Consider Him Who Endured

I'll begin with a question today. Have you ever found yourself in an impossible situation? I'm not sure if I pronounced that right. Have you ever found yourself in an impossible situation?

Impossible situations, I think we most agree, are those times in life when events or circumstances we face seem so intolerable or even hopeless and far too much for us to bear. Those are the times when we feel that we just can't take it anymore. We just can't take it, whatever it happens to be. Impossible situations, I'm sure, vary from person to person. Some find themselves trapped financially with never enough money. Others struggle to heal broken relationships with spouse, children, or others. The impossible situation may describe a loved one suddenly felled by heart attack or cancer. For many, the impossible situation creeps up upon us as we age. And we may find ourselves no longer the caregiver, but increasingly the care receiver, and facing the prospect of diminishing strength, more elements, and steady decline. Doing all that we know to do, we can find ourselves still without relief. Our situation still remains intolerable and hopeless, it seems. And then increasingly, we feel that we can't handle it anymore. Not one more creditor, not one more argument, not one more treatment, or ailment, or appointment, or crisis, or phone call. One day, we might even say, I quit. I give up. And then angrily lash out at those when we love the most. That was in my notes.

We might even turn our frustration and anger against God. After all, God's the one who has allowed us to be in this situation. But will that be our response to God when life becomes so very terrible and difficult to bear? Should that be our response? God is good, he is compassionate, and he is most long-suffering. When life seems so insufferable and terrible and daunting, we need to turn to God not only because God is the one that can deliver us from any trouble we face, but also because God does understand our suffering. He does understand. Jesus Christ especially understands our suffering, and all that goes along with it. And we know why. It's because he suffered too. He suffered too. He faced what some would call an impossible situation.

And that should really comfort us. It should comfort us. Let's turn to the book of Hebrews. In the book of Hebrews, and in chapter 12, I'd like for us to read a scripture I'm going to be coming back to reminding us of now and again in the sermon today.

In Hebrews 12.3, we can find great comfort in remembering what Jesus Christ endured for every one of us. And it's here, chapter 12, verse 3, that the writer of Hebrews recognizes the difficult challenges we will face in our commitment to live God's way of life.

And like all people of faith must do, the writer here stresses that we must not give up. In verse 3, he urges us to think about one thing. He writes, For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. The New Living Translation reads this way, Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people. Then you won't become weary and give up. You won't become weary and give up. And so we're exhorted to compare the severe challenges we may be facing right now in our own lives. And we certainly will face one day, where there are severe challenges with that of Jesus Christ, what he faced. Now granted, the challenges we face may be due to sin, and bad decisions that we or others have made. And that's on us. But sometimes, as I mentioned, our challenges in life are due to time and chance, such as the normal progression of aging or accidents that can happen. But regardless, we have something important to know and to learn when we consider how Christ endured what God allowed to him. And when we do that, when we recognize that God is not asking us to do more than what Christ did, then we will find the strength and encouragement we need to endure. Jesus Christ is our ultimate example of how to remain faithful to God, no matter what.

The title of my sermon today comes from Hebrews 12.3. It's entitled, Consider Him Who Endured. Consider Him Who Endured. Jesus Christ suffered much, yet endured to the end, and so must we. And so today, we'll consider His example both for encouragement and for lessons that will help us to face life's impossible situations and endure to the end. To remember the reality that Jesus Christ must have faced in His life's greatest trial, we need to consider who He is. God understands that we suffer in our struggles in life and against temptation and sin, even when others do not understand or cannot exactly understand what we're going through. And even as we understand and accept that the fact that tough times will come our way and that life is what it is, it's the way it is, we say. So Christ understands that great trial we will face. Perhaps that trial we're facing right now. Christ Himself understood what He would have to face, and He still chose to face it, and He faced it willingly. Let's review some of the facts, and we're going to start in John 1, chapter 1. Back to the beginning. John 1, verse 1 through 3. Dr. Ward has been giving us sermons about the nature of God, and these scriptures are so critical and vital to understanding, and I'm sure we know them very well, but we need to keep thinking on them. We can never understand them well enough, is my thought and feeling about it. So with John 1, 1 through 3, we understand the identity of Jesus Christ. He was the Word. He was with God, and He was God. Verse 2, He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. So God created all things through the Word. Then in verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

So the Word who created all things came in the flesh, and He lived with humanity. He lived with men and women. And again, we're speaking of facts here. Now let's turn back to 1 John 1.

