Now, Sarah's going to come and read for us.
The text is in the Gospel of Matthew.
We're back in Matthew chapter 12, verse 15.
You'll find it on page 977.
If you're using a church Bible, thank you, Sarah.
So, this is just after the Pharisees are plotting how they might kill Jesus.
Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place.
A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.
He warned them not to tell others about him.
This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah.
Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love in whom I delight.
I will put my spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
He will not quarrel or cry out.
No one will hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out.
Till he has brought justice to victory.
In his name, the nations will put their hope.
Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute,
and Jesus healed him so that he could both talk and see.
The people were astonished and said,
Could this be the son of David?
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said,
It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.
Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them,
Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined,
and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself.
How then can his kingdom stand?
And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out?
So then, they will be your judges.
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons,
then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions
unless he first ties up the strong man?
Then he can plunder his house.
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
And so I tell you,
Every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven,
but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven,
but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven,
either in this age or in the age to come.
So we're back in Matthew 12, page 977,
looking at that chapter.
And we're really thinking about the danger of disregarding Jesus this evening.
But maybe we can begin picturing Matthew, the gospel writer.
So these events have taken place,
and about 30 years or so later,
Matthew sits down to pen his account of the life of Jesus.
So he has his pen in one hand,
he has his Old Testament scroll perhaps in the other.
He's looking back,
led by the Spirit on the events and the teaching of the life of Jesus.
But he's also very aware of different reactions to Jesus.
Matthew grew up at a time,
and Jesus grew up at a time when there was a very enthusiastic movement
among the Jews asking the question,
when will the Lord return as King as He promised?
What will it be like?
How will He come?
And what will change?
And of course, Matthew, because he knows Jesus,
he knows the answer.
He knows that God has come in His Son, the Lord Jesus.
He is the promised King.
And so we hear that, for example, in Matthew chapter 12, verse 28.
He remembers Jesus' words as he says,
if it's by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons,
then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
And as Matthew is aware that Jesus is the King,
and he's looking into his Bible,
he's asking himself,
what Bible passage sums up Jesus' life and ministry?
And the Spirit leads him to Isaiah chapter 42.
So we've got that lengthy quotation
from one of the servant songs of Isaiah.
And this is one thing that I want to remind us,
to encourage us this evening,
that what you and I need,
whether we're Christians or not Christians,
we need to see Jesus.
And how do we see Jesus?
We meet Him in His Word.
And Matthew understands that,
so he reads the Old Testament,
and he sees Jesus.
His friend, His Savior, His King.
And he understands that God has fulfilled His promise,
the servant, the Lord, has come.
So I don't know how everyone has come here this week.
Perhaps some of us have had a very tough week.
Perhaps some of us, we're struggling in our faith.
Perhaps we have questions about Christianity.
What we need is to ask,
Lord, show me Jesus.
The Jesus that Matthew knew,
and He reveals to us.
But again, as we think about Matthew writing his gospel,
and as he looks back 30 years in the past,
as he looks around his own society,
there's an other influence that he's clearly aware of
that's on his mind.
It's the influence of the Pharisees.
We thought about this a bit last week.
The religious leaders of the day,
who are also firmly opposed to Jesus,
therefore firmly opposed to God's kingdom of grace.
And the pressure from these authorities,
which began on Jesus,
is now impressing itself on the church.
They are under pressure.
And then there are the pressures from the Roman Empire.
And so as Matthew writes his gospel
to the first generation of Christians,
he's wanting them to see from his gospel
that their verdict,
their response to Jesus matters.
That what we're dealing with is life and death reality.
And so this little text in Matthew,
it reminds us what's at stake for us personally
as we consider Jesus.
It reminds us what's at stake for the people around us,
for the people that we love
when we think about Jesus and response to Him.
And it also reminds us of the significance of our mission,
the mission of the church,
that as God's people we are called to.
We proclaim Christ and His good news
and we call people to response.
And so our text really invites us to do two things.
It invites us to consider the character of Christ
and it invites us to consider the cost of rejecting Christ.
And what I hope we can see is that because Jesus is God's beloved Son,
because He is the servant King,
to disregard Him in our lives is disaster.
But let's begin focusing our attention on the character of Christ,
especially here in verses 15 to 21.
But just to recognize the context Sarah reminded us,
it starts with verse 14,
the Pharisees are plotting to kill Jesus.
