The danger of disregarding Jesus

Now, Sarah's going to come and read for us.

The text is in the Gospel of Matthew.

We're back in Matthew chapter 12, verse 15.

Matthew 12:15

You'll find it on page 977.

If you're using a church Bible, thank you, Sarah.

So, this is just after the Pharisees are plotting how they might kill Jesus.

Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place.

A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.

He warned them not to tell others about him.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah.

Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love in whom I delight.

I will put my spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

He will not quarrel or cry out.

No one will hear his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.

Till he has brought justice to victory.

In his name, the nations will put their hope.

Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute,

and Jesus healed him so that he could both talk and see.

The people were astonished and said,

Could this be the son of David?

But when the Pharisees heard this, they said,

It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them,

Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined,

and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.

If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself.

How then can his kingdom stand?

And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out?

So then, they will be your judges.

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons,

then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions

unless he first ties up the strong man?

Then he can plunder his house.

Whoever is not with me is against me,

and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

And so I tell you,

Every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven,

but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,

but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven,

either in this age or in the age to come.

So we're back in Matthew 12, page 977,

looking at that chapter.

And we're really thinking about the danger of disregarding Jesus this evening.

But maybe we can begin picturing Matthew, the gospel writer.

So these events have taken place,

and about 30 years or so later,

Matthew sits down to pen his account of the life of Jesus.

So he has his pen in one hand,

he has his Old Testament scroll perhaps in the other.

He's looking back,

led by the Spirit on the events and the teaching of the life of Jesus.

But he's also very aware of different reactions to Jesus.

Matthew grew up at a time,

and Jesus grew up at a time when there was a very enthusiastic movement

among the Jews asking the question,

when will the Lord return as King as He promised?

What will it be like?

How will He come?

And what will change?

And of course, Matthew, because he knows Jesus,

he knows the answer.

He knows that God has come in His Son, the Lord Jesus.

He is the promised King.

And so we hear that, for example, in Matthew chapter 12, verse 28.

Matthew 12:28

He remembers Jesus' words as he says,

if it's by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons,

then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

And as Matthew is aware that Jesus is the King,

and he's looking into his Bible,

he's asking himself,

what Bible passage sums up Jesus' life and ministry?

And the Spirit leads him to Isaiah chapter 42.

Isaiah 42 · chapter mention

So we've got that lengthy quotation

from one of the servant songs of Isaiah.

And this is one thing that I want to remind us,

to encourage us this evening,

that what you and I need,

whether we're Christians or not Christians,

we need to see Jesus.

And how do we see Jesus?

We meet Him in His Word.

And Matthew understands that,

so he reads the Old Testament,

and he sees Jesus.

His friend, His Savior, His King.

And he understands that God has fulfilled His promise,

the servant, the Lord, has come.

So I don't know how everyone has come here this week.

Perhaps some of us have had a very tough week.

Perhaps some of us, we're struggling in our faith.

Perhaps we have questions about Christianity.

What we need is to ask,

Lord, show me Jesus.

The Jesus that Matthew knew,

and He reveals to us.

But again, as we think about Matthew writing his gospel,

and as he looks back 30 years in the past,

as he looks around his own society,

there's an other influence that he's clearly aware of

that's on his mind.

It's the influence of the Pharisees.

We thought about this a bit last week.

The religious leaders of the day,

who are also firmly opposed to Jesus,

therefore firmly opposed to God's kingdom of grace.

And the pressure from these authorities,

which began on Jesus,

is now impressing itself on the church.

They are under pressure.

And then there are the pressures from the Roman Empire.

And so as Matthew writes his gospel

to the first generation of Christians,

he's wanting them to see from his gospel

that their verdict,

their response to Jesus matters.

That what we're dealing with is life and death reality.

And so this little text in Matthew,

it reminds us what's at stake for us personally

as we consider Jesus.

It reminds us what's at stake for the people around us,

for the people that we love

when we think about Jesus and response to Him.

And it also reminds us of the significance of our mission,

the mission of the church,

that as God's people we are called to.

We proclaim Christ and His good news

and we call people to response.

And so our text really invites us to do two things.

It invites us to consider the character of Christ

and it invites us to consider the cost of rejecting Christ.

And what I hope we can see is that because Jesus is God's beloved Son,

because He is the servant King,

to disregard Him in our lives is disaster.

