Matthew on Passover Preparation

I have a question for you today, and that is this. What are the most frightening words a person can hear?

You may have all kinds of possibilities that flood your mind. We have all had words spoken to us like that that just stop our heart. It might be a call that a loved one has died. It might be a child coming and saying, we need to talk, and you wonder what's next. It might be a spouse dropping on the other one that, well, I don't love you anymore.

Some of us are old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan was president that at one point he said, the nine most terrifying words in the English language are these, I'm from the government and I'm here to help. We kind of chuckle about that. We could look in the Word of God, and we think of all kinds of stories such as the story that led to David killing Goliath, but you see leading up to that for some time you had the Philistine army and the Israelite army set out in a ray there in the Valley of Elah, and this giant Goliath would come out and bellow his challenge that obviously struck fear into those of Israel because nobody wanted to be the one to go out and meet this giant. Probably, it might have been the scaredest person there was King Saul, who was head and shoulders taller than anybody else and quite a man of war himself. We have stories like Jezebel. Remember the story of Elijah and the overthrow of the prophets of the Grove and the prophets of the... there were two different prophets of and hundreds of them killed. In the very next chapter Jezebel says, if I don't make you like one of them and he got out of Dodge, we have stories such as the older 10 sons of Jacob coming back and telling their father this fabricated story of the death of Joseph. And Jacob's reaction was, I'm going to go down in the grave mourning my son.

All of these are scary, terrifying, but those aren't the... those are not the most frightening words of all time. We're going to read those words. They were written down by Matthew, but we will read those words at the end of the sermon just to keep you awake.

I look at the gospel of Matthew quite often. I don't know why it has always been this way with me, but when I think of a story from the ministry of Christ, I tend to first think of Matthew, and then I'll fill in the blanks with Mark. Mark tells stories. Nobody else tells Luke. He adds quite a bit. And, of course, John's was written later, and it was a totally different type of a gospel message. Matthew, though, is a first-hand account. You see, he's one, and John was another one, but Matthew was there and lived it, and he traveled with Christ, and he heard the teachings, and he saw the miracles. So I tend to go to Matthew, and of late I've been reading through Matthew. Amazingly, we're down to weeks, and we'll be gathering to keep the Passover. It won't be that long. Probably about, now, I didn't look at the calendar, but something like eight weeks from tomorrow night. It's a Sunday night. Be that as it may. It's coming, and it'll be here soon. We turn around twice, and it's right there.

I'll give you two titles to this sermon, and you can pick which one you want. The first title is Matthew and Preparing for the Passover. Or, the alternate title is The Four Scariest Words.

The Four Scariest Words, and they are related.

Let's go to the Gospel of Matthew, and let's go first to chapter 3. As I was reading through the Gospel of Matthew, it struck me that there is one message after another, after another, and of course, his Gospel, like all of them, concludes. It culminates with the Passover story as the Lamb of God Jesus Christ will sacrifice for the sins of humanity. But from the time he begins, he starts writing about the things that you and I need to consider regarding our own life. And if we will follow the advice, the Four Warnings of Matthew, and the other writers, but we'll focus on Matthew today, we don't have to be fearful at all that we will hear the Four Scariest Words. In Matthew 3, he begins telling of the coming of John the Baptist. I listened a couple of days ago to Sermon Edith, one of our younger men here on the front row, gave on John the Baptist. And I enjoyed that. Good message. But John, of course, was a close relative. And he was about six months older than Jesus. And he began to preach and to prepare the way. His job was to focus on the one who was yet to come. And John's gospel tells of how he stated, you know, I've got to decrease, but he's going to increase. But in chapter 3, verse 2, as John begins his ministry and saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And we have the story that goes on. We're going to be hitting just some high points here today. We're not going to delve a lot into the story that follows, but you're familiar with that. The great crowds that followed, the many who came to his baptism, and the fact that some of the scribes and Pharisees were scared for their own neck. And they came to his baptism, and he says, you need to go and bear the fruit. You need to prove that you are of a repentant heart.

In chapter 4, we'll come back in a minute to the temptations, but after that, verse 17, here we have the very beginning of Jesus' ministry. And from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Same message.

