What Will You Do With Jesus

Greeting:

Good evening every one

Good to be back with you all tonight

It is going to continue to fly by but I am enjoying every second of it and hope you are too

I want to thank everyone again for having us and I hope that these lessons will be of some benefit to us all...

Lesson Text:

Matthew 27:22

Opening:

Our theme for the week is “The church and the Need to Evangelize”

We began our series of lessons Sunday by looking at the church.

We looked Sunday morning at the formation and habits of the early church there in Acts 2

We saw their dedication and love for the church and and then long with that what the idenity of the church was...

And how important it is we understand our idenity as Christ’s church...

Sunday night we looked at what we can all do to help the church.

We established the fact that before we go out and evangelize, it first all starts with us.

While evengelism is important and we are going to talk about it a ton tonight and the coming nights Lord willing, we ourselves first have to be ready...

We ned to make sure that first we, chrsitians, the church, are ready and prepared to go out and do the work...

Tonight we are going to shift our focus though as we talk tonight and in the coming lessons Lord willing on the need to evangelize...

Tonight if you have your Bibles turn to Matthew 27...

I want to look at a question asked there in Matthew.

A question that I hope we can all ask ourselves tonight and a question I hope we all understand the importance of...

A question asked from a gentleman who sentenced Jesus to his death.

Turn with me to our lesson text there in Matthew 27:22...

Matthew 27:22 NKJV

Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”

“What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ”

That question is going to serve as our main idea tonight...

You can look back in the chapter here and see the context here is that we have Jesus who is about to stand trial.

He is about to recieve his sentence and face death...

He’s been turned over to Pilate.

Jesus is standing before the people ready to see what will be done.

He’s being questioned and interrogated by Pilate.

And we all know Pilate looks out to the crowd and asked which person they’d rather have released.

A murderer named Barabbas or Jesus.

And we all know what they chose.

Then we see in verse 22 where the question of our lesson title tonight comes from.

Pilate asked, “What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

Pilate asked a question here that in return was answered with the crucifixion of Jesus.

An event that’s forever changed every single life here on earth.

If you look here in the verses that follow verse 23-24 we see Pilate ask why?

What evil has he done?

He knew Jesus had done nothing. He said he finds no fault in him...

Yet, he gives him up and washes his hands of Jesus.

The rest is history so to say.

Thats the account of what one man did with Jesus quiet literally by sentencing him over to be crucified...

But tonight I want you to ask yourself that same question as we look at a lesson titled... “What Will You Do With Jesus?”

Lesson:

Tonight I want to look for just a few minutes at this question Pilate asked.

The question of “What shall I do with Jesus?”

I want to ask ourselves that very same question tonight. I want us to ponder on this question deeply.

What will we do with Jesus?

Will we betray him? Will we deny him? Or will we proclaim him?

What will we do with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

Tonight we have to all understand the fact that we must be willing to, at all cost, proclaim Him...

Tell others about Him and what he has done...

Throughout the Bible though we can see some instances where indiviuals failed to proclaim Jesus and instead they betrayed him, and denied Him...

Tonight we are going to look at some of these instances first and then end with what I hope will be all of our answer to our question tonight....

Proclaim Jesus...

Betrayal

Matthew 26:14–16 NKJV

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him.

When thinking about the question of what will we do with Jesus...

We see here Judas’s answer to this question.

Judas’s answer was betrayal.

He betrayed Jesus, as we know and read just now for 30 pieces of silver.

We all know that Jesus told Judas and the other apostles that one of them would betray him...

Matthew 26:21–25 NKJV

Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?” He answered and said, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me. The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, “Rabbi, is it I?” He said to him, “You have said it.”

Judas betrayed his master for material gain.

He gave up Christ and sold Christ out...

Will this be our answer?

Will we betray our Lord and Savior for some sort of gain...

We sit here and say no no I would never ever do that.

But didn’t Judas say the same thing?

Who me? Me God?

But what did he do?

The very exact thing.

Is that us?

Do we betray Jesus and give Him up for some sort of matieral gain.

When given an oppurtunity to evangelize and share the gospel with someone, do we betray Him?

Well I cant tell them about Jesus if I do then I might lose my job, I might not be as popular, I might not be as rich or famous, or as cool as everyone else...

Do we cave or sell out much like Judas did for those 30 pieces of silver...

