
goodness, faithfulness, 

423
00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,360
gentleness, self-control. 
All we're talking about is the 

424
00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:36,760
fruit of the spirit. 
In marriage discipleship, we 

425
00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:39,560
need fruit of the spirit and 
parenting discipleship, we need 

426
00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:42,560
fruit of the spirit. 
In any relational exchange. 

427
00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:43,680
We just need the fruit of the 
spirit. 

428
00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:44,920
That's all we're talking about 
here. 

429
00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:49,120
To be patient, to be kind, to be
fair, to be gracious. 

430
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:53,840
So manipulators, though, I'll 
just stir up and I'll just, and 

431
00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:56,160
I'll just pressure you with 
emotional heat. 

432
00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,320
I'll show you how angry I am. 
You're like, I better do what 

433
00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,760
Joe Michael wants because I 
don't know how far he's willing 

434
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:03,600
to escalate. 
You know what? 

435
00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:04,920
Let me challenge him one more 
time. 

436
00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,520
No, Joe Michael, man, Joe 
Michael went from category one 

437
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:10,520
hurricane to category 2 
hurricane to category. 

438
00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:12,720
He's willing to escalate 
infinitely. 

439
00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:15,560
I better do what he wants 
because he's going to win. 

440
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,680
Like he's just, he's showing me 
with his anger, with his rage, 

441
00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,720
with his whatever, whatever it 
looks like, with his cold 

442
00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,920
shouldering, with his passive 
aggression. 

443
00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,240
Joe Michael is going to, like 
control this situation. 

444
00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:31,880
I have no choice except to 
submit to it, but that is always

445
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,400
a lie as well. 
You always have a choice when 

446
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,320
you're being manipulated and 
when you are the manipulator. 

447
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,440
Pilot here is being manipulated 
and Pilot chooses the way the 

448
00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:43,120
coward. 
My hands are tied. 

449
00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:45,080
No, they're not. 
You're the governor. 

450
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,440
You have all authority, so he 
thinks anyway, in this situation

451
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:52,120
you can do what you believe is 
right. 

452
00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:56,320
You do not have the conviction 
to do what is right because you 

453
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,320
believe you will suffer. 
That is what your greatest 

454
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:01,320
conviction is. 
Your greatest conviction, Pilot,

455
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:04,560
is to avoid suffering. 
Instead of so you align yourself

456
00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:06,080
to the truth. 
Pilot should align himself to 

457
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:07,720
the truth and say this is the 
truth. 

458
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:09,280
This is what I'll align myself 
to. 

459
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,520
But instead he's thinking about,
he's thinking about Caesar. 

460
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,320
He's thinking about reports of 
a, of an uprising come up. 

461
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,640
You had an uprising happen 
during Passover. 

462
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:19,400
These people are supposed to be 
having a good time. 

463
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:20,600
They're supposed to be happy 
now. 

464
00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,440
And you couldn't deal with one 
little ride and 1 little rabbi. 

465
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:25,600
The pilot's thinking about 
himself. 

466
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:28,200
He's protecting himself. 
The mob, of course. 

467
00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,120
They want what the mob wants. 
So they escalate. 

468
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,080
Category one. 
Hurricane pilot, we want you to 

469
00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,080
kill this guy. 
No, I don't really think so. 

470
00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,960
Category 2, They're recruiting 
more and more people. 

471
00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,440
Hey, call for Barabbas, Not for 
Jesus. 

472
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,120
Call for Barabbas. 
Not for Barabbas is a real hero.

473
00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:46,160
He actually killed some Romans. 
He'll lead us in a real 

474
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,840
revolution. 
Not like Jesus, a real 

475
00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,440
revolutionary, a real leader 
like Barabbas. 

476
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:55,320
Somebody could actually get 
something done around here, call

477
00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,240
for Barabbas freedom. 
They're willing to escalate. 

478
00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,040
What's the solution to all this?
How do I get out of this trap of

479
00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,440
being the manipulator or being 
the manipulated? 

480
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:09,080
You fear God, That's the 
solution, actually fearing God. 

481
00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,280
Because if you fear God, you 
will not be a manipulator 

482
00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,960
because you'll be afraid of God 
and you'll go, this is some 

483
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,120
wicked dirty flesh that I am 
turning loose on this person or 

484
00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:21,720
on these people right now. 
And it should put the fear of 

485
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:23,680
God in you. 
And if it doesn't, God help you.

486
00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:26,560
And what about I'm being 
manipulated? 

487
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:29,440
This person, this people group, 
this pressure, this social 

488
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,840
situation is pressing me to make
this decision. 

489
00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:34,560
I'm going to suffer if I don't 
do what they want. 

490
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:38,440
But you fear God and that also 
sets you free to walk in the 

491
00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,160
truth. 
The fear of the Lord is the 

492
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:43,760
beginning of wisdom. 
It's the starting point. 

493
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:46,080
How do I, how do I? 
But what about them? 

494
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,760
But what about God? 
When you fear God more than you 

495
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:52,240
fear people, your, your, your 
decisions become simple. 

496
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:54,560
Does that mean I won't suffer? 
Pastor? 

497
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:56,200
Nobody said anything about you 
not suffering. 

498
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:58,680
Nobody said anything about you 
not suffering. 

499
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:02,040
Jesus invited you to suffering. 
You said yes. 

500
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:03,680
For those of you who are 
following Christ. 

