Two Brothers Apart

Thank you. in the car I heard a story about a

Bible college classroom where there was a group

of students, about 25 students, and a seasoned

professor. And it struck the professor that the

class seemed to be not real dialed in. They weren't

real excited about learning the things of God

and what it was that they needed to know. Now,

it's a Bible college class. To get into Bible

college, you have to share your testimony. You

have to profess to be a Christian. Theoretically,

you have to be baptized. And so he thought, well,

they should be pretty fired up about the things

of God. Those are the people that you expect

to be pretty fired up. When I was in Bible college,

pretty much all of my classes, everybody was

pretty fired up. We would debate and struggle

over difficult topics, and we would ask questions

that one week no one could answer, and then we'd

all come back next week, and we'd talk about

it again to have the answers. But this professor

said, well, I think my class is not very fired

up about the things of God, and I don't understand

why that is. So he hatched a plan. What he decided

was at his next class he would come in and he

would bring the very largest Beautiful doughnuts

that he could get We got these great big doughnuts

I didn't understand exactly what a great big

doughnut is until two years ago when Aaron and

I went down to a golf tournament and they had

doughnuts that were big as your head actual doughnuts

same kind of just like you'd get like a frosted

doughnut or glazed doughnut whatever they were

literally this big and We had to split one. It

was way too big for to eat one And anyway, so

he brought in these great big donuts, and he

put one on each student's desk before the students

came in the classroom. And then he asked one

of the students to stay after the week that he

was plotting this, and he said, next week I'd

like you to be part of an object lesson. He said,

how many push -ups do you think you can do? And

he said, I don't know, probably a couple hundred.

Easy. He was a guy who was very physical, well

-built, whatever. He said, I'm not going to do

a couple hundred. And he said, so next week I

would like you to do... maybe 300 push -ups.

And he's like, I don't think I can do 300 push

-ups. And he said, but nonetheless, I would like

you to commit to do that. Can you do that? And

he said, oh, I can sure give it my best. I'll

give it my best try. So the next week he comes

into class and the donuts are on the desk and

the student comes into this town just like normal.

And the students are all like, what are the donuts

for? Did we do something good? And they're excited

for the first time ever because there's donuts,

right? They're not so excited about learning

the word of God, but they're excited about the

donuts. And the young man's name was due to do

the push -ups. His name was Bob. And everybody

noticed that on Bob's desk there was no donut.

And Bob raised his hand and said, I didn't get

a donut. And he said, no. But I would ask you

to come forward. And he did because he'd been

prearranged to do so. And then he went to the

first student in the first desk at the right

-hand side. And he said, no one's allowed to

eat these donuts. And he said, but I ask you,

Bob, would you do 10 push -ups so that... whatever

her name was, Sally can eat her donut. And Bob's

like, oh, sure. And he flops down on the floor,

and he does the 10 push -ups, no problem, jumps

back up, and he's beaming, he's excited, and

Sally starts eating her donut, and she's happy,

working down the row. Each student, he says,

would you do 10 push -ups so that Ron can eat

his donut? Would you do 10 push -ups so that

Kerry can eat his donut? Would you do 10 push

-ups, and he's going down the row, and it's going

pretty good. I mean, he's able to do 10 push

-ups at a time, not really a problem, but it's

kind of getting up there. He's getting to the

point where... He's done 150 push -ups, and they

can see now he's sweating, and his face is red,

and his muscles are changing shape a little bit

from the hard workout. And about midway through,

they're like, I want to do my own push -ups.

The next guy, he's a pretty physical guy. He's

like, I want to do my own push -ups. I'm sorry

you can't. Only Bob can do the push -ups today.

So Bob, will you do 10 push -ups so Jeff can

eat his donut? And Jeff's like, I won't eat it.

If I can't do the push -ups, I'm not going to

eat the donut. And he said, will you do 10 push

-ups so Jeff can eat the donut that Jeff refuses

to eat? And he drops down on the floor and he

does the 10 push -ups. And Jeff just sits there

fuming. And it goes about like that for the last

10 students. One student gets up and he says,

I'm not going to participate in this object lesson.

You can see Bob's obviously struggling. He's

sweaty. He's red -faced. Sweat's dripping off

his nose at about 220 push -ups. And so the kid

gets up and he throws his donut in the garbage

can. And he says, I will not. And then he said,

Bob, don't do the push -ups. And Bob says, I

have to do the push -ups. I have to. And he's

like, but I'm not taking a donut. I don't have

a donut. It's not a donut. I'm not going to eat

it. I'm not going to do it. And Bob says, I have

to do the push -ups. So he gets down and he does

the push -ups. And the kid sits down and he's

fuming. So now about a little under half the

class. The ones that kind of figured it out.

