Today on Summit Life with JD Greer, Jesus never ever gives up on you. His grace to forgive is greater than you could ever imagine. His power to restore a life that is ruined by sin is beyond your wildest hopes. Believing the gospel is basically coming to realize that you are more wicked than you ever dreamed, and then simultaneously more loved and accepted than you ever dared hope at the same time. Hey, welcome back to Summit Life with Pastor J.D.
Greer of the Summit Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. As always, I'm your host, Molly Vitovich. I think part of the reason the events surrounding the trial of Jesus are recorded so clearly is to show us that we are the ones who are actually on trial. In these stories, we should see ourselves and they should make us consider how we are responding to Jesus. We are sometimes Judas, we are often Peter, and today we'll see that we are also those involved in the trial and conviction of Jesus.
We know you don't want to miss any of Pastor JD's teaching.
So if you ever need to catch up, you can hear previous broadcasts from the Instead of Me series that we're currently in by visiting jdgreer.com. But for now, let's return to our teaching titled Accused for Me. Here's Pastor JD. The Sanhedrin hated Jesus. because they were envious of his popularity and authority.
In other words, he occupied a position. That they desperately wanted to have. And Jesus' presence meant that they couldn't have it their way.
So they just got rid of him.
Now, of course, it's really easy for you and I to just shake our heads now and we say, well, I would never have done that. That's terrible. Maybe that's because you and I simply have never been pushed. To a point where we actually have to choose between Jesus and ourselves as Lord. You see, I can stand in here all day long and tell you.
that Jesus demands control over your life. And what can you do? You can leave here, you can turn it off, and you can just not think about it. You can even pat me on the shoulder on the way out and say, wow, nice message, Pastor. That was great.
It's not like I can force you to actually choose. You can leave Jesus at church, so to speak. And then deal with him on the terms that you want to deal with him. You can lay out for several weeks and come back, and you can kind of dull your conscience to it. You never really have to choose, out of sight, out of mind.
But what if? What if you actually were pushed to the point that Jesus' control and your control of your life could not coexist? One had to give way. If that really were the choice, which one would you choose? Here's another dimension.
The Sanhedrin likes to think of themselves as the good guys. And Jesus keeps insisting that they aren't. That they were really no better than anybody else, and they needed to be saved like every other criminal or prostitute in the Roman Empire. Jesus' presence meant that they couldn't hold on to their position of pride. They couldn't hold on to this idea that they were better than other people.
So rather than deal with that, rather than deal with the fact that they were as bad as the worst criminals out there, they killed him. Again, you can hear the same message and you can just leave here. You can just say, I don't want to deal with how desperate he is telling me that I am for God's grace, and you can just not deal with it. But what if Jesus' presence meant you had to abandon all pretense of pride and own before everyone that you were utterly desperate for God's grace, and that unless Jesus died for you, you would rightfully be condemned alongside the worst criminals in history? You see, what if we were pushed to the place that they were pushed?
Then you might rethink how they're responding, and you might not be able to say, Well, I never would have done that. Because I can promise you, listen. You will never step foot in heaven. If Jesus Christ is not the Lord of your life, and that's not a decision you make there, that's a decision you make here. You will never step foot in heaven if you do not understand that there is no goodness that separates you from somebody else, that you really have no reason at all to boast, and your only hope is the grace of God.
When I was growing up, it was always explained to me this way: In every heart, there's a throne and a cross. If self is on the throne, Jesus must be on the cross. If Jesus is on the throne, self must be on the cross. In every single one of your hearts, there is a throne and there is a cross.
Somebody's got to be on the throne and somebody's got to be on the cross.
Now I know what we prefer is kind of us on the throne and Jesus is sort of in the co-pilot seat. But there's really only two slots: there's throne and cross. If Jesus is going to be on the throne, then you're going to be on the cross. And what that means is that you have died to control of your life because you've given it all to him, and you've also died to any supposition that you are good enough to be able to earn his favor or to earn your way to heaven. You can only be in one of two postures in relationship to Jesus Christ right now.
You're either totally surrendered to him or you are in rebellion. You either on your knees in worship or with your fists raised in the air, saying, crucify him. Which of those two best describes you? By the way, you should note that this group is composed primarily of religious people. Rule followers.
