Are You as Spiritually Tough as Jesus? Part 1

Prior to the feast, I made mention about something that happened in my life that angered me. Then after it angered me, it tickled me. And I made mention before the feast that I wanted to revisit this subject and give a sermon on it.

I was thinking about this very over the last, well, since before the feast, thinking about it, praying about it, meditating about it. How do I give this particular sermon? And I started writing some notes down finally this week, based upon those thoughts and prayers and so forth, reflections. And as it turns out, I've got enough material for two sermons. So today you're going to have part one next week, we'll have part two.

But what I brought all this about was I was standing at a Starbucks. I'm not typically a coffee hound. I don't drink coffee, but I don't really care for that. But I do care for my wife, and she likes Starbucks. And so I wanted to accompany her when she went to Starbucks, and she would get whatever concoction she was getting in terms of coffee.

And I found out that there was an iced tea there that I really enjoy. And so I now get their new size, the Trenta. You've got to know a foreign language when you go to Starbucks. So I get the super-duper large-sized Trenta black iced tea, unsweetened, with six Splendids. And I ordered my tea, and got in line to receive it as they were making them up. And it was probably fifth in line. So the first four people get their drink, and then the next two or three after me get their drink, and I'm standing there. I'm getting ticked. I'm getting angry. I'm getting upset.

How dare they not give me my drink? And so, you know, I don't think smoke or anything was coming out of my ears, but I was upset. And then I started laughing at myself. I began to think, De Los Andros, if there's something this minor, this much of nothing, gets me upset, what am I going to do when life really gets hard? Well, we're at the end of the age, and maybe I can't feed my family because of persecution. Or maybe my family and their life is in peril because of our beliefs.

What am I going to do then, if not getting an iced tea ticks me off? You know, we think of Jesus Christ, and here's where I began to put pencil to paper. We think of Jesus Christ and the many tremendously sterling qualities that he has. And of course, the number one quality that we think of when we think of Jesus Christ is all encompassing compassion and love for mankind.

Let's turn to Hebrews 12 for a moment. By the way, I did get my iced tea after services at Ann Arbor. Somebody said, You never told us whether you got your iced tea or not. Yes, I got my iced tea. Here in Chapter 11 of Hebrews, we've got the faith chapter. In the faith chapter, you see people who knew all sorts of privation.

They were forced out of their homes. They were living in caves, some of them. Some of them were killed, martyred. And yet, these people were strong people in the faith. And because of that, we see now, beginning in Chapter 12, certain things being said. Hebrews 12, verse 1, Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, and of course, as you know, in the New Testament, especially with the writings of Paul, when you see the word therefore, it's a summation of what you've just read, talking about Chapter 11.

Those great witnesses are the ones being spoken of in Chapter 11. So we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Let us run with grace that race. Verse 2, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. As I was thinking about the subject I want to cover with you, I thought, the best place for me to go is the example of Jesus Christ, the example of Jesus Christ, who for the joy that was set before him. Now, it wasn't a joyous thing for him to be so tortured that he was unrecognizable.

It wasn't joy for him in the sense that he had that spear stuck in his side. But what was joy for Jesus Christ was the fact that because of his actions, because of the way he lived his life, you and I would have eternal life. And that did give him joy. Brethren, the quality that I want to talk about that we need in great abundance as we go toward the end of the age, we need to be spiritually tough. Jesus Christ was the greatest, the most spiritually tough individual who ever walked this planet. And I think a good argument could be made that Jesus Christ was the toughest physical individual who ever walked this planet.

Yes, he was loving. He was compassionate. But Jesus Christ was tough. And you and I are going to need to be tough for what the world is about to throw at us. If we are the generation that's going to live at the time of the return of Jesus Christ, we need to be tough. Now, remember where this sermon is coming from. It's coming from something I saw in myself.

Now, if you see that in yourself, well, fine. If the shoe fits, where? And I think for most of us, the shoe will fit. Over the course of time, I've been in the ministry now 34 years. And in my 34 years of being a minister, the first five of which I was here in the Detroit area as an unpaid elder, I've seen brothers and sisters get upset with one another over things that, once that didn't really matter, and they'd leave the church.