But let's begin focusing our attention on the character of Christ,

especially here in verses 15 to 21.

But just to recognize the context Sarah reminded us,

it starts with verse 14,

the Pharisees are plotting to kill Jesus.

And then as we get to verse 15,

we see Jesus is doing ministry,

but then He's warning people not to tell others about Him.

So we know that this is also a time

when people have false expectations

and misunderstandings about Jesus.

So you've got Pharisees who are plotting

and you've got people with false expectation.

And in the middle of that, we've got Jesus

and He's loving people and He's healing people

and He's showing us what the kingdom of God is like,

but He's also saying,

be quiet.

Because people need to understand who Jesus really is.

And at that point, for so many,

they had a false view of some kind of

political revolutionary Messiah.

And maybe when we think about that,

it reminds us of the importance of

which voice we listen to

when it comes to truths about Jesus.

That we don't listen to the world's opinions.

We don't even settle for the faith of our parents.

We don't even stop at certain truths about Jesus.

We need to get to know Jesus personally.

It's one of the reasons we come to church.

That we would have a personal encounter

with the Lord Jesus in His Word.

It's one of the great privileges that we have

whenever we open God's Word in our home,

individually or as families.

We get to encounter Jesus to hear Him speak.

And I think it's really important to remember that

and to ask ourselves,

are we enjoying time with Jesus day by day?

And to help us, Matthew highlights four things

that we can know about Jesus,

Matthew's friend and Matthew's king and Matthew's savior.

And here's the first thing for us to remember

as we think about the character of Christ.

First, that Jesus is God's beloved son.

Look at verse 18.

And this is from the beginning of Isaiah 42.

Here is my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love in whom I delight.

That's God's verdict on Jesus.

And you know, Matthew has heard personally

God's verdict on Jesus.

Because remember, Matthew was there

when Jesus was baptized.

And when Jesus came out of the water

and the spirit came down

and the voice from heaven,

this is my son and I love him.

And Matthew was also a friend of James and Peter and John.

And so after Jesus has risen from the dead,

they get told about the transfiguration,

that point up the mountain

where Jesus shone with the glory of God.

And as Jesus is shining with the glory of God,

there's the voice from heaven.

There's the father.

This is my son.

I love him.

Listen to him.

And then Matthew, as he thinks about that,

he turns to Isaiah 42.

And it captures the reality that he's come to know

that God the Father has joy in God the Son.

That as God the Father looks upon Jesus' life on this earth,

he is well pleased.

He is well pleased with Jesus' perfect obedience

at all stages in his life.

When he is 12 years old and he says to his anxious parents,

I must be in my father's house.

And we know that Jesus lived his life

being about his father's business.

We know that the obedience of Jesus

led him always to resist temptation,

intense temptation that would only grow more intense

because he never caved in.

The father has joy in Jesus

because of his perfect love.

We've been thinking about the perfect love of Jesus

when we heard him in the last chapter,

chapter 11, verse 28,

inviting people to find the rest of God,

to find God's rest in knowing Jesus as Savior.

We see Jesus displaying the perfect love of God the Father

when he brings healing as he does here.

When he shows compassion on the crowds,

go back to chapter 9, verse 36,

it's Jesus' compassion on helpless people

who are looking for God,

but they don't know that Jesus is God's King

that leads him to send the disciples on mission.

And the father is pleased with the love

and the compassion of his son, Jesus.

And so he tells his story.

At the same time that there are some,

the Pharisees, who want to destroy Jesus,

and there's many that are captured

as willing to dismiss Jesus

as an irrelevance,

he tells us God the Father,

he delights in Jesus,

his beloved son.

And I think the encouragement for us as Christians

is the invitation that we have

to get into the gospels

to get to know Jesus better,

that we would share the father's delight

in Jesus, the son,

that we would learn to call precious

what God calls precious.

He delights in Jesus

and we're invited to do the same.

So Jesus is God's beloved son.

We also are told here

that Jesus is God's suffering servant.

It's there in verse 18.

Here is my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love in whom I delight.

And the servant songs in the book of Isaiah

become a great hope

that one day a Messiah will come,

that redemption and rescue

and deliverance and peace will come.

And so the question that's being asked

in the first century in Jerusalem and beyond

is what will it look like

when God comes and acts as he's promised?

What will this rescue be like?

What will it look like

when God's king comes to establish his kingdom,

to bless the nations as he's promised?