So the first half of the class, they eat the

donut. They're enjoying the heck out of it. By

now, her entire donut's gone, you know, and they're

sort of processing what's going on. And the last

few students become downright irate. They're

ready to cuss out the teacher. Now, they're not

doing that because it's Bible college and we

don't do that in Bible college, but they're very

angry with the teacher. And those last ten push

-ups, that was really something for Bob to do

those push -ups. And he does the push -ups. And

then he goes back and he sits down in the seat,

which is empty. He doesn't even have a donut.

And the class is waiting for the professor to

say something, and the professor doesn't say

anything. And then finally, after a long silence,

the professor says, the gospel is like this.

Jesus Christ died for you. Even if you want to

do it for yourself, you can't. Even if after

you realize that you decide to do some of it

for yourself, you can't. His sacrifice is sufficient.

And they look at Bob and they're like, that's

amazing. And they realize Bob doesn't even have

a donut. And some of the people near Bob try

to give him their donut, the ones that they,

and he's refusing. You see, Jesus didn't need.

to be saved. And that was part of why he did

the saving. So in this season, as we're two weeks

away from Easter, we would be prudent, I think,

to look at the story of Jesus' crucifixion. It

would certainly be foolish not to look at it

at some point in time before we look at his resurrection,

which occurred essentially on what we call Easter

morning or Resurrection Sunday. We're going to

do that today, but we're going to hone in on

just two key points. And then we're going to

bring those together and see something that I

think, I hope, some of you may have already seen

it in Scripture, but many of us have not. The

first point is Jesus was declared innocent. So

if you have your Bibles, maybe a little Hoot

or Hallelujah, go with me to Luke chapter 23.

Luke 23 · chapter mention

Amen. This is God's Word. By doing that, that

might be hard for you, but by doing that, you

are divorcing yourself of your own ideas and

submitting yourself to the ideas of God. This

is God's Word. Whether or not I get it right,

what comes out of God's Word is life -affecting.

By the way, we sang the song Heart of Worship.

That is the song that we sang at camp many years

ago. And I was saying to God, God, You tell me

what to do and I'll do it, whatever it is. And

I had said that to Him a hundred times. God,

tell me what to do and I'll do it, whatever it

is. And God said back to me, you say that, but

you don't do it. And I was like, no, no, I do.

I do. I was like, started to argue with God saying,

no, I do do what you tell me to do. God, honestly,

I do. And then God flashed in my mind images

of all the things that he had told me to do.

Little things like go tell that person hello.

Witness to that person. Give that person your

Bible. Things like that that had happened in

the preceding years. And at about 13 visions

of that. I was crumbling. I was falling apart,

wondering if I was even a Christian. Tears were

streaming down my face. From then, I have tried,

and I probably failed, but I've tried and succeeded

a lot too, to always do what it is that God called

me to do. And this sermon is different from any

sermon that I've ever written in all the decades

that I've now been preaching. And it's that way

because this is the way God told me to structure

it. So I hope it means something to you. It does

to me. because to me it looks like I did what

God told me to do. All right. So first look at,

and we're going to skip through Luke 23. I'm

going to give you a couple of other texts. You

can mark them. You can flip there. We won't be

there long. So it's how you want to handle it

is up to you. Okay. So Luke 23 in verse four,

then Pilate, who was the governor, of course,

he doesn't say that. It says, then Pilate said

to the chief priests and the crowds, I find no

guilt in this man. So he's talking about Jesus.

He renders the verdict. I find no guilt in this

man. In that day, in that moment in time, there

was only one person on the earth who had jurisdiction

over top of Jesus who could have found him guilty.

The Jews didn't have that. In fact, they all

even say, look, we don't have the right to put

him to death. We brought him to you to do that

because we don't have the right to do that. So

Pilate was the guy and his verdict was, I find

no guilt in this man. And then down in chapter

23, verses 14 to 16, he says, and said to them,

you brought this man to me as one who incites

the people to rebellion. And behold, having examined

him before you, I have found no guilt in this

man regarding the charges which you make against

him. No, nor has Herod. For he sent him back

to us, and behold, nothing deserving death has

been done by him. Therefore, I will punish him

and release him. So it's interesting that he

was going to go ahead and punish him, because

obviously there were some problems, right? There

was a crowd here rioting somehow because of Jesus.