In 1 John, the epistle of 1 John in the back of the New Testament, John speaks again. The Apostle John again speaks of the beginning. In 1 John 1, verse 1 through 3. Here John is emphasizing to us how he and others were actually eyewitnesses. They're eyewitnesses to the fact that God lived among them in the flesh. I remember when I first read these scriptures with, I guess, kind of some depth of understanding back when I was a college student and ambassador, and I just got tingles all over me because it dawned on me is that there's other history books I've read. This is a real-life account. This man actually saw Christ. He touched him. He heard him. And it never really clicked with me before until that moment for some reason. And so he writes here, John 1 John 1, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, which our hands have handled concerning the word of life, the life was manifested. That means displayed. It became evident to us all. We saw it. We have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us, displayed to us. Verse 3, that which we have seen and heard, we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. These are really exciting words. John declares that they knew Jesus Christ quite well. They saw. They heard Him. They heard His voice. They touched Him. The Son of God was real flesh and blood. He was a human being, just like them. But He was Immanuel. He was God with us. Reference back to Matthew 1.23. God with us, Immanuel. And He never ceased being God, though, even while being a human being, speaking of Jesus Christ, of course. He never ceased being God, even while being a human being. To help emphasize that point, I want to read you a quotation that comes from our church booklet, Jesus Christ, the Real Story. If you haven't read that booklet lately, I highly recommend it. It's a good time of year to do it. It's always a good time of year to do it. But go back and read it, because if you're like me, the more you grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, and then you read these these booklets that maybe have been on your shelf for a while, you're going to be amazed at what new things jump out at you and your understanding. So I really encourage you to read that booklet, Jesus Christ, the Real Story. I want to quote from page 64 in that booklet.

It says, Jesus was a human being, and He was also God. There was an every time when He ceased to be who He always was. His identity did not change. When He was in the womb of Mary, He was God. When He was a baby boy lying in the manger, He was God. When He was a youngster growing up in Nazareth, He was God. And when He was dying, He was God. As a spirit being, prior to His human birth, He was infinite knowledge, power, and presence. As God, He would know everything and have unlimited power to act on any object anywhere. But if He was human, He could not do everything. He would be limited to the normal abilities any normal human being would have. He could not have been both infinite and finite simultaneously. When Jesus became flesh, He was still God in terms of His identity, but He was nevertheless a human being in every sense of the Word. I thought those paragraphs add a little more clarity. And so, although Jesus Christ was God, He was also a physical, flesh-and-blood human being. He lived a human existence upon this earth and experienced life much as we do, except He never sinned. Big difference. He never sinned. When we study the four Gospels in the New Testament, we discover that Jesus experienced life. Typically, He was born, experienced childhood, became an adult. He was not some sort of Superman who could fly, leap tall buildings, or take on people, even with Samson-like strength. That's not how He lived. He was physically much like any other man. He ate food, drank when he hungered or thirsted, which He did. He needed rest and sleep when tired. And He also experienced human emotions such as anger and sadness and compassion, as when His friend Lazarus died. We read how He wept in John 11.35. He also enjoyed companionship. I'm quite sure He laughed heartily. I'm sure He laughed heartily at times. Although He was God, Jesus Christ was also very much a human being. At one difference, though, He never sinned. We're still in 1 John. Let's read over in 1 John 3.5. 1 John 3 verse 5.

Jesus Christ lived His entire human life without ever breaking the law of God in any way whatsoever. That's another fact. So when we read in 1 John 3 verse 5, 1 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

So in this same verse, the apostle John directs our attention to understand why Jesus came willingly as a man and dwelt among humanity. It says He came to take away our sins. He was without sin, but He came to take away ours. So God's plan of salvation requires that Christ's blood be shed for the forgiveness of human sin. That's how it would be taken away. And so in His time for Jesus Christ to begin His public ministry and inspired by God, John the Baptist, back in John 1.29, it's recorded how John the Baptist would look up and see Him coming, and He declared, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And so Jesus understood His purpose since before the world began. Let's turn back to Revelation 13.18, a few pages over from where you're at. Revelation 13.18. Let's notice here another reference to Christ as the Lamb of God. In this case, it speaks also of a future judgment of all humanity. Revelation 13.18.