Well, what answer does Matthew offer?

What answer do the gospels offer

as they present us Jesus?

It looks like a humble servant

who is ready and willing to heal the despised,

to care for those society has cast aside,

to welcome the excluded,

and to demonstrate mercy.

And if we know our Bibles

and we know our gospels,

our minds will perhaps go to some of those stories

where Jesus extends the mercy and grace of God.

Perhaps we think of his encounter

with the woman at the well,

that notorious sinner,

and he shares deep theology,

but ultimately he identifies himself

as the promised one,

the source of living water.

Or perhaps we think about

how Jesus showed mercy to people

from the wrong places.

Earlier in this gospel,

a centurion's faith is honored.

I've not met faith like this anywhere in Israel.

There'll be people who'll come from

north and south and east and west

and they'll be part of the kingdom.

Well, those who had the Old Testament,

those who should have seen the Messiah,

they're going to miss out.

Jesus showed mercy to people

with the wrong look,

people with leprosy,

people with withered hands.

When the king comes,

when the servant comes,

it looks like a figure

riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.

ruling in humility

for humble people.

It looks like a king

come to establish God's kingdom

by way of sacrifice

and self-giving

and a death on the cross.

And it looks like what we read about

in verses 19 and 20.

This servant, this one,

this spirit-filled one,

he will not quarrel or cry out.

No one will hear his voice in the streets.

A bruised reed he will not break

and a smoldering wick he'll not snuff out

till he's brought justice through to victory.

It looks like gentleness

and compassion.

It looks like a Messiah

who is so patient with weak faith,

who is so patient with Matthew

and the other disciples

in all of their misunderstanding.

It looks like a Savior

who will not despise

fragile faith,

but who honors and protects

all of his own.

I have a friend who

used to work for,

in Midlothian,

the mobile library service.

And on day one of his work,

he thought it was the only day of his work

because on day one,

he crashed the van.

And so he had that fear all day long.

What's going to happen

when I get back to the depot

and I have to tell my boss

what's happened?

So at the end of the day,

he went in with great fear

and trepidation,

expecting the worst,

only to be told,

it's no problem,

these things happen.

Now imagine the relief

to be met with gentleness

and mercy.

It's exactly what we find

from the heart of Jesus.

And it's the encouragement

that we've been hearing from Jesus.

It's that encouragement

of chapter 11, verse 28.

Come to me,

all you who are weary and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

We're invited to remember

the heart of Jesus.

Remember he described his heart

in verse 29 of chapter 11.

I am gentle and humble.

in heart.

And the most common emotion

that Jesus shows in the Gospels

is the compassion of God.

And that's so important

for us to remember

as the people of God

because I think it's really easy

for us to despise ourselves

when we fail and fall short.

It's really easy

to beat ourselves up,

never mind looking outside at others.

But our Jesus,

he is gentle with us,

and he doesn't despise weak faith.

And what we discover wonderfully

is that our sin

and our suffering,

it actually draws out

more of Jesus' heart to us

to meet our needs.

So he is the beloved son

and he is the suffering servant.

And here in Matthew chapter 12,

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

we also discover

more of the character of Christ

as he is announced

to be the light

to the nations.

That's part of Isaiah's phrase

about this coming servant.

Now Matthew doesn't quote

as far as verse 6

of chapter 42,

but if he did,

that's what we would hear.

If he'd quoted from Isaiah chapter 49

Isaiah 49 · chapter mention

about the servant,

we would hear

that it wasn't enough

just for this servant

to come and be a light

for the Jews.

He had to be a light

to the Gentiles also.

So there is something

in the character

of this one,

this Jesus,

that represents good news

for all peoples.

And here we have it

at the end of verse 18.

This spirit-filled one,

he will proclaim justice

to the nations.

And in verse 21,

we see how wide

the welcome is.

In his name,

the nations

will put their hope.

So when God sends his king

to establish his kingdom,

the promise reaches beyond

just that small portion

of Israel.

It extends

to all the nations

of the earth.

The call of Jesus,

the good shepherd.

Remember when he said,

I have sheep

that are not

in this sheepfold,

but I must call them

and they must come in too

so that there be

one flock

and one shepherd.

Or if you were here

this morning

and we were in

the story of Abraham,

Abraham gets that promise

that someone

from his family line

will be a source

of blessing

to all the nations.

It all flows

from Jesus,

the one who declares

himself to be

the light

of the world.