And then as we get to verse 15,
we see Jesus is doing ministry,
but then He's warning people not to tell others about Him.
So we know that this is also a time
when people have false expectations
and misunderstandings about Jesus.
So you've got Pharisees who are plotting
and you've got people with false expectation.
And in the middle of that, we've got Jesus
and He's loving people and He's healing people
and He's showing us what the kingdom of God is like,
but He's also saying,
be quiet.
Because people need to understand who Jesus really is.
And at that point, for so many,
they had a false view of some kind of
political revolutionary Messiah.
And maybe when we think about that,
it reminds us of the importance of
which voice we listen to
when it comes to truths about Jesus.
That we don't listen to the world's opinions.
We don't even settle for the faith of our parents.
We don't even stop at certain truths about Jesus.
We need to get to know Jesus personally.
It's one of the reasons we come to church.
That we would have a personal encounter
with the Lord Jesus in His Word.
It's one of the great privileges that we have
whenever we open God's Word in our home,
individually or as families.
We get to encounter Jesus to hear Him speak.
And I think it's really important to remember that
and to ask ourselves,
are we enjoying time with Jesus day by day?
And to help us, Matthew highlights four things
that we can know about Jesus,
Matthew's friend and Matthew's king and Matthew's savior.
And here's the first thing for us to remember
as we think about the character of Christ.
First, that Jesus is God's beloved son.
Look at verse 18.
And this is from the beginning of Isaiah 42.
Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love in whom I delight.
That's God's verdict on Jesus.
And you know, Matthew has heard personally
God's verdict on Jesus.
Because remember, Matthew was there
when Jesus was baptized.
And when Jesus came out of the water
and the spirit came down
and the voice from heaven,
this is my son and I love him.
And Matthew was also a friend of James and Peter and John.
And so after Jesus has risen from the dead,
they get told about the transfiguration,
that point up the mountain
where Jesus shone with the glory of God.
And as Jesus is shining with the glory of God,
there's the voice from heaven.
There's the father.
This is my son.
I love him.
Listen to him.
And then Matthew, as he thinks about that,
he turns to Isaiah 42.
And it captures the reality that he's come to know
that God the Father has joy in God the Son.
That as God the Father looks upon Jesus' life on this earth,
he is well pleased.
He is well pleased with Jesus' perfect obedience
at all stages in his life.
When he is 12 years old and he says to his anxious parents,
I must be in my father's house.
And we know that Jesus lived his life
being about his father's business.
We know that the obedience of Jesus
led him always to resist temptation,
intense temptation that would only grow more intense
because he never caved in.
The father has joy in Jesus
because of his perfect love.
We've been thinking about the perfect love of Jesus
when we heard him in the last chapter,
chapter 11, verse 28,
inviting people to find the rest of God,
to find God's rest in knowing Jesus as Savior.
We see Jesus displaying the perfect love of God the Father
when he brings healing as he does here.
When he shows compassion on the crowds,
go back to chapter 9, verse 36,
it's Jesus' compassion on helpless people
who are looking for God,
but they don't know that Jesus is God's King
that leads him to send the disciples on mission.
And the father is pleased with the love
and the compassion of his son, Jesus.
And so he tells his story.
At the same time that there are some,
the Pharisees, who want to destroy Jesus,
and there's many that are captured
as willing to dismiss Jesus
as an irrelevance,
he tells us God the Father,
he delights in Jesus,
his beloved son.
And I think the encouragement for us as Christians
is the invitation that we have
to get into the gospels
to get to know Jesus better,
that we would share the father's delight
in Jesus, the son,
that we would learn to call precious
what God calls precious.
He delights in Jesus
and we're invited to do the same.
So Jesus is God's beloved son.
We also are told here
that Jesus is God's suffering servant.
It's there in verse 18.
Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love in whom I delight.
And the servant songs in the book of Isaiah
become a great hope
that one day a Messiah will come,
that redemption and rescue
and deliverance and peace will come.
And so the question that's being asked
in the first century in Jerusalem and beyond
is what will it look like
when God comes and acts as he's promised?
What will this rescue be like?
What will it look like
when God's king comes to establish his kingdom,
to bless the nations as he's promised?
Well, what answer does Matthew offer?
What answer do the gospels offer
as they present us Jesus?
