Take A Bold Stand For The Lord Jesus Christ! Series

Take a Bold Stand for the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 14:1-12

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared June 11, 2022)

MESSAGE:

*Over the last few weeks, we have been studying Matthew 13, and there Jesus began to explain His Kingdom to His followers. The Lord taught them through a series of 8 parables. For example, in Matthew 13:45-46, Jesus said, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

*Jesus wants us to know that nothing could possibly be more valuable to us than His Kingdom. And I hope you can honestly say that Jesus Christ is your king, because He is the King of all kings. I also hope you can honestly say that Jesus is your king, because the only place where we can live forever is in the Kingdom of Heaven.

*Today we begin to focus on Matthew 14, and in vs. 1-12 the Holy Spirit led Matthew to look back and tell us about the vicious murder of John the Baptist. The way John lived and died can help us take a bold stand for Jesus today.

1. FIRST: WE MUST RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE IN A GREAT SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE.

*John the Baptist reminds us that we are part of the struggle that has brought destruction and death ever since Satan rebelled against God.

*It may not seem like it when we are eating donuts in Sunday School, but Christians, we are soldiers in the greatest army the world will ever see. And though our ultimate victory is absolutely guaranteed by God, we face opposition that is dangerous and determined, so we must not be surprised by growing hostility.

*In Ephesians 6:10-13 Paul revealed our true enemies, and there he said:

10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

11. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

13. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

*The devil and the other fallen angels are our true enemies, but in these days they have a massive and growing influence in the world. Many people follow the devil willingly, and many more follow him unwittingly, because of their spiritual blindness. Paul spoke of this truth in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 where he said, "If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."

*Since these people have been spiritually blinded by the devil, many of them hate Christians with murderous passion. And why do they hate us? Jesus told us in John 15:18-21, and there the Lord said:

18. "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.

19. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

20. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

21. But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me."

*John the Baptist ran into a buzz-saw of opposition when he stood up for the Lord, and the same thing can happen to us. John took his stand against Herod the Tetrarch, and was murdered in cold blood.

*Let me remind you that there are several men in the New Testament referred to as "Herod." They weren't Jews, but natives of nearby Idumea, and they were appointed to rule by the Roman Empire. The first was known as "Herod the Great," and though he expanded the Temple in Jerusalem, he was a vicious monster of a tyrant who had zero interest in keeping God's Law. This is the Herod who tried to kill young Jesus by murdering all the infant boys in Bethlehem.

*The Herod here in Matthew 14 was Herod the Great's son. His name was Antipas, and "tetrarch" was his title because he ruled one fourth of his father's kingdom. In Luke 13:32, Jesus called him "that fox" because of his craftiness. (1)