And what we discover

about Jesus

is someone

who,

as it were,

rolls out

the welcome mat.

Not just for

the elite

or not just for

certain types

of people

who might make

the cut

the way,

you know,

a Hollywood red carpet

event works.

He extends

a welcome

and offers

hope to

all.

It's often said

that Matthew

is the most Jewish

of all the gospel

writers,

but we still have

significant hints

within Matthew's

gospel that he

understands the good

news of Jesus

is universal.

So the first

worshippers,

and we think about

it most Christmases,

the first worshippers

of Jesus we find

in Matthew's gospel,

it's the Magi

from the east.

We spoke about

the centurion's

faith,

the one who was

honoured

when he said

to Jesus,

Jesus you don't

even need to

come to my house

to heal my servant,

just say the word

and he'll be healed

and his faith

is honoured.

Or we think about

Jesus crossing

the sea

to heal

the demon

possessed.

Matthew's gospel

tells us that

Jesus is for

all nations

and all people

and of course

think about

when Matthew

is writing,

he's writing now

maybe in the mid-60s

by which point

the spirit

has come

first on the

apostles

and then on the

church

and the church

has been sent

out on that

great commission

and the church

is both announcing

and showing

the saving reign

of Jesus

that faith in Jesus

transforms lives

and builds

a new community

a new society

and that movement

is going

as Jesus

said it would

from Jerusalem

to Judea

to Samaria

and to the ends

of the earth.

Why is this

good news?

Well it's good

news for us

personally

if we've received

this message

because it reminds

us just how

wide and inclusive

the gospel message

is.

Believe in the

Lord Jesus

and you will

be saved.

But it's also

hugely important

for our mission

that this is saying

to us we can

go anywhere

to anyone

from any place

and say to them

Christ Jesus

has died

for you.

Christ Jesus

is the saviour

that you need

regardless of

a background

regardless of

language or culture.

And of course

it's realities

like these as well

that matter

for global mission.

Jesus has now

returned to heaven

but he's

continuing to do

his work.

As he sends

the spirit

the spirit

fills his people

the spirit

fills the church

and the church

proclaims Christ.

And so

John Piper

is somebody

who writes

a lot about

mission

and he would

say that

every Christian

is called

to either

go on

mission

or to

pray

and to

support

mission

or being

disobedient.

And it's

the reality

of Jesus

being light

to all the

nations

that makes

that so.

And it also

matters then

for our

gospel welcome.

It's one of

the wonderful

things about

this time of

year isn't it?

When the whole

nation

seem to be

gathering in

Edinburgh

it should be

the case

that anybody

should be

able to walk

in through

those doors

and feel

welcome.

to feel

the welcome

to belong

before they

believe.

And there

should be

something in

the loving

welcome of

the church

that should

help someone

to believe.

To make

the message

of the gospel

seem more

credible.

Because someone

should come

into a church

and see

here's a group

of people

and they look

very different

and they seem

to come from

different places

and they're from

different ages

and stages

but they love

one another

and they're

kind to each

other

and they

practice

generosity

together

and so we're

breaking down

some barriers

perhaps

so that people

might be more

open to

our message.

Because we

remember that

every local

church has a

mission.

We have a

mission here

in Beclood.

Galashiels

has a mission

to make

Jesus known,

to make

his message

intelligible

and credible

and desirable

for the

communities

in which

God has

placed us.

So Matthew

is reminding

us,

Jesus is

the beloved

son,

he is

the servant,

he is

the light

to the

nations

and he's

also

the king

of grace.

Many of

Matthew's

contemporaries

as we said,

they had a

particular

expectation

for what

a Messiah

would be

like.

They're

expecting

political

hero,

they're

expecting

overthrow,

they're

expecting

the

establishment

of a

new

order.

And perhaps

it's a

natural

expectation

that we

have.

Often

it's the

way the

world

works.

If you

have a

powerful

role,

then you

may well

be tempted

to operate

by force

of will

or even

the force

of arms.

Look with

me at

verses 22

and 23

and see

just how

different

Jesus is.

Then they

brought

Jesus,

a demon

possessed

man who

was blind

and mute

and Jesus

healed him

so that he

could both

talk and

see.

All the

people were

astonished and

said,

could this

be the

son of

David?

Jesus is a

remarkably

powerful figure

doing remarkable

things and he

has this

powerful,

remarkable title.