It looks like a humble servant
who is ready and willing to heal the despised,
to care for those society has cast aside,
to welcome the excluded,
and to demonstrate mercy.
And if we know our Bibles
and we know our gospels,
our minds will perhaps go to some of those stories
where Jesus extends the mercy and grace of God.
Perhaps we think of his encounter
with the woman at the well,
that notorious sinner,
and he shares deep theology,
but ultimately he identifies himself
as the promised one,
the source of living water.
Or perhaps we think about
how Jesus showed mercy to people
from the wrong places.
Earlier in this gospel,
a centurion's faith is honored.
I've not met faith like this anywhere in Israel.
There'll be people who'll come from
north and south and east and west
and they'll be part of the kingdom.
Well, those who had the Old Testament,
those who should have seen the Messiah,
they're going to miss out.
Jesus showed mercy to people
with the wrong look,
people with leprosy,
people with withered hands.
When the king comes,
when the servant comes,
it looks like a figure
riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.
ruling in humility
for humble people.
It looks like a king
come to establish God's kingdom
by way of sacrifice
and self-giving
and a death on the cross.
And it looks like what we read about
in verses 19 and 20.
This servant, this one,
this spirit-filled one,
he will not quarrel or cry out.
No one will hear his voice in the streets.
A bruised reed he will not break
and a smoldering wick he'll not snuff out
till he's brought justice through to victory.
It looks like gentleness
and compassion.
It looks like a Messiah
who is so patient with weak faith,
who is so patient with Matthew
and the other disciples
in all of their misunderstanding.
It looks like a Savior
who will not despise
fragile faith,
but who honors and protects
all of his own.
I have a friend who
used to work for,
in Midlothian,
the mobile library service.
And on day one of his work,
he thought it was the only day of his work
because on day one,
he crashed the van.
And so he had that fear all day long.
What's going to happen
when I get back to the depot
and I have to tell my boss
what's happened?
So at the end of the day,
he went in with great fear
and trepidation,
expecting the worst,
only to be told,
it's no problem,
these things happen.
Now imagine the relief
to be met with gentleness
and mercy.
It's exactly what we find
from the heart of Jesus.
And it's the encouragement
that we've been hearing from Jesus.
It's that encouragement
of chapter 11, verse 28.
Come to me,
all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
We're invited to remember
the heart of Jesus.
Remember he described his heart
in verse 29 of chapter 11.
I am gentle and humble.
in heart.
And the most common emotion
that Jesus shows in the Gospels
is the compassion of God.
And that's so important
for us to remember
as the people of God
because I think it's really easy
for us to despise ourselves
when we fail and fall short.
It's really easy
to beat ourselves up,
never mind looking outside at others.
But our Jesus,
he is gentle with us,
and he doesn't despise weak faith.
And what we discover wonderfully
is that our sin
and our suffering,
it actually draws out
more of Jesus' heart to us
to meet our needs.
So he is the beloved son
and he is the suffering servant.
And here in Matthew chapter 12,
we also discover
more of the character of Christ
as he is announced
to be the light
to the nations.
That's part of Isaiah's phrase
about this coming servant.
Now Matthew doesn't quote
as far as verse 6
of chapter 42,
but if he did,
that's what we would hear.
If he'd quoted from Isaiah chapter 49
about the servant,
we would hear
that it wasn't enough
just for this servant
to come and be a light
for the Jews.
He had to be a light
to the Gentiles also.
So there is something
in the character
of this one,
this Jesus,
that represents good news
for all peoples.
And here we have it
at the end of verse 18.
This spirit-filled one,
he will proclaim justice
to the nations.
And in verse 21,
we see how wide
the welcome is.
In his name,
the nations
will put their hope.
So when God sends his king
to establish his kingdom,
the promise reaches beyond
just that small portion
of Israel.
It extends
to all the nations
of the earth.
The call of Jesus,
the good shepherd.
Remember when he said,
I have sheep
that are not
in this sheepfold,
but I must call them
and they must come in too
so that there be
one flock
and one shepherd.
Or if you were here
this morning
and we were in
the story of Abraham,
Abraham gets that promise
that someone
from his family line
will be a source
of blessing
to all the nations.
It all flows
from Jesus,
the one who declares
himself to be
the light
of the world.
And what we discover
about Jesus
is someone
who,
as it were,
rolls out
the welcome mat.