Religiously active people who just don't want to let Jesus have control. Rule followers who don't want to own their own desperate need of God's grace. I'm not trying to be negative here, but I wonder. I wonder this week how many people in this church would fit into that group. They're decent people.
They're religious, they're given the offering sometimes. There are only two categories. You are either totally sold out to Jesus. Or you were ultimately resistant to him like the Sanhedrin. In every heart, there is only a throne and only a cross.
If self is on the throne, Jesus must be on the cross. And if Jesus is on the throne, self must be on the cross. Who's in what position in your heart? Because you can't share. Here's number two, second group, pilot.
I'm going to refer to Pilate as the distracted. The distracted. Like I told you, Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent, but he's unwilling to act on it because. Other things are important to him. And those other things are, honestly, they're important.
I tend to sympathize with Pilot a little bit. I hope you can. I mean he wants to keep his job. But honestly, even with all the pressures that are on him, with all the kind of the thin thread that his job is being held by, is there anything that compares in importance to the decision that you make about Jesus? You know how when something bad happens to you, and it just seems like it's so bad for a while, and then something worse happens to you, and then the first thing that seemed kind of bad, just you totally forget about it?
You know, you break a nail, or I'm speaking as if I'm a woman, but you know, you break a nail, and you know, it's like, oh, this is so bad. But then you jam your toe against a, you know, stub your toe really bad. You forget all about the nail because you're worried about your foot now. You lose a job, and that's one thing, but then your marriage collapses, or the test results come back positive, and then all of a sudden losing your job seems like nothing. Yo, I can guarantee you that a hundred years from now, the only thing.
That will seem significant to you at all is where you stand in relationship to Jesus Christ. Yes, Pilate was under a lot of pressure, but those pressures are nothing compared to the significance of eternity. Pilate represents the person who knows the truth about Jesus, but is just too distracted with other things right now to really take the question seriously. The person who's too distracted to really consider what the Bible teaches us about Jesus. Oh, this is something you say I'll think about when I'm older.
You tell yourself, man, when I'm an adult, when my career has been settled, when we have kids, then I'll really deal with this. For right now, the fun you're having, having a good time with your friends, establishing yourself in your career, or whatever, those things are just too consuming to really give much thought to Jesus. Don't you see how foolish that is? And we're not even guaranteed tomorrow you could die today. Why would you gamble with your soul like this?
I would honestly say, again, I don't mean to be negative, but I'd say probably 50% of the people listening to me right now fit into that category. You're just so distracted with other things that you never really give that much attention. You don't reject Jesus outright. You just put him off to the side, so to speak, for a more convenient time. I mean, Jesus talked about this, didn't he?
In one of the most famous statements he ever made: what's it profit a man if he gains the whole world? And then lost his soul. Gain the whole, the way I've described that to you before, like this, and if you've been around here, you've heard me do this, but imagine if somebody were to offer you an enormous $10 billion. Gonna make you a 10-time billionaire. And they say, here's the condition.
In order for you to get this $10 billion, I'm going to cut off the pinky of your left hand.
Sometimes I'll ask this to high school students when I go speak to high school students, I'll say $10 billion for your left hand key. Who's in?
So, usually about three-quarters of the audience, all the guys and usually about half the girls are like, Yeah, I'd do it for $10 billion. You can cut off my pinky. And so I always say, okay, all right, keep your hands up. How many of you, if I cut off, not just your left pinky, if they're going to cut off your left arm up to the elbow? $10 billion lose your left arm up to the elbow.
How many?
Well, usually about half the hands go down. I say, okay, let's just keep going, all the way up to the shoulder here. How many of you for $10 billion would just get rid of your left arm altogether? Usually there's about 20% of the audience left at this point. I say, okay.
Let's say $10 billion in cash on stage. But we're going to bring you up here and cut off not just your left arm, but your right arm, both legs. We're going to gouge your eyes out, stop up your nose, cut out your tongue, and stop up your ears. $10 billion. Who would take that offer?