Son of

David was the

great hope that

in the future

someone would

come and

he'd be

God's

king,

that God

would rule

through his

chosen king

and people

are beginning

to ask,

is it

Jesus?

But just

recognize,

how does

Jesus use

his power?

How does

he use

this role

which is

his role?

Well,

he uses it

to extend

God's

grave.

He uses

it to

show

healing

and

deliverance.

He will

use it

to bring

forgiveness

and to

display

mercy

and to

give people

hope.

And because

this is

true,

because Jesus

is both

wonderfully

powerful

and at the

same time

wonderfully

loving,

you and I

can trust

him.

Here is

one power

figure who

will never

exploit or

abuse his

role or

his people.

And so

we can

submit to

him knowing

it's for

our good.

So we

can gladly

seek his

kingdom.

So Matthew

has been

showing us

the character

of Christ

to help us

to see

this is why

it would be

so dangerous

to disregard

and ignore

Jesus,

simply because

he is so

good,

because he

is so

wonderful

and loving

and to

miss out

on this

one would

be to

miss out

on so

much.

But he

gives a

second

answer

about the

danger of

disregarding

Jesus,

and now

the tone

changes

as he

focuses on

the cost

of rejecting

Christ,

from verse

24 onwards.

I suspect

we all have

this kind

of person

in our

lives,

the kind

of person

that we

would say

of them,

well they

wouldn't

hurt a

fly,

or nobody

has a

bad word

to say

about them,

they're always

ready to

help

others.

The kind

of person

you want

to be

with,

perhaps the

kind of

person you

want to

be when

you grow

up.

So imagine

that's your

friend,

and you know

so many

wonderful things

about him,

and you meet

someone else,

and at the

very mention

of their

name,

you can

see a

person's

blood boil

And their

fists

clench,

and what

they speak

of that

person is

hate and

anger.

We'd be

shocked,

wouldn't we?

confused.

Matthew has

been introducing

Jesus to

us,

the real

Jesus,

the personal

Jesus,

full of

love and

compassion,

doing good

and bringing

grace,

but the

Pharisees,

verse 14,

plotting how

they may

kill Jesus,

verse 22,

what's their

verdict on

Jesus?

It's only

by Beelzebul,

the prince of

demons,

that this

fellow drives

out demons.

What's going

on here?

As J.C.

Ryle puts it,

it's the

human heart

showing its

true colors

in rejecting

God and

his chosen

servant.

And this

little section

reminds us

that to

disregard

Jesus has

eternal

consequences.

And I

think it's

important for

us to

remember that,

that we

would guard

our own

hearts,

that if

we're

Christians,

we'd want

to walk

closely with

Jesus,

and we'd

want to pray

for others

knowing this

to be true.

So as we

think very

briefly about

Jesus' dialogue

with the

Pharisees,

notice again,

first of all,

that the

identity question

comes up.

Verses 25 to

29, the

question is

really, well,

whose kingdom

is Jesus

in?

Because they

have said

very clearly,

well, we

think Jesus

is working

and siding

with Satan.

And so Jesus

takes the time

to expose

their faulty

logic,

that a house

divided against

itself can't

stand,

that makes

no sense.

He makes

plain that

Jesus is

working against

the kingdom

of darkness,

he's standing

against Satan,

he is the

strong man

who ties up

Satan so

that he can

bring people

from that

kingdom of

darkness

into the

kingdom of

God.

And so to

get that

wrong is

hugely

important.

And Jesus

says as

much very

directly in

verse 30

when he

says,

whoever is

not with

me is

against

me,

and whoever

does not

gather with

me scatters.

Inviting

everyone to

consider,

well, whose

side are we

on?

To recognize

that no one

is a spiritual

Switzerland,

we're either

for or we're

against Jesus.

Or as he

puts it,

we're either

gathering people

into the

kingdom of

God as we

are gathered

ourselves,

or we're

scattering.

And so

Jesus'

warning is

clear.

We must

take him

and his

claims

seriously.

We must

examine what

the Bible

says for

our verdict,

and we

must follow

where the

evidence leads,

and we

must nail

our colors

to the

mast as

we respond

with faith.

But he

doesn't just

stop at the

identity

question,

he also

moves on

to the

destiny

question.