Mark's gospel records about the same words. We used that a few years ago with our kingdom of God seminar, just breaking down Mark 1.15 into four different parts. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, but his first word was repent. And God tells us repent. That's where it starts. Repentance is not a one-time event. Now, there is a point where it is given. There are scriptures that talk about how God grants repentance. God has granted repentance unto the Gentiles as Peter came back and told the story to the church leaders. There is a time when God, as it were, maybe not quite as dramatically as with Saul, who became the apostle Paul, but there was a time when with each of us, God removed the scales so that we could begin to see and also gave to us the attitude of repentance. But it is not a one-time event. It is a process. It began at a certain time as God made the decision and began drawing us, and it is ongoing. It continues until the last breath goes out of our body. The calling of God is repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repentance in the very simple definition of repent is just simply to turn around and go the other way. Of course, implying, go the way God would want you to go. It is a process. It begins, but it continues. And so the Gospel of Matthew begins by reminding us of the importance of repentance. And as we consider and ponder the upcoming Passover, that is something to consider. Look at that person in the mirror and ask, do I still realize I need to change? I need God's forgiveness. I need God's strength to start taking, to continue taking steps down the path that He has led me. So that's the first point is repentance. And number two is study. Here in chapter four, if we go back up to the temptations, again we won't look at all of them, but the tempter came and said to Jesus in verse three, if you are the Son of God. Always started with the little word, if. Always trying the door to Christ's mind to see if there's any doubt there. If you're the Son of God, command of these stones become bread. But He answered and said, it is written every time Jesus quoted Scripture back to Satan. And that's a pattern for us. Always remember, don't stand on your own strength. You can go to the book of Acts and read of the seven sons of Sceva and see what happened to them. They went out trying to do on their own power.

Always go to God. It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And that's a quotation all the way back to Deuteronomy 8. But it speaks of eating of the Word of God, of living by the Word of God. And that understands we have to study. We cannot teach what is not there. We cannot live by what is not there. We cannot pattern our life upon that which we haven't even read. And so, study to show yourselves approved of God, as Paul wrote in one place. And as he in another place reminded the church that all scripture is given by God breathing, inspiration of God. It is profitable for doctrine, reproof, instruction, and righteousness. The world is filled with those who study the Bible. The world is filled with those who know a whole lot more than any of us about Hebrew and Greek. And they know a lot more about archaeology, but do they live by every word of God?

Well, we're not here to judge them. We're here to judge ourselves. Are we living what we find to be biblically sound? Are we genuine? Are we for real? Not just when we wash up and clean up and dress up and come to church, but what about through the rest of the week? It's 24-7. Study is point two. Number three is attitude. He speaks of the attitudes a Christian must have in chapter five. One of the old-time evangelists long ago used to call these the beautiful attitudes. And I like that. Man has the term the Beatitudes. And again, we won't focus on any. Any one of these can be a sermon or sermons. But Matthew 5 verse 3, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We look at the world around us. All you have to do is turn on the news. You see a lot of people who are, well, we can only conclude they're walking the path of haughtiness. Their focus is on self. At the expense of anybody else. God wants us to be among the poor in spirit, the ones who realize, like David said, I am just a worm. I am nothing except as God may decide to use our lives. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Yes, we are allowed to go through experiences. Unless we would lose loved ones as we all have, how would we know what it feels like how would we be able to, as the saying goes, walk a mile in somebody else's moccasins and be able to give comfort because we've been there and we've been on the receiving end of that as well. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Yes, we get up. And the internal combustion machine here on all of us tells us after a little while, you know, it's time to get something to eat. Time to get a cup of coffee, as many may enjoy.

Time to get some fruit, maybe an egg or two, and get some oatmeal, whatever your breakfast is to you. But do we hunger and thirst in the same way for righteousness? And righteousness is defined as the living by the commandments of God. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Humanly, it seems that we oftentimes fall into the mode of thinking that we want to see others get what they deserve. But we don't want to get what we deserve. And thankfully, our Heavenly Father is not in the business of giving us what we deserve. He's in the forgiveness business. He wants to give us eternal life. There are a lot of factors that come in there, but one factor is He wants us to be those who are quick to extend mercy to others, because that's hinged with obtaining mercy from God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So do we live by these that are called Beatitudes? Do these beautiful attitudes describe us and the way we conduct our lives? Attitude is number three. Number four is prayer. Let's go to chapter six.

Chapter six, now a little later, he gives one of the places, along with Luke's account, he gives this what we have often pointed out as largely an outline of how to pray. The disciples asked him, teach us to pray. At least Luke says that in his gospel. But I want to read a little above there. Let's go to Matthew 6. Let's read verse six. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your father, who is in the secret place, and your father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them, for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask him. We're talking here about a relationship. A relationship, if it is the last, one of the real benchmarks must be communication, quality communication. If there's little communication, or if there's no communication, the relationships start pulling apart at the seams. It will finally wither to the point that it ceases to exist.