Right? Every hand goes down. For some reason, there's always one guy. You know, we're like, put your hand down, man, you're an idiot, okay? Because what good to you is ten billion dollars.
if you have no faculties of life with which to enjoy it. And the question that Jesus presents to us is: why is it that some people are giving far, far more? To gain far, far less. What does it profit you if you gain the whole world? and then lost your soul.
That's what Pilate is treating as trivial, the things that are eternal, and he's giving weight to some things that don't ultimately matter.
Okay, you've taken notes, write this down. It is not unbelief that sent Pilate to hell. It was indifference. It's not unbelief that sent Pilate to hell, it was indifference. Listen to Spurgeon's warning here.
Trifle not with Christ. Whose hands and feet were nailed to the accursed tree for sinners such as you. Trifle not with his precious blood, for that is your only hope of redemption. Trifle not with the Holy Spirit, for if he should leave you to perish, your case would be hopeless. Trifle not with the gospel.
What would the lost in hell not give to hear one other, one more proclamation of mercy? The devil does not trifle. The devil is earnestly right now seeking your destruction. God and Christ and the Holy Spirit are not trifling with you, and I'm not trifling with you either. Don't trifle, don't treat as casual the things that are eternal.
Are you being a bit casual in your understanding of the cross? Is it just another story to you or has it transformed your life? You are listening to Summit Life with JD Greer. Remember, you can always find more resources online free of charge by visiting jdgreer.com. We'll return to our teaching in just a moment, but I wanted to remind you that this is the last day of the month, so it's the final day to receive our current featured resource.
To express our thanks when you support Summit Life, we'd like to send you a copy of a book by Pastor JD. It's titled Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved. It's an easy read, but the subjects covered are weighty and foundational to the entire Christian life. Do you still have doubts about your salvation? Are you unsure where you're headed when you die?
It's time to settle these types of questions once and for all, and this book is the perfect first step. Be sure to ask for your copy when you donate right now. Give us a call at 866-335-5220 or check it out at jdgreer.com.
Now let's return to our teaching. Once again, here's Pastor JD. Our third person, Barabbas. We're going to call him the spared. The spare, the replaced.
This character Brabbitus might give us the clearest picture in all the gospels of what this whole thing is about. Understand that Barabbas was not Robin Hood. He wasn't a beloved criminal. He was a thief and a murderer, a domestic terrorist. He was hated by Jew and Roman alike.
And that afternoon, by the choice of the crowd, Jesus died and Barabbas walks free. Think for a moment about what it must have been like to have been Barabbas that day. I mean, you wake up that morning. Your sentence has already been passed. You are condemned to die.
You believe that you're going to be dead by sundown. But that evening, You're sitting down having dinner with your friends and this strange man that you Probably knew very little about up to this point, who embodied perfect goodness is hanging on a cross that was intended for you. See, we know that three people were crucified that day, and the people to Jesus' right and left were called a thief and a robber. Same description we're given of Barabbas, which means that they were likely partners of his in crime, and maybe they were all friends with each other. And here what you have is Barabbas, now looking at three crosses, one of which he is supposed to be hanging on in the middle, but instead of him, it is Jesus.
And as he watches it happen. What do you think he's thinking on the inside? You see, Brabbus is the very first person in all of the Bible who could say Jesus died, not just for me. He died instead of me. Scholars point out, by the way, that Barabbas' name is pretty odd.
Because it's so generic. Bar in Aramaic means son of. Abbas means father.
So Barabbas, that name literally means son of a father. Which pretty much would describe every man on earth. Barabbas means son of a man. Barabbas is supposed to represent the every man. Because, see, like Barabbas, we are rebels against the rule of God.
And Jesus, a man of perfect goodness, died in our place. He took the cross intended for us. He didn't just die for us, he died instead of us. Which also, by the way, helps us understand why Jesus remains silent throughout this whole trial. Why did Jesus even refuse to answer the charges brought against him?
I mean, it's clear that they were going to kill him anyway, so why not at least exonerate himself?
Well, any judge will tell you that when you remain absolutely silent in the face of accusation, and you make no defense whatsoever, then you are conceding what? Guilt. Jesus wasn't guilty of what they were accusing of, so why did he remain silent?
