Stand Up for Our Savior
Matthew 14:1-12
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Oct. 26, 2008
*Last Tuesday night, Greg Wilton asked a great question: “Who’s your King?
-If Jesus is our King, then we need to take a bold stand for the Lord. John the Baptist certainly did, and John’s story can help us take a stand today.
1. First John teaches us not to be surprised by growing opposition.
*When John the Baptist stood up for the Lord, he ran into a buzz saw of opposition. -- And the same thing can happen to us. John took his stand against Herod the Tetrarch, and was consequently murdered in cold blood.
*Jerry Shirley gives us this important background:
-The Herod family looms large in your New Testament. First of all there was Herod the Great, who had at least 9 wives. Too bad they didn’t have 9 lives, because he thought nothing of killing them or his own children if they got in the way of his plans. Herod the Great is the one who slaughtered all the infants in Bethlehem at the time of Christ’s birth.
*Then there was his son, Herod the Tetrarch that we look at tonight. His title “Tetrarch” simply means “ruler over the fourth part of the kingdom.” This Herod was well known for living in luxury and materialism. Jesus once warned of the dangers of the “leaven of Herod,” which I believe is materialism and fleshly appetites. This Herod was a drunken, depraved man. His son was Herod Agrippa, who imprisoned Peter and killed James. And his son was Herod Agrippa II, who tried the Apostle Paul. What a wicked family! -- The mafia of the 1st century. (1)
Vs. 1-4 begin to look back at the fierce and growing opposition John faced from this family:
1. At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus
2. And said to his servants, "This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.’’
3. For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife.
4. For John had said to him, "It is not lawful for you to have her.’’
*Herod had John in prison, but the opinion polls were running against the Tetrarch. So in vs. 5 we read that: “Although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.”
*Then in vs. 6-8 we see behind the scenes conspiracy and intrigue:
6. But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod.
*This was most likely a very lewd and seductive dance from a girl who was no more that 12 to 14 years old.
7. Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.
8. So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, "Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.’’
*Behind the scenes conspiracy and intrigue... If we really knew all the dark things being plotted in our world we might be completely overwhelmed.
*Then in vs. 9-10 we see the deadly poison of pride:
9. And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him at the table, he commanded it to be given to her.
10. So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.
*And in vs. 11, we see the bottomless depths of depravity, because John’s “head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.”
*That’s how bad it was in the first century. Could it get that bad here in the 21st century? -- I hope not, but in many places around our world it already is that bad.
2. We must not be surprised by growing opposition, and we must strive for total devotion to God’s standards.
*John the Baptist was devoted to God’s standards in vs. 4. John confronted Herod about marrying his sister-in-law, and he plainly told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”
*A.T. Robertson wrote that the tense in the original language here “probably means that John said it repeatedly.” Robertson added, “It was a blunt and brave thing that John said. It cost him his head, but it is better to have a head like John’s and lose it than to have an ordinary head and keep it.” (2)
*John the Baptist was devoted to God’s standards. Now we live in a world of shifting standards. But you keep your heart fixed on God’s standards. Evil is evil and God’s way is right. Ask the Lord for the strong courage you need to stand up for His way. And it will take courage. Sometimes it will seem like you are standing alone. All through the Bible we see people who were willing to stand alone.
*A wise man once wrote:
-“Noah built the ark and voyaged alone. His neighbors laughed at his strangeness and perished in style.
-Abraham wandered and worshipped alone. Sodomites smiled at the simple shepherd, followed the fashion, and fed the flames.
-Daniel dined and prayed alone.
-Elijah sacrificed and witnessed alone.
-Jeremiah prophesied and wept alone.
-Jesus loved and died alone." (3)
*Jeff Strite reminds us that “belonging to Christ sometimes requires us to go against the grain. It sometimes calls us to call sin, sin. It sometimes requires us to stand up for God’s truth even when others tell us to sit down and shut up.” (3)
*In the spring of 2006, Brittany McComb was the valedictorian at Foothill High School in Henderson, NV. Brittany graduated with a 4.7 GPA, earning the right to address the other graduates. So, she wrote up her speech and then gave a copy to the school administrators. Because Brittany is a Christian, her speech contained some Biblical references and even once mentioned the name “Christ.”
*The school administrators censored some of the Biblical references. They also censored the single reference to Christ. Then the school officials handed the speech over to the ACLU for approval and for more censoring. After getting the OK from the ACLU, Brittany’s speech (minus the censored references to the Bible and Christ) was approved.
*Brittany was warned that if she deviated from the ACLU approved language, her mike would be cut off. Then came the moment for the big decision. Brittany would not bow down. She decided to go with her original version. She stepped to the mike and began her speech. But just before she could utter the name “Christ,” her mike went dead. School officials silenced her. The crowd of 400 booed for several minutes, angry at the action of the school officials. (3)
*That was outrageous! But Brittany McComb had the courage to stand up for Jesus! --Even when she had to stand against the administrators at her school.
*But striving for God’s standards more often means saying “no” to our own sinful desires, saying “no” to a friend who wants us to do something wrong, saying “no” to a co-worker who wants us to cut corners. Sometimes striving for God’s standards means turning the other cheek, taking less than we deserve, going farther than we were asked to go or doing the right thing when nobody else seems to care. Nobody else may care -- but God cares, and He calls us to take a stand.