Humanly, a marriage is our most intimate relationship. We have to have communication. We have to keep it up with our family. We have to keep it up with people we work with. We have to maintain it with friendships. But what about our Heavenly Father? By what Jesus gives here, and then the outline on how to pray that follows, it understands that in our relationship with God, we have to talk to Him. When we study, He speaks to us. It's a two-way street. There's giving, there's taking, there's receiving. And over the years, we probably all could plot out our study and prayer. And Mike Fuschi spoke about Christian meditation. We could probably graph it. We have our ups and our downs. Times we do better. Times we have to grab ourselves by the collar and jumpstart it, get it going again. And thankfully, God looks at the long-term impact and effect. But with all facets of the spiritual side of life, we look to the example Himself who is Jesus Christ. And when we read stories of His life and times, there were times when He just got away out in the desert. There were times when He devoted, like in Matthew 4, 40 days and 40 nights, the fasting to draw closer to His Father. There's a story of how He spent all night praying. That's our model, our pattern to follow. I was searching around for a little see what kind of research may have come out of late. Sometimes you can go to Barna. There are many other organizations that look at Christian lives. I found one that said, the average Christian spends five to seven minutes a day in prayer. Five to seven minutes.

You know, you could give thanks three times at a meal in a day and just about cover that amount of time. That's not much. There are so many scriptures that talk about being instant in prayer and laboring in prayer. Again, one of the old-time evangelists once told the story of, some of you will remember, you can go to the autobiography of Herbert Armstrong and you'll see in some of the photos, he'd be back. Norman Smith would be over here on the radio dials, and they were doing a broadcast. Mr. Armstrong, back in the recording room behind the desk and to his side, was Loma Armstrong, Mrs. Armstrong. Someone asked her, how many times a day do you pray? And her answer without hesitation was hundreds of times. There were times she would sit there as her husband spoke and she would pray. There were times she sat there in meetings and she would pray and no one knew it. Hundreds of times. So prayer. A little further here in chapter 6, we find our fifth point, and that is forgiveness. And forgiveness is one of those acts that separates the men and the women from the boys and the girls. It seems we have so much difficulty in truly forgiving, as the one parable says, from the heart. Someone else's trespass is against us. Matthew 6, verse 14, for if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. And so here we see it's conditional. By nature, we like to hold grudges. We like to, well, we do things like avoid contact. We give others the cold shoulders. We refuse to look at or talk to another person who's here in the body of Christ. We do that because we're carnal, because we have a distance to travel. A lot of times we hold grudges or we avoid others because we haven't forgiven. And if we don't forgive, God says, I won't forgive you.

Then there'll be a payday for that too. So that's number five, it's forgiveness. Number six is judge. Let's go to the next chapter, chapter seven. Judge, judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with what measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and do not consider the plank in your own eye? That's a strange quirk of human nature. We can look across an audience.

We can look across a workplace or across the family. We can look across and easily see flaws in other people, but we stand there in the morning or late at night to brush our teeth, and we look at that person in the mirror, and we can't see the glaring problems that are there. God's the one that has to open our eyes that we can see. But when Paul wrote to the church at Corinth on the topic of the Passover, he made a statement essentially that if you will judge yourselves, you will not be judged.

We aren't qualified to judge other people. Samuel was sent to the household of Jesse, and when he saw Elia be a good-looking guy, and he thought, surely the Lord's anointed is here? And God said, no. You're looking on the outward appearance. I look on the heart. Seven sons, and none of them was the Lord's anointed. And then finally, there was, oh yeah, there's this young lad out with the flock, and that was David. We make all these judgments in life. We make all these, well, we get first impressions, and they're so hard to overcome and to get rid of.

But here where it uses the word judge, it comes from the Greek word kryno, k-r-i-n-o, and strongs. This is word number 2919. Greek word 2919. It offers these definitions to try, to conclude, to damn, to decree, to determine. And we have all these scriptural condemnations of judging in areas that we're not qualified to judge, and we do it anyhow. Now there's another word, criterion, which is assessing based on law or standard, and we can do that, but we make these judgments about other people's heart and character, and we're totally incapable of doing that.