Not just for
the elite
or not just for
certain types
of people
who might make
the cut
the way,
you know,
a Hollywood red carpet
event works.
He extends
a welcome
and offers
hope to
all.
It's often said
that Matthew
is the most Jewish
of all the gospel
writers,
but we still have
significant hints
within Matthew's
gospel that he
understands the good
news of Jesus
is universal.
So the first
worshippers,
and we think about
it most Christmases,
the first worshippers
of Jesus we find
in Matthew's gospel,
it's the Magi
from the east.
We spoke about
the centurion's
faith,
the one who was
honoured
when he said
to Jesus,
Jesus you don't
even need to
come to my house
to heal my servant,
just say the word
and he'll be healed
and his faith
is honoured.
Or we think about
Jesus crossing
the sea
to heal
the demon
possessed.
Matthew's gospel
tells us that
Jesus is for
all nations
and all people
and of course
think about
when Matthew
is writing,
he's writing now
maybe in the mid-60s
by which point
the spirit
has come
first on the
apostles
and then on the
church
and the church
has been sent
out on that
great commission
and the church
is both announcing
and showing
the saving reign
of Jesus
that faith in Jesus
transforms lives
and builds
a new community
a new society
and that movement
is going
as Jesus
said it would
from Jerusalem
to Judea
to Samaria
and to the ends
of the earth.
Why is this
good news?
Well it's good
news for us
personally
if we've received
this message
because it reminds
us just how
wide and inclusive
the gospel message
is.
Believe in the
Lord Jesus
and you will
be saved.
But it's also
hugely important
for our mission
that this is saying
to us we can
go anywhere
to anyone
from any place
and say to them
Christ Jesus
has died
for you.
Christ Jesus
is the saviour
that you need
regardless of
a background
regardless of
language or culture.
And of course
it's realities
like these as well
that matter
for global mission.
Jesus has now
returned to heaven
but he's
continuing to do
his work.
As he sends
the spirit
fills his people
the spirit
fills the church
and the church
proclaims Christ.
And so
John Piper
is somebody
who writes
a lot about
mission
and he would
say that
every Christian
is called
to either
go on
mission
or to
pray
and to
support
mission
or being
disobedient.
And it's
the reality
of Jesus
being light
to all the
nations
that makes
that so.
And it also
matters then
for our
gospel welcome.
It's one of
the wonderful
things about
this time of
year isn't it?
When the whole
nation
seem to be
gathering in
Edinburgh
it should be
the case
that anybody
should be
able to walk
in through
those doors
and feel
welcome.
to feel
the welcome
to belong
before they
believe.
And there
should be
something in
the loving
welcome of
the church
that should
help someone
to believe.
To make
the message
of the gospel
seem more
credible.
Because someone
should come
into a church
and see
here's a group
of people
and they look
very different
and they seem
to come from
different places
and they're from
different ages
and stages
but they love
one another
and they're
kind to each
other
and they
practice
generosity
together
and so we're
breaking down
some barriers
perhaps
so that people
might be more
open to
our message.
Because we
remember that
every local
church has a
mission.
We have a
mission here
in Beclood.
Galashiels
has a mission
to make
Jesus known,
to make
his message
intelligible
and credible
and desirable
for the
communities
in which
God has
placed us.
So Matthew
is reminding
us,
Jesus is
the beloved
son,
he is
the servant,
he is
the light
to the
nations
and he's
also
the king
of grace.
Many of
Matthew's
contemporaries
as we said,
they had a
particular
expectation
for what
a Messiah
would be
like.
They're
expecting
political
hero,
they're
expecting
overthrow,
they're
expecting
the
establishment
of a
new
order.
And perhaps
it's a
natural
expectation
that we
have.
Often
it's the
way the
world
works.
If you
have a
powerful
role,
then you
may well
be tempted
to operate
by force
of will
or even
the force
of arms.
Look with
me at
verses 22
and 23
and see
just how
different
Jesus is.
Then they
brought
Jesus,
a demon
possessed
man who
was blind
and mute
and Jesus
healed him
so that he
could both
talk and
see.
All the
people were
astonished and
said,
could this
be the
son of
David?
Jesus is a
remarkably
powerful figure
doing remarkable
things and he
has this
powerful,
remarkable title.