And here we... that doesn't look right. Revelation 13.8. My finger dangled over the wrong number. Revelation 13.8.

And we read, All who dwell on the earth will worship Him, whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb, of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before He ever became a human being, He knew what His responsibility would be. Let's also read in 1 Peter 1, verse 18. Back in 1 Peter 1.18. We're reviewing the facts. 1 Peter 1.18. Here, breaking into the thought, Peter explains the significance of Christ's sacrifice. 1 Peter 1.18. Telling us, Knowing that you are not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by the tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a Lamb, as a Lamb without blemish and without spot.

He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest – there's that word again – displayed and made apparent to us, but was manifest in these last times for you, who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. In bondage to sin and death, humanity needed a Savior to deliver us all, including us. So God the Father sent the Word, who willingly became the Son of God, to free humanity. Let's read about this in Hebrews 2, verse 14.

The writer here states, Hebrews 2, 14, Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself, referring to Christ, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy Him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

So through His death as a human being, Jesus Christ, the Word, the Creator of humanity, He destroyed, meaning to anole or abolish, the power of Satan. He removed from us our need to fear death. He freed humanity from hopelessness, that death is, removed from us sin's penalty in that way. And He made possible the forgiveness of our sin, so that all might have a right relationship with God, God the Father. Christ made salvation available to all people according to God's will. That's what God wants. Also in Hebrews 2, let's read verse 9 through 10. Hebrews 2 verse 9, But we see Jesus who has made a little lower than the angels. For the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. Jesus Christ led the way. Through His suffering, death, and resurrection again to life, Jesus Christ gives all of us, all humanity, hope where there was no hope before. He gives us hope even in the midst of our despair for a better life now, and certainly for a better life in the future. And so no matter what happens to us, we must not ever feel without hope, not even in the midst of seemingly impossible situations we face, because Christ removed sin's penalty of death. He removed it so we all might live for God.

Let's turn over now to 1 Corinthians 15.21, and again to emphasize this hope of eternal life through the resurrection we now have.

Our lives are no longer hopeless.

1 Corinthians 15.21, verse 21, For since by man came death, referring to Adam, of course, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. And so we should understand and believe that Jesus Christ knew why He was here. He knew why He came to earth. He was here, He came here, to make salvation possible for you and me and every other human being that ever was or ever will be. He understood that He needed to pay the ultimate price of death.

If we turn now to Luke 18.31-34, we could see that Jesus truly understood. And I'm stressing this because could you imagine so great a burden that you would have to, that you voluntarily had decided to do something that maybe well, we know, wasn't a very pleasant thing to do, but He willingly did it for us. Luke 18.31, Jesus understood His purpose. He understood that He would suffer for humanity, that He would have to endure, and that He would be resurrected too. Verse 31, this is a conversation He had with His twelve disciples. He takes them aside and He said to them, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. Notice He didn't say I'm going to try to do it. Aren't we glad? We, I, that is, I will accomplish this. This will be accomplished. There's no hesitancy about what He knew He would do. Verse 32, For He will be delivered to the Gentiles, and He will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him, and the third day He will rise again. But they, the disciples, understood none, none of these things, not a wit. They didn't understand any of these things. And thus this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken. Not yet. Now, if you turn back to Luke 9, the words He gave them here are similar to what He told them earlier. Sometime earlier He had told them something similar. Luke 9, chapter, excuse me, Luke 9 verse 22. At that time, an earlier time, Christ had told them, the Son of Man must suffer many things. And this time He stresses how He will be rejected by the elders, and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day. We get the sense, the first time He told me, He's stressing how His own people would reject Him, the leaders. And the second time, Luke 18, He's stressing more how the Gentiles will beat Him and be so cruel. And so as we consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, referring back to our scripture, Hebrews 12.3, we should realize again and again, I say, Jesus Christ understood why He was there. He understood what it was about. Along with knowing He was bringing salvation to humanity, He also knew the sorrows and suffering that He would have to endure. We know and understand that like every other human being, we will face difficult times, don't we? We know it. We know life is full of troubles and woe. We know we will face suffering. That's a normal part of our human life.