But he was not going to kill him. He said, no

punishment worthy of death. Then down in verse

22, still in the chapter 23 of the book of Luke,

it says, And he said to them the third time,

Why? What evil has this man done? I have found

in him no guilt demanding death. Therefore, I

will punish him and release him. Over in John

John 19:4

19, verses 4 and 6, John writes it this way.

Pilate brings Jesus out, telling the crowd for

a third time that he finds no basis for a charge.

In Matthew 27, 24, Pilate washes his hands, declaring

himself innocent of this man's blood. That's

after he was warned by his wife to have nothing

to do with Jesus because she had suffered in

a dream because of the righteous man who Jesus

was. Luke 23, 41, the criminal hanging alongside

Jesus declares, this man has done nothing wrong.

Now, you know, there's an old saying, it takes

one to know one. So Pilate was the guy who had

the authority to crucify Jesus, but here is a

thief being crucified who could have looked at

Jesus and known that Jesus was something unclean,

that he was worthy of the crucifixion, right?

But he looks at Jesus and says, this man has

done nothing wrong. He admits his own guilt as

he's being crucified, but of Jesus he says, this

man has done nothing wrong. And then in Luke

23, 47, the Roman centurion declares, as he sees

Jesus die, and Jesus' final words, It is finished.

The Roman centurion declares, certainly this

man was innocent. And so you've got the governor,

the thief, and the executioner, all saying Jesus

was innocent. But then now notice this. In Matthew

27, 26, it says that Pilate releases Barabbas

and orders Jesus scourged and crucified. In John

19, 6, Pilate delivers Jesus to them to be crucified.

In Luke 23, 24, and 25, that's in that same chapter

we're looking at, Pilate decides to grant the

demand of the crowd and hands Jesus over to be

crucified. So what we have is a verdict. The

verdict is innocent, punishable perhaps, and

releasable. That's the verdict. And then we have

a punishment delivered, scourging and death.

We see two characters in the story essentially

going at it. And I submit to you, and it's a

little bit of a metaphor, but I submit to you

they are brothers. Israel as a son of God. Remember

it said of Israel, out of Egypt I have called

my son. Talking about Israel. The people of Israel

were considered essentially a son of God. And

they cry out for the destruction of Jesus. But

notice that it is Jesus' blood that will actually

spare even them. If they will ever be saved,

it will be by the blood of Jesus, the very one

that they crucified. The theme of two brothers

runs like a thread through the whole Bible. And

there are two brothers here in this story. The

theme usually follows a subversion of expectations.

The older natural heir, the older natural brother,

fails or is rejected while the younger chosen

one receives the blessing. That occurs over and

over again. The pattern... finds its ultimate

fulfillment here. So all of these stories that

I'm going to give you in very brief synopsis

here, we're pointing to what we're reading about

in Luke 23 and the other Gospels, the conflict

between two brothers, Israel and Jesus Christ.

You may or may not know the stories, so I'll

give you a basic summary of the story, and then

in a moment I'll come back and show you how they

relate very well to what we're seeing in Jesus'

crucifixion. There was the story of Cain and

Abel. Cain offers the fruit of the ground, which

you could call human effort, and responds to

rejection of his offering with murder. Abel offers

a blood sacrifice, a good lamb, the best of lambs

from his flock, and he becomes the first martyr.

Like Abel, Jesus' sacrifice is accepted by God

and his blood is shed by his brother, his own

people. However, in Hebrews 12, 24, it says that

Jesus' blood speaks a better word than the blood

of Abel, because Abel's blood cried out for justice,

but Jesus' blood cries out for forgiveness. You

see the difference? Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael

was a... natural son achieved according to the

flesh. His dad didn't want to wait for the promise

and went seeking after the son that God had promised

him. Well, Isaac was the child of promise, the

one that God actually intervened divinely to

create. At the trial, the religious leaders rely

on their physical lineage. They all could trace

their lineage back to Abraham and say, well,

my father's father's father's father's father

was named, and my father's father's father's

father's father was named, and we can taste the

line all the way back to Abraham, and therefore

we are Israel. We are the people who will receive

the promise. We are the ones. They were relying

on their physical lineage to condemn Jesus. Jesus

represents the new covenant of promise, the children

of the flesh. persecute the child of promise,

just as Ishmael mocked Isaac. In Genesis 16,

you can read this story. You see the conflict

and the expulsion. And then in Galatians 4, it

talks about the flesh versus the promise of God.