Son of
David was the
great hope that
in the future
someone would
come and
he'd be
God's
king,
that God
would rule
through his
chosen king
and people
are beginning
to ask,
is it
Jesus?
But just
recognize,
how does
Jesus use
his power?
How does
he use
this role
which is
his role?
Well,
he uses it
to extend
God's
grave.
He uses
it to
show
healing
and
deliverance.
He will
use it
to bring
forgiveness
and to
display
mercy
and to
give people
hope.
And because
this is
true,
because Jesus
is both
wonderfully
powerful
and at the
same time
wonderfully
loving,
you and I
can trust
him.
Here is
one power
figure who
will never
exploit or
abuse his
role or
his people.
And so
we can
submit to
him knowing
it's for
our good.
So we
can gladly
seek his
kingdom.
So Matthew
has been
showing us
the character
of Christ
to help us
to see
this is why
it would be
so dangerous
to disregard
and ignore
Jesus,
simply because
he is so
good,
because he
is so
wonderful
and loving
and to
miss out
on this
one would
be to
miss out
on so
much.
But he
gives a
second
answer
about the
danger of
disregarding
Jesus,
and now
the tone
changes
as he
focuses on
the cost
of rejecting
Christ,
from verse
24 onwards.
I suspect
we all have
this kind
of person
in our
lives,
the kind
of person
that we
would say
of them,
well they
wouldn't
hurt a
fly,
or nobody
has a
bad word
to say
about them,
they're always
ready to
help
others.
The kind
of person
you want
to be
with,
perhaps the
kind of
person you
want to
be when
you grow
up.
So imagine
that's your
friend,
and you know
so many
wonderful things
about him,
and you meet
someone else,
and at the
very mention
of their
name,
you can
see a
person's
blood boil
And their
fists
clench,
and what
they speak
of that
person is
hate and
anger.
We'd be
shocked,
wouldn't we?
confused.
Matthew has
been introducing
Jesus to
us,
the real
Jesus,
the personal
Jesus,
full of
love and
compassion,
doing good
and bringing
grace,
but the
Pharisees,
verse 14,
plotting how
they may
kill Jesus,
verse 22,
what's their
verdict on
Jesus?
It's only
by Beelzebul,
the prince of
demons,
that this
fellow drives
out demons.
What's going
on here?
As J.C.
Ryle puts it,
it's the
human heart
showing its
true colors
in rejecting
God and
his chosen
servant.
And this
little section
reminds us
that to
disregard
Jesus has
eternal
consequences.
And I
think it's
important for
us to
remember that,
that we
would guard
our own
hearts,
that if
we're
Christians,
we'd want
to walk
closely with
Jesus,
and we'd
want to pray
for others
knowing this
to be true.
So as we
think very
briefly about
Jesus' dialogue
with the
Pharisees,
notice again,
first of all,
that the
identity question
comes up.
Verses 25 to
29, the
question is
really, well,
whose kingdom
is Jesus
in?
Because they
have said
very clearly,
well, we
think Jesus
is working
and siding
with Satan.
And so Jesus
takes the time
to expose
their faulty
logic,
that a house
divided against
itself can't
stand,
that makes
no sense.
He makes
plain that
Jesus is
working against
the kingdom
of darkness,
he's standing
against Satan,
he is the
strong man
who ties up
Satan so
that he can
bring people
from that
kingdom of
darkness
into the
kingdom of
God.
And so to
get that
wrong is
hugely
important.
And Jesus
says as
much very
directly in
verse 30
when he
says,
whoever is
not with
me is
against
me,
and whoever
does not
gather with
me scatters.
Inviting
everyone to
consider,
well, whose
side are we
on?
To recognize
that no one
is a spiritual
Switzerland,
we're either
for or we're
against Jesus.
Or as he
puts it,
we're either
gathering people
into the
kingdom of
God as we
are gathered
ourselves,
or we're
scattering.
And so
Jesus'
warning is
clear.
We must
take him
and his
claims
seriously.
We must
examine what
the Bible
says for
our verdict,
and we
must follow
where the
evidence leads,
and we
must nail
our colors
to the
mast as
we respond
with faith.
But he
doesn't just
stop at the
identity
question,
he also
moves on
to the
destiny
question.
There's a
very sobering
reality,
isn't there,
in verses
31 and
32,
when Jesus
makes plain
that there
is a sin
that won't
be forgiven,
there's a
heart attitude
towards Jesus
that leads
to eternal
punishment.