501
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,280
I said yes. 
So suffering should not be a 

502
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:07,960
foreign concept for the 
believer. 

503
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,760
Suffering for righteousness, 
Righteousness sake in particular

504
00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:15,640
should be the suffering that we 
should expect as believers. 

505
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:19,920
These men are supposedly the 
leaders of Israel. 

506
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:22,960
They think they have holiness 
and they think they have high 

507
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,000
standards. 
Yet look at what they're capable

508
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,320
of. 
Blind rage, wickedness, and 

509
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:32,000
murder because of jealousy. 
So Pilate does what cowards do 

510
00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:33,960
when they will not stand on 
principle. 

511
00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:35,600
He pretends that he's been 
forced. 

512
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,840
My hands are tied. 
But no one forced him into sin. 

513
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,680
There are consequences, 
emotional terrorists and 

514
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,000
political terrorists. 
They may bring consequences to 

515
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,760
you. 
But Pilot chooses himself over 

516
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:49,520
righteousness. 
That's the issue. 

517
00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,440
Pilot then washes him, his hands
to comfort himself because he 

518
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,320
knows he should not do this. 
He tells himself, what choice do

519
00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,240
I have? 
What he really means is, though,

520
00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:02,640
if I do the right thing, I'll 
suffer. 

521
00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,280
As we always tell ourselves when
we're cowardly, we say, what 

522
00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:09,680
choice did I have? 
You always had a choice. 

523
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:11,280
You could have done this. 
Well then. 

524
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:15,080
Then you would have suffered. 
Your true conviction has been 

525
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,600
revealed. 
It was the suffering you were 

526
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:18,760
avoiding. 
You weren't. 

527
00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,520
You don't love righteousness. 
You love yourself and your 

528
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:24,360
comfort. 
I get it. 

529
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:26,840
I've been there. 
But let's be honest about what's

530
00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,760
happening here. 
How terrible for a Christian to 

531
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,400
think this way. 
Of course you may suffer if you 

532
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:35,680
do what is right. 
Satan is the God of this world 

533
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,240
and this world system is broken 
and upside down. 

534
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:42,080
Anyone who desires to live a 
godly life in Christ Jesus will 

535
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,720
be persecuted. 
This is where you get to be like

536
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:47,520
Jesus though. 
This is where you get to join 

537
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,800
him in his suffering. 
The apostles, the first time 

538
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:52,160
they take a beating, they 
threatened them. 

539
00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:54,040
They said stop preaching in 
Jesus name. 

540
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:55,960
They're like, Nah, we're not 
going on. 

541
00:25:55,960 --> 00:26:00,160
They're like, seriously stop. 
Like no, we're not going on. 

542
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,920
They're like you must. 
And they said judge for 

543
00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:06,320
yourselves, whether it's right 
for us to obey you or God. 

544
00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:10,960
They didn't say we have to stop 
or they'll beat us. 

545
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:15,920
They said we're going to align 
ourselves to the truth and come 

546
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,320
what may. 
And then after they were beaten,

547
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,080
it said they let they, it said 
they beat them and really like 

548
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:22,920
they're the most frustrating 
people they've ever beaten 

549
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:24,920
because they're beating them. 
And they were thankful. 

550
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:29,880
It says as they left, they went 
away rejoicing because they were

551
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:32,280
counted worthy to suffer for the
name. 

552
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:36,000
Thank God that's what they were 
saying. 

553
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,320
Why? 
Because they actually believe 

554
00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,080
Jesus when he said, blessed are 
you when all men hate you 

555
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:43,760
because of me. 
So they thought everybody hates 

556
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:45,960
us and it's clearly because of 
Jesus. 

557
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,800
And they went away rejoicing 
with their bloody bodies and 

558
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:52,680
their and their wounds and the 
traumatic injuries that they 

559
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,320
experienced. 
They said, wow, we got to suffer

560
00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,320
like Jesus a little bit. 
We were counted worthy to suffer

561
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,760
for the name. 
It's almost like these people 

562
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:08,440
understood eternity instead of 
the the moment, the 80, the 

563
00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,160
hundred, a hundred. 
And what if you live crazy long?

564
00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:16,280
What if you lived 150? 
It's still a small window. 

565
00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:19,560
And they had the big picture of 
what was really happening and 

566
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,960
what was really going on. 
Therefore, since we are 

567
00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:27,760
surrounded by so great a cloud 
of witnesses, Hebrews 12/1, let 

568
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,920
us also lay aside every weight 
and sin which clings so closely,

569
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,960
and let us run with endurance 
the race that is set before us. 

570
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:40,000
Looking to Jesus, the Founder 
and Perfector of our faith, who 

571
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:44,520
for the joy that was set before 
Him endured the cross, despising

572
00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:48,600
the shame, and is seated at the 
right hand of the throne of God.

573
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:53,720
Consider Him who endured from 
sinners such hostility against 

574
00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:58,280
Himself, so that you may not 
grow weary or faint hearted and 

575
00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,480
your struggle against sin, you 
have not yet resisted the point 

576
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:07,560
of shedding your blood. 
So we do resist sin, we do 

577
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,440
suffer, but most of us and the 
the believers that are being 

578
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,440
written to here, they hadn't yet
suffered to the point of 

579
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:23,120
shedding blood. 
First Peter 3 verse 13, Peter 

580
00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:26,760
says now who is there to harm 
you if you're a zealous for what

581
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:28,640
is good? 
He's implying if you do what's 

582
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:30,440
right, nothing's going to happen
to you. 