The brothers Jacob and Esau. Esau despised his

birthright for a temporary meal. He said, What

good will my birthright do me if I die of starvation

while I'm waiting for soup? Or whatever else,

while I'm making my food, etc. Jacob, meanwhile,

sought after the promise. Even though Jacob was

a deceiver, he sought after a promise with all

that he was. He went after, risked his life,

lied, cheated, and stole to get the promise.

Right? Israel, like Esau, traded their birthright

for a mess of pottage. Like stability and favor

from Rome. They cried, we have no king but Caesar.

Think about that. Considering what we study in

the book of Judges. How they were after a king

already when Gideon, they asked Gideon to be

king. And Gideon said, I will not be king, not

me nor my sons. Right? And when Samuel was high

priest, and they asked Samuel to anoint for them

a king, and he said, I don't want to do it. The

king of God's people, Is God. And God said don't

worry about it. They're not rejecting you. They're

rejecting me. Go ahead and anoint for them a

king. And they got Saul. The king of God's people

was supposed to be God. And they traded their

birthright. Having God as their king. For their

political favor with Rome. And their kingdom

as it existed under their control. You can read

about the birth and prophecy. Surrounding Jacob

and Esau in Genesis 25. You can see him sell

his birthright in Genesis 25. And then you can

see the stolen blessing in Genesis 27. The story

of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph is the beloved

of his father. The coat of many colors and all

that. His brothers are envious. And they plot

his death. And they sell him for... How much,

Arden? 30 pieces of silver. And how much did

the Jews pay... Judas to betray Jesus. Holly,

30 pieces of silver, right? See the parallel?

This is perhaps the most direct parallel. Jesus

was sold for 30 pieces of silver by his own.

Just as the brothers told Jacob that Joseph was

dead while he was actually being prepared to

save them. It was through Joseph that God saved

all his people, right? And they were all brought

into Egypt. During the famine that would have

destroyed them all, Israel rejected Jesus, not

realizing His death was the very mechanism for

their future salvation. You can read about the

envy in the plot in Genesis 37, the selling for

silver in Genesis 37, and the revelation and

salvation in Genesis 45. Then there was David

and... Eliab, this was probably a little less

known, although it might be a little more known

if you recently saw the movie David that came

out in theaters and is now on, I think it's on

Angel, right? Eliab had the outward appearance

of a king, but he had a heart of fear and resentment.

David, the youngest, was a man who would be called

later after God's own heart. During the trial,

the Sanhedrin and the high priest, the Eliabs,

looked for the part of spiritual authority. but

lacked the Spirit. Jesus appeared unimpressive.

And Isaiah 52 says this about Him. It says that

Jesus was marred or would be, because it was

a prophecy, and that's what happened, marred

beyond human recognition. And as that, Jesus

faced the true King, the true Goliath, the human

King, which was actually sin and death, not even

the people that were crying out for the crucifixion.

He was defeating sin and death. Two more. The

prodigal son. Maybe you've heard of this one.

The prodigal son and the elder brother. The younger

son squanders his life, but returns in repentance.

The elder brother remains faithful in works,

but is filled with self -righteousness and resentment

at his father's mercy toward his younger brother.

In the passion narrative, the stories that we're

reading today, the outcasts and Gentiles, the

younger brothers, begin to recognize Jesus. While

the religious establishment, the elder brother,

stands outside the party of the kingdom angry

that God would offer grace to the unworthy people

through Jesus. And Jesus would say, the tax collectors

and whore mongers will come and sit down in the

kingdom of God before you. And he said that to

those who were of the religious establishment.

You can read that story in Luke 15. And actually

read the verses that very clearly explain the

resentment of the older brother in Luke 15, 25

to 32. And then much more closer to the present

time of what we're actually looking like, we

see Barabbas and Jesus. And these are like shadow

brothers. Though not biological brothers, they

are presented as a binary choice for the family

of Israel. Barabbas literally means son of the

father. That's what Barabbas means. And so they

were choosing. between a son of the father who

uses violence and the true son of the father

who used self -sacrificial love, by choosing

Barabbas, Israel fulfills the archetype of choosing

the fleshly older brother over the spiritual

one that God was offering. You can read about

those choices in Matthew 27, Mark 15. So the

contrast is this. Ishmael was born according

to the flesh. Isaac was the child of promise.