But with far more precision, Christ knew how exactly His life would end. How and exactly what way He would face terrible suffering. He knew He would face the cruel death of crucifixion. He knew Scripture. He knew what it foretold about Him. After all, He was the Word. He was the Word who with the Father had inspired those prophets and those prophecies. He knew them. He had given them. Let's be turning to Psalm 22. Psalm 22, I don't know if you took time to read that during this week so far, but Psalm 22 is pretty powerful. I want to read some of this psalm for us today. Psalm 22, this is a psalm of David. It would have been written about 1000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. About 1000 years before Jesus came on the scene. Jesus knew these words pertained to Him. And so again, proof, He knew what He was about to suffer. Notice verse 1, Psalm 22. David was inspired to write these words. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groaning? Now, of course, we know Jesus would be recorded as saying these very same words. In no doubt, Jesus said them because He truly felt them in His agony of His crucifixion. Continuing on in verse 6 now of Psalm 22, But I am a worm, and no man, a reproach of men and despised by people.

And all those who see me ridicule me, they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted in the Lord. Let Him rescue him. Let Him deliver him, since He delights in him. But you are He who took me out of the womb. You made me trust while on my mother's breast. Verse 10, I was cast upon you from birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God.

Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. No other to help but God. Skipping now to verse 14 through 19. Again, prophetic, a thousand times, a thousand years ahead, what Christ would suffer. Verse 14, I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue clings to my jaws. You have brought me to the dust of death, for dogs have surrounded me. The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look and stare at me. They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots that throw the dice. But you, O Lord, do not be far from me. O my strength, hasten to help me.

Now, sometimes we do feel that we are in impossible situations, but consider Jesus Christ. By human standards, we might say that Jesus Christ faced an incredible and impossible situation. He was to die a most terrible and horrendous death, not only because of its cruelty, but I think we'd agree also because of its injustice. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. He was without sin.

And, of course, his death was not impossible.

It was not about hopelessness.

His death was about hope. It was about giving every human being hope, that hope of salvation. Let's turn next to Matthew 26.

He knew what he was about to face. He was human, God and human. And as a human being, he recognized that this was going to be very terrible and painful. How did Jesus manage his distress and dread of death? How did he happen to manage it? And we know he did. We know he was distressed. We know he felt dread. Let's begin reading in verse 36 of Matthew 26. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, Sit here while I go and pray over there.

And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. And notice what he felt. Verse 37, And he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. And then he said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death. Stay here and watch with me. He went on a little farther and fell to his face and prayed, saying, O Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. But almost immediately he says, Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. As you will. As you will.

Now Jesus would pray three times and seems to be in rather short succession that night. Fervently he prayed. He prayed fervently to his Father. And you don't need to turn there, but in Luke's account, Luke 22.44, it adds that Christ was in agony. Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly, and then his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And some of the research found that there is a medical condition. You can be under such stress, the capillaries in your skin will break and blood can drip. It can actually happen. This is not a metaphor, is what I'm saying. This is not figurative language.

What we see here is that Jesus had normal human emotions. And he had no human desire to suffer greatly and to die, even though that is why he willingly came.

Yet he chose to always obey his Father and to please him. And in humble submission and surrender to him as that Lamb, he prayed that his Father's will be done and not his own, even though he was in perfect agreement with his Father. It's the human side of him that was feeling so profoundly distressed. Jesus was sorely tempted, but he remained obedient to his Father, even till the death. He accepted God's will and did what had, but absolutely must be done.

And I think this is a good example for us in our trials. So must we, when we turn to God in faith, trust in him, no matter what it is we must face, according to his will.

In the accounts of how Jesus prayed that night, there's a lesson here, several lessons, but perhaps the greatest lesson, I think, is how we need to draw close to God in the midst of our, what people call, impossible situations. Jesus stayed so close to his Father, and I want to take time as a way for us to learn something very important and vital to us as well. I want us to focus on exactly what did Christ do as a human being, then, to stay close to the Father. Now, what we see here, we've already looked at it, and throughout all the Gospel accounts, is that Jesus Christ prayed. He prayed.

