Christ is on the road to Crucifixion

Luke 23:27–31 NIV

27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then “ ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ 31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

At the age of 26 Barry Foster has had it with football. In the Early years of the 1990s, Barry Foster was one of the premier running backs in professional football.

Between 1992 and 1994, he won an American football conference rushing championship.

He went to the pro bowl twice as Pittsburgh steeler.

He also broke Franco Harris's team record for 100-yard games in a season with 12, which also tied Eric Dickerson's NFL record for 100-yard games.

He was voted to the Pro Bowl that year and also scored 11 touchdowns.

Foster finished 1992 as the AFC top rusher and second to Emmitt Smith by 23 yards for the rushing title.

But all this success also brought with it many injuries and missed games.

In 1995, the Steelers surprised him by trading him to a brand

new club- the Carolina Panthers during the pre-season.

Barry Foster only ran the ball 22 times for the Panthers and he sat out the last pre-season game with swelling in his knee- then the panthers shocked him by releasing him in the Final Roster Cut.

Now Barry Foster is a commodity. And he was immediately approached by six professional football teams , and he tried out for three : San Francisco , Houston, and Cincinnati.

It was the Cincinnati Bengal’s who liked what they saw and offered him an upfront signing bonus of $300,000 , and a Salary yearly of seven hundred thousand dollars :

-that's a one million dollar contract for a single year!

On the next Monday , He was officially a back in the NFL.

On Tuesday he reported to the Bengals.

On Wednesday , he worked out with the Bengals and guess what on :

On Thursday he left camp got on a plane and went Home to his bed in Dallas Texas.

Later that week he told the media : “I thought I wanted to hear the cheers of a crowded stadium, but after the first day in Cincinnati, it confirmed what I had felt after I was released by Carolina, I was only fooling myself that I really wanted to play. ( bye-bye 300k)

At a press conference in the office of his agent, he said this:

“I just didn't have the desire to get out and compete at a professional level. When you lose that desire you sometimes get hurt, and you hurt the chances of your team being successful. So, I felt that the best thing for me was just to ‘walk away from the game’.

Just To Walk Away From The Game

When it comes to football, I can understand why Barry Foster did what he did, but will you not agree with me, that walking away from the football field is a whole lot different , and a lot less important, than walking away from that competitive field that we call :

The ‘field of Christian Living’ ‘ Being A follower of Jesus’ or of ‘ Being a Disciple’ ?

Do you know that there are lots and lots of Christians who were at one time powerfully out on that field? They were involved in the game -- they were competing for Jesus Christ, exercising and striving to make Jesus Christ known. But somewhere along the line they lost that desire - they lost their desire, and they turned their back on that competition…..

And because that is a danger that can confront any one of us this morning, I would like to leave you with a very simple warning, a very simple exhortation . My warning and my exhortation is this:

Don't Walk Away From The Game

And that just happens to be the title of my message to you today: Don't walk away from the Game.

When I first received Jesus as my Saviour, and believed in Him for the gift of Eternal Life and Forever forgiveness, I was really excited to share my discovery with my family and friends. Surely all would be happy to hear. Well my game plan of total acceptance was quickly squashed.

· My parents thought I was duped by a hippie

· My relatives strongly reminded me that I was a Catholic

· My sister started being pursued by Jehovah Witness and trying to convert me to the “True” Watchtower information.

· My Friends (JA) thought I had taken one to many trips.

· My admired Uncle shut me up by saying that ‘A True God would be selfish if he wanted praise for Himself’.

· And some acquaintances accused me of being a fraud -because I didn’t live up to certain ‘Standards” of a Good Christian.

You know, my mind took a Snapshot of the uncertain feelings and of the condescending looks I got during that early summer of 1982.

I can see it just as clearly today, as if it happened last week. I can hardly remember anything else about that Year, most of the other details are vague to me- but I Still can see a pitiful me , standing there unable to answer my accusers ,and wanting to cry alone in a Corner.

And you know that's the way our mind operates, when we encounter frustrations, encounter Problems and Difficulties---

We almost totally focus on the Problem, on the Difficulty, or the Frustration and somehow everything else around us has a tendency to fade into the background. And if we let it, our own thinking can betray us. It can get us off the playing field- and we can turn back and lose our desire to ‘Be strong in the Lord’ and in the power of His might. As a man thinketh in his heart , so is he.

And if there was ever a man who had a right to focus on his own problems to the exclusion of everything else, and quit trying, that man was surely Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, of whom we've read about just a few moments ago in our passage of scripture.

The Background is this

Remember that Jesus be is being led out of the city of Jerusalem and in the direction of the hill called Calvary, where he will be crucified.