We've seen a simple entering of our church culture because people get offended at one another or can't stand one another. They have to think a different way than one another. We have split and we have gone separate directions, and we don't work together as a result of, frankly, not being tough enough to stick it out. And so this is something our church culture, and perhaps we as individuals, I know me, I need to think about how tough am I? So the question I want to ask today and continue asking next Sabbath, are you as spiritually tough as Jesus Christ?

Are you as spiritually tough as Jesus Christ? Now, the answer to that question for all of us is no. But does that mean we should just walk away from the subject? Or do we look at the subject and say, you know, I'm not as tough as I need to be. I could be tougher. I'm too thin-skinned. I'm too concerned about what people think. I'm too concerned when I see this or that or the other thing. And it gets to be to the place where I can't take it.

How tough are you and I? This is a question I put before myself, and this is why it's taken me this long to put pen to paper and to put this together because I had to do my own share of soul-searching. Perhaps you do as well. Now, when I was putting my thoughts together, I said, let's start real basic. When we're talking about being tough, what are we talking about? And I want to carry it. There's a definition, a series of definitions that I saw that help us define what it means to be tough.

To be tough means to be very strong. Jesus Christ was the epitome of spiritual strength. To be tough means to be resolute. You can't do the things Jesus Christ did without being resolute, without being resolved in your course of action. And to be tough means to be durable. We're not tough just for an hour or for a day.

We need to be tough for all of our life. Jesus Christ was very strong, resolute, and durable. And why do we need to be thinking about this? Let's take a look at Matthew 24. And what I'm about to go through, you've heard me go through this before. This is nothing new. But let's take it in context between this week and next week is, we've got to take a look at what's coming down the road.

One of the reasons Christ was able to handle what he was able to handle is, he knew what was coming down the road. He was prepared. He was spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally prepared for what was coming his way. And we need to be prepared as well. If we are thin-skinned, if we are the kind of people that are offended at the drop of a hat, there have been times that I've been offended, but I shouldn't have been.

Shame on me. Maybe the same is true, and shame on you. Jesus Christ didn't allow himself to get in that position. Matthew 24, verse 21. For then there shall be great tribulation, such as has not been seen since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be.

And unless those days are shortened, no flesh should be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. So here we see at the end of the age, there are going to be some who are in the church, who will be going through such...well, all of us in the church who are alive, will be going through the worst times this world has ever seen.

And this world has seen some pretty wretched times. Think about what happened in Europe back in the 20s and 30s to the Jewish population, others there that fell victim to Hitler. Think about the millions upon millions of Russians who fell victim to the purges of Joseph Stalin. Think about the people in Argentina, where skin divers have gone down and skin diving, and they've stumbled upon these veritable forests of skeletons down there from various political purges. You name the...all through the history of mankind, there have been various people who have put a great deal of harm to other people.

And yet, you and I may live in the worst times this world has ever experienced, and we need to be tough, not thin-skinned, not easily offended. This is coming our way. Luke 18. Luke 18. Verse 1. Luke 18, verse 1. Then he spoke a parable to the evidence that men always ought to pray and not lose heart. How many people have all of us known who have lost heart and don't come to services anymore? There can be various reasons, but over the years, I've known a number of people who have lost heart because they felt offended by somebody.

I've almost lost track of all the people we've lost, that I've known that have not come because of some offense, and they just simply couldn't overcome what had happened to them. I'm not saying that what had happened to them was good, but if they were going to be the kind of resolute people God wants us to be, strong and durable, they say, okay, mankind, Father, forgive them.

They don't know what they're doing. Verse 2. There was a certain city of judge who did not fear God nor regard man. Now there was a widow in that city, and she came to him, saying, Get justice for me from my adversary. And he would not for a while, but afterwards he said within himself, Though I do not fear God nor regard man, Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

Here what the unjust judge said Christ says, And shall God not avenge his own elect to cry out day and night to him, though he bears long with them? You know, in the book of Revelation, John sees a vision of martyred saints, and John asks the question, when Christ are you going to return?

And Christ says, John, I'm not coming back until there's another future martyrdom of saints. What are you and I going to do if Randy Delisandro gets his nose bent out of joint because he doesn't get his latte on time? What are we going to do when they start picking out various ones of congregation that we know to arrest you and to do the sorts of things Paul did to the people, or Paul would force people to blaspheme through torture? What are we going to do? But notice something else. Verse 8. Christ says, I tell you that he who will avenge them speedily, nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, when the Son of Man comes, perhaps in our lifetime, will he really find faith on the earth?