Verse 31,
so I tell
you,
every kind
of sin
and slander
can be
forgiven,
but blasphemy
against the
Spirit will
not be
forgiven.
Anyone who
speaks a
word against
the Son
of Man
will be
forgiven,
but anyone
who speaks
against the
Holy Spirit
will not be
forgiven,
either in
this age
or in
the age
to come.
It's a
kind of
saying of
Jesus we
need to
be very
careful with.
We need
to be
careful about
tender
consciences.
first of
all,
what is
Jesus
not
saying?
He's not
saying if
we ever
say a
bad word
about
Jesus,
then we
can't
be
forgiven.
We only
need to
look as
far as
Peter,
the
disciple,
to see
that.
Remember
Peter calling
down
curses on
himself.
I don't
know that
man.
So it's
not that.
Nor is
it all
unbelief and
opposition to
Jesus.
Think about
Paul,
the great
apostle.
Before Jesus
met him on
the Damascus
road, he
hated and
despised Jesus
and the
church.
And later he
would look
back and say,
I'm the
chief of
sinners.
But I
acted in
ignorance.
So it's
not that
either.
Maybe to
begin to
get to what
he's talking
about, think
about what
the Pharisees
are doing.
So here
they are,
they have
front row
seats to
the life and
ministry of
Jesus.
They hear
his teaching,
they see
his miracles,
they see
his character,
and they see
the Spirit
working in
and through
Jesus.
And we're
told that the
Father has
pleasure in
Jesus and
he comes
according to
the Father's
plan and
their verdict
is Jesus
is satanic.
Jesus is
part of the
devil's kingdom.
And so
they continue
this public
persistent
attack.
They are
turned against
Jesus and
they're turning
others against
Jesus.
Remember,
even as
Jesus is
being put
on trial,
they're stirring
up the crowd.
Away with
this man,
crucify him.
And so
this is
public
determination
to reject
what they
see,
to attribute
evil to
what is
good,
to deny
the truth
of the
gospel.
But there
is within
this a
warning,
isn't there,
that to
say no
to what
we're told
of Jesus
and the
gospel,
if we
never turn
away from
sin to
trust in
him,
if we
never change,
and follow,
then there
can be
no
forgiveness.
And so
if we're
here and
we're not
yet a
Christian,
that's
something that
we must
do,
we must
humble
ourselves
to turn
to trust
in Jesus
and to
do it
as a
matter
of
urgency.
So
Matthew
writes
to warn
us by
looking at
the Pharisees
here,
that
disregarding
Jesus
is
dangerous
because
of who
Jesus
is,
because
of
what
we
would
miss,
because
he
is
so
precious,
he
is
so
good,
to
miss
him
would
be
to
miss
everything.
But then
there's also
the other
side,
that it's
dangerous
to disregard
Jesus
because
of the
eternal
cost
of ignoring
him and
his claims.
We thought
this morning
about the
Titanic.
On the
night that
Titanic
sank,
there were
six
iceberg
warnings
that came
in.
Now some
of them
were missed,
others were
simply ignored,
and we know
how that
finished.
And so we
recognize that
the importance
of not ignoring
Jesus,
of not ignoring
his warnings,
of not ignoring
his promise
of salvation,
rather to come
to find life
and joy
and rest
in him.
Let's pray
together.
Lord God,
we thank
you for the
way Matthew
could write
of his
friend,
of his
savior,
of his
king,
to look
through the
pages of
the Bible
and to see
Jesus fulfilling
that great
prophecy of
Isaiah 42.
We thank
you for
sending Jesus
to be such
a humble,
suffering
servant,
to be willing
to wash
his disciples'
feet,
to be willing
to wash
us clean
of our
sin,
by his
death
on the
cross.
We thank
you that
he is a
king,
but he
is a
king marked
by grace.
We thank
you for
how tender
and gentle
he is
with us
when our
faith is
weak.
We thank
you that
he is the
one who
will hold
us fast.
We thank
you for
the good
news that
Jesus isn't
just for
some people,
but for
all people,
so we can
have confidence
in proclaiming
Christ as
Lord.
And we
pray too
that you
would remind
us how
important it
is,
how eternally
important it
is to get
our response
to Jesus
right.
Help us and
teach us,
we ask in
Jesus' name.
Amen.