583
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,200
But he continues, but even if 
you should suffer for 

584
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,760
righteousness sake, you will be 
blessed. 

585
00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:40,480
Have No Fear of them, nor be 
troubled, but in your hearts 

586
00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:43,560
honor Christ. 
The Lord is holy, always being 

587
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:46,680
prepared to make a defense to 
anyone who asks you for a 

588
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:48,800
reason, for the hope that is in 
you. 

589
00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:51,800
Yet do it with gentleness and 
respect. 

590
00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,600
You're guaranteed to suffer if 
you do evil. 

591
00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:01,280
If we do evil, we're guaranteed 
to suffer, because what we sow 

592
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,720
we will reap. 
You may suffer for doing right, 

593
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,120
but if you do, praise God that 
you were counted worthy to 

594
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:12,000
suffer for the name of Jesus. 
This is what Pilot lacks, the 

595
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:14,160
fear of the Lord. 
And this is what the fear of the

596
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,400
Lord looks like. 
Pilate says I might suffer if I 

597
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:19,440
do the right thing. 
So instead I'll do an evil 

598
00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:22,520
thing. 
But I'll wash my hands while I 

599
00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:24,120
condemn an innocent man to 
death. 

600
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:28,400
Do not pity Pilate here. 
Instead, inspect yourself. 

601
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,520
It's too late for Pilate. 
It's not too late for you. 

602
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,920
Pilate made the choice that we 
all make when we're cowardly. 

603
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:37,480
Instead of worshipping Christ, 
he condemned him. 

604
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,520
We do the same thing when we 
fear and when we compromise. 

605
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:42,080
This could look like a lot of 
things. 

606
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,760
If I pay all my taxes, I won't 
have enough money. 

607
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:49,360
If I apologize for for the wrong
that I had in that conversation,

608
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:51,920
they might not apologize for 
theirs. 

609
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:53,120
They might think I'm always 
wrong. 

610
00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:57,840
If I do right, I might get met 
with wrong. 

611
00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:01,160
There are a million ways we can 
justify not walking in holiness 

612
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:06,080
because our eyes are not on God.
Pilate says I'm innocent, but 

613
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:08,560
that was a lie, wasn't it? 
He's not innocent. 

614
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,320
He's the one that everybody's 
looking to saying can we, can 

615
00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,920
we, can we? 
And he's like, he didn't, he 

616
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:19,360
made sure to not say crucify 
Jesus and said he said, yeah, 

617
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,080
y'all see to it and handle it, 
but I'm washing my hands of 

618
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,120
this. 
Who does he want? 

619
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:28,320
Who does who? 
Who is he trying to clear his 

620
00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:30,480
conscience before they don't 
care? 

621
00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:35,440
His men don't care. 
I think Pilate actually had some

622
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,040
sense of what was going on and 
he's gone. 

623
00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,960
In case this Jesus is who he 
seems to be. 

624
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,080
Let me, let me wash my hands 
before God. 

625
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,400
This is a weird justification 
that people do around sin. 

626
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:53,680
We get really clever and we get 
into some gymnastics with our 

627
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:59,200
sin instead of inviting the Lord
deeper into our fear in our 

628
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:01,880
prayer time. 
We excuse the fear is what I was

629
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:03,440
referencing earlier in your 
prayer. 

630
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:06,360
You need to go a layer deeper 
than you think you need to go. 

631
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,160
God, please help me to not do 
the bad thing. 

632
00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,040
Good start. 
Keep going. 

633
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:17,440
Actually talk to the Lord about 
the thing going on inside of 

634
00:31:17,440 --> 00:31:21,000
you. 
Actually bring the clarity all 

635
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,280
the way up. 
This is where the Lord can 

636
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,480
actually minister. 
This is where the Lord actually 

637
00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:27,560
sees that you're actually 
surrendered. 

638
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,960
This is where you bring yourself
into surrender in prayer. 

639
00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:35,200
I typically don't start there in
prayer. 

640
00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:37,920
I don't know, maybe y'all are 
super spiritual and your prayers

641
00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,000
are like fire from the moment 
you begin. 

642
00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:43,280
But most of the time I start 
shallow and I have to continue 

643
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,480
to wade deeper into the pool. 
But if I just get my feet in and

644
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:52,280
go, I didn't experience the 
cleansing that I needed. 

645
00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:56,800
I didn't experience the the 
fellowship and the closeness of 

646
00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:59,360
the Lord that I needed. 
I didn't hear his voice. 

647
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:01,480
I didn't have any sensations or 
direction. 

648
00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:03,400
I'm just going, God, please 
help. 

649
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:05,640
I think we've all probably 
prayed. 

650
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,120
God, please help. 
And it was and it was a powerful

651
00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,080
prayer at times. 
I think you understand I'm 

652
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:11,440
talking about something 
different here. 

653
00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:14,760
I'm talking about the excavation
of things that are in our souls 

654
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,600
that we quietly let live there. 
We're like, I'm not going to go 

655
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:19,960
there and Louis going, I want to
go there. 

656
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:22,760
I want to go there. 
Can I please have that? 

657
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:25,560
Will you please give me that? 
Will you please surrender that? 