Well, the New Testament tells us it's because Jesus perceived. Behind Caiaphas's pointing finger, behind Pilate's pointing finger, Jesus. Perceives the finger of the Father pointing at him, accusing Jesus of Barabbas' sin. of our sin. And that was an accusation he willingly pled guilty to.
He willingly took it. He pleaded guilty in my place for my guilt, not his own. Guilty, vile, and helpless we. Spotless Lamb of God was he. Pure atonement can it be?
Hallelujah. What a Savior. You know what's most curious to me about Barabbas' story, maybe? Is that we never really find out how he responded. We don't know if Barabbas ever returned to Jesus or found Jesus later or.
We don't know if he even turned to him in the moment and said, Man, thank you so much. I owe you everything. We don't know if he joined the church later. And that's because Barabbas' story is supposed to present to us a question. You are Barabbas.
What will you do? Will you fall on your knees in worship in gratefulness or you pass by casually? Ignoring the one who died in our place.
Well, there's one final person in here we haven't really talked about yet in this. Section of the story, and it's Judas again. The story of whose suicide is tucked right here in the middle. We're going to call him the despairing. The despairing.
Why is the story of Judas just tucked right into the middle of the narrative? It breaks up the flow of events, doesn't it? You got over here and then all of a sudden you jump over here and then you come back to the events.
Well, maybe. Maybe it's to show us what every person who rejects Jesus is essentially doing to themselves. Maybe the author is just trying to say: you either choose Jesus' offer of life or you choose self-destruction. But I think It's also in there to show us how utterly unnecessary and unnecessarily tragic Judas's suicide was. When Judas realized how wrong what he had done had been, And he feels remorse and he tries to give the money back, and he can't.
He probably assumes at that point he can never be forgiven. That there was no hope. But he was wrong. How do we know he was wrong?
Well, Peter had also betrayed Jesus. In fact, every one of the disciples had forsaken him. We saw that last week. Every single one of them would be forgiven and go on to play an important role in the future of God's kingdom. But Judas still can't grasp.
As he had never been able to grasp that Jesus came to reclaim ruined sinners. Which is why I call him the despairing. Because when you finally see. yourself and you finally see The guilt you have before God, and you finally see the mess that you and I have made of our lives and others' lives. We despair.
I call him the unbelieving because he didn't believe that he could be forgiven. He didn't understand that Jesus' death, as awful as it was, was done for him to deliver him from his sin. He didn't understand that though he was so bad, it was true. That Jesus would have to die to save him. He didn't understand that Jesus loved him so much that Jesus was glad to die to save him.
You see, some of you, I believe, are in the same place. You think you've done so much damage. You've made so many mistakes that life is really over for you. That God, if He's even out there, could never really forgive you, or there's no way you could have a role, a positive role, anymore in His kingdom or in somebody else's life. And so you come in this weekend, you sit here this weekend with a sense of despair, like there's nowhere to go, nowhere to turn.
Perhaps, like Judas, you are literally on the cusp. of taking your own life. You need to see that Jesus never ever gives up on you. His grace to forgive is greater than you could ever imagine. His power to restore a life that is ruined by sin is beyond your wildest hopes.
Believing the gospel is basically coming to realize that you are more wicked than you ever dreamed. I've heard it said. And then simultaneously, more love than accepted than you ever dared hope at the same time. And though it is true you've indeed made an utter mess of your life. Probably worse than you realize that there is still more hope for you than you ever dreamed because of the power of Christ to redeem.
Yeah, maybe you've finally seen what a mess that you have made of your life. Maybe you finally felt the weight of the decisions you have made, but what you need to do now is look upward in hope to the greatness of God's grace. Yes, sin is great and it's terrible, but God's grace is greater still. But you just couldn't perceive that.
So he killed himself. And here's the tragedy. In so doing, he cut himself off from the only hope that was out there. He felt hopeless, like there was nowhere to turn, but there was. In fact, in three days, Jesus was going to get out of a grave with the power to forgive, the power to restore, and the power to make all things new, the power to rebuild from the ashes lives that had been ruined by the worst kinds of sin.
You know, just imagine, imagine for just a minute that Judas had just waited those three or four days. Did you just wait before he carried out the suicide just to see, just to see what God might be up to, to give God a chance? Imagine if he stumbled into Peter or found Peter and Judas said, Peter, There's no hope. I betrayed Jesus. There's no coming back.