And we must understand this. We must understand and put to heart that Jesus did not only pray when he was in this bad spot, finally. He didn't wait until a few minutes before they came to take him away to pray so fervently to his Father. When we study the Gospels, especially, we understand that he prayed often. He prayed for long periods of time and not just short. Now, I don't have time to take us through all the examples. It's really worth studying, though. But there are a number of times we find that Jesus prayed. I just want to look at a few to give us a sense of what he did. We are already in Matthew, so let's flip back to Matthew 14. Matthew 14. This is part of what we're to learn as we consider his suffering, what he went through. Matthew 14, 23. We understand that Christ spent a lot of time teaching the crowds, teaching the disciples, but it seems whenever he could, he would spend time in prayer. I think we may have heard in the past talked about he needed to recharge. He needed to recharge. And if you have a smartphone, you know probably more than we used to, years ago, what it means. When you suddenly run out, your phone goes dead, you're in a bad spot. You don't want your prayer life, your connection with God, to go dead by any means. In verse 23 we read, And when Jesus had sent the multitudes away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Put distance in between himself and the disciples. Now, when evening came, he was alone there. So there was time that he had to get away. He loved people. He loved his disciples. He knew he needed time with God. He wanted that special time with his father. Let's also turn to Mark 1.35. Mark 1.35.

Another reference to prayer, how Christ prayed. Mark 1.35, Now, in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, he went out and departed to a solitary place. And there he prayed. He had to get up before everybody else did. Perhaps some of you do that in your prayers, in your prayer life. Perhaps you've learned if you're going to get any prayer you've done that day, you better get up before the children. You better get up before you have to get your day started. That's very wise. You're doing what Jesus did himself. These are just two examples from many. But what we find is that prayer was a vital part of Christ's life. And again, he didn't only pray when facing a crisis. Sometimes we let things get bad before we meekly get on our knees and pray to God. That's good, but I think we could do better than waiting to when things get bad. Jesus made a point of having time to be alone in privacy with his Father in prayer. He had to break away from things. He had to make time so that others would not intrude, such as late at night or early in the morning. And if you read some of these examples, you can piece it together and realize that there were some nights, apparently, he more or less stayed up all night praying to God. That's incredible. But he had great need. The lesson is we must make time for prayer. We must carve out time for ourselves. It'll take work. We have to get away from our family and children at times to pray and talk with God. God needs to hear a number of things from us. He needs to hear our gratitude. He needs to hear our thank yous, along with our concerns and worries. Like any parent, he wants to know what's bothering us, what's hurting us, what can he do to help. Our Father needs for us to pour out our hearts to him, and certainly he wants to hear us praying for others. And there are a lot of people, even now in our congregation, people we know that need some serious, serious prayers.

Christ's example is that we must make time for prayer.

Prayer strengthened him. Prayer helped him to focus on his Father's will. Prayer helped him to fight temptation, to remain faithful to him, to his Father.

Now, when we study the gospel accounts of Christ's life, we will also find something else Christ did. We find that he fasted. He fasted to stay close to God. As a human being, he needed to remain strong against all that Satan, and the world, and the other human beings he was around, all that would come at him. He needed to be strong against that. He needed to be strong against the poles of his human flesh.

Christ's longest fast, apparently, was for 40 days and nights, and that was before he was 10. That was before he was tempted by the devil. We can read about that in Matthew 4.

In his instruction to the disciples, Jesus made it clear that his disciples would fast. I would add, I'm sure his intent was that they would not fast only on atonement. I'm thinking he meant much more often than that. Let's notice this in Matthew 6, 17-18. He did give instructions. He did give us some information about fasting. Let's look at that in Matthew 6, verses 17-18.

There's going to be a churchwide fast, as Dr. Ward mentioned, and the last Sabbath. It's going to be on April 22. We might keep some of these things I'm talking about here in mind as we come upon that fast. Of course, you can fast at any time. You don't have to wait for anyone to tell you when to fast. But notice what Christ says to his disciples, to us, Matthew 6, 17. He says, but when you fast, notice how he doesn't say if you fast? When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting. But to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in secret, will reward you openly. Christ's directions here are rather simple. What we learn is that fasting is between the individual and God. It's between you and God. It's not to be a show of our so-called righteousness. It's personal. It's just between you and God. Fasting is between you and God. No one else needs to be aware that you are fasting. Now, I've learned that it might be good to let your wife know that she's one with you, so you should let her know. If she's planning on making a big meal that night, you certainly don't want to upset her and say, honey, sorry, I'm fasting. There might be a little communication you may need to do from time to time, and that would be fine. But what we're talking about is you don't want to walk around while you're fasting and bragging about it and making a show of it. Someone offers you a piece of coconut cream pie, which is 11, and you don't need to say, oh, no, no, I'm fasting.

That's not necessary. Just say, no, thank you.

Just say, no, thank you. Let's also look at Matthew 17, 14.