3. So strive for total devotion to God’s standards. And ask God to prepare you for the greatest sacrifice.
*John the Baptist made the greatest sacrifice for our Lord: He gave his life. In his Gettysburg Address, Lincoln called this “the last full measure of devotion.” In vs. 9&10, Matthew said:
9. The king was sorry (for the wicked request from his step-daughter); nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him at the table, he commanded (John’s head) to be given to her.
10. So he sent and had John beheaded in prison.
*John Piper said, “There is something very powerful about a testimony . . . where your life is at stake. That’s the power we feel when we hear Richard Wurmbrand tell us of Tahir Iqbal, a Muslim convert to Christianity who was imprisoned December 7, 1990 in Lahore, Pakistan. Tahir died in prison July 19, 1992. He was a paraplegic and confined to a wheel chair. When asked about the possibility of being hanged he said, "I will kiss my rope, (and) will never deny my faith."
*Piper added, “That kind of talk from prison is like a stiff wakening winter wind in the face of our drowsy, television-soaked, self-pitying kind of Christianity. It wakes us up and makes us dress spiritually for the winter battles.” (4)
*Sometimes standing up for Jesus calls us to the greatest sacrifice. One man put it this way: “If you want to follow Jesus, you had better look good on wood.” (3)
*And though we may never be called to physically die for Jesus. We are certainly called to die to self every day. In Luke 9:22-26 Jesus began to tell His disciples about His suffering and death.
23. Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
24. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
25. For what advantage is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
26. For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.
*We must not try to skip over these solemn words from our King: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
4. Ask God to prepare you for the greatest sacrifice. And keep going back to Jesus for the strength to stand.
*How are we ever going to find the strength to take a stand for the Lord? We must find it in the Lord. That’s why I love the wisdom of John’s disciples in vs. 12. After their teacher had been murdered, they paid their last respects by burying John’s body, -- and most important of all, they “went and told Jesus.”
*Norm Beckett said:
-They went and told Jesus! The disciple’s of John were stunned and shocked. And they come to Jesus. They went and told Jesus! The unexpected happened. Their world was shaken. They had lost their friend and leader. They were devastated. They were sad. They were discouraged. And they came to Jesus.
*The unexpected takes us by surprise. Our world shakes with events that overtake us and pull us up with a jolt. Things happen that cause us pain and sadness. In a sense, just like John’s disciples our lives can be brutalized. This amoral world can throw a few punches that knock the wind out of us. -- Go and tell Jesus! (5)
*As Edmund Lorenz asked:
-Are you weary, are you heavy hearted?
-Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus.
-Are you grieving over joys departed?
-Tell it to Jesus alone.
*Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus,
-He is a Friend that’s well known.
-You’ve no other such a friend or brother,
-Tell it to Jesus alone.
*Keep going to Jesus for the strength you need to stand. As Paul said in Eph 6:10, “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”
*Jesus Christ is the Lord God Almighty. He had the power to lay down His life for our sins and the power to take it up again. Jesus died on the cross for us and three days later rose again from the dead. The mighty power of his resurrection is already at work in all who believe. So Paul wrote in Eph 1:19-21,
19. I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power
20. that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.
21. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come.
*In Eph 3:14-16, Paul said, “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, -from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,”
*Keep going to Jesus for the strength you need to stand. -- And take a stand for Jesus! There was a great prayer revival in our country in 1857. It started in New York and spread to many major cities. One of the leaders in Philadelphia was a young man named Dudley Ting. He started a noon prayer meeting at the YMCA, and some days 5,000 people would come to pray.
*One day Dudley stood up and read from Exodus 10:11, “Go now, you who are men, and serve the Lord.” Dudley then said, "I had rather my right arm cut off than not give you that word."
*Later that week Dudley went out into the country to see some friends. There he got his arm caught in a corn threshing machine and the main artery in his arm was severed. They put him to bed and tried to save his life, but he had lost too much blood. So his friends gathered around him and asked him what he would like to say. He said, "Tell them to stand up for Jesus."
*The next Sunday his good friend George Duffield stood up at church and preached in memory of his friend. He said, "I just finished writing a poem in honor of Dudley and I want to read it to you."
*It was the song we sang a little while ago.
-Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, ye solders of the cross.
-Lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss.
-From victory unto victory His army shall He lead, till every foe is vanquished, for Christ is Lord in deed.
-Stand up, Stand up for Jesus, the trumpet call obey.
-Forth to the mighty conflict in this His glorious day.
-Ye that are men now serve Him, against unnumbered foes. -Let courage rise with danger and strength to strength oppose.
-Stand up stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long.
-This day the noise of battle, the next the victor’s song.
-To him that overcometh a crown of life shall be; he with the king of glory shall reign eternally. (6)
*God help us to stand.
(1) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon “Death of a Conscience” by Jerry Shirley - Matt 14:1-12
(2) “Word Pictures in the New Testament” by A.T. Robertson - Matt 14:4
(3) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon “The Courage of Our Convictions” by Jeff Strite - Matt 14:1-13
(4) Adapted from Nov. 8, 1992 - Bethlehem Baptist Church - John Piper, Pastor - ONE LORD, ONE SPIRIT, ONE BODY FOR ALL TIME AND ALL PEOPLES
(5) Adapted from SermonCentral sermon “TELL IT TO JESUS” - Norm Beckett - Matt 14:1-12
(6) Found in SermonCentral Sermon “Revival - Pray and Seek His Face” - Raymond Perkins - 2 Chron 7:14