And that's what, through Matthew, God reminds us of here. Only God can judge, and one of God's names is jealous, and he's rightfully jealous that we don't presume to take judgment that he reserves for himself. Number seven is faith. We have a fascinating story in Matthew chapter eight. The story begins in verse five. It goes down through verse 13. It's the story of the when he was at Capernaum. A centurion came to him. A centurion was not a Jew. He was a Roman soldier. We don't know where he was from. It tells us of Cornelius that he was, I think it says, of the Italian band.

So apparently he was Italian or from that area, but this man could have been from anywhere across what we call modern-day Europe or northern Africa, or parts to the east even. But this centurion somehow recognized there was something special about this Jesus. His ministry, his life, his words. And he went to him pleading with him, saying, Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. And Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. But it's what follows that is most fascinating. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only speak a word and my servant will be healed.

For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. I say to this one, Go, and he goes, to another, Come, and he comes. And to my servant, do this. And he does it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled and said to those who followed assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith not even in Israel. And I say to you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

Speaking here of the kingdom from the four corners of the earth, peoples will come. But the sons of the kingdom, the very people he was from and of and ministered to, the sons of the kingdom will be cast out in outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Faith, speak the word. My servant will be healed. Faith is the ability to believe the humanly impossible. Faith is a higher level of seeing who and what God truly is.

Faith has been defined as the degree to which we believe God. And so we look in the mirror and we ask that person we see, do I walk by faith or do I live my life based upon what I see through human eyesight? Faith is number seven. Number eight is lose life. I'm just trying to abbreviate these points, either one word or two or three, but lose life. He talks about that in chapter 10, that with our calling we're to give up what may be nearest and dearest to us, because the calling of God is more important. Matthew 10, let's just notice verses 37 through 39. It's kind of the heart and core of the point. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He's not saying, don't love your family. We are to love our family, but in a comparison manner, Christ has to be first. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. Each of us has so many hours in a given day. We all have the amount of time, same amount of time.

We also have a finite amount of time to live. There's truth to the old saying that tomorrow is promised to no one, and it would behoove us to number our days, count our blessings, realizing somewhere down the line our last breath is going to go out, and that's it. We've run our race. Losing our life speaks of the degree to which we offer our time as a sacrifice to God, to His work, to our brethren. This includes acts of kindness. This includes acts of service. This includes fellowship and hospitality and laboring in prayer, one for another, because all of this takes time, and then time is our life. Do we give our life, do we give our time for others and for God? Number nine is words, because we are judged based upon the words that come out of our mouth. Matthew 12, well, the passage would be verses 31 through 37. Let's just notice a part of this. It talks about, in verse 33, you either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else the tree bad and its fruit bad. A tree is known by its fruits. What are we talking about? Well, we're not talking about trees. We're talking about human beings. We're known by our fruits. What do we leave behind us in the wake of our life?

Verse 36, but I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. Those are sobering words right there. We have all, I have so many times said words I would have liked to have gotten back. In the internet age, there are so many times I've clicked send and thought, oh, no, but once that email goes, it's gone. You can't unring a bell, and these words are going to be used to judge us. That's why if we lie about someone, if we gossip about someone, if we stab another person in the back with our words, we answer to God for that. And we might answer the man, too, because most societies have laws against slander, libel. You can cross a certain point and be held accountable legally in the courts of man today. But more importantly, we have to answer to God. That's where the scripture tells us, let your speech be seasoned with salt. Salt on kind of a bland vegetable makes it more palatable, enjoyable, easier to get down.

Paul said that reminded us that we're to bring every thought into the captivity of Christ. And it is the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks, so that heart has to be right. And we need to consider the potential impact of the words we leave behind. Do we leave people encouraged, built up, edified, or do they feel worse from the amount of time that they were around us? Point number 10 is reconcile. Let's go a few chapters forward to chapter 18. The list we're covering obviously is not an exhaustive list. There are so many other points we could bring out, but we look at highlights here today. Things that I believe God tells us through Matthew to consider every day of the year, frankly, but especially so, as in just a few weeks, we gather to take the symbols of the Body and Blood of Christ. Matthew 18, verses 15 through 18. It tells us, Moreover, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you've gained your brother. But if you will not hear, take one or two more. It quotes the Old Testament statement, things are established by two or three witnesses. Verse 17, if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. I wonder how Matthew felt sometimes when he's writing down the words of Jesus. And remember what Matthew was when he came along. He was a tax collector. And granted, in that society, the tax collector was rightfully so looked upon with scorn. The tax collector was a Jew who worked for Rome to take taxes and tribute from Jews to give to Rome. And they were notorious for skimming off their own part, feathering their own nests.