Or will he really find the faith on the earth? Notice the context, the context of people faithfully coming before God in their prayers. We're looking at a snapshot now of the church at the end of the age. Now, this doesn't have to be us. It doesn't have to be a single individual in this room. It doesn't have to be me.

It doesn't have to be you. Because in verse 7, it talks about those who are crying out to God night and day. We've got people in the church who are very spiritual. We've got people in the church who are very attuned to God. We've got people in the church who are very spiritually tough. But we've got people who aren't. The question we've got to ask ourselves, each one of us in our own heart and mind, is, where are we?

How tough are we? Are we going to be able to withstand the rigors? Christ says, when I come, will I really find faith? Will I really find people praying and looking to me? Or will people be doing something else?

Let's go back now to Matthew 24. Matthew 24 is the Reader's Digest version of prophecy. It's one simple chapter. It gives a nice overview of end time events. We're taking a look at a snapshot of the church. When I say the church, we're talking about us. We're not talking about what the world calls the church.

What the world calls Christianity. We're talking about what God calls his brothers and sisters. Jesus calls his brothers and sisters. Chapter 24 of Matthew 9. Then they, the world, will deliver you, the church, up to tribulation and kill you. How do I respond? How do you respond if they take your husband, your wife, your child? How do we respond? How tough are we?

Those are difficult things. People in there in Hebrews had to deal with that. People in the New Testament church had to deal with that. It was a religious persecution that Paul laid upon the people. Persecuted them, scattering them, throwing them in jail, torturing them. Same thing that happened at the end of the age. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.

We will have a target on our backs. Satan wanted to knock God off his throne. You were about to become kings and priests. Satan wants to knock you off your throne. Satan despises each and every one of us. He despises the fact that someday we're going to be greater than he is. He's jealous. He's envious. He wants to put each and every one of us in a grave. If he could put us into a spiritual grave where we never come out, so much the better. That's his thinking. Because of what we see in verse 9 and verse 10.

And then many will be offended. We're talking about Christians. Many will be offended. Not the few. Many will be offended and will betray one another. Because they're offended by what they're seeing in the world, what's been happening to them, they're offended and then they start lashing out. And they will hate one another. Verse 12, and because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. Is that me? Is that you? We've got to ask ourselves that question.

Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3. Verse 14, and to the angel of the church of the late Aesene's rite, these things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your words that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were cold or hot. Nothing wrong with being cold. When you're working in a hot sun, a cold glass of water goes real well. Christ says, I could wish you were cold. So, in the proper circumstances, that's good.

Same thing is true about being hot. You're out there shoveling snow. You want a nice hot cup of coffee or cocoa or something like that. You want a warm blanket when you come back into the house. Verse 16, so then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.

Because you say, and this is spiritually speaking now, because you say, I am rich spiritually, have become wealthy spiritually, have need of nothing spiritually, do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Now, this is not a snapshot of all Christians at the end of the age. Please make sure that you understand and you hear me.

We've taught, and I think properly so, that these seven churches represent various time errors of God's church. From the time of Jesus Christ, we established the New Testament church until the time when Christ returns. We've also taught that people from each and every one of these seven church errors probably live in each church error. We may well have people here in the Detroit church that are more effigian in nature, more loving in nature.

We may have people that are more laitiscine in nature. We may have everything in between. And again, just because we're reading this and we're seeing a snapshot of some people at the end of the age, that doesn't mean it's true for all people at the end of the age.

It doesn't have to be true for you or for me. We need to take steps to make sure that it is true for you or I. Since we're here in Revelation, let's take a look at chapter 12. Chapter 12 of Revelation is a short synopsis of what's taking place with God's true church. Revelation 12. Verse 17.

And a dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Satan the devil knows he's got a short time. He despises you. Jesus Christ told Peter that Satan wanted to sift him as wheat. Do you think that Satan wants to do less with you? Peter wrote that Satan walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he can destroy. Are you and I putting ourselves in Satan's hands? Are we falling victim to his devices? I sent out an email this last week talking about that in preparation for these two sermons.

