What to do with Truth

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Call to worship

Eph 1:3-11 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”

LET US STAND AND WORSHIP!

“What. beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF PRAISE FOR WHO GOD IS

Lord,

“What. beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

“What. beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION TO OPEN OUR HEARTS

Lord,

SERMON

Introduction

This morning we are going to look at the second trial of Jesus, when He stands before the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate.

Pilate was a ruthless Roman governor who had no problem at all torturing and executing criminals. But there was something about Jesus that convinced Pilate that He was innocent and not just a common criminal.

And to our surprise, Pilate sides with Jesus, tries to defend Jesus, but then caves under the immense pressure of the crowd and has Jesus crucified.

Pilate had the power to give life or to take life. The Jewish leaders could not put Jesus to death, so they went to Pilate, and put him in a very uncomfortable position.

And during this trial he crosses paths with truth, and despite given warning after warning, chooses death over life.

The sermon title this morning is, “What to do with Truth”. This is not just a question for Pilate, but for all of us today.

Turn with me to: Matthew 27:11-14

“Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.” And while He was being accused by the chief priests and elders, He did not answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not hear how many things they testify against You?” And He did not answer him with regard to even a single charge, so the governor was quite amazed.”

Explanation

JESUS IS BROUGHT BEFORE THE ROMAN GOVERNOR PILATE

This was very intentional because only the governor could order Jesus to be crucified

The responsibility fell solely on Pilate

This narrative is explicitly about Pilate

The truth He received From Jesus

How he will handle the truth and the warnings of condemning an innocent man

And, his attempt to remove himself from the entire thing

PILATE ASKS JESUS, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

All four gospels record this same question which means it is SIGNIFICANT!

Jesus responds with: “It is as you say”

In the last 24 hours, Jesus has responded three times in the same manner:

When Judas asked whether he was the betrayer—“you have said it yourself”

When Caiaphas asked whether he was the Christ—“you have said it yourself”

And now when Pilate asks whether he is King of the Jews—“It is as you say”

Do you know what all three of these have in common?

They all know the answer to the question they are asking Jesus

Jesus does not need to reveal to Judas that he will betray him.

Judas made a deal with the chief priests before he sat down with Jesus at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:16)

Nor does Jesus need to tell Caiaphas that He is the Christ

Caiaphas et with the Pharisees after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and planned to kill him (John 11:53)

And Jesus does not need to tell Pilate that He is the King of the Jews because He already knows it in his heart

This so why Pilate is amazed when Jesus does not defend Himself

This is why Pilate defends Jesus against the crowd

This is why Pilate “washes his hands” of the whole matter in an attempt to excuse himself

PRIMARY PRINCIPLE (Don’t miss this!)

We are all accountable to the knowledge and revelation that God gives us

Jesus told Pilate: “It is as you say”

He is affirming the truth that is already in Pilate’s heart

And Pilate is accountable to that truth that Jesus is the King of the Jews, an innocent man put on trial by envious religious leaders.

From this moment forth, how Pilate handles this case will determine his Fate

Application to us

When God reveals spiritual truth to us we are accountable to how we respond to that truth

When God speaks to us through His Word, and in such a way that it applies directly into our lives at that point in time

We are then accountable to how what we do with that revelation

When God speaks through a sermon or church service, then we are accountable to that revelation

When God sends another brother to us with truth, we become accountable to that truth

God’s truth cannot be dismissed

Pilate tried to dismiss it, but he only incurs guilt upon himself

2 things I want us to think about as we move through this sermon today:

Am I being faithful to what God has shown me?

What do I do with the truth God gives me?

I see atleast 3 things that condemned Pilate

1) His conscience bore witness that Jesus was innocent

Matthew 27:15-18 “Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the people any one prisoner whom they wanted. At that time they were holding a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over.”

Explanation

(v 18) “For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over”

Pilate knew that Jesus had not broken Roman law but these men had trumped up false charges.

They were jealous of Him!

He had a much bigger following than they did!

People were hoping Jesus would be the King!

When he rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the crowd welcomed him like a king

They praised him, and shouted “save us”

And all this had the Jewish leaders in turmoil

They were envious of Jesus

And all of this surely reached the ears of the governor

Roman law stated that an innocent man should not be out to death

Pilate’s conscience burns within him as he sees an innocent man being condemned to death.

Bridge

God has given each of us a conscience

Rom 2:14-15 “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,”

This verse tells us that all people (lost and saved) have a conscience

The conscience is the inward part of us that tells us right from wrong

Some people refer to this as their gut feeling

That inner conviction

Some people absolutely refuse to listen to any kind of feeling they have

I think that is an error

How does our conscience work?