Matthew may well have been one of those, but he changed. Maybe he fully agreed. Maybe Christ spoke these words and looked over at Matthew.

But it says, go to your brother when there's something, an issue that comes between you. Probably the worst thing we can do is just brood and stew about something and let it fester underneath. And probably the worst thing we can do is rather than going to your brother, going to other people. Because that ratchets it up several notches and it's no longer just friction between two, or maybe there are more than two, a small group, it takes it to others.

It's hard to see that line out there where there's a step taken down the path of sowing discord and sowing seeds of division. We live in a day and age where emails, social media of any type can so often make it worse. But God says, go to your brother. The two of you work it out. It takes forgiveness. It takes repentance. If you're ever going to have reconciliation. Now, you can only do your part. I can only do my part. There are times when you want to resolve, go and discuss, and resolve an issue. And that brother or sister says, no, they won't talk about it. We at least can do our part and wait and maybe the time will open up later on. We are to do what we can do to strive to make peace. Sadly, too many times there's a breach in a relationship and we do what well. My phrase is, you love a person at a distance. You hope the very best for them. You want them to be in God's kingdom. But if you're apart, life goes better. If you're together, you have the sparks fly on a regular basis. It's still not solving. It's still not reconciling because it takes both or all involved to make reconciliation happen with the help of God. Number 11 is love. And in this context, we're talking about love one for another. And let's go to Matthew chapter 25. Here we have a parable. In the parable, we have the picture painted of the Son of Man sitting on his throne and we have humanity separated on the right hand and to the left hand. It begins in verse 31. It goes all the way through the chapter to verse 46. Again, we'll just notice a little bit. Let's go to verse 41 where he addresses those who are on the left hand. Verse 41, then he will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you? Then he will say to answer them, saying, Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. William Barclay's commentary on this story makes this statement. Barclay says, God will judge us in accordance with our reaction to human needs. And Jesus here describes a group of people who did not take time to show these tiny, these small or maybe large acts of kindness one to another. You see, love is defined by our acts of service to each other within the church, within our family, in the community, in the world at large. We happen to have a President of the United Church of God right now. I think that Mr. and Mrs. Kubik really have tender, loving hearts. Many years ago, they started LifeNets. And if somebody needs a wheelchair somewhere, they want to see they get it. If somebody needs glasses or shirts, boy, I remember taking a box of white shirts up to the general conference of elders because they were going to be shipped down somewhere into Central or South America, where the kids had to have those to go to school. They set a wonderful example. And when Mr. Kubik writes, you just realize he's got a heart that has a lot of compassion, a lot of love for fellow man. But for those who do not do so, he said, depart from me. Let's back up to chapter 7.

One more passage, and we'll wrap this up. But one more point also. Number 11 was love for one another. Number 12 is do the will of the Father. The world is filled with those like to talk about God a lot, but do they do what God says? Well, that's the question. Again, we're not, it's not our job to judge them. We judge ourselves. Matthew 7, verses 21 and 22. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?

He who does the will of my Father. The will of the Father involves more than prophesying in his name. The will of the Father, if we put it into modern terms, as I see a Beyond Today magazine lying over here, it's a lot more than printing magazines and booklets and having a telecast and internet presence. If that's all we do, then we'll be found unprofitable servants. And we do need to do that. I mean, all these things, and have an outreach. It involves more than using God's name in every sentence we speak. It involves a lot more than casting out demons in Christ's name or working miracles in his name.

It involves conducting our life in such a way that we are a living, breathing, walking, talking advertisement for the Kingdom of God that comes from within. It's a part of our heart. It's part of who and what we are and what we stand for.

The four scariest words of time itself are found in the next verse, verse 23. And let us read those now. And then I will declare to them, all right, here it's coming, I never knew you.

Those four words would be the most horrifying words to ever hear said of us. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.

But you know what we've covered here?

Matthew, we could probably find the same list in Mark or in Luke, but there is a path to walk. It's not just before Passover, it's every day of the year. It's a path of repentance, of studying, of striving to live by every word. It's a path of prayer, of forgiveness, of judging ourselves, not others.

Of walking by faith, of giving our life for others, of struggling with God's help to reconcile with those we have breaches with, and it involves doing His will. So let us use some of these stories that Matthew wrote down as a springboard to prepare for the upcoming Passover. They describe and define how to be found among those on Christ's right hand, the ones to whom He said, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.