He has not had any sleep since Wednesday night.

On Thursday evening he had eaten his last supper with his disciples.

He had gone out into the garden to pray and after he was finished praying, there was that mob of People waiting for Him. Soldiers and Chief Priests and Scribes are all there to harass Him.

They put him under arrest they led him to the house of the high priest where he stood before the High Priest.

The High Priest sends him to the judgment hall of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate.

Pilate sends him to Herod the king , then Herod the king sends Him back to Pontius Pilate who then condemned him to death by crucifixion.

From the other gospels we also learn that after that that happened, He was whipped, so badly that his back was covered with welts and bleeding bruises.

Then he was taken to the barracks of the soldiers and there they made fun of him they put on Him the purple robe , and a crown of thorns on His head.

They blindfolded him they sacked him in the face , and challenged Him to prophesy which one of them was slapping him.

When they were finished with that they re-clothed him in his own clothes they laid on the back of Jesus the heavy cross which he had to carry through the streets of the city of Jerusalem.

A few minutes before the incident that we read about, they relieved him of the cross. They took it off his back and put it on the back of Simon of Cyrene, who followed Jesus, and carried Jesus cross for him.

If ever there was a man who had a right to focus on his troubles that was Jesus. Can you imagine how tired he was?

Bone weary

No food since Thursday night

No sleep since Wednesday night

His back bruised and bleeding. He had a right my friends to focus on his own problem.

NOW following him in the crowd were some women, who were weeping and lamenting for him.

These were probably not Women that he knew, because it was a custom in those days, for Jewish women to go out to executions, and to weep for whoever was being executed, however unworthy the person may be.

If nobody else came to weep for them, these women would weep for them. Apparently it was believed that this was a good work that God took note of , and it was Supposed one could gain credit And favor with God by this.

Here were these women weeping as Jesus is being led to execution, just as they had often done at other executions . Now if ever they had a right to weep at an execution, this was it, don't you agree?

The one who was being led away to execution is the only person who ever lived, that never committed a sin, much less a crime.

>And more than that, the one who on the way to execution was the Son of God.

>He was the creator of all things

>He was the future king of Israel.

They had every reason to weep !!

Listen, Jesus had every reason to focus on his own problems !! And the women had every reason to weep for him, right ?

And that is why the words of Jesus are so very very surprising --

so completely unexpected.

Our text tells us that he turned to these women, and WHAT he DIDN’T say to them :

“Ladies thank you very much for sharing my grief, thank you for weeping for me .

Thank you for feeling sorry for me in this horrible, horrible situation in which I find myself”:

He didn't say that. He didn't say anything even close to that- Did you notice what he did say?

Daughters of Jerusalem

Do not weep for me

Do not weep for me

Isn't it obvious that Jesus was not absorbed in his own problems .

He was not preoccupied with Himself , he's not drowning in a stream of self-pity.

He says “Don't weep for me”.

And in this my friends, Jesus is our Model

He is our example

He is our leader.

He is showing us how to bear the problems that we face.

Many of us Remember hearing the sad News that Joe Polisano went to be with the Lord in Sept 2022. And many of us spoke to Joe’s Wife and our dear sister Carla Polisano in the weeks that followed her loss.

Im not sure if you noticed her demeanor and attitude at that season. But I did.

If You were Talking to her about Joe and her loss, You may recall that Your voice cracked and Your eyes may have got teary - But you know what Mrs. Polisano said to us all? I’ll never forget it , she said:

The Lord has takin care of me! He’s been so Good !

I have Peace Jimmy-I’m at rest in my heart !

You know why?

She knew where Joe was, and she knows where she's going!

She had trusted the Lord Jesus Christ for the free gift of everlasting life; She believed that God's Hand was upon her trial, and Joe’s difficulties also - right till the end.

Do you know what Carla was saying to us? Wasn’t she saying “ Don’t weep, don't weep for me ? ”

And Happy is that Christian man, Happy is that Christian woman, who in times of trial, is not running all over the place looking for sympathy , looking for compassion, looking for tears.

HAPPY Is the Christian, who in the midst of a trial, is so confident about the Goodness of God, that no matter what that trial may be they can say :

Do not weep for me.

But that wasn't all that Jesus said to the daughters of Jerusalem- that wasn't all by any means. He said “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children for the days are coming when they will say blessed are the women who have no children, blessed are the wombs that have never borne children, blessed are the breasts that have never nursed children. In those days they will begin to say to the mountains fall on us into the hills cover us.

Jesus said you don't need to cry for me, but there's something you need to be deeply concerned about . The future of this nation ; and it's the future that you face, and your children will face.