658
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,400
Pray real pray earnestly. 
That is where the Lord can do 

659
00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:34,920
surgery. 
In the book of Acts, it says 

660
00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:38,000
that James was beheaded. 
Pastor James of Jerusalem gets 

661
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,360
his head cut off and then Peter 
is arrested because Herod saw 

662
00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:44,040
that it pleased the Jews. 
So he's saying, all right, well,

663
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:45,200
I'll do the same thing with 
Peter. 

664
00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,880
And Peter is in there for a for 
a while and then he's getting 

665
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,520
ready to be killed, it says. 
But the church prayed earnestly.

666
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,200
So apparently there's a 
difference between earnest 

667
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,480
prayer and non earnest prayer, 
right? 

668
00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,280
Again, how do you know? 
Is it real? 

669
00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:03,280
That's how. 
Don't, don't. 

670
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:04,880
It's not about setting your 
stopwatch. 

671
00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,800
It's about are you being real or
are you being fake? 

672
00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:10,040
Do you have on a mask? 
Are you hiding? 

673
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,800
Are you protecting? 
Are you guarding things or are 

674
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:16,120
you actually letting the Lord go
in and do some excavation? 

675
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,320
But the Lord, the church prayed 
earnestly. 

676
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,120
How nice for Peter James is in 
heaven. 

677
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:25,520
Like thanks guys. 
Like be like me getting my head 

678
00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:27,920
cut off and you're like, let's 
pray earnestly for Alan though, 

679
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:30,000
so nothing happens. 
Like appreciate it. 

680
00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:33,880
Everybody good looking out. 
They prayed earnestly. 

681
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:35,800
They saw the stakes. 
They understood what was 

682
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,600
happening and the Lord 
supernaturally delivered Peter. 

683
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:42,320
He sent angels and delivered him
from the prison. 

684
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,240
Verse 25 after he said, I'm 
innocent of this man's blood. 

685
00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,240
See to it yourselves. 
And all the people answered his 

686
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:53,440
blood be on us and on our 
children. 

687
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:57,320
They want to let Pilot off the 
hook. 

688
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:59,760
Pilots essentially saying, guys,
I want to be innocent of this. 

689
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:01,960
And they're saying no problem, 
dude, we got you. 

690
00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:04,480
Hey, it's all on us. 
It's all on us, Pilot. 

691
00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:06,160
That's what's happening here. 
Pilot. 

692
00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:09,719
It's not you, it's us, which 
again is a lie. 

693
00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:11,960
They're trying to be helpful 
because they want what they 

694
00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:17,280
want, but it's all a lie. 
Pilate is appealing, I think, to

695
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:20,120
God to see the record. 
Look, I tried, but he did not 

696
00:34:20,120 --> 00:34:22,199
judge rightly. 
He's a wicked ruler who made a 

697
00:34:22,199 --> 00:34:24,400
wicked judgement. 
The people, in their jealousy 

698
00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:27,520
and rage, they call curses onto 
themselves and onto their 

699
00:34:27,520 --> 00:34:30,840
children. 
His blood be on us and on our 

700
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:33,480
children. 
We want to be guilty of the 

701
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,760
blood of Christ. 
They say it with eagerness and 

702
00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:40,719
with joy. 
They're happily guilty of His 

703
00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:43,400
blood being spilled. 
We are guilty of His blood being

704
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:48,000
spilled as well, but disciples 
of Christ mourn that our sin 

705
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,480
made His blood necessary. 
They weren't mourning that His 

706
00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,280
blood spilled was was, was 
needed that day. 

707
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,320
They were excited about it. 
Here's the irony. 

708
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:00,840
We actually want the blood of 
Jesus on us and on our children,

709
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:02,480
but not in the way that they 
meant it. 

710
00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:05,520
We want His blood applied to the
doorposts of our hearts so that 

711
00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:09,800
the death Angel passes over us 
because we've got the Passover 

712
00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:13,840
lamb on us. 
What they invoked in anger. 

713
00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:16,040
His blood be on us and on our 
children. 

714
00:35:16,800 --> 00:35:21,240
God sovereignly fulfills that 
day in grace, just like Caiaphas

715
00:35:21,240 --> 00:35:24,680
when he prophesied earlier in 
the year that Jesus will die for

716
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:26,920
the nation. 
One man needs to die for the 

717
00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:28,640
whole nation. 
Caiaphas thought it would. 

718
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:32,000
It would apply in one way he 
thought prophecy. 

719
00:35:32,040 --> 00:35:34,280
It was so clear Jesus died for 
the nation. 

720
00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,760
Will will sacrifice this one guy
so the room doesn't hurt us and 

721
00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:39,600
Jesus will sack. 
It's better for one man to die 

722
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:42,440
for the nation. 
Caiaphas, you're absolutely 

723
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,680
right and you have no idea what 
you're talking about. 

724
00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,840
At the same time, Jesus will 
die, but not just for the 

725
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:50,920
nation, for the whole world. 
And this is the same thing. 

726
00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:52,880
His blood be on us and on our 
children. 

727
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:59,480
And it is, but not in the way 
that you want, but it can be, 

728
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:03,400
because whoever comes to Christ 
in repentance is covered by the 

729
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:05,960
blood of Jesus. 
This is literally the Passover 

730
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:09,520
day and the Passover lamb is 
being prepared and they're 

731
00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:12,400
saying His blood be on us and on
our children. 