Jacob was the older brother essentially of the

flesh. I'm sorry, Esau. Esau was the older brother

of the flesh and Jacob was the younger brother

and wound up with the birthright and the blessing.

Joseph and his brothers, Jacob and Esau, David

and Eliab, Barabbas and Jesus, they all point

us to this understanding. That Jesus Christ was

accomplishing something as the younger brother.

Something for the younger brother, which would

be the kingdom. Something desperately needed.

Isaiah 52. In Isaiah 53, we have a beautiful

picture of Jesus' crucifixion written hundreds

of years before his birth. But in Isaiah 52,

we have these. It says, Behold, my servant will

prosper. He will be high and lifted up and greatly

exalted. Just as many were astonished at you,

my people. That's talking about Israel. So there

was a time, especially in Solomon's day, where

all the world was looking at God's people and

saying, maybe we should be like that. Maybe we

should have their God. Look at all the wisdom.

Look at all the power and authority and wealth

and goodness that exists in Israel. And all the

world was looking to the point that like a queen

traveled a thousand miles just to hear the wisdom

of Solomon. And all the world was looking and

says, And just as they were astonished at you,

my people, so his appearance was marred more

than any man and his form than the sons of man.

Thus he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will

shut their mouths on account of him. For what

had not been told them, they will see. He's talking

about us. And what they had not heard, they will

understand. You see, Jesus was doing all of this

so that there could be a declaration of innocence

that would catch our attention. And also a punishment

that would catch our attention. And also a door

open that we would enter a kingdom whereby we

would become a shining light to all the world

that they might enter the kingdom. Pilate's declaration

of Jesus' innocence meant nothing to the Jews.

In this story, Pilate's our Gentile representative

as governor, just as we are governors of our

own choice. But the promise, the prophecy fulfilled,

the clear pattern of God's saving, all of these

things remain true even if a person chooses to

know better than God, which is exactly what's

happening. There will come a time where people

will be looking back on a road, That clearly

leads to destruction a wide way. And the off

ramps will be painfully obvious. And for that

reason alone there would be weeping and gnashing

of teeth. I've mentioned a couple of times the

first sermon that I ever wrote. I told you that

I wrote the whole thing out on 23 note cards

front and back. And I stood up in front of the

people at the Gospel Rescue Mission in downtown

Toledo. The backside of downtown Toledo. And

I read the front of the first card and then I

flipped it over and I read the back of it. First

card. And then I read the front of the second

card. I flipped it over and I read the back of

the second card. And my whole sermon was written

out in my text. And I really didn't look anyone

in the eye. I didn't have any illustrations except

the whole sermon was sort of one illustration.

And I haven't mentioned to you what that one

illustration was. And it was this. I told them

in that sermon that I had a vision, a thought,

if you will, that I thought was from God. And

I still to this day believe it was of a man riding

in a truck. He's driving a truck. He's in the

driver's seat. Next to him in the passenger seat

is a being. Not quite a man. Suspicious in nature.

And as the man is driving down the road, he keeps

passing exits. And the person in the passenger

seat, the being in the passenger seat is saying

to him, not this exit. Not this exit. Don't get

off now. Stay on the road. Keep going. Go faster.

Go straight. You're going the right way. Keep

going. Keep going. Not this exit. Not this exit.

Not this exit. And then in the end of the dream,

the truck goes off a cliff and crashes and the

man driving dies. He is destroyed, utterly destroyed.

But when he crashes, he looks over as his truck

is just about to hit the rocks at the bottom

of the cliff. He looks over and there's no one

in the passenger seat. That's the dream. That's

the vision that I shared in the very first sermon

I ever wrote, 23 postcards front and back. And

I talked about how we encounter obvious vestiges

of the gospel. John 3 .16, for God so loved the

world. Romans 10 .9 and 10, if you believe with

your heart and confess with your mouth. And of

course Romans 6 .23 where it says that the gift

of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ his

son. In the second half of the verse, as the

first half of the verse reminds us that the wages

of sin is death. And Romans 3 .23, which tells

us that all have sinned and fall short of the

glory of God. And it goes on, all throughout

the Bible, over and over again. There are bits

of light, enough to see by, enough to understand

that God is calling to humans, one and all. And

the exits are available. You could be here today,

still doing it your own way, still headed for

destruction, still not having submitted your

life to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is another

exit. And somebody's with you. Some spirit, some

flesh, some nature, some teaching, some mental

state. And you're going, well, I don't really

have to pay too much attention right now. It's

not really about me. I'm good. Yesterday I heard

Holly sharing the beginnings of the gospel testimony

in the pantry. And the guy that she was talking

to said, I'm good about that. I'm all good. I'm

fine. I'm okay. I really don't need that. See

what he was doing there? I don't know where he

was getting it from. Probably could have been

his flesh, could have been a demon, evil spirit,

a teaching somewhere along the lines that he

bought, whatever. But nobody's good about all

that. This eternal message has lasting ramifications.