Are we handing ourselves over to Satan in terms of allowing ourselves to be easily offended by not being as tough as we need to be? Now remember, Jesus Christ epitomized compassion, mercy, and love. He was also spiritually tough. One doesn't cancel out the other because you're tough, you can't be loving.

Because you're loving, you can't be tough. Jesus Christ was the ultimate example that balanced individual. Again, we're not going to be like Jesus Christ. He was God in the flesh. We're not going to be like him to the extent we become perfect. That's not what I'm trying to say today. What I am trying to get across today is looking at the appreciation for what Jesus Christ went through.

What he went through. Well, we are going to be going through. And how are we going to handle that? Today we're getting the fresh appreciation, the renewal of our appreciation for what Christ was able to do. Next Sabbath we'll talk about what we do about that. But you know, as I was thinking about this, about Christ being spiritually tough, I got to think, how do I relate that to our group in Ann Arbor and Detroit? You know, I got to think, well, one of the people, one of the groups I think are tough are our Navy SEALs. Our Navy SEALs.

And so I got on their website. Not that I was going to volunteer to be a Navy SEAL. That would be ludicrous. No way in the world, Alessandro, can be a Navy SEAL. You've got to be under 30. You've got to have a high school diploma or it's equivalent. You've got to have eyesight no worse than 2070. You cannot have any kind of police record. And then you've got to pass a written test to show your level of intelligence.

And then there's a physical test. Let me go through. And we're talking basic stuff for these guys. And as time goes along as they're going through these various phases, how their training gets harder and harder. This begins with their physical test. Now, they don't pass this physical. They pass the other scholastic tests and their resume is otherwise in good working order. Then they've got a physical. And I'm quoting now from the site. Applicants who meet the general eligibility standards may ask to take the SEAL physical fitness test.

Applicants must complete a 500-yard swim using the breaststroke or side stroke in under 12 minutes, 30 seconds. They must perform a minimum of 42 push-ups in 2 minutes. 50 sit-ups in 2 minutes. And 6 pull-ups in any amount of time.

Applicants must also complete a 1.5-mile run wearing boots and combat fatigues in under 11.5 minutes. Now, some might think, well, that's no big deal. Well, it gets bigger and bigger deal as you go along in a training. Phase 1, basic conditioning. After completing the basic training, prospective SEALs enter basic underwater demolition training. The first phase focuses primarily on physical conditioning.

The training must perform a 50-meter underwater swim past a drown-proofing test and demonstrate basic life-saving skills. Four basic distance swims in a pool ranging from 1.5 to 2 miles in distance must be completed in a lot of times. Trainees must also complete a 1 and 2-mile open-water swim wearing fins in 75 and 95 minutes, respectively, and a 4-mile run in less than 32 minutes. They must also complete the SEAL obstacle course in less than 15 minutes. Some of you may think, well, they take a swim in the ocean. No problem.

I was watching, in my eclectic views of watching TV, I was watching a show that was talking about their training. This swimming in the sea thing is ice cold. It's ice cold. When those guys were in the water for so long, they came out of the water, and their teeth were chattering. If you were close enough, you probably could hear their teeth chatter. They were shaking like this. Their teeth were chattering. You and I, if we were going through that training, we would want something hot to drink. We would want dry clothes, a blanket. We want out of that situation.

The reason I give these Navy SEALs that kind of training is because water is the area where they're probably mostly serving. And when they are in the state that those poor guys were in, their teeth are chattering, they're shaking like this, at that point, those guys need to do their job. You and I, we're only thinking about how cold and miserable we are.

They're thinking, I've got to swim under this ship and put a charge under this thing. I'm going to blow this ship away. I'm going to blow up this piece of work here. They've got to use their... They've got to put all this stress that's undergoing their mind and body, and they've got to put that in the background and do their job.

That's how tough those guys are. The diving phase last eight weeks and focuses on combat scuba. Applicants must complete a two-mile open-water swim, wearing fins in less than 75 minutes, and finish a 5.5-mile open-water swim. On land, they must improve their obstacle course time to less than 11 minutes and their four-mile run time to less than 30 minutes. Finally, phase three, land warfare. Trainees learn small unit tactics, repelling land navigation, demolitions, and weapons training in the final phase of their training.

