SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: March 31, 2012
Date Preached: April 1, 2012
Church: OPBC (AM)
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Title: The Anatomy of a Confession
Text: Matthew 27:45-56 [read now]
Introduction:
Typically on this Sunday we celebrate the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, but this morning we are going to fast forward to a time almost a week after that glorious entrance into the city...
But now the situation looks bleak, and Jesus' adversaries are thinking they have put Him away for good...Jesus is hanging on the cross... Jesus is suffering... Jesus is feeling the effects of the sin of the world being placed on His shoulders!
At the Cross there was a Roman soldier who was in charge of crucifixion of Jesus… and through it all this man witnessed the love that Christ revealed while he was being beaten, mocked and finally crucified.
Seeing this changed him and made a permanent mark on his life. And it is at the foot of the Cross where we find this man making a confession that changed his life… he confessed Jesus as God’s Son...
That was over 2000 yrs ago and today there is NO difference. Today we MUST to come to the point where we face Jesus, and at that point -- it is at the foot of the Cross where we must make our confession of who Christ is… IS He the Son of God or will we reject who He claims to be…
But this morning I want us to take a look at the act of confession itself. THIS MORNING I want us to look and see just what is taking place at the point of confession.
This morning I want us to take notice of three (3) separate observations about confession...
1st I want us to observe how in the confession of Christ that there has to be a certain observance of events…
2nd I want us to observe how in the confession of Christ that there is a reversal of opinion…and finally
3rd I want us to observe how in the confession of Christ there is a realization of our redemption…
1. A Realization of Events at the point of confession:
There has to be a certain realization of the events when we come to the point of confession…
Let's take a look at this Roman soldier we find in our passage this morning! He was the commander of a group of 100 men and he would have been a man who would be aware of details… He would have to be a man that was aware of things going on around him…
He would have NEVER reached this level of authority without being able to see the details! So, as the one in charge of crucifying Jesus, I am sure he would have been aware of the things that had happened to Jesus on His way to the cross and after he was placed on the cross…
We can only come to the conclusion that these events had a profound affect on him. He saw how others treated Jesus and he witnessed how Jesus reacted to them...
First it could have been at his “trial”... There we find Jesus standing TALL, not speaking but communicating His heavenly royalty! It may have even looked like Pilate was on trial that day instead of Jesus.
This soldier saw Jesus accept His sentence without begging or crying. He saw Jesus submit to his fate willingly, unlike the many others this he had seen come and go…
He had seen so many who would scream, beg, and cry for their lives. They would curse and strike out at the people… but Jesus did not do this and this soldier then began to notice how Jesus was trying to comfort others who were weeping for Him...while He was on His way to be put to death!
We often speak of what Jesus said while on the Cross and we call it the seven words of Christ on the Cross… I can only imagine what affect these words had on this centurion as he heard Jesus speak them… out of love and compassion… even tho’ all around Him were showing hate and anger towards Him... He showed love and compassion, even on the Cross!
Finally, I believe that this soldier would have noticed the things that began to happen that were NOT natural... at the time Jesus was being crucified.
Things like the earthquake and the sun going dark…I truly believe that these things made a great impression on the heart of this soldier!
We can read scripture and we can make some presumed observations about this solider and how he observed Jesus, but when we see how this man observed Jesus, we have to ask ourselves the question, “When I observe Christ, how do I react?” or we can ask the question, “Do others see Christ in my life… and how do they react?”
Any reasonable person would come to the conclusion that there was something out of the ordinary happening on the day Jesus was crucified.
This fulfills the words of Christ that He stated in John 12:32 when He said, “…and if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me…”
As Jesus WAS lifted up and placed on the cross to be crucified! We can find that Jesus drew people to Himself in confession and faith in WHO He was…and the first of these was this Roman centurion… the very soldier who was assigned to carry out the death sentence on Jesus.
The death of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary is a picture of the love of God for the world... to save them from their sin! This act of love on behalf of God through His Son, Jesus is the love that opens up heaven's gate to those who wish to dwell with God eternally! And it is His willingness to die for us that draws us to Him…
Taking notices of the events on the way to the place of confession does not bring us to confession itself!
I want us to know that we must FIRST take notice of the things happening around us... take a look at the events that lead us to the point where we have to actually look within our hearts and examine what we believe… that is the 1st observation, but I see another...
2. To come to confession there must be a reversal of opinion:
I believe that when we break down confession... we can see that there has to a point when we comprehend our wrongness and begin to see a change is needed... we come to a reversal of opinion…
Now we don't know what this soldier had thought about Jesus previous to this time, but whatever opinion he had of Jesus… it seems to have changed!
This was a soldier who served within the military of Rome... Rome firmly believed in many gods and many religions… so it stands to reason that this man also believed in multiple gods and religions.
But, whatever he 1st believed about Jesus… we pretty much be assured that he did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God... he probably thought he was just another religious leader who was trying to make his mark...