Or will we see the need to step up?

Will we see the need to evangelize, to reach souls, to do the work that needs to be done for Jesus?

Will we be like Paul at the end of his life there in Acts 28:30-31

Acts 28:30–31 NKJV

Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Scripture tells us Paul preached the kingdom and taught things concerning Jesus with all confidence or boldness...

Will we do the same thing?

What will we do with Jesus?

Will we betray Him?

Denial

Matthew 26:30–35 NKJV

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.” Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples.

Matthew 26:69–75 NKJV

Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.” And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!” And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your speech betrays you.” Then he began to curse and swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!” Immediately a rooster crowed. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.

Here we see Peters denial.

Jesus told him, much like he did Judas, that he would deny him...

Not once, not twice, but three times and what did Peter do?

Exactly that...

Peter is asked multiple times hey aren’t you the guy that we’ve seen with this person they call Jesus?

Aren’t you a follower of him?

I know I’ve seen you with him

Peter knowing his master has been questioned and probably the repercussions of that says, “No I don’t know this man. I don’t know Jesus.”

Peter has to know now that there is gonna be some trouble for those who’ve associated with Jesus.

He knows life may not be so easy now if I am admitting to following him...

So he takes the easy road out… he denies Christ...

What about us?

Is this what we will do with Christ?

When we know that maybe the popular thing to do is remain silent, or not speak up, or we have a chance to capitlize on an oppurunity to evangelize what will we do?

What will we do with Jesus and his story?

When asked about our faith will we be like Peter and deny it?

When we are out and about instead of seeing the need to evangelize will we deny our faith?

Mark 8:38 NKJV

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Are we ashamed to be a Christian and show that we love and follow Jesus in our life?

Do we think sometimes it would be easier if I just blended into the world and denied my faith.

Is that our answer for what we want to do with Jesus?

Deny Him?

Proclaim

Tonight I want us to keep in mind this question.

I want us to really think about how we answer this question on a daily basis.

Through our actions, our speech, our decision making.

What will we do with Jesus?

Will we deny him? Betray him? Or finally tonight will we proclaim him?

I hope our answer is that of our last point this evening.

Proclaim him.

We are talking all week about the need for the church to evangelize...

It starts with us, it takes effort from us, it requires us to stand up and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ...

Its our job as Christians to do this!

Matthew 5:14–16 NKJV

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

This is one of my favorite verses about proclaiming the gospel… or the idea of evangelism.

I love the illustration here for us to let out Christian light shine.

To show the world who we are as Christian’s.

We need to be proclaiming Christ through our lives every single day.

Matthew tells us there that its through our good works, its through what we do that people will take note of and glorify God in heaven ebcasue of it...

Is our light burning bright for Christ?

Is it guiding the way of souls to Jesus?

Are our lives being that guiding light thats leading others to hear the gospel, to come to know Jesus Christ?

Are we willing to proclaim Him every day?

Psalm 96:1–13 NKJV

Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.” Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.

I hope that when posed with the question of what we will do with Jesus I hope we decide to share him.

To tell people about him.

To show everyone what a life with Christ in it is all about.

Let’s not hide Jesus. Let’s not forget about Jesus.

Let’s show Jesus every single day.

Conclusion:

Tonight I hope we I have given you all some thoughts that will help us.

Tonight I hope we can see what answer we need to be ready to give to this question.

I hope tonight our answer isn’t the first two of denial and betrayal but the last..

To proclaim Jesus Christ in everything we do.

To tell others the story of Jesus and what he has done for them, for you, and for me...

To evangelize and get others to hear the beuatiful gospel message...

I want to end tonight with some wise and ebautoful words from Paul in Galatians...

Galatians 6:14 NKJV

But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Let us boast in the cross of Jesus...

Let us tell others about Him...

Let’s proclaim Jesus.

Let’s share him with the world.

Tonight what are you doing with Jesus and His story?

Are you sharing it with others?

Or have you forgotten it yourself...

Going back to Peter we can’t leave out the ending to his story.

You look back at what Peter did when he realized what he had done.

It says there in Matthew 26:75 that he went out and wept bitterly.

Are we sorry? Do we have godly sorrow for the things we have done in our life?

Or have we grown numb to sin? Have we grown numb to denying Christ and betraying Christ?

Does sin not make us sorry anymore?

Let’s change that tonight.