While learning these tactics, they must continue to improve their physical performance. The qualifying time for the two-mile open-water swim, wearing the fins, decreases to 70 minutes. The applicant must finish the obstacle course in less than 10.5 minutes, do a four-mile run faster than 28 minutes, and they also must complete a 14-mile run.

Tough, right? These guys are tough. Why are they tough? Because they're strong, because they're resolute, because they're durable. Paul talked about the athletes of his day and talked about how we can learn from them. Brethren, we can learn from these guys. When their bodies and minds are racked with pain, they didn't give in.

Now, they're special people, but then you are special people before God. You've been given a special gift. You've been gifted with God's Holy Spirit. We can very much learn from these Navy SEALs. Now, let's take a look at the life's example of Jesus Christ for a few minutes as an example of spiritual toughness. Let's go to Matthew 4.

Matthew 4. Verse 1. Again, we're not going through any scriptures that you've never seen or have never eyeballed. These are all very familiar. Matthew 4. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Jesus Christ knew what was coming His way because He wasn't on the defensive here. He was on the offensive. He realized He needed to go and stand toe to toe with His greatest adversary, the adversary, Satan the Devil. But before He did that, He wanted to make sure He was properly in training. He wanted to make sure He was spiritually fit. Now, this is God in the flesh we're talking about, but He still wanted, because He was in the flesh, He wanted to spend time in fasting. He wanted some alone time, a lot of alone time, with God. And so He prepared. Because Jesus Christ realized something that you and I, we can't even imagine. There are times when you and I have, we say, well, I had a bad day. I had a bad day. I said some bad things. I did some bad, I had a bad day. Brethren, Jesus Christ could never have a bad day. He couldn't have a bad hour. He couldn't have a bad minute. How long does it take to sin? A second or two? Jesus Christ, in His whole life on planet earth as God in the flesh, He could not have one or two bad seconds. Because if He did and He sinned, then you and I would never have salvation.

I think we can have a fresh appreciation for what Jesus Christ, our Savior, did. He couldn't allow Himself the luxury or the damaging, whichever way you want to look at that situation, of just walking away from God for even a split second.

So here He sees that He's going into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, verse 2, and when He had fastened 40 days and 40 nights afterwards, He was hungry. Well, I would dare say, I'm hungry in the car on the way home from this place. Typically, I jump in the car, if Mary's not with me, I give her a phone call, Hey, babe, where are we going for dinner tonight? Or what should I bring home for dinner tonight? And, you know, that's what I just said a few hours before. I'm way over here. Stop at Tim Hortons, get a couple of bagels and something to drink, and off I go. That's my lunch as I get over here. 40 days, 40 nights. He was hungry. He was God, but He was in the flesh. He was in the flesh. He was hungry. He was hungry. But like the Navy SEALs, He had to put all that behind Him and realize there was a task in front of Him, and that was Satan the Devil, who wanted to destroy all of mankind. He had to be tough. Verse 3, Now when the temper came to Him, He said, If you are the Son of God, command these stones that become bread. Now Satan knew better than that, but there's something here that Satan is getting at Jesus Christ, and that is, you're hungry. It says in verse 2, you're hungry. Well, Jesus, you could do something about that. You can make bread. Now, if you're the great Creator, you say you are. If you're the great Creator, make some bread.

Verse 4, But He answered and said, That his written man should not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. So what does Satan do? He tries to get at Jesus Christ physically. What does Satan do for you and I? He wants to get at us physically.

We all know, I believe we all know what our shortcomings are in life. We know where our failings are, where we're weak. But here you've got an individual who had no weaknesses. And Satan still came to Jesus Christ to tempt Him where He was strong.

You and I, many times, we may feel we've got certain strengths, and because of that, there are times we fall. Satan, I think, takes great delight in attacking us where we think we're strong, because he wants to wear us down.

We're strong today. We're able to sidestep all of Satan's fiery darts and this and that and the other. But then Satan says, well, I'll revisit you tomorrow. I'll revisit you the next day, in the next week, in the next month. And how many of us, in areas we felt we were strong, how many of us have failed repeatedly? Verse 5, then the devil took Him up into the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For as written, He shall give angels a charge over you, and in their hand they shall deliver you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone. So the first attack was a physical attack. The second attack is to attack Jesus Christ's pride.