Of course, my friends, The Words that Jesus spoke were fulfilled within that century. What Jesus said or what HE promises ALWAYS comes true. And this is no exception.

> Jesus, we believe, was crucified in 33 a.d. 33 more years passed and in the year 66 A.D., a war broke out between the rebellious Jewish nation and the Roman empire.

At first the jews seemed to be doing well, but after the full might of the roman soldiery was brought to bear upon the nation, they were crushed. After a siege on the city of Jerusalem in 70 a.d., that city fell and most of it was destroyed.

The Jewish temple to God was burned to the ground.

One Jewish historian who was alive at that time tells us that in that war, approximately one

million Jews perished and lost their lives.

> Jesus is saying you don't have any need to be concerned for me- but my vision of the future is that you should be concerned for yourself and for your children.

And of course the words that Jesus spoke implied that, not only those women, but also their children and the People of Israel should turn to God. What they needed most of all , was to put Faith in God's Savior who was there at that moment, heading toward the cross, where he would die for their sin.

Don't you see that Jesus was not preoccupied with himself -- he was concerned for other people in the midst of his darkest and most dangerous hour .

In this too He is our model :

For we are to leave our problems in the hands of God

We are to trust in his ability to handle them and

We are to be concerned for the unsaved people who are all around us.

You see we must never be so caught up in our own problems and our own concerns that we forget about the desperate desperate, desperate need of people that we meet every day .

Maybe our concern is best expressed in the final words that Jesus spoke to the daughters of Jerusalem in the very last verse of our passage.

Jesus says to these women :

‘If they do these things in a green tree what shall be done to a dry Tree?

You see Jesus in the sight of God was a lot like a green fruitful tree ( the godly man of Psalm 1) - but the nation of Israel was like a dry tree rooted into the ground but drawing no water- Limbs Barren of leaves and fruit - it was just waiting for the axe to be laid to its roots; to be cut down and thrown into the fire.

Jesus is saying- Daughters, you can see for yourself what God allows to happen to those who are righteous . What do you imagine will happen to those who are unsaved and unrighteous?

Years later Peter said this : The time has come for judgment to begin at the House of God and if it begins first with us what shall be the end of those who do not obey the gospel? For if the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Have you ever noticed that God's people sometimes have a very hard time in life - It's amazing what God allows his people to go through in terms of trouble, but no matter how bad that is, let me assure you that the end of the unsaved person is far, far worse.

“If they do these things in a green tree what do you think will happen to the dry tree.”

Just So you know that bearing witness to Jesus Christ is the most important game in town.

The Field of Testimony to the Savior is the most important field of competition you can possibly be in.

Are you out there playing the game?

Then stick to it. Hold on

Don't Walk Away from the Game

We should be about our Fathers Business.

A number of years ago at the University of Nebraska, an unusual incident happened.

A Campus Crusade team of Wrestlers came to campus. And The administration on campus allowed them to appear, but would not allow them to give their testimony for the Lord Jesus Chris.

A lot of the students and some of the professors and a few of the newspapers were very upset about this : they couldn't understand why people could promote Socialism, LGBTQ Rights, or promote Radical Politics or some Fringe belief, But they couldn't speak for Jesus Christ. A newspaper called the Omaha World Herald took the side of the campus crusade wrestlers and they made fun in an editorial of the policy of the administration.

The Headline on the editorial read like this: Sit Down and Shut up for Jesus.

You know something? Some Christians have already done that- they sat down a long time ago and they've shut up about Jesus. And they've forgotten that one of our most wonderful privileges we have is to stand up and speak up for the Son of God : our Glorious, Wonderful, and Soon Coming Savior.

Lets get with it folks- Get on the field. Whatever you do , Don't walk away from the Game!

Why? Whats the Big Deal?

Ill tell you why. Just like Jesus told the women in our text today about the fall of Jerusalem, God has also told us about future of our planet. He also exhorts us to prepare for OUR PLACE on his Team. We are given a Hope that we should build out life on.

There is a New World Coming ! It is promised in the Bible. Its called the Millennium. The 1000 year Reign of Christ.

Revelation 20:1–6 NLT

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years.

For all you academics out there, Nothing I say today from this pulpit is not researched. Guy Duffield & Dr. Nathaniel Van Cleave tell us:

Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, Volumes 1 & 2 C. Is the Kingdom of God an Inner Spiritual Reality or An Outwardly Visible Rule?