732
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:16,440
That's how they were protected. 
The head of every household, the

733
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:18,880
the father of every household, 
the husband of each household 

734
00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:22,360
would would take the lamb and he
would cover the doorposts and 

735
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,200
his first born son would be 
spared because of it. 

736
00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:29,320
The blood covered his family and
the blood protected them all. 

737
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:41,760
We want the same thing verse 26.
Then he released for them 

738
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:45,600
Barabbas and having scourged 
Jesus delivered him to be 

739
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:50,600
crucified. 
Barabbas was released. 

740
00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:54,000
The people wanted what they 
thought was a real revolutionary

741
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:57,720
because Barabbas was a murderer 
we know willing to kill to 

742
00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:00,400
accomplish the mission. 
Most likely an enemy of Rome, 

743
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,680
most likely a a local hero to 
some degree to the Jewish 

744
00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:07,400
people, though not sanctioned by
them. 

745
00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:10,640
Meanwhile, the Son of God is 
willing to suffer and die to 

746
00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:13,160
accomplish his mission. 
Jesus didn't come to murder 

747
00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:15,920
anyone like Barabbas did. 
Jesus came to die for everyone. 

748
00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:20,320
Barabbas shows us ourselves a 
guilty prisoner who did things 

749
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:23,880
his own way, broke God's laws, 
and was awaiting death. 

750
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,000
But Jesus trades places with 
him. 

751
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:31,120
What a tragedy that Barabbas 
probably trampled on the grace 

752
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:34,280
of Jesus and remained unchanged 
and probably lost. 

753
00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:36,560
We have no record of what 
happened with Barabbas after 

754
00:37:36,560 --> 00:37:38,480
this day. 
So he probably just goes I 

755
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:44,240
cannot believe my luck and he 
walks free, but still not free. 

756
00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:46,880
You don't have to be lost like 
Barabbas was. 

757
00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:49,880
All your sin was judged in 
Jesus. 

758
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:54,360
All your sin was condemned in 
Jesus, in Jesus, and there is 

759
00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:58,680
therefore now no condemnation 
for those who are in Christ 

760
00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:02,040
Jesus. 
And if you're not in Christ, I 

761
00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:05,120
pray that you will come to him 
today in repentance and 

762
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:10,520
devotion. 
And having scourged Jesus 

763
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:15,680
delivered him to be crucified. 
Matthew, summarize, summarize 

764
00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:18,160
the horror of a scourging with 
one word. 

765
00:38:19,080 --> 00:38:21,800
And he had Jesus scourged. 
We don't have words to 

766
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,880
appropriately understand what 
happened here, but we do have a 

767
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,080
video and I'm looking around for
littles. 

768
00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:30,400
I think we're OK. 
I was going to give mom and dad 

769
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,400
a heads up so that y'all could 
dismiss anyone that you wanted 

770
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:34,840
to. 
This video is about four minutes

771
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:39,320
long. 
This is not exact, but this is a

772
00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:42,000
rendition of what it might have 
been like, and I think it's far 

773
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,600
more effective than me 
describing a Roman scourging to 

774
00:38:44,600 --> 00:39:10,190
you. 
And having scourged, Jesus 

775
00:39:12,110 --> 00:39:21,830
delivered him to be crucified. 
That's how much Jesus loves us. 

776
00:39:23,430 --> 00:39:26,760
And he wasn't finished that day.
That actually happened at one of

777
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:29,840
the earlier meetings. 
Pilate had him scourged so that 

778
00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:32,280
he could actually get the Jews 
to back off. 

779
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:35,440
He thought, if I scourge him, 
maybe they will not press me any

780
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:38,000
farther. 
Maybe they won't make me crucify

781
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:39,000
him. 
So like, look, I'll beat him 

782
00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,880
savagely. 
And the Jews had a limitation 

783
00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:45,280
they could do. 
They called it 40 blows -1 

784
00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:47,480
because in their mind, 40 was 
the number of judgement. 

785
00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:50,400
So he would not treat your 
brother like you would treat an 

786
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,480
animal. 
So they would stop at 39 lashes.

787
00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:57,440
The Romans had no limitations. 
It was whatever they wanted, as 

788
00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:01,600
much as they wanted, as hard as 
they wanted, to the degree of 

789
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:03,560
their delight, to the degree of 
their exhaustion. 

790
00:40:14,980 --> 00:40:17,660
Having scourged Jesus, he 
delivered him to be crucified. 

791
00:40:19,380 --> 00:40:22,020
Then the soldiers of the 
governor took Jesus into the 

792
00:40:22,020 --> 00:40:25,260
governor's headquarters, and 
they gathered the whole 

793
00:40:25,260 --> 00:40:30,380
battalion before him. 
So Pilate delivers them to be 

794
00:40:30,380 --> 00:40:31,580
crucified. 
You can bring the lights back 

795
00:40:31,580 --> 00:40:33,020
up, please, and you bring the 
music down. 

796
00:40:33,720 --> 00:40:35,920
He hands them to the Roman 
soldiers and then he steps 

797
00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:38,200
aside. 
It's still under Pilot's 

798
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:40,880
jurisdiction, but he gives Jesus
over to the low ranking wicked 

799
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,440
men. 
And that's how what happens next

800
00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:45,680
is able to happen. 
Pilot likely separates himself 

801
00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:48,720
inside of his headquarters. 
He washed his hands. 