When a person is hurt he feels pain, and something inside his body alerts him that something is wrong

He has stepped on a nail

He has cut off his finger

The body says, “something isnt right”

Likewise, when a person sins his soul sends a warning to him that something is wrong

Hey this is bad

He has been wounded spiritually

Pilate’s conscience alerted him that this was not good

He tried to remedy the situation

But we know he ultimately caved and did the opposite of what his conscience was telling him

Application

We fall into the error of Pilate when we begin to ignore our consciences

A conscience does not just tell us to not do wrong, but also tells us to do right!

And in my experience, most of us fall into the second category

When that inward voice is beckoning us to do something we ought to do, we ignore it

James 4:17 NASB95

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

And over time, if we continue to ignore this, that alert becomes more and more faint

A conscience can become seared which means we lose our sensitivity to what it is telling us

1 Timothy 4:2 NASB95

by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,

And I believe many people living in the church today have or are on the verge of having a seared conscience

We can so easily dismiss what we should be doing that eventually we grow calloused to it

And this needs to be a wake call to each of us, that when our consciences alert us, we need to listen!

Do not just dismiss it!

Do not talk yourself out of it and then justify it

Listen to your God-given conscience

2) Pilate ignores the warning he receives from his wife

Matthew 27:19-21 “While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him a message, saying, “Have nothing to do with that righteous Man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him.” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to put Jesus to death. But the governor said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.””

Explanation

PILATE’S WIFE SENDS HIM A MESSAGE

She tells him, she..., “suffered greatly in a dream because of Him (Jesus)”

Often in Scripture God speaks through dreams

OLD TESTAMENT

God spoke to Jacob in a dream and received God’s promise of the land and descendants

Joseph had a dream that his brothers would one day bow down to him

And there are others

NEW TESTAMENT

God revealed to Jospeh in a dream that the child Mary was carrying has been conceived by the Holy Spirit

The Magi were warned by God in a dream to not return to Herod

THE POINT: We should see this dream by Pilate’s wife as a divine message from God

It’s strange that God chose not to speak directly to Pilate but through Pilate’s wife

But that is not out of character for God

God sent Mose’s Father-in-law to bring wisdom to Moses about how to shepherd the entire nation of Israel

God sent Nathan to David to rebuke Him of his sin with Bathsheba

God even spoke through a donkey to Balaam

God sent Ananias to Paul to lay hands on him and restore his sight

God told Cornelius to send his servants to Peter when he had a dream about eating unclean animals

Application

God often uses others to communicate things to us

I am not saying that people speak the actual Words of God to others as some claim

I am very skeptical of these men who stand up and proclaim, “thus saith the Lord”

But we should listen when a brother or sister comes to us with genuine care.

BUT God will send people into our lives with encouragement, with truth, with Scripture, with wisdom, and at times with rebuke

God speaks through preachers

God speaks through fellow believers

God speaks through husbands and wives

God speaks through friends

The call here is to:

1) To know God communicates to us this way

2) be humble enough to accept it

We must not be like Pilate and ignore it

And we must not allow our pride to cause us to resent it

3) We must also be willing to go ourselves when the Lord sends us

Just as Philip went to the Ethiopian Eunuch to share the gospel

And Paul went to Lystra and Antioch after being stoned to strengthen and encourage the disciples

And Nathan went to rebuke David

Some times we are the recipient of God’s message, and sometimes we are the carrier of God’s message

We must be faithful to both

3) Pilate attempts to remain neutral despite knowing

Matthew 27:22-24 “Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Crucify Him!” And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!” When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.””

Explanation

Pilate has done everything he could to get this thing out of his court

He questioned the charges

He tried to switch Jesus out with Barabbas

He claimed Jesus did no evil

Luke says, Pilate sent Jesus to Herod to try to get Him out of His jurisdiction

He even had him scourged hoping that would draw some empathy from the angry crowd

But in the end the decision was still Pilates

(v 24) “he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood’”

But notice what the Scripture says Pilate did:

(v 25-26) And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified.”

Explanation

He handed him over to be crucified

Despite all of this, the ball was still in his court

There was no way he could remove himself from the accountability of truth

Principle

No one can be neutral with truth

We can try to ignore it

We can wash our hands of any religion

We can play ignorant and say we just don’t know

But in the end we are either with Jesus or against Him

Pilate wanted to be with Jesus, but his actions proved he was against Him

Conclusion

Pilate’s trial with truth is our trial with truth

Pilate’s decisions are our decisions

And we all must choose

In the end, it is what we do that shows where we stand

For me, I shall love it and embrace it

We shall devote our lives to knowing it and practicing it

And when we draw our last breath, we shall be rewarded by it

We shall be set free by it

Or we shall ignore it, reject it, and despise it, and be judged by it

What do you do wih truth?

~PRAYER~

RESPONSE

PUBLIC INVITATION

“What. beautiful Name”

Words and Music by Hillsong

OFFERING

We will now worship the Lord through our tithes and offering.

BENEDICTION

1 Thess 5:23-25 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”