The future (eschatological) kingdom will be an outwardly manifested kingdom over which Christ will reign in power and glory. The future kingdom of God will prevail over the whole earth and will fulfill the Old Testament prophecies to the faithful remnant of Israel, concerning Messiah’s reign upon the throne of David (Isa. 9:6–7; 11:1–10; 24:23; 32:13; Dan. 2:44; 7:18–27; Mic. 4:7). The New Testament saints will rule and reign with Christ as kings and priests (Matt. 25:21–23; 1 Tim. 6:14–15; Rev. 5:9–10; 19:14–16; 20:4–6). The thousand-year reign of Christ over the earth is known as His millennial reign. Although the word millennium does not occur in the Bible, it is the Latin word for “thousand years” (Rev. 20:4–6)

We are Destined to Reign !

We are called to rule and reign with Christ !

God wants to include you in His wonderful Future Plan !

A New Age is coming !

Ephesians 1:21 NKJV

21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

Ephesians 2:4–7 NKJV

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

1.Scripture tells us that there are two conditions for reigning with Christ . The first of these conditions is ‘Enduring to the end.’

2 Timothy 2:12-13 (NKJV)

2 Timothy 2:12–13 NKJV

12 If we endure, We shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. 13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

You notice the key expression here if we Endure we will also Reign with him.

Revelation 2:26 NKJV

26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—

Notice what that says it says he who overcomes and keeps my works to the end - to him I will give power over the nations- it's saying in a different way the same thing that we read in 2nd Timothy 2:12

Obviously if we take the two passages together what we have here is a call to endure in our Christian life and in our service to God, doing the works that God wants us to do.

So one of the conditions or Co Reigning with Jesus Christ is to keep on keeping on to the end — whenever the end comes, whether in death or whether comes by the coming of the Lord.

So condition number one : Endurance till to the end.

Stay in the Game !!

Ephesians 2:8–10 NKJV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

You Are Training For Reigning ! Saved for a purpose !

Please Notice:

That although a person can go to heaven by simple faith in Christ ,if he drops out of the Christian race he drops out of the possibility of gaining this wonderful and splendid reward.

2. The Second condition for Co-Reigning with Christ are Character Qualifications .

How we live matters - And We have a part to play in this.

3 NT passages that indicate this.

Ephesians 5:5 NKJV

5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

1 Corinthians 6:9a (NKJV)

9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.

Gal. 5:19- 21 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,  idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

New Living Translation

Now This is important:

“Inherit the kingdom” is functionally equivalent to “Co-reigning with Christ”.

So with the expression ‘inheriting the kingdom’ we should understand its meaning as similar to ‘ Co reigning with Christ.’

Inheriting a kingdom is different than living in a kingdom, just as inheriting a house is different than living in a house.

You can live in a house that you don't own, a place you don't have any real authority over.

But once you inherit it , it's your house. The same thing is true in the Kingdom- you can live in the kingdom without having an authority there.

THE ONES WITH Authority are those who own the kingdom.

MAIN THOUGHT HERE : Christ owns the kingdom, and his co-heirs will own the kingdom along with him.

Do You remember the words that were spoken to the Son and recorded by the writer of Hebrews?

Hebrews 1:8–9 NKJV

8 But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”

And because he lived perfectly, his Happiness is greater than the happiness of his companions, or partners in that. But please notice, the Lord Jesus Christ inherits this kingdom.

Psalm 2:7–8 NKJV

7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.

And when the right day comes the Lord Jesus Christ and turn to God the Father and say “would you give it to me now ?.”

The Theological Wordbook Kingdom

Count it a privilege that every believer is under the rule of God now and

will participate in serving the Lord in the coming millennial kingdom

And so Jesus is going to inherit a kingdom over all the earth and WE can be part by obeying these two conditions !! Again we are saved by Grace and the free gift of eternal life, Jn3:16 but we will be rewarded by our works.

Now let me a say a few things by way of comment on these conditions.

My Children SHOULD Inherit MY Business.

they could all inherit an equal portion

Or it is within My prerogative to cut any of them out of a share of the business.

I think you would understand, that if I felt for example , that one of my children didn't deserve to participate in the business, He could lose out in the future.

I could have leave the business three of my children or to two of them or even to one of them.

But This wouldn't change the fact that All of my children are my children permanently .

But , their Heirship is dependent upon what I decide they ought to have.

Lets Look at God’s Situation :

The kingdom of God is God's ‘ family business’”.

It's his business , and his Son who has already died and been raised to life will inherit the whole thing.

The king of the Jews of whom we were hearing about this morning, is to be the King of the Entire World- and Now, He has those who will Co-Reign with him - who will share in this inheritance -

to the degree and to the extent that God considers them fit to do that.

And by the same token, if the conditions for inheritance are not met, although a person may be a child of God, and eternally saved, he can be excluded from this particular privilege !

Stay In The Game !

Hebrews 12:1–2 NKJV

1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. ( New Living Translation)

Stay In The Game !