But, at the cross, after seeing Jesus suffer and die, we witness that his opinion changed… there had been completely reversal in his heart!
And this is exactly what happens today when someone come face to face with Jesus and their hearts are melted by His overwhelming love and sacrifice…there is a reversal of opinion about Him!
So many times we have to come face to face with Jesus and ask the question, “How do I see Jesus? Who do I think it is?”
Some say Jesus was a great teacher, but they would NOT agree that He was the Son of God.
Jesus WAS a great teacher because there was no one before and no one since who has taught like He taught. Jesus was a great teacher, BUT He was so much more…
There are others who look at Jesus as an inspired religious leader. We know that Jesus was definitely inspired by God and that Jesus brought inspiration to those followed Him. He was a great teacher and inspiring religious man… BUT He was so much more…
Still there are others who see Jesus as a significant historical figure. Now when we look at the pages of history we can see that Jesus stands tall in history as His life and actions changed the very course of history.
Jesus was a great teacher, he was an inspiring religious leader and He was a significant historical figure… BUT He was SO much more…
Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the chosen of God, the Son of God… and THIS is what we see the soldier confessing when He witnessed Jesus on the Cross. His initial opinion had been one thing… but there had been a reversal of opinion…
It is NOT until a person has a reversal of opinion and begins to look at Jesus as the Son of God and his or her personal Savior that true confession can occur and salvation can happen…
Until you are ready to truly confess Christ for who He is... Until you are ready to truly accept Jesus as the Son of God, He cannot be your Savior…
In the anatomy of the confession we:
1st have to observe the events leading up to the confession...
2nd we must then come to point where there is a reversal of opinion...
3. The Realization of Redemption in our hearts:
But finally this morning I want to share a 3rd observation... that is there must be a realization of redemption.
When we look at this realization we must understand that there is an objective element as well as a subjective element to our atonement…
The objective element of the atonement is the crucifixion itself… when we look at the events of the cross we realize that it actually happened.
The Cross was not some staged event… it is NOT legend or myth… it is an actual historical event that took place! Objectively we can know that Jesus died on the cross for the redemption of humanity from their sin.
The subjective element to the atonement is where we have to make the decision to accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.
It is the confession that Jesus is the Son of God and accepting Him as our Personal Savior… and it is at THAT POINT when our redemption is realized.
The objective elements are the things we KNOW, but the subjective element to redemption are the things we must believe and have faith in…
There is NO way that we can view the death of Christ on the Cross of Calvary and come away unaffected. When people see the way He suffered in love it causes them to feel shame for how they have lived their lives.
When people see the willing sacrifice that Jesus made on their behalf they are touched and changed by the unbounded love revealed by Christ on the Cross… they see someone who loves and cares for THEM regardless of what it costs…
There was once a small family who went on vacation to the Great Lakes and they wanted to go out on a tour boat into the middle of Lake Superior. A storm came up quickly and the boat was caught in a squall and capsized.
The father was a strong swimmer and he quickly found his wife and son. The mother had never learned how to swim and was terrified of the water.
The son was too young to swim on his own so the father began the long swim back to shore with his wife and son on his back.
The young man was strong but it was soon very apparent that he was struggling. He kept encouraging his wife and child to hold on and NOT let go. He was losing strength and beginning to fade…
All at once he began to swim faster and he felt stronger. He kept swimming for a few yards and his young son began to cry and scream. He turn to look back and he saw to his horror that his wife had turned loose and she was beginning to sink.
This young wife loved her family regardless of the cost… the cost for saving her family was her life… but she was willing to pay it. We hear stories like this over and over where loved ones give their lives for their families…
But in Jesus we find that HE gave His life for those who loved Him, but also for those who did NOT love Him. Romans 5:8 [NIV] tells us, “…but God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us…”
While we were sinners… enemies of God… Jesus showed His love for us in giving His life as a sacrifice for our sin. Paying the price we could not pay…
You see that young woman sacrificed her life for her husband and son so they could live a life in this world. But Jesus sacrificed Himself so that you could know God and have everlasting life with God in the life after this life.
This morning we have looked at the anatomy of a confession and we have seen how we must view the events, how we must reverse our opinion and finally how we can realize our redemption…
Today, where are you? Have you looked at the events of what Christ has done for you? What is your opinion of Christ? Have you realized what Christ has done for you?
This morning I want you to know that Jesus gave His life for you. He suffered and died a cruel death on a cross so that you could know God and have a relationship with Him.
The Cross is a historical fact, but you have to step out on faith and believe Jesus is the Son of God and that 3 days after He died… that He rose from the dead, conquering death, sin and the grave so that you could know eternal life!
This morning I call on you to step out and confess Jesus as God’s Son… confess Jesus as Lord… confess Jesus as Savior… so that you can know eternal life.
As Bro Ken comes to lead us in our hymn of invitation I want us to stand and bow our heads…
