Thursday, March 1, 2012

February 29, 2012 Wednesday sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert

February 29, 2012 Wednesday Lenten Sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert.
Sermon text - John 18:19-24
18:19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching.
20 "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.
21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said."
22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded.
23 "If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?"
24 Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
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Our Wednesday Lenten series’ theme is "SEE THE CROSS!" That’s not hard to do. Look up to the front chancel wall over the altar. You can see a large cross there. It goes back to 1979 when this church building was dedicated. You can see a small cross on the altar, a gold cross with Jesus pictured on it. That, with the candles, goes back to our old church on Forest Home and Mitchell. I know that was there in the 1950s already, and it could well go back many years before that. We can see crosses elsewhere in our church, like on the front banners, or in our school, and in our homes.
So it is easy to see a cross. But is it really seen? Or is its meaning a secret? Let’s look at today’s sermon theme about the cross.
IT’S NO SECRET!
I BUT FIRST WE ASK: IS IT A SECRET?
1. A cross itself is not a secret.
a) You can often see a cross as a decoration on a wall or a piece
of furniture as referred to before, or as a piece of jewelry,
perhaps on a suit lapel or on a woman’s necklace.
b) But it was not always seen as good. Historically it was seen
as a torture instrument on which people died agonizing deaths.
2. But the cross’s real meaning is a secret.
a) How many looking up at Jesus on the cross saw its real
meaning, understood what was taking place there?
b) Scripture’s answer in 1 Corinthians 1:18 is: "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing." And in
the next chapter it says the rulers did not understand, "for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
3. And it is a secret to us too.
a) These words from 1 Corinthians 2 apply also to us: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."
b) Our little human minds would never come up with God’s plan
involving a cross to save a lost world.
c) So is the cross a secret, a mystery? Yes. But also No.
II IT’S NO SECRET! LISTEN TO OT SCRIPTURE.
1. Scripture starts with the record of the beginning.
a) In the beginning there was no need for a cross, no need for
a saving sacrifice on a cross.
b) When God completed His creating work, including mankind,
"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." No need!
2. But that beginning did not stay good.
a) After God’s creation of a perfect world that included perfect
angels to carry out His will, there was a rebellion among the
angels, and sin entered the world under the leadership of a
fallen angel whom we know as the devil or Satan.
b) Then in the Garden of Eden he came to Eve and Adam and
tempted and persuaded them to join him and his crew in sin.
3. At that point God revealed what was secret.
a) He immediately revealed and promised that someone would
come, born of a woman, who would defeat the devil and be
the answer to our problem of sin.
b) And as the years went by God revealed more and more details
about this Savior: a virgin woman would be the mother; the
child would be born in Bethlehem; He would fulfill the
message of the many OT sacrifices showing that the blood of a
spotless death was needed to atone for sins; He would bear the
iniquity of all; His altar of death would be a tree, a cross; He
would be victorious; He would be our forgiveness, our Savior.
c) Yes, from the beginning the secret was revealed.
III IT’S NO SECRET! LISTEN TO JESUS.
1. Jesus had spoken openly. (19-20)
Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret."
a) For three years Jesus spoke publicly about why He had come
and who He was: that He was the Way and the Truth and the
Life; that He would die and that He would arise from the dead
victorious; and He proved His authority by many miracles.
b) He did that all around the country, out in the open, in their
synagogue meeting places, in the temple in Jerusalem.
2. Large crowds, many people heard Him. (20b-21)
"I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said."
a) We might think of crowds of over 4,000 and over 5,000 who
were fed by Jesus not only with food but with His message.
b) And those who arranged His arrest, here maneuvering Him
to death on a cross, they certainly had heard Him.
3. And surely Jesus is heard today.
a) Many may not believe in who He is and what He did.
b) That’s no different from Jesus’ time.
c) But not hear about Him? That’s not too likely.
IV IT’S NO SECRET! LISTEN TO NT SCRIPTURE.
1. The Gospels and Acts give the history.
a) The details are there, connecting the promises of the Old
Testament with the fulfillment of the New, connecting a Savior
promised with God’s Son come to be that Savior.
b) The Acts of the Apostles shows how sharing that message
began, starting from Jerusalem and spreading far and wide.
2. The Epistles, letters, show the revealed secret going out.
a) Paul had said, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."
Then he went on to say about this secret, "But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit."
b) That revealed secret Paul spread far and wide in his travels.
3. And listen to the last book of the Bible.
a) It begins with the words, "The revelation of Jesus Christ."
b) It pictures for us the wonderfulness of what God has waiting
for us, and ends with Jesus saying, "Yes, I am coming soon."
c) And His Church responds, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."
V IT’S NO SECRET! BUT IT IS REJECTED.
1. There is the rejection of denial on either side of our text.
a) Three times Peter rejected Jesus by denying he knew Jesus.
b) Our text is sandwiched between the first and the last two.
2. Here too we see Jesus and the truth rejected.(22-24)
When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded. "If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?" Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.
a) I like Jesus’ response here. He did nothing to stop what He
knew had to take place. But I like how He spoke up here.
b) The response of Annas? Keep on pushing Jesus to the cross.
3. Rejection continues to this day.
a) Jesus may be very acceptable as a teacher or an example.
b) Or He is acceptable as one way of many to reach heaven.
c) But the truth that He is God’s only Way, that is rejected.
VI IT’S NO SECRET! BELIEVE AND REJOICE.
1. The world will call the cross foolishness. (1 Cor. 1:20ff.)
a) By itself the world can’t figure it out. Scripture says, "Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?"
b) Then Scripture goes on to say, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength."
2. Yes, Christ the crucified is God’s wisdom revealed.
a) There, on the cross, God placed on His innocent Son all of
our sins, made Him pay the wages of our sins.
b) Yes, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
3. In this we rejoice. (1 Cor. 1:30)
a) At the crucifixion Jesus’ enemies rejoiced.
b) But you would not want to be in their shoes now.
c) May we rejoice and join the Apostle Paul in saying, "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
VII IT’S NO SECRET! KEEP IT AND SHARE IT.
1. It’s a revealed secret to keep.
a) It has been revealed to us.
b) Don’t let go of it. Be faithful. Glory in the cross of Christ!
2. It’s a revealed secret to share.
a) You may not want to share a cross necklace with others.
b) But please, use opportunities to share Jesus’ cross, its real
meaning, why He was crucified and what that means.
3. It’s a revealed secret that means life.
a) Today, February 29, is called Leap Day. Calendar makers
many years ago added that day every 4th year with some
exceptions.
b) God from eternity planned to give us not just an occasional
extra day, but to give us eternal days in glory.
c) SEE THE CROSS of Christ. IT’S NO SECRET! There
see God’s answer to sin. There see God’s love for you. There
see your Savior and eternal life!

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