802
00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:51,080
He wants to be done with it. 
The soldiers now have Jesus 

803
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:54,440
isolated. 
A battalion is at least 200 men.

804
00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:55,920
Some say it was up to 600, some 
say. 

805
00:40:55,920 --> 00:40:59,240
But at a minimum we got 200 men 
here, and they got Jesus alone, 

806
00:40:59,240 --> 00:41:03,400
most likely in a courtyard where
they get to have all the fun 

807
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:06,640
that they wanted to have, where 
they walk out what they did. 

808
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:10,760
These are fighting men, men who 
have harmed and killed many 

809
00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:12,560
people. 
And now the Son of God stands 

810
00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:14,720
before one of them, already 
beaten, wounded, bleeding and 

811
00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:19,520
humiliated, Verse 28 tells us. 
And they stripped him and put a 

812
00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:21,800
scarlet robe on him. 
So his own clothing was put on 

813
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:27,400
him after the scourge, and any 
coagulation of his clothing 

814
00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:30,200
sticking to his wounds any 
protection that would have 

815
00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:35,080
provided, now that's ripped off.
And now they put a new robe on 

816
00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:37,880
him. 
And they twist together a crown 

817
00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:39,560
of thorns, and they put it on 
his head. 

818
00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:42,480
And they put a Reed like a staff
in his right hand. 

819
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:46,600
And they kneel down before him. 
And they mock him, saying Hail 

820
00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:49,240
King of the Jews. 
And they spit on him and took 

821
00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:52,840
the Reed and struck him on the 
head, so driving the crown of 

822
00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:56,720
thorns even deeper. 
When they had mocked him, they 

823
00:41:56,720 --> 00:41:59,880
stripped him of the robe and put
his own clothes back on him, and

824
00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:01,320
then let him away to crucify 
him. 

825
00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:10,800
This whole thing is obviously a 
parody of a coronation. 

826
00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:13,640
It's a cruel mockery of the pure
and the true. 

827
00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:17,880
Humanity is rejecting its Savior
fully and making entertainment 

828
00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:21,240
out of His kingship. 
All the while it pleased the 

829
00:42:21,240 --> 00:42:24,400
Father to crush Him. 
It pleased the Father to break 

830
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:26,640
him, not because the Father is 
cruel to the Son. 

831
00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:30,320
The Father loves the Son, and 
everyone for all eternity will 

832
00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:33,600
see how much the Father loves 
the Son and how pleased He is 

833
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:39,440
with the Son. 
Jesus is enthroned forever, 

834
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:43,560
Jesus is crowned forever and the
enemies of Christ will suffer 

835
00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:47,520
forever. 
There's a lot of significance 

836
00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:50,640
and what's going on here. 
The crown of thorns in in 

837
00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:54,040
particular is not accidental. 
Thorns represent the curse 

838
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:55,760
because thorns came with the 
curse. 

839
00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:00,520
God cursed the earth in Genesis 
chapter 3 and he said now Adam, 

840
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:04,160
because of your sin, you're 
going to have to sweat for your 

841
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:07,480
for your fruit, and there the 
earth is going to produce thorns

842
00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:10,240
because of your fruit. 
So here Jesus has the curse 

843
00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:14,200
placed on top of his head, the 
true king crowned with the 

844
00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:16,760
curse. 
And it's such a demonic scene. 

845
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:19,200
Obviously some soldiers are 
twisting together the crown, 

846
00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:21,280
which they thought was a great 
idea and hilarious. 

847
00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:24,440
Some are laughing, some are 
spitting in his face, some are 

848
00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:29,440
striking some neo and mockery. 
The demonic Barbarians are 

849
00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:32,640
having a blast. 
Jesus can see the next strike 

850
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:35,160
coming. 
He sees the next man lining up 

851
00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:38,480
to spit on him and increase his 
misery and his humiliation. 

852
00:43:39,360 --> 00:43:41,320
He's still perfectly fulfilling 
Scripture. 

853
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:46,320
Isaiah 50 verse 6 says I gave my
back to those who strike and my 

854
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:48,120
cheeks to those who pull out the
beard. 

855
00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:51,520
I hid not my face from disgrace 
and spitting. 

856
00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:55,000
Jesus is the suffering servant. 
He is the willing servant. 

857
00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:59,160
He did not hide his face. 
Jesus is the ultimate man who 

858
00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:02,920
absolutely took it like no man 
ever could and no man ever has. 

859
00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:06,280
He did not pull away. 
He stepped into it boldly, 

860
00:44:06,440 --> 00:44:08,560
lovingly, graciously. 
Why? 

861
00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:12,240
To forgive sinners. 
And his mockers didn't realize 

862
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:16,800
that although they're kneeling 
in mockery on this day, they're 

863
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:19,080
actually going to kneel before 
the Lord Jesus Christ. 

864
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:23,800
Every knee is going to bow and 
every tongue is going to confess

865
00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:27,600
not just that Jesus is King of 
the Jews, but that Jesus Christ 

866
00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:30,960
is Lord over all to the glory of
God the Father. 

867
00:44:32,160 --> 00:44:34,960
So then after they've done this,
this just this, this was just 

868
00:44:34,960 --> 00:44:37,040
for them. 
This wasn't anything Pilot 

869
00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:38,520
directed. 
This is just for them. 

