Based on: And The Angels Were Silent, Max Lucado, Chpt. 23—Your Choice
Scripture Ref: Matt. 27:11-22
John 2:4, 7; 6, 8, 30; 8:20;
Luke 22:66-70
John 6:60-69
Matt. 12:30
John 5:22-29
Phil. 4:13
1. Introduction
a. Relate to Reba McEntire’s song, Its Your Call.
· Story of a husband who has, in all likelihood, been unfaithful to his wife.
· He receives a call at home from his mistress, which his wife intercepts.
· His wife gives him an ultimatum—her or his mistress.
· The anchor of the song is that its “his call.”
2. Choice Is a Function of Time
a. Present as a theme like many TV series use—start in the present and revert to the past.
b. In the Present
(1) We stand on a threshold daily. Do we choose to do good or bad, to serve righteousness or evil.
(2) We have a choice—its our call.
c. In the Past
(1) Read Matt. 27:11-22
(a) Jesus is not afraid or angry. He is not near panic. And, He is not surprised. He knows his hour has come.
(b) Two sets of choices are displayed
· Jesus—agree with or deny Pilate’s questions or charges with regard to Jesus’ deity and kingdom.
· Pilate—Release Jesus because He is innocent or give in to the crowd so as not to incur their wrath and disfavor.
(c) God even provided input through Pilate’s wife’s dream, which he ignored.
d. Farther in the Past
(1) John 2:4—“Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
(a) The first of the 35 recorded miracles Jesus performed.
(b) The timing of His manifestation was in God’s hands, not man’s (or His mother’s).
(2) John 7:6—Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right.”
(a) Jesus is being persuaded by his brothers to go to the Feast of Tabernacles in Judaea and perform miracles so people would know He was the Messiah.
(b) His brothers reasoned that if He was what He claimed, he should publicly demonstrate it.
(c) Satan will often tempt us to do something we know is not right. It’s up to us to make the right choice.
(3) John 7:8—“…You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”
John 7:30—At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
John 8:20—He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.
(a) In all three cases, either John or Jesus indicated that Jesus’ time for manifestation had not come.
(b) Jesus was very intent on performing things according to God’s timing.
3. Curiosity Could Save the Cat
a. Perhaps you are like Pilate
· You are curious about Jesus.
· You are puzzled and stirred by his passions.
· You have heard the others speak; now you want for Him to speak.
b. Read Luke 22:66–70
(1) Jesus, on trial before the Sanhedrin, affirmed His authority as Messiah.
· The human side of Him could have denied this fact.
· Perhaps He could have left this trial with a punishment much less severe than death if He had recanted His proclamations.
· It was His call, but the Godly side of Him would not allow Him to deny the truth.
(2) The long-term result of His decision was that He would be seated on the right hand of the Father, a place of honor and power.
4. And now, Its Your Call
a. Read John 6:60-69
b. The people found His teaching to be totally unacceptable. Many of his disciples turned away from Him.
(1) Disciple (according to Webster)
· Follower of Jesus Christ in His lifetime.
· One who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another.
· A convinced adherent of a school or individual.
(2) They were looking more to Him as a political Messiah.
(3) He might be a great healer, but His teachings were hard. Who could obey them.
c. The life Jesus offered them, and us, must be experienced by faith. The words do not work automatically. There is no magic formula.
(1) He taught them that divine enablement was necessary to come to faith.
(2) Many things He said and did they found to be unpalatable.
· His rejecting their desire to make Him their political king
· His demand for personal faith
· His teaching on atonement
· His stress on total human inability and on salvation as a work of God
(3) They gave up on being His disciples.
(4) It was their call.
5. Return to the Present
a. Read Matt. 12:30—“He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”
(1) Jesus gives a choice for a clear decision—we can either be for Him or against Him.
(2) He later gives a strong warning to those who choose to move away from Him, which is a topic for another sermon.
(3) It was their call.
b. Read John 5:22–29
(1) Jesus’ unity with God is so complete that the honor of God is tied to Jesus. To reject or dishonor Jesus is to reject or dishonor God.
(2) To trust His message and His Father is to have eternal life in the present time.
(3) No judgment will come in the future (he will not be condemned) because you have already passed from one realm—death—into another—life.
6. Summary and Close
a. Just as in the song where the wife gave the husband a choice, Christ gives us a choice as well. Ultimately, its our call.
b. Read The Ant and the Contact Lens
7. Give invitation.
The Ant and the Contact Lens
A true story by Josh and Karen Zarandona
Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was very scared, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda’s eye and knocked out her contact lens.
Well, here she is, on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn’t there. Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff.
She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me." Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"
Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it on its back.
Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don’t know why You want me to carry this thing. I can’t eat it, and it’s awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I’ll carry it for You." I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don’t know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it’s awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will."
God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13).