Peter would respond and he'd say, oh, Judas, but there is, there is hope. Because I betrayed Jesus too. But he was dying because of your betrayal and my betrayal. And then he resurrected and he found me and he forgave me and Judas. He's looking for you, he's looking for you too.
Because he wants to forgive you. But see, Judas robbed himself of the chance to experience God's grace by making the decision to kill himself.
Now, some of you that might be in the exact same situation this weekend, listen. I want you to understand that there is no accident. It is no accident that you are here today. We'd love to show you where that kind of hope is found. The kind of hope that can put back together a life that's been ruined by sin.
The kind of hope that can shine a ray of light into the deepest chasm of despair. Dark is the stain I cannot hide. Dark, what can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson tide. Whiter than snow, you can be today.
Grace, grace, God's grace. Grace that can pardon and cleanse within. Grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater. been all my sin. Which of these four groups do you find yourself in?
Maybe you've never really understood what Christ has done. Maybe you need to see now that you are. Barabbas, you are the person who was replaced. And you've never personally received him. You see, you don't receive this by coming to church or being religious or learning Bible verses or being a good person.
You receive this by personally embracing it as your own. Maybe you've seen yourself in one of these characters. Maybe you resist Jesus because you're the threatened. Maybe you're the distracted like Pilate. And maybe now for the first time to really see who Jesus is.
And you're ready to surrender. I want to give you a chance to receive him. Maybe you're in despair. Can you pray with me right now if that's you? Can you say God I'll take a chance on you.
I'll at least have that first conversation. To see what you might be doing and to hear more about this. Power, this guy's telling me about that is able to put my life back together. I'll at least have that conversation. If you've never received Christ and you want to right now, it would sound like this: Lord Jesus.
I believe you died in my place instead of me. I surrender to you as Lord, and I receive you as Savior. Thank you for saving me. I want you to make a decision right there where you're sitting. Dark is the stain that I cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away? Look, there is flowing a crimson tide, whiter than snow. I can be today because of grace, grace, God's grace. Thank you, God, for God's grace, I pray. In Jesus' name.
Amen. What a powerful truth here on Summit Life with J.D. Greer. If you like this teaching and want to hear more just like it, you can find us online at jdcreer.com or search in your favorite podcast tab.
Okay, so Pastor JD, as I mentioned earlier, our current resource this month is one of your most popular books. Remind us one more time: why did you write Stop Asking Jesus into your heart? You know, it's funny you asked that because my first daughter asked me that. She could just look at her face and she's like, Dad. Why would you ever want to tell someone to not do that?
And I said, Well, I said, I'm not telling them not to receive Jesus. It's that in a lot of churches, we kind of take asking Jesus into your heart as a kind of shorthand for faith in Christ. And there's nothing wrong with that. I don't have any problem with the words, ask Jesus into your heart. But what it ends up doing is it ends up truncating our understanding of what is really happening in conversion.
And it ends up keeping assurance from some people who should have it. And giving assurance to some people who shouldn't have it. Right. And so, what this book does is it tries to help unpack what it actually means. To have put your faith in Jesus in a way that you could know for sure that you're going to heaven, or you don't have to repeatedly, like I did, ask Jesus in your heart over and over again.
I didn't need to come at you like that. I did it too. Right. It really is. I mean, you know, yeah, by God's grace, it struck a nerve because it has been the most popular book.
Because so many people are like, that's what my experience was.
So reach out to us. We'd love to get you a copy of it. Our whole staff at Summit Life is praying that this book will help you gain a better understanding of salvation. If you'd like to get it for yourself or share it with someone else, be sure to request your copy today. And we'll send you an e-book copy right away by email when you donate.
Today is your last chance to request a copy, so don't wait. Give us a call right now at 866-335-5220, or you can give and request the book online at jdgreer.com. I'm Molly Bitovich, and we are so glad to have you with us today. Join us Friday as we continue our teaching series titled Instead of Me on Summit Life with J.D. Greer.
Today's program was produced and sponsored by JD Greer Ministries.