Now I'm hungry. Matthew 17.

This section, verses 14-21, I think you remember it.

This is an episode where the disciples have been trying to cast out a demon for an epileptic, someone who was having seizures and health problems, and a demon was a part of the problem.

It's here Jesus explained how fasting and prayer go together, especially as he shows us here with healing and casting out of demons. Let's look down at verse 15, Matthew 17. Here we read, Lord, the man whose son was afflicted, he says, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely, for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So it brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him. And then jumping down to verse 19. Of course, by then, by verse 19, Christ is talking about demons and this man's poor son. Breaking into the thought, verse 19, then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, Why could we not cast the demon out? Why couldn't we do it?

Jesus said in verse 20, Because of your unbelief, the lack of faith. For it surely I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here to there. And it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. Nothing will be impossible for you. How's that? When you have faith. I knew I'd hit that.

When you have faith, Jesus said nothing would be impossible for you. Verse 21. But Jesus then adds, however, this kind, this demon, this situation, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. Except by prayer and fasting. What we can discern here is that fasting is a powerful tool.

It's bringing out the heavy weapons, the heavy spiritual weapons, you might say, when we need God's help desperately. Such as when life seems to be becoming more intolerable to bear, when it seems impossible. Fasting is not something, though, that we should do to try to force God's hand, as if that were even possible. You're not going to make God do anything.

But it's what we should do, fasting. We should fast to humble ourselves, to ensure that there's nothing about us. There's no hidden sin. There's nothing we're impeding because of ourselves that's impeding our prayers to God. There may be something there that we're not catching. Fasting and prayer can really help, when you're hungry, focus the mind.

When you're hungry and you're not eating, you really have more time to give to God. You can have a spiritual meal instead. Fasting helps us to remain more loyal, more faithful to God if we're doing it the right way, the right attitude. It helps us to maintain that right relationship with God.

Through all that Christ did, and through all that Christ did, and in harmony with how He prayed and fasted, when you study His life, you will also see that He always was focused on doing the will of His Father. He's always focused on doing His Father's will. Again, as evidence, we can point to His prayer that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. We too, no matter what trial or situation God allows for us, whatever God allows us to undergo, we must stay focused on our commitment to God. We must stay focused on seeking His will, just as Jesus said, and not our own will.

Through His travail, Jesus stayed close to His Father. He's very close.

As we think about example, let's go back and read Psalm 73. Psalm 73. What does that have to do with Jesus Christ and enduring this trial to the end? Let's look back in Psalm 73 and I'd like for us to read verses 23-28.

These words were inspired by God, and they need to inspire us. Even as a human being, they must have inspired Jesus Christ. Of course, He inspired them to begin with, but I'm sure He remembered them as He suffered as a human being. Verse 23, talking about His focus, His closeness to God, verse 23, Nevertheless, I, Jesus, perhaps us, nevertheless I am continually with you, you hold me by my right hand, you guide me by your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory, especially reference to Christ, whom have I in heaven but you?

And there is none upon earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart, in my portion ever forever. For indeed, those who are far from you shall perish. You have destroyed all those who desert you for harlotry, but it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all your works. It is especially meaningful if we think of these words coming from Christ in His suffering. I think we would be wise to consider these inspired words and put them in our heart, in our effort to draw closer to God and trust God even more.

And so it is that author of Hebrews tells us to consider the sufferings of Jesus Christ, even when we face terrible sufferings. Especially, of course, when we suffer for righteousness' sake, when we suffer for living in accordance with God's Word, with His holy law.

So now let's consider Matthew's account in detail. This is the record. This is what's recorded of what was seen in that moment of His crucifixion. Let's turn to Matthew 27. Let's turn to Matthew 27.

He knew what He would undergo, and here we see its fulfillment, Matthew 27. We're going to begin in verse 26. Verse 26, this is the point after a moment after which the Sanhedrin and the mob have rejected the release of Jesus. Instead, you remember, they preferred to receive Barabbas, their murderer. They'd rather have a murderer than Jesus Christ.

I'm going to be reading from the New Living Translation. It puts the words a little bit differently, and sometimes when we read a different translation, that makes us pay attention to words we otherwise have gotten used to hearing. So, Matthew 27, 26 in the New Living Translation. So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned Him over to the Roman soldiers, the Gentiles, to be crucified.