Jesus Christ didn't have pride, but Satan thought, well, maybe there's a little something there that I can exploit.

Jesus Christ, again, couldn't let down for even a second. Couldn't give Satan the opportunity, not even a crack in the door. And for so many of us, this is where we fall. We allow an attitude to come riper and riper. We allow Satan to open that door wider and wider, and we fall. We have to be tough like Jesus Christ and not even give the opening.

And of course, the last thing, verse 8, the devil took Him up into an exceeding the high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms in the world in their glory, and said to them, All these things I give you if you will fall down and worship Me. So here we see Satan saying, how about power? We've come at you from the physical point of view, we've come at you from the pride point of view. How about now from the power point of view? Well, Jesus Christ didn't fall for that either. He was strong. He realized, again, He needed to be at the top of His game every second of His life, so He was always making sure that He got His alone time with God, His prayer time, His study time, His fasting time, His meditation time. That was primary for Him. That's why Christ said earlier on, When I come, will I really find faith? Will I really find people praying in faith when I come? Or will I find people who are neglecting their spiritual side of things? Let's turn to Mark 3. Mark 3.

So Christ battled the spiritual enemy, but He also battled people. Christ had people issues. Mark 3, verse 22.

Mark 3, 22. And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, He has the Elzebub, and by the ruler of the demons, He casts out demons. So here Jesus Christ is being accused of being the incarnation of evil. The great God who created the whole of the universe, the great God who created mankind, who never did a sinful thing, who was always a very loving individual, is being accused of the incarnation of evil. Other places in the New Testament, they said, Well, you know, Christ is insane.

He's mad. There were those in other places in the Scriptures who would say, Well, He's illegitimate. Do you know He's illegitimate? He had a mother, but where's His dad? You know, we don't know about this guy. He claims to be a rabbi, but He's illegitimate. Others said He was gluttonous. He was a drunkard. In other words, He didn't have any kind of moral foundation. How could He be a rabbi? He eats with drinks with sinners, and He eats too much and drinks too much with sinners.

So they tried to accuse Jesus Christ. Have you ever been accused? Is that any fun? Maybe somebody at work? Maybe somebody in the church? Maybe somebody in your family? Sometimes they may not even mean to accuse you, but they say things, and it's very hurtful. You know, we call that friendly fire of people that we know and love hurt us. Friendly fire. Have we been victimized? I think everyone in this room has been victimized by friendly fire. Every one of us. Sometimes all it has to be is a look. A look at disapproval. Sometimes it's a tone of voice.

Sometimes it's the way we string our words together. And again, we can get ourselves and our attitude out of joint. And sometimes we'll think on this and think on this and brood on this until it becomes sin. Jesus Christ didn't allow Himself to go there. He was tough enough to sidestep all of that. Mark 11 Mark 11.27 Mark 11.28 And when they came again to Jerusalem, and as He was walking in the temple, the chief priest and scribes and elders came to Him, and they said to Him, By what authority are you doing these things?

And who gave you this authority to do these things? So they were personally attacking Him, and then they began to attack the work that He did. Now, the work that He did was to create a gorgeous creation. The work that He did was to create mankind, Adam and Eve. It was Jesus Christ who did that. The work that He did was to create all these wonderful things for our benefit.

And He's being...they're trying to discredit Him here. Have you had people just try to discredit you, where you work? Maybe you do something great for the company, and somebody steps up and says, Oh, that was my idea! My wife Mary's gone through that on several occasions, where she's talking to our co-workers, Well, you know, if we did this procedure this way, we would save time, save the company money.

And the co-workers would say, And then there would be a little meeting in their little group, and the boss would say, Well, how can we approve things? Hand goes up, one of Mary's co-workers, I think if we did this procedure this way, we would save the company time and money. Oh, that's really good! They get a little extra in their paycheck, Mary's just... She doesn't want to create an issue for anybody. But it was her idea, and that's happened to her on several occasions. I'm sure it's the same sorts of things that's happened to you. And when those things happen, again, we can get our attitude bent.