870
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:42,640
Now they strip off the robe 
again, stripping him naked once 

871
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:45,920
more, humiliating again, tearing
away whatever covering or 

872
00:44:45,920 --> 00:44:48,800
coagulation that brought, and 
they put his own clothes back on

873
00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:49,240
him. 
Why? 

874
00:44:49,240 --> 00:44:50,840
Because they want to conceal 
what they've done. 

875
00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:53,440
So they're not going to lead 
them around with the way that 

876
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:55,680
they had had done in front of 
the Jewish people. 

877
00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:59,080
So they stripped him again at 
the cross to increase his 

878
00:44:59,080 --> 00:45:01,120
humiliation. 
But now they clothe him and 

879
00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:04,280
present him as as though he had 
been this way the whole time. 

880
00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:05,800
They were deceptive, they were 
misleading, they were 

881
00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:08,000
hypocritical. 
But don't. 

882
00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:09,720
Again, don't just look at the 
Roman soldiers. 

883
00:45:09,720 --> 00:45:12,600
Look at yourself. 
Where do you hide your sin? 

884
00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,640
Where do you put on the wrong 
clothes in secret and then the 

885
00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:19,240
right clothes in public? 
This is the hypocrisy that Jesus

886
00:45:19,240 --> 00:45:21,920
hates. 
It's easy to look at those 

887
00:45:21,920 --> 00:45:24,280
bullies and go, oh man, I wish I
could. 

888
00:45:24,800 --> 00:45:28,280
Wish I could. 
No, no, it was my sin that did 

889
00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:30,000
it. 
It was your sin that did it, and

890
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:31,280
it was His love that received 
it. 

891
00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:35,400
This is the kind of hypocrisy 
that Jesus died to forgive. 

892
00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:38,800
So what should we do with this? 
And we are closing. 

893
00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:43,760
We're supposed to mourn the sin 
that made all of this necessary.

894
00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:46,400
And you're supposed to love and 
worship the Savior who made all 

895
00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:50,640
this possible. 
Does it pain you what Jesus went

896
00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:52,680
through? 
It should, but it should also 

897
00:45:52,680 --> 00:45:55,560
fill you with a deep gratitude 
that leads you all the way 

898
00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:58,840
through to joy. 
One torment was enough. 

899
00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:01,800
One death was enough. 
One resurrection was enough. 

900
00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:05,240
Do not go on living in sin after
receiving a knowledge of the 

901
00:46:05,240 --> 00:46:08,880
truth. 
The Lord still calls you to 

902
00:46:08,880 --> 00:46:14,520
repent. 
He points to His bleeding 

903
00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:17,760
stripes into His wounded body to
prove that He loves you. 

904
00:46:18,040 --> 00:46:21,760
He calls you to the mercy seat. 
If you are already in Christ, 

905
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:24,400
there is therefore now no 
condemnation for you. 

906
00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:27,680
You are not arrogant to call 
upon the blood of Jesus. 

907
00:46:27,680 --> 00:46:30,320
You are faithful, you're 
grateful, and you're wise to do 

908
00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:32,960
so. 
And if you're not in Christ, 

909
00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:35,760
you're right to throw yourself 
on his mercy. 

910
00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:38,600
Plenty of people have seen 
Jesus. 

911
00:46:38,800 --> 00:46:42,520
The Roman soldiers who scourge 
Jesus believed in Jesus. 

912
00:46:44,720 --> 00:46:47,000
Nobody cares that you think 
Jesus existed. 

913
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:51,920
To not think Jesus existed is 
just foolish. 

914
00:46:52,120 --> 00:46:55,880
Idiotic. 
But to believe in Jesus is to 

915
00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:59,960
obey Jesus is to take up your 
cross and follow Jesus. 

916
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:08,800
If you're in Christ, remind 
yourself and remind your accuser

917
00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:10,600
that the blood of Jesus covers 
you. 

918
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:14,480
If you are in Christ, stand in 
the authority of one who has 

919
00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:17,280
been made a priest unto God by 
Jesus redemption. 

920
00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:20,440
This is your heritage. 
It was very expensive. 

921
00:47:20,720 --> 00:47:23,760
You should receive it fully. 
It cost him a lot. 

922
00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:26,360
You should embrace it 
completely. 

923
00:47:27,720 --> 00:47:32,640
Revelation 17 says every eye 
will see Him, even those who 

924
00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:36,560
pierced Him, and all the tribes 
of the earth will wail on 

925
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:39,600
account of Him. 
That's what's going to happen at

926
00:47:39,600 --> 00:47:42,000
the return of the Lord. 
Every eye will see Him, and even

927
00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:46,640
those who Pierce them, they will
wail and weep because the glory 

928
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:48,040
of Jesus is going to be fully 
revealed. 

929
00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:51,000
The tragedy is that no one had 
to be lost. 

930
00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:55,520
Christ came to save sinners. 
So if your sin feels great or 

931
00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:57,840
feels insurmountable, good news 
for you. 

932
00:47:58,360 --> 00:48:00,360
Keep looking to Jesus because He
is greater. 

933
00:48:00,640 --> 00:48:06,040
He will give you the will to 
reject sin, and He will give you

934
00:48:06,040 --> 00:48:10,760
the ability to reject sin. 
If you don't have the will to 

935
00:48:10,760 --> 00:48:14,040
reject your sin, and if you 
don't have the ability to reject

936
00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:16,960
your sin, you probably don't 
have Christ. 