It's not like one thunderous earthquake that

took place in approximately 33, 34 A .D. And

then after that, down here, I say, oh yeah, I

want to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And then after that, I just rock it into heaven

50 years later. The moment I realize that these

rays of light, these quakes after the quake,

mean I have to do something, mean I have to be

something, mean I have to receive something,

mean I cannot do it myself. Then from that moment

on, I'm being changed with every breath, every

thought. Not changed to be like the world. Oh

boy, they'll like to can you if they can. But

changed to be like Jesus. Transforming a little

bit more each day to be like the living Christ.

And there will come a moment in time when people

will look back on the road of their life and

they'll say, oh gosh, right there it was. I could

have got off right there. Right there it was.

I could have got from the wide way to the narrow

way and I just never did. You are part of this.

You know in your heart that God can do this.

That His claims are true and that His love for

you and for me would be no call to punishment

like this if it were not for his justice needing

to be satisfied. There was a payment that needed

to be paid for sins. Kid yourself not, you are

a sinner, born and bred. Your situation, your

flesh, your desires, your parents, your teachers,

all the way along, a thousand, a million, infinite

possible impetuses for you to become and be a

sinner in your flesh. But also, kid yourself

not, an opportunity has been prepared. A payment

has been made. The Apostle Paul, who started

so many of the New Testament churches and wrote

a third of the New Testament as he was inspired

by the Holy Spirit, says it this way. He says,

it's not as though God's word had failed. For

not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

Nor because they are his descendants are they

all Abraham's children. On the contrary, it is

through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.

And that's in quotes. It is through Isaac that

your offspring will be reckoned. In other words,

it's not the children by physical descent who

are God's children. but it is the children of

the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.

For this was how the promise was stated, quote,

at the appointed time I will return and Sarah

will have a son, unquote. Not only that, but

Rebekah's children were conceived at the same

time by our father Isaac. Yet before the twins

were born or had done any good or bad, in order

that God's purpose in election might stand, nor

not by works, but by him who calls, she was told,

the older will serve the younger. Rebekah is

the mother of Jacob and Esau. Just as it is written,

Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated. What then shall

we say? Is God unjust? Not at all. For he says

to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have

mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will

have compassion. It does not therefore depend

on human desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

For scripture says to Pharaoh, I raised you up

for this very purpose that I might display my

power in you, that my name might be proclaimed

in all the earth. Therefore God has mercy on

whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom

he wants to harden. One of you will say to me,

then why does God still blame us for who is able

to resist his will? But who are you? a human

being to talk back to God? Shall what is formed

say to the one who formed it, why did you make

me this? Does not the potter have the right to

make out of the same lump of clay some pottery

for special purposes and some for common use?

What if God, although choosing to show his wrath

and make his power known, bore with great patience

the objects of his wrath, prepared for destruction?

What if he did this? to make the riches of his

glory known to the objects of his mercy whom

he prepared in advance for glory. Let me translate

that for you. What if God did everything that

we're reading about today so that it would be

abundantly clear to us how much God loves us

and what he has already done for us? That's what

he wrote. He wrote it this way. What if he did

this to make the riches of his glory known to

the objects of his mercy, that's us, whom he

prepared in advance for glory? Even us, whom

he also called, not only from the Jews, but also

from the Gentiles. As he says in Hosea, I will

call them my people who are not my people, and

I will call her my beloved one who is not my

loved one. In the very place where it was said

to them, you are not my people, that there they

will be called the children of the living God.

Paul is still speaking here. He says, Isaiah

cries out concerning Israel, though the number

of the Israelites be like the sand of the sea,

only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord

will carry out his sentence on earth with speed

and finality. It is just as Isaiah said previously.

Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants,

we would have become like Sodom. We would have

become like Gomorrah. And then he makes this

super clear, Israel's unbelief that was happening

at the time of the crucifixion. He said, what

then shall we say? That the Gentiles, that's

us, who did not pursue righteousness have obtained

it, a righteousness that is by faith? But the

people of Israel who pursued the law as the way

of righteousness have not attained their goal?

Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith,

but as if it were by works. They thought they

were going to get in by a set of rules, not by

a savior that they needed. That's what he's saying.

They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it

is written, he quotes, See, I lay in Zion a stone

that causes people to stumble and a rock that

makes them fall. And the one who believes in

him will never be put to shame. And he was talking

about Jesus. See, Paul understood that there

were two brothers in the conflict. One of them

was the brother that was Israel. It was the descendants

of Jacob who would be called Israel. It was the

descendants of Abraham in the flesh. passed down

their lineage, father to son to son to father

to son to father and so on. And down it went

until the day of Jesus when the Messiah finally

came and everything that they have received essentially

stood in the way of everything that they were

meant to be. What about you? Jason, has everything

that you have received stood in the way of everything

that you were meant to be? Josh? Has everything

that you have received stood in the way of everything

you were meant to be? Carrie? I'll tell you that's

true for me. At 25 years old, I realized that

I had so much. Now, I owed a lot to the bank,

right? I had a mortgage and I had two car payments.

But I had a house and two cars and a beautiful

child and one on the way. And I realized that

everything that I had received was now standing

in the way of everything that I had meant to

be. that God had meant for me to be. And maybe

that's where you're sitting today. You're sitting

at the crux of the moment of trying to figure

out, but what if this following Jesus thing,

what if this accepting the blood of Christ to

cover my sins thing, what if this receiving God's

Holy Spirit thing makes me into a man or a woman

that has to not have some of the good things

that I feel like I have received from God? Do

you think Jesus felt that very way? Do you think

Jacob felt that way? As he fled from Esau. As

he worked for seven years for the wife that he

really wanted, and then had to work for seven

more years as he was deceived. He said, the funny

thing about a deceiver is they're pretty easily

deceived. He said, no, no, that doesn't make

any sense. So a liar knows a liar, right? It

takes one to know one. A liar knows a liar, but

here's the fact of it. When you know you're wrong,

the enemy, demons, evil spirits, your flesh,

your mind, can use that against you because you've

spent so much time covering up that wrong that

you wind up being the older brother. And your

heart is not with the father, but rather defending

yourself against the younger brother. Oh, but

here's the comfort in it. If you've been doing

that, There is a way to realize that you're doing

it and stop. Do you want to be like Esau? Do

you want to be like Joseph's older brothers?

Or like Eliab who didn't understand that his

younger brother who was faithfully following

God had it right? Do you realize Eliab was in

the army of the Israelites for weeks while they

waited for somebody to come and fight Goliath?

And he couldn't just say to himself, as he was

serving his father's interests, as he was serving

his kingdom, as he was part of the army, he couldn't

just say to himself, this is really God's fight,

I'm going to go do it. And then when David came,

he mocked David for thinking that David could

do what God was calling him to do. You want to

be Elliot? You want to be Esau? You want to be

Joseph's older brothers? You want to throw Jesus

in a well? You want to sell him for 30 pieces

of silver? The next time you have the opportunity

to be the man or woman that God wants you to

be, to walk out your faith, to walk by faith,

not by sight, you're doing nothing less than

choosing again between being like Jacob or being

like Esau, being like Abel or being like Cain.

But if you'll come to God and say, God, I need.

I need you. I need more of you. I need your presence.

I need to follow you. I need to have you as Lord.

I need you to be king. I will not take a human

king. I'll have no other master and not serve

between two. I'll have just one. Just one master

who is God. You know, the funny thing is, Jesus

said you can't have money and God as master because

you have two men. No man can serve two masters

because you wind up loving the one and hating

the other. You see, that's what happened. Israel

got to the point where they had two masters.

Don't think that they didn't believe in God.

The problem was, they believed in God, and they

stopped fearing God. They stopped recognizing

that God had a way already planned that He was

going to carry out the salvation of all men.

They stopped waiting for God to do it God's way,

and they said, we'll not have God as king, Caesar

is our only king. You see, He said if you have

two masters, you'll wind up loving the one and

hating the other. And Israel faced off with God

in the flesh and hated Him. And I'm here to say

to you, if you call yourself a Christian, you

need to understand that Jesus, when He said you

cannot have two masters, that Jesus, when He

said that, was speaking to people, His disciples,

who were ready. by their human profession anyway,

to die with Him as necessary. They left their

homes, left their pillows, left their comfort,

left their families, and were following Him around,

sometimes despised, fearful at any moment to

be arrested or to be stoned. I submit to you

that until it got close to Jesus' crucifixion,

they never even considered the fact that they

might wind up crucified. But then when Jesus

is crucified, you know they consider the fact

because when we next see Jesus appearing to them,

they'll be hiding behind closed doors, waiting.