Jesus Christ, when he was accused, when they were trying to discredit him, would not fall for that. He was tough enough to sidestep that. He wouldn't let us guard down. His whole life was a battle zone. When we think about Jesus Christ, we think about Him along those lines. Come pass over time. His whole life, every second of His life, Satan was after Him. Human beings were after Him.

There was no place for Him to turn. Even His own disciples didn't understand Him and questioned Him. Every second of every day of His life. But He did not give in. He had never let us guard down. He didn't succumb to people issues. He was going to be true to God no matter what. He was going to be strong. He was going to be resolute. He was going to be durable.

The last area I want to discuss with you today is what happened at the very end of Jesus Christ's life. His trial. Talk about durability.

It's hard for us to put ourselves in Jesus Christ's situation, but let's try. You've written the Scriptures. You know how you are going to die. You know that you are only a few hours away from that death.

Satan has not gone off on vacation someplace. There have been people who said that back there in Matthew 4, once Jesus Christ defeated Satan, that's it.

Satan took advantage of every opportunity until Jesus Christ died. Because at any time, one second of a sinful thought, a thought of hatred or malice toward people who are crucifying him, that's the end of things for us.

During the trial that Jesus Christ went through, I'm sure Satan was whispering in his ear, Remember back there when I said I'd give you all these nations? That's still on the table, Jesus. You don't have to go through all these things. All that, I give you all these things, that's still on the table. Jesus Christ was standing there realizing what he was about to go through. Just like those Navy SEALs, he realized he had a job to do. His job was to be the savior of mankind. He couldn't listen to what Satan was saying. So that's the background. But Jesus Christ, in those hours prior to his crucifixion, had to undergo six separate trials. Literal trials. He had to go through three trials of the Jewish people. Then after they were done with him, he had to go through three trials of the Roman people. I'm not going to go through all the scriptures here. I simply don't have the time for that. Phase 1, with the Jewish trial, he was brought before Annas. That's in Luke, John chapter 18. He was brought before Annas. Now, this proceeding had no part in a regular Jewish trial. They were not striving to look for truth. They were wanting to find anything they could, from Christ's own lips, to hang Christ, or to literally crucify Christ with. So it was not something that was properly sanctioned. They brought Christ before Annas so that the Sanhedrin can get together, you know, bring all the guys together so we can formally get at this guy. So that was phase 1. Phase 2 was a night trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. That's found in Mark chapter 14. Again, this was an illegal meeting. They were wanting to put Christ to death, and that meant that they should not have any meetings at night. This had to be a daylight, in broad daylight, a daylight type of a meeting. They didn't do it in daylight. They did it at night. Again, all the time, you know, Jesus Christ is watching these people. He's watching the look on their face, the disgust, the hatred, the animosity on their face. They discuss the animosity and the tone of their voice, the insulting way they were working with him, the mockery of the legal system. And remember, Jesus Christ was one who designed law. He designed and created law. Here he's watching a kangaroo court. All of us could have gotten a lot of people in a very bad, bad spiritual state, not Jesus Christ. Part 3 was the morning session where this kind of rubber stamp that they talked about that evening, that they found Christ guilty. He claimed to be God. He claimed to be a king. And because he claimed to be a king, he said, ah, this is where we'll get him. We can't put him to death. We're Jews. We have to take him to the Romans. Only the Romans can put this guy to death. And since he said he was a king, well, the Roman government's not going to take too kindly to that. So they sent him to Pilate. Now, again, when they brought him to Pilate, the accusers would not stand in front of Pilate with Jesus Christ to accuse, because Passover was coming. And if they walked into the praetorium where Pilate was, they would be considered unclean and couldn't keep the Passover. How ironic. How ironic. But these fellows simply wouldn't want to go where Christ was going. They want to accuse and put him to death, but then they're going to stand and decide and point the finger at him.

So they bring this charge, and Pilate doesn't care about this thing about being God. He doesn't care about that at all. But the idea that he thinks he's a king, Pilate had to listen to that. That's something he had to take a look at. So Pilate examines Jesus Christ in phase one of the Roman trial, and Pilate finds nothing wrong with Jesus Christ. Pilate says, I find no fault with this man, and at that point, if they were going strictly by the laws of the land, that should have been it for the trial. That should have been it for the trial, but it wasn't. The Jews began shouting other things out at Caesar, and they began saying, look, if you're really Caesar's friend. They were shouting out to Pilate, if you're really Caesar's friend, you're going to act on this guy. Pilate, his wife had already told him, look, I had a dream last night. Leave this guy alone.