937
00:48:18,240 --> 00:48:21,440
But if you come to Christ, you 
will have the will to reject 

938
00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:23,880
your sin. 
Well, I still kind of want it. 

939
00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:28,760
Well, yes, in one sense we crave
sin, but deeper within you'll 

940
00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:31,000
go. 
But I want it killed, I want to 

941
00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:34,680
kill it, I want to crucify it. 
Jesus was not excited about the 

942
00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:37,200
cross. 
He experienced great dread 

943
00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:41,360
because of the cross, and yet 
for the greater joy set before 

944
00:48:41,360 --> 00:48:47,920
him, he pursued it anyway. 
If shame and condemnation 

945
00:48:47,920 --> 00:48:50,960
overwhelm you, the voice of the 
Advocate, which is the Lord 

946
00:48:50,960 --> 00:48:54,240
Jesus, still speaks louder than 
the accuser. 

947
00:48:54,640 --> 00:48:58,600
So grieve your sin, but let it 
be a holy grief that drives you 

948
00:48:58,600 --> 00:49:01,800
all the way into the presence of
Jesus and ultimately into joy. 

949
00:49:02,720 --> 00:49:05,480
The mark of repentant Christian 
is not a somber person. 

950
00:49:06,200 --> 00:49:08,640
A repentant Christian is not 
going around, I've had to 

951
00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:11,120
crucify my flesh. 
A repentant Christian goes 

952
00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:13,160
around and says, I crucified my 
flesh. 

953
00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:16,040
I was crucified with Christ and 
now I live with him. 

954
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:20,320
I'm not a slave to sin anymore. 
I was a slave. 

955
00:49:21,600 --> 00:49:23,800
Whatever you obey, that is what 
you're a slave to. 

956
00:49:24,200 --> 00:49:27,600
You will be slave to someone. 
I'm a slave to Jesus. 

957
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:32,800
I want to be a slave to Jesus. 
When I sin, I am a slave to sin.

958
00:49:33,040 --> 00:49:38,080
I'm not a slave. 
You are good news. 

959
00:49:38,080 --> 00:49:42,000
You can have a great master, not
one who crushes you, not one who

960
00:49:42,000 --> 00:49:44,720
burdens you, but one who loves 
you and gives you rest. 

961
00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:49,360
The mark of a Christian is that 
we know what we have done, but 

962
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:53,160
our fixation is on the grace of 
God, and where our sin abounds, 

963
00:49:53,720 --> 00:49:59,720
God's grace super abounds. 
Heavenly Father, I thank you so 

964
00:49:59,720 --> 00:50:03,000
much for your perfect Son and 
his perfect sacrifice. 

965
00:50:04,320 --> 00:50:07,720
Our King who has been on 
mission, who came and was born 

966
00:50:07,720 --> 00:50:14,760
of a virgin, pure and perfect in
every way. 

967
00:50:19,120 --> 00:50:23,680
He suffered under Pontius Pilate
through his own choosing and 

968
00:50:23,680 --> 00:50:28,440
through your sovereign will, he 
will come to judge the living 

969
00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:33,160
and the dead, and whoever calls 
upon his name can be saved. 

970
00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:37,920
God, I pray you would save 
people right now, that people 

971
00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:41,040
would fully and completely step 
into the grace that you've 

972
00:50:41,040 --> 00:50:47,160
provided. 
Move and minister into those 

973
00:50:47,160 --> 00:50:49,360
places that they haven't given 
you access before. 

974
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:54,560
Friends, please give him access.
Please give him access. 

975
00:50:55,240 --> 00:50:57,240
Please trust Him more than you 
trust yourself. 

976
00:50:57,560 --> 00:50:59,640
Please worship Him more than you
worship yourself. 

977
00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:05,520
That's what's happening when you
don't give him access. 

978
00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:08,040
You love yourself more than you 
love him. 

979
00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:12,720
And if that's the case, you 
can't have him. 

980
00:51:16,560 --> 00:51:18,120
But he will come in and make you
new. 

981
00:51:19,560 --> 00:51:24,520
He will come in and give you a 
new name, a new story, and a new

982
00:51:24,520 --> 00:51:29,840
future. 
God, may your blood be on us. 

983
00:51:31,040 --> 00:51:33,560
May it be on our children and 
our children's children. 

984
00:51:35,880 --> 00:51:39,240
The preserving, the healing, the
forgiving blood of Jesus. 

985
00:51:44,360 --> 00:51:50,200
You saved us. 
Murderers like Barabbas, haters,

986
00:51:50,720 --> 00:51:54,160
adulterers, wires, thieves, all 
of us. 

987
00:51:56,600 --> 00:52:01,640
But you traded places with us. 
We respond with gratitude and 

988
00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:07,720
joy. 
Strengthen your church God make 

989
00:52:07,720 --> 00:52:13,640
us holy like you are. 
In Jesus name we love you. 

990
00:52:13,640 --> 00:52:17,040
We thank you. 
Amen. 

991
00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:21,960
And now the Lord bless you and 
keep you. 

992
00:52:22,880 --> 00:52:26,840
The Lord make his face shine 
down upon you and be gracious to

993
00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:29,360
you. 
The Lord lift up his countenance

994
00:52:29,360 --> 00:52:34,920
upon you and give you great 
peace in Jesus name, Amen.