Why were they hiding? Because they thought, well,

we might be crucified too. We might suffer like

Jesus. I'm asking you, why would you hide? We

are to be like the younger brother. We are the

church. We are God's people. And God did what

he did on that day. that Jesus would have his

innocence declared not once, but four times by

Pilate, then by a thief on the cross next to

him and a Roman soldier, and that we would be

able to look back almost 2 ,000 years later and

read those accounts and know that he was declared

as innocent. Jesus died an innocent man, but

also God the Son, and thereby paid for our mistakes.

And if you will have that cleansing, if you will

have that Lord, then there is nothing more that

you can do to make yourself any more acceptable

to Him or loved by Him. Which means, if you're

living a version of Christianity that says you've

got to do, you've got to be, or else you're not

His, that's not the version of Christianity that

Jesus taught. The version of Christianity that

Jesus taught was the one that says you will do.

You will follow my commands because you love

me. You will follow the commands of my father

because you love me. You will put your hand to

the plow and not look back because you love me.

You will. So if you're still in that place where

you're wrestling as to whether you will or not,

and more often you are than you're not, then

probably you're not even following Jesus. You're

following your own idea of who Jesus is, which

is very dangerous because you're passing off

off ramps where you could get over here and go.

To Jesus in earnest and follow him alone in earnest.

And the road eventually comes to an end. Jesus

said it this way. He said, there is a wide road.

But it's a narrow gate at the end. And there'll

be lots of people on the road like little lemmings

following it and saying, ah, we're going this

way. This is the way the road goes. We're going

this way. And they'll get to the end of the road

and they can't get through the narrow gate. Because

they ran into a wall. They can't even find the

narrow gate. They had so many opportunities to

get on the narrow way, pardon me, and they did

not. I come to you today in the tradition of

Paul, in the tradition of Jesus, in the tradition

of Abraham, in the tradition of Isaac, in the

tradition of Jacob, in the tradition of Abel.

In the tradition of David, asking you to become

like a younger brother as well. Reach your hands

out to God and say, God, I am willing. God, I

am your servant. I see maybe that there are other

things in my life that take up space, that take

up time, that take up importance. And I turn

from those things, one and all, and all the ones

that I can't name, not everyone you can name,

but everyone that exists. And I turn to God and

God alone. I turn to you through your son, Jesus

Christ. And I now see the gospel story in a new

light. In a light to see that it was an older

brother and a younger brother. A fleshly brother

and a brother of the Spirit. And not everyone

is of Israel who was born of Israel. But everyone

who chooses the pathway of the promise of the

younger brother, then I choose it. I choose it

for myself, and if you choose it for yourself

and for your family, then the word says, repent

and be baptized, and you and your whole household

will be impacted. But if you're depending in

any way, shape, or form on yourself to make it

through, then sometime or other along the road,

someone smarter, someone quicker, someone with

a better plan is going to come. They're going

to take advantage of you. If you reason today

that it makes good sense to have Jesus alone

as Lord, someday you can reason that it no longer

makes good sense to have Jesus as Lord. And if

you can someday reason it no longer makes sense.

to have Jesus as Lord, then you're not getting

saved today. But if right now, if you would trust

in faith, the God of the universe, see that his

plan is beautifully orchestrated and absolutely

intentional, that we might know there were two

brothers that day. And we have chosen the younger

brother, the brother of promise, who was actually

the older brother. Because he's been around since

the beginning. I ask the praise team to come

at this time and lead us in our closing hymn.

If you're here today and you see in yourself

a need to make a profession, a need to say, I

believe with my heart, I want to confess with

my mouth that Jesus Christ is love and Savior,

then you come and respond. If you see in yourself

today that you are a follower, you say, I'm a

follower of the Lord Jesus, but I also realize

that I'm sort of like dividing my attention.

between God and these other things, whatever

they might be. You probably don't even have to

make a list. You just know that's the tendency

of your heart. That you depend today on God first.

That never put himself first in your life. Become

like a younger brother, a child of promise. So

let it be. Would you stand with me then and sing

this song? The Lord speak in your heart. You

respond in some way. You're here, you need to

be baptized, you need to join the church, you

need help finding a church home. If you don't

think this is the one that's right for you, whatever

it might be, call the ministry. Whatever it might

be, be responsible.