Some of the governor's soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters. That's the Praetorium. And they called out the entire regiment. The word for that is Spira. And what it means is that they called out the governor's soldiers, which would have been about 600 legionaries. I don't know if you've seen any Hollywood attempts to depict this, but there's always kind of like a group of 10 or 12 soldiers.

And the word actually means Spira, and it's equated with about 600 legionaries. The whole regiment, the whole cohort, came out to stand around and mock Christ and spit on Him. Well, let's read on. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on His head. And they placed a reed stick in His right hand as a scepter. Now, they were having fun with Him.

Then they knelt before Him in mockery and taunted, hail, King of the Jews! And they spit on Him and grabbed the stick and struck Him on the head with it. And when they were finally tired, I have a feeling it took them a long time to get tired, when they were finally tired of mocking Him, they took off the robe and put His own clothes on Him again.

Then they led Him away to be crucified. Even worse to come. Verse 33. And they went out to a place called Golgotha, which means place of the skull. The soldiers gave Him wine mixed with bitter gall, but when He had tasted it, He refused to drink it. And after they had crucified Him, the soldiers gambled for His clothes by throwing dice. And then they sat around and kept guard as He hung there. And a sign was fastened above Jesus' head, announcing the charge against Him.

It read, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. And two revolutionaries were crucified with Him, one in His right and one in His left. Verse 39. The people passing by now, they shouted abuse, shaking their heads in mockery. Look at you now, they yelled at Him. You said you were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.

Well then, if you are the Son of God, save yourself and come down from the cross. Verse 41. Now we get the leading people. Then the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders, they also mocked Jesus.

He saved others, they scoffed, but He can't save Himself. So He is the King of Israel, is He? Let Him come down from the cross right now and we will believe in Him. He trusted God, so let God rescue Him now if He wants Him. Wow. For He said, I am the Son of God. And even the revolutionaries were crucified with Him, ridiculed Him in the very same way. Now verse 45. At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock. At about three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, which means, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought He was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran in filthy sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on reed sticks so he could drink. But the rest said, wait, let's see whether Elijah comes to save him. Then Jesus shouted again and He released His Spirit. He let it go. Did Jesus Christ face an impossible situation? Did Jesus Christ face an impossible situation?

No. No. Did He show a sign of ever giving up? Did He ever show a sign of quitting the task He came to fulfill to give His life once for all so that all might know the Father and receive eternal life? No. No.

Luke 18, 27. Jesus, you remember, once told the disciples, He told them, the things which are impossible with men are possible with God. What was impossible for men was not impossible for Jesus Christ.

Through great suffering and death, He did provide the only means of salvation given unto humanity. He did it. Impossible for men, but not for God, not for Him. Jesus Christ willingly humbled Himself and became a human being. He didn't hesitate to undertake the role of Savior.

Christ suffered and died so that we might live with living faith, with living faith in our most loving Father, even as He had lived. He did so because He loved God the Father and He loves humankind since before the beginning. Truly, God has great compassion for all of us, every one of us.

So, do you face an impossible situation? Are you facing an impossible situation?

No, you're not. No, you're not. Is it painful? I'm sure it is. Is it discouraging? Yes. Is it unbearable? I'm sure at times it is.

But is it impossible? Is it hopeless? Is what you're facing meaningless? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. You see, an impossible situation isn't really impossible if we practice living faith.

That means we must believe what God says and obey Him no matter what. No matter what we suffer through, we've got to believe and we've got to obey God. It's living faith.

One last scripture. Let's turn again back to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 11. An impossible situation really isn't impossible if we practice living faith. Let's read Hebrews 11 verse 6 and remember these vital words about faith, about faith in God. Hebrews 11.6. We read, But without faith it is impossible to please Him. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. For He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Christ showed us how to diligently seek God. Prayer, fasting, focus on Him, believe in His sacrifice, believe in the Father. Do what He says.

Our Father will strengthen us in our trials. We can be sure of it. No matter how severe they may become, no matter how terrible. He will strengthen us in our trials, no matter how severe, if we practice living faith, if we trust in Him, and we know how. We've been doing it. I'm looking out here. Some of you have been doing it for decades. Keep doing it. Don't stop. Trust Him better and more than ever. Our Father, brethren, is most compassionate and He is so very loving. Let's never, ever think that God will ever fail us. God will never fail us. He will never fail you.