There's a

very sobering

reality,

isn't there,

in verses

31 and

32,

when Jesus

makes plain

that there

is a sin

that won't

be forgiven,

there's a

heart attitude

towards Jesus

that leads

to eternal

punishment.

Verse 31,

so I tell

you,

every kind

of sin

and slander

can be

forgiven,

but blasphemy

against the

Spirit will

not be

forgiven.

Anyone who

speaks a

word against

the Son

of Man

will be

forgiven,

but anyone

who speaks

against the

Holy Spirit

will not be

forgiven,

either in

this age

or in

the age

to come.

It's a

kind of

saying of

Jesus we

need to

be very

careful with.

We need

to be

careful about

tender

consciences.

first of

all,

what is

Jesus

not

saying?

He's not

saying if

we ever

say a

bad word

about

Jesus,

then we

can't

be

forgiven.

We only

need to

look as

far as

Peter,

the

disciple,

to see

that.

Remember

Peter calling

down

curses on

himself.

I don't

know that

man.

So it's

not that.

Nor is

it all

unbelief and

opposition to

Jesus.

Think about

Paul,

the great

apostle.

Before Jesus

met him on

the Damascus

road, he

hated and

despised Jesus

and the

church.

And later he

would look

back and say,

I'm the

chief of

sinners.

But I

acted in

ignorance.

So it's

not that

either.

Maybe to

begin to

get to what

he's talking

about, think

about what

the Pharisees

are doing.

So here

they are,

they have

front row

seats to

the life and

ministry of

Jesus.

They hear

his teaching,

they see

his miracles,

they see

his character,

and they see

the Spirit

working in

and through

Jesus.

And we're

told that the

Father has

pleasure in

Jesus and

he comes

according to

the Father's

plan and

their verdict

is Jesus

is satanic.

Jesus is

part of the

devil's kingdom.

And so

they continue

this public

persistent

attack.

They are

turned against

Jesus and

they're turning

others against

Jesus.

Remember,

even as

Jesus is

being put

on trial,

they're stirring

up the crowd.

Away with

this man,

crucify him.

And so

this is

public

determination

to reject

what they

see,

to attribute

evil to

what is

good,

to deny

the truth

of the

gospel.

But there

is within

this a

warning,

isn't there,

that to

say no

to what

we're told

of Jesus

and the

gospel,

if we

never turn

away from

sin to

trust in

him,

if we

never change,

and follow,

then there

can be

no

forgiveness.

And so

if we're

here and

we're not

yet a

Christian,

that's

something that

we must

do,

we must

humble

ourselves

to turn

to trust

in Jesus

and to

do it

as a

matter

of

urgency.

So

Matthew

writes

to warn

us by

looking at

the Pharisees

here,

that

disregarding

Jesus

is

dangerous

because

of who

Jesus

is,

because

of

what

we

would

miss,

because

he

is

so

precious,

he

is

so

good,

to

miss

him

would

be

to

miss

everything.

But then

there's also

the other

side,

that it's

dangerous

to disregard

Jesus

because

of the

eternal

cost

of ignoring

him and

his claims.

We thought

this morning

about the

Titanic.

On the

night that

Titanic

sank,

there were

six

iceberg

warnings

that came

in.

Now some

of them

were missed,

others were

simply ignored,

and we know

how that

finished.

And so we

recognize that

the importance

of not ignoring

Jesus,

of not ignoring

his warnings,

of not ignoring

his promise

of salvation,

rather to come

to find life

and joy

and rest

in him.

Let's pray

together.

Lord God,

we thank

you for the

way Matthew

could write

of his

friend,

of his

savior,

of his

king,

to look

through the

pages of

the Bible

and to see

Jesus fulfilling

that great

prophecy of

Isaiah 42.

We thank

you for

sending Jesus

to be such

a humble,

suffering

servant,

to be willing

to wash

his disciples'

feet,

to be willing

to wash

us clean

of our

sin,

by his

death

on the

cross.

We thank

you that

he is a

king,

but he

is a

king marked

by grace.

We thank

you for

how tender

and gentle

he is

with us

when our

faith is

weak.

We thank

you that

he is the

one who

will hold

us fast.

We thank

you for

the good

news that

Jesus isn't

just for

some people,

but for

all people,

so we can

have confidence

in proclaiming

Christ as

Lord.

And we

pray too

that you

would remind

us how

important it

is,

how eternally

important it

is to get

our response

to Jesus

right.

Help us and

teach us,

we ask in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.