So Pilate was wanting to get rid of this. He was a very savvy politician. He realized he was going to be in a lot of trouble with certain sections of the populace who viewed Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

But he also, because he was politically true, when they started talking about, well, you're going to fall to grace with Caesar. Is that what you want? Fall to grace with Caesar? Then he said, well, I'll tell you what. Let's do this. I hear that Herod is here. I'm going to send you over to Herod. Now Herod had always wanted to see a dog and pony show from Jesus Christ, perform some miracle, do some trick, and so they sent him to Herod. Jesus Christ obviously would now put on a show for Herod. And what ended up taking place there is Herod and his soldiers mocked Jesus Christ. They arrayed him in a gorgeous robe. They ridiculed him. Again, what does that do to your attitude? All you've done is good, and somebody brings you someplace and they mock and ridicule you. Jesus didn't fall for that. So they sent him back to Pilate. Once again, Pilate said, look, I just don't find any cause to do something with this guy. I tell you, how about if I just torture him for a little while? Can I just torture him? Would that serve? If I just torture him for a little while, would that do? And they said, no. Again, we remind you about being true to Caesar. And so Pilate washed his hands of the affair. Of course, now he was not gentlest by washing his hands. He washed his hands of the affair, and we know the rest. Jesus Christ was crucified. Jesus Christ had to, at every stage, at every second of all six of those trials, had to make sure that he was keeping his attitude in check. As people were spitting on him, as they were putting the crown of thorns on him, as they were mocking him being a king, all he ever wanted to do was show love toward them. But he was tough enough not to fall for any of these things that Satan put in his way. Two final scriptures, Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 53 Verse 3 In a section of scripture we read every year at the Passover, He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows. Christ was a man of sorrows for many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that at the end there, the men he shared a campfire with for so many years, those men forsook him. Peter literally swore he did not know him. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. They fled, they did not want to be known as the disciples of Jesus Christ. And we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely his born our griefs carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Jesus Christ went through all of that. And again, he was strong through that, he was resolute through that, he endured through that. Final scripture is over here in 1 Peter 2. Another scripture we'll read every year at the Passover. 1 Peter 2, an ascension of scripture that talks about Christ's example in suffering. Explicitly, this is what this is about. Are you suffering? Are you suffering at the hand of somebody you love and that they're causing you to suffer? Could be a husband, could be a wife, could be a child, could be a family member, could be somebody in the community, somebody you work with, but you're suffering. Verse 20, 1 Peter 2, verse 20. For what credit is it that when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, like Jesus Christ did, if you take that patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called. You and I were called, and suffering is a part of our calling. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example in our suffering. That you should follow His steps. Follow His steps very carefully.

And as I've told you in the past, there's a beautiful metaphor here in verse 21.

As if you see a set of footprints on the sand, and you're going to follow those steps so carefully, you put your right foot in the right foot and your left foot in the left foot of those footsteps. So when you go through that area, people think only one person ever went through. No, maybe several people went through because they followed those footsteps. Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. Through all the trials, through everything that happened, every second of Jesus Christ's life, He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled, did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten. But committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. And that, brethren, that section there is the bridge in which we'll build upon next Sabbath. Jesus Christ committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. How are you and I to be as spiritually tough as we possibly can be? We're not going to be Jesus Christ. But every one of us in this room can be tougher than we are. Every one of us in this room can be spiritually tougher than we are. How are you and I to be more strong, to be stronger? How are you and I to be more resolute, more durable? Well, one of the things we're going to talk about next Sabbath is our commitment. If we've got a very strong commitment to God and His way of life, then when these awful times we read about earlier in the sermon come, because we are resolute, and we know what we believe and why we believe, and nothing's going to change. Nothing's going to change what we believe. If we are resolute, then we will be dedicated and committed to God as Jesus Christ was. So today we wanted to take a fresh look and have a fresh appreciation for what Jesus Christ did. Next Sabbath we're going to talk more about what you and I need to do about it, to be spiritually